Month: September 2016

Hasbro Studios Releases My Little Pony: Legend of Everfree Soundtrack

by Lawrence Gallagher

As My daughter grows older everyday, I kind of miss having her explain the wonders of My Little Pony to me and while I’ve never considered my self a full blown Brony, I’ve always been fascinated by the amazing world that Hasbro has created with My Little Pony.

That being said the MLP world continues to grow and with a brand new adventure premiering on Netflix this Saturday October 1st Hasbro studios has released The soundtrack to the film. You can check out the full press release below, pick up the album now and check out the film this Saturday!

 

Hasbro Studios Releases My Little Pony: Legend of Everfree Soundtrack

 The Digital Album Includes Six Original Tracks Performed by the Cast of ‘My Little Pony: Equestria Girls’

 BURBANK, Calif. – September 16, 2016 – Hasbro Studios, the Los Angeles-based entertainment division of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), today announced the digital release of the official My Little Pony: Legend of Everfree soundtrack. The album features six original songs from My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree, Hasbro Studios fourth installment in the popular My Little Pony: Equestria Girls animated movie series which premieres October 1st on Netflix.

The Legend of Everfree soundtrack features new original music performed by the My Little Pony Equestria Girls cast and written and produced by Emmy Award nominated composer and songwriter Daniel Ingram.

“My Little Pony fans love the Equestria Girls series, and the original music from the movies is a huge part of the magic,” said Stephen Davis, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer of Hasbro Studios. “The songs Daniel Ingram has written for the cast of Legend of Everfree are better than ever and the performances are wonderful. The soundtrack is a fantastic way for fans to get into the Equestria Girls spirit ahead of the fourth movie’s premiere on Netflix in October.”

 The songs of My Little Pony: Legend of Everfree offer fans a sneak peek of the adventures in store for the “Mane 6” at Camp Everfree and include a mix of solo and group performances from Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer and Gloriosa Daisy.

Songs from the Legend of Everfree album include:

 

  • “Legend of Everfree” (Performed by: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy & Sunset Shimmer)
  • “The Midnightin Me” (Performed by: Twilight Sparkle)
  • “Embrace the Magic” (Performed by: Sunset Shimmer)
  • “We Will Stand for Everfree” (Performed by: Gloriosa Daisy)
  • “Legend You Are Meant to Be” (Performed by: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy & Sunset Shimmer)
  • “Hope Shines Eternal” (Performed by: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy & Sunset Shimmer)

The My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Legend of Everfree soundtrack is now available for purchase in English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Italian, Polish, Castilian Spanish and German from all major digital service providers, including Apple Music/iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon. http://smarturl.it/MLPEGEverFree_iTunes

6 New Lego Dimensions Expansion Packs Are Here!!

by Lawrence Gallagher

Earlier this summer I told you guys about how excited my kids and I are to check out the next chapter of LEGO DIMENSIONS which was coming in the form of all new expansion packs and the time has officially arrived!! Releasing today are 6 brand new expansions for the game which all work with your current LEGO DIMENSIONS game.

I had the chance to play the new expansions at this year’s Sweet Suite and I loved what I saw. You can check out all of the details below and grab one or all of the new expansions right now at your local retailer. We will hopefully have our first impressions up soon with pics and video as well!

LEGO Dimensions Gets Even Bigger with New Expansion Packs Based on Ghostbusters, Adventure Time, Mission Impossible, Harry Potter and The A-Team

All-New Battle Arenas and Story Pack Offer Gamers New Ways to Play

PS4TM Starter Packs Now Include Exclusive Supergirl LEGO Minifigure

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today the release of six new LEGO Dimensions expansion packs based on the blockbuster franchises: Ghostbusters, Adventure Time, Mission Impossible, Harry Potter and The A-Team. This newest wave of expansion packs introduces Battle Arenas, a first for LEGO videogames, and Story Packs which provide a complete movie-based gameplay experience with a fresh LEGO brick building experience.

The new Battle Arenas offer competitive split-screen local gameplay for up to four players. LEGO minifigures included in expansion packs come with special, golden Toy Tags which unlock a Battle Arena within the free play Adventure World of the corresponding entertainment brand.  Each Battle Arena has four exciting gameplay modes: Capture the Flag, Objective, Base Bash, and Tick, Tag, Boom!, and comes with its own traps, defenses, and special powers that make every Battle Arena unique. Battles can be played competitively or cooperatively in multiple player configurations including 2 vs 2, 3 vs 1, and individually against the system AI to create fun for the whole family.

For a limited time, LEGO Dimensions Starter Packs for Sony PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system will include an exclusive, bonus DC Comics Supergirl LEGO minifigure. The highly collectable Supergirl minifigure has many extraordinary in-game abilities to help solve puzzles and battle enemies and can also transform into Supergirl Girl Red Lantern with additional powers.

