Thanos To Appear In the Avengers Movie?

The Avengers heads into theaters May 4 and thus far, has been shrouded in secrecy. Movie Fanatic has uncovered a slew of plot points and if you don’t want The Avengers story spoiled, stop reading now and head over to our Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2012 (of which Avengers is one).

What do we know? Well, for one… Hugo Weaving is back as Red Skull. We first saw him in Captain America: The First Avenger and it appears he will cross paths with The Avengers’ main bad guy, Loki. Loki, as you recall, is the brother of Thor from the Thor movie and his presence on Earth is what compels Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Nick Fury, to call his Avengers into duty.

Loki is also spending time with Thanos. Rumors have abounded that Thanos would be in The Avengers and now we can confirm that is true. The devious Loki tricks Thanos… how? First, since Fox owns the rights to the alien race The Skrull, Marvel had to change the alien shape shifters to The Redacted. So, back to Thanos and Loki: Loki pulls the wool over Thanos’ eyes when he convinces him that the Infinity Gauntlet is more powerful than the Infinity Gems. When Loki gives Thanos the Infinity Gauntlet, he in turn gives Loki The Redacted for his mission to destroy Earth.

By now, we’re sure you’re curious about Red Skull and his dealings with Loki. Loki and Red Skull split up the Infinity Gems with Red Skull garnering the Soul, Time and Space, and Loki taking the Mind, Reality and Power gems. Something tells us, given Loki’s dealings with Thanos, that Red Skull will regret that deal.

Now, for the biggest reveal! Loki will eventually join The Avengers! How? Stay tuned for more and while you’re at it… check out The Avengers trailer!

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‘Abaddon’ Board Game by Toy Vault and Richard Borg

Toy and game manufacturer Toy Vault will be publishing a new mech-fighting board game designed by Richard Borg (Memoir 44, BattleLore). The new game, entitled Abaddon, is expected to release in 2012.

The game is set on the planet Abaddon, a desolate wasteland that produces “Feronium.” Two factions fight for control of the resource using mechanized suits called “Links.”

Battles take place on a 28” by 19” game board using 32 detailed miniatures and 18 free-standing landscape features. The game system utilizes a deck of 100 cards representing offensive and defensive weapon systems and special battle dice. Unpredictable and random events and malfunctions are resolved through the use of special “Wild Fire” cards. 15 mission scenarios are included.

Abaddon is designed for two to four players.

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Transfer Media From iOS to a Computer Without iTunes

When Apple originally launched iTunes it revolutionized device-to-computer media sync software. But after years of leaving the app largely unchanged, users have started calling for a revamp. In this day in age, iTunes feels antiquated.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways around using iTunes to transfer media from your iOS device to your computer, and vice versa. Using file transfer software, you can move virtually anything from your iDevice to your Windows PC or Mac and back again.(…)
Read the rest of How to Transfer Media From iOS to a Computer Without Using iTunes

Update On FFG’s Release Of Merchant Of Venus

Fantasy Flight Games has announced that it will release its new edition of Richard Hamblen’s Merchant of Venus board game in February. This is notable because in October both FFG and Stronghold Games announced that they were releasing new versions of the board game of space trading originally published by Avalon Hill in 1988. FFG got its license from Hasbro/Avalon Hill while Stronghold had signed a contract with the game’s designer (see “Dueling Merchants”).

When contacted by ICv2, Stronghold’s Stephen Buonocare declined comment on the potential FFG release of the Merchant of Venus game in February, but referred to previously published remarks on the situation, which expressed admiration for Fantasy Flight Games and a hope that the two parties who issued the licenses (Richard Hamblen and Hasbro, which claims that it acquired the rights when it purchased Avalon Hill) will come to some sort of resolution of their differences.
FFG did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

If FFG does release its updated version of Merchant of Venus, which according to FFG “remains true to the game’s magnificently campy core while expanding the game in surprising ways that will cause even the most hardcore fan to celebrate,” it appears unlikely that Stronghold Games will publish its version based on remarks made by Stronghold’s Kevin Nesbit quoted on Boardgame Geek.
FFG’s Merchant of Venus is listed for shipping in February with an MSRP of $59.95.

