New Raven’s Cry Trailer: Rough Seas Can’t Dampen My Desire To Give This One A Shot…

Posted on August 20, 2014 by geelw

Okay, so the sound mix is way off balance and sure, it’s not looking as stunning as other games coming out this late for last-gen systems, but I’m still going to play TopWare Interactive’s Raven’s Cry when it’s released. Veteran developer Reality Pump Studios has been working on this game for a while, so I’m curious to see the final result for a few reasons. It’s probably one of the last open world games on the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s not another fantasy RPG, and while the pirate theme has been done to death and some consider that last Assassin’s Creed game the be-all, end-all game in this sub-genre, it’s just nice to root for the “little” guy every now and then, I say. Besides, rough edges aside, there’s something about a European-made RPG that commands attention and respect. Well, at least I think so…

Raven’s Cry lands on PC, Mac, PS3/PS4 and Xbox 360 on October 14, 2014.

Shadowgate Hands-On: You’ll Be Dying To Play This Game Soon Enough…

Posted on August 8, 2014 by geelw

I had to stop playing Shadowgate after about the first ten minutes because my face was hurting. No, I didn’t get blasted by a real fireball coming from my monitor or anything like that. It’s because I was grinning so much that I think I was exercising more muscles than I’ve used in a while. Anyway, it was obvious from that short stretch of time and later on after about another hour of play that developer Zojoi Games has nailed the game they created back in 1987 as a perfect reboot on a few fronts.

The game manages to retain the same gameplay as the original while adding plenty of new content in an absolutely beautiful (yet suitably grim where required) art style as well as a grand, redone score by Rich Douglas that’s as stirring as the visuals… Continue reading →

New Shadowgate Trailer: What’s New Is Old (And Great)…

Posted on August 1, 2014 by geelw

I really should be dreading this upcoming Shadowgate reboot a lot more, but I’m just too pleased to see this ancient fantasy adventure game make a comeback. My dread SHOULD come from the knowledge that developer Zojoi Games is making this one like the original: intentionally hard and with intent to punish players who don’t pay careful attention to the decisions they make. The again, you can be the smartest stick in the shed and have your character still die a horrific death because Shadowgate is no pic-a-nic zone at all. Nearly every beautifully illustrated screen has something to interact with in nine different ways, but you might expire quite horribly if for example you HIT someone you shouldn’t have, EAT an item that’s not that edible under any circumstances or even TALK to something that wants to put the bite on your soon to be deceased hero. But hey, life (even in a game like this) is all about taking chances, so if you’re a PC/Mac/iOS or Android gamer looking for adventure, you should hop onto this train and perhaps even pre-order the game. It’s officially out on August 21, 2014 – I’ve been avoiding buying in early and playing the beta because I prefer to go in cold and see if I can remember all the tricks and traps from the NES version and see if I can survive more than three or four screens worth of them.

CE Week Best of (1 of 3): “Get The Picture” With This Quintet of Snappy Tech Goodies

Posted on July 14, 2014 by geelw

Save for the restrooms, nearly everywhere you looked at this year’s CE Week, there was some sort of tech accessory being showed off, a dongle dangled in your face every ten paces and other high and low tech tech related goodies of all types vying for attention and coverage. I liked a lot of what I saw, so in a few parts today and into next week, here are a few photo-related suggestions for you potential gift givers out there or those of you looking to give a little or big something to yourselves at some point:

ZTYLUS Smartphone Camera Lens (iPhone 5/Samsung Galaxy S/Galaxy Note): If you take a lot of photos with that iPhone or Galaxy, you’ll definitely want a ZTYLUS sooner than later. Invented and designed by Tim Hsu, this lens attachment (with optional case that makes your phone look like something even more futuristic) has a 4-in-1 lens that expands your creative options, is relatively inexpensive and as the official site says, will help you take better smartphone photos. The Revolver 4-in-One Lens is $69.95 and the case is $39.95, but I say snap both up in a combo pack from the ZTYLUS web shop for $99.95 and get your friends wondering when you became a secret agent (who just so happens to take REALLY awesome camera photos).

