I Went To Toy Fair And All I Got Was This Lousy Bad Back (Okay, Not Really)…

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Owch. *squeeeak!* Hear that sound? It’s me bending over to see how swelled up my feet are. Eh, it’s not that bad, but I do need to lie down. I’m NOT lying down though – I’m typing this at the library because I figure I needed to post at least ONE update today before I went home and keeled over. I was planning to go home first, drop of the bags of stuff I’m carrying and then pop on out to write this post, but I very wisely decided to go straight to the library because I’d have tripped on a stray hair and landed square on my bed, never to rise again (well, until sometime tomorrow).

Anyway, the show was interesting as always. Made some new contacts, ran into a few old ones (and man, have some of them grown since last year!) and I’ll have a bunch of articles to write up over the next week or so. Hmmm… can I survive for the next hour and nine minutes or so and not keel over before I get kicked out of here? We shall see. Someone is going to sleep like a dead log tonight, that’s for sure…

Strider Returns! My Hiryu Is Your Hiryu Now, Too…

 
Eeek. To add to this silly and busy week, Capcom has released an reboot of Strider, the classic arcade game many of my gaming dollars went into back in the day. This new version is from developer Double Helix and looks pretty nifty and quite challenging. I’ll probably not get to this until the weekend, but I think I’m ready to have my ass handed to me a few times before I get through this one. We’ll see. It’s too bad this can’t be played on the Vita OR Wii U , but oh well (I still say why aren’t these on MORE platforms? Both the Vita and Wii U could use a fun and tricky retro platformer like this) Hmmm… I also see Dustforce also came out and I missed that launch last week (oops!). I need to check my inbox for a review code, I guess. Hey, I’ve been a bit busy here, people!

Earth Defense Force 2025 In Stores Today: Yes, You Need This Game (Just In Case)…

 
Ha. On the way back from Toy Fair, I spied not one, but TWO different UPS trucks a few blocks from my place. That means ONE of them has my copy of Earth Defense Force 2025, but neither truck will arrive here for about an hour (booo!), meaning I’ll be sitting here waiting to pounce on the driver as soon as he rings the doorbell downstairs. I think I SHOULD just go down and wait for him, but that’s bad to do because it looks as if I’m stalking him or am some sort of addict lurking around waiting for the man (cue The Velvet Underground in the background). And if that game isn’t in today’s delivery? Well, I guess I’ll live… but the rest of that ice cream in the freezer is going to have a pretty bad evening… (Dun-Dun-DUNNNNN!)

Back in a bit…

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Wow. Just as I was typing that “Back in a bit”, the doorbell DID ring and yes indeed, I got my bugs in a box! Okay, so much for productivity tonight, but I am going to set an alarm to let me know when I need to stop playing and get some sleep. I do have a few meetings tomorrow that I can’t be late for and nope, they won’t believe me when I say I was killing giant bugs all night!

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril Comes to Nintendo DS (Wait, DS Games Are STILL Being Made?)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes DS Box ArtHey, that’s news to me and as I still play DS games (more often than 3DS games, to tell you the truth), I’m intertested in giving this one a go at some point. It’s odd that this is shipping out now, as the Vita and 3DS versions came out late last year. On the other hand, I’m sure that the DS version was a bit low on the totem pole as far as getting done thanks to there not being a huge demand for games for that handheld these days.

Now, does a late launch mean lesser quality? Well, I guess I’ll discover that news soon enough, right? Okay, back to prowling the floor at Toy Fair. I’m overwhelmed with all this cool stuff everywhere I look. Gyah! That and I have a package or three coming today with some games in it and I’m actually dying to get out of here and go play some stuff. We’ll have to see about getting a helper monkey for these press events, so don’t be surprised if I start walking around with an accordion and a tin cup in my bag.

Ssssh… All’s Quiet on the Western Front…

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And in the East? Silence. North (Look up!) and South (and down!)? Yup? Tumbleweeds and a chilly wind because you looked down first, then up (Oops. Pay attention next time!). Anyway, as noted previously, I took today off to do some personal stuff, so there’s nothing thrilling to report because I was not near much tech/game/movie/toy stuff online to keep me otherwise occupied. I’m back now, but won’t fire up the brain box now because I need to be fresh and toasty for the return to Toy Fair and it’s happy madness on Tuesday. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to curl up with a bad movie and pass out in front of the TV. Back tomorrow with actual interesting words…

Game of Thrones S4 Trailer #2: Vengeance (Is Mine, And Yours, And Yours)…

 
The clock is ticking away as Season 4 is headed to HBO and fans prepare their brains and bodies for what’s coming. I can’t keep more than one eye open at the moment thanks to my long day, so I’ll just let out a squeaky “Yaaay!” from the back of the room and fall over in a heap to sleep. Good night, people. I’ll be back and in better shape tomorrow… I think. Zzzzzz.

