The Geek Buff

The Geek Buff, brings you everything connected to the geek experience. We love (video) games, listening to music, going to the movies or watching an episode of our fave tv show. As well as fidgeting with gadgets, reading comics & more.

[thegeekbuff]

Event XP: Insomnia Gaming Festival

As an avid gamer I have visited various gaming events; national and international. This time it was time to hop on a plane and go to Birmingham UK for: Insomnia Gaming festival!

It was my first time in Birmingham.I stayed at the Genting Hotel. Which was next to the NEC. From April 14 until the 17th the NEC was host to Insomnia 60.  Where you could enjoy gaming, esports, lectures and purchase merchandise. During that time you didn’t even have to leave the venue, ‘case at the MEGA LAN Party there even was a sleeping area. Basically a massive gaming slumber party, just bring your sleeping bag.

I (Joëla) was there on Sunday and Monday. It was my first British Event. The vibe reminded me of Dreamhack, another event I’ve been to, which is held in Sweden. This is a good thing, ‘case Dreamhack made me feel very comfortable.

Insomnia, was divided in different areas. There was a LAN area, that held various e-sports competitions, both for pro-gamers as well as amateurs. Another mandatory area for every gaming event is the retail area. Next to the usual merchandise stands, there were various booths with video games to play with.

Insomnia’s a family friendly festival, even more than the game events I am used to in the Netherlands. There were loads of kids with their parents. Especialy at the Minecraft Village, where you could show of your creative side.

I have a soft spot for Playstation, heck I even have a tattoo to prove it. So ofcourse I dropped by the Playstation booth, with my fave game of the moment: Horizon Zero Dawn. The game was running on the PS4 Pro displayed on a big ass Sony Bravia 4K Screen. 

Nowadays no Game Event is complete without some form of Virtual Reality. Sony had their Playstation VR to check out. Over at the HTC Vive booth you could experience their virtual reality world.

Whenever I have to chance to watch pro-gamers battle it out take advantage of it. I just love watching an e-sports match between titans. Especially when you can sit down eat your bought food and watch an epic match.

On Saturday evening you could go to the Zelda Live Music Concert. You had to buy a seperate ticker for that. Unfortunately I arrived on Sunday. I would have loved to have attend that concert. How cool is it to hear the musical score of Zelda played by a lived orchestra, a game that has touched many children and adults’ hearts.

My impression of the Insomnia Gaming Festival: It’s not as massive as Gamescom, where there’s a sensory overload, and you mind gets blown away by all the cool new stuff. But, that’s not what Insomnia Gaming Festival is. No, it’s not a mindblowing experience, but a cool comfortable chill game event that I would visit again. 

Joëla.

[thegeekbuff]

My Rick and Morty obsession

first of all I wanted to apologize for not writing so often as I used to. I haven’t finished The Walking Dead Season 7 and I had a huge obsession with Horizon Zero Dawn. And now, also Rick and Morty! So I thought I had to share my love with all of you geeks. Be aware, spoilers ahead!!

This adult animated series has me in their powers. It’s only the second time that I watch a series over and over again. So many clues and secrets that you see in every episode. My geek brain can’t get enough of this.  I went on Reddit to search for more clues and YES YES there were a lot of people with some of the same theories as I have.

The Rickest Rick of them all

It all started while I was watching season 2 episode 2 `Mortynight Run``. Morty drove for the first time and Jerry tagged along. But instead of really going on an adventure they dropped Jerry off at a Jerry boree. An inter dimension daycare for Jerry. and what caught my eye was that Rick C-137 ask the other Rick and Morty’s who also picked up their Jerry if they had ticket 5126. The other Morty gave Rick C-137 a Blitz and Chitz ticket so they swapped Jerry’s anyways. 

I thought it was strange, maybe they had the wrong Jerry with them. Yeah, okay Jerry always does everything the same, however I was like: “WTF this is strange”. 

After I checked the video above I got a brain fart a total WHAT THE F*CK moment. The Rick and Morty that we followed was NOT Rick C-137. It was Rick and Morty from another dimension. 

This series has so many clues, questions and secrets that I really want to unravel. What happens to Rick in the past. Why is het always drunk and where was he for so many years. 

The writer of the show said  that they had a underlining story that they will never unravel, but somebody on Reddit had a theory and that theory was actually the right one. But they will not tell us who it is haha.

Evil Morty

This episode was one of my favorite one, it had so many questions that I could not sleep. Who is evil Morty?? That was the master mind that controlled the robot Rick. Is he Rick orginal Morty?? Tell me more creators!!

But I can’t talk so much about this, I don’t want to bore you. Go check out the theories on Youtube and come back and share with me.

Next issue I will talk about that Morty might be as smart as Rick! I know, MIND F*CKED.

[thegeekbuff]

Trailer Park - Micro Machines World Series

One of my fave racing games growing up (next to the obvious Mario Kart d’uh) was Micro Machine. Racing with your lil toy cars on kitchen table tops, through gardens, on the pool table, was just straight up AWESOME! 

