Gamers On The Go #23 | Tearaway

Giant Bomb’s Patrick Klepek joins Chase to talk about one of the best (and most interesting) Vita games to come out this year.

In addition to the Tearaway discussion, Patrick and Chase also muse on the future of Nintendo, the potential dangers of PlayStation Plus and talk about some of their favorite handheld games of the year (and Chase accidentally displays some clairvoyance in today’s Smash Bros announcement).

Show Notes:

  • The picture above comes from Chase’s own Tearaway album. Go to Tearaway.me to see some of the amazing stuff people have been making.
  • If you’re still on the fence about Tearaway, you should read Patrick’s review on the game.
  • Near the end of the show, Patrick talks a little about his newest article on blind gamers having an effect on Kickstarter game FREEQ. Read it here.
  • And for more audio-only game goodness, check out Episode 20 of Gamers on the Go about iOS horror game Vanished.

Gamers On The Go #22 | Tetris

While not originally a handheld game, we bend the rules for one of the best-selling and best-loved portable games of all time.

And who do we have on to talk about such an important game? Why it’s returning guest, Pierce Courchaine. 

We explore the entire Tetris saga, from its creator, Alexey Pajitnov, to the game’s disputed rights and how it finally came to the Nintendo’s consoles. 

We also take a look at the many improvements and no-so-improvements of subsequent Tetris games and declare what we believe to be the definitive Tetris experience. 

Gamers On The Go #21 | Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal

Fellow former Bitmob writer and Pokemon master, Matt Polen, joins Chase as we return to our look at the Pokemon franchise, digging this time into the second generation.

The thing is…the new Pokemon X and Y are still pretty fresh in our minds, so the conversation inevitably deviates into that territory time and again. 

Show Notes:

  • Chase mentions a certain video regarding the reveal of Mega Kangaskhan. Maybe you should just take a look…
  • You owe it to yourself to read Matt’s awesome Hunter S. Thompson-esque take on Pokemon’s fiction. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
  • Chase incorrectly credits Matt with writing those Pokemon metagame articles on Bitmob. They were actually by Marcel Hoang. Gen 1 Gen 2 Gen 3 Gen 4 Gen 5
  • Note that our impressions of X and Y are still pretty early despite each of us having crossed the 70-hour mark. Some of our statements are wrong and some of our issues actually have solutions (like Chase’s issue with foreign Pokemon names. As long as they weren’t given nicknames, the names will revert to English when the Pokemon evolves.) 

EPIC SPELL WARS of the BATTLE WIZARDS | Rumble At Castle Tentakill

Epic Spell Wars Of The Battle Wizards: Rumble At Castle Tentakill

Warning! This review may contain some objectionable content! Read at your own risk!

If you want to skip to the "How to Play" video you can find it at the bottom of this article

 

Rumble at Castle Tentakill is the sequel to the popular Epic Spell Wars Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre and it works as an expansion to that game or can be played as a standalone game. The game will have you take on the role of a powerful immortal wizard locked in fierce eternal combat with other wizards, the last wizard standing is the victor!

Gameplay is fast paced, off the wall, and very very humorous, especially if you have a slightly warped sense of humour.

The main thing that sets this game apart from the large crowd of quick, easy, “gross out” games like cards against humanity, that seem to be popping up everywhere nowadays is the artwork. Each card is meticulously illustrated with tons of zany action going on in the background. The art is extremely colorful and is similar in style to Pendleton Ward's Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors cartoons but don’t be fooled into thinking that this game is for children. There are many hyper violent and disgusting images that are not even appropriate for most adults. That is kind of the point of the game. Epic Spell Wars is not out to wow you with advanced gameplay mechanics or heavy strategy. It wants you to kill your friends in the most ridiculous, horrific way possible and to have all of you laughing hysterically as you do it. And it succeeds quite well. The creations are far more unique than your standard fart and butt humour that most other games of this type offer which I feel sets it ahead of the curve of games like Evil Baby Orphanage and the wildly popular Cards Against Humanity.

The gameplay is very quickly paced and allows for a high level of player interaction. Each player will take an 8 card hand and assemble a spell of up to three components using those cards. The cards can have an awful lot of random effects and typically deal more damage as you add components to them. However, having too long of a spell can cause too long of a delay for it to take effect and you might get killed before it goes into effect. Judicious play of your cards can be more important than dealing the most damage each turn. This is probably the one bit of strategy that can be found in this game since most of the time you are at the mercy of randomness.

The first player to win two rounds of the game is the winner and the game usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour to complete. It should be noted, however that if your group takes a heavy “gang up on the leader” strategy a game can take a little longer because the game rewards spreading the damage around a little bit and requires a lot of thought to target one person. Things move along much quicker and get way more fun when people are attacking willy nilly.


There is some player elimination in this game but it is not too bad since rounds go pretty quickly and the longer that you are out the more bonuses you get from dead wizard cards. Each turn you miss due to being dead you will get to draw a dead wizard card that gives you a special bonus in the next round. This keeps scores even throughout the game and insures that no one has a run away victory.

This expansion adds a lot of new material to the Epic Spell Wars game that previously did not exist.

First off every “Delivery” Component in this game features a new “Creature” subset. Creatures are grotesque monsters that have random effects based on a dice roll. They also have the potential to stay around and continue to deal damage on subsequent turns which is pretty unique in this game since nothing tends to stick around too long in Epic Spell Wars. Especially the wizards!

The “Blood” mechanic is also a new feature in this incarnation of the game. If you kill a wizard or use some certain spells in the game you will collect blood which can be used as a resource to power up your spells and make them more deadly. This adds even more gruesomeness to an already pretty deranged game.

