Applied Design @MoMA: Portal Is Actually Harder If You Start in the Middle.

Posted on March 4, 2013 by geelw

Granted, I haven’t played this in some time, but it’s NOT exactly the toughest game out there. However, if you pick up a controller and try to start playing, expect to get lost fast. This level is actually really simple (I ran through it on the PS3’s The Orange Box collection just to make sure I wasn’t losing my touch), but I just dinked around for a bit so the video could be shot. Anyway, the guy who played after the next guy tried DID remember how to play and it was a good thing, as a video crew caught that fun bit of puzzle/platformer action for whatever site they were filming for… Ah, well. Hey, if they had Cosmic Ark or Thunderground there, I’d STILL be playing today…

Once Again, It’s Not The Games You Need To Worry About, Really.

Aside

So, a couple of months back, I’m waiting for the subway and there’s a rather cranky young woman yelling into, or more precisely AT her cell phone. Given today’s general lack of public decorum, I’m figuring it’s one of those angry conversations with a not so friendly relative or soon to be ex-formerly significant whatever that’s not supposed to be heard (and yet gets to be heard by all within earshot). Snip, snip and chop, chop- there goes someone’s entire wardrobe in the street and on fire later tonight, blah, blah, blah… whatever. And IN the freakin’ CAR, too? Yeesh. In any event (and as usual), I sidestep away so I can get some peace and quiet and not have to listen to someone sounding as if they’re auditioning for a new Quentin Tarantino film, when I hear the sound of a phone hitting the platform along with a string of expletives. Well, that’s one relationship busted… and a phone to go with it, I think… Wrong again.

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EDF 4 Gameplay Footage: 4Gamer.net? I Love You And Hate You (But Mostly Love You)…

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

Well, wow and double wow. Japanese game site 4Gamer.net posted this hands-on last year (!!!) and I’m just NOW getting around to seeing it thanks to some poking around online for something entirely different. Eh, it figures. I’m just thrilled because even though it’s a WIP version, I get to ogle more of the gameplay than the bits I’ve seen from the official trailers D3Publisher in Japan has been posting. OK, off to the home base now, as they’re about to shove me out the door here at Starbucks. Back in a bit…

VGA 101: On Kenji Eno: A Loss Isn’t A Complete Loss If Something Is Gained In the Process…

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

One of my favorite game creators, Kenji Eno, passed away on February 20th and I’d planned to write up something memorial-esque last week, but couldn’t for a few reasons. The main one was it’s actually quite hard to write something brief about what playing through some of the games he and his studio WARP created during their brief run meant to me without actually going through the library here and taking time to do so. That’s going to get done in about a month or so, barring incident. The other was I wanted to read what some of his close friends wrote about him in order to get a better insight on the man and his work. There was also a little bit of unfinished business to take care of in getting a certain something back to a certain someone, so that had to come first… Continue reading →

OK, If You Want A 16-Bit Cliff Notes Version of Game of Thrones, Here You Go…

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly enough, I’m sitting here and listening to some people talk about the new season, all guessing and overspeculating their hipster glasses and skinny jeans off when one of them mentions the good Doctor Octoroc and his amazingly funny GoT mock video game video he cooked up for Collegehumor.com from about a year or so ago. In case you haven’t seen it yet, the edited version is above. If you want to see it as intended, just clicky-click HERE, sit back and prepare to fall off something onto something (preferably soft). I’d post the video directly, but like the books and show, it’s kinda ranuchy (well, in a Super Nintendo kind of way). You’ve been warned (but you’ll laugh yourself silly anyway)…

Toy Fair 2013: The Gate: Yes, You NEED A High (Quality) Fantasy Board Game.

