Who writes this stuff?

The Smurfette Principle

After watching this I have to agree. Even though the shows shown are based around the 80's & 90's, the facts here are the truth. Even in most animations today there is a level of male dominance and despite trying to give the image of equal standings, looking at them now shows it was more an illusion if anything.

The anime 'Slayers' (the series, not the movies) sort of had that equal image, but then the two back-up characters seemed to confuse that. The only thing I can see different was the work done by Lauren Faust, who's work on the girl's show 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' seems to have altered one of the comments in this video, by making a 'female focused' show getting the attention of the 'male demographic'. Trying to explain that part however is proving harder then I thought.

Assassin's Creed Blade

As part of a promotional thing leading up to Assassin's Creed 3, EB Games was releasing Ezio's Hidden Blade (a Role-play one).

As you can see, you put the blade part on first and the outer cover on last. It's plastic, but is still dangerous in the hands of stupid people. Unlike the finger string put blade that most role-players use, this one is a push button that can be locked (so you don't accidentally set it off and hit someone).

Finally, here's a picture of the lamest assassin ever......me. No wonder the Brotherhood turned down my application.

Ranting Apologies

Yeah, as you may of noticed from a previous post, I was a little peeved. This was probably due more to my health then anything else. I've been advised to take a day or so off work to relax as my Stress/Depression seems to be hitting a rather bad patch. Sorry about that.

Project: Stormspear

Collection of all Project: Stormspear posts.

1.Stormspear: It starts with Warhammer
2. Stormspear and Corrupticus Designs
3. Corrupticus sculpt research
4. Coming Soon

Good Game Dust Review

I'm a little disappointed of Good Game's Dust review. First off, Fidget is a Nimbat, they made it quite clear through out the game. Second, did they even finish playing it? I mean the Amnesia claim was atleast better used and explained in this one then in the game Amnesia (A great game too, but an Amnesia potion?).

Given that Dean is an Artist, the art work of the game isn't really mentioned at all. That's a big insult to an artist. And even at the end of the show's 'Guess that game' segment they show Jazz Jackrabbit 1 claiming that Dean's work on it would later inspire Dust, yet I recall that Dean never worked on JJ1 and was only the Cinematic Animator for JJ2. He did have major influence on both JJ2's add-on 'The Secret Files' and the never completed Jazz 3D.

I respect Bajo and Hex's comments, but considering many of the games that have been released this year, I feel  that this one deserved better. Guess they were too caught up in the new Transformers game to really enjoy this one (I did leave them a comment on Facebook, so I expect to be flamed for that one...Bring it on!).

Chaos Up-dates

First up is the disc. I admit my plan was to build up the shape and sand it flat, but it seems the sander is taking a hell of a lot longer to do it (not to mention that the vibrations are sending the nerves in my neck into pain overdrive). It would seem I may have to do it manually or try and come up with another idea.

The Flamers have been base painted to test what two colours I want for each of them. I want them to be different and colourful (Note that the base colour has not been blended in yet).

Finally, I have finish converting the second Herald and about time too as this little bastard was started the same time as the other Herald and has been causing no end of problems. I've also designed his base so that it matches the Chaos Fulcrum, just in case I do decide to to a Chaos themed Armies on Parade board.

Nostalgia Critic - Starscream Cookies

Top 11 - More Eps

While I don't agree with all of them, No 1 had me in stitches.

It's amazing just how well these Batman episodes were written.

Even when this guy makes mistakes he's willing to make a video showing them and still make it funny (if not somewhat having an annoying character involved).

Daemons of Cluelessness

So,was thinking about the whole Tzeentch themed army and when reading through it and all the recent updates a few things occurred to me:

The first is that the Flamers were changed from Rare to Special in the little update booklet in White Dwarf, yet the issue it came with had the staff using them as Rare. So what are they, Special or Rare Choice?

Second is a Daemon Prince. Dedicating them to a god lets you use their spell lores and their Greater Damon gifts, but nothing else (so technically, it seems a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch is weaker in the Daemon book then the Warriors book, e.g 5+Ward vs 4+Ward), but it's one gift in particular that has me. Flames of Tzeentch is a shooting attack almost the same as a Flamer's attack, except that a Daemon Prince has a Ballistic Skill of 0, which means he is incapable of using any ranged attack (except spells). I wanted to add this gift but realized this problem straight away. It would be easier (and cheaper) to simply paint one to look Tzeentch themed and not pay for dedication.

