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Once Upon a Time I met a Geek…

Becca Harper
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Once Upon a Time I met a Geek…

Something happened to me. Something good. Let me explain, but to do so you need to know a little bit about me.

Naturally, I am a self declared geek, it’s why I write for Geek Pride. In real life, by which I am mean actual face to face stuff, I know about ten geeks that I have spent significant time with. These are the people I am comfortable to be around in socially and we have very similar interests. Via the magic of the internet I know many more, I ‘speak’ and interact with many on a…we’ll call it a weekly basis. I’m still not the most social of people even with the +5 confidence the screen in front of me provides.

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So in my everyday ‘gotta go out and work‘ life I spend very little time with anyone who has a clue about the majority of my interests and fandom obsessions. I stick out like an elf at a dwarf party. When people ask what I’m doing at the weekend and I say “having friends to play board games”  you can guarantee the response will be somewhere in the region of “What like Monopoly?” Well, no not really and I leave it at that because they already think I’m weird.

It may be the purple hair, it may be the clueless look on my face when people start discussing whatever BBC crime drama is airing at the time, or any of the soaps or reality shows…you get the idea. I don’t do normal TV, everything I watch is via Netflix or other means. There is no channel hopping or ads in my life.

Now in recent years I can see the balance is tipping a little my way. The popularity of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead means there are a couple more people in the work place I can talk to about these shows. The same goes for the rise of superhero films, I remember a moment that still makes me smile. A colleague turned to me asked “So who is this Green Lantern?” okay, it turned out the movie was a pile of troll shit, but my point is that hearing the name ‘Green Lantern’ to come out of a muggle’s mouth made me smile. It also made me spew an origin story and explanation of the Justice League.

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Needless to say I went a little too far and I got the “aw you’re so cute”  But it was nice, because most of the time my choice of interests and the fun things that are important to my identity, can also make me feel pretty isolated. Over the years I have learnt to filter myself amongst the norms.

So let me bring you to one of my favourite days at work. We had a visiting drama company, the actors joined us in the staff room for dinner and I struck up a conversation with a gentleman. He was telling me how his son’s school had declared that his 6 year couldn’t dress as Spider-Man because it wasn’t a book. Well in I jumped “I can take them my house right now and show them a Spider-Man book”. 

What unfolded next was described by my colleagues as a whole lotta excitement, words and references they did not understand. We began talking comics moving to superheroes, Deadpool had just come out and we both gushed over how awesome that movie is, onto Jessica Jones then Daredevil. We discussed how amazing the first Avengers film had been and how at the time we hadn’t seen anything like it. And then came the moment that suddenly silenced me. The moment I knew I had met a kindred spirit, It went like this…

Him: Well Joss Whedon
Me: Oh totally, Whedon’s my god
Him: Firefly though
Me: *Stunned Silence*
Him: *frown*
Me: …You know Firefly?
Him: Of course

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My exact reaction

This was not someone who had a vague interest in things that are entering ‘mainstream’. If you can reference Firefly, I know I’m speaking to a like minded individual. Love it or hate it, the mere fact that you know it exists means I probably have more in common with you than anyone else in that building. My stunned silence was caused by the simple fact that in the 11 years in my job, in that workplace, I had never spoken to anyone about Firefly it had never been worth the hassle of explaining why cowboys in space was so good.

The high energy and enthusiastic conversation that continued for the next 30 minutes was quite honestly, refreshing, It felt natural, it felt comfortable, it felt like I had popped the cork on my true geek and I let it all pour out, with no shame, no embarrassment. It came to the point where he referred to me as his “geek sister from another mother”. I felt like I belonged. That day the people I work with witnessed the true me. It left them quiet, a little confused and unable to join the conversation. For once I wasn’t the one who felt out of place.

These moments are rare for me but they serve as reminder that actually there are people out in the wide world that you can connect with and sometimes they will turn up in the most unexpected places.

Naruto Shippuden: The Board Game, Now in English!

Bevan Clatworthy
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Naruto Shippuden: The Board Game, Now in English!

Hey, folks! Great news for all you English fans of Naruto Shippuden out there: Japanime Games and Yoka Games have teamed up to bring the English version of the board game to the masses! Set in the second half of the Naruto franchise, the board game will give the players the opportunity to work together as the fox-tailed ninja, Sakura and I’m hoping Rock Lee as well, to try and thwart the schemes of the sinister Akatsuki.

