Pathologic Reborn: Ice-Pick Lodge Remakes Its Flawed Classic As A Crowd-Funded Next-Gen Game


 

Pathologic BirdWhile it had its share of problems, 2005’s first-person adventure/role-playing hybrid Pathologic was one of those “creep under your skin” game experiences that made quite an impression. Sure the graphics weren’t exactly “state of the art” for the time, but the surreal nature of the art style, interesting map layouts and unique character designs helped carry developer Ice-Pick Lodge’s vision of a strange world in the grasp of a deadly plague. While the game didn’t do all that well outside its native Russia, enough of a loyal fan base picked it up over the years to gain it a cult following and of course, these days that means there HAS to be a remake or sequel. Thankfully, I-PL has decided to reboot their original game idea and expand greatly upon it to include content planned for the original that was scrapped as well as create all-new content that’s guaranteed to get the game a second life as a more richly rewarding experience… Continue reading

Random Film of the Week: The Big Parade

(thanks, SilentPianoNinja for making this spectacular modernized trailer!)
 

The Big Parade MPIf you know someone who’s straddling the silent movie fence or avoiding it entirely for some strange reason, The Big Parade is a great movie to get them into appreciating a great many important films they’re missing out on. Director King Vidor’s absolutely brilliant and hugely influential 1925 film benefits from stellar performances all around, and a half comedic/half dramatic structure that introduces its cast of characters with vigor and plenty of humor in that first half before pulling no punches in its latter half’s battle scenes.

The great and handsome as heck John Gilbert along with the beautiful Renée Adorée give what would have been Academy Award-winning performances had the Academy existed at that point in time and for me, this is one of the more stirring pre-sound epics worth rounding up friends and/or family to watch this classic with. You’ll need a kettle of popcorn, a barrel of root beer (that barrel will come in handy later) and perhaps a box of tissues to go ’round the room, as this is 141 minutes of fantastic film making that’s truly stood the test of time Continue reading

To Some Gamers, Dragon Quest Heroes Says: BUY A PS4 ALREADY!


 

Well, holy wow. I knew veteran developer Omega Force was tinkering away on some next-gen, er, CURRENT gen stuff, but yikes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. To SOME of you folks, this is yet another Dynasty Warriors “re-skin”, but to me, it’s another way for Sony and Square Enix to rip money out of my wallet. I know some DQ fans more used to the turn-based or not at all action heavy role-playing games in the series are probably tearing assorted hairs out in assorted places on their bodies that this isn’t a “normal” RPG. But me, I love this sort of mash-up because it brings new gamers into the fold while also catering to the more open-minded fans of this classic series without compromising on the familiar elements that make it so popular. And besides, it looks as if Square Enix is calling this a RPG, so it looks like it’ll be more of one than those other Musou-mixers that have come previously. Okay, and the game looks INCREDIBLE, to boot .

That, and it’s just a fun and funny as hell trailer as it goes on. Yeah, I guess I finally need to save up to buy my own PS4 and stop using one that’s getting not as much use as it should.

Pley Goes Live: So, Wait… You Can Rent LEGO Sets Now?

At PleyYeah, my face probably looked like the little girl on the left of that picture I swiped from the Pley.com website as I read the email I got from the company’s PR person. Yes indeed, you can actually sign up to get an account there and if you’re approved, you’ll get genuine LEGO sets to play with in the mail (well, at home or wherever you get it sent to – playing with your unopened mail is probably some sort of crime) and send back once your done. The mind boggles! Pley even (*gasp*) SANITIZES the pieces so you’ve no need to worry about getting a box full of already stuck together with peanut butter and banana sammich parts to pull apart and put back together.

Anyway, subscriptions range from $15 to $39 per month, so if you’re big into all things LEGO and have not a lot of space for all those sets you want or you just like the idea of fun stuff popping up in the mail that you KNOW you’ll enjoy, well… stop reading this post and go Pley around already!

The Wire Returns, Sharp As Ever (But Sharper In HD. Maybe)…

(thanks, aegies!) 

I caught this news on a friend’s facebook post late last night and did a little hoot and short fist pump. While the official air dates have yet to be set by HBO, the company is finally rebroadcasting the entire groundbreaking series in high definition. What remains to be seen (pun intended, by the way) is HOW the episodes will look on that now standard format if they weren’t originally shot in that format. 4:3 was the standard back when the show originally aired back in 2001, although 16:9 HD televisions were creeping into the marketplace and very common by the time the show’s final episode aired seven years later. That said, poking around on a few message boards shows that either the show was shot in the wide format and cropped for the common man, the show was ONLY shot in 4:3 and we’re going to see less of what we should (boo) or we’re all just nuts and have fallen for a grand hoax. Damn you, internet! Anyway, if this does happen, GOOD. I can go and recommend this excellent series to a few friends who missed out on it and haven’t committed to buying that big DVD box set. If it doesn’t happen, hell, I’ll just hope HBO reruns the entire series on their On Demand channel like they did when I caught the series over the course of a few months thanks to them being smart enough to run a season a month.