With nothing in the Daemon FAQ on ether of these issues (and nothing released through GW channels), I've got to wonder how such things were so easily missed (or not corrected yet for that matter).

AoP 2012 and Spawn ideas 2

So I decided this year not to enter Armies on Parade, but that didn't mean I couldn't go and see this years entries. Gotta say it seems that more people entered and the competition was much more competitive. Needless to say I will enter next years, though I only enter to just win the AoP medal. As for the Games Day Ticket, well I'd just give it to another competitor as I have no use for it.

As for what to enter? well things haven't progressed well with my Empire force and after the discussion with GW staff today over my Chaos Fulcrum and Spawn projects, it seems a more Chaos themed project would be better suited.

Speaking of which, got some more pics off the web for idea's on the Spawn. With the base nearing final painting stages I really need to get a move on in finalizing the design.

Certainly this one is a rough idea as too how I want the shape of it's mouth to look like.

Ok, so nothing new with this one. I only put it up here cause I think it's cute in a strange...sorta....sea-thingy way....umm yeah.

Nightmare House 2

Bored and need a little excitement, then time to check out Nightmare House 2 from thradbrad's classic series. Just finished watching it and I gotta say, that final boss was great. Sorta wished most bosses in games talked shit liked that.

Spawn body ideas

Ok, I have a rough design for the maw and arms of my Spawn drawn up, but as such I was still lost designing the main body. Consulting the staff at my local Games-Workshop, it seems the Tzeentch daemon designs come partly from sea creatures (e.g Screamers why didn't I think of that?). So on their advice I've been searching the internet for strange sea creatures for ideas. Here's a few I've found:

Body wise, it's hard to see any shell used as the Spawn has no armour, but the design idea is good. Also, lots of legs seems the way to go as well.

Possibly a good tail idea, but it's the colour scheme that seems quite Tzeentch and would go well for the body.

Weird Al and Ponies

Dust - Cons (Contains Spoilers)

Warning: This part does contain spoilers of the games story

Anyway, finished the game and for the most part I enjoyed it. Though you really only need to playthrough once just to get most achievements, I feel I'll keep playing again and again just to enjoy the story and all the comedic conversations between Dust and Fidget. And before I begin pointing out my personal cons with this game, none of them are about the voice acting. I've read a few reviews criticizing the voice acting in this game and I strongly disagree. I paid around $25 AU for this game, compared to another game (which I won't name incase fans disagree) which costs $79 AU and the more expensive game's voice acting was far worse. Like wise, some have also called it repetitive, my question is 'what game isn't these days?'. But I could go on about these unfair criticizes all day, so instead I'll give a few simple things that I personally had problems with, and they are all story based too.

Gaius n Cassius - Not too give away much as to who these characters are, but not much is given about their background except that they bad and that they hate the Moonbloods. Why they hate them and the history of that hatred isn't so much explained. Indeed, Gaius at first doesn't seem like a bad person when you see him in the cutscenes so it's hard to tell and even less so when it comes to Cassius. All I'm saying is a bit more background was needed for these characters as they just felt something was missing.

Haley - I've got nothing against her, infact I found her enjoyable. The problem I had was that, as Fidget said, she was giving him the signs that she was interested. As such, instead of a romantic sub-plot, she gets two conversation pieces and spends the rest of the time simply crafting. So much more could have been done with her, but considering my final gripe, I guess that was the reason.

The Ending - I'm not saying the ending was bad or anything, infact it was very good, it's just not the endings I enjoy. Somehow, unless you know the reasons at the beginning of game, such endings leave me feeling empty. This one is a personal gripe and nothing more, so I won't spoil it.

So that's it really. I've enjoyed this game thoroughly and I really look forward to Dean's next project (although I'd like an OST on itunes and of course, a Fidget doll which I will keep with me....Forever!!).

FOREVER!!

One of the best Dust & Fidget conversations.

