update: 14/06/15

Hey there Ale-Gators.

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting lately, I've had a very busy time with the various different projects that I have in the works, but i will be posting again very soon, I'm hoping you guys are enjoying the Podcasts I've been making with Emj, we're working hard to make it the best we can!

If you follow me on Facebook/twitter or Instagram you'll notice I'm now blonde! this is because of one of my more important projects! I'll be posting updates soon as I'm ready to reveal it and I'm hoping it'll be amazing!

I'm also working out everyday and trying to bulk up for the London Comic-Con in October so if you are there feel free to come up and say hi, I'd love to meet more of you, those of you who I have met have been amazingly supportive and truly lovely!

Sorry it's not a long update but I'm midway through planning out Tuesdays show!

I love you all and will post soon xx

Alex

The Troublesome Trio: The First Show

Here we are guys! the first Podcast from the newly named Troublesome Trio! we had some spectacular live music from the lads of The TomCats! not much else to say but CHECK IT OUT! xx

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

BLOGLOVIN'

Radio/Podcast News

Hey there Ale-Gators!

As you all know I am starting a new Radio show and Podcast, well I can give you the official start date of the show!

We will be starting our new show with an American special Celebrate the return to England of Aimee Carney, My buddy and Co-Host on the show! who's spent three months in the states finishing University in Atlanta! so expect terrible American accents, plenty of Z's in our spelling and Old school American Tunes!

Start time: Tuesday 19th May, 6:00pm - 8:00pm GMT

Where you can listen in: Anywhere! just head over to P5Radio and click Listen now on the right hand side!

I look forward to talking to you on the airwaves and online!

Catch you later guys! xx

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

BLOGLOVIN'

Heavy Rain..... with weather this bad... you'll think you are in Britain.

Hey there guys!

Today i'm reviewing something that has become one of my favorite games:

Yes that's right! Quantic Dream's very own Heavy Rain! Now I have written about what I can without spoiler alerts so I've had to be vague in places, but I believe this information I'm giving you will get you wanting to play the game!

Let's begin:

Heavy Rain is a cinematic psychological thriller from game developer Quantic Dream exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Dealing with a range of adult themes, the game revolves around a sophisticated plot and strong narrative threads that explore a complex moral proposition. You assume the role of multiple characters with very different backgrounds, motivations, and skills in a world where each player decision affects what will follow.

The game focuses on four different characters; Ethan Mars, a father and main protagonist; Scott Shelby, a private eye; Norman Jayden, an FBI agent and finally Madison Paige, a photojournalist. They are very different characters and do not know each other at the game's point, but are all connected in the sense that they all have interest in the game's main antagonist, the Origami Killer.

 CHARACTERS:

Ethan Mars:

Ethan Mars is one of the three main protagonists in Heavy Rain and is overall the central character of the game, and is also one of the four playable characters (the other three being Scott Shelby, Norman Jayden and Madison Paige). Up until 2009, Ethan lived an idyllic and happy life as a successful architect alongside his loving wife Grace Mars and his two sons, Jason and Shaun Mars. However, Ethan's life took the first of two tragic turns when his son Jason was killed. Heavy Rain, set two years later in 2011, focuses on Ethan during the kidnapping of his second son, Shaun Mars.

It is Shaun Mars's disappearance that causes Ethan's life to take a darker turn, and causes him to be sent into more worry. Fortunately, the kidnapper of Shaun  has not killed Shaun and is holding him captive. He is given Ethan a phone that has a hangman with various blank lines. These underlines are actually unknown letters; by completing Trials sent from the killer, Ethan will get a set number of letters. This is what shapes the game's central question, "How far are you prepared to go to save your son?" These trials become increasingly difficult and morally taxing, and Ethan logically reasons against all five of them in his thoughts.

Scott Shelby:

A former police lieutenant, Scott is now a private detective and retired cop. Over the course of the game, his primary goal is to find evidence about Origami Killer. Scott's partner throughout the game is Lauren Winter.

Shelby suffers from asthma as illustrated throughout the game (though is dexterous enough to cope with an armed robber at a convenience store and survive a shoot-out with several men). Depending on the player's choices, Scott has the potential to a kindle a relationship with Lauren Winter. It is also revealed when Lauren offers him a cigarette, Scott tells her, "No thanks, I quit," informing the player that he used to be a smoker.

Scott's persona consists of being quiet, organized, vigilant, and highly introverted, hardly ever talking about himself to others. Being someone who listens to others, methodical in work, straight-eyed, determined, and able to cope under pressure makes Scott Shelby an effective private investigator, allowing him to assess human behavior and perceive clues other people may miss.

His previous employment before becoming a P.I. was that of a police lieutenant for the local police force. As shown when Shelby is brought in for questioning, it seems that he once knew Carter Blake whilst working as a cop, and that they appear to have a friendly relationship because of it.

