Random Art: Tuesday Tries Its Best to Trample. Trees to the Rescue!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by geelw

So, today was a royal pain in the few places that ouch the most. Let’s see now: there’s a wall in one bedroom here that needed two minor patch jobs thanks to the pipe behind it getting slightly leaky. That’s all well and good and the inspector who popped up last Friday gave out that appointment like he was handing out Halloween candy. Then, on a whim I had him check out the wall in the kitchen with the two cracks in it and *whamm-oooo*, things got ugly. Suddenly, he’s up on a stepladder here and mumbling into his cellphone. I hear “asbestos” mentioned and my brain spins around like a kid on a soda shoppe stool who just got a free scoop of ice cream in his sundae. Only it’s not a sundae I’m getting, but a lousy case of déjà vu all over again (thanks, Yogi!) with a big fat, juicy Red #40 colored cherry on top.

Yuck…

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IndieGala’s LATE Every Monday Bundle Says “Who Needs Mondays!”

Posted on November 4, 2014 by geelw

Ha! And I thought I was losing more of my mind yesterday. Nope, IndieGala just didn’t post any bundle news is all. Then again, a few other places didn’t either, but it’s late and I’m about to get kicked out of the library, so I’ll hit those up in a separate post tomorrow. Well, here you go, six games for $1.89, all unique and pretty hard to pass up at that price. And heck, it even has a game based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet for crying out loud:

Yeah, you KNOW you want this deal now. Buy games, get educated! What a top-shelf excuse to kill some time, huh?

Grand Theft Auto V Limited Edition Soundtrack Box Sets Coming in December

Posted on November 3, 2014 by geelw

You want proof that CD’s and vinyl LPs aren’t “dead”, folks? Well, come December 9, a mere 5000 each of these Grand Theft Auto V Limited Edition Soundtrack Box Sets will go on sale at selected music online and physical retailers worldwide and I’m betting they sell out completely AND become hot collectibles before the year is out. Hell, if I’d not sold off my record collection and player a while back, I’d be drooling all over that vinyl set more than I am already.

These two limited editions are coming to retail from Rockstar Games and Mass Appeal in celebration of the soon-to be released PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Grand Theft Auto V (set to land at a game shop and download site near you November 18). PC gamers need to wait until January 27, 2015 for their version of the game, but I guess a few of them will want this set as well to keep them grooving during the delay… Continue reading →

Convoy: Top-Down Tactical Vehicle Combat? Yes, You NEED This Game!

Posted on November 3, 2014 by geelw

Sometimes stuff lands in one of the inboxes here that makes me laugh for a few reasons from good to bad to “Ruh-Roh!”. Convoy Games’ Kickstarter project, Convoy falls squarely in the former hearty chuckle category. That was thanks to playing a demo build linked with that email that made me laugh because the gameplay was something I’d not seen previously and everything clicked right away. I happen to love when developers decide to tackle familiar genres in unique ways and Convoy does just that. Sure, it’s basically the space combat from games like FTL and other sci-fi classics translated to top-down rogue-like road action out of the Mad Max movies. But so far, it all feels just right and while in need of more tweaking, it’s clear the dev team is on the right path.

Anyway, go check out the project video above, click on over to that KS page and whip out that wallet. A mere $13 gets you the final version of the game when it’s all done and ready to go in February 2015. Currently, the game is just under a third funded with 25 days to go, but it needs to get more love. Um, financial love, people. Don’t go proposing to Convoy or anything silly like that, now. I’m not sure the dev team wants to let go of their game before they’re all done with it. It’s a great Monday when you see an indie game that’s more exciting than a bunch of AAA titles screaming for your attention, that’s for sure…

READS: The Art of Living Dead Dolls

Posted on November 3, 2014 by geelw

The first thing that struck me about Mezco Press’ The Art of Living Dead Dolls ($20.00) was that the great Basil Gogos is still among the living. The 78-page magazine-sized trade paperback has an energetic intro from the master monster painter himself to kick things off before the parade of awesome pro and fan art to follow. Granted, it would have been really great to see a Gogos version of a Living Dead Doll here. But just knowing the man is still around made me smile and reminisce about some of his stellar horror covers for Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine back in the 60’s.

The assorted art ranges from surprisingly cute to genuinely disturbing and you’ll see pieces from illustrators such as Joshua Hoffine, Angus Oblong, Dan Brereton, Yuki Abiko, Emily Yishizawa, Michael Pasquale, Rotten Orange, Stephen Blickenstaff, Shelby Vogal, and others. The different interpretations of dolls from the Guinness Book of World Records-holding lineup shows how they’ve inspired each artist in creating their memorable works. My personal favorite doll is knife-wielding Sadie, with her odd eyes and simple black dress. She’s very well represented here in a number of nice drawings and paintings, but I’m betting fans will find their favorites here among the pages of this coffee table tome. Or is that coffin table? Mua-ha-ha-haaaaa!

