Awesome Mass Effect Cosplays Part 1

Thanks to my current obsession with the Mass Effect series, I found myself browsing random cosplay photos this evening and come upon some really amazing stuff. These people really go all out when it comes to Mass Effect characters, creating such extremely intricately detailed costumes that seem worthy of a movie set.

There are a lot of characters in Mass Effect and thus a LOT of cosplay examples to share. So what I'm going to do is dedicate a post for each character and show some of my favorite examples that I've found.

We'll begin with my personal favorite, Jane Shepard, otherwise known as FemShep in the community, or whatever you want to name her. She's the female version of the protagonist of the game so of course you can change her appearance how you see fit. This works out great for people wanting to dress as her because there is no one way Shepard is supposed to look. Makes for a lot of variety out there.  Enjoy!

First up is a lovely red head, which seems to be the most common selection but I think it fits the character best. She goes by Viverra1 and you can find more of her cosplays and designs at her Deviant Art page here: http://viverra1.deviantart.com/ Be sure to visit and leave some comments, she did an amazing job on the costume, really spot on!

 

Next up is a person that bears a stunning resemblance to Jane Shepard or the default appearance with no player changes. This beauty goes by Kaz and you can find more of her cosplays on her Tumblr here: clefairy-tale.tumblr.com/ Be sure to stop by and add some notes!

Next check out this Russian beauty sporting Shepard's more casual looks. The evening dress seems to be rare and she did an amazing job on it. Follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/montirovka_man and check out more of her amazing cosplay work on her Deviant Art page here: http://love-squad.deviantart.com

 

Now to wrap things up with a personal favorite set by cosplayer, Crystal Graziano. Not only does she make for a beautiful Shepard but her costume is insanely accurate. The omni tool blade looks like it's right out of the game! For more of her cosplays check out her Deviant Art page here: http://crystalcosfx.deviantart.com She also has a website here:  http://preciouscosplay.cleanfolio.com/

 

That's it for this edition of awesome Mass Effect Cosplays. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and please remember to visit each of these ladies' web pages and show your support. Cosplay is a difficult hobby, especially when you're doing something as difficult as Mass Effect.

Picks for March and April 2013

The past few months have been a busy time for me.  At first I was going to skip a picks of the month for March but instead I decided to include it with April's picks.

So without further ado, here are my entertainment picks for March and April.

Movies:


ParaNorman is the tale of a young boy with the mysterious gift of being able to communicate with the dead. Of course the public, his peers at school, and even his family at home think of him as a weirdo who does these acts out of attention. It's later revealed through his estranged creepy uncle that he has this ability because his bloodline is charged with keeping a witches curse at bay annually.

I can't talk much more about the story because I don't want to spoil anything. I'll just say that in the end there are some nice lessons about trust, understanding and the need for communication.

But the real reason I loved the flick was because I'm a sucker for stop motion animation and this is some of the most top notch work I've ever seen. In the beginning I wasn't entirely sure it was stop motion or CGI. That's a testament to just how smooth the animation is in this film.

I highly recommend it for all ages, for the story and for the top notch animation and effects.

Handheld games:

Mega Man 3 as well as Mega Man 4 have been released on the Nintendo 3DS eshop. Both are perfect ports of the original nes titles. As with Mega Man 2, I couldn't resist having perfect portable versions of some of my favorite games of all time. The ability to create save states makes password management a breeze, because well, you don't have to do that anymore!

Console games:

I eventually finished Mass Effect 3 and am now working on Mass Effect 1.  Strange order to play them in I know, but when I initially played the first Mass Effect when it first released I didn't enjoy the experience.  Combat is definitely not as fluid as in 2 and 3 and the equipment/upgrade menu can get pretty tedious. Thankfully the story is top notch as expected though. It also helps that I actually care a lot for the characters this time around thanks to the time I spent with them on 2 and 3. I'm glad I'm giving part 1 a second chance. Can't wait to take my character through all 3 games.

Thanks for reading, until next month!

Personal Update

March has been a busy month for me, or I should say my family in general. I just wanted to take a quick moment to give an update for my friends that may have been wondering about me. I've been flying kind of low under the social network radar lately. The truth is I just haven't had any spare moments to really sit down at a computer. In my moments of free time I've been catching up on gaming for added stress relief.

