AC V Logo Leaked?

So to continue on the Assassin's Creed V rumours, there is a 'leaked' picture of what is apparently the logo for AC V, where the 'V' is actually an inverted AC emblem. 

Sure, that's an interesting use of the AC emblem to make it look like the roman numeral 5. Or is it a hidden message? Why is it inverted? Not to bring in religion but most of you would know that an inverted cross is used to signify 'Anti-Christianity' so similarly, is the inverted AC Logo meant to signify 'Anti-Assassins'? There has been talk about having a game based on the Templar point of view so could this game be it? 

Honestly, I don't think there should be a Templar game since this is Assassin's Creed. But the rumours are rife that there are 2 projects that Ubisoft are working on for this year. Me and a friend have been discussing this and I strongly believe that the 2nd project is either a Vita game or a major story DLC rather than another console game. 

Well, time is ticking closer to the official announcement and I can't wait to see what's in store for us Assassin's Creed fans.

Oh and if you are into the AC lore.. do check out the comments made in this post and this post. There have been some very interesting comments made by a few friends on the lore of Assassin's Creed and some very very interesting info. A lot of it is new to me and it has sent me into a dizzy of what clues and hidden messages are already available in all the previous games. 

Post your opinions and maybe the others can share what they believe, and you never know what we can find out. Lily has also shared with me some clues on which locations we could be visiting in all of the future AC games. Do feel free to comment!

Marvel Heroes Diary: Feb 27 2014 - Money can buy you Fortune!

Money can buy you Fortune!

There's an ongoing sale for the Fortune Cards where you can purchase a bundle of 36 of each card, for 50% off!

No, I'm not trying to advertise and convince you to buy it.. In fact, it was I who was convinced of the awesomeness of this sale, that I went ahead and purchased the US$99.99 G pack. That got me 11,500 Gs!

First, I had to buy up extra stash space. Stash space has been really tight for me and I really needed more space to store my junk. Purchased the remaining 7 slots and now I got all 13 Stash slots opened.

Yea I do need more space considering I like to collect all the different Medallions..

I had 50 Gs in my account before my purchase so after buying 7 slots at 500 Gs each, I had 8,050 Gs left.

Bought the Fortune Card Bundle for 6,000 Gs of course. I actually thought I shouldn't be buying these cards but they do have some nice exclusive items so it was worth a try, especially since they are having an awesome sale right now.

So we got 36 of each card, let's see the results.

Firstly, the Mark 1s

Not sure why one was opened when I was moving it from my "Gifts to receive". I must have been clicking too fast.

Lots of boosts and a Retcon Device. Got these though..

Not too bad I guess. Still no Bovine Sector Portal recipe though. That's what I'm still hunting from the Mark 1 cards. Would have loved a pet or 2 as well. The Captain costume is a dupe, so I will wait for a couple more dupes before trying for another random costume.

Mark 2s..

Not too bad.. 150 Eternity Splinters in total, more boosts and the pair of Matrix of Unbindings will come in handy when needed.

Got these too:

Both are exclusive to these Mark 2 cards from what I know so that's cool.

Mark 3s..

Unstable Molecules will be handy when I want to upgrade my uniques to Level 60 and more Bovine Sector Portals!

A lot of silly party artifacts though!

None of these any real effect on the game so quite disappointing.. The one thing that I was really wishing for, was the Ultimate Deadpool costume from the Mark 3 card but sadly no luck at all. Well.. at least the Ruby Quartz is piling up. Count is at 43 now.

Lastly, Mark 4s..

Got to say, I'm really disappointed with the Mark 4 cards. Not 1 good item! Well, added more Horizon Labs Microchips bringing that total to 58. 

It's not a huge disappointment though. The boosts are always helpful, gaining experience faster or increasing my Rare and Special Item finds have been worth it and I have got good drops to show for it.

Will try my luck another time if there is another Fortune Card sale like this. Left with 2050 Gs which I plan to get the Enhanced Lady Deadpool costume. Not going to rush with the purchase, hoping for a possible sale to get that.

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Current goals:

Deadpool: Level 60 (Prestige Level 5)

Gambit: Level 60

Deadpool's Legendary: Rank 5

Colossus' Legendary: Rank 5

Earn 400 Odin Marks for Blessings for Colossus/Legendary for Gambit

Current Progress
Deadpool: Level 7 (Prestige Level 3)

Gambit: Level 47
Colossus: Level 60

Emma Frost: Level 39

Deadpool's Legendary: Rank 4

Colossus' Legendary: Rank 4

Odin Marks: 296

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Check out the rest of my Marvel Heroes Diary entries!

