Back to the Future: What’s Old Is New Game News @E3 2015

Posted on June 16, 2015 by geelw

It’s a good news/bad news thing today. The good news: time travel DOES exist, ladies and gents. Final Fantasy VII is finally getting a remake for the PS4 and possibly PC. The Last Guardian is now a PS4 exclusive (as I predicted a while back) Shenmue 3 was announced yesterday evening at Sony’s E3 event as a surprising show-announced Kickstarter project for PS4 and was COMPLETELY funded in about twelve hours (breaking a Kickstarter record). Even King’s Quest and HITMAN are making comebacks (and sooner than you’d think).

Microsoft’s formerly forward-looking only Xbox One gets Xbox 360 backward compatibility and legendary developer Rare is releasing 30 of its classic arcade and console games for $30 in a crazy must-have bundle this August (exclusively for the console, of course). Between this and the return of DOOM, the acceptance of indie retro games as necessary for part of a console’s success and other interesting developments, it’s a huge win-win situation for gamers with a good deal of disposable income. And no, I didn’t forget Nintendo in all this. I’m just holding out for a separate post on their always nostalgic ways and means of getting loyal fans continually hooked in. Give me a bit of time on that as it’s still construction central here with more to come.

Now, the bad news: In reality time travel DOESN’T exist at all. With all those new games coming (and this post doesn’t count the VR games invasion happening soon), no one will actually any free time to play them all unless their Doctor has a certain “timey-wimey” prescription that allows them to have their fun and return to reality not having missed much sleep or even a day of work. Oh well…

Bethesda @E3 2015: Lots Of DOOM-Saying Dishonored Fallout Scrolls

Posted on June 15, 2015 by geelw

Nothing much to say here other than Bethesda Softworks’ E3 lineup is small but spectacular even though I’m not completely sold on the mobile and free to play titles (because I’m old school stubborn like that but still respect them in the morning). Pull up a seat and something to eat as this is a nice lonng look at what’s coming this year and a bit beyond. I’ll run individual game trailers later this week. Okay, back to grinding my teeth and making pissed off faces at no one in particular. There’s still some work being done on the roof (which was supposed to end on the 5th of this month) and an inspector is coming to look at a wall that’s become a bit of a mess in the home office, grrrrr.

A Not So Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight Is A Good Thing (Mostly)

Posted on June 14, 2015 by geelw

Those peppers I’m growing on the sunny window are starting to ripen nicely as you can see above and below. I tried one of the smaller ones earlier this week to see if it was hot and it wasn’t at all, which means I can go about the short work of thinking up what to do with a few of the larger ones. That one in the pic above is about medium-sized, by the way. I think I’ll keep it simple for a few of the bigger peppers. Slice the tops off, remove the seeds and stuff them with chopped mushrooms, a bit of garlic and maybe some fresh tomato sauce and herbes de provence, pop a bit of mozzarella cheese on top of that before replacing the top and baking them for about ten minutes or so.

In other boring (but actually important) news, I got wind of some m-a-j-o-r changes coming to the area. As in all 38 businesses across the street and all the way around the entire square block needing to vacate by the end of the month (!!!) because the new landlord wants to tear everything down and replace it with one huge mega-building. Yikes. Although many of the shops are old, a handful of tenants seem to have been bought out last year (aha… that’s why the Chinese restaurant that’s been there for about 40 or so years shut so abruptly!). It’s certainly awful for the record shop that’s been here for 60 years, the wonderful family-run bakery around the corner and that T-shirt printer that’s been in the same spot since the late 70’s. Feh. It seems that time and greed marches onward and on top of the “little” people once again.

I’m going to shoot a few remembrance photos this week and maybe do a quick post on what’s leaving the area as the new owners seem to not even want to help get these people any sort of assistance in finding new locations. So much for small businesses getting a break in this big town. Boo.

Ratchet & Clank PS4: Insomniac’s Got A Killer Game, But…

Posted on June 12, 2015 by geelw

Well, now. I wasn’t at all a fan of the idea of a CG movie featuring these characters so the tagline “The Game Based On The Movie Based On The Game” made me cringe before I finished reading it. Nevertheless, all it took was one look at that trailer and later, the gameplay video below to change my mind. Mostly. Granted, Rainmaker Animation is certainly a talented group of folks and based on that E3 trailer from last year, they’ve certainly captured the spirit of the characters. Interestingly enough, pre-orders for the game are already being taken on a few sites despite not even the developer knowing what the price point will be.

That said, the big question is do we really need a movie at all? Insomniac Games is doing its best work on the PS4 to date with this remake/reboot, so there’s no question that will sell like hotcakes next year. But I don’t think the non-interactive movie will be as interesting to some gamers who don’t like sitting on their cans for an hour forty five or whatever NOT holding a controller in their hot little hands. Hell, people complain about cut scenes in games if they run over two minutes long. So having what amounts to an extended advertisement for the new game (and the PS4) may be seen as overkill to a bunch of folks who might skip paying for a ticket in favor of not so legally viewing the film once someone puts it online.

Eh, we’ll see what happens. I’m betting the critics who aren’t into games at all won’t get this much other than to lay praise on Rainmaker’s animation and storytelling. But what do I know? I’m the nut who wants a full on Disruptor remake. For the Vita. Yikes!

Japan Gets All The Cool Stuff: Remote Controlled R2-D2 Fridge

Posted on June 12, 2015 by geelw

Okay, I want one of these just so I can see if it’s keeping those cold drinks cold because it’s using Carbonite and not deadly freon gas. I’d imagine Carbonite is somewhat non-toxic given that Han Solo went into the deep freeze long sleep encased in that stuff. On the other hand, it’s probably going to be really hard to open whatever beverage you pop into R2 if it comes out encased in a solid block of cold blackness. Hmmm… maybe this is an Empire plot, folks:

(thanks, love meme!