Earlier this month my wife Caiti underwent a rather invasive surgical procedure that will hopefully yield truly life changing results for her. The surgery went well and we're pretty impressed with the results thus far. There's still a long ways to go to achieve full recovery but I'm really proud of the strides she's made thus far. Once she's all healed up she will finally be able to do things in her life she's been yearning to for years now but was previously unable to due to the extremely painful nature of her illness. I know this is kind of vague if you don't know us personally, but our closer friends know about her illness and the effect it has had on her life. I just didn't want to share the intimate details of it for the world to see.

The kids are healthy and doing well. Connor is still doing very good in school. I heard earlier in the month that he read The Cat in The Hat to his class, for which I was extremely proud. He doesn't seem to have any issues about getting up and performing in front of an audience. I'm hopefully that we can help him channel his energy towards some performing arts in the future. When he's ready and if he's even interested of course.

Liam continues to expand his vocabulary every day and is good about expressing his wants and needs. We've had some issues lately keeping him in his new car bed but we'll never give up at it. His current favorite movie is Wreck it Ralph and he's always eager to show you how to correctly wreck something. Thankfully it's just the couch cushions, but he pounds his little hands with just as much vigor as big 'ol Ralph anyway.

I'm nearly finished with another chapter of my book, though lately I've taken a step back for additional research and outlining. I wish I could give an estimate on when I might be finished but there's a whole lot left to go on what I want the first story arc to be anyway. I'm honestly not sure how long I want it to be at this point. I'll start sharing more detailed updates on the story once I've decided what the final results may be.

That's all I have time to talk about for now. Look for my monthly picks entry later in the month for more on the games I've been playing lately.

Thanks for reading!

Picks Of The Month February 2013

Welcome to another edition of my entertainment picks of the month! Keep reading to find out how I passed the time in February and maybe I'll give you some ideas on how to entertain yourself in March.

Movie:

Safety Not Guaranteed

In this film a team of journalists head to the countryside to investigate a mysterious wanted ad that seeks a partner to embark on a mission through time. The ad (pictured above) instructs you to bring your own weapons and that your safety is not guaranteed. Awesome!

The movie, while funny, is not as absurd as the ad itself reads. What you'll find here is a heartfelt journey of self discovery for the characters while you simultaneously try to determine if the guy that placed this guy is insane or can legitimately time travel. The film doesn't ask you to suspend any disbelief and is more focused on the development of the characters rather than forcing a sci fi time travel storyline on the viewer.

I had a great time watching this one.  The story keeps its momentum and follows through all the way to the very (positive) end unlike other independent films I've watched lately.

Television:

Lie to Me:

This show has been running for a few years but I was only recently introduced to it via Netflix. It follows the stories of Dr. Cal Lightman, the world's leading expert in detecting lies via micro expressions. Through his discovery of micro expressions, which are supposedly universal to everyone on earth, he can read a person's intent and almost always determine if they're lieing. By mastering this science he has found great success in the creation of the Lightman Group, which is a firm that specializes specifically in the science of lie detection. Basically if you need to see through someone's possible deception, these are the guys to hire.

The stories vary from police investigations, to missing persons, to analyzing political agendas. The science behind their lie detection is presented with enough examples to credit its believability. I especially enjoy when they show photos of celebrities and other famous figures giving further credibility to the science through their own expressions.

Handheld games:

Mega Man 2 was released on the Virtual Console of the Nintendo 3DS early this month. It's like my favorite game ever, so of course I've been dropping lots of time on it now that I have a perfect portable port. Find out why I like Mega Man 2 so much in my blog post here.

Gunman Clive: Another highly addictive platformer in the vein of Mega Man.  It's cheap price point and easy pick up and play controls make this one a no brainer for any 2D platformer fan.  Find out why I liked Gunman Clive so much by clicking my review here.

Gadgets:

Thanks to a sweet coupon from Gamestop Power Up rewards and a spare Xbox 360 I had (don't worry, I still have my main 360 and am very much a fan) I was able to score one of the new slim white 500gb PS3's cheap, along with a year plus 3 months of Playstation Plus for free.

