SSX Update: Real Life WInter Still Stinks, But The Game Absolutely Does Not…

Posted on February 27, 2012 by geelw

Welcome to Siberia and Alaska (and no, you can’t see one location from the other in the game if you stare at the screen long enough) Outside here, it’s just miserable and non-wintry, but in SSX, you’ll find nothing but white stuff all around. From what I’ve played of it. everything is rock solid and FUN, except those rocks and other solid objects you’ll collide with when you get cocky and careless. Those are not fun. Still, for total sports cowards like me, it beats actually getting on a REAL snowboard and getting a an adrenaline fix right before I crash into a tree or land on the spinning blades of the helicopter that just dropped me off on that run (ouch). Anyway, go buy this one, I say – you get to do stuff you can’t on a real board without those pesky, expensive medical bills and long periods of recuperation and rehab…

A Day Late & A Dollar Short, But I Work Cheap Anyway…

Posted on February 27, 2012 by geelw

Thanks to too much on the plate here (hey, it was an all you can type buffet and I got greedy. They had double chocolate alphabet brownies and I kind of went overboard, oof), my Asura’s Wrath review is going to be a day late (boo!). In the meantime, you can stare at this Ghost Rider sketch I did yesterday while I was taking a break from writing. Er, he’s a big Johnny Cash fan, which is why he’s giving you the finger there. What, you want to get into a fight with a guy whose head bursts into flame (for starters)? Go on ahead – I’ll get the marshmallows, fire extinguisher and first aid kit. Back in a bit with that review and some other stuff I’m working on..

Video Game Appreciation 101 (III): On Instructions and Necessary Antisocial Behavior

Posted on February 26, 2012 by geelw

This time, let’s talk briefly about pain management before moving on to today’s lesson. For this first part of the class, you’ll need a hammer and a hand. Yours, specifically, so you should have two. One-handed gamers are excused from this part of the lesson (unless you can hold a hammer in your prosthetic hand or have a friend who won’t mind lending a hand). Now, on the count of three, raise the hammer and hit your free hand… oh, somewhere around the thumb is fine. Not too hard, now.

Ready? One, Two, Three!

Oops.

As you can probably guess, most of you didn’t actually hit your hands. This is indeed a wise thing. Those of you who did are in a lot of pain and probably wondering why the other 99 percent of the class isn’t joining you curled up in a ball under their seats…

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Spike TV’s American Diggers: The Curse Of The Dummy’s Boom…

Posted on February 26, 2012 by geelw

Yikes. So are we as a nation THAT hard up for cash that we’d ring up a company run by an ex-pro wrestler turned “artifact recovery expert” to carefully (allegedly) dig and scrape out our land for any historical relics that, even though they SHOULD go into a museum, we can pawn for much-needed cash? Minus whatever fee (and cut of the loot) the company gets and whatever rights we sign away to be on the show? Apparently so. Wait, what? They’ve been around since 2005 and even have a magazine as well? Who reads magazines about this stuff these days (and are there Goldline ads in them)?

My head hurts now. Of course, I’ll be doing what I usually do with “reality” TV – give it a wide berth and let those who want to dig it, do so. Nevertheless, I’d not be surprised at all to see an ad for the show that starts off with some rockin’ theme and a beefy voice saying “Where my Diggers at?!”

Feh, where’s Indiana Jones when you nee… No, wait… er, Where’s Lara Croft when y.. Um… er… aha! Where’s Arne Saknussemm when you need him? (I had to pick SOMEONE that you guys had to look up who hasn’t been turned into a pop culture icon yet… in this century, at least)…

Game Appreciation 101 (II): Learn To Love Ambiguity (Or Else)…

Posted on February 26, 2012 by geelw

Yes, this post contains spoilers (but not the ones you probably think).

Not every game is going to have a happy “Hollywood” ending, class. Get over it. Not every single story wraps up nicely and neatly at the climax with the heroes walking off into the sunset with evil burning to death in some car that just flew through a guardrail as the villain tried to make good his (or her, or its) escape.Sometimes it’s boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy never finds girl again. But that’s not always a bad thing if it’s done right and even better, YOU get why it was done in the first place.

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DiRT Showdown “What Goes On Tour” Video Takes You For A Ride…

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

Codemasters’ powerful Ego engine is pretty spectacular for whatever they use it on and I’d say this upcoming all-purpose rally/destruction racer is really pushing it as far as it can go. I’m loving all the modes I’ve seen as now I probably don’t need to keep digging out so many different types of racers in order to get a few different road fixes taken care of. Granted, I really STILL want a solid, PURE rally game from the team down the road that’s even better than what’s here. But I’m certainly not complaining about how much fun I’ll be having when the game is finally out sometime in May 2012 (PS3, Xbox 360 and PC).

Toy Fair 2012: Vinyl (& Plush) Appreciation Society (Part 1): Mezco Toyz

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

There were literally a ton of action figures on display at Toy Fair, so picking just one favorite booth was a losing proposition. However, despite the big guns (Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, et cetera) rolling out some truly impressive new licensed goodies you’ll be snapping up like hotcakes, there were a number of smaller studios that had more interesting and in some cases, more impressive licensed items coming your way in 2012 and beyond. Here’s a peek at a few of my show favorites…

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Game Appreciation 101: Don’t Be A Size King (Or Queen)…

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

Remember folks: it’s not how long a game is, it’s what went into making the experience work so well that you HAD to blow through it in eight hours or so that’s key. Bad games don’t get finished all the time unless you paid full price and want to put in that time just to sate your curiosity before you trade it back (or sell it to an unsuspecting friend). Good games, no matter how short or long they are always have you get to the end and wanting to see more. That’s not disappointment to me – that’s just a developer doing its job…

Double Fine Adventure Update: Fun WIth Ron & Tim

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

Hmmm. It’s way too early in the morning, but I’m up, so here’s a post to read and a long as heck video to watch that’s pretty funny. I made the mistake of watching Mars Needs Moms last night, so this 35-plus minutes actually negated a chunk of that awful film from my memory. Man, was it lousy (it did have some nice animation work, though). Anyway, next time I can’t sleep, I’ll go play a game instead (like Double Fine Adventure, perhaps?)

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II “Reunion” Trailer: Change Is Good (Unless You’re A Nitpicker Who Thinks It’s Not)…

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

While I’d still prefer Sega just get all the parts done and release this on a DISC with all the other Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast Sonic games ever made (they’ll fit on a single Blu-Ray comfortably, I’d bet), we’ll have to “settle” for installments. The good thing is, the dev team is addressing the complaints about Part 1 and it looks as if the animation is fixed up quite nicely. Of course, SOME people out there are going on and on about how the game doesn’t PERFECTLY replicate the Genesis version to a T in terms of every single animation or how some parts seem to take control away from the player and so forth and so on. I say knock it ff and wait for the game (or at least a demo) to drop before swallowing that foot.