Hikari Friday: Universal Monsters Want To Stalk Your Shelves!

Posted on November 21, 2014 by geelw

Continuing the Hikari Friday madness, Funko has two really sweet Universal Monster vinyl figures up for grabs this week. Check out the Original Creature Hikari Sofubi Figure:

#1 of a mere 500 pieces can be YOURS if you’re lucky! The other vinyl up for grabs is this ToyZoo.com Exclusive Grey Skull Frankenstein Hikari Sofubi Figure, #1 of only 750 you’ll be attempting to claim for your own:

As usual, all you need to to is hit up one of Funko’s social media sites:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko

Tweets by OriginalFunko

Instagram @OriginalFunko

Once you’re there, enter as required and if you’re lucky you’ll be getting a little surprise in your inbox within the next week or so. If you don’t win, you can grab that Creature at your favorite Funko emporium and the Frankenstein exclusively at Toyzoo.com. As usual, good luck in your efforts and if you win, remember to remember me when you’re sending out those holiday greeting cards!

I’ve Got The Power (Back!)…

Posted on November 21, 2014 by geelw

Okay, as annoying as this week has been for attempts to get work done, it almost got a wee bit too out of hand. Last night, I plugged in the laptop to tinker with a few posts (I’d forgotten to charge it the day before) and as I’m walking out of the room to make some coffee… I hear a loud “POP!” sound and turn around to see a wisp of smoke rising from near the computer. Gaaaah! Fortunately it wasn’t my laptop that fried, but the power cord on the adapter deciding to ruin my evening. Won-der-ful. Given that I only had about 9 minutes of power left, I decided to call it a night and head out in the morning to a few places around here to look for a replacement cord, hoping it wasn’t the actual power supply that blew out. Of course, being the technical ghetto up here in the wilds, the chances of finding a replacement quickly were slim, but it turns out I didn’t need to spend a dime.

I’d almost forgotten I have a duffel bag full of power adapters, AV cables and other replacement gear in a closet here and after the surprise visit from a painter this morning, I dug out that bag from a closet and spent a bit of time hoping I had the correct cord. Thankfully, I found not only one that matched that Mickey Mouse configuration, it’s also longer. Okay, now I need to get out of here and get back to work. I’m way behind schedule and I hate not being able to get work done that I need to when I want to. Oh, and that painter? Nope, it wasn’t for the kitchen at all, but the wall in my room that wasn’t exactly plastered that well and yup, she ONLY painted the spots that were plastered and not the entire wall which would have made more sense. *Sigh* Well, the entire apartment needs to be done at some point, but still…

Okay, time to get some stuff done, as today’s going to be a bit hectic with a bunch of downloads and uploads and game updates needing to be done. Back in a bit…

Throwback Thursdays: I’ll Trade Almost Any Other Thursday For This One…

Posted on November 20, 2014 by geelw

Hee-ho! So, I find out that the now asbestos-free kitchen here won’t get that new wall and ceiling until DECEMBER. Over the course of four or five non-consecutive days, at that. Yaaaah. So much for the idea of even thinking of having anyone over for Thanksgiving. Who do I need to send a herd of elephants to run over to get a break here? Anyway, some good news comes in the form a a diversion this evening downtown thanks to La Maison du Chocolat inviting me to sample some of their Holiday Collection. hey, chocolate is good for you when you’re stressed! Okay, I’ll make sure to think of all of you while I’m at the event. I may end up oversampling because I’m thinking of all of you out there, so it’s your fault if I end up in a chocolate haze in some alley near La Maison’s NYC shops selling my coat and shoes for a fix.

Hmmm. I feel a song coming on… fortunately I’m NOT doing the singing:

(Thanks, DetroitLives313!)

Back tomorrow or perhaps later tonight if I’m not in a cocoa coma. I’m sitting on a ton of drafts and almost done stuff. I just need to get enough time to get away from the madness here to finish stuff up.

Dragon Age Inquisition is Calling Me (And You As Well)…

Posted on November 19, 2014 by geelw

What a week this is turning into. Anyway, in the midst of all that stuff swirling about in the real world, it seems a lot of fun AAA games have been released for the holiday season. I think I said this a while back, but I’m actually more intrigued by the PS3 version of BioWare’s third installment in this RPG series over the next-gen ones for a few reasons. Almost no one else is going to review it as far as I know because the push to review the next gen versions is pretty high on the bigger sites (and probably from EA). That and more people still own last gen then next gen systems here and around the world. So, yeah… I’m speaking for the little guy here who will most likely make up the bulk of sales this holiday season and into next year. Of course, with my current schedule and apartment issues making me koo-koo, I’m guessing it’ll be a bit of time before I actually get around to buying a copy of Dragon Age Inquisition. Um… anyone want to greatly contribute to my “I need a working time machine so I can play everything in my backlog NOW!” fund? I may as well try to break 5000 posts sooner than later, right?

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Saves My Sanity This Week…

Posted on November 18, 2014 by geelw

Okay, between the kitchen ceiling and walls here STILL not being repaired (oh, it’s a comedy of errors on the whys and hows of that nonsense – worth a post in of itself, but I’ll do that tomorrow or Thursday) and me pulling what’s left of my hair out at other things, I’m glad to have one nice diversion today: Little Orbit’s Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom. WayForward Technologies has cooked up a very inspired top-down adventure with gameplay and aesthetics that are going to be VERY familiar to fans of a certain marquee mascot character. Okay, the game is a shameless homage to the sprite-based Legend of Zelda games, but I’d say that Link HAS to be jealous. Why? Well, he’s only in a big deal fighting game and a nice non-canon beat-’em-up this year on two platforms while Finn is in a game that’s actually a solid Zelda adventure with Adventure Time humor packed into it.

