File this under “Now I’ve seen everything…”, folks. Stride Gum has teamed up with W+K London and Johnny Two Shoes to create Gumulon, which as you can see above is… yes, a game controlled by players chewing to jump. And I’m betting you’ll want a gum with a long-lasting flavor to play, meaning (cue Stride Gum theme music… if they don’t have a theme, they better get one and fast)… you’ll be buying some Stride with this new iOS game (as in: iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3rd & 4th generation, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 4th & 5th generation). I normally don’t cover iOS stuff (hey, do I look as if own anything Apple other than actual apples which aren’t “owned” for long because they’re eaten in a few delightful ways), but this was amusing enough to catch my eye when it hit my inbox, so here you go. Er, I guess if you get REALLY good at this one you can consider yourself… (wait for it…) chew chew trained. A ha ha and ha…
I actually didn’t like The Sopranos the first time I saw it (coming into the middle of an episode in the middle of a season has that effect on some people), but I wised up and stuck with it, enjoying the ride over the last four seasons or so and going back to catch most of the episodes I missed out on. For me, that final episode was quite a nice surprise but not too surprising, as it didn’t go for the expected. Of course, neither did the show on many occasions where stories were layered with hidden and not-so hidden depths mixed in with some shocking deaths just to hammer home the point that Tony’s world wasn’t a very nice place after all. I liked James Gandolfini’s work in most of the films he was in, but like many fans, he’ll always be Tony Soprano, driving down that highway through New Jersey on the way to raise some hell or suffer through some of his own creation. He’ll be missed…
As an impressionable teen, these commercials for Slim Whitman’s albums had my friends and I always laughing (and occasionally warbling awfully mangled versions of his tunes while strolling down the street), but I think they also made us appreciate other musical styles. Granted, I’m a nut with wild musical tastes (AM radio USED to play great music before it became home to the insane, incessantly annoying “opinions as facts” and “I’m famous because I have a radio show and people who believe my crazy BS!” talkers), so I think I came to see the man’s genius a bit more over time. But I do recall having the stupidest yet most amazing dream where Slim was covering The Ramones and yes, it was a spectacular a vision indeed. “I Remember Yoooooooou-ooooooooou-oooooooou!” (I still can’t listen to that song without laughing, by the way).
That and hell, Slim Whitman saved the earth, dammit. Go watch Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! if you don’t believe me…
The problem with five minutes of one game (or two and a half minutes give or take of two games) is it’s IMPOSSIBLE to grasp what the hell some games are about. That said, in the case of Ubisoft’s stellar-looking upcoming action/adventure game Watch_Dogs, five minutes on a crazy and funny talk/variety show with a giddy host is excellent yet somewhat less than perfect for a game so huge. Don’t get me wrong, kids – I’d invite Jimmy Fallon over to the home office and show off some wacky games he’s most likely never heard of at the drop of a hat, BOOM, I’m there… er, he’s here (oh, you know what I mean). Thankfully, Aisha Tyler (also a HUGE gamer and comic as well as Ubisoft’s go-to celebrity as she also happens to be a character in the game) did a great job of explaining the concept and some of the open world gameplay before Jimmy took over and failed a mission (*sigh*). Well, he got further than I thought, but still. I’d actually love to see the guy host an ALL gaming show one day, not just one with funny segments and a few stars popping up to plug their assorted projects.
Of course, that would be a different show entirely, but a NEEDED one for gamers and G4 is no more (although, like a zombie with a steel-plated skull, the damn channel is STILL on the air pumping out movies and reruns of old shows including X-Play and Spike TV is too damn dumb to watch unless GTTV is on, as it’s just macho crap and blood beat-fests all day and then some. Yuk). I suppose internet “TV” shows are a good source, but not if one has a crap connection or hell, prefers gaming news from eight feet away and doesn’t own a damn Smart TV or whatever it is that basically means you’re online watching Honey Boo Boo when you COULD be learning a new language or something else more interesting…
Nice to see Riddick: Rule the Dark isn’t being rolled out into theaters this September with any funky 3D added, as I think it will hold up as is without the gimmick. Personally, I hate wearing glasses over my glasses, although, it’s cool to take the freebie specs home and see if any games look interesting with them. Hey, I’m a firm believer in tech that multi-tasks! OK, I watched too many Good Eats episodes back when the Food Network was kind of still about cooking and not competitive food disposal contests mixed with crap “reality” TV… Oh, I’m not ranting here, folks… just speaking the truth is all…
When 2001: A Space Odyssey set the bar for visual effects back in 1968, movie studios around the globe kept trying to reach that level of polish and for the most part failed miserably. Outside of a few major and minor sci-fi hits and misses in theaters (Marooned, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun and Silent Running pop off the top of my head) and on TV (those bits of Gerry Andersen’s UFO and Space: 1999 that work), it wasn’t until the release of Star Wars that a major studio film had a visual aesthetic genre fans could glom onto almost universally for sheer “wow” factor. Granted, when Logan’s Run was in its production phase, I’m betting it sure looked “futuristic” to the very hard working teams building that huge model of the city and domes, the set and costume designers and yes, the visual effects crew, actors and director. Hell, it certainly impressed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as a special Oscar was awarded the film at the 1977 Academy Awards. Of course, George Lucas and ILM made that award all theirs the next year in a film not predicted to do all that well by a few people (Lucas included)…
