Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball: Welcome to the Hype-erdome!

Posted on January 10, 2015 by geelw

I tend to avoid promoting many Early Access games because you never know if they’ll actually be completed and there’s nothing worse that getting thrilled over vaporware. Still, after my eyes rolled back in my head when my inbox showed me an email about Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball, I checked out the YouTube video and nearly fell off my chair laughing. But that’s actually a good thing in this case…

This one’s an instant classic because it’s pure insanity made by ONE guy and seems to have taken Steam by storm. This is what happens when you have time and talent to spare plus a great deal of focus on getting things right. I still dislike multiplayer gaming for a number of good reasons, but I’ll now need to try this out just for the new Arcade mode that’s just been added. The game is being constantly tweaked and according to the press release I got yesterday, has dethroned the mighty Counter-Strike as as the best rated multiplayer game on all of Steam.

Of course, I also have too many painful memories of playing dodgeball in grade school and junior high, so I’d gather my initial hesitation was warranted. I’m not averse to disco, although when it’s in a videogame, I get really awful flashbacks of Cyberdillo, an atrocious wreck of a game for the late, lamented 3DO. Fortunately, Disco Dodgeball plays like a faster-paced version of BattleSport mixed with multiplayer Quake set to some danceable tunes. If you’re bouncing up and down in your seat to the beat of those beats, ten bucks gets you in the door, there’s a no drink minimum and you can hang out as long as you like. If you do decide to grab this one, you may or may not run into yours truly. I still dislike playing online games, but this is one that may make me change my mind for a few minutes at least…

Hikari Friday: Win A Colorful Creature For Your Collection!

Posted on January 9, 2015 by geelw

This week Hikari Friday giveaway from Funko is a sort of amusing one to me. I’ve always seen The Creature From the Black Lagoon as a “serious” (yet somewhat amusing) monster in those films (well, except for the last one when Universal tried to make him a half-man half amphibian thing). However, seeing this week’s giveaway made me crack up because Funko went and made him the least threatening-looking classic Hollywood monster I’ve ever seen. Take a gander at Secret Base Creature Hikari Sofubi Figure:

I was laughing because my first thought was along the lines of “So, what’s that secret base filled with? Fruity Pebbles?”. Clearly, this Creature has managed to sneak his way inside, slaughter all the guards plus Fred, Barney and Dino and eat up every box of Pebbles in the formerly “secret” secret base. Yeah, you laughed too. Anyway, as usual, this one is a limited edition (winner gets #1 of 1500) and entering is easy as pie. Click on over to one of Funko’s social hubs:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Enter by any rules necessary and you’re all set. If you’re the lucky winner, you’ll be notified next week and soon enough, this glitter filled sea beastie will be decorating your home. Disco ball and strobe lights not included. If you don’t win but still want this cool collectible, just boogie on down to your favorite Funko retailer to grab one for your very own. That one won’t be a freebie, but it’s definitely going to be quite the conversation piece!

BUY IT! Blazing Labbit One-Day Sale at GoHastings

Posted on January 9, 2015 by geelw

Okay. I had no idea Kidrobot’s wonderfully cool Labbits were still being made and this one almost made me cave in with the open wallet. I have more urgent financial needs, so I’ll need to live vicariously through one or more of you out there. However, you’ll need to act quickly. Online retailer GoHastings only has this Marvel Ghost Rider Labbit collectible figure sale up TODAY until midnight, so ~~jump~~ HOP to it already!

$20 off one of these is a big deal and it doesn’t have that Nic Cage crazy smell either. Just pure vinyl formed into a pleasing shape and colored accordingly. Ahhh… I can almost smell this on your shelf. Um, well… if you leave me a spare key under the mat, I’ll come by when you’re not in and do all that Labbit sniffing and leave you a nice note after I’m done.

Hmmmm. This reminds me that I need to see if Kidrobot will be at Toy Fair next month. I guess I should make an appointment to go sniff some Labbits, huh? Back in a bit…

READS: Kirby’s Kamandi Gets The IDW Artist’s Edition Treatment

Posted on January 9, 2015 by geelw

This may, IDW Publishing will be rolling out another Jack Kirby Artist’s Edition, this time featuring his classic post-apocalytic Last Boy on Earth, Kamandi. The 160-page book will measure 12 x 17 inches and feature issues 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 9, along with additional covers and other bonus material. Fans of the King’s artwork will get to see it published in actual size from color scans that show every detail and correction. A close look at that cover shows a great example of composite art, with a photostat of the titular hero placed on top of that Statue of Liberty background. That’s how it was done in the pre-computer art age, kids! Anyway, pricing on this book is TBA, but if previous Artist’s Editions are any indication, expect to pay somewhere between $125 and $150 for this one.

Some Cool Bundles Because You Need A Winter Break…

Posted on January 9, 2015 by geelw

Okay, I’m behind in stuff thanks to this week’s repair shenanigans, but let’s play catch up for a bit, shall we? First off, IndieGala is now running Friday bundles! Awesome. This first one of 2015 just so happens to contain some really great games all at a can’t pass it up price. Did you miss out on the Five Nights at Freddy’s craze last year? Well, you can now get that one-room horror game plus one of Scott Cawthon’s excellent role-playing game hybrids, The Desolate Room. There are also some other cool titles in this bundle, but I’ll let you see them for yourselves…

Meanwhile, over at Bundle Stars, there’s the Bloodshed Bundle to keep you warm on this cold weekend (and a lot more cold weekends, as there are a lot of games here!). I’d say Blood Knights and The Dark Eye: Skilltree Saga are worth the $3.49 alone, but you also get To The Moon (which is a bit of an odd choice for this theme, but it’s a great game nonetheless), Volition’s flawed but decent old RPG Summoner and a few others make this one a total steal.