Continue reading →

CE Week: Protection Is The Name Of The Game…

Posted on July 3, 2014 by geelw

It really doesn’t matter at all how much you spend, have spent or will spend on that hot new tech gadget at all if you don’t take care of it, folks. Sure, there are those who dispose of stuff as soon as a new model ships out or if there’s even the hint of an issue with it, but I’d bet most consumers don’t have that luxury in this economy and would be more than happy to have their tech last longer and even work better in some cases. This year’s CE Week was packed with some really cool new and returning products I can highly recommend, so pull up a chair if you haven’t already and maybe take some notes or click away on the following links at your leisure…

STM Bags: I’d only heard of STM about a year or so back from a friend of mine who said they were “the best made laptop bags you’ll ever see”, which I promptly took with a grain of salt, as I’ve seen plenty of well-made carrying bags in my day. Anyway, he showed me the new laptop case his wife got for his birthday gift and I had to agree after poking through it thoroughly that there was some merit to his hyperbole.

These Australian-designed bag, cases and sleeves just look like they’re going places, even if you’re just hoofing it a handful of blocks to the nearest coffee spot to grab a cuppa and work on that great novel you think will rocket you to fame and fortune. Of course, if you walk in with your gear in an STM, people may think you’ve already made it. I guess that’s a sign of accomplishment, that looking successful stuff, as some of us have trouble finding a pair of socks that properly match (raises hand and waves it around)…

STM actually gave away that same model this year as a freebie to anyone who popped up at their booth with either the postcard they’d sent out or a mention of the email they shot around to a bunch of lucky attendees. As my own laptop is bigger than the bag handed out, I ended up getting someone who’s birthday was coming up a little replacement for his bag when it finally needs replacing and I’m betting he’s going to be surprised. My eyeball is actually set on that STM Sequel bag in the photo above, as it’s got everything I’m looking for and then some.

Continue reading →

E3 2014: Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley – Not The Only Thing Natsume Showed This Year, But…

Posted on June 17, 2014 by geelw

You wouldn’t know this by looking at their North American YouTube page. Now, I’m not singling Natsume out for anything mean here at all, folks. They’re a solid but much smaller publisher than some of the bigger and busier ones who show stuff at E3 and to me, that’s precisely why they NEED more updates on their main video page. Granted, they DO have a nice social presence on facebook with a page that’s updated fairly frequently. however, not everyone has or wants a facebook account and YouTube works quite well as far as letting potential customers see what’s coming (despite the pain in the butt that is Google+ hampering some basic functionality there).

Anyway, as I’ve been trumpeting, Alphadia Genesis is also coming (a port of an iOS and Android JRPG) and I posted about the rest of their lineup before the big show. Hey, I just want to see the little guys succeed, so if I can generate some thrills and hits for Natsume and their cool lineup of upcoming and already available games, I’m doing my job here.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Ink Hunt DLC Interrupts My Review! But That’s Fine With Me.

Posted on June 13, 2014 by geelw

So, I’m in the middle of writing a review for The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II (here’s a hint: BUY IT. It’s got some issues, but is fun once you get) when my inbox falls on my foot and out pops and email from NeoCore Games that they’ve JUST released a new patch AND some DLC along with it.

