Tough Love: I’d Feel Sorry For Nintendo If They Were Smarter…

Posted on July 29, 2011 by geelw

Call me crazy, but it looks as if history is repeating itself, this time a bit louder. The last time Nintendo tried to capitalize on the 3D “trend”, we ended up with the Virtual Boy, an interesting yet flawed device that tanked because it was too unwieldy, initially too expensive and only had a handful of monochrome titles released with few others cancelled or shipped out in small quantities. It landed in the discount bins at rental shops like Blockbuster and retail stores and is now a rather cool collectible that showed Nintendo does indeed make the occasional mistake. Flash forward to this week's news that the 3DS is getting a 32% price chop (which resulted in Nintendo's stock dropping by 21% as of this writing) and yes, thanks to a number of high profile game delays and cancellations, it's a case of here we go again… almost.Read more »

See You At PopRally!

Posted on July 27, 2011 by geelw

It’s going to be a SUPER BUSY day today, between a few press meetings (Bethesda and D3Publisher, sorry EA – I had to drop someone today and you lost the coin toss!), then it’s off to MoMA to help the KillScreen guys out with tonight’s Arcade event at PopRally. I’ll be manning the LIMBO station starting at 10PM until 11:30, so if you’re in the area, drop by and say hi! If I can, I’ll take some photos and post them tomorrow or around the weekend. I still have Call of Juarez: The Cartel and Captain America reviews to complete (among other things…)

Random Game of the Week: FOTONICA

Posted on July 27, 2011 by geelw

Indie game development is all the rage these days to the point that it’s changed the way games are made and marketed (some would say for the worse in the long run, but I don’t agree and that’s another article for another time). I often play way too many of these when I should be doing more important things, but it’s always great to discover buried treasures before they get uncovered by the usual suspects and dragged out into the sunlight for all to play as some sort of next big thing.

Anyway, Santa Ragione’s spectacular FOTONICA was recommended by a friend and I’m glad I took his advice. It’s a simple, one button game with a stylized look and fast-paced, but easy to grasp gameplay you’ll want to experience for yourself. PC and Mac compatible the game is also a free download (but there’s a suggested ‘pay what you want’ donation I’d suggest you use just to support the developer). Anyway, enough blabbing from me. I’ve a busy day ahead – go play a game today!

Cool Stuff For The Masses: Grow Your Own Mushrooms!

Posted on July 26, 2011 by geelw

Hey, everyone needs a hobby, right? I have a bit of a green thumb (sometimes), but one thing I’ve never tried was growing my own mushrooms. Of course, living in a NYC apartment, I’m not exactly sure how to get started, but my experiments with a few pepper plants are doing well so far. Granted, I’ve been too busy and yes, lazy to look up the hows and whys and mushroom varieties, but thanks to the fine folks at Back to the Roots, it looks as if I can knock one more thing off my bucket list.

The Oakland-based company has whipped up a really cool Urban Mushroom kit that will let you grow up to 1.5 pounds of tasty oyster mushrooms in a short amount of time. All you need is a sunny window, a spritz of water a day (and a mushroom kit, of course) and soon, you’ll be harvesting and saving money on store bought mushroom of indeterminate age. The cool and weird thing here… the growing medium in recycled coffee grounds! For a mere $19.95 (plus shipping, but buy TWO kits and shipping is FREE), you can either grow these yourself or give someone quite a unique gift. Guess I’ll go order a kit and keep you posted on what happens. Hmmmm… I wonder if these guys have Enoki or a few other varieties?

New Trailer: El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

Posted on July 26, 2011 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/uvvjMUwBMqQ?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

UTV Ignition’s phenomenally gorgeous, sure-fire winner of a sleeper hit may have been pushed back a little to an August release (from July 26), but don’t be disappointed at all. Just go play the demo if you haven’t (and play it again a few more times if you have) and absolutely pre-order this one so the fine folks at UTV Ignition can sleep better at night knowing you’re all a bunch of hardcore gamers who’ll support these guys and their awesome game. Or awesome GAMES, actually. Vanillaware’s spectacular Dragon’s Crown is also one of their future projects, so they need as many of your gaming dollars to show that you guys want this one as well when it’s finally done and ready to ship.

