The Last of Us Redband Trailer: Now With 100% More “Ewww, I Get It…”

Posted on April 1, 2013 by geelw

I’ve always found the concept of the Redband (or Red Band) trailer a bit stupid when all is said and done. YES, I understand that this stuff isn’t for the wee bairns, lest their dainty eyelash hairs catch fire from the heinous evil that they see, but hell. I mean, you can easily see this stuff on YouTube and so can little kids who can search for violent stuff like this, but whatever. For some reason, the ESRB keeps an iron fist on this type of content despite broadcast TV being much MORE violent. Oh – click on that pic of the Survival Edition to see the video. I don’t want the ESRB to come by and break my legs…

Speeeeeaking of breaking legs… (this just in!): As for ACTUAL violence and nasty gore NO one should see, er… how about some nice and gory NCAA basketball action, hmmm? I didn’t see that shocking video, but I certainly couldn’t get away from people talking about it all damn day. Double hmmmm. Maybe that sort of thing, nasty as it is, should go into the next EA Sports hoops game, so fans of that sport know it’s not all slick tattoos, hottie cheerleaders and fatty signing bonuses that net you an automatic sneaker contract that turns you into a multimillionaire a blown knee or worse away from no career before you’re 30 or so. Anyway, Naughty Dog’s new masterpiece, The Last of Us, which has NOTHING to do with sports or real violence hits retail on June 14, 2013. Get it and be prepared to hole up for a while.

The Last of Us TV Spot #1: Still Among the Living… Mostly

Posted on March 31, 2013 by geelw

TLOS_standard cover Finally, Sony drops the first of what’s probably going to be a few TV ads for Naughty Dog’s upcoming (and possibly final) PlayStation 3 game, and it’s a nice and tense doozy. Those aren’t your garden variety zombies popping up throughout that ad, by the way… you’ll see. Anyway, the game looks great and if the multi-million selling Uncharted series is any indication, this game will do quite well at retail and with the critics.

Of course, it’s going to be hard to show too much of the game so nothing from the plot gets overly spoiled, but I think a lot of folks going in expecting one thing will be surprised when they get something else. Me, I’m looking forward to this for a ton of good reasons, so I’ll be there with bells on come launch day.

BioShock Infinte’s Elizabeth: Creating Much More Than Just A Pretty Face…

Posted on March 20, 2013 by geelw

It takes a good deal of work to put together a video game and with being Women’s History Month, I’m gathering Irrational Games is trying to celebrate their version of the event in a bit more interesting manner by showing what it took to create Elizabeth in its upcoming game, BioShock Infinite. As you’ll see, it wasn’t an easy process at all, but the end results seem to be working for both male as well as female fans of the series. Of course, the final test of that comes when the game hits stores on March 26, 2013 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

BioShock Infinite TV Spot (Long Version): A Good Week Is Many Miles Away… Look Up!

Posted on March 18, 2013 by geelw

March 26 is what, a week away and 2K Games is finally getting the bigger, more splashy ads for this out in full force. As usual with a game so long awaited and important, I’m not going to go poking around for quickly written reviews or the opinions of friends who blow through this in a day at all. I’m thinking this is yet another one of those deeper than it looks games that deserves a full play on my own time and not some speedy rush through just to make a deadline. I’m gathering Ken Levine and Irrational Games would prefer people take the time to “relax” when they’re not being shot at or otherwise maimed in the game world and check out as much of Columbia as they can survive, as I can see the potential for Easter Eggs galore that take a bit of Sky Hook action, some deft shooting skills or other fun, challenging navigation and/or gameplay to reach. As usual, we shall see, folks… we shall see…

BioShock Infinite: Some Questions Answered And Mysteries Solved For Your Curiosity…

Posted on March 16, 2013 by geelw

Will BioShock Infinite be as well-received as the original? Will we see so many ads for the game that 2K Games breaks some sort of record for spending on a single title? Will Ken Levine ever give a boring interview? All signs point to “yes” or “no”, as my crystal ball is busted and I’ve been called a False Shepard before. Eh, whatever – I’ll be playing this at some point and know I’m going to enjoy it no matter what the jaded flies on the wall say. As for ken and interviews, well… THIS one at BAFTA certainly isn’t dull at all:

Anyway, March 26 is rolling up REALLY quickly and I’m betting a few people call in dead from work just to spend some quality time buried in the story, characters and gameplay Irrational has cooked up…

Soul Sacrifice Japanese TV Spots: April’s Real Fools Will Miss This Gem…

Posted on February 24, 2013 by geelw

Nope, I’m not taking ALL of today off, folks. Here are a trio of nice ads for Sony’s upcoming Vita exclusive which is headed stateside soon enough (oh, alright… I’ll be nice – it’s headed to PSN and HOPEFULLY retail in North America on April 30, 2013).

