Gamertell

Title: The Horus Heresy: Horus Rising
Author: Dan Abnett
Publisher: The Black Library
Release Date: 2006
Price: $7.99 (Borders price)
Rating: Two thumbs up, 100/100, A+, ***** out of five.
Pros: Incredible writing, great story, memorable characters, hard-hitting description with Tolkien-esque attention to detail.
Cons: It can be a little hard to follow in terms of the topics brought up. If you don’t understand British English, it will take some time to get used to the writing style.
Overall: More than worth the price and avoids the pulpy nature of Science Fiction

The Horus Heresy is a Warhammer 40000 licensed book series that takes place 10,000 years before standard franchise, illustrating the events that lead up to the perpetual war. The series is up to eight books, one of which has been released this month (August 2008) with a ninth to be released in December 2008. Horus Rising, written by Dan Abnett, is the first of eight books that detail the rise and fall of Horus and his faithful legions of genetically engineered Space Marines…

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Wizards of the Coast has announced that Gleemax is out. The social networking site for gamers is scheduled to be phased out and completely removed from the internet in September 2008 so Wizards of the Coast can focus on sites like Dungeons & Dragons Insider and Magic: The Gathering Online. On July 28, Randy Buehler, Vice President of Digital Gaming, posted an entry on Gleemax announcing the news.

The Gleemax site was first created in October, 2007. It was designed to allow tabletop gamers to interact and talk over forums, share blogs, write reviews, chat online and play free Gleemax games. A marketplace function was also discussed, but never implemented, and there were also links to Dungeons & Dragons Insider and Magic the Gathering Online.

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The latest set from Magic: The Gathering is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the set was broken into two mini-blocks (Lorwyn and Shadowmoor) with two expansions each. Second, the set has two of the best story cycles written in the game’s history. For the purposes of this article the focus is novels.

The block novels for the current set begins with Lorwyn, named after the plane that it takes place on. The plane of Lorwyn is one that is stuck in midsummer, full of color and life. The story follows a motley crew of characters from every walk of life while they try to stop the elves and treefolk from what seems to be…

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There may be some hope for Halo fans who are waiting for their Xbox 360s afflicted with the Red Ring of Death. Genius Products and B1 Games are going to be releasing a Halo Interactive Strategy Board Game. In September 2008, players will be able to face off against one another as the UNSC Marines and Covenant in a modular board game. The image at the right from ICv2 shows concept art of the game’s box.

The Halo board game will have different play modes to suit different play styles. People can play fast Heroic games, epic Legendary games, campaign Slayer games or PvP Capture the Flag games. Also, Genius Products and B1 Games will release expansion packs with extra characters and vehicles.

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Title: Gamers (aka Gamers: The Movie)
Price: $24.95 (DVD)
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Distributer: Monterey Media, Inc.
Rating: Unrated
Pros: A good mix of both subtle and outrageous humor with engaging characters. Surprisingly well made and funny or an indie film produced in six days.
Cons: Starts a little sluggish and goes a little odd with a couple gags.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 90/100; A-; * * * * out of five

Screw the lame-ass box art. Gamers is a great indie flick that will make anyone who has ever rolled something other than a 6-sided die snarf milk all over their mother’s teak coffee table.

Click through for the full review…

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