First of the AC3 Editions

Came back from work with the Need for Speed game to yet another game waiting for me at home..

Assassin's Creed 3 Ubiworkshop Edition!

Right on time even though I'll be playing the R2 game from the Freedom Edition which won't be here anytime soon.. Really like the package design.. makes it look like a real package from the Abstergo Industries sent to a secret agent..

Before I go on raving about this edition, I would have to say I'm very disappointed.. Nothing wrong with the bonus items, really liked them but I saw this on the parcel..

Did you see it? XBox 360? I don't own such a console so why would I buy a game for it? Wrong label perhaps?

Nah.. They screwed it up.. Why?!!

Will have to drop them a mail regarding this. Apparently quite a number of customers have received the wrong version as well..

Moving on.. 

The Subject 4 novel..

Typing out from memory.. This is a combination of The Fall and The Chain novels. Need some info from people who have The Fall Deluxe Edition. Are all the content in that included in this?

The Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia Second Edition

Just flipped through and I have to say.. Plenty of content in there.. A very thick book and very worth the money but then again this is a slightly improved version of the first edition. So I wonder how many more editions there will be of this Encyclopedia..

The Carte Blanches? Lithographs?

The first pic actually has 4 lithographs if you missed it.. I'm a sucker for consistency and completion so to have all 4 protagonists having a similar design is really nice. Will have to frame them up nicely and display them together. Have to say it again.. they look really nice together.. Hey, where's Aveline's lithograph? In the Encylopedia 3rd Edition perhaps?

The second lithograph is like a photo of a wall of someone searching for Desmond.. Interesting..

Combined pic of the entire edition

Really nice edition with plenty of content.. Definitely worth the money but they had to spoil mine with a XBox 360 game..

Will have to do minor cropping of the images tomorrow as well as add captions so check back again soon..

Edit (01 Nov): Images cropped and reflected..
Also received a mail back from UbiWorkshop stating they can arrange a swap and sent me a return label but the waiting time and a possibility that I may need to fork out a little bit more money made me decide to try selling it instead since this was meant to be an extra copy anyway.

Also forgot to mention that the 5 lithographs came in a sealed envelope. Sealed via glue so to take them out, I had to tear it open. (You might be able to spot it in the last pic). Could have used a better option so that we could have preserved the envelope..

Anticipating Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Wanted to do a post about my thoughts about the latest Need for Speed game before the game releases and I almost forgot about it. So on the day of it's release, I'll do a post before I collect my pre-order.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The title of the latest instalment in the franchise will probably make you think about super fast cars racing through various terrains with cop cars right on your trail.. and you are not wrong.  Trailers and gameplay videos thus far has shown that this game will live up to it's name and the previous Need for Speed: Most Wanted game during the PS2 era. 

But before you think that it's just an improvement over it's predecessor, a closer look will tell you that this is a Criterion game... Ring any bells? Criterion are the same guys that invented the Burnout franchise as well as the widely acclaimed Burnout Paradise (my first PS3 game!) And if you have been following news about this new NFS game, you will have known that NFS: Most Wanted is affectionately known as "Burnout Paradise 2". Whether EA or Criterion accept it or not, fans have all seen the similarities between Burnout Paradise and NFS:MW (notice how I keep shortening the title of the game..).

We see the freeburn challenges making a return in this NFS game. (making it even shorter..) Meet up at a location and complete a challenge.. Driving through billboards.. These were stuff that you had to do to complete various challenges in Burnout Paradise. It was fun. I'm someone who loves co-op games. So getting together with a bunch of friends or random strangers online to complete a certain challenge is my kind of thing. But will these challenges take the speed out of a Need for Speed game is my worry.. The old game was all about racing and escaping the cops. A Need for Speed game isn't about meeting up to do challenges.

