Stern’s Game of Thrones Pinball Machine: Silver Balls For The Royal Set

GoT Pinball 3

GoT Pinball 2 GoT Pinball 1

Hmmm. This certainly gives the saying “When you play the Game of Thrones, you win… or you die.” a whole new meaning, folks.

For the record, it’s really difficult to play a standard pinball machine sitting down. That’s probably the sole reason this awesome and not at all inexpensive officially licensed Game of Thrones pinball machine doesn’t come with a life-size Iron Throne replica. Available now from Stern Pinball, this beauty comes in Pro ($5,995 MSRP), Premium ($7,595 MSRP) and Limited ($8,795 MSRP) Editions and is sure to get you kicking people out of your home when they won’t leave because they’re having a blast playing.

While the Pro model is packed to the rafters with features classic to current pinball wizards expect, the Premium and Limited Editions feature a massive and challenging Castle upper playfield with a second set of full size flippers, shots and an animated Dragon. Additionally, the Limited Edition gets you a Certificate of Authenticity, a numbered plaque, a designer-autographed playfield, a beautiful, hand-drawn cabinet and backglass artwork by Bob Stevlic. Exclusive, glossy, black- powder-coated, laser-cut side armor features dragon elements of the Targaryen Sigil and is inscribed with the Targaryen House motto, “Fire & Blood”, all highlighted with a rich, red mirrored backing.

If you can swing the funds for any of these gorgeous tables, all you need is enough room to fit your table of choice into comfortably and it’s party time!  Friends will drop by pretty much automatically (and regularly), as a working pinball machine is one of those great conversation pieces that will get even non-gamers and non-fans of the show wanting to see it in action. And if you have no friends at all and are surrounded on all sides by enemies, this is a sure-fire way to get them to swing by for a little friendly competition. What you do to them once they’re distracted is all up to you.

Back to the Future: What’s Old Is New Game News @E3 2015

(thanks, magicalmotionmuseum!)
 

It’s a good news/bad news thing today. The good news: time travel DOES exist, ladies and gents. Final Fantasy VII is finally getting a remake for the PS4 and possibly PC. The Last Guardian is now a PS4 exclusive (as I predicted a while back) Shenmue 3 was announced yesterday evening at Sony’s E3 event as a surprising show-announced Kickstarter project for PS4 and was COMPLETELY funded in about twelve hours (breaking a Kickstarter record). Even King’s Quest and HITMAN are making comebacks (and sooner than you’d think).

Microsoft’s formerly forward-looking only Xbox One gets Xbox 360 backward compatibility and legendary developer Rare is releasing 30 of its classic arcade and console games for $30 in a crazy must-have bundle this August (exclusively for the console, of course). Between this and the return of DOOM, the acceptance of indie retro games as necessary for part of a console’s success and other interesting developments, it’s a huge win-win situation for gamers with a good deal of disposable income. And no, I didn’t forget Nintendo in all this. I’m just holding out for a separate post on their always nostalgic ways and means of getting loyal fans continually hooked in. Give me a bit of time on that as it’s still construction central here with more to come.

Now, the bad news: In reality time travel DOESN’T exist at all. With all those new games coming (and this post doesn’t count the VR games invasion happening soon), no one will actually any free time to play them all unless their Doctor has a certain “timey-wimey” prescription that allows them to have their fun and return to reality not having missed much sleep or even a day of work. Oh well…

Bundle Stars Reminds You That You Don’t Know (And Should Buy) Jack!

BS YDKJCoverI should write a snappy holiday-themed poem here for you to chuckle at. However, as I’ve been up since just before 6am and it’s an icky rainy day that’s not getting any better, I’ll have to save my brainpower for this latest Bundle Stars deal. $3.99 for NINE You Don’t Know Jack games and expansions is more than a steal, it’s a trivial trivia fanatic’s dream plus tax!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, are that antisocial guy or gal with zero friends, or heck, just don’t play PC or board games but happen to love trivia, here’s what’s up, Jack!

Get it? Got it? GOOD. Now go get it so you slap it on a laptop and distract the family during that usually disastrous holiday dinner. Uncle Charlie won’t be getting gassed to the gills if he’s busy answering trivia questions only he knows the answer to because he’s been watching too many reruns on TV Land, correct?

Paper Sorcerer Now Available On Steam: And With A Hook, You’re IN The Book!

PaperSorcerorAnd the people have spoken! Paper Sorcerer is now on Steam! Yes, it’s still five bucks and yes, it’s been tweaked up a bit since my review. You can play using your keyboard and mouse or if you like configure a USB controller (a wired Xbox 360 one is recommended) if you’re more used to that means of playing games. Finally, new to the Steam version are 39 Achievements, which means I’ll need to play this version at some point just to see what they are.

Yeah it’s a short post, but hey – it’s FREEZING in here today and as noted earlier, my poor brain isn’t working as well as it needs to. Brrrr. I need to get the heck home soon and curl up with a good book, methinks…

Review: Paper Sorcerer

PaperSorcerorPlatform: PC/MAC

Developer: Ultra Runaway Games

Publisher: Ultra Runaway Games

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: N/A

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Five bucks used to not buy so much as far as games went until the indie scene exploded and small developers started churning out way too many games either as free labors of love or inexpensive alternatives to big dollar major label releases. Paper Sorcerer is one of those cool budget-priced games that comes recommended because you’re getting a lot of game for that fiver and fans of classic computer RPG adventures as well as anyone looking for something a wee bit familiar yet a wee bit different will probably find plenty to love here. The striking black and white art style may be the bigger draw than the intriguing story to a few of you out there, but there are some nice plot twists and the ending is a total hoot. A few kinks in the armor keep this one from perfection, but with some player input the game is going through a few updates now that it’s been voted into the Steam Greenlight program… Continue reading

Random Indie Game of the Week: Paper Sorcerer

 
PaperSorcerorOkay, so I missed this one as a Kickstarter (what else is new?), but as soon as I saw this video for Ultra Runaway Games’ Paper Sorcerer, they got my five bucks just like that. As a fan of old school CRPGs like Wizardry, Dungeon Master, Daggerfall and others plus more modern takes on them such as The Dark Spire and Etrian Odyssey, this game jumped out and bit me with its stylized visuals and smooth, speedy movement. Did I mention that it’s Mac AND Linux compatible as well? I’m only about 40 minutes into it, but I actually need to STOP playing and put it aside just so I don’t get hooked in and forget that I’ve about a dozen other games I need to review or preview before I get started on a new one. Here’s a longer look at some gameplay from the developer’s YouTube page:

Yeah, I see you reaching for that wallet. Go on ahead – I’m sure Ultra Runaway won’t mind. While you can get the game on Desura and it’s in the running as a Steam Greenlight candidate, buying this DIRECTLY from Ultra Runaway assures they get more of the profit and you can also pay more than $5 if you like as well as get the game’s soundtrack for an additional $5. Support those indie developers, I say! Anyway, if you liked what you saw above, you’re already downloading this before you’ve finished reading this post. Go, YOU!

Yeah, yeah… I’ll get a review up shortly – probably within a few weeks as I whittle down my backlog of stuff glaring at me to get it done.