Five Things I'm Looking Forward To In 2012

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With only a mere two weeks of 2012 having passed us by, there's plenty for us to look forward to. Here's five things that I'm waiting on this year.



Christmas

So what if we've just had it? I miss Christmas already- it goes too quick. It's my favourite time of year- a time to eat, drink and be merry, to meet up with friends and family and to chill out and simply do nothing for a few days.

I love waking up every day for a week after 10AM, eating turkey, pork pie, sausages rolls and trifle for two out of my three main meals and playing games until my eyes bleed. It's great.



The World Ending (Or Not)

Congratulations- if you're reading this now, you're alive because the world hasn't ended. Yet. However, as of today, 4th January 2012, there's still 361 days (+1 since it's a leap-year) for planet Earth to go belly up in accordance with an apocalypse predicted by the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar- or the "Mayan calendar" according to anyone who has seen the film 2012.

This is for you, Voni.

But honestly, unless the good Lord above Jesus Christ has planned to make his glorious appearing in 2012, then the likelihood is we'll be fine.

Oh yeah, and Kim-Jong Un could end up nuking the Earth in an early, I'm-in-charge-now display of posturing and chest-beating.


The Hobbit

I can't believe we basically have to wait a year for this! Whereas I watched Lord of the Rings before I'd even heard of the book (and then tried to read the book and subsequently failed), I read The Hobbit back when I was at primary school aged ten or eleven; I loved it, and I've been waiting for a feature film ever since.

Not much else to say about this one other than I wish I would hurry the heck up so I can watch it.


PlayStation Vita

Surely portable HD gaming is the future, right?

Well Sony sure as heck better hope so, because they've given it a price tag of £220- not exactly a drop in the ocean for me.

It looks great and I love the idea of being able to play Uncharted and all other kinds supposedly console-quality titles on a portable system such as the PlayStation Vita. I'm loathe to get it at release, however, because I hear it's not doing so great in Japan right now, and my spider senses are telling me that a price drop is waiting in the wings.

I think they're going to need one to compete with the Nintendo 3DS- which I really don't care for right now, because it has like two games I'm interested in (Sonic Generations, which I own on PS3, and Super Mario 3D Land) and the 3D messes with my eyeballs.

Getting a Car

Well, I passed my driving test back in August, but other than a week of riding around in my mum's car, I've not done any driving- and it's really bugging me. Why?

Because car insurance is freaking expensive.

Cheap to insure and economical.

I've ranted about this kind of thing before, but being a freshly-passed twenty-one year old male with ambitions to hit the road means that no one wants to insure you unless you basically pay in blood. I can afford a car just fine, but the cheapest insurance quote I can get on like a 1.1 litre three-door hatchback is around £2,400 a year (and if the spare couple of pints of blood I do have going spare are worth that then I'll gladly hand them over to Direct Line).

So yeah, if anyone is feeling generous and wants to lend me like three grand for insurance then that'd be great, thanks.

We wish you a happy boxing day!

Twas the night after Christmas... and Monday Richard had neither the energy, will or want to write the post he had planned  for today...

So instead I'm bringing you this video from the lovely lady's at Team Unicorn.

How to survive a zombie outbreak at Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!

So why are you all online and not opening/playing with presents from Father Christmas!?

Well, since you paid us a visit, here is a Christmas video for you all!



Also, enjoy an entertaining video of Thursday Hulse at our Christmas party as our Christmas present to you!



Have a happy Christmas from us all at Zombie Outbreak!

And the geeks shall inherit Christmas

So it’s Christmas, and we all know what that means. I mean, apart from the annual turkey binge and booze festival. Christmas also means panic buying gifts for your kids, and every year there always seems to be a toy that becomes THE sought after present. If you investigate, it seems they aren’t all Tickle Me Elmos or Buzz Lightyears either. Let me give you the run down.


Dungeons and Dragons (1st Edition) – 1974

Yes, really.

If you need me to explain D&D to you, I really think you’re on the wrong website. The release of Dungeons and Dragons turned the roleplaying world upside down by introducing a fantasy setting to a normally wargaming based medium, and changed the face of gaming forever. Pretty much every RPG you’ll come across has some kind of basis in the game, and it’s left its mark all over popular culture.

We knew D&D was here to stay when in the 80’s, it was decried as dangerous and a risk to children’s fragile minds. You KNOW you’ve made it when people are protesting against you.


Pong - 1975

While Pong wasn’t the first computer game ever (that accolade goes to Computer Space), it was the game that basically fathered the entire video games market. Released as a home version exclusively through Sears in 1975, it was incredibly popular and the rest is history.

There isn’t much I can say about Pong that hasn’t already been said, but consider this: pretty much every household has some kind of gaming console, from the mightiest gaming PC to the iPhone. That wouldn’t have happened without this Christmas fad.


Star Wars – 1977

Well, of COURSE they sold well. Of COURSE.

Again, do I have to explain Star Wars? Really? Star Wars – A New Hope (although yes, I know, the subtitle wasn’t added till later) was released in May 1977, and by Christmas the stores must have been full of kids whining ‘But Muuuuuum, I waaaaaant it!’ every time they saw a Han Solo figure.

