Bugbear Entertainment Has Been Some Busy Bees. You’ll Want A Seat Belt For This One.

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

I’ve had a mad crush (pun intended) on Bugbear Entertainment and their games since I first got a debug demo for FlatOut on the original Xbox many years back and played it to death. I have almost all their other racers (yes, even Glimmerati for the Nokia N-Gage, which needs to remade for other platforms so more people can see how fun it is) and in general, all you need is one go at any of their games to see that these guys love making arcade style racing games that aren’t supercar showcases at all. They’re still around and have made some fine racers, but some were better than others and while each game was well worth playing, I felt it would be a nice thing to see the developer go back to its roots and do something that was fun and chaotic with a hefty amount of car damage making it a guaranteed smash with fans of this type of game. Hey, car puns are too easy to write – I’m holding back here just so I don’t go overboard, folks…
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HBO’s Phil Spector Trailer: Earplugs For The Wall of Sound (With A Pair of Blinders Too)…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Call me crazy, but I find this whole need to recapture every big media frenzy tale that really doesn’t need to be retold because someone actually died as a truncated TV or big deal high-budget movie presented once completed as “based on actual events”, “inspired by a true story” or however else any flick that mixes made up for extra oomph and actual things that happened to be kind of stupid. Granted, movies have been doing this for decades, but it’s getting so damn predictable that anyone committing a crime worthy of a few too many news cycles has practically got MADE FOR TEE-VEE tramp-stamped in big type (and misspelled exactly like that) just where you’d expect.

That said, I bet this will be a total hoot, between Mamet’s tendency to write his dialog all too well and Pacino’s tendency to be Pacino in crazy mode with some of his more out-there performances. On the other hand, this might actually be good… but I really don’t give a flying rat about the subject matter. So…. will I watch this? No. Or to be more truthful, Hell no (but if it’s reviewed as unintentionally hilarious, well… I lied and there goes two hours when it’s rebroadcast)…

Game of Thrones Season 3 Trailer: It’s The Little Things In Life…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Case in point: It’s a good little thing this isn’t premiering THIS weekend, as I’d never get a darn little thing thing done. Hell, I’ll be shoving myself into the freezer with an extra blanket to hibernate so I’m fresh as a frozen daisy for that first episode of the new season, but I’ve got too much to do in March as it is. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see this little thing, “accidentally” flip to the show on the 31st and act like a surprised little thing that the show is on so early. It worked fine like that last season… (sings) “Little things mean a lot…”

Toy Fair 2013: If She’s Your Role Model, You Should Read That Fine Print…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Now, this isn’t your average mildly to moderately angry feminist posting about how any and everything Barbie or any other supermodel-thin artificial female-shaped toy represents the destruction of the normal female body image and how the whole plastic princess thing represents the ultimate in corporate brainwashing or whatever. I can’t write that well because my sense of humor won’t let me and I’m here to rant about something else. That and the last time I checked (I had to pee before I wrote this post), below the brain I’m not much of a feminist. Anyway, while looking through this latest catalog I got in the mail, a theme appeared that made my eyebrow go up and stay locked in that “Hmmmm…” position too long. I had to force it down (my eyebrow, not the theme) with my backup electric toothbrush. The original rolled off the radiator onto an old glue trap the other day and that sucked, but didn’t because if I tried to get my eyebrow down using a toothbrush stuck to a glue trap, I’d have a bit more to worry about…

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Sometimes The Final Frontier Is a Welcome Sight…

Posted on February 22, 2013 by geelw

OK, so I didn’t PLAN to take a break from posting today, but I actually didn’t sleep much last night and decided that since I was awake around 6am-ish, I’d go get started on that ziggurat made of dirty laundry in the other room that a few days back morphed into a golem and was clomping around (leaving cartoon clouds of dirt like Pigpen in those Peanuts comics). It was fun for a while seeing a confused pile of clothes wrapped in a blanket stumble around and make that weird noise laundry that needs to be done makes, but then the damn thing managed to make it to the kitchen the other night and ate the steak I had in the freezer. That was the last straw (well, there wasn’t a first straw, which was my mistake). Anyway, luring the big dope into the shopping cart wasn’t hard (the mileage you can get from day old donuts, folks… go stock up, I say) and yeah, the big lug though it was going for a ride to the park. That took a while, but I hadn’t realized there were TWO piles to do – the other one was the smart one and was hiding in the closet…

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Toy Fair 2013: A Crowded Coop: Valve’s (Other) Secret Weapon