The purchase was worth it for the Playstation Plus alone, because it gives you free games! Thanks to this service I've been able to try out a ton of titles that I just didn't have the money for last year.  I've also found that used PS3 games seem to be quite a bit cheaper than 360 games at Gamestop. For example, I was able to score Soul Calibur 5, Mass Effect 2, and Batman Arkham City for a little more than 20 dollars.

If you have a PS3 and don't already have the Playstation Plus service I highly recommend it for all the free games, discounts, exclusive trials and free avatars and themes.

Console Games:

As I said above I was able to grab a copy of Mass Effect 2 quite cheap for PS3. I'm loving this game and it makes me wish I'd gotten into the series sooner.  On the other hand, I don't have to wait long before playing through part 3 and then enjoying the new DLC that just released for it. Good things come to those who wait so they say.

I'm always a sucker for a good sci-fi flick or story and this game has all the good stuff: space travel, alien races, epic gun battles, relationships with said alien races. On top of that is an epic tale that puts the fate of the galaxy in the hands of you and your crew. 

In case anyone's wondering, I'm a sucker for a strong female lead so of course I went with fem Shepard for this adventure.

Interesting/Funny Artwork:

I got a good laugh out of this while I was looking for Mass Effect artwork the other day.  It's from the board game Girl Talk Secret Diary.  Garrus is the ultimate hunky guy card in the game obviously.  Every gal's dream guy!

What can Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo do to improve?

Here we are at the dawn of the next generation of video game consoles.  Nintendo was the first to release their new entry in the form of the Wii U, giving us yet another revolutionary controller and moving Nintendo to the realm of HD graphics for the first time. Sony revealed their hand, well sort of, early last week at their press conference. Not much can be said about the console itself but they did reveal the new dual shock controller now featuring a touch pad and a share button which seems to be the primary focus of their new online experience. If rumors are to be believed, we should be hearing something about a new console from Microsoft later next month.

Personally I could care less about these mystery consoles at this point (without games, why should anyone care?) So rather than make some speculations on the hardware or offer some meaningless flame to the inevitable console war to come, I thought I would list some of the things I didn't like about the current generation of consoles and what I feel the big three could possibly do to improve on their future business models.

Sony - While the Playstation brand is still very strong amongst hardcore players, they did a lot this generation to alienate their casual audience and new adopters. At this time a lot of their mistakes have been corrected (outrageous price) there are still several things they could do better next generation.

The things I feel they got right:

The controller - I like their "if it aint broke, don't fix it" approach to their controller. They've added things over the years but for the most part their controller design has largely stayed the same. A special nod goes out to their d-pad as being the only one out of the three console giants that I can play fighting games with without having to get an arcade stick out. Most fighting game players will attest to this, especially Tekken fans.

 Multimedia - You can't complain about the devices ability to play Blu-Ray discs, but on top of that the ability to stream your own media through your home network is pretty cool too if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Playstation Plus - This is what could best be described as Sony's version of Xbox Live Gold, only it's not mandatory for you to purchase the Plus program to use the Playstation 3's full online capabilities. The Plus program is awesome and well worth the price, which is 50 bucks a year or 15 for 3 months. Benefits include completely free games, deeply discounted games, access to some PSN games before non Plus users as well as paid content like premium avatars and desktop themes for free.  This stuff isn't just demos, it's the full games that you download and keep for all time, well as long as you keep your Plus subscription going anyway. If you fail to pay and your Plus runs out the games "lock you out" in a sense, but you don't lose your trophies or progress or anything. You just can't access the game again until you restart your Plus.  Playstation Plus is a tremendous value and was a system seller for me. It's hard to make any complaints about new completely free games every week.