Groan, Creak… What A Loooong Week…

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Ay carumba! Me bones are weary bones, arrrr! Or something like that. “My neck, My back, My ass.”* Wow, I’m pooped after waking up too early (5am) and getting to Toy Fair too early, but at least they had coffee and some stuff to snack on. Anyway, updates will be slower than usual for a few days. I’m taking Monday off to do take care of some personal stuff and then it’s back to Toy Fair Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’m going to keel over and sleep for a virtual week… Zzzzz.

*(yeah, that line’s stolen/paraphrased from Matt Groening’s awesome Life in Hell collection)

Random Film of the Week(end) Quickie: Dreamgirls

DreamgirlsWhile I’m a huge fan of the classics, I don’t like most modern Hollywood musicals or biopics because they try to hard to be entertaining and just feel as if they’re baked from the same stale mold. I can’t put my finger on anything other than a certain soullessness thanks to a few factors seen as “necessary” to whatever formula makes a “hit” these days.

Anyway, moving on. Despite some fine acting and singing, primo Oscar bait like Dreamworks’ big 9and massively hyped) 2006 film Dreamgirls didn’t do a thing for me either. Still, I’ve watched it in its entirety twice and one part at least two dozen or so times because it made me fall off the couch laughing the first time and stuck with me to the point that whenever the film pops up on cable, I will turn to it just for that single scene.

If you know what I’m talking about, then good for you and you’re chuckling already. If you don’t, well here you go. Mister Jimmy Early… do your stuff! Um… you may want to have a seat there, kiddo.  Oh, and don’t drink anything while watching this clip if you’ve yet to see the movie (spoiler alert? I guess so):

 
I had to leave the room for a few minutes, as if I have to see this clip again, I might pop something inside. Heh. Gets me every time. As for the rest of the film? Meh. I have my Motown and Stax memories and the actual music from that era to keep my ears, brain and (if I feel like shaking a tail feather) hips occupied. So I don’t need any expensive (but nice looking and well intentioned) films that want me to “feel” something for the people in it when all I care about are the old tunes and memories those classic songs bring forth. That said, Eddie Murphy kills it dead here. “Jimmy got soul” indeed. Heee.

Jodorowsky’s Dune 2014 Trailer: From The Ashes, Much More Life…

 
I can only imagine what would have happened had Alejandro Jodorowsky actually gotten his wild version of DUNE made way back in 1975 or however long it would have taken to film properly. Well, this must-see documentary may answer that for me to some extent, but I still won’t be satisfied because I still want to see it made at some point. Even as an animated film (traditional with a dash of CG enhancement in backgrounds, please!), I think it would blow the minds of anyone who sees it, especially with all those amazing artists like Moebius, Giger, Foss and others who contributed to this failed project before moving on to bigger and better things. Anyway, this one’s a must-see documentary for a few reasons and I’ll most likely shell out for the Blu-Ray/DVD when it gets a release just because this chronicle of a never made adaptation is something that deserves a few looks outside of a theater setting.

BOUND BY FLAME: Spiders’ New RPG Seems Quite Witcher-iffic. This Is A Good Thing.

 
A-ha. I was wondering just what developer Spiders was up to, as they last teamed up with Cyanide Studios for Of Orcs and Men and Cyanide is now busy with the follow-up, STYX: Master of Shadows. Spiders is working on BOUND BY FLAME, an upcoming fantasy action/RPG set to hit PC, PS4 and “last” gen consoles later this year (although there seems to be no Xbox One version? Hmmmm…). Casting such a wide SKU net usually means a drop in quality somewhere unless you have a developer who knows their stuff, and I think Spiders can pull this off if they’ve learned from proper criticism of previous games. I like the visual style here (although the faces on the characters look a bit… “off”) and the gameplay and mature time seems similar enough to CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher games that the game may find an audience among those who like European-style RPGs as much as they like the games made here and elsewhere. That crafting system looks pretty fun as well and I hope it’s as flexible as noted in the trailer above.

 
Like Focus Home Interactive other RPGs, I’ll be keeping an eyeball on this one. I still get use out of my PS3, so I may go that route for the final just because I don’t need to connect it online in order to play stuff. We shall see, as usual…