BYTE: Merry March

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn...

Welcome to a merry March - and I hope it is so for all of you!

Firstly I must apologise for the lack of updates - my computer has been playing funny, then it decided to pack in and with working lots and being on adventures I haven't had time to fix it. Obviously I have now so there'll be some reviews up and posted over the next few days.

Last month we had Deadpool (review soon as I've seen it 3 times now!) this month we have the muchly anticipated Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Wow! And we've got London has Fallen, Grimsby and Allegiant (part one) to look forward to among others.

Although I visited Middlesbrough Comic Con back in February (I need to write that one up as well, jeez I'm slacking) the first epic one of the year for me is the one in Wales - the Sci Fi Weekender, which we have been going to for about 5 years now. This year guests include Garrett Wang (from Voyager), the ever lovely Eve Myles (she's beautiful inside and out) and the oft imitated but never bettered, the legend that is Brian Blessed! I'm really looking forward to this one and a two part review will come in time. And, if my new video camera comes, you might even get a You Tube video. if you are going there, say hi!

Later in the year I'm looking at visiting other 'Cons and on my hitlist include Destination Star Trek in Birmingham in October and The London Film & Comic Con by Showmasters in July. The latter stars Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and others while the former celebrates 50 years of the Star trek frnachise and includes cast members from all of the series AND prop and set shoots. Wow!
 

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the usual selection of games, rather than list them I've included the link that's in blue. However, as this links to the current games, if you click the link it is the current games available and maybe not what's available now. Remember though that all the Xbox games have limited availability and are yours to keep once you have purchased them. However, some are only available at the beginning of the month, some at the end and some longer than that. Generally though, there are some games for the first two weeks and then a different set two weeks after, so you need to move quickly.

Every Xbox 360 game that is featured on Games With Gold from now, is now backwards compatibly with Xbox One which means the Xbox 360 games above WILL work on your Xbox one. They are adding new games all the time, so keep checking to see if you can use any of those old 360 games again on your shiny new Xbox One.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month has another selection of games but usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'. I know this to be true because it has happened to me. However, simply subscribe again and poof! by magic they work again. Also, this is the link to where to download the games, which means that although there's a certain set this mont, if you click the link next month there will be different games on offer - so get in while you can.

Origin has another game on the house which is Need for Speed: Most Wanted still -  so get it now before it's gone forever. As always you need to have an Origin account to get this. if this game is on your Most Wanted list, then now's the time to take advantage.

Origin have a new thing out called Origin Access which is £3.99 a month to play their games and you can cancel at any time. I need to look into this further but it looks pretty cool if you have the time to do it. If you check it out - let me know.

 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps is coming in April!

It's time to go now but -  I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Fab February

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn...

Welcome to a fabulous February - and I hope it is so for all of you!

As we power through to February we have a lot of things to look forward to - Valentine's Day is one, maybe. But let's sack that for now and check out the movies this month.

Heralding the new superhero movies of 2016 and onward, Ryan Reynolds leads us astray with Deadpool - the much awaited movie from 20th century Fox - however he's already had two stabs at being a superhero both of which failed. This is his third chance - but will it be his last?

It seems Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to dominate the cinema and I visited the D-Box at my local cinema. It was an interesting experience which took you right into the movie. I literally felt every explosion, laser blast and swoop of the spaceships. Overall it was a nice touch, but I think 5 pounds added to the ticket price and the length of time it was throwing you around is nice every now and then but would not be my regular planned cinema outing. One of my friends didn't really like it and ended up sitting in a vacant seat that wasn't D-Box enhanced, but for the adventurous ones among you, you should try it out - even if just once.

I mentioned about a video camera to do some unboxings on YouTube and I tried doing one but sadly the video camera I got for Christmas was of terrible quality and could have done better on my old Samsung Galaxy S3. I was very disappointed with it and have sent it back, but still waiting on my refund to replace it and then I will continue to try and make a video. However, I really enjoyed doing it so was gutted that the picture didn't work out. I WILL try asap, and I'm really excited about trying to give this editing software a try.

