WIN FREE STUFF! R-Type Dimensions PSN Codes Up For Grabs!

R_TD If you happen to have a PS3 and a PlayStation Network account and are sitting around staring at a wall right now just wishing you had something nicely nostalgic and hard as hell to play, I’d bet you look as if you could use something nice and free today.

I think I can oblige just a tiny bit with Tozai Games’ R-Type Dimensions, which landed on PSN a few days back. If you’re bouncing up and down in your seat right about now, okay, okay… knock it off and listen up. Two codes, both for North America (which means they won’t work anywhere else!), ONE each for two lucky winners. Just reply below (no need to put any personal info in that response) and the code is yours!

GRID Autosport Discipline/Focus/Endurance Trailer: You’ll Still Get Spanked, Though…

GRID_Autosport_BlackOh, once again, I couldn’t help myself (*whipcrack!*). Anyway, it looks as if GRID Autosport REALLY means business when it comes to bringing racing fans some of the best action out there. While not a true simulation, the team at Codemasters is striking the balance between simple to pick up and play controls and the need to learn each track and how to survive the AI trying its best to blow your doors off when you dive into the single player part of the game. Online is of course its own crazy bird complete with the usual unpredictability of live players, especially in the longer races.

Now,I happen to like endurance race events, as there’s a fine balance of learning all the ins and outs of a race course lap after lap and your own physical condition slipping a wee bit over the hours as you fight off sleep and assorted body cramps. Granted, couch racing isn’t ANYWHERE as brutal as being in a car bouncing around and rumbling for a few hundred miles, but keeping me OUT of a real race car is probably a really good thing. GRID Autosport is out for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on June 24, 2014 in North America, June 27th in Europe.

Have I Got My Goat Yet? Not Quite Yet, But Yes Indeed I Will…

 
Okay, I still haven’t played Coffee Stain Studios’ awesomely busted Goat Simulator yet and I’m so ashamed. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. Here’s a game that’s right up my twisted alley and I haven’t bought it yet nor done much other than post a few videos and yak about what I’ve seen. Hey, blame it on too many games, not enough time and me wanting to do so much stuff that even my mailboxes have given up on hoping I’ll get to reading EVERY message in them. I try, but then I get to reorganizing emails by importance and everything goes to hell in a hand basket like an intentionally broken indie game that everyone wants to play but some don’t quite get too because they already have too much on their plates. Wait, we’re back at the beginning of this story again? I thought it was a RIGHT turn at the last sentence! Darn. Hmmm… let me pull over and take a nap. Back in a bit…

Update: the game is getting a patch next month? Well, it’ll still be funny and busted, but local split-screen multiplayer will be added. That’s cool if you like that sort of thing, by the way…

Metro Redux Announce Trailer: Back In The (MUCH Better Looking, But Still Deadly) USSR…

METRO_REDUXOkay, so the country is no longer called that long-dead name these days, but I had to get in at least one bad joke about this otherwise deadly serious first-person survival game. Calling Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light “shooters” does them little justice, as each is a finely crafted and often jarring gameplay experience that takes patience to play. You can’t run in guns blazing with no or not enough bullets, radiation zones you can’t stay out for too long in and a gas mask that doesn’t have enough of an air supply to walk more than fifty feet. Not to mention some rather strange mutants and not strange but somewhat upset humans that might want you dead for a few reasons. Both games have gotten an amazing makeover for next-gen consoles and PC while retaining the methodical yet compelling gameplay that made them both sleeper hits.

Developer 4A Games and Deep Silver get a huge pat on the back (and a case of the finest Vodka) for bringing these games back so more can play them and this will be the first time 2033 appears on a Sony console, so PS4 owners will see what all the fuss is about. Even better, the games are getting both a physical and digital release. Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux will each be available separately as a digital download for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC for $24.99 in North America, and a boxed compilation of both games, titled METRO REDUX will be available for $49.99. Now, all I need is a working Geiger counter and to sew some extra pockets on that pair of old cargo pants in the closet so I can carry more slightly dented, irradiated cans of beans. Back with more on this one soon…

Watch_Dogs Launch Trailer: Your Ticket To Chicago Is Almost Ready…

 
May 27 will be a pretty quiet day at some workplaces in a few places thanks to people coming down with crippling cases of Watch_Dogs flu and staying home to get some finger and wrist exercises in to keep healthy. Ubisoft Montreal is certainly doing its part to move next-gen consoles and maybe a new 3D card or two, but I think even on the older consoles the game will be a winner to those players that don’t give a hoot about their games looking about as realistic as it gets. Anyway, we’ll see what’s what next week (or later for Wii U owners still hoping for an actual release date).