So why didn't they call it Burnout Paradise 2 instead? Well if you see that EA is behind it all, you wouldn't be surprised. The previous Need for Speed games havn't actually been selling well (not counting NFS: Hot Pursuit) from what I know, so what better way than to get the successful rivals to develop the NFS games.. 

So Need for Speed: Most Wanted has now become a Need for Speed + Burnout game. Will it work out? I hope it does.. I used to play the old NFS games on PS2 but the recent games havn't captivated me enough to purchase them. I tried Hot Pursuit but hardly had game time to make a comment. I love Burnout and I loved the old NFS games so I hope I'll like this game..

Will be sure to post my thoughts about the game once I play it..

Halloween masks in Max Payne 3

Rockstar Games had a event where you could unlock Halloween masks. Images below..

Those who played during the Social Club Event can see their unlocked Demonic Skull mask here..

Says above that the Day of the Dead Skull will be unlocked for all active members of founder crews (crews created before a certain cut-off date). But in Rockstar Games newswire, it says "If you have a Founder Crew as your Active Crew, or you have played at least one full game in the 26th October Social Club Playlist, check out the Head Items section of your Multiplayer Loadouts after 4pm to access the Skulls (you may need to exit to the main menu of Max Payne 3 and then return to Multiplayer in order to see them)."

I played throughout the event but still didn't get it. Dropped Rockstar an email so hoping for some good news. Will be great if I can get it.. More customization options are always a plus for me, even though both masks don't add any abilities. Maybe they should add these masks as options for the Intimidation mask available in the upcoming Hostage Negotiation DLC pack.

Source: Rockstar Games Newswire

Gunzerker meets Berserker

So when I heard that the original Borderlands characters will return as NPCs in the Borderlands 2 game, I didn't think much of it. It will be cool I thought, but too bad we won't be able to play them.

But after getting the game and playing together with friends, I got to see the original crew one by one but where was Brick? At about level 20, Mordecai made his appearance and I was getting impatient.. My original character, Mr Berserker himself was yet to make his appearance.

And then finally, he came with a bang. Look for the Slab King they said.. but never did I expect Brick to be sitting on the "throne" with that crazy-ass helmet. Jumping into the scene with a huge-ass mallet, which he never uses, his appearance led to a loud cheer from the 4 of us playing. He or rather I, was affectionately called "Fat Boy" by my 3 friends, the same group that are playing together again in BL2. Now, playing as the Gunzerker, I'm called "Short Fat Boy". Jokes aplenty about my inability to make jumps, running straight through low ceilings, unable to be revived because I'm short or lagging behind because of my short legs are rampant in game sessions with the gang.

So, what better way to "compliment" his height that to stand beside his predecessor...

Photos courtesy of my friends, who are clearly eager to poke more fun at my short friend... The mission with Brick brings back memories, seeing him pummel foes with, not bullets, not even the hammer, but with his bare hands, the way I remember my days with the Berserker...

Assassin's Creed 3 will break the record for pre-order sales

I'm gonna say it before anyone else does. Or before Ubisoft reveals any stats.

"Assassin's Creed 3 will break the record for most pre-order sales ever!"

There you go, you heard it here first. Thought about this sometime back but it didn't occur to blog about it. I'm not sure how the figures look like for pre-order sales of other games but I'll say it nonetheless. Collectors of game memorabilia and fans of the Assassin's Creed franchise would have noticed the sheer amount of pre-order bonuses and the different 'collectors edition' for the Assassin's Creed 3 game by now.

Let me list a few that I know of. (I'm pretty sure that I have yet to see or hear about everything that's out there).
UK Freedom Edition
UK Join or Die Edition
US Limited Edition
Asia Limited Edition
Ubiworkshop Edition

Is that all? There are also dozens of physical pre-order items given out by different retailers, different countries. (Not including DLC)

Pewter figurines of Connor and British soldier
Bear tooth
Coins
Notebook and Feather
Tomahawk keychain
Tomahawk thumbdrive
Necklace chain
Ring
Playing cards
Numerous Steelbooks
Badges?
I'm sure there are poster and t-shirts as well with various stores. That's a whole load considering each pre-order comes with only 1 of those item. Who knows what other bonuses are being given out in some corner of the world.

