Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Demo Arrives on PSN Tomorrow

Posted on December 3, 2012 by geelw

Nice. Namco Bandai is giving PS3 owners and JRPG fans an early holiday gift with the release of a two level demo from the upcoming (and eagerly anticipated) Level-5/Studio Ghibli game. In the demo, players can expect two tough boss battles against the Guardian of the Woods and Moltaan along with a load of absolutely gorgeous visuals and animation guaranteed to bring a smile to just about any face. Seriously – the game looks quite spectacular in screenshots and movies online, but when you see it in motion on an actual TV, it’s quite incredible. The full game arrives next month for the PS3 in North America on January 22nd 2013 and in Europe on January 25th 2013.

Review: Nintendo Land

Posted on December 3, 2012 by geelw

Platform: Wii U

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo of America

# of Players: 1 – 5 (offline)

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10 +)

Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

As a launch title for the Wii U (or more precisely, the included pack in for those of you who are interested in or have very wisely purchased the black Premium version of the console), Nintendo Land is, much like Wii Play and Wii Sports, a collection of mini-games that shows how versatile the new GamePad is. Nintendo’s new system has a controller that’s been misunderstood by some in the gaming press and too many people who hang on every word some of those sites print. Fortunately, the game not only mostly delivers the goods where it should, some of the mini-games here end up being memorable enough that one hopes Nintendo decides to expand upon some ideas on the disc in the near future.

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Random Film of the Week: Fiend Without A Face

Posted on December 2, 2012 by geelw

If you’re old enough and recall camping out in front of the TV on Friday or Saturday nights long after the sun went to sleep (Chiller Theater or Creature Features, anyone?), you probably saw a ton of horror and sci-fi flicks from the 50’s and 60’s. For some reason, Hollywood’s “B” movie makers were brain-obsessed during this period, churning out films good to terrible with titles such as Donovan’s Brain, The Brain From Planet Arous, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die and so forth and so on.

All those brains on screen and yet, in my opinion the best one wasn’t even made in the USA. For years I always thought Fiend Without A Face was a US-made “B” flick, but I just found out recently that it’s British. Oops. Granted, that doesn’t make it any “classier” at all – it’s just yet another reason you should check out this classic 1958 sci-fi/horror gem.

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Young Justice: Legacy Teaser: It’s Getting Closer…

Posted on December 2, 2012 by geelw

Finally (after a wee bit too long and quiet time), here’s a cool short teaser for the upcoming Young Justice: Legacy game, set to hit home and portable consoles in 2013. Thanks, Little Orbit! OK, that’s one more game to keep an eyeball peeled for next year. If you feel like reading some insider stuff about the game, boogie on over here and here for some posts that are pretty informative about what goes into making a game like this come to life. Naturally, the big fat question for many fans remains just how good it’s going to be. Then again, given that it’s an action/RPG and there’s a nice pedigree behind the product in progress, I think the Little League (a ha ha) is in fine hands indeed. Now, let’s see an all gameplay trailer next time!

Review: Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition

Posted on December 1, 2012 by geelw

Platform: Nintendo Wii U

Developer: WB Games Montreal

Publisher: WB Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A (95%)

Nintendo-only console owners have most likely been hearing about how stellar Batman: Arkham City was on the PS3 and Xbox 360 for long enough that I’ve heard of some of the more hardcore fans of the Dark Knight plunking down the money for a competing
console and a copy of the game. For the rest of you who waited it out, you’re getting the definitive version of Arkham City that not only features every bit of DLC (on the retail disc (not as some download you need to buy or add before you play), but great new GamePad exclusive functions and some nice new costumes that make the experience even better than before. I’m console agnostic myself, so as soon as I heard this was coming out, it made it to the top of the list of “ports” that had to be played. While perfection comes thanks to the wealth of content old and new, some minor technical issues break the illusion from time to time. Nevertheless, WB Games Montreal has done some amazing work in bringing Rocksteady Studios’ smash onto a new console in such fine order.
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Gallery: BioShock Infinite Cover Art – Ash, Is That You?

Posted on December 1, 2012 by geelw

Provided the world doesn’t blow up in a few weeks as some would prefer (jerks), It looks as if we’ll be seeing Irrational Games and 2K finally get BioShock Infinite out on store shelves (and digitally, for those that prefer not owning their AAA games). That delay in its initial release date should help the dev team iron out any problems and hopefully the single player story will be memorable and compelling. And yes, I got an Evil Dead vibe from that cover image (I do wonder if this is intentional, or perhaps I’m just reading too much into things)…

Personally, as much as I’m a fan of this franchise, I’d LOVE to see irrational do something entirely different as a follow-up… perhaps even revisit their long-canceled game The Lost for consoles and maybe a handheld system or two? That’s one of those games that was looking quite innovative before it died an untimely (and unnecessary) death. Well, I did get to see it in action at the first E3 I went to (and I still have an asset disc around here somewhere in the vaults) it did pop up completely reworked in India as a PC game called Agni: Queen of Darkness… but that’s a long story (and yes, I’ve been looking for a legal copy the game for a few years now with no luck).

