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Can Apple Pass Android as a Gaming Platform in 2015?

With the value of the remote gambling sector set to exceed $182.8 billion by the end of 2015, it is clear that this medium represents the future of gambling. The use of mobile and tablet devices also is expected to peak and rise by more than 20 percent in the next 12 months, meaning that these platforms will play a pivotal role in driving growth throughout the sector. From a user perspective, however, the most difficult challenge is selecting the ideal platform and operating system from which to indulge your passion for gaming.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the key considerations for consumers and consider which platform offers the best value for money. Apple and Android are the two main choices, so keep the following points in mind before making a decision.

Historically, Android handsets dominated the gaming market in terms of graphics and gameplay. While some would argue that this has not changed after the release of the Nvidia Shield Tablet, however, the much-improved iOS 8 and Metal graphics engine has at least created a starting point for debate. In fact, when you consider the multi-purpose nature of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, these handsets arguably offer a more convenient gaming experience and far greater value for the consumer’s hard-earned money.

In terms of the range of available games, it is a slightly different story. The Android platform is partnered with the Google Play store, which includes a huge array of games and various titles across multiple genres. From increasingly popular puzzles to games that encourage men and women gambling, this range offers a more diverse gaming experience that will engage players of all ages. The same cannot be said for Apple, who despite increasing its library remains far behind Android in terms of library size.

While this may be considered as a tie, it is fair to say that the Android gaming experience remains a little more developed than the Apple alternative at present. The Nvidia Shield Tablet, which is the first device of its kind that has been designed specifically for gaming, has helped to maintain this competitive market edge as has Android’s partnership with Google Play. While next year’s iOS 9 upgrade and the release of the iPhone 6s may alter this landscape further, for now it is fair to say that Android remains marginally ahead of Apple for gaming.

Source: Guest Blogger at Black Girl Nerds

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An Open Letter to All Blerds

Dear Friend,

We first met in elementary school. I was always curious what you were talking about, laughing raucously with the older kids. You must have seen my interest when we made eye contact across the room because you smiled and waved a hand for me to come over. A polite invitation must not have been enough, so I felt nervous as you got up and walked across the cafeteria to ask if I watched Tommy become the White Ranger. Who hadn’t, I wondered.

We were steady for years until I started to figure out romantic relationships. It was hard to juggle you and them, and they didn’t understand you that well, but those are just excuses. I fell off before Wanda said “No more mutants” and to this day I try to make up the time we lost. Our relationship has been a Deborah Cox song; not “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” but the duet with R.L. people forget existed. I’m an adult now, and I know the secret you never tried to keep: Nerds are the most awesome people you can keep in your life. And Blerds? If you recognized R.L. from Next and were flooded with nostalgia, and you remember the exact moment Tommy pulled out his dagger in the white costume, you understand how special we are in our tiny sliver of the Venn diagram.

Blerds have the best community on the Internet, hands down. You are to online communities what The Wire is to television: Something so amazing that you feel woefully ineffective to explain it. I haven’t dabbled in all online communities to compare – I missed the new parent community, the vegan community, the country music community, among others – but I am confident in saying geeky people of color are the most fun, supportive and socially conscious group I could ever have the pleasure of knowing. You bond over memories of Gargoyles, debate fan casting of Saga, and band together against the onslaught of aggressions constantly hurled against you. You face a constant barrage of racism, sexism and trolls, yet when the Titans attack you mount up a coalition who swarm Facebook threads and Twitter feeds and you take back Wall Maria.

I have always been years behind social media, and was especially hesitant to join anything like Twitter or Tumblr. I kept to my quiet world of Facebook in the comfort of 200 carefully selected friends. It wasn’t until 2014 that I reconnected with Whitney Syphax Walker, watched the launch of Black Nerd Problems, followed other sites in the blerdsphere, and was led to a Whole New World on an African-print magic flying carpet.

Read more from Jordan Calhoun at Blacknerdproblems.com

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5 Issues with the Latest Release of ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’

… and by extension, the whole series of movies.

Plenty of other people have done better, more detailed reviews of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films. I’m not going to add to that list. Instead, I’m giving you a non-review in the form of a listicle. I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible.

