Child of Light Out Is Out Today (So You’re NOT Reading This Post, Right?)

 
Nope, I wasn’t lucky enough to grab a Child of Light review code from whomever handles this stuff over at Ubisoft, but I don’t mind paying the $15 to play this game at all. My platform of choice will be the Wii U, as it’s a system that needs more love and it’s great that Ubisoft decided to bring this game to the console, although it’s no surprise given their support for it since its launch.

 
As you can see, reviews are indeed in from those who DID get codes early and yes, the game comes highly recommended. I’ll probably get to playing this early next week, as I’m working on a few things and my poor backlog is indeed killing me these days. I guess I can train a monkey or goat to play games and write about them, but that would cut into my budget something fierce (and the food? Yikes, I’d go broke with a pet here in NYC)…

Child of Light Making of Part 3: Same As It Ever Was, No Matter What You Play It On…

 
Ubisoft is really pushing these making of videos to show that Child of Light will be the same gorgeous visual experience across every platform. Given that all the consoles it runs on support HD resolution (and of course, PC as a given run at higher resolutions anyway), it’s clear that the game will be a feast for the eyes no matter what it’s played on. I’m now leaning towards the Wii U version as noted before just because it’s the easiest console for me to update from a wi-fi spot and get games for as well. Decision made! Now, it’s just less than a week of waiting to go…

Tales of Hearts R: Your Vita Will Want You To Get This (Or Else)…

 
Now, I haven’t yet heard of any cases where someone’s Vita attempted to do them bodily harm, but I’d gather if anyone who does own one of Sony’s handhelds who considers him or herself a JRPG fan somehow doesn’t pick Tales of Hearts R up, there’s going to be trouble on the home front. If you don’t pre-order this or snap it up on launch day (or within the first week or so), you’ll be in the bath or shower and hear a noise close by… it’ll be your Vita trying to leap into the tub to literally give you the shock of your life. Hey, it COULD happen, you know.

Hearts_R_logo_RGB Animation1_OP_en Animation2_Kor obtains Soma_en Animation3_Kor meets Kohaku_en Battle2_Cross Chase Charge_en Battle3_Mystic Arte Cut-in_en Battle4_Mystic Arte executed_en Battle5_Spiria Drive_en Event1_Kor Obtains Soma_en Event2_Kor meets Kohaku_en Event4_Spiria Nexus_en

Kohaku Hearts Kor Meteor

Granted, Hideo Baba and Tales Studio wouldn’t make a game that’s deliberately going to harm someone, but you know your Vita has a mind of its own sometimes. That would explain the games you buy on a few occasions, I’d gather… anyway, this winter, you’d best remember to get some Tales action up in the house or else…

WIN FREE STUFF! Grab The Conquest Bundle Gratis, Thanks To Bundle Stars!

Hey, have you got an active Steam account and a decent gaming PC? Good for you! Want a code for a completely FREE bundle of a dozen games valued at $115? Um-hmmmm… I knew you would. Anyway, I have TWO codes here for the latest deal from Bundle Stars:

Conquest Bundle Bannerand all you need to do is reply to this post and the first two score BIG! Of course, you WILL check to see if your machine can run all these games first, right? Click on the banner above to go zipping to the site if you need to. And, no… you can’t have BOTH Steam keys, you – that would be unfair to the other winner.

Anyway, I’d imagine Steam keys work anywhere in the world you can get Valve’s game download service, so I’d say this giveaway is open to one and all. So, clear out some hard drive space or be prepared to fill UP a hard drive with a ton of gaming goodness without spending a cent. Yes, it’s because I just love giving stuff away, folks (really, I do!), so take advantage of my (and Bundle Stars’) generosity while you still can.

Demon Gaze Out Now: My Vita Is Glaring At My Wallet (And It Has A Studded Club)…

Demon Gaze Out Now Hokay, let’s keep this SIMPLE. Got a Vita? GOOD. Go click on that picture and BUY THIS GAME. I’m keeping this short because you need as much time to play Demon Gaze as possible and less of me telly you why. Get it? Got it? GOOD. Now, go dive in for a spell and pop back in to thank me later…

Dragon Age: Inquisition Gameplay Trailer: October Will Be A Nice Month To Take Off, I’d Say…

DA_I_posterWell, now. BioWare and EA want you to know that you probably should take October off. Well, not ALL of October nor ALL of you reading this post, mind you. However, if you own a decent gaming PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 Xbox 360 or Xbox One and happen to also be a fan of epic-length role-playing games… yeah, start making plans, people. Dragon Age Inquisition rolls out in North America on October 7 and in Europe on October 10, meaning you have a week during the beginning of the month to get your things in order and prepare yourself for whatever script you’re going to run on your boss to get out of that job for as long as possible (while still collecting a paycheck, of course). Or you could just move whatever vacation time to October in order to spend that time (and a lot less money) buried in all that wonderful hard work on your system of choice.

