by Stone Marshall | Jul 2, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
With Ant-Man and the Wasp, Marvel has beautifully crafted a hilarious, touching, and inspiring film for families. While this review won’t contain any specific plot spoilers, it will cover the successes of the film, mainly the importance of family, Wasp‘s new role, the remarkably human villain Ghost, and why, out of every film Marvel has ever made, this one feels like the most perfect for families to see together.
FAMILY IS THE FOCUS
It’s rare these days to say something is a family film, especially if its live action and not animated. We’re not really in that golden age of family films anymore and yet here comes Ant-Man and the Wasp, proving that family-oriented adventure stories are indeed alive and well in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Scott Lang‘s bond with his daughter Cassie continues to be a focal point of the Ant-Man film franchise. Scott’s found family with the X-Cons Luis, Dave, and Kurt, and this serves to remind audiences that family can be the friends and co-workers that we choose. Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne’s relentless faith to save Janet van Dyne drives 100 percent of this film. Even Ava/Ghost and her relationship with Bill Foster echoes the importance of adoptive parents. Ant-Man and the Wasp is truly about family, start to finish.
A NEW FEMALE SUPERHERO TAKES FLIGHT
Ant-Man and the Wasp Hope Van Dyne
The post-credits scene in the first Ant-Man revealed Hope’s Wasp suit. It also gave Evangeline Lilly the opportunity to deliver a line that Marvel fans have been waiting to hear: “It’s about damn time.” Time for what exactly? For a female superhero to lead her own film.
Yes, technically Hope shared superhero duties in this film with Scott, but it really was her film. When the film picks up, Scott is on house arrest for aiding Captain America in Germany. Because he was wearing a Pym Tech suit while helping Cap, both Hank and Hope are on the run from the law. They spend their time off the grid building a quantum tunnel into the quantum realm to save Hope’s mom, Janet.
This quest brings out the best in Hope. She gets the wings, she gets the blasters, she gets to wear the suit and fight the bad guys, all in the name of saving her mom. Hope is no sidekick though. In fact, Scott spends most of the movie helping Hope and Hank, instead of vice versa. Hope is given all of the best action in the film, and she handles the superhero role very well.
GHOST IS NOT AN ORDINARY MARVEL VILLAIN
Ant Man And The Wasp Ghost1
One of the best characters in the film is Ava. At first, she seems like an interested third party on the hunt for quantum technology. But, as the audience gets to know her, we discover that she has a deeply personal reason for wanted to absorb quantum realm energy. It’s not for world domination or for some major quest — it’s personal.
IS ANT-MAN AND THE WASP GOOD?
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Ant-Man and the Wasp is great! Over the last few years since the first film, both And-Man and the Wasp have become very precious characters in the MCU. Hope’s quest to find Janet will require everything from her — a rare sacrifice in large tent-pole films like this.
The film maintains the humor of the first film without repeating any specific jokes. Luis steals the film, again, and the supporting cast brings home the humor while maintaining the fun! It’s a beautiful family film that ends on a very warm note.
Ant-Man and the Wasp opens in theaters on July 6, 2018.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 2, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Scott Lang is lovable in spite of all of his flaws, but no one’s going to accuse the Ant-Man of having his life together any time soon. It’s a miracle that he can even tie his shoes without Hope van Dyne, but, lucky for Scott, she remains in his corner (mostly). Don’t take any of that as a shot on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s favorite gone-straight criminal, there are plenty of superheroes, just like Ant-Man, who would be nothing without the women who support them.
With Ant-Man and the Wasp buzzing into theaters next week, let’s take a look at eight superheroes who are strengthened, supported, and improved by the women in their lives:
IRON MAN AND PEPPER POTTS
Whether it’s in the comics or on screen, in a relationship or merely partners, Tony Stark is nothing without Pepper Potts. Billionaire, genius, playboy philanthropist he may be, but not knowing your own social security number is a little bit more restrictive than one might think. It’s not all Tony’s fault, Howard couldn’t function on his own either, but that’s what Jarvis and Peggy were for. As hopeless as he may be, let’s call it a good thing that Tony’s found his soul mate in the saint that is Virginia “Pepper” Potts.
