In To-day’s Humble Daily Bundle, The Early Bird Gets The Worm…

Posted on May 17, 2014 by geelw

Please tell me you read that title above in your best Alfred Hitchcock voice and I’ll be your friend forever. Anyway, to keep those of you who read this site semi-regularly confused, a mild bit of culture today in the form of a poem (that I didn’t write, so it’s actually GOOD):

The Worm (by Ralph Bergengren)

When the earth is turned in spring
The worms are fat as anything.

And birds come flying all around
To eat the worms right off the ground.

They like the worms just as much as I
Like bread and milk and apple pie.

And once, when I was very young,
I put a worm right on my tongue.

I didn’t like the taste a bit,
And so I didn’t swallow it.

But oh, it makes my Mother squirm
Because she thinks I ate that worm!

Anyway, today’s Humble Daily Bundle is a (mostly) all WORMS deal plus some other fine Team 17 games that you probably need to play. If you know WORMS, you know you’ll be gathering a few friends to plop down in front of that monitor and kicking them out a few hours later because they just don’t want to leave. get five games for whatever you feel comfortable paying, six bucks gets you all those and WORMS: Armageddon, more than ten bucks nets you FIVE more games including the excellent (and tough as nails) Alien Breed trilogy. Sounds like a plan and nope, I’d never heard of Superfrog until today either! Did I mention you also get soundtracks? No? Well, you DO! Okay, get to the buying and playing and listening stuff. Both the Child’s Play and American Red Cross charities will be thanking you once all is said and done, of course…

Random Film of the Week(end): The Horror of Party Beach

Posted on May 17, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Tommy Retro’s Blast From The Past!)

As it’s almost (but not quite) beach season (unless it’s summer when you’re actually reading this, then BEWARE!) here’s a cautionary tale for you hep cats and hip chicks looking for some fun in the soon to be summer sun: DON’T DO IT! Hell, I mean between the assorted oil and chemical spills and their assorted hasty to long term cleanups that just add MORE nasty chemicals to the waters around everywhere, you’re only bound to run into something monstrous coming out of the water (or heck, just IN the water) that wants to EAT. YOUR. FLESH! (Mua-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!, but somewhat true! Eeeek!).

Anyway, 1964’s Horror on Party Beach kind of predicted this modern age of old-school waste making hasty retreats for beaches everywhere, but the film was SO bad that no one listened because they were busy laughing their bottoms off as this bottom of the fish barrel “Z”-grade spook-tacular stunk up a theater near them… Continue reading →

NAtURAL DOCtRINE Trailer: Or, An Easy Pick For RPG Fans This Fall…

Posted on May 17, 2014 by geelw

While Kadokawa Games’ NAtURAL DOCtRINE garnered decent enough scores from Famitsu (31/40 for the console versions and 30/40 for the Vita), it didn’t exactly sell like hotcakes in its native land. Still, here in the west, the hunger for decent JRPGs needs to be sated, so thanks to the fine folks at Nippon Ichi Software America, we’ll be seeing (and playing) this one soon. I’m going to get this because I’m interested in that PS3/PS4/Vita play and how the game will look across the three platforms.

Granted, I’m NOT the graphics whore type who gets cranky that an game isn’t mapping every bump nor using all of a console’s power at all. I’m just curious as to why MORE games aren’t compatible across the three platforms other than Sony wanting people to buy more PS4s as opposed to hanging onto that older PS3 (or buying a new one). I’m seeing a bunch of games that are only PS4 and Vita compatible and that seems odd because some of them can CLEARLY run on the PS3 with no hassles. Anyway, mini-gripe over. More on NAtURAL DOCtRINE soon – stay tuned…

Guardians of the Galaxy Teaser Trailer: In Space, Everyone Can See You Tease…

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

Well, I’ve changed my tune on this flick since I first heard it was being made, but yet… I worry a tiny bit about its future. I’m betting the fans will ABSOLUTELY eat it up and make it a box office champ for a bit, but I know the more curmudgeonly critics will not get this all that much. There will be whining about everything from the stunt casting, the snarky late 20th century jokes, maybe a knock on any visual effects they dislike, and yes, probably some complaints about James Gunn’s direction when stacked up to the other recent Marvel movies. Eh, whatever, I say.

Of course, I could be wrong (again!), but based on a few Godzilla reviews from folks who didn’t get that film, I’d say Guardians of the Galaxy is in for a rough ride in the mainstream newspapers and websites. Anyway, the real noise drops on Monday, so this teaser is just that. I hate these teasers for actual trailers, by the way… but it’s so common that there’s no way this practice will go away anytime soon because of all the interest each microsecond of new footage draws to movies that do this. Well, it seems to work, as I know I’ll be back here on Monday with another update on THAT trailer. Oh, and yes, that’s the new poster for the film. Nice, huh?

