Godzilla “Whatever It Takes” Tv Spot: Okay, Now You’re Just Showing Off…

Posted on April 3, 2014 by geelw

Alright, you big radioactive lizard, that’s it. We’re ONLY at what, the THIRD new TV ad and it’s already a “nothing stops it, not even the bomb!” moment? Well, okay then. I guess that’s a good thing, right? Although I’d have personally preferred a gag clip insert of Slim Pickens riding that H-bomb down to glory from Dr. Strangelove to no effect (this time) just to get people who remember that film chuckling and those who’ve never seen it (but need to) wondering where the hell that scene came from. Yaaaa-hooooo! Anyway, Godzilla opens here in the US on May 16, 2014.

Alien Abduction: (So Far) This One’s Not For The Birds…

Posted on April 3, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Joblomovienetwork!)
Hmmm. Usually, these modern sci-fi/horror flicks don’t phase me one bit because it’s all the same thing they try for and often fail at miserably on a few fronts. I do like what I see here so far from Alien Abduction, although I may be the only one who finds films about alien abductions pretty dull in general (sorry, Barney and Betty Hill!). That said, this is one to watch for me when it suddenly pops up on cable a few months from now. The sci-fi/horror genre certainly needs a good kick to the pants, so here’s to hoping this one delivers the goods and then some…

Risen Comes to GOG.com: Adventure (And Lots of Dying For The Impatient) Await!

Posted on April 3, 2014 by geelw

One of my favorite adventure/RPGs of the past few years is finally DRM-free and ready (once again) for its close-up. While the Xbox 360 version of Risen suffered from a terrible downgrade in visual quality, the gameplay was intriguing and challenging enough to keep me playing. Of course, the PC version is the way to go if you can run it smoothly with all the settings up, so here you go for a measly four bucks. While the game is shorter than developer Piranha Bytes’ Gothic games, there are a ton of things to do and places to go on that deadly island your character gets shipwrecked on. The solid sense of accomplishment you get from surviving those early encounters is bolstered even further as you take down enemies that previously caused you grief (and there are many right from the beginning of the game) and your character grows into a force to be reckoned with.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now and let you get to checking this one out. It’s a really nice surprise for fans of European made open world RPGs as well as quite the sleeper that should have gotten a lot more attention. As for Risen 2? Well, we’ll talk about that one later, as I still need to finish it one of these days and can’t say whether or not I like it just yet…

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2 Gets Knockbacked Into May…

Posted on April 3, 2014 by geelw

Game delays are nothing new, so this isn’t really a big surprise. Still, you have to love the press release Neocore Games sent out to announce the delay:

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Delayed due to Monster Invasion

Slightly delayed, but no need to worry – all that extra time will be spent polishing the game. The new release date is set to May 22, 2014.

So, what happened to the April release date of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II? Well, we could blame the supernatural or the bad Vrikolak meat in the fridge, but the truth is, we want to release a superb game as polished as possible on release and that will take a little longer than we thought. We want to make sure the sequel is superior to the first game in every aspect and it keeps you nailed to your chairs all the way to the end with its engaging new story. Now the new date will also mark the anniversary of the first game’s release. So be ready to hunt down the new swarm of monstrosities when the game hits Steam on May 22, 2014.

All of you are reaping souls right now anyway, aren’t you?

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II is available for pre-order on PC. To pre-purchase the game, head to neocoregames.com/store and choose from the various supporter packages in various price ranges.

Me, I’m currently NOT reaping souls because Blizzard has ignored PS3 and Xbox 360 owners of Diablo III, but I have other stuff to keep me occupied while I wait for the man with the hat and Lady Katarina to make their second appearance in a more polished form. That, and I can also replay the beta a few more times just to see how all those other character classes do against the hordes.

Godzilla “I Can’t Believe This Is Happening” TV Spot: Well, Start Running Anyway!