Marvel Heroes Diary: Feb 26 2014 - Luck, Weird Glitch & a New Character

Luck, Weird Glitch & a New Character

Had some very nice luck over the past few days. I found a Fortune Mark 1 card from a drop and opening it, it gave me a Iron Man Stealth costume. Already had that costume, so it was added to my stash of costume dupes, ready to be converted to a random costume.

My Deadpool was also levelled to 60 so I couldn't wait to prestige him so I could get another spare costume and together with the extra Cable costume from the previous attempt at a random costume, I was ready for another try.

Put all 3 in..

and I got this!

What Luck! The Enhanced Lady Loki costume! Totally wasn't expecting this. Another reason to start playing Loki? Not to complain but a Lady Deadpool costume would have been the perfect one, but I'll take this anytime. 

Got to say I have been enjoying quite a bit of luck with drops in Marvel Heroes. Not trying to say I deserve the luck, but I have spent quite a bit of money on this game, so it's nice to have some luck. Or maybe I'm just playing much more than the average person!

Was doing a LQ with Emma Frost when I died.. Came back to the same spot and I saw this..

Strangely, her pet got duped and was waiting there. Too bad, it couldn't follow me though or I would have tried to create an army of those. Weird Glitch..

I've also stopped playing Deadpool and Colossus for the moment. Not because I have gotten bored of them, but I'm running out of stash space to store anymore Cosmic drops. I'm keeping all the unwanted Cosmic items for the soon-to-be-released 'Stark Tech' feature. Don't want to 'waste' any Cosmic drops so I wanted to play another character to save his Cosmics in his own stash.

Gambit is probably my most favourite character in the entire Marvel Universe so thought I should get him up to Level 60. The more I play him, the more fun he feels. 

Still quite undecided on his skill set, so I'm continually trying out new stuff. He felt very weak at some point of time, but I have improved him quite a bit. Also excited that a mini-review of the character is in the works.. so hopefully, he will be buffed quite a bit after that. 

I might consider using the Odin Marks that I have saved, for a Legendary Item for him, rather than using it for Blessings for Colossus, since I'm taking a break from Colossus. I'm leaning towards the Cosmic Control Rod at the moment. I know Gungnir is the overwhelming favourite but I don't wish to use it for every hero :P

Got to make some considerations though, don't want to spend 300 Odin Marks on a Legendary for Gambit and then struggle to farm another 400 for Colossus' Blessings.

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Current goals:

Deadpool: Level 60 (Prestige Level 5)

Gambit: Level 60

Deadpool's Legendary: Rank 5

Colossus' Legendary: Rank 5

Earn 400 Odin Marks for Blessings for Colossus/Legendary for Gambit

Current Progress
Deadpool: Level 3 (Prestige Level 3)

Gambit: Level 45
Colossus: Level 60

Emma Frost: Level 37

Deadpool's Legendary: Rank 4

Colossus' Legendary: Rank 4

Odin Marks: 270

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Check out the rest of my Marvel Heroes Diary entries!

Evolve - The Talk of the Town

Evolve seems to be all the talk of the town at the moment. A 4v1 shooter where both sides are controlled by players.

The concept of the game is also shown in the logo. One team of 4 hunters versus 1 monster. Check out the trailer below.

 

I have actually thought about this concept many years back where players should be able to control both sides including the monsters and enemies which are usually AI-controlled. It would definitely be a bigger challenge and a more fun game. 

Of course, coming with an idea and having it run successfully in a game are 2 totally different things. The biggest challenge would be to create a balanced game. On first thoughts, I would think that the Hunters would primarily dominate in most games. However, those who have had access to the game seem to be convinced that both sides are balanced and will make for a even match-up. 

If that's really true, this could be a great game to play with friends. I can already imagine all the chaos and laughter that's going to be heard over the headsets when people play this. It's looking good and could be a great start to next-gen exclusive games.

AC5 Rumours are Fake! New Rumours and Clues surface!

So less than 2 days after the rumours of who AC5's Protagonist would be, it has been revealed that the "Assassin holding a Tomahawk with 2 French Flags" and the 'somebody-told-somebody-who-told-somebody-who-yougetthedrift-' rumour is a fake. The Assassin's Creed: Great Fall title has also been revealed to be fake.

Of course, after all the fake rumours have been called out.. everyone wasn't going to be quiet and wait till Ubisoft's official announcement. 

