Twitch Streamer Miss Mia Rose @ Twin Galaxies

twingalaxiesbannerYes, once again, we are still at Twin Galaxies in Banning, CA.  The Ramen crew interviews Twitch Streamer Miss Mia Rose and we find out what hit game she’s playing.

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Firefly Fans Play Yahtzee

fireflyserenityshipcoverLike many of my Retrenders crew, we are big fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly.  I fell in love with characters, the universe and the world building.  I have the special edition DVD’s, the Dark Horse Comics editions and the Funko/Super7 action figures.  And now from USAopoly based on the Yahtzee game, comes the Firefly version.

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The Voice of “Cody” from Street Fighter @ Twin Galaxies

twingalaxiesbannerWe are once again at the invite-only opening of Twin Galaxies and catch-up with the voice actor Michael T. Coleman.  Who is he?  Well, he was the voice-actor for “Cody” in Capcom’s Street Fighter series.

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Mark Rubin & Robert Bowling @ Twin Galaxies 2015

twingalaxiesbannerIf you’re a fan of the Call of Duty franchise, you’re probably familiar with these two names:  Mark Rubin and Robert Bowling.  While at the invite-only Twin Galaxies event, the Ramen crew interviews the two key players.  The guys talk about their time at Infinity Ward, their work on Call of Duty, indie game development versus big corporate game development and games they are currently playing.

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NBA Champion and Video Gamer Rick Fox

twingalaxiesbannerThe Ramen crew was recently at the invite-only Grand Opening of Twin Galaxies in Banning, CA. Host Eddie Ballar grabs some interviews with 3-time NBA champion/LA Laker Rick Fox and his buddy Jace Hall of Twin Galaxies.

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Twin Galaxies Grand Opening 2015

twingalaxiesThe Ramen crew took a midnight trip down the I-5 from the Bay Area to SoCal, more precisley, Banning, CA for the invite-only opening of the iconic arcade store Twin Galaxies.  The guys played some pinball, some Mortal Kombat and also got some cool nerdy interviews.  Here’s a recap of the event!

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DC VS Marvel Chess Pieces

dcvsmarvelchesscoverThe age of old comic book fight between DC fanboys and Marvel fanboys can be settle by the classic game of chess.  Eaglemoss Publications has created over 100 DC and Marvel characters to collect.  The 5″ figures are made from metalized resin and painted.  Each figure will cost around $16.00USD or you can buy 2-packs for around $40.00USD.

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Monopoly: Firefly Edition

fireflyboardgameboxartJoss Whedon’s cult TV hit Firefly was cancelled after one season on FOX have some of the most rabid fans ever!  After all these years, there have been various Dark Horse comics and a Funko/Super 7 action figure line-up, now a Serenity-themed Monopoly board game for the fans.

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The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Puzzle

zeldapuzzleboxcoverI admit I haven’t touch a puzzle of any kind since I was like 8 years-old.  I think frustration and irritation were part of the problem.  I’m wiser now, so I think I might enjoy building a puzzle like this, since I’m also a big Zelda-fan.  This is USAopoly’s The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Puzzle featuring 550 pieces.  The 18×24″ puzzle maybe only picture of a map, but true Zelda-fans will geek out over the significance of this Zelda map puzzle.

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Red Bull Propelled Vine Machine

redbullvinemachineVine star Zach King and builds a fun time-waster video to watch.

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Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Collector’s Edition Review

Final Fantasy Type-0 HDFinal Fantasy Type-0 HD had me right from the get-go. Even thought the beginning was more cutscenes than it was gameplay, it was the cutscenes with the Chocobo that probably stayed with everybody in the beginning. Watching a Chocobo die was kind of strange. The only other time I remember seeing Chocobos dying was probably in Final Fantasy X, and even then they, and their riders, just disintegrated. In this game we had to sit through it and a human bleeding out… it was kinda dark. Well, what do you expect from an M-rated game. Yes that’s right, an M-rated Final Fantasy game.

When I started playing the game, it took a while for me to get used to the controls. I played on a PlayStation, so the square button was used to do the normal attacks, but it was also used to pick up something called ‘Phantoma’. Now that wasn’t that bad, but you had to wait a second of not attacking to pick it up, you couldn’t just kill the monster and pick it up right as it died. So watch out if you still have a Behemoth to kill and you’re trying to pick up the other dead Behemoth’s Phantoma. You might as well just let the Behemoth disappear and focus on grabbing the other Behemoth’s Phantoma. Another thing that annoyed me was the camera movement; it was too fast. In big open spaces like the overworld map it was fine, it moved at a decent pace; however, places like in a city you were fighting in, small spaces, the camera would move faster than it should sometimes. I’ll admit I got disoriented a few times, but nothing too major. It was just something that annoyed me, and there was nothing I could do about the speed.