Posted on April 2, 2014 by geelw

Of course, the ultimate in-joke is being IN a theater watching Godzilla when there’s a Godzilla-like event that suddenly happens outside (eek). What with all these natural and man-made disasters taking place on a seemingly regular scale, I think I may hold out on seeing this in a theater after all. I’d probably be the first one out the door to run screaming down the street into a manhole or newly opened fault line break anyway (which would make it into the inevitable Hollywood movie that pops up about whatever event takes place because SOME people never believe the news or what’s in a work of non-fiction until they see it recreated with actors they “know”. Now, hmmmm… who’s going to play me in that disaster flick? I’ll take some ideas now in case I’m not around to see the profits from the movie…

Amazon Fire TV: An Interesting Must-Buy For Some. Just Not For Me, Though…

Posted on April 2, 2014 by geelw

Say “Hello” to the Amazon Fire! Sure, it’s only $99 and does that newfangled streaming thing everyone with a proper connection loves (despite some silly issues), but that extra $40 for a controller to play games? Bleah. Amazon could have subsidized that or at least made it cheaper, as I can see multiplayer gaming for families in the same room getting expensive with a few controllers (which this thing hopefully supports). Anyway, If I were to get one of these, I’d only use it for gaming, as the movies I like tend to not be on a streaming service at all or show up, but then disappear after a while, making it tough to have an actual “library” one could call one’s own.

I have a few other issues with this box (and any other “streaming” box out there), but I know most of you are drooling and whipping out that credit card. Well, if you DO grab this, make sure to shell out for that controller and ABSOLUTELY buy Telltale Games’ wonderful, well-written and frightening as hell The Walking Dead game. It’s quite playable even if you’ve never picked up a controller before and if you’re a fan of the comic and/or TV show, it’s a MUST because it introduces a whole new set of characters and situations that will have you hooked in right from the start.

Child of Light is My Game of the Month (And I Haven’t Even Played It)

Posted on April 2, 2014 by geelw

Well, what else is new, right? As soon as I saw screen shots of Ubisoft’s upcoming RPG Child of Light, then video of it in action, I had to immediately add it to the top of my “PLAY IT OR ELSE!” pile and add both a background and banner using the gorgeous art to the site. It’s coming out April 30, 2014 for PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and Wii U, so if you’re currently owning one of these systems or have a PC capable of running this game, you pretty much have zero excuse not to snap this up. That new UbiArt Framework tech makes the game look like a storybook come to life and I’d love to see it get used as a game making tool by an even wider range of artists as the years go by. Of course, as this is a digital only release, I’m hoping it’s not gone and forgotten by gamers out there who still prefer packaged titles for a few key reasons. But as with anything rolling out these days in this economy, we’ll see what happens…

Random Art: Not Quite A Tree This Time, Man. Thing Is, It Was Once…

Posted on April 1, 2014 by geelw

The cool thing about drawing digitally is you can make mistakes and “fix” them without going through piles of paper. Anyway, this Man-Thing started out as another tree sketch, but I mucked it up a bit too much and was about to scrap it when I saw a hint of something, flipped the image, did some playing around, flipped it again and decided to keep hacking away until I got this as a result. Yeah, he sort of looks like he needs a tattoo on that arm of his and there should maybe be a low rider in the background bouncing up and down to some trippy beat, but hey – it was late and I couldn’t stop once my brain started moving my hand around. That happens a lot these days it seems, so I just go with the flow…

Random Film of the Week(end): The Boys From Brazil

Posted on February 8, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, DEATHTRAP TRAILERS!)

Depending on your frame of mind, The Boys From Brazil will either creep you out of make you laugh a wee bit too much. It will do both if you’re somewhere in the middle on the mental front (or are a first time viewer), but I’ll leave you to let this one settle where it lands. Franklin J. Schaffner’s signature directorial style is on full display here as this semi sci-fi/dramal/horror flick does its thing with some interesting casting choices, dialog ripe with amusing yet nasty situations and a number of creative demises for a few characters.

Granted, the subject matter is a bit touchy to some, what with the book and film positing real-life Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele (Gregory Peck!) as alive and kicking and still working on a pretty outlandish experiment that involves almost a hundred little Hitlers. But the film pulls you in right from the start and keeps you watching as the bad, mad doctor’s plans slowly but surely come to fruition. Well, sort of…

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