2014, Loads of New Stuff In The Cargo Hold!

Posted on March 28, 2014 by geelw

One of the upcoming games I’ve been keeping my telescope pointed towards the horizon on for a while now has been Raven’s Cry, the pirate-themed action role-playing game from developer Reality Pump (taking over from Octane Studios) and publisher TopWare Interactive. The game has had a few delays due to Reality Pump really going all out to add a ton of gameplay and story content to it and these new and new-ish screens show off a load of cool:

And the official site has also been updated with a new video, concept art and even wallpapers to download if this one floats your boat. As for the new features being implemented, here’s a rundown stolen from the press release:

– New skills for the captain (a skill tree with over 25 options)
– The personal story of Christopher Raven (more than 25 hours of main storyline)
– Additional adventures and skirmishes (open-world setting and side quests)
– An economic system with a wide variety of trade-able goods and simulated price adjustments
– Realistic naval combat
– Depictions of the dark life of pirates (or: cinematic cut scenes)

All of this should make for a game that’s at least worth a look to see if Reality Pump can pull it all off. It seems like a darker and grimmer game than their previous RPGs, so let’s hope it all pans out the way they (and we sea dogs) want it to. PC, Mac, PS3, PS4 and Xbox 360, folks. Yeah, once again, a decent-looking RPG is skipping the Xbox One, so you owners of that console can get cranky about that elsewhere. I’ll be busy Yo-ho-ho-ing it up and trying not to get sunk by some frigate I’m trying to loot…

Random Art: Return of the One-Track (Or Is It One Tree?) Mind…

Posted on March 28, 2014 by geelw

Eh, another day, another tree sketch from my big head full of thoughts. What can I say? Well other than I was doing a bunch of small to large downloads this week and had some time to kill. This one was relatively quick to bang out (as you can tell). Okay, I’m off to a late start today, folks. I need to jet out of here and ~~run~~ walk quickly to my favorite wi-fi spot to get a post or two in before the rains come. Yeah, winter is dead, but spring has some not so nice weather surprises up its greener sleeves, it seems. Rainy weekend, anyone?

Bound By Flame Gameplay Trailer: Could This Be My New BBF? We Shall See…

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geelw

Spiders’ upcoming action/RPG gets a quick gameplay showing and it’s looking pretty good so far. Granted, devotees of the many schools of RPG combat who don’t like this sort of hack/slash gameplay are perhaps a little skeptical and cranky, but I say hold off on the “it’s not realistic” complaints as it’s a fantasy setting and characters and a little balletic license is fine for a game like this. A dash of God of War and hints of The Witcher and a few other inspirations aside, Bound By Flame could turn out to be a decent little sleeper hit that grabs genre fans by the short ones when it drops into stores on May 9, 2014 (two days after my birthday, so everyone get me a copy!) for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and PC. I’ve got my eye on you, game – don’t let me down!

Hercules Trailer: Strong Words For The Muscle-Man…

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geelw

So, here we go again on a few fronts. Yeah, yeah, Hercules has been in the movies for decades and sure, this new film trailer hits all the notes it needs to in terms of the usual action movie bullet points. On the other hand, color me bored and waiting for the cable premiere because this myth has been busted too many times previously in some eternally wretched Hercules flicks. Lou Ferrigno and Luigi Cozzi still hold the golden crown as far as the gold standard of awfulness when it comes to the hero. But at least both films stand up in terms of sheer camp craziness. I mean, in the first film, Herc throws a BEAR he’s just punched out into SPACE which turns it into a constellation for cryin’ out loud! You just can’t top that no matter how many light years better your special effects are. As usual, we’ll see what happens with this newer flick, but I don’t have my hopes up that it will be as fun (or funny) as any of the others.

Then again, there’s always Arnold and HIS goofball take on Herc. He fought a bear in that film as well (and in Central Park, yet!)

Random Art (Too): Oh, What The Heck – You Were Good Today…

Posted on March 26, 2014 by geelw

I was going to post this tomorrow or later, but I see you all did something good today and you deserve a reward. What, you thought I was going to rent more buses and take you all to the movies like last time? Ha! I learned my lesson from that debacle. Half of you got on the wrong buses and ended up in the wrong states and that was a bit TOO brain-melting to deal with what with all those phone calls I had to take and make. Anyway, I’m sticking to more arty gifts from now on. Less stress and you can’t complain, get ill from eating too much (well, art shouldn’t be eaten unless it’s made to be eaten!) or stick it somewhere it doesn’t belong. You’re welcome, by the way!

