Defiance Episode 1 Recap/Episode 3 Preview: Fun With The Past, Bugs In Your Future…

I like how syfy is poking a little fun at their big hit show in that recap above while keeping things interesting in the more serious preview below. Of course, titling your third episode after a classic Star Trek episode kind of reeks of unoriginality, but I’m betting if there’s a decent homage paid out during that episode next week, it’ll fly right on over the heads of anyone who’s never seen the old Trek show previously. Thank goodness for the Internet, right? Well, unless you’re a classic Trek fan angrily typing out some threats in Romulan or Klingon to send to the network…

Still, it’ll be nice to see which types of Hellbugs pop up in the show on Monday, as the game has a few nasty varieties that are pretty relentless once they start chewing on you. And, nope… that can of Raid on the shelf in the kitchen is NO help at all…

Thor: The Dark World Trailer (UK): If I Had A Hammer, Too…

OK, everybody… SING! Yeah, if you’re old enough like me, you know how that music goes. If you don’t, there’s a visual aid below:

“Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard,
Where the booming heavens roar,
You’ll behold in breathless wonder
The God Of Thunder, Mighty Thor!”

The Marvel movie revival juggernaut continues with this upcoming sequel set for an October 30, 2013 launch in the UK. Marvel’s US YouTube page seems to a wee bit slow on uploading the US version, so here you go. Even though there’s a bit of corny on display above, I like the way this sequel looks. Then again, I liked the first film because it was pretty fun and quite amusing thanks to the direction and a solid cast. Of course, there’s that interesting crossover thing happening here, meaning it’ll be fun to stick around for the credits and see what new Marvel flick gets teased. I do wonder if we’ll see some sort of huge blockbuster that brings in ALL the current Marvel movie heroes, as I’d bet the most hard-core fans would line up for that one a year in advance if it were announced…

Star Trek: The Video Game Launch Trailer: Some May Ask “Warp Factor Who?”

Namco Bandai Games and developer Digital Extremes “prequel” of sorts to the upcoming Star Trek: Into Darkness has warped into stores today, but I haven’t seen much in the way of fanfare in the form of a decent TV spot. Then again, I’m not a regular TV viewer outside of some cable shows, but even when I do catch something on another channel, I haven’t seen a thing other than an ad or two for the film. Normally, this doesn’t bode well for a game, but I think that there’s the automatic assumption that Trek fans won’t need to be pressured to snap this up with big ads and too many dollars spent on hyping something many will buy without hesitation. Poking around a few message board shows that those who have the game are liking it in varying degrees, so let’s hope this one catches on as does well, as a lot of work went into it…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Mondays Aren’t For Everyone…

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And you thought YOU hated Mondays? Well, imagine being some poor underemployed Shadow who can’t even have the satisfaction of having a job to get to on a Monday morning just to hang out at the water cooler and whine about how last weekend was too short and it’s back to the daily grind and blah, blah, blah. Of course, that shadow just so happens to be a resident of Greenvale, where there’s actually decent work for her type when a certain game director brings his development team into town and needs to put together an updated version of his last project. I think she’s bent over backward here because that work has come to a close and there’s nothing to do now but moan and creep around the woods scaring small to medium sized animals and the occasional tourist that strolls off the beaten path.

Naturally, Greenvale’s actual residents aren’t really to scared of these shadows, as they’re quite used to all sorts of weird happenings in their town. If you’re headed there for vacation and want to give one or more of them a nice ego boost, pretend to be totally freaked out when you see them and run around in a circle for about thirty seconds screaming like a squeezed duck. That should make someone smile and tell their Shadow friends that they “got another one!” when they’re having that beer party on Friday behind the Swery 65 Bar…

DPDC PS3 US EFS 2D RealBy now, you know that you should be thrilled that there’s only a week until Rising Star Games gets Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut for the PlayStation 3 into stores. This PS3 exclusive features updated HD visuals, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, Trophies, all-new DLC and over 100 improvements over the original version. Your next Monday won’t be spent griping and groaning at all unless you’re somehow facing the wrong way when you start playing and complaining that you can’t see anything. Just don’t do that with someone else in the room of they’ll call you crazy and have the men in white coats come to take you for a ride. Then you’ll REALLY have something to whine about when you end up not being able to play the game at all until you get released…

swery_hamburgerOne person who’s very probably having an ABSOLUTELY fine Monday is Game Director Swery 65. I’d bet he’s pretty much sitting around in a bar or coffee shop somewhere checking his email, having a(nother) tasty burger and beverage combo while updating his Facebook page with a quick post or Instagram photo (or both) and just hanging out enjoying himself while he waits patiently for the first reviews to roll in. I’d say he’s got nothing to fear in terms of too many gamers and editor-types NOT liking the game, as it’s already gone through that wringer once and is now seen as a genre classic by many who fell under its strange spell…

