Things You Find Out At Starbucks While Getting A Free Drink…

Posted on July 13, 2012 by geelw

So, today from noon to 3pm, Starbucks was introducing its new Refreshers drinks by giving away Tall sizes to anyone who walked into a location. I decided to take advantage of this at my regular Starbucks and a second one just over a mile away (and a nice walk, too) just to confirm something that was bugging me about the Wi-Fi service at the closer location. Turns out I was right, as the Wi-Fi at the shop near me stinks badly while the service at the other spot was flawless and fast. Yes, I was FINALLY able to update my Vita (after installing an older update from the Gravity Rush game card), so from here on in, that location will be my go-to spot for any portable PSN downloads and demos I need to track down. I could use the exercise, so it’s all good.

Oh yeah, the Refreshers were nice. Two flavors: Lime and Berry Hibiscus or something like that. Made with green coffee beans and real fruit, so there was a bit of a jolt (I felt sorry for the parents snapping up Coolers for their kids – it’s going to be a rough Friday night for those wired ones is all I’ll say), not a lot of sweetness (a good thing!) and overall a nice addition to the already hefty lineup the chain offers.

The Last Story To Be Told On A Wii Near You Next Month

Posted on July 13, 2012 by geelw

August 14, 2012, to be more precise. And yes, there’s a gorgeous 44-page art book included in all first edition copies of the game. if you get that pre-order in, you get a nice bonus in the form of a 7-track music CD. All for a mere $49.99. The nice thing is this isn’t a GameStop exclusive, so Amazon, Newegg, GameStop and other online or offline shops should be well stocked (well, for a Wii game, that is). Xseed isn’t yet selling this in their small online store just yet, but I’m hoping they decide to stock a few copies, as that’s where I’d prefer to spend my money – give it right to the publisher and cut out the middleman entirely. Eh, I’ll bug them later about it and see what the deal is on why they’re not carrying the game.

007 Legends “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” Gameplay: License To Thrill

Posted on July 13, 2012 by geelw

I’m really interested in 007 Legends because Eurocom has been doing a pretty stellar job with their last few Bond games and this trailer shows off a nice level inspired by my favorite Bond film. I do wish that all the music in the trailer was taken from the original film, as the main theme was and is one of the best in the series and still works double duty as an intro and action scene piece. Amusingly enough, Encore is running 19 Bond films this month, so I’ve been watching one per night (in order, of course) for a bit of reminiscing and for a future article. Yup, some of them haven’t held up well at all in terms of a few prickly points I’ll discuss later (and a big fat BOO to Encore for not showing these in their original theatrical formats!), but for the most part, I’m still entertained by what I’m seeing. As for the game, I’m just itching to play it just to see how well Eurocom translated and condensed each film they chose down to what’s looking like a nearly non-stop thrill ride of a game…

Borderlands 2 ‘Wimoweh” Trailer: Now, That’s What I Call Confidence!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by geelw

You just know Gearbox Software and 2K Games KNOW they have a hit when they can take a hit song recorded from before most of the game’s target audience was even a twinkle in their parents’ eyes (and hell, was old as the hills before their parents had even met) slap it into an awesome trailer and make a must-see many times instant classic. Of course, to the kids that think that tune is corny, well, so much for knowing much about music, I guess. Now I can’t get the tune out of my head (nor the image of Claptrap rolling along repeating “Wimoweh” in his own way. Ah well, ring me up, 2k – that’s another sale your way!

Remember, Borderlands 2 hits retail on September 18 in the US and September 21 everywhere else.

EDF 3 Portable Update: New Trailer, Plus You May Not Have To Import It At All…

Posted on July 12, 2012 by geelw

Nice. A little birdie told me recently that there’s an in-progress English script floating around for this upcoming Vita game, so I’m hoping this is not only true, but D3 gets on the ball in getting the word out ASAP as to when we can expect this instant classic. Here’s the import cover art, a new trailer to drool over plus links to the game’s Amazon Japan page and below, a few of D3’s official Japanese EDF 3 sites. Interestingly enough, the game will be available in Japan in two formats (like EDF 2 Portable on the PSP) a single game card or value-priced dual pack format that will allow gamers to share a copy with a fellow Vita owner. I doubt that double pack will be released stateside, but it WOULD be awesome if D3Publisher of America did us EDF fans a true favor and localized EDF 2 and made it available as a PSN download.

