A Little Victor Vran Does A Body Good

Posted on June 25, 2017 by geelw

As I’m still in recovery mode after my hospitalization, I’ll be brief with this review/recommendation. In short, Haemimont Games has done an absolutely spectacular job in bringing over its action/RPG Victor Vran to consoles and yes, you should pick this one up if you’re a like-minded chase & chop fanatic. The game’s enhanced content gets it re-titled Victor Vran: Overkill Edition with good reason.

Between the lengthy main quest to save the cursed city of Zagoravia, the randomly generated Fractured Worlds and quirky as hell Motörhead Through the Ages expansions, there’s a LOT of game here for a mere $40. And that doesn’t include the 2-player local co-op, 4-player online co-op, PvP mode or (optional) daily challenges that extend the fun for those who want to dive into a bit of competitive action.

Continue reading →

Blu-Ray Review: The Bird With The Crystal Plumage

Posted on June 21, 2017 by geelw

Among other things that showed up in the mail while I was hospitalized for about a month was an absolutely stunning 4K Blu-Ray conversion of Dario Argento’s first film, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage courtesy of Arrow Video.

Packed with bonus features (including a new interview with Argento) and physical goodies collectors will love, this limited edition joins Arrow’s other gialli as another essential worth tracking down. While the film is the director’s tamest horror flick, it still packs quite a memorable visual punch thanks to some creative camerawork, cinematography by the great Vittorio Storaro (The Conformist, Apocalypse Now) and a few genuinely terrifying moments that still shock today. Continue reading →

Neon Chrome Makes For Entertainment Outside The Game Space

Posted on June 19, 2017 by geelw

This was amusing enough to have me typing a game-related post sooner than expected. So, one game PS Plus users got this month for free was Neon Chrome, a top-down twin stick shooter/action RPG (I guess it’s a sort of rogue-like thanks to the random maps?) that has been around since 2016. PS Plus owners also get PS4 Pro support and a free cross-platform Vita version… unless they’ve downloaded the game demo at some point during the last year. Oops.

It seems that there’s a problem where the game demo won’t update even if you delete it and any save files. Oops. The only solutions are to contact PlayStation Customer Support (use the chat option for fastest results) who will hit you up with questions before hooking you up with a new code. It’s a reasonably fast process, so don’t let the average of 28 users in front of you be a deterrent. I thought I’d have enough time for a to boil water for cup of tea, but the doorbell rang and my number rolled up before the water had boiled.

Anyway, a nice guy named Caesar was on my case and did me up right. Considering I’m still in recovery mode (among other things, I’d had a stroke and a few seizures) and Sony has a tight two-minute per line of text time limit, we did alright with my chuggy typing and I got both versions of the game downloaded within about 25 minutes. Of course, I’m not even planning to play this game for the foreseeable future thanks to the rather HUGE backlog of games and movies I have. I’m going to try and kick out a short review this week for a recent arrival, but we’ll see how the therapy visits go this week.

-GW

A Small Sale…

Posted on June 15, 2017 by geelw

Short and to the point: https://gametz.com/user/geelw/AvailableGames.html I’d forgotten my bank account was set to auto-drain funds for a few things while I was in the hospital over the last month, so I’m selling off a few games. I’m using gametz.com over ebay to cut out the middleman fees nonsense, so yep, you’ll need an account there. I took a few photos, but ha! As I’m still on an ancient Windows XP junker for maybe the next two weeks or so, I need to dig out a USB stick and camera cable in order to move stuff around. My poor brain is a bit mooshy about stuff on and off thanks to the meds, so that will happen tomorrow at some point.

-GW

A Friendly Reminder…

Posted on June 13, 2017 by geelw

(thanks, tucanoramone!)