Ghostbusters fans who want to make their LEGO Dimensions experience spookier can add the Ghostbusters Story Pack. Players can relive the film and help Abby Yates and her team of Ghostbusters save the world from the mysterious and evil ghost, Rowen, across six action-packed levels of gameplay. They can equip Abby with her Proton Blaster to activate her Charge Transfer ability to move electricity between conduits, and use her Intelligence Access ability for puzzle-solving.  The Story Pack unlocks “Rip,” a new Toy Pad mode allowing players to tear open an alternate universe. In this mirror world, players have the ability to solve puzzles and affect objects and other items in the primary universe. The pack also includes a 3-in-1 buildable Ecto-1 which can be rebuilt into the Ectozer and The PerfEcto, plus the Zhu’s Chinese Restaurant gateway build to customize the LEGO Toy Pad.  Abby Yates provides access to a new Ghostbusters Adventure World with its own unique Battle Arena.

In the Adventure Time Level Pack, based on Cartoon Network’s animated series, players can help Finn the Human on his mission to find the Enchidrion and prove to Princess Bubblegum that he’s a hero.  Players can use one of Finn’s many special swords to cut vines, grapple, and even deflect lasers as they battle foes and travel through the Forest of Mount Cragdor, the Dark Magician’s Brain World and more in this exclusive game level. The pack also comes with a 3-in-1 buildable Jakemobile which can be rebuilt into Snail Dude Jake and Hover Jake. The 3-in-1 buildable Ancient War Elephant can be rebuilt into the Cosmic Squid and Psychic Submarine to blast through enemies and tackle trickier puzzles. Players can unlock the Adventure Time Adventure World and challenge friends in the Pillow World Battle Arena.

Fans of “Land of Ooo” can also add the Adventure Time Team Pack with Lumpy Space Princess and Jake the Dog.  When players need to take off in a hurry, they can jump into Lumpy Car or have BMO give them a lift.  Lumpy Car can be rebuilt into Lumpy Truck and Lumpy Land Whale, and BMO can be rebuilt into DOGMO and SNAKEMO. The Adventure Time Battle Arena offers extra-awesome abilities like Slurp Access, Grapple Swing and Shape Shift.

In the Mission Impossible Level Pack, secret agent Ethan Hunt is being framed for the theft of highly classified materials from IMF and needs help to find the true villain.  Players must infiltrate their way through the American Embassy, CIA Headquarters and more in this thrilling game level. Players can use Ethan’s Camera Spectacles for the perfect disguise and wear the Magno Gloves to sneak up walls.  For a quick escape, players can hop onto the IMF Scrambler or IMF Sport Car, and then rebuild the 3-in-1 vehicles into the ShockCycle and IMF Covert Jet, and the IMF Tank and The IMF-Splorer to access a host of new super-spy abilities.  Ethan provides access to a Mission Impossible Adventure World with its own unique Battle Arena.

Harry Potter fans can bring the wizarding world to life in LEGO Dimensions with the Harry Potter Team Pack featuring the iconic duo of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.  Players can use Harry to cast magical spells such as Wingardium Leviosa, Stupefy, and Expelliarmus to solve puzzles and fight off Death Eaters, or play as Lord Voldemort for access to Dark magic. When travelling across the Adventure World, players can jump onto the Hogwarts Express or Enchanted Car, and then rebuild the 3-in-1 vehicles into the Steam Warrior and Soaring Steam Plane, and the Shark Sub and Monstrous Mouth for special attacks and super weapons.  Players can unlock the Harry Potter Adventure World and bring the fight between good and evil into the Battle Arena.

With The A-Team Fun Pack, players can smash their way through the LEGO multiverse with the classic action hero, B.A. Baracus.  Players can add the mohawk-sporting mechanical genius to their mash-up adventure and use his Super Strength and Fix-It abilities, or activate his special A-Team Master Build and Laser Redirect skills for those harder-to-solve puzzles. B.A.’s Van can quickly get him where he’s needed most, then be rebuilt it into the Fool Smasher and, if B.A. can overcome his fear of flying, rebuilt again into The Pain Plane for upgraded powers in the game. B.A. provides access to The A-Team Adventure World with its own unique Battle Arena.

Developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, LEGO DIMENSIONS is now available for PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and the Wii U™ system.

The Case For Chuck E Cheese’s

by Lawrence Gallagher

As a dad of 4 (whose oldest is now 17) I’ve been through more than my fair share of Birthday parties and despite the hectic cleaning, organizing, decorating and overall party prep schedule that presents itself, theres nothing quite like watching your child have a great time celebrating their birthday. Over the years my family has often gone out of our way to have parties at home because it was “more intimate”. We love having tons of family and friends over and being able to welcome them into our home. My wife always felt having a typical “kids party” at standard birthday party places was just not worth it but as every day gets busier we finally started to realize sometimes it just pays to “leave it to the professionals”.