Still, that didn’t help matters much in my case, as even as a wee bairn of eight years of age, I knew Logan’s Run was going to be enjoyably junky thanks to the TV commercials and rainbow on those posters I saw in subway stations. Interestingly enough, it actually popped up on TV about a year later (an amazingly fast time for a major Hollywood film), and while I was fascinated by some elements, to my mind it still looked cheap and the story (which I didn’t know was even more edited for TV) was hard to follow. Naturally, even though I didn’t like the film much, I ended up watching every episode of the 1977-78 CBS TV series and just like what happened with Planet of the Apes on the network, it managed to be dumber than the film, but easier to follow once I figured out that nothing would happen to the leads because they needed to be around for next week’s show. But I digress… Continue reading →
Like their DRM policies or not, you simply can’t ignore Ubisoft’s power in the game industry. A stable of hits, some always surprising new IP popping up seemingly out of thin air (the company KNOWS how to keep a secret and reveals only when necessary) and even some film projects in the works based on some of their best games, it’s clear that they’ll be around for a while. Much of what’s here is so impressive that I’d bet we’ll see some sort of Ubisoft channel coming to future consoles dedicated solely to the companies offerings all playable on whatever you have getting content into your home. Granted, should the internet die thanks to some hack or country to global-scale event, welp… there goes the neighborhood, I suppose and guess what, we’re all starring in at least two of Ubisoft’s upcoming games. I’ll let you peruse this event video to find out which two…
While the Xbox One got two games crammed into five minutes, Sony’s new PS4 showcased one game, the family friendly platformer, Knack was the showcase title on this second day of Late Night’s Game Week. Game Director Mark Cerny was on hand to show off the new console and controller, noting that it’s been redesigned for shooter fans, most likely to let them know they’re not forgotten despite the somewhat cute game on display Jimmy was about to dive into. He also got in a quick shot at Microsoft by noting that used games could be played on the PS4 and (yes!) the console can indeed be used offline. Microsoft takes another knock there, thanks to it’s spotty PR performance not doing the best job at explaining things. As for Knack, Cerny showed off a quick cut scene and played for a quick bit (the game looks great, but Jimmy was easily distracted by some amazing looking water for a split second) before turning over control.
Fallon played a cool ice level that showed off some great-looking Pixar-like visuals and a familiar mix of 3D platforming and combat. Knack can smash and absorb bits of the environment in order to grow and take on the characteristics of whatever he’s busted apart. It’s sort of like a Metal Men comic meets Crash Bandicoot with the aforementioned Pixar visual style and it looks pretty incredible. That said, I’m gathering Knack was shown for a few other important reasons. Fallon’s viewer base covers a wide age range, so Sony wants to get the console buying adults on board with a non-violent game they can immediately buy with that PS4. The game is a first-party title and Sony’s first party studios are responsible for a good deal of the system’s hits, so as a launch title, Knack needs to show it can be as good as the best games of its type on the new hardware. Finally, I think the game may be a hard sell to some of the shooter fans (thus the earlier shout-out by Cerny), so I think Sony wants them to know their games are indeed coming (and on launch day, at that). Then again, those shooter fans DID get a great demo of Killzone: Shadow Fall three months ago.
Oh yeah, Jimmy didn’t suck too much at Knack, but he’s still like a box of puppies bouncing in the back of a moving truck when it comes to getting all giddy about stuff. You have to love the man for his sense of wonder other TV hosts fail to activate in anything like a realistic manner, so I’ll give him that much…
Hoo boy. Sometimes, I’ll see an article that criticizes certain types of genres of Japanese games for being too sexist or exploitative or out of touch with or whatever and I usually chuckle because often the game or games in question have zero chance of arriving here because of that content. Of course, of the games that do make it over with saucy scenes or imagery that may offend, some of the content is altered or snipped out completely so as to appeal to more puritanical American tastes. Granted, this sort of censorship offends fans of imports arriving unsullied and over time, some game companies has slowly allowed much of the silliness to slip in in various states. Well, Yakuza 4 and its in-context Geisha club antics and the Ar tonelico series’ eyebrow-raising “Dive Station” mind dating elements (trust me, it’s weirder than it sounds) have nothing (and I mean no-thing) on what’s going on in Xseed Games’ upcoming Vita exclusive, Valhalla Knights 3.
That trailer above doesn’t show anything outrageous – it’s below the jump, you pervs (and a link at that!)… Continue reading →
Yikes and “Hmmmmmm…” Here we go. OK, folks – given the quality of some fan-made Lego movies (go hit the YouTube at your leisure and see for yourself), the very idea of spending a TON of loot for a CG film and all that expensive voice talent just makes me cringe a wee it too much. Yeah, it looks funny and yes indeed, LEGO probably got all the proper clearances for all those characters in one internet video conference call. Still, there’s something… off about this flick that I’ll most likely not see at all in a theater, but catch on the cable rebound circuit and think it’s not too bad at all (but still wonder if some super-fan could have done it for a few hundred bucks over the course of a few weekends)… as usual, we shall see…
Yeah, you had a bad day at work, right? You look like you could use a break from that grumbling and mumbling about chasing your boss around the office with a blunt object as well as a little lesson in karma. Here’s probably the best cure for your troubles in one of the most amazing film noir gems you’ll ever hit your eyeballs with. I think I did a Random Film of the Week on Detour previously, but I’m too tired to check.
EDIT! Nope, I did NOT do one – this will be rectified soon!)
Anyway, pull up a seat, Pete and feast your eyeballs on this dusty jewel that still packs quite a punch. Watch out for Ann Savage as Vera here – she’ll cut you if you don’t watch your back… or worse… maybe.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 