ALIEN 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray/DVD: If You’re NEW to This Flick, It’s A Must-Buy…

Posted on October 5, 2014 by geelw

Hmmmm. I’m not sure I need another version of ALIEN for my library, but this 35th anniversary limited edition features a a reprint of the excellent Alien: The Illustrated Story comic and all-new, collectible art cards along with the 1979 original cut and 2001 director’s cut of the film. As this is one of my favorite films of any genre, I’ll probably cave in and pick this up at some point once there’s a price drop just to add it to the other sets I have here.

Yeah, Fox is pretty much jabbing us in the wallet with this one, but the price isn’t bad if you shop around and at least the new extras are different and worth checking out if you have to have EVERY bit of memorabilia. Between this and Alien Isolation arriving on the same day, I have the feeling that a whole new set of fans will be made for this absolute classic sci-fi/horror hybrid. The cranky older fans who think this one’s a double dip with a few bonuses surely won’t be buying this re-re-re-re-release, if my poking around on a few film boards is any indication. Those geezers are just too smug to see that somewhere in the world, someone STILL hasn’t seen ALIEN and yeah, they might be wanting to get this because it’ll be their first time experiencing this still near-perfect film…

Alien Isolation #HowWillYouSurvive Final Update: Last Chance to Stomp Down to the Store, But Have an Egg First!

Posted on October 3, 2014 by geelw

So, some early reviews are in and it seems that the reviewers that got it REALLY got it good and that’s a good thing. The ones that didn’t? Well, they came in looking for the wrong game and yep, boy were they surprised at the game not being what THEY wanted and what the developer intended. You have to love that sort of misguided missile writing, ladies and gents.

Anyway, as Sega seems to not like me, I’ll still be buying this one on Tuesday and reviewing it a bit later than the madding crowd that already has. But that’s just fine by me because I don’t plan on rushing this through at all. Nor one bit. Nope.

As for that eggy breakfast, Well… I’d like one of these, please. It can fit in the living room in place of that stupid recliner or the other chair that just dropped its lousy, crumbling cloth underside on the carpet like a misbehaving pet. Yuck. Anyway, I should probably catch up on some sleep over the weekend, as I’m betting Alien Isolation will be keeping me awake and creeping into my sleeping time for a while…

Alien Isolation #HowWill YouSurvive Update: Yup, I’m Flared Up For This One As Well…

Posted on September 30, 2014 by geelw

Flared Up, indeed! I just realized (okay, again!) that it’s OCTOBER (well, tomorrow!) and Alien Isolation is out in a week’s time. Eeek. Now, I have to do a coin toss and decide what to get, as there are a few other games coming that need to be played and I’m not sitting on a ton of money here (yet). As I know the big sites will all be reviewing the next-gen versions, I may play odd man out and grab the PS3 version just because I really want to see how that turned out and yes, more of you guys and gals out there still play games on your own PS3 or Xbox 360 than you do on those fancier newer machines.

Crowd Control? Nah, this one’s not getting a massive midnight launch and doesn’t need one at all. As this isn’t a crowd-pleasing first-person shooter in the Call of Duty or Halo vein and is in fact, a hybrid horror/sci-fi experience that looks to capture the spirit of Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 film, I’m betting there are STILL a small bunch of people out there who will go into this expecting a non-stop guided missile on-rails shooter or something the game isn’t. But it’s their own damn fault for not paying attention to the developer diaries and all those previews other sites have done for a while. Oh well…

&nsbp;
Distress will come when this launches on October 7, 2014 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC and people buy it, get home and then get too scared to play past certain spots. I have the first film in a loop in my brain (I’ve seen it countless times and plan to watch it again before the game arrives just to set the perfect mood), so I know I’m going to love what’s here. Now, about that DLC and stuff that should HOPEFULLY pop up for everyone and not just be exclusive to certain retailers? Yeah, that’s my big gripe about this and other games that piece out content like that. It may be “what people want” (according to game companies), but this SHOULD have been one of those games that packed as much as possible onto that disc just out of respect for Alien fans who don’t want to miss out on ANY content but have no choice in the matter.

