Payday 2: Everyone Wins With That Upgrade to Collector’s Edition Status…

Overkill and Starbreeze’s upcoming co-op centric crime game sequel, Payday 2 has gone from a digital download to a physical package to a nice $59.99 retail game that’s packed to the rafters with goodies and content. Usually, these Limited or Collector’s Editions manage to tick me off for a few reasons, but I actually like this set of goodies in the package:

Payday 2_CE

505 Games looks as if they have a huge sleeper hit here, as the original was very well received and this sequel adds a RPG-like element to the gameplay and customization that should boost its sales even further among veteran players as well as new potential virtual robber types. As long as you’re locked in at home playing this, you can’t be on the street pulling off any real crimes, right?

Of course, that’s a little joke there, but I know some will watch that trailer above and have a mild to moderate seizure over the cops ‘n robbers stuff going on. Breathe, I say… breeeeeaaaaaathe. No, that’s hyperventilating, and doesn’t count – you can keep that up, though… you’ll pass out in a few seconds.

Mad Max Gameplay Reveal Trailer: No Mel, No Problems – Keep it Coming, Avalanche!

It looks as if Avalanche Studios is indeed on point with this upcoming game and NO, you’re not getting a character who’s going to look EXACTLY like Mel Gibson for a few good reasons (if you don’t know, use Google for some of those reasons). Although this is still sort of early work in progress footage, it looks like the game will be something action fans can groove on in driving, shooting and melee combat sequences. Of course, an actual gameplay video showing a few minutes of someone wiggling sticks and pressing buttons will be even better, so I’m holding out for that as well as some press preview hands-on time before I make any final judgments.

Humble Weekly Bundle: 15 Spiderweb Software RPGs. No-Brainer Buy of the Week? Absolutely!

Eyes Bigger Than the Head and Now REALLY Needs a Time Machine Department: Holy Cats. Spiderweb Software teams up with the Humble Bundle folks to provide ALL of their currently available hand-crafted fantasy RPGs in a “pay what you want” bundle that’s a MUST buy if you’re looking for some of the deepest and most unique role-playing experiences out there. Jeff Vogel and his tiny team of talented tricksters have been slowly turning out some really cool isometric games since 1994 and this spectacular sale features a whopping 15 games (faint, *THUD!*) which can be all yours for as little as a few dollars.

Yes, some of that coin you pay will indeed go to some great causes (the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play Charity), so feel free to feel guilty and pay more than the average or even give more money to Vogel and his merry men and women if you like. OK, I’m babbling on here, but I’m just thrilled about this offer because it gives some of you the chance to play some really fun and challenging old-school epics. Oh, in case youe sense of humor is too new school or just slow on the uptake, Jeff is making a funny in that video when he calls himself a “living legend”. Some folks on YouTube don’t seem to understand this. Damn kids…

DuckTales Remastered Duckumentary: WayForward Gets Me Looking Backward…

OK, now I need to unearth my NES and that copy of DuckTales I have buried in a bin somewhere so I can do some comparing. I’d been meaning to do so for a while, but I keep putting it off for assorted reasons. This “duckumentary” did help me decide to finally get off my butt and sit back on my butt once I find everything, so that’s a good thing, right? Alright, I’m not THAT lazy, people! I walked over a mile today already!

Lego Marvel Super Heroes Box Art: Heroes for Sale (Soon Enough)!

LM KeyArt HR RGB 1c Preview Thank you, WB Games and TT Games! So, now you kids know exactly what to bug the parents about and you adults who know you’re buying this for yourselves (raises hand) have something to copy and stick to your wall and moon over while you’re waiting for the game to hit retail this fall. It’s going to be on every console (except the Wii) and handheld (except the Nintendo DS), so it’ll be really hard to avoid.

How hard? Well, dear reader, if you wait until the release date and throw a boomerang with a cat hanging on for dear life into any game emporium, it’ll most likely come back with a copy of this game (and a very dizzy, pissed off cat). You DID remember to stick some money in the cat’s mouth or at least wrap your wallet around it, I hope. That game won’t be free, you know…

Grand Theft Auto V Gameplay Trailer: Fall’s Officially A Bust For Productivity In America…

GTA_V_G

It’s always amazing for me to see how Rockstar continues to push the envelope with each new GTA game and Grand Theft Auto V is no exception. September 17 will be a REALLY awful day for productivity across the US and a few other spots this game shows up in, so expect to not see or hear from a lot of folks you probably think aren’t gamers who suddenly disappear for a few days only to pop up for air looking tired as hell but smiling a bit too broadly. For you non-gaming readers, just watch the trailer and let that narrator guide you through why this new GTA is so impressive and important. I don’t play online, but that ending made me grin a bit more at what’s coming in the next trailer. It’s too bad all those time machine plans I see for sale online are trash, or I’d be putting one of those things together just to keep winding time backwards in order to complete the game in a day. As it is now, I’m gathering I’ll be spending a few hundred hours exploring every nook and cranny outside the story mode (as that’s where the game’s bigger secrets will most likely lie)…

