Cool Beans 6/24

Conan ran the floor of E3 to find out what the next gen systems have to offer.
Conclusion, Booth Babes.


As some people might know the actor Jason Mewes (Jay) had serious drug issues for years.
This is an really cool short about part of his struggle based on one of Kevin Smith's anecdotes.

More Jason Mewes? Sure.
What if Batman and Robin were harder assed gun toting vigilantes?
And what if Jason Mewes was Vicky Vale?


So some big stuff happened this week as far as gay marriage.
I don't care what your opinion is, but I have to recommend this video, since I gaffawed at it.

Adam Savage sits down to palaver with David Chang of famed Momofuku.
This is a little bit on the long side but it is wonderful, inspiring, and full of MSG.


So I didn't notice this in the film myself, though I wish I had.
Yeah, they CGI'd a few frames of Christopher Reeves into Man of Steel.

Kevin is Right: Comics Preview: X Files Season 10

An old love and a new love have collided for me, and I'm very excited about it.  If you someday aspire to be a reasonable and respectable human being, worthy of the rare gift of life bestowed upon you and deserving of the admiration and respect of other organisms, you have watched and love The X-Files.  If not, please make one of two choices:  1) Jump off the nearest bridge so as to stop potentially polluting the gene pool.  2) Grab a Netflix account, start watching, and thank me when you're done.  These seem like your only two options from where I'm sitting.

In any case, now that we're all on the same page, (having eliminated all the tasteless scum from the face of the planet,) I wanted to let you know that, whatever your feelings on Doggett, Reyes and I Want To Believe, you can now breathe easy.  All indications are that the X-Files you fell in love with is back, albeit using a different medium, the Comic Book.

IDW Publishing, following in the footsteps of other well received continuing, canonical stories (such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 and 9) has launched, this month, X Files Season 10.  This series represents the continuing, allegedly canonical, adventures of the two greatest characters (both in terms of nuanced charm and raw, visceral sex appeal) world literature has ever known, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

X-BONE 180: A Story of an Incompetent Company & Whiny Gamers

For the last two weeks, a good portion of the gaming world has been preoccupied with the XBOX ONE; known as the second coming if you were to ask Microsoft and the Antichrist if you looked in any comment section concerning the new console. So who is right? Probably neither if you asked me. Since on the high frequency end of the spectrum you have puling gamers and the other is the slow buffoonery of a company who doesn't seem to know how to relate to their community.

Shame On Them: Microsoft
From the the beginning they were trying to do something new with the XBOX One and managed to piss off a portion of people in the process. Microsoft wanted to reveal what I can only call their Hydra; a beast of a console to master the realms of gaming, media, social networking, digital distribution, health, all while watching you with a robotic eye. They released their creation at an event well before E3. The reason? Well, they wanted to show the culture and tech reporters the newest gadget to be grace living rooms across the country come this fourth quarter. The event was not really oriented towards the gaming community despite them being invited. What gamers took away from it was "TV, Kinect, TV, Smartglass, TV, and it can play games too." What everyone else took away was "Oh, well that's neat piece of tech." Probably not the best way to talk about your new console, but if you have ever seen a new tech shown at E3 you know the first half of it is fucking borrrring nonsense about specs (which doesn't matter because that isn't why people buy consoles) and how you can use your console to do things that you own other devices to do already (Unless this one can blow you... Can it blow you?...No?... No it can't, never mind.). So good on Microsoft for trying to avoid boring the shit out of gamers.

