Thunderstone Boardgame Review

Designer Mike Elliott
Artist Jason Engle
Publisher Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)
Arclight
Edge Entertainment
Pegasus Spiele
Year Published 2009
# of Players 1 − 5
User Suggested # of Players Best with 3 players
Recommended with 1, 2, 3, 4 players
Playing Time 60 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages 12 and up

Thunderstone is a fantasy deck-building game. Fight the evils of the dungeon to prove your worth. Gain powerful weaponry and level into new and mighty hero classes. Claim the best cards and survive to take the Thunderstone.

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The Game:

Thunderstone is a Deck Building Card game that is quite similar to Dominion. There are several modes of play and I just tried one last night.

Thunderstone basically is about a group adventurers entering a dungeon, fighting through a horde of monsters to get to the Thunderstone and thus ending the game. And before you can enter the dungeon, you have to be in the village to equip yourselves with the right equipment.

For anyone with collectible card gaming experience, this game will be easy to pick up. You have some cards which give you gold, some cards which give you attack points, some hero cards which attacks, some cards have additional to boost your hero's attacks, light, the monster cards have a defense you need to exceed, and more.

The game is much about deck building and card draws. Like any card game, having a consistent draw is very important, and cluttering the deck with unnecessary things is bad. To win, a clear strategy is important, and there is not a lot of luck involved as the decks can be optimized for the adventure as the game goes along.

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Gameplay:

The gameplay is pretty good actually. If you are a collectable card gamer, or you have played other card games, this game is very easy to pick up. Most of the time, a game of Thunderstone will take 30 minutes and about 15 minutes to set up, but sometimes when the randomness is bad, then it may take about 1 hour to complete.

Game is fun, and I would say great for 3 - 5 players.

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Replayability:

The game is very replayable. It is a different game every time you play as there are many variation of cards, and even better, variation of game play.

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Overall:

I feel that Alderac has done a good job testing the game. It is pretty well balanced with a 30 - 45 minute game play. To be good at the game, there are a few strategies you can build and it does get challenging and entertaining.

I would say that this is a great game to buy and play with a group of friends!

-- Robin Low

Tron: Legacy Review

Tron: Legacy

Director:
Joseph Kosinski

Writers:
Edward Kitsis (screenplay), Adam Horowitz (screenplay)

Stars:
Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde

Storyline
Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 20 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant, father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

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I've read many bad reviews on Tron (2010) but since it was an outing planned weeks ahead to watch this movie in a big group at an IMax 3-D Theater.

It was a Friday night on the opening weekend. With the loads of marketing and hype behind the movie, it is easy for people to have very high expectations, but since I read some reviews and watched the original Tron Movie before watching the Tron: Legacy, my expectations were pretty much very low.

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The storyline.

What storyline? Have you watched Tron? Is there a storyline?

The science.

Hey, high resolution graphics in a 1980's computer? Those computers probably would have less computational power than your smartphone!

The science is not accurate, this is a movie, so enjoy it and do not think about it.

The Effects.

There is a lot of $$$ spent on this movie, and most of it goes to the effects. There is an old Flynn and a young Flynn (Clu) which is completely computer generated. In fact, most of the movie is computer generated.

I would say that the 3-D part of the movie is not as impressive as it could have been, but there are some scenes that is absolutely beautiful! The sets really do work, and give you that awesome feeling that you are in a video game world.

For many parts of the movie, especially the animation of Clu, it sort of felt like the animation from a video game, as it does look completely fake, which is ok as it is set in a video game after all.

The music

Daft Punk did hell of a job on the movie. This may be one of the best soundtracks I've heard this year.

Overall

I would say overall, it was a pleasant experience, and much of it may be due to going with lots of friends (group of 20).

I give it a 7/10 and would recommend it for a Sunday Matinee.

-- Robin Low

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens is a nifty lens. Relatively "budget" priced, it typically runs around US$80 if you get it on craigslist.

PRICE: I would say this is a great beginner lens as it is a great FAST lens for sub $100 range.

BUILD: This lens feels very plastic. The MF/AF Switch feels very fragile, and the manual focus feels like a toy. However, it is very light considering its is still a f/1.8 lens.

