Carnage Heart EXA: Yes, They Still Make PSP Games!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by geelw

I had to do a genuine double take when I saw these videos Natsume sent my way. First of all, a new Carnage Heart game from Artdink? Wow. The original was a relatively obscure cult hit on the old PlayStation amongst those who dared to brave its unusual gameplay mechanics and high learning curve. A strategy game where you chose AI routines, placed them into a small team of mechs and let the game play out battles you didn’t control wasn’t exactly a system seller. That said, once you spent time poring over the manual and experimenting with customization, the game opened up considerably. There were three more PSOne games made with the Carnage Heart name (Carnage Heart: EZ Zapping and two with similar sounding titles: Zeus: Carnage Heart Second and Zeus II: Carnage Heart) and a PSP game from 2006 (Carnage Heart Portable), but none of those were ever localized. EXA is a 2010 PSP release that originally got both a retail and digital release in Japan, but Natsume is localizing this strictly for North American PSN users (a smart move given how much of a niche title this is). Custom color me intrigued. Natsume has yet to drop a release date on this one, but it’s coming this year and most likely sooner than later. I still have three working PSP’s here, so they’re practically giddy at this news…

The Bard’s Tale Unfolds on GOG.com – Ye Olde, Yet New-ish School Fun…

Posted on January 30, 2013 by geelw

I’m old enough to remember the classic original trilogy (I didn’t get around to playing them until the late 1990’s) and this not quite remake/reboot from 2004 that got decent reviews (I even reviewed it for one site back in the day) and I say you should try it out even if you’re a fan of the older games who doesn’t like more action-oriented experiences. You get those three vintage games as a bonus with this newer one (so there!) and the team at inXile Entertainment actually made quite a hilarious experience to dive into. While the gameplay is purely action/RPG (in the visual and gameplay vein of the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath games), the writing is really funny for the bulk of the Bard’s adventure and there are even “follow the bouncing ball” musical numbers that may have you single along even if you thought you wouldn’t… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: DUNE

Posted on January 30, 2013 by geelw

(Thanks, MovieClips Classic Trailers!)

Recently, someone who hadn’t seen it yet asked me “Is DUNE a great movie or not?” My answer was (and has always been) “Well, it depends…” I certainly didn’t hate it when I first saw it, but having not read the massive sci-fi novel it was based on at that time, my brain had to hold onto the inside of my head for dear life a few times during the more heady moments of mass exposition. I actually liked that David Lynch brought his trademark visual style to the film and some of the ickier visual effects (the alien navigator in the glass case, for example) were there to show this wasn’t yet another budget Star Wars clone.

Granted, the big, loud battle scenes were a big, loud mess and some of the “special” effects were reused too many times (for example, that same enemy ship swooping over the battlefield on Arrakis became a running gag to some friends I saw the flick with). Nevertheless, I liked the production design and facts that the different alien cultures were well portrayed thanks to some solid casting and it was a “pay attention” flick that demanded more of viewers than almost any other American sci-fi film of that period. Of course, it’s no Blade Runner by a long shot, but that’s another post for another random week… Continue reading →

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time Short: I’d Buy That For a Dollar!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by geelw

OK, so it’s not old and classy like Boomerang when they rock those old Hanna Barbera and MGM ‘toons I grew up glued to the tube on, but if there were ever a Sly Cooper animated series made, I’d probably shell out for a DVD or Blu-Ray after the season was over (yeah, that’s right – I like to own discs over downloads any day of the week). Granted, it would need to be better written than say, an average episode of Secret Squirrel or Tom and Jerry, but there’s a gold mine of heist flicks to steal story ideas from. Topkapi, The Great Train Robbery, The Lavender Hill Mob and so forth and so on. So, Sony… find a fine writing team with good transforming skills (who won’t be sued for plagiarism because they got too lazy) and some old-fashioned 2D animators who know their stuff and get that ball rolling – you’ve got a few customers waiting outside the gaming space…

Update! A4Tech G11 Wireless Mouse: From Simple to Super (With a Click of a Mouse)…

Posted on January 30, 2013 by geelw

Oops. Since I was so crazy last year with suddenly having to move the site to a new host between November and December, I had a bunch of posts cooking that didn’t run in all that chaos and ended up saving about 15 completed and incomplete ones as drafts on a USB drive that I misplaced (I thought I’d left it at the library or a Starbucks nearby). Once I’d gotten word that I didn’t need to leave WordPress (whee!), I had to redo a bunch of those old posts, but with too much other new stuff flying in, I missed out on a few including this one (Oops).

As noted in my earlier mini-review, I’m pretty pleased with the A4Tech G11-570HX overall for general usage, art (yes, I draw with a mouse sometimes – so sue me) and gaming purposes (primarily RPGs, if you have to ask). While the G11 looks pretty simple when compared to more expensive mice out there, it’s comfortable to use for hours at a stretch and quite a surprisingly versatile peripheral once you download and install the Office Shuttle Software that turns what looks like a plain ol’ wireless mouse to Super Wireless Mouse, adding a wealth of functions that definitely justify the price point.