Toy Fair 2013: Griddly Games’ Show Me the Kwan: Word War Three Begins Soon…

Posted on February 25, 2013 by geelw

As usual, Griddly Games‘ Angela Welch is a total ringer. Here I was minding my business strolling around the show floor at Toy Fair when my path sent me past the GG both where their upcoming word game Show Me the Kwan (or Kwan) was on display and once I was lured into a match, well… like last year’s fun puzzle/strategy game Oversight, I went down faster than a Canadian Goose dipped in kerosene taking a detour through a flaming hoop. That actually means the game is really good and not much sleep before strolling the show floor means a discarded soda can could have beaten me…

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Soul Sacrifice Japanese TV Spots: April’s Real Fools Will Miss This Gem…

Posted on February 24, 2013 by geelw

Nope, I’m not taking ALL of today off, folks. Here are a trio of nice ads for Sony’s upcoming Vita exclusive which is headed stateside soon enough (oh, alright… I’ll be nice – it’s headed to PSN and HOPEFULLY retail in North America on April 30, 2013).

Granted, non-Vita owners hoping for the portable to slide into oblivion while they diddle away playing Fruit Ninja or whatever are more likely than not shrugging away or not taking much notice as they’re rubbing their fingerprints off on some tablet or phone. On the other hand, The core Vita fans who support the handheld know this is a key release coming in a pretty hectic year for the system.

Hmm. My long list of stuff to play has now officially reached “Too many games!” status. But according to experts in the field of “Hey, you have waaaaay too many games!” it’s been that way for a while.

Random Film of the Week(end): Rubber

Posted on February 24, 2013 by geelw

I absolutely love that some horror fans HATE Quentin Dupiex’ Rubber (or as it’s called in France, Rubber) for a few reasons. I’m betting he knew that’s just what would happen when the jaded but none too bright gore fanatics out there rolled into theaters or caught this on cable thinking they’d be getting a relentlessly violent and gory flick that just so happened to be non-stop hilarious. Well, it IS indeed gory and often quite funny… but it’s also a one or two gag film that works it hard by going in many directions (often at once) as well as one of the more absurdly meta movies you’ll ever see. You know you’re in for a weird time when a movie starts off with two characters on a desert road talking about how things happen for “no reason” before an audience in the distance waiting around is handed binoculars in order to watch what happens next. That’s probably the most normal thing you’ll see for the next 80+ minutes, by the way…

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Hey Lukewarm Games! You’re Lucky I Like Dinosaurs…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

As I noted last week, this whole Harlem Shake thing is SO played out, but toss in a couple of dinosaurs and I get all “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in…” about this dopey fad. Well, it works with THESE dinosaurs. Hell, if it were Barney or any other purple dinosaur out there, I’d be beating my laptop with a baseball bat and suing someone so I can buy a new one. Anyway, OK – I laughed… but this is the last time I’m going to watch one of these videos. Maybe…

Hey, Lukewarm! Maybe think a tiny bit about getting your nifty-looking multiplayer-centric game Primal Carnage onto consoles and the Vita with a solo play campaign so I can finally play this game. It looks like a ton of fun, but I don’t do online gaming much (crap connection and I prefer games with stories to keep me interested more than running around shooting stuff)…

Gallery: Mystic Chronicles (Or: Natsume Keeps The PSP Flame Burning Into The Summer Months)

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Well, well, well… I didn’t even know Japanese developer/publisher Kemco was still around these days, but thanks to Natsume deciding to localize the company’s iOS RPG Fantasy Chronicle for North America as Mystic Chronicles for a summer 2013 release, I’m a bit happier to see the developer still cranking out fun games that more genre fans here in the US will get to enjoy. Tile-based 16-bit visuals straight out of the SNES and Genesis days? Check. First-person field and dungeon combat (and turn-based at that)? Check. Cute anime/manga art all over the place (like it or not – I happen to like it a lot in this type of game). Check.

All I need to know now is when it’s coming out and how much I need to spend to get my grubby paws on it (retail is preferred, but I’ll take a PSN code to get my fix). Hey, I have three PSP’s here, at least one of which gets regular usage (Earth Defense Force 2 Portable has been on constant play here since I got it from Play-Asia), so I won’t be needing to go nuts digging through the Bins of Doom here looking for them.

