Won a Ubisoft Competition!

Woohoo! Won a "How much you love AC" contest from Ubisoft Singapore!

Just my humble collection (I know there are much bigger and extensive collections out there..)

Still I'm very happy. Prize is a PC copy of Assassin's Creed 3. Already own the PS3 version so will probably pass it to a friend. Was hoping I could go down to their studio in Singapore to collect it but couldn't allow it as they were working on some unannounced projects.. Couldn't risk a nosey blogger poking around their studio anyway.. haha. Some other day perhaps..

The Darksiders series may not be over!!

Just when it looked like it's all doom and gloom for the Darksiders Series, there seems to be a glimmer of hope, actually much more than that.

For those who aren't following the events, let me do a quick brief.. THQ, the publisher of Darkiders 2 went into bankruptcy sometime last year. All their properties including Darksiders were up for sale. While most of the properties were bought up by other publishers, Darksiders was surprisinly left out and no one bought it. So Vigil Games the development studio closed and all their staff were out of job. 

In what seems to be a blessing now, Crytek signed up 35 employees from the closed Vigil Games studio. While it was great to see a huge core of the studio staying together, there was no news about Darksiders or if they had the rights to make another Darksiders game. With no news about the future, a certain blogger became very depressed..

However, with THQ attempting to sell off all it's remaining assets, Crytek has said that they plan to bid for the Darksiders IP. That's music to my ears! 

Firstly, I'm happy that someone is even planning to buy the Darksiders IP. Back then I would have been happy with anyone getting the IP but with the IP going back to the original developers in Crytek, I couldn't have wished for anything better. Someone else might have changed the essence of the game and everything we loved about the games.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the Crytek will win the bid and we will able to see the series continue.. and maybe even getting Joe Madureira back into the fold..

Of course, the gamer-half of me will be more than happy to see this happen.. The collector-half will like to se the licence go back to SOTA Toys so they can continue with the Horsemen statues!

Let's take things one at a time though..

Thoughts on Marvel Heroes Beta Part 1

Gave in to temptation and purchased the Ultimate Pack the other day.. thankfully before they removed the bonus $45 in-game currency, but annoyingly before they gave a 10% discount on the pack.. Nevertheless, it was a good buy. All available characters and costumes released before launch would be made available to me once the game launches on June 4.

Of course, having purchased the Ultimate Pack, I would be able to start 1 week earlier on May 28. Also managed to get access to the Closed Beta after the purchase. So here am I to share some thoughts about my beta experience so far. (Why else did I make this blog? To share my thoughts....)

Firstly, I will need to inform you that if you manage to get the Beta access, download the program file way in advance before the beta server goes live. It takes ages to download and install.

I have only managed to play the prologue and a bit after that so far so Part 1 will cover these as well as crafting.

The prologue is only single-player as it serves as a tutorial before you go out into the public server.. I tried Hawkeye on my first play-through. As a ranged character, his skills involve his bow and arrow. 

3 skill trees: One focuses on his attacks, bonus damage, chance to do more damage.
The other tree provides him with some elemental attacks with his arrows. One of this skills allow you to electrocute two enemies together if they are standing close.
The last tree I can't remember exactly, will update when I try the beta again.

While everyone has been dubbing this as "Marvel Diablo", I find that it resembles the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games more. True that there are several similarities between this and Diablo. Loot finding, the skill trees etc but the gameplay is so much like the MUA games. With this being a MMO, it's going to be even more awesome. Selecting your favourite Marvel Heroes/Teams and taking down the baddies is such a dream come true. While the MUA games had a max of 4 characters, the MMO should be able to support a larger party.

Loot-finding is what made Diablo so addictive and so many games like Borderlands have followed suit. In Marvel Heroes, items are also dropped when defeating enemies and probably through chests. Each item is specific to a certain character except for Medals (more on that later). Bow will be for Hawkeye, Shield for Captain America, Pistols for Deadpool etc. Items are shared among all your different characters so you can keep a item for your other characters in your inventory.