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Play Board Games: Rush Hour Shift

rushhourshiftgameOkay, so this isn’t classic Frogger video game or gives off that Fast and the Furious excitement vibe, but this board game offers strategic thinking fun.  If you’re looking to play a real physical board game, then take a shot at this 2-player Rush Hour Shift based on the popular app game from ThinkFun.

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Takara PlayStation History Collection

playstationhistory20thIf you’re a Sony PlayStation fan, a miniature model collector or blind box buyer, then you might want to grab this Takara PlayStation History Collection 20th Anniversary.  Takara which has already done an NES and SEGA collection, so you know these will be popular.

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The Art of Total War

totalwarcoverThe Total War series has been around for years, it wasn’t until Rome:  Total War that it garnered mass-appeal and sales.  Videogame journalist Martin Robinson takes us on ride from the very humble beginnings of The Creative Assembly studio, the rise of Total War series and glimpses into the future for the Total War franchise with Total War:  Attila dropping on February 17, 2015.   This is The Art of Total War published by Titan Books.

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Hasbro Despicable Me Minion Board Games

minionmonopolyThese cute yellow bubbly characters Minions are very popular from the “Despicable Me” animated films and now they get official licensed Hasbro board games.  From the iconic board game Monopoly, this Monopoly Despicable Me 2 Game gets some Minion-twists for fans.

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Stratego Battle Cards

strategobattlecardsWhen I was growing up, I remember many summer camps I’ve attended where I would spend hours playing the classic board game – Stratego with fellow campers.  Now there is new way to play Stratego with playing cards from Patch games.

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The Princess Bride Board Game

princessbrideIf you’re child of the 1980s’, you’re probably remember this iconic film Princess Bride.  It was swashbuckling adventure with a dose of romance, action and comedy.  There was Andre the Giant and many memorable lines like, “Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!”  Now comes Princess Bride-opoly board game from Toy Vault.

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The LEGO CLUE Gameboard

cluegameboard00If you don’t want to buy a classic boardgame like CLUE, then why not build your very own with LEGO bricks?  This is what LEGO builder Ian Spacek has done with this.

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Dragon Age Inquisition Review

Dragon Age InquisitionPicked up Dragon Age Inquisition for my PS4 on the day of its release, hoping that this game would make up for the faults of its predecessor, and, well, I can’t stop playing it. So much so, I haven’t even touched my Far Cry 4 yet. Currently, I’ve already clocked over 35 hours into the game – eating up most of my playing time are all the side quests, such as, picking up herbs and materials to craft new items. I haven’t even gone through half of the main story, which i have to say is a pretty decent story, but far from perfect.

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Supersize Me Mario!

supermario

Super Mario fans will enjoy this 20″ plastic giant toy from Jakks Pacific, the World of Nintendo Super Mario Big Figure.  Jakks Pacific with Nintendo license has made several 4″-6″ World of Nintendo action figures, and now this 20″ version Mario takes the cake.

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LEGO DOOM Diorama

legodoomdioramaWhen I was a wee young lad, one of the very first FPS I played was the game DOOM.  It’s been 20 years since Doom premiered, and here’s a LEGO tribute to this iconic game.

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Street Fighter 2 on your knees!

capsuletoysstreetfighterIf you find yourself in Japan this summer and spot a vending machine selling capsule toys, then you might want to pick these neat looking Street Fighter 2 phone accessories.  Zarigani Works and Capcom have made 8 PVC characters “bowing for forgiveness” from Street Fighter 2 series.

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Video Game Controller History by Javier Laspiur

controllers00Video game controllers play a big part in the success or failure of a video game console, like that nasty Atari Jaguar joystick.  Now that had you thinking, “WTF Atari?”  I’m somewhat of a video-game gal, but I don’t remember any video game consoles before the 1990s, unlike my fellow Retrenders super-blogger Stephen Jang, he’s an old-fart.  I’m just kidding.  This is a super-duper geeky photo project by artist/designer Javier Laspiur.  “Controllers” is a photo history of video game consoles through the eyes of the controllers or joysticks, if you prefer calling it that.

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Universal Orlando: Walkthrough Diagon Alley!

diagonalleyWhy do you need to go to Universal Orlando?  Do I have to ask why?  If you are a true Harry Potter fan then a point of destination is the land of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando.  The buildings, all the details, it just looks and feels you’re in that world.  Amazing.  Check out this video walkthrough of Diagon Alley by Inside the Magic!

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Frankie’s Garage: The Future 2020 Nissan GT-R?

nissan 2020Built for the Sony’s iconic driving-game franchise Gran Turismo, this a sneak tease of the Nissan Concept 2020 VISION.  Is this next generation Nissan GT-R?