The Retro Ave Podcast Ep 22 - Star Wars, Guardians, Only One Night!

  John and I talk about the new Star Wars Trailer, Guardians of the Galaxy, and John's movie Only One Night.


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They Live

  In this review we're going to talk about a John Carpenter mover. Here's a hint, I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubble gum. Yes I'm talking about the John Carpenter flick staring Roddy Piper, They Live.

  They Live is follows a drifter by the name of Nada, played by Roddy Piper, who is looking for work in an "Economically" Depressed America. Well he ends up finding some stylish Ray Ban sunglasses which wakes him up to the reality of the situation. You see, these sunglasses weren't just any kind of sunglasses. These sunglasses lets the wearer see through signals sent out by Aliens. Okay I may have lost you, so let me give you some back story.

  Warning this part may contain spoilers. So Aliens have come to earth to take over the world's economy to make as much money as possible, and that's pretty much it. They see the Earth the same way we see third world countries, and make a profit on us. These aliens have setup a broadcast signal to keep the human race "asleep" from what is really happening. Basically the signal makes the aliens look like they are human, and it hides the subliminal messaging that is everywhere.

  Now back to the sunglasses... so they would filter out this signal, and allow the wearer to see what these aliens actually looks like, and show the hidden subliminal message in adds, and on the news, and any other form of media.

  Overall, They Live is a fun action, sci-fi flick, with great one liners. I have to give it a 3.5 out of 5. If you haven't seen They Live, go check it out.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens Official Teaser Trailer #1

  The Teaser Trailer for  Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens was released! I do find the subtitle "The Force Awakens" to be a little weird, but as long as I'm getting another Star Wars film to see, I'm not going to complain. Check the Teaser out below!


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Jurassic World Trailer

  Thanks to my good friend, and Co-Host to The Retro Ave Podcast, John Davern, I was made aware of the Jurassic World trailer being released. Check it out below.


Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexstronach

PAX East 2015 Badges!

  Today PAX East Badges went on sale at about 3pm Eastern time, with the tweet of "It's the moment you've all been waiting for, PAX East 2015 badges are now on sale! Get 'em while they're hot!" and it included a link which brings you to a queue to purchase the badges. I happened to be one of the lucky few to see the tweet, and was able to purchase some badges.

  PAX East has become one of the few things I look forward to every year, and due to its popularity it gets harder and harder to purchase the badges for the event. This year the Three Day passes sold out within Ten to Fifteen minutes of them sending out the announcement via twitter. To my understanding PAX East is the biggest gaming convention on the East Coast, and if memory serves me right, it's the biggest convention in Boston.

  Now it's time to wait until PAX East 2015 to come around. I plan on doing interviews again, and trying out the different games, and checking out panels. I hope to see you all there!

The Retro Ave Podcast Ep. 21 - Marvel Vs. DC

  John and I talk about the new DC and Marvel movie lineups. I also talk about how I was a guest on the EverythingAction.com podcast.



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Avengers: Infinity War Teaser Trailer

  This looks to be a leaked Avengers: Infinity War Teaser Trailer. I can't express how excited I am about this, and for all the movies officially announced by Marvel and DC alike. Check out the Teaser below.

Avenue of Review Ep. 2 - Agents of SHIELD

  In this episode of Avenue of Review I talk about Agents of SHIELD Season One. Watch it below!


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The Stro Show Ep 7 - Super Hero Extravaganza

  My wife and I host another episode of The Stro Show! In this episode we talk about Agents of Shield, Gotham, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt, and Alkemia, a table top game Amy's doing the art work for.


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Amy's Site:
http://www.amystronach.com/

Alkemia The Game Site:
http://www.kinsoulstudio.com/alkemia....
https://www.facebook.com/kinsoulstudi...

Avenue of Review Ep. 1 - Captain America: Winter Soldier

  This is the first episode of Avenue of Review. I review Captain America: Winter Soldier in this one, and I do leak spoilers about the movie, so if you haven't seen the movie and don't want major plot points ruined for you I suggest you wait to watch until after you've seen the movie.


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Zombumentary

  Over the weekend I've been thinking a lot about some of the past movies I've filmed. I created a short Documentary in college named Zombumentary. It was a fake documentary that followed stories, and views of people during a zombie apocalypse. I'm pretty sure I've already shared it here on TheRetroAve.com around the time we first started, but I'm re-posting for old time sake. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The Retro Ave Podcast Ep 20 - GHOSTBUSTERS & Back to School

  Our favorite hosts Alex and John talk about Bill Murray's suggestions for a Ghostbusters all female cast, John being annoyed with his phone, their top 5 movies that had multiple scenes at a school, and they play a little game.


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The Stro Show Ep 6 - The Toasted Peanut

  Alex and his wife Amy host another episode of The Stro Show! They talk about Amy's weird dream about trying to find a Peanut in the toaster, Avengers 2, and the Avengers Cartoons. Oh and they start off talking about the show Mythbusters.