Each character will be able to equip different items to increase various stats like attack, defense, chance to dodge, health. All these items, as mentioned will be specifically for each character. Every enemy boss also drops a Medal that binds upon equip, which means you won't be able to share items among your characters like the ones above. Stats will differ each time you beat them so you can try again for a Medal that has better stats.

In the short time that I played the beta, I was already hooked on finding better items for my character. Going to get a whole lot more addictive once the better weapons start dropping as I level up..

Another feature that I managed to try was Crafting.. Crafting is going to be lots of fun. You will need to find different elements as item drops. With the right combination, you will be able to upgrade your decent weapon into a good weapon, a good one into something awesome. This, I expect, will be another aspect of the game that will keep the item hunters keep coming back for more.

The Beta, so far, hasn't made me go wow yet, but that could largely be due to the fact that I haven't played the public feature yet. However, the prospect of teaming up with your favourite super heroes is mouth-watering. I'm a big fan of loot-hunting games so I think I'm gonna spend hours on this game for months.

Do feel free to ask me anymore questions on the game, in the comments below. Will try to get more game-time during the betas in the next few days and check out info for your questions. Will be updating the blog tomorrow on Part 2 once I try the public servers so do check back tomorrow!

Another AC IV Collectors' Edition?

Just when I was thinking it will be another few weeks before we see more news on other AC IV Collectors' Editions.. this turned up..

Pirates of the Seven Seas Edition

There seems to be a 29cm Figurine as well as a Pirates' Chest together with DLC and the Gamestop Exclusive Poster.

Some are saying this is a fake ad so it remains to be seen.. But if it's legit, looks like this will be the 3rd CE I'll be getting for AC IV.

Weekly PlayAsia Deals (Mar 26 - Apr 2)

Another week, another round of PlayAsia Deals!

Batman: Arkham City (Game of the Year) (US$19.90) - Buy Batman: Arkham City (Game of the Year) (PS3) (Affiliate Link)
Was pissed after I missed this on their Daily Deal. Saw it too late and they ran out of stock so glad to see it come again. Going to get it this time for sure. Enjoyed the first game lots and this will be just as good.

Dead of Alive 5 (US$24.90) - Buy Dead or Alive 5 (PS3) (Affiliate Link)
Never understood the hype behind these games but I'm sure there are a lot of people who would want to grab this deal.

LEGO The Lord of the Rings (US$27.90) -
Buy LEGO The Lord of the Rings (PS3)
Buy LEGO The Lord of the Rings (Xbox360)
Buy LEGO The Lord of the Rings (PS®Vita)
Buy LEGO The Lord of the Rings (Nintendo 3DS)
(Affiliate Links)
LEGO games have always been fun. Even better if they are at a discount.

More deals on the right side bar!

AC IV Edward Kenway Figurine

So we have already seen the Collectors' Editions announced so far in my previous post and there are 2 figurines that have all my interest... but it's not done yet...

From their UbiCollectibles line, there's another Edward figurine coming out..

The figurines from the CEs are huge and I was wishing for something simpler as well to go with the other Assassin Creed figurines and this should do nicely.

A bad-ass pose with 2 pistols up guarding whatever treasure he might have found. Still a bit dynamic but I'm pleased. This one and the 2 from the CEs are going to look fabulous with the rest. (Definitely won't be able to squeeze in any more into my display case though)

Some more pics..

Really fantastic! Apparently, there is going to be some DLC content included with this figurine so that's an added incentive to buy this piece. Added this to must-buy list as well.

Still wish they will have a Aveline and Nikolai figurine in this line to add to the collection!

Source: Ubi Forums

AC IV Black Flag's Collectors Editions Revealed!

Decided to check out the CE forums on the way to work and surprise surprise.. the AC IV Collectors' Editions for Europe have been revealed!

The text on the pictures isn't very clear so I'll just do a brief description on the items in each edition. I'll post a link down below for the full details.

The so-called Tier 1 of the Collectors' Editions - Black Chest Edition.