The things I feel they need to improve on:

Hardware aesthetics - Again all of this is just my personal opinion, and I do feel this has improved with their latest slim PS3 model, but man Sony can make an ugly looking console.  The original PS3 was hideous in my opinion and the "Spider Man 3" font on the logo made it look like a prototype or mockup that somehow got pushed through to release. The first slim model was a great improvement but I still feel like it and the original look more like printers than game consoles. The latest slim model is nice, one because it's the most compact of the three and it reminds me of the sleek designs they captured with the Playstation 2 models. The sliding top hatch is really cool too, it actually makes it sort of fun to swap games out. For their new console they need to stick with a design that continues to pay homage to the PS2, which was a console that not only played good but looked good as a part of your home entertainment setup. Since it looks like they nailed it with the current slim PS3, let's hope the PS4 will be handsome on day one.

Price point - I think we can agree that the launch price of the PS3 was the hurdle that took them the longest time to overcome in gaining an install base. I think we would all like something that really pushes the envelope in terms of horse power but to be realistic in the current economy they can't release something that will break the bank for your average consumer. If you ask me, having unbelievable horsepower isn't really necessary for having great games. I think they need to focus on the large hard drive space for downloading games and just slightly improve their specs rather than doubling the numbers. Whatever they decide to do, they need to remember the hard lesson taught by the dauntingly high price of the original PS3.

PSN layout and navigation - I'm not a fan of how the Playstation Store is currently laid out. There is some organization to an extent but I feel like most of the time I spend on there is just digging for what I'm looking for. The search results don't seem to offer everything I'm looking for either. I'm not exactly sure on what advice to give here without saying "just look at Microsoft and Nintendo" but there it is. I wish there were more options for just browsing titles, rather than the splash of what's new or hot right now.

Installs - It seems like with any new title you get you spend a considerable amount of time installing things to get started. I think this is largely to do with the PS3 using first generation Blu-Ray drives, so to minimize tremendous load times the game installs key amounts of data. I'm sure this will be improved with their next console as Blu-Ray drives themselves have only increased in quality since their introduction.

Microsoft - Let's switch gears now and pick on Microsoft for a bit. I feel like they had a lot of success this generation and ultimately ended up being my favorite out of the big three this time around, but they did have a lot of missteps along the way and still have some things they definitely need to look at before their next console makes it's debut.

The things I feel they got right:

The controller - I have to give it to them on their controller design too. It's one of the most ergonomic game controllers I've ever held and I love the placement of the analogue sticks. They're definitely on the right track in reaching that perfect controller spot with me but there are some things to work on too. I really hope they stick with this design for their next console.

Social and communication options - The best thing about Xbox Live is the cross game chatting, parties, messaging and beacons you can set up to make finding and teaming up with your friends nearly seamless. I think they set the standard in how online gaming should take place with the 360's version of Xbox Live.

Achievements - Whether you collect these or not, it still feels good to see that achievement notification pop while you're playing. It's also a great tool for gauging your progress in certain games against your friends. I hope that with the next console they will decide to carry everyone's gamer scores over. This seems like a given though.

Xbox Live navigation and searching - I feel like the content on the 360 is much more organized than that of the Playstation Store. Everything is laid out in a much more user friendly manner and there are numerous ways to sort for content.

The things I feel they need to improve on:

Hardware reliability - These days it thankfully appears that the days of the rampant red rings of death have passed, but for a time it was a fear in the back of everyone's mind when they decided to go with an Xbox 360. To be successful in the next generation it is imperative that they test their hardware under the most extreme conditions. Players can put some serious hours into these machines and they need to be able to withstand extremely long play sessions without over heating. Here's hoping that the millions they lost in repairing RRODed consoles taught them this much valuable lesson for their next console.

 Xbox Live Gold pricing - At this stage in the game, with the Wii U offering completely free online play and Sony giving FREE GAMES if you decide to pay, Microsoft seriously needs to offer some justifiable reasons for renewing your Gold subscription. Sure they offer lots in the ways of television and other media options, but again, similar offerings are completely free on their competitor's consoles. I feel like a lot of the media apps on the 360 are just content fodder anyway to create the illusion that there's more to offer. I'll cite the Sci Fi channel app for example. There's no actual programming to watch on this app. You can't watch any episodes of your favorite shows or movies. The only things available are things I would consider DVD content, such as trailers and behind the scenes snipits. This is all stuff you can find on Youtube for free. If they feel they still need people to pay for what they consider premium content, they need to offer different subscription options so that you're only paying for what you really want to get out of the service. If it were up to me, I would rather drop all the added media apps and just have the great Xbox Live gaming service to continue to play with my friends for a cheaper price. I bought the console to play games primarily, I have other devices to watch tv. If you want to continue collecting that 60 dollars a year from me, how about some free games like with Sony's service?