Orphan Black’s Helena: Love Her Or Hate Her, She’s Bad News In A Bottle (And That’s Good)…

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

I’m of the “love her!” camp, as Helena’s unpredictability, penchant for tightly focused violence when she’s doing her assassin thing and her somewhat weird sense of humor all work perfectly for the character. Of course, Tatiana Maslany’s dead-on performance makes the character work so well, especially when she’s playing in scenes with herself (as Sarah, another of the clones) and you see how spectacular she is as an actress. The interesting thing is although both characters tried to kill each other when they last crossed paths, it seems their reunion last week (creepy as it was) may mean some sort of teaming up against their common enemies. This could be really amazing with a twist, because Helena’s bound to snap at the drop of a hat.

Although, personally? I think she’s REALLY just in need of a BIG hug from someone who she sees as her twin of sorts…

IndieGala Friday Special Bundle: 7 Games, 1 Buck, 24 Hours. Math Is Fun, Isn’t It?

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

As with these other 24-hour and then the price goes up sales at IndieGala, after 24 hours… the price goes up! So, get this seven game deal while you can, cheapskates. Granted, you COULD be nicer and pay MORE so more of that more than a dollar goes to charity, but hey – I’ll never tell you how to operate your business so you don’t tell me to mind mine. Anyway, whip out that digital wallet and go shopping. IndieGala’s got a LOAD of stuff to check out on their Gala Store as well. Hmmmm… so much for ONLY spending a dollar, right?

Today’s Humble Daily Bundle Returns Some Modern Classics You May Have Missed

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

Humble Indie Bundle 8 was a great collection of games at a greater price when it was released a long while back and as part of the sites daily sales, it’s back for 24 hours. Grab it, I say, as you get the haunting Dear Esther, plenty of action in Capsized, Awesomenauts, Hotline Miami, and more. I’d also grab it JUST for Tiny and Big In: Grandpa’s Leftovers because it’s hilarious and strange and a funky learning experience in terms of the unique controls and game mechanics. And the music rocks, too!

Anyway, you know the deal – buy up at a fair price, your money goes to charity and you get to smile a lot as you play too many games and wonder what the outside world is up to on a really rainy day. You know… TODAY is a really rainy day here. Hmmm…

Wolfenstein ‘House of The Rising Sun’ Launch Trailer: Doing Up NSFW The Right Way

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

While the first-person shooter variants of Wolfenstein haven’t ever been geared towards kids, it’s been quite clear that Machine Games’ reboot of the series was going for a mature audience right from the moment that first teaser trailer popped up online. I want to play this just because the writing has been pretty adult and amusing in each video I’ve seen and while the game pulls no punches in its dialogue or extreme violence, both work in favor of the material because there’s enough humor here to keep one playing through the blood and bits you’ll see above and in the gloriously gory Stealth vs. Mayhem trailer from a few weeks back I missed. Yeah, it’s clearly not for the squeamish types, but I’d prefer a game that goes this far and makes me want to keep playing than one that’s just mean and stupid just to be so. May 20th on on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC, folks. “Be there, Aloha!”

Godzilla: Now Playing AND Coming (Back) To A Comic Shop Near You!

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

Yep, it’s here and as I predicted, some of the older and fogey-er critics are knocking this about a wee bit too much, comparing it to the 1954 US dub with the inserted Raymond Burr scenes. Boo on those party poopers and their constant penchant for only art house films and other stuff that’s “dryly entertaining”, I say. Sometimes you NEED a good monster stomping up the joint, even if this film isn’t a big battle royale extravaganza like Pacific Rim was.

Anyway, the big guy is also making a big comeback to comics thanks to publisher IDW, writer Cullen Bunn and artist Dave Wachter. Godzilla: Cataclysm is headed to retailers this summer (actual date TBA), and while not tied in to the film at all, it’s probably going to be required reading for fans of that big ticked off lizard. I’ll need to dig up some pages from this to peek at soon, as that cover is rather nicely done.

Transistor Launch Trailer: Four More Days Until The Fix Is In…

Posted on May 16, 2014 by geelw

And here it is (well, almost). Transistor pops up on Steam and PSN May 20th, and Supergiant Games’ new trailer makes it even more intriguing and one of those games that’s a must play. And isn’t that music in the trailer great? Yes, Supergiant is selling the soundtrack as well in their online shop along with some other cool stuff.

I’m quite surprised that they didn’t cast the development net wider so PS3 owners could give this one a buy, as there are currently a lot MORE of them than PS4 owners. Of course, thinking ahead to PC and PS4 means the developer can concentrate on getting games out on platforms where they don’t have to compromise (although I’d bet the game would run fine on a PS3 or Vita if the latter version had scalable type so text could be more easily read). However, Xbox One owners aren’t getting the game (yet) because of some goofy Microsoft policies, but if you have that console in your home just keep your fingers and toes crossed that this can get to you at some point. Minor griping aside, if you CAN play this one, you SHOULD play this one.