Of course, let's talk about the Figurine first. 55cm high diorama of the new Assassin, Captain Edward Kenway. This is huge! The previous figurines from the CEs are at most 25-30cm. At 55cm, this is going to tower above the rest but should still be roughly in scale since the ship base is rather high. Will be a fantastic addition to my collection.

As with previous Assassin's Creed CEs, there's going to be 2 Lithographs. Really like their artwork so will be nice to have these. There's going to be a Steelbook too, with the new "Assassin's Creed - Pirate Emblem. Simple blackground but black is classy!

There are brining back the Mini-Artbook in this CE (Can't believe they didn't have one for AC 3! All the other games had one!) As well as the Soundtrack. I'm a big fan of their soundtracks, very cool! Hoping for a digital compilation of all their sountracks one day. (Who uses CDs anymore??)

There's going to be World Map, assuming it to be the map of the in-game world. A Flag of that AC-Pirate emblem as well. So you can tie it to your boat when you go plundering. There's also going to be 2 Canvas Prints of what looks like Edward Kenway and Captain Blackbeard? Last but not least.. there will be extra DLC content.

All these will come in a Collector's Box which I'm not going to get my hopes up about thinking it's made of plastic. Probably good quality though. All in all, it's a fantastic CE to own. No hesitation I'm getting this.

The second tier (at least in pricing) is the Buccaneer Edition.

Apart from the different Collector's Box, this looks like a lesser version of the first. No SteelBook, Map, Canvas Prints, Flag and less DLC content than the Back Chest Edition.

Don't be fooled, the Figurine that comes with this edition is a variant of the first one. In this one, the base is different. Instead, Captain Kenway is standing on the top of the mast. (I'm bad with ship parts so hope I got it right..haha!) This edition will stand at 45cm only, but still huge.

A slightly cheaper version for those who aren't interested in the extra content the previous Edition offers but still worth the price. For the variant figurine, will be getting this too but I have a feeling this figurine will be with the US Collectors' Editions so will wait for the US reveals.

The third will be called Skull Edition.

No Figurine here and nothing exclusive to this edition which isn't in the other editions so will be skipping this. Still has the 2 Lithographs, SteelBook, ArtBook and Soundtrack & some DLC so for those who aren't interested in the other fancy stuff, this should suit you.

Nothing collector-worthy here. This is for those who are only interested in playing the game and not into collecting. Extra DLC Content for free, the Special Edition will replace the Standard Edition for the same price.

---

So these are the 4 that have been announced so far for Europe. U.S should see their own CE(s) in the coming weeks. That Europe and U.S will have their own online battles on which Edition is better. Asia should have their own poor-man's CE announced a month before the game's out when the real collectors have already pre-ordered and paid for the overseas ones. Australia might see their own CE or come with bonus pre-order bonuses and then everyone makes a new Aussie friend. Each European country/major retailer will have their own PO bonuses ranging from Pirate hats to underwear.. AC IV Collecting has begun my friends! It's that time of the year!

Just kidding guys.. just poking a little fun remembering all the funny incidents that have happened over the past years with Assassin's Creed releases. Don't get me wrong. I love the fun with collecting, the games and everything associated with Assassin's Creed. I won't be posting this if I didn't love it. Collecting isn't all serious :)

Definitely some fantastic content with this year's CEs. Something for everyone. Glad to see that the franchise going strong and hope it will go on for years. There's definitely plenty more stuff to be revealed before the game release. Collecting has never been this fun with any other franchise. When Oct 29/Nov 1 comes around, it's going to be Assassin fever all over again!

Check out the link below for detailed info on each CE!

Source: CollectorsEdition.org 

Spoilt controller...

Oh man.. my 2nd PS3 controller just lost it's X button's fuction..

Was playing Assassin's Creed 3 when it happened.. Didn't realise at first.. Was trying to mount a horse and it just din't happen. Thought it was a glitch and kept restarting the mission. Managed to complete that part somehow and then later realised  that it was cause of the spoilt X button rather than a glitch..

Oh well.. time for a new controller then.. Unneeded expense right now.. Sigh..