By the way, if you want more info on the game and don’t mind learning a bit of Japanese in the process (or using Microsoft’s bing translator), well, here you go, along with the official Japanese Facebook page (feel free to leave a comment if you visit to express your love for the series) and official D3Publisher Japan EDF portal web site. Anyway, color me thrilled (again)… 9/27/12 in Japan and hopefully not too much longer for the rest of the world…

Street Fighter X Tekken Vita Hands-On: Content With The Content

Posted on July 11, 2012 by geelw

If you’re a Vita owner (and one of those non-whiny Capcom fans who seem to be a dying breed on the internet, but actually exist in the real world) that’s been wondering whether or not you should buy Street Fighter X Tekken when it ships out this fall, I’ll say right now that it’s a no-brainer YES, particularly if you want to experience what’s looking like the smoothest cross-platform play to date. A recent hands-on test of the game at Capcom’s NYC press event put a grin on my face that was hard t remove thanks to some of the new playable characters, the interesting and fun touchscreen control options and yes, that lag-free gameplay against a PS3 opponent.

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Should You Go OUYA? Probably So, As It’s Looking Like A Winner For Gamers…

Posted on July 11, 2012 by geelw

I’ll admit, I was pretty skeptical about this Kickstarter project I kept hearing and reading about elsewhere to create a sub-$100 games console for Android-based games AND game development, but I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong. Hey, I had every right to have that raised eyebrow, as I once sat in a room with a guy behind the Phantom console for about half an hour or so and he had me convinced the thing was coming out sooner than it never did. Anyway, The team behind the stylish-looking OUYA console not only made their $950,000 target in about eight hours, they still have close to a month to go before the funding closes. After poking about on their Kickstarter page, it looks as if they’ve got the right people at the right time and hell, there are plenty of indie games out there to go around…

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Tomb Raider’s Final Days In Development: Lara’s Makeover Is Complete

Posted on July 10, 2012 by geelw

Here’s a brief look at Crystal Dynamics’ upcoming reboot, courtesy of game journalist Geoff Keighley’s Final Hours series of ‘making of’ documentaries. It’s a great piece for those of you curious about what goes into making a game and heck, anything that gets people not into the medium to see the magic happening is all right by me…

They’re Making A Deus Ex Movie? Shoot Me Now…

Posted on July 10, 2012 by geelw

Better yet, get Terry Crews (seen above, promoting Ubisoft’s upcoming Expendables 2 video game tie-in) to hit me in the face with a pie after busting through a wall in my house like Kool-Aid Man, but dressed as a bottle of Old Spice Body Wash or something. Ugh. I can tell that this is going to be a disaster, as what makes a Deus Ex game WORK isn’t the action and some big name actors strutting about pretending. For me, it’s all about the writing and choices available to the player over many hours of each game in the franchise, all of which will be condensed into two hours and probably nowhere near as good as any of the games. Meh, whatever – I hope Warren Spector gets a cut of the profits somewhere along the line. Only Hollywood can stop itself once it gets rolling on something like this, but like any video game movie, it’s not going to be pretty at all. I’ll go hide in a closet somewhere – wake me when the movie hits cable…

Er, wait…. they made an Expendables 2 video game? Holy crap, Ubisoft… maybe you should have showed THIS instead of Watch_Dogs (har har)…

Atlus Wants YOU To Win This Cool Persona 3 Artbook…

Posted on July 9, 2012 by geelw

Hooray for free stuff, as it’s a nice Monday brightener! Atlus is going to be making 25 lucky, lucky random winners across the U.S. of A. (only, sorry overseas folks!) VERY happy with this lovely Persona 3 Official Design Works book published by Udon Entertainment (a $39.99 value!) simply by signing up as a new member (or already being a current member) of the Atlus Faithful and keeping their fingers and toes crossed when the drawing is held on July 16th.