Preparing for a return to Los Santos.

Back in the saddle again.

Sorry for the lack of content on my side of the fence, folks. Things tended to get a tad bit out of hand the last few weeks. Lapses in memory, traveling for work, and a Thursday Night Football game featuring my Atlanta Falcons took me out of my element and my posts suffered.

For that, I apologize.

But allow me to right the ship now and get back into the blogging spirit. I haven't touched many retro games lately, so I'm going to post about something I've very excited about. A return to Los Santos.

Los Santos.

If you're a gamer, you know Los Santos is the fictional representation of Los Angeles in the Grand Theft Auto universe. On the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, gamers worldwide ventured the rough streets, vast countryside, rugged mountains, and ocean depths of this enormous city. The game was Grand Theft Auto V and it was good.

Very good.

Good enough to become one of the, if not THE, best selling games of all time in a quick fashion. Gamers everywhere were hoping Rockstar Games would bring the sandbox king to the Playstation 4 and Xbox One consoles. A PC release was even petitioned for with a massive amount of signatures acquired. Ask and you shall receive, folks. This November, Michael, Trevor, and Franklin bring the chaos and mayhem of Los Santos to next-generation consoles. A PC release is set for early 2015.

Now, I put extensive time into GTA V on Xbox 360. But even in the amount of time I put into the game, I barely scratched the surface of everything it has to offer. GTA Online, probably one of the multiplayer modes I've wanted for a long time, was something I dabbled in but never fully embraced. And I left a lot of side-missions and events on the cutting room floor. Regretful, as anyone who knows me is fully aware that GTA and Splinter Cell are my favorite gaming franchises. So leaving a bunch of content behind when I made my transition to next-gen wasn't something I was pleased with.

November 18th changes all of those things. If you preorder the game, you'll be awarded $1,000,000 in currency to use in-game. Buy those cars you want. New weaponry. A few garages to store all your vehicles. New digs for Michael, Trevor, and Franklin. Whatever you want, really. Additionally, the game will feature updated visuals and other technical enhancements. Bundle this in with new weapons, vehicles, and activities and you have a recipe for all last-gen players to dive in again.

PS4 vs. PS3 screenshot. Massive difference.

In something I was surprised to learn, gamers who upgraded from Xbox 360 to Playstation 4 will be able to transfer their game save over from last gen to current gen. Yes, from Xbox 360 to Playstation 4. Obviously a PS3 to PS4 save transfer is also possible. This is a big deal for me, even though I wouldn't mind starting fresh. I'm not entirely sure if my GTA Online character will transfer, as well, but it would come as a pleasant surprise if so.

Another last vs. current gen shot. More massive difference.

I was greatly considering going digital for this, as I did so for The Last of Us and Destiny, but figured I'd do a physical copy instead. Not that I have any intention of ever trading the game in. I always find something to do in GTA, regardless if I've finished everything or not. And GTA Online will definitely keep me engaged for, I'm guessing, a decent amount of time. Especially if some of my online or real-life friends decide to grab it on PS4. Remote Play on my Vita also influenced my decision for PS4 vs. Xbox One. Being able to play from my living room instead of in the basement is a big one. If you own a PS4, a Vita is almost a necessary accessory for the system.

Overall, I'm ready for my return to Los Santos. It's been too long and there is a lot of chaos left to engage. Another work trip is going to prevent me from diving in day one, but it'll be there when I return. Trevor Phillips better get ready to burn things.

GTA. The best franchise in gaming today.

Thanks for coming back for my return to the blog. I'll be back next week.

Game on.

-ML

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Obi-Wan Trilogy? Uh, Yes Please!

For months now we have been hearing rumors about spin-off, stand alone Star Wars movies like: Boba Fett (I really hope so), Han Solo, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I for one would love to see a series of Obi-Wan movies. From what I’ve read on the rumor sites, the movies would take place between episodes III and IV, but aren’t part of the story arc. I would like to see some stories carried out that have some questions. What ever happened to Darth Maul after he was shamed by the Emperor in the Clone Wars, does he track down Kenobi for a final duel? What type of training did Qui-Gon give him from the other side? Why does Owen Lars dislike Obi-Wan so much? (Okay maybe not that one, but you get the point.) These are just some of the ideas that could be going through the creative minds over at LucasFilm.

