How To Survive 2 Hands-On: Weekend At Learnies

Posted on October 16, 2015 by geelw

EKO Software and 505 Games have big plans for How to Survive 2 and you just might be able to help them out a bit. The game is set to hit Steam as an Early Access title this month and the feedback from that will help the dev team craft an even better experience than the original. Some hands-on time with a build at 505’s NYC event showed off a new setting (New Orleans), improved character customization, larger maps and the same blend of nail-biting action and offbeat humor that work quite well together. If you’ve ever wanted to face off against poison-spewing pelicans while fighting off a wave of zombies coming at you because you’ve set off a car alarm when you retrieved that car’s battery as part of a quest, well… this game’s got your name on it.
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BUY IT! MVD Entertainment Has Reptiles and Ants For Sale

Posted on October 15, 2015 by geelw

Oh yep. I’ve since forgotten who introduced me to Amphetamine Reptile Records way back in the day, but it was a fine and more than a little insane musical journey that was great while it lasted. MVD Entertainment Group is getting me (and some of you) to relive those glory days of noise rock with what’s going to be one of the best documentaries on the subject, Eric Robel’s The Color of Noise in a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack. This trailer gives you a little taste of what to expect when the doc appears on home video November 24 and even better, MVD and AmRep will also re-issue some of the best releases from the label’s catalog on vinyl and CD starting in December 2015 and continuing into 2016 and beyond. Continue reading →

Get Trekz Titanium to 1000% Funding & Maybe Win Big

Posted on October 15, 2015 by geelw

While the Indiegogo campaign is already funded, the fine folks behind Aftershokz: Trekz Bone Conduction Headphones want to go for the gold by reaching 1000% before the day is done. Therefore, they’ve added a nice new perk I’d call “Bribery by Chocolate”, but they call a Titanium Ticket. Here’s the deal:

Pledge $10 and get a SHOKZ Chocolate Bar (which will ship out in December) which not only gets you into a drawing to win a fantastic prize, it may make you an INSTANT winner if that bar has one of five Titanium Tickets inside. Shades of Willy Wonka with a slight delay, folks! The more bars you buy, the greater your chances, although if you’re a total chocoholic who needs that fix NOW you may want to sock away some Halloween candy while you wait for your SHOKZ to arrive.

The five Titanium Ticket winners will get one Trekz Titanium plus one of the following prizes (winner’s choice): Apple Watch, iPad Mini or Next-Gen Gaming Console (Xbox One, PS4, Wii U).

As for those headphones, the words “Bone Conduction” got my interest piqued, so here’s what that is (because it’s always good to learn something new every damn day):

Trekz Titanium™ use bone conduction technology to transmit audio waves to the inner ears through the skull, bypassing the eardrums completely. Place them on your cheekbones, just in front of your ears. This leaves your ear canals open, allowing you to remain alert and aware of ambient sounds while you enjoy your music or tune in to calls.

Get it? Got it? Good. Now, go help these guys and gals make their over-target goal and maybe you’ll be a big winner of some awesome stuff while you’re at it.

Slender: The Arrival Wii U Bound 10/22

Posted on October 14, 2015 by geelw

As modern horror myths people fall too easily for, the Slender Man craze isn’t exactly my cup of hemlock tea. However, I do like a decent horror game and other than a handful of notable titles, the Wii U is somewhat lacking in those. Fortunately, developer Blue Isle Studios and publisher Reverb are planning to get Slender: The Arrival onto the Wii U very soon via eShop digital download. As in this month. As in October 22. As in you’re only spending $9.99 to maybe pee your pants a little if (and when) you get that frightened.

Nine more screenshots below (hey, you ducked under a table watching that trailer, so you’re already looking down!):

For those of you who happen to have a Wii Remote handy (smart Wii U owners who’ve owned a Wii know that keeping one around has come in quite handy), you can use that controller as the game’s flashlight/pointer. You’re not getting any weapons here at all and that light will be your only ally against that tall, nattily dressed faceless killer who tends to pop up when he’s least expected. Previous versions on PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360and Xbox one didn’t use this functionality, so Wii U owners will be getting what may be the most fun version of this game to play in terms of how one interacts with the game world.

