Bundles of Joy For Your Monday Will Make Your Backlog Ache!

Posted on September 8, 2014 by geelw

Humble Flash Sale, Meet IndieGala Every Monday Bundle! You two play nice, now. Well, I’d betting they’ll each be too busy with themselves to notice each other in that sandbox, but hey – I tried. Anyway, this weeks Humble Flash Sale bundle is So Cute! No, seriously, that’s the name of the bundle. Whaddaya mean you don’t believe me? That’s what that link is for, silly! Click it and watch your wallet flit out of your pocket or purse and fly around the room before your credit card goes zipping into your hand and you end up with the five games and three soundtracks in this bundle. Cute stuff does that to some people, I hear.

As for that Every Monday Bundle, this week’s a DOOZY. $1.89 nets you six games including the deep retro greatness of Eschalon Book I & II, the incredibly creepy Five Nights at Freddy’s, and three other indie games: Stonerid, Memories of a Vagabond and the oddly titled Me & Postapocalypse 2: Scraping. I’m grabbing this because of the Eschalon games and hell, I keep hearing how scary Five Nights at Freddy’s is, so I’m hoping it lives up to the hype and this video (Ha! How SCARY can it be?):

Oh. well, then. Carry on. I think I’ll need to have a defibrillator handy. And a nurse. Eh, we’ll see. Anyway, go check out one or both of these bundles, support charity and get some gaming in while you’re at it!

TCM Wants You To Stay Up Late Weekends…With No Chaperone!

Posted on September 8, 2014 by geelw

Although unsupervised movie watching is ALWAYS a darn good idea in my book, TCM’s Underground kind of NEEDS a friendly yet slightly sinister guide to the treasures it holds within. Granted, the channel tried using a host in the past (Rob Zombie), but his tenure didn’t last all that long. I’d LOVE to do this job, as I know a bit about some of the films they run and don’t mind researching the ones I don’t know about. Then again, I’m not exactly the most exciting person on camera as I think I have an aversion to being filmed and I’m not at well-tempered enough to sit in a makeup chair (unless someone’s going to make me look like some monster from a 50’s “B” movie!).

Hmmm, perhaps a compromise is in order. I’ll pretend to host the films while watching at home (yeah, I’ll be talking out loud to my television. Quiet, you in the back!) and TCM can pretend to pay me for my efforts. Yeah, that should work out just FINE. La la la laaa. La la laaaa. I’m a STAR! (Cue the men in white coats in 3… 2… 1..)

It’s Sunday and You Need a Drink… But a Big Laugh Works Better.

Posted on September 7, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Faux Toez!)

Yeah, it’s been that sort of day here, but I won’t be like Charlie above, trying to scam my way to a better outcome. I like my work like I like my imported cheese: hard exterior, soft inside and slightly aromatic. Wait. That made not a lot of sense. Oh, I’m just delirious from walking up too early and buying a dozen cans of imported tomatoes for 88 cents a piece. One had a tiny puncture in in that I only noticed after I got home, so that had to go back and be replaced, as there’s nothing worse than getting a nice case of food poisoning from something like that. hey, better safe than stupid, i say. Anyway, I’m in the middle of a quick proofreading thing and some other stuff (like some dough proofing at home while I’m out typing this post). Let me let YOU go watch that flick above and laugh yourself silly while I get back to doing more productive stuff. Um, it’s a short, so you won’t need to make any popcorn unless you already have and it’s a serving or three you can wolf down in about fourteen minutes.

Back in a bit…

Today’s IndieGala Bundle is Quite Grotesque! Which Means You’ll Want It Anyway…

Posted on September 7, 2014 by geelw

Nice. Ten games, two bucks, 24 hours. Should you? Well, in a word… YES. If you like isometric action RPGs, Space Hack will get you at least 50 hours (it’s actually MORE, as I’ve played this one a few times through) of alien blasting goodness with a pretty compelling story as the game progresses. Greed: Black Border is another space-centric blast-fest that’s quite good for what it is. The two games this bundle gets its name from in the Grotesque Tactics series are fun fantasy romps with a turn-based battle system familiar to fans of Final Fantasy Tactics and other games of that sort.

Avencast is an unconventional adventure/RPG with a magic-based combat system and Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood mixes in a sort of tactical combat/puzzle solving/adventure game blend with its older school visuals for a nice and challenging time. You’ll also get a couple of post-apocalyptic car combat games, an open world highway/street chase game based off a cheesy German TV show and a surprisingly engrossing game about trading in space all for what a cup of coffee costs (or two, if you’re REALLY cheap and get someone else to pay the tax, you cheapskate!).

So yeah, shut up and do what you need to do, already. I’ll be here in the back cackling madly when you’re trying to chase me around the room for “making” you buy all those games for so little money and realizing you need to now make time to play all those games. Hey, welcome to MY world, folks!

