So, That Solowheel Can Make You Stronger, Huh?

While I don’t think we’ll see the fine creative geniuses at Inventist put the tow truck business out of action at all, this video they’ve posted in pretty interesting and shows that their cool Solowheel can get your bigger ride moving with a good push. I’d imagine this won’t work on a city bus or anything heavier than the car shown in this footage, but it’s certainly easy for a big skeptic to disprove if they want to. Have at it, science and get back to me. I can’t afford a Solowheel just yet (and hell, my sense of balance has sent me threatening letters if I happen to look lovingly at one at a trade show ever again), but I sure like looking at one when there’s a rider on one who can make that thing move like wheeled lightning…

New Addition: Pandora’s Tower Arrives!

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So, I ended up getting all three of these seemingly final US version Wii RPGs and I’m very pleased that I did this when they were their normal prices and not overinflated eBay purchases. I fired up Pandora’s Tower for just over an hour today and it’s pretty interesting so far. It’s a mix of elements from Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, Castlevania and a few other games with a nice JRPG look (some pretty visuals and an appropriately unique color palette). On the audio front, the UK dub is solid and the soundtrack so far is excellent with its bombastic classical and choral elements driving the action and some cinemas. So far, it’s not really “innovative” in any major ways, but developer Ganbarion has done a solid job in taking the hack & slash and having a bit of fun with it. OK, now I need to get a few more posts done so I can get back to playing this one…

Bethesda Reveals The Evil Within (Well, A Live-Action Trailer, At Least)…

In case you were wondering just what Shinji Mikami has been up to… well, here you go. Bethesda Softworks has revealed a live-action trailer to his and Tango Gameworks’ upcoming single player psychological/survival horror game, The Evil Within. Nothing has been revealed yet about the characters, story or gameplay, but IGN (hey, why not me?) has a big first look popping up on Monday that’s sure to get them traffic and attention. The game is set to come out in 2014 for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and “next generation consoles”. Hmmmm… My take on that last part is I personally think they’re spreading this new SKU a wee bit too thin, as I think it would be best on ONE generation of systems and PC. If this gets over-hyped and expected to meet a certain target, but fails to do do, it will hit Bethsoft a bit hard on a few fronts. Granted, they could have another Dishonored here in the form of a hit that turns a genre on its ear-hole, so I’m at least optimistic on that front. Now, it’s all about some hands-on time to see what’s what… Bethsoft, you know how to reach me…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Goes Gold, Pre-order Bonuses Split Personalities…

Espresso_Suit_Pack_US  Field_Ops_Suit_Pack_US

It’s almost here, folks… Now you have to make a BIG choice here if you pre-order this upcoming PS3 exclusive – do you get yourself a tactical advantage with that Field-Ops Suit Pack DLC from Amazon OR are you going to energize your game with the Espresso Suit Pack DLC from GameStop? Decisions, decisions… enough to make you a bit schizophrenic, I’d say. I usually dislike DLC like this from different retailers, as it’s an annoying ploy to make you miss something and/or choose sides as if this loyalty to a particular retailer was a good thing.

That said, it’ll be interesting to see which DLC wins out here and if possible, if ALL who buy the game will have the chance to get both packs and that bonus DLC noted below down the road as free or paid content through PSN. That’s the most fair way to go, I say – especially with the cult following this game has and some players wanting everything that can get out of it including these two outfits.

New Features for Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut:

New Scenario – Surprising new scenario from the game’s director, Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro that will please new and hardcore fans alike
HD graphics – complete graphic overhaul with new HD textures
Improved Controls – reworked control system and mappable controls allow for an even better combat experience
Downloadable content – Expand the mystery beyond the original game and let Agent York (and Zach) live it up in Greenvale – *PROFILING START*

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The Lords of Salem “Beasts” Clip: You Can Run, But… You Know The Rest.

I happen to like Rob Zombie’s horror films and more particularly, how he’s grown as a director since House of 1000 Corpses, which blended horror and black humor in the style of a bunch of 1970’s genre flicks. The Devil’s Rejects worked even better as a sequel thanks to his darkening the characters and comic relief even more in favor of a relentless sense of dread and some truly shocking violence. The soundtrack was also amazing for its use of classic 1970’s radio songs that drove some key scenes (the ending of the film is particularly brilliant). His takes on the Halloween films were really cool because he gave Michael Myers a back story that made you actually feel for the disturbed kid who’d become the unstoppable killer of your worst nightmares. I keep meaning to see The Haunted World of El Super Beasto on cable, but I keep missing that animated feature or finding it on somewhere in the middle and I want to see it from the beginning. Anyway, The Lords of Salem looks pretty creepy based on the clips and trailer I’ve seen, so I just may have to check this out at some point. Of course, I’m so busy that it’ll probably be on cable late at night with me half hiding under a blanket…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Slippery When Wet!

