Toy Fair 2012: Vinyl (& Plush) Appreciation Society (Part 1): Mezco Toyz

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

There were literally a ton of action figures on display at Toy Fair, so picking just one favorite booth was a losing proposition. However, despite the big guns (Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, et cetera) rolling out some truly impressive new licensed goodies you’ll be snapping up like hotcakes, there were a number of smaller studios that had more interesting and in some cases, more impressive licensed items coming your way in 2012 and beyond. Here’s a peek at a few of my show favorites…

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Game Appreciation 101: Don’t Be A Size King (Or Queen)…

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

Remember folks: it’s not how long a game is, it’s what went into making the experience work so well that you HAD to blow through it in eight hours or so that’s key. Bad games don’t get finished all the time unless you paid full price and want to put in that time just to sate your curiosity before you trade it back (or sell it to an unsuspecting friend). Good games, no matter how short or long they are always have you get to the end and wanting to see more. That’s not disappointment to me – that’s just a developer doing its job…

Double Fine Adventure Update: Fun WIth Ron & Tim

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

Hmmm. It’s way too early in the morning, but I’m up, so here’s a post to read and a long as heck video to watch that’s pretty funny. I made the mistake of watching Mars Needs Moms last night, so this 35-plus minutes actually negated a chunk of that awful film from my memory. Man, was it lousy (it did have some nice animation work, though). Anyway, next time I can’t sleep, I’ll go play a game instead (like Double Fine Adventure, perhaps?)

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II “Reunion” Trailer: Change Is Good (Unless You’re A Nitpicker Who Thinks It’s Not)…

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

While I’d still prefer Sega just get all the parts done and release this on a DISC with all the other Genesis/Saturn/Dreamcast Sonic games ever made (they’ll fit on a single Blu-Ray comfortably, I’d bet), we’ll have to “settle” for installments. The good thing is, the dev team is addressing the complaints about Part 1 and it looks as if the animation is fixed up quite nicely. Of course, SOME people out there are going on and on about how the game doesn’t PERFECTLY replicate the Genesis version to a T in terms of every single animation or how some parts seem to take control away from the player and so forth and so on. I say knock it ff and wait for the game (or at least a demo) to drop before swallowing that foot.

Wrath of the Titans “Oblivion” Trailer: CGI Overload, I Want My Harryhausen Back!

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

Well, it’s darker, grittier and more action-packed than the recent remake (which was pretty dark, gritty and action-packed to begin with) and yup, folks who loved the first will be all over this one like cats at a sushi bar. Still, for all the awesomely bombastic CGI effects, I still miss that more human touch Ray Harryhausen had with his work on the original (plus his other work from the era). Well, minor complaining aside, it’s nice to see this franchise expanding with a followup flick… although as I noted last year, the third movie’s title is going to be a pain in the neck to come up with. I say go with “War of the Titans” and call it a night…

Jet Set Radio Finally Returns (This Time On PSN/XBLA)

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

Excellent, but I have mixed feeling about this one. How funny that a very physical game based on the physical acts of graffiti and trick skating is coming back as a digital-only title. Well, kudos to Sega for FINALLY getting this one out there to the masses, but still. I recall that Jet Set Radio Future on the Xbox had some killer PR goodies such as a set of awesome headphones and a CD soundtrack and yes, a NEW disc version would have been cool just for a documentary on the original JSR and the sequel how they changed gaming. I still remember the first time I saw those ‘cel-shaded’ graphics running on the Dreamcast and thought they were the best thing to hit gaming in a while. Hopefully, all those folks that have never played either game will be as awed as I was back in the day. We shall see…

Asura’s Wrath: Wow. I Bet Jack Kirby Would Have LOVED This Game…

Posted on February 24, 2012 by geelw

As far as I know, the late, great comic art legend (and creator/co-creator of far too many important characters to count for Marvel, DC and a few other publishers) never did any video game design work. Nevertheless, a lot of game creators around the world have clearly been inspired by Kirby’s work and it’s always fun to play something that manages to nail certain elements in his art perfectly. It’s great to see a game like CyberConnect2’s latest on store shelves that pays homage to The King’s wilder Silver Age art along with his epic “Fourth World” saga, so go support Capcom and give the game a shot, I say.

Sure, it’s easy to think the game is ONLY anime-influenced if you ONLY follow anime and have no sense of comics history. On the other hand, as an ancient comics fan from the late 60’s and beyond playing the game, I’m seeing a bit of New Gods here, some of the Galactus saga there along with the massive scope and scale of the outrageous battles and characters that remind me of Jack’s work. Yup, I’m loving Asura’s Wrath so far – My full review will go up over the weekend.

Arcane Worlds Will Make You Kill Too Much Time (And It’s Only A Tech Demo)…

Posted on February 23, 2012 by geelw

So, Ranmantaru Games (that would be Alexey Volynskov) is working on something really cool called Arcane Worlds. It’s going to be an homage to the classic 1994 PC game from Bullfrog, Magic Carpet. The actual “game” is a ways off, but the tech demo is available to play around with. Once you download it (it’s a mere 1.4MB file) and get to fooling around, you’ll find yourself forgetting to do other important stuff like working on articles you should be working on and maybe getting an extra two hours of sleep. I “created” the images above with a few keyboard presses and mouse clicks (instant wallpaper!), but I had to stop at only two before I ended up staying awake all night making worlds, eroding terrain and dropping water all over everything before changing the sun’s position (which changes the world from day to night). I’m not sure when Alexey will be finished with his game, but I say keep an eye on it. I’d keep both eyes on it, but I need to finish all that writing I’ve started…

Also, the LEVEL UP! demo is priceless (well, the demo is free, but definitely pay the five bucks for the Alpha version!). It’s super early, but pure fun to blast through those voxel walls and the idea is brilliant stuff. Enjoy!

Touch My Katamari Trailer: Hey, Go Touch Your OWN (But Buy A Vita First)!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by geelw

Remember kids: There’s no sin in pleasure… er, at least when it comes to gaming. Namco Bandai’s double shot of Vita launch games (the Shinobido 2 trailer is here) gets off to a rolling start with what’s looking like some pretty decent titles. I’ll need to get my paws on a review copy to see if the latest in the junk-rolling up series has what it takes to be a touchy-feely funny classic or one for the dust bin. Given the Vita’s funky dual touchscreen that adds a lot to some games, I’m rolling toward some positive impressions…

Xseed Games Bringing The Last Story To Wii (And You’d BETTER Buy It, Grrrr!)

Posted on February 22, 2012 by geelw

Fans of many Japanese games (in particular, JRPGs) can be a persistently prickly bunch often to the point of working themselves up into a frenzy if they feel slighted in the slightest bit by a publisher they feel isn’t working hard or fast enough at localizing certain Japanese games (no matter how niche). However, that’s actually a good thing when we all benefit from a publisher like Xseed that can make the magic happen. One example of this is today’s surprising news that Xseed has picked up the publishing rights to Hironubu Sakagushi’s The Last Story, one of the best current-gen games on the console that has a lot of people very excited. You can ogle some more video info on the Mistwalker-developed title over at the Nintendo Direct channel (just skip ahead to 10:11 in the video and prepare to be awed).

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