Let's get to the computers then -
 

If you are interested in Steam games but want to expand your horizons from just the triple A rated blockbusters and have a peek at other offerings - including indie developers, you could do no worse than checking out a SteamCrate. It says that each game is worth at least £3 and you get 10 random games each month - which could be anything from the latest releases to goodness-knows-what. I have subscribed to this and I'm going to do a review soon - so keep an eye out for it to see if it is worth it or not. They give you a 10% discount if you subscribe to their mailing list too, so it's worth doing that if you want to take advantage. I've been subscribing to this for a few months now and I'm fairly understanding of the type of service they offer. I am going to do a separate review next month breaking the box down so look out for that.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the usual selection of games, rather than list them I've included the link that's in blue. However, as this links to the current games, if you click the link it is the current games available and maybe not what's available now. Remember though that all the Xbox games have limited availability and are yours to keep once you have purchased them. However, some are only available at the beginning of the month, some at the end and some longer than that. Generally though, there are some games for the first two weeks and then a different set two weeks after, so you need to move quickly.

Every Xbox 360 game that is featured on Games With Gold from now, is now backwards compatibly with Xbox One which means the Xbox 360 games above WILL work on your Xbox one. They are adding new games all the time, so keep checking to see if you can use any of those old 360 games again on your shiny new Xbox One.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month has another selection of games but usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'. I know this to be true because it has happened to me. However, simply subscribe again and poof! by magic they work again. Also, this is the link to where to download the games, which means that although there's a certain set this mont, if you click the link next month there will be different games on offer - so get in while you can.

Origin has another game on the house which is Need for Speed: Most Wanted -  so get it now before it's gone forever. As always you need to have an Origin account to get this. if this game is on your Most Wanted list, then now's the time to take advantage.

Origin have a new thing out called Origin Access which is £3.99 a month to play their games and you can cancel at any time. I need to look into this further but it looks pretty cool if you have the time to do it. If you check it out - let me know.

 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps is officially Deadpool!

It's time to go now but -  I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Jolly January

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn...

Welcome to a jolly January - and I hope it is so for all of you!

It was an epic 2015 for movies wasn't it? It started off exciting, got amazing, what with the Avengers and Ant-man and everything. Via a few comic cons and even TV show viewings, I finished off the year with no less than 4 screenings of the hotly awaited, Star Wars: the Force Awakens.

This year is just as exciting as we have some more Marvel movies - Captain America: Civil War is looking ace, and of course, another Star Wars movie to contend with before 2017 blows us away with it's offerings. Dropping by also will be Deadpool and DC's juggernaut Batman Vs Superman, and rounded off by a nice slice of Star Trek too.

Celebrations this year include 60 years of Batman (the camp 60's TV series) and the anniversary of Star Trek: the Original Series. So it's going to be an exciting year regardless. Added to that all the comic cons, action and unboxings - it's shaping up to be an exciting year ahead.

I've been blogging on and off for a year now, and I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading me. I got a cheap camcorder for Christmas so I'm going to try and do some vLogs too this year - which is something I'm not really accustomed to. But I'll have a go and you can tell me what you think.  it will complement this blog and my Twitter feed so hopefully it will give you enough new content to be getting on with.

Let's get to the computers then -
 

If you are interested in Steam games but want to expand your horizons from just the triple A rated blockbusters and have a peek at other offerings - including indie developers, you could do no worse than checking out a SteamCrate. It says that each game is worth at least £3 and you get 10 random games each month - which could be anything from the latest releases to goodness-knows-what. I have subscribed to this and I'm going to do a review soon - so keep an eye out for it to see if it is worth it or not. They give you a 10% discount if you subscribe to their mailing list too, so it's worth doing that if you want to take advantage.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes:

XBOX ONE gives you:

Thief

Killer Instinct: Ultra Edition Add-on
Zheroes (from 16th Jan)
 

XBOX 360 gifts to you:

DiRT Showdown

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (from 16th Jan)

All the Xbox games have limited availability and are yours to keep once you have purchased them. However, some are only available at the beginning of the month, some at the end and some longer than that. Generally though, there are some games for the first two weeks and then a different set two weeks after, so you need to move quickly.

Every Xbox 360 game that is featured on Games With Gold from now, is now backwards compatibly with Xbox One which means the Xbox 360 games above WILL work on your Xbox one. They are adding new games all the time, so keep checking to see if you can use any of those old 360 games again on your shiny new Xbox One.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

 

PS4 has:

Grim Fandango: Remastered
Hardware Rivals

PS3 gets:

Dragon Age: Origins (yes, really!)
Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Vita receives:

Grim Fandango: Remastered
Nihilumbra
History: Legends of War

 

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'. I know this to be true because it has happened to me.

