Oops. I Forgot Some Adventure Time 3DS Screens Last Month…

Posted on October 7, 2013 by geelw

OK, this is a sort of filler post, but I did forget to add these to that Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! screenshots for the Nintendo 3DS in that preview I wrote up not too long ago. I’m still flipping a coin about whether to buy a new 2DS or a bigger and more expensive 3DS XL to play this on.

On one hand, cheap is always good and that 2DS and its kid-friendly design (it’s targeted to 5 and 6 year olds!) will make me the envy of the playground parent set (er, not that I hang out at playgrounds or with parents, mind you). On the other hand, that more expensive XL is MUCH better for my eyesight thanks to the nice and big screen. Decisions, decisions… well, it’s not exactly earth-shaking in importance at all, so worry not your pretty little heads about me this time. I think I’ll work it out just fine…

Earth Defense Force 2025 US Cover Art Revealed: The Gang’s All Here (Almost)!

Posted on September 25, 2013 by geelw

Nice. While the game’s Japanese cover art was a relatively simple shot of multiple motherships converging on an about to be invaded Earth, the North American art features all four playable classes and some of the many enemies you’ll face off with in this BIG bug and ‘bot blast fest. I loved that they used in-game character models and not a standard painting, although the import version DID ship with one of two reversible cover images done in a cool manga style. I’ll put in a quick Q to D3PoA’s PR and see if we’ll be blessed with that alternate art choice, but even if we don’t get them, this one’s a fine looking bit of art that will make those non-EDF playing pals of yours automatically ask what’s up with that cast of armored guys and gal and that upside down spider that’s making them nervous. Five new screenshots are below:

EDF 2025 ships out in February 2014. Back with more as info rolls in – stay tuned.

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! Hands-On: Knowing Is Half the Battle (But You Still Need To Fight!)

Posted on September 23, 2013 by geelw

FACT: D3Publisher of America’s new publicist, Edith Yang is a total hoot, sitting there cheerily playing and promoting Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! clearly knowing it’s got “Sleeper Hit” stamped on it in big red invisible neon ink letters. I have special glasses, so I can see that on the big banner off to one side with the game logo on it. I say nothing about these glasses as I’m not wearing any and don’t want to sound completely insane by stating the opposite. But I digress…

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Earth Defense Force 2025 Hands-On: Bug Blasting 101, On a Few Cool Fronts…

Posted on September 23, 2013 by geelw

D3Publisher of America rolled into NYC last week with its small but awesome holiday games lineup and of course, as Earth Defense Force 2025 was going to be there, I had to make sure I got some quality time with the in-progress US localization. I’ve been playing the Japanese PS3 version since mid-July and had some time with the Xbox 360 import thanks to a friend who owns a Japanese 360, so I was more than ready to hop into the US version with relish.

D3PoA had a 360 set up for split-screen co-op play complete with English menus and plenty of enthusiastic voice acting fans of the series will crack plenty of smiles over. The game also has wide appeal outside that dedicated niche thanks to its addictive pick up and play simplicity, five difficulty levels, some amazingly tough missions that range in length and plenty of visual upgrades from earlier games in the series.

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An Update Before An Actual Update? Yeah, That’s How I Roll…

Posted on September 19, 2013 by geelw

That’s right, it’s ALL about ME today, grrr! OK, troops, listen up! I’m totally pooped from my Adventure Time today with D3Publisher of America’s holiday games lineup, but I’ll have more complete impressions tomorrow along with a few other TGS stories (only stuff I care about, as the show seem kind of weak this year in terms of content despite some super nice surprises).

“Whyyyyy?” You ask? Well, dears, my sleep meter is depleted and I’m in need of some nice rest for a change instead of staying up too late with a controller in my hands (or a keyboard under them). ZzzZZZz*…wha, Wait! Not yet, Sleepyhead! Anyway, the company has a relatively small lineup this holiday season and beyond, but it’s a bunch of real winners and here there be sleepers. And YES, you Earth Defense Force 2025 fans out there – the bugs bugging the Japanese PS3 version are being squashed (feel free to cheer at your leisure). Back with more tomorrow. Good Night!

WIN FREE STUFF!* Tweet Yourself Up A Treat From D3Publisher of America!

Posted on September 17, 2013 by geelw

As that title says, D3Publisher of America is giving away some nice free stuff and they want YOU* to win. Yes indeed, folks. The company is rolling into NYC this coming Thursday, September 19th with their lineup of awesome holiday titles:

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!
Regular Show: Mordecai & Rigby In 8-Bit Land
Earth Defense Force 2025
Ben 10: Omniverse 2

And they’re asking fans to get in on the fun. Well, you can’t actually attend this press-only event, but you CAN win a nice bag of game-related swag!