Nintendo - I need to be up front and say that I don't own a Wii U console yet. I've played on one, but I've yet to spend some quality hours with the machine. That being said, I do own a 3DS and I'm very familiar with how Nintendo runs their business from the online front.

The things I feel they got right:

Controller functionality - The selling point of the Wii U is the touch screen controller and the many wonderful things it can do. I think the ability to play your games your games (most of) independently on the controller itself is a very enticing feature. I also love the potential for having an extra screen brings to the game for extra menus, extra commands and buttons, and even alternate view points.

Social network - I haven't gotten the chance to spend a lot of time with this function, but Nintendo's message board like social network seems like a great way to meet new people and discuss the games you're currently playing. It's also really cool that you can share your artwork with each other too.

The things I feel they need to improve on:

Software sharing between devices - It does seem like Nintendo is finally conscious of the importance of online functionality in a console but they still have some things to improve on too.  For one thing I would like to see your download and purchase history tied to your Nintendo ID and not the hardware itself. I've heard that they're working on this, so who knows, maybe one day we'll see this improvement.

Communication options - I'd love to see more options for cross game messaging and chat like on the Xbox 360. It just makes setting up games and just plain communicating that much more convenient.

Achievements/Trophies - See what I said about achievements in the Xbox section above. Whether you're addicted to this sort of thing or not you have to admit it's fun to see an achievement or trophy pop up letting you know you've made some unique progress.  It'd be one more thing to show off in the Mii-Verse too!


Those are just some of the things I'd like to see each console developer improve on. One could write all day about what it would take to make the perfect console but in the end it's just a matter of your own personal tastes. Like I said earlier, the games are the most important thing and I hope this upcoming generation yields some real gems to play for years to come.

P.S. I'm not awarding anyone the perfect console until the Dreamcast 2 gets announced, haha.

Cheers!

Gunman Clive Review

Yesterday while shopping around on the Nintendo eShop  with my 3DS, I happened upon a gameplay video that pretty much sold a new IP to me instantly.  At first glance one might label the game Mega Man in the wild west and with a 1.99 price tag I couldn't pass up the potential for such an idea.

Gunman Clive is the simple story of a gunslinger trying to save his girlfriend from, well, I won't say exactly because that'll ruin the surprise of the later levels.  It may be a cliche trope of games gone by, but for all the elements of the classic platformer Clive pays homage to it feels appropriate.

If you've watched any of the trailers you'll immediately notice the heavy inspiration drawn from the Mega Man series. I would actually deem it appropriate if the game opened with "in the year 18XX" but it would be an insult to make any suggestion that the game was a rip-off.  Yes there are familiar similarities, such as the game only allowing 3 shots of the standard weapon on the screen at a time, or Clive's ability to change the momentum of his jumps, but Clive still moves as his own character. (Mega Man could never duck, and that's something the Blue Bomber can be jealous about).

Weapons vary in the form of enemy drops that give Clive a new weapon to use until he takes damage.  Each has their own path and strength, such as the spreadshot for a wider path of destruction, while the heavy bullets fire slower and in a straight path but do more damage.  Other weapons include heat seeking bullets, a Mario fireball-esque bouncing bullet, and even a laser!

The level design shines as it masterfully blends the task of running and gunning while dealing with stage hazards. Like the classic Mega Man titles, the game teaches the player how to deal with hazards in a controlled situation before throwing them in a life or death encounter with them. For example, when you run into your first encounter with the disappearing and reappearing blocks there is solid ground beneath you to give you time to practice and get used to their pattern before it makes you perform the act over a cliff. This sort of fundamental level design is missing from a lot of modern games today, where instead of encouraging the player to learn the game pauses the action to give them some tutorial text. It's Clive's nod to the classic fundamentals that helps the game feel somehow nostalgic while still delivering a new experience.

