Ha! Funko slipped this into my inbox and I’m a little late in posting but “ATTENTION WALMART SHOPPERS!” Today you can stroll into your favorite one (is there such a thing as a “favorite” Walmart? I dunno, as there are ZERO near me) and get this cool Walmart Exclusive Black and White Daryl Dixon Pop! for your collection. Heck, buy out the entire pallet and put the whole thing against one wall of your room just so you can sleep better at night knowing that you’re safer in the Upcoming Zombie Apocaylpse (TM). Or not. Hey, Funko is so cool these days that they’re also giving you a chance to win one of these vinyls in the usual manner. Hop on over to one of the company’s social channels:
Enter and keep your fingers crossed that you win before there’s something scratching and clawing at your door. Hmmmm… perhaps it’s the postman? You’d better go and check! You may be the winner! Oh, wait… you didn’t enter yet and the contest is still going on. DON’T OPEN THAT DOOR! Ooops. Too late… well, I gotta run – er, see you in a bit (maybe?)… (exits, stage left)
Hey, I did warn you up there in the title, right. Last chance to hold out for a less violent post in 3… 2… (oops):
I kind of slipped and fell in a pool of blood (not my own, thankfully), but didn’t crack my own skull open because I fell on top of a freshly decapitated zombie. Ewww. Um… anyone know how to get some rather stinky blood and brains out of a pair of jeans and a T-shirt? Well, the shirt IS black, so I guess I can get away with tossing it in the laundry pile. As for the jeans? Well, they USED to be jet black many years ago, but have faded to a comfortable black/grey blend. I guess a new dye job is in the works for them once I put them through the wash with that T, huh? Anyway, Dead Island 2 is going to be a “lock up the kids!” game for sure, so you can get a head start on that NOW by finding a nice closet space for the little ones (make sure to measure them and add a few inches, as they’ll most likely grow a bit before the game is released).
Oddly enough, now I’m a bit hungry and even more interesting is I’m having gnocchi with a nice red wine/meat sauce for dinner. What can I say? I made that sauce last night and had no idea I’d be reminded of it while watching a bunch of undead get mutilated in a game trailer. Two more hours ’til dinner… shut up, stomach with that growling!
A paltry $1.89 for this week’s set of Steam code delivered indies is a great deal especially when you take into consideration the assortment you’re getting. A bit of space strategy and combat, some retro action games and a funky little game about some poor guy waiting for his late date to arrive as he contemplates life and such:
I’d like to think that Dinner Date is worth that under two clams alone, but I know some you will disagree on that front. I guess it’s a good thing there are six other games in this deal, huh? To wit: Famaze! (it sure looks like fun!):
Anyway, you know what to do – your backlog needs to be bigger than mine so I can feel better about not getting to EVERY game I’d like to this year. Boo, but that’s how it goes in this digital age. Out of sight is NEVER out of mind. Just out of hard drive space (ha and ha)…
I was a rather huge fan of the seven .hack games back in the day (well, it wasn’t THAT long ago), so getting the chance to go hands-on with Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment at Bandai Namco’s recent NYC event was a must. The two series are similar on the surface in that you play a character trapped in an (faux) online game’s deadly world and both are solo experiences with no actual online play modes.
The game will also include an HD version of the Japanese PSP-only Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment, meaning you’re getting two games for the price of one, a good deal in this age of consumers wanting more bang for their gaming buck. Of course, you’ll probably be wanting to know if the game isn any god, right? Well, let me soothe any potential fears and report that it’s all good (and hard) in this one so far… Continue reading →
Sure, it was a single course (Brands Hatch) and car to drive on that course, but the Project CARS demo running at Bandai Namco’s recent NYC event floored me on a few fronts.
This super-popular initially thought headed for high-end PC-only racer is coming to next-gen consoles in November and (surprise!) is actually set for a Wii U appearance sometime in 2015. More on that later, as overhearing that news from Marketing Director Brian Hong hit me like a ton of bricks as someone was filming me play the demo for their website and I probably skidded off the track and hit something from the shock of that news… Continue reading →
If you’ve never been exposed to the entertaining wonder that is Classic Arts Showcase, it’s time to upgrade your television viewing experience. I could bore you with a retelling of the history of this fully funded highbrow clip show that runs seemingly endlessly in eight hour blocks on cable networks across the country (and is now online for even more people to check out), but that’s what the link to the official site is for. Actually, CAS is rarely “boring” unless you COMPLETELY hate the arts and don’t want to see some of the most unique and completely RANDOM performances from stage, screen and even TV, many of which are unavailable elsewhere.
In case you’re THAT lazy, here’s what the CAS site says about their programming:
Expect the Unexpected
There is no program guide for CAS, because the beauty of CAS is that you’ll never know what to expect. One moment you might be watching a rare film of George Gershwin performing one of his own compositions on the piano, and less than five minutes later you might see Beverly Sills in a great moment from a classic opera. Each weekly eight-hour show is downlinked by hundreds of channels across the country at different times, with different schedules. The element of surprise — not knowing exactly what’s coming up next — is part of what CAS is all about. The goal is to generate excitement and build a new audience for the wide range of performances presented through the arts.