Dust: An Elysian Tail Short Review

It's finally out and it's been worth the wait. Dust is the work of Dean Dodrill, an artist whom I've been a fan of for some time and his recent project 'Dust' is a reflection of his creative vision.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is the story about a mysterious character who is called, well..umm... Dust. He has no memory of who he is and so with the help of a ancient magical sword called Ahrah and it's guardian, the Nimbat called Fidget, begin their journey to uncover just who Dust is. Of course, it isn't as simple or as clear as that and you find yourself wanting to know more as the twists begin to show.

The graphics and music are simply amazing and you can sometimes get distracted looking at the visuals (not that it's a bad thing). Despite the 2D platform combat style, the gameplay is infact quite smooth and addictive as you find yourself trying to rank up maximum combo points. There are about five difficulty options to choose from when starting and even though I'm playing normal difficulty, it's just enough difficulty to enjoy both story and gameplay. Voice acting is very good (which seems to be a sore point in most games lately) and you can't help but love Fidget and the things she says.

It currently costs 1200 Microsoft points to purchase, so it's not too expensive, particularly when your comparing it to half the crap most gaming companies are producing these days.  Yes, I know my opinion may seem biased, I do infact enjoy playing this game. Besides, with all the expensive duds out there, it's nice to see something both fresh and visually pleasing.

Movie Night - Dragons

There never seems to be much on TV most nights, but last night the movie 'How to train your Dragon' was on, so I though I'd give it a shot. To put it simply, I loved it. It's story line is simple and predictable, yet it's also very enjoyable. It also has a bizarre but highly colourful number of Dragons in it. Music was fitting and the animated characters didn't look too over the top. My only regret was not seeing this at the cinema. If you get a chance, I recommend watching it at least once.

Dust is almost here

Brisbane Ekka 2012

So on Sunday I went with my family to Brisbane's Ekka, and even though I haven't been in years, it still feels like the same great show. So, to cut a long story short, we spent most of the time on a show bag hunt for the girls. Not to say it was a bad thing as we not only got all the bags they had chosen, but they were winners too. Apparently, the Beanie Kids bag ($25) had a scratchy to win a Murray the Merino Sheep Bear (a limited one of only 400 made and marked as Brisbane Ekka 2012), to which BOTH of them won one each. The guy who served us was gobsmacked as it seemed almost impossible that it could happened (he told us that one women bought 9 bags, that's about $225, and none of her scratchy's won). Plus, we got to ride the classic steam train back to Roma Street.

What a day that was.

ScrewAttack Top 10 Cartoon Games

Why does watching this clip reminisce on cartoons?

All Chairs are Bad

Pistols & Daemons

More model updates, the first being towards the army build up to a possible 2013 Armies on Parade entry, a Pistoliers unit.

As you can see, I've actually tried to keep the Outriders cloaks on them. This is because I want to give the impression that the region they're in is cold and as they are used for scouts for the army, they must go through some rather freezing mountain passes. Just need to green stuff the cloaks and give them a tidy up and they'll be ready to paint.

I've always wanted to paint a unit of Flamers and now with the new plastic kit, I planned to do just that.

Finally, we have a WiP shot of the base on which Bazza the Spawn will be mounted on. It's made with sand, slate, cork and beads called 'Acrylic Faceted Prism Crystal (6pk). As of yet, I haven't sculpted the 'chaos tree' that will also go on the base before painting. Will do it around the same time I base sculpt the Disc of Tzeentch.

Nostalgia!

Yesterday I went with my sisters to their School Fete and I can't believe what I found:

And it only cost me $1 from their second hand stall. I haven't seen this in a long time. My mother got me the same game when I was a little boy (I still have most the cardsand stuff in an old box somewhere).

Best of all, it appears to contain most of the game too (if it is missing parts, I'm sure I have replacements in that box somewhere.....assuming I can remember which box it was). What a zoggin good find.

$20

Remember - Slender Man want's your $20 and he won't take no for an answer:

Hated Competitions

Just a quick bitch on how I hate when they send out products world wide, but the competitions they put in with them a limited to just one country.....and it isn't yours. Seriously, it really does peeve me off, considering the prizes are always better.