I myself have pre-ordered 4 different editions just for the contents and I'm sure there are plenty of others who have pre-ordered at least 2 copies of the game. I'm not complaining.. I didn't create this post to complain about how cunning Ubisoft are, making us buy multiple copies of their game. Ultimately we have the decision if we wanna play along with Ubisoft and attempt to get everything out there. It can be a fun hobby, even though pricey. Hardcore Assassin's Creed collectors will have an awesome collection to show off if they do manage to get everything. There is a special joy with collecting stuff from all around the world, getting to know collectors from other countries and getting their help in looking out for more bonuses. Somehow, I find the Assassin's Creed Universe is suited for this trend with their Assassins being from all around the world.

But.. if Ubisoft comes out boasting about their pre-order sales beating records, you know the reason why. The game itself should be awesome and it will be. But it should be noted that a huge part of sales came from collectors buying multiple copies of the same game. And I won't be surprised.. In fact I believe that Assassin's Creed 3 will break the record for having the most pre-order sales. And if they do, you know where you heard it first..

J Veron's World Updates - 19 Oct 2012 and cheaper Assassin's Creed 3 games!

So.. it's pretty quiet down here.. But like people say it's the calm before the storm..

Assassin's Creed 3 is releasing in less than 2 weeks. As mentioned before, there are a ton of stuff coming in for that game. I bought 4 different Collector's Editions for that game so will have some extra copies of the game to sell off. More on that below.. Figures, books etc will be added to my collection and will have plenty of pics right here.

Assassin's Creed Liberation is also releasing and I was pondering if I should take the plunge and get a PS Vita to play that game. I decided to get it later, maybe sometime next year. Just too many things to buy because of Assassin's Creed 3 itself so budget for my games is running thin.

Another game that I have to mention about is also out in October. Need for Speed Most Wanted! I'm a big fan of the Need for Speed series even though many of their recent games didn't catch my interest. Really liked the Burnout series which was done by Criterion games and I'm interested in seeing how their 2nd try at the Need for Speed series turns out. Already pre-ordered the game locally which hopefully comes with a free T-shirt. Whether I will have time to play the game remains to be seen. (Yet to play Need for Speed Hot Pursuit!)

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Ok.. about my extra copies of the Assassin's Creed 3. I bought 4 Collector's Editions of the game from various sources and of course I don't need all 4 copies of the game. I'll be keeping most of the items that come with the different editions but will be selling away the disc game itself. So I'm offering a special deal to my wonderful readers! 

I will have 3 copies which I intend to sell at a lower price or at a similar price to local retailers, depending on what DLC is included in the disc. They might take a week or two to arrive as I'm shipping them from overseas. Of course, I will do my best to do a better deal than the local retailers. All should be sealed unless it was delivered otherwise. 

Do note that I live in Singapore so if you are from Singapore, we can do a meet-up somewhere convenient to do the deal. I wouldn't mind shipping worldwide, but of course you will have to pay the shipping charges.

What I expect to have:

1 x AC3 PS3 game from the US Limited Edition (Region 1?)

1 x AC3 PS3 game from the Join or Die Edition (Region 4?)

1 x AC3 PS3 game from the Ubiworkshop Edition (Region 1?)

I can't confirm the prices that I'll be selling as I need to see what retail prices are and then give a better deal to that. As I won't be getting the games on release day, this deal might not be suited for those who want to get the game on release day itself. If you want to get a cheaper price than retail stores and don't mind waiting for a bit, drop me a mail at jveron004@gmail.com to let me know your interest. The mail is not a pre-order, just to state your interest as I will be giving priority to those who mailed before starting to sell on forums. See! Readers of my blog has it's perks!

