Tom + Mat Attack 068 – Tropical Skittles Adventure

On this week’s TMA, the boy’s go on a totally non-official adventure into Skittles land, munching tropical delights while discussing what we’ve been playing & general happenings. Mat gets all geriatric about how Resident Evil was back in his day, as well as how NHL games haven’t changed much since 1995, while Tom’s been diggin’ Steam World Dig and contemplating how much he’ll enjoy Super Smash Brothers on the 3DS…. And to think, all we needed to unlock this greatness was a tropical sugary delight…

Listen here.

Tom + Mat Attack 069 – Welcome to the Rock

On this week’s TMA, the boy’s are recording a little earlier in the week than usual, as Mat’s buggering off to Hungary for the next 10 days! While this means there’s not been a lot of games played on this week’s epsode, the boys discuss the latest in news! From the Pokémon fighting game, through Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch… It all seems to be happening! Well, except Shenmue 3…

Listen here.

Night Trap Revamped Returns with Kickstarter

Night Trap 'Revamped' is returning with the help from you and Kickstarter.

The iconic full-motion-video game, placing YOU in the leading role of a horror movie, is set to make its return in a new hi-def format!

Night Trap a FMV (full motion video) video game for the SEGA MEGA CD console (among others) was a first of it's kind. You controlled security cameras in a house while watching a short movie play out in real time, your aim was to watch the film but also change the cameras to see the different locations in the house to continue watching the story unfold and to look out for the bad guys that are envaded the house hold.

All the details regarding Night Trap Revamped and how you can help are listed here.

Night Trap is a huge part of Blast Process and we ask you to support the game in anyway you can, so please checkout the Kickstarter and share this artical with others. Why is Night Trap so special for us? Well Blast Process was born in February 2010 by Tom, Dave and my self with the aim to bring unique, creative and fun videos to our YouTube channel but most importantly content that we enjoyed making. I had just gotten my self a MEGA CD with a copy of Night Trap and we all thought this was a perfect game to start off with our video features on Blast Process.

You can see the Night Trap video below that we made over 4 years ago, now for some reason the sound has become out of sync over the years but after you watch it, that won't matter to much... The video is in two parts with the first being our review of the game and the second, well you'll see.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9qEOkrSF4&w=560&h=315]

To our delight we recieved some fantasic feedback from the creators of Night Trap! We are also mentioned on there Kickstarter page

You and your colleagues did a great job with this! It's always nice to see our fans give their own takes on the material, and there's a lot of fun stuff in here. I think Commander Sampson will stand alongside Commander Simms in the Hall of Fame of great video game drill-sergeant types.

Creator Night Trap, LLC 5 days ago A big shout-out to Mike from Blast Process for pointing us to their hilarious send-up of NT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed9qEOkrSF4

OlliOlli Out now on PS4 and PS3

OlliOlli the side-scrolling skateboarding game grids it's way onto the PS3 and PS4's store.

The game was first released on Sony's handheld, the PSVita in January but is now available with updated menus and a friends leaderboard system, along with a host of ways to complete against you friends.

Want to see what were like at the game and hear our thoughts? well you'll need to wait a little while we practise! but you can checkout our preview of the game that we filmed while at EGX Rezzed here.

Press Release -

Smash-hit indie title OlliOlli is released today in the US (August 26) and will be hitting Europe (August 27) tomorrow. The game hit the PlayStation Vita in January and has been a monster success for the tiny London studio.

Studio Director, Simon Bennett is still somewhat in shock from January's launch; ‘Shahid and Spencer at PlayStation in London pretty much insisted we did the port after the first day’s success, it was totally unexpected and took a while to sink in! We have since been working our collective balls off to bring OlliOlli to PS3 and PS4 – it could not have happened without the diligence and hard work from BlitWorks in Spain and Sam, our QA Manager here’.

The game is a straight port of the classic Vita version, with updated menus, but most importantly, FRIENDS LEADERBOARDS for skaters to get their ‘beef’ on. The new leaderboards will also roll out in an update of the Vita version today! The game is Cross Buy and Cross Save, meaning that owners of the Vita game will be able to play it on the big screen.

John Ribbins, Roll7’s Creative Director is ecstatic about the launch; ‘We were blown away by the response to the game on Vita and the Steam launch has been fantastic, but to bring our little game to the Playstation 4 is an amazing milestone for us.'

Ice Wings Plus iOS Trailer Remix - App Monday

Our own take on the trailer for Ice Wings, an endless runner shooter for smart phones and tablets.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrIScdL_Je0&w=560&h=315]

Like the look of Ice Wings Plus? Click here for even more details.You can see all of our App Monday videos right here.

