EDF 3 Portable Coming To PlayStation Vita (In Japan, At Least) With 4-Player Co-op

Posted on June 11, 2012 by geelw

BRING BACK THE BUGS! Hey, D3Publisher of America: I’m putting you on notice NOW. If you aren’t planning to snap this up and get it out in North America instead of another kid-friendly game that might sell a few more copies, you’re nuts. In the nicest possible way, though. Seriously, you’re loved around here for some cool games and all, but THIS one has to get a US release. Not only is this looking exactly like the Xbox 360 game many PlayStation-only fans of the series never got to play, Sandlot actually ADDED a four-player co-op mode.Which is an excellent move, by the way (provided the slowdown present in the original game has been taken care of).

I’m stealing one screenshot from Andriasang (thanks, guys!) to show you this is no joke, but here’s a link so you can check out the rest of them and start yelling into your Vita like it’s actually got a phone built in. Day one purchase? Oh, absolutely. ESPECIALLY if D3 is smart enough to consider that dual game card package, provided they can release it at a decent price point. If not, a single cart is still fine, but I’m gathering that a single cart and download voucher deal for a friend might be another way to go. OK, let me stop giving out free ideas and get back to hoping we see this one drop into stores as soon as possible…

Tweaks and Fiddles Says: Get Some Sleep, Creep!

Posted on June 10, 2012 by geelw

Hmmmm… Don’t you hate it when you hit “Publish” BEFORE you’re actually done with an article you wanted to post much later, which in turn forces you to stay up and forge onward to edit/finish it instead of something else you wanted to actually complete FIRST because it’s kind of overdue and you were working on it for a while?

Just asking, as that NEVER happens to me (eye roll)…

E3 2012: Watch_Dogs Gameplay: Ubisoft Also Hits A Few Nerves Outside Of The Gaming Life…

Posted on June 10, 2012 by geelw

Like nearly everyone else who saw it, I was floored when Ubisoft dropped Watch_Dogs into our collective consciousness at the end of its E3 press conference. Not only did they completely surprise people, they did so in the way things USED to be done in this industry. Win NO in house PR-generated “leaks” or overly annoying viral nonsense that keeps people who need to be more productive trolling around the Internet looking at teaser sites or playing with devices in useless mini-games that hint at what’s to come. Although amusingly enough, that’s probably one big way to market the game now that the beans have been spilled. Still, as great as the game looks and as amazing as the idea behind it is, something bugged the hell out of me when the demo was over…

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A Few Words On Ray Bradbury (1920 – 2012)

Posted on June 10, 2012 by geelw

“In my later years I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I’ve worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior.”

– Ray Bradbury

So, the great Ray Bradbury died last week and that’s another bit of my past gone away. And yours too, even if you’ve never read a word of his massive body of work. Along with plenty of classic science fiction, fantasy and many other stories that had a beautiful flow to them many have copied (or more accurately, tried to copy and failed miserably at doing so), he wrote one of the best editorials on censorship that I’ve ever read. I normally despise Sir Rupert Murdoch’s local opinions as fact-packed fish-wrapper, The New York Post, but they ran that column he wrote (mostly to justify their own “news” agenda) yesterday and I had to tip my hat their way for doing so… Continue reading →

E3 2012: Unreal Engine 4 Tech Demo: Like It Or Not, It’s Coming Your Way…

Posted on June 9, 2012 by geelw

This is pretty great to look at, but remember: it’s ONLY a tech demo and under the right hands, I’m betting things can only go up from there. But at what cost? For me, a game engine is only as good as the programmers and artists who end up using it. There have been a number of games created with older and current versions of the Unreal engine that do an amazing job of NOT looking as if they were made using it (which is really cool in my book). This leads me to believe that while we will indeed see plenty of games that make us all say “Oh…THAT’S Unreal 4?”… we’re going to be sitting through a lot of games before that, sighing “Oh, that’s Unreal 4…” Continue reading →

E3 2012: Feeling Down? Rayman Legends Will Make You Smile In A Few Seconds Flat.

Posted on June 9, 2012 by geelw

Seriously, if these two E3 videos from Ubisoft’s upcoming (up to FIVE player) Wii U exclusive don’t get you grinning, you’re one pretty mean person having a not so hot day. Don’t spread that frown around at all, I say. Rayman, Murphy, Globox and the rest of the crew want you to let your cares fall away as you race through some mighty pretty (and pretty insane) old-school platforming levels (with some neat and quick “3D” elements) , feeling like you’re years younger, pounds lighter and a bit hairier up top. No, on top of your head, silly (yeesh!). Ha! I saw you smile. Good – that’s just what the game is supposed to do. OK, my work here is done (again)… Thanks Ubisoft!