Then came E3. Games were announced, but sadly messaging was smeared like shit on so many dodgy gas station bathroom walls. Frankly the games were here and there, with a lot of gritty shooting in them. A big shocker I'm sure. The messaging was a surprise, from the underwhelming Microsoft event to the conflicting info all the reporting outlets received; it was a mess. At no point was the context of why decision were being made expressed to the public in a positive way. You don't lead with "Get ready for some DRM." Put it in some context "You can now share games with friends and family." Multitudes of gamers, myself included, use things like Steam or Good Old Games so we know the up side to DRM. Having the constraint of DRM is not the biggest issue to the medium, if you are giving people something for the restriction you are adding. For instance 'family plan' which is still a mystery to me (possibly a way to share a game licence) was something that they did not clarify and it may have been able to soften the blow. Then you have the 24 hour internet check ins which had people's heads spinning too. This was just so short sighted of Microsoft, because we don't have that infrastructure across this entire country for it to be mandatory in a console. I know that sounds crazy to you, who is reading this, on the internet, right now. Guess what not everyone has reliable connections to 'The Net' (Which sucks and will change some day soon I hope). Maybe I am wrong but this seems like all of this could have been handled more easily. First - games that a bought on hard discs won't need 24 hour check ins and you pay the standard $60 price, but you can trade it freely. Second - games bought as digital downloads need check ins but they will be ten bucks cheaper since you don't have a physical disc. Just a theory though.

Cube is the Answer #3 - Put this in your cube and draft it.

Here are a few interesting card recommendations for cube. Please note that I don’t necessarily subscribe to the “strictly better” philosophy when selecting cards. I like unique and/or synergistic cards that have the potential to be game-changers. It’s a lot more fun than limiting yourself to some stock list you found on a website. By all means, look to the masters for inspiration on cube design. In fact, if you’re not reading articles by the likes of Usman and Anthony from The Third Power podcast, you’re doing it wrong. Read up, listen up, and get inspired. Just remember, your cube is your baby. If you want to let that baby fling slimy cheerios all over your friend’s living room, that’s fine. Just have some good reasoning behind it. (Note: if it’s my living room, that baby better be wearing a full set of plate mail, because I will return fire with fucking catapults.)

A lot of cubists have written this guy off as “overrated”, “not good enough”, or “not Primeval Titan”, but I loves me some Ruric. He does everything I want a big dumb creature to do in R/G : attack, block flyers, and hose control players. Think about it. If Fat Ruric can get through just once before your opponent kills him with removal, he just did 12 damage. Hell, even if he never gets through and ends up eating a removal spell, he still nugs your opponent for more than a quarter of his life total. And here is the part everyone forgets: the noncreature spells in question don’t even have to be removal. Rampant Growth? Take 6. Brainstorm? Take 6. Azorius Signet? Take 6. Mox Sapphire? Lol.

The poor man’s signets. Has KevinLoadedDice been drafting your cube? If so, you’re probably tired of ‘tasting the rainbow’. If you want four and five color control to take a chill-pill, replace your signets with these guys. They are still very playable, just a little more fair. Plus the draw ability is really nice in the late game.

I don’t understand why everyone gets butt-hurt over land destruction. Resource denial is and always has been a legitimate part of the game. And in a format littered with dual lands, I’d argue that some form of mana disruption is absolutely necessary. Unless of course you want to watch control mirrors all fucking day. Just look at all these fun Dust Bowl interactions!

You can:

-Tutor it up with Primeval Titan or Weathered Wayfarer

-Destroy a Maze of Ith to clear the way for your army of durdles

-Attack greedy mana bases (eat it Kevin)

-Feed your Life from the Loam engine

-Feed your Worm Harvest or Raven’s Crime

-Keep Land Tax active

-Go absolutely bonkers with Crucible of Worlds

Cool Beans 6/17

There Can Be Only HAN!
Nerdist is doing some Star Wars comedy shorts and this one is hilarious.


So Spock (Zackary Quinto) is producing an indie movie and it looks pretty funny.
Kinda mockumentary meets the Hangover.


This is a really amazing project that seeks to give access to the joy of games despite disability.
Some gamers may forget that we come in all shapes and it is encouraging to see work like this.


So I like this toss back to the days of VH1's pop up video.
Also I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Hollywood is making a Brickfilm.


Wanted to touch on Mad Max for E3 week but it got lost in the mix.
So pumped for this because of the setting and it's not being tied to a movie. Which is good.

