Bacon God's free hip hop mixtape

Tony Welter (Eustachian, Skull Vomit, Singaya) has collected more than an hour's worth of his hip hop influenced tunes, and mixed them together to create the Frozen Chains Mixtape. The mix has been released under a new persona Bacon God, and is available as a free download in either mp3 or wav format. 

Sol Invicto - Alma (Free download)

Richie Londres has released a new track under the Sol Invicto moniker to close the year with. Alma contains driving synth lines, and the characteristic groove we have come to expect from the Sol Invicto.

If you like what you hear, check out the rest of the rest of the Tapes series, as well as the Initium EPs.

A santantic video to kick off the countdown to christmas

I don't know how I didn't come across Sock Puppet Parody sooner, but I'm glad I did. The guys behind the puppets have some great parodies, including a brilliant rendition of Static-X's Push it.

It's the latest video however that is most appropriate, a sock version of Immortal singing about the dark lord, Santa! 

There's a new masked band on the block

Terror Universal are a new four-piece, describing themselves as 'metal cannibals.' This is likely due to the band being made up of present and former members of Machine Head, Ill Niño, and Soulfly.

The band's first single, Welcome to hell sounds promising, and is available as a free download.

Sell music on Amazon at ReverbNation.com

Given that there are thirty-odd past and present members of Machine Head, Ill Niño, and Soulfly, I wonder how long it will take for the identities of Terror Universal to be leaked/ revealed?

New side-project from Foo Fighters member

Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate) has a new solo project called Lieutenant. The first single, Rattled, was announced just a few hours before Mendel took to the stage with the Foo Fighters last night for their first ever performance in Johannesburg.

Rattled is available as a free download in exchange for signing up to the mailing list. 

A second track, Belle epoque can be heard via the Winter Sampler 2014, by Dine Alone Records.

Lieutenant's début album is due out in March 2015.

#TBT_01: Designed Deficiency

I've never done a "Throwback Thursday" post on a social media outlet, but after backing up some of my recent music downloads, and subsequently trawling through my older downloads, I came across an old gem of an album. As a result here is the first in a possible series of #TBT posts:

Surachai's Designed Deficiency is a little different from the type of music I usually share (with one possible exception), but I guess it's because my taste in music is quite diverse.

Any way, if you're into some heavy, noisy, electronica/ metal, synth-laden ear porn you can download Designed Deficiency here.  Just remember to play it loud enough so the neighbours can enjoy it too.

Drumcell - Go to Sleep V2.0

Blank Code have released Drumcell's Go to Sleep V.2 mixtape as a free download. If you like techno, you should like Drumcell.

I've been listening to this mix (as well as part one) on repeat pretty much since I downloaded it two days ago.

If you missed the first mixtape, Go to Sleep V.1, you can download it over at Drumcell's Soundcloud page. I think I prefer V.1 more, but that's probably because I've had more time to listen, and appreciate all the sounds sampled.

I really need to get hold of a copy of Drumcell's début album Sleep Complex.

Video of next Assassin's Creed game leaked

While Ubisoft are still trying to sort out the bugs from their first 'next gen.' exclusive Assassin's Creed title, Assassin's Creed Unity, it seems that the team over at Ubisoft Quebec are already getting themselves ready to announce next year's AC title, Assassin's Creed Victory.

News of next years AC release comes through leaked video, and images shared by Kotaku. According to Kotaku's post, Victory will be set in Victorian era London, and will only be released on PC, and new gen. consoles. 

I'll be quite interested to see which famous characters from the era will be included, and in particular if we'll get a chance to interact with Charles Darwin, his contemporary Alfred Russel Wallace, or even his opposer, Sir Richard Owen. Being tasked with hunting down Jack the Ripper, or even finding out that Jack's activities were Assassin/ Templar related, would be a really interesting story sub-plot to 'explain' the inconsistencies in the modus operandi of the Whitechapel murderer(s). 

This is the first time Ubisoft Quebec is heading up the development of an AC title, an I really hope they can bring some innovative new features to the gameplay and story telling. From the video footage described on Kotaku, it sounds like they've done just that, with the addition of a grappling hook device, and fight sequences that take place atop moving carriages and trains.

If the virtual London is rendered with same architectural accuracy as we saw for Unity's Paris, then I'd be really keen to be able to take a stroll down 'Exhibition Road' (and maybe even causing some raucous during the Great Exhibition with the likes of Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and George Eliot), and explore the British Museum (Natural History).* 

There are no recent releases that make want to upgrade to a new console, and with the exception of Evolve, there are no future releases exclusive to next gen./ PC that could tempt me to upgrade either. I'll be keeping an eye on the development of Victory though, as this may just be the first truly next gen. Assassin's Creed experience, and may just be the excuse I need to upgrade/ build a dedicated gaming PC.