I just heard that this Code Masters classic is coming to current gen in 2017. 

here’s the trailer..... you’re welcome

[thegeekbuff]

Trailer Park - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Star Wars enthusiasts have one special date highlighted in December. Give or take 5 weeks and we get to see a new Star Wars Story in the movie theatre: ROGUE ONE.

The latest international trailer was launched today along with a new movie poster.

If you are not sure what the synopsis is this time around let me give you a quick run through: In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

The film follows a band of Rebels tasked with getting the plans to the original Death Star. On of these Rebels is Jyn Erso. Awesome shots in the trailer, we see the Death Star, even see a glimpse of Darth Vader, as well as an indication that Jyn Erso’s mom has a strong believe in The Force.

Poster is after the break :)

[thegeekbuff]

Music XP - Alicia Keys - The Gospel

I (Kimster_P) am and forever will be an appreciator of the musician and artist Alicia Keys. And as a lover of the music that she makes (except one album, we won’t discuss that), I was very pleased that the 4th of November was finally ‘here’. After a wait that felt like ages -well at least a couple of years- she finally released her 6th (SIX!) studio album: ‘Here’. Which she says feels like her first ever album. As a prelude to the album she released a short film called: ‘The Gospel’. 

I haven’t really had a really proper listening session with ‘Here’. But what I can say is this, it has a lot of SOUL! And with Soul I do not mean the music genre, but the feeling a song or instrumental piece can give you just by listening to it. You can feel that the maker of this piece of art (to me that is what good music is ART) has poured her soul in to it.. Just out in the open and bare, unapologetically. 

Three listens in, this album filled with soul,R&B, jazzy, hip-hop and even folk, has won me over.

My only gripe is this .... the lack of a vinyl release!

I haven’t bought a CD in years, My main music consumption is via streaming services, digitally purchased files, and my personal favourite the VINYL RECORD!

Alicia made me go out and buy a CD, I don’t even have easy acces to a CD player. I have a record player, mixer. a good set of monitors, subwoofer, and a wireless connector for streaming.... that’s it!

So I will leave your here with the short movie accompanying the album: The Gospel, and plea to RCA Records: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Release a VINYL RECORD OF THIS ALBUM!!

[thegeekbuff]

Series - Luke Cage XP (Marvel)

Luke Cage, Luke Cage is all the rage (Ha, it rhymes so it must be true). Like many other people in the world, I too have binge-watched Luke Cage as if my life depended on it, and savoured every minute of it. It was an amazing, emotional ride with cringey clichés here and there, and some pretty bad SFX, but hell… I can’t wait for season 2!

I have a confession to make before I start: I didn’t really think I’d actually like Luke Cage, because I tried to watch Daredevil and failed miserably, and Jessica Jones never really seemed like my cup of tea either. My boyfriend started watching the series and I joined in on episode 2. He was all excited, so I decided to give it shot (and boy was that a great decision). I am not a huge Marvel-fanatic or comic pro, but here is my take on Luke Cage.

Luke Cage’s Life is Pretty Fucked Up

A tall, dark, handsome man with impenetrable skin busts out of prison (no worries, he’s innocent) and takes refuge in Harlem. Naturally shit starts to blow up all around him when he starts to get into business he shouldn’t stick his nose in. After trying to help a friend in need, Luke finds out that there are bunch of people after his friend that want him dead. The ball starts rolling and Luke lands deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld of Harlem. Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, rich club-owner and gun runner, and his cousin, Mariah Dillard, who is a council woman (…yeah not a very honest one, as you may have suspected), start to hear about Luke Cage fucking shit up for them all around Harlem. After someone Luke holds very dear is killed by someone in Cottonmouth’s gang, he focuses his rage and plans vengeance on the two cousins. 

“Bullet’s can hurt him.” “He wiped out our entire team just by himself!”

With no way to physically hurt Luke, Cottonmouth and Mariah start to depict him badly in the media, working together with their associate “Shades” (…you guessed it; he always wears shades…. probably also in the shower). Luke Cage turns from “bulletproof hero” to “dangerous killer” and “vigilante” quite fast. 

Shit gets even more fucked up for Luke when a mysterious man called Diamondback shows up with bullets that actually penetrate his skin (yeah, this was bound to happen at some point). This changes the whole game and forces Luke to take on two powerful forces at the same time, that cannot only physically hurt him, but also tries to turn Harlem and the police against him. 

Amazing performances

What makes the series so amazing for me are definitely the characters and performances of the actors. They’re not one dimensional, and there is a lot of attention for all of them, especially since only one season has passed so far. The casting was top-notch IMO, especially with Alfre Woodard’s (Mariah Dillard) amazing performance, Erik LaRay Harvey’s (Diamondback) ability to scare the crap out of you with his psycho-eyes, and Mike Colter’s (Luke Cage) seriousness, intimidating faces, and great sense of humour at the same time. However, when it comes to favourites, mine is most definitely Shades. He seems to be a background character at first, but he is savage af. There is so much more to him than you initially think there is, but he plays a much bigger game than he lets on. Also, there’s some kind of weird sexual tension between him and Mariah every time they plot something evil (they definitely has some issues). Theo Rossi is a precious, shiny gem in the series, and it is because of him I decided to start Sons of Anarchy (thank god).

