Demon Gaze: NISA Brings More “No School Like the Old School” RPG Goodness to NA…

Posted on March 12, 2014 by geelw

Nice. As a longtime fan of classic PC RPGs such as Wizardry, Dungeon Master, Might & Magic and many (MANY) others, it’s always great to see this style of game making a comeback on consoles as well. Demon Gaze is headed exclusively to the PlayStation Vita stateside on April 22, 2014 and here’s the US teaser trailer (above) and the opening minutes of gameplay (below, thanks to YouTuber Dorarnae). I know some of you more stubborn CRPG players who like a specific (as in non-anime/manga) art style are hating the character designs here and nothing will ever change your minds on that front. Too bad, I say, as publisher Kadokawa games and developer Experience Inc. have done a neat thing with the opening sequence that made me grin because it’s not the usual thing you see when you fire up a game.

The game’s official website has gone live and has basic information on the game world, character creation, gameplay and a few other topics. This one’s on my list of April games to play, as I can see way too many hours spent grinding away with a perfect parry. Or a party that WILL be perfect once I stopped getting stomped by some boss somewhere. I’ve got my eye on you, Demon Gaze (staaaaaarrrrrrre)…

Things I Learned @ Toy Fair 2014 #4: There’s A Dreamland Fairy in Your Future…

Posted on March 12, 2014 by geelw

Dreams can come true (with a little parental assistance)! The other cool dreamland product I say at Toy Fair won’t be out until later this Spring, but it’s a really neat idea on a few levels. Cassie Slane and Ami Van Dine, two moms created Dreamland Fairy after their six year old daughters came thought up the idea of a fairy house that they could keep in their rooms.

“Now what does one DO with a fairy house?” you ask? Well, since you’re a little behind the times and I’m a nice guy, I’ll let you in on the big deal because I happen to like it when you read my posts… Continue reading →

MORE Free Stuff? OK, Win An Earth Defense Force 2025 Prize Pack (via Facebook)

Posted on March 12, 2014 by geelw

Got a facebook account? Good. Like to win free stuff? Even better! D3Publisher of America is giving YOU a chance to win a PS3 or Xbox 360 copy of their epic bug-blasting extravaganza Earth Defense Force 2025, all three DLC packs AND a bunch of EDF 2025 swag (which MAY or may not be some or all of this cool stuff) all for filling out that sweepstakes form. Uh huh, I can hear you bouncing up and down in your seat over there, so stop that before you break that chair (it’s squeaking because it’s old!) and go enter already!

WIN FREE STUFF! The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Steam Codes!

Posted on March 11, 2014 by geelw

Thanks to the awesome Orsolya Toth over at Neocore Games, I have TWO Steam codes for their excellent Action/RPG The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing to give away to TWO lucky winners! NOTE: This is the original version of the game, NOT the Complete Pack (but you can upgrade to that if you like via Steam by buying that additional content if you like the game!) and yes, the game is PC and Macintosh compatible. How do you enter? Well, just FOLLOW the site if you haven’t yet and leave a comment below. I’ll randomly pick two of you and shoot over your codes within 24 hours. No need to leave your email, as we have ways of knowing who you are… (mua-ha-ha-haaa!)

And whether you win or not, you SHOULD support the sequel, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II over at Necore’s online store. There are some great premiums for folks with funds to spare (you can be in the game!) and the sequel’s MUCH bigger than the original, but costs exactly the same! I’ll be giving the beta of VHII a shot shortly and let you know what’s what with that soon. Stay tuned…

System requirements for the game and official rules for the giveaway are below the jump… Continue reading →

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Delayed Until February 2015 (This is Actually A GOOD Thing)…

Posted on March 11, 2014 by geelw

At the beginning of this year, I’d planned to note here that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was my early blind pick for Game of the Year, but something told me to hold off on that hyperbole a bit until I saw and played the game at a press event. Well, my not quite psychic powers were on point, as CD Projekt RED sent out a nice open letter this afternoon announcing the game has been pushed back for about a year so all three versions can arrive in tip-top shape.