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Guardians of the Galaxy (Spoilers)

  What happens when a kid is abducted by aliens? He gives himself the outlaw name of Star Lord, and saves the galaxy with a group of unlikely heroes like himself. I was first introduced to Guardians of the Galaxy by a story arch in one of the Avengers Comics, where they have to fight Thanos. That was a great story arch, and a nice little introduction that actually got me excited about the release of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

  Here's a little synopsis for Guardians of the Galaxy from IMDB.com: Light years from Earth, 26 years after being abducted, Peter Quill finds himself the prime target of a manhunt after discovering an orb wanted by Ronan the Accuser.

   If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'd suggest you wait to read this part until you've already seen the movie. Before I saw Guardians of the Galaxy I heard from a few critics that they considered it to be the best Marvel film made to date. When I hear something like this, it puts very high expectations in my mind about the movie. I decided to do my best to not expect anything from the movie.

  The opening sequence of the interaction between Peter Quill and his mother is more heart wrenching than I'd want to admit I felt, which surprised me. Especially the part when his mother wants to hold his hand on her deathbed. After that we fast forward to adult Peter Quill, also know as Star Lord at this piont, with a nice little fun introduction of who he is present day. This part of the opening sequence really sets the tone of the comical aspect of the film, not to over hype anything, but it's so good.

  I could go on and on about how each sequence was just as good as the last, and I'm going to do my best to try not to do that. Honestly it's hard to choose my personal favorite scene. I'm not saying that this is my absolute favorite, but it's up there, is the scene where you realize Drax takes everything said to him completely literal. It comes off so genuine, you can help but have a smile on your face during the entire part of that scene.

  Overall Guardians of the Galaxy is a fun filled flick, with scenes that made you laugh, and others that may have even made you tear up. I heard people say that Guardians of the Galaxy is the best Marvel film to date. In my opinion it easily falls into my top 3 Marvel film which I reserve the right to change the order of at any time. I'm going to have to give Guardians of the Galaxy a 4.75 out of 5.

The Retro Ave Podcast Ep. 19 TMNT & Robin Williams

  Our favorite hosts Alex and John talk about the new TMNT movie, Robin Williams, PS4, Wolfenstein The New Order, Legos Marvel Super Heroes, and Dishonored.



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The Retro Ave Podcast Ep 18 - Top 10 Cartoons & SDCC

  Our favorite hosts Alex and John talk about their Top 10 favorite Cartoons from when they were kids, and news from SDCC!


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The Stro Show Ep. 5 - The Bon Jovi Bills

   Alex brings Amy back as a co-host, and they talk about how Buffalo Bills fans dislike Bon Jovi, Alex's "Special Guest", making up character names in stories, Jeremy Piven, the Canadian Show Murdoch Mysteries, and Oscar the Grouch. Yes that was a very long sentence but you can ignore that, listen to the Show and Enjoy!


Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexStronach

SDCC 2014 Amazingness

  I unfortunately am not at San Diego Comic-con, but I've been doing my best to keep up with what has been going on at SDCC. While trying to keep up there are a few things that I got really excited to see on YouTube from Comic-Con. So below are a few of the announcements and videos that have perked my interest.

Walking Dead Season 5 Trailer

Flash Trailer

Last of Us Movie with SAM Raimi

The Retro Ave Podcast Ep 17 - Movies of the 80's

  Our favorite hosts Alex and John play name that tune again, but this time it's of Family shows! They also talk about their favorite movies from the 80's, and of their childhood.


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The Stro Show Ep. 4 - James Garner & Un-PC Museums

  In this episode of The Stro Show Alex hosts the show solo this week. He talks about the life and death of James Garner, and how it took him on a journey through the movie industry. He also talks about an article from Yahoo new about 10 un-politically correct museums.


Link to the Museum Article: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/10-very-un-pc-museums-91979128337.html
Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexStronach
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: YouTube.com/TheRetroAve

The Oregon Trail: American Settler for Kindle

  If you've been listening to my new audio show on YouTube, The Stro Show, you probably know that I've been playing a new game on my Kindle The Oregon Trail: American Settler. A game not to be confused with Farmville. If you listen to episode three of The Stro Show, you'll get why that's funny. It's made by Gameloft, and is available for Kindle, and in the Apps Store.

  The Oregon Trail: American Settler isn't a typical Oregon Trail game. It actually takes place after you make it to Oregon. Basically you build a settlement where you need to produce food, wood, and money to build, provide to shops, and to grow your settlement. In all honesty it's a much easier game to play than the original Oregon Trail.

  Overall The Oregon Trail: American Settler is more of a time killer type of game. It's fun in the way any basic Facebook type game would be, you play it because you don't have any important to do at the time. It's hard to give a game like this a real rating because it doesn't fall into the traditional gaming category, so I'm going to rate it as if I'm only looking at it compared to other games in the same time killing category. I'm going to give it a 3.5 out of 5. It's fun for a time killing game, but I do forget that I have it at times.

Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexStronach
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The Stro Show Ep. 3 - The Porn Phone Talk

  In this episode of The Stro Show, I bring Amy back on as a special guest host! In this episode they talk about Steven Spielberg being a dinosaur hunter, how I'm not a fan of Farmville, the Game of Thrones Emmy Nominations, and how the iPhone is considered a Porn Phone in Amy's eyes.


