Comic Station Issue #14 - April 3rd 2013

This issue of Comic Station continues to bring you the latest in New Releases and Review highlights to stay up-to-date with the comic book world.

New Releases: On this issue of Comic Station we find a few old hats returning to the scene. Dynamite Publishers resurrect an old favorite, as Miss Fury #1 makes her return as the debutant anti-hero thief who is either time traveling or is having a sever mental breakdown. Either way, she looks great doing it. The villian powerful enough to pull Loki's strings in the Avengers movie, and the rumored villain of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Thanos gets his own backstory series in Thanos Rising #1. Finally, a personal favorite, '68 Jungle Jim takes you back to Vietnam War but the guys with guns aren't the only problem as zombies have risen to be as much of a threat.

Review: As we gushed on the last issue of Comic Station, it's probably no surprise that we go over the East of West #1 review briefly. Our main Review feature this week though is 215Ink's Broken #1 written by our friend David Goodman (@PhillyGuyDave) from Geekadelphia. He called Broken "... a near perfect comic book [that] gets my highest recommendation." Can't get much better than that. You can find his Comic Roundup segment on Geekadelphia which features brief reviews of local Philadelphia, PA published titles.

Recommendation: Scott takes us to dimension in Earth 2 as he recaps some of this series' highlights

Thank you and please leave comments here or on YouTube as we continue to evolve our Comic Station coverage. If you didn't see last week's Comic Station Issue #13 check it out to see what you might have missed. For a listing of more New Releases we couldn't get to, a list can be found below the video.

Full Article: Comic Station Issue #14

Tales of Xillia designer Hideo Baba interviewed at New York Comic COn

At the 2012 New York Comic Con we sat down with Hideo Baba, designer of Tales of Xillia, to discuss some of their mechanics and how a heavily regarded Japanese RPG (JPRG) might be seen by a western audience. With such success in the Japanese market the developers at Namco Bandai are hopeful to increase western awareness.

Follow the link for more information and a link to the video interview: Article

Jet Set Radio HD review

In the glorious good ol’ days of the SEGA Dreamcast console, Jet Set Radio became something of an underground favorite – even spawning a sequel in 2002  on Xbox as Jet Set Radio Future.  As one of the first cell-shaded graphic art games, Jet Set Grind – as it was originally known – had left an impression on an entire gaming generation for its revolutionizing visuals, groovy soundtrack and quirky story.

There have been other recent re-releases of SEGA “hits” that have garnered varying levels of graphical and integral upgrades that have removed the nostalgic glow. As the next part of SEGA’s recent High Definition line-up, Jet Set Radio HD learns from the mistakes of their earlier HD attempts, but is it enough to match memories’ rose-tinted haze?


Read the full review: http://www.psnfans.com/jet-set-radio-hd-review-8214.html

How do the Windows Phone 8 offerings stack up? Compare HTC, Samsung and Nokia.

With the next line of Windows Phone 8 handset announced I'd like to take a look at the three main contenders and their flagship Windows Phone offerings to see how they stack up side-by-side.

Note: This picture is from a WMPowerUser article linked below.

While the HTC 8X weighs less and has the highest resolution screen it also has the smallest screen at 4.3 inches, Beats Audio sounds system and only 16GB memory storage. The Samsung Ativ S features the largest screen, a single color option, and the largest battery. The Nokia Lumia 920 weighs the most at 185g, offers a slightly better 8.7 megapixel camera (with the much touted Pureview technology) and offers wireless Q Standard charging. They all feature LTE and HSDPA connectivity, Near Field Communication (NFC) and a dual-core qualcomm 1.5Ghz processor.

Each offers something(s) different for everyone, which one appeals to you? Why?

*Picture from a WMPowerUser article.

Unmechanical Review (PC)

Does a sweeping story and large budget make a great game? Many smaller developers like Teotl Studios and Talawa Games believe a great game – a great experience – can be found in the simpler things. Made on the Unreal Engine, their downloadable PC game Unmechanical is just that – simple.

Contrary to some beliefs, simple does not mean a game has to be unpolished. Quite the opposite in fact. Unmechanical is a beautiful puzzle game set in a 2.5D world. While the foreground is in two dimensions, there are vast areas and stunning levels of detail in the background. Through the five or so hours of gameplay, Unmechanical takes our unnamed flying robot from being lost from being deposited in an underground cavern to strangely biological segments and beyond. The story is simple: keep moving and exploring.


Read the full review here: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/09/17/ftg-review-unmechanical-pc/

Dust: An Elysian Tail Review (XBLA)

Dust: An Elysian Tail brings with it some of the most stunning art style and fluid combination of Action-RPG and Metroidvania genres. Don't let the cutesy "furry" animation turn you away from what is sure to be one of the best XBLA games of the year.