 

Origin has another game on the house and it's Jade Empire: Special Edition - this was an awesome game in it's time so get it now before it's gone forever. As always you need to have an Origin account to get this - but it's really worth the time to get this game as it's fab. If you like Knights of the Old Republic and the more recent Old Republic MMORPG you'll love this.

Origin have a new thing out called Origin Access which is £3.99 a month to play their games and you can cancel at any time. I need to look into this further but it looks pretty cool if you have the time to do it. If you check it out - let me know.

 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in February which, I'm told, is Deadpool!

It's time to go now but -  I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: New November

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn - welcome to New November - one step closer to Christmas, but we have bonfire night first and, of course, BLACK FRIDAY!!

Firstly I need to apologise for my scant October updates - so much has been going on that I've forgotten to upload my reviews on the blog, though I do regularly keep tweeting. I've had a busy October including a visit to Pinewood Studios for a recording of British institution, Birds Of A Feather, a One Direction concert (yes, really), a visit to Birmingham and numerous cinema visits. I realised I haven't uploaded my reviews and thought I did - so I'll be uploading a block of them this week!

It was back to the Future day on 21st October 2015 and this would have been when Marty McFly and Doc travelled to the future to see what life was like in 2015. We found that generally some of it was complete codswallop, but some of it was quite prophetic. Did you watch the trilogy on the day like I did? They are still brilliant movies and the first one is one of my all time favourites. When I got to sit in the Delorean earlier this year at Sheffield Film & Comic Con, it pretty much put the icing on the cake.

Let's look to the cinema - the latest James Bond offering SPECTRE is doing really well at the box office and is supposed to be brilliant. Featuring the new Bond them by Sam Smith, The Writing's On The Wall, Bond discovers that there's a sinister organisation at work that has been following him about causing trouble. Featuring star turns from Daniel Craig, the awesome Monica Belluci (who is the oldest Bond girl yet) and backed up by the talents of Ralph Feinnes and Ben Whishaw, I think this promises to be a great Bond movie. Also starring Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux and Drax himself, Dave Bautista, this movie is one to see.

In November, Mockingjay Part II hits the silver screen which will conclude the Hunger games Trilogy (erm, I mean series, or whatever). Word on the street is that they are looking to capitolize (see what I did there?) on the success and want to make more even though they are no books to follow on just yet. Will Suzanne Collins write exclusively for another movie? Will she write more books? And where does this leave Katniss? We will find out one day but not yet.

Let's get to the computers - biggest release going forward looks like the old Call of Duty franchise will be reanimated (as there's probably zombies in this one) with the muchly anticipated Call Of Duty: Black Ops III. And batten up the hatches because in December we will not doubt be having the legendary Steam Christmas sale so better get saving up. New Skylanders game Super Charger looks interesting too - just when you thought we'd ran out of ideas they stick cars into the mix.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full games of DiRT 3 and Dungeon Siege III on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to Pneuma: Breath of Life and Knight Squad to download free if you are a subscriber. Microsoft have started releasing these games over 2 week periods so the first games listed are available for the first two weeks in November and then the others in the last two weeks in November so you'll have to get a wriggle on for the first. Some of them are on for the whole month (or in the case of Pool FX - for about 8 years lol)

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

PS4 has:
the Walking Dead: Season 2
Magicka 2
Dragon Fin Soup

PS3 gets:

Mass Effect 2
Beyond Good and Evil

Dragon Fin Soup

Vita receives:
Invizimals

Dragon Fin Soup

After last months rather lacklustre list, this list really got my appetite whetted! I can't believe Mass Effect 2 is in this list, wow! Well done Sony, well done!

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in December.

It's time to go now but - have a new November and I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Original October

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn - welcome to Original October - even though it's nearly finished!

The leaves are a-fallin' from the trees, it's getting colder and darker and we get to brush off our Hallowe'en costumes and go for the original cosplay on 31st October! Shortly after in November we have bonfire night and the month after that we are at Christmas. but before all that - we have October and here it is.

Let's look to the cinema - out this month is the latest James Bond offering SPECTRE which looks superb - but as I visit to see it will I think this will be better than Skyfall? Or will it be more Sky-fail? I'm going to see it on Wednesday - so I'll let you know.

