Happy Anniversary Overwatch!

Happy 2nd anniversary to Overwatch! Here's a compilation of some of the amazing cosplay I've seen over the past 2 years!

Emerald City Comicon 2017

Here's a little recap of all the cool things and awesome cosplays I saw at my first Emerald City Comic Con. It's also my first time editing a video like this so I hope you enjoy!



Cosplayers appearing in this video:

Buzz Lightyear - RawrBomb
Chirrut Imwe - kirikavision
Emerald City Ghostbusters
Foam Friction Cosplay
Diablo Barbarian - Theena Cosplay
Commander Shepard - Evil Ted Smith
R2-D2 Mech - Kato's Cosplay
Torbjorn - Doran Clan Creations
Fallout Assaultron - LadyLongShanks
Ghostbuster - Sophy Wong
Borderlands - Modulus Props
Singing Robot - Jonathan Rose
Logan and X-23 - That One Cosplayer Guy

Mini Halo Sniper Rifle Project

I really should have spent this weekend working on a cosplay for Emerald City Comic Con, but I ended up working on this little project. It's a mini Halo sniper rifle! I started by finding an image of it (and a rocket launcher for a future build) and printing it out on card stock.

The basic premise is cutting out the image, tracing the basic shape onto foam, then building it out in layers. I used 6mm foam as a base, 3mm foam for the accents, wooden dowels for the barrel, and a pen cap & tire valve cap for the sight.

2016 nerdy views in Review

2016 was no doubt a savage year, and here at nerdy views, which is now three years old (yay!) it was definitely a year of transition. I started this site to write about movies, television, & entertainment in general, and this year I continued to move further away from that to focus more on building creative projects. And judging by the response I've gotten, it sounds like I'm doing a decent job. Anyway, I just wanted to take a look back at some of the things that made my 2016 memorable.

Celebs

Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Doctor Who, & the Power Rangers really does kind of sum me up. And add a little Fresh Price of Bel Air in there to top it off!

I met Peter Mayhew at WinterCon and he signed my Chewbacca Funko while he enjoyed his orange mocha frappuccino.

Steve Cardenas was the second Red Ranger from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I remember scheduling my college classes around that show.

I met Steven Moffat, the current Doctor Who & Sherlock showrunner just randomly at a Star Wars booth at San Diego Comic Con and I totally fanboyed it.

I met Ernie Hudson from the Ghostbusters at Hudson Valley Comic Con, and he was super nice in allowing me to take this selfie with him after he signed my Winston Zeddemore figure.

And finally, I wondered what Karyn Parsons from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was doing at WinterCon, but it didn't matter why because she was super cool, and her show definitely helped shape my sense of humor when I was younger.

I can't imagine meeting any of these people under normal circumstances, but at conventions, there's always a chance!

Overwatch Winter Wonderland

The latest seasonal event for Overwatch is Winter Wonderland! I really loved Halloween Terror and Junkenstein's Revenge, and I've been looking forward to this holiday event for quite some time. New skins, new emotes, new victory poses, and Hanamura & King's Row get all snowed up! Plus, the brawl is a Mei based snowball fight called "Snow Brawl!" Unfortunately, I don't think every character is getting a holiday skin, but just look at Pharah & Winston! I totally want those! You can read more about the update over at Blizzard.



The winter activities end on Jan 2nd so get your holiday loot boxes while you can!

Overwatch Halloween Terror

The latest seasonal event for Overwatch is Halloween Terror! It looks like every character is getting a new Halloween themed skin, plus new icons, sprays, & emotes! And a new co-op mode which looks like horde mode! You can read all about the updates over at Blizzard.



The Halloween fun is already active and ends on November 1.

Destiny Hunter Knife Project

I made a thing! Officially, this is my first foamsmith prop, the Destiny Hunter Knife. I've only played Destiny a handful of times and it never really hooked me, but I wanted a small project to start with and this prop looked really cool. Can you believe this is made from a gym floor mat? It was a huge learning experience where I made a TON of mistakes and probably didn't document as well as I should have because of that. Plus I mainly followed Bill Doran's YouTube video on how to construct this prop (with a few differences), so you can check out his videos for a more in-depth look at creating foam props because he's the expert! But here was my process.

I started by getting the blueprint of the knife from punishedprops.com and it's free so anybody can go get it! I traced the pattern onto EVA foam and craft foam, glued them together with Barge, and roughly cut the shape out with a utility knife. I cut the holes with a coping saw. That was one of my first mistakes. It left a pretty jagged edge that I could never clean up that well. I should have used a forstner bit or sharpened PVC pipe as Bill suggested. Next time!

Assassin's Creed Trailer

The first Assassin's Creed trailer debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night and here it is!



Based on the popular video game, Michael Fassbender plays Callum Lynch, a descendant of a secret society of assassins who relives the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar during the Spanish Inquisition 500 years ago.