For those of you not so sure about this title because you're still smarting after all the glitches Unity served up, here's an apology from Ubisoft Montreal's CEO, and some news about free DLC.

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* now the Natural History Museum

Header image from Kotaku

Emagon reveal trailer

Whatever Emagon is, it looks amazing!

Could this be the first new gen. release that will show off the true capabilities of next gen.? 

I'm really hoping we'll get an English version of the video (and some more details) on Friday, as alluded to at the end of the video.

In the mean time here's a translation courtesy of Nahuel Graziani,

"20 years... it's a lot of time. Look around you and see everything that you have received (could also be, "Look upon everything given to you"). A kingdom of infinite places. You have conquered this place, you have built and destroyed.Look forward, for the light shall guide and care for you (not entirely sure here, guy's accent is odd).But this time, it's different. This time, the myth is real.For the first time your actions have real consequences. They need your help. Listen, you can hear them.The power to change things is in your hands..."

From the translation I'm speculating that Emagon, may be some sort of open world/ sandbox ["A kingdom of infinite places"] type role-playing game ["Look upon everything given to you"], potentially with elements of online co-operative multiplayer ["They need your help. Listen, you can hear them"]. 

Guess we'll have to wait patiently to see what else surfaces regarding Emagon, which interestingly spells 'No Game' when reversed. Maybe this isn't a game, and more of an experience, perhaps something along the lines of Journey. Alternatively this could merely be a tech. demo to show off the consoles capabilities, similar to what Quantic Dream did with the Kara video for PlayStation 3.

The Goliath guide

First there was the Big Alpha infographic. Now, there's the Goliath infographic:

This new infographic puts into perspective just how powerful a real-life Goliath would be. Except it doesn't really, because it uses imperial units. So for those of you not in the United States, Myanmar, or Liberia,* here's a quick 'translation' of the units to the metric system so that you can fully grasp the magnitude of Goliath's feats.

Height (1 metre ≈ 3.281 feet)

Goliath = 22.5' ≈ 6.858 m
Hunter = 6.5' ≈ 1.981 m

6.5' seems a bit tall for the hunters, especially given that the average height of a male, aged 20-29 in the U.S. is only 5'10''.

Perhaps in the future people will have evolved to become taller, or be genetically augmented in a Space Marine manner.




Leap Smash (Distance) (1 metre ≈ 3.281 feet)

Goliath = 52' ≈ 15.850 m

52' divided by 8 is actually 6.5'

Red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) can jump as far as 9 m (= 29.528') in a single hop, which means Goliath can only leap ~1.761 times that of a kangaroo. Not quite as impressive.


Bite Force (1 newton ≈ 0.225 pounds force)

The bite force of a Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is 22 kN (≈ 5000 lbf), while that of a saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is 16 kN (≈ 3700 lbf). The data here are a little dubious, as salties are meant to have the highest recorded bite force in a laboratory environment, and the conversions have been rounded up.

However if we take the average for the two crocodile species, we get 19 kN, so Goliath's bite force would be approximately 247 kN, or 56550 lbf!



Weight (1 metric tonne ≈ 1.102 U.S. ton**)

Goliath = 9.6 tons ≈ 8.709 t
Killer whale = 9 tons ≈ 8.165 t

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are not actually whales, and instead belong to the dolphin family. The recorded weight of largest known male killer whale was ~ 10 t, or 11.023 tons. So Goliath is comparable in size to a large dolphin.

Speed (1 metre/ second ≈ 3.208 feet/ second)

Hunter = 23 ft/s ≈ 7.014 m/s

The fastest recorded speed for a human is 12.420 m/s (= 40.748 ft/s). This was achieved by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt during a 100 m (= 328.084') sprint event held in 2009.

The average walking speed of a human is 1.4 m/s, or 4.593 ft/s.

At a leisurely stroll (1.4 m/s), it would take approximately 17.853 seconds to clear the 24.994 m (= 82') radius of Goliath's flame breath. Therefore minimal chance of survival. At the hunter's speed of 7.014 m/s, it would take 3.563 s to escape, slightly better odds of surviving. At the record speed of 12.420 m/s, it would only take 2.012 s to escape Goliath's bad breath.

Since we don't know how fast Goliath can run, it is difficult to determine exact chances of surviving a flame breath by simply turning tail, and running. Having fire resistant armour, and a nearby medic, would no doubt greatly increase your chances of survival.