Let's get to the computers - biggest release going forward looks like the old Call of Duty franchise will be reanimated (as there's probably zombies in this one) with the muchly anticipated Call Of Duty: Black Ops III.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full games of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and The Walking Dead: First Season on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to Valiant Hearts: Then Great War and The Walking Dead: First Season to download free if you are a subscriber. So lots of subtitled titles here this month.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

PS4 has:
Broken Age
Super Meat Boy
Unmechanical Extended
Kick Beat
Kung Fu Rabbit

PS3 gets:

Unmechanical Extended

Kick Beat
Kung Fu Rabbit
Chariot

Vita receives:
Broken Age
Super Meat Boy

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in October which I received this morning and has the theme - VILLAINS.

It's time to go now but - have an awesome October and I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Super September

I'm Paul ... and this is Paul & The Popcorn - welcome to Super September!

As the we leave the summer behind, September springs forth with a number of confusing weather patterns and darker nights - but also my birthday, a few more cool movies at the cinema and the transfer window closes on the football which means only one thing - FIFA is out and people are playing it!

But before we get to the computers let's look to the cinema - now blockbuster season is waning, there is still lots more to look forward to - films such as October's SPECTRE (the latest James Bond outing for Daniel Craig) and November's Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and December's Star Wars offering, the movies of 2015 haven't quite finished blowing your mind just yet. One on my "to see" list is Matt Damon's latest The Martian which looks superb - but at first I thought it was a sequel to Interstellar. If you've seen that movie, you'll know what I mean.

Let's get to the computers - the Star Wars themed next exciting installment of Disney Infinity 3.0 is now available and not only are we treated to some classic Star Wars charactes to play but also the new ones from the new movie are there too. Mickey & Minnie Mouse are also available as are the cast of Pixar's latest movie Inside Out. This expands the game somewhat and to round it off the Hulkbuster and Ultron are also available for the playset. Cool huh?

I also visited York comic-con which was a fantastic adventure at York racecourse. There was plenty of things to see and buy - and I came home with Jack and Sally Pop Vinyl's from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full games of Crysis 3 on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to The Deer God and, surprisingly, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition to download free if you are a subscriber.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month is as follows:

PS4 has:
Driveclub: PlayStation Plus Edition
Grow Home
Teslagrad
Super Time Force Ultra
Xeodrifter

PS3 gets:

Teslagrad

Twisted Metal

Vita receives:
Super Time Force Ultra
Xeodrifter
La Mulana Ex

Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'.

Origin have another Game On The House which is Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in October.

It's time to go now but - have a super September and I'll see you soon.

Keep being awesome!

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Jolly July

It's Just July... or is it? Summer is here!

It's sweltering this week in England, UK - which makes a change really as we're used to dark clouds and rain. So out comes the barbecues and chilled drinks and also some serious fun over the next month or so.

Movie wise we are looking at Marvel's latest offering - Ant-Man, featuring Paul Rudd as the titular character. My fellow Popsters have generally been a bit lukewarm about this movie - but I will assemble the Avengers and we will go to see it and let you know what I think. My TwitterMate (tm) +James Gunn (the director of Guardians of the Galaxy among other things) tweeted "I think @AntMan is my favourite @Marvel film since Iron Man (well, excluding one to which I'm partial). Holy cow is it a blast." I guess we'll have to wait until 17th July to find out!

Meanwhile - Terminator Genysis is out today (as I write this) - so that's 3rd July for you guys in the UK. Magic Mike XXL (I'll skip that one) and Minions also have been released recently. We have Ted 2 to look forward to - and Fantastic Four next month - which is going to be interesting to see. it's all going on in the movie world, it really is.

Let's get to the computers - last months Steam Summer Sale was immense - and sadly I didn't keep any money aside but there were some awesome deals. The challenge this time around was a click mouse to shoot aliens type of game - and my goodness did it play havoc on my fingers and mouse. Still it was a unique way to get involved - even if I was at work for most of it and didn't get the best out of it.

London Film and Comic Con is this month - and it looks unbelievable. The line up is beyond astounding - and I thought they couldn't top when they had Stan Lee (when I went!).  But, if you are interested you have the opportunity to meet Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver, Stargate SG:1 and all), Marty McFly himself - Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd (GREAT SCOTT!), Ellen Ripley (aka Sigourney Weaver) and... [deep breath] Neve Campbell from Scream! and more besides. You lucky, lucky people! I'm visiting Sheffield Film and Comic Con, so it's not quite as big but still exciting.
 

