Firefly Online: The “Little” MMO That’s Gonna

Posted on March 14, 2015 by geelw

Even though I don’t play online games these days, Firefly Online has had me intrigued every since I heard there was an official game underway. Oddly enough, no one from any PR firm contacted me about covering it, so I assumed that was some sort of warning sign or worse, someone not wanting to do the hard work of getting the word out on something they thought was going to be too niche for its own good. Well, I was wrong on both counts as I found out when I bit the bullet and signed up for Firefly Online Cortex, the companion pre-game app currently available on Steam, Google Play and the App Store.

There’s not much to do in Cortex other than collect digital trading cards and points playing mini-games on a map of The Verse or reading news updates. That said, the cards are cool, there’s a second series coming soon and you can also score some even better bonuses by ponying up five bucks to attain Big Damn Hero status. This status will get some some great perks for the main game when it launches this spring on Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android OS. What kind of perks? Well, exclusive gear for your crew mates, access to items non-BDH players won’t have and some other neat stuff. Hey, they got my five clams without hesitation. I’m not here to babble about anything you can read in the FAQ here other than to add I like where this is all going and if you ever were a Firefly fan at some point in the past, you may want to think about signing up yourself.

What I like about the game based on the descriptions and video above it that it’s NOT at all forced social interactivity. You can play along with your virtual crew as you rise up in the ranks, taking your customized ship into charted and uncharted territories for fun and profit. The game is in fact, a single-player experience that just so happens to have some social elements added in like the ability to create and share quests with others. As it’s also powered by Unity, this means there’s a slim chance it may end up on other platforms (as in consoles) if it does well enough on the initial platforms it launches on (and there’s enough demand for a port in every port, of course).

Right now, my own personal choice will be what to play this on when it does ship. I’ve been eyeballing a few inexpensive tablets recently (primarily for gaming purposes) as well as dinking around on devices owned by a few friends while I decide to make up my mind. I suppose I could just run the game on the laptop just fine. However, I want to keep it freed up to write and have something else dedicated entirely to FFO. So, it may be a mobile platform after all that’s bigger than a phone and smaller than a breadbox. We shall see, but whatever I choose, Firefly Online will be played. At my own pace, of course.

Film Review: Memory Lane

Posted on March 14, 2015 by geelw

Packing in a compelling story that’s part thriller and murder mystery with a supernatural bent into seventy minutes is a tricky thing to do well. Nevertheless, Memory Lane is one of those odd yet impressive little indie films deserving of a wider audience. Director Shawn Holmes gets some decent mileage from his ridiculously small budget of $300, making a flawed yet powerful, emotion packed ride. While the film has echoes of Memento, Flatliners and oddly enough, Groundhog Day, that small amount of money spent doesn’t exactly buy you always stellar acting or prime locations to shoot in.

The cast of eager unknowns does what they can with the melodramatic material, but some are better than others in conveying the dense but compact script. The brief running time means some plot points get slimmed down or booted in the logic balls to make way for story advancement with the clock ticking away. But if you go in with no expectations, you may end up enjoying this one a lot more than you thought. When Nick (Michael Guy Allen), a PTSD afflicted Afghanistan veteran decides to end his life after his girlfriend Kayla (Meg Braden) takes hers, he sees a vision of what looks like her being murdered. Brought back to life by some friends, Nick realizes he “needs” to die again and again in order to find out what actually happened to the love of his life… Continue reading →

Film Review: Motivational Growth

Posted on March 13, 2015 by geelw

“The Mold Knows Jack, The Mold Knows…”

Talking about a horror movie about a huge talking fungus being the least oddball thing about it is tricky business. All I’ll say is Don Thacker’s unconventional psychological freak-out Motivational Growth needs to be seen to be believed. And even after you’ve seen it, you’ll probably still think you were hallucinating the whole thing. The film is one of those low-budget indies where the pure craft and ingenuity on display outstrip the meager budget and you’ll probably find yourself hooked in right from the start because you’re hit over the head right away with some truly striking, memorable visuals.