SUPERMAN AND LOIS LANE
Lois and Clark are the quintessential comic book ship. Even when Superman ends up in other pairings for one reason or another, it always comes back to one woman: Lois Lane. Lois doesn’t give Superman his powers. She can’t stop bullets, or run faster than a train, but she is a huge part of Clark Kent’s most important power: his humanity. The Man of Steel might be able to snatch a plane out of the air, but he’s nothing without his ace reporter.
THE GREEN ARROW AND FELICITY SMOAK/DINAH LANCE
Good old Oliver Queen has all the charm in the world and could split a strand of hair with that bow and arrow of his. He also happens to be a mess and a half without the women in his life. Dinah Lance is the perfect companion for Ollie’s comic book antics, falling in step with his swagger and having absolutely none of his nonsense. Television’s Oliver Queen might be a few shades darker than his comic book counterpart, but his sometimes agonizingly slow progress wouldn’t have even started without Felicity Smoak.
ZAN AND JAYNA
It’s impossible to have a list of male heroes who can’t function without their female counterparts without including the Wonder Twins. Their powers literally don’t activate without each other! Jayna needs Zan for her powers as well, but with Zan only able to become objects or substances, his super sister is still critical to his functionality as a hero.
THE HUMAN TORCH AND THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
Despite his occasional efforts to act otherwise, Johnny Storm is a hero. Each member of the Fantastic Four makes the team work, but no one has pushed Johnny harder than his sister, Sue. She’s calm in all the ways that he’s rash, and in turn he helps her take risks that she might not have every now and again. Like the Wonder Twins, this sibling superhero pair compliments each other nicely, but it feels safe to say that Johnny wouldn’t be the hero he is without Sue Storm.
HAWKMAN AND HAWKGIRL
If there’s one thing Hawkman makes abundantly clear, it’s that he can’t survive without Hawkgirl. Hawkman and Hawkgirl are literally linked across time and space through the power of mutual resurrection. On Legends of Tomorrow, their relationship was less than healthy, but once Hawkgirl started to get her memories back things got a little less pushy on Hawkman’s part.
SPIDER-MAN AND AUNT MAY
They say behind every good man is the woman that raised him. That phrase couldn’t be more right when it comes to Peter Parker and his Aunt May. Uncle Ben might have been the one to bestow the knowledge of great responsibility to Pete, but it was May who had to keep on living and raising a teenager who was still trying to figure out how to deal with being a superhero.
MON-EL AND SUPERGIRL
Kara Zor-El might have been a touch discriminatory towards Mon-El because of his Daxamite heritage when the two first met, but eventually they overcame their families’ prejudices and found themselves in a pseudo-relationship. When Mon-El returned from the future, he was hero who had realized that he needed to use his powers for good. This was all because of Supergirl’s influence. He founded the Legion of Superheroes in her memory, making her the reason Mon-El became the hero she knew he could be.
All of this is to say that Scott Lang, lovable mess, isn’t alone in his need for a smart woman to help him out every once in a while. All of these incredible heroes acknowledge that there’s no shame in that either. Just another trait they all share that helps make them incredible.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 1, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Funny things happen when you start attaching real-world value to in-game play. It’s a concept being explored by MEGO Games, a Chilean outfit specialising in integrating Bitcoin directly into games.
Earning cryptocurrency while you play is a relatively new concept. But very quickly, multiple versions of this idea have been realised. We covered cryptos in gaming and esports a while back in this guide:
GAMES
A Guide to Gaming and Esports Cryptocurrencies
JEREMY RAY Feb 9
While your computer is playing basic games like Minecraft, it’s not using its hardware to its full capacity. In fact, games rarely do these days. Workstation tasks like video editing and transcoding are needed to really push hardware.
So while it’s not doing much, it may as well be mining Bitcoin, right?
That’s the philosophy behind many of these systems. With Minecraft, the similarities are obvious. You mine in-game, and you’re effectively mining in the real world.
MEGO takes a bit of a different approach, however. Its server is funded through a combination of donations, sponsorships, and in-house mining. The results on player behaviour are surprising.
EMERALDS FOR NOTHIN’, BITS FOR FREE
Cristian Gonzalez is the CEO of MEGO Games. Since 2014, he’s been running a public Minecraft server called BitQuest, and observing the results of letting players mine real-world value in the game.
To create an in-game economy, he valued one bit (the equivalent of one millionth of a Bitcoin) to equal one of Minecraft‘s emeralds. Crucial to creating an even playing field, deposits of Bitcoin weren’t allowed — but withdrawals were.