The Raid 2: Before The Brutal Ballet Begins, A Brief Peek…

Posted on March 26, 2014 by geelw

With The Raid 2 finally hitting theaters this Friday, here’s a peek at some stills you can see without wincing or ducking down behind the back of the seat in front of you as well as a few GIFs to make your eyeballs bounce around in their sockets if you happen to like that sort of thing. I still catch the first film on cable when I have time to spare or need the sounds of bones cracking as background noise when I write. It’s actually very relaxing under the proper circumstances.

Um… well… I guess you need to be here when I’m in a good mood and can work to anything playing in the room. Here’s the film’s trailer in case you need to know what I’m babbling about:

More pictures (moving and not) below the jump…

Continue reading →

Random Art: What’s Inside My Head Is Still The Same As It Ever Was…

Posted on March 26, 2014 by geelw

Well, this was a spur of the moment piece where I just sat down and started fiddling and fidgeting the mouse around until I had a general idea of where I wanted to go before changing my mind and just playing it by ear until I stopped. There’s a second piece I’ll run in a day or so. It’s a “companion” of sorts, as the title is the same and it’s kind of an odd bookend. Of course, If I do a third piece that’s similar, there goes the whole bookend thing, huh? Stay tuned…

Welp, VR Just Went Viral. Literally. Yuk.

Posted on March 25, 2014 by geelw

People, I’m speechless. THIS just happened and while some in the tech sector are giddy, anyone who had any thoughts about privacy using that Rift when it comes out has just gotten a “poke” to both eyes. Blech, Yuck, Argh and so forth and so on. Not to mention that people who will buy that thing and not clean it because they’re dopey about stuff like this will end up giving everyone in their homes and elsewhere some sort of eye infection or worse. Ewwww…

Now, I’m not a big VR supporter (I still recall when it was attempted with mixed results in the 90’s), but I was willing to give it a chance based on all the people I know who’ve tried both development versions of the Oculus Rift hardware. Now, I’d not touch the thing with a ten foot pole unless I was using said pole to bash those goofy goggles to bits with. Data mining through your entertainment isn’t new at all, but facebook getting it’s money gloves into EVERYTHING is getting to be extremely annoying. Let me shut up here and vent with some ice cream for a bit. Man, what a day… between this and Fed Ex jerking me around with a package they keep failing to deliver (I’m HOME you idiots!), I’m not having a good day today. Blaaaaah.

Transcendence: Johnny on the Spot Or The Yawnmower Man? We Shall See…

Posted on March 25, 2014 by geelw

You know, when I saw this trailer to Transcendence I actually laughed out loud because it reminded me of all those “cyberpunk” themed TV shows and films from the 90’s that for the most part didn’t so anything right other than be expensive and really weird unintentional sci-fi comedies. Sure, I know these movies have their followings and fans who groove on the cornball digital effects and “futuristic” scenarios (some by popular authors!), but come on, now. They just haven’t held up all that well even if you DO like them so much you gloss over their obvious flaws. Anyway, this flick seems to be going for a mix of The Lawnmower Man and War Games with a few other bits wired in for good measure and yeah, a “bald” Johnny Depp with wires sticking out of his head makes for a funky future Frankenstein’s monster for sure. Will it be a hit, a miss or a camp classic cable flick? We shall see, people… we shall see…

Game of Thrones S4 Trailers: “Awaken”, “All Men”… Things Are About To Get Rough…

Posted on March 24, 2014 by geelw

Does ANYONE actually like Cersei Lannister? The great Lena Headey has been doing such an excellent job playing this twisted woman that I know of a few people who have thrown stuff at their televisions when she’s onscreen. Now, I don’t think they’re breaking their televisions (as far as I can tell), but I bet some poor throw pillows are pissed off that they’re called what they’re called. I just find myself scowling or making faces at my TV because it’s old and sensitive (like me!) and it would cry if i hit it with anything harder than a paper towel.

As for The Imp? Well we ALL stand behind him, right? Well, you kind of HAVE to stand behind Tyrion or else. Why? Silly you. If you’re standing in front of him, there’s a good chance you’ll get pushed off something high or pig-stuck in the rear end with something pointy. So yeah, behind the man it is… and well off to the side just in case someone else tries to kill him. Yeah, better safe than sorry, people…