Rule number one: Never play against someone who works at the company. When I first saw the intriguingly simple-looking but definitely compelling board game Oversight at Toy Fair here in NYC a few months ago, I was soundly trounced in a few quick matches by Griddly Games‘ Angela Welch, the company’s now newly minted Head of Marketing & Operations (they probably gave her the job after she beat everyone in the office at all the games the company makes – ringer!). But I managed to eke out a victory once I got the hang of the sliding tiles and color matching. Still, memo to self: don’t play board games with anyone after two hours of sleep. It’s a good thing I’m not a betting man, is all I’m saying…
Hmmm. Well, at least they’re hiring, right? However, as noble as their intentions are, I can see a ton of issues with an all-digital platform that make it less a good move and more of a high-risk doom scenario under the right circumstances. But I’ll let you guys and gals discuss it amongst yourselves. Personally, I really LIKE the security of having a physical product as it’s something I can play offline and without relying on giving up personal information. Hell, given the rather crappy security ALL across the internet where a month can’t go by without some major information breach/theft issue making the news, it’s hard for me to trust ANY digital-only service with my personal data. I think we’re sacrificing security for convenience, which is a hell of a lot more dangerous in the long run, even if we’re assured that our data is “safe”. I have the feeling that there’s an anti-EA crowd of n’er do wells just waiting to poke holes in the company’s digital ship as soon as it sails. But we’ll see, I guess…
Unless, of course you already bought your tickets and are going to step out to the theater and skip the long lines (provided there’s aren’t longer lines for those picking up tickets thanks to some sort of computer glitch). I’ve purposely been avoiding as much info as possible on the story and have even NOT watched all of the TV commercials when they suddenly popped onto my TV, but I finally gave in over the weekend and yeah, this looks like it’s going to be bigger than I thought. Nolan is throwing in everything and the kitchen sink here and I sort of feel bad for any director who wants to take over the series after he’s gone. At this point, unless the movie goes into a comedy/tap dance routine in the middle and has the ending chopped off, there’s no way it’s going to be a bust at the box office.
Hmmm. Since when did Tekken turn into Dead or Alive? While it’s really cool to see live-action versions of some of the gals from the game and for those that want it, there’s a crazy pre-order deal where you get 150 swimsuits for the ladies, I’m not at all interested in the game for collecting bikinis and ogling digital cuties. Eh, maybe I’m complaining too much and maybe we’ll see an even mix of trunks for the guys in that lot, as I can see some female fans of the series getting a bit ticked at this. Then again, it’s great for a bit of competition as any new Dead or Alive game will probably want to beef up the ante significantly by adding even more swimsuits and perhaps (ack!) bringing back Zack Island and those awful mini-games in some sort of open world format. Oh, it’s going to be pure hell for those of us who just want a decent fighting game…
So, I’m thirteen films into my 19-flick James Bond 007 marathon (and again, thanks, Encore, but no thanks for running the SAP versions and not the original theatrical formatted flicks, grrrrr) and I’m a bit more disappointed with the middle run of the series than I thought I would be. Nostalgia value aside, seeing all of these films one after another is like getting stabbed to death by an army of ants with really tiny knives. For me, once you get past On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (and realize how good it is), most of the films after it (mostly the Roger Moore era ones) haven’t stood up so well. Sure, Diamonds Are Forever is amusing (to a fault), Live And Let Die makes for a great 9albeit controversial) intro to the Roger Moore era and The Spy Who Loved Me at least tries hard to be ten years younger than it really is. A few of the other Moore films have interesting performances and plot points, but clearly, the series was devolving into campy, self-referential humor at the expense of whatever sensible elements remained.