E3 2012: Agni’s Philosophy Tech Demo Shows Square Enix Is More Than Ready For New-Gen…

Posted on June 8, 2012 by geelw

Lovely. Absolutely lovely. Well, if they can make a battle system that’s a bit more action oriented (and lose the quick time events!), I’ll be diving back into a Final Fantasy game after too long away. Still this IS a tech demo, so it’ll be up to what the programmers can do to assure any game using this engine looks as great or even better. As for MY own new-gen wants: I want NO damn “dot” shadows ever again in a 3D game, EVER, destructible/movable objects (no more furniture nailed to sets), ZERO clipping issues, voice sync that looks realistic and hell, every door opening in a game for a change. Some bathrooms would help as well, but hey, RPG characters aren’t real and don’t need to poop or pee, I guess.

OK, that said, I STILL want to see an anime game on a new console that looks and flows even more like an actual anime does. We’re getting to that point and it’s clear that the coming console cycle Can make that happen. I’ll be keeping my eyeballs peeled (eww), so get on it, guys….

Random Film Of The Week (It’s Baaaaaack!): ZOMBI 2

Posted on June 8, 2012 by geelw

It’s been a while since I did this column (again!), but here you go, thanks to Ubisoft’s upcoming Wii U exclusive (which isn’t based on this flick, btw), I’m inspired to scribble a bit about one more of my old horror faves. Here’s the ZOMBI 2 poster I forgot to run in my Zombi U post earlier this week. Seeing that happy, smoochy undead mug once more made me think of being freaked out then amused by the commercial for the film when it ran here way back around 1980, I think.

I recall that I actually didn’t see the film until about 1983 or ’84 thanks to a friend of a friend who worked at some place that cut together TV ads. Everyone who worked there was pirating every movie that came in the door and making themselves huge movie libraries, and I recall his was pretty damn impressive and packed with stuff I’d never seen before but always wanted to. I think I only borrowed two or three tapes from him, as I was SUPER paranoid about some dark sunglasses-wearing agent types kicking my door in and busting me for whatever I was doing that was illegal (was it even illegal to watch a copied movie you borrowed back then? Who knows?).

Anyway, Back to the movie for a sec: It was (and still is) pretty gory, but also a bit funny in spots. Well, HILARIOUS, as a zombie (well, a guy in undead makeup) actually fights a REAL (and drugged, from what I remember reading later) shark in probably the craziest moment in the movie. The scene I remember most vividly was a woman getting her eyeball poked out with a piece of wood (eww!), but there were a few other shocking bits throughout. The beginning and ending made me laugh, so that’s a trade-off I guess. Celebrity sort of alert: Mia Farrow’s sister, Tisa is in the film – but she’s not the one who loses her eyeball. So, yeah, it’s not a family flick at all this time out, but if you can track it down, it’s a funky, chunky scare-fest worth your popcorn time.

If you’re REALLY in the mood for this sort of stuff, I say pair it with Mario Bava’s gore/splatter classic, Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve, the inspiration, at least in terms of special effects for the first two Friday the 13th movies about a decade later).

E3 2012: As A Game, Defiance Proves Me Wrong, But The Show Still Needs To Be Worth Watching…

Posted on June 8, 2012 by geelw

OK, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t at ALL keen on Defiance from the moment I heard about it. Sure, Trion Worlds is known for some solid MMO experiences, but the fact that the game would be based on a show from the network that brings us crappy camp like Sharktopus and Jersey Shore Shark Attack! didn’t exactly make me comfortably assured about reliable quality control in regards to the upcoming TV series. Sure, the Battlestar Galactica reboot was groundbreaking and great from the start , but as the song goes, “What Have You Done For Me Lately?”

Then I saw some gameplay and well, I had to eat my hat…

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Prometheus Update: Today’s The Big Day (Unless It Was Yesterday Or Last Week For Some Of You)…

Posted on June 8, 2012 by geelw

So, here are two more bits (one film clip which has a nice but expected “spoiler”, as well as one more viral) to get you into the theater. For those who don’t grasp the point of the viral videos, they’re made to set up a the time period the film takes place in, which is why the “David” viral ad is like a commercial you’d see today for a PC or car. Anyway, reviews have been pretty positive overall and there was even a midnight showing up here at a theater that usually doesn’t do that sort of thing at all. I didn’t go, as I was writing and I want to roll in on a slow weekday so I can sit back and enjoy the ride without too many er, “urban distractions”.

Still, I’m sure even on a lazy weekday there will be trouble. Like the time I went to see Starship Troopers on an otherwise dull Monday and an entire class of about 40 grade school kids and a few teachers and aides rolled in (late, of course) to see the film, only to get up and leave a few minutes later during a nude shower scene. Oops.

Obviously, some otherwise sane and supposedly educated adults forgot to read the film’s rating (and hell, not knowing what you’re in for when you’re going to a Paul Verhoeven flick is kind of dumb)…