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

My otherwise dull video aside, as soon as you see Oofdah! Games’ The Gate – A Game of Myth and Magic in person, you know you’re getting a quality product, but a longer look reveals there’s a great deal going on besides good looks and lots of cool pieces you’ll want to show off at your next game night. The game is actually a sweet two in one deal with beginner and advanced play modes (there’s an intermediate mode as well, but don’t tell anyone you now know this!), some surprisingly deep gameplay and as you can see here, a ton of pretty (and pretty useful) stuff inside that big box. I need to grab one of these for myself at some point, but I’ve been fortunate enough to have played the game at a friends on a few occasions and can safely say it’s one of those great board games that’s instantly likable thanks to its design and even more enjoyable once you’ve spent time playing it. Continue reading →

Gallery: Applied Design @MoMA (1 of 3)

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

And here you go in case you can’t make it to the very cool Applied Design show here in NYC (or if you’re a total cheapskate but have an eyeball for art): a bit of a walk-through in image and movie form. Some of these pics and vids are shot by me, some by artist Linda Dennis who tagged along for the experience (and got to play Pac-Man again for the first time in a long while and Tetris for the first time ever. Too bad the Pac-Man had a “ringer” joystick (which means no one but someone who can work with that thing like it is will make it to the kill screen, which isn’t a short process, mind you). Enjoy! There may be a test later (but I doubt it). Bonus points if you spot yours truly in any of these pics. Trying to stay semi-anonymous on the Internets these days is a total pain in the neck… but I guess I’ll need to get used to it…

More images and a short video below the jump (and more to come tomorrow)…

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Hmmm… Who Are Newspaper Comics Aimed At Again?

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

OK, I have a really good sense of humor and I’m a terrible non-prude, but I just HAVE to ask who decided to run these two dopey cartoons on the same day last week (and right above each other). Granted, I don’t read many newspapers much these days thanks to the lack of actual NEWS and focus on overly opinionated “journalists” (read: supremely loony egomaniacs) with an axe to grind trying to whittle anyone they see fit down to size that they don’t happen to like for whatever damn kooky reasons they’re wrong about if they got their heads out of the clouds and ass (amazing how they can do that, huh?) and actually wrote sans bile and other junk in their eyeballs.

But I digress (as usual)… Anyway, Gary Larson was at least regularly funny and stopped doing his fine work when he ran out of steam. These not-so great pretenders are good for a chuckle at best, but the retread rate has gone off the scale, I say. Of course, neither cartoon is really “offensive” at all…but what KID under ten has EVEN read Moby Dick? I guess everyone stares at boobies at some point, so maybe that one works on that level. I can’t tell, as I’m typing this in public and I was distracted… (*beet*… BUSTED!)…

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Game of Thrones Season 3 Extrended Trailer: A Little More Suspense, A Few Less Questions…

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

Fortunately, for my old-school ass (and yours if you agree, not that I’m trolling for compliments or anything, grrrr!) I’m not one of the more overly obsessive fans of the show who HAS to know everything before it happens nor do I want to be bashed over the head before the show kicks off its new set of tales with spoiler-packed teasers that make half the season predictable as sticking water in the freezer and getting ice back at some point. Of course, trying to predict how this season will go will be like sticking water in that same freezer and expecting frozen roses to pop out a few hours later, but hey – a lot of suspense goes a really long way and makes the wait more than worthwhile…

Toy Fair 2013: Insanimals Are Here! Get Your Money (and Your Crazy) Ready…

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

Sometimes the best things in life come out of (and often come out) a little crazy idea taken from concept to creation, and I’d say Maryland-based brainchild and designer Chris Sciannella’s “crazy” idea is more likely than not going to make someone a millionaire at some point. Insanimals, the cool line of wild-eyed (but completely lovable) plush toys, made me laugh for a few reasons when I strolled up to the booth at this year’s Toy Fair, all of them good. For one, how can you not automatically get a grin going when seeing a chihuahua, cow, monkey or zebra (all with BIG hypnotic plastic eyeballs) staring back at you? I felt like picking them all up and shaking them gently to see if they’d snap out of it, but that bad idea of mine would just turn them back into “Normanimals” and you can get those anywhere from the local florist to the world’s biggest toy store. Insanimals are special because they’re completely bonkers and don’t try to hide it one bit…