Like what you see? Then please subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Mike's Birthday

Today marked Blast Processor Mike's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!

How about we watch a video of some of Mike's best video appearances? Lots of clips from out-takes of course ;)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8MimQxENQU&w=560&h=315]

Tom + Mat Attack 067 – Comvoy with Me

On this week’s podcast the boys get down to business with some Retro Gaming shenanigans! Tom’s got some new Famicom Games, including Kid Dracula, Kid Niki (the iRem cart!) & Ninja Kid (Bandai), while Mat’s been getting some crazy flea market finds, as well as sinking his teeth into Rogue Legacy, Hohokum & some Gameboy Delights… Ahh, good times!

Listen here.

P.T Demo FaceCam Scare Moments on PS4

The Blast Process team play through P.T a playable teaser demo for the Playstation 4, that turns out to be a adverting for the next Silent Hill game, Silent Hills.

Can you solve the puzzles and stay alive?

Checkout the best of our scare moments and let us know what you think.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYv6XmGK_Xs?list=UUCERSZUuT0xFi1OMaqpbNQQ&w=560&h=315]

The Art of The Game

Hi guys Mel here,

Recently I have been looking at all sorts of gaming art in my spare time, from game covers to posters and fan art too. Being an avid Tumblr (of gaming information, film funnies and occasionally cute puppies) I noticed the flurry of amazing fan art blossoming on social media. As someone who can't draw to save her life, I wondered what is was that drew artists to certain games, certain styles and what drew them to do it in the first place. I interviewed Jodeeeart, an amazing artist with a passion for games to get her opinion.

Jodie, first and foremost, how long have you been drawing?

Drawing? As long as I can remember, I have been painting digitally for around 6 years now.

What made you chose this game (Assassin’s Creed) to draw from?

It’s my favourite Franchise for a few reasons. I’ve always loved history, particularly the renaissance. The first AC I played was AC2 and I fell in love with it. The character’s are always beautifully designed the locations are gorgeous. Every single time I play them, I come away wanting to paint.

What’s your favourite game console to play games on?

I play on the XB360 and am probably going to update to a XBONE but my favourite has to be the Sega mega drive, It’s so nostalgic for me. It’s certainly when I fell in love with gaming as a child, Mega Games 2 all the way!

What game, in your opinion, has the best artwork?

That’s a toughy, the AC art is beautiful, I recently bought the Thief Art book and that’s filled with gorgeous artwork too. I also adored the art for Devil May Cry 4. It’s really very hard to choose one. Most Games have pretty stunning artwork.

Finally, is there anyone you want to draw but haven’t yet?

Yes, there are loads of characters/people, Gabriel Belmont from Castlevania LOS is one i’ve always fancied that I haven’t drawn. I would also love to do a proper Bayonetta piece, I did one a while back but not since I started painting digitally.

Jodie's artwork is amazing, and I have the good fortune of it popping up on my dash on a regular basis! Tumblr is a hotbed of amazing artists, especially those focused on gaming; I would recommend everyone to check it out!

Find Jodie's art at Deviantart and on Tumblr

Mel over and out!

Lad's Night In: Radio Show

On Friday evenings I help co-host a radio show on RedshiftRadio.co.uk. It's called Lad's Night In and you can listen live online between 7pm-9pm. We talk about games, films and such so thought it maybe of interest to all of our readers! I've started to upload our shows, meaning you can listen to our last live show below.

Last week we talked about Gamescom, Guardian's of The Galaxy, Special Edition Consoles, Micro-transactions and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.

Enjoy!

Lad's Night In - 15th August by Ladsnightin on Mixcloud

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Training Lair Let's Play

While the UK release date of the new turtles movie isn't till October the 17th. We got a chance to play the latest turtles game that was released for free in the US to help celebrate the movie, and as it happens it's a kinect game!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPU-8SKaJQ&w=560&h=315]

Jumping for Joy! New App Video - Pixel Nom by SeaBurnGames

App of the week is Pixel Nom from Seaburngames. This coin collecting, side-scrolling game will have you jumping for joy, literally!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSPxwIBo_k4&w=560&h=315]You can find out more details about this game by downloading it here and remember to see the rest of our App videos over on our YouTube page.

Tom + Mat Attack 066 – Plum Buttons!

So the boys really lower the tone this week… Amongst flatulence and debating Tom’s speed of photoshopping icons, the boys talk the usual mix of Retro & Current Gen titles! Tom’s been playing some Resident Evil 4, Halo 4 and other 4th entries to popular gaming franchises, while Mat’s been playing some obscure Gameboy deep cuts, such as Barbie Game Girl, Amazing Tater & Trip World… As fun as those all sound, it really is entertaining… Oh and sorry about the post-credit fade out fart…

Listen here.