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Subscribe to the YouTube Page: YouTube.com/TheRetroAve

Crowman & Wolfboy PAX East 2014

  At PAX East I spoke with Steve Gabry, the Creative Director, at Wither Studios, about Crowman & Wolfboy. It's a great, and fun game you can pickup in the Apps Store. The video interview I did with him really says it all, so I'm not going to say much other than, it's fun and worth while checking it out. Watch the interview below!



If you want more information on the game or the developers go to: www.CrowmanAndWolfboy.com

Subscribe to our YouTube page! www.YouTube.com/TheRetroAve
Follow Alex on Twitter! @AlexStronach

The Stro Show Ep. 2 - Giant Strawberry

  On this episode of The Stro Show Alex bring special guest Amy Stronach into the studio, and they talk about Punky Brewster, The Slender Man, A Giant Strawberry, X-Men, Defiance, and Game of Thrones.



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The Retro Ave Podcast Ep. 16 - The Thicke of the Night

  In Episode 16 of the Podcast Alex and John talk about intense weather, funny stories, Leonard Nimoy, Hulk Hogan, Alan Thicke, and classic Disney Cartoons! Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube page, YouTube.com/TheRetroAve.


Links to what we talked about on the Podcast!
Thick of the Night - http://youtu.be/rd_3jziC0HY
Bailout Santa Music Video - http://youtu.be/fxp8zzHAg8s
Hulk Hogan It's not Hot! - http://youtu.be/kx8Xb5VJulQ

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@AlexStronach
@JohnDavern

The Retro Ave Podcast Ep. 15 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

  We are now uploading the podcast not only to iTunes, but to YouTube also. Alex and John talk about the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Chain Gang Chase, some classic games, and more!

Subscribe to the Podcast at iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retro-ave/id634521534?mt=2
Subscribe to the YouTube Page! YouTube.com/TheRetroAve



Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexStronach
Follow John on Twitter: @JohnDavern

The Stro Show Episode 1 - The Slender Man

  I have been talking about trying to get more content for the site and the YouTube channel, and I have decided to start a radio show with me as the host. I'm not going to lie, this first episode is a little rough. I'm pretty rusty with this kind of stuff, especially without a co-host.

  In this episode I talk about the Steam Summer Sale, and the news story about the two girls and their fascination with The Slender Man.

  Please feel free to comment on these topics, and give suggestions on how I can improve the show. Also please Subscribe to the YouTube Channel, YouTube.com/TheRetroAve.


Follow me on Twitter! @AlexStronach

Chain Gang Chase

  I was randomly scrolling through Facebook posts when I came across one about the game Chain Gang Chase. I thought it looked interesting so I decided to check it out, while browsing through the site, I had realized that the game was being developed by Joe Pietruch, a guy I actually know from high school. At that point I knew I needed to get an interview with him.

  During the interview Joe brought the game in and let me play it a bit. It's definitely the type of gave you want to play at a party, especially since it supports up to 8 players, and it's a lot of fun. I would go into more detail about the game, but I believe Joe really explains it best in the interview, check it out below!


  Get more info about Chain Gang Chase at: www.ChainGangChase.com
  Give them an up vote on Steam GreenLight! Chain Gang Chase Steam GreenLight

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Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! YouTube.com/TheRetroAve

Godzilla 2014

  Many of you may already know from our podcast that I was able to see the new Godzilla in theaters. I don't claim to be any sort of expert on the topic of Godzilla in any way, shape, or form. That is my disclaimer on the review of the flick.

  In the rare case you may not have any idea what Godzilla is about here's a brief synopsis. A nuclear power plan is destroyed that Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad Fame) and his wife worked at in a mysterious accident. Years later Joe Brody is obsessed over what happened due to the accident that caused the death of his wife, and convinces his now older son to go back to the city near by that has been quarantined off. They end up getting picked up by the authorities, and get transported to a holding area at the power plan, soon after you find out that the accident was caused by a monster egg/cocoon, and then it hatches and chaos ensues. After that we move towards the monster fights.

  Godzilla 2014 ended up being one of my favorite Godzilla films I've seen. As I said above, I'm in no way a Godzilla aficionado, and I have not seen all Godzilla movies, but I would have to put it in my Top five. When I went to see Godzilla, I only had a couple expectations, the first being that it shouldn't be the 1998 version, the second was that I expected to see monsters fight. With that being said I would like to say that they delivered on my expectations. Over all I'm going to have to give Godzilla a 5 out of 5. The entire flick is enjoyable to watch, and the humans in the flick made sense to be the type of people to focus on in the story.

There Be Whales Here! (New Podcast Available)

  I've decided to try to post about new episodes of the podcast right on here, even though you can listen to it by hitting play in the right corner here on the site. Listen to it and our previous episodes, and subscribe to it on iTunes!

John and I talk about being old, E3, and my trip to see whales!

FRAMED PAX East 2014

  At PAX East I spoke with Adrian Moore, one of the Designers, and Composer for the game Framed, and Love Shack Entertainment. He spoke with me about Framed, and some of the history/inspiration behind the game. Watch the video below for all the details.



  After speaking with Adrian, I had a chance to play Framed a little. It displays multiple cells kind of like a comic book, and you can re-arrange them in different ways to create different outcomes. It's a really cool concept for a game.

