Geeking over SDCC 2016 Unveilings

As August dawns, I figured I'd catch up on all the news and unveilings from SDCC 2016. There will be much geeking out:


Note: I won't include any of the trailers as I figure most will have seen or will see them.


Justice League: In one trailer, everything that BvS:DoJ did wrong was remedied. There was comedy. DC long held the reputation as the place where its super-heroes got along. I got that vibe. Based on the trailer, watching Batman assemble the heroes should be a hoot. Loved the music. Finally, as a DC fan, I am not looking forward to Justice League simply because it's the Justice League. My inner child who watched the Super Friends while playing with Super Powers toys is delighted.


Doctor Strange Trailer #2: I'm even more excited for this film than I was before! The purist within me accepts the changes. Still not sure whom all the characters are aside from the Ancient One and Strange. Based on my guesses, Wong is now no longer Asian and wields magic and Baron Mordo is nuts...


Flash Season 3 Trailer: Flashpoint it is! Looking forward to seeing Wally as Kid Flash (or should we say Flash). We'll probably see more of the real Reverse-Flash than we've ever had before. Is Dr. Alchemy the Big Bad? Something tells me Barry won't like this new world...


Jim Gordon assuming an iconic DC Character ID: You can read about it HERE. Gotham has shaken Bat-mythos enough that Gordon could become any character. GordonBatman would be quite a twist. I'd find it rather hilarious if Jim Gordon was the first Batman. Would fit the show too as Jim Gordon had been playing that role anyway - albeit not as effectively. He could also be The Question or The Vigilante.


Kurt Russel is playing Star-Lord's Dad. It's Ego the Living Planet?! For those that want to read the news, one can do so HERE. Hmmm, I'll reserve judgment until I watch GotG 2.


A Captain Power reboot series! Absolutely loved this show as kid! Consider me excited. Here's some info about it HERE. Don't know what was mentioned at the con though...


80's-style He-Man Cartoon aired at the Con: Details HERE. Con goers got to see a brief He-Man short done in the old Filmation style. He-Man is another childhood favorite of mine; and I have many fond memories of watching the Filmation show as a kid. Would loved to have seen it the con. May have to check out on Google Play some day...


Ghost Rider on Agents of SHIELD - Well, we now know the next Marvel character to appear on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. It's Ghost Rider! For those whom want to take a gander at which one and the vehicle itself, can do so HERE. And its... the All-New Ghost Rider... The one with the car... The one I don't know so much about. Well, at least, I won't have any preconceptions...


Richard Ryder is Back! - That's right, the original Nova has returned! Apparently, Marvel decided to what I had guessed about the current Marvel book back when it was previewed: pair Richard Ryder with new Nova, Sam. You can read the story itself HERE. May continue to buy the book now.


More IDW/DC crossovers: Recently, Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles teamed up.  They'll do so again except this time it'll be the TAS and Nick versions. Cool. Cool. Also there'll be sequel to Green Lantern/Star Trek: Spectrum War. Also, cool. Future trades! Here's a link.


Ragman on Arrow!: For pics and sizzle reel for Arrow Season 5, here's a link. Ragman was among my favorites from the short-lived series Shadowpact. Loved how he was more of street-level Spectre. Judging by the pictures, the Ragman's depiction is faithful to the comics although it must be tough to translate the character from the comics to the screen. As for the sizzle reel itself, I am as pumped as I am for the Flash. Should be neat watching Ollie train a new batch. Wonder how long they'll last though before the old crew returns...


Justice League Dark - JL Dark adaptation to animated movie is finally upon us. Plus Matt Ryan reprises the role of Consantine! One can check out a video discussing the movie HERE.


Unlike previous years, I didn't pay too much to SDCC this year. I'm sure I missed plenty of news and unveilings. Oh well. They'll be new for me when the next round of Con Coverage occurs!