The Naruto Shippuden Board Game is a cooperative game based around the travels of Naruto and his friends. Players play one of the main characters, fighting against the incursion of the Akatsuki to save the world from its menace! There are three levels of play and a large variety of enemies, making each game a unique experience. Featuring high quality components, solid game play, and the number one anime property, this game will be a great addition to any anime or board game collection!

Already popular in Japan and based on the hit manga and anime series, it is likely to make a big splash when it hits stores in Spring 2016. The highly detailed miniatures look gorgeous, and the artwork has been beautifully transferred to the board, cards and box. I for one am really looking forward to seeing more of this, what do you guys think?

Daredevil Season One: Revisited

Lianne
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Daredevil Season One: Revisited

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A quick disclaimer before I get into things – my only exposure to Daredevil before I watched the Netflix series the first time around was the Frank Miller comics which I loved, and the Ben Affleck movie which I mostly disliked. My decision to watch Daredevil on Netflix was borne purely out of curiosity (could it be better than the film?) and the fact that a lot of my friends were raving about it on social media.

Like many others at the time, I binge-watched the series over a few days and loved it. As a self-confessed mega-fan of both Batman and Film Noir, the series hit all the right spots for me: tortured protagonist, sprawling crime drama, amazing action set pieces; check, check and check again. A 5/5 for me easily.

So, in preparing for Season 2, I decided to dive back in to refresh my memory and re-watch this amazing series . So is it just as good second time around?

What I Liked:

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The Casting

I absolutely love the casting for this series. I only really knew Charlie Cox from Stardust and when I read he’d been cast as Matt Murdock I couldn’t really see him in the role. After watching the show again, he’s perfect as far as I’m concerned and I can’t really imagine another actor playing Murdock as well as he does. The duality of selfless do-gooder lawyer and seething, almost homicidal, vigilante is played so well that he completely immerses me in the show with each episode. Excellent too are the majority of the supporting cast and in particular Vincent D’Onofrio with his take on Wilson Fisk. D’Onofrio might not have the height, but they certainly do a good job on the show of making him a menacing presence.

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Crime Noir

I’ve always been a fan of detective stories, particularly those with noir under(or over)tones, so I was especially pleased when I saw those elements in Daredevil. I especially enjoyed the crime family elements and Fisk’s ambitious rise to power as he manoeuvres pieces around him into place only to be disrupted by Daredevil. The Dark Knight is one of my favourite superhero films and there were times I was reminded of it, although with a very different dynamic between the hero and his villain.

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Character Development

I appreciate that D’Onofrio’s portrayal of Fisk divided many fans, but for me I absolutely loved that we had not only a fully fleshed out origin story as character development for the hero, but for the villain as well. I loved the flashbacks and the way their childhoods contained horrific events, both of them dealing with that in very different ways; Matt as a blind kid losing his dad and Fisk, well. If you haven’t seen it then you need to. That sequence still stays with me long after I’ve seen the episode. Even most of the smaller parts have a character arc or at the very least depth which keeps you wanting more.

What I Didn’t Like:

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Karen

Sorry Karen fans (if any exist), I found her story-lines mostly bearable first time around, but this time her willingness to put herself and others around her in danger was so incredibly frustrating to watch. I find whenever she’s on, my brain actually ‘checks out’ from the show until her bit is done. I don’t have a problem with the actress but I’m definitely not a fan of the writing for Karen especially given the repercussions of her actions.

The Ending [SPOILER ALERT]

I understand that there’s always uncertainty whether or not a series will be renewed and so for many shows their last episode is usually an attempt to wrap things up as neatly as possible. But wow at Daredevil’s last episode. Just wow. After a whole series of careful chess-like plotting from Fisk, it completely unravels in the space of 30 minutes. I also find the end fight between Daredevil and Fisk to be utterly ridiculous which is a shame after some of the incredible sequences earlier in the series. From the Oldboy-inspired sequence in episode two to a rather uninspired show down between the hero and the villain at the end. A shame really, as the bar for action sequences was set so high at the start of the season that I don’t think the ending could really match it.

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So would I change my rating at all second time around? I think so yes. I didn’t binge-watch it on second viewing, I had time to think between episodes and consider my response rather than rushing through to the next episode to see what happens. It’s still a brilliant series that appeals to me personally on many levels, but I think I’d regrade to a 4/5 with the last episode and some of the duller story-lines pulling it down from a 5/5.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be watching series two however and it’s still the best superhero TV (mini?)series in my opinion. I’m looking forward to seeing how Elektra and Punisher will come into the mix, whilst still keeping it a drama that operates at ‘street level’.

