Matt was challenged by his sister to do the Icebucket challenge Check the video out here and make sure you donate by texting ‘BEAT’ to 70007
Also you can check out fellow GPer, and Matt’s brother, doing the same thing, and challenging his Dodgeball team HERE
£3 is nothing in the grand scheme of things but can make a huge difference..DONATE…DO IT NOWWWW!
On Thursday EA released the demo for their highly anticipated instalment of everyone’s favourite life-simulation series The Sims 4, to the general public through Origin.
While this is only the Create-A-Sim aspect of the game which is to be released next month, fans can now get a sneak peek of a hefty number of revamped features that will go in to their chosen Sim customisation. This means they now have an entirely new means of making their Sims as grotesque or beautiful as they want in a variety of ways. However, the question which immediately springs to mind is “Does this give fans access to a revitalised era of The Sims which may have become somewhat repetitive in its creativity over time?”
It is quite a bold move of EA Maxis to release a demo for a game that has such huge capacity for customisation like The Sims, especially with less than a month until its release. Until very recently, they have been less than forthcoming over the details of its features, with only a few developer’s videos and promotional images being released for all to wonder about and speculate over.
This is something they have not really tried previously, with the exception of expansion and stuff packs, which has only heightened our interest further. With the token press conferences at E3 and the like, it is obvious that they have confidence in this fourth instalment, as indeed they should, given what has been shown thus far.
The Sims 4 looks to respectfully kick its predecessor up the arse with its intelligent new Build Mode and generally smoother gameplay, which we can finally feel for ourselves with this new Create-A-Sim demo.
For now with this demo, we are only allowed to create Sims of the Young Adult stage in the Sims life-span. However, what is probably the most noticeable aspect of The Sims 4 Create-A-Sim feature is how it works aesthetically in contrast to previous incarnations.
No longer do we have to make do with the less than impressive ‘pudding faces’ that infected our computer screens in The Sims 3 in 2009. Instead, we are now greeted with a cartoonish design that appears more like The Sims 2, which is far more inviting.
Clearly, this new game has undergone extreme reconstruction in the way it looks. Although many felt this make-over was a sacrifice, it seems to have worked in their favour as it is now easier to create an attractive Sim, without excessive modding.
Assuming you do not want to create an attractive Sim, it is equally easy to make an utterly hideous one with the vastly improved customisation engine. This offers endless possibilities, from making a Sims eyes wider, having a fitter/fatter figure, or even a bigger and curved nose.
The developers have completely scrapped the previous sliders and colour wheel element of CAS in order for gamers to have full reign simply by clicking on the chosen attribute and moving it in order to capture what is in their imagination. This is something that works particularly well in CAS, as it fully endorses the idea of customised simulation. The franchise has always prided itself on this particular point, but now the essence behind it has been totally rethought and revamped to make any die-hard Sims fan excited for the game’s release date in September.
Although CAS has added some impressive new content, a fair few features have come to an abrupt ending in the newly released demo, most notably the sacrifice of Toddlers and Create A Style. Although the Create a Style aspect was a nice touch to The Sims 3, it will hardly be missed as fans will be so engrossed in the enhanced technicalities of the Aspiration and Personality element, once they have perfected their pixelated dolls.
This improved tool now gives fans the choice to pick what ultimately defines their Sim by picking from a number of personality traits, with an additional one gained after their life Aspiration has been chosen. As well as a customisable persona, Sims can now also have their personalised voice and walk, making this new breed of Sims much more believable and lifelike.
After playing the demo, it is clear to see that EA Maxis has gone back to basics concerning the look of The Sims 4, which is not at all a bad thing as it now focuses more on the Sims themselves.
In an era of next-gen gaming and upcoming console-based games, with which it will no doubt be in competition, this latest instalment looks to surpass technically (and ambitiously) its predecessors, with a reinvention of how fans perceive the gameplay of The Sims franchise.
What the Sims 4 CAS demo promises is that we have only scratched the surface of what new content lies ahead in the rest of the game, which no doubt gives fans cause to be excited.
The Sims 4 is set to be released on the 2nd September 2014.
The Asylum, the powerhouse production company that brought us Sharknado, Mega-Piranha and a wealth of other SyFy B-Movie “classics” have announced that their new zombie series will debut in September this year.
Z Nation is set three years after the zombie uprising and follows a group of survivors as they accompany the only human ever to survive a zombie bite (this sounds a little familiar) across America to the only remaining viral lab.