A few years ago we finally caved in and allowed my daughter to have her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese’s and realized how much simpler our life was because of it. In a span of 2-3 hours our party happened and was all cleaned up with very little effort on our part other than organizing it all. When all the dust was settled, we realized we spent less than we would have buying food and decorating our own home and that our daughter still had the best day celebrating with her friends.

As our boys were born (now 2&4) we went back to the traditional parties at home but this year something (our time and budget) told us for Little Larry’s 4th birthday we should just cave in and head back to chuck E cheeses. After some deliberation we decided to go for it and set everything up online and even got to choose a superhero theme for his party and have digital invites included instead of wasting time and money on paper ones.

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A few days removed from the big event and we couldn’t be happier to report that once again we were reminded just how convenient and fun “taking the party out of the house” can be and although we still love a good, old fashioned, house party with family and friends, our stress levels are in such a better place because of Chuck E Cheese.

That being said this isn’t an advertisement for Chuck E Cheese’s….we just happened to visit there more than any other places. Honestly, we have been to plenty of other fun party places as well (Bounce U, Jeepers, Movie Theaters, etc come to mind).

Most importantly I just wanted to share with other parents one way we’ve found to celebrate our kids’ birthdays while not breaking the bank. While prices can often seem a little high when initially reserving parties at places like these I’ve come to realize that for all it encompasses, you are usually spending the same or less than a party at home would be as well, so its nice to have the option there if you need it.

Does having a giant party or going out mean anything important? Absolutely not. As long as you are there for your child and love them then however you choose to celebrate that is just as important as how we choose to do ours. With that said I want to thank the staff at our local Chuck E Cheese in Jersey City NJ for the peace of mind and professionalism and know that you gave this dad and his wife a great time and stress relief so we could all enjoy celebrating our little guys big day.

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MARVEL INTRODUCES U.S.AVENGERS #1 STATE VARIANTS

by Lawrence Gallagher

Say what you will about different comic book variant covers, but I kind of love the idea of every state having their own Avenger! I just need to know who is NJ going to get?!!!! Im pulling for Ms.Marvel but I’m biased because she attends my daughters High School.

New York, NY—September 21, 2016 — The security of the Marvel Universe is fractured. The world’s first line of defense, S.H.I.E.L.D., can no longer be trusted. The United States no longer has a super-spy agency with its best interests at heart – until now. Prepare for the U.S.AVENGERS! 

They’re the team you can trust!

For the launch of this all-new series, U.S.AVENGERS #1 will feature over 50 unique variants assigning one Avengers to that state! Sam Wilson soars high over Maryland, Iron Man rockets across the Golden State of California, Black Widow defends the Constitution State of Connecticut, and Spectrum shines a light on evil in Louisiana. With more state variants to be revealed in the upcoming days, which Avenger will be protecting you?

“Marvel’s U.S.AVENGERS State Variants are a chance for our fans and retailers to show their home town patriotism paired with some of the biggest Avengers from the Marvel Universe,” says SVP Sales & Marketing for Marvel, David Gabriel. “We knew that a series with the name U.S.AVENGERS would evoke a sense of honor with all of our fans and we really wanted to go that extra step and offer a variant campaign that would allow our readers to show their hometown pride across this great nation – even our neighbors Canada and Puerto Rico! Expect their own variants as well.”

Action, adventure and intrigue draped in the red, white and blue! The U.S.AVENGERS are here and bringing along Avengers for every state.  And eagle-eye readers may notice that all 50 variants will connect to form Old Glory herself, the flag of the United States of America.

Show you pride by tracking down the variants that speak the most you. Which of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes do you want protecting your home state? #USAvengers

U.S.AVENGERS #1
Written by AL EWING
Art by PACO MEDINA
State Variant Cover Art by ROD REIS

For The Much Older Kids: FREAKISH on Hulu

by Lawrence Gallagher

While most of the things I do are geared toward my little guys I always find it fun when I can enjoy things with my older daughters (13&17) and Hulu’s new series FREAKISH looks like a perfect fix for the Halloween season. The trailer definitely had us jumping and I’m looking forward to the series debut on 10/10. you can check out the trailer and press info below.

Check out the new official teaser for upcoming Hulu Original FREAKISH. The teen, horror series premieres all episodes on Hulu on Monday, Oct. 10 and stars digital influencers Liza Koshy, Meghan Rienks, Hayes Grier and Melvin Gregg as well as traditional actors such as Leo Howard (“Kickin’ It”) and Aislinn Paul (“Heroes Reborn”).
Also, as part of a special launch week promotion called #FreakWeek, Tumblr will debut two new episodes of the Halloween event series from AwesomenessTV on a custom Freakish Tumblr page every day for a period of five days (October 10th – 14th). #FreakWeek is a first-of-its-kind event that will allow all fans and viewers to preview and discover Freakish for free on Tumblr (for a limited time), or stream the entire series on Hulu anytime.