So… Facebook Is Inspiring, After All…

Posted on September 21, 2011 by geelw

So, Facebook made a few changes some people seem really, really upset about, as poking around on the site today has revealed. I find the new stuff annoying (the right side feed and blue corner “news” notations), but not to the point of venting angrily about them. I guess some of the really pissed off folks are also Netflix users who are feeling extra burned at having more stuff changed without being asked first. Still, I did wake up and write a little poem about this new look for the site,

Yes, it’s musical in a sort of Gilbert & Sullivan manner… Continue reading →

How Atari Can Really Take Advantage Of The Digital Age

Posted on September 12, 2011 by geelw

While the company has seen its share of ups and downs (and a few sideways moves) over the past few decades, there's something about Atari that makes me hope they'll be around in some form for as long as people are around to play video games. Primarily a publisher for a good deal of the past decade, since 2004 they've been tapping into their history to produce a few different plug & play console variants in the Atari Flashback line. These units feature not only many classic games, but unreleased as well as homebrew tittles have managed to make it into the mainstream thanks to the small but dedicated team contracted to put the Flashback project together. As good as these systems are, I think Atari can bring things to the next level in a really cool way.Read more »

Happy Birthday, SNES!

Posted on August 24, 2011 by geelw

While I sold off about 99% of my SNES games to get a PS3 and a bunch of other stuff a few years back, I’ve kept pretty much all of my Super Famicom games simply because there were too many that were never localized for a US release. Sorry for the lousy photo, but all 248 or so are up in a closet in the other room and I don’t have the time to go through them at this point and pick out favorites. This project however, IS on my to-do list once I clear out some space here at the home office and find the time to get the stash down to be photographed (and a few games re-played). I have many favorite games for the system but I absolutely HATE compiling “Top 10” lists, so you won’t get one from me. OK, I’m not that irascible, folks – I just need more time to re-discover some of these games when it’s not so incredibly busy here. It’s absolutely be a LOT more than ten, that’s for sure.

Anyway, Happy Birthday SNES! You’re missed in this era of digital-only releases and mobile games madness, that’s for sure.

I Knew Things Were Shaky In NYC, But This Is Ridiculous…

Posted on August 23, 2011 by geelw

Yeah, that was a “little” earthquake that tiptoed underneath us for about five seconds. I was doing some writing when it hit, so at least I was sitting down. Other than the slight shaking, NOTHING was knocked over or damaged. Seems that Washington D.C. was hit by a 5.6 and we got a bit of a bumpity-bump from that. This is the third one I can recall since about 1995 here. The other two were very minor rumbles that also got some news coverage, but it seems that they’ve were based upstate.

This one is getting mega-press thanks to the Internet doing it’s stuff and everyone hyperventilating on Twitter, Facebook, et cetera. From what I recall, there’s a fault line that runs under City Hall here in the city, so I bet the Mayor is thinking about NOT running for an unprecedented fourth term. Ah, life! OK, off to do some gaming so I can feel a bit more normal. Want to bet some folks in D.C. blame Obama somehow?

Gallery: PopRally Arcade @ MoMA

Posted on August 2, 2011 by geelw

And here you go: images from the MoMA Event put on by KillScreen Magazine. I'd say the game of the evening was B.U.T.T.O.N., as it had the most people lined of to get in on the mayhem. Seeing a wide range of adults crashing into each other or otherwise rolling around on the floor was absolutely hilarious. I'd say that if the team at CGP had boxed plug 'n play copies of the game for sale with those custom big button controllers for around fifty bucks or so, they'd have sold out before the evening was over. Seriously. I was at the Limbo station starting at 10 and although it was only the demo version, it freaked a few people out while others who figured out how to get the boy to live through the assorted traps wanted to see more (I think I helped sell a few Xbox 360's in promoting the game, so Microsoft owes me a few bucks, I'd say). Many thanks to Gabo and Eddie for the opportunity to help out!
Read more »