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Uh oh! Well, as you can see here, FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!) is in a little spot of trouble. OK, a BIG spot of trouble. But it’s kind of his own damn fault for wearing those stupid, expensive (non-FBI issue) leather shoes with no traction soles out in the pouring rain. You’d think the man would at least pack some decent rain gear in his car trunk or carry a plastic poncho in his pocket, but nope. Of course, he’s actually in no danger in this shot because the Red Seeds Killer actually burst out laughing for a few minutes, allowing York to make good his escape with just his dignity injured and in need of a change of clothes. Well, better mud than blood, I say… although both kinds of stains are a total bitch to get out. Especially from a nice suit such as that. You can’t just toss that in the washer and then into a hot dryer… unless you plan on donating it to a shorter person who can iron really well…

DP_PreorderAnyway, make sure you wear your rubbers if it’s raining on April 30, 2013 and you’re headed out to pick up a copy of Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, exclusively for the PS3 from Rising Star Games. The updated HD visuals, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support plus over 100 changes from the original version will have you grinning no matter what the weather is doing outside. Just make sure you look both ways when crossing the street, as I think that Red Seeds Killer can drive as may not want you to make it home in one piece so he can continue his evil ways…

swery_birthday to youHmmm… I think Game Director and part full time coffee maven Swery 65 likes the rain quite a lot. Greenvale tends to get quite wet this time of year and at night, it’s the perfect time to see and run into all sorts of oddball things. Most of which are out to kill you unless you know where they are and how to avoid them. I hear he’s disconnecting his phone on the day the game comes out so people don’t ring him up for clues at all hours of the night.

Two More Reasons To Grab Message From Space On DVD…

Sure, it’s not the best sci-fi flick out there, but there’s a certain crazy exuberance in these clips that makes Message From Space pretty hilarious in its own right. Yeah, I like bad films as well as great ones, so sue me. or at least watch this one and some of the others I recommend from time to time. You’ll get an education on cinema and not have to pay too much to some silly film school where all you’ll learn is you’ve gone into debt and no one will hire you to work on a feature film because you spent too much time in class listening to some old guy telling you there’s nothing better than Citizen Kane. Which is true in some respects, but there are a LOT of great (and not so great) movies in other genres worth seeing…

Shout Factory Thaws Out 1990’s Captain America (And Its Camp Awesomeness)…

I remember seeing this at a convention and being floored at how cheesy some parts were but overall, it being really fun it was to watch. Cap with those wings on his head straight out of the comic book, battling the Red Skull and a bunch of Nazi creeps worked well for what it was, but of course, Marvel buried this budget flick for ages soon afterward. It’s actually not bad at all and LIGHT YEARS better than the terrible TV series that ran for a short time in 1979. Then again, it seems that Cap has gotten better with age in terms of his film and TV appearances. The most recent flick was sheer fun from start to finish and even the video game kinda-sorta based on that flick wasn’t half bad, warts and all. Anyway, if you loved that new Cap flick and want to check out one that’s in the same vein, defintely hit up Shout Factory’s site and grab this comic book flick if you like your heroes imperfect yet still able to put a boot up the butt of the bad guys

Iron Man 3 Featurette 2: Tony Stark Certainly Doesn’t Buy His Suits At Men’s Wearhouse…

Another week, another Iron Man 3 making-of feature bound for the home video release (mark my words). It’s fun seeing Marvel set up their universe through these recent flicks that do an interesting job at condensing that huge history from their comics into two-hour (or less) chunks easily digested by the masses. Granted, for some reason Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and some other heroes haven’t yet gotten that “perfect” reworking as film properties (at least in my opinion), but it’ll be interesting to see how the characters from other films cross over into the more popular ones over time…

Star Trek: The Video Game – Making of (3): Voice Acting Is Not About Good Looks…

OK, OK, so Chris Pine isn’t exactly Bummy McBumenstein with that 45 o’clock shadow he’s got stuck to his face, but this video shows that you can completely be in character and NOT need to dress the part nor call in the makeup team. The upcoming game is getting star power with what looking like quality work from some core cast members as well as music from the film. Oddly enough, this wasn’t show at Namco Bandai’s recent press event, but I’m not worried at all, as the bulk of games shown (save for some indie downlables and the fun surprise that was Young Justice Legacy) there were from Japanese developers. In any event, Star Trek hits stores on April 23, 2013 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. I’ll be diving in solo, as I’m a lonely guy with no friends (waah!), but I guess I can take a trip to a friend’s to see how the co-op plays…