Buy It! The Art of Journey (or, My Psychic Powers Are Working Just Fine, Thank You…)

Posted on August 27, 2012 by geelw

Ha and ha ha. I recall telling some folks from thatgamecompany a while back at a press event that an art book on the making of their groundbreaking PS3 exclusive Journey HAD to be released along with the game on a physical disc at some point and guess what? both are happening. Awesome, especially for those of us who KNOW that this medium NEEDS both a digital and physical means to archive milestones like this particular game. It’s too bad that the pressure of making the game has broken up the team, but it looks as if everyone had landed elsewhere and at the end of the day, the game is still an incredible experience not to be missed.

Anyway, buy this book if you’re a fan of the game and hell, if you’re not a fan of the game and own a PS3, get the Journey Collector’s Edition when it hits stores and this book so you can see what all the fuss is about. Hmmm… Now I know what I want for Xmas (or a late birthday gift for myself, or an early retirement present, or whatever)…

CREEPY: An Old Friend Makes Another Comeback (Thanks To Dark Horse Comics)

Posted on August 27, 2012 by geelw

Yikes, I’m old. I used to have a HUGE collection of Warren mags back in the day with a few boxes of Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Famous Monsters of Filmland and even a handful of Blazing Combat issues taking up room along with my massive comic collection. I sold them all off a few years back as more and more video games started taking over my free space (and time), but every so often it’s good to relive the days of ogling great art (much of it from a wide rage of comic legends) and occasionally being freaked out by a well-written horror tale.

These days, Dark Horse Comics is keeping that frightening little flame alive this fall with a new issue coming up, so keep your eyeballs peeled at your favorite comics emporium, I say. Oh, I was going to make a joke about that monster looking like the headboard from Hell or something, but I probably wouldn’t sleep right later. Nothing like that monster under the bed getting pissed off because you now think it doesn’t exist, right? Hmmmm… now I need a pot of coffee…

He’s Baaaaack (And In a Better, Harder Game This Time)…

Posted on August 27, 2012 by geelw

Shhhhh… don’t tell anyone this, but Behaviour Interactive and 505 Games are going to be unleashing a big and furry surprise on PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers soon enough that’s a pretty nice treat from what I got to see and play. I can’t talk more about it until the embargo lifts (soon enough, soon enough…), so I’ll just keep you in suspense for a tiny bit.

Er, that and I need to figure out how the hell to get that darn bear from stalking me (I think he’s on the roof, judging by the sounds of pigeons being squashed). Anyway, drop by on the 28th for a status update (provided that bear doesn’t get into the house)… Off to bed (with a light on and a few bear traps slathered in honey laid out near key entry points)…

Ouch. I Think I Have A Full Body Cramp…

Status

Oh, my eyeballs! my neck! My back! my ass! I’ve been a wee bit busy scanning and uploading a ton of art (not mine) for a friend’s rather massive Powerpoint project, and digging up name and date corrections online, as I’m finding the book I’m using has a lot of errors. So I’m a bit behind on updating here as much as I’d like. Still, I did find time to get in chunk of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron for the PS3 (I’ll try and finish it up tomorrow for a review on Tuesday or Wednesday), plus two more cool RPGMaker games I’ll post about when I’m done with them. All that and I might have a tiny contest to run in a few days (stick around for that update if you like free stuff). OK, I’m going to bed, as I’ve been in front of the computer for the better part of (eek!) 15 hours (eek!!) working on assorted stuff. Back in a bit (creak, groan)…

Retro Review: Sorcerer’s Kingdom

Posted on August 25, 2012 by geelw

I remember the first time I saw screenshots of Treco’s Sorcerer’s Kingdom in an issue of Die Hard Game Fan back around 1992 or ’93 and immediately wanting to track down the game based on the art style and interesting battle system the article described. When I finally got the game, I wasn’t disappointed one bit. In fact, the rather brutal level of challenge right from the beginning kept me playing early areas of the map until I could take down the first actual boss in the game with relative ease, yet still aware that the next area would be geometrically tougher.

While the story is your pretty basic quasi-medieval RPG stuff that’s somewhat predictable in a few of the usual spots, the game doesn’t look at all like it’s stealing from some nameless anime or manga and it’s in the unique combat system that most players will find their fun and yes, frustrating moments…

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Random Film of the Week: Attack!

Posted on August 24, 2012 by geelw

(thanks, Ray Acton!)

As far as war movies go, Robert Aldrich’s 1956 film, Attack! isn’t the predictable, lavishly produced jingoistic, rubber-stamped by the military rah-rah fest glorifying World War II as a unifying fight against the Axis where everyone on our side is perfectly portrayed as a sterling citizen soldier of upstanding moral fiber with one or two likable quirks. Instead, it’s a gripping slice of drama that pulls no punches as it details the breakdown in command of a whittled down unit of soldiers under the command of a cowardly captain (portrayed perfectly by Eddie Albert) and how another officer tries to bring a moral center back to the men before it’s too late.

