July 23 Is Batman Day. You May Want To Stay Indoors Reading Comics…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

Now, I’m NOT saying it’ll be dangerous out on this officially DC Comics-sanctioned day, nope, not at all. In fact, it may be too SAFE out there, what with all the people dressed up as Batman stopping crimes only they can see before they occur, helping old ladies and kitties and puppies cross streets, attempting to swing or drop from light poles, building and other fixtures only to find out how actual physics works (and how long capes are REALLY a bad idea) and so forth and so on. Anyway, it will indeed be a BASH! at local comic shops and online – go take a peek here and see for yourself what’s coming…

Me, I’ll stick to reading in bed wearing some Batman pajamas or something. Unless it’s REALLY nice out. Then, I’ll go shopping and get a Bat-escort back home form some nice kid all dressed up. Or maybe luck out and get a Batgirl escort! Woo-hoo! Of course, there’s a 99.98% possibility of me just getting Bat-Mite trying to bite me, but so it goes…

Mr. Hoskins Checks Out…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, FilmsActuTrailers!)

I’ll do a proper RFToW for Who Framed Roger Rabbit? this coming weekend, but here’s a clip to remind me (and you, and you and you and you!) of how the late Bob Hoskins nailed it but good in playing his cheap detective so well against all those ping pong balls on sticks and other stuff on set, probably wondering what the hell he was doing while hoping the animators and tech folks could make the movie work. They did and it’s a classic for the ages.

I’d also recommend Hoskins in Mona Lisa, The Long Good Friday, and Hook for starters. Anyway, I think I’ll have a drink later as a toast to one more great actor lost to time…

Silent Hill Returns to PSP Via PSN: Time To Scare Yourself Silly On The Small Screen…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

Konami has finally gotten digital versions of the two Silent Hill PSP games, Silent Hill Origins and Silent Hill Shattered Memories up on PSN and both come highly recommended to horror fans looking to take some portable scares on the go. As you can also see, there’s a cry for fans to submit videos to that little gathering the company is planning so they can show off everyone basically saying the same things, ha ha. Okay, I’m joking, but there are a number of KEY moments in the original Silent Hill through Silent Hill 4: The Room that everyone who’s played them has jumped out of their seat over. Granted, that clip seen in the video above (that cuts off before the scare, thankfully) is probably THE moment I recall people talking about the most when I was working in an indie game shop (and yeah, it got me good the first time I experienced it).

My other favorite scare was late in the first game when you’re in those sewers and that radio you’d been relying on to screech out static when a monster was nearby… STOPS WORKING. This moment is a freak out because you get no warning the radio is ineffective and the stage starts off with something moving slowly towards you out of the darkness. Is it harmless? Nope, not at all and worse, you have to make it though the entire are with ZERO warning as to what’s coming your way. I recall I had a review to write and only a dozen hours to finish the game, so this section was tough, but I pushed through it and survived without poor Harry Mason dying (but I think I had a few gray hairs afterwards). Anyway, enough reminiscing on such a wet and cold evening- I’m starting to give myself the creeps!

You’d Think Reliability Was A Crime These Days…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

The nice thing about owning old stuff is finding it still works when new stuff no longer does. Case in point, my Vectrex console. I’ve had three of them over time and own one now, but not because I had to replace them at all. The first one I gave to some guy who was going through some hard times and needed something to do while recuperating from an operation. The second I sold off to someone who wanted it and paid me well for it and a bunch of boxed games. The third one (pictured) I bought about 14 years back and it gets some use every now and then, but not as much as I have time for. It’s heavy and built like a tank, unlike most of today’s consoles that break down from all sorts of stupid internal and external issues… Continue reading →

Child of Light Out Is Out Today (So You’re NOT Reading This Post, Right?)

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

Nope, I wasn’t lucky enough to grab a Child of Light review code from whomever handles this stuff over at Ubisoft, but I don’t mind paying the $15 to play this game at all. My platform of choice will be the Wii U, as it’s a system that needs more love and it’s great that Ubisoft decided to bring this game to the console, although it’s no surprise given their support for it since its launch.

