Robot Wars – Season 10, Best Final Ever

Spoilers let’s just get that out of the way now because I have to talk about this in detail.

Top 10 Weaponised Toys

What was once a symbol of childish innocence and the joyous revelries of youth so easily turned into an engine of death. Perhaps by design, by mistake, by technology or by mysticism, there’s nothing quite so creepy as a toy turned deadly. Despite their cuddly and fun exterior, you wouldn’t want your kids playing with these…

Or would you?

Robot Wars: House Robot Carnage

Not going to lie here, this season of Robot Wars rather snuck up on me, I found out that it was coming back on the day it aired so I had a lot of hype to cram in to a few hours, but it’s all good.

After last season was heavily advertised on the back of how awesome the rebuilt House Robots looked it must be said that their involvement in the autumn season was rather minimal, confined rather strictly to the corner patrol zones (CPZ) with no means of traversing between them. In the second season the producers included a narrow perimeter patrol zone in between the larger corner areas that meant the House team presented a much bigger threat. In addition, they’d be set free to do far more terrible things to immobilised fighters, sadly no longer the case, although it does make repair time a little easier on the builders.

TV Review: Christmas 2016

Alright, there’s one last bit of ‘Christmas’ and ‘New Year’ to deal with and that’s what the TV was like during Christmas and the New Year. I specified Christmas, as they usually say they’re a Christmas special, even when they happen after Christmas is over for another year. Nevermind – As this year we had a hell of a treat on TV, as well as a highly amusing yearly wipe by Charlie Brooker. Now, don’t worry, we’ll mainly focus on the geekier of the three things I was looking forward to the most… But the purpose of this article is just to explain the why we have Christmas specials and why this year was pretty good, but certainly not the best year for them.

Wales Comic Con 2016

Glyndwr University Wrexham has become the host to one of the biggest local geek events, a pretty heavily star studded comic convention that dabbles into most of those fandoms and fields that we hold dear.

I’ve been to a lot of MCM Comic Cons in Telford, a mini version of the ones you may know from Birmingham or London, basically a big pay-to-enter open market with everything you could ever want to buy, much to see and famous faces to meet, and yet I don’t think I’m quite so taken with MCMs efforts as I am with Wales Comic Con. I only attended a few hours of the Saturday, so there’s not as much to discuss about WCC as there is about a Kitacon or a Amecon, but…

Well let’s start by saying that two hours in the freezing cold, knees going rigid, nose numb, and all remaining body heat lost to the icy hands of a loved one, accompanied by a cold and dry bacon sandwich sold at an only slightly inflated price, watching as those who paid beforehand shuffle keenly into the embrace of central heating, it all serves as a valuable lesson to buy your tickets in advance and dress/cosplay warm. Still, not enough to put me off giving it a shot, especially with the help of a caring friend bearing hot beverages.

Inside the whole campus is unrecognisable, not that long ago I saw the entry foyer full of graduating students, now awash with cosplayers. Banners mark the lecture theatres as event halls for the live Q&A sessions scheduled constantly throughout the day filled with panels of celebrities from various TV shows. I made it to an hour with Ian McElhinney, Tom Wlaschiha, and Ian Hanmore, or Barristan Selmy, “Jaqen H’ghar” and the warlock Pyat Pree from Game of Thrones; lots of behind the scenes stories, wishful thinking, wild speculation and wishing certain characters weren’t dead (like Barristan Selmy and Pyat Pree for example), and absolutely no confirmation whatsoever that the Faceless Man would return for season seven.

Side rooms were open for gamers, one for traditional gamers, including a stall for local shop 4th Planet, and tables for anyone to come and bust out a board game or Magic deck. A full hall was filled with various consoles and PCs, including gaming tournaments and a well fenced off VR experience. Also of note, a couple of side attractions, including a mock-up of the Iron Throne and Wheely Big Cheese of the Robot Wars alumni.

A courtyard was filled with food stands including freshly made doughnuts, a double-decker gaming bus from Fragers and a shooting range, also a stand for the local owl sanctuary which got a lot of love. On the far side, a market filled with the standard memorabilia, artists and artisans, trinkets, weapons – larp and otherwise, and more. The walls were lined with stalls where guests could greet fans and sign autographs, in between photo opportunities and panels.

Then we come to everything not seen. I know there were halls I never entered, parties I didn’t go to, an entire day I didn’t attend, so clearly there’s still plenty more to do and see. I only went to one panel, but there were screenings of TV shows and films, chances to meet people that next time I think I’ll be making more of, for a start I’ll be paying ahead and getting in out of the cold. If this seems like a short review of such a huge event it’s because I squeezed as much as I could out of a short window and I feel like I’ve undersold Wales Comic Con in the process.

Still, there’s always next year. Might see you there.

Robot Wars House Robots

If you, like us, enjoyed the legendary BBC series Robot Wars in the late 90’s to early 00’s, then you’ll doubtlessly be either pleased to hear it’s coming back, or anxiously awaiting its return. While the presenter has changed (Dara O’Briain, who I’ve no doubt will do a superb job) the rest appears to remain much the same, including a few returning combatants, and the ever popular House Robots. But a decade on, and a few things have changed…

Oh but the times have changed… and so have the House Robots.

VMWare Presents: Robot Wars

Robot Wars is great fun and anyone who has seen the chaotic carnage caused by the roboteers will know only too well, that the pits are coming back to our televisions soon. Join our contributor, Murray, who saw a live event of Robot Wars recently and shares his experiences of being up and close to robot legends.

Top 10 – Robots

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These are the laws that may one day save us from a Matrix/Terminator style situation, the rules that all artificial intelligence must be bound to, with some possible extra stipulations to prevent I.Robot happening too. Despite the fears of luddites who still beat their phones with rocks hoping for the fire that might cook their freshly slain microwavable pasta, science marches on with an army of entirely hypothetical robots at its back with only the purpose of discovery, and also having a cool butler who makes drinks and you don’t even have to pay him.