The only obstacles I had trouble with were these mushrooms you have to bounce on to reach higher areas later in the game.  Getting Clive to get a full bounce on them felt inconsistent; the timing that worked for me on the first mushroom didn't seem to give me the same results on the next one.  Other than these everything seemed to function as intended and each death was my own fault. I didn't really experience any so called "cheap deaths."

The stages follow a linear path; stage one leads to stage two, followed by stage three, etc, until you reach the end of the game.  Huge bosses that fill the screen await you at the end of each "world" to test your shootin' and dodgin' skills.  You're given as many tries as you need to complete a level, but dieing always sends you back to the very beginning of the current stage.  At the end of the game you'll be presented with a final tally of tries it took you as well as the time it took you to finish. The game is rather short, which is to be expected for this price point.  Experienced platformer players and especially Mega Man players will definitely finish the game in under an hour.  My first play through took only 39 minutes.  That's not to say there isn't enough content to keep you playing.  From the start you can play as either Clive or the would be damsel in distress, Ms. Johnson, which offers a completely different gameplay experience. She walks considerably slower than Clive, but she has an added gliding ability much like Princess Toadstool in Super Mario Bros 2.  Finishing the game unlocks a secret character for an even harder challenge. There are also multiple difficulty levels available to further test your skills.

Clive's characters and backgrounds are rendered to look like a sketchy wanted poster which gives everything a beautiful hand drawn look to it.  The art may not be colorful, but it captures the wild west atmosphere without question. The animation is fluid and there were no issues with slowdown or any other artifacts that I noticed.

As expected, the music follows the wild west theme as well.  All of the tracks fit each stage appropriately and fully support the games atmosphere, but the western score keeps anything from being truly memorable. The sound effects impress. Explosions are appropriately loud and each of the special weapons has it's own unique effect. Enemy grunts and hit effects make each kill a delight to the ears.

I had a great time playing Clive, the only problem is that the short length of the game will leave you hungry for more in a hurry.  It does well to scratch that retro gaming itch while delivering a new IP.  Lets just hope the game sells well enough to warrant a longer sequel!

Pros:

-Awesome level designs that pay homage to classic platformer series.
-Controls are simple and precise.  Clive does exactly what you want him to do.
-Clever graphics design that presents the world like a "living" wanted poster.
-Multiple difficulty levels and extra characters add to the replay value.
-Cheap sale price at 1.99!

Cons:

-The game is pretty short.
- Depending on your tastes, the music can be pretty forgettable.

Note:  As stated above, this review is for the 3DS version of the game, but it is available on iOS and Android devices. While I'm sure it is pretty much the same game, I'd imagine playing this sort of high action platforming would be better suited to a device with actual buttons.  That's my personal preference at least, coupled with the added 3D effects of Nintendo's handheld I would recommend this as the definitive version to play.

Happy Birthday Liam 2013

Tomorrow is my youngest son Liam's 2nd birthday!  Happy early Birthday kiddo!  We decided to go ahead and have his party today because more of my family was available, and it just makes more sense to do things like this on a Saturday anyway.

To celebrate we were going to bring all the kids to the park to use the playground equipment there but a big snow storm has rolled in so we took them to the local McDonald's to use their play place instead.  That's where the cheesy (yet adorable) grin to the right was taken:

After their playtime we all headed back to the house for some cake and ice cream. Check out the awesome Lightning McQueen cake below, baked and decorated by my brother. Disney/Pixar's Cars seems to be one of Liam's favorite things right now so of course he was thrilled with the cake.

After that it was time for presents.  He got all sorts of new cars and toys, a new storage chair, art table, potty for himself and a car bed of his very own. Which is some pretty big news on its own.  As of today he has officially stopped sleeping in a crib and has moved to a toddler bed. It's been a few weeks over due now, seeing as he figured out how to escape the crib.  For a while he's been getting himself up extra early and acting as the family alarm clock.




So now, after completely exhausting himself from the play place and his party, he's taking his first nap ever in his own bed.  It might be cliche to say, but it's totally true; time really does fly.  I can't believe he's already 2! Here's to another year kiddo! We love you very much!

Thanks for reading!