All I know is within the first five or ten minutes of fake TV shows I saw what looked like a fake TV commercial for a fake anime adventure/shooter hybrid game called Starr Mazer. My eyeballs did a double-back flip and I wrote that name down in the notepad I keep nearby for reviews. If it was just animation created for the film, it was a genius move on Thacker’s part. If it was an actual game, well… I had to find out what I could play it on. When I looked up that fake game later, I found that there actually IS an anime adventure/shooter hybrid called Starr Mazer. In fact, it’s also one of Thacker’s many side projects.

But let’s keep the rest of this review about this bizarre, near brilliant film… Continue reading →

Ember Update: N-Fusion’s Late Baby Gets Bigger and Better

Posted on March 13, 2015 by geelw

Yes, Ember was supposed to be out last fall, but as CEO and creative director Jeff Birns explained at 505 Games recent NYC event, the team at N-Fusion has been a bit busy making things even better. The game looked fantastic when I first saw it, but it’s even more gorgeously detailed and as noted in my previous article, the best-looking isometric RPG on any device. Many new areas have been added, older areas have gotten changes and parts that needed work have indeed been worked on. Ten years of work and a proprietary engine that won’t quit go a long way in realizing a dream, is all I’ll say about the art and vast, carefully detailed open world players will get to explore.

I’ll even go out on a limb to say it definitely gives some PC role-playing games of any era a run for their money. Apple clearly has an exclusive to be proud of (the Steam version will most likely be released at some point after the iOS version), but how do you market such an amazing game on a device where most of its games really haven’t been marketed to the masses like AAA console games are?

Continue reading →

Project CARS Skids Off-Road Into May

Posted on March 12, 2015 by geelw

While this latest delay may seem like “bad” news, developer Slightly Mad Studios is letting gamers know that the game is pretty much done (99.9% is certainly “pretty much done” to me!) and just needs that extra QA love so it ships across all platforms ready to run out of the gate:

“Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all. Despite therefore the game being 99.9% complete, the remaining 0.1% attending to small issues and bugs has been tricky to anticipate. We’re absolutely dedicated to delivering a ground-breaking experience and by targeting mid-May fans can be assured that’s what they’ll receive” said Ian Bell, Head of Studio at Slightly Mad Studios. “Again, we want to thank our fans for their support and patience on this matter. There’s a high expectancy from racing fans around the world that Project CARS is going to be an exciting new contender in the simulation racing space and we firmly believe gamers deserve it to be in its most complete and polished state when they come to play it on day one. And since the gaming community is our primary focus and has always been at the heart of the project during development, we would like to offer some free content to all players as compensation for this short delay and as acknowledgement of how grateful we are. This gift, that we’re sure is going to excite fans, will be available from day one and revealed shortly. Keep an eye on our website for more info.”

To me, this reads “We want the console versions to ship out with hopefully zero need for day one patching, particularly the Wii U version.”, which is a good thing at the end of the day. Given the release of certain other high profile racers plagued with bugs (notably Sony’s DriveClub and UbiSoft’s The Crew), seeing Slightly Mad take the extra time to add that bit of extra polish their game up is a good thing. I’m holding out the Wii U version will get some love and respect, as Nintendo just can’t seem to get a break when it comes to good marquee racers that aren’t Mario Kart 8. Yeah, yeah, it’s lightning fast, looks phenomenal and most of all is FUN to play. But at my age, I tend to like my racers a bit more grounded in reality.

Okay, back to holding my breath for a bit longer, which is tough to to with a sore throat, mind you…

ADR1FT Hands-On

Posted on March 11, 2015 by geelw

Do this writing about games stuff for a long enough period of time and you learn to go into every media event with no expectations. This time-built wisdom will pay off when you’re completely surprised by a game you’ve heard about in bits and pieces that’s shaping up to be a must-play title. ADR1FT was one of those games I’d heard about since its inception, but held off on writing a single word about until I was able to spend time with a demo. That happened yesterday thanks to 505 Games giving it a big screen premiere in two separate events for Boston and New York City games media. The Unreal 4 powered game headed to PS4, Xbox One, Steam (and yes, whatever rigs Oculus will run on) is one of those first games that leaves you breathless for a few reasons.

