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Archive - 2015
November 25, 2015 – After slaughtering his way across the Blasted Wastes, Grimgor Ironhide is searching for a new foe…
Total War: WARHAMMER will be a mix of real-time tactical battles, and turn-based grand strategy played out across a gigantic campaign map.
This epic in-engine cinematic trailer will take you on a fly-through of that campaign map for the first time, hinting at the shear range of cities and terrain you can aspire to conquer– from the Badlands in the South to the Chaos Wastes in the North.
With an uncontrollable thirst for battle, the Greenskin Legendary Lord has never gone more than two days without a fight, crushing entire settlements to sate a desire for the spilled blood of his enemies.
A full Campaign Gameplay Walkthrough for Total War: WARHAMMER will be coming next week.
Trailer
Walt Disney Studios and Marvel have revealed the artwork to accompany the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two collector’s edition movie box set – due out on December 8 only at Amazon.com.
About the MCU Phase Two Collection
The limited edition, 13-Disc Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection invites you to hold the greatest power in the cosmos in your grasp – an orb containing one of the legendary Infinity Stones! Plus Blu-ray 3D™, Blu-ray™ and Digital Copies of all Phase 2 films, in collectible packaging designed by artist Matt Ferguson. This set overflows with stunning Marvel memorabilia, including a gold-foiled page from the book of Dark Elves, an ancient drawing from the Morag vault, Avengers and S.T.R.I.K.E. uniform patches, a replica of the Tony Stark Tattoo from Marvel’s Iron Man 3, and much more!
Artwork Images
Here is the first official trailer for Marvel’s upcoming Captain America: Civil War. Captain America: Civil War is due out on May 6, 2016.
Trailer
November 25, 2015 – After years in development, we are thrilled to introduce the Airsoft Innovations Cyclone Grenade; the newest incarnation of the most ruthless spinning airsoft BB dispensing device out there. Using our new Quantum Drive engine, it unleashes a spinning storm of 140 BBs at 225 feet per second and now available for about the price of a GBB pistol magazine.
- Spiritual successor to the Tornado Grenade
- Runs on propane + BBs, no other consumables
- Easy to reload, no loose parts in the trigger mechanism
- Reliable, effective and devastatingly powerful
- Spherical firing pattern due to spinning action
- All for about the price of one GBB pistol magazine
Universal City, California – November 24, 2015 – It’s the most wonderful time of the year as Universal Studios HollywoodSM and Universal CityWalk® deck the halls for a wintry calendar of cool holiday activities at The Entertainment Capital of L.A.SM
A very, merry “GrinchmasTM” returns to Universal Studios Hollywood as the theme park celebrates the Who-lidays with The Grinch, his faithful dog Max and a roster of Whos from the town of Who-ville.
“Grinchmas” runs weekends on December 5-6 and 12-13, then continues daily from December 18, 2015 through January 3, 2016.
The Universal Plaza, an elaborate grand piazza at the heart of the theme park, will serve as the backdrop for the lighting of the towering “Grinchmas” tree – a whimsical centerpiece twisting and spiraling 60 feet above visitors and providing the ideal setting for merry holiday making memories, while The Grinch, his adorable dog Max and the Who-ville Whos entertain guests nearby with fun-filled photo opportunities.
As part of the fab-Who-lous event, Martha May Who-vier and the Who Dolls will take center stage by the “Grinchmas” tree performing energetic musical sets to usher in the Christmas season in style. The Wholiday Singers—a hip boy-band ensemble—will perform nightly a cappella concerts featuring a mix of Christmas favorites and pop rock.
The spirited “Grinchmas” event will also capture guests’ imagination with a variety of inspiring activities designed to create long lasting memories. These include:
- Who-ville Post Office – Visitors will have a chance to partake in the “Grow Your Heart 3 Sizes” campaign when they share their good deeds on a postcard and mail them to The Grinch. In return, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. and Random House Children’s Books, the publishers of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, will pay it forward by donating a book to a child in need through First Book on behalf of the sender.
- Trim up the Tree Lot – Guests can design and personalize their own “Grinchmas” ornaments to help decorate the venue’s other “Grinchmas” trees or take them home as a keepsake.
- Who-bilicious Cookie Dec-Who-rating – Freshly baked, ginger bread and Christmas tree cookies will be available for purchase, and guests can create their very own amazing treats with an assortment of delectable frostings and tasty toppers.
- Story Time with Cindy-Lou Who – Cindy-Lou Who and her Who friends will gather guests of all ages – tall and small—for an engaging storytelling show of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, featuring special effects and audience participation.