IMAGE QUALITY: The photos taken can be pretty good if you do not have too much megapixels. For essentially a less than $100 lens, the bokeh is okay, and the auto-focus is relatively fast. The downside is that for low light, it does not focus well. (Not sure if it was the problem with my EOS 5D)



OVERALL: I would say that this is a great lens to get used, as US$80 on a lens is not bad, especially one at f/1.8. 50mm is a pretty standard lens, but if you have a crop sensor camera, say a Canon T2i or a EOS 60D, then you get a 80mm lens, which is a portrait lens.

It is good value for money, and I would recommend it, as you can just try it for a while, and if you like its speed, keep it. Otherwise, you can always sell it again and perhaps move on to a 35mm f/2 or a 50mm f/1.4, though these lens are about $400.

Good prime lens are hard to come by, and owning a fast prime lens is always good, especially for those indoor events where a f/1.8 lens would mean you would not need a flash in a lot of indoor situations.

-- Robin Low

The Warrior's Way Review

I watched the Warrior's Way today.



A warrior-assassin is forced to hide in a small town in the American Badlands after refusing a mission.

Director:
Sngmoo Lee
Writer:
Sngmoo Lee
Stars:
Dong-gun Jang, Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush

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When I saw the trailer, it had ninjas, cowboys, clowns?
IT HAS TO BE AWESOME!

It is set somewhere in the past, where an Asian swordsman traveled to the west to escape from his past. The setting is indeed strange and the use of color was interesting and it does bring out much of the strangeness of the movie.

Basically, this movie is very similar to Ninja assassins. It has lots of action and over the top surrealism. I mean, cowboys vs ninjas stuff. The special effects and editing strangely makes the movie enthralling and captivating.

The action and fighting scenes in the movie is great in this movie. The scenes are vivid and the is indeed enough blood and gore for all you gore loving folks. The concept and plot is kinda incredible, yet strangely entertaining.

If you enjoy the movies like Ninja Assassin, Kill Bill and other random Japanese Action flick, this Sngmoo Lee's Movie will not fail to entertain you.

-- Robin Low

Enslaved - Odyssey to the West (PS3) Review

Enslaved in the trailer, seemed like a fantastic game. The world is very detailed and pretty, the story seemed very original and interesting.

Initially, when I watch my friend play it, it seemed pretty fun and the game play looked epic! When the first robot was killed, the cut scene is amazing, however my friend started to swear more and more in the game.

Very soon, the game play got bad. The camera angles were very difficult to work with and the controls did not seem responsive. When I tried playing it a little, I felt powerless as the controls did not seem to work much at all. When multiple attackers came, your character in the game would "auto-block" and all the moves seemed to be cached, so buttons you pressed 5 seconds ago will be performed with serious lag, and it just seemed frustrating, and not really difficult and challenging.

Then again, the cut scenes seemed very well timed and pretty. It sort of made some of the frustration worthwhile with some satisfying kills in the beautiful cut scenes.

I watch my friend progressed in the game and the gameplay did go south. when you think that the camera angles and the lags were bad, it just gets worse. Some of the movements seemed pretty choppy, and the game just gets ever more buggy. Some enemies just gets stuck and not attack you, however you need to go hunt for them before this very linear game can proceed.

With my friend playing the game, the swears increase in intensity and agony increases. I find myself unable to play anymore after failing in a level 30 times, and my friend managed to pass it with a computer glitch, and it seemed to get worse level after level.

The increase in the number of enemies, with bad camera angles just increase the lag and playability of the game.

Conclusion: If there is not enough pain in your life, this game is pretty good as the cut scenes is AWESOME. Otherwise, avoid it at all cost.

-- Robin Low

Android 2.3 Gingerbread on Nexus S

Samsung’s Google Nexus S leaked again, shows off Android 2.3 Gingerbread

XDA Developers – the source of the new photos
– says the Nexus S might feature a Super AMOLED 2 display, dual-core processor, and 720p HD video recording. (More photos to be found there)


Google and Samsung has yet officially announce the Nexus S, new photos of the smartphone have appeared on the web, this time showing the Android version it’s based on.

As expected, the Nexus S runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread – which should be released in the next few weeks.

Here are some specs of the Nexus S:

* ArmV7 CPU – Could be Dual Core
* Open GL ES Supported
* 512 or 328MB Ram (Not 100% known)
* 1GB or 2GB Internal Memory (Not 100% known)
* 800×480 Screen Resolution
* 4″ Screen Size
* SuperAmoled2 – Possibly
* 720P HD Video

If you are planning to get a new phone season, you may need to wait a little longer, and get the phone with Gingerbread.