I’m still working through *many* health-related issues, so again… please do not send me social media messages I can’t respond to in a timely manner. I don’t know when I’ll be back on Facebook, Twitter, Steam or any other network and I don’t want you guys and gals to feel ignored or as if I’m just not interested in communicating. That said, I decided to do some art today after being frustrated in a few attempts in trying to move my health care provider to the place that saved my bacon. That will take a few days to fix, but one side effect of the meds I’m on is a bit of annoyance with stupid stuff.

only a test

So, yeah. I can still kind of do certain stuff, gaming included (Yes!). That said, I now need to concentrate on over a thousand emails from indie and other publishers, so please bear with me as that slowly happens over the next… uh, month or three?

Finally, if anyone has gotten an email from me (it would have arrived Monday) asking not to follow or otherwise bug me, it’s NOT personal. I just need the rehab to go smoothly and seeing your name as a follower is not a comforting sight at all. Take the hint and quit stalking/following me so my blood pressure stays out of the red zone.

-GW

Time Travel Kind Of Sucks.

Posted on June 11, 2017 by geelw

Still not back to normal yet, but email is the best way to reach me as I’m still not signed back into any social networks (in my current shape, the stress isn’t a good thing). I had no idea Adam West died and that E3 was in full swing (you miss a lot after about a month or so in the hospital), my inbox is PACKED with stuff I still can’t type well or fast enough to respond to (this post took about 30 minutes). The recovery process is going to be bumpy as hell, but the alternatives are far less entertaining and I prefer more options.

Back in a bit,

-GW

Words Fail Me (A Bit Less, But Still)…

Posted on June 10, 2017 by geelw

Here’s a laugh: my laptop died at some point during my medical adventures, so this post as well as the last were typed out (very slowly) on an old wheezy Windows XP monster. I think a new battery is needed (not a clue as to what happened), but after the mess last night figuring out two passwords over the course of an hour, I’m not quite ready for online shopping or social media. That said, this post took about 25 minutes less to compose than yesterday’s, which is a good thing. A day at a time, folks…

-GW

Stuff. And Other Stuff.

Posted on June 9, 2017 by geelw

In short, I had a bit of a medical crisis that caught me off guard and among other things, has made typing hard as hell. I have a lot to say… just trouble saying it in print.

Back in a bit.

Deadly Premonition: The Board Game Update (Surprise Swery Edition)

Posted on May 9, 2017 by geelw

Well, oops. I was wrong. But that’s okay this time.

It turns out Swery does indeed have a hand in this particular pie after all. Excellent. So far, Deadly Premonition: The Board Game is still in production, so we’ll have to find out later if it’ll be partially crowdfunded or a fully-funded Rising Star Games project (EDIT: see below!). Either way, much of the game’s fan base is very likely going to be pleased while the rest will need to go make some friends in the real world as opposed to living vicariously through others online unless this board game gets some sort of digital treatment.

More updates to come as news lands in the inbox.

-GW

Well, ooh – news has landed in the inbox, so here’s an update: THE GAME IS NOW LIVE ON KICKSTARTER! Three bucks gets you a Steam code for the bizarre horror/mystery action/adventure adventure Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, while $30 gets you the board game and that Steam Key mentioned above. The game will come in Standard and Special Edition versions and yes, stretch goals are in the works should the game push way past its initial funding goals.

Press release below the jump – the funding is already over the halfway point ($32K funded with a goal of $50K!)
Continue reading →

Loving The Alien: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Posted on May 9, 2017 by geelw

The best film directors are master manipulators who can magically transform an entire theater audience into a group of happy to sappy sapient lemmings or wide-eyed marionettes easily controlled from start to end credits. Their best films have the masses cheering the heroes, hissing at the bad ones, empathizing with the downtrodden and generally feeling whatever emotion a scene calls for. Yes, there are exceptions to this non-rule (too-likeable villains, swapping out all attempts at sympathy for more explosions and eyeball rolling plot twists you can see coming 20 minutes before they occur). But when you get right down to it, you know your cinematic needs are being taken care of when certain directors are at the helm.

Or, as an old friend once said:

(thanks, svofski!)