Tiny Troopers Joint Ops PS4/PS3/Vita: Simple, Hard to Pass Up Fun For Casual To Core Players

Posted on September 6, 2014 by geelw

I really liked the PC version of Kukouri Mobile’s former mobile-only game Tiny Troopers enough to give it a 90% rating, so as soon as I saw this upcoming PS3/PS4/Vita game that combines all the content from the first AND second games, is a cross-buy title and definitely a must-buy if you’re into fast-paced arcade-like games that start off simple and get more challenging as the levels zip by. I’m gathering this PSN game will be inexpensive enough to nudge some skeptics who’ve never played either of the games to give it a shot, but I guess we’ll see. Heck, if it’s as fun as the PC version was and contains that zombie add-on content, I think I may have to score it higher than I did the older game. Well, that’s how it SHOULD work if fairness is the name of the game (which it is here, folks)…

Slender: The Arrival on PS3: Return of the Jump-Scary (If You Like That Sort of Thing)…

Posted on September 6, 2014 by geelw

Hmmmm. Sorry, but I’ve never really been a fan of this game or the many variants that feature one of the least “scary” urban myths I’ve ever heard. But hey, I’m an old fogey and prefer my scares a great deal more cerebral (or not so obviously made for the “Ooh, lookit my YouTube video where I leap out of my seat if FEEEEAAAAR!” crowd). Anyway, this one’s coming to PSN on September 23, so if that floats your boat and you’ve a PS3 at home, prepare to be scared out of your socks or whatever. Hey, I’ll give the whole Slenderman thing this, however: it gets some people so creeped out that they think some tall thing in a stiff suit is actually frightening. Maybe I can get in lines at movie theaters, post offices and banks dressed like that, say “Booooooooo!” a lot and see my place in line jump from last to first within seconds. That, or some kid with a can of mace will let out an screech, spray me and get in some cellphone snaps or a movie to post on facebook as they’re running away. Damn kids…

Adventure Time: Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Screenshot Update: Looking Legend of-ary!

Posted on September 6, 2014 by geelw

Little Orbit may have gotten off to a small start back in January 2010, but the publisher is sure making some waves lately among some gamers. Its recent acquisition of developer Vicious Cycle (and their VERY versatile Vicious Engine) means LO now has a studio that can crank out good looking and highly playable licensed and (hopefully) original games for consoles and PC in a decent amount of time. Nice. And speaking of nice, here are a handful of screens from Adventure Time: Secret of the Nameless Kingdom, coming to PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS in November.

Based on these new screens and the older game info I’ve cobbled up, this latest AT game looks to be more of a Legend of Zelda-type top down experience and not the Gauntlet-inspired solo play or couch co-op fun of the last game, Explore the Dungeon Because I Don’t Know!. Keep an eye on this one, folks – I smell a sleeper coming a few months down the road…

Bundle Fest Deals 4 & 5 Offer Up Pains, Trains, & More Awesome Deals…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by geelw

Ha! See what I did there? No? Oh well. I’ll let you off the hook this time because I just KNOW you were distracted by one of both of these awesome Bundle Stars deals. Go let of some Steam with the Trainz Bundle, which gives you Trainz Simulator 12 and eight DLC packs for a mere $3.99 (try getting a real train ticket for that price!). This surprisingly addictive set of train simulations and construction tools allow anyone to run their own railroad and even hop online to share content with other users anywhere in the world.

If, on the other hand you’re in the mood for a lot less train travel and a great deal more fantasy and horror coming your way, well… the Night Dive Bundle has your name stamped all over it. Classic RPGs Wizardry VI, VII and VII are here, as is the scary sci-fi masterpiece, System Shock 2 (looking better than the trailer shows thanks to some great patches that come with the game install). You’ll also get the gory adventure chiller, Harvester, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (the great Harlan Ellison story that was turned into quite a memorably bleak adventure game experience), More horror with Shadowman, The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, and finally, the intentionally “buggy” tale of a very unique cockroach in Bad Mojo: Redux $3.49 nets you these nine titles and you’ll get a few weeks or longer out of the Wizardry games alone.

Summer may be coming to a close, but these two deals will make your backlog GROW like it’s spring inside your computer’s hard drive, I say! That goodness can be all yours in a couple of clicks and I don’t want to stop you at all from getting what needs to be done DONE. So, get to it already!

Crimes and Punishments (Sherlock Holmes) Update: A Little Macho Disguise & Some Arm Wrasslin’ Get Our Man A Clue…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by geelw

Okay, Focus Home Interactive and Frogwares, you’ve got me now. I just HAVE to play Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes now just because of those goofy disguises the dashing detective can don in the game in order to help in his decidedly deducting ways. This trailer made me laugh for a few reasons, but not AT the game at all. I just like how the series has evolved from its stuffier Victorian era settings to a more modern (but not too modern) set of scenarios that looks as if it will have a wider appeal among a few types of more adventuresome gamers willing to take a chance on something new. Hmmm… I wonder if Holmes can deduct the cos of his disguises from his taxes? Or is that even allowed in foggy Londinium? Ah, the mystery… the mystery…

Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes is out on September 30, 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

Hikari Friday Time! Funko’s Mystic Powers Frankenstein Looks Magically Creepy…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by geelw

That said, you KNOW you want one, right? Well, as usual, Funko is giving away ONE of these vinyl figures (and #1 of 1000 at that) as part of their Hikari Friday campaign and by now, you know what’s the deal as far as trying to get your claws on one of these VERY limited edition figures. What? You’ve forgotten already? Okay, one more time, then. Geez, I know school is back in session and all and your brains are all full of summer dreams deflating and turning into piles of homework and such, but come on now! Anyway, click thee to one of Funko’s social network pages:

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

Follow the rules there and enter away! Remember, ONLY one lucky winner gets chosen and notified by next Thursday, the rest of you get to buy that colorful monster at your favorite Funko retailer in November. As always, GOOD LUCK!