My First STGCC!

My first ever STGCC (Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention) will be this weekend. Somehow I have never been interested in attending this convention for the past few years. Largely, due to the fact that most of what I have seen of STGCC is all about Anime and Cosplay.

However, this year, I took a better look at the exhibitions and realised it's not all about A&C (Anime & Cosplay). There's going to be Marvel, Hot Toys and all those variations of Iron Man. Also being a blogger now, makes me more interested in the local scene. Took a look at the list of exhibitors and guests that will be at the convention, and I realise there are more artists and sculptors in Singapore than I thought! Will definitely be hoping to see some of their work at the convention.

But most importantly... Joe Mad is going to be there for the very first time! I love his work with Darksiders and the Darksiders plot is 1 of the most intriguing plots I have come across. Crossing my fingers that I will be able to get something signed by him!

Second Secret Pirate figure from McFarlane Assassin's Creed Revealed?

So you guys saw my pics of the first 3 figures from McFarlane's Assassin's Creed series? What are your thoughts? Cool? Too small? Lousy? Awesome? Let me know in the comments below..

Anyway, went looking for more info on when the next figures are coming out and I managed to find out who the second secret pirate figure is? McFarlane had been keeping it under wraps till now but it has been leaked. 

ToysOnFire, a Canadian retailer, has this listing of Black Bart up on their site. Check out the link. No pic as of yet though.

It was predicted by many that Black Bart would be the second secret figure and looks like they were right. So it looks like Black Bart and Benjamin Hornigold will be the pirates joining Capt BlackBeard in the 3-figure pirate pack. We also know that Black Bart and Benjamin Hornigold will be available as separate figures while Capt BlackBeard will be exclusive to the 3-pack.

ToysOnFire also has the exclusive Connor in his New York outfit variant figure. Pretty cool! Do let me know where else I can get the Connor (New York outfit) figure as I would like to get that too.

McFarlane's Assassin's Creed Figures - Kenway Family Trio

Finally got the pics ready. Here are the first 3 figures from McFarlane's Assassin's Creed series, the Kenway Family.

Thanks to my friend who helped me bring this in. Prices were much better than what I have seen in local stores!

Also got a NECA Ezio in his Ivory outfit. Needed an extra to display on the Flying Machine. The packaging is relatively small compared to the NECA Assassin's Creed figures.

Here's Haytham Kenway, the Assassin-turned-Templar, father of Connor and Edward's son.

The back-view

Closer look at the emblem.

His weapon accessories are a sword and a pistol. The sword can be put in the sheath as shown below.

Or, you can get Haytham to hold it.

Next up is Connor, the Assassin in AC3, son of Haytham Kenway.

He comes with an abundance of weapon accessories.. 

but I'll go with the tomahawk and hidden blade pose for Connor. There will be a few more Connor variants coming up so maybe I can do a different pose next time.

The back

Lastly, it's the newest Assassin in the franchise.. Edward Kenway, grandfather of Connor.

Edward comes with a pair of swords and hidden blades.

I think the two different hidden blades are to depict the hidden blades withdrawn and released, without having to use a mechanic to pull out the blades. Fine with me I guess...

With the swords..

Dunno why his nose looks weird in the pics, but I can assure you it looks ok in real.

The back

So there's the 3 figures

And in comparison to the NECA's Assassin's Creed figure...

The McFarlane ones are at least a head shorter than their NECA counterparts. Both are listed as 6" figures but on measuring their heights, McFarlane is only about 5.5" whereas the NECA ones are 7". I wish that McFarlane would have followed NECA's scale so that collectors can at least pretend they are all of the same line. But with McFarlane planning to do figures from the past games, in the future, it probably is a good strategy for them.

Nevertheless, I think the figures are rather well done. To be fair, you can't compare them to the quality of higher-priced statues and you shouldn't.. but that's not to say these are of poor quality. Several accessories also give you options for poses. Their ankle joints click into place so the figures are very stable, when you leave them standing on the shelf. There is good articulation as well.

I'm sure there are many collectors, like me, who were disappointed with NECA losing the AC license to McFarlane and what it meant for their collection. 

