System Mechanic 14.5 Giveaway: WIN a 1-Year Key!

Posted on February 25, 2015 by geelw

If you’re looking for an excellent way to keep your PC running smoothly, iolo Technologies wonderful System Mechanic is the way to go. I’ve been using it since last year and have definitely noticed things humming along a lot more efficiently since. The latest version, 14.5 offers up even more features that will help keep your computer purring along as it’s protected from loads of digital danger the internet constantly coughs up.

Thanks to the always awesome Damien at iolo, I have TEN System Mechanic 14.5 keys to give away, ONE each to ten lucky readers. Each key is good for one year’s service and is valued at $50. Service renewal fees after that year will be up to each winner, as iolo offers up a few plans that drop the cost significantly based on how long you choose to renew. So, how do you get your key? Simple. just post a note in the comments and you’re good to go. I’ll find you through the miracle of the internet, so no need to post your personal info.

Oh, some rules, because rules are rules:

Open to residents of the planet earth who can use the prize offered. Void where prohibited. Contest ends once codes run out. There is no entry fee, subscription requirement or purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be chosen based on comment order. Winners will receive ONE code per email address. Requests for multiple codes are grounds for disqualification. By submitting a comment below, you are granting Destroy All Fanboys! permission to contact you via email. The winners will be notified by email within 10 days (or less, most likely). If the winners cannot be contacted/do not claim the prize within seven (7) days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize and choose a replacement winner.

Return of Red Hood – Fish Pasties and the Not So Big, Bad Wolf

Posted on February 20, 2015 by geelw

The next time you feel like a little bedtime story, don’t grab a book from the bedside table. Instead, go download NLB Project’s offbeat Return of Red (Riding) Hood and settle in for the short haul that turns into a longer one sooner than you think. This Russian developed game takes the simple tale of Little Red Riding Hood and makes it into a choose your own adventure experience that ends up going all over the place and then some. It’s also a bit of a meta exercise as the whole thing starts out as one character reading the old story to a little girl as a bedtime story, but at certain points, you get to choose different options that alter the next page of the story.

Part of the humor here is from the developer’s sense of humor and part is from the mangled English translation that makes for some grin-worthy reading. Early on, “Pastries” becomes “Pasties” (and yes, I know all about pasty as a pastry, but this is just a spelling error in the game) and you’ll see a few other grammar issues pop up. That said, even with the bumps and grinds in the translation, the stories play out in some pretty amusing manners. The choices you make turn the really short and familiar story on its ear a few times and with 45 endings to discover, you may be up slightly longer than you thought. Is this for kids? That depends. If you and your kids share the same sense of slightly twisted humor and you don’t mind some bizarre twists to the old story, it’s all good. Just give it a read on your own and decide for best results.

That said, it takes perhaps three minutes or less to get to an ending (more if you’re a slower reader), so expect to get to a bunch of that 45 the first time you pick this up. It’s currently FREE and NLB is also trying to get the game onto Steam Greenlight (go vote for it if you’ve a Steam account!). Some dopes on the Greenlight page are actually complaining about the artwork in the game, but NLB can ignore those fools who don’t grasp stylization or realize that you shouldn’t ever tell any artist HOW to make a storybook look. That, and the CG characters and backgrounds remind me of Access Games’ quirky Deadly Premonition, one of those games that uses its “dated” art style to excellent effect.

Finally, if you like what you see and read, it seems that the game engine is also free to use to cook up your own tales. I can see some writer types I know possibly making use of this at some point. Hey, anything to get more people perusing your work, right? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my “book”. Also, I want some pasties now, as reading about them has made me quite hungry…

Funko Hikari Friday! Gold Spidey Up For Grabs!

Posted on February 6, 2015 by geelw

This week’s giveaway from Funko is a biggie. If you love Spider-Man, HUGE vinyl figures and the prospect of owning one that looks as if it’s made of gold, well… this one’s for you. Er, only if you’re the lucky winner, that is. Take a gander at all 10 inches of 24k Gold Spider-Man Hikari Premium Sofubi Figure:

Again, he’s not REALLY made of 24k gold, but he is kind of rare. WIN and you get #1 of 750 off the line. Enter by going to one of Funko’s social sites:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the rules and BOOM, you’re in. If you win, you get a note and later a big ol’ box. If you lose and still want this, it’s now available at your favorite Funko retailer. As always, GOOD LUCK, and check back in next week for another giveaway!