The second season of Daredevil is out on Netflix on 18th March. I’m sure you’ll join me in binge watching, excessive consumption of snacks, soft drinks and randomly shouting ‘VANESSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA’ at the screen.

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What did you like about series one of Daredevil? What were you not so keen on? Let us know in the comments.

Sony Undercuts Competition With Vr Pricing

Andrew Corban
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Sony Undercuts Competition With Vr Pricing

With this year of boxes that you stare into and play video games with in full swing. Sony announced the pricing and release window of its generically named PlayStation VR. The Japanese company held a conference at GDC yesterday where it announced that the PlayStation VR will be priced at a cool $399 which is $200 cheaper than the oculus rift and $400 cheaper than HTC’s vive. Sony also announced that the PSVR will be released sometime in October which is a full 8 months after the Oculus’ march release date. Uk retailers have confirmed that the Vr’s price in our fair country will be £350; which is about the price of a PS4 with a couple of games at the moment.

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Sony claims that the headset will have around 50 games at launch. President and global CEO of Sony Andrew House stated in his post on the PlayStation blog that: “the full promise of PlayStation VR will continue to grow over time as talented developers create new experiences and new genres that wouldn’t be possible outside of VR. The future looks bright indeed.” Furthermore, Sony predicts at least 1.6 million people will buy the headset before 2017.

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This is everything you get in the box for 350 quid remember you still need a ps move control or a dualshock 4 to actually play. 

 

A bold prediction indeed. Will VR in general have the legs to break into the mainstream? Many critics are sceptical and feel it will go the same way as 3D gaming with too high a price point for entry. Me? Well I will leave that opinion for another time. Most of all what do you think? Is VR the next logical step in gaming? Is it going to flop so hard that it would make a Magikarp jealous? Let us know in the comments section or join us at the Geek Pride News group on Facebook.

 

Fantasy: The Family Card Game

xdustineflx
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Fantasy: The Family Card Game

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Sometimes, when you’re shopping for games, you’ll pick up something on an impulse or simply because the price is right. While looking for another specific game, that’s exactly how I stumbled upon Fantasy: The Family Card Game. It was a good price at the time, so I picked up a deck.

This is one of the easiest card games I have ever come across. Each player starts with five cards, draws one and plays one face-up on the table, with each player repeating the process until the entire deck has been drawn. The game stops once a player has run out of cards completely. Each card you play is a creature from one of seven races (Gnome, Fairy, Imp, Hobgoblin, Dryad, Elf and Goblin) with each one having its own power, which you enact immediately upon play.

Each power helps improve your chances at winning, including drawing cards and stealing from other players. The Fairy is the most unique of the races, because her power involves putting a stop to an opposing players move, no matter what it is, and can be played at any time. These different creatures form the population of your community, and the object is to have the biggest population at the end of the game.

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And…well, that’s pretty much it. The game has one of the smallest, shortest instructions books I’ve ever seen, and the final result is a very simple, quick-playing card game. To a certain extent, the structure reminds me of the fictional game Mystic Warlords of Ka’a from The Big Bang Theory television show. It’s an easy game to play and a round can end in 15 minutes or less.

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Overall, Fantasy is nothing you’re going to go out of your way to get, but if you’ve got a few extra bucks (my copy cost $5.00 USD) and/or small kids at home, it might be a fun one to add to your collection. It’s especially great for kids due to the easy play and the fact that the instructions for the cards are literally printed on every individual card, so there’s little room for error. On that same note, the race of each card is printed across the top of the card with an accompanying nicely-drawn illustration of each character.

Not a great game, but tough to be too harsh on due to the price alone. The fact that it’s so accessible for kids (if you have a family) is certainly a plus.

“Skylar & Plux” gives me Ratchet & Clank flashbacks

James Buckingham
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“Skylar & Plux” gives me Ratchet & Clank flashbacks

Some of the best games I’ve played are platformers, with the likes of Mario 64, Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank sapping a lot of my gaming time over the years. Look, I really needed to get ALL the stars and see Yoshi, ok? I can quit any time I want!

Ahem. Anyway, Grip Digital and Right Nice Games are looking to destroy my social life even more by releasing Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island on my beloved PS4 (as well as the Xbox One and PC of course). The team behind the sci-fi exploration title The Solus Project (yep, I can’t wait for that either!) have fashioned a great-looking third-person platformer that looks like it’s going to appeal to a very wide demographic.

Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island

The game sets two unlikely heroes on an adventure to prevent the villainous CRT from conquering their home and turning it into a wasteland. Our protagonist is Skylar, who was designed Rocket Racoon-style by CRT, turning her into his most potent weapon – wielding a powerful mechanical arm augmentation. Now, she must rise up against her creator become a heroine-against-her-will and forge a new destiny. Plux is her eloquent Owl sidekick, who fills the Daxter/Ratchet role… likely providing some comic relief on the way.

Together, they will explore lush beaches, burning volcanoes, freezing mountains and merciless desert, fight an army of CRT’s henchmen, collect powerful upgrades like the Magnetic Glove, or Jetpack and challenging CRT’s plans – and their destinies – before it is too late.

The game looks really pretty, reminding me of Ratchet & Clank a lot
The game looks really pretty, reminding me of Ratchet & Clank a lot

Eric Valentine, Level Designer and Narrative Director at Right Nice Games described the game as “a passionate homage to the 3D platformers of our youth. Go on an action packed adventure, collecting gadgets helping you explore a beautiful paradise and save it from evil.”

It looks like they definitely have the right idea approaching the title, as Jakub Mikyska, CEO of GRIP Digital said “There’s a lot of personality and humour, colourful characters and hours of great gameplay for the fans of the genre, as well as newcomers to the 3D platformer games.”

Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island is due for release later this year on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Trailer:

 

Trailer for Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is here

Andy Haigh
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Trailer for Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is here

The first trailer for Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is here from acclaimed cult film director Tim Burton, the director of Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and The Corpse Bride is a perfect fit for the film based on the best selling books by Ransom Riggs. The books tells the story of Jacob (Asa Butterfield) who stumbles upon a mysterious abandonned orphanage after a horrific tragedy befalls his family.

Fans of the book will however notice numerous changes just in the trailer, most notably the roles of Emma (Ella Purnell) and Olive (Lauren McCrostie),who has been aged up, have been switched along with Olive getting strange new powers. Another glaring change is Bronwyn (Pixie Davies) has been aged down and is now one of the youngest of the Peculiars rather than being one of the oldest and one of the most formidable which will have a major impact on the story as fans of the book will know.

Eva Green does seem to be great as Miss Peregrine though. No prizes for pointing out how this is essentially Tim Burton’s X-Men either.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

In Devil We Trust: Final Daredevil Trailer

Ben Fee
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In Devil We Trust: Final Daredevil Trailer

With only three days until series two of Marvel’s Daredevil smashes into our lives like a red-suited vigilante through a Hell’s Kitchen window, Netflix have dropped one final trailer on us, just in case we weren’t already excited enough.

With more Electra, Punisher and ninjas (NINJAS!), all we can say is “Roll on Friday!”.

What are you looking forward to seeing in series two of Daredevil? Let us know in the comments.

Via Newsarama

Marvel’s Avengers Academy

Daniel Delargy
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Marvel’s Avengers Academy

Marvel has had a tough time cracking the video-game industry, as it has recently stopped with any tie-in games for it’s franchise (save for the new Lego Avengers game which covers some of the movies between The Avengers and Age of Ultron). In fact, it seems like very recently they have been attempting to crack the App games genre with a few free-to-play (but pay for extra features) games. Their most recent addition is Marvel’s Avengers Academy.

Now, what exactly is there to  offer from this free-to-play game? Well, if you’re playing with an aim to spend no real-world money at all on this game, you get the bare essentials. Which can be summed up like this – a new Avengers team is formed by Director Nick Fury, Odin and Hank Pym to combat the rising stars in HYDRA and AIM Academies. After recruiting Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Black Widow and Tony Stark, you are free to expand your academy…once you’ve completed certain tasks. Once you’ve reached certain levels you have access to certain buildings, have the ability to reach out to other characters and can progress through the mysterious ‘time fog’ which not so much surrounds the campus, but has invaded it and your job is to push through it.

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The way to describe this game is Marvel Sims University. Yup, that’s pretty much it. You go around, making sure they do tasks to complete objectives (or just dance for your amusement), and progress through the story. It has no combat mode, so it pretty much has a very relaxed pace narrative-wise (and optional outfits are for aesthetic and to cut down on time for certain actions). On one hand, this irks me – with no real aim other than ‘complete objectives’, it seems a little dull. Additionally, certain characters are trapped behind paywalls – looks like I’ll never get to have my own Vision, War Machine, Spider-Woman, as well as event-only characters like Red Hulk and A-Bomb.

So, what is its saving grace? Well…

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The writing is actually pretty funny.

Okay, I get it, this whole this is an Avengers Highschool Fanfiction AU, dumbed down and made for kids. I mean Red Skull is a jock leading a school of bullies, and it is just ludicrous. However, that’s part of the fun. It embraces it’s absurdity, which charges the writing with a kind of mildly enjoyable comedy.