On a more positive note.. Managed to clear some multiplayer trophies on AC Revelations with some help from a friend. Still on target to get 100% trophies on the Assassin's Creed games.. So that's good!

Weekly PlayAsia Deals (Mar 19 - Mar 26)

Nice PlayAsia Deals this week!

Spec Ops: The Line (US$17.90) - Buy Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) (Affiliate Link)
Been interested in this game ever since I won a contest from 2k Games Asia. Been hearting very good reviews about this game as well so I have been wanting to get this. So thank the heavens for this awesome deal, I just bought this earlier.

Hitman: Absolution (US$19.90) - Buy Hitman: Absolution (PS3) (Affiliate Link)
Another awesome game from last year, heard many good things about this game from my friends. Still thinking if I should get it as well.

More deals on the right. Lego Batman 2 and PES 2013 in the mix too. Check them out in the banner!

AC Revelations Multiplayer Trophy Boosting?

Yo! Anyone interested in boosting multiplayer trophies for Assassin's Creed Revelations? For both DLC and original game.

I have a friend and apparently we will need 2 more to boost effectively. Hit me up on PSN, my nick is Jengoboy or post your PSN nick in the comments below and I'll add you. 

Secret figure in McFarlane's Assassin's Creed figure line-up

A while back McFarlane announced that they have acquired the license for Assassin's Creed and they revealed 3 out of 4 figures to be in their 1st series. The last one? It was a secret figure..

They used the silhouette of Altair in their placeholder for the last figure and many thought that Altair would be the last figure in that series. However, if you looked closer, it also states that the silhouette is not related to the figure. 

So why did they decide to keep the 4th figure a secret? Well it's all revealed now..

Edward Kenway was the unrevealed figure. Of course, they couldn't reveal him even before Ubisoft did their reveal..

Awesome! McFarlane decided to do the Kenways before the rest it seems. I'm starting to like this line more and more as much as I'm still quite pissed with NECA losing the license.

The figures look pretty good so far even though I'll have to wait till they are released to make my judgement. I'm excited and I can't wait to get these figures in hand. Hoping they do well so we can see more Assassin figures...

Source: Bigbadtoystore

Exclusive content for finishing the Army of Two demo

Interesting stuff! All we have to do is download and complete the demo and we can unlock new masks and  a weapon for the full game. This was posted by EA Singapore so not sure which countries will be having this promo.

I'm a big fan of the Army of Two games so will definitely getting this as well. Glad I can unlock some extra content when the game launches!

Source: EA Singapore

Borderlands 2 Luck of the Zafords Celebratory Shift Codes

More cool skins for Borderlands 2 characters!

"Each year, around this time, the Zaford clan takes a break from their war with the Hodunk bandit family to celebrate their good fortune and honor those that have passed on, such as that time Scooter buried their son alive in a shallow grave." - Gearbox Website

New skins for all 5 characters as well as a "Chulainn SMG" that will be the same level of the character that you first load, after you enter the Shift Code.

Here are the codes..

PC / Mac Zaford Gear SHiFT Code: KTCBJ-C9RTC-BSFTJ-33TT3-FBWHF

Xbox 360 Zaford Gear SHiFT Code: KJCJ3-RCWC6-5K9BF-WFBT3-3WFKK

PlayStation 3 Zaford Gear SHiFT Code: CTK3B-99K3J-XXKW3-ZTWTJ-HJH5J

They won't be available after the weekend, check out Gearbox Software's Official site for exact timings and more info below.

Source: Gearbox Software

God of War Collector's Edition!

Also got this in addition to the Dualshock 3 Edition..

Nice artwork in the front here, received it in very mint condition as well.

Nice looking steelbook as well! Sucks that the game disc is actually inside the steelbook. I don't really want to be opening the steelbook too much to keep it as mint as possible. Would have preferred an extra disc case to store the disc.

And of course the reason why I bought the CE..

Not bad I'd say.. It isn't one of the best.. far from it in fact. Detail is very average especially on the Chaos Blades. The rock he's standing on is made of very cheap plastic, like a kids' toy. Very smooth rock..

