Saturday, December 31, 2011

Snu Snu

I sentence you to Death... by Snu Snu
Photobucket

The last men to visit Amazonia died of crushed pelvises


The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised








LEGO Minifigs Series 6 Release Preview

LEGO Minifigs Series 6

Set to be released in January 2012, the new series of Lego Minifigs offers what we've come to expect: a mix of cool unique character pieces and different plays on old standby designs. 

The series 6 roster in full:
ROMAN SOLDIER, HIGHLAND BATTLER, MINOTAUR, BANDIT, CLASSIC ALIEN, GENIE, LEPRECHAUN, INTERGALACTIC GIRL, BUTCHER, MECHANIC, SKATER GIRL, SURGEON, SLEEPYHEAD, CLOCKWORK ROBOT, LADY LIBERTY and FLAMENCO DANCER.

I always tend to gravitate towards the figures with unique new pieces and concepts.  The soldier-type figures are always cool, but rarely offer something really new we haven't seen before.  I'll highlight some of the different ones.

Lady Liberty


 
Definitely a nice display piece, the unique crown piece should be pretty cool.  One thing I'm not crazy about that a lot of the female designs fall back on is the bottom piece of the figure.  Instead of the traditional legs, these come with a solid piece meant to resemble a dress bottom, which is tapered in the back.  Fine for display, but can make things tough if you actually want to play with the figure.

Genie
 I think this one looks awesome.  A big departure from the normal design, this figure features a unique ethereal leg piece complete with a lamp.  Again a display piece, but one that really stands out.  I'll definitely be picking this one up.

A list complete with pictures of all the new figures can be found here at LEGO's website:
http://minifigures.lego.com/en-gb/Bios/Default.aspx

Once again an issue that always comes up with these figures is how to tell what's what when buying them.  I had an article on the site a while back about a Lego barcode decoder, which applied to series 2 of the figures.  Unfortunately, Lego changed the barcode system with series 3 to get rid of this "cheat".  Since then, I've had to rely on groping the packages to feel for the unique pieces... with mixed results.  This can get really annoying, especially when trying to complete the sets. (My cousin always ends up one figure short which he can never find)

The best option really seems to be to get a checklist of all the figures and do a blind feel test through the packages.  Not a perfect system, but somewhat better than the random grab.  As an example, the leg piece of the genie above should be easy to distinguish from the other figures.

Happy hunting!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

George R.R. Martin release preview of "Winds of Winter"

Bonus double-post day, because it's just that important.  George R.R. Martin just released an excerpt from the 6th book in the Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series, "Winds of Winter".

Here's the link:    http://georgerrmartin.com/if-sample.html

Hopefully this is a sign the next book is coming out soon!  And if anyone reading is a fan of the show but hasn't read the books, do.  If not, you're definitely missing out.

Skyrim Mod: Tired of Mudcrabs, Why Not Zoidberg?



Tired of those lame old mudcrabs scuttling around in Skyrim?  Spice things up by changing them into good old Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama with this mod:


I love it, especially the Zoidberg voice.  Credit to Snoopey0 for this awesome mod.  The download can be found here:
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4382

Definitely one to add some lighthearted fun to the game.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Best Nerf Gun Ever (The Nerf Crossbow)

It's Christmas time, and that signals one of the few times a year I get to browse the toy aisles with a legitimate excuse.  I have a 9-year-old cousin to shop for, so that means Nerf guns.  I went to Target and was a little dismayed to see some of the new designs that shoot discs instead of darts or arrows (call me a traditionalist).  Supposedly they actually shoot very well, but I have yet to try one.  I ended up picking out the Raider Rapid-Fire, which resembles a Tommy Gun with the large drum barrell.  Seems like the 30-shot capacity would serve him well in a firefight.

All of the shopping got me to thinking about my personal favorite Nerf gun, the Nerf Crossbow.


This purple monster was the first Nerf gun to fire both arrows and darts, which was great because you could use any ammo you found.  It also had a pretty good kick compared to the other Nerf products at the time, and a very practical design.  In fact, it has become the gun most sought after by collectors and modders alike.  If you remove the "bow" part of the toy, it becomes a cool-looking shotgun.  Sadly, mine was lost in a move, and a replacement has been too hard and too costly to find.  But it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Skyrim Multiplayer Mod

If you haven't been playing Skyrim, what's wrong with you?  (Insert arrow to the knee joke here)  Anyway, there's a new mod available that turns the single-player game into an MMO, complete with a friends list and trade capabilities.  However, the mod is still in a very early development stage, and as such some major bugs exist.  The major one seems to be that fast-travel gets wrecked, even if you delete the mod.  In addition, the current version of the mod causes frequent crashes.  Nevertheless, this is definitely one to keep your eye on.  With such an active modding community, you have to expect that the bugs will get fixed over time.

Here's a video of some of the gameplay:


The modder's website is www.skyrim-online.com

Here's some more info via skyrimnexus.com:

Skyrim Online turns your single experience into an online experience, play with your friends, chat with people worldwide, trade with other players...
Currently in the alpha stage you can see other players (appearing as naked prisoners), you can also chat with everybody.
The mod also includes an Arena to fight with waves of creeps.
Offcial website : http://skyrim-online.com/
Installation :
0) Back up your config files, this mod will rewrite them !!!
1) Unrar the file in your Skyrim root folder.
2) Create a shortcut for SkyrimOnline.exe on your desktop
Usage :
- Start SkyrimOnline.exe, it will automatically update the mod and then allow you to start the game with the mod.
- When you enter the game, you will be prompted for a username, enter whatever username you feel like using there is no authentication yet.
- To switch between UI mode and Game mode press F3.
- Numpad 7 8 9 are used for the arena, try them out.
Known bugs :
- In UI mode some keys are sill enabled such as Journal and Wait, you might want to bind these keys to keys that are not needed in the UI (I personally use £ and µ).
- Compatibility issues with some mods (no list available)
- Breaks Fast Travel !
- Leaves players there if you save the game with players around.
- Crashes on start (unknown reason, happened to a few people)
Trouble shoot :
OH NOES it broke fast travel even after uninstall it !!!!?!
- You just have to delete the saves you made while playing Skyrim Online and it will work again !
Uninstalling :
- Delete SkyrimOnline.asi, SkyrimOnlineProxy.dll, enbpatch.ini, d3d9.dll

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Last of Us Trailer Released

Gonna try to start up some posts again after a long absence.  Happened to see this trailer on TV during the Spike Video Game Awards.  The game looks pretty cool, despite the lack of actual zombies.  It looks like a post-apocalyptic gameplay style in the vein of Fallout, but with a more cinematic tone.  Definitely a game to look forward   to in 2012.






Official description:


"The Last of Us is genre-defining experience blending survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Cities are abandoned and being reclaimed by nature. Remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a young teenage girl who's braver and wiser beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States."

Check out more info at the game's website:http://www.lastofus.com/