The spirit of “Grinchmas” will also come to life aboard the world-famous behind-the-scenes Studio Tour with engaging performances by unforgettable Who-ville Whos re-enacting popular scenes and songs from the family favorite at the original film sets from the blockbuster film, “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Universal Studios Hollywood’s newly introduced Annual Passes add additional cheer to the holidays as special stocking stuffer gifts. For more information or to purchase one of three new passes: the Gold Pass, the California Resident Plus Pass or the California Resident Pass, please visit www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.
“Grinchmas” is included in the price of theme park admission. More information is available at www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.
The spirit of the season continues with a wintertime transformation of Universal CityWalk, beginning the day after Thanksgiving on Friday, November 27 through Friday, January 1, 2016. A spectacular 40-foot tall Christmas tree will glisten with 200,000 LED icicles choreographed to the lights and sounds of the season in the “5 Towers” plaza. Santa Claus will make nightly appearances and offer special photo opportunities at “5 Towers,” plaza complete with evening hourly snow falls at the heart of CityWalk. Visits from St. Nick, along with free concert performances and an eclectic ensemble of talented street performers will make CityWalk the ultimate L.A. holiday destination. Admission to Universal CityWalk is free.
Boston MA and Rockville MD – November 20th, 2015 – To celebrate the blockbuster success of Fallout® 4, Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. and Bethesda Game Studios® today announced that the Fallout 4 Vault 111 Suit will be added to the character creator in Rock Band™ 4 for both Xbox One and the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system.
Players’ in-game avatars can rock their way through the apocalypse sporting the Vault 111 Suit, complete with the music-reactive Pip-Boy™, when the free Rock Band 4 title update launches on December 8th.
“Rock Band’s character creator has always provided our players a way to live out their rock and roll fantasies, and we’re excited Rock Band 4 allows us to expand those fantastic possibilities by adding new assets to it, highlighted by the Vault 111 Suit. I’ve been a Fallout fan since the beginning. Playing some of the amazing songs in our Rock Band catalog with a band of Vault dwellers is something we think you’ll find is crazy fun” said Harmonix CEO Steve Janiak.
For more information on Rock Band 4 and to stay up to date with the latest news and announcements, head over to http://www.rockband.com and follow @RockBand Twitter for updates.
For more information on Fallout 4 visit http://www.fallout4.com.
November 24, 2015 – This has been a phenomenal year for The Witcher! Here are a couple words from Konrad Tomaszkiewicz our Game Director: “This year was really epic for the entire crew behind The Witcher. We launched Wild Hunt, the RPG we’ve been working on for so long, then we’ve gone above and beyond to give gamers as many free DLC as we could, and then released Hearts of Stone, which – judging from player feedback – took the game even further. And we innovated all along the way — if you compare Wild Hunt to our previous game, almost every element was improved or changed. Now we’re working on Blood and Wine, the final expansion for Wild Hunt which we will launch in 2016. To thank everyone for being with us this whole time, we’ve prepared something special — enjoy the Epic Trailer!” said Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, Game Director, CD PROJEKT RED.
Blood and Wine will be available for purchase in 2016, but players can also obtain it as a part of the Expansion Pass.
Buy the Expansion Pass and save up to 15%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Expansion Pass secures your access to two epic adventures set in the vibrant world of monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. Collectively offering 30 hours of new content, gear and foes — all crafted with maximum attention to detail and quality — the expansions feature characters both new and dearly missed while bringing to life stories previously untold within the Witcher universe.
Saitek and its parent company, Mad Catz, have have really stepped up their game with regards to simulation peripherals – beginning a few years ago with a hardcore line of Microsoft Flight Simulator oriented control units. Continuing in this tradition, they have branched out into other areas of simulation gaming. Enter: The Heavy Equipment Precision Control System for PC. When this package arrived at my doorstep, I immediately took note that it was a hefty bundle of peripherals – getting it out of the box could be used for light weight training. The contents of the control system consist of: One steering wheel unit, one side control panel, and a brake and accelerator floor pedal unit. Immediately after unboxing this setup, its build quality became apparent as I dropped it all onto the faux-wood flooring. The three peripherals collided with quite a sound and I went into panic mode: Were they broken?!? No! Thankfully, while the whole system is made from a heavy duty plastic and it is very durable enabling it to survive the fall unharmed.
I pressed on and continued setting everything up. Installation is very easy – the steering wheel and side panel units each have twist on/off attachment points that to a fine job of keeping them both in place. Thanks to the flexible head on the screw that puts pressure on whatever surface the units are c-clamped around, it can work on desktops that even have a slight bend or curve in their design. The steering wheel clamp even has a nice coating of rubber on it to protect the surface of whatever you are clamping it to. Also, everything plugs in via USB cables so you won’t need any special ports to use or anything like that (those of you that remember EPIC cards will be very happy about this).