And I can VERY safely say that the randomness indeed makes CAS so much fun to watch. Yesterday I happened to flip by the channel here with about 45 minutes of free time floating about and caught a long clip from a Hitchcock film, a bit of Swan Lake, an aria or two, a clip from the film Aria, a fun bit of an old TV show that had a waltz turning into a sort of sock hop and back again, and part of a Nat King Cole TV performance before I had to head out the door. How cool is that? Sometimes you’ll see old animation, sometimes a musical performance or super-arty film segment, an brief interview with a long dead genius and more. This fragmented presentation recalls MTV in its early days when it played stuff seemingly at will, although if you watch CAS long enough, you’ll see there’s a method to the non-madness.
Anyway, if you’re bored this summer thanks to the TV dry spell, give Classic Arts Showcase a look-see and if you find yourself strangely addicted to it, well… my work here is done.
Fun fact: There are three live performances of “Uncontrollable Urge” on DEVO – The Men Who Make The Music/Butch DEVO & The Sundance Gig from 1978, 1996, and 2003 respectively and both the dynamism and choreography haven’t changed a bit. Granted, the younger DEVO was a slimmer, trimmer band way back when that first LP was released, but the more spud-like shapes of the band-mates doesn’t slow them down one bit when it comes to delivering what’s still one of their most memorable hits.
If you’re new to the band or maybe not so new but haven’t yet seen them live, this set of eyeball and ear searing old stuff will show you DEVO’s originality and rather special craft that’s kept fans around through think and thin. With a new tour and cool crowdfunding project happening, MVD is helping bring these guys to a new audience that needs to listen to something other than the radio-ready junk that sells in lower and lower numbers each year…
MVD Visual has done up a VERY entertaining DVD here that’s a combination of the long out of print 1981 VHS tape (DEVO – The Men Who Make The Music) and a complete 1996 reunion concert given at that year’s Sundance Film Festival along with two bonus DEVO clips from a pair of MVD’s other DEVO video discs. The Men Who Make The Music is a bizarre “documentary” of sorts that combines six 1978 concert tour clips, the two videos from 1976’s “The Truth About De-evolution” and three music videos (from the band’s first LP) as it spools out the story of the band dealing with music industry pressures of the time. In all the weirdness, I’m gathering the band may have been having some issues with Warner Bros. Records trying to control it to some extent… or perhaps this was all done as a send-up of this sort of thing common to the industry. In any event, it’s a hoot to see the young spuds, Booji Boy and General Boy “face off” against Rod Rooter and pretty much not follow his dopey orders to stick with those yellow jumpsuits. Continue reading →
Cyanide Studios’ upcoming stealth/action game, STYX: Master of Shadows is looking pretty slick and I’d bet that one doesn’t need to have played the developer’s previous game Of Orcs & Men in order to hop into Styx’s boots and feel right at home. It’s too bad this one’s only for “next-gen” consoles and PC, as I know more people would have the chance to play it if it were kicking it “old school” on the PS3 and Xbox 360. But hey, that’s one way to get people to finally make the move, I suppose.
In any event, this certainly looks like Cyanide’s best work to date and I hope even the most jaded gamer out there gives this one some respect, as it’s too easy to fall into the “I never heard of it before, so it must be crap” trap I see scribbled about games all over the internet. Yuck. Styx needs to get stabby-stabby on those folks, I say. We’ll see what happens in November when the little guy sneaks into store shelves or a download queue near you…
I had to stop playing Shadowgate after about the first ten minutes because my face was hurting. No, I didn’t get blasted by a real fireball coming from my monitor or anything like that. It’s because I was grinning so much that I think I was exercising more muscles than I’ve used in a while. Anyway, it was obvious from that short stretch of time and later on after about another hour of play that developer Zojoi Games has nailed the game they created back in 1987 as a perfect reboot on a few fronts.
The game manages to retain the same gameplay as the original while adding plenty of new content in an absolutely beautiful (yet suitably grim where required) art style as well as a grand, redone score by Rich Douglas that’s as stirring as the visuals… Continue reading →
Yep, it’s that time of the week again and this time, it’s everyone’s favorite skull-headed nuisance who wants to invade your collectibles shelf. Check out this Havoc Skeletor Hikari Sofubi FigureFunko is giving away to ONE very lucky winner:
#1 of only 2000 can be all YOURS if you get on over to one of Funko’s social channels, enter and do whatever lucky dance you do when you really want to score a win:
Well, okay… dancing is optional when you enter, but I’d bet you a buck you WILL dance around the room if you DO win this one. I know I’d be doing just that if I got that email next week saying I was the big winner! And if you don’t win, just poke your head into your favorite comics shop or other retailer that stocks Funko products and see if they have this in stock when it ships out in September. Anyway, GOOD LUCK as usual and check back next week for another Funko giveaway!
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 