Weathering the Master Chief

A few years ago I tried to get myself back into model making with this Sprukit of the Master Chief from Halo. The Level 2 version is pretty simple. It's only 109 pieces and took a few hours to put together. The model is made by Bandai who makes all those awesome Gundam models. Without glue and paint, I thought the finished product looked pretty good.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens

It was only a matter of time before Star Wars: The Force Awakens got its own LEGO game. And here's the teaser which mimics the first Force Awakens trailer with its own LEGO twists.



Seriously, I did not think BB-8 could get any more adorable. I have been proven wrong.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits all major game platforms on June 28th.

Star Wars 8-Bit Cinema

Are you tired of Star Wars yet? If not then take a look at CineFix's latest 8-Bit Cinema creation, dedicated to the Star Wars Original Trilogy. The one that started it all is told in "Legend of Zelda" style, The Empire Strikes Back is given the Mega Man treatment, and Return of the Jedi looks like a fun "Golden Axe" or "Final Fight" type game. And that music just takes me back to simpler times. Where can I play this?!?

Conan Plays Fallout 4

I find it funny that despite Conan O'Brien's obvious disdain for games and his general incompetence at them, he still receives early copies of popular releases. The reason? He's just too damn funny playing them. In the latest edition of Clueless Gamer, Conan plays Fallout 4 which comes out today. Conan plays the game like any other game by making fun of it, abusing his partner Aaron Bleyaert, and by trying to have sex with every female character in the game. Plus, those are some form-fitting vault jumpsuits...



Conan even had a Fallout 4 styled opening on his show last night!



And you know what? He really does look like the Vault Boy...

Transformers: Devastation Rolls Out Today!

Just a friendly reminder that Transformers: Devastation is out today! The game is about Optimus Prime and the Autobots trying to stop Megatron and the Decepticons from "cyber-forming" the Earth. Devastator has been featured pretty often in the trailers, I mean c'mon, his name is pretty much in the title of the game. But it looks like Menasor is in the game as well! And as Bumblebee says in the launch trailer below, "I did not see that coming."

Halo 5 Blue Team Opening Cinematic

A few weeks ago, the Halo 5: Guardians opening cinematic was revealed showing a newly upgraded Spartan Buck (played by Nathan Fillion) along with the rest of Osiris team. Now here's Blue Team's turn, led by the Master Chief himself.



Halo 5: Guardians hits the Xbox One on October 27th.

Goku VS Street Fighter 2

Gamebill Studio just pit Goku from Dragon Ball Z against the entire cast of Street Fighter 2, and the results are expectedly pretty catastrophic for the SF2 folks, showing just how overpowered Goku really is. I mean he doesn't even have to go Super Saiyan for most of these guys.



So what have we learned? Kamehameha always wins... :)

Buck's Back! And He's a Spartan!

Well this is news to me. Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck played by Nathan Fillion, last seen in Halo: ODST and Reach will return for Halo 5: Guardians upgraded to a Spartan! Check out the opening cinematic for Halo 5.



Halo 5: Guardians hits the Xbox One on October 27th.

Transformers Devastation Is All About Nostalgia

Transformers: Devastation looks to be the badass offspring of the G1 cartoon series and Devil May Cry. Add to that the original voice actors, and you've got a healthy dose of nostalgia mixed in with a lot of hack and slash combo action. Just check out the latest gameplay trailer and you'll see these Autobots know kung fu!

LEGO Dimensions Ghostbusters Packs

LEGO Dimensions is the upcoming LEGO video game that will mash together various franchises like The Simpsons, Doctor Who, and Back to the Future. Well one of those franchises is Ghostbusters and here's a look at some of the packs that will be released for it.

Here's the Peter Venkman Level Pack which comes with a little Ecto-1 and containment unit!

Here's the Stay Puft Fun Pack which comes with a terror dog.

And here's the Slimer Fun Pack

The busting begins September 27th.

LEGO Dimensions - GREAT SCOTT!!!

Heard about LEGO Dimensions? It's an upcoming video game that's like Skylanders or Disney Infinity where you can buy figure packs and play in the game as those figures. This is a huge deal because existing figures such as those from the LEGO Movie and DC Comics will be playable in the game as well as brand new figure sets like Doctor Who and Portal 2. And here's the first direct ad for the game featuring Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown from Back to the Future.



Just imagine all these different franchises being able to interact with each other. Think of it like the LEGO Movie, but on a much larger scale. And in case you missed it, here's the official announcement trailer featuring Joel McHale, with a few Easter eggs thrown in for potential franchises involved in the future like Ghostbusters and The Simpsons.



LEGO Dimensions comes out September 27th.

Game of Thrones Parodies

With Game of Thrones premiering today, let's get into something a little silly. Game of Thrones parodies! Here are a few of my favorites.

From The Warp Zone comes this Game of Thrones medley which is pretty spot on. It starts with Dany Targaryen covering "Titanium" by Sia. C'mon, you can hear her sing "I am Targaryen!" Followed by the Lannisters covering Katy Perry's "Roar" mainly because their motto is "Hear Me Roar." Arya, Jon Snow and Robb Stark cover Eminem's "The Monster" which is probably the weakest entry. And everyone joins in a the end for Imagine Dragon's "Demons."