The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Update: New Screens, Beta Gets a Big Boost!

 
Nice. Neocore Games has released four new screens from The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II and added some new areas to the closed beta (which is automatically updating via Steam as I type). Excellent.

VanHelsingII_SteamPreOrder_001I was wondering what that other game was Steam was adding content to as I knew The Wolf Among Us was going to drop in Chapter Three as soon as I logged on. Of course, by the time I got to the email from Neocore announcing the beta update, it was about 70% done and I realized that’s what was up. Yeah, I think sideways from time to time, what of it? Anyway, May 22, 2014 is the new release date for VHII. Remember, you can pre-order the game directly from the developer or through Steam. I’ll have an updated hands-on shortly (most likely after the weekend)…

VanHelsingII_SteamPreOrder_002 VanHelsingII_SteamPreOrder_003 VanHelsingII_SteamPreOrder_004

Godzilla “Nature Has An Order” TV Spot: Or: If It’s Bigger Than You, RUN!

 
Yeah, you’ve probably figured that out as well, but just in case you have yet to for some strange reason, there it is in plain English. Some of you will no doubt want to stop and take a selfie or something stupid like that before you make with the light jogging stuff, but I say go right on ahead. No one will miss you that much once you’re stomped flat other than the people who are used to you jamming a camera at them to snap away or being a photo-bombing pest they’re actually sad to see gone because they never got any work done when you were snapping away. Anyway, May 16, 2014 at a theater near you. Bring a hardhat (just in case) and maybe a first aid kit (just in case).

Random Art: Time For A Quickie? Sure, Why Not?

string cheese IISo, here I am sitting around as a bunch of updates download (bleh) and the wi-fi connection being slower than usual for whatever reason is driving me batty (even after I rebooted and stopped all but two downloads). Anyway, five minutes of dinking around with a mouse in MS Paint and here you go. Okay, back to work, me. Steam sure is making me crazy with that auto-updating that can’t be stopped, but oh well. It’s two games I need to get to this weekend, so here I sit…

Gallery: STYX: Master of Shadows Is Looking Sneaky And Pretty…

styx-01 styx-07 styx-06 styx-05 styx-04 styx-03 styx-02 styx-08

Cyanide Studio’s upcoming stealth action/RPG is looking mighty fine indeed in these eight screens just posted by publisher Focus Home Interactive. That old Unreal tech still has it going on in the right hands, so let’s hope this one’s also console bound at some point as well as a better stealth game than a recent one that didn’t perform so well (I can’t mention the name because Garrett will try to sneak into my home, club me with his head-knocker and steal my treasure chest of gold coins that are actually foil-wrapped chocolates in a cardboard box. Of course, if anyone touches my chocolate, they’re dead meat on or off a stick, so we’ll see what happens to that Thief, grrrrr!. Um, anyway… Styx: Master of Shadows is still in development, so keep poking back here for updates as to when and where it will be done and released.

Trend Setters Morphing Dark Knight Mugs: You’ll Go Batty For Your Favorite Hot Beverage…

ALL 8 MUG IMAGES 
Let’s see now, eight different Bat-mugs mean you can buy one for each day and have one left over for when company drops by or as a gift. Or you might know seven other people who need an extra licensed lift with that morning mug of hot steaming whatever. Each heat transforming mug is black until 11 ounces of something hot enough lands inside of it and each retails for $18.99 over at the Film Cells website. There’s a ton of other cool licensed goodies there from other pop culture classics from then and now, but you’re probably already poring over that site as we speak with your wallet whining away…

I’ve Got The Power (Back)! Or: Be Careful What You Wish For…

Ha and double ha. So, my replacement laptop power supply arrived this afternoon and works fine (it’s not OEM, but it’s getting the job done), but I’m now faced with the hi-larious dilemma of catching up to a ton of stuff I haven’t been able to do until now. My brain and overstuffed inbox just let me know what’s in store for me:

(thanks, davstern1500!) 

Ouch. Let’s see now… I’ve a bunch of games to download, some articles to complete a digital stack of email to answer and a few other things that have my head spinning a bit. Oh well, no use complaining about it – there’s work to do so let’s get to it. Er, you might want to stay back a few feet… this could get messy.