There was the Jade Raymond interview where she has claimed that Samurai Japan will NOT be the setting for AC 5. There was also a pic apparently from Ubisoft showing a Russian setting. (Nikolai.. is that you?) And then, just as I was getting ready to post this, another report leaks with a new historical setting; the Industrial Revolution in Victorian London.

So which is it? Russia or London? Well.. if other rumours are to be believed, there might be 2 Assassin's Creed games to be released in 2014. Someone mentioned this in the comments section in my previous post. I have also seen this pop up in several reports. So, it might very well be both Russia in 1 game and London in the other. My guess is that one would be a Console game and the other a PS Vita game.

It has been a crazy few days for Assassin's Creed fans and with the official announcement date drawing nearer, I'm sure we might see a few more 'leaked reports' in the next few days..

On another note, glad to see plenty of comments in my previous post, do keep them coming. 

AC5 Rumours Galore!

So.. what's next in the Assassin's Creed Franchise, namely in the next AC 5? Not to worry, looks like we are going to get official news very, very soon.

It seems that certain stores in US have been receiving posters and other promo materials already. While, they are technically not allowed to open or reveal the contents, we all know our world better.. 

Someone on Reddit claims to have seen the new Assassin "in new robes, holding a tomahawk and 2 French Flags". Connor's name has been thrown but the biggest candidate seems to be Eseosa, who is Adewale's grand-son. In that case, technically Eseosa would have been living in the same generation as Connor who was the grandson of Edward Kenway. 

Another Reddit poster claims that an Ubisoft employee 'told someone, who told someone, who told the poster' (That always seems to be the case, eh?) that AC 5 will be set in a location no one expects it to. 

So, it looks like Ubisoft isn't slowing down on the yearly release of their AC games.

There's also talk that Jade Raymond is working on AC5 and the game will be returning to the Assassin roots where the game will be more Assassin-oriented.

Well.. Whatever the case, if their pattern continues, we will have the answers sometime end of this month. Exciting time for Assassin's Creed fans! 

What do you guys think? Are you guys excited for the next installment in the franchise or are you getting tired of the yearly releases? Where do you think the game is going to be set in?

ToyFair 2014 NECA figure pics

I already showed you pics of McFarlane's Assassin's Creed figures from ToyFair 2014.. And I was hoping to share lots more from the other Toy companies but it has been a disappointing search.

NECA, one of my other favourite companies for Video Game Action Figures have been turning away from my favourite licenses and moving towards Movies, Marvel and DC. They still had some Video Game figures on display but not the ones I was looking for..

They lost the Assassin's Creed license sometime back. Borderlands 2 figures are missing from their line-up. 

Their Bioshock Infinite figures are still going strong though..

They also had some Team Fortress figures on display..

However, the only thing that interests me from their figures was the previously announced and shown Diablo 3 figure..

Looks good for an action figure.. Already have this on pre-order so can't wait to get this in-hand. It should be out in late March I think..

Can't think of anything else worth buying.. oh wait.. they had pics of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie figures. Interesting I would say.. Quite disappointed with the rest of the ToyFair, nothing else really got me excited. 

All credit goes to Toynewsi and Toyark for the pics.

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If you are interested in the NECA figures, you can check out the affiliate link below.

NECA products from Entertainment Earth

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My Top 5 Collectibles of 2013

Been so busy with Marvel Heroes that I almost forgot all about this post..

So here it is.. another year of collecting and took a look back at all the stuff that I added to my collection this year. Seems like a lot of the stuff that I got this year were released in previous years. However, I will only be listing my Top 5 from collectibles released this year.

Surprisingly, there weren't much to choose from, (A lot were from Assassin's Creed IV!) but here's my favourite 5 items.

In no particular order.. (Click the title links to see more pics and my blog post on that collectible)

1. Army of Two: Devil's Cartel Replica Masks

I have that weird fascination with masks and this was one of my attractions to the Army of Two franchise. "Two 'bros' in masks" could have been the title of this game and I would have still bought it.

I even bought custom masks of the first bro-duo after playing the very first game, so I was very excited when I saw official ones for the new game. These are very well-made and not too many were produced. Too bad, the game didn't live up to it's 'coolness' factor.

I think they look really nice on display and are awesome additions to my growing mask collection.

2. Grand Theft Auto V Standee

How could I not include the biggest thing in my collection? Had a bit of luck in getting this. I'm really proud to have this promo display of the biggest game of our generation. Also being a hardcore fan of Grand Theft Auto V, I'm really glad to have this in my collection.

Had to ignore a lot of funny looks as I carried this, with the wifey feeling so embarassed, and having to fit this into a cab. This is going to be a funny story to tell for years to come.