Let's get to the computers - last months Steam Summer Sale was immense - and sadly I didn't keep any money aside but there were some awesome deals. The challenge this time around was a click mouse to shoot aliens type of game - and my goodness did it play havoc on my fingers and mouse. Still it was a unique way to get involved - even if I was at work for most of it and didn't get the best out of it.

 

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full game of Plants Vs Zombies on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag (yes, really) and Massive Chalice (still) to download free if you are a subscriber.
 

>  PSN: PS Plus this month hasn't really updated just yet so nothing new to report on this front. But rumour has it the following games will be available from 7th July:

 

PS4 has:

Entwined, MouseCraft, Rocket League, Styx: Master of Shadows

 

PS3 gets:

Entwined, MouseCraft, Rain

 

Vita receives:

Entwined, Geometry Wars 3, MouseCraft

Personally I'm excited for Geometry Wars 3, but that's just me. Of course usual rules apply in that if you stop your subscription those games'll stop workin'.

 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

 

...AND Marvel Collector Corps in August after July's fantastic Ant-man offering!

It's time to go now but - have a Jolly July and I'll see you soon.

 

Keep being awesome!

 

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: Jovial June

Welcome to June - yes, yes I know I'm a bit late and it's nearly over! but better late than never eh?



Awesome sentiment from Marvel.

Lots of turmoil has been happening in this world this month - and it's been very sad to see the events that have unfolded earlier on today. Also Patrick Macnee, wrestler Dusty Rhodes and Sir Christopher Lee all passed away over the last few weeks. Sad times indeed.

What's been going on? Well let's look at the movies first - the much anticipated Jurassic World hit our silver screens this month - and hit it it did - even knocking Avengers Assemble for six in the box office stakes. Chris Pratt once again took on his Marvel companions and beat them into submission with his Velociraptor squad. Featuring more than a few nods and homages to the original, Jurassic World is definitely one of the best movies of this year - and a worthy follow up to the ones before it. Check out my review here to see what I thought of it - and you can leave your opinion on there too.

Where's Owen when I need him?

 I happened to be in London for a Piano Guys concert - and I reviewed that too. There was a big hoo-ha at Waterloo Station too - where Velociraptors were trying to break out of containment. So I did what anyone else would do - get a picture of them!

I visited the new Madame Toussaud's Star Wars exhibition in London and it was really rather good - however some over zealous customer broke Yoda's ear so we couldn't see the iconic little green man. I did however get to sit with Princess Leia and Jabba the Hut (I think they wanted to watch the Simpsons) and reached out to Darth Vader (see below) and saw an abundance of other Star Wars scenes and characters. This is featured at the end of the standard Madam Toussaud's experience and follows on from the Marvel 4D experience and the traditional wax works they are famous for.



"Luke! I am your fath..."
"I'll stop you there, mate, my name is not Luke..." 

Other stuff I've been up to this month also includes getting tickets for the Sheffield Film and Comic Con - I'm gonna try and meet some wrestlers, a horror icon and goodness knows what else - but keep it locked here in August for a full rundown and some pics of what I get up to with that.  The line up for the London one looks like a fanboy (or girl) dream - but I can't make it this year due to spending all my money on subscription boxes, other cons and...

 

...The Smithsonian Rise of the Superheroes distance learning online course. I've just completed the 5 week course and I found it really interesting and fascinating. Professor Michael Uslan and none other than Stan Lee, take you through the history of superheroes and tell you about your favourites. Complete with videos, assignments and reading lists - this course is fantastic for people who love history, comics and erm, Marvel. It was the first time they ran this course so I'm in the first class alumni - but it was so successful they are running it again. If you pay for the course - which I recall was about $50 then you get an exclusive art print digitally signed by Stan Lee and Prof Uslan - and a certificate from the Smithsonian. You can also do it for FREE but won't get credit or the exclusive artwork. Originally it sounded like you would get the print as a proper signed piece of work - but later they elaborated to say it was an exclusive signed print - but it was done digitally. I was a little disappointed at this - but the course was really good and to be fair that was the only disappointment. I will do a review soon of it in full - but until then, why not check it out and join me as an alumni?

 

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full game of Thief on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to Pool Nation FX (still) and Massive Chalice (?!) to download free if you are a subscriber. Major Nelson posted July's offerings and they look very good indeed!