Naturally, there will be standard and collector’s editions of this one and of course, the inescapable pre-order bonuses and DLC that add to the experience (and help beef up the games sales figures early on for some guaranteed big numbers). I still prefer walking into a game shop to buy physical product, so I wish there were a way to get that DLC, as I happen to have a crappy online connection and other than the Wii U (which has a screen on its GamePad), no home console is built to lug around to a wi-fi hotspot to get games, game content and updates, which is too bad. Of course, this game isn’t appearing on Nintendo’s beleaguered console at all, which is also too bad. Anyway, if this gameplay trailer is any indication, DA:I will be a pretty spectacular experience (to put it mildly!)…

Child of Light On Wii U: Same Game, Different Console (Get It And/Or Get Over It!)…

 
*Sigh* Ah, the internet… home to fools with busted soapboxes and lousy opinions, all in the name of… something. Anyway, YES, the Wii U version of Child of Light is going to look exactly the same as the other versions, yeesh. That UbiArt Framework and the lovely hand-drawn art in the game will run on any modern console as well as anything next-gen and any decent PC. But try telling that to the trolls out there and all you get is under-bridge bile drippings from people who haven’t touched Nintendo’s console and don’t intend to.

 
Frankly speaking, screw those dolts, I say. As a multi-system owner and longtime gamer, I’m still trying to decide which system to get this one for, but I’ll play and review it on the Wii U if I have to just to have another game for that system that needs to get MORE of them this year. Anyway, April 30th is the big day and hopefully, this version won’t get slapped with a last-minute delay or anything else that will get the skeptics babbling from their stinky toll-haunts under every local bridge. I don’t normally wast my space on people like this, but after overhearing some inane anti-Wii U drivel today, I had to put my foot down before I put it up someone’s read end.

 
That and the last living thing I actually kicked was a REALLY slow pigeon a bunch of years ago. Hey, I was in a hurry, it was in front of me trundling along like an over-sized inchworm with wings and it wasn’t a “kick” at all… it was more of a foot-lift and bird shift to my right as I zipped past.

Surprise! Tales of Heart R Vita-Bound This Winter!

 
Well, now. This is great news for Vita owners, fans of Namco Bandai’s long-running Tales series and anyone who just wants a great JRPG to take on the go. Having met Hideo Baba, Producer on the Tales series a few times over the years, I can safely report that he’s just as happy, proud and easygoing about his work as he is in that video above. It’s cool to see a guy who knows his fans and wants to get them the games he makes whenever possible (and it’s certainly not easy to do at all in terms of “just translate and ship it!” like some fans think). So anyway, yeah – a new Tales game and the first one exclusively for the Vita in North America coming this winter and that’s one more reason for my cold-hating butt to stay the heck indoors!

Random Art: Making Your Monday Better Since, Oh About 3:37pm…

the right angle 

Hiding Place IIFEH. So, I log onto PSN to download the games I bought this weekend (two bucks well spent) and WHAMMO! Yep, PSN is down for maintenance. In the middle of the afternoon. On a Monday. Bleah. I did get some good news in the mail in the form of my FruitChia bar shipment arriving, but as there’s a replacement mail carrier while my regular guy is on vacation, the package was shoved and squeezed into my mailbox instead of hand delivered to my hot little hands. I didn’t see her woman-handling my goods, but I happened to drop downstairs as she finished up and was closing the mailboxes so I know who to give a glare to the next time I have to perform surgery on something packed into my mailbox in order to get the darn thing out. Anyway, whee- more trees to ogle, this time more or less complete. Hey, someone has to have a good day on this otherwise goofball Monday, right?

Raiden IV: OverKill Coming To PSN April 26: Itchy Trigger Fingers Will Get You Nowhere…

 
Why? Because you’ll stop to scratch them and *BOOM!*, your little spaceship gets blasted to powder and you’re screaming at the TV that the game “cheats” while jumping up and down on that expensive controller. Anyway, UFO Interactive is bringing this arcade gem to PSN in its complete form featuring the brand new OverKill Mode with new mission stages and a revamped scoring system along with all the previously released DLC items. If all that makes some kind of sense, you’re grinning uncontrollably right about now. If it doesn’t, well, hmmmm… I offer Video Gamespeak to English translation services at the low rate of a dollar a word.