“SURVIVOR DETECTED”

The game’s story is a straightforward and simple tale of survival. You’re an astronaut who wakes up stuck in a damaged EVA suit on a heavily damaged space station orbiting Earth. Gameplay revolves around locating air supplies, repairing your suit and finding out just what happened that left you the only survivor. Part mystery, part survival game and all stunning to look at, it’s clear that ADR1FT has a mission in changing some perceptions about modern gaming. Sure, that sounds like an overly lofty goal. But again, it’s a case where if you see and play this one, you’ll “get” why it’s such an important release for its developer and publisher… Continue reading →

Today’s “Motivation”, Courtesy Bigmouth Inc.

Posted on March 11, 2015 by geelw

Okay, you should never be THIS lazy, but if you are, you’ve probably earned the right to be at some point in your life. That said, You probably know some exercise buff who’d get a kick out of this Exercise Block. Or you know one who’d kick you out of their workout cave if you gifted them with one just to push their buttons a tiny bit. Although, if that peson can bench press your current weight, I’d not want to push those buttons so hard.

In any event, if your eyes lit up when you saw that photo, you have to have one and somehow don’t know where to find it, click on over to Bigmouth Inc. for a list of places you can pick one up along with a bunch of other fun to funky novelty items. Once you’re on the site, expect to find yourself chuckling a wee bit too much at their assortment of crude to cool to flat out hilarious impulse items.

Onechanbara Z2: Chaos – Xseed Games Brings Back The Bikini Zombie Slayers!

Posted on March 10, 2015 by geelw

As soon as the box art appeared for the Japanese version of Oneechanbara Z2 Chaos, I stuck a .png file in a folder on my desktop to remind me to keep an eyeball peeled in case the game got a North American localization. I didn’t think it would actually happen, mind you. The last two games that made it over from this series didn’t do well critically, so it seemed those entries would be the last we;d see here.

Well, I was wrong, as Xseed Games is getting Tamsoft’s latest game out on the PS4 out in English this year (minus an “e” in the title). I’d gather this one will be a digital-only release, as it’s certainly more of a niche title. We’ll see soon enough, I suppose. Anyway, color me thrilled about this intentionally cheesy charmer that’s not at all for the kiddies.

Guess What I Did Today? I’ll Tell You Tomorrow.

Posted on March 10, 2015 by geelw

Shhhhh. It’s a secret! Actually, a little embargo is silencing my lambs for the moment, so you’ll need to come back later. Um, same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel, okay? Okay. It’s a date, then…

Apple Watch Gold: Go Save Some Hungry Orphans Instead.

Posted on March 9, 2015 by geelw

Hey, it’s ONLY $10,000. Not including mandatory iPhone 6 so it actually works (!), service contract and whatever other other Apple charges they hit you with. Hell, if I’m paying that much for a watch (and I’m not), that thing better make me Dick Tracy on his Two-Way Wrist Radio (and later, Two-Way Wrist TV!) AND have a battery I can change myself. AND a damn protective case. The thing the I dislike so much about Apple products is for all the ads touting innovation and creativity and how awesome they make every aspect of your Apple life seem, treating the consumer like a dope who can’t swap out their own dead batteries (or maybe download a new OS on an older phone no longer supported even if it still works PERFECTLY) is just too condescending.

Imagine a car you HAD to drive all the way (or have towed) back to the dealership when you got a flat tire, needed wiper fluid or something else anyone an learn to do if they apply themselves. Sure, some people are total tech wipe-outs when it comes to maintenance. But not all of us who want a battery we can swap out are pirates, hackers, or whatever else Apple seems to be scared of. It’s a damn good thing they don’t make flashlights or toilet paper holders, people. Although, I hear there’s some sort of vehicle in development, so perhaps that flat tire and washer fluid thing WILL happen sooner that later. Damn technology is turning us all into Weebles and we don’t give a rat’s ass about it.

Eh, whatever. This thing will sell out all over from the basic model to this exorbitant golf truffle bar supremo. Perhaps I can go scout out a space in line at an Apple Store in NYC and make a mint selling that space to someone who REALLY wants this or any other Apple Watch? Well, I’d do that if I didn’t have more interesting things to tackle. That and I’m not THAT koo-koo (even thought I’m sure I’d make a nice chunk of change)…