A Decade of the Voice of the Daleks Influencing the Doctor

Another historic milestone has been reached in the world of Doctor Who. As I would like to say, the voice of the daleks has been influencing the adventures of the Doctor for a decade... Okay, I know what you're thinking. That this is a new Moffat revelation. I'm not referring to a new Doctor Who plotline. The influence affects older Doctors. Sigh... not more Moffat revisionism. No, I am talking Nicholas Briggs. For those whom may not follow the nuts & bolts of Doctor Who production, Nicholas Briggs provides the voice for the daleks. So every time a dalek proclaims that they are the superior beings, you are hearing Nicholas Briggs.


So how has Nicholas Briggs been influencing the adventures of older doctors? Why, he's been an Executive Producer over at Big Finish for a decade. He's contributed to further adventures of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Doctors. He's played a big part with Dalek Empire (which includes David Tennant's (10th Doc) first Doctor Who acting credit). Okay, this link HERE does a far better job explaining his contributions over Big Finish than I ever could.


There's also an anniversary special that offers discounts on some his work. May pick up one or two his Doctor Who audios myself. Provided I remember my password and time zones don't confuse me...

SR5 Rant: Incomplete Combat Mage Template

In anticipation of my second Shadowrun Missions (SRM) session, I was going finally write about my first SRM session and take advantage of the one-time free character tinkering that SRM allows after one's first session. I absolutely love templates especially for complex games such as Shadowrun. New to Shadowrun? Here, pick a template. Don't need to know too much about the system in order to create a functioning character. I'd recommend them all the time back when I ran third edition.


Flash-forward to fifth edition. Fifth edition changes quite a bit. Enough that I figured the best way not to get lost in rules changes was to follow my third edition recommendation. I selected the Combat Mage template. Okay, maybe not exactly. I decided to play the Hero Labs pregen that I selected during the Shadowrun one-off month ago. During the first SRM session, I was struck by the sensation that the Hero Labs-generated character had more than the template. Upon scanning the template, my suspicions were confirmed. The template had less stuff. Much less.


So I spent time perusing the character creation section in order to recreate the template. After all, can't make any changes unless I know whether the Hero Lab PC is more powerful than a starting character. It wasn't. In fact, the template was. Okay, the template isn't weaker. It is incomplete. Absolutely hate that. Fine. Perhaps, it's a first printing error? Upon checking the errata, it isn't. The Combat Mage template in the SR5 is an incomplete character. So much for time savings.


What's missing? For starters, the template does not include the bonus special attribute point that Human PC's receive at priority E. Second, only twenty four points of skills are accounted for. The corresponding column for the closest category also states that the character receives two unspent skill group points. Third, not all of the 25 Karma available for character creation is spent. Customization is nice and everything but the karma expenditures at this stage follow the character advancement rules. Sort of. I'd forgive this if the template had an unspent karma section. Fourth, the worst for last, less than half of the templates starting nuyen is spent! Shadowrun is a skills and gear game! Furthermore, the focus of Shadowrun is not just adventuring but adventuring to live. New players can get lost. Forget about time savings.


In the end, I've decided not to tinker with the Hero Labs character after all. What concerns me is if the combat mage is incomplete, are any of the other templates as well? So, I plan on scouring over the templates and blogging about any inconsistencies with character generation rules in future installments.


For the time being, I look forward to playing some Shadowrun tonight. Happy gaming!

The Start of 6+ Weekly D&D and Shadowrun Sessions Begins!

Weekly table-top role-playing games became a thing of the past for me long ago. I'm lucky if I can game once or twice a month. So a regular campaign is outside the realm of possibility. Organized play such as Adventurer's League and Shadowrun Missions are really the only table-top RPG campaigns I can participate in without causing disruptions. Often such play time occurs intentionally as such as vacation or by happenstance. It was because of the latter that I played the beginning intro module for the new Adventurer's League season in Barovia, Suits in the Mist. Unfortunately, further adventures in Barovia have eluded me for now.


