Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Welcome Wagons

Surprise! You get a free (and not so random at all, as Rising Star Games just posted this on YouTube) video today. Welcome to Greenvale! You also get to meet Emily Wyatt (well the back of Emily Wyatt, as she’s a bit preoccupied at the moment) and the car our hero Francis York Morgan (call him York – everybody else does) gets to drive around in for a bit in the game. Yes, that’s George Woodman in the distance, but he’s gotten enough coverage in two previous posts. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to him in a bit…

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Anyway, Emily is actually quite nice to look at, but don’t get fresh, buddy. She’s a good cop and knows how to use that training she’s gotten on you potential mashers. Get on her good side, on the other hand and maybe she’ll hold the door open for you at the A&G Diner (or if you’re REALLY lucky, the Swery 65 Bar)…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOf course, the BEST way to get her attention and spend some quality time together (sort of) is to BUY and play Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, coming your way April 30, 2013. The PS3 update to the polarizing and awesome super sleeper hit Xbox 360 game has updated visuals, improved controls PlayStation Move support, is 3D TV ready and much more. Game director and pensive thinker SWERY 65 thinks you should buy this game right away. Or he’s posing for the cover of his latest CD in that picture on the right. I can’t tell (but I think that the way he prefers it)…

Tales of Xilia Battle Showcases: How To Beat Up On Cute Animals Without PETA Going After You…

 

Namco Bandai Games and their prolific Tales Studio are a half bunch of clever bastards aren’t they now? All of those Tales games have these SUPER cute (but deadly as hell)  wee beasties to whomp on and nobody EVER complains because you’d punt a yeti-sized Pomeranian too if it came at you with intent on sinking a few dozen fangs into your face. Yeah, yeah  – there are those of you who’d be going out of your way to cuddle some of these creatures with the intent of delivering that hug that you think every animal needs to keep it nice and tame. But good lock with that when you have two, then three, then ten hopping on your head looking for a snack. So yeah, leave Milla and Jude alone, people – they’re just doing what they need to do. Tales ships out for the PS3 some time this year. I’ll ask at their NYC showcase early next month and find out that release date for you animal “lovers” out there…

 

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen: Mystic Knights Mean Painful Daze For Gran Soren’s Monsters…

 

A ha ha ha, I can come up with the proper funny puns now, can’t I? “NO”?!! Eh, what do YOU know anyway. Hey, as long as I make MYSELF laugh, that’s good enough for me. Foo. Anyway, another week, another cool class video from the upcoming expansion that builds on the already massive game and adds a bunch of cool new content. Getting not only this but the complete original game on a single disc (or download) for a mere $39.99 is a great deal whether you’ve played the game already or not. As usual, the big, fat elephant shaped gorilla in the room here is finding time to play this even bigger game. Someone will one day invent a time machine that works properly. The one I have just makes toast and shocks me when I try to stick a fork in to take it out. Hey, YOU try getting a slice of bread out of a temporal field while it’s still active. Not an easy thing to do, folks… Well, a wooden fork would help a lot, but that’s what I’m trying to go back in time first to get, silly…

Retro City Rampage Is Five Bucks on Steam. You Know What That Means, Right?

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Yeah, it means that’s a sale that won’t last forever and yes, you should drop EVERYTHING (well, except whatever you’re reading this post on, as that’s a bit dumb to have your phone/tablet/laptop/home PC/converted UNIVAC you picked up for two bucks on eBay {with free shipping? What a deal!} fall to the ground and break) and BUY THIS GAME. Seriously, If you like to laugh and love retro games, you’ll probably die laughing with a controller in your hands. If you hate to laugh but like retro games, you’ll crack a smile after far too long out of practice and probably scare your cat or dog or the neighbors in the process. Usually, the only thing you see at 67% off are day-old donuts and dented cans at the supermarket, but Retro City Rampage gives you ZERO chance of food poisoning or too many cat-scented old ladies beating you in the head with their canes to get to that tin of tuna surprise (yum-o!).

Besides, you look like you could use a good bargain today as I know you spent too much on those new shoes and are feeling a bit guilty about it…

Review: Alien Spidy (PC)

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Platform: Windows PC/Xbox 360/OSX
Developer: Enigma Software Productions
Publisher: Kalypso Media
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Official Site
Score: B+ (85%)

 

Remember the days of those bright, colorful but tough as nails platformers on 8 ans 16-bit consoles? Enigma Software Productions’ Alien Spidy does a mostly stellar job of recapturing those glory days with a long and challenging game that while not flawless, is well worth playing and keeping in your library. If this were on a cart or CD back in the day, it would be a solid entry and possible new mascot platformer many would be jumping for joy over. Of course, in this era of easily forgotten digital releases, the question is “can Alien Spidy keep up the the best indie games out there?” My answer would be a two-parter, as in “Sure it can!” and “Where’s the sequel?”… Continue reading

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Road Rules (1)!