Distance (again, sort of) (1 metre ≈ 3.281 feet)

Goliath can lob a projectile 167' (= 50.902 m), which is pretty impressive.

While a majority of pine tree species reach heights of only 15–45 m (= 49.216–147.638'), the tallest ponderosa pine (Pinus pnderosa) has been measured to be 81.770 m (= 268.274') tall. So climbing to the top of this would put you well out of range of Goliath's missiles.

Conclusion

Goliath is pretty mean, but not as mean as the initial figures made him out to be. Still you probably wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley Shear forest on your own.

I'm really hoping Turtle Rock and 2K release similar infographics for the remaining roster of monsters, as well as some more background stories for the hunters. Actually an infographic detailing the various flora, fauna, and environments of Shear would be great too.

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* These countries have yet to officially adopt the metric system, with the United States being the only industrialised country to not yet have adopted the metric system.

** Also known as a short ton.

I survived Kyrat 2014

Last night I managed to finish the story for Far Cry 4. I did so in about 15 minutes, without shooting anything (I didn't even get a gun), without driving a vehicle, and without even leaving the dinner table...

That's right, by following Pagan Min's instructions (as well as the audio cues courtesy of The Clash), and simply staying put, and waiting for him to return, I was taken straight to Lakshmana. Lakshmana is where Ishwari Ghale (your in-game mother) requests you take her ashes. There is a brief playable part where you get to place Ishwari's ashes, and open a door. Then there's a short cut scene, and before you know it the credits are rolling. Mission accomplished!

While the alternate ending skips all the fun parts of Far Cry 4, it enabled me to get a glimpse of the world before heading to bed last night. The opening scenes look really good, especially given that I'm playing on a old gen. console. It was at the dinner table where things started to look a little dated. Pagan Min looks as though he has had time to not only wash all the blood from his face, but also all the detail, texture, and life too. 

After Min had left the room, I took the opportunity to look around. Note I said look around, not walk around. I'm not sure if the alternative ending will play if you move from the dinner table. From my vantage point I could see three rather thick bank notes strewn on the table, several half eaten meals, some trinkets/ chimes blowing in the wind, and a flashing (collectible?) item in another room. I noticed that if I moved the camera around too quickly, the screen got glitched in half due to lag. I don't recall this happening at all in Far Cry 3, which also uses the Dunia 2 engine. I'm not sure if this phenomenon occurs in the game's outside world too, or if it is restricted to pagan Min's dining hall. I'm assuming due to the increased detail outside, it'll still glitch, but hopefully this will be fixed in the coming patch. 

Despite the graphic problems I'm looking forward to giving Far Cry 4 some proper game time, and am especially looking forward to tackling some honey badgers. 

2 Patches + 2 Days = Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 has only been out for two days, and there is already a preview from Ubisoft giving some details of  Patch 2.

I pre-ordered Kyrat Edition for the PlayStation 3 mostly for the extra stuff, but also because many of the reviews were saying it played very much like Far Cry 3. In my mind that is a positive comparison, especially given FC3's many favourable reviews, and the extent to which I enjoyed it.

News of Patch 2 comes only hours after Alex Hutchinson (FC4's Creative Director) claimed that the Day 1 Patch was a means of preventing pirates from enjoying the game:

PC players! If you're online complaining about the lack of FOV control ... You pirated the game.

— Alex Hutchinson (@BangBangClick) November 18, 2014

It's a little disheartening to hear that almost every game to be release this year has come with a fairly substantial 'Day 1 patch.' It's great that developers continue to work on a game even after it has 'gone gold,' but why aren't these errors being picked up during play-testing and quality control before the discs are sent of to be manufactured? I completed the entire story of Far Cry 3 before I had figured out how to connect my PlayStation 3 to the internet. If there had been a Day 1 patch, I wouldn't have been able to download it, and essentially would have wound up playing an 'incomplete game.' I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the experience as much, nor spent nearly as many hours exploring the Rook Islands if the game had such fundamental errors as corrupted save data.

I will probably start a proper playthrough of Far Cry 4 this afternoon. I'm hoping that I wont encounter too many issues. If I do find the experience to be flawed, the I'll put FC4 aside for a few more days and wait for Patch 2. At least I still have Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to keep me busy, and I'm quite enjoying my second run through Elpis.

Okujira - King whale

Okujira, the collaborative project between Richie Londrez (Sol Invicto) and Amy Yanick (Thekeenone), is back with another ripper. King whale continues the collaboration between Thekeenone (Amy Yanick) established with the first track, Black gold.