MEGO is now onto its new project, Hammercoin, which is an RPG built from the ground up with Bitcoin as its currency. But not before learning a few lessons from the BitQuest project.
According to Gonzalez, venturing into the Nether zone on his Minecraft server became quite rare. Dying in the Nether leaves all of your items there for a while. All of a sudden, people had something to lose. The materials in this dangerous area became exceedingly valuable.
“Demand was created from people afraid to go into the Nether zone,” he said.
Not only did the economy change due to the new rarity of materials, some players were acting like it wasn’t a game at all. With a solid connection between in-game labour and real-world value, people started refusing to help others unless they were paid.
“If someone wanted to build a tower, they would pay other people to help build it,” said Gonzalez. “Whereas before, they might have just done it.”
Because that’s kind of what people are there to do anyway. That’s Minecraft.
IT’S A GAMBLE
Of course, it was only a matter of time for gambling to come into play.
“You can ride horses in the game, so people would collect money together into a big prize pool, and race the horses,” according to Gonzalez. “The winner of the race would get the pool.”
Though the players seemed to stop short of gambling amongst the spectators on who would win.
Unsurprisingly, Gonzalez sees the whole experiment as a fundamental shift in how games will be played. But as the head of a gaming cryptocurrency, he’s paid to think that way.
Minecraft pirate bay
“I see it as this situation in which Pay to Win has become Win to Pay,” he told us.
Certainly it’s an interesting time, when you can actually gain value for playing a game — like one of those ridiculous “Earn money while playing!” spam ads. Undoubtedly the majority of these platforms will be faring a lot better than you, as they use your graphics card’s cycles to mine away. But BitQuest, which has recently released its 2.0, seems to be more experiment than cash cow.
Either way, it doesn’t make the change in player behaviors any less interesting. And it’s surely just the beginning.
by Stone Marshall | Jul 1, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Minecraft has undeniably been the king of the voxel-based sandbox games ever since its inception in 2009. Many others have tried to take the crown but none have had the staying power of Mojang‘s juggernaut. The newest in line to challenge the king is PixARK by Snail Games.
Let’s take a look at what this potential blockbuster has to offer.
A massive brontosaurus housing a mobile base on its back.
PixARK’s Voxel World is filled with prehistoric life.
DINOSAURS AND MORE
PixARK is inspired by the popular Ark: Survival Evolved, and the one and only Minecraft. It plays a lot like Ark, requiring the player to forage for resources to stay alive. Food, water, crafting materials, and clothes to shelter you from the harsher elements are all necessary for survival, and you’ll need to defend yourself from various predators in the wild.
These will start off as small territorial creatures, and as you explore further they will increase in size and ferocity. Though PixARK’s main theme is dinosaurs, it also has a wide array of other mythological creatures; Dragons, Minotaurs, and even Cyclops.
You’ll instantly notice that this looks similar to Minecraft, as the world and everything inside it are made of voxels, each able to be harvested with the different tools you’ll make. The 100+ wildlife in the world can all be tamed, trained, and ridden.
Building bases in PixARK are even more crucial than in Minecraft though, as larger beasts will continue to threaten your survival — even when logged out. Players can also use larger creatures like Brontosauri to construct mobile bases to increase their defensive capability.
The player’s rifle is aimed at a two headed beast.
Weapons range from the prehistoric times, all the way to modern and even magic.
NO TWO PIXARK ARE THE SAME
PixARK worlds are always randomly generated to ensure no two worlds are ever the same. The world will hold eight separate biomes, each with their own challenges and benefits. Portals will also appear in set locations for fast travelling.
This can become especially handy when completing the procedurally generated quests that pop up throughout the world. Quests are ranked by level and vary in type. Some will be simple fetch quests, some will require crafting specific items, and others may be as simple as hunting specified creatures.
A player jetpacking through the world
PixARK enables all sorts of travel methods.
PLAY Y0UR WAY
PixARK also features an experience system for enhancing and upgrading your character. Actions such as taming, exploration, killing, or building various things reward the player with experience. Leveling up allows the player to increase various statistics like strength, dexterity, and other traditional stats.
Leveling up to increase these are critical to surviving in the more difficult biomes. This is important as like Ark, death is semi-permanent. Dying resets character progression and drops all items currently in the player’s inventory where they once stood. Players will have a set period of time to reach their previous body to recover their belongings. There are a few things that will persist through death, such as earned blueprints, to help reduce the amount of time in subsequent lives crafting higher ranked items.