Stay away from the internet Cap!
Stay away from the internet Cap!

The voice-cast reflects the demographic that this game is aimed at; we have a mix of professional actors like Alison Brie (Black Widow), and Dave Franco (Iron Man), as well as some online personas such as Youtubers Syndicate (Loki) and Seananners (Taskmaster). They even managed to get John Cena (Hulk)! Whilst some of the dialogue could be better, and the quality of the audio for some characters is kind of jarring, all in all they all seem to work together really well to make these characters seem pretty in character. It’s also nice to see the range of ‘Avengers’ you can recruit – with main stars like Black Widow, Iron Man and Captain America, it also gives some spotlight to Taskmaster, Maria Hill and Ms. Marvel, who receives some very high compliments from many characters, including the villains.

The writing is pretty interesting too. Whilst it may seem like a simple alternate reality where the Avengers are students, there is actually an interesting story playing out behind the scenes. When you liberate the first square of timefog, you find a damaged Iron Man helmet…which would be fine, if it weren’t for the fact that technically Iron Man hasn’t built his entire suit at that time. Additionally, in further patches of timefog you can make out characters like Hulk and Thor trapped in there, with no explanation. Black Widow is the only one who is doesn’t completely trust the situation, and sets out to find out what the adults are hiding from them.

And remember what I said earlier about ‘for kids’?

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Yeah. ‘For Kids’.

It does look like they will not update the story, but will be adding optional events which will give you the slim opportunity (unless you pay) to get even more characters…like Hawkeye (who was prominent in the promos, but oddly missing from the release) and even Bucky.

This kind of implies that it will be added to the story, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was pay-only
This kind of implies that it will be added to the story, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was pay-only.

Which actually brings me to my biggest gripe of the game – the paywall. It seems a pain that a lot of the content that is here (and will be added later) is locked behind a paywall. I get it as a business strategy, but the fact that I can’t even work my way with patience to getting these characters is actually quite irritating. No amount of remodelling my academy can quell my dissatisfaction!

All in all, the game is pretty fun. You can dip in and out without it affecting your progress (except for time-sensitive events), and it looks like they’ll be releasing more characters and features in the near future.

Teslagrad comes to Xbox One

Ben Fee
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Teslagrad comes to Xbox One

Fans of beautiful 2D puzzle platformers are truly living in a golden age. Recent years have provided us with such gems as the time-jiggering Braid, the mind-bending Fez, and the straight-up gorgeous And Yet It Moves, to name only a few. But what’s this? Another game takes a well-earned seat among this august pantheon! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Teslagrad.

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Initially released on Steam for PC back in 2013, Rain Games’ Teslagrad presents as a simple Steampunk-infused side-scroller. In fact, simple is very much the watchword for this game’s design. Little time is wasted on complex pre-game backstory beyond a fella carrying a baby through a town. He drops the child off at a house, times passes, and then we’re off, that same little boy fleeing soldiers for reasons unknown. No gameplay directions are given, no dialogue is required. The artwork, though a gorgeous and atmospheric study in the contrast between darkness and radiant colour, is also simple, using a hand-drawn paper cut-out aesthetic that evokes the charm and innocence of the 19th Century Toy Theatres, a device that’s used in-game to reveal more of the town’s history as you play.

This ethos even extends to the guts of this game, the basic puzzle-solving mechanic which you will use to defeat you enemies and progress: magnets. In fleeing the angry soldiers, you quickly find yourself inside a mysterious tower full of magnetised doors, floors, and strange emitters that can drag or repel items depending on their polarity. As you make your way through the abandoned rooms and strange locales that make up the loosely formed levels, you will pick up different tools and clothes that allow you to affect the polarity of objects or even yourself, as you solve puzzles and become a veritable master of magnetism.

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Be warned though. Simple as is may appear, this is not a game for the casual rage-quitter. The puzzles you will encounter within Teslagrad’s tower range from testing to brutal, requiring split-second timing and the odd tactical death to allow you to suss out a boss pattern. There is a learning curve here that is very easy to mistake for a wall, but that is the price you pay if you want to learn the secrets of the Teslamancers.

As well as stunning graphics and smooth gameplay, the Xbox One version also includes a gallery of 10 extra challenges which were cut from the previous releases for being too difficult. And boy-howdy are they!

Hard and beautiful, Teslagrad is a diamond of a game and a worthy addition to any platform-aficionado’s collection. Available now from Xbox Live.

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