Random Indie Game of the Week: DreadOut

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly and ironically enough, one of the scariest work-in progress games I’ve played this year comes from a developer named Digital Happiness. Based out of Indonesia, this small studio is in the process of polishing up their first game, DreadOut, a nicely frightening homage to Tecmo’s criminally neglected Fatal Frame series with a modern (and optionally social) twist.

DH is using the extremely versatile Unity game engine, a wonder tool for a number of small to large studios that can pump out some fantastic visuals the can be scaled to run an a wide range of computers and devices. The speed at which this has come together combined with the quality of the work is pretty astonishing. I believe Digital Happiness happens to be in the CG animation business or something, and you can see this in the character art, animation and general pleasingly realistic style of the visuals.
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Orphan Black Season One: I Hope Tatiana Maslany Has A Lot of Shelf Space…

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

If you missed out on BBC America’s incredible sci-fi drama series Orphan Black because you were unsure about whether or not it would be any good, go find out how to (legally) check this show out and prepare to be amazed. Maslany’s portrayal of (so far) seven different cloned characters is amazing, especially in scenes she shares with herself (through some excellent CG effects and body doubling). It’s not just the different hairstyles, wigs and makeup either. Each of the clones has a separate personality and life which the actress does a remarkable job of portraying to perfection.

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Random Film of the Weekend (Too): Time After Time

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, warnervod!)

Amusingly enough, this RFoTW post was going to be about Somewhere in Time, but I’d mistakenly typed in Time After Time as the title of that film when doing a search for the poster, looked at the results and remembered that while SoT is indeed a fine (and highly underrated) gem, TAT is more pure fun to watch and does a few more interesting things with its characters and plot as it takes them from past to present.

Adding some unique twists to the time travel and Jack the Ripper mythologies, it combines mystery, drama, action and romance with bits of comedy that work despite some first time director flaws in the ointment. Oh, and it’s a grand little science fiction film that works because you’re sucked in so quickly and completely forget the fantastic elements being so farfetched thanks to the story, characters and direction making it so real…
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Game of Thrones 3:10 Preview: Real Party Poopers and More Deep S#!t…

Posted on June 3, 2013 by geelw

Well… jeez. I had a bunch of Wedding Crashers jokes prepared when that banquet sequence began, but those went to The Honeymoon Killers jokes in rapid succession and then no jokes by the time things were done. That was rough. Hey, any episode of a show with no music during the end credits is a bad sign. Well, they DID say this season was going to have a lot of characters killed off, but wow, unemployment checks for a good chunk of the Starks? Well, raise a cup for a few “ghost” appearances, I say (you’re supposed to laugh, as it’s a pun on “guest” appearances. Ha and ha…)- Episode 10 should be even more of a knock to the skull, I bet. Still, it has to be noted that Ned Stark lost his head before the finale and we’re all still watching. Hell, at this rate, Arya’s going to be one pretty pissed off teenager with a long, long list of people to kill… if she’s even around by the time Season 4 kicks in.

Killzone: Shadow Fall Update: Guerrilla’s in the Midst (and Not Monkeying Around)…

Posted on June 2, 2013 by geelw

Well, it sure looks like Killzone: Shadow Fall is going to be another marquee title for Sony’s new console and as you can see here, the guys and gals at Guerrilla Games are making sure series fans get their money’s worth and then some. What’s really impressive here is despite being yet another shooter in a very well-packed genre full of them, if you follow the game from its first chapter on the PS2, you can see the developer maturing as they lay down the series’ trajectory as the focus shifts from one side to another. Win or lose, war is indeed hell for both sides at the end of the day…

Memo to Microsoft: You Can’t Rewrite History By Erasing It…

Posted on June 2, 2013 by geelw

I was going to save this (or a variation of this) for after Microsoft’s E3 press conference, but I may as well do some (ugh) speculation based on their current mine cart zooming to the cliff full of baskets of freshly laid rotten egg ideas.

Actually, I’ll lay some new-age Nostradumbass foundation here and follow up after the show (or during if I’m able to recover from whatever “major game announcements” they throw into the pot that either make or break their new console as a purchase around these parts.