Yes, I know the four Pierce Brosnan films (which I haven’t seen in a few years, but will get to this week) have great key moments that helped usher in today’s more serious Bond films, so I’m looking forward to seeing them at least once more. That said, the 70’s to 80’s Bond films range from adequate to flat out dumb to trying too hard to be serious before degenerating to the usual plot point of Bind dropping his pants and bedding anything he can before getting conked on the head and delivered to the bad guy’s hideout or some other location where he’ll escape before popping up to surprise the potential world dominating fool and set into motion his usually sightly to highly comical (explosion, falling, impalement, etc.) demise.
If you have to have to update that busted old Scrabble set (or want to grab a new one for a gift that will last forever), I say spend the extra cash and go all out with one of Winning Solutions official (and officially awesome) Deluxe Scrabble sets. Ranging in price from $39.99 for the pocket size Deluxe Folio Edition to $199.99 for the already sold out Typography Edition, these are great editions of the classic word-making game that would be great additions to any collection. My personal favorite: the Giant Scrabble Deluxe Wood Edition that’s perfect for old fogies like me because the oversize board and tiles mean I can see what I’m misspelling with ease. Anyway, go get your word on if that’s your thing, I say. We need a LOT more in the way of smart people these days, and hell, you may as well have F-U-N while you’re expanding your brain’s horizons. Winning Solutions also has a nice collection of other classic Parker Brothers and Hasbro favorites, but you’re probably already poring over their page already, correct?
In case you missed out on Season Four, a nifty little wrap-up is above. Below is a taste of what to expect from this first half of the final story arc from Vince Gilligan’s truly amazing fevered brain. I’m smart enough to keep the heck off the fan sites and never listen to any other rumors about the shows I watch, so that keeps me sane. I prefer going in as cold as possible so I can enjoy what the writer(s), actors and directors have worked so damn hard on. That’s how I roll, and it’s worked for me for quite some time. The big problem these days is too many people end up NOT enjoying a lot of shows, films and games because they keep going out of their way to intentionally or unintentionally spoil every bit of information before it’s time, then complain if they end up ruining some key moments because they couldn’t go find something else to do but troll one message board too many.
Feh – keep eating that raw cookie dough and suffering for it later – I like my baked goods fresh and warm and tasty with a nice dish of ice cream on the side…
OK, I’m no Carl Barks, but I figured I may as well try and make up a title that’s not quite as necessarily unwieldy (or even more, depending on your tastes) as the one the game has that more or less explains as much as possible while not giving anything away. Yeah, I left out the musical aspects, the new game camera, drop in/drop-out co-op play, the lovely visual upgrades across the board and the still innovative Paint & Thinner gameplay choices players can make. In fact, my hands-on preview was better! Ah well..
Hey, YOU try and describe all of that in a title without burning up a few brain cells. Yeah, see? Told you so. Anyway, November 18th is the big day, so get yourself prepared…
Remember… it’s a game for kids, so there’s that. Motion controls aside, it’s also a tiny bit close to what the Bandai Playdia DBZ games were in a few aspects, so there’s that as well. That means again, it’s a game for KIDS, first and foremost. All the Super Saiyan furor boiling up and way over about this one is a bit much, I think. Hell, if you’re screaming about a motion-controlled DragonBall game and you’re old enough to vote or drink, you should probably be consuming less caffeine and sugar or something. Maybe go read some Shakespeare, get out for a nice walk? I hear there’s some nice jazz in the park somewhere near you… Cultchah, folks, cult-chah…
OK, so I’m hot “hip” like the rest of you kids, as I’ve NEVER seen an episode of Adventure Time. But, I do like funky games like this, so yeah, I’ll play it when it comes out. That said, the answer to that wacky title SHOULD be something like “Because We have a much cooler game on the way!” as in, I hope to hell you’re going to announce that Earth Defense Force 3 IS indeed Vita-bound in the U.S. of A., D3! It’s looking spectacular and could be one of the biggest games on Sony’s handheld in terms of sheer replay value. So, yeah – let’s hear some BIG news around this year’s TGS about giant bugs, spaceships and robots – you’ll make a lot of EDF maniacs like me really, really happy…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 