I'm really enjoying this series of collaborations, and am looking forward to hearing the material the duo will come up with when Yanick begins recording her new solo album "very soon," which is to be produced by Londrez.

As per usual, if you like what you hear, download links are provided in the widget.

The brain of a serial killer infographic

A friend of mine recently posted this on Facebook. While I was reading though it my, wife looked over my shoulder and asked if I could email it to her. She now wants to read the 'book.' 

I'm not sure if I should be worried about my wife's intentions, or if she is worried about my intentions.

Source: NowSourcing

Evovle's Big Alpha Infographic

Evovle's 'Big Alpha' event has come and gone, and from this infographic it looks as though it was a huge success:

These were the dates that the Big Alpha ran for.

At the moment it seems that playing as a hunter means you have a 56.75% chance of winning a game, versus only a a 42.25% chance if you play as a monster.

That seems to be a pretty balanced outcome. Given that most players would have been familiar with a 'hunting style,' it's not surprising that the hunters fared better. 

What will be interesting to see is how these figures change after a few more balancing tweaks, and after the games official release. I'm fairly certain some players (see below) will opt to become specialised monster players, honing their skills at evading hunters, optimising evolutionary progressions, and learning which abilities to use in particular environments and scenarios.

These figures really intrigue me. Assuming that every match had five players, four hunters and a compulsory monster, it's interesting to note that the Assault and Monster classes were the most favoured. I'm guessing the Assault class was popular because of flamethrowers, miniguns, and lightning guns. I mean who doesn't like flamethrowers, miniguns, and lightning guns?

Well me actually. Personally (and if South Africa hadn't been excluded from the Big Alpha), I would have chosen to play as either Griffin (Trapper) or Lazarus (Medic). Obviously harpoon guns, silenced sniper rifles, personal cloaking devices, and "slightly illegal" devices that effectively make your character a necromancer aren't as sexy as flamethrowers and lightning guns. Whatever.

That's a lot of rounds played. Just imagine how many more rounds there could have been had so many PlayStation 4 players not experienced issues.

It seems a lot of people like to watch with approximately 5 viewers per round played.

It definitely seems like a lot of people like to watch. Creepy bastards.

Were these just regular players, or was there a developer involved?  

If you like gaming orientated infographics here are a couple for Call of Duty and Diablo III.

Tales from the Borderlands is coming this month

I've spent quite a bit of time playing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel since its release, but i'm not here to tell you about that today. Check back in a few days though if you do want to hear more about it. 

Today I'm sharing with you the most recent trailer for Tales from the Borderlands. 

As the timeline from the video (also below) explains, the 'Tales' from the Borderlands are set after the events of Borderlands 2. For those up to date with events of Borderlands 2, it hasn't yet been explained how Handsome Jack is able to narrate the trailer for Tales just yet (SPOILER: Jack dies in Borderlands 2), but I'm sure that that will be explained in the first episode. Given Telltales' success with The Walking Dead series, the possibility of Handsome Jack coming back a zombie can't be ruled out, but it is more likely that Handsome Jack left various ECHO recordings, or hologram messages to be found by the player, which would explain how he is able to communicate with the player from beyond the grave.

In addition to Handsome Jack, former vault hunter Zer0 also makes an appearance in the trailer. He is definitely still alive, and seemingly responsible for rescuing Fiona, Rhys, and Vaughn from a bunch of bandits. It'll be interesting to see how that interaction plays out in the first episode of Tales, as well the rest of the season.

I'm a big fan of the artistic style used in the Borderlands and The Walking Dead franchises, and I'm an even bigger fan of the stories from the Borderlands universe. While I'm really excited to see in which direction Telltale take the Borderlands story, I'm not as excited about the episodic nature of the release. I'll likely wait for the five episodes of Tales to be released on a single disc.

That's what I thought I'd do with The Walking Dead game too, but then my brother ended up getting it for Xbox 360. I figured that instead of buying the same release, I would rather save my money, and simply TWD in successive visits home. Instead during my last visit my brother and I ended up playing couch co-op. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. Ironically RoS is a game we both have, and technically I have two copies of the base game.

Tales from the Borderlands will be available on old and new gen. consoles, PC, Mac, and iOS devices, with "other platforms to be announced." If you're intending on getting this for PC, then Steam is currently offering 10% off the regular price of US$24.99. I don't know if that is the price for episode one only, or the entire series, but the description leads me to believe it's the former. I could be wrong. Steam's 'pre-order special' is only valid until 25 November which could mean that that is the release date for Tales.

