Gallery Update: Steel Battalion Heavy Armor

Posted on March 13, 2012 by geelw

From Software and Capcom are getting set to release what’s looking like the next big Kinect game as well as what’s looking like the first that’s going to have appeal across a few genres. Fans of the niche original will be all over this one (and won’t have to break out that table-sized 40+ button controller the original had), military tank sim fans should be intrigued enough to take the plunge and I can even see FPS players looking for a more emotional (and cerebral) experience wanting to give this one a shot. Of course, the naysayers are going on about the Kinect’s price point just for ONE game, but that’s when I smack them (gently) on the back of the neck while suggesting a few other titles they may want to play that won’t make them look like marionettes in an asylum puppet show put on by unsupervised inmates

More on this one as new info becomes available…

Arcane Worlds Will Make You Kill Too Much Time (And It’s Only A Tech Demo)…

Posted on February 23, 2012 by geelw

So, Ranmantaru Games (that would be Alexey Volynskov) is working on something really cool called Arcane Worlds. It’s going to be an homage to the classic 1994 PC game from Bullfrog, Magic Carpet. The actual “game” is a ways off, but the tech demo is available to play around with. Once you download it (it’s a mere 1.4MB file) and get to fooling around, you’ll find yourself forgetting to do other important stuff like working on articles you should be working on and maybe getting an extra two hours of sleep. I “created” the images above with a few keyboard presses and mouse clicks (instant wallpaper!), but I had to stop at only two before I ended up staying awake all night making worlds, eroding terrain and dropping water all over everything before changing the sun’s position (which changes the world from day to night). I’m not sure when Alexey will be finished with his game, but I say keep an eye on it. I’d keep both eyes on it, but I need to finish all that writing I’ve started…

Also, the LEVEL UP! demo is priceless (well, the demo is free, but definitely pay the five bucks for the Alpha version!). It’s super early, but pure fun to blast through those voxel walls and the idea is brilliant stuff. Enjoy!

SSX Gallery Mini-Update: The Only Snow Some Of You Will See All Year. Yikes.

Posted on February 19, 2012 by geelw

So far, “winter” here and in a few other places has been a complete bust, but thankfully, EA is on the case with way TOO much snow and a bunch of fearless boarders you’ll soon get to play around with. Inside, where it’s warm, at that. I’ve played a few chunks of the game at press events since last year and at the Spotlight EA event earlier this month, this slick reboot was looking amazing and is definitely headed to fans as a fantastic addition to the hugely popular franchise. Run out and grab it, I say, but If there’s still no snow on the ground by the time the game reaches a retailer near you (it’ll be in stores on February 28 for the PS3 and Xbox 360), just keep a few windows open in the house so you can at least catch an ice cold breeze while you’re playing.

Note: Diving face first into a big plastic bucket of ice cubes to simulate falling in the digital snow isn’t at all recommended. But, hey… it’s your living room (and your face).

Syndicate Hands-On Update: A Fresh Perspective That’s Just Right (Again)

Posted on February 16, 2012 by geelw

With the release of Syndicate less than a week away, here’s a quick (and mostly spoiler-free) update on what to expect from Starbreeze Studios’ reboot of the PC classic. I had the chance to play through the game’s first two missions plus a tough co-op map with a few fellow journalist types at the Spotlight EA event last week and as I’ve been saying, the game absolutely nails the feel of the original game in many areas, improving on things by dropping the camera to first person and putting you into the shoes of cyber-enhanced corporate agent, Miles Kilo. Those of you out there still skeptically on your internet forum soapboxes need to step down and pick up a controller at some point, as any bit of quality time spent with the game will prove that it’s a winner that improves on many elements the original pioneered.