  Get more information on Framed at: www.LoveShackEntertainment.com

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Alteil Horizons PAX East 2014

  While at PAX East I was able to check out a lot of different Indy Games. I happened to speak with Sean Molyneaux, the developer of Alteil Horizons. He was a great guy to talk to, and very passionate about his project. Check out my interview with Sean below.

  Alteil Horizons is a card dueling game like Magic the Gathering, combined with a Tactical RPG like Final Fantacy Tactics. Once you're able to get your head around this kind of idea for a game, it's a cool combination. I was able to play a demo of the game and I really enjoyed it. I suggest checking it out.

 Here's my interview with Sean Molyneaux at PAX East:


Check out the Alteil Horizons page for more info: www.AlteilHorizons.com

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: YouTube.com/TheRetroAve
Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexStronach

Batman: Arkham City

  I finally was able to play Batman: Arkham City, and I have to say, wow that's a great game! I played the first one, Arkham Asylum and I joyed that a lot, but Arkham City was all that and more.

  Batman: Arkham City is about Hugo Strange taking over Arkham City, a walled off section of Gotham City's most notorious slums, including Crime Alley, with some the help of a politician, and some mysterious backer. Hugo Strange started throwing multiple "political prisoners" into Arkham City including Bruce Wayne, which is where you start off in the game. I honestly really enjoyed the main story of the game, and the major plot twist at the end was great on top of that. In this one I also got to see my favorite Batman villain come into play, which probably helped with how much I enjoyed Batman: Arkham City. The ability to have the chance to play as Catwoman comes as an added bonus to the game as well.

  The controls for the game were easy to figure out, and didn't change much from the first one, which I see as a positive considering the controls for Arkham Asylum were also well done.  While playing the game, if there was a part where you may have been a little confused about what needed to be done, it would give you a little hint on what needed to be done, but without over explaining everything so you still felt like your hand wasn't being held.

  If you couldn't tell already, I really did enjoy playing Batman: Arkham City. The controls were smooth, the story was great, and even the side missions are fun enough for you to keep playing even after you finish the main storyline. Overall I have to give Batman: Arkham City a 5 out of 5, I really can't say enough how fun this game was to me.

Tiny Dice Dungeon

  Tiny Dice Dungeon is a fun little RPG that I discovered at PAX East this year. I had a chance to speak with its developer James Barnard of Springloaded Software about the game. He actually did a video interview with me about the game which you should be able to watch below, and at YouTube.com/theretroave.

  Tiny Dice Dungeon is a free IOS, and Android game, that doesn't force you to purchase anything to be able to enjoy the game. It's an RPG that puts the random generators in front of the user as dice. You can keep rolling until you feel you built up enough attack power to hit the monster with, or until you roll a "1", where you then loose your turn. There are different kinds of dice you can use, you start with the generic normal attack dice, from there you can eventually make poison, fire, plant, and other forms of dice which effect different types of monsters in their own way. On top of just having your character, you eventually end up gaining other characters to play as in the game, and you can even catch monsters to help you through the different dungeons.

  The game is fun and addicting. I honestly end up playing the game on my iPhone every time I have a moment free. Don't forget to check out the video interview I did with the developer James Barnard below. He gives some great information about the game, and some great back story as to how he came up with the idea for the game.


Get more info at www.TinyDiceDungeon.com

Check out The Retro Ave's YouTube page: YouTube.com/TheRetroAve
Follow me on Twitter! @AlexStronach

Deadrock Divide

  I had a chance to talk with Mat Staltman, Co-Owner of Bootsnake Games at PAX East, about their newest game in development, Deadrock Divide. I actually interviewed them last year about Containment: The Zombie Puzzler, and did a review of the game later on. If you haven't played Containment: The Zombie Puzzler, go check it out on steam, it's a great game.

  Deadrock Divide is a Sandbox RPG with a turn based tactical combat system inspired by games like X-COM, and Sid Meier's Pirates. They plan on releasing the game on Mac, PC, and Linux. While speaking with Mat, he also told me that they plan on starting a Kickstarter, and soon after that they'll be releasing an Alpha. Mat said that once they start the Kickstarter and Alpha, they'll post on Twitter (@BootsnakeGames) and on their Developer Blog (www.bootsnakegames.com).



  Check out the other interview we had with Mat last year on our YouTube page! YouTube.com/theretroave
  Follow Me on Twitter! @AlexStronach

Wayward Souls

  At PAX East I spoke with a guy by the name of Kepa. He's a developer for the game Wayward Souls, which was actually released on April 24th. So now as your reading this you should be able to find it on the Apps store. I have a brief video interview with him below talking about Wayward Souls.

  Kepa was great to talk to, and I could tell he's pretty confident and excited about the game. While I was talking to him, he showed me some of the aspects of the game, and controls of the game. The controls were something that you could quickly pickup on but without feeling like you were limited on your movements. I love the style of the game, and with the game being inspired by Secret of Mana, you can't go wrong.

  As I said above the game has already been released on the 24th, and you can get it for only $4.99 on there for IOS. According to the developers site, it's also coming soon to Android, and PC. If you want more information check out the developers site RocketCatGames.com.