It has a pretty impressive looking cast, with DJ Qualls and Harold Perrineau both getting a big thumbs up from me: not only genuinely good actors but some zombie credentials there as well.
Of course it won’t be another Walking Dead, this is the SyFy channel after all, we should know what to expect. It doesn’t seem as in-your-face ridiculous as a lot of their stuff, and may actually hit a nice balance of horror and humour.
The latest casting news for NBC’s fast approaching Constantine series has just been announced, with Michael James Shaw joining the show as Papa Midnite, a character who will be well known to fans of Hellblazer, and was played by Djimon Hounsou in the 2005 Constantine film adaptation.
Shaw’s Papa Midnite is set to be a recurring guest character in the show, which features Matt Ryan as magus John Constantine, alongside Angélica Celaya as Zed and Harold Perrineau as angel Manny.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Papa Midnite is a powerful voodoo practitioner, businessman and mob boss, based in New York City. After betraying a slave who asked for his aid in overthrowing their masters, in the 18th century, Midnite was forced to decapitate his sister and was cursed with immortality by the angry slaves. Midnite still has his sister’s skull and uses it to talk to the dead. He is both an occasional ally and sometime enemy of John Constantine depending on the situation.
How much of Papa Midnite’s story will make the transition to the show remains to be seen and more importantly, Midnite could easily be an ally or a foe, something that opens up numerous story possibilities, one being the Mnemoth story which introduced the character in Hellblazer #1.
Guys, Guys. GUYS THERE’S AN ACTION COMICS #1 FOR SALE.
Found on eBay earlier today, we at the GP offices cannot believe our eyes. First printed in June 1938 ( that makes it 75 years old for those of you who can’t math) , this is the first appearance of Superman and is currently sitting at a cool $1.6mil . Lend me some money?
Check it out here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311050328393
UPDATE: It sold for a mighty $3.2 mil. Christ.
I was but a small child in the 80s, naturally very influenced by the shows I watched; back in those days there was very limited choice, we had four channels, seriously, just four. It was a time when computers were coming into the home, one person on the street and a VHS and that pirated copy of E.T; the future was coming and I was ready to take it all in. It’s not surprising that I credit much of my geek foundations to the shows I grew up watching during this era. But with so many great shows with great themes, how could I make such an important decision all on my own? I didn’t I called upon my fellow writers and we had a good old fashioned vote. Here are the results.
The first on the list that involves the character origins, this little story is layered on top a conventional military drumming and then BAM! the theme kicks off to be one of fast paced action with explosions and car chases and…well it is just the right kind of tune for a young kid to run around the garden wielding a toy gun coming up with a plan and taking down the bad guys. It still rouses a sense of pride within me, these guys may be viewed as criminals but who cares, the A-Team are heroes.
A theme that initially tricks you by implying you are about to tune into a grand space opera and quickly flips into a catchy quintessentially British song that you can’t help but sing along too. It beautifully reflects the mad cap comedy genius that is Red Dwarf, a show that began me on the path of sci-fi. That is why I get warm fuzzy feels and an accompanying smile of nostalgia every time I hear it.
This show was awesome, a talking, artificially intelligent car named KITT with a bucket full of gadgets, tricks and a little attitude partnered with the crime fighting, tech assisted, field agent Michael Knight. It was a reflection of changes in technology during time taking, it a step a few steps into the future. As such it required an awesome theme tune that would reflect the premise; that is what we got, such an appealing tune steeped in futuristic electro and mystery.
This theme was nominated for an Emmy back in 1983 and in 2011, Rolling Stone magazine readers voted it the best theme song of all time. Why do we love it so? Well it highlights the difficulty of living life, it is hard when you are a grown up working a job, taking care of the kids and everything else us stupid adults have to do. It’s easy to forget that our soul needs feeding and what better way then of doing that then catching up with your friends and getting pissed. A theme tune that reminds us of the need for companionship, comfort in those we know and that gently encourages alcoholism.
http://youtu.be/h1irjgfMC3A
It’s safe to say that these days if an opening theme tune is longer than a few seconds I’m picking up my phone, it is the sorry state of my attention span. However, this next theme tune always began the same way, with Dr. Sam Beckett’s origin story and if there is one thing I love, it’s an origin story. Every week we got reminded that he stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator to put right things that once went wrong. The show contained a lot of humour and so the music for the theme reflects the light hearted side of the show, it also meant that the true dramatic and emotional moments (of which there are a few) were somehow more unexpected and harder hitting.