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Gallery: Nintendo DS/GBA Library (Plus)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by geelw

I’d say the Game Boy library has been the most reduced over time. I used to collect boxed original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance titles for a few years, but when those got out of hand, the bulk of them were sold off and I got into DS titles. What’s left after even more chopping down is what’s here minus a few things lent out. Also pictured is my tiny WonderSwan collection minus the Wonder Borg and Wonder Witch I sold off a few years back because I wasn’t using them at all. Oops. – I forgot to take a photo of my Game Boy Color, Camera, e-Reader and cards. Ah well. Those will end up in a future update…

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock “Monsters” Trailer & Screens

Posted on January 28, 2012 by geelw

Courtesy of the official PlayStation Blog, here’s a nice visual update from the upcoming PS3 and Vita exclusive. I got a chuckle imagining a bunch of Cybermen, Daleks, Silurians and Silence all showing up in a studio somewhere in England, punching in to do some hard work acting out scenes from the game for the dev team and having breaks for 10 o’clock breakfast (English Breakfast and scones) and a 4PM tea time (Earl Grey with milk, please, mum!) before clocking out and heading to a nearby pub for Guinness all around and some hot shepherd’s pie. Is that enough awful stereotyping here or what? Anyway, the game is set to land in March, but we’ll have a more informative update shortly as to what form the games will take. Fingers crossed for retail and download versions so more can hop aboard the TARDIS and enjoy the ride…

Gallery: Street Fighter X Tekken

Posted on January 23, 2012 by geelw

Capcom’s upcoming crazy mash-up fighting game extravaganza (coming to the PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360 and PC sometime this year) and has my interest piqued for a few reasons such as the mixture of completely different fighting styles and the amazing visuals that blend outrageous stylization with fantastic animation both franchises are known for. The game also makes me think back to when I saw each series for the first time and how both Street Fighter and Tekken changed the fighting game landscape when they were introduced to the public. OK, OK, I actually played the original Street Fighter first, but we won’t talk about that here, right Capcom?

Anyway, a baker’s dozen screens below the jump – more to come…

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Gallery: SSX

Posted on January 16, 2012 by geelw

EA Sports’ Communications Manager Duke Indrasigamany looked pleased but slightly annoyed the last time I saw him a few months back at EA’s Holiday event here in NYC. He’d spent the better part of the day playing through a demo build of SSX for small groups of game journalists and it seemed that only a few of them were coming away excited. I passed by the demo area when I entered, planning to loop back around and get some hands-on time with the game, but it took me a while to get there. After a few hours of playing SWTOR (excellent), Syndicate (REALLY surprising), Mass Effect 3 and Battlefield 3’s multiplayer modes (awesome), Funcom’s amazing The Secret World (great, but needs an offline mode), and the Dragon Age II expansion (featuring Felicia Day, everyone’s favorite gal gamer/multimedia star du jour), I finally made my way back to the SSX station and sat down with Sir Duke for a bit of fun in the high mountain air…
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Retro Exploration: Dreamcast (Part 9)

Posted on January 15, 2012 by geelw

BioWare’s offbeat (and interestingly difficult) third-person shooter MDK 2 has a ton of bonus content on the Dreamcast disc that includes plenty of concept/in-game artwork and selected audio tracks such as selected music tracks and outtakes from a few dialog sequences. I’ll run all the artwork below the jump, but hold off on the audio portion for a bit, as I’m thinking about posting all the other tracks I’ve found on my tiny DC library in one post at some point down the road… Continue reading →

Capcom Digital Collection Coming To Xbox 360 (On a Retail Disc!)

Posted on January 14, 2012 by geelw

How’s this for Kismet-ic energy? Last month, I poked fun at Sega for releasing Sonic CD as a digital-only game, and now Capcom comes up and drops this cooler news in my lap. Eight of the company’s HD remakes formerly only available as digital-only Xbox Live Arcade exclusives are coming to retail on a game disc. Eight games for a mere $39.99 is a solid deal indeed, although in my humble indie opinion, this set would be even better (where applicable) if it had the arcade originals on the disc and a bit of history on the original games as bonuses. Of course, I tend to over-think any disc based release these days as something that should be filled to the brim with content just to please those of us who really don’t mind paying more for a physical product over straight digital-only content.

As to what’s on the disc, I’m posting the title cards and logos below:

and a nicely-sized screenshot gallery below the jump. It’s up to you to guess which screens go with which titles (although it’s not hard to figure out at all)…

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