Granted, non-Vita owners hoping for the portable to slide into oblivion while they diddle away playing Fruit Ninja or whatever are more likely than not shrugging away or not taking much notice as they’re rubbing their fingerprints off on some tablet or phone. On the other hand, The core Vita fans who support the handheld know this is a key release coming in a pretty hectic year for the system.

Hmm. My long list of stuff to play has now officially reached “Too many games!” status. But according to experts in the field of “Hey, you have waaaaay too many games!” it’s been that way for a while.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance: Platinum Scores Big, Slices Skeptics Up Good…

Posted on February 19, 2013 by geelw

There’s nothing like a good game to shut up the naysayers out there, so it’s fantastic to see Konami, Platinum Games and yes, Hideo Kojima get a lovely bit of sweet Revengeance on the usual internet troll posses and their stale bile. Kojima has even made an amazing trailer for the game that shows off Platinum’s hard work quite well, spoils a few things and is pretty much not for those squeamish types, as there’s a lot of fake blood and lots of objects getting a good slicing on display. Of course, the game is SO far out there that much of this is pretty funny (in a weird way like most of Kojima’s work when he goes for the quirky). Hmmm – looks like that’s another game I need to get around to buying at some point. Also, the Japanese TV spots are slightly similar in tone (people having not so hot days at work and such), but funnier (and stranger) than the one US ad I’ve seen – see above and below the jump…

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Crysis 3 “Sharp Dressed Man” TV Spot: A Little Fun Before The Bodies Start Dropping…

Posted on February 19, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly enough, I actually had to explain to a non-gaming friend that this wasn’t some sort of cheesy 90’s action flick/comedy game after he kept seeing this goofy ad over the past week or so. I didn’t catch it until about three or four days back and it made me laugh because of the choice of ZZ Top’s classic 80’s tune more than the silly macho posturing going on (I was expecting something more serious like Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 TV ads), but it’s all in good fun. I got to play a bit of the PC version last week at EA’s spring press event and it’s absolutely gorgeous and definitely Crytek’s best work to date (at least as far as the visuals go). As for the rest of the game, I’ll need to play through it at some point and see what’s what. I liked the second one (and never played the original outside of a demo and about two hours of the final version), so I’m probably going to have fun with this sequel as well.

Hmmm… I wonder if the ad agency that cooked this up is going to hit up more of ZZ Top’s back catalog for the inevitable DLC? I can think of a few other tunes they did that might fit, but I don’t want Crytek to get the idea that they’re better comedians than they are a games developer…

Brain Age Concentration Training TV Spot: Blondes Have More Fun After All…

Posted on February 4, 2013 by geelw

OK, I’m not a celebrity watcher at all, so I’ve always found game ads with them to a bit weird. Granted, many stars of all stripes are big to casual gamers, so I’m not passing any judgment either way. That said, you can actually see “Kiss Me, Kate” Hudson popping a 3DS into a purse or pocket before heading out to a film set. Hey, making movies is actually 70% downtime in a makeup chair or waiting around for stuff to get set up, so one does need something to do. And hey, according to 9 out of 10 actual blondes, smarter blondes are a better thing in general in this day and age, as it helps fight that stereotype they always seem to get hit with. That said, it would have been really bizarre and morbid to see this TV spot done with a Marilyn Monroe lookalike or worse, a CG recreation…

God of War: Ascension Super Bowl Teaser: Oh, NOW I Get It…

Posted on January 31, 2013 by geelw

Heh. OK, so I’m NOT a big football fan, but I should have realized that Game Day quickie trailer was going to end up being part of SCEA’s big advertising plans for the upcoming God of War: Ascension. Still, I hope they didn’t pay a mint for that ad time, as the game REALLY doesn’t require throwing money around to let its core audience know how good it is. Of course, it might foll a few people into thinking it’s something it’s not, but I doubt it. Ascension’s new multiplayer modes might not be my cup of tea, but as far as another angry adventure with Kratos, I’ll give it a whirl just to see what’s new in terms of the plot and places he ends up in. That said, methinks it’s time that Sony puts the character in more of an open world experience next time, as the limited (but lovely to look at) environments in past GoW games is getting a bit… limited. Eh, we’ll see what happens after this game ships out and (hopefully) does even better than the last one…