Valhalla Knights, Free Ahead of Vallhalla Knights 3? THANKS, Xseed Games!

Posted on October 1, 2013 by geelw

Well, now… this is really cool news on an otherwise crappy shutdown filled day. TO celebrate the October 15 launch of Valhalla Knights 3, Xseed Games is giving fans a REAL treat in the form of a 100% FREE download of the first game in the series. Valhalla Knights is now available on PSN for nothing at all until October 21, 2013. In other words, if you’ve a PSP or Vita handy (it’ll work on either handheld) and a PlayStation Network account you can get downloading NOW and check out where it all began.And nope, you DON’T need a PlayStation Plus account to take advantage of this awesome freebie!

I’ve already played this one a few years ago, but it was the UK version and those saves aren’t compatible with the North American version. That comes into play here as I recently scored a bunch of used Memory Stick Duo cards and one card had a VK save file I couldn’t access. Now I can hop into those old saves and see if the former owner had a decent party setup (before overwriting them with my own saves, of course)…

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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…

And If You DID Work Today, Black Curtain Studio Says, “Boo!”

Posted on September 2, 2013 by geelw

But not “Boo, you had to work today!”… it’s more like “Boo! You’d better NOT be working late, silly rabbit!” Yeah, as I noted with their first game One Late Night, these guys sure know how to make you dread office work. Well, guess what? They’re working on a follow up that, based on this teaser, will make you want to call in sick for about a month until your boss does something about that creepy space you have to slog to five days a week (and sometimes more… with NO overtime to boot! Bastard!). Anyway, go check out the original game (which has since gotten a Developer’s Cut version) and keep an eye and ear peeled (eww) for this new one when it finally gets a release date. Now, go get some sleep – your holiday is done and it’s back to the grind tomorrow (and those pissed off ghosts are waiting to jump you at the coffee machine…)

Random Film of the Week: The Man With the Golden Arm

Posted on September 2, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, OMP Drama!)

Sure, drug addiction isn’t a laughing matter at all, but Otto Preminger’s 1955 classic The Man With the Golden Arm manages to be more hilarious each time I see it for a few reasons. Although it’s packing in a classic Elmer Bernstein score, a great Saul Bass title sequence, Preminger’s strong direction, some powerful performances from Frank (One Take) Sinatra, Kim Novak, and a bunch of very familiar faces, the simple fact is the film hasn’t aged well at all (but that’s a good thing).

What may have been seen as a deathly serious subject for a cautionary tale almost 60 years ago can now be enjoyed as a nearly non-stop riot of scenery chewing performance art with two of the funniest demises in a “serious” film. Granted, if you’re in a totally unfunny mood, the film still has its story and dramatic pacing to keep you hooked in. On the other hand, it’s hard not to get in a laugh at the film’s expense in a few spots…

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Planet Maker Will KILL Your Workday (But You’ll Feel Like Your Deity of Choice For a While)…

Posted on August 12, 2013 by geelw

Don’t do it. Absolutely DO NOT go to the Planet Maker website and start fooling around with all those sliders and buttons to make your own planet that you can snapshot and save as a wallpaper or do other stuff with. If you do, once you get started, there goes your work day and then all your free time is eaten up and the next thing you know, they have to drag your grinning corpse away from a burned out monitor and after they go through that hard drive expecting to find… well, you know… they end up seeing all the planets you’ve created and some of the people who got inspired by your cosmic creativity are now hooked and then there are MORE grinning dessicated corpses collecting all over town. Just look what you’ve started, you evil deceased deity, you…

Random Film of the Week(end): Invasion of the Bee Girls

Posted on August 3, 2013 by geelw

(Thanks, DST3K!)

Was Invasion of the Bee Girls a modern feminist film disguised as a stupidly sexy 70’s exploitation flick? I’d say hell no, but for all its nudity and pervy middle-aged to old coots getting bedded and bumped off by a bevy of shapely babes with the power to kill any guy they mate with, there’s probably a message in there somewhere. I actually remember seeing this one as a kid one afternoon when it popped up on TV as a heavily edited (but still ridiculously racy) flick and it being a pretty hot topic at school the next day.

As I’ve “matured” and checked out the uncut version a few times since (hey, ONLY for research purposes!), it’s clear that all those hot and bothered guys (and a few gals) knew a while lot more about the birds and the bees that I did at that tender age…

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Random Indie Game of the Week: Mega Man Revolutions

Posted on July 12, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, HowlingOneify!)