Darksiders Death and Dust Statue Details Revealed!!

Remember my post on the Darksiders Death statues? 

More details on the Death and Dust statue from Project Triforce has emerged at the on-going NYCC 2012. 

Toyark.com has some pics that shows the specs and prices of the statue. 

US$600?! That's expensive! And that's for the regular? There's also a "End of Days Edition" (see 2nd pic) for US$650. That's way out of my budget. Add shipping costs to Singapore and this will hit close to S$1000 including taxes, if not more. I was hoping it will be about US$300-US$350 like the SOTA toys range of statues.

But it's for a reason.. look closer at the specs and you will see it's 32" tall. That's way bigger than your regular 1:4 scale statues. That's huge! It certainly doesn't look that big in the pic. (Is it a smaller version?

 Well.. at that price, I'll be passing on this magnificent piece.. sadly. Was excited to see another company other than SOTA toys doing Darksiders merchandise. I was definitely looking forward to this line when I saw this Death version without his horse, even though I found the pose really weird. But for now, I'll await the Death and Despair Statue from SOTA toys, which is in now way inferior to the above-mentioned Death statue.

Source: Darksiders Dungeon, dr_teng's photostream, Toyark

God of War Ascension Special Edition Revealed!

So I was wrong.. The Collector's Edition wasn't the only edition for God of War: Ascension. There is yet another God of War: Ascension Special Edition revealed for the game.

This edition is a "smaller edition" compared to the CE, and comes without the Kratos Statue. Everything else remains the same including the pre-order bonus which includes the Mythological Heroes Multiplayer Pack. However, JB Hi-fi stores in Australia comes with yet another pre-order bonus, a God of War Kratos Sackbox figurine.

Pretty cool bonus for the Australian gamers who have so long been on the losing end for mature, violence-themed games. I have only seen the Kratos Sackbox figurine as a bonus in JB Hi-fi, not sure if these will be available anywhere else. Will update this post if I do.

Source: Playstation Australia

God of War Ascension Collector's Edition Revealed!

The details of the Collector's Edition for the latest instalment in the God of War franchise has been revealed. 

Pretty cool eh? I'm definitely interested in this for the statue alone. Steelbook collectors should also note that a premium steelbok case will be included in this CE as well along with the game soundtrack, etc. (See pic for details, don't make me type out what you can already see.)

About the statue.. Kratos looks a bit bland compared to previous games. Would have loved to see a figurine of him in the Ares Armor but this will do. At US$79.99, it's a bit cheaper than other CEs which are usually priced at the US$99.99 mark and it doesn't come with an art book which happens to be a common item in CEs. But I'm not complaining.. Cheaper CEs are always welcome especially since I'm only interested in the statue.

There is only 1 CE for the God of War: Ascension game announced so far unlike certain games.. Assassin's Creed.. *cough cough* but in the source link below, it's stated that there will be something big on Oct 15 to be announced.

Preorders for the GoW: Ascension Standard or Collector's Edition will also come with a bonus Mythological Heroes Multiplayer pack where you can play as your favourite Greek Hero in multiplayer.

Stated to be released on March 12, 2013, this will probably be another addition to my collection. 

Source: Playstation blog

Chrome Guns now in Max Payne 3!

The Chrome tint for guns in Max Payne 3 Multiplayer is now available for all Rockstar Social Club Members. Players can access the Loadout menu in Multiplayer and switch to the Chrome tint in-game. (Just beside the Gold tint option).

Pretty cool eh? Of course, don' forget you have to be a Social Club member to get this bonus.

Source: Rockstar Games Newswire

Darksiders 2 Free Armor Set Giveaway

THQ is giving away the Crow Armor and Scythes set as a thank you to all Darksiders 2 owners.

To redeem this, you will need to log into Darksiders while connected online between 12 Oct - 22 Oct 2012 and the content will be sent to your Tome inbox. Go to the nearest tome to collect your items. Full details here.