And, yep. Those screenshots are slightly unsettling. Particularly the one with the teddy bear and beach gear. With his more than pale complexion and that black suit I didn’t think Slender Man hung out in the sunshine at all. Eeek. Now I have sand in my shorts thinking about this. Hmmm… that’s not sand. Ewww. Back in a bit – I need to play this game at some point as I’ve avoided the other versions specifically to hold out hope that the Wii U would get this at some point.

Pocky & Rocky With Becky On Virtual Console: Bust Up Cute Baddies, Not Your Wallet

Posted on October 10, 2015 by geelw

Given that complete used copies of the low production run Game Boy Advance title Pocky & Rocky With Becky can fetch over $200 and new/sealed ones over $300, Natsume finally getting the game out on the Wii U Virtual Console is a great thing for those who missed out on the game and don’t have hundreds to drop on a copy these days.

For a fraction off those ridiculous auction prices (and yes, the Japanese versions of that cart run a lot more) you can get all the deceptive cuteness the game delivers along with harder than you may have thought gameplay. Well, the game isn’t really that difficult. It’s just that one hit from any enemy will knock Pocky, Rocky or Becky out of action and if you lose all your lives, you’re restarting from the beginning of one of the seven stages. Anyway, that’s your heads up for this one. Natsume has been on a nice roll of getting a few GBA titles onto the eShop such as this one, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town and the great, under appreciated RPG, Car Battler Joe (which also comes highly recommended).

Other Natsume GBA games headed to the eShop are Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town along with the two Medabots games, Medabots Rokushu and Metabots Metabee. All three should be popping up in the eShop in North America later this year. Alrighty then, let me let you get yours. Off and away with you now – you’ve got some cool (and now cheaper) games to buy and play.

Blu-Ray Review: Stray Cat Rock: The Collection

Posted on October 7, 2015 by geelw

As a slice of Japanese cinema of the early 1970’s, the five films that make up Arrow Video’s Stray Cat Rock Collection make for quite a quintuplet of quickly made flicks influenced by American biker films of the previous decade. Directed by Yasuharu Hasebe and Toshiya Fujita, the films feature the same cast members but are actually mostly unrelated other than in their thematic elements.

“Youth gone wild!” and “Crime Doesn’t Pay!” seem to be the orders of the day here as the series was created by Nikkatsu to compete with rival Toei’s popular Delinquent Boss films. So there’s male and female gangs, exploitative violence, not as much sex or nudity as you’d think (but it’s certainly there), a bit of slapstick, a random concert and more. While there’s plenty of seedy and salacious content, some of the trailers included advertise the films partially as comedies, which is amusing in and of itself. In other words, some viewers will need to approach this set with a wide open mind because what constitutes “comedy” here might seem a bit humorless or just plain strange outside of its home country. This is a good thing at the end of the day as expanding one’s cinematic horizons is a core reason to watch films you’ve never seen previously.

The overall tone of the films will probably seem scattershot to some viewers used to movies that stick to a certain predictable style from start to finish. For all the raging delinquency, drug use, wild dancing, sex and violence on display there’s also a lot of karmic retribution and negative actions leading to more and worse reactions for some characters. This makes the collection a really intriguing set of films that, warts and all make for some pretty cool “B” movie bliss. As usual, some excellent transfers and nice bonus material round out this Arrow Video release and make it a must for collectors. Continue reading →

Review: Persona 4: Dancing All Night

Posted on October 4, 2015 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Atlus

Publisher: Atlus USA

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

MSRP: $39.99 (Standard Edition), $79.99 (Disco Fever Edition)

Score: B(80%)

Sure, the premise is supremely goofy and practically guaranteed to make some of the more obstinate old-school fans of the long running Shin Megami Tensei and Persona franchises get a bit cringe-y. But Persona 4: Dancing All Night manages to shake off most any negative vibes thanks to it not only being a pretty decent rhythm game, but a really well-made spin-off to the Persona 4: Golden (that’s also gotten a pretty darn good 2D fighter with an even better follow up). Keeping the surviving characters and situations from P4 intact and working them into the game’s plot was an inspired touch that’s hopefully going to sell those gamers who are only buying this for music and gameplay into picking up P4:G at some point if they’ve yet to.