The only things still to be announced by Telltale is what bonuses will be made available to folks who purchase Tales, and have also purchased Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel? Could Tales hold the key to the hidden Baroness character?

Will you be buying Tales from the Borderlands digitally on day one, or will you be waiting for the compiled edition on a disc?

Overwatch: Blizzard's online multiplayer shooter

Following on from Blizzard's StarCraft II announcement, here's a look at their new IP, Overwatch. I get the impression this title has a very similar concept to that of Evolve, but instead of going up against one overpowered monster with a few friends, your team of six mercenaries will be up against another six mercenaries. 

Blizzard are well known for their epic cinematics, and the reveal trailer for Overwatch does not disappoint.

From the gameplay trailer the classes look very similar, and even some of the character design/ abilities seem to overlap heavily between the two titles. For instance Overwatch's Mercy looks quite a bit like Evolve's Val, but with Lazarus' resurrection ability. 

Overwatch's medic, Mercy, sizes up the sniper-medic, Val from Evolve 

One thing that will definitely set the two titles apart (as can be seen above) is the artwork style and animation. While Evolve's has gone for a more realistic representation of its environments and characters, the developers of Overwatch have gone for a more cartoonish-look, and I really like it.

While this is potentially the type of game I'd like to play (and I particularly like the looks of Reaper), I highly doubt my current PC will be able to handle running it. When Evolve was first revealed to be next gen. and PC only, I had seriously considered upgrading my PC. But then the whole idea of buying a console was so that I wouldn't have to get a new graphics card every 6 months as a new game came out.

So while Overwatch, Evolve, and to a lesser extent Battleborn look like great co-operative shooters, the chances of me purchasing any of them are slowly approaching zero. Now if one of these titles were to launch with a worthwhile single player campaign, then things might change.

StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void announcements

It's been nearly two years since the release of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, but finally Blizzard have announced the third, and final installment of the StarCraft II trilogy; Legacy of the Void.

I still haven't gotten around to playing the previous games of the StarCraft II saga, but now that the story is being wrapped up with the release of the LotV 'expansion,' hopefully it wont be too long before a StarCraft II: Battle Chest is announced. That is something I will definitely buy, especially if it has a few extra goodies, like strategy guides, soundtracks, etc.

Free download from Marilyn Manson

While you may be thinking the logo above looks like a new iteration of the classic Nine Inch Nails logo, it is in fact for one of Trent Reznor's protégés.

Marilyn Manson is back with the new single Third day of a seven day binge, which can be downloaded by signing up at marilynmanson.com.

The Last of Us: Game of the Year Edition announced

Just when you thought you'd seen and hard the last of The Last of Us, a Game of the Year Edition has been announced for release on the PlayStation 3, and I called it! This follows the release of the Remastered Edition for the PlayStation 4, which included the Left Behind DLC, and various multiplayer maps, along with uprated visuals to aid Sony show-off their new hardware. 

TLoU: GotY re-release will include the same content as the Remastered version, but will no doubt maintain the original game's 'less impressive visuals.' There was actually nothing wrong with looks of the original game, which in part is what lead TLoU being hailed as one of the best games of the previous generation.* had anything wrong with the way it looked from what I've seen.

The only thing putting me off from buying this at this point is the price. Signs point to it selling for the same retail price as a recent release, which in South Africa means paying about R700 for an 18 month old game. A quick look shows that the original release is currently selling for less than R400, depending on the retailer. According the the PlatStation Store; the Left Behind DLC will set you back a further R200-odd, the two multiplayer map-packs bundled together for R190, and the 'Grounded' difficulty mode will cost you another R73.

So yes, the GotY edition collects a whole lot of content at a discounted price, but it's content that is mostly over a year old. I'll wait until the price drops a little more, that is of course assuming that we will even see a physical release of this version of the game in South Africa, as I have yet to come across any copies of the Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition at my local gaming suppliers. 

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* Currently shares the fourth highest score according to Metacritic, with LittleBigPlanet, Read Dead Redemption, and Portal 2.

First track from Foo Fighters' 'Sonic Highways'

Something from nothing is the first full track to be released from the Foo's upcoming record and T.V. series Sonic Highways. Take a listen below, and if you like what you hear why not pre-order the album too.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue coming to PC, next year

Looks like Ubisoft have changed their minds, and decided to release Assassin's Creed: Rogue on PCs, but only in the new year. Rogue will however still be a last gen. exclusive upon release though.