  Follow me on Twitter: @AlexStronach
  Don't forget to check out the Podcast! Just search The Retro Ave on iTunes!

The Dreamland Chronicles

  While at PAX East, I met Scott Hyman, and Parker Davis of ProtoBird Games. They were showing off their new up and coming game, The Dreamland Chronicles. They started telling me the story for the origins of the game while I was talking with them, and it was such a great and positive one, that I couldn't help but ask them to tell me it again on camera.

  The Dreamland Chronicles game is a kid focused mobile collectible card game, based off the web comic, The Dreamland Chronicles. This one seems to be the first of it's kind. I had a chance to play the game at PAX East, and I have to say that for a game they claim to be still in the early stages of development, it looks great!

  Scott, and Parker were great guys to talk to, and I'm happy to have met them. Here's the actual interview I had with them below.




If you'd like to support the Kickstarter go to DreamlandCardGame.com.
If you'd like to look more into ProtoBird Game go to protobirdgames.com.

The Spookening Interview PAX East 2014

  At PAX East I got to speak with Krister Karlsson, the Art Director and Co-Founder of Modesty Creative Agency about The Spookening. I enjoyed playing The Spookening while I was at PAX East, and I plan on getting the game on my Android tablet. I would explain more about the game here but the video interview I had with Krister already has everything I would need say. Watch the video below:


  If you'd like to get more information on The Spookening go to WWW.SPOOKENING.COM.

  It's available on Google Play, the Apps Store, and Amazon for those who'd like to check it out for themselves.

Post PAX East 2014

  I've been in the process of going through the video interviews I did at PAX East, and even started editing them. While watching these interviews it had made me excited about PAX East all over again. It's like reliving the experiences and revisiting the stories told to me about the birthplace of some of the games I actually got to play. I'm going to have these up as soon as possible.

  Meanwhile if you'd like to find out some of the things that were going on at PAX East this year check out the article Zach Sheets of Everything Action posted on their site. Zach along with a couple others have joined me at PAX East for the past couple years. Here's the link to the article, http://www.everythingaction.com.

PAX East 2014

   PAX East 2014 has finished, and all that we have left of it are the memories, experiences, photos, videos, and the great swag. This year I met a lot of great people, and heard some great developer stories. Now I have a lot of video footage to go through, and I'll do my best to get the interviews up as quickly as possible. Here's to another great PAX East in the book!

I'm Sitting At The Dock Of The "Bay"

  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a staple of the generation of the last 30 years. Shall we do the list? We shall, a comic in 1984, in 1987 a smash hit cartoon show that lead to one of largest and most popular toy line, a trilogy of live action films, and a live action tv show. Then a complete reboot in 2003 with a new cartoon, a animated film in 2007, and in 2012 a new cartoon leading to another huge toy line! 

     

     So with a strong catalog and with so much for fans to enjoy, what is in store for us in the future? How about a brand new live action reboot! Sounds great to me, Michael bay producing? Okay sure I'm on board I dug, and highly enjoyed the transformers movies well 2 was weak but that last hour was fun! 

     So I know the cool thing for fans to do is hate Michael Bay especially if they think they have a voice on twitter or online blogs. Despite what people think he didn't "rape my childhood" mainly because my childhood happened 30 years ago, and the transformer movies are new, he didn't "Lucas" things he didn't take the old cartoons and re-edit them or add shit! He just did an updated re-imaging of something from the 80s. 

     I get the idea of saying he "raped my childhood" the idea is you watch or listen to something and boom it snaps you back to childhood and you feel young again I get it, I do, I collect 80-90s toys mainly TMNT toys, so I know the feeling. Seeing that the transformers films were not around during my childhood they have no effect on my childhood, nor should they on you.

    If you listened to our podcast then you know I have found a way to bring up the new upcoming TMNT film and my excitement for it, so how do I feel now that I've seen the teaser trailer... Even more excited, now I really can't fucking wait! I love the scope, I love the size, and I think the design of the turtles works great Leo looks epic, Mikey looks great (with the mask on) Raph and Don still not a great view but I love he has tech on his back!

     I can tell the have took things and elements for every  incarnation of TMNT and put it in the film. I like the origin story I like that it's new, so what if it's different after 20 years of seeing all the cartoons, and, movies, and so on it's refreshing, it's a nice take on it, I like the whole their enemy is their creator! It puts a little more emotion in it, plus I'm willing to make a prediction and possible spoiler alert I'm willing to bet splinter is Aprils dad and guess what I'm fine with that too! Here is why, if I don't like the film I still have everything else from my "childhood" to enjoy!

     In closing I'll end with this for all you cry baby fan boys think about. From the 1984 comic to the 1987 cartoon, they changes were just as drastic. I'll break it down for you, the over all look of the turtles was a huge change, from a pointed beak, all with red head bands. Splinter being a rat Turned to a humanoid rat, April worked in Baxter Stockman's lab not a reporter, Baxter was a black scientist, no Krang, no bebop, no Rocksteady, shredder is killed in the first comic not returning for a long time. The turtles were mutated by radioactive ooze accidentally dumped in the sewers.  Now the cartoon their heads became larger with a small round beak, all because distinct with 4 different colors, splinter has a man turned large rat, shredder was the main bad guy ruled by a new character, Krang, Baxter became a white inventor later into a mutated fly. Then the turtles were mutated by shredder as he dumped the ooze in the sewer trying to get splinter! 