According to a few sources, Aldrich didn’t get the usual assistance from the Department of Defense when making the film and in fact, had to make do with shooting the entire thing in just over a month using borrowed, bought or rented military gear including two tanks (that military purists will note were badly disguised as German Panzers). Despite this, it’s a powerful, must-see film that’s on par with Sam Fuller’s The Steel Helmet, or Kubrick’s Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket as one of the best films in the genre.

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(Another) Random Indie Game of the Week: Space Funeral

Posted on August 24, 2012 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, I’m late to the whole Space Funeral appreciation party, but hey, I was kind of busy. Actually, I’d heard about the game a while ago from some friends, but I finally just got around to downloading and playing it over the past week and yes, it’s an instant RPGMaker classic. While the gameplay is pretty standard RPG 101 fare all the way (using an Active or Wait time-based system common to the older Final Fantasy games), it’s the amazingly strange art style and general weirdness that makes the game so special. If you recall the more bizarre alternative comics from the 80’s by Gary Panter, Charles Burns, kaz and more, all filtered through a David Lynch lens with a shot of Suda 51 on the side, the game will grab you from the moment you hit BLOOD on the title screen. RPGMaker.net user catmitts must own a time machine or still get videos on his MTV channel on cable or something, as he’s managed to tap into the new wave vibe perfectly, creating an original game that manages to feel as if it was made for a Bizarro World NES.

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Ragnarok Odyssey US Trailer: Vita JRPG Lovers, Xseed Wants All Your Spare Time

Posted on August 23, 2012 by geelw

Packing in a lengthy quest mode, a real time battle system focused on combos and contact, up to four player co-op via ad hoc or online, lovely visuals and some nice connections to the popular MMO series, this one could be an instant classic when it’s released. As someone who liked Ragnarok DS quite a lot and knows this game is going to be a whole lot better, I can’t wait to see how it turned out. My Vita’s getting hungry for more dungeons and drooling denizens determined to drop doom on my poor party. Fat chance, demon-spawn, fat chance, I say, grrrr!

Nintendo Power Shuts Down: The End of an Era, Despite Me Ignoring It (Mostly)…

Posted on August 22, 2012 by geelw

Amusingly enough, I didn’t much care for Nintendo Power back when it launched in 1988. I wasn’t a big NES fanboy and I knew the mag was a house organ designed to pretend anything Nintendo was the best thing since sliced bread. Being system agnostic, I’ve always disliked this sort of thing when it’s that biased against other platforms, so it was quite easy to stick to my guns. Sure, Nintendo was the company that pulled the game industry out from the grave back with the successful launch of the NES in 1985, then created the dedicated portable gaming market with the original Game Boy in 1989, but that didn’t mean they (or any other game company) could always ignore other platforms that had games of equal or better quality.

Despite Nintendo’s instant deity status among millions, initially, I wasn’t too impressed with the NES because I’d played Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Popeye, and a bunch of the other classic arcade ports to death (in actual arcades) and didn’t see the need to do so all over again, no matter how good the games were. Stubborn (and stupid), wasn’t I? OK, maybe I was a tiny bit biased as well, as I somehow had little to no trouble playing some Sega Master System and later, Sega Genesis arcade ports. Ah well, nobody’s perfect, right? I did come around to the joys of the NES and later, SNES once I got my paws on Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale and a bunch of other RPGs I wasn’t seeing on any Sega platform, but that took a few years longer than it should have…

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Update Before the Update Department: Some Kinect-ing Thoughts…

Posted on August 22, 2012 by geelw

So, I played a bit of Dragon Ball Z Kinect yesterday and (*surprise!* ) I didn’t hate it at all. It looks great (well, for a DBZ game), the controls are simple enough to understand (I’d say most fans will appreciate them more than non-fans) and yes, there’s a good workout in there with all that punching, ducking and occasional jumping you’ll be doing.I didn’t ask if there was a calorie counter option, but they will definitely be burned as this game is played…

That’s a good thing, although I’d bet once it hit stores, more kids will enjoy the game than adults. I was about to keel over like a fallen oak tree after one fight. Maybe Namco Bandai is planning some sort of revenge on jaded, out of shape games journalists who keep knocking them when they try to do something different. Then again, I’m not jaded, just really out of shape. The amount of physical exertion needed to play DBZ keeps it from really being a “casual” game experience and it looks as if families with a Kinect in the living room will be getting another game to keep them occupied (and relocating furniture before a foot goes through it).

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