DARK “3D Features” Trailer: Riding The Double Gimmick Wave…

This latest trailer for RealmForge’s upcoming Xbox 360 and PC game DARK shows off both modern and “vintage” 3D visual options. I’m still one of those skeptics about that Oculus Rift being anything but a developer’s dream more than a gamer’s go-to peripheral, but that’s because I haven’t tried those damned fancy eyeball curtains and am getting tired as hell of hearing people claim that it’s such a hot deal. I’m sure I’ll get to give the Rift a go one day and be a-mazed out of my skull, but I don’t trust a product without a release date nor a price point that claims to be affordable and the best thing since sliced bread with bacon baked into it. I guess the best thing to do is dig up my ancient cardboard anaglyph 3D glasses and see how that mode hold up as I look into snapping up the more expensive version of that old tech in the future to see if it’s worth what it’ll cost (which probably won’t be as cheap as I’d like). Eh, whatever – if the game is good without the extra distraction of something on my face, it’s a better thing at the end of the day…

Oh, You Kids! GTA V on the Xbox 360 Requires An Installation/Play Disc Swap. Oh, The Horror!

GTA V Screen

phantasmYes, there’s another (not really) big-deal barn-burner on some internet boards about the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar’s upcoming guaranteed blockbuster Grand Theft Auto V coming on two discs (the PS3 version is on one Blu-Ray) and requiring a mandatory 8GB install (just like the PS3 version). Of course, anyone who’s played a retail PC game anytime in the past decade or so is used to games coming on multiple discs and yes, there have been a few Xbox 360 games this generation that had separate data install and play discs. So, I’m clearly not seeing the problem here about a ONE TIME disc change. Of course, if you got conned into buying that lower priced 360 with the measly 4GB HDD and you’ve not yet gotten around to buying an external drive yet, you may want to hop to that before the game ships out. Go on now, shoo!

Phantasm_2

Oh, by the way: don’t get mad at Sony for thinking ahead on the Blu-Ray thing at all. Blame Microsoft for diving into HD-DVD feet first and then ditching the format (even for games!) when it failed to catch on with anyone but early adopters and those who weren’t going to buy a PS3 or other new movie player because they had no intentions of re-purchasing chunks of their collections. Oh, by the way… that game in the photos that’s NOT looking like GTA V? That’s PHANTASM for the Japanese Sega Saturn. It’s a port of the 1995 Sierra On-Line PC game Phantasmagoria and as you can see,came on EIGHT discs (one more than the PC version). You can get it on gog.com (it’s on sale for half price for the next day or so!) if you’d like to try it out. It’s flawed, but well made and a bit creepy where it counts. Anyway,let me get my grumpy old ass back into the 21st century before my lumbago pills wear off…

The Walking Dead: 400 Days Trailer: Creeping Up On You Faster Than You Thought…

…as in “BOO!” it’s on PSN (and PC and Xbox Live) right now (and at ONLY five bucks, it’s a MUST buy) waiting to lurch onto that PS3 or Vita as soon as you snap up a copy and download it. The caught me and a few other folks off guard because we thought Telltale might be saving this one up for a late summer or even fall release, but yes indeed, it’s out now and that’s awesome. Especially for me as a big Vita user (as the Vita needs all the great games it can get and although short, this one’s definitely in that Game of the Year territory based on all I’ve been reading). I guess now it’s all about finding something to cower under while playing that’s not going to roast me alive in this summer heat. Well, I guess I could play at night when it’s cooler.. but then I’d be looking over my shoulder every five seconds for any sudden movements…eeek. Eh, we’ll see, I guess… Off to find a coin to flip and decide what to do (it’s too hot to think straight today!)…

Motorbike: DO Try This At Home (You’d Get Quite Hurt Anywhere Else)…

Sony finally gets another stunt-bike game onto PSN, but unlike the otherwise fun Urban Trial Freestyle, bakno Games’ super-cool looking PC, Mac and Linux game Motorbike has a track edit function that allows for the creation and sharing of those doom-packed courses you’ll be up all night constructing. Of course, even in this video the game looks fun (and painful to those poor digital riders!) and you also get the choice of two female avatars here (something missing from UTF as well). I’d say that the only real drawback to this one is it’s not Vita compatible (whaaat? Boo!), meaning there go my illusions of taking this on the road or elsewhere out of doors unless I strap a TV and PS3 to my chest (or finally buy a decent smartphone!). Oh well… it’s all for the best, I suppose- it’s like I want to miss a subway or bus stop because I was in the middle of a 720-degree flip and wanted to try and stick that landing as my nose or butt got jammed in a set of closing doors (Ouch!). Hmm.. I wonder what a nose cast looks like? Or a butt cast, for that matter…