Did you know that Virtua Fighter & Street Fighter II got releases on the Master System, well now you do, so how do they look.
For some far better retro gaming content, check out Lady Decade and Sega Lord X.
Here are some specific videos
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I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Zombicide book Last Resort by Josh Reynolds, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.
So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.
I am also friend with Josh on Facebook, however I am sure for him that’s more about connecting with fans rather than being one of my best buds, that said he is actually a really nice guy.
I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.
So let’s crack on with a review then!
Zombicide is a co-op adventure game set in a post zombie apocalyptic world, created by Guillotine Games and published by CMON.
Its someone of a Kickstarter success story and is now in its 2nd edition. Each player controls a survivors, as they look to complete a narrative objective before being overrun by zombies, who come in various different forms, such as walkers, crawlers, brutes etc.
Its also been spun off into both a Fantasy and Sci-Fi theme.
I personally own most of whats been published for the 1st edition with all of the major expansions and a good deal of minor ones too, but I am still struggling to find Dave the Geek to complete my “not The Big Bang Theory” survivours.
The story begins in the very opening stages of the apocalypse as the main protagonist Westlake escapes from a mob assassination, and then it picks up some months later with his being on the hunt for a mountain mob hideaway known only as “The Villa”.
Running into a former FBI agent who he previously escaped from, Westlake puts together a crew of her, a masked Mexican Wrestler, a college student who has been studying the zombies, a wannabe cowboy, and a conspiracy theorist to head up into the mountains and claim The Villa for a community of survivors to move in and make secure.
However treachery from within the survivor’s camp causes the expedition to go awry and forces Westlake’s “crew” to head off ahead of time and make some challenging decisions.
I warn you that this book is not for the squeamish, its very bloody, very gory and filled with plenty of gross moments.
That’s a good thing, its a zombie novel that doesn’t pull any punches and just lives up to the idea of what it is.
Westlakes crew is extraordinarily well developed and despite not having huge amount’s of page time, they actually get it right and show off their background and character traits in a way that means when they face danger, you feel stress because you have become close to them.
For me everything else is a bonus, Josh has created a book that really explores the characters so well that its absolutely riveting, it started off strong with an amazing opening chapter and never let up in its intensity nor quality.
my only criticism is that the secondary antagonist’s seemed a little cliché and cookie cutter, but that’s a stretch as their character wasn’t that important to the story.
Its a great book filled with grossness, natural and very well written flowing dialogue and leaves you craving more.
Absolutly 5 out of 5 stars.
Last Resort is out now as an eBook and the paperback will be out on November 25th.
Recently, I am so buggered up with Insomnia.
I am following the advice the doctor gave me, so no being in bed unless it’s for sleep, staying up until I am actually tired, no caffeine after 4pm (I am actually quite bad at that one) e and getting up at a set time etc.
The biggest issue I am having is that I love reading in bed, it’s my safe space to read and it’s where I feel most comfortable reading, so my reading has plunged to a record low.
But I am struggling to be asleep before 4am and it’s making my days awful, even when I am so tired I just can’t get to sleep.
I don’t want to end up on sleeping tablets, so I am doing my best to avoid that, but something has to give.
I started the week by painting two units of Stromcast Eternals Judicators armed with Skybolt Bows.
This actually completes all the Stormcast Eternals I have right now, other than Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear, and the Celestant Prime should also be delivered and day now.
I then painted some Orks, specifically five Nobz, a Painboy, Warboss, Gorzag Gitatompa and Nikkit.
After that I painted an infantry squad for the Death Korps of Krieg.
And whilst painting those, I also knocked out the Spindle Drones and Guardian Drones for Blackstone Fortress, which actually completes the original games and the Ascension expansion.
So what’s coming up next week then?
I finished The Dark Avengers: Patriot List by David Guymer, the review for which you can read here.
I have now started on the Zombiecide novel, Last Resort by Josh Reynolds and should have a review if this amazing book out by Thursday.