Norman Jayden:

Norman specializes in conducting forensic investigations with an experimental device called ARI (Added Reality Interface). ARI's main hardware component is a pair of sunglasses, which acts as a type of transparent display. When looking at a crime scene through ARI's interface, relevant data and analysis is superimposed on the image of the crime scene above the relevant clues. Norman uses ARI to highlight relevant clues within a specified 'pulse' radius. Norman also wears ARI's other hardware component, a glove, which allows him to interact with the virtual data displayed through the glasses. By simultaneously using these two items, ARI catalogues all the data and cross-references it with relevant databases, analyses it, and geo-locates it where applicable. ARI also has a recording feature that works as a video camera. When being worn, it records what the wearer of the sunglasses sees and stores it in it's databases for future reference. Norman constantly reviews his clues and data that he has collected via ARI.

With the local cops resentful of both his methods and his very presence, he struggles to piece together the evidence before it becomes too late for the next victim of the Origami Killer.

Norman is addicted to Triptocaine, known as Tripto, a blue substance in a vial. Triptocaine is drug Norman uses which was given to him from the distributors of his ARI glasses to combat the glasses' side effects, and it is currently unknown (and never entirely explained in the narration or otherwise) whether he is using it to counter-balance side-effects of overusing the ARI, or for some other purpose. Additionally, the true source of the symptoms (nosebleeds, paleness of complexion, internal pain, dizziness, bloodshot eyes, tremors, ect.) Norman experiences are left rather ambiguous. Whether these symptoms are caused by the ARI or triptocaine, speculation is left up to individuals. Throughout the game, the player has the choice of whether to be complicit in Norman's addiction or steer him away from it in various circumstances as he tries to solve the case of the Origami Killer. However, twice in the game Jayden will take Triptocaine without the player's decision.

Madison Paige:

Madison is a young journalist living alone in the city. Suffering from crippling insomnia and nightmares, she often finds herself checking into local motels for the night-- the only place she can relax and sleep in.

It's stated during the game that she was born on May 3rd 1984, making her 27 years old during the events of the game which is set in October 2011. She does explain to Ethan, however, that she grew up with several brothers and would always be the one to tend to their injuries whenever they got into trouble. She also states she has had insomnia since she was a little girl. If Madison goes to the warehouse alone in "The Old Warehouse" chapter, she may tell the Origami Killer (who she knew at the time to have had a troubled past with their parents) that there is nothing harder than not being loved by one's parents, suggesting she may have had a bad relationship with her father or mother.

The Origami Killer:

Prior to Shaun's abduction, eight criminal cases are suspected to have been committed by the Origami Killer between the years 2009 and 2011. All victims were young boys between 9-13 years of age, each killed in the same fashion: by being drowned in rainwater.

Each body is found on some type of wasteland, always adjacent to train tracks, between 3-5 days after they are abducted, six hours post-mortem, showing that the person who orchestrated these events did not kill his victims right after abduction. Instead, the killer waits until a set of certain criteria has been filled. Every victim was kidnapped within a public place at the time of abduction and with little or no defensive wounds on their body, implying that the victims knew or trusted the person that took them.

Like many serial killers, the Origami Killer has a certain trademark which he leaves upon his victims. All victims were found with an origami figure in the right hand, the origin of the killer's title, and an orchid on his chest. The victims also have their faces completely covered in mud, which FBI profiler, Norman Jayden suspects is evident that the killer himself has no personal hostility towards the victims. He also interprets the orchid and origami figure to be gifts.

Game-play:

So... I've been playing this game for like a week nonstop trying to get all the endings possible from the game, now i was lucky to get the super nice ending on the first play through so it made up for the 12 hours of pain, heartbreak and sadness, most people would have stopped there but not me.... I seem to like the emotional pain that comes from psychological thrillers, I must get that from my mum, well here i am so far, I've been playing this game as the Playstation Move edition, with it's normal controller interface so you have to do the movements with the sticks which is actually a really interesting idea and I've been enjoying it, you have to move the sticks in the corresponding directions to do things like pick up cups or view case files, it's quite engaging rather then having constant button pressing, I'd suggest the Move version to people who enjoy the idea of deeper gameplay.

Now the graphics are amazing and the rain really helps with building the atmosphere, after a short time you forget that it's a game, you feel for the characters and the story-line, which is rich and very well written thanks to David Cage, who is an actual genius, he creates this living, breathing world that teems with tiny details that can help to make the game a success or a failure, some games forget that sometimes, they pass over small details for climatic endings, not Heavy Rain... the team behind the game should just take a few minutes... that's right guys, just take some time to bask in the glory of your game! 

Out of all the games that i have ever played, Heavy Rain takes the crown on everything from story-line to soundtrack, I would recommend this to anyone who wants to see what gaming is all about! sometimes it's not about nonstop action or witty one liners, Heavy Rain plays more like an interactive Noir film, and that's what gaming should be, an amazingly in-depth experience, with compelling characters and a story-line that hits you right in the feels...

I hope you have enjoyed the review guys! I will be reviewing more in-depth via game-play videos over on the YouTube page when i have a new computer, as always thank you for reading guys and i'll see you next time!

Alex xx

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

BLOGLOVIN'

Upcoming Projects with friends

Hey there Ale-Gators!