-- Robin Low

Battle of the buses. Boston - New York

Fung Wah vs. Lucky Star vs. Megabus vs. Bolt
Boston: All buses leave and arrive at South Station.
The trip takes 4 hours - 5 hours and has a 10 min break in between.


Traveling between New York to Boston is simple and relatively cheap. Now there are multiple buses to get you there.

From Boston, you can get on any of these buses at the bus terminal at South Station. Depending on where you need to get to in New York will cost around $15 to $25 one way.

Bolt bus

New York
Number of Stops: 3
New York 33rd and 7th by Sbarro (To DC or Balt.)
33 St. & 7 Ave NY, NY 10018

Description: This is an outdoor stop at the northeast corner of the intersection. The bus will stop in the designated bus stop area on 33rd Street in front of a Sbarro’s Italian restaurant.
Connections: MTA subway lines A, C, E (8 Ave), 1,2,3 (7 Ave), B,D, F, V (6 Ave)
New York 34th and 8th by Tick Tock (Phil. or Bos.)
34 St. & 8 Ave NY, NY 10001

Description: This is an outdoor stop at the northwest corner of the intersection. The primary landmark is the New Yorker hotel and the Tick Tock Diner. Along 34th there are designated bus stops from the Tick Tock to the entrance of the Manhattan Center. This is where our bus will pickup.
Connections: MTA subway lines A, C, E (8 Ave), 1,2,3 (7 Ave)
New York 6th Between Grand & Watts (To DC or Phil)
Canal St. & 6 Av. NY, NY 10014

Description: This is an outdoor stop at the northeast corner of the intersection a little north on 6th.
Connections: MTA subway lines A, C, 2, 3


Price sort of varies between $15 - $23.00 or more, and though there are a lot of buses running, they tend to sell out. This is a good way to get to B&H in New York, but otherwise, its main cost is the Wifi and Plug in. If you don't need to plug in, why pay extra?

I don't feel the service any better than the others.

Pros: Wifi, Electric Plug In
Cons: Pricey


Fung Wah Bus

Your old school Chinatown - Chinatown bus.

Maps : Location

Fung Wah runs regularly with very solid schedule every hour. In fact Fung Wah Bus service is running every 15mins during the rush hour on Nov 24 and Nov 28.

It is always $15 (except the 2am bus) and it seemed fantastically fast!

There are lots of news about Fung Wah getting into accidents though, but heh, accidents do happen right...

Pros: $15 most of the time, every 30 mins during peak hours, can book at the boarding area. FAST!

Cons: May get into accident?


Megabus

The Megabus offers Free Wifi,

Leaving New York, NW Corner of 9th Ave and 31st St.
Arriving New York, 7th Ave & 28th St.

I feel that this leaving and arriving does get confusing at times, and I've been on this bus twice back from New York, and as it always pass by Yankees Stadium, the traffic jam sometimes makes traveling time unbelievably long! (I was stuck at a location there for 1 hour before)

The Megabus is also pricey. Costing $13 - $25 online, it costs $25 at the bus stop.

This bus stop is great for leaving B&H as it is just across the road from it.

Pros: Free Wifi
Cons: Expensive and slowest. Confusing stop locations in New York.



Lucky Star

Lucky Star is yet another Chinatown - Chinatown bus.

Location: 55-59 Chrystie Street (Chinatown)

Strangely, this $15 bus also offer free wifi, and the wifi feels pretty fast compared to Bolt and Megabus. It just feels like Fung Wah, less fast (less dangerous?) and with free wifi.

Pros: $15 bus. Wifi
Cons: No plug in.

After trying out all the services, I feel that Lucky Star is the way to go if I want to get to Chinatown and move from there. It has a short rest stop in Connecticut for 10 mins, and the wifi seemed great.

I was on the Megabus and Bolt, and the NYC staff seemed uninterested and I feel that they do not really answer your question, and the locations to board are pretty "questionable" off the street.

Fung Wah and Lucky Star has a store in Chinatown where you buy tickets and board. And since they are very near each other, if a bus is full, you can always get on the next.

Compared to flying, this is a much cheaper way, and you don't need to be at the airport 2 hour in advance.

-- Robin Low