Quotas or Common Sense? A New Face for Marvel Comics

The world of super hero comics has been largely dominated by white dudes with rad ass powers for a while now.  Superman, Captain America, Spider-Man; all pretty obvious examples, and for a reason: they were created by white dudes. So, it is especially interesting to see the new iterations of both the X-Men and Mighty Avengers teams (though it is nothing all too surprising-we do have both a mixed race president and Spider-Man, as well as more women in college than men) populated with more representative casts. Done for that very reason, as stated by Tom Brevoort, “The reality is that the people who are interested in these characters and want to see heroes that reflect them have a genuine point. We first started conceptualizing this book in February around Black History Month, so there was a lot of talk around that.”   However,some folk are kinda getting their nickers in a bunch over it.

X-Men has always had some
of the best heroines.

   

         You have my attention with
     this line up.

<--Look at these awesome covers.-->

Kevin is Right About Movies: Man of Steel

Generally, I prefer to write my reviews without spoilers.  This will not be one of those reviews.  However, before I put down my all caps indication to you that you should read no further should you wish to experience the plot in a manner that the filmmakers intended (if such a generous interpretation of intent can be made), please accept a humble explanation in two parts.

The first, the plot of this movie was so convoluted, poorly thought out and terrible that revealing the plot to you, in my opinion, can in no way diminish your enjoyment of the movie any more than having the plot revealed to you through the normal cinematic process.  Simply, the plot is so worthless that having it spoiled is simply not offensive to the conscience.

Secondly, the terribleness of this movie is so profound that it demands specific examples to convey the depths of idiocy to which it stoops.  In order to truly bring how badly written this movie is to light, I must pull back the curtain.  Further, I feel it is my duty to do so.  So now, if you still give a shit: SPOILERS!

Cool Beans 6/10

SUPER FREAKING GIANT E3 EDITION!

This is all the crap that I thought was cool beans. So I thought I'd share it with you.
Be warned I like the Rev3Games team, Adam Sessler especially, so you'll have to deal.

Sunset Overdrive looks like Jet Set Radio and Mirrors Edge meets Serious Sam and BulletStorm.
It could be awful since we have no gameplay, but at least it isn't grey-brown.


The Division has my fancy tickled on the simple mechanics that they are messing with.
Most of all the team matching system.


Sweet mercy I wish I was ten years old so I would have an excuse to play with these.


Really I have no words for how much I want a Oculus.
Then I saw this build from the EVE Online Team and my words are now "GAH Oh My gibbidy."

Season 2 Ep. 11

Don’t Hate the Dick Swinger, Hate the Dick Swinging

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Loaded Dice Cast's Console Wars E3 2013 Blow out! We tee you off with a slightly new twist on our intro music! We hope you enjoy. Dubs, Kevin, Vince, Turkey and Mikey C join us to discuss the highlights of E3, what caught their attention game wise, and, in the second part of the program, we parse out the console war. Vince introduced us to The Resistance, a Tabletop Spyhunter Partygame that sounds pretty awesome. In the meantime, thanks to our devoted listeners at the NSA, we draft dystopian futures, while trying to keep them cheerier than the actual dystopian future we are living in. Kevin, while drinking a gallon of beer, enlightened us on one of the things he feels "Must be Stopped", and to break up the segments we all provide dramatic readings of people absolutely wigging the fuck out on Twitter regarding the Red Wedding. As always, thanks for listening. If you can, like us on facebook and tell your friends about us.


Red Wedding Tears

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400 Days of Zombie Summer

Zombies are never dead for long are they?

They may be defeated, cured, or locked outside the walls for a time, but they are the underworlds underdogs, the necrotic Rocky Balboa. Always taking a beating and coming back to kill Apollo Creed in the fourth round.

The latest zombie to pick itself off the stained concrete is Telltale's The Walking Dead video game.

Between April and November of 2012 Walking Dead fans were treated to 5 episodes set in the comic book world created by Robert Kirkman that spawned the AMC hit T.V show "The Walking Dead".

Instead of an action packed shooting game like Left 4 Dead where hundreds of zombies fell before your shotgun and machete, the Walking Dead video game felt more like the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books you read in third grade on rainy days.