A bit of a hassle if you ask me. Personally I prefer the DLC method. Just allow us to redeem a DLC code online or put the DLC up for free in the Playstation store for this period.. Oh well.. I guess THQ wanted to reward only the players who actually have the game. 

I have this game but yet to start playing it. Will I be able to reach a tome at the start of the game or will I have to play quite a bit before I see my first tome?

Anyway it's free so I'm not gonna complain much. It's cool and I love free stuff. (Don't we all do?). 

Edit: Apparently, it takes about 1 hour before you reach your first tome after starting the game. Just  little info for those who have the game but have yet to start playing.

Source: Darksiders Official Site

Mechromancer Skill Tree is out!

The skill tree for the Mechromancer class in Borderlands 2 is out. Click here to check it out.

Her action skill is the DeathTrap; a pet robot that flies around helping you take out your enemies. I had a chance to see her in action with her pet (that sounds so wrong..) back in August during the Borderlands 2 Preview Night and I was impressed. The Deathtrap seemed like a very cool and useful pet to have by your side in your quest through Pandora. But it's got better..

Taking a look at her skill tree, she has got me excited. Some very cool and interesting skills she has at her disposal. Not surprising as the Mechromancer class is only available as a paid DLC, unless you pre-ordered the game. (Why didn't you? They kept telling you to..). So they had to make her interesting enough to get players to part with the cash). 

Let's take a look at some of her more cool skill options:

Best Friends Forever Skill Tree
Close Enough: A chance for bullets that hit walls and other objects to riochet off toward an enemy. Bullets do reduced damage. Pretty cool eh? For those poor aimers, this will help!

Explosive Clap: Deathtrap causes an explosion that does explosive damage to all enemies around him. Hah! Saw this at the Preview Night as well.. Boom! And all enemies go flying away. Very very cool and damaging!

The Better Half: When your Magazine is half-empty or half-full (whatever you like to call it), your gun fire-rate increases. So your gun goes tat-tat-tat-tat then tattatattat. This will be a very useful 5 skill points.

Little Big Trouble Skill Tree
This tree is THE SHIT! There's so many kinds of win in here that I'm having trouble picking my favourites.

One Two Boom: Deathtrap shoots an orb, shoot that orb to make it explode and do massive shock damage. Depending how big and how fast the orb is, it might be a little tricky to pull it off but should be worth the trouble.

The Stare: Deathtrap fires a laser beam that does fire damage and a chance to ignite enemies. Burn you bitches!!

Shock Storm: An electrical storm occurs each time you kill an enemy with a critical strike or when Deathtrap kills an enemy. Gonna love seeing this one and The Stare happen at the same time.

Ordered Chaos Skill Tree
Seems like a very specialised skill tree. Since you have only 46 skill points to pump, might be best to either ignore it and pump only a few skill points or focus on this tree as your main.

Anarchy: Killing an enemy or emptying out your gun's magazine will grant you a stack of Anarchy. For every stack, you gain bonus gun damage but lose accuracy. Prematurely reloading your gun removes all stacks of Anarchy. This skill is the reason why I feel that players should either ignore this skill tree or fully focus on it. Quite a number of skills in this tree focus on this skill, Anarchy, either boosting it or depending on it. To fully utilize Anarchy to your advantage, I feel it's best to focus on this skill tree. Go check out the entire skill tree in the link above.

The Nth Bullet: Every 9th bullet that you fire will riochet toward another enemy. This skill and Close Enough is gonna send bullets flying all over the place. Haha!

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Of course, these are only a handful of skills that are available to the Mechromancer Class. Do try out the skill tree calculator in the link above and see how your Mechromancer Skill Tree ends up. I'm currently playing as the Gunzerker but considering creating the Mechromancer as a 2nd character when she's out. The Mechromancer class DLC will be available on 16th 9th Oct and for those who don't have the pre-order bonus, it will cost about US $9.99 to download. 