I know it's been a little while since I posted (A whole month!) but I have been super busy with projects! I hate not writing and keeping you guys up to date but in the coming weeks I'll be restarting the YouTube page and publishing more blog posts!

I'll also be starting a podcast which will be published on YouTube and Soundcloud which will be with the lovely BelovedJaine herself Miss Aimee Carney, We'll be talking about all the important things in our lives and yours, we'll be discussing all kinds of news topics and will be doing a special "ask the team" section where you send us a question and we'll answer it as best we can!

Also included in our podcast will be music and interviews so make sure you keep up with it, this will also be supported with a video podcast with the whole team so you know who we all are and what we do within the group!

Aswel as the Podcast I will be making short films with local talent and written by Myself and the team, these could be anything from a documentary to a horror film, so we'll be having a lovely spread of shows, podcast and films!

I also am currently working on several short stories for you all aswel as the closing chapters of the Aftermath series, I have so many reviews in the works and quite a few lifestyle posts also in draft so there is a lot more content to come from Myself and the team, hopefully soon we'll have some guest writers gracing these very pages with their presence, which i am really looking forward to!

A lot of planning is going into this new era of Dark Noble, so much so that we will be changing a lot of things that i have been unhappy about with the blog and the YouTube page, I promise you guys that as soon as it's up and running i will be going full throttle to bring you fantastically fun videos and entertainment, The coming weeks are looking good on all sides for the Blog and now we are at 7500 followers I'm amazed and gobsmacked by how many of you have enjoyed it so far!

I hope you continue to enjoy the blog and Youtube, I enjoy doing this so much and would love to make this a full time thing rather then just my hobby so you guys are making this dream happen for me! Thank you all and know that no matter what I love you, you make my writing worthwhile and give me a sense of belonging, you are amazing guys!

Anyway, I'm off to go write up a review of Heavy Rain that is calling for my attention,  Remember to check all the links below for full details on Dark Noble, Catch you later guys! xx

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

BLOGLOVIN'

YOUTUBE

Review: 10000mAh Power Bank Review from Power Theory.

<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOPb640b7d69e2054cd331a04024b695448" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>

Hey there Ale-Gators!

My newest Review is of a product i've been looking at for a while, Being a blogger means i use my phone almost constantly to take down notes and write out new blogposts, so battery life is a major problem! now I have an xperia Z3 which has a fantastic battery life but with the amount of stuff i have to do it only lasts me about a day, which if you are camping for a weekend is not the best, so the Power Bank is a fantastic little tool to keep me charged when the power runs low!

Unlike some that only keep your battery charged to a certain percentage, this charges it completely in about forty-five minutes! 

It looks fantastic too! a nice sleek design that's also small and manageable with a very clear power bar make this a brilliant portable charger! I can get two full charges of my phone out of it before it runs out of power, and the best part is that if you happen to find somewhere with a USB socket you can just plug it in and let it recharge, which really does not take long at all!

If you are interested then please go to the Product Page.

Price £14.95 + free delivery.

Thanks for reading guys! see you next time! xx

<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOMb640b7d69e2054cd331a04024b695448" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>

Grand Theft Auto V: The time has come....

Hey there guys!

It's finally that time... I've been putting off this review for several reasons, namely the bloody thing always times out when I'm trying to play online! Yeah that's one of the many little niggles that really gets on my nerves... any way... lets review!

I'm going to focus more on the online side of things, as the single player part has been reviewed to death.... and I haven't played the single player since i got the game on release day!

Now the world of GTA: ONLINE has always been pretty kool, since the multiplayer world of GTA: IV brought so much joy into mine and my friends lives, doing stunts or just driving around the map looking kool in our favorite cars, it was many hours of fun and I'll admit it was the main draw for me to buy GTA: V, but was that draw enough to keep me interested?

 I'm afraid that it really isn't, I mean i love playing it with my mates, but after You've done all the missions, and played all the races until there are no decent ones left, it's just not interesting enough, I mean we waited since release day for the Heists and now they are out they are riddled with bugs! it's very rare for a crew to actually be able to finish a heist without the servers dropping out... I play on PS3, which is why it keeps dropping out as Rockstar can't be arsed to sort it out! this is a common problem when a new generation comes out, companies seem to forget about those of us still on the old gaming systems...

After the first few hours and all the activities have been done, the game starts to drag a little, quickly becoming monotonous and very copy and paste, normally myself and my friend Paul (A.K.A Archblade) find things to fill our time, like climbing mount chilliad in completely inappropriate vehicles or playing hunt the cultist when there is bugger all else to do! Even at times playing train hopping.... 

If you are looking for a game that has some amazing views and some fun things to do with loads of friends then look no further then GTA V, if you want something a bit more in depth.... look elsewhere.

I do apologise for this not being a more in depth review but to be honest i find it hard to review this game as it's different each time with whoever you play it with, the only thing that remains the same in the game is the dodgy servers and butthurt kids whining that you killed them.... it's just really a continuation of GTA IV... which is a shame because it had the potential to be even more amazing!

Thanks guys

I will be posting more often now, so keep watching the page!