I would like to see how this battle ends in live action.

If they do create an Obi-Wan trilogy, I would also like to see Ewan McGregor play Obi-Wan again. I think he did an incredible job despite the acting of some of his fellow Star Wars costars.

Hopefully more like this.

Not like this.

For more on this story, check out the post on cinelinx.com.

What story line(s) would you like to see with Obi-Wan being the feature character? Please list them in the comments below we would love to hear from you.

May the Force Be With You!

- Da_Fettman

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Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition Monster Manual Review

Sometimes, life gets in the way of gaming, or in reviewing games as well. Alas, we are back without further delay in an in-depth review of the Dungeons and Dragons Fifth edition Monster Manual!

Find here your Carnivorous Compendium, Nefarious Novel, Vicious Volume,
Lascivious Lexicon, Despicable Dictionary, or Bestiary Bible! 

Having only a few days initially to thumb through some pages here and there was alright and all, but it was a bit of a tease for myself. And I'd be doing a disservice to myself, everything within the text, and everyone else by cranking out a "review" after only spending a few short distracted hours with the book. After taking some time to really dive in, and even compare a few monsters between v3.5 and 5e hopefully here's a review worth everyone's time.

Behold Indeed!

Inside we find everything, literally EVERYTHING one could hope to ever encounter on an adventure. From Angels to Zombies; to Bugbears, and Basilisk, and Beholders; Chuul and Chimera; any demon you could conjure from your worst nightmares and more. This is but a tiny sampling of what is contained within; from the classic mythological creatures to recently concoctions, you name it, and I'm sure it or it's equivalent can be found in this very book.

A beaut to behold up close... at least in print.
If you see one IRL, it's probably better from a distance.

From cover to cover this book is, simply put, spectacular. Wizards has done it again and not disappointed the masses. It's very clear that they spent a lot of time in the design of not just the new fifth edition, but in the look and feel of these new books. The 5e Monster Manual is no exception to this at all. With only a mere 54/352 pages having no artwork on them whatsoever, it is easy to see what I mean here; and for tabletop RPG books an artwork page ratio of 6.5:1 is nothing short of impressive, and I literally couldn't be more pleased with this part. Don't believe me? The v3.5 Monster Manual has an astounding 136 pages without artwork out of 319, that's over one-third of the book without any art! And to top it off, the artwork in the 5e book ranges from 2x2 inch line sketches to full-page, full-color splash pages of artwork; while the best the v3.5 book has are barely one-third of the page at the largest. But why is this important, right? Well it's simple when you get down to it; roleplaying is a game of improvisation and imagination, but even the most creative mind will seek reference for what it cannot see. By providing newcomers and seasoned adventurers alike with an image for nearly every single creature, race, fauna, and inanimate that could be encountered within the world of D&D, it is now very easy to become immersed in that game. Another great feat of this terrifying tome is that literally every single entrant has flavor text, including backstory, for one to utilize in their own story building. Which, once again, only ensures that this edition stays focused on story and world building, as opposed to the stats-heavy bound-to-the-rules previous editions. And these are both VERY good things!

"You want terrask me a question!?"
Get outta here with the puns!

Lets take a look at a few different creatures we might stumble upon. "You open the door, and the torchlights ignite to reveal a GOBLIN."
In the 5e MM, goblins get a little boost from their v3.5 counter parts; 7HP (2d6) as compared to 5HP (1d8), and attacking with either scimitars (+4, 5ft, 5(1d6+2)) instead of morningstar (maces) (+2, n/a, 2(1d6)) or shortbow (ranged +4, 80/320ft, 5 (1d6+2) piercing) to javelin (ranged +3, 30ft, (1d4) piercing). But that's just one of the li'l buggers, imagine if this were a whole band of them with a couple bosses/sergeants and it gets complicated quickly!

"Here, food, you'll need this."
Not quite our goblin, but who cares?!