This was only the beginning, what with the two sequels, the prequel trilogy, the books, the video games, the animated work, and oh God my head, it asploded.


Rubik’s Cube - 1980

Hard to believe such a simple little toy could explode in the way it did. Designed by Erno Rubik in 1974 and licensed to Ideal Toy Corp in 1980, the cube practically is visual shorthand for the entire decade.

Let’s not forget the impact the cube has made, either. Still in production today, it is believed to be the best selling toy ever made. Competitions are held worldwide in order to find the fastest solver of the puzzle, and they show up all the time in TV and film as shorthand for a character’s intelligence. It even showed up in a Spice Girls video, apparently, but let’s not hold that against it.


Game Boy – 1991

Who doesn’t have fond memories of the original Game Boy? Released in Japan and the USA in 1989, and in Europe in 1990, the console was the first handheld to really grab gamers and persuade them that portable gaming was the future (something Nintendo is good at). I had one back in the day, and even when I look back and remember what a brick it was, and how tiny the screen was (not to mention it’s monochrome display), I still loved it.

The Game Boy went through several versions until it culminated in the creation of...


DS/DSi – 2004/2007

Can anyone imagine a time without the DS? From the original, bulky design to the newest 3D iteration, it really has been an innovation in gaming, handheld or otherwise. It was the first time a touchscreen had been used for gaming, and the idea has taken off like a rocket. I would hazard a guess that nearly every household contains at least one, as it appeals to such a wide market. I mean, I found out one of my grandparents has a 3DS the other day. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.


PS3 – 2006

The PS3 is notable in this list purely for the chaos it created. What with a delay in production of units, plus the PAL version not being ready until Spring 2007, demand was at an all time high. This culminated in people camping out in freezing conditions simply to get their hands on the console, and tensions running high. There were reports of robberies, shootings and full on fist fights in shopping malls. One report even tells of a punter spiking other customers’ coffee with laxative in an attempt to get his hands on the device. Blimey.

The PS3 was pretty much the dark side of Geek Christmas.


2011 - ?

So after all this, what’s up for Best Toy this year? Market research has suggested toys like the V-Tech InnoTab, an iPad like device for kids, will be popular. Apart from that though, there aren’t any really technologically minded toys in the list this year. The absence of the 3DS is especially conspicuous.

But what do I know? I’m an internet writer, not a marketing exec. Maybe that mental Doggie Doo toy will be victorious this year. If it, I’ve lost all hope for humanity. I’ll start digging that bomb shelter now.

Merry Christmas!

Get behind me Santa, and watch out for the zombies!

Evening all!

Thursday Hulse is ridiculously busy earning a living and that, so instead I'm filling in with this video from waaaaaay back in the past, from Loading Ready Run. (You know them, they do Desert Bus. They're awesome. Go watch their stuff). Why IS it that there's nothing good on the telly Christmas morning?



Merry Christmas!

Films for Christmas!

By the time I do my next post, Christmas will be over, and we will all be stuffed with turkey, and Christmas pudding. So this week in the run up to Christmas I’m bringing you

MONDAY RICHARD’S TOP 5 AWESOMENESS CHRISTMAS FILMS!!11!!!!1!  

(not the ‘best’ Christmas films, but the ones I enjoy the most)

At number 5.

Home alone.

Macauley Culkin, accidently left home, alone, at Christmas sets up booby traps to stop a pair of robbers breaking into his house.

This film, is like watching a real life version of Tom and Jerry and as a kid at Christmas time filled my mind with wonder better than Santa ever did. This film is pure fun, and still holds up to this day. It might not be citizen Kane, but who wants to watch Citizen Kane at Christmas?

At number 4

The Santa Clause.

Tim Allen knocks Santa off his roof, kills him, and is forced to take his place as the new Father Christmas.

This film is as big a cliché as you could hope to find, its sickly sweet and way over the top, but at the end of the day, what more could you ask for in a Christmas film?

At number 3

Jingle all the way.

Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves finding his son the perfect toy far too late, hilarity ensues.

I’m not sure why I like this film so much, Schwarzenegger can’t really act, the story line is predictable, unbelievable and massively over the top (a working jet pack as part of a parade costume?) but I still love it, I enjoy watching it, I have seen it loads of times, and I will probably watch it again this Christmas.

At number 2.

Gremlins.

Boy gets pet, pet makes more pets, pets turn into monsters and destroy town.

Gremlins is one of my favourite films at the best of times. Its wacky, cartoony and when I was a little kid, frightening. Every year I still have hope I find the real life gizmo under my tree, and every year I’m disappointed.

And finally the number 1 film.

Scrooged.

The story? It’s a Christmas carol.

But its not the over aching story that makes this my top Christmas film of all time, it’s the way its told. Bill Murray is absolutely at the top of his game playing a cold hearted businessman Scrooge. The 3 ghosts are absolute classics and by far my favourite renditions of them, the taxi driver of Christmas past is amazing, the spectre of Christmas future is genuinely scary and the ghost of Christmas present will always hold a special place in my heart for hitting Bill Murray with a Toaster more times that is strictly necessary.

If you have not seen it, do yourself a favour and watch it this year, you will thank me for it. Even if it does end in a cheesy sing-along song.