Players can also fully customize and create their characters however they see fit, from head to toe. As they progress and gain access to more advanced recipes, they can also choose how they want their character to play. There are plenty of options for each style of combat for players to try, including melee, ranged, and even magic.
A swarm of black dragons cover the skies of PixARK
Dinosaurs aren’t the only welcome addition to the Minecraft formula.
PixARK is currently in Early Access on both PC and Xbox One and on sale until April 3rd, 2018. Check out the official trailer below and be ready to build, craft, and tame like never before.
by Stone Marshall | Jun 30, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Minecraft may look simple, but beneath its plain exterior lies an interesting game with endless creative options. However, Minecraft isn’t just a building game. Players can explore intricate mines and battle against spiders, skeletons, zombies, or all three — which can be strangely exhilarating. But nothing lasts forever, especially games. So, once you’ve become a Minecraft god, what’s the next game you should conquer? Well, we have some suggestions for you. Here are five Minecraft-like games you can play right now.
ROBLOX
roblox
The creative alternative everyone wanted.
Roblox not only looks and feels like Minecraft, it also allows you to build an entire world from the ground up. The popular MMO game boasts an in-depth and intricate design system that allows players to immerse themselves in someone else’s creation or vice versa.
The kinds of worlds players can create range from wild pirate islands to bustling cities. And with endless items to place in each environment, the only thing limiting players is their own imagination. Building your own kingdom, beach, or city in Roblox is sure to scratch that creative itch that Minecraft left behind.
THE FOREST
Minecraft‘s survival mode can get very scary and intense, especially when your character is starving. Now, imagine an entire game built around this concept that has players fight and build shelter, tools, and fire to survive. That’s where The Forest, the Minecraft-like horror game that no one asked for but everyone loved, comes in.
With its realistic, Gothic aesthetic, The Forest pushes Minecraft‘s survival mode even further, resulting in a more bone-chilling experience. In Minecraft, enemies just kill you. However, in The Forest, enemies will knock you out and drag you into their dark underground lair where countless creature lie in wait, ready to pounce. Adrenaline junkies should definitely give The Forest a try. Just make a point to keep close to the fire and have a crafted weapon ready.
TERASOLOGY
The same look and feel — but with minions.
Terasology‘s design is near identical to Minecraft‘s. It also similarly allows players to craft, build, and mine. But Terasology has a lot to offer players that Minecraft doesn’t, such as a more realistically rendered landscape, an environment that can change over time, and even the ability to create loyal minions.
The villager NPCs in Minecraft are interesting and good for trading, but not much help in a fight. They just run around grunting or get turned into zombies. This isn’t the case in Terasology, where NPCs can be spawned from your toolbar. These NPCs can take inventory, mine blocks, build their own societies, and trade with you. This is definitely the game for those who love control but want their creations to lighten their workload.
STARDEW VALLEY
Mining and farming are some of the most important and interesting parts of playing Minecraft. Mining helps you improve your tools, while farming allows you to live on the land. While smaller in scope, Stardew Valley also allows you to care for your own farm and mine to upgrade your tools.
Unlike Minecraft, where you can only trade with villager NPCs, the RPG-style Stardew Valley allows you to cultivate and deepen relationships with characters in the town, which can lead to friendships and even a romantic relationship. Being able to take an interest in the in-game community, creates a more immersive experience for players than what’s found in Minecraft. Everyone has wanted to knock off the grunting villagers in Minecraft at some point in time, but in Stardew Valley, you won’t be able to get enough of the game’s interesting and engaging little community.
STARBOUND
Who doesn’t want to give ‘Minecraft’ in space a go?
The beginning of Starbound sees you fleeing from your home. Eventually, you find yourself stuck on a planet where you are forced to explore, construct, and collect resources to escape. The game aesthetically resembles Stardew, boasting the same RPG gaming style. But Minecraft fans will love the game’s creative crafting mechanic and intense survival mode.
A more story-driven game than Minecraft, Starbound doesn’t limit what players can achieve or create. Players can shape their own future — whether that be as a farmer or an intergalactic estate agent. There are also plenty of opportunities for players to become battle-tested through boss fights and fun and challenging dungeon runs. There’s nothing more satisfying than throwing yourself in the dark depths of a jungle in an attempt to claim the treasures within.