   So what is the differences between all that and what they are doing now? Well I guess it's because Michael Bay didn't have anything to do with the cartoon! 

Real Steel: World Robot Boxing Game on Kindle

    Robots and boxing, when put together are two things that any child, and or man-child should find to be awesome. I found the Real Steal World Robot Boxing game on the Amazon Kindle App Store, and I couldn't help but download it and start playing. The game starts off as quite addicting, and you can't help but want to work your way up the ranks, just like Atom in Real Steel the movie, and become the WRB Champion.

  The game play is pretty simple you have the four directional buttons to move your robot, and then there are two different punch buttons, one for a basic punch/jabs, and the other for stronger punches that do more damage. Then there is the block button, which is self explanatory. As you go along boxing different robots you get money for every fight and you can use that to upgrade your boxing bot, and you can buy other robots too.While playing the game you'll realize that you have a limited amount of power for fights. You start off with five power cores, which translates to one fight per power core. There are in app options you can purchase to give you more power cores, gold coins, upgrades for your robots, and to purchase robots, but you don't need to spend money to actually play the game to the end.

  Real Steel World Robot Boxing also has multiplayer options for your friends who have the game. There are two options for multiplayer, there's online, and local. My understanding is that the online multiplayer allows you to box against other random players on the internet, and local will allow you to box anyone on WiFi, or Bluetooth. I tried to play the online mode but you get a coming soon message when you tap it, which has been there since I first started playing around Christmas 2013. I unfortunately don't have anyone to play via the local option so I was unable to test out any of the multiplayer options.

  The biggest issue I have with the game is that I can't have a robot fight beyond it's league. If you're robot boxer is in a lower league, you can't have it fight in higher leagues, and vice versa. When I first started the game I wanted to take my robot boxer, and work my way up to the championship, and I was quite disappointed when I realized that I couldn't. Overall I have to give Real Steel World Robot Boxing a 3.5 out of 5. It's a fun game to play, and I do suggest giving it a try considering it's free.

 

7 Days to Die: A Survival Horde Crafting Game - Alpha

  I had a chance to play 7 Days to Die, the alpha version, a game who's subtitle really describes it all, A Survival Horde Crafting Game. I was first introduced to the game by a couple YouTube commentators. I didn't actually decide to try it out until recently when a couple co-workers at my day job started talking about playing it.

   7 Days to Die takes place in a post apocalyptic world where zombies are everywhere, and you have to do your best to survive. My first experiences with the game involved the game lagging on me a lot. The game is in alpha stages so I wasn't too surprised about this, but when I went further into researching into this, it turns out that it is a more common problem on mac, and not so much on windows, so I rebooted my mac to a windows 7 side I have installed on a partition, and started again. Doing this changed my experience with the game completely, instead of feeling helpless, and hoping that when I shoot at a zombie I don't lag or drop 30 frames at a time, I'm now able to move smoothly through the map, and actually have a chance fighting off zombies.

  In the game you start off trying to find and save items to help you survive. This includes food, water, weapons, tools, and building supplies. While doing this you need to fight off zombies and try to find safe places to stay at night because this is when the zombies become faster and more powerful. During the beginning stages you tend to just start off by trying to learn how to craft simple items and try to find an attic in a random home every night to stay in. You'll also learn very quickly to try not to make too much noise at night because that will just bring more of the undead to your doorstep. Playing the game with others helps with the fun factor a lot, and it helps when you have a horde of zombies coming at you. Eventually you'll realize that resources are limited, (at least in the alpha) and you'll need to learn to craft all the items you need, and to live off the land.

  Overall I really enjoy playing 7 Days to Die, for a game that is only in the alpha stages, it already has great functionality, (a least on the windows side). You can see great things coming for this game. I have to give 7 Days to Die an easy 4.5 out of 5. It lost a half a point for the issues I had running it on a mac, but I still had fun in the end. If you like crafting survival games with lots of zombies, I suggest you give 7 Days to Die a try. Here's the game trailer from Steam below.

The Animal that is PAX East 2014

  It's that time of year again! PAX East 2014 is around the corner, and it's time to get ready for another great gaming filled weekend. Every year PAX East seems to get more and more popular, and every year I've been lucky enough to get a ticket to go. As many of you know, I've gone to PAX East from year one. It's something I didn't appreciate as much as I do now. Don't get me wrong, I was excited about it every year, but now it has grown into something of a tradition. I'm enjoying it more now with the interviews I started to do last year, instead of feeling like I'm attending PAX East, I've become a part of it in a way.

  PAX East is more than just a gathering of gamers, developers, and vendors. It's a community of people who become a family for three days. Last year I ran into two people I knew from high school, we all had gone in our separate directions after high school, and I always seem to run into an old college friend. Here's to PAX East, and I hope to see you there.

TheRetroAve.com is One Year Old!

  Today marks the one year anniversary of TheRetroAve.com. When we started this site we made a basic goal for ourselves to do at least one post a month, with us working normal day jobs, we knew that sometimes it would be hard to take the time to commit more than that. We ended up averaging just over one post a week, and now we plan on averaging this much or more for another year.