But it's not all bad.. I really like the pose they have chosen. At a distance (A distance I stand at looking at my display), the figure looks good, without inspecting the details too much. 

I'm not too negative about things I guess. To be honest, this CE is actually very worth it even though there aren't many items inside. In fact, there is only the game with the steel book and the figurine. While most CEs will add artbooks, soundtracks and what not, game publishers will actually try to milk their customers even more with a Season Pass. This CE actually comes with the Season Pass. (Not that I have problems with Season Passes, I actually buy most of them if they have good quality DLC).

So definitely good stuff in the CE, not that ex considering a lot of people usually buy CEs for the figures and are not that interested in the other stuff. Still a nice figure even though it lacks real quality.

Managed to squeeze this figure into my God of War display shelf..

You can see the difference in the quality between the NECA figures and this one.

I'm actually considering getting the DC Direct's version of Kratos now.. Suddenly that one that one doesn't look that bad.. lol

More pics of the figure..

Will post some thoughts of the game once I try it..

God of War Ascension Dualshock 3 Edition and Pre-order Promos!

Collected my Pre-order for the God of War: Ascension Dualshock 3 edition and the promos that came with it. Did my pre-order at the Event in Singapore so there were extra goodies!

Really awesome stuff!

Let's take a look at the Dualshock 3 controller

Never collected any controllers till now but I really wanted this after seeing it. Awesome design, really nice to have. Will never use it to play, he will just be a collector's piece for me. Now, I want that Unchartered one to accompany this.

Come to think of it, I'm surprised there aren't many Limited Edition controllers around. All the Sony Exclusives should have come out with a LE controller.. Infamous, Twisted Metal, LBP etc. That would  have hooked me on collecting controllers a long time back. 

The Steelbook with Game

Nice Steelbook but I won't be starting to collect Steelbooks.. Keep them away!! Comes with 7 DLC content so well worth it.

Now for the exclusive promos that came with it.. The T-Shirt

Nice shirt here but not opening it yet. Not really a fan of gaming T-shirts unless they don't look like gaming T-shirts. (WTF does that even mean?) Will just put this with the other gaming shirts that I have for now..

The Multiplayer Character posters

2 of these, I forgot to ask if there are other variants but I don't recall seeing anything different from these two.

I'm surprised that the posters are of very good quality not like the regular posters that are usually given out. Not sure what it's made of but it's very thick, something like those used in banners. So yea very good quality stuff here.. Would have preferred a poster of Kratos but I guess they wanted to promote the Multiplayer feature..

And of course the steel mug which seems to be a popular item..

Nice to see promos given out for games and I really appreciate this effort by Playstation Asia to promote the game. It's always exciting to go pick up a game and it's accompanied by goodies. It definitely builds up the hype and the excitement to get home and take some pics (at least for me).

That said, promos of stuff that are connected to the game universe is what I'm really looking for. Unless Kratos drinks from a similar-looking mug in the game, the steel mug doesn't really have that connection to me. Still awesome of Playstation Asia to have this promo, I'm not complaining! :D

Very cool and I'll be updating the blog with pics of the Collector's Edition very soon!

Edit: For those who are unable to get the Dualshock 3 Edition, PlayAsia is selling them.

Buy God of War: Ascension (w/ Dual Shock 3) (PS3) (Affiliate Link). Sold out!

Buy Dual Shock 3 (God of War: Ascension Limited Gold Edition) (PS3) 
Buy God of War: Ascension [Original Dual Shock 3 Bundle] (PS3)

Will appreciate it lots if you can use my affiliate links if you decide to buy one!

Looking forward to God of War: Ascension

Should be getting my copy soon so just to share some thoughts about the game before I play it...

To be honest, after finishing God of War 3, I felt exhausted with the series. Not sure exactly why but I didn't feel like having another go at it. At that point of time, God of War 3 was supposed to be the end of the Trilogy.. The End, no more God of War games and I didn't even feel like I wanted more. 