Or without further adieu, the biggun, the ANCIENT RED DRAGON!
Comparing once again 5e to v3.5 we see the "always chaotic evil" ancient red stripped down a bit but with more HP, 546 (28d20+252) compared to the 527 (34d12+306) ancient in v3.5, and with less AC (22 v 39). STR: 30 v 39, DEX: 10 for both, CON: 29 for both, INT: 18 as apposed to its old 24, WIS: 15 v 25 (ouch!), and CHA: 23 v 24. So in a nutshell we have a dumber, slower, weaker (except in terms of HP) ancient red, but still no less magnificent in terms of stats. Maybe everyone in the Beta wanted to slay dragons and had too hard of a time in previous editions, or maybe Wizards just wanted to make the attempt on a dragon marginally achievable. Who knows?

And then there was fire, there was DEATH!

Heading into the month of October we can look forward to the release of the next piece to the Tyranny of Dragons storyline, with The Rise of Tiamat on the 21st. So be sure to head on back here to New Geek Protocol to catch a review of that within the week of it hitting the shelves. In the meantime, tune in next week where I'll be going over the basic necessities every would-be RPG-er needs to play D&D, as well as a few more posts from yours-truly in the days to come! And be sure to comment below with how your campaigns are going, what's exciting you with the latest edition, and what you're hoping to or looking forward to seeing!

Until then; role true, brave and weary travelers!

=Opaque=

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The Weekly Pull : Is SHE Worthy?

The Weekly Pull : Is SHE Worthy?

The week is finally upon us. Marvel Comics' Avengers Now initiative has begun, and fanboy controversy is already in full swing regarding a female version of the God of Thunder, Thor.

Although Thor standalone stories have never been part of my personal collection, in anticipation of the book's popularity and potential backlash, I preordered the first issue from my local comic shop (and yes, it sold out in a matter of hours and is back to press for a second printing.) Right out the gate it's abundantly clear that writer Jason Aaron (Thor: God of Thunder, Wolverine and the X-Men) has an elaborate plan and story in place with details that aren't gong to be disclosed in the premiere. The Goddess of Thunder only makes her debut at the end of the issue in one panel, with only one line of dialogue, but it's how we get here that forms the bulk of the story ...

During the events of Original Sin, we saw the villain, Orb, unleash the secrets of the Marvel Universe upon Earth's mightiest through the use of Uatu's extracted eye to devastating effects (see how the events of Original Sin affected both Spider-Man and the X-Men in my previous NGP posts). However, the one piece of information from this event that still remains a mystery is what was disclosed to Nick Fury, and how revealing this information to Thor in a whisper instantly made him unworthy of wielding the mighty Mjölnir.

For weeks Thor has sat at the foot of his fallen hammer desperately attempting to regain control, but word has spread quickly of the God of Thunder's fall from grace and the first to torment our hero is none other than Thor: The Dark World villain, Malekith the Accursed. Weakened and depressed, Thor responds to Malekith's taunts wielding an axe from the Ausguardian armory, but quickly finds himself overpowered and in his defeat loses his left arm to Malekith's blade.

As the scene goes dark, we are once again taken to Mjölnir where a shrouded figure approaches. "There must always be a Thor." the figure speaks. Yes, yes there does.

Who is the woman that Mjölnir deems worthy? What did Fury say to relinquish Thor of his power? Does a powerless God of Thunder still have a place among the Avengers? I for one, will definitely stick around for the answer.

Until next time True Believers,

-ArchangelEZE

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Welcome to Rapture! Halloween Gaming with BioShock

Welcome to Rapture! Halloween Gaming with BioShock

Fall is most definitely my (Mom) favorite time of the year. Cool crisp air, apple cider, acceptance of hoodies back into the wardrobe, crackling fires, and pumpkin flavored everything. On top of that, it carries the funnest day of the year, Halloween. We all celebrate Halloween in different ways. Some of us take our kids trick-or treating. Others...sit at home and watch horror movies while shoveling candy corn down their throats. Most of us probably drink.

There usually is a common theme to Halloween though, and that is fear. So Pop and I decided we would utilize the month of October to play some frightening games.  First on the list is BioShock.

While it isn't the most creepy game out there, it hold its own in the world of eeriness. I for one have a hard time handling scary games so it kind of is a big deal to me. Through this adventure, you will mostly likely laugh at how scared I get, but if it weren't for sudden desire to crap my pants, you wouldn't be entertained would you?