Zelda: Sword of Moria Hands-On: The Missing Link Is Coming Along Quite Nicely

Posted on January 31, 2015 by geelw

Packing an encyclopedic knowledge of the land of Hyrule and a passion for sharing it freely with others can be a bad thing if you’re wearing a baggy Tingle costume in public while ranting on a street corner to passersby giving you a wide berth. If that’s you, well… here comes the banana truck right… about… now. On the other hand, if you’re a more creative person like Jessica “Allaweh” Brown, you get cracking on a fan-made game that adds to the Legend of Zelda lore and feels quite like a professionally made product for classic game console. Zelda: Sword of Moria is set two years after the events in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, but plays much closer to the original game than its sequel. Brown has been releasing updated demo builds as she tinkers away on her project and once completed, the game will be free to anyone to play.

The game will require the Zelda Classic Launcher to run and should work fine on pretty much any PC. Once you’re all set to play, that recently created intro sequence kicks in and it’s off to the races. Sword of Moria actually begins with Link not having a sword (or any weapon at all) and a slight bit of hoofing it around to a new town to get his hands on one. This lets you see Brown’s nice level layouts as well as the tried and true Zelda gameplay where you’re unarmed for a short bit as you learn some navigation basics and see a few enemies you’ll want to avoid. Once that sword is acquired, get set to chop bushes and cut grass for Rupees and hearts as well as some enemies that previously had you scampering away before they drew a bead on poor Link.

The demo features an open world like the classic first game, but Brown’s braininess about Hyrule has allowed her to fill in some geographic gaps in the world map, making for a sensible and surprising journey while it lasts. In this latest demo build (2.0), you’ll be able to explore, fight off monsters, solve puzzles and find treasure in the Town of Saria, Northern Death Mountain, Calta Canyon and Eastern Calatia. Two smaller dungeons and one Major dungeon plus a few villages are also open for exploration. As this is an unfinished game, there are a small handful of areas that shouldn’t be ventured into lest you accidentally get Link bumped off. But the bulk of the demo looks and feels as if it’s a professionally made first-party game circa 1987 or so.

There’s still a good deal of work to go, but from the time spent with Zelda: Sword of Moira, it’s clear that this is going to be one of those great fan-made games that’s not just another remake or not quite “right” pseudo-sequel that goes off a few rails at different points. Her sticking to lore and dedication to making a game as close to feeling like the original and sequel make Ms. Brown someone to watch. And with work on a few sites, a regular podcast, YouTube and Twitch channel, she won’t mind you watching her, by the way.

Funko Hikari Friday: Greedo, For The One Who Shoots First!

Posted on January 30, 2015 by geelw

This week, Funko is giving ONE lucky winner a chance to win a really cool new Hikari Premium Vinyl figure. If you’re looking at that picture below and grinning, that’s even better because you’re a fan of the original unadulterated version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and know that Greedo didn’t shoot first. Han put a hole-sized hole in him (Her? It?) before he got blasted and no amount of wonky CG reediting will change that. Yeah, we like our space rogues more rogue-like, grrr! Anyway, behold Original Greedo Hikari Premium Sofubi Figure (# 1 of 2000, no laser hole):

As usual, entering to win is a snap. Hit up one or all of Funko’s social media sites:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the rules (they’re simple!), enter and hold your breath for a week until you’re as blue as that alien collectible you’re trying to win. If you’re still breathing next week around Thursday or so, check your inbox and if you win, exhale and thank yourself for having some fantastic lung capacity. Good luck and make sure to pop back in for next week’s giveaway!