Anyway, this cool fridge is currently only coming out in Japan at some point this year from Haier’s Japanese branch, but I’d imagine demand for R2 will be high enough that some will end up being imported by those hardcore Star Wars collectors who want EVERYTHING, damn the shipping fees (which will probably cost more than the unit itself).

And hey! Just for fun, here’s a nifty and informative Star Wars infographic that popped into my inbox as this post was being typed. Thanks, Morphsuits!

Preview: The Deadly Tower of Monsters Looks Like A Nice Place to Visit

Posted on June 11, 2015 by geelw

Atlus and developer ACE team are going to make some of us well-aged “B” movie fans really happy soon. The Deadly Tower of Monsters is coming to PC and PlayStation 4 soon and it looks like a total camp classic that captures the weird spirit of plenty of well-aged flicks that made for some fun weekends in front of the tube way back when. I’m gathering the humor will be lost on the more jaded gamers of today or those expecting new games to all look the same with super-shiny realism all over the place.

Nope, you’re not getting that here at all. TDToM seems to be presented from a mostly isometric perspective so comparisons to something like Diablo III or Gauntlet will no doubt be made by some. I’m liking the wires on that rocket above, the intentionally choppy stop-motion dinosaur and the super-colorful graphics while hoping there’s an optional black and white mode in the mix somewhere.

As I won’t be at E3 this year, I’m not going to be getting any hands-on time with the game (boo!). But I’ll keep an ear to the ground and keep an eye peeled for videos of gameplay because this one sure looks like something I’d play to death and beyond. Now, if only it was coming to more consoles. But I guess we’ll see what happens if it does well enough to expand onto more systems. As usual… we shall see.

Review: High Strangeness (Wii U)

Posted on June 10, 2015 by geelw

Platform: Wii U (also on PC)
Developer: Barnyard Intelligence Games/Crystal Labs
Publisher: Midnight City/Majesco
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Official Site
Score: B+ (85%)

While “short” by whatever “today’s standards” for game length is, High Strangeness is actually about as long as many of the 8 and 16-bit games it’s inspired by. A few too many gamers today are a wee bit spoiled by the still baffling comparison of game length somehow equaling overall quality so it’s great to play a new “retro” game that doesn’t wear you down with too many gimmicks before the ride is over. What’s here is a pretty cool throwback that bridges the game between the two eras with a “12-bit” approach that allows players to travel back and forth between two distinct visual styles. There’s also a mix of sci-fi and light horror vibes going on here with creepy-looking enemies, a big mystery and even a sentient cat to keep you dialed in from start to finish.

Continue reading →

Random Art, Madness & Watching No Paint Dry Division

Posted on June 9, 2015 by geelw

Gyaaah. So, it looks as if the roof repair project is going to take a few more days, there’s now some more water damage from that pipe behind a wall here, there still needs to be a floow-up inspection and I’m still figuring out where to store a bunch of stuff for the upcoming wall takedown/repair job. On the stupider front, I’m finding out that one reason repairs seem to be so damned slow here is this apartment has been in the family since 1976 or ’77 and it seems that the management is deliberately having the maintenance folks do crappy work as a means to make me crazy enough to leave. Why? Well, I’m certainly not paying market rate rent for this nice place, that’s why. Of course, the entire system for repairs here is SO damned ancient that I’m not going to be at all surprised when some newer tenants in buildings here take it on the lam after they deal with those inept dolts in the office and all that (waste of) paperwork that comes for even the smallest repair job.

Eh, I drew a tree yesterday after getting knocked out of bed early by some knocking on the roof. Enjoy it vicarously for me, as I was thinking of dropping a real tree on some people a few blocks up the street who need to get out of that office and see the awful work that’s been done up here. Boo on people who don’t see how the other half live because they just don’t give a crap.

Some More Arrows To Make Me Quiver

Posted on June 8, 2015 by geelw

Well, now. Here’s how to make an icky Monday a far better one without doing much at all. My mailbox was stuffed with some nice upcoming release screeners from Arrow Video and MVD so I’ll be socked away checking out some stuff I’ve not seen before as well as revisiting some old friends. Spider Baby actually came earlier than the others, but it’s here just to even out the photo. Anyway, back to the screening room for me. So much for being anything resembling “productive” today.

Xseed’s E3 Lineup: Bugs, Babes, Brains, and Booms

Posted on June 6, 2015 by geelw

We are excited to announce a wide breadth of titles that will be showcased at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2015.

Newly revealed games include The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel for PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®Vita, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for PlayStation®4, SENRAN KAGURA ESTIVAL VERSUS for PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®Vita, and Return to PopoloCrois: A STORY OF SEASONS Fairytale for the Nintendo 3DS™.

We will also showcase the previously announced titles SENRAN KAGURA 2: Deep Crimson for Nintendo 3DS™, Onechanbara Z2: Chaos for PlayStation®4, Corpse Party: Blood Drive for PlayStation®Vita, and Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space for PlayStation®Vita.

Well, it sure looks as if Xseed Games is going for the early (but entirely made up by me) award of “Most Stupidly Cool Japanese Games coming to the West Sooner Than You’d Think” as they reveal their excellent E3 lineup. My brain is busy calculating how much time I’ll be spending in those EDF games (which deceptively hide hundreds of hours of play time in their initially simple run & shoot gameplay). Xseed really loves you so it seems most of these will be getting physical retail releases as well as digital. Excellent. I like my library handy so I can show off cover art or rap someone on the forehead with that plastic case if they make fun of what I play.

Anyway, color me giddy (again) and thanks (again) Xseed. You guys all rock (again!)