OK, so that official site looks plainer than a matzoh viewed through a telescope at 500 yards, but Mega Man Revolutions is a really fine little surprise of an indie game that yet again proves that sometimes fans can make better games than the people who own the property. In development on and off for 11 years (!), Mike Crain and a handful of very dedicated Mega Man fanatics have whipped up a really fun and yes, REALLY challenging slice of retro gaming bliss. I could sit here and babble on about how cool it all is, how the classic visuals and soundtrack give off that familiar grin-giving (and grimace-giving in the hard parts) vibe and so forth and so on, but I actually need to complete the game myself. I’m only on the second stage, but poking around YouTube has revealed the game indeed has what it takes to be awesome:

So stop, drop and Roll yourself over to the MMR site, download and play this one. The single player mode is done, there’s some sort of co-op play in the works and if Capcom is smart, they’ll either start throwing out job offers or compile all these really great fan games into some sort of bundle at some point down the road to distribute as freebies on their own site. Wishful thinking, yes… but hard work like this deserves to be taken notice of and rewarded I say…

Random Film of the Week(end) – (Summer Edition!): Ball of Fire

Posted on June 22, 2013 by geelw

(thank you, Victor Creed!)

Imagine this as a movie idea today: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Snow being an extremely talented exotic dancer type and those dwarfs a bunch of stuffy but eager to learn elderly eggheads she ends up hanging out with to teach them all the things they didn’t know. Once you get your eyeballs above the obvious jiggle-tease material and plentiful opportunities for modern day humor sixteen writers working together come up with, the results would probably be pretty darn terrible.

I can see the trailer now: two minutes, thirty eight or so of slow-mo cleavage shots and some special guest cameo coot rattling off one-liners, plus someone getting hit in the nether regions with a golf, basket or other ball, maybe a nice pratfall, a fart joke, a fat girl joke and some annoying music on that soundtrack that doesn’t even fit. Yeah, that’s not a movie I’d want to see at all. Fortunately, Howard Hawks’ 1941 film Ball of Fire takes the Snow White and thanks to a wonderfully funny and sassy Barbara Stanwyck helping loosen up those old guys (and an even stuffier Gary Cooper), a great script and plenty of screwball humor, it still holds up today as a total riot.

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GOG.com’s Summer Sale Is ON: FREE Torchlight For All! More Games @ HUGE Discounts!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by geelw

OK, this is just great (plus tax, which still makes this deal FREE, by the way). Scoot on over to gog.com and check out their Summer Sale for up to 85% (!) off select DRM-free games and a FREE digital copy of Runic’s awesomely addictive dungeon crawler, Torchlight waiting for your hot little hands to snap it up. Torchlight is a Diablo-style hack & slash RPG with a lovely cartoon style (it sort of looks like a mildly angry Disney cartoon), additively simple gameplay, and loads of loot to collect. Sure, it’s a solo-only focus, but the game has a way of hooking you in and keeping you occupied that’s hard to explain. Poke around the internet for some mods that add levels, items, new character skins and more to the experience and you end up with a game that’s bigger than it seems. Even if you don’t buy anything else, a free game any day of the week is a fantastic deal, I say. Act fast, though – Torchlight goes back to being a paid product on June 20. Oh, look at that… the room cleared out faster than if a gassy cow exploded in a corner… people just love those deals!

Amusingly enough, I’d get this…but I have three copies of Torchlight here already. er, no… FOUR (2 physical discs, one on each computer here). Yes, I do love my Torchlight. It’s like a digital blanket of demons and loot… ahhhh…

Attention Bat-Fans: Believe it or Not! Mezco Toyz Wants You In NYC For Something Old, Something New

Posted on June 15, 2013 by geelw

Holy “I Get To See The Original Batmobile and Maybe Pass Out On Top of (Or Next To) It!, Batman!!” Mezco Toyz is lighting up the Bat-Signal and letting all you classic to current Batman fans know they’re going to be doing something really awesome in New York City on June 25, 2013. Check it out below and get in on the fun, I say.

The hilarious thing here is as a jaded and cynical Noo Yawkuh (for life! OK, I’ve left the city and traveled plenty of times), I’ve never been to that Believe it or Not museum and in fact, scoot through 42nd street as quickly as possible whenever I’m in the area. Those crowds can be a bit annoying is all I’m saying. Still, I guess it’s a far sight better than the old nastier 70’s and 80’s where you’d want to run like hell away for other reasons (I’m old enough to tell you some mighty freaky true tales)… However, the chance to see the Batmobile of my childhood (and it better not be made of wax, grrrr… oh, wait, that’s Madame Tussaud’s down the street – another place I avoid!)? Oh hell no, that’s not getting passed up one bit. “POW!” “BIFF!!”, “SOCK!!” Er, “SPLORCH???” Hmmm… er… maybe not a “SPLORCH???”… that just sounds too wrong. Anyway, yeah, SHOW UP and bring your camera and a drool cup. Wear a bike helmet or hardhat if you’re prone to passing out from sheer nostalgia (“THUDDD!”)