Comparing the 2 companies' figures, I can't say that either one has the "better" figures. I tried displaying them on the same shelf and of course, putting them side-by-side, NECA's larger figures look the more impressive ones. But when I put McFarlane's figures on another shelf, they do look pretty good on their own.

I'm definitely pleased with them and will get more of the figures from McFarlane's Assassin's Creed line.

This is the back of the packaging, with the figures that are soon to be out.

Connor's New York Outfit Variant and Ratonhnhaké ton will be definite buys. I'm still deciding on the pirates but the extra unlockable content will be tempting. 

Anyway, speaking of unlockable content... These are what you get with the Kenway figures.

No you do not get an Iphone.. It was here to hold the vouchers in place.

However, at the back..

"Playstation codes are only valid for North, Central and South America". Hmm.. not sure if this is because my figures originated from U.S or a general thing. That would suck for the rest of us, thought it could be easily solved by getting a US version of the game.

Anyway, can't wait to see what's next in this line. Hopefully, we will see the highly-requested Altair in his older years!

More updates from Gamescom 2013

More updates from Gamescom!

The opening cinematic for Diablo 3's expansion, Reaper of Souls is out!

Watch it in 1080p and fullscreen please..


Absolutely fantasic cinematic.

Here's a gameplay trailer showing off the new class, the Crusader, that will come with the expansion.



Looks like I will get back into Diablo 3 once the expansion is out.

So we have seen new trailers from Diablo 3, WatchDogs, Infamous Second Son, AC IV.. all the big games but there's another new announcement that interests me.

HellDivers, a top down shooter that will be exclusive to Sony's platforms.. PS3, PS4 and PS Vita and the best part? It will have cross-play across all platforms. That means you can play the game on any of the mentioned platforms and play with friends on another of those platforms. Pretty cool eh?

I enjoy top down shooters more than I admit and this one looks good too. Will be tracking this and might get it on PS Vita. The cross-play feature will be great to play with friends and a great game to have on the go with my PS Vita. If it's easy to play, I might get it on the PS3 as well to play with the wife! Well.. I'm hoping they will have cross-buy as well so I don't have to purchase the game twice.

Before you start googling what this HellDivers is.. Here's the announcement trailer.




Hope it turns out good!

Sony has also put some focus on Indie games and one of the games in the forefront is Outlast, a survival horror game. Check out the trailer, albeit one that has been out for almost a year. (Well.. sorry! I only heard about it now..)



Pretty scary huh? Some are dubbing this to be the scariest ever game out there. Too early to say perhaps but the developers are pretty confident about it and taking it as a challenge for those who claim that nothing can scare them. Check out the article here. Some discounts to entice you to order as well!

That's all for now. More updates will come if I see anything interesting!

Updates from Gamescom 2013

I actually wanted to do a post about the Assassin's Creed figures from McFarlane that I just received, but camera batt died on me while I was almost done with the photos. Oh well.. guess that will have to wait till tomorrow. I'll post some updates on Gamescom 2013 in the meantime.

Gamescom is currently going in Germany right now and Sony did their press conference last night.

- Release dates for PS4 is out. Nov 15 2013 for US & Canada. Nov 29 2013 for UK, Australia and New Zealand. No news for Asia and Singapore yet.

- Launch titles for PS4 has been revealed. Here's a list from IGN.

- PS Vita as well as Vita memory cards will be getting a price drop. So nice of them to do it after I get one... haha! But it's a welcome piece of news. Will be great if I decide to get another. Borderlands 2 will be coming on the Vita as well.

- Certain games purchased on PS3 will also allow you to get the digital version on PS4 at a significantly lower price.

- Dualshock 4 controllers will come in Magma Red and Wave Blue as well.

Now for the Games...

New trailer for WatchDogs

Somehow the DedSec guy reminds me of Anonymous..

At the end, you will see that the PS3 and PS4 copies will get additional in-game content with 4 exclusive missions, a white suit and a hacking boost. Cool if you are a PS3/PS4 owner.

Ubisoft also have partnered with Sony to create a WatchDogs movie. This is in addition to several other movie-videogame projects that Ubisoft have planned including FarCry, Assassin's Creed, Rabbids, etc.

A new trailer for Infamous Second Son as well..


Looks like Delsin will recharge his powers in a somewhat similar way to Cole, drawing power from electrical objects.