New Arrival: Dragon’s Dogma Dark Arisen Pops In To Destroy My Productivity…

DD_DA Well, there goes the rest of the week, folks. I walk in from working on a few posts and there’s a copy of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen waiting for me. Nice. Hmmm… I see from the included Fact Sheet that loading up that old save I have will net me a cool 100,000 Rift Points, a nice set of gear and some other fun stuff, so I’m going to have to NOT pass up that chance to score all those goodies and see what this “expansion” packs on that disc. I say “expansion” because it’s a lot more than a simple add-on and nope, you don’t need the first game at all to play this one.

That’s right, folks – for a mere $39.99, you get the FULL version of the original game on the same disc and that new content doesn’t look at all as if it’s going to be a mere ten-hour romp in the caves. Back with an update (in the form of a review) probably on the weekend. I still need to get my daily post count in, so I can’t get TOO sidetracked. On the other hand, I may limit myself to five or so posts per day until I get this game tackled. We shall see…

Iron Man 3 TV Spot #5: Rust Never Sleeps (II… and Neither Does Tony Stark, It Seems)…

I thought we’d see something like a dozen different ads by now, but Marvel is taking their time on rolling these out it seems. Either that, or it’s because they’ve shown so much of the action scenes in bits and pieces that revealing the actual story would be a bad thing. Of course, as I’m not one of those internet poker-a-rounders digging up every plot point or on-set screenshot out there so I can spoil my screening, I don’t mind the slow reveals one bit. Actually, it would be amazing to see a major motion picture that’s not a Terence Malick film pop up with not so much spolieriffic fanfare and blow audiences away because it was under-hyped and amazing. Eh, like that ever happens these days…

Game of Thrones 3:4 Behind the Episode: A Show Of Hands (And Other Revelations)…

You know, I’m never, EVER going to run out of hand jokes, right? Well, it’s a damn good thing you don’t HAVE to read my lame attempts at humor at all thanks to that video above to draw your attention away, right? Well, I’ll just keep on doing what I do best (well, at least in my pointy little head) and you, dear reader – just keep on doing what you do best as long as you park your eyeballs here for a spell each day. Whee – it’s a shorter than usual post so you won’t suffer much. Actually, I need to jet on home, as I want to whip up dinner before Defiance kicks on at 9PM…

Gallery: Tales of Xillia

Milla_illustrationJude_illustrationWatching and listening to series Producer Hideo Baba talk about his beloved Tales franchise will make anyone want to pick up a controller and play whatever lands on these shores. The latest in the long-running franchise (which started on the Super Famicom back in 1995), Tales of Xillia breaks new ground for the series by combining the distinctly different art styles of the series two key character designers (Kosuke Fujishima and Mutsumi Inomata), blending them flawlessly in a larger and prettier overall game. Toss in “Empress of Pop” Ayumi Hamasaki singing the theme sone, a refined battle system and the usual Tales quality bumped up to a nice PS3 shine and you get a game fans should be more than pleased to play…

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Gallery: Dark Souls II

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DarkSoulsII (1)As noted last week, Dark Souls II is looking quite spectacular for a work in progress. FromSoftware is toiling away like mad to give fans what they want and MORE, with the focus being on getting to the good stuff (combat and survival) faster, eliminating some of the overly tedious backtracking and beefing up the visuals, enemies and overall level of challenge to new extremes. Casual players looking for a simple hack & slash and those not wanting the thrill of barely making it past some brutal death traps, enemies and bosses will want to tread lightly here (or tread not at all), but everyone else looking for the King of Pain and willing to roll the dice here will be in gaming heaven (and more often than not, hell) when this one ships out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 once it’s all done…

For anyone who plays, however… expect to feel DESPAIR (and frequently, if you rush around like Kratos on a caffeine jag)…

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Gallery: Armored Core Verdict Day

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12.battle areaFirst things first: Armored Core Verdict Day is NOT an “expansion pack” at all. You don’t NEED a copy of Armored Core V in order to play, there have been a ton of improvements and additions in key areas and in fact, this might be a more enjoyable experience for players diving in for the first time as well as returning veterans. FromSoftware is polishing up this online experience to a beautiful shine and if the recent demo on display at Namco Bandai’s Global Gamers Day was any indication, this should be one of those mech games that keeps players coming back for more once they get to take it for a spin… Continue reading