Gallery: Assorted Preview/Review Disc Library

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Yes, I’ve kept almost everything I’ve gotten to preview and review (save for stuff I’ve had to send back), so here you go, a bunch of Xbox and PS2 games (plus a paltry few PS3 and 360 ones for good measure). Some are demos or incomplete beta versions, some are complete trade demos, check discs or debug code plus some quirky stuff like that E3 2006 PSP Memory Card. Of note are some titles that were almost to completely localized and SHOULD have been released (Dinosaur Hunting, and Rent-A-Hero #1), an awesome build of Arx Fatalis (it had the infamous “chicken cheat” from the PC version that was taken out of the console game plus a weird save game with a nude barkeep) and some other fun stuff. Yup, that’s Bedlam, an unreleased Sega Saturn game in the last photo (it was a port of a PC game). I haven’t played it, as I don’t have any way to at the moment, but it does have a nice Redbook soundtrack. Despite its popularity, I’m not one for “dumping” stuff, but I’m all for legal emulation on older unsupported consoles or abandonware PC titles.

Gallery: PlayStation & PS2 Demo Library (Japanese)

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Nowhere as many as I’d like to have and some aren’t pictured here, as I need to move about 500 or so games to get to the remaining few. I’ll update the gallery once I get that mighty task done. Some of these are incredible for what’s on the discs, from memory card download, interviews and exclusive content not seen outside Japan. Stuff like Net Yaroze demos (games made by those who bought the special Net Yaroze PlayStation model), some hilarious commercials and some great demos of games that were drastically different than what ended up on store shelves. The Project Zero disc is a DVD that features CG from the game and some other cool stuff, but isn’t playable. I know there are a ton of these non-playable demos out there, but I’m a lot more interested in trial version discs these days. The one other exception is the Summer Special 1996 disc that has a bunch of game trailers including the first look at Metal Gear Solid. That long movie was created entirely with in-game asset and actually makes the game look like a more action-packed experience than it turned out to be.

SCEA To Release Three More PSP UMD Dual Packs In January

Posted on December 24, 2011 by geelw

Nice. Sony is smart enough to NOT unceremoniously kill off the PSP when the Vita launches in North America, but they are doing something about the rather massive stock of leftover PSP’s and first party UMD’s I hope every publisher with a decent PSP back catalog gets into. Three more UMD Dual Packs are headed to retail in January 2012 and all come highly recommended whether you’re a newly Xmas-gifted PSP owner or a die-hard with the 1000 to 3000 series that hasn’t yet played these gems. To those who somehow don’t know why Sony is still dealing with UMD’s with the Vita about to land in February, there are a few simple reasons. Continue reading →

Minor Update: Minor Victory Edition (Sort Of)…

Status

Whee. Spent a while yesterday and this morning cleaning up the Categories here, so games now don’t have oddball links below the articles that go nowhere. I’m STILL working on transferring and re-editing a lot of old articles so they’re COMPLETE and not chopped off, so keep checking back on some of those older reviews and such. Man, this is a lot of work…

Gallery: PlayStation RPG/SRPG Library+

Posted on December 23, 2011 by geelw

I shot these earlier this year while moving some things around. Not my entire PS1 collection by a long shot, but that’s going to be photographed and posted in a bit. I sold off a huge chunk of it over this year and last (about 110 – 120 games) but I hung onto stuff I like or haven’t quite completed yet. I still think that some of these games need proper remakes or sequels in the future, but I doubt they’ll get done any time soon if at all. BTW, my copy of FF8 somehow disappeared a while back, but I think I may have accidentally sent someone it as a bonus by mistake. Oh well. Not like it’s rare or anything. I’ll probably post my US and Japanese demo disc libraries before the rest of the US games I have, as the demos are easier to get to. Anyway, enjoy – more to come!

Escape Plan: A Look At The Vita’s Stylish Noir Puzzle/Adventure

Posted on December 23, 2011 by geelw

From the always informative PlayStation Blog, check out this nice slice of info on one of the Vita’s most intriguing US launch window games. I love these types of cool visual experiments and I’m hoping the game catches on with as many people as possible so the developers can expand this into something bigger and better.

Gallery: N-Gage & Gizmondo Libraries

Posted on December 22, 2011 by geelw

Yes, there A few duplicates in photo 1. Neither are complete collections (a few N-Gage games not pictured are recently loaned out) and yes, I have both handhelds here as well in great working order. In fact, my QD is actually my regular phone because I’m a cheap (and poor) bastard and hell, it works great as a phone. I give not a hoot for fancy phones with touchscreens, multiple cameras and stupid data plans that leech your wallet dry before you even make a single call. As for the Gizmondo stuff, I only need Classic Compendium II and the SUPER rare Hit or Myth to have a “complete” set of released games. A few years back, some guy sent me a CD with a bunch of emulators and stuff on it, but I’m too dumb to figure out how to extract it all onto an SD card, so it’s in one of the CD holders near my PC. Eh, one day I’ll poke around again and do a step by step from the instructions on the disc, but I’m too occupied with more important things these days. By the way, both POD and Trailblazer NEED to be remade one of these days for PSN/Vita/XBLA/iOS/Android/etc., as they’re easily the two best titles on the system and yes, still hold up today.

WB Triple Trailer Treat: The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, Wrath of the Titans

Posted on December 21, 2011 by geelw

Warner Bros. is going to have a really super 2012 in terms of movies, folks. Just for the heck of it (and because these are all great), here’s a look as there three big summer films. While I’m not sure there will be tie-in games released for any of them (Wrath of the Titans seems like a no-brainer even though Clash of the Titans developer Game Republic is dead and gone), We’ll keep you updated if any news pops up. Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises will most likely be the biggest grossing film of the trio, methinks (and he REALLY needs to do a James Bond film at some point in his career). However, I expect Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to rake in a hefty profit that’s pretty close, as it’s looking like a worthy followup to his multiple award-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Continue reading →

DmC “The Secret” Trailer Shows Off In Progress Hops & Chops…

Posted on December 20, 2011 by geelw

For a game still in development, DmC is looking pretty spectacular in my book. Ninja Theory is working hard on this one despite some awfully annoying “fans” out there of the first four games giving them grief about a few too many things they needn’t worry about. Sometimes change is good, people. That, and even though this is an alternate take on the character’s origin you may not care for, I’d say the developer’s forging their own version of Dante’s younger days is the best thing the franchise needs. In any event, I’m hoping some of these irate fools lay off the dev team when the game is released and starts getting solid ratings. Of course, some of those folks will NEVER be satisfied OR wish Ninja Theory any success at all, so I say ignoring these naysayers and their constant griping is all for the best. Not so amusingly enough, they want a “better” game while not having even seen anything CLOSE to a final version, but I sure as hell don’t see any of them applying for jobs at Capcom or any other game companies…

Tiny & Big Update: Levels, We Got Levels!

Posted on December 18, 2011 by geelw

I was wondering about how Black Pants Games Studios was going to structure its upcoming game, Tiny & Big: Grandpa’s Leftovers, and thanks to their latest video, now I know (and so do you!). Check out the new trailer for the game and see the different places you’ll go as you try and nab those underpants from that pest, Big and deal with his shenanigans as he does all he can to thwart your efforts. Now, all that needs to happen is the team getting dev kits for assorted consoles at some point so ports can be made, as this game SCREAMS for motion control or touch-screen elements on a few platforms…