So apt that this triangular standee has each side adorned with each of the 3 playable characters so that you feel it's presence from whichever angle you look at it. This is going to be one of the major centre-pieces in my collection room and a nice conversation topic.

3. Assassin's Creed IV Vial Replica

The AC IV Vial Replica was the last collectible to arrive before the year end and it was a awesome ending to the year in terms of collecting.

Despite it's small size, it has that 'magical' look to it. Came with a hefty price-tag, but the quality shows in this wonderful collectible. I will be exploring options on how to make this stand out even more in my display as I think it deserves it.

Hopefully, this will be the start of a long range of Assassin's Creed replicas from Ubiworkshop.

4. Mortal Kombat 9 Kitana Statue

Mortal Kombat collectibles were a huge disappointment in 2013. Syco Collectibles shot themselves in the foot, in the hand and eventually in the head. Jazwares went missing with their MK stuff and Pop Culture Shock Collectibles (PCS) just kept pushing release dates back. Out of the blue, World Box announced a 1/6 SubZero figure to be released in late Nov 2013 but still no sign of it in late Feb 2014.

Luckily, PCS did ship out their MK9 Kitana statue. Boy, what a beauty she was! 

I wasn't a big fan of Kitana in the games. I was more of a Ninja and Cyborg guy. So I wasn't planning to get this at all. But the more I looked at this, the more I liked it. I was so impressed with the sculpt and overall look of this statue that I thought I would really be missing out if I don't get this.

Of course, Syco Collectibles' demise made it easier as well, since I only had 1 company to collect MK statues from. Looking at the end product, I have not much complaints to be honest..

A stunning statue and if all the upcoming Statues from PCS can arrive without any problems, my Top 5 Collectibles' lists in the coming years will feature more of PCS' Mortal Kombat statues!

5. Assassin's Creed IV Jackdaw Replica

This could be the biggest turnaround in terms of how much I like a collectible. 

The foam material used for this was initially a turn-off for me. I was expecting a wooden replica for a more realistic-looking replica. Lack of pictures also made me think that this would be a rather small.

Even while fixing it up, it was frustrating and the foam material got flimsy easily. For quite a while, I was even regretting my decision to purchase this. Because of this, I didn't try to fix it up as quickly as I could, preferring to spend my free time on other things. 

However, it was only on the last session that my mindset started changing. The replica was cleverly designed to secure all the loose bits and only when I started putting those in, did the ship look steady. As I put in the sails, I started to see how big the replica was.

With the final pieces being put in, I was really amazed with how the Jackdaw replica turned out. The whole frame was very steady and the size was bigger than I expected. I had to take a few steps back to appreciate the beauty of this.

The Jackdaw wasn't just another ship in Assassin's Creed IV. It was the ship! So, having the Jackdaw as a collectible piece was very cool. Now, displayed on a shelf, it's a spectacular collectible piece worth all the trouble I went through.

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So that was my list of my Top 5 Collectibles of the year. It was a little tricky, with so many spectacular collectibles to choose from, especially from Assassin's Creed IV, but I'm very satisfied with my final 5. What do you guys think? Did you see anything else from my collection that you think should have made my Top 5? Comment below!

Also:

My Top 5 Games of 2013
My Top 5 Wants for 2014

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Marvel Heroes Diary: Feb 17 2014 - Celebrating Valentine's Day

Celebrating Valentine's Day

There seems to be plenty of special occasions these past few weeks and Marvel Heroes have been actively celebrating them with special events in the game.

This time, it's Valentine's Day! And there are a whole load of new stuff added to the game. 

Similar to the previous events, we see 2 items that drop that you can sell/donate.

Cool stuff, they seem to drop slightly less for me, as compared to the previous items but the higher value makes up for it.

There is also a Daily Login gift which gives out these items, the usual Splinters and Shards as well as a themed artifact. 

Here is a pic I found off the internet. Credit to the uploader.

I have no luck finding this yet, though I did get lots of the Lunar New Year Artifacts. Guess I just don't have the luck during Valentine's Day.. (Wait.. that sounds familiar.. Story of my Life! Nah.. just kidding..)

Hoping to get at least one of these before they stop giving this out.

Speaking of which, the Lunar New Year Fireworks Artifact seems to be bugged after the new patch. It isn't giving out the +88 credits as started, that's a real pity. Discussion on forums claim that it may have been nerfed or even supposed not to work after the Lunar New Year. No official word on it yet.

Been a rather slow weekend on Marvel Heroes as I was completing all the leftover story missons on the 3 difficulty levels for all the extra Quest rewards. Colossus' spirit has been boosted quite a bit after all that. That would greatly help.