Alien Isolation #HowWillYouSurvive Update: Two More Reasons To Jump Out Of Your Seat

Posted on September 25, 2014 by geelw

#AINope will be trending if I have my way, but I’ll very likely be far too busy ducking and weaving in my chair while playing Alien Isolation to do much social network socializing. Nope, I won’t be Twitching unless it’s involuntary and from the game creeping me out from playing past a certain point. No tweeting unless I’ve a police whistle around my neck and I’m calling for help before I throw a shoe at my TV screen. And definitely no facebooking at all, because that’s actually more frightening than any game ever made. Yaaaaaah!

Alien Isolation lands in stores and digital delivery systems on October 7, 2014 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC. Back with more ways to die horribly in this soon to be modern sci-fi horror game classic in a bit…

Some Random GOTHAM Thoughts…

Posted on September 23, 2014 by geelw

Hmmm. So, even though I’m not fond of their “news” division’s endlessly dreary antics in keeping people misinformed and angry and frightened half to death, I have to give it up for some of Fox’s TV lineup on the pure entertainment front. The new DC Comics-inspired drama GOTHAM is actually quite good, but I see some critics have no idea who’s who in the Bat-verse. Edward Nigma is NOT going to be the Joker unless he’s got a split personality and all those riddles he’s telling turn to worse jokes. I thought they introduced a wee bit too many characters from the comics in that pilot, but I guess they had to because it’s best to throw out as many cards onto the table as possible and get those arcs going. We got young versions of Catwoman, Batman, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, Penguin, the future Commissioner Gordon and an already dirty cop Harvey Bullock. I’d gather the guy who shot Thomas and Arthur Wayne may also be from one of the comic’s versions of the origin story, but we’ll see where that goes during this season. There’s more to say, but I’ll let a few episodes sink in before I make more noise.

Well, I do have one other goofball complaint – 8PM means I can’t see the show when it airs. I need to hit up the On Demand channel and catch this show the day after. Given the content, it should go on at 9, but the silliness that is Sleepy Hollow takes up that time slot. So, a day late and a dollar short is my way of experiencing this new take on an old classic comic story for the ages. Okay, back in a bit…

Alien Isolation #HowWillYouSurvive Trailers 2-4: #JustBarelyIfAtAll (If You Need To Know)…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by geelw

Nope…

and Nope…

annnnnnnnd, make mine a triple, bartender. Or, “No more for me, thanks, I’m dyin’!”

Yeah, it looks as if there are quite a few ways to expire in Alien Isolation and I’m betting some of you won’t need a rocket to ride through space when this game launches on October 7, 2014 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC. Hopefully Sega and developer The Creative Assembly have been shutting out the trolls and paying attention to those of us who want to experience the game on any platform to see if it’s a worthy follow up to the 1979 film as intended and those expecting some run of the mill FPS with the license stamped on realize it’s not all about what they want and all about what the CA is bringing to the table in the horror/sci-fi genre. Respect is a simple enough word for this one and I’m in for the long haul as far as spreading the word if this one’s a winner.

Alien Isolation Survival Mode: You’ll Pay For That. You KNOW You Will…

Posted on September 17, 2014 by geelw

Ah, the dreaded Season Pass rears its head in another game and yep, it seems that this method of squishing extra money out of gamers isn’t going to vanish at all unless people stop pre-ordering and buying that content, but that’s a tough sell with so many rabid fans of certain games stampeding into stores the minute something’s announced and looks good enough to buy on day one after some previews. Alien Isolation, already a strong contender for horror game of the year (well, in my book), is getting MORE paid DLC in the form of at least five Survival maps to be released over the course of six months. This should provided those of you who love more competitive experiences to challenge that leaderboard and share your survival stories with other players.