I did my play through of the 8-Bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog, and posted that up on YouTube.
Decided to continue with doing a retro play through and I am currently playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Master System using Retroarch.
Started that late Monday night, with very frequent saves. I had intended to play a level a night but due to a shitty sleep cycle, I only got a chance ti play again on Friday night.
I also started streaming again, and had a very early morning Bioshock Infinite stream on Thursday, which was uploaded to YouTube on Friday.
I have got the old PC that used to belong to Geoff set up to run some old games via emulation, it is however a lot lot older than we thought it was and the GPU is not the GTX 750 that Geoff was told it was, but rather a GT210, which is significantly worse.
I have also played a little bit of Back 4 Blood, which has been rather enjoyable, and I am continuing to play Halo Reach.
Sadly none, but I am playing Adeptus Titanicus tonight with Graham for an Intro game!
As in a previous section I posted the video of my 8-Bit Sonic the Hedgehog play through and the sequels play through.
In regards to the YouTube stuff, I made it to 75 subscribers on Monday, which is amazing cause I was on like 30 something a few months ago, and at time of writing, I am now at 88 subscribers which is mind blowing!
I am not trying to become some kind of popular content creator, I just feel like there is stuff I want to do for my own enjoyment. I have zero interest in appeasing the algorithm, I just want to make content that I personally want to see myself.
So my current focus is on the battle reports in the casual narrative style, and retro video game playthroughs. And any Twitch video game playthroughs will get added to that as well.
Sadly Munchkin Mayhem was cancelled, so right now I am not backing anything.
Not a good week, other than beans on toast, nowt.
I feel like I am finally in a place where I can restore this section of the blog, but I may not share any hauls quite as frequently.
This week was subdued in terms of spending initially, I bought myself the Play Pink Bundle on Humble Bundle, I had most of what’s in the bundle, but what I didn’t have saved me plenty of money still.
And Steam Codes for most other stuff is being given to friends, who don’t have them.
I also bought a couple of video games in addition to the bundle.
I bought Far Cry 6, well I got it dirt cheap from a friend who works at Ubisoft. I also grabbed Alan Wake Remastered with a voucher for the Epic Games Store and the Premium Add-Ons Bundle for Forza Horizon 5.
I also kinda spent some money on a Raspberry Pi kit, I am enjoying old games and I want to add a emulation machine in the den, that’s easily transported around. Along with a USB Bluetooth dongle so I can link the DualShock 3 Controllers to it.
Last week I brought you a play through of the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog, and this week, how about it’s sequel, except this time, it’s on the Master System!
This was supposed to have been done in smaller stages than the last one, but due to an awful sleeping pattern this week, it got all bunched up at the end of the week.
So anyway, here it is, and I hope you enjoy this Master System classic, which interestingly enough, didn’t really see a release on the system in the US!
The second part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series Each issue I will bring you a fully painted White Dwarf style battle report.
In this third episode, we see the Blood Ravens Assault Intercessors attempt to defend a signal beacon from some Necron Warriors, and for the first time, the tutorials introduce charging and fighting!
Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium
I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Untold book Dark Avengers: The Patriot List by David Guymer published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.
So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.
I am also friends with David on Facebook, although thats probably more about him connecting with fans than him being my best bud!
I am going to try my best to not let these things cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.
Also I won’t lie, I have looked at other reviews to see what others think, so there may be some influences from them in this book review. If I am going to quote them, I will attribute them. But if I forget to, or something is highly influenced by them, and you think I ought to attribute someone, let me know so that I can.
Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock!
The Dark Avengers were a iteration of the avengers which contained several members who were supervillains disguised as stablished superheroes.
In this iteration, we have Mac Gargans Venom as Spider-Man, Moonstone as Ms Marvel, Bullseye as Hawkeye, Daken as Wolverine and the superheroes, Ares and The Sentry. The team is lead by Norman Osborn who wears a Stark armour which is known as Iron Patriot.