Sure enough, I check my Steam account and it’s downloading away in the background as it should. Well, so much for my review as it currently stands. I’d noted some issues that the patch looks as if it takes care of, so there goes THAT part on my very short list of tiny gripes. Granted, I haven’t played the game since the patch/DLC download, but I’ll get to it later tonight and see what’s what. I’m also in the midst of puttering away on some E3 articles, a review I needed to get up a day or so back and some columns for a few upcoming blogathons I need to yak about so some of you can join up and contribute to. Hokay, back to the grind for a bit before it’s back to the grind later, I guess…

Back in a bit. It’s Friday the 13th AND a full moon tonight. I’m NOT superstitious, but it seems that a lot of off-kilter people are out and about today. Yeesh…

E3 2014: Alphadia Genesis: So It’s A Mobile Port. For Now, It’s The Sole JRPG on the Wii U…

Posted on June 9, 2014 by geelw

Well, until Monolith Soft’s “X”(or whatever it will be called once it’s completed) gets an actual release date (which should hopefully be announced at the Nintendo Direct broadcast later today), that is. Somehow, Nintendo’s home consoles have slipped a bit on the JRPG front since the Super Nintendo days, although there have been a few outright classic (and not so classic) titles released for every home system from the N64 up to the Wii. Natsume is publishing this former iOS/Android game later this summer as a digital-only eShop release and I’d say it’ll do well among those gamers who have a Wii U sitting at home and miss playing these games on a big screen. Sure, the 3DS family has PLENTY of JRPGs and more on the way and yes, is the preferred handheld for millions of users. Nevertheless, old farts like me who prefer playing games we can actually see that won’t have our backs going out from being hunched over a screen and our poor eyeballs swelling in our skulls will be welcoming Alphadia Genesis with open arms. Thanks, Natsume!

E3 2014: Natsume’s Lineup Currently Has More Games Than Capcom’s. This Could Get Interesting…

Posted on June 6, 2014 by geelw

Let’s see now. Here’s Natsume’s E3 lineup:

Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (Nintendo 3DS)
A-Train: City Simulator (Nintendo 3DS)
Alphadia Genesis (Wii U)
Reel Fishing: Master’s Challenge (PlayStation Vita)
End of Serenity (Sony PSP)
Reel Fishing Pocket 2: Ocean (iOS)
Gabrielle’s Monstrous Duel (iOS)
Hometown Story: Pocket (iOS)
Ninja Strike (iOS)

And here’s what Capcom is packing:

Dead Rising 3 (PC)
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (iOS)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Nintendo 3DS)
Ultra Street Fighter IV (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Nintendo 3DS)

Ready? FIGHT!

Or not really. For that matter, new-ish publisher Little Orbit also will have more games at E3 than Capcom does. Granted this isn’t really astonishing news, as both small and large publishers have been condensing or expanding their lineups over the past few years in order to maximize profits and it seems that we’re at that stage where small and large games make the cut at these companies. Granted, Ultra Street Fighter IV or Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will easily sell more copies than Reel Fishing and End of Serenity combined. But for a guy like me who just wants to play good games no matter who publishes them, these leaner, meaner lineups are almost a godsend because I don’t need to wade through junk to get to the treasure.

Naturally, not all of these games I’ll get to will be great, but fun is a more important factor than anything else for me at the end of the day, as is enough QA (quality assurance) that’s occurred pre-release that keeps what I play playable from beginning to end without a patch in sight (or at least one that fixes anything that’s busted). Anyway, I’ll have a more complete list of E3 games from more publishers shortly.My inbox is filling up with official lists and I want to do them all in one post as opposed to dropping in multiples.

Back in a bit.

The Walking Dead Pinball? Believe It Or Else, I’m On Board With This One…

Posted on June 4, 2014 by geelw

Yeah, soooo… this is a thing that’s actually happening, but as that post title says, I’m completely okay with it. Thankfully, it’s coming from Telltale Games, Skybound and the digital pinball geniuses at Zen Studios, so it’ll at least be familiar and faithful to fans of the episodic game series. The funny thing is I believe this is the only Walking Dead game to NOT get a Mature rating. Pinball isn’t inherently “violent” at all… unless you’re the type to get into fist fights over who gets to go first. Er, anyway… Press release below the jump – the game ships out his summer, but will be shown at E3 this year if you happen to be attending and need something a wee bit different and unusual to play around with.
Continue reading →