Okay, we know it, we’re on a Groot high. Suddenly the bonsai all over the world get more love than ever, what with people actually googling how to care for them. Why this sudden adoration for random vegetation? (yes, I am aware of the lame rhyme) The explanation is simple: it’s all because of this guy:
Unfamiliar with him and suddenly afraid of spoilers? Step away from your laptop, close your eyes and pretend you saw nothing, because spoilers by the bucket-load are to follow. (I assure you, it’s all a gross exaggeration). But going back to Groot now. The tree like creature, a Flora Colossus from Planet X, if you feel the need to be specific, has captured the hearts of people all over the world, with his childlike innocence and inability to say anything beyond “I am Groot.” At least until that soul destroying moment that left half the theatre in tears. However, there is more to Groot than that, as hints suggested throughout Guardians of the Galaxy. Leaving aside the fact that bar his inability to convey his thoughts by stringing more than three words together, he’s obviously intelligent, he’s also not quite as innocent as one might think.
Remember him spearing through half a dozen people, slamming them against walls and smiling innocently when he was done? Yeah? Well…I do. I still adore him, don’t get me wrong, but I also like Ramsay Bolton (formerly known as Snow), so when it comes to making the best choices, my moral barometer isn’t the best.
My point is, I think we’re all forgetting – following that adorable dance scene, when he was finally re-awoken, post his heroic sacrifice – that Groot is an integral part of the team and not just some sweet, button eyed mascot. I am convinced that a lot of people forget that he did more than create flowers, eat leaves and put on the most impressive firework show since New Years Eve (all with the very natural help of fireflies).
Groot killed for his friends, he demonstrated loyalty and maybe even a small degree of being slightly twisted throughout the movie, so let’s not forget that when we look at his adorable, leafy hands wave around to the beat of the songs from the Awesome Mix Vol. 1. If we look at his history (one that might hopefully be explored in the second instalment of the movie) we’ll see that he’s done some less than savoury things before becoming heroic, though in this movie the focus seemed to have fallen on most everyone’s background, but his.
Let’s face it, having Rocket complain about being mistreated and having fits over being called vermin was much more entertaining than say, having Groot repeat: “I am Groot!” in different tonalities, trying to convey his story for half an hour, yet I can’t help but feel that his character got the short end of the stick. Perhaps fans familiar with the comic can shed some light on whether the situation is the same in the comic or it’s simply the movie’s choice to give him less of a story, focusing instead on giving him comic relief scenes and a heroic sacrifice that have endeared him to the world.
Well, that and dance moves, cause he’s definitely got them. Funny how things turned out though, since he’s probably the most popular character, despite more “in your face” options existing. I’m looking at you Peter Quill, Gamora, Rocket and Drax. But hey, you didn’t die heroically, only to turn into a chibi version of yourselves, so…maybe next time?
Ready to spend the next three hours of your life watching a forty-two second video on loop? Course you are.
http://youtu.be/WoMkwRd5JMA
There’s been a trend recently, in various Facebook communities, for posts like this:
They are numerous. They are irritating. But, they are understandable.
Although it is infuriating to have your newsfeed clogged up with the faces of people you’ve never met and probably never will, it is a valid question. Let’s face it, despite the warm and loving heart of the cosplay community valiantly insisting that anyone should be free to cosplay whoever (or whatever) they like, there is still a mindset that if you don’t bear a perfect physical resemblance to your chosen character, you shouldn’t bother. It’s a sad fact that, for every cosplay champion posting pictures of a plus-sized Power Girl or a black Jean Grey and shouting “THIS! IS! COSPLAY!” while kicking naysayers into a bottomless pit, there will be trolls lurking to point out that your boobs/biceps aren’t big enough, you’re too fat, too skinny, too plain, your nose is too big and your teeth are weird. It sucks. We’re doing a pretty good job of policing the community, but it’s still a prevailing problem.
So, against the backdrop of this judgement culture, when I see yet another selfie on my wall, my mind instantly translates the innocuous accompanying question to: I want to be a part of this amazing, fun community, but I’m worried people will laugh. I don’t want to look like an idiot. Before I invest any time, effort or money into this, please just tell me straight- am I good enough?