  We couldn't have kept TheRetroAve.com going without the support of everyone helping to get the word out there, and we send a very special thank you to all of you.

  TheRetroAve.com has plans for this year to expand a little more on top of the goal of averaging at least one post a week. As things develop we'll start giving updates on these things.

  Again thank you for the support, and here's to another year!

BROFORCE the Brototype!

  I played the free to play Brototype of Broforce, and I have to say it was fun. It's a side scroll shooter, where you play as different characters inspired by different action stars like Rambo, Ash, Robocop, and even the Terminator. The game is pretty strait forward shoot the bad guys, and save any other action heroes who are trapped in random cells. As you save these different action heroes you become that hero, which also gives you an extra life for each one you save.

  As I stated above I played the prototype also known as the Brototype version of the game. You can pre-order the full version for release which looks like it includes even more action hero inspired characters, more levels, and the ability to play multiplayer with your friends.

  In all it looks like it going to be a pretty fun game. If you'd like to try the Brototype click the link below..
The Brototype

  If you'd like to see more, or even pre-order the game check out the game developer's (Free Lives) website.
http://www.freelives.net/broforce-game

  Here's a video of some development footage if you'd like to see more.

Game of Thrones & Godzilla Trailer

  Today I watched the new Game of Thrones: Dany Dragon Tease. All it does is amp me up even more for April.





  I also watched the new Godzilla Trailer, and now all I feel the need to do is watch Godzilla movies all day.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

  The Guardians of the Galaxy trailer was released a few days ago (the trailer is below). I first realized that Guardians of the Galaxy existed from a story arch in the Avengers comics. I ended up really enjoying that story arch. I for one am excited for the movie, and I hope it has enough appeal to be successful in the theaters.

Game of Thrones Seanons 3 and 4 Updates!

  Yes I do have another Game of Thrones update today. A couple days ago the Game of Thrones Season 4 Trailer 2 was released. This has made me even more excited up for the new season coming this April.


 
  The second item on my list today is that Game of Thrones Season 3 has been released on Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital media today. This means I'll be spending a lot of time re-watching Game of Thrones Seanons One through Three, and will be continuing reading through the books these next few weeks to help quench my Game of Thrones thirst.

Game of Thrones Season 4: Ice and Fire: A Foreshadowing

  Game of Thrones Season Four will be coming out pretty soon, and I just saw the 15 minute Game of Thrones Season 4: Ice and Fire: A Foreshadowing video. It got me ramped up enough to want to share it. Here's the video below if you haven't had a chance to see it yet!




  I know I can't wait until Game of Thrones Season Four to come out.

Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast IOS Game

  I just found Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast in the iTunes Apps store. This is a game where you need the camera, and gyroscope on your iPhone or iPad to play. I actually first got to play this game at PAX East a couple years ago. At the time they couldn't give me an actual US release date.

  In order to play the game you need a back sided camera on your phone and the gyroscope, as I said above. The reason for this is that the game is designed to use your location as a place to bust ghosts. It uses your location services to try to find any areas such as libraries, and other public places you can go to, to bust ghosts. Unfortunately due to where I live, I am unable to get that part to show up correctly, but it still lets you go ghostbusting at your current location anyway, you just need to tap on any location shown on the map in the game.

  When you go to bust ghosts it's a pretty cool concept they have. it uses the camera to help give you a first person perspective of being a Ghostbuster. I have to say it's my favorite IOS game to date. It's a lot of fun, and I can't put it down. The only draw back might be that it's too short, but with that being said you also can't expect an IOS game to be long either. Over all I have to give Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast a 5 out of 5. The game is too fun to not play!




 

Iron Man Three

  Iron Man Three, the third installment of the Iron Man movies. This one wasn't directed by John Favreau like the first two. Which is something that had me worried when it was first announced that another director would be directing it. Iron Man Three was directed by Shane Black, know for directing Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and wrote the screen play for Lethal Weapon. After seeing that these two movies were under his belt, I felt better about the hands Iron Man Three was in.

  Iron Man Three takes place just after The Avengers film. Tony Stark now has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from everything that happened during The Avengers. He can't sleep, and if he does he has nightmares that wake him. On top of that Tony has to face an enemy he created in his past who has the ability to be able to defeat Iron Man.

  Even though I did feel better about Shane Black taking the wheel on Iron Man, I was still nervous about it. Iron Man is my favorite Marvel hero, I didn't want to see the franchise die with him. Well I ended up really enjoying the third film. Granted it wasn't the best one, but it was a great film non the less. I liked how they took one of the stories from the comics, and brought it to the big screen. They did put their own spin on it, but it still worked. After watching the end of Iron Man Three, it made me want more. I certainly hope they do end up making more Iron Man movies after the new Avengers comes out.

  Overall I have to give Iron Man Three a 3.75 out of 5. I really enjoyed the story of the film. The acting was great, I felt worried when I was supposed to, but also laughed when I was supposed to. If you haven't seen Iron Man three, or any of the Iron Man movies, go check them out, but make sure you start at the beginning, and watch The Avengers before seeing this one.