Catherine Is Coming!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by geelw

Well, alright. Atlus came through and is indeed shooting over a copy of Catherine, which makes me happy beyond words. Well, I have words, but you’ll need to wait and see what they are. Granted, I’m still buying the retail version (both of them) at some point because I’m crazy like that, but I’ll be diving into the review copy as soon as it arrives and getting it done up as quickly as possible. Thanks much, guys!

Become Part Of Gaming History – Support the Videogame History Museum!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by geelw

Now I wish I REALLY had a million dollars to spend. Some friends of mine who are supremely serious about game history (well, because they’re part of it) have a wonderful Kickstarter.com project going to fund an actual museum devoted to preserving all sorts of games and game goods from the beginnings of the hobby up to today’s games. Check out the project link and video HERE and absolutely DONATE (there are some awesome options that can get you some cool swag if that’s your thing). The team needs $30,000 by September 1, 2011 in order to make this happen and they’re currently at $9,475. Again, check out the link and let’s make this happen!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1760848975/the-videogame-history-museum/widget/video.html

Instead Of An Evil Dead 4, Why Not A…

Posted on July 25, 2011 by geelw

…remake of the 1970 horror flick Equinox, which can indeed be seen as a prequel of sorts to the Evil Dead films? Hell, it definitely inspired Sam Raimi and I’m crazy enough to see an influence or two in a few other horror films such as Phantasm and The Gate (but I could be wrong). Not to second guess anyone involved in the project, but I’d personally prefer Bruce Campbell to play something er, closer to his age range and not attempt to prance around like Harrison Ford in that last Indiana Jones flick (aided by stuntmen and CG work where necessary). OK, maybe I was a wee bit too influenced by Bubba Ho-Tep (see it if you haven’t – it’s weird and insanely funny) in judging Mr. Campbell’s current state (that Old Spice ad campaign from a few years back shows he still has it going on). Nevertheless, I just don’t want any of the crazier fans to get their hopes up and think there’s going to be a NEW trilogy of Evil Dead films with the new one kicking things off. After all, the movies DID inspire quite a few Duke Nukem quotes and we all know what happened when HE came back recently (and a few too many years late for some folks)…

Gallery: GoldenEye: Reloaded

Posted on July 23, 2011 by geelw

While previewing the revamped GoldenEye 007 on the Wii last year at an Activision event here in NYC, I asked one of the Eurocom guys if PS3 and 360 owners would ever get to see how great the game was on an HD console. While I forget the EXACT answer I'd gotten, it certainly wasn't “No”, which was indeed a good sign. Flash forward less than a year later and *boom!*, here it is: GoldenEye: Reloaded, a beefed up new version (NO, it's not a straight port) that features even better visuals and a few new game modes. Check out more screens below the jump.Read more »

Aliens: Infestation Headed to Nintendo DS This Fall (Way To Go,WayForward!)

Posted on July 20, 2011 by geelw

Just when you thought the Nintendo DS was going to roll over and die an unceremoniously dull and quiet death thanks to Nintendo pushing the 3DS hard as the next big thing, there's a ray of light that pokes through (well, BLASTS through) and shows everything is just peachy (for the moment). Sega has announced that Aliens: Infestation is headed to the portable this September. WayForward Technologies with a little help from Aliens: Colonial Marines developer Gearbox Software are taking the hugely popular film franchise on what's looking to be a wild retro ride that could be the best portable Aliens game to date.

Given that there haven't been too many good Alien or Aliens games on a handheld, that's really not saying much to some of you out there. On the other hand, if you know WayForward's stunning 2D work on the Game Boy Advance and DS (Their Contra reboot was phenomenal) as well as the upcoming BloodRayne: Betrayal, you know you're in for a superior firepower-packed instant classic. Hell if the DS IS going to go out soon, it's absolutely going to go out with a nuclear bang. I can't wait to see how this one's turned out.

Official game Info below the jump – I'm off to warm up my DS from its too long hypersleep…Read more »