Red Ring Of Death

Watch this:

And this:

Yep… My 360 is dead

…And my wife is pissed!!!

Lego Batman

Picking up my pre-ordered copy for the wife today!
(she loves her some Lego games)

Zenoscope Entertainment

My wife found some comic book goodness and I thought I would share…

The first is:

GRIMM FAIRY TALES

Here is a quick description:

“For over two hundred years the powerful stories of the Brothers Grimm have enchanted millions around the world but there has never been an adaptation as intriguing or provocative as this…
Grimm Fairy Tales explores a much darker side of the infamous fables you heard as a child as these classic tales are retold and re-imagined with a terrifying twist you’ll simply love as an adult.
Enter a world where morality is constantly tested and the shocking repercussions of one’s choices must always be faced…
Enter the world of Grimm Fairy Tales.”

Grimm Faity Tales is an ongoing series… The above volume contains issues #1-12 and Annual #1.

The second book is from the same company and offers a dark glimpse into the ‘Alice In Wonderland’ tales:

RETURN TO WONDERLAND

Here’s a quick description:

“Alice is no longer the little girl you once knew; years have passed since she took her trip down the rabbit hole. Now a grown woman with a family of her own, Alice has everything a person could want, everything except for her sanity…
Discover for yourself the madness with no method and an evil with no motive… Discover for yourself the world that is Wonderland.”

The above was a mini-series that is fully collected here. A sequel to ‘Return To Wonderland’ is currently being published in a monthly series… It’s called: ‘Beyond Wonderland’ (sure to be collected soon).

The company that puts out these ‘new spins’ on fairy tales is called Zenoscope Entertainment.

If strange, modern twists on classic fairy tales seems interesting to you… Be sure to check these two volumes out.

THEBES

I recently received a game in the mail from Boards & Bits.

THEBES

The Description:

Thebes is a game of competitive archeology. Players are archaeologists who must travel around Europe to acquire knowledge about five ancient civilizations — the Greeks, the Cretans, the Egyptians, the Palestinians, and the Macedonians — and then must use this knowledge to excavate historical sites in the areas of these civilizations. Through the course of the game, expositions are revealed, and an archaeologist who has treasures from the requisite civilizations may claim the prize. The archaeologist who learns the most about the civilizations, claims the greatest-valued artifacts, and collects the most exhibitions will win out over his or her colleagues.

The Board In Play:

More Info:

The key element to the game is that it is played out over a period of two (or three) years, and each action a player performs takes a certain amount of time — traveling is a week between cities, gathering knowledge takes time for the level of the knowledge, and actually digging at a cultural site takes time to yield a certain number of artifact tiles. The game uses a novel mechanism to keep track of this. There is a track of 52 spaces around the outside of the board. Each time a player moves and takes an action, he or she moves their player token forward in time. Players take turns based on being the one who is furthest back in “time.” So, a player can go to an excavation site and spend 10 weeks digging for artifacts, but that will also mean that the other players will likely be taking several actions in the interim while that player waits for the “time” to catch up.

In addition, the artifact tiles for each civilization are drawn from a bag that also contains dirt. When a player excavates a site, that player pulls tiles from the bag, but some may only be worthless dirt instead of valuable treasure. That dirt is then returned to the bag, making the first draw more likely to provide useful tiles.

Bags Of Loot:

Bottom line is… Archaeology is cool!!!

CARCASSONNE

Another trip to the gaming store that is ridding itself of games led me to pick up the greatness in boardgaming that is:

CARCASSONNE (Rio Grande Games)

The Description:

In this fairly light tile-laying offering, players pull a tile from the pool and place it against one of the previously played tiles. If you start a new object (city, road, farm, or monastery), you can place one of your control markers on the tile to denote your control. Markers (called Followers by the publisher and called Meeples by us) cannot directly compete when placed, so to achieve some gains, you must place your marker and use later tiles to connect up to it.

As subsequent tiles are arrayed on the board, objects get bigger or even merge. When roads or cities are completed, or a monastery is surrounded, the control marker is returned to you and you score the points. However, farmers are not returned and will score points at the game end.

The goal is to have the most points at the end, which can be tricky to control considering your choice for each turn isn’t the tile itself, but rather the placement of the tile that you drew.

The Game In Play:

I also picked up two expansions that most people say are a “must-have” for the series…

The Verdict:

My wife is OBSESSED with this game. Between the live and in person board game, the X-Box Arcade version, and an online version called Toulouse… She has been playing this pretty much non-stop!