Get Bugged For A Lower Price: EDF 2017 Portable Now $29.99 Until 4/2

Posted on March 5, 2013 by geelw

Of course, that’s a limited time deal, ladies and gents. January’s #1 selling Vita game can now be yours (and a few friends of yours,of course) for ten bucks cheaper until April 2, 2013. Given that Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable packs the possibility of well over 50 hours of play (and then some) into that PSN download, it’s still a bargain at its non-sale price. Of course, I’m COMPLETELY biased in saying you NEED to buy this game, what with me being a fan of hard working Japanese developer Sandlot and their games. Then again, I’m gathering you’d want someone who knows what they’re talking about to recommend something like this to you, right?

EDF 4 Gameplay Footage: 4Gamer.net? I Love You And Hate You (But Mostly Love You)…

Posted on March 3, 2013 by geelw

Well, wow and double wow. Japanese game site 4Gamer.net posted this hands-on last year (!!!) and I’m just NOW getting around to seeing it thanks to some poking around online for something entirely different. Eh, it figures. I’m just thrilled because even though it’s a WIP version, I get to ogle more of the gameplay than the bits I’ve seen from the official trailers D3Publisher in Japan has been posting. OK, off to the home base now, as they’re about to shove me out the door here at Starbucks. Back in a bit…

The Croods: Prehistoric Party Hands-On: The New “Modern Stone Age Family” Board Game

Posted on February 19, 2013 by geelw

With Dreamworks’ new family friendly animated film The Croods heading for a March 22, 2013 release in theaters, D3Publisher of America is getting a fun little tie in game out exclusively to all four current Nintendo platforms. The Croods: Prehistoric Party isn’t at all the platformer you’d expect to drop into stores as a quickie cash in product, but a fun board game in the vein of the Mario Party franchise that packs in mini-games galore for one to four players. D3P rolled into NYC last week with a Wii U build and I got a nice bit of playtime with it as well as a look at the movie trailer (below the jump for your viewing pleasure if you’ve yet to see it). Torus Games has whipped up a cool-looking easy to hop into game that should get anyone who liked the film cracking up in front of the TV and bringing a few friends or family members along for the ride…

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Humor: Top Hand Rodeo Trailer: “If That Kinect Works Right For 8 Seconds…”

Posted on February 2, 2013 by geelw

“… then maybe this MIGHT be cool.” was the first joke I heard from a friend who saw this trailer and pointed it my way. Ouch and ha – ha. Well, it might be cool indeed… unless you’re a die-hard ro-dey-o fanatic who takes this Xbox 360 game way too seriously and start flopping around your living room like Elizabeth Berkeley in that infamous pool scene from Showgirls. Well, I’m a glass half-full guy, sooooo… at least when you fly off that invisible bull and bust you ass and/or any other important bits, once you wake up from that coma, you can end up riding a Rascal scooter with a fake bull tail stapled to the back of the seat. It HAS to be a fake tail, as who wants to be chased down the street (slowly) by some pissed off PETA members?

Those scooters only do what, 1/4 a mile an hour or something like that and if they went faster, you’d just go off a curb or bump in the sidewalk or street like Evel Knievel and land just like he did on some of his more unsuccessful motorcycle jump attempts. Hmmm… I wonder if Rascal makes a street-worthy riding bed? That way, when you come out of that second coma, you can get fake bull horns for the front to go with the replacement tail you ordered from that Cabela’s catalog.

Hmmm… perhaps there’s something to this “video games causing violence” thing after all… Yee haw.

Earth Defense Force 2025 Gameplay Trailer: Big Bugs Go Boom, Big Time…

Posted on January 31, 2013 by geelw

EDF 2025 is shaping up to be quite a surprise, with developer Sandlot doing their best work in this upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game. D3Publisher says this is the largest game to date in the series, so as a longtime fan who’s sunk way too many hours into EDF games, I’m all too happy to hear this. For some idiotic reason, a few folks out there think the game looks “bad”, but I have to disagree (while swinging a billy club around the internet). Given that Sandlot is packing in more destruction in this game than in any AAA title that limits interactivity to stiff objects that rarely move and canned destruction sequences, you HAVE to give this team a hell of a lot more credit than kicking them around because the game isn’t as visually polished as certain other titles. Anyway, I like what I see quite a lot. Now, about that release date (and HOPEFULLY, a physical as well as digital release so more people can buy this one on day one)…

Review: Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable

Posted on January 20, 2013 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: SANDLOT

Publisher: D3Publisher of America

# of Players: 1 – 4

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A (95%)

