Return of Red Hood – Fish Pasties and the Not So Big, Bad Wolf

Posted on February 20, 2015 by geelw

The next time you feel like a little bedtime story, don’t grab a book from the bedside table. Instead, go download NLB Project’s offbeat Return of Red (Riding) Hood and settle in for the short haul that turns into a longer one sooner than you think. This Russian developed game takes the simple tale of Little Red Riding Hood and makes it into a choose your own adventure experience that ends up going all over the place and then some. It’s also a bit of a meta exercise as the whole thing starts out as one character reading the old story to a little girl as a bedtime story, but at certain points, you get to choose different options that alter the next page of the story.

Part of the humor here is from the developer’s sense of humor and part is from the mangled English translation that makes for some grin-worthy reading. Early on, “Pastries” becomes “Pasties” (and yes, I know all about pasty as a pastry, but this is just a spelling error in the game) and you’ll see a few other grammar issues pop up. That said, even with the bumps and grinds in the translation, the stories play out in some pretty amusing manners. The choices you make turn the really short and familiar story on its ear a few times and with 45 endings to discover, you may be up slightly longer than you thought. Is this for kids? That depends. If you and your kids share the same sense of slightly twisted humor and you don’t mind some bizarre twists to the old story, it’s all good. Just give it a read on your own and decide for best results.

That said, it takes perhaps three minutes or less to get to an ending (more if you’re a slower reader), so expect to get to a bunch of that 45 the first time you pick this up. It’s currently FREE and NLB is also trying to get the game onto Steam Greenlight (go vote for it if you’ve a Steam account!). Some dopes on the Greenlight page are actually complaining about the artwork in the game, but NLB can ignore those fools who don’t grasp stylization or realize that you shouldn’t ever tell any artist HOW to make a storybook look. That, and the CG characters and backgrounds remind me of Access Games’ quirky Deadly Premonition, one of those games that uses its “dated” art style to excellent effect.

Finally, if you like what you see and read, it seems that the game engine is also free to use to cook up your own tales. I can see some writer types I know possibly making use of this at some point. Hey, anything to get more people perusing your work, right? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my “book”. Also, I want some pasties now, as reading about them has made me quite hungry…

A Friendly Reminder To Myself From Myself

Posted on February 20, 2015 by geelw

(thanks, Sleaze-O-Rama!)

Yeah, yeah… I know, I know. I tend to forget to do that “break” stuff sometimes, which is a bad idea at the end of the day because I just end up staying up too late and paying for it later. Well, I could use a helper monkey here, but we’ll see about that at some point down the road. Of course, if I had nothing to write about, all this would be SO much easier, I suppose. Ha and double ha. Okay, enough slacking off… *whipcrack!* back to work. I’ve some salt to mine and the clock is tick-tocking away. (Sings) “Cheap holidays in other people’s miseryyyyyyy!”

MVD and Arrow Films Shoot More Mature Movies Your Way Soon

Posted on February 20, 2015 by geelw

Wow. Since I was so darn busy these past few weeks (and still am), I missed the second email from Clint over at MVD and almost missed the third until a friend reminded me to check and see what movies Arrow Films was getting out on DVD here in the U.S. of A. over the next few months. Well, here you go, then – six more films ABSOLUTELY not for the kiddies coming to Blu-Ray or DVD. Three in April, three more in May. yes I can count – you’ll see if you keep reading… Continue reading →

Shut Up & Play It!: Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball Out NOW

Posted on February 19, 2015 by geelw

If ever a game needed to be played, it’s this one. Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball was created by one guy and although it’s been in Steam’s Early Access program for a while, the quality of the game was astounding. Yes, it’s got that silly and catchy title working that hammer on your head, but once you actually see and then PLAY the game, it becomes hard to stop. Whether in solo play or online with friends or soon to be enemies, Disco Dodgeball is a total hoot. It’s only one of a handful of games I’ve played this month (hey, it’s been a BUSY February what with Toy Fair and a few other events), but it’s one that’s been stuck in my head since. Must be the disco tunes or something. And the visuals. And the gameplay.

Anyway, go get this NOW on Steam (it’s 20% off for a week!), then ring up a few friends and tell them to get it as well. That’s not quite a review, but it IS a recommendation.

Tower of Guns Trailer: Shooting Stars (and Everything Else) Via Digital and Retail

Posted on February 19, 2015 by geelw

While digital games are great, the fact remains that not everyone who wants to play them can do so and more games need both physical as well as digital releases. Grip Games is getting right up in everyone’s alley with Terrible Posture Games’ Tower of Guns. The fast paced arcade-like first person shooter that made a digital splash last year on Steam, now headed to PC, PS3 and PS4 as a retail release. Xbox One owners get a digital only release, as Microsoft seems to believe everything is hunky-dory with the download-only releases and discs are a bad idea for an indie game that’s so short. Or something like that.

Anyway, while I jump up and down happily about this news, you can read a bit of the press release:

Always a fresh experience: Random enemies, random power-ups, random bosses, tons of unlockable items and weapons…even random-level compositing! You never know what to expect when you sit down in front of Tower of Guns.
Crazy powerups: You’ve played first person shooters where you can double jump, but have you played any game where you can centuple-jump? In Tower of Guns, with the right items, you can!
Gun-modifying madness: A gun and its qualities aren’t tied together in Tower of Guns. Do you like rocket launchers? You’ll like them more if you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a “Shotgun” modifier. A rocket-launching shotgun is very satisfying.
Single sitting full experience: For all of those who have too many games (or too little time) this is a game you can pick up and play again and again, without remembering where you were or what you were up to. If you’re gonna win, you’re gonna be able to do it over your lunch break.