This list is presented by Troy L. Wiggins from Afrofantasy.

Here are the five things that I disliked the most about the latest big-screen installment of The Hobbit:

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Not Enough Bilbo

I’m not too keen on Martin Freeman’s comedic stylings, but the man can play a darn good halfling. The film series is called The Hobbit for Ilúvatar’s sake, but we only see Bilbo show up in key plot moments, and even then only to do something entirely predictable for the sake of pushing the story along. Bilbo is the most well-rounded, most believable, most interesting character in the film (dare I say the whole film trilogy), but Jackson saw fit to give Thranduil more screen time – presumably to show us all what an awesome job the effects team did with Lee Pace’s makeup.

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DC Comics Casting of Viola Davis as Amanda Waller Is Exciting

Be clear, the announcement that Viola Davis is now cast as Amanda “The Wall” Waller in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie is pretty exciting news. Sure, we saw Angela “Did I give you permission to speak my name?” Bassett play her in Green Lantern, but we all know Amanda doesn’t mess with Green Lantern like that in the comics, so her role wasn’t going to be major here. Yes, Amanda Waller was also portrayed on Smallville (we see you, Pam Grier), and her cold all-business demeanor (but not her likeness) has been (arguably?) most accurate under Cynthia Addai-Robinson with her portrayal in Arrow. However, what we have here is a big start. Suicide Squad is Amanda Waller’s wheelhouse. If I could be so inclined to quote from the album of Beyonce, track 11 verse 8, this movie will have Viola Davis on her …

For those of you who don’t know much about Amanda Waller from DC Comics, the woman who Shoryuken/Dragon uppercuts the glass ceiling with how hard she goes in the paint. Let me give you the rundown right quickly. This is a woman who runs a squad of villains doing suicide missions in order to get time off for their sentences or pardons (rarely happens), the way she gets sh*t done with politics, through politics or by passing politics all together would make Theodore Roosevelt get her name tattooed across the belly while shouting out, “Yaasss, Amanda! Yaaasssss.” Waller takes the big stick ideology, breaks it over here knee and says, “Let me show you how we goin’ do this.” She ain’t taken sass from anyone, Batman included.

Now, if we keeping it over 9,000 power level, we can already see hints of Amanda Waller appear in Davis’ role of Annalise Keating in How to Get Away With Murder. Keating is a lawyer who goes for the headshot kill or the jugular in the courtroom on the show. However, the main difference is we see Annalise Keating vulnerable eventually within the series. That doesn’t exist with Waller. Amanda Waller has no vulnerability, no weaknesses to exploit. There is nothing she won’t do, and nobody she won’t merk for the mission or the long game. She is a strategist, she is a straight-up general, and she is in charge.

Read more from Omar Holman at Blacknerdproblems.com

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Every Blerd Will Be Proud of the ‘All-New Captain America’

Nerd moments and proud Black moments alike make me happy. But proud, Black nerd moments make me do parkour flips in my living room like Roy Harper in CW’s Arrow.

If anyone who hadn’t read comic books before came up to me asking what they should start with, “All-New Captain America” is on the short list I would give them. (The independent, mind-bending stuff comes later. I don’t want to scare anyone off too soon.) It’s not too far from the MCU that everyone’s familiar with and it explains itself enough where you have no problem catching up.

The best thing about this issue, besides a Black Captain America, is … nothing.

The symbol of American freedom and defense is now a Black man. Even with the current strength of racial tensions in America, this makes me forget about it all for 10 minutes or so.

The best thing about Sam Wilson, formerly known as Falcon, as Captain America is that he’s still learning how to hold down the mantle and is underestimated by everyone, including himself. He goes out of his way to prove himself and bear the weight of the massive chip he has on his shoulder. Something everyone deals with at some point.

Due to overcompensating, Cap makes rookie mistakes. His natural skill and years of training help him work his way through. And when that isn’t enough, he gets a strong Black woman to help him out.

The flashbacks of Sam’s upbringing are still very appropriate but should start to disappear as the series goes on. For right now, it’s a great tool to use for those unfamiliar.

Source: Keith Reid-Cleveland at Blacknerdproblems.com