VGA 101 Update – Gallery: Pier Solar Reprint Edition (Plus!)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by geelw

Well, that was fast – A game I’ve wanted to play for ages is finally in the library here: Pier Solar and the Great Architects for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive along with the Enhanced CD for the Sega-CD/Mega CD. This isn’t the original print or the Posterity Edition, but the WM Reprint version in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Nice. I need to dig out one of my Sega-CD’s from under the TV set in the home office (oh, that will be a pain, but worth all that weightlifting), but I do have one of my Genesis systems out nearby (Actually, a Japanese Mega Drive), so I can at least start up the game (perhaps this weekend provided I have time).Yeah, yeah – I wanted to support Watermelon’s HD Kickstarter project, but I could only afford to either pick up this set now and play it or sign up for Kickstarter, donate and wait. I’m hoping the HD version of Pier Solar does well enough that it gets a reissue or even better, pops up on PSN (hell, a Vita version I’d kill for – or at least elbow someone gently in the head for)…

As for the other stuff? Well, it was cheap, so I picked them up. Sorcery (which should have been completed so that it shipped WITH the PlayStation Move as a launch title for the peripheral) was $10 and Heavy Rain was a few dollars more. Prometheus I bought to see the edited/deleted scenes and special features. I liked most of the film, but there are a few dumb lead characters and one part of the ending that should have been handled better. Otherwise, the film looks spectacular and ends up answering some questions and leaving others pinging around in the brain.

Video Game Appreciation 101: Recent Acquisitions (Part Whatever)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by geelw

OK, quickly now, as I’m still buried under a few Wii and Vita games I need to review: Blades of Time for the PS3 and Thor: God of Thunder for the Nintendo DS, both picked up this week dirt cheap. The former is a sort of sequel/reboot/update to developer Gaijin Entertainment’s poorly received X-Blades, a perfect example of great (in fact, spectacular) visuals and gameplay that’s somewhat lacking in depth. Blades of Time looks better, has tighter gameplay, an awesome time winding feature for combat and puxzzles, some really cheap enemies and yet, scored low to average on nearly every site that reviewed it. Granted, lead character Ayumi talks WAY too much to herself for a good chunk of the game and for those expecting a simple hack ‘n slash, the game can be really tough about a third or so of the way in. Nevertheles, it’s worth a buy if you like fast-paced action games and ton of monsters to kill. Oh yeah, that compass you whip out to find your way around (and hidded treasures) is pretty sweet as well.

As for Thor on the DS? It totally SMOKES the PS3 and 360 versions thanks to developer WayForward Technologies being true gods of 2D programming. Parallax galore, a fun, fast combat system, upgradable gear and amazing use of the DS’ dual screen format (the best bosses are two screens tall!) makes this one an excellent buy for any fan of classic side-scrollers from the 8 and 16-bit era. It’s too bad neither game got the totalrespect they deserved… but I guess that’s one reason I’m still doing what I do here. Go check them out sometime!

Updates: Incoming, Now Playing And So Forth And So On…

Status

Hokay – I’m swimming in games as of late with more on the way as noted on the other DAF blog), but I’ll be updating a bit over the weekend. Nintendo Land, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Wii Edition) and if I can get through it without dropping dead from fright, Zombi U will get posted along with a few other things. I need to figure out what December’s banner will be as well, so suggestions are welcome. I have games popping up every few days now, so the holiday backlog will continue… eek. But hey, it’s certainly a great time to be into the hobby, that’s for sure!

Review: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (PS3)

Posted on November 27, 2012 by geelw

Platform: PS3

Developer: Blitz Games

Publisher: Disney Interactive

# of Players: 1 – 2 (Co-op)

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: Single Player: D+ (65%)/ Co-op B+ (85%)

Rather than cut and paste my Wii review of Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two from earlier with a few HD-themed edits, I decided to get a little more creative… to a point. Yup, this is what happens when you stay up to long playing one version of a game after another, folks…

More Epic song? OK, I’ve got one-
In HD, Mickey’s hot as strong sun
The shadows here? They can’t be beat
with detailed backgrounds that are quite neat.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two looks great on the PS3, with some gorgeous cartoon colors, more detailed backdrops, better draw distance and some great use of shadows that give areas a lot more life than on the Wii version. It may seem like a small thing, but the care that went into elements such as the bucket-carrying brooms casting shadows on the walls (and yes, recalling the Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequence in Fantasia) add to the overall game experience. Granted, lovely shadows and backdrops don’t make a great game, but for the most part, the game doesn’t disappoint on the visual front…

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