Edit: The Mechromancer Class DLC was released as an early surprise on 9th Oct. Players who own the Premiere Club will be prompted to download a patch upon starting the game. Those who don't can purchase and download it on PSN.

Source: Borderlands Official Site

GTA Poker Chips

Been watching these on eBay for quite a while and finally decided to get them before they get sold out.

Poker Chips which were promo items for the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas game.

The Front

The Back

Pretty cool. These chips are from the fictional Four Dragons Hotel and Casino in the GTA: San Andreas game. I enjoyed all Grand Theft Auto games but I find that San Andreas had so much more to offer in terms of gameplay and customization. 

There are different coloured poker chips of the same design out there but are more rare than this one. If anyone has any for sale, do drop me a mail at Jveron004@gmail.com. Preferably mint and sealed. Also interested in other GTA stuff, especially poker items.

Fabulous New Trailer on Connor's story

Yet another fabulous trailer from the Assassin's Creed series. This one shows the history of Connor and how he became an assassin. Ubisoft have made some fantastic trailers with the Assassin's Creed games in the past so no surprise here.

Connor is fast becoming my favourite Assassin among all of them and October 30 can't come fast enough. Will have plenty of collection updates then as well.

Source: Ubisoft Youtube Channel

Hostage Negotiation DLC Pack for Max Payne

Now then I'm back, I shall give you some updates..

The 3rd DLC for Max Payne 3 will be called Hostage Negotiation Pack. No release date has been announced as of yet but all the details are out.

Ok, firstly new maps for multiplayer.. 4 in fact. New maps are always welcome for me as I love the multiplayer but sadly it's not very populated.
- Club Moderno (The club early on in the game where Fabiana gets kidnapped)
- Estadio Do Galatians (The Stadium)
- O Palacio Strip Club (The ghetto club where Max meets the detective?)
- Favela Heights (Not sure exactly which part?)

 Faction
- Filhos De Ogum (Cool! More multiplayer avatars)

Two Weapons
- M24 Sniper Rifle ( Don't really use snipers but I guess I should try it out especially if there is a trophy for it)
- IA2 Assault Rifle (My preferred choice of weapon but will have to test it out)

Burst
- Explosive Burst for explosive booby traps. (Hmm.. wasn't there 1 already? But this is a burst?)

Items
- Bomb Suit: to protect against explosive damage (Might come in handy)
- Intimidation Mask: slow reload times for your enemies ( I swear this thing looks like the Bane mask from The Dark Knight rises, see pic below).

See the Bane Mask Intimidation Mask?

Bomb suit here

The new faction in the Favela Heights map

This will be $9.99 on PSN. Rockstar Pass owners will get it free of course. I'm definitely looking forward to this. Still enjoy the multiplayer on Max Payne 3. Just a little worried that the population in the DLC maps is dwindling. Maybe Rockstar should do a Triple XP weekend for only the paid DLC maps? It might urge those who purchased the maps to not stick only to the original maps and a way to say thanks to the Rockstar Pass owners?

Source: Rockstar Games Newswire

J Veron's World Updates - 05 Oct 2012

Guess who's back?!! Yes.. me of course!

I have been busy with the birth of my baby daughter and was MIA for quite a while but everything is fine now. Wife and Baby are both doing well at home. Played Borderlands 2 a bit during the nights. But I still havn't gotten back to my blog. Not to worry, got plenty of updates coming soon.

Showed you some pics of Grand Theft Auto Poker chips and some Assassin's Creed figures. I have yet to take more pics of them so that should be ready in the next few days. I also promised I have something very special coming in over the next week or so, so that should be ready later in the month. Let's see what else.. May have some other stuff depending on their release dates. Already preordered but no info of when they will be coming in. Of course, Assassin's Creed 3 is releasing at the end of the month, so early November is going to be Assassin's Creed collectables galore right here!