To enter follow @D3Publisher on Twitter, tweet which game you want to see the most and use the tag #D3Holiday13. Five (5) lucky winners will be chosen at random on Sept. 20th, notified and yup… SWAGGED. Simple, no?

*NOTE: Yes indeed, US entrants only. Sorry, my overseas peeps – them’s the rules, as they say…

Import News… From The Future!: Earth Defense Force PS4 Bound

Posted on September 12, 2013 by geelw

Given the formerly budget priced series’ loyal following since it appeared as part of the Simple 2000 lineup on the PlayStation 2, it was pretty much a given that D3 Publisher and developer Sandlot would be bringing gamers a new EDF game on Sony’s upcoming console. Import gaming site Siliconera reports that there’s a game in the works, which is awesome to hear. No news on how far in development it is, who’s making it (no doubt it’ll be Sandlot’s first title on the new hardware) or what the intended release date is.

Of course, just hearing this news is enough for me and I’m hoping Sandlot can finally make an EDF game with a stable frame rate when the going gets tough on those crazier maps. Granted, the series is known for its sometimes wonky technical issues (that don’t stop the games from being a hell of a lot of FUN, mind you), but given the PS4’s power under the hood, it would be fantastic to see a locked in 30 or even 60fps in the new game even with all those giant bugs, robots and buildings blowing up into assorted pieces. OK, I’ll take a solid 30 at this point, as even thinking of double that is a bit of a pipe dream unless Sandlot gets some help in optimizing whatever engine they’ll be utilizing. I’d gather it’ll be an all new in-house bit of tech, as the EDF 4 engine had some issues on the PS3 that weren’t in the Xbox 360 version of EDF 4.

As usual, we shall see… stay tuned for updates.

And NO, Dream C Club: Host Girls On Stage is most likely NOT coming to North America. Like it or not, that’s TOO niche for even D3PoA to even consider unless they want to sell something like 5000 or so copies of a game (at most) and be happy with that.

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! Teaser: Oh, I Certainly DO Know!

Posted on August 19, 2013 by geelw

Yup, I’ll be diving into these cartoon dungeons because… TRY AND STOP ME! I happen to like dungeon crawlers, comic or not, so this one will get a workout here at the home base. With the fine folks at WayForward Technologies on the case, it’s a guaranteed great time for fans of the show and tourists who happen to be passing by and own a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U or 3DS. Hmmm… if I had to choose a platform, I’d have to go for the Wii U version just because that’s a system that needs more good games and yes indeed, I want to see what WayForward does with that GamePad (don’t disappoint me, guys!).

November 12, 2013 is the day, so mark those calendars. Wait a minute, now… FIRST, go take down LAST YEAR’S calendar, go to the nearest supermarket, barbershop or bank, get a NEW calendar and mark that one. Yeah, I know you forgot (again), but you need to be more on top of things!

Memo to D3Publisher of America: GET Oneechanbara Z: Kagura With NoNoNo! Localized ASAP (Please!)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by geelw

Oh, this is just TOO insane to pass up, people. Sure, the west never got the original Xbox 360 version of Oneechanbara Z: Kaugura (boo!), but this enhanced PS3 version is ab-so-lu-te-ly screaming for a decent localization and US release. At least in my book as a longtime fan of this crazy niche series of games. I’ll import if I must before Japan melts into the sea, but man, this needs to come out here. And yeah, on a damn DISC at that. I bet if D3PoA were to take a poll on its facebook page and a few other places, they’d find enough people willing to buy this as either a one minimum print run disc or (yuk) a PSN-only download. In other words, I’m betting they’d say a hearty “YesYesYes!” to NoNoNo!

I’m going to bug D3 about this here and if YOU want to see this, you should too. Not D3Publisher in Japan, by the way – you want to annoy the US branch and you UK gamers need to bug the crap out of Namco Bandai Games there, as they’re the ones who handle publishing D3 stuff out your way. I’d rather give my ducats to D3PoA than Play-Asia, but if my hand is forced, it’s going down hard… er, take that as you will.

Morose Monday Made Markedly More Meaningful…

Posted on July 22, 2013 by geelw

Well, let’s see now: coming home from a funeral: gloomy! Coming home TO a nice surprise in the mail (thank you, Play-Asia!) and a double surprise (I’d forgotten to cancel a big Namco Bandai press event for tomorrow morning, which is actually a great thing as it gets me out of the house and not sitting around moping) plus tax (another event on Wednesday and I think one more this week) mean life goes onwards, bumps in the road aside. OK, off to squash some bugs – I may post one more thing before midnight if I haven’t collapsed from being a wee bit too tired. It’s been a really long day…