What this means though, is that PC gamers will be able to enjoy both the "last gen." and "new gen." Assassin's Creed titles with possibly only a minor upgrade to their current gen. gaming PC set up, while console gamers will need to have access to more than one console in order to appreciate the entire story.

Here'a new trailer giving us a bit of insight as to which familiar faces we'll get to see again, as well as how the lead character, Shay Cormac becomes disillusioned with the Assassin's, and turns to the Templar order instead.

Rogue is looking very promising story-wise, but I'll wait a few more weeks before taking the pre-order leap of faith. I have however pre-ordered Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, which is set for release here on Friday.

Two more songs from Slipknot, and hints of possible tour to South Africa

Following on from Sunday's release of Custer, Slipknot have shared two more tracks from their fifth studio album .5: The Gray Chapter:

XIX starts off with some distorted bagpipe sounds, followed by Linkin Park-esque, shouty, emo vocals. It's a weird way to start the album, personally I think the intro to Sarcastrophe would have worked much better

Sarcastrophe is a much better track overall, and possibly one of my favourites from the album so far. Much like Custer, Sarcastrophe could be mistaken for a b-side from the recording sessions from earlier albums.

Even more exciting is the following message posted to the band's Facebook page: 

Hey South Africa, check out our new album “.5: The Grey Chapter”. Pre-Order on iTunes and get songs now!

I'm really hoping this means we will be seeing them on South African shores in the not so distant future.

Slipknot - Custer

Slipknot have released the third track from their forthcoming album .5: The Gray Chapter. From the comments left on YouTube it seems that the fans are divided over Custer. To me Custer sounds a lot like some of the older, Slipknot and Iowa, recordings. This is a good thing. Also the chorus of Custer is dam catchy.

Change (in the life of flies)

I came across this short video showing the transformation, or metamorphosis, of a maggot into a fly up close. There is no audio to the video, but Deftones have just the right track to accompany this...

Source: Why Evolution is True

Third Assassin's Creed game announced for 2014

Here's a trailer showing off the season pass for Assassin's Creed: Unity. The season pass will include some more missions set in Paris, as well as a darker story set in 1794 Saint-Denis, that will follow on from the events of the main game. Also included in the season pass will be some additional weapons and items to customise your character.

The most exciting season pass content has almost nothing to do with Unity, or revolutionary France. Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is a 2.5D, side-scroller set in 16th century China. This means that technically there will be three new additions to the Assassin's Creed franchise this year. I'm really hoping Chronicles will not be a new gen. exclusive, and would definitely buy this if it were released as a stand alone download for either PC or PlayStation 3. Hopefully Chronicles' will also open the door for the development of a full game set in a similar time period, covering some more historical events in China.

You can also pre-order the season pass to get extra stuff, which I'd be rather weary of doing, since the main game hasn't even been released yet. Each to their own I guess.

Build your vault hunter here!

With the release of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel less than a month away, 2K Australia has released a neat little widget that allows you to experiment with the skill trees of the four new vault hunters.

Despite the lack of a collector's edition including a replica psycho mask and season pass I'm actually still quite looking forward to the release of this title. It looks as though the developers have tried to make this title stand out from previous Borderlands offerings, but stayed true to the 'shoot 'n loot' co-op gameplay that has made the series so popular. I'm hoping that the Pre-Sequel will contain some well thought out, and interesting back-stories, and not just be some drivel story slapped together to try cash in on the 'old gen.' one last time. Hell, cynicism aside, I'll probably end up pre-ordering the 'Pre-Sequel' in order to get the bonus challenge map, as well as having another title to tide me over until Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition hits South African shores.

Foo Fighters on Sonic Highways

Slipknot: new video, new masks, new member identities

Yesterday Slipknot released the official music video for The devil in I. The video features the new masks worn by the core band members, and reveals the identical masks worn by the two new additions to the band (see below).

The masks of the new members somewhat resemble the Scarecrow mask worn by Cillian Murphy in Batman Begins.

Apart from vocalist Corey Taylor's mask, those of the other band members appear to remain relatively unchanged; Sid Wilson's new look resembles a Deadmau5 helmet with the ears torn off. Chris Fehn's new mask is shinier. Craig Jones' spikes look to be a little longer. Shawn Crahan seems to be wearing one of his own creations. And lastly, Taylor's new mask is multi-layered. The top layer looks like Bad Grandpa from Jackass, while the second layer looks like the Engineer from Prometheus.

From the lack of patches on the new jumpsuits, it appears that the band may also have done away with assigning each member a number.