Anyway, for some insane reason, Microsoft keeps wanting to ignore, avoid or otherwise stamp out its gaming history in favor of shipping out a new console that does even more to be less of a gaming system and more of a cable box with a gaming “service” added in, an always connected all-seeing eye that some are already seeing as having serious privacy rights issues and what’s looking like a near complete focus on North American entertainment tastes, well… sure, go right on ahead. I still have three working Xboxes, two dead Xbox 360’s (and when your first console is better made than your second… that’s a bit of an issue) and a nice chunk of physical media to fall back on.

Sure, you’ll get sales from those who want to buy into your service plans and monetization schemes, but but at what REAL cost at the end of the day? You can indeed keep those shareholders and non-gaming investors and overpaid analysts happy all you want, but torching the forest and salting the ground behind you means no one will remember that Microsoft once (at least outside the U.S. of A.) was KEY is helping create a more important part of game history at one point in the faraway past.

That would be the MSX and its variants and not the Xbox, by the way.

More sane over-thought processing to come during or after E3…

The Killing 3(01): Yes, Those Hooks Are Still Quite Sharp…

Posted on June 2, 2013 by geelw

Well, so much for the reborn series being a dud, hmmm? I did myself a nice and tease-dipped favor and switched over to Game of Thrones just so I can catch the second hour of The Killing when it reruns later tonight. I don’t mind the tension of holding out, as GoT is going to keep it high (this is the penultimate episode this season) and I can knock out an article or three in that extra hour. I actually save Mad Men for viewing later in the week through Free on Demand, as that show is a bit too densely packed with characters and plot to sit through in a single sitting (and this latest season is a bit bulky with gloom).

OK, off to Westeros (well, I’m already there with the pack of “ugly” daughters)… Back in a bit…

It’s #drawingday Somewhere in the World (And I’m Cheating A Little)…

Posted on June 1, 2013 by geelw

OK, I thought June 1 was Drawing Day here in the U.S. of A., but it seems I was incorrect (or that dumb site needs to be updated!). Er, anyway… I found some locations in Ireland and other places having a DD celebration where people get out and draw stuff or submit art they’ve done today, but here, it seems all is quiet on the Western front… Boo. Actually, #drawingday seems to be getting used, so perhaps I’m wrong even when that dopey site’s got the incorrect date? Yaaah! I hate being confused like this…

No matter, though. I did some art this week and last (not today, though – too busy!) and I may as well share. No questions, please – I have no idea what was going on in my head in most of these other than either waking up after a silly dream and hitting the GIMP hard or futzing about in MS Paint for fun and no profit. That tree drawing is for all those kids who’ve ever got stuck in class “sharing” crayons with the smug brat who has the biggest box, but only hands you one color (which happens to be black). Enjoy!

Random Film of the Week(end): The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob

Posted on June 1, 2013 by geelw

It’s a big, fat shonda that this 1973 comedy classic isn’t more easily available on home video here in the US. I saw it for the first time as a kid at the movies when it was initially released, then a few times on cable in the 80’s before it vanished. I’d thought it gone for good from circulation until I went to France in 1995 with a few friends and our luggage got accidentally put on another flight from Heathrow during the connection from New York (Oops!).

While waiting around the place we were staying for the airport van to arrive with our bags, I decided to turn on the TV just to see what Parisians watch when they’re not outside at some nice cafe sipping whatever and smoking Gauloises and people watching (which is a fine sport in Paris). Guess what was on? That’s right, and even more amusing, I found out soon enough that the film is something of a national treasure there. Even funnier was during the time I was in France, the two other times I walked past a TV that was on, the film was playing, which led me to believe that there was either a Rabbi Jacob channel running this on a loop 24 hours a day or whomever was in charge of network programming had a rather single-minded sense of humor…
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GOG.com’s Latest Weekend Sale Will Get You Regular Like Clockwork…

Posted on June 1, 2013 by geelw

Another weekend of life on earth means another awesome gog.com sale, so here you go: Another all-Activision deal with a nice lot of classics up for grabs at dirt cheap prices. Of course, you’ll need a BIG clock with a lot of time on it (just make your own and stick by the 100 hours in a day deal you’ve cooked up in your head) and a new career in doing nothing but going through the library of stuff you’ve bought if you buy the whole 31 game package. Well, you don’t HAVE to grab the entire bundle, as it’s quite varied and yes, you might not like every game in the set. But I bet you’ll definitely see a few you just HAVE to try out and that’s what it’s all about, right?