Tom + Mat Attack 065 – Playstation Netflix?

On this week’s TMA, the boys discuss the big news! Mario Kart 8 hasn’t saved the Wii U, Sony want you to rent PS3 games, and Tom’s Xbox is a freezin’ still… Mat’s been to a flea market & come back with some nice Flea Market finds, while Tom’s been getting bargains all of his own on eBay offers… Almost enough to buy a bag of sweeties don’t you know! Cor! Bargains!

Listen here.

Tom + Mat Attack 064 – TMA Baggin’

Hello everyone, it’s good to be back! On this week’s TMA, there’s a lot to talk about! Oh so many games bought and played, as well as a breakdown of the Danish weather, some Detiny Beta analysis and more Tea Baggin’ action than you can care to miss!

Listen here.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Out of this world!

It's not just videogames old and new that we love at Blast Process! Many of the team are also avid comic book geeks, and it's no exaggeration that at a few of us were rather excited for the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Guardians of the Galaxy, based on the Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning 2008 reboot of the team, was always going to be a risky sell for Marvel. Only the hardcore fans know of the comics, and isn't as iconic as Captain America or Hulk - However the same could be said for Iron Man before the first film, and we all know how that turned out! Still, without the draw of well known characters a few feared that this could be a flop compared to the rather excellent collection of films so far.

Thankfully, Guardians of the Galaxy is a fantastic addition to the series, and frankly my favourite one so far, even eclipsing the nerdgasm that is Avengers Assemble! For a world tiring from superhero overload, Guardians mixes things up by taking us on an action packed sci-fi comedy epic with an awesome 70's soundtrack!

Rather than a band of infallible heroes, the Guardians are a bunch of losers and outcasts. First up we have Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) a Han Solo style smuggler and pirate who calls himself Star-Lord whilst sleezing his way through the female population of the galaxy while listening to his mixtape of 70's hits. Next we have Gamora (Zoe Saldana) assassin and daughter of the mad titan Thanos, she's a bad-ass warrior who is out to avenge for everything her father has done. The subtly named Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) is the muscle of the team a mighty warrior who has no sense of metaphor - in his own words, nothing goes over his head, his reflexes are too quick!

Finally we come to the true stars of the film, Rocket - a genetically engineered talking homicidal raccoon-thing mercenary voiced by Bradley Cooper who shows that a wisecracking CGI character can be so much more than Jar-Jar Binks! His sidekick Groot is a giant walking tree that can only say "I am Groot", hilariously played by Vin Diesel! Groot steals every single scene he is in, somehow managing his low vocabulary not become tedious over the run of the film.

The film expands on what has happened so far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe regarding the Infinity Stones and sets things up for the people who want to obtain them...

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most enjoyable films I have seen in a long time, and had a stupid grin pasted across my face for the duration - from the hilarious script to the fantastic soundtrack (Seriously, go and buy it now - its that good!) It left me wanting to spend more time with the characters, I promptly pre-ordered the Blu-ray and started counting down the days until the squeal is out!

Guardians is everything that I want the new Star Wars films to be, and it certainly does a better job of crafting a sci-fi world with a lighthearted swashbuckling vibe than episodes 1-3 did. Episode 7 is going to have to pull something pretty special out of the bag to top what Marvel have put out with this film!

Finally I want to mention briefly the post credits scene, so if you don't want it spoiled before you see it make sure you close this page now...

... Still with us? Ok, last spoiler warning!

The post credit scene shows The Collector being licked by a dog in a space suit (most probably Cosmo, a dog sent into space by the soviets who also happens to have telekinetic powers!) and then being given grief by non other than Howard the Duck!

After the fairly horrific Lucas film, most people never expected to see Howard again, especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - this post credits scene opens the door for things even stranger than Rocket and Groot!

Go out and see Guardians of the Galaxy now! You will not regret it! Now excuse me while I get in line for Avengers: Age of Ultron...

Stoke'd for Comiccon!

Stop the press! No more hours on the road to find the comiccon of your dreams, gazing out the window at miles of the motorway and squashed packed lunches- Comiccon is coming to you!'Stoke Con Trent' has crashed into the North West like an explosion of Comic book and movie joy to please the masses. This is only it's first year but is sporting legends such as Colin Baker (Doctor Who), Chris Rankin (Harry Potter) and James Cosmo (Game Of Thrones). Hosted at Stafforshire University, get ready for Cosplay competitions, exhibitions and a mountain of comic and memorabilia stalls to sink your teeth into. As a seasoned comiccon goer, I honestly cannot wait! I've traveled all over the UK to visit my favourite stars, squeal with excitement at the Q&A sessions and have the best time any comiccon veteran can go. The 28th September cannot come soon enough - get your tickets from the website here: http://stokecontrent.co.uk/about/ Don't miss out!