Story-wise Luke Cage was a tad-bit slow here and there. There were also a lot of dialogues with cliché lines, and a lot of the scenes and happenings were quite predictable, which made the series less enjoyable to me. I don’t know whether they meant to do this, but unpredictability to some extent is definitely a must-have in my books. The CGI wasn’t always amazing either, but forgivable. 

I will definitely be returning to Harlem with Luke for season 2, but for now… Son of Anarchy!

Season 1 of Luke Cage is now available on Netflix.

[thegeekbuff]

The Walking Dead Season 7

After whiping my tears I thought it’s about time to write about this master piece! We all knew that this day would happen. We were all waiting for this day even though it would be so sad at the same time. Walking Dead did a number on us, we had to wait for so many months. But before you read on, this article will contain spoilers!! If you have not seen it, please click X right now!

Okay, you are still reading. Let’s get to it. You probably having a bad day, because your stomach could not comprehend what you just saw. Not one, but two characters died in the first episode of The Walking dead. I cried like a baby, but not for the gore, hell noo. I am dead on the inside and I really don’t give a shit about gore, dead and such. But it was the psychological behind it. 

Negan is no joke. He will be obeyed! 

After the ienie, mini minie moe counting I kind of knew it would he Abraham the first time. He is one of tougher guys who would take it like a man. There were a lot of so called “leaked” videos about Maggie getting Lucilled, but she would never had the strength to get up a second time. Like come on! She didn’t had the power to walk normal, that’s why they had to carry her. So that didn’t make any sense.

Even though Abraham wasn’t that long in the series like the second painfull killing by Lucille, he did had his good moments. He funny catchprhases “ Motherdick” and his love for Rosita and Sasha. His love for Sasha felt more real though. And as you can see, he peaced her out before he left her side. 

After Sasha lost her first boyfriend Bob during her stay with the group, she lost her Brother Tyrese and now Abraham. They were hitting it hard and it’s all gone now. What will happen to here now? She did turned a little bit suicidal but very skilled when she lost before.

I am going to kill you - Rick Grimes

My second bet was on Daryl and when he hit Negan, I was like “ you dead”. But nooooo! Like nooo it almost felt that Negan had respect voor Daryl. Out of the blue he Luciled Glenn. Yes, the same way as in the comics. 

He reach out to Maggie, “ I will find you”. That was so heart broken to see. But that wasn’t the big reason why I cried like a baby. I hold my cat so tight to my chest, because I was shocked that Rick would turn into a soft kitten like that.

His arrogance took the upperhand. The way that Negan fucked him over and testing him. And we all know that Carl is Rick everything. He would kill his own to save Carl, but that Rick would cut of his own sons arm to save the rest. That changed everything. Because he had to be broken first before he works for Negan. 

This is only the first episode and so much more happen, but otherwise this blog will be way to long. How will it turn out? Will Rick be like this the whole season? Will he break and go on a killing spree? How will Sasha turn out?? And maggie, she is not a widow with a baby coming. The whole group is broken. 

Let’s see! till then enjoy your day!

[the-gamer-land]

[thegeekbuff]

Geekery - Wrench JR Robot

A couple more weeks until you can play Watchdogs 2. I am really looking forward to it. One of the coolest collectibles out there has got to be the Wrench Jr Robot. You can control with your iPhone/Android Phone, it can speak and it has 10 emotions. Junior is available for EUR 139,99 at the uplay shop.

source: http://store.ubi.com/

[comicbookartwork]

[thegeekbuff]

Luke Cage  vector art by Luke Harman

source: http://www.johncharman.com

[thegeekbuff]

Hot Dayum What A Figurine! - Samurai Iron Man Mark 3

We at the Geek Buff, have a soft sport for Japanese culture as well as the Marvel comic and cinematic universe (among other things .. obviously).

The Meisho Manga Realization Series by Bluefin Corp. beautifully blends these who together. With its second release ; the Samurai Iron Man Mark 3. Or as I like to call it Samuraironman. 

This Samurai Iron Man suit is designed by Takayuki Takeya. 

Tony Stark’s high tech is transformed into ancient samurai armor, with beautiful details on the breastplate as well as rivets on the plating. I love how his jetpack is engineered so it kind of looks accurate to the era.

This 180 mm figure comes with two types of optional hands, a katana and jetpack, and retails for EUR 82,- on crunchyroll.

Source: www.crunchyroll.com

[thegeekbuff]

WE READY!

[thegeekbuff]

Daredevil

[thegeekbuff]

Carrying this way of life everywhere we go

[thegeekbuff]

Bruce Wayne in DC: Rebirth #1 (2016)

[thegeekbuff]

Geekery - Power Armor Piggy Bank

I found this cool piggy bank on the world wide web. It’s a T-60 Power Armor Helmet! It looks amazing and is available at creeperz.com.