So join us on this first title in our Halloween playlist! Jump in with Part 1, and check daily for new videos!

Don't forget to connect with us via multiple social media networks and check out our videos that you may have missed this past week! Don't forget to subscribe to our channel and like our page as well for updates outside of NGP!

(Hyrule Warriors Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Diablo III Part 6)

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NGP Review: Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor

NGP Review: Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor

In the past thirteen years since the first Lord of the Rings movie came out the story of Middle Earth has been there and back again. It is amazing to see the work of J.R.R. Tolkien jump off the pages and onto the big screen. In the case of Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor, the video game, the story takes a few familiar names and faces, mixes it in with the desperate setting of Middle Earth, and creates a stand alone story that I believe Tolkien himself would have been proud of.

Graphics

The look and feel of this game right off the bat is 100% authentic LotR trilogy. The landscape of Middle Earth is a mixture of darkness and decay but at the same time is alive with activity and personality. The graphics are truly next gen and is one of the best looking games I have seen out of this generation yet. It’s amazing when you get a feeling out of a video game that makes you believe as if real life is reflected from it. It was raining and dark when I set out on a side mission to free some prisoners form an uruk (the orcish bad guys in the game) camp. I decided to go grab a snack and on the way I opened the blinds of a window only to reveal, to my surprise, that it was calm and sunny. I had to take a second and realize that it was just in the game that it was raining. That is how encompassing the setting of this game becomes.

Story

The story is original to the Lord of the Rings cannon and does a great job of revealing bits and pieces of it to you throughout the course of the game. In the beginning you only know that the main character Talion’s family has been killed, that he himself was killed but denied death, and that somehow through that he was bound to a wraith with great power (later found out to be Celebrimbor, the elvish forger of the Rings of Power). Slowly throughout the development of the story flashes of memory about who each character is and why they are in the situation they are in pop up. The cut scenes before and after each main mission are amazing could probably be watched from start to finish as a stand alone CGI style LotR movie. My only gripe with the story is that there could have been more. It takes on average around 20 hours to complete the main mission of the game and while that is about average for an RPG (Skyrim’s was about 30 hours for comparison) it just feels like it ended too quickly. The meat of the game happens in the side missions and activities spread around Middle Earth’s open environment offering up hundreds of hours of exploring and gameplay.

Gameplay

This is where the game gets really interesting, the gameplay itself. It’s actually really easy to define by comparing it to all the games it borrows from. If you’ve ever played Assassins Creed or Batman Arkham City this game is going to feel really familiar to you. The combat is right out of Batman Arkham City in that it is a free flowing dance of destruction more that it is a repetitive striking of enemies until their health bar goes bye bye. It is also has the timed button presses that you would find in Batman for countering enemy attacks and saving yourself from death with a “last chance” analog and button combo. The stealth gameplay is right out of any Assassins Creed game with the hide in the bushes, lure enemy over, and kill mechanic along with the stealth kill from above and stealth ledge kills as well. It even has towers to climb that unlock sections of the map and activities within those sections just like synchronization points in Assassins Creed. With such heavy borrowing from other games you would think it would be damning for the reputation of this game but that would be an incorrect assumption. It does all those things but injects a fresh feel to all of it along with adding new gameplay mechanics that set it apart from those games.

Innovations

The Nemesis System is one of those new mechanics that makes Middle Earth so unique and fresh. It is essentially the hierarchy of all your enemies within the game. There are all the grunts that you face that can easily be taken out with a couple swings of your sword or a few arrows to the head from your bow but you better be prepared to face the captains of the uruk army and their masters, the warchiefs. At any time during the game you can pull up what is essentially a map of all these high ranking bad guys, see what their names are, what they look like, where you can find them, and what their strengths and weakness are. How much information that is revealed about any one uruk captain or warchief depends on how much intel is collected about them by either dominating the minds of their minions or collecting it during side quests. What is really cool about this mechanic is that this hierarchy is open for you to tamper with and impose you influence on. If you want to brand a captain with your mark they will fight for you. You can then use that captain to challenge other captains to duels effectively moving you puppet captain up the ranks in order to take control of the uruk army. Your being killed also serves a purpose within this hierarchy. Let’s just say you are getting low on health and one of those pesky grunts who have been overwhelming you gets a luck sword strike in and kills you. In other video games this would just load up the previous checkpoint or have you start a mission over but in Shadows of Mordor your death actually serves a purpose. While you can’t actually die (as explained earlier) the ranks of the uruk army change as a result. That pesky grunt receives a promotion and becomes a low level captain. The next time you come across this enemy he will remember your last encounter and usually has some kind of unsavory remark to throw you way about it. The Nemesis System is very dynamic and with all the uruk being killed off and replaced within this hierarchy the game essentially never ends.