Me, I’m in this one for the story, so I hope in addition to the standard and Nostromo editions, we see a “Game of the Year” edition that packs ALL the DLC onto a single disc similar to how other publishers reissue their big games. I know for a fact that there are still people on the fence about buying this game despite developer The Creative Assembly’s track record and this game looking like the best modern Alien game to date. But hey, it’s the age of soapbox skepticism ruling the day (unfortunately) and yes, Sega not having a stellar track record in publishing previous Alien games. We’ll see where this one ends up on the list soon enough, but I think it needs more love for both the attention to detail and in helping kick this franchise back to life and one worth following. Alien Isolation is out October 7, 2014 for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Alien Isolation Goes Gold, New Trailer Series To Make You Change Your Pants Revealed…

Posted on September 11, 2014 by geelw

With The Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation finally gone gold and set to hit retail game stores and assorted download sites on October 7 for PS4/PS3, Xbox One/Xbox 360 and PC, Sega is also kicking off a nicely scary set of videos (the first of which is below) asking one simple question: “How Will You Survive?”. As you can see, our poor heroine doesn’t make it through all 55 seconds of this first teaser, but this isn’t the only way to go, from what I’ve been reading.

Well, now that you’re on the hook (Ouch. Pun intended? Maybe.), you’ll want to tune in to the next in this somewhat hypothetically fatal video series. Me, I just want the game to arrive so I can finally play it and see how it fits in with the original film. I’d gather part two will drop next week, so I’ll have that posted along with more commentary that’s guaranteed to not change your opinion on whether to buy this soon to be classic or not…

ALL THAT JAZZ & All That Jazz You Need To See, Thanks To The Criterion Collection!

Posted on August 25, 2014 by geelw

Bob Fosse’s 1979 semi-autobiographical musical masterpiece finally gets the Criterion treatment and if you’ve not see it yet (or have and it’s been a while), NOW is, as they say… the TIME. This is one of those one of a kind films that while not exactly an autobiography, is about the director’s own struggles, vices and other issues, cutting very close to the truth of his wild life on many levels. Compare this to the formulaic pap most Hollywood biopics have turned into over the decades and it’s no wonder this one makes plenty of lists of people’s favorite films. Of course, it also made me never want to do more than five things at ones, kept me away from drugs and smoking, so it’s also kicking it as a cautionary tale. Yeah, I’ll get to writing up a Random Film of the Week on this one in a bit – I actually want to see this new transfer to check out how good a job was done on it first. To the backlog you go, Gideon!

SDCC 2014: IDW Gets All Nostalgic & Modern On You With A Slew of New Titles

Posted on July 26, 2014 by geelw

As you can see, IDW is certainly going all out with these new titles set to arrive in 2014 and 2015. I’m not a huge a fan of these sorts of comics as I used to be, but the title Star Trek/Planet of the Apes: Primate Directive made me laugh for a bit longer than expected, so I’ll have to peek at a few issues when it launches. That Edward Scissorhands book has my attention for the art style, as I’m a fan of the film, so again, I’ll be checking out a few issues over time. I was probably the only person my age who wasn’t terminally obsessed with the Garbage Pail Kids, so I’m a bit ambivalent about this new book. That said, I know fans of those old trading cards are grinning like mad at this announcement.

Angry Birds Transformers? Eek. Yeah, yeah… both are hugely popular franchises, but I’m of the mind that time-eating games like AB should stay in that realm and not cross streams with other media (although the multiple millions made in AB merchandising outside games proves me incorrect). Finally, Orphan Black seems like a fine enough choice for a comic series, but I’d prefer to see the show as the show and not need to dive into other media unless it’s going places the show hasn’t by exploring side stories for each of the clones. Of course, that would mean I’d need to buy some issues or a collection at some point down the road. In other words, I guess IDW will be seeing some of my money at some point in the not too distant future…