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Launch Trailer: Hat’s Off (Again) To The Monster Killer!

 
It’s finally all done and ready for its close up, so if you liked the first part a lot, you’ll want to just drop everything now and go out to buy a ring for Neocore Games’ The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II. The game is bigger and better in a number of key ways (you’ll see) and yes, that addictive chase & chop action is even more intense this time out. Not much else to say other than go get this on Steam NOW and have a blast. You don’t want to keep Lady Katerina waiting you know (as she’s way too good with the insults when she gets ticked off). Oh yeah, the guy with the hat and weapons could use your help, too.

R-Type Dimensions Out Today: Say Bye-Bydo, You Alien Creeps!

 
And here I was, thinking it would be a quiet day today. Nope, too many games hitting retail and digital, including Tozai Games’ one-two punch for the PS3, R-Type Dimensions. It’s both the original arcade games plus modern remakes with a few play modes and new options that make the game even more (or a bit less) challenging, it’s hard as heck nostalgia that won’t break the bank at only $9.99 on the PlayStation Network. Yes, you need to get this just in case there really are cranky aliens up there coming to visit and you’re suddenly drafted into service…

Drakengard 3 Launch Trailer: I Thought Gals Liked Dragons? Hmmm, I Guess Not In This Game…

 
It’s finally here in North America and looking more polished than its PlayStation 2 prequels, Drakengard 3 ups the action while going tonally sideways. Granted, the game still has the gloomy, doom-y feeling of the first two entries, but there’s more in the way of light comic relief as well as a decidedly more manga/anime edge to the character art. If you like what you see, zip on down to your favorite game emporium, slap $49.99 down on the counter (plus tax where applicable) and both you and your PS3 will be happy campers. If you’re eager to play but lazier or just prefer digital games, clickety-click on your PlayStation Network account and get this as a download on the PlayStation Store or the Square Enix Online Store for the same price. In an interesting twist, the physical game gets a standard retail packaging, but if you’re a digital-only drone, you can get a Digital Collector’s Edition exclusively on the PlayStation Store for $64.99. How that all works baffles me, but hey – it’s the future, so stuff is SUPPOSED to be baffling. I think.

 
Oh, and speaking of baffling… you get an interview with the game’s director, Taro Yoko, but he’s a puppet here. Don’t ask… just enjoy!

NAtURAL DOCtRINE Trailer: Or, An Easy Pick For RPG Fans This Fall…

ND_BGWhile Kadokawa Games’ NAtURAL DOCtRINE garnered decent enough scores from Famitsu (31/40 for the console versions and 30/40 for the Vita), it didn’t exactly sell like hotcakes in its native land. Still, here in the west, the hunger for decent JRPGs needs to be sated, so thanks to the fine folks at Nippon Ichi Software America, we’ll be seeing (and playing) this one soon. I’m going to get this because I’m interested in that PS3/PS4/Vita play and how the game will look across the three platforms.

Granted, I’m NOT the graphics whore type who gets cranky that an game isn’t mapping every bump nor using all of a console’s power at all. I’m just curious as to why MORE games aren’t compatible across the three platforms other than Sony wanting people to buy more PS4s as opposed to hanging onto that older PS3 (or buying a new one). I’m seeing a bunch of games that are only PS4 and Vita compatible and that seems odd because some of them can CLEARLY run on the PS3 with no hassles. Anyway, mini-gripe over. More on NAtURAL DOCtRINE soon – stay tuned…

Transistor Launch Trailer: Four More Days Until The Fix Is In…

transistor_postcardAnd here it is (well, almost). Transistor pops up on Steam and PSN May 20th, and Supergiant Games’ new trailer makes it even more intriguing and one of those games that’s a must play. And isn’t that music in the trailer great? Yes, Supergiant is selling the soundtrack as well in their online shop along with some other cool stuff.

I’m quite surprised that they didn’t cast the development net wider so PS3 owners could give this one a buy, as there are currently a lot MORE of them than PS4 owners. Of course, thinking ahead to PC and PS4 means the developer can concentrate on getting games out on platforms where they don’t have to compromise (although I’d bet the game would run fine on a PS3 or Vita if the latter version had scalable type so text could be more easily read). However, Xbox One owners aren’t getting the game (yet) because of some goofy Microsoft policies, but if you have that console in your home just keep your fingers and toes crossed that this can get to you at some point. Minor griping aside, if you CAN play this one, you SHOULD play this one.