Verdict

If you love the world Tolkien created in Lord of the Rings then this is a game you simply cannot miss. It adds to and further explores those stories we have all come to love and lets you explore the world of Middle Earth. It might incorporate heavily from other games where gameplay is concerned but luckily it gets its inspiration from amazing award winning games. Along with what it borrows what it adds to the gaming community in the form of the Nemesis System makes this game one the best games of this year and of this generation.

4.5 out of 5 pieces of toast

-Demo

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GoPro. So Long Consumer Electronics Company; Hello Lifestyle

GoPro. So Long Consumer Electronics Company; Hello Lifestyle

The Product

I’m a tech nerd through and through. New technologies, new gear, new ideas, I love them all. I’m also a video production professional and love what I do. That is why I’m excited for GoPro’s new product line, but more excited for the lifestyle they just created.

On Monday, GoPro announced an entire new lineup of cameras. The new cameras come with twice the video resolution, increased frame rates, and some models even come with a built in LCD display. They’ve also raised the price on their highest end model by $100, to $499.

Specs and prices are well and good, but there’s something larger here. GoPro has figured out how to put technology that was $20,000 five years ago into a $500 unit. What’s more, they are creating a lifestyle. Yes. A lifestyle. Here’s why.

The Lifestyle

GoPro is in-between a product company and a social media company. They create a great product, with a good price point, and make it very easy to edit with included software and share on social media. They’ve also figured out how to get them everywhere. Whether it’s water-skiers, skydivers, wingsuiters, firemen, policemen, stunt pilots, or anyone else that has a need for a rugged, nearly indestructible camera, GoPro has figured out how to get it in peoples hands and get people to share what they shoot with their networks, which in turn gets more people to buy and share and on the cycle goes. Essentially, you pay them to be a spokesperson.

In all of this, though, it let’s people share who they are through video. Not photos, not status updates, but videos. As the world becomes more centralized and we all become part of this big thing called life and the world around us gets smaller and smaller, sharing ourselves will become more critical. When I meet people now, I already get told that they know me. Whether it’s through social media or friends, people now know you before they meet you, to some degree anyway. GoPro has created the share everything lifestyle, and it is going strong among almost everyone.  

I love my GoPro Cameras and have owned almost every version and will probably buy the new one. I will also probably share all of the videos I do across my social media, but that is the type of person I am. I tahink this lifestyle is cool, but I’ve been living this lifestyle since before social media and will probably continue this lifestyle well after all of this is gone.

Tip of the Hat,

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Arcade Block - September 2014

Source: Nerd Block

Arcade Block is the newest subscription service from Nerd Block. Arcade Block is targeted at gamers and it sold out in record time it’s first month.

Here are the contents of September’s Arcade Block:

1. Legend of Zelda: Link T-shirt (who doesn’t need more t-shirts)

2. Pac-Man motion pen (didn’t work but still a neat looking pen)
3. Gears of War 3 COG tags - heavy duty
4. Super Mario Backpack Buddy - Yoshi
5. Tetris shapes ice cube tray - I actually cannot wait to try this out.

and the item of the month is…
6. Tomb Raider mini bust - 5.5” tall detailed resin bust

Next month’s block will feature an exclusive Super Mario Bros item. October blocks are still available so go sign up today!

I would have to say that this subscription box is my favorite so far. Based off of our reviews, what would be your favorite box so far? Arcade Block? Nerd Block Classic? or Loot Crate? We will hopefully be reviewing Booty Bin and Comic Bento, so stay tuned!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and me on Twitter!

May the Force Be With You!

- Da_Fettman

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