You hear someone screaming outside and banging on the door. 

If you open the door to help your fellow man turn to page 52.

 If you shoot your pistol three times through the door at head height turn to page 23.

New Hobbit Trailer!

The Loaded Dice Cast/Blog/New-Media-Monstrosity presents to you:  The new teaser trailer for the Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Comments below the jump.

Not So Fresh Reviews: Much Ado About Nothing

"Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me."

My lady and I sought to make a very merry Sunday, and after a lambasting of our lifestyles during a very strange and historical tour of the Mount Vernon hotel. But by luck and grace we were rescued, by the mad revelry of the Bard seen though the eyes of the Nerd. Truly there is no remedy after being lambasted like a Shakespearean comedy.

As I have written in the past, this is a film I have been looking forward to for a while. Having gown up on Buffy, Angel, and everything subsequent to them, it is easiest to say I (like most other manner of geek) am a huge fan of Joss Whedon. I also happen to be one of those actor and theater types (Though I did miss the Tony Awards last night. If you did too watch NPH kill the opening) so I also have a love for The Bard.  After seeing Much Ado it is plain that Mr. Whedon also has a similar affliction.

The tale of the two ever quarrelsome Benedick and Beatrice is well known by some, and easily recognized by others. Both are also completely convinced that there is no such romantic equal to themselves, thus they enthusiastically embrace lives of bachelorhood and mock the trivialities of love. That is, until a small council of their friends and family decide to rob cupid of his job and make a match between the two. Then things get complicated.

Art of the Remake

Same Name, Different Decade

Why make something new when you can remake something old? Well originality for one, but some IPs are worth a revisit. Recently, I have had the pleasure of annihilating some alien scum in XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Thanks to a Steam sale and a splendid significant other who abides my silly video game loving ass), the remake of X-COM from back in the day. The beautiful thing I have noticed while playing is the admiration of the original which has dictated the choices in how this particular remake was executed. The challenging tactics of a by gone gaming era, and the perma-death for soldiers that fall fending off the Septoid invaders. It all makes this game feel like a love letter to the original. 

There is another "remake" of XCOM coming out soon titled The Bureau, and although it was announced well before Enemy Unknown, as so often happens in the gaming world, it got delayed. Thing is: The Bureau was and is a very different game from X-COM - the style originally being an FPS- but now a third-person cover based shooter with a tactics system (Something like Mass Effect 3 meets Fallout 3).  The 1960's setting keeps it from looking too redundant with the steady stream of 'marines fighting aliens' games we have been inundated with over the years (Halo, Gears of War, Resistance, Cyrsis...) or it's strategy based sibling. These alterations, in addition to what I have seen so far, have my fancy lightly tickled. Though I will not pass real judgment till I have it in my hands.

Cool Beans 6/3

RED WEDDING EDITION

So if you haven't watched last weeks Game Of Thrones, you have only yourself to blame.
This will be a ***SPOILER FILLED*** Cool Beans.
BEWARE!

Okay so R.R. hit up Conan this week and admits that he just wants to have real suspense in his stories.



Conan pulls out reaction videos of the Red Wedding and  R.R. couldn't be more pleased.


Here is an awesome compilation of Red Wedding reaction videos step by step.
Or death by death I suppose.


Arya is freaking out man!
Maisie Williams Vine Upload Spoiler

Threadbare Geek #3

Summer is Coming...  So Cowabunga Dude.

That's right! It is time to bear a little more pasty skin as you leave the keyboard for the surfboard. Who are we kidding? We don't surf; we get drunk in the sun. So to keep yourself legit this year I am going to lay down the basics when it come to guy's swimwear.

When it comes right down to it you are trying to avoid looking like either one of these guys. First things first, you are going to have to be real with yourself and your body because that is half of the trick to finding the right fit. That does not mean you should be freaking out about what you look like, because trust me, no one is really going to grief you, especially since most other people are feeling uncomfortable in swim wear too. Except male models.