Maybe it was the story, maybe it was too much of the same. Kratos seemed like a lunatic killing everyone, whom were all part of his family, including Zeus. (Zeus went around sleeping with every woman, Goddess or Human. So everyone who is someone is related to Zeus because that's how many children he has.. That's Greek Mythology in 1 minute for you). So perhaps a story where the protagonist goes around killing everyone in a fit just bored me.

So somehow I wasn't really looking forward to another God of War game.. but of course there was the PSP game.. can't even remember what it was called. I didn't bother picking it up. Now there's GoW: Ascension. 

This game looks to be a little different from the previous ones. Not another game of Kratos getting even angrier and killing more Gods (Of course now there aren't any more Gods to kill), but a story about how it all started. 

There's also Multiplayer, a component never seen in a God of War game up to now. I'm actually interested in trying this out to see how it works. Never tried a MP game of this kind where it's PVP in an action game on a console. Quite intrigued to try my hands on this. I didn't have the time to tryout the demo so it's going to be something new.

I did get the Dualshock 3 Edition as well as the Collector's Edition as I really wanted the Season Pass.. Nah, just kidding, the figurine of course was the main attraction.. Some pics have turned up online and the face sculpt doesn't seem to be inconsistent. Some look good, others look crappy. Hoping mine turns out fine.. Will post pics once I receive them in-hand.

I'll also post some thoughts about the game once I have tried it so check back soon. 

Another update.. Grand Theft Auto stuff

Haven't been buying much stuff recently but most of the stuff I bought are Rockstar based games.

Showed you guys my Max Payne items a while back.. Now for some Grand Theft Auto..

Always been intrigued by their range of collectibles and promo items but when I started off collecting, they seemed a bit hard to find so I didn't actively hunt for them. But with eBay and some friends at the CE forums, they seem a lot more "findable" now.

Ok enough with the talk and let's see the pics..

Let's start with the upcoming GTA V. One of the first items released as a promo for GTA V are these viewfinders.

Wasn't that impressed with them initially but thought they looked cool with the various colours and weren't that costly so thought they will be a good add. So what exactly are they? 

You can actually look into them and each one shows a different artwork of different locations in GTA V. Interesting way to show some art instead of just releasing it on the web.

 

I took the pics by placing the camera lens on the "eye-hole". Didn't think it would work initially.. haha!

Next up.. We take a trip back a few years back to GTA IV.. 

The Statue of Liberty Happiness! A mock on the Statue of Liberty of course. The statue actually appeared in-game and you were right there at the final mission. This one makes me laugh. Having it in game was funny enough but to make a statue of it and use it as a promo? Truly Rockstar!

Some close-up pics.. (Click to Enlarge).

I also recently got the GTA IV Special Edition finally at a sale.

They only had to the X-Box 360 version so just got it. I just wanted the contents inside since I have the PS3 version of the game. Not opening it yet, just in case I can trade it for a PS3 version :)

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Now we go further back to what I feel is the best GTA game out there, GTA San Andreas!

GTA San Andreas Dominoes

Been looking for this for quite a while. Thanks to a friend who gave me a heads-up on a eBay listing, I was able to grab this quick. Very nicely displayed in a wooden box, this is one of the nicest looking items collectible I own. There are several other casino-themed collectibles from GTA San Andreas so I'm looking to grow on this collection.

Of course to enter a casino, you will need this.

 

A Casino Loyalty card for Carl Johnson for entry into the Four Dragons Casino, which was the name of the casino in the GTA San Andreas game.

Then again, you can enter into the casino but you still need this to play..

Some dollar bills. $100 and $69!! Haha getting a little excited here..

On the flipside..

"Dress Code Applies Mutha Fucka" and "In Uzi We Trust". I'll probably spend my money more wisely if my dollar bills were as bad-ass as these.

So there you have it.. A mini update on the GTA stuff I bought the past couple of months..

Of course, do drop me an e-mail if you have any GTA Stuff for sale. I'm always for more to add to my collection even if I already have a certain item. Some of these look better with 2 or more displayed together..

Altogether now for THE Best Games in the Industry! Grand Theft Auto!