All missions completed and all Power Points re-distributed. Next Diary post will be about my Colossus Build. Do check it out!

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Current goals:

Deadpool: Level 60 (Prestige Level 5)

Deadpool Legendary Item: Rank 5

Colossus Legendary Item: Rank 5

Earn 100 Odin Marks for First Blessing for Colossus

Current Progress
Deadpool: Level 36 (Prestige Level 2)

Gambit: Level 27
Colossus: Level 60

Emma Frost: Level 34

Deadpool Legendary Item: Rank 3

Colossus Legendary Item: Rank 3

Odin Marks: 82

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Check out the rest of my Marvel Heroes Diary entries!

PlayAsia's Game Deals (18 Feb 2014)

The new week brings more game deals from PlayAsia!

Honestly, I don't know much about the games in this week's deal.

The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection will be a treat for old fans of the series. Fans can re-live 3 classics from the series in HD format for only US $23.99. The HD Collection will include MGS2, MGS3 and MGS: Peace Walker.

Of course, new fans of the series who can't stand the horrible low graphics of yesteryears can also enjoy these classics!

Buy Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Check out the rest of this week's deals below!

Also don't forget to check out the Daily Deal below!

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I, personally, have been shopping with PlayAsia for several years now and I am pleased with their service thus far. Shipping to Singapore does take a while, about 2-3 weeks but I have never had any problems with them. 

PlayAsia are known for their awesome deals and it's a good and trustworthy site for International Customers to shop for Asian exclusive games and toys.

Every shipped order also comes with a voucher for a US$5 off your next order, for purchases over US$60. Pretty cool site!

ToyFair 2014 pics of McFarlane's Assassin's Creed Series 2 & 3 figures

The New York ToyFair 2014 is happening right now and as a collector, it is one of my most anticpated events every year! Held early in the year, it gives me a prelude of what to expect for the rest of the year.

This year was no different and pics of McFarlane's Assassin's Creed figures from their upcoming Series 2 and even Series 3 are up on the internet.

In my previous post, we already saw some of the figures that will be available in Series 2, supposedly to be released in July 2014 and I'm sure everyone wanted to know if there were more in Series 2. Certainly looks like there is at least 1 more but I'm not sure who this mystery character is..

Here are some prototype pics of the first 3; Adewale, Aveline and Connor (Mohawk)

Connor with Mohawk

Said it before, there doesn't seem to be a difference between this and the Series 1 Connor... but I like this unhooded Mohawk look so that's enough for me to get this. The face sculpt also looks well done.

Aveline

Somehow, I have a feeling that Aveline will be many collectors' favourite figure in Series 2. Face Sculpt looks very life-like. The figure also has her iconic whip and sugarcane machete! Very nice!

Adewale

Been looking forward to a Adewale figure ever since I saw him in Assassin's Creed IV but I have to say I'm a little disappointed. He looks the least remarkable of the 3.. Could be because of the hood as compared to the other 2 which don't have hoods covering their faces. Hoping this will grow on me but it's not a bad figure.

Glad that he isn't as skinny as he looked in the other pic though.

And here's the 'mystery' figure..

I have no idea who this is and none of the pics have a label. If you see some of Adewale's pics, you will see a backview of this figure and at certain angles, it looks like Adewale but the face sculpt and skin tone doesn't suit him at all.

It doesn't help that I haven't played much of AC IV and Liberation. The Assassin's Creed emblem is there below his neck, so definitely an Assassin. My best guess would be that he's one of the generic Assassins in the Brotherhood from the game that you can train and send on missions. (Do they even plan to make figures of them?) He doesn't look like any of the Assassins that I know. Perhaps anyone out there has any idea? Just post in the comments below.

That's not all.. Looks like there will be a Series 3 as well and the first figure has been revealed..

Edward Kenway in Mayan Outfit

Not bad.. I like figure variants so nice to see this coming in the future. 

Still no sign of Ezio or Altair however.. getting a little worried about whether McFarlane do have the license to make those. Will be a pity if they can make all the other Assassin figures except those 2.

Certain sites have stated that the Connor with Mowhawk figure is an exclusive, similar to the Connor in New York Black Outfit but certain retailers do have it up for pre-order so might be worth checking it out.

Here's one..

Order Assassin's Creed Series 2 Action Figure Set from Entertainment Earth!

Do check back soon, I'm looking for more interesting ToyFair 2014 pics of Video Game Collectibles!

All credit goes to Toynewsi and Toyark for the pics.