After the eyeful that is the pro gallery, there’s a few pages of nice fan art, again in many different styles. The book closes out with some great tattoo work fans have photographed and sent in to be immortalized in print forever like the images on their skin. As this is more of an artistic celebration, the book isn’t exactly text-heavy brain food at all. Those who want an entire history of the doll line will want to also pop on over to the official Living Dead Dolls site to discover more about these creepy collectibles and see how the lineup has changed over the years. Longtime to recent LDD fans will eat this book up and yes, it makes a great gift if you’re giving someone one of the dolls this year (or whenever) and need a nice bonus to add to that horror-themed holiday/birthday/other occassion gift box.

Not a Slow Day, But a Busy One (For Tomorrow)…

Posted on November 2, 2014 by geelw

Wait, did I give part of this title to a post already? Eh, no matter, although it does feel like Déjà Vu… Anyway, between my loading up a bunch of files for the coming week’s onslaught of work and some wi-fi sluggishness that lasted most of the afternoon, I didn’t get much done today. Still, it’s good to have a path to er, victory(?) or whatever. I did watch the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad for an upcoming blogathon, so you’ll be seeing that go up soon enough. Monday will be a busy one and I’ll be the busy bee buzzing through it. Of course, there’s a fly in the ointment in the form of some maintenance guy stopping by to take care of some very minor water damage in a wall here. But that job shouldn’t last past noon unless he’s REALLY careless and clueless. Then again, this IS Parkchester, the place where they paint fences without trimming bushes back, so… we shall see…

How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition is Perfect for Today’s Dreary Day

Posted on November 1, 2014 by geelw

Miserable weather or not, learning all you need about dispatching zombies and staying alive on a desert island are always handy skills. 505 Games dropped EKO Games’ How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition for the PS4 onto PSN and Xbox Live yesterday and it’s a must buy if you’re a fan of the original game or are entirely new to the experience. This visually gussied up version gives you the original game plus all six DLC packs for a decent price. While best with friends, the game offers up a hefty solo challenge with decent AI. Just make sure you watch where you aim, chop or punch. “Friendly” fire can’t be toggled off as far as I know and you don’t want to accidentally knock off your AI companion. Anyway, this one’s quite cool and funny for a fairly violent game – go check it out, I say.

This Month Better Not Be Turkey Month…

Posted on November 1, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, tuxthemagicpenguin!)

Oof, it’s November already? Crap. Well, October was definitely both a bust and boom month for me. I won’t talk about the bust part because it’s none of your business and I’m not a TMI guy who confesses all then complains when people babble and squeak about what’s been written. I believe in plenty of privacy and hell, still recall when people kept personal diaries and journals and such. Granted, if you’re a sharer and don’t mind tattling all your secrets to the void, go right on ahead and be happy. Anyway, on the good news front, more work has come in thanks to a fellow editor-type wanting to expand his own site’s reach. While it’s still unpaid work, the goal here is building that site up more so it becomes a paying gig down the road (whee!).

Let’s see now, in other news… Yeah, the game backlog is still an issue, but I’m knocking stuff down bit by bit. I have a bunch of drafts to turn into reviews, so those will get done over the month. I’ll be doing a Toy of the Day or Week feature just to get to some of the more fun stuff I saw way back at Toy Fair and a few other events and yes, I’m adding some of those to a Holiday Gift Guide which should appear later in the month. More movie, book and tech reviews are coming (more drafts to complete!), with an overall goal this month of being a bit more well-rounded. Well, I’d gather Thanksgiving may take care of the more complete rounding part. That is, is I decide to participate in that huge calorie festival this year. I’m trying to be a healthier guy, so cutting the fat and a few other things may be on the plate instead.

As always, we shall see…

Hikari Friday: Funko Wants You To Win A Movie Mutant!

Posted on October 31, 2014 by geelw

I’d bet a bunch of you are either too young to remember This Island Earth or only know it from the humor hack job done on it in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. Anyway, this week’s Hikari Friday giveaway is none other than the sole monster from that 1955 classic, but presented here as Metaluna Mutant Hikari Figure! He’s not cute, but he’s #1 of only 1500 made and yes, he sure is colorful:

Anyway, before you run out to snag and snack on too much Halloween candy, make sure to enter for your chance to WIN over at one of Funko’s social sites:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

If you don’t win and still want one of these stalking your shelves, set your time machine for January and pop on in to your favorite Funko retailer, wallet in hand.

Fund This! GRAAL SEEKER: The Final Push is On!

Posted on October 31, 2014 by geelw

Okay, folks – Lugludum’s cool-looking retro strategy RPG GRALL SEEKER needs our assistance! Go help fund the project over at Indiegogo and if you’ve got a Steam account, absolutely give it an up vote on its Steam Greenlight page. This is one of those games that needs a bigger audience willing to try something outside their usual comfort zone, so go check out those links and make Lugludum a very happy bunch of game makers!