>  PSN: PS Plus this month you have Metal Gear Solid 5 and Skulls of the Shogun on PS4, Futuridium EP Deluxe and Super Exploding Zoo as a bundle for PS4 and Vita and Call of Jurarez: Gunslinger and Cloudberry Kingdom on PS3. As always you need to be a subscriber, and stay one, for these games to continue working.

 

If you are interested in any of these games you will have to get a wriggle on as they are valid until the end of June. Also out this month is the Arkham Knight special edition PS4 and there is talk of 1TB models being released for both PS4 and Xbox One. But the most surprising news of this month is that Xbox will become backwards compatible! That's right! Xbox One will play Xbox 360 games - the exact intricacies are not yet available but support will be added gradually. I'll let you know more when I get it.
 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

 

...AND Marvel Collector Corps: Ant Man edition!

I've had a crack at doing an unboxing video - I'll tweet the link when I manage to understand how to edit. If anyone is good at this sort of stuff feel free to send me some tips!
 

Anyway I've wrote enough now - have a Jovial June and I'll see you soon.

 

Keep being awesome!

 

Until next time

Paul

BYTE: A-May-Zing May!

Welcome to May - it's spring time and summer is round the corner!

Time for some movie blockbusters MAYbe?

 

Well, let's be honest Avengers: Age of Ultron will take some beating. have you seen it yet? Finnally you guys in the US have got to see it too - and it looks like it's going to be a (Hulk) smash hit!  The next anticipated behemoth of a movie is Star Wars in December. But you don't have to wait that long to get a superhero fix as Ant-Man and Fantastic Four will be popping by over the summer. If you wap in the Minions Movie and the new "in-your-head" Pixar movie, we still have some things to look forward to.

 

It's been a crazy month so far with no signs of stopping. We are only three days in and we've had the birth of the royal baby - a little princess who is yet to be named. I'm going for Scarlett Diana, but who knows?

 

Sadly though, we've also lost people - the legendary Ben E King (famous for Stand By Me, one of my favourite songs from the 60's), the iconic writer Ruth Rendell and Rebecca Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand's wife have all passed away the last few days. Sad times, and our thoughts at P&TP HQ are with their families. #RIP

 

There's a lot of stuff going on in this month too. Yesterday it was World Free Comic Book Day and I picked up quite a few free comics. I had picked up Secret Wars #0, and Avengers one, a 2000AD one and others at my local Forbidden Planet. Did you get to get some too? If not, don't worry - it happens every year so make sure you're up bright and early for next time. And, the following two days later (or tomorrow as I write this) is May 4th - which is Star Wars Day. I had to explain this to someone - May The Force... May the Fourth... oh never mind. If you are a member of Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG (like myself - unfortunately my character is called StarJediLord - sorry; but feel free to add ;-) ) they are doing some celebrations, so get logged on for some free digital swag, including, I hear, a free droid. Meanwhile if you are misty eyed about Knights of The Old Republic, the awesome game from a few years ago, Google Play is selling it on Android for the ridiculously low price of £2.33 (not sure how long for) - check it out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aspyr.swkotor. 

 

In the UK, on May 7th we are having a General Election, and, 5 years ago, I tried setting up a blog and my first post was all about it. Sadly, the blog never got past about 4 entries, and, as an homage to that, I might rerelease one of the movie reviews I did back then for you. I reckon, one of them was Iron Man 2 but I could be wrong.

 

Looking at the latest stuff as well:

>   Xbox Live:  Games with Gold this month includes the full game of Mafia II on XBOX 360 and for the posh 'uns who have XBOX ONE you are treated to Pool Nation FX (still) and Castle Storm Definitive Edition to download free if you are a subscriber.

>  PSN: PS Plus this month hasn't really updated just yet so nothing new to report on this front. Though you can get Destiny for £24.99 if you don't already have it.

 

If you want a free game for your PC, and you like the Ultima series, you can get a free digital copy of Ultima 8 by signing up to EA's Origin and you can download it for free - it's an initiative they have called "On The House". If you do sign up, they do this regularly so it might be worth keeping the account. We've had quite a few games already and my collection is building up - but most of them are older games, but still goodies. Hey, what do you want for free? Please note, though, I am not sure if this would work outside the UK but you could always have a crack to see if it does.  

 

As always we have Loot Crate and Nerd Block unboxings to look forward to...

 

...AND Marvel Collector Corps!

Anyway I've wrote enough now - have a MINT MAY and I'll see you soon.

 

Keep being awesome!

 

Until next time

Paul