So I will start off by saying that this is a book in which you really do need a bit of knowledge of the Marvel universe to really get on and enjoy it, because its not a book that explains the characters and background in a great amount of detail.
But if you have a the basic understanding of the universe, you are gonna really enjoy this book.
This story is set in the aftermath of the Secret Invasion storyline, when Norman Osborn has seized control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and reformed it into H.A.M.M.E.R. and rebuilt the avengers with psychopaths. maniacs and killers.
The story revolves around a plot by S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists to steal a secret list of potential replacements for the Avengers known as the Patriot List, which involves a plot to embarrass Norman Osborn a man with a real obsession with his public image.
So Osborn releases the worst of the worst to prevent any threat to his leadership of the world security.
This is a very good story, its high octane and filled with amazing dialogue that sassy and at the same time a little horrifying.
The action scenes are frankly some of the best I have ever read, just well written and balanced.
The character dynamics are a highlight, and each of the teams members are given their own chance to shine, with everyone getting a reasonably equal bit of time to show themselves off.
As well as being a very good action novel, it also has an amount of depth as it also focuses on the mental health of the Dark Avengers, because as you can imagine, the villains have their own daemons to battle.
I really enjoyed that for the antagonists, David has gone deep into the Marvel lore and brought up some superheroes/villains from deep down that you rarely see, and perhaps may not know about at all.
The Dark Avengers are a pretty nasty bunch, some more so than others, but David really has got you rooting for them and wanting them to win, and given the way he doesn’t hide what they really are, that’s not a mean feat.
This gets a solid 5 out of 5 stars from me and frankly is a near perfect Marvel novel.
The eBook is out now and the paperback hits bookstores on the 25th November.
Following my enjoyable playthrough of Alex Kidd in Shinobi World a few weeks ago, I decided to take a go at Sonic the Hedgehog on the Game Gear (Which I think, is the best of the two 8-Bit versions).
Really had a lot of fun and I did this over a few days cause the tiredness is real and I am really struggling to stay awake.
So anyway, here it is, and I hope you enjoy this Game Gear classic!
This week I had my birthday, and it wasn’t what I hoped for.
My sister in laws cat went missing, and I have some medical stuff to deal with.
So Fosfos, Emma’s cat went missing on Sunday night and it’s not like her to wander, so Monday Emma was busy leafleting in Blyth where she lives.
Tuesday, Lindsay and Megan went up to help her, but she was still no where to be found, thankfully she returned home at 2am Tuesday and woke up Emma for cuddles.
So that was a huge relief.
Tuesday night we went out for Nando’s for my birthday, which I really enjoyed, haven’t had a Nando’s since the day before the first lockdown and I really enjoyed it.
Present wise, Lindsay and Megan bought me the Evil Comes Prepared expansion for Disney Villainous and the Orruk Warclans Battletome, and I bought myself the Stormcast Eternals Battletome and the Charadon terrain box.
At the weekend we were meant to have some of our nephews staying but Gandalf our arsehole of a rabbit developed an ear infection, so he had to be rushed to the vets and needs hand feeding for a bit, so that was not a good environment for the boys to stay over as they are very active.
He is slowly getting better, but he really does fight us when it comes time to give him his medication.
I started off by painting the Negavolt Cultists and Rogue Psykers for Blackstone Fortress.
The Rogue Psykers were finished first.
Followed by the Negavolt Cultists.
I then painted up three Assault Intercessors and a Primaris Captain from Imperium.
After which I turned my attention to two squads of Stormcast Eternals Judicators for the Celestial Vindicators.
So what’s planned for next week then?
Actually haven’t read a thing all week 🙁
Played a lot more Halo 3: ODST and got that finished and have now started on Halo Reach!
I also played through Sonic the Hedgehog on the Game Gear, emulated via Retroarch and have a play through video of that uploading tomorrow.