That is until today. Or the next week or two anyway. Why? Fortunately, my schedule allows for six consecutive weeks of gaming over the course of the next six weeks. Now, I had arranged to be able to play the next two sessions of Shadowrun Missions but decided to expand it to include the other four weeks at my local game store that provide the opportunity to D&D 5E Adventurer's League modules. Thus, my hapless rogue may actually get the chance to leave Barovia!


So I am quite looking forward to six weeks of gaming. Feels almost like a regular weekly game! Of course, I plan on blogging about the experiences, including the first Barovia and Shadowrun Missions sessions.


Happy Gaming!

A Classic NES That Fits Within One's Palm!

News broke out over the interwebs about a spectacular gaming announcement today. Nintendo is bring back the classic NES! Granted, it's not an exact replica of the 8-bit system; but the dubbed NES Classic System incorporates the latest technology. For those that have not read the details, a link that describes it can be found HERE.


As someone who grew up with the old 8-bit system (okay, more like played on other's consoles), I consider this fantastic news! Sure, devices have come out upon which one can play those old school NES games. I own a Retro Duo, of which I have remarked about here previously, that plays both 8-bit NES and 16-Bit SNES games. One could track down working vintage consoles even. However, this new rendition is a replica, contains 30 games, has "save points", and fits within the palm of one's hand. Sure my Retro Duo is small but it does not fit inside my hand! Not too mention all the space that the thirty cartridges for all thirty games would take up. Discounting licensed games, those 30 games are a who's who of classic 8-bit NES games. If one had to summarize the old Nintendo experience, it's pretty representative list.


I just that the games come already installed such as Sega Genesis Classic Game Console. Would absolutely hate to open up the package and discover that I have to download those games. The one disadvantage with the NES Classic System comes from its size. Unlike the Sega Genesis Classic Game Console, I doubt one will be able to plug cartridges from the rest of the 8-bit NES library into it. For me that's not a big deal as I own a Retro Duo, which serves that function nicely.


Regardless, I am quite excited for the NES Classic System. With a November release, I can see it as the perfect holiday gift for the video gamer. The holiday gift of Nintendo. My inner 80's child is excited.

Taking a Breather From Previews Highlights

Mid-July is almost here. Soon the July for September Previews Order will be due. Within a week or two the very articles that I use as the basis for my commentary on the various comic book companies will appear online. While I got a head start last month, I'm still about a half way. Being half way done, or not having begun, hasn't deterred me before. I still wrote my two cents on the latest solicitations. However, I decided to take a breather for a month or two. Don't get me wrong. Who doesn't like ranting or raving about the next new thing? Absolutely love that I may be exposing people to comics that may not know about simply because either they don't have time or don't regularly pay attention to comics news.


In the spirit of the highlights, here's my reasons:

• Within a week or two, the next new wave of solicitations will hit the interwebs. Finishing one, month's and then doing another month's is repetitive and...
• Exhausting. I've elaborated before but it's tiring to quip about solicitations. Feels even more tiring to turn around and so again within a couple weeks.
• Part of the gimmick is that I comment on solicitations. Well, the Previews catalog has arrived. Image has released its Image+ which includes sample pages and further interviews. Right now, comic publishers are starting to discuss things in depth. For what is simply a yay or nay on ad copy that's far too much information. Also feels a bit late.
• Publishing events such as Rebirth and Marvel Now, which while they shake things up challenge me to provide my two cents. How can I give an opinion on something I might change my mind once it hits the stands? Actually plan on ranting about Now in a later post...
• Along similar lines, I'm going to endeavor to provide more reviews. Solicitations commentary is a quick easy way to hype books; but I want to hype books that I feel deserve, or don't deserve, the hype right now.
• I have several gaming-related posts that await in the pipeline. This frees me to work on those.
• To post every entry that I want to post leads me to post every day. While I've blogged a number of days consecutively, those intense periods of blogging activity are followed by long chunks of inactivity. I'd rather spread things it out. In that regards, I feel either I write about solicitations or blog about other stuff.

I hope to return to blogging about solicitations copy. Perhaps I will during September or after the Marvel Now quiets down or the next new Marvel publishing event.