Get the whole bad news/good news pie in the face below the jump… Continue reading →

A Friendly Reminder from Rising Star Games…

Posted on March 11, 2014 by geelw

Nine more days until Demi’s debut, folks. Coilworks‘ lightning paced, tricky as heck (but FUN) runner/shooter/platformer Cloudbuilt is going to pop up on Steam and hope you’re smart enough to snap it up. Granted, you’ll need to have decent reflexes and a willingness to ignore that timer and pay attention to the environments, but that’s also good advice for life most of the time. Hurry, but don’t rush, you know what I mean? March 20th is right around the corner…

Dark Souls II Now Available: You Come Up For Air When You’re Good And Ready. They’ll Wait…

Posted on March 10, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Game Banshee!)

“They” meaning all the things that want you dead, as the AI in the game is set on “pursue to the ends of the earth” and “puree” and not necessarily in that order. Anyway, PS3 and 360 owners get theirs now, PC gamers get a while to wait, but should just feel lucky they’re getting this game at all because a bunch will just hex hack up some cheats before they actually experience this one as it SHOULD be played. Eh, whatever. I take my Dark Souls II straight up and run from the room screaming hard, no chaser, as there will already be stuff coming after me clogging up the hallway. Yaaaah. Prepare to LIE your way out of work if you’re one of those people not playing Titanfall at all (I’m one of those people). Yes, I’ll replace this trailer with Namco Bandai’s once they get around to posting it. They tend to run a bit late with the US stuff. There’s one up now, but it’s unavailable (boo!), meaning it’s probably going to be let loose tomorrow morning around 9am.

Orphan Black Season 2 Trailer: Nope, No Musical Crap Here. Just Damn Great Acting!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by geelw

How great is Tatiana Maslany in this show? Let’s see now: I’d gotten a friend to catch up with the first season with his wife and after a weekend binge they both thought it was multiple actresses in some scenes where it’s just Maslany and her CG clones doing ~~their~~ er, her thing. Yes, I’m still cranked up that some kooky fan would dare to suggest a musical episode, so sue me. As noted earlier, I’d say that would kill the show in its tracks even as a dream sequence unless it was so well integrated into the plot that it made some kind of sense. On the other hand, if this were an anime, I’d bet we’d see a musical sequence every other week if not the show getting an opening and closing song. And nope, I don’t even want to imagine that happening either. Yeah, I like my pizza plain cheese, my ice cream vanilla and my favorite shows unmarked by pop songs and other fluff that take away from what they’re meant to be.

Midnight City Gets Two (More) Big Indies to Publish…

Posted on March 10, 2014 by geelw

Okay, since my stupid spam filter was eating their emails until recently, I’ve missed Midnight City‘s fun press releases and videos for the indie titles they’ve published (and a few review opportunities as well, boo!). Anyway, with that little problem now solved, here’s what’s up from these guys this week. Costume Quest 2 is coming! Hoo-ray! Double Fine’s sequel to its Halloween-centric, candy filled role-playing game is indeed getting a release on PC as well as consoles (yes!). As you can see below, even Double Fine’s Grand Poobah, Tim Schaefer is in on the fun in this goofy Midnight City team promo video below the jump… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: The Colossus of New York

Posted on March 10, 2014 by geelw

The first time I saw Eugène Lourié’s The Colossus of New York, I think I was about ten or eleven and stayed up all night on a Friday or Saturday just because it came on at something like 2 or 3am. I recall falling asleep somewhere in the middle and waking up for the ending, disappointed that I missed whatever robot rampage the cloaked metal man went on. It turns out that I didn’t miss much of a “rampage” at all, although the thing did wreak some havoc on some poor important folks down at the United Nations before getting shut down for good without the military blowing it to scrap metal with a bunch of rockets.

Anyway, featuring some fine performances and an brilliant (and sometimes unsettling) piano score by Nathan Van Cleave, this is an interesting albeit flawed sci-fi film with a more human side to its fantastic bits thanks to the internal conflict of Jeremy Spensser (Ross Martin) who finds his brain in that bulky cyborg after he dies in an auto accident and his genius dad (Otto Kruger) and second genius (but somewhat devious) son (John Baragrey) decide to keep him living in that metal shell… Continue reading →