There's also a slightly disturbing scene towards the end where he sort of drains away the life of a seemingly harmless young woman and her phyiscal body kind of disintegrates...

A new gameplay vid for Assassin's Creed IV with first-mate Adewale explaining what life means to him..



The video also shows off the remote play feature using the Vita and PS4. An interesting feature that might come in handy to some but not really what I'm looking for. Why would I go for the small screen when there is a 40-inch screen available? Even if I don't have access to the TV, I would just wait rather than going for a watered-down experience. Part of the entire game experience is playing it on the big screen.

Of course, this is just a feature giving you extra options rather than a forced decision. Like I said, it can be useful to some. Definitely a plus to have!

But the best of the lot is the latest Batman Arkham Origins Trailer..



Had to save the best for the last..

Payday 2 Career Criminal Collectors' Edition

Managed to get the Payday 2 Collectors' Edition finally. Had a few hiccups on the way but here it is!

No. 7512 of 20,000! 

This Collector's Edition was actually advertised as being limited to 50,000 units. I did manage to see the XBox 360 version in the store which was stated as "30,000 unit Limited Edition production" at the bottom.. So there you have your 50k units (20k PS3 + 30k XBox360).

My disc was Region 1 so it's anyone's guess if the 50k included Region 2 discs or if they had a different count. Anyone has info on this? 

Anyway just some info for those who wanted to know.. Let's get on with the contents!

The $100 bill wallet and the game

A wallet designed to look like a $100 bill!

From what I read, the wallet is made of Tyvek Material, pretty good quality but probably not going to replace my wallet for this. 

The soundtrack with 14 tracks

The box of goodies!

Opening up the box...

The mask...

The surgical gloves...

All the contents...

Overall a pretty cool Collector's Edition. Definitely worth it if you are a fan of themed merchandise or items that look like they came straight out of the game. Especially for the price, this makes a decent Collectors' Edition. All the items will go well with the other Payday Promo items I got. 

But something's fishy though.. I don't see any DLC code to redeem the Lootbag DLC that was supposed to be included. No card voucher, nothing on the manual either so I'm not sure what happened here... Anyone knows where I can find it?

Edit: Gonna send a mail to 505 Games support and see if they can help me with it. Apparently the DLC is given out by retailers only so my import copy doesn't come with one. Why advertise that all pre-orders will receive the Lootbag DLC then?

Anyway... I have always wanted to do this ever since I saw the contents of this Collectors' Edition..

Let's Rock!

Haha! The material used for the mask means you gotta adjust it properly onto your face. I have seen some horrible pics around but I think I make the mask look good!

Join my Rockstar/GTA V crew!

So we have all seen the trailer.. read the details and are just waiting for Oct 1 for GTA Online...

No? Sayonara then!

Well if you are... Join my crew, Temasek Thugs!

Temasek Thugs is a Singapore only crew, doesn't matter if you are staying in Singapore right now or if you weren't born in Singapore. 

The crew is for everyone! Whether you are just looking for people to complete trophies with, want to go all-out into the online mode or just looking for someone to hold hands with while parachuting, you are free to join!

We are not a competitive crew looking to get the best K/D stats. it's all in the name of good fun. Our No.1 priority is to have fun, but everyone is encouraged to play to win. We wouldn't want other crews mocking us when they beat us, right?

Just head over here, and if you don't have a SocialClub account, do create one and send me a request to join. We also have a sub-forum over at SGamers.org so will be awesome if you can join our close-knit community.

Crew Page: http://socialclub.rockstargames.com/crew/temasek_thugs
Crew Forum: http://forums.sgamers.org/viewforum.php?f=21&sid=d73f5e6fb5b93522e25404921f3a7a7c 

Sorry everyone else, this crew is only for Singapore. However, do add me up on PSN (Jengoboy) and we could always have a couple of games together!

More info on GTA Online

So we have all watched the GTA Online trailer already... I posted some comments late last night before heading to bed so didn't have a chance to check out more updates from the various gaming sites. So while having breakfast this morning, I checked out what others' had to say about GTA Online...

Apparently the Online world will support up to 16 players in each "lobby". Not too many but enough for having fun. It looks like the entire open world will be available to play in this mode so that's pretty impressive without having to worry about lag issues.