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Keltis HD For iPad & iPhone

Found a bit of news about Keltis by Reiner Knizia for iOS from the very cool site iPadboardgames.org…

Last year, we reviewed Keltis on the iPhone. A large portion of the critique at that point related to the fact that there was no HD version, and that it seemed like any further developments would disappear into the ether.

We have now been proven wrong. Keltis HD is not just simply a template update, but rather a revision of the existing iOS property into something that uses the iPad smartly.

Gameplay

As previously noted, the gameplay itself is not overly difficult to comprehend. You have four columns, each with a scale of -4 to 10. Your purpose is to advance your stones up these columns to a predetermined ending point. At the end of the game, your score is the sum of your columns, plus a relevant modifier.

The game works through developing ascending or descending runs of cards. Each column has an associated card suit. You use these suits to build a chain of cards in ascending or descending order. Since the cards you can draw are reasonably random, you have to make a judgement about whether to play a card you have or wait for a better card. You can only progress a stone when you can play a card, and if you dither about too much you’ll be left behind as your opponents streak ahead. As you progress along a particular column, the first stone there will encounter a number of bonuses. These include the ability to advance other stones, and the collection of wishing stones, which are also important to the final score. The trick is to remember that you don’t need to have an optimal game, only one that’s a bit better then the opponents’.

The game ends when there are five stones in the final three rows from any players in the game. It also ends when the last card is drawn.

Visit iPad Board Games For The Rest Of The Story

1st look at Renner and Arterton as Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel are all grown up! The fabled storybook siblings are dressed in leather and packing heat in the new film Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.

Check out the first photo of Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the tortured pair.

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ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime Review

Going from making good motherboards to going head to head with Samsung for Google’s affection is a pretty big step for ASUS, but it’s one that the company has taken and done very well with. None of its peers have made the same transition, especially not while continuing to thrive in their existing businesses. I don’t think anyone can say that ASUS’ motherboards have suffered over the past several years as the company has transitioned, much like Apple, into the world of being a mobile computer manufacturer.

ASUS’ first Android tablet was a knock out of the park. The original Eee Pad Transformer gave us a glimpse of the future with its keyboard dock while delivering a good Honeycomb experience for $100 less than the competition. As many sacrifices as ASUS had to make to reach its price point, the original Eee Pad remains one of the best Honeycomb tablets on the market. But the show must go on and simply being the cheapest on the block doesn’t work anymore, particularly with companies like Amazon redefining what cheap means. It was time for a new flagship and today we have that tablet:

Priced at $499 the Eee Pad Transformer Prime will be available in North America during the week of 12/19.

Read on for our full review!

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Starship Troopers Remake?

Robert Heinlein’s somewhat controversial 1959 book was made into Paul Verhoeven’s rather divisive 1997 movie: Some saw it as an insightful satire on the media-readiness of modern war, while others saw it as a candy-colored betrayal.

But now Sony has retained the writers of Thor and X-Men: First Class to fashion a new take on a classic tale.

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More News On The Evil Dead Remake

Here’s a little bit of movement on that remake of The Evil Dead that Panic Attack director Fede Alvarez will oversee. The movie is based on Sam Raimi‘s fan-favorite original 1981 film, with a script Alvarez co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues before Diablo Cody did a rewrite.

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and FilmDistrict have partnered with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to make a big deal to distribute the movie, with the bottom line being that Sony Pictures will distribute The Evil Dead in many countries, including the US.

Variety has the new, saying that the film is set to shoot in 2012. Longtime Raimi producing partner Robert Tapert said,

For 30 years, Sam, Bruce and I have been looking for the right home where we could return the deadites to the big screen. Amy Pascal and Jeff Blake at Sony and Peter Schlessel at FilmDistrict have always been incredible partners who share our passion for great storytelling as well as our obsession for scaring the pants off the audience. Together, we are looking forward to terrorizing a whole new generation.

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Giant, HUGE LAN Party In Sweden

What does a legion of Swedish LAN party-goers and a 120Gbps internet connection look like? Something like this. Dreamhack, officially (by Guinness Book of Records, no less) the world’s largest LAN party, offered up all sorts of gaming thrills along the lines of StarCraft II and Counter-Strike to the 12,000 attendees.

It looks like the air was thick with excitement, perspiration — and hopefully a little air freshener.

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