Apart from revealing the the band's new masks, the video may also have inadvertently revealed the identity of the new bassist. Using a screen grab from the above video, and some promotional photographs posted on Facebook, the detectives over at Metal Chapel identified the the bassist as Alessandro 'Vman' Venturella. Venturella is the guitar-tech for Masotdon's Brent Hinds, plays guitar in the UK based Krokodil, and now replaces Donnie Steele as Slipknot's bassist.

Left: Screen grab from The devil an I video. Right: Photograph of Alessandro Venturella from Krokodil's Facebook page. Note the tattoo on the back of left hand.

Sonoio - Thanks for calling

Sonoio (Alessandro Cortini) is back with a new single, Thanks for calling.

Certain parts of Thanks for calling, especially Cortini's vocals at times, sound as though this could be an Arcade Fire b-side, and that's a good thing! If you like what you hear, you can download an mp3 of Thanks for calling by follwing the link below.

Know your sh1t!

Yesterday my brother-in law sent me the following infographic about 'poop.' I'm not sure if he's genuinely concerned about my health, or if this is his idea of toilet humour.

There's also family-friendly version of this infographic if you want to share it with children, or people who may take offence to the word 'shit.' 

Photokina 2014: What does Canon have lined-up?

It's only a week until Photokina 2014, and there are already a lot of rumours regarding new kit to be unveiled at the show. As a Canon shooter, I'm most interested in the 30 plus rumoured EF lenses, as well as the official specs for the 'EOS 7D Mk II.'

Towards the end of last year it was reported that Canon would be releasing a "flurry of new lenses in 2014" with "as many as 8 " to be released before the end of 2014. So far we've seen two of these new lenses, the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM, and EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM. It's been 'confirmed' that three more lenses will be announced at Photokina, these are a 400mm telephoto, budget walk-around, and an APS-C wide angle prime.

In addition to these, here are three more lenses I'd like to see announced before the end of the year:

1. EF 11-24mm f/2.8L - a full-frame equivalent to the new EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM. 
2. EF-S 15-85mm f/4 IS STM - an update of the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM which was released around the same time as the EOS 7D. 
3. EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS II USM -  an updated of the EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM

An EF 11-24mm f/2.8L would be the full-frame version of the new '10-18mm,' the main difference being that on a Canon APS-C body the 11-24mm focal range translates to ~18-39mm [1]. In comparison the actual zoom range of a '10-18mm' is ~16-29mm. So the rumoured EF 11-24mm f/2.8L would have more reach than it's EF-S counterpart, be faster/ brighter, and offer L-series build and optical qualities. The only downside is the loss of ~2mm on the wide end, and a price tag that will likely be nearly 10x that of the 10-18mm. 

There haven't been many rumours regarding a new '15-85mm,' but quite a few folks seem to want an updated version of the lens. Many prospective buyers are asking for either a fixed aperture of f/4, or the addition of the STM focussing system. The latter seems more likely due to more of Canon's bodies featuring high-definition video recording capabilities. Regardless, we probably wont see an updated '15-85mm' any time soon, although I'm hoping we do, as that will likely result in a price drop in the original '15-85mm,' which is currently my dream lens.

I currently have an EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM for my telephoto requirements. A while back I was looking to upgrade to either the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM or EF 70-200 f/4L USM, but ultimately I couldn't decide which suited my needs better, so I figured I didn't need either. My '75-300mm' lacks image stabilisation, which is one of the reasons I was considering the '70-300mm' as a replacement. After reading a few forum discussions, I discovered that the '70-200mm' was similarly priced, had a constant aperture, and offered better image quality. The compromise is that it doesn't have the desired image stabilisation, and is 100mm shorter on the long end. These are pretty big compromises considering I almost always use my telephoto hand-held, and zoomed in beyond 200mm. The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM would be a better option, but it's double the price of the '70-200mm' and the non-L '70-300mm' above. 

Canon's next lens in the telephoto zoom range is the EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS USM. This lens is currently the same price as the L-series '70-300mm,' and features image stabilisation. Apart from the variable aperture, it's everything I was looking for in a replacement telephoto, with an added 100mm on the long end! The downside is that the image quality of the '100-400mm' doesn't quite match that of the previously mentioned L-series lenses [2].

Depending on what new products Canon announces at Photokina will determine which lens I intend to purchase next. I'm leaning towards a combination of the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 70-200 f/4L USM, which together cost only about 10% more than the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. I'll also wait to see if any good deals are announced for the 2014 Canon S.A Expo. Last year I picked up a battery grip, cable shutter release, and 'nifty fifty' for less than the regular price of the lens. If I'm lucky at least two of the three lenses pictured will see a remarkable drop in price before the end of the year. 