The Real Duck Dynasty: The Might Ducks, the review

       Who over the age of 25 wasn't ever looked up and saw ducks flying and screamed "THE FLYING V"! Or used the horribly racist term "The Oreo Line" I know I sure refer to rich white kids as "Cake Eaters" but I'm sure poor kids eat cake as well! if any of these lines ring a bell then your well aware of the Trilogy know as The Mighty Ducks and you had a pretty damn good childhood! 

      I have a special love for these films, and seeing the creator Steven brill is from my home town of Utica NY, it has a spot in my heart. The first film came out and my grandmother took me to see it and the next day my mom took me to get roller blades, a stick, and all the pads! I was hooked and hockey was now the center of my world. My friends and I even started a street team called the Wall Street lightning, sadly we were the only ones who had the idea and had no other teams to play, but we practice every day and rocked it! 

      The story is a common one, an underdog story of misfits who suck, then get better and pull off a miracle. A format that has been done over and over, but not to many spawn a real professional sports team, don't see a baseball team called "The Bad News Bears" do you? I didn't think so!

    Let's take a look at the films shall we! Gordon Bombay, a cocky, selfish, alchocalic lawyer, and former pee-wee hockey star haunted by the death of his father and a missed goal he had 30 years ago. Gordon gets  arrested for a DWI, Gordon forced by his boss to take a break from work and plead guilty and do community service coaching a pee-wee hockey team named District 5, "D-5". A group of rag tag misfits of all colors and backgrounds.

     The leader of the misfits Charlie Conway, a fatherless spaz who needs a father figure, and tips on how not to suck in hockey. Gordon starts off by hating it because he hates hockey after his father died, which why does he hate hockey it's not like hockey killed his dad or his dad was in a hockey accident, but I digress. After a game or two Gordon try's to get the kids to cheat, to take dives, after this back fires Gordon is told he needs to remember how to fly by Hans his hockey father figure and owner of a hockey equipment shop . Gordon finds his way, and teaches the kids not only to play hockey but how to live outside the blue lines. The D-5 Team finds a sponsor in Gordon's boss Mr. Ducksworth making the teams new name "The Ducks! Now they have a new name, gear, and a homeless street thug who can't skate but has 1000 MPH slap shot. 

     In the cut throat world of peewee hockey, enters the movies heel, Coach Jack Reilly now as far as Disney kids sports movie he is a pretty bad dude, let's do a check list, he cheats, tells a player to take out and injury another child, he lies, picks on poor kids, blackmails kids, and torments a guy about a missed goal he had at age 10 after his dad died, yeah a heel if I ever saw one! 

    After some trick plays and playing hockey their way the ducks find them self in the finally game agains Gordon's old team The Hawks, and his skelitor coach Reilly. After no time is left Charley is Hooked and the ducks are given a penalty shot with the game tied it could win the game. Gordon let's charley take the shot and tells him do the triple deek cause it worked so well for him 30 years ago. 

   Charley hits the ice takes his shot and wins the game. Now this story has been told over and over many times but it's the characters the feeling, it's the jokes and one liners that make this film so much more. It's been almost 22 years sense this movie has been around and it still holds water it still is a good movie, and I feel that it will stay that way years to come. If you have never seen The Mighty Ducks then you are truly missing out, do your self and kids a favor and watch it together! 

The Wolverine

  It's my first post of 2014, and I couldn't think of any better movie to do a post on other than The Wolverine. It's also the newest movie I've seen recently. I'll do my best to give any warning of spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie yet.

  The Wolverine movie is based on a limited series named Wolverine by Chris Claremont, and Frank Miller. It follows Wolverine when he travels to Japan to see a dieing friend he saved during World War II, Yashida. It starts with Yashida sending Yukio, a trusted warrior, and friend of Yashida's daughter, Mariko, to tell Logan that Yashida's going to die soon, and he'd like to pay him back for saving his life all those years ago. On Yashida's deathbed he tells Logan/Wolverine that Mariko's life is in danger, and from there starts the adventure.

   The story they followed was a great choice. It gave us that battle he goes through inside his mind, the battle between man and beast. It also pushes the idea of Logan being a Ronin, which enforces the idea of him being alone in this battle both in his mind, and in the main story. It's actually caused me to want to pickup the comic to read the original story.

  The effects, and camera angles used in the film helped to enforce the storytelling. (Spoiler) In the scenes where Logan was shot after he started to loose his healing abilities, the camera takes this tunnel vision effect which gives the viewer the same feeling that Logan is going through, and going back to the story, it give the feeling of that battle between man and beast. They also didn't stick on these effect for too long, and even avoided using it too much, making it old to the viewer. The best editors in the film industry have said that your edits shouldn't be noticeable, otherwise you loose the viewer, and you take them out of this world you've created. Basically they were used enough to help enhance the story, and not take you out of it. The other thing about the effects used in the film was the use of them for the Silver Samurai. You could tell that they used both digital, and practical effects to keep it from looking fake.

  Overall I really enjoyed The Wolverine. It's definitely one of my top 10 films I've seen this year. I have to give it a 5 out of 5. As an added note, if you pick up the Blu-Ray, check out the special features, they're pretty cool.