On my birthday we played a game of Ticket to Ride: London, and I was three points off wining, but I am happy I didn’t come last again!
On Sunday me and Lindsay had a game off Ticket to Ride: Germany using her new Play Pink train set. And surprisingly I won!
After that Megan joined us to play a game of Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu, and we managed to close all four gates and save the world from the terror of the Old Ones!
I published a Warhammer 40K Battle Report of my Death Guard taking on Megans Orks, which you can see below.
Munchkin Mayhem looks amazing, and I have decided to back it, cause well I love Munchkin.
So I went in on the YOU GOT GAME! level, it’s only £12 or so, but I really think it could be a cool game.
Once again, bugger all 🙁
On Thursday #Cans happened, for those not from Newcastle upon Tyne, this was the end of a long running saga, last nearly two years in which the local football club, Newcastle United, my team, were sold.
To give some background, for the past 14 years the club has been owned by Mike Ashley of Sports Direct fame, under whose watch, we have seen the lowest recorded attendances at the stadium since the formation of the Premier League and its expansion, two of the clubs six relegations, and the lowest net investment of any club in its team in Premier League history.
He was not a popular man, he was aloof, rarely spent any money on the team and say an overall decline in all aspects of the club.
To put it bluntly, the squad is threadbare with almost no injury cover, the academy is all but decimated, the training facilities need to be demolished and rebuilt they are in such bad contrition and St James’ Park is Felapp dated and in serious need of maintenance.
The club has been a zombie of the game and in perpetual crisis, within a few months of his arrival, he had sacked two managers and alienated club legends like Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer.
Our ground has become not only potentially the tattiest ground in English football, but has basically become a cheap advertising board for Sports Direct.
So to summarise, the club is glad to see the back of this awful man, and I honestly hope he never sets foot in the city again.
However there is a big but, our new owners are a consortium of the Reuben brothers, who are some of Britains richest men and have actually been investing a lot in the city these past few years. One of the sons, Jamie will sit on the board.
Amanda Stanley owns another 10% and she has been trying to buy the club since early 2017 have fronted a number of bids and put together a few consortiums to try and prise the club out of Ashley’s hands.
She was also a broker in the sale of Manchester City so she has a track record of football wheeling and dealing. And she is relocating her main residence from Dubai to Newcastle so she can be on hand to run the club.
The remaining 80% is owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, a state owned investment group that invests the counties oil profits.
That makes us the richest club in the world.
But it also means we are owned by a regime which restricts the lives of women, murders journalists and LGBT folx, and routinely suppressed Shia Muslims and Baha’is.
And of course there is the involvement in Yemen, which to be honest is such a bloody complex situation with no actual good guys that I am not even going to try and explain that one.
We are being used to sports wash, you would have to be a fool to not see that, but frankly, we fans get little choice in the matter.
Are they the idea owners, of course not, but when we look at who else has been allowed to own Premier League clubs, it would be hypocritical to make a special case for Saudi Arabia, after all Manchester City has been own by people with questionable human rights records twice and are also used to sports wash.
The crack is, we fans have a chance to use our club to show the Saudis that they need to change how they do things at home, we can protest their crap during games with chants and signs, and these will be broadcast into the Kingdom for all their citizens to see, and I highly doubt beIN will be in any mood to censor that.
Look I know it’s not perfect, but right now, I am glad to see the back of Ashley, as for the Saudis, that’s something we have to figure out, the club lost its soul long ago, for all the bad they have done, The KSA has given us that back.
I am conflicted, I doubt it will ever sit easy with me, but my club is more than the ground, players, infrastructure and owners, it’s the fans, and we must remember that owners come and go, but the fans are what make the club.
In this battle report, me and Megan play a 500pts game between the Death Guard and the Orks.
I am refining the process of making these reports, and I think that I may have it about right now and a good work flow going on.
Let me know how you like it!
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