Tough Love: I’d Feel Sorry For Nintendo If They Were Smarter…

Posted on July 29, 2011 by geelw

Call me crazy, but it looks as if history is repeating itself, this time a bit louder. The last time Nintendo tried to capitalize on the 3D “trend”, we ended up with the Virtual Boy, an interesting yet flawed device that tanked because it was too unwieldy, initially too expensive and only had a handful of monochrome titles released with few others cancelled or shipped out in small quantities. It landed in the discount bins at rental shops like Blockbuster and retail stores and is now a rather cool collectible that showed Nintendo does indeed make the occasional mistake. Flash forward to this week's news that the 3DS is getting a 32% price chop (which resulted in Nintendo's stock dropping by 21% as of this writing) and yes, thanks to a number of high profile game delays and cancellations, it's a case of here we go again… almost.Read more »

Cool Stuff For The Masses: Grow Your Own Mushrooms!

Posted on July 26, 2011 by geelw

Hey, everyone needs a hobby, right? I have a bit of a green thumb (sometimes), but one thing I’ve never tried was growing my own mushrooms. Of course, living in a NYC apartment, I’m not exactly sure how to get started, but my experiments with a few pepper plants are doing well so far. Granted, I’ve been too busy and yes, lazy to look up the hows and whys and mushroom varieties, but thanks to the fine folks at Back to the Roots, it looks as if I can knock one more thing off my bucket list.

The Oakland-based company has whipped up a really cool Urban Mushroom kit that will let you grow up to 1.5 pounds of tasty oyster mushrooms in a short amount of time. All you need is a sunny window, a spritz of water a day (and a mushroom kit, of course) and soon, you’ll be harvesting and saving money on store bought mushroom of indeterminate age. The cool and weird thing here… the growing medium in recycled coffee grounds! For a mere $19.95 (plus shipping, but buy TWO kits and shipping is FREE), you can either grow these yourself or give someone quite a unique gift. Guess I’ll go order a kit and keep you posted on what happens. Hmmmm… I wonder if these guys have Enoki or a few other varieties?

Instead Of An Evil Dead 4, Why Not A…

Posted on July 25, 2011 by geelw

…remake of the 1970 horror flick Equinox, which can indeed be seen as a prequel of sorts to the Evil Dead films? Hell, it definitely inspired Sam Raimi and I’m crazy enough to see an influence or two in a few other horror films such as Phantasm and The Gate (but I could be wrong). Not to second guess anyone involved in the project, but I’d personally prefer Bruce Campbell to play something er, closer to his age range and not attempt to prance around like Harrison Ford in that last Indiana Jones flick (aided by stuntmen and CG work where necessary). OK, maybe I was a wee bit too influenced by Bubba Ho-Tep (see it if you haven’t – it’s weird and insanely funny) in judging Mr. Campbell’s current state (that Old Spice ad campaign from a few years back shows he still has it going on). Nevertheless, I just don’t want any of the crazier fans to get their hopes up and think there’s going to be a NEW trilogy of Evil Dead films with the new one kicking things off. After all, the movies DID inspire quite a few Duke Nukem quotes and we all know what happened when HE came back recently (and a few too many years late for some folks)…

Mega Man Legends 3 Officially Dead (OR: Well, If You’d Listened to Me, It Might Not Be…)

Posted on July 19, 2011 by geelw

Dear Capcom, The next time you have the bright idea to complete a trilogy a few years too late, try publishing HD versions of the first two Legends games (and Tron Bonne’s adventure) on a DISC (PS3/360 and hell, maybe even Wii and PC), then use the profits from THAT to fund the new game, which SHOULD have also been on a console and not a 3DS exclusive.

I think the project was doomed from the start because it was going to be on a system with a fraction of the user base the original PS1 had. That and introducing gamers who may have missed out on the original games to the world and characters is always a LOT better than dropping a sequel onto a new system where more than half the people who might pick it up have never heard of (or played) the other titles. You DO know that the PS1 games fetch a TON of real money on auction sites, right? Ah well… live and learn, I suppose. RIP MML3!

New York Comic Con 2011 Is Coming…

Posted on July 14, 2011 by geelw

Great! Press registration is now officially open, so I’ll be getting on that ASAP. From my quick peek at the site, this year looks as if it’ll be crazier than last, but I really HOPE that NYCC fixes the rather stupid line situation that’s made merely getting on the show floor a pain in the neck. We shal see, I guess…