Over and out! Mel

Mousecraft Review

Mousecraft Review (PSN – PS4, PS3, PSVita Cross buy) - By Neil Kenny I pondered for a while how to describe this title.

I mean OK; it’s a puzzle game that’s a bit like Krusty’s Fun House from the early ‘90s in that you have to formulate a route for the captive rodents. However in this instance it is for their salvation and they’re mice, not rats but it’s still blocks and furry quadrupeds with tails nonetheless. But that to be truthful isn’t the whole story and in any case it isn’t a quite like that anyway. In fact this game reminds you of a lot of titles and none at the same time.

So back to the description; the mice have rules that determine their movement and you’re supplied with Tetris like pieces in order to modify the environment. Over time other pieces are added to the available stockpile bringing new properties and hence opening up other strategic opportunities.

The objective is to get the mice from the start to the goal. Just the one of the group is sufficient in order to complete the task. The mice themselves are not indestructible which you have to bear in mind. They can climb the height of one block but a fall greater than 3 blocks will prove fatal and nearly everything else on the level is there to kill or trap them.

As you complete successive rounds your progress is marked on the map (actually depicted as a blueprint) and not only have you got to save the mice but certain thresholds require you to have collected a number of shards (crystals) along the way. These crystal trinkets serve as a way to make you replay the levels and improve one’s results. Sometimes the act of finishing a level is straightforward but to complete it properly you have to really think ahead. Remember that you only have the pieces supplied in the quantities stated. You also have bombs which can be used to clear out unwanted blocks. These are also a limited in quantity but you can find further bombs situated on some of the levels that you might have to factor into your route to the finish (which strangely always makes me thing about MGS and finding equipment in the field).

The controls are straightforward and are common to all versions of the game. I do think that you could do with a reminder before each time you start playing. It took me a while to recall how you actually release the mice upon returning to the game. But this is more a fault with me than the game but it would have helped since they are not listed with in the game.

The game plays at fairly sedate pace. There is a requirement to modify the mice’s path on some of the levels whilst in play in order to get all of the goodies and this provides the only real tension in the game which is no bad thing. You can also undo your item placements sequentially from last to first in real time without penalty which makes experimentation a lot more pleasurable. This by no means robs the game of any difficulty but does remove the annoyance of seeing a ‘game over’ screen repeatedly.

There is overarching story in the game with animated cut scenes revealing the plot. All to do with a space cat called Schrödinger and it is this feline’s experiment that we are actually playing. The use of Schrödinger is an obvious reference to Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment that was designed to show the problem when Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is applied to everyday objects (phew!). But instead of the experiment centring on a cat this game is about saving the lives of the trapped rodents. It does make you wonder why the game isn’t called Schrödinger’s Mice?

However there is a reason why this came alludes itself to the runaway success that is Minecraft. It contains within a level creator that allows you to produce your own levels using all the items that exist within the main game. It is very easy to use with minimal instructions that are only given as a series of prompts when selecting the items from the onscreen menu. Anything you build can be saved and the shared amongst your registered Sony devices (PS3, PS4 and PSVita) but not alas with others it would seem.

So after all that what’s it like…

Well the game is polished to a high standard and certainly provides value for money (especially if you own a PSVita). I wouldn’t recommend that you play it in isolation and instead dip in and out to avoid any feeling of repetition, but I hasten to add that you must keep playing it regularly to keep your skills ready because you have a lot of mice to save.

The Story Of Warcraft

Earlier today I spotted a news post over on VG247 that took my interest. Since it's release years and years ago I've played (on and off) World of Warcraft, and prior to that the RTS Warcraft titles. The Warcraft lore ties all the games together as it continues to evolve with each and every Warcraft expansion. Blizzard Entertainment know how to craft a fantastic tale.

Even if you've never really had much interest in the series, or if you are a die-hard fan of Azeroth's residents you should give the video below a watch. It's a very well put together video detailing the full story of Warcraft.

The video was created by Youtuber Nobbel87. My thanks to VG247

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ__nRnO2mE]

New Mac = New Videos = More Fun!

An announcement from our co-founder, Michael Davies. We have some real treats in store for you at Blastprocess.com this Autumn. Keep those eyes peeled!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rQcmXrwJiM&w=560&h=315]