Okay, you know what to do. It’s going to be freezing this weekend (hell, it’s freezing now at the library I’m in typing this post up) and you don’t want to be caught off guard with nothing to occupy your time except TV Land reruns. Get to it, then!

Brandish: The Dark Revenant – Whip Out That PSP One More Time!

Posted on January 8, 2015 by geelw

I was going to use the word “Brandish” twice in that title, but my brain is all fried up from today’s rather mind-boggling “finale” to the kitchen repair job that still has me reeling. They’re done… but NOT done. I give up! Well, not quite yet, but man… am I wiped out from all this nonsense.

Anyway, next week (January 13) sees Nihon Falcom’s remake of its classic Super Nintendo RPG Brandish land on PSN for the PSP and Vita rechristened as Brandish: The Dark Renevant. I need something nostalgic like this to keep me sane, so it looks as if it’s going in the queue. Xseed Games deserves props one more for keeping the PSP alive after all these years,but as noted, the game will also run perfectly on the Vita as well as PlayStation TV if you’ve committed some money to that newer device/service. $19.99 is the MSRP and the game promises some old school challenge just like the original (but harder!).

As for what the game is all about, a peek below the jump should satisfy your curiosity… Continue reading →

Holding Patterns: While You Wait, Shall We Dance?

Posted on January 7, 2015 by geelw

Well, today I’m working on some CES and other posts for the other site I’m writing for, GamerFitNation, but I don’t want to leave you all un-entertained here while I get stuff done elsewhere. Here’s a fun sequence from 1944’s The Canterville Ghost to watch and grin over. Just track down the complete film and watch it, as it’s a pretty amusing take on the old Oscar Wilde story you may or may not have read in grade school. Or seen on a small or large screen, as it’s been made into a few TV movies and films over the years. Alrighty, I’ll be back in a bit…

Random Art: A Minor Cure For Some Major Madness…

Posted on January 7, 2015 by geelw

Well, I was going to post more pictures yesterday of the kitchen, which has been partially painted despite a rather glaring repair omission that sticks out like two sore thumbs thanks to that fresh coat of paint. But this whole mess of ass-backward insanity that should have taken maybe a week or less according to This Old House rules has sucked up too much of my energy and is affecting my workload. Blech. Anyway, I’ll probably post some pictures in a few days, but here’s something to look at in the meantime. My poor mind is boggling over how such a straightforward job anyone else would do or have done in a specific order has gotten so surreal. Thursday should be interesting, as it’s when we see if the next guy who shows up to do some work actually figures out what the hell it is he’s supposed to do and gets it right the first time.

Buy This! Bundle Stars’ Abstract Bundle Makes The Odd Oddly Comfortable…

Posted on January 6, 2015 by geelw

Bundle Stars, you rascals. Getting out another great deal on this cold and snowy day and me, too damn busy to play anything thanks to poring over CES news. I shake my press release filled fist at thee, then realize this deal goes on for two weeks. Oh, okay. Well, for the rest of you with time enough at last on hand, if you have $2.49 burning a hole in your digital wallet, you should get the Abstract Bundle not because it’s dirt cheap, but because of the nicely weird mix of games this time out. Me, I’d drop that loot just for the chance to play Vangers again after too many years. This 1998 open world driving/sci-fi RPG hybrid is just too offbeat to describe other than to say it’s like a cerebral version of Mad Max as re-imagined by some talented Russian developers who worked in a free-form style of storytelling and gameplay that’s still unique. Intentionally tough at the outset and vague if you’re not reading dialog and thinking about what was said, the game is strangely addictive and those voxel graphics give the game a strangeness that still works in its favor.

The other game well worth that money is Knights of Pen and Paper, a double throwback that references the good old days of Dungeons and Dragons plus some of the classic console RPGs from the 1990’s. This one’s less tricky to describe but still going to be weird to some new to the experience. I’ll let the game page description take over here:

Take on the roles of in-game players taking on the roles of their characters in a traditional pen and paper RPG session in the ultimate meta role playing experience.

Yeah, it’s that quirky, but quirky is good in this case. There are eight other fun games in the bundle from “old” reliable hits like the two PixelJunk games to more recent oddities that will bring a big grin to your face once they click with your smarter parts. Anyway, I’ll shut up now and post this so you can grab this deal and get your own game on. Play a little for me, please. I may not be coming up for air in a while…

DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition – Dante’s Return-O…

Posted on January 6, 2015 by geelw

Oh, I kill me with these puns, don’t I? Um, don’t answer that. Anyway, both Capcom and the supremely talented development team at Ninja Theory took a tremendous deal of grief and worse from some gamers when DmC was announced and that very different Dante graced that mockup mugshot poster. While the fanboy ire raged and internet fires blazed up on message boards, the game’s development continued as developer and publisher pretty much ignored the haters as they made the game they wanted to make. For the most part, the new game was solid, fun to play and like every other game out there, not without its flaws. Still, it must have moved enough copies to warrant a major upgrade to new consoles as PS4 and Xbox One owners are soon going to see DmC Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition smash onto those consoles in March.

For some gamers who’ve already played this one on the older consoles, the idea of shelling out $39.99 to play it again may seem like a not so hot idea. However, Ninja Theory and Capcom intend to deliver to old and new players buying in a game that’s vastly improved over the previous version… Continue reading →