The standee, which is a fairly iconic staple in most Cryptozoic games finally is given a use in this game. The owner of the standee, which represents the dreaded Castle Tentakill, can also be used to power up your spells and give you an extra blood resource. Think of it as an added king of the hill variant to gameplay.

Finally the game adds a death curse to the mix. If you die before your spell activates you may be able to play a spell as a reaction. Allowing you to stick your tongue out as you deal out a little damage to the player that just killed you.

I think this game is definitely worth picking up for the price that Miniature Market is carrying it for at $20.70 (http://www.miniaturemarket.com/catalog/product/view/id/44296/s/cze01633/) If you want something that is just pure fun, weird and gross and fast paced this is an excellent option. I have not played the first in this series of games so therefore can not speak to its effectiveness as an expansion, but it plays very well as a stand alone. My biggest concern is that the comedy will wear off after a few plays and the gameplay is not good enough to stand on its own after the magic of the theme wears off. The inexpensive price tag however, does make that a little less of a concern and since this franchise has been very successful it is likely that more expansions will come out in the future to freshen it up. My suggestion would be to get this game and then trade it at a convention or on board game geek when it starts to become stale.

If you are interested in seeing a full gameplay video that will teach you the game and give you an idea of whether this is a game that you and your group will enjoy, check out the video below!

Thank you very much for reading this review! If you want more game reviews, news, and previews of exciting new tabletop games as well as articles and videos on all things nerd culture, check out livingthenerdlife.com!

Note: I did make a few mistakes in the video. First off I accidently knocked Kitty Purringon’s health down, by a lot. Sorry, Sir Purrington. Also you cannot target yourself as a foe. You are not your own worst enemy. I did not immediately do Riggy’s treasure ability. that would have gained him the standee and possibly some blood. Finally you gain a dead wizard card for each round you are out. We only had one round before the battle ended so I did not get to show that.

Gamers On The Go #17 | Rymdkapsel

This episode we get all minimalistic with Rymdkapsel’s Swedish designer, Martin Jonasson (and we don’t mention meatballs even once!)

We chat about what it takes to develop a game by yourself, how Rymdkapsel became a PlayStation Mobile title and how best to sneak t-shirts through international customs.

Make sure you grab a copy of Rymdkapsel on the PS Mobile store (part of PSN), the iOS App Store or Android via Google Play.

And if you’re going to PAX in Seattle this weekend, go visit Martin and play Rymdkapsel yourself at the Indie Megabooth!

Notes:

  • You gotta check out one of Martin’s previous games, Glorg: a one-button, Flash-based dungeon crawler. It’s fantastic.
  • If you like the music in the credits of the episode, it’s a part of Rymdkapsel’s soundtrack: an awesome 15-minute single that available on Bandcamp.
  • Martin was even nice enough to provide us some codes to give away to GOTG listeners. Make sure you redeem them through this link. Grab ‘em while they last!

         m26d-6b44    bvys-khja    wbke-gv8b    ea3g-3kbx    rfvz-w9lq    dwbk-h8vt    u6ux-3azh         xzlp-hnyv    hyp8-5e79     qu93-b3pz

WWE's Adam "Edge" Copeland Cast As Atom-Smasher On The Flash Season 2

From ComicBook.com

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The upcoming, second season of The CW's The Flash will feature former WWE Superstar Adam Copeland as Atom-Smasher, ComicBook.com has learned and CW has confirmed exclusively.

He will appear in the season premiere, currently filming, and contrary to what the name might suggest, he's not on the good guys' side. Here's how The CW describes his character:

"One of the most powerful enemies we encounter this season, Atom Smasher has come to Central City to kill The Flash.  His incredible strength and ability to grow to enormous size makes him more than a match for Flash and the entire S.T.A.R. Labs team will have to come together to find a way to defeat him."

In the comics, Atom-Smasher is a hero. Al Rothstein, grandson to the villain Cyclotron, is godson to Al Pratt, the Golden Age hero known as The Atom before Ray Palmer took on the name. Prior to becoming Atom-Smasher, Rothstein operated as Nuklon.

During The Flash executive producer Geoff Johns' time on JSA, Rothstein briefly took on a vengeful and unhinged personality following the murder of his mother, eventually traveling back in time to save her. That storyline seems like it has a lot of potential given the over-arching story of The Flash last year.

At Comic-Con International: San Diego last weekend, producers said that while the particle accelerator explosion had been the main source for introducing powered characters in the show's first season that it would be Earth-2 providing many such characters this time around. It stands to reason that Rothstein's connections to Earth-2 staples the JSA and Infinity, Inc. will be explored.

That Rothstein was one of a number of DC characters named as having died during the particle accelerator explosion -- a list that also included Ronnie Raymond, who later returned as Firestorm -- also throws into question whether we might see some of those characters re-emerge as their superheroic selves soon.

The Flash returns to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on The CW in October.

XBOX ONE OWNERS UNABLE TO DOWNLOAD MORTAL KOMBAT X PREDATOR BUNDLE

From IGN.com

Owners of the Xbox One version of Mortal Kombat X are currently unable to download the Predator Bundle.

 Warner Bros. Games is aware of the issue and looking to resolve it as soon as possible.

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 "We’re aware that Xbox One owners who have purchased the Kombat Pack currently do not have access to the Mortal Kombat X Predator Bundle," WB Games explained in a post on its forums. "We are working to identify and fix the issue as soon as possible.  Thanks for your patience in this matter."

We reached out to Warner Bros. regarding this issue and received no additional comment.

For more on Mortal Kombat X, be sure to check out our comprehensive wiki guide.