Anyway, onwards to the gallery with you! Watch your step and duck, as it’s below the jump… Continue reading →

Review: Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken (Vita)

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita (via PSN)
Developer/Publisher: Ratloop Asia
# of Players: 1 (online 2 – 4)
ESRB: Rating: M (Mature)
Official Site
Score: A- (90%)
Before you even ask, nope, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken has absolutely NOTHING to do with Angry Birds. Zero. Zilch. So, please clear that Jenga with a slingshot game out of your heads before reading further (I’ll wait)… and if you happen to have grown up playing classic NES side-scrollers, a few too many platform-based puzzle games and maybe a few oddball arcade flight shooters, well… this game’s got your name on it somewhere. Ratloop Asia (sorry, but that studio name makes me want to avoid eating Chinese food for a few days) has cooked up a tasty bird buffet that’s a tad spicy for the kids thanks to a bit of foul (or is that fowl?) language, blood and lots of stabby and shooty violence. But for those of you Vita owners with a sense of humor and a few bucks in your pocket, it’s a guaranteed fun time while it lasts. A few new Vita-exclusive elements added makes this the most complete version out there and yes, it’s a definite must-buy if you’re looking for a solid adventure that, while not the longest game out there, is going to get a few replays and perhaps even stay on that memory card long after you’re all done.

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Despicable Me 2 Toy Profile of the Week (1): A Few Minions For Your Approval…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Meet Minions Stuart, Phil and Dave,
(of them I’ll post this little rave)

They’re three fun guys full of surprise
and just a few bucks each.
They’ll fit in pocket, purse or bag,
(I think they’d like the beach)

Thinkway has made them all just right
they’ll make you smile a lot
That said, I’d keep mine at home
so mischief happens not!

Pictured, three Collectible Figures from the upcoming Despicable Me 2 toy line (2”-3.5”), Age: 4+; Approximate Retail Price: $4.99 – Available starting in May at a retailer near you.

Bugbear Entertainment Has Been Some Busy Bees. You’ll Want A Seat Belt For This One.

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

I’ve had a mad crush (pun intended) on Bugbear Entertainment and their games since I first got a debug demo for FlatOut on the original Xbox many years back and played it to death. I have almost all their other racers (yes, even Glimmerati for the Nokia N-Gage, which needs to remade for other platforms so more people can see how fun it is) and in general, all you need is one go at any of their games to see that these guys love making arcade style racing games that aren’t supercar showcases at all. They’re still around and have made some fine racers, but some were better than others and while each game was well worth playing, I felt it would be a nice thing to see the developer go back to its roots and do something that was fun and chaotic with a hefty amount of car damage making it a guaranteed smash with fans of this type of game. Hey, car puns are too easy to write – I’m holding back here just so I don’t go overboard, folks…
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HBO’s Phil Spector Trailer: Earplugs For The Wall of Sound (With A Pair of Blinders Too)…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Call me crazy, but I find this whole need to recapture every big media frenzy tale that really doesn’t need to be retold because someone actually died as a truncated TV or big deal high-budget movie presented once completed as “based on actual events”, “inspired by a true story” or however else any flick that mixes made up for extra oomph and actual things that happened to be kind of stupid. Granted, movies have been doing this for decades, but it’s getting so damn predictable that anyone committing a crime worthy of a few too many news cycles has practically got MADE FOR TEE-VEE tramp-stamped in big type (and misspelled exactly like that) just where you’d expect.

That said, I bet this will be a total hoot, between Mamet’s tendency to write his dialog all too well and Pacino’s tendency to be Pacino in crazy mode with some of his more out-there performances. On the other hand, this might actually be good… but I really don’t give a flying rat about the subject matter. So…. will I watch this? No. Or to be more truthful, Hell no (but if it’s reviewed as unintentionally hilarious, well… I lied and there goes two hours when it’s rebroadcast)…

Game of Thrones Season 3 Trailer: It’s The Little Things In Life…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Case in point: It’s a good little thing this isn’t premiering THIS weekend, as I’d never get a darn little thing thing done. Hell, I’ll be shoving myself into the freezer with an extra blanket to hibernate so I’m fresh as a frozen daisy for that first episode of the new season, but I’ve got too much to do in March as it is. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see this little thing, “accidentally” flip to the show on the 31st and act like a surprised little thing that the show is on so early. It worked fine like that last season… (sings) “Little things mean a lot…”