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Today’s screenshot is an all George Woodman affair, but his ticked off stare and words of wisdom in that caption will come in quite handy in the future. Particularly if you happen to be carrying that new plastic badge in your pocket you picked up for the cowboy-playing kid waiting at home to complete his ensemble. Don’t think you can just floor it on the freeway and get home fast, buddy. Get pulled over pulling a stunt like that and Sheriff Junior will have to bail you out using that money from his piggy bank. That’s a pretty bad sign when your kid has to bail you out, you know? Especially when he’s dressed like Tom Mix and doesn’t have a badge that would make the cops in the station tip their own hats and smile because it’s in your jacket pocket (which got confiscated and is now sitting in a cardboard box along with your belt and shoelaces).

DPDC PS3 US EFS 2D RealYour parenting skills may be awful, but you may be better at playing video games. One suggestion, since you asked (and want to stay out of jail): Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, coming exclusively to the PS3 on April 30, 2013, paradoxically expanding on the former Xbox 360 exclusive game with new content such as sharper visuals and better controls. Which, by the way would have helped YOUR driving, mister (or missus, as we know ladies sometimes shop for kid cowboys or cowgirls and  make mistakes on the road home too).

SWERY65_tinyAnyway, if you got REALLY lucky on the way back from that mall, it was most likely kind Officer Swery who pulled you over and let you go with a warning because he figured you’d be playing that game he worked on in his spare time at some point.

That and he’s got a real soft spot for your quirky side…

Deadly Premonition Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Exercise!

DPDC PS3 US EFS 2D RealOK, so I’m a bit obsessed with this game but so it goes when it’s so damn bizarre, scary and funny all in one. Rather than run a gallery of what’s on the Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut PR page (because that’s just too easy!), I’m picking one screen per day from the folder and writing something stupid about it just for fun. I’m also writing this post randomly as well, so what I just called “stupid” may end up on another plane entirely (kind of like the game, which is hard to describe, but dips into its own vat of weird when it’s least expected).

Anyway, Francis York Morgan (our hero) and local sheriff with the bad-ass leather hat George Woodman do some bonding with one of the usual questions guys getting to know each other who just so happen to be working together on a particularly gory series of murders ask each other. Hey, anything to break out of the monotony of finding a new corpse, right? Ah, Greenvale – where the coffee’s black and amazing and the murderers very creative in how they display and dispatch their kills.

 

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IMG_2148Did I mention Francis York Morgan has a kind of creepy imaginary friend who he talks to in the game? No? Well, that’s why YOU need to be thinking about playing this one. Back tomorrow with a new screen and oddball commentary. PS3 only, April 30, 2013. Pre-order NOW from GameStop or Amazon if that’s your thing. Tell them SWERY65 (on the right) sent you. No discount if you do, but perhaps someone will think that’s cool on the other end of that Internet line you’re talking on…

Transistor: Supergiant Games’ Next WIP (PLUS, Buy Bastion Cheap If You Haven’t Yet!)

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Transistor_19-mar-2013_01Meet Red, heroine of Supergiant Games‘ currently in development action/RPG, Transistor. That’s a mighty big sword she’s swinging, isn’t it? Turns out that weapon is integral to the plot, as it was previously used in an attempt to kill the poor gal, but she survived and is out to find out who wanted her dead and why they used such a damn big butter knife when an accidentally dropped piano would have done the job. OK, so THAT piano stuff is probably not part of the plot (I hope), but those of you who played Supergiant’s amazing Bastion on any platform it ended up on know that Transistor will be a spectacular and memorable experience. Keep an eye on this one, folks – it’s going to be one for the ages, I predict…

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Capcom Arcade Cabinet: Next Stop, 1986!

 

Capcom continues crawling through the classics in their rather large arcade games library and yes, a few of the more snarky elements in the emulator crowd who’ve never paid a dime for anything they play are still wondering why. Too bad for them, I say. Anyway, for those folks not trolling for ROMs who want to get Capcom a little extra money for these updated HD conversions, three more gems from the past are all ready to play over PSN and XBLA on Capcom Arcade Cabinet. This week’s lineup includes Legendary Wings, Trojan and Side Arms Hyper Dyne, all extremely cool and vastly replayable.

Star Trek The Next Generation Warps Onto The Pinball Arcade via PSN

 

Farsight Studios just rocks. The small developer has been making quite possibly the best digital recreations of classic pinball tables you’ll ever see (Pinball Arcade) and they’ve been getting them out on assorted platforms with Sony’s PlayStation Network seemingly being the least problematic to produce content for outside of PC, iOS and Android devices. Their latest table should make ST:TNG fans grin like an angry Klingon because it’s not only a great game, it’s packed full of visual and aural notes from the show that will have you losing a few balls if you let yourself get too distracted. And if you’re asking “what’s pinball?”… oooh, you kids. Go find some old coot sitting on a park bench, wake him up with a soft kick as ask away. If you’re not beaten gently on and around the head with a cane, you may come away a bit more educated…