GTA Online will continue evolving and expanding as Rockstar and the community will be creating new content. Without a doubt, there will be DLC with new modes and content, and with players being able to create new content, the possibilities will be endless.

In a surprise twist of events, GTA Online won't be available on launch, but instead will go live on Oct 1. Good or Bad, you decide. It's a blessing in disguise for me, at least. That will be give me roughly 2 weeks to complete the story before heading out into multiplayer. With both modes looking so impressive, I won't have to split my time between both initially.

Someone actually commented that GTA V won't bring anything new to the table... Oh please. If you don't see that Rockstar continually revolutionize their games, you better quit gaming altogether...

GTA V Online Revealed!

I don't think I even need to say anything...



Of course I'm gonna blog about it... why else would I create this post? That is after you have watched it 10 times..

You ready to read my rambling now?

Ok... GTA Online looks like everything a GTA fan wanted. Playing in the very same open world setting as the game, with your friends. The entire map/s open for you to explore (or wreak havok) with your friends. Unlike GTA 4's online, GTA (V) Online seems to be filled with activities...

Own a home! Have your own garage filled with sports cars, character customization, parachuting, flying planes.. the list goes on.. In just 3 mins, the video has shown us so much and I'm sure there will be more to discover. Exploring the vast open-world alone will be awesome, but with friends, it will be on a whole new level.

Another interesting feature to be noticed is the inclusion of meeting NPCs online, complete with cut-scenes. I could play GTA games over and over again, just for their cutscenes so will be great to see how this plays out. Will we meet characters from the story mode or will we see new ones?

Rockstar has experimented with this in their other games' online modes. Red Dead Redemption had it. Instead of having only menus, the open world was your lobby. Want to clear a hideout, ride there with your posse and start the event! Want to hunt some bears? Ride over to the thick forests where they dwell. This interface, probably will be similar in GTA online.

Sure GTA wouldn't be GTA without some competition. Similar to Max Payne 3's Gang Wars, we could expect to see rival factions battle each other to take control of turf and other objectives.

Let's not forget the Crews feature that started in Max Payne 3. Similar to a clan system, friends can crew up to earn bonus xp when playing together. Clash with another crew several times and you will start a feud. Again you will earn bonus xp when taking down feuding crew members. Will be great to see this return in GTA V.

So we have 1 helluva story mode, a freaking awesome multiplayer.. what else can you ask for? Well it's the demanding internet world... and before you can ask if you can create your modes, the trailer has already answered your question. Myself, I don't think I will even have the time for that! There's so many other things given to us already!

I did say the US$149.90 for the Collector's Edition isn't value for money.. and I stick by it. They should have just priced the standard game for US$120 and I would still have bought it. Where on earth am I going to find the time for AC IV and WatchDogs?

Breaking Bad Cover looks like...

Not sure if this was noticed already but..

Don't they look oddly similar? The bespectacled guy on the left pic from Breaking Bad looks exactly like Gordon from Half-Life!

Some Art additions to the Collection

Art prints and Art stuff are always cool to own, and if they come cheap, it makes it all the more desirable. Got some on the cheap..

Darkness Art Prints

Closer look..

Never seen this before, actually found it while buying the WatchDogs Cel Art shown below, in the same seller's listing..

Based on the sticker, at the back of this sealed print, this one was probably released in 2006 or 2007, so I'm glad to find it at the price I paid.

Also got this WatchDogs Cel Art

A closer look...

Artwork by the famous comic writer/artist Alex Ross!

Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, this WatchDogs Art Cel is done in a similar style to the Assassin's Creed IV Art Cels. Hope to see similar Art Cels from Ubisoft in the future... Prince of Persia please!!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Gameplay Walkthrough

One of the games coming that's coming out this August, probably unknown to be most, is TMNT: Out of the Shadows. This 3rd person brawler game will be coming out on Aug 28 on PSN (and X-Box Live and Steam.

Check out this walkthrough by IGN



Looks pretty fun! The fighting combo system looks good and the tag-team combos will be cool to pull off with friends.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of my favourite classic cartoons from back in the day so will be interested in picking this up. Haven't really been following the newer cartoon series so I hope they included villains like Rocksteady and Bebop.

Here's a compilation of the 4 character trailers