On the other hand, if you go into P4: DAN with skeptical intent, don’t expect to be knocked off your feet by the game’s premise, how some characters act and the overall gameplay that may not be your cup of tea. Fully enjoying this one means throwing caution to the wind, diving in feet or face first and letting the music and atmosphere wash over you like a sudden summer rain shower. Continue reading →

Albino Lullaby: Horror Minus Most Of The Expected Is Still Somewhat Frightening

Posted on October 3, 2015 by geelw

Ape Law’s oddball psychological horror game Albino Lullaby has no blood and gore splattering anything and not a single jump scare to rattle your cage as you explore its bizarre, stylized maps. What it does deliver is a downright creepy vibe, some room-twisting shenanigans and those weird creatures called “Grandchildren” that may or may not freak you out whenever you encounter them. Okay, they will freak you out if the sight of what looks like a man-sized finger with the face of what looks like a zombie version of one of Team 17’s Worms games is something you find scary. And yep, you can even buy stuff with those faces on it that include throw pillows and a travel coffee mug.

Currently available on Steam, this episodic first person adventure released back in September is timed perfectly for the season, what with the weather getting chillier and Halloween haunting just around the corner. Playing as an accident victim who wakes up in a very weird town, part of the game is discovering where you are and how the hell you’re going to get out. The game’s bold use of Unreal 4 in such a stylized manner has the surreal, gaudy Victorian meets scratchy modernist environment look like a bad dream come to life. Continue reading →

Summon Night 5: The PSP Takes Another Deep Breath Thanks To Gaijinworks

Posted on September 30, 2015 by geelw

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If you thought the PSP was deader than well, the Vita (ha and ha-ha, but *sob!* for Sony not knowing how to promote its otherwise fine handheld), consider yourself about to be surprised. Gaijinworks continues to kick out the quality and somewhat obscure games with Summon Night 5, a tactical RPG headed to PSN as a digital release for both the PSP and Vita and to a lucky handful of gamers who pre-ordered the limited release physical version.

As with Class of Heroes 2, those lucky folks with the physical version coming also get the digital version of the game as a bonus because Gaijinworks knows some of them won’t ever even crack the shrink wrap on their coveted LE and a few will even go right to eBay and resell their “prize” for boo-koo bucks to the highest bidder. Damn dirty capitalism has its upsides to those who know how to take advantage of it, I suppose. As Gaijinworks doesn’t do review codes (as far as I know), I’ll be ponying up some actual hard-earned loot to play this just like everyone else interested in it.

Me, I just want to finally play an actual Summon Night game in English. I missed the two Game Boy Advance spin-offs from a while back because they got a limited release and now fetch a pretty penny for complete copies. Nope, knowledge of the other four previous Summon Knight games (nor the upcoming sixth one headed to PS4 and Vita in Japan) is necessary in order to fully enjoy what’s here. But one would hope that gamers who don’t know a lick of Japanese can some day get their paws on some sort of collection. Of course that won’t happen unless Gaijinworks has a metric ton of money lying around and time to do all that porting and localizing.

Kromaia Ω: Kraken Empire Sets Its Sights On The PS4

Posted on September 30, 2015 by geelw

Indie developer Kraken Empire‘s formerly PC-only open space shooter, Kromaia, is getting a makeover for the PS4 this fall in the form of Kromaia Ω (Omega). The visually stunning sleeper from last year was one of those games that was well worth tracking down just to get one’s mind blown by the visual style and surprising depth for an arcade-style game.

The game will get both a retail and digital release, which is a bit surprising on the surface. But it seems that the big push to digital-only that’s been going on for a while isn’t the best thing for some niche titles like this that deserve a wider audience, some of whom prefer the choice of how they get their games. Rising Star Games deserves huge thanks for thinking of consumers this way,although it would be even more awesome to see all of their PC games get this console retail/digital treatment a some point. Continue reading →