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

If you’re one of those video game fans who collects assorted goodies related to your favorite games or if you’re just interested in fun finds with a quirky edge, I bet there’s a nice possibility that there’s something from A Crowded Coop on a shelf or hanging on or from something you own. Based out of Monroe, Washington and made up of a couple of professional genius business types with heavy experience in all things toy related as well as being some very talented artistic types with vision to spare, the company creates its own products as well as licenses and distributes other trendy, hip gear the cool kids (and old farts like me) love through a number of retail outlets such as Think Geek and other quality online and brick & mortar emporiums. At this year’s Toy Fair, the company showed off an outstanding line of collectibles from some of Valve’s hit games (Portal 2, DOTA 2 and Team Fortress 2), a new line of beautiful plush toys from artist Justin Hillgrove, another upcoming fun plush line called Whim Whams and more that had me smiling even as I walked up to the booth…

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Here’s MUD In Yer Eye: Namco Bandai Gets Milestone’s Moto Racer In Stores Next Week

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

Namco Bandai Games is turning into quite the busy bee of a publisher these days, picking up distribution rights to a bunch of cool-looking titles from a few developers. Milestone’s upcoming MUD FIM Motocross World Championship is coming to the PS3, PS Vita and Xbox 360 on February 26, 2013, so here’s a look if you haven’t seen it yet. The game combines simulation and arcade racing with some real-life riders and racing that’s based on the FIM series plus some stunt-heavy maps to tool around on when you’re not racing. While it probably won’t wow the graphics hounds out there, the game looks decent enough and might be a bit of a fun diversion for those seeking a bit of bouncy bike action in an off-road flavor. You can catch bugs in your teeth at home when the game jumps into stores next week (and on PSN for the Vita).

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NEOGEO X Classics Coming In April With Another Cool Bonus

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

And so it begins (or continues, actually). In case you were wondering when and how SNK/Playmore was going to be getting new NEOGEO X games out, well the mystery has been solved. In late April, selected game retailers will stock the upcoming 3-game card NEOGEO X Classics: Volume I, which is the first of five three-game card compilations on the way. This next series of game cards will feature the following arcade hits from the company’s huge library:

ART OF FIGHTING 3
BLAZING STAR
BREAKERS REVENGE
FATAL FURY: MARK OF THE WOLVES
KIZUNA ENCOUNTER
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’96
THE LAST BLADE 2
METAL SLUG 2
SAMURAI SHODOWN 3
SAVAGE REIGN
SENGOKU
SHOCK TROOPERS
SUPER SIDEKICKS 3 – THE NEXT GLORY
TOP HUNTER
WORLD HEROES JET

In addition, each card will ship with the “ROCKET” High-speed Data Transfer and Charging Travel Cable, at no additional cost. There’s also a system update on the way as well as a travel case for the handheld. More details will drop soon, so stay tuned for more. I’m quite happy with my X, so seeing it get more support is making me a happy camper indeed…

PS4 Reveal Event (Full Version)

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

Put on a pot of whatever and pull up a seat. Here’s the full press event I didn’t get to see live, so whee, we get to watch it together! Hey, it’s NOT a rerun if you’ve never seen it, right? Hmmm. this brings back memories, though. I need to interview Mark Cerny at some point, as he’s been missed for a while on the gaming scene. KNACK looks like a classic PSOne platformer remade with amazing physics and I can’t wait to see more. Amusingly enough, I haven’t seen Dave Perry in years (he’s something like seven feet tall in person), but I remember a chat we had about Shiny’s development on The Matrix: Path of Neo and some other fun stuff a few years back at a loud Atari event. Enjoy the ride, folks… Sony’s just getting started.

Below the jump is the official press release (I fixed a silly spelling error I caught), as I’m too busy to edit the darn thing down, you get to pore over every official word and hold Sony to the fire if they don’t deliver the goods…

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More PS4 News? OK: The Witcher 3 Will Be A System Seller For Some.

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is confirmed as coming to the PS4 (as I figured as soon as I read the initial press release a few weeks back), so FINALLY, Sony fans get to play a CD Projekt RED game and see what they’ve been missing. Hopefully this also means we’ll see The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings or even better, ALL The Witcher games get some love on the new console, as together they make up one of the best written and best looking fantasy/RPG games you’ll play, bar none. I don’t know what’s in the water or food there, but the team at CDPR is made up of some truly talented and smart folks who get it done and get it done right. I can’t wait…

All I need now are some trailers and screens to keep me dreaming of misty woods, crumbling castle and creepy beasties to avoid (or dice up like a sack of carrots if they get too hostile) and I’m good…