E3 2014: Too Much On A Monday & More To Come…

Posted on June 9, 2014 by geelw

So, it’s E3 week and already, Microsoft has thrown a gauntlet down of exclusives, reboots and otherwise decent game content that should keep their fan base very pleased. In other words, they actually listened to complaints about their previous media briefings and focused solely on GAMES and not boring the crowd with service announcements and other news best left for an investors meeting. I’ll have more on the lineup later, but Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, Phantom Dust, Halo: The Master Chief Collection Crackdown, Project Spark and a few others all look to be big sellers when they land in stores and/or digitally online. PlatinumGames Scalebound will get other console owners who love their work complaining (again) that they’re left out on this exclusive and there are a bunch of indies and non-exclusives that look pretty awesome.

Back later with more “sort of news” on a too newsy day. Today is a mess of press conferences and ogling stuff and my brain is already overloaded. next up, Electronic Arts!

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!

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom Mini Gallery: Another Top Down Treasure?

Posted on June 8, 2014 by geelw

I certainly hope so. While the last Adventure Time game got beat up a bit critically, I really liked its retro toughness a lot and felt veteran developer Wayforward Technologies did a fine job with the game overall. sure, it was a bit on the hard side if you tried to rush through it, but it had a certain charm that made it fun to play while retaining enough cool stuff from the show.

With the next game, The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom coming from new publisher Little Orbit, based on these in progress screens it seems as if Wayforward is keeping the neat top down viewpoint but tweaking other aspects of the game.

If it makes the experience even better than the last game, it’s all good in the end. This one’s not coming until the fall, so I’ve got high hopes it’s even more fun that the previous entry while not too easy just to hook in non-gaming fans of the show. Hey, they need to learn some skills after all, as the game is kind of partially inspired by role-playing games anyway, grrrr!

More on this one after the show – hopefully in gameplay trailer form and more screens. I’ll see what I can do for you guys and gals…

Rollers of the Realm Update: Atlus Snaps Up This Pinball Winner!

Posted on June 7, 2014 by geelw

I was wondering what happened to Phantom Compass’ REALLY awesome RPG/pinball hybrid since I last played and wrote about my experience with a pre-beta build, but thanks to publisher Atlus, that mystery is solved. Rollers of the Realm is coming this holiday season not only to PC, but PlayStation 4 and Vita, making it FLY to the top of my want list of must-play titles.

More on this one after the show. I predict it’ll be quite the sleeper hit…

Enemy Front Launch Trailer: “Into the Black” And Hopefully On A Few Fronts At That…

Posted on June 6, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I quite like the song in this trailer… but to me, it’s just NOT proper at all for a World War II-based game. Granted, I’m not expecting this tune to be IN the actual game, but I’ll slightly dread watching the game credits because I can just hear this popping up at some point during however many minutes it takes to spool them all out. I’ve never seen a short credit roll in a modern game unless it’s an indie title made by one person or a tiny team where all is revealed in less than a minute. Anyway, that’s my sole complaint with Enemy Front until I actually get some hands-on time with the final version (PS3, please!). The game isn’t out until June 10, 2014, but I guess using the D-Day anniversary to push a game set during that period isn’t the worst thing that could happen today, right?

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.

E3 2014: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Trailer: In Space, Everyone Can See You Dance!

Posted on June 6, 2014 by geelw

At this point, I expect nothing but serious FPS action, super stylized cel-art visuals and plenty of oddball humor from any Borderlands game (well, except Telltale Games’ upcoming soon to be mega-hit adventure take on the franchise that may have only two of the three elements mentioned, Tales From The Borderlands), so it’s good to see that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel isn’t going to disappoint at all on the crazy front. This is one of those “old reliable” evergreens that’s good when you start playing and still packing heat months and years down the road thanks to it hitting that sweet spot between fun to play and “one more hour” addictiveness. It’s the bottomless pint of ice cream of games, folks! That’s how I’d describe the experience to someone wondering what all the fuss was about. That and argyle patterned weapons as an option? Yeah, that’s a win right there, although it does make for really crappy camouflage (unless Moon monsters can’t see argyle, of course)…

Funko’s Hikari Friday 6: You’ll Go Double Batty For This Giveaway!

Posted on June 6, 2014 by geelw

Two more super-rare Funko Hikari figures are up for grabs, this time it’s one each of the Limited Edition Classic Glitter Batman Hikari Sofubi Figure (#1 of 500) and the Limited Edition Diamond Comics PREVIEWS EXCLUSIVE Verdigris Batman Hikari Sofubi Figure (#1 of 600). You want BOTH, right? Well, you can only get one if you win and you’ll have to haunt the internet later to seek the other one out. Anyway, you know the drill – pop on over to one of Funko’s social media channels:

www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

Enter, and keep whatever you need to keep crossed until next Thursday when the lucky winners are announced. Good luck and pop in next week for another cool limited edition figure contest from Funko!

Oddworld New ‘n’ Tasty E3 2014 Trailer: Escaping The Food Chain, Now Greatly Enhanced!

Posted on June 5, 2014 by geelw

Sure, New ‘n’ Tasty is a remake, but it’s definitely not looking exactly the same as the older version of Abe’s Oddysee. Oddworld Inhabitants and developer Just Add Water (JAW) have put a lot of work into this game and as you can see in the trailer, it looks spectacular. Granted, players who’ve played the original to death may think this one isn’t worth their time, but I’d disagree completely. Oddworld: Strangers Wrath was excellent on the original Xbox, but even better on the PS3 and Vita as a very enhanced remake, so I’m expecting New ‘n’ Tasty to be equally or even more of a pleasant surprise when all is said and done. We’ll see soon enough, of course. The Vita version is calling out to me because mine needs more games that will make me happier I bought the handheld and get so much use from it…

Guardians of the Galaxy TV Spot 1: Call In The Criminals!

Posted on June 5, 2014 by geelw

And so it begins, the deluge of TV spots for this most eagerly awaited of all the recent Marvel movies. If this one fails to do well (although all signs point to it doing very well indeed), there goes the sort of “indie” pillar Marvel was looking for in getting more than just superhero fans to embrace their new and improved lineup of upcoming film, TV and online projects. My money’s on this being a surprise hit, but in looking over the other properties, there are a few weak links that aren’t assured to be major hits thanks to a few things such as digital distribution not being something everyone wants or can access when they want where they want when it comes to getting those new shows. Granted, the success of other shows being binge-watched by too many people is a huge draw for anyone who wants to produce content that they feel will be snapped up by the eager masses who want it. On the other hand, alienating that part of the audience that’s not willing or able to buy in is never a good thing as no one likes to be told “You can’t have it!” when they indeed, WANT it. But I’m getting ahead of myself here (as always)…