5115_1_star_trek_the_next_generation_season_two_1988_blu_ray_review_full
May 18 2013

9 of the Best Standalone Episodes Of Star Trek

Star Trek is such a fantastic show. Many people consider it to be all about technobabble and aliens in terrible costumes but they’d be wrong. Star Trek is as thoughtful and clever as the best fiction on television. There is a very good reason that the show is still as popular now as it was 20 years ago. With the new movie out, and the availability of the shows on Netflix, I thought why not shed some light on the best standalone episodes of this iconic franchise that you can just sit down and enjoy without much prior knowledge.  Really if you’ve seen either of the new movies you should have more than enough backstory to enjoy these episodes to the fullest.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer
May 17 2013

Comic Review – Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Library Edition 1

For years now the continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in comic book form has intrigued me not just because I love the show and think there’s huge potential to explore that universe, but because of the names attached. For Buffy fans Whedon is obviously the big draw, but the list of writers attached to this project is comprised of some of the most impressive names in comics and television. Brian K Vaughn (writer, Saga, Y: The Last Man, Lost, Runaways), Drew Goddard (director/co-writer The Cabin in the Woods), Jane Espenson (writer, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Game Of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica and more) to mention just a few. Despite this dream team working on the comic I have never actually given Buffy Season 8 any serious consideration when thinking of what I should read next. I have always believed that entertainment should remain in the medium it was created for and that any adaptation should only take broad strokes from the original (e.g. the Avengers films). I just finished my rewatch of Buffy and Angel on Netflix (totally holds up) after which I was craving some more, so I bit the bullet and bought Season 8 and boy was I pleasantly surprised.

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Guacamelee!
Apr 15 2013

Guacamelee Review – All Luchador, No Luchabore

Drinkbox Studio’s latest release, the magical Mexican themed Metroid-vania adventure that is Guacamelee, combines a unique setting, gorgeous graphics and the smoothest gameplay this side of Mexico City to produce one of the most enjoyable games of the year so far. Drinkbox have outdone their previous release, Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack, and have set the bar even higher for their next game.

Let's Fight!

A luchador, vibrant colours and chickens. The perfect combo?

I don’t usually buy games on release day but after meeting the Drinkbox team and playing a demo of Guacamelee at last year’s PAX East in Boston I was intrigued. The luscious art combined with fluid and dynamic gameplay had me hooked. Sure I didn’t know why I was able to morph into a chicken but it piqued my interest, to say the least. When the release date was finally announced, I pencilled it into my calendar and. Wwhen the day did finally arrive I didn’t hesitant to jump and see if the wait had been worth it. Continue reading →

Smedias
Apr 9 2013

We’ve Been Nominated!

It mightn’t be as prestigious as the Oscars…yet, but news has reached us here at the PDK’s HQ that we have been nominated for ‘Blog of the Year’ in the 2013 The National Student Media Awards, otherwise known as ‘The Smedias’.

This year will be the 13th edition of the awards and we are both humbled and delighted to have our hard work and efforts recognised alongside other great Irish blogs.

The awards ceremony is taking place next Wednesday, the 17th of April, in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin. The whole team will be there so come along and you might be able to get a picture with your favourite Power Down Kid!

Saga #11 - Page 6
Apr 4 2013

What I’ve Learned of Comics in the Past 2 Years

About two years ago I started reading comics.  The onslaught of superhero movies piqued my interest , plus I’m a man so explosions, fighting and the likes obviously interest me and given that I also love science fiction me and comics are really a match made in heaven. Starting out is a rather daunting task, made easier by the likes of Marvel’s Ultimate line, and DC’s New 52 (The two new reader initiatives that aided me when I was starting out), but still intimidating even at the best of times. Realistically even if you’ve seen every Marvel/DC movie, you are still going to need to spend a bit of time on Wikipedia or Comic Vine reading up on whatever title/character you’re planning on jumping into. It is, of course, worth all of that research and more. I didn’t realise that right away; in fact it took me a bit of time to realise just how much more and just how much of an accomplishment it is to create a truly great comic book.

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The zombie and the human
Feb 23 2013

Zombie vs Vampire: Just Why is the Zombie so Popular?

The zombie’s salient place in the collective imagination is evident in modern culture; from cult classics such as Night of the Living Dead to more recent triumphs for zombie culture such as The Walking Dead, we see that the zombie is a figure that continues to haunt the collective imagination. Indeed, it appears to become ever more popular with time whereas the figure of the vampire seems to be fading from cultural imagination. The unwavering appeal of the zombie can be explained in many ways, as can the decline of the vampire. In the forefront remains the fact that the figure of the zombie is adaptable to the zeitgeist, much more so than the vampire, who has become humanised, even idolised and doesn’t allow for the same adaptability of our fears.
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JLA
Feb 18 2013

Just WTF is DC up to?

Has anyone else noticed how weird DC has been of late? I regularly find myself saying “WTF” when some piece of news relating to DC drops. In the past month especially everything that’s been announced has just been… well… really odd. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that I don’t like at least some of the things they’re trying, but I just keep coming back to how peculiar they’ve been acting. Let’s have a look at some of the DC news from the past few months

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Trinity War
Jan 24 2013

What I’m looking forward to in comics in 2013

A lot has happened in 2012 in the world of comics… like a lot. There was a whole mess of new (and pretty great) titles from everyone in the industry, non-stop crossovers, and enough controversy to fill a green sugar cane snake tree… or something. Anyway, here’s what I’m really looking forward to in 2013!

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All New X-Men #3
Jan 23 2013

Great Comic Covers – Marvel NOW! Edition

So Marvel NOW! has been kicking ass in a lot of departments and not so much in others (cough cough Iron Man cough). But one thing that’s been unequivocally spectacular about Marvel NOW! has been cover art, seriously just look at these!

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The Ultimates
Nov 30 2012

Why I love Marvel’s Ultimate Comics

I love the Ultimate Marvel line of comics, I love love love it. Sure it’s had some terrible story arcs and events but who hasn’t! Recently it’s been a lot easier to love Ultimate comics, I mean you had Bendis on Spiderman, Hickman on Ultimates and Spencer on X-Men. You’d be a fool not to love it with a team like that. But the imprint has had a bit of a turbulent past, but regardless of the creative team there are some intrinsic qualities that make me love the line. Boy that’s a lot of loves in one paragraph.

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2012
Nov 27 2012

Gaming in 2012

2012 was a funny year for gaming. We are edging ever closer to the end of the current generation of consoles, in fact we saw the release of the first ‘next gen’ device in the form of the Wii U (although I’m still extremely sceptical of it). Sequels were the order of the day, with threequals taking centre stage. Mass Effect 3, Assassin’s Creed 3, Max Payne 3 , Far Cry 3, Diablo 3 and the 3rd Treyarch Call of Duty of this gen were among the AAA this year. There only a few new AAA IPs, Dishonored being at the fore. Continue reading →

mass_effect_3_femshep-1440x900
Nov 25 2012

Why I Always Play The Ladies

In any RPG with a customisable character option, I always choose a female avatar. Something always draws me towards the lady option as opposed to the male. I didn’t always though; it’s more of a recent quirk.  Why you ask? Because it’s awesome, here’s why.
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_MG_6356
Nov 24 2012

Five Games That Shaped My Love of Gaming

Like most other gamers, I have fond memories of the games that shaped my childhood and turned me into the gamer I am today. So many of my preferences in gaming were shaped during my childhood, each new game subtlety adding new and more complex layers to my idea of a good and enjoyable gaming experience. Here are five of my most beloved games as a child, and what they taught me about gaming and life in general.
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