IndieGala Every Monday Bundle Offers a Nice Freebie For Wordy Folks…

Posted on January 26, 2015 by geelw

It’s a Monday, it’s freezing outside and there’s going to be a ton of snow on the ground in some spots that will keep you indoors wishing you had the whole rest of the week off and then some. What to do, what to do? Well, if IndieGala has their merry way with some of you, you’ll be sitting in front of a warm PC playing some cheap games. Or at least ONE cheap game, as Words for Evil from this week’s Every Monday Bundle is FREE as a bird. Check it out below:

The rest of the games in this weeks deal ($1.49 for six games!) are certainly eclectic as you’ll soon see. Also, if you poke at the IndieGala store page, you can get another free game just because they really want you to shop there at some point and find even more deals. Sounds like a plan, if you ask me. Alrighty then – go do what you need to do. Me, I’m going to build a fire somewhere warm and cook the first thing that crosses my path…

Hikari Friday: Steel Yourself For Platinum Frankenstein!

Posted on January 23, 2015 by geelw

Yeah, I know, I know – that was a putrid pun. But I couldn’t help myself you know… just couldn’t Karl it off, heh. Anyway, this weeks Funko giveaway is a limited edition Platinum Frankenstein, #1 of 750, at that. Check him out below in all his glory:

Yes, he can be all yours if you’re the lucky winner of this week’s giveway. All you need to do is click it on over to one of Funko’s social media sites:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the rules and you’re good to go! If you win, you get a nice note saying so from Funko and shortly after that, your cold-eyed swag staring back at you from the confines of its packaging. If you’re a loser (and aren’t we all from time to time?), you can just boogie on down to your nearest Funko retailer and buy one of these limited run Frankies for your own. Hey, wasn’t one of your New Year’s resolutions to get more exercise? Well, there you go, mister or miss(us). One more reason to get off the couch and take a stroll in the cool winter air. In other words, if you win, you WIN… if you lose, you still WIN!. Good luck in any event!

Club Nintendo Bites The Dust (Soon). Replacement Parts Available (Later).

Posted on January 21, 2015 by geelw

While I personally haven’t taken much advantage of Club Nintendo rewards other than to nab a few downloads, the end of a relatively brief era is approaching as Nintendo winds the program down in favor of a new (and to be announced) loyalty system. Six years may be dog years in terms of the internet, but as usual, Japan got the best goodies while North America’s rewards were more along the acceptable to “Hey, that’s REALLY awesome!” set of points for stuff “freebies”.

That said, I’ll take what the company says about killing off the club and replacing it with something newer and shinier at face value as well as claim my free copy of Flipnote Studio 3D in February 2015. It’s too bad that freebie isn’t Wii U compatible, though. I could see a lot of people who don’t use a 3DS or even a 3DS XL because of the screen size maybe wanting to try out the image creation software and play around with it on a bigger screen. Ah well. RIP, Club Nintendo!

Hikari Friday: Mystic Powers Spidey Could Be Yours!

Posted on January 16, 2015 by geelw

This weeks Funko Hikari Friday giveaway? It’s a simply too colorful for his own good Spider-Man up for grabs. ONE lucky winner will get #1 of 1000 of this limited edition Hikari Premium Japanese Vinyl Mystic Powers Spider-Man in all his shiny rainbow-colored glory. Check him out below:

As usual, entering is a cinch, but winning takes a LOT of luck. Still, take a chance and you never know. Spidey just may be slinging some of those mystic powers of his on your tchotchke shelf as a nice surprise! Anyway, hit up Funko on one of their social channels:

Facebook!
Twitter
Instagram

Follow the dirt-simple rules and you’re in it to won it. Hopefully! The lucky winner of this week’s figure will be notified in about a week. Good luck and check back next week for a new giveaway!

Archive.org Adds 2300+ MS-DOS Games: So Much For Productivity (Again!)…

Posted on January 10, 2015 by geelw

Oh, good gravy. If the Internet Arcade wasn’t a bad enough way to lose too many hours, Archive.org has just killed off the chances some of you will ever see the light of day ever again. Once again, you can blame Jason Scott and a bunch of other people with too much time on their hands who have very wisely decided to keep videogame history alive and strong for the masses.

All you need to do is point your browser here and hope you aren’t swept away for too long trying out a bunch of classic MS-DOS games. While most are emulated in your browser, you can download some titles and run them on your PC using a decent DOS emulator such as DOSBOX or FreeDOS. I’ll “warn” you in advance that many of these game are really awesome and you may find yourself neglecting basic needs. I’d write more, but a bunch of oldies are calling me to come spend some time with them…