Bundle Stars’ Toxic Bundle Will Eat Away At Your Free Time For A Mere Five Bucks…

the toxic bundle

 
Well, now. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is worth the five bucks alone, but this ten-game Steam bundle is packed with a bunch of other great titles to keep you glued to that mouse and keyboard for ages. Classics are part of the deal (The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, Desperados 2 and Shadowman) as are some newer to not so newer indie titles (Xotic, Darkout, Runespell Overture, Tribloos 2 and Heroes of Annihilated Empires). Even better, if you happen to be a fan of all things S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Bundle Stars has the two other games in the series for a mere five bucks each, so you can pick up digital versions of Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat for only five bucks each. Grab those two and that bundle for 15 dollars and even if you ONLY go on a massive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. binge, you’ll still be making out really well. I say give the rest of those game a shot at some point, as there are some true gems here from days gone by. This deal only lasts 20 days, so grab it while you can!

Mezco Wants To Bury Its Living Dead Dolls Line (Sort Of)… You Can Guess What Will Happen, Right?

LDD 13The Box Leads To MadnessSo, Mezco Toyz had the wild idea to get together some of its long running Living Dead Dolls lineup (which just so happens to be celebrating its 16th anniversary), have a custom coffin built, roll up to the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Odditorium in Times Square in a cool custom hearse (called Hearsula, of course!), place those dolls and a ton of other cool stuff in said coffin and have it entombed, time capsule style for 66 years.

Yes, You have to give them credit for thinking outside the box (bad pun alert! Oh, too late?), but as the line goes in countless horror (and other) movies, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

Here’s the thing: Mezco is searching for someone in the New York City or New Jersey area with a family mausoleum that happens to have space for a certain evil doll-packed coffin for an extended stay (you’ll want to contact LivingDeadDollsCrypt@gmail.com if you happen to fit that description). I’m betting they most likely want someone responsible who’s got no bones (heh) about loaning out a sacred space for three-fifths of a century plus tax to a coffin packed to the gills with LD memorabilia of all types. Of course, the combination of evil (but kinda cute) dolls socked away against their will and the potential of greedy grave robbers trying to get to that hidden time capsule PLUS the usual supernatural stuff gone awry will mean a rather high body count over that 66 years as people start vanishing when they try and do some grave robbing.

Yeah, move over, Chucky… you’re old news now, pal! Continue reading

2K Games @ PAX East: Borderlands And More Borderlands And Stuff…

 
I did not go to PAX East this year, but here’s a tiny sliver of what I missed. I’m not keen on conventions these days because I prefer being a fan who just PLAYS the games, not one who goes all out and dresses up like a favorite character or does anything else that keeps me away from a controller for too long. Granted, I admire ANYONE who has the guts to squeeze themselves into a costume that’s either hand made, cobbled together from what’s in the closet or store bought. I’m just way too busy poking around in assorted game worlds looking at stuff and admiring the hard work that goes into making them to get busy behind a sewing machine or makeup mirror. As for fan art? I’ve done my share and then some over the decades, but these days I’m more of an idea guy than anything else.

Winter Is Coming… Back (Go Away, Please!)

So, it was something like 73 degrees on Sunday, 10 or so degrees cooler on Monday and Tuesday was rainy on and off and in the 50’s. Early this morning it SNOWED a little before turning into sleet and rain before stopping.

winter...Yaaaah.

Okay, I was half asleep when I fumbled for my camera and took these shots pointing down from my window at the maybe quarter-inch of snow/sleet mix on the sill. But still… SNOW, grrr! The current temperature? 32 degrees with a nice breeze making it feel a bit too cooler and it’s only getting up to around 45 or 50 and 35 or below later tonight. In April. Yeah, I hate the cold so it’s come back to remind me to hate it the hell some more. Crap. Anyway, I’m up too early (I got up about two or so hours ago and didn’t sleep much before that), but I have a press event to get to in a few hours, so I’m kind of puttering around doing stuff around the house before I set out and freeze my butt off for a short trip downtown for something that may last only an hour. Whee, but I guess I can’t complain. Drop dead, winter (please?)…

winter... (2) winter... (3)