The control units set up very easily in Farming Simulator 15 which, I might add, is a steal at $29.99, and is the principal game intended for use with this control system. That being said, the controllers are configurable USB devices and could technically be used in any sim title you desire. For instance, the side control panel works especially well in Frontier Developments’ Elite Dangerous. Additionally, you will be very happy using this entire control system with Euro Truck Simulator 2 – especially with the nifty turning knob attached to the steering wheel unit. I kept wanting to reach for an imaginary CB radio and yell “Convoy!” You can even assign the rotary knob on the side control panel as a head turning/view control in the game – pretty nifty stuff here. While the wheel is not the best in terms of design/function for racing games, you can definitely use it for them. There are two paddle controls on the backside of the wheel which can be assigned to shifting gears. Also, I was unable to test it on this game but Saitek claims the peripherals work great with Rail Simulator.
I was not a huge fan of the Farming Simulator series before this peripheral set. After, however, I can’t stop playing it. This peripheral bundle simply takes the game to an entirely new level. Driving the tractors and using cranes has never been so much fun on a PC. Overall, the Saitek / Mad Catz Heavy Equipment Precision Control System is a testament to Saitek’s focus on simulation as a form of entertainment and and is a must-buy for those fans of the farming or utility sim genres. It is a pricey bundle of simulation goodness at $299.99, but you will not find a better heavy equipment sim peripheral set anywhere. Additionally, if you are a sci-fi sim gamer, you can’t go wrong with that side control panel peripheral to add some extra buttons and other controls to your starship, starfighter, etc.
[easyreview title=”Saitek Heavy Equipment Precision Control System Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]
Creative Labs continues its war to dominate the gaming audio market with the new Sound BlasterX line of gaming headsets. Ranging from the lower-end H3 headset going all the way to the high-end H7 7.1 channel surround sound headset, there is something for everyone in the Sound BlasterX line-up. We got the chance to take a look at the almost-top tier level headset, the Sound BlasterX H5. The Sound BlasterX H5 gaming headset features a stainless steel and black style that exudes classy aggression. The headset is capable of taking a lot of wear and coming back for more every time, thanks to its steel headband. I was actually shocked at just how flexible the steel headband is. You can twist it almost all the way around and the steel just bounces right back to shape. It also features faux leather ear cups that, while making my ears sweat slightly after long periods of use, provide ample comfort and a quiet gameplay session.
Its boom microphone did a terrific job of carrying my voice to my comrades while we played Arma 3 and Romero’s Aftermath, and I was told from my cohorts that the mic seemed successful in filtering out a lot of the background noise floating around my office space. In fact, it sounded better to them than the dedicated desktop microphone I usually use for Skype calls, etc. It should be noted that the boom microphone is removable in case you do not require it.
Setting up the Sound BlasterX H5 for use is very simple – it comes with a 3.5mm splitter and also uses a 4 port 3.5mm plug. This allows you to plug the headset into your smartphone, PC, and even a PS4 game console! You also have the option of downloading and installing the Creative Labs Sound BlasterX Acoustic Engine Lite software that allows you to tweak your sound to your specifications. For the purposes of my review, I did not do this as I already have a Creative Labs software suite running thanks to my sound card.
The sound quality coming out of the Sound BlasterX H5 was excellent, and I could just as easily listen to my favorite songs while wearing this headset as I could taking on OPFOR in Arma 3. I heard no issues with high or low-end sounds while listening to my tunes and was happy it seemed to marry so well with my Creative Labs sound card. I could take advantage of most of my sound card’s options, such as the Crystalizer and Scout modes with no issue whatsoever. Its 50mm “FullSpectrum” neodymium drivers are up to the task and the ear cups are closed just enough to block out a decent amount of outside noise while still allowing you to hear some of whats going on around you.
Finally, I love that the Sound BlasterX H5 features a nylon, braided cable. This was all the rage a few years ago but has since petered out among peripheral makers. I loved this feature on headsets and am glad Creative Labs is bringing it back for the H5.
Overall, the Creative Labs Sound BlasterX H5 pro gaming headset is exactly what you would hope to get out of an analog, pro gaming headset. They have great sound quality, great construction, and a reliable microphone that actually filters out some background noise. It’s only real drawback is the $129.99 price point but headsets are getting more expensive these days. At least with the Sound BlasterX H5, you know your $129.99 is going towards a high quality product.
[easyreview title=”Sound BlasterX H5 Professional PC Gaming Headset Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]