To which the answer is, of course you fucking are! But my well-meant words of support are an inadequate shield against hurtful comments, especially when there is (unfortunately) an infinite respawn point of internet ne’er-do-wells, and (even more unfortunately) only one of me. But that’s OK, because I also have some practical advice for choosing a cosplay! And since you’re already asking strangers on the internet for help, you could do a lot worse than this stranger right here. Just sayin’.
The first thing to consider is: Who do you love?
The point of mining my mates for suggestions was, at first, to illustrate how ridiculous such suggestions are, and I think that point was well-made…
But there were many more that made me think “Hmm… yeah, I guess…”
…but I didn’t really feel the lightning bolt of inspiration hit me. Take Marceline for example. Do I look like her? Sure. Do I like her? You bet your buttons I do! But I don’t love her in the same passionate way I love, say, X-23. Plus her costume seems a bit plain – if I’m going to dress up, I’d like to wear something that I wouldn’t wear to the shops on a normal day.
But loving a character isn’t enough sometimes, so that brings us to the second question you need to ask yourself: What do you feel comfortable with?
As far as I’m concerned, there is no amount of exposed skin too much, no heels too high, no spandex too tight. That said, I don’t feel comfortable crossplaying, for reasons I wish I could articulate better than “yeeeeeeeah, no”. I don’t like the idea of putting my own spin on a costume, because my design skills are adequate at best, and a burlesque Spider-Woman, while awesome, would feel out-of-character and unnecessary. And I seriously don’t feel comfortable cosplaying characters of colour because I’m worried somebody might think I’m a racist. Everyone has different limits, is what I’m getting at. But, if there’s something about a costume that makes you uncomfortable, you can always change it. Big Wonder Woman fan, but wish her skirt wasn’t quite so short? No reason why it can’t be! Love Namor but don’t love the speedos? Try his costume that’s actually, y’know, a costume:
And it’s OK to not be totally fearless. When I went to Bristol Comics Expo last year, alone, dressed as Zatanna, I was thinking pretty much nothing but Ohmigod people are going to think I’m a total slut why couldn’t I have picked Squirrel Girl or Supergirl or LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE ohmigod I have to change I should change. But you know what? Meeting cool and supportive people at the con -including a Leeloo much braver than me!- made all my concerns about looking like a skank-ass ho evaporate. Which was good, because later that day I spent two hours stomping around Bristol with a popped shirt button trying to find my damn hotel.
So I have a suggestion: use the Facebook groups. But don’t ask “What should I cosplay as?”. Instead, try “Who wants to hang out?”.
(And if you genuinely can’t decide who to cosplay as, make a list and roll a d20. I guarantee you it’ll be more help than the internet.)
One of the most requested features for the Xbox One will soon be available to select markets in Europe. Live streaming TV.
For many consumers out there, big, bulky cable boxes and satellite receivers have been our source for digital television viewing. We asked for a solution and the team over at Xbox listened. Beginning in October members in The UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain will receive the first experience with the new Xbox One Digital Tuner. This will provide over-the-air digital terrestrial TV experience through the USB single tuner. This offers an alternative way to access TV content from the cable or satellite set-top box connected through the HDMI port. The new digital TV tuner will also support free-to-air DVB-T, DVB-T2 and DVB-C television standards.
Want a handy list of the capabilities of the new Xbox One Digital Tuner? Never fear, I have one for you.
Watch HDTV on Xbox One: With the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner, you can watch free-to-air DVB-T, DVB-T2, and DVB-C television channels without changing your television set input. You’ll be able to receive game invites and notifications while watching TV and watch TV while waiting for a multiplayer match to begin.
TV viewing in Snap mode: You can watch TV using Snap mode which enables you to watch your favorite shows while leaving the other half of your screen open for Skype, games or other applications you may use.
Pause it: You can pause live streaming TV shows so you can easily take a break for more Cheetos without missing anything important.
TV listings in the OneGuide: From anywhere, say “Xbox show guide, what is on BBC One?” to quickly navigate directly to that channels listings.
Favorite channels: Create your own personal Favorites in the OneGuide so you can easily choose what you want to watch.
Voice Control Tuning: Just simply call out your favorite channel by name and start watching it instantly.
Smart Glass configuration: You will have full access to the OneGuide via Xbox Smart Glass application, with the ability to tune channels on your Xbox One.
TV on demand: TV listings in the OneGuide will indicate which shows are available on demand from video apps.
We sure have come a long way from black and white television with only three channels. The Xbox One Digital TV Tuner will be available beginning in late October in the UK for £24.99. Kinect is required for voice-enabled features.
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