That’s a big if though, it won’t be easy…

While there’s no exact release date, the deal between GRIP Digital s.r.o. (digital version) and SOEDSCO (retail version) means more people will be playing and enjoying this one and having a blast. Once a release date zips into the inbox, expect an update.

Factory Entertainment Makes A Crown Fit For A (Temporary) King

Posted on February 18, 2015 by geelw

‘Twas Shakespeare who wrote “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” (Henry IV, Part 2 Act 3, scene 1, line 31), but I’m betting Factory Entertainment is laying odds that more stability will be found from Game of Thrones fans with bulging wallets. In addition to its line of licensed plush Dire Wolves, Dragons, throw pillows and other collectibles from the show, that great looking replica Royal Crown of the Houses Baratheon and Lannister above is in search of a few good homes.

Limited to 1500 pieces, Joffrey’s crown is cast from metal (unlike the one on the show, which was made from lightweight material that looked like metal but wasn’t), weighs about 13 ounces and comes with a sturdy 3-pound pedestal. Nope, I wasn’t even about to attempt to put that crown on my big head at Toy Fair, folks. Not because I didn’t want to, mind you. It’s just that I’ve seen the show and read some of the books and know wearing that crown is a really bad idea. Of course, I suggested to the guys at Factory to run some sort of photo contest among the lucky future owners of this collectible to see who was the most hard-core GoT fan out there. But we agreed that unless there was some sort of disclaimer that said something along the lines of “Please don’t ACTUALLY bump off the person in the photo!”, there could be trouble. You know how some fans get – always striving for accuracy in their recreations.

Anyway, that crown goes on sale this spring. Keep an eye peeled for it… or someone may peel that eye for you.

Never Type When You Should be Sleeping, Folks!

Status

Oops. I should be asleep, but I wasn’t and while working on a draft, hit “Publish” instead of “Save Draft” annnnnnnnd… oh well. You all got a preview of a longer article a wee bit too early. Feh. Well, at least you know I’m not slacking off, right? The stupid slow connection up here won’t let me properly edit the post, so you get a new short post to say yeah, yeah, I know that other post isn’t complete. Just hit the pause button between your eyeballs and come back to it in a day or two. It’s going to be a nice little piece once it’s complete…

Okay, I’m going to go to sleep now. I need to get up in about five hours or and roll out into the city for the last day of Toy Fair…

Toy Fair 2015: Gashapon a Time – Bandai and Banpresto Bring Back Memories

Posted on February 17, 2015 by geelw

Back in the mid-80’s and up to about 1994 or so, I was OBSESSED with Gasahpon and Shogukan figures thanks to a few shops in Chinatown that stocked them and the prices being so inexpensive. I partially blame Cracker Jacks for exposing me to fun toys in a box of candy when I was a kid, then over time getting rid of those toys in favor of lousy paper goodies far less expensive to produce. I guess I was unconsciously looking for a substitute one fine summer day when, while waiting at a checkout line at a large Asian market I saw that colorful anime art on those small boxes and picked up four or five of them at under a dollar each.

Soon thereafter, a friend told me about a shop in the area that had what seemed like hundreds of figures for sale from too many manga and anime and I was introduced to higher end, higher quality figures from Bandai and Banpresto. The combination of low to reasonably acceptable price points and the variety of different types of figures lured me in deeper and soon, I was snapping up anywhere between five to ten Shogukan figures a week or every other week. Continue reading →

Toy Fair 2015: Wabbit Season Coming Soon, Courtesy Mezco Toyz

Posted on February 16, 2015 by geelw

So, Mezco Toyz has this rather massive Bugs Bunny figure coming this year:

and I couldn’t be happier. Not because I have the room for a two-foot tall cartoon rabbit in the collection (I don’t). Its because they got the license to the RIGHT Bugs from the era he was his funniest. it also (probably) means well see the more insane (yer perfect) versions of Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, and Porky Pig with the possibility of more on the way. Excellent. On the other hand, I could just be jumping the gun here with my guessing who else the company has licensed. I don’t think so, as those guys BELONG together. I’ll bet you all a baby carrot, too. Okay, I just want a boxed set of smaller figures because that big wabbit that’s going to go on sale later this year wont fit anywhere in my place.

make it so, Mezco 9and make me happy)…

Toy Fair Sunday Musings, Too: May The Force Be With Few!

Posted on February 15, 2015 by geelw

Thank you, Imperial Toy! One, for having one of the more surprisingly cool licensed items at the show (a huge Star Wars bubble machine shaped like R2-D2 that does exactly what it’s supposed to do and makes everyone in the vicinity stop what they’re doing and walk over to check it out). Its also surprisingly affordable. I’ll post pics of R2 tomorrow, as I shot photos with another camera and (duh!) can’t seem to find the USB cable (duh!)

Oh, and two, for giving me the nice silver-colored bubble lightsaber just for stopping by their booth to check out R2. Apparently, its one of only a thousand made for the show. Nice. Id love to have a blue one as well, but I don’t mind waiting for the normal white sabers to hit retail and add one of those to the collection.