Read the full review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/08/14/ftg-review-dust-an-elysian-tail/

Rigonauts Review (PC - Steam)

“A physics-based strategy game inspired by Frozen Synapse and Gratuatious Space Battles.”

If that sentence makes you smile, then Rigonauts – award winner of Activision’s first Independent Games Competition – by Engient, will be one to look forward to. For those unfamiliar with this genre, think of Rigonauts as an old “windup and release” car and replace it with “loadup and release” battleship.


Read the full review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/08/06/ftg-review-rigonauts-pc/

Windows Phone YouTube Video How-To's

I've started to create and upload short 30second to 2minute videos demonstrating features and applications on the Windows Phone mobile operating system.

I also have some older videos ranging from the NJHalo Gaming tournament, PAXEast 2012 video interviews and random personal videos. Hope you enjoy and leave comments. Let me know what you like or would like to see more of.

My YouTube channel can be found: http://www.youtube.com/user/Paneafsey84

Deadlight Review (XBLA Summer of Arcade)

Could I survive a zombie outbreak? That’s the question Tequila Works hopes you ask yourself – and answer – while playing their XBLA Summer of Arcade title Deadlight. Deadlight is set in the 1980’s well into the “Massive Mess” that changed the world forever. Already a bleak and ruined world, our protagonist Randall Wayne does what he can to survive – all while looking for his family, hoping they somehow made it too.

A highly beautiful post-apocalyptic 2.5D survival puzzle action game that introduces new mechanics in an homage to old-school platformering. Can it rise above the many trappings of not only the genre but of the Zombies-saturated market?

Read the full Review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/31/ftg-review-deadlight-xbla/

Interview with Raúl Rubio Munárriz: Creative Director of XBLA's Summer of Arcade title Deadlight

In the sea of announced titles, tucked away in the Xbox Booth during PAX East 2012 there was one game which surprised onlookers and critics alike: Deadlight. Set in a dark post-apocalyptic zombie-filled future, Deadlight places an emphasis on the survival lacking in most modern games. It was refreshing to see that the recently formed development house Tequila Works had created a zombie game that still managed to stand out above the rest. The game combines beautiful stylized art and modern mechanics with old-school puzzle platforming. After so many generic survival-horror entries recently, it’s easy to see why Deadlight left people hopeful.

To those who had seen it, it came as no surprise when a few months later Microsoft announced Deadlight would be among the titles in their Summer of Arcade 2012 lineup. To help shed some light on this dark future, we picked the brain of CEO and Creative Director Raúl Rubio Munárriz for some answers in anticipation of their release...


Read the full Interview: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/28/summer-of-arcade-2012-interview-with-deadlight-creator-raul-rubio-munarriz/

XBLA Summer of Arcade Review: Wreckateer on Kinect

As the second game in the Summer of Arcade 2012 promotion – and the only Kinect title – Wreckateer has garnered a lot of attention and skepticism. Developed by Iron Galaxy Studios, Wreckateer is at its heart a “high score chase” game in veins of another catapult-to-knocking-down-buildings game. Entering a market wary of cartoonish graphics and casual user targeted Kinect games, Wreckateer tries to launch itself above expectations.

Full Review: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2012/07/25/ftg-review-wreckateer-xbla/

NJHALO - July 21st 2012

I attended the NJHALO Tournament hosted by my friend Rod Lane in the Morristown, NJ Hayatt Hotel. We had a great turnout of close to 400 people competing in various competitions from Modern Warfare 3, Gears of War 3, NBA 2K12 and Madden to the fighting matching such as Street Fighter 4 and Mortal Kombat. There were even Pokemon and for the first time EVER, Minecraft was part of a tournament.

Follow this link to the SkyDrive album with all the pictures I took and check out the video of Team Dread participating in the Gears of War 3 match I taped below.  

Check out Rod Lane's Facebook page for all his future tournaments.

Batman Dark Knight Rises

Went with a few friends who really got into the Batman mood.

Went to see Batman: Dark Night Rises last night as part of their midnight release. It was fantastic, really great story and plot. There was plenty of action, and the moments that didn't have action were filled with great plot devices and conversation. The approximately 3hours to see the movie flew right by before I noticed. I'd recommend this film to anyone who enjoyed the previous Batman movies, comic book fans, and action fans. I would recommend parents exercise their judgment in bringing children to see this.

What I'm working on 7/16/2012

Here's a hint at what review I'm working on next

HTC Titan II Review

On September 1st 2011 HTC released one of the first Windows Phone 7.5 phones – the HTC Titan. The Titan earned it’s designation with a massive 4.7inch screen and garnered praise for its well-made design. On January 9th 2012 the HTC Titan II not only brings the same 4.7inch screen, but with two immediately noticeable changes: AT&T’s ultra-fast 4G LTE and a massive 16 megapixel camera to match its screen size.

I break down this review into key areas of interests such as design, camera, and applications to give a better insight on the HTC Titan II.

Read the full review here: HTC Titan II Review