Graham and James at the 2013 Magic Community Cup!
August 28th, 2013

Posted by Kathleen

Attention fans of Magic (I don’t know where we’d find those around here…) the 2013 Magic Online Community Cup is this weekend!

This year, Community Cup veterans Graham and James return to the action… from behind the desk! On Friday afternoon, Graham and James will be providing colour commentary on the returning fan favourite format… WACKY DRAFT. They’ll also be participating in the fun on Saturday morning. If you like Magic, and want to see awesome folks like Melissa DeTora and Friday Nights guest star Kenji Egashira, this is the event for you.

So, how can you see this? Why, it is being broadcast live from PAX on the official MTG Twitch Channelwww.twitch.tv/magic! You can also read updates on Daily MTG.

Productivity, consoles and drugs… oh my?!
August 26th, 2013

Posted by Kathleen

Happy Monday all!

It’s been a busy weekend at LRR HQ as we prep for PAX Prime (more on that tomorrow), but that didn’t stop us from putting out three new videos for your enjoyment!

First up this week is Unskippable. Graham and Paul tackle Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory… and it is… a game? I’m honestly not sure what kind of game it is. They’re thinking about doing a second part, so if you want to see what else happens in this game, head over to the Escapist and let them know! I personally REALLY want to see the second half of this cut scene.

This week’s LoadingReadyRun video Xannathor goes to a surreal place. Written by me, Cam, Paul and James based on a concept by me, it’s certainly one of the odder videos we’ve shot. Also the dog effort to dog onscreen ratio was INCREDIBLY silly. Seriously, 45 minutes of setup and practice for a 2 second shot. Worth it though!

Finally, this week on CheckPoint, we calculate how long that humans… as a collective entity have been playing Plants Vs. Zombies 2 for, and it’s a truly terrifying prospect. So yeah, maybe we could do something better with our time? No? Just mobile games. OK then. Sigh.

PAX Prime Mega Update!
August 26th, 2013

Posted by Kathleen

Screen Shot 2013-08-26 at 10.14.45 AM

Hey everyone. It’s a very important time, very soon. It’s Seattle nerd Christmas! The best time of the year if you like video games, Magic, RPGs or just having fun… yes, it’s PAX!

This year you’ll be able to see almost the entire LRR lineup in Seattle, which means you can also collect us all, like Pokémans! (For those of you keeping track you’ll be able to find: Graham, James, Kathleen, Matt, Jer, Cam and Beej, with bonus appearances by LRR Superfriends Lee Lee, Ian Horner, Tally and the entire Strip Search cast!)

So what will we be doing at PAX? Good question!

First of all, we have a table in Bandland where we will be selling all sorts of merch, as well as our new, limited edition Pinny Arcade Professor Pigglesworth Pin.

We will also be appearing at the following panels:

The LoadingReadyRun Panel

Friday: 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Serpent Theatre

Game Show Night: Blankety Blank

Friday: 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Kraken Theatre

The Escapist Movie Night

Saturday: 9:30 – 11:30
Graham and I have made a super cool, very funny intro video for this! Well worth the price of admission! (Which is free.)
Unicorn Theatre

The Strip Search Super Reunion Panel

Sunday: 3:30 – 5:30 pm
Main Theatre

For the Love of Crafting II – The Wrath of Yarn

Sunday: 8:30 – 9:30 pm
Raven Theatre

The Late Night Dub Fight

Sunday: 10:00 – 11:00 pm
Serpent Theatre

 

Batteries, Necromorphs, Xbox One, pins, tokens and summer jamz!
August 19th, 2013

Posted by Kathleen

Holy moly, this is going to be one big ass blog post today, because I have a lot to talk about, and I’m not about to start cutting out jokes in the name of lame things like “conciseness” and “ease of reading.”

Those things are for… well, I was going to say chumps, but in reality, all writers should strive for simplicity. But then again, I also have a ton (or in Canada, a metric butt tonne) of stuff to talk about.

First of all, as summer winds down, aren’t you looking for a hot playlist of certified hits*? No? Well, you’re getting one anyhow. I (Kathleen) invited myself onto the That Thing You Like podcast to talk about awesome summer music. Feel those sweet Jamz™ wash over you. Perfect tunes for the beach, makeouts, or just sitting in a dark room.

Next up, I just have to remind everyone we have a Pinny Arcade pin! It’s Professor Pigglesworth, the cute, unofficial mascot of CheckPoint.  These pins are limited edition, so if you want one but won’t be at PAX Prime, maybe track down someone who will be? I hear our forums are a lovely and inclusive community! This pin was designed by none other than me (Kathleen) to be as cute as Penny Arcade would let us make it!** A great gift for fans of CheckPoint, pins, LRR, Pinny Arcade AND pigs!

 

Moving on, this week in video related news, we give you another deceptively educational The Whole Story video, this one about batteries. What is real? What will get you in trouble if you put it in an essay?*** You’ll just have to watch and find out. Also the stinger is supposed to be epic.

 

 

For Unskippable, Graham and Paul take on Dead Space 3, and tackle what is surely one of the most asinine premises for a video game series, the Dead Space markers.

So we have these towers called Markers. They make energy. But they also turn everyone around them into horrible monsters. Yet for some reason, people keep building them. Even though we know what they do. This is stupid. Is this the conversation people are having every time one gets built?

Scientist: So these markers give you FREE energy.
Dude: But… don’t they also turn people crazy and then into horrible undead monsters?
Scientist: Well, yes but the energy is free!
Dude: I would argue the whole “monster thing” should be included in how you’re defining “free.”
Scientist: You lack vision.

 

Moving on, this week’s CheckPoint is looking to branch out a bit. We’ve heard Sony Santa Monica is up to something big, and that sounds like fun. We have skills. And various body parts. Please call us.  Also in the news, the Xbox One is also changing again and the COD: BLOPS zombies have decided to up their game a little.

 

Finally, thanks for everyone who said they wanted more cat tokens. Look for more news on those sometime after PAX!

 

*These hits were not certified by any body whatsoever.

** Penny Arcade placed no limits on the amount of cuteness we were allowed.

*** Most of it.

Friday Nights: Grand Prix Calgary
August 16th, 2013

Posted by Kathleen

The Friday Nights crew has survived the road trip to Calgary, now onto the GP…  James gets caught in a compromising position. Kathleen and Cam find themselves facing off at the worst possible time. Jer tries a bold new Jund strategy, and Alex and Graham need foils, food and lots of signatures.

 

Finally, in honour of my “in spirit cat spirits” I did a quick and dirty, but full colour cat spirit token, for anyone that wants to download and print their own. Remember, cat spirits may be cats, but they can still fly.

Obviously, this in not the best homemade token in the world, but if people are interested in having a complete set of cat tokens (cat spirit, cat centaur, cat knight, cat soldier, cat… bird?) let the LRR crew know!