As you can see, reviews are indeed in from those who DID get codes early and yes, the game comes highly recommended. I’ll probably get to playing this early next week, as I’m working on a few things and my poor backlog is indeed killing me these days. I guess I can train a monkey or goat to play games and write about them, but that would cut into my budget something fierce (and the food? Yikes, I’d go broke with a pet here in NYC)…

Let’s Try This Again… TEST POST!

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

OK, I’ll be out and about later at a more reliable connection, but since this new post window loaded fast this morning (yesterday was a TOTAL nightmare!), I’m going to try adding a post with an image and video (which was impossible to do on Tuesday for anything I attempted). Let’s see now… la, la, laaa… Whee, progress (he said, hitting himself in the head with a cast iron fry pan)! That really OLD photo above is there to scare you. Are you scared? No? Oh well, no refunds if you dropped a coin into that slot to read this. Video below, as it kind of fits the photo. Sort of. Okay, I like this song a lot, so you get to listen and watch and hopefully be very entertained even though it’s way out of season.

(thanks, NewGods101!)

Anyway, I’ll be back in a few hours with some actual posts. The rainy streets are calling me and I need to answer…

(NOTE: Although this is only a test, there will be NO quiz later. Consider yourselves lucky!)

DAYLIGHT Launch Trailer: Might As Well Jump. Quite A Few (OK, A Lot Of) Times…

Posted on April 30, 2014 by geelw

So, DAYLIGHT is here for your PC or PlayStation 4 from Atlus and developer Zombie Studios, but you should play it in the dark for best results. Granted, this short, scary as hell romp through a few creepy locations isn’t the deepest game on the planet, but it delivers the scares thanks to maps that are procedurally generated, meaning it’s a new experience each time you dive in. Now, I’m not a fan of the whole Slenderman thing (it’s so laaaaaaaaame and not a scary myth at all to me!), but this more ghostly take on that fad works better on a few fronts while delivering the jump scares horror fans crave. It’s too bad this wasn’t also made for the Vita, as I’d be playing it now and jumping out of a seat somewhere in public squealing like a bag of hungry mice. Eeeeeek!

My Connection Needs Some Coffee!

Status

Wow. Sloooooooooower than a dead snail going uphill! Less powerful than a pair of rusted tin cans with a broken string! Unable to upload even the smallest of images without locking up! Look up and scream “WHY?!” “It’s a turd!” “Who’s to blame?” Nope, it’s stupid, man! (AND HOW!)

Bleh, it must be the weather today or something, but the internet has been DEAD here to-day. I spent something like three hours trying to post stuff and between pages crashing or not loading when I try to save and do other stuff, I’m not a happy camper. Well, I think THIS post will go up, as it’s image-free. Let me see what happens and if it works, I’ll try getting a few more up. What a stupid day… otherwise, I’m pretty happy, thanks for asking.

You’ll Never Be As Loud As Godzilla, But Knock Yourself Out Anyway…

Posted on April 28, 2014 by geelw

Nope. Not gonna happen, people. You try to join this over-sized hog calling contest and all you’ll get is a very bad sore throat, trust me. Of course, you’ll want to prove me wrong, but I’ll be right and talking about you while you’ll be home with a raw throat sucking down a bottle of honey with your nice chicken soup. Yeah, one of those cute bear bottles – whatever makes you happy. Anyway, I say let the monster itself do what it does best (well ONE of the things it does best) and stay the heck out of his way:

There, THAT’S more like it. May 16th is stomping up soon, isn’t it? Yes it is!

Gallery: Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment

Posted on April 28, 2014 by geelw

I’m only vaguely aware of the whole Sword Art Online phenomena in Japan, so I was certainly pleased to see that there’s a Vita game coming to North America this summer courtesy Namco Bandai Games. I guess it’ll be catch up time for me, as it’s turning out to be a very good year for Sony’s handheld in terms of new properties and publishers taking chances on niche IP. Namco Bandai is going to be dropping more news about this soon (the press release says in about a week), but in the meantime, check out the character art and screens below the jump…