Notes

1. Canon's multiplier factor for the 35mm equivalent on APS-C bodies is approximately 1.62x

2. I included the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM in the comparison as there isn't a lens profile for the non-IS  f/4 lens on DxO Mark. Here 's a comparison of the three 70-200mm lenses that do have profiles-link

'Shock Drop Slaughter Pit' challenge map video

Here's a video from 2K giving us a quick look at the challenge map that is available when pre-ordering Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

Since the Shock Drop Slaughter Pit challenge map isn't included in the season pass, but will be available for a price at a later date, it's important to remember the Hyperion Company's motto, "Give us all your money right now, or we won't give you any of the cool stuff we make." Wait, I'm not sure Handsome Jack is quoting the right company.

I'm still deciding whether this is worth the pre-order, or whether to wait for the inevitable Game of the Year Edition. That said, I'm still waiting for the Borderlands 2: GotY to show up on local listings. Maybe an announcement of a collector's edition that includes a season pass, and some additional "cool stuff" (like a physical Psycho mask) could sway my decision.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to get a season pass

In a recent post I mentioned that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is one of the few games coming out towards the end of the year that I have considered pre-ordering. One of the reasons I haven't placed a pre-order just yet is because I'm waiting to see if there are any collector's editions announced that may contain physical content. The reason I've been considering pre-ordering the game is for the Shock Drop Slaughter Pit challenge map incentive.

Now with the recent announcement of four DLC packs, and a season pass for the game, as well as the news that the Shock Drop Slaughter Pit will be "available for purchase at a later date," according to 2K, there is less motivation pre-order the game. Yes, pre-ordering will save me a few bucks, but nor pre-ordering will allow me to see some reviews before parting with my cash. 

Furthermore, it seems that there will be additional content available through playing Tales from the Borderlands, which is being developed by Telltale Games. So to get the maximum experience out of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, one actually needs to purchase the base game, the season pass, and a game from another development studio. 

On the plus side, it was also announced that the once "old gen. exclusive," may well get a current gen. release if there is enough of a demand for it. So while Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is being developed for older systems, there is some thought going into the process of making the jump to newer hardware.

I'm still pretty excited about the game, but I'm beginning to get a little less excited about the idea of pre-ordering it. Most of the DLC from the previous Borderlands titles has been incredible, but I still don't like the idea of a season pass, whereby you pay for something that hasn't even been fully thought out.

Which game(s) are you looking forward to the most?

On the bus this morning, I figured it would be a good idea to create a poll relating to the updated list of games to be released towards the end of the year. For now the list only contains the games that I'm interested in, and the new generation console titles Assassin's Creed: Unity, and Destiny. I'll add any suggestions posted in the comments below. The poll will run up until 6 October,  the day before the earliest release date of a title on the list.

50 Display Seasons for the RAF Red Arrows

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything related to my other hobby, building model aircraft. That's partly because a majority of my stash, tools, and paints are sitting in another city, and partly because I've been almost completely absorbed by my newer hobbies, video gaming and photography. Planning a wedding is also partly to blame, as is the lack of a proper workspace to build any models in my new apartment.

Anyway, this year marks a significant milestone for one of my favourite display teams histories, with the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows performing its 50th Display Season. The occasion will be commemorated with a special design applied to the tail fin of the team's Hawk aircraft. 

I am particularly fond of this bold design as it features silhouettes of several Hawk and Gnat trainer aircraft (both of which have been flown by the team) leaving smoke trails which cross to form a stylised Union Jack.

I was fortunate enough to see a Red Arrows display in Cape Town in 1995 while Queen Elizabeth II was visiting South Africa, and would relish the opportunity to see the team perform again.

But back to model aircraft; both Airfix and Italeri are set to release Hawk kits featuring the 50 Display Seasons tail art. Airfix will have both 1:72, and 1:48 versions, while Italeri will only release a 1:48 version. In addition to the two Red Arrow Hawks, Airfix will also be releasing a 1:48 Gnat featuring Red Arrows livery.

I already have an Airfix Red Arrows Hawk in 1:72, as well as an older Revell 1:72 kit with the Red Arrows' millennium tail art. That wont stop me from adding the new Airfix 1:72 Hawk to my collection though, as if it's the same mould as my other Airfix Hawk, it'll be a beauty to build. I still want to build nine Red Arrows Hawks in various configurations, and liveries, and display them in the Reds iconic Diamond formation.

Banner image credit: SAC A. Fletcher; other images: www.raf.mod.uk/reds/