As always, we shall see…

The Toys of Summer: Rabbids Baby Want, Rabbids, Baby Get!

rabbids.header.01 Bwaaaaaaah! Remember when I said Ubisoft’s goofy-looking Rabbids were nothing but trouble? Well, they’re STILL trouble and thanks to McFarlane Toys, you can take that trouble from the hit Nickelodeon TV show (and a bunch of fun games) and bring it home with you. But… should you? You KNOW what happens when Rabbids get loose, right? RIGHT? No? Hmmm… apparently, someone did not get the mem-o, I see. Well, FINE then. Hey, I did warn you, so I’m not responsible for the mayhem that will ensue when you allow yourself to bring Rabbids into your lives.

Below the jump is a short list of rather cool stuff (available this month at your favorite toy retailer) you can spend that hard earned money on so you can fill up your space with too much Bwaaaaaaah:

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Double Your Bundles, Double Your Fun (And Double Your Backlog!)…

bundle fest logoOkay, I missed yesterday’s Bundle Stars deal in this five days of bundles (or Bundle Fest, as they call it), but that’s not bad news at all as each bundle doesn’t expire for about a week. So today you get two (*smooch!*), TWO times the bundles! First up, it’s The Arctic Bundle, where $2.49 nets you SEVEN complete adventure games including classics like Benoit Sokal’s Syberia and Syberia 2, both Still Life games, Post Mortem and the gorgeous, bizarre Enki Bilal/Benoit Sokal game Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals. If you love your games packed with puzzles and memorable female characters, this bundle’s for YOU.

Today’s other deal is the Reboot 7.0 Bundle, six Steam games (and a DLC pack for one of those games) that are a nice mix of genres and hybrids. I’m LOUSY at poker, but I see that Runespell: Overture is batting its eyelashes at me and I may groove on over to see what’s up with this oddball RPG that uses poker hand-based combat.

This cool bundle will set you back a measly $1.49 and has a nice set of other action-based games for you to dive into. Okay, now that I’ve hit you over the noggin with too many games, GO GET SOME! I’ll wait here and rest for a bit while you log a few hours of playtime. I could use the vacation…

IDW’s John Buscema’s Artist’s Edition: This October Surprise Is A Must-Buy For Silver Age Fans

IDW Buscema
 
Three words: Oh Hell Yeah. This 12 x 17 Artist’s Edition is a MUST for anyone into John Buscema’s art at its best (at least in my opinion). This collection isn’t the COMPLETE run of his on The Silver Surfer, just issues 5, 6 and 8 for your perusal. Nevertheless, this scanned and printed actual-size from the original art limited edition should sell out quickly at comic shops and online retailers that carry it. Sure, these over-sized collections are expensive, but this one’s WELL worth the price, folks. Buy two if you can and make sure one has my name on it when you’re wrapping up that gift!

Landline, HOOOOOOO!

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geelw's avatar

Yaaaaaah. People ask me why I still keep a landline at home and today is one answer why. No service at a few spots I went to, VERY limited and slower than dial-up* wi-fi at other spots and me going NUTS trying to do a simple update post. Blech! Anyway, it’s near 7PM and I finally found a decent connection, so here’s A post. Not THE post I wanted to do, but that’s slow-biz, folks! Okay, back in a bit. I only have an hour before this place shuts down, but I won’t be staying for that full hour, as I have something cooking in the oven and I’d rather not burn the house down, a ha ha ha…

Bundle Stars’ Bundle Fest: Five Days of BUY ME! Digital Deals…

bundle fest logo
 
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to your backlog… Bundle Stars gives you FIVE good reasons to make it BIGGER. Yaaaah! FIVE days of bundle deals, starting today with the hot (OW!) INFERNO BUNDLE that features TEN Steam (OW!) games for only $3.99! Yikes! The call this the Bundle Fest… but I call it the Bundle FEAST because your wallet will be feeding assorted charities and your growing backlog of games won’t be starving for quite some time! Hey, I could do this pun thing all night long you know. But I won’t, as it would keep you here and not over at Bundle Stars racking up some incredible savings on digital games. Okay, get going – I know you’re in the mood for some fun indies, all for a song…