Okay, let me get back to it. Tomorrow, another wall gets partially knocked in and I hope to heck there’s not anything leaky behind it, grrrr… Oh yeah, a bunch of AAA titles arrived today, but I’m not playing any of them (yet).

A Rainy Monday Means It’s Bundle Time…

Posted on November 17, 2014 by geelw

Man, it’s pure unadulterated LOUSY outside. I went out early, so I missed the super soaker shower downpour that’s stopped, but is returning later this evening and dropping the temperature about 15 degrees or so. Blech. Anyway, today’s IndieGala Every Monday Bundle is a nice one for two bucks. Seven games in a mix of genres and all of them cheaper than a cup of coffee and a doughnut in most places? That’s a BUY, people. Unless you need that doughnut to munch on and that coffee to keep you awake in that soon to be spending too long in front of the monitor manner. Anyway, I like the kooky Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus in this week’s deal because the music in the trailer made my weary bones laugh:

(Thanks, William McDonald)

Ah, Tiny Tim must be spinning wherever he’s at. Spinning, I say! Still, I bet you laughed as well, so it’s all good. Anyway, go get some games and stay dry tonight!

Review: Rollers of the Realm (PC)

Posted on November 17, 2014 by geelw

Platform: PC (also on PS4, Vita)

Developer: Phantom Compass

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: ?

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

While it may seem like a super-easy casual game at first glance, don’t let the either the art style or offbeat hybrid concept fool you one bit. Rollers of the Realm offers up a serious challenge to pinball aficionados and is one of the bigger indie surprises of 2014. However, you really don’t need to be a pinball wizard to fully enjoy what’s here. The game offers up enough fun to get pretty much anyone who picks it up pulled into its unusual blending of genres. Developer Phantom Compass gets some decent mileage from its medieval fantasy epic setting, dedicated voice actors and yes, the all-important element of making the gameplay both fresh and rewarding… Continue reading →

The Marvellous Miss Take Trailer: Consider Your Heart Stolen!

Posted on November 17, 2014 by geelw

“Wits not Fists” is the name of the game in The Marvellous Miss Take, the upcoming game from indie developer Wonderstruck, a small team of ex-Lionhead Studios developers and other industry veterans. It’s not the only non-violent stealth game on the way (Mike Bithell’s intriguing Volume springs to mind as an upcoming contemporary worth a look), but it’s looking like a more (and most likely the most amusing) one I’ve seen.

Rising Star Games is on quite the roll with these fun indie titles, but I hope this slick lady thief and her two friends show up on a few other platforms and isn’t stuck on PC forever. This is exactly the type of game I’d love to play on the road on a Vita or some mobile whatever and not seeing it there would be a (wait for it) Miss Take. Ba-dum-bum! Yeah, yeah – corny as hell, but it’s raining cats, dogs, squirrels and frogs outside and I need to make myself chuckle on this dreary Monday…

Anyway, The Marvellous Miss Take is out on Steam November 20. We’ll need to take a peek at this one soon once the backlog has been cleared up a bit.

Busy Bee-ing Busy. Results to Follow Shortly…

Posted on November 16, 2014 by geelw

Up for air and still buried? How about that? Anyway, just a quickie note to note that I;m working on some content for this and another site today and into the coming week, so keep an eyeball peeled for updates. I suppose I could tell you what’s coming, but I like to toss a surprise or three at you and see if you can juggle a bit. Anyway, let me get back to knocking out what I need to knock out, and I don’t mean myself. It’s a wee bit warm in here and it’s a wee bit cold outside, which is normally a good thing. Except I’ve not been out all day thanks to my needing to catch up on stuff. Speaking of catching up, still no new kitchen ceiling and wall, which has gotten old already. I think they’re waiting until after the 19th when the wall in the home office gets taken care of to kick off phase two. I suppose I’ll need to take some before and after photos as a document of some sort, but I’m expecting these clowns to just make the place look exactly as it looked before they busted it up.

(Thanks, dodgybizkit!)

Well, with a fresh coat of paint on the new walls they’re putting in, of course.

You’ll Find Out: Yet Another Oddball Film I Need to See!

Posted on November 15, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, Sleaze-O-Rama!)

Ha. I’d never heard of this 1940 comedy until about a month ago when someone asked me if I’d seen it. I hadn’t, noted to myself to look it up and forgot about it thanks to the stupid time I’ve been having on a few fronts keeping me from being very much entertained. Anyway, in my inbox this afternoon was the trailer above and I got pulled right into wanting to know more.

What a cast! Boris Karloff, Béla Lugosi, Peter Lorre… and Kay Kyser & his band? Yeah, I laughed a lot at the casting here. And if I’m not mistaken, the band and bandleader are the heroes here. Oh, this one’s going on the “gotta watch it!” list for sure. Well, I’m gathering I’ll need to haunt TCM and see when it turns up again. It’s usually the case when I hear about an oldie like this they have in their library that it runs less than a week or so later. Mood lightened considerably? You betcha.