Much more than a straightforward “port” of the former Xbox 360 exclusive, Earth Defense Force 3 Portable comes screaming onto the Vita as the game developer Sandlot most likely wanted to make in the first place. The return of Pale Wing and her energy-based weaponry (from EDF 2 on the PS2 and EDF 2 Portable PSP) adds a new way to experience the game while an up to four-player co-op mode, rebalanced and all-new weapon drops, new enemy types, trophies galore and seven new levels makes this an absolute must-buy for anyone with a Vita. For those who’ve played the 360 version to death, there’s definitely enough new content there to get you equally obsessed (and yes, perhaps it’s finally time to get that Vita if you’ve been on the fence). Don’t let that $39.99 price point for a download put you off one bit, as there are dozens, if not over a hundred hours of gameplay here, especially if you’re looking to grab one really hard to obtain Platinum Trophy.

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EDF 2017 Portable Hits PSN – Buy It & Bug Out!

Posted on January 8, 2013 by geelw

Sandlot’s niche bug blasting epic rolls onto the PlayStation Vita today and even if you’ve played the Xbox 360 version to death, this is a MUST buy. Seven new stages, new enemies, new weapon drops, the return of Pale Wing from EDF 2, new 4-player co-op and versus modes and more all await. After a shaky 2012, the Vita needs support with “smaller” titles like these and while $40 seems pricey for a download-only release, the sheer amount of content here and the fact that it will take a while to unlock everything if you’re into Trophies makes this one of the key releases for Sony’s portable this month. If you’re a fan of Japanese monster flicks, old 50’s sci-fi, high-action games with a wicked difficulty curve (Think you’re hot gamer stuff? Beat Mission 1 on Inferno with the default weapons and let me know how that goes) and hell, love supporting the underdog, the EDF wants YOU!

That and hey – the game just may help you overcome that needless fear of spiders you have… er, or it’ll just turn you into a total catatonic mess after that first stage they appear in. Hitting your Vita rapidly with a plastic flip-flop is not a very good idea, particularly in public. It’s winter here and what the heck are you doing wearing plastic flip-flops in the snow, silly? And a can of Raid, too? Hmmm… I think you have some issues to deal with that aren’t gaming related…

Random Film of the Week (Double Feature Edition): THEM! & Tarantula

Posted on January 6, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, Tobar!)

With Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable rolling out on the PlayStation Vita on Tuesday, I figured I’d write up a short column about two of the many “They don’t make ’em like they used to!” sci-fi films that most assuredly influenced Japanese developer Sandlot when they created their cult favorite game series that got its start as a pair of budget PlayStation 2 games (The Simple 2000 Vol. 31: The Chikyuu Boueigun and The Simple 2000 Vol. 81: The Chikyuu Boueigun 2) and a more visually polished Xbox 360 sequel which has been nicely expanded and enhanced for Sony’s portable system. Both flicks are “B” movie classics worth watching if you’ve never seen either previously, with the former film being surprisingly tense and well-acted considering the subject matter and the latter film using some pretty well done matte work to convincing effect in a few scenes.

Yeah, yeah, there’s no fancy CGI here and some implausible moments in both flicks can be eyeball-rolling if you start applying any rules of reality to what you’re viewing. Nevertheless, if you’re in the right mood, you’ll be hooked into both films from the memorable beginnings of each one and stick around to their bitter endings…

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I’m Doing A Bit of Doomsday Prepping of My Own… EDF Style!

Posted on January 2, 2013 by geelw

So, Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable is coming out in a few days (1/8/2013) and I’ve been doing a bit of preparing over the last few weeks by playing a few import and US games either developed by Sandlot or similar to games they’ve worked on. Yeah, yeah, I already reviewed the import version of the game, but I think the US build fixes a few minor things and I really don’t mind playing a game that fun again (in English this time). Especially if it’s an EDF game. Do you think I have a problem here or something? I don’t think I do. Hell, thanks to too much time playing these games, I’m long cured of any fear of insects, that’s for damn sure.

Anyway, onto the library items below the jump!

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Earth Defense Force 2025 2nd Trailer: Five Minutes of Everything You Wanted to See (and Then Some)…

Posted on December 31, 2012 by geelw

More vehicles (at least two types of tanks and a heli that allows three players to blast bugs AND motorbikes now? Nice!) and what’s looking like a larger scope to things means Sandlot isn’t screwing around, ladies and gents. EDF 2025 is going to be their best game to date and features a ton of changes and improvements that look to make it as great a multiplayer game is it already is for solo and co-op play. The new classes get some nice introductions and there’s even some humor here as the video ends on a pretty hilarious bad-ass note borrowed straight from too many action flicks. Anyway, yep, I’m importing this once news of a Japanese release date come out and hopefully, D3Publisher will get the word that fans want to see this game as a DISC release in addition to a download on the PS Store.