Well, this is… interesting. I’ll hold off on any actual critique until I get my paws around one of these, but it looks like a game-changer if you want to play PC games on your TV (and aren’t already doing so with a big expensive gaming rig with a nicely pricey gaming mouse/keyboard setup. Read all about it HERE while I think for a bit or move on to writing another article. This one’s impossible to gauge from a photo and nope, those aren’t subwoofers on the front, ha ha.
The funniest thing about this video is NWA’s animators used the late Crash Bandicoot (!) as Sony’s mascot when poor Crash hasn’t been in a game (or on a Sony console) in YEARS. Oh well, nostalgia runs deep over in Taiwan I guess. Either that or the fine folks at NWA didn’t want to animate the more up to date (and even more hugely popular these days) characters Ratchet & Clank because it would have taken a few minutes more to get an extra figure running about in this clip. These guys work FAST, you know. Anyway, yeah – things are getting REALLY weird on the console front with everyone wanting to take over that living room. I think poor Apple won’t even bother trying to make a console at this point. They’ve missed this train a few times and their customers aren’t necessary going to buy into a console that plays games they can already get on their phones and tablets and maybe try playing through Apple TV. Eh, we’ll see, I guess. Score one… no, TWO for Valve. Friday’s next big reveal should be equally or even more innnnnteresting…
BOOM. Well, it’s not actually surprising, this badly kept secret of Valve’s, but at least the company knows how to make “old” news really damned thrilling. So, yes… in addition to their new Family Sharing plan, Valve is making a FREE downloadable game-centric SteamOS AND a console you can run it on. Even better, those upcoming Steam Machines are going to be coming from a few different producers so users will have a choice of styles as well as the flexibility to tinker with their individual systems and even create content if they’re that type of gamer. If half of that last sentence sounds familiar, it’s because Panasonic’s MUCH maligned 3DO Multiplayer ended up also getting a few variants produced by Goldstar and Sanyo at different price points and with different pack-in titles.
That’s right, it’s ALL about ME today, grrr! OK, troops, listen up! I’m totally pooped from my Adventure Time today with D3Publisher of America’s holiday games lineup, but I’ll have more complete impressions tomorrow along with a few other TGS stories (only stuff I care about, as the show seem kind of weak this year in terms of content despite some super nice surprises).
“Whyyyyy?” You ask? Well, dears, my sleep meter is depleted and I’m in need of some nice rest for a change instead of staying up too late with a controller in my hands (or a keyboard under them). ZzzZZZz*…wha, Wait! Not yet, Sleepyhead! Anyway, the company has a relatively small lineup this holiday season and beyond, but it’s a bunch of real winners and here there be sleepers. And YES, you Earth Defense Force 2025 fans out there – the bugs bugging the Japanese PS3 version are being squashed (feel free to cheer at your leisure). Back with more tomorrow. Good Night!
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…
So, let’s talk American Science and Surplus. Established 1937. Sells overstocks, surplus science gear, military ephemera and all sorts of other stuff you may not have thought you’d NEED but will find a use for once you have it in your hot little hands. Yup, they’re STILL around! I used to get their hilarious catalogs for a few years and bought quite a number of inexpensive items I used in many a shenanigan, as emergency gifts and even as parts of assorted costumes when I used to traipse out of the home base on Halloween. I’d forgotten all about them after a few moves and not renewing my catalog subscription, but when talking to a friend recently about how kids taking science in school don’t have access to actual chemistry sets OUTSIDE of the classroom, a light bulb went off and I immediately thought of A.S.S (or A.S. & S. if your ears are burning or grinning too much right about now).
Anyway, I’d ramble on about all the great deals they have and how you need to boogie on over to check out their site for a laugh once you start reading about some of their items (and clicking the optional hand drawn pictures of each, which adds another layer of fun to things) as well as how you should sign up for a catalog yourself. However, I’ll let you do just what this paragraph says at your leisure, as I hate telling people what to do. Unless it’s something like “Please give me some money so I can buy stuff from A.S.S. (oops, A. S. & S.) and maybe buy something for YOU as well!” Or something like that. It’s been a long day already for me (but you still need to check out that site!)…
As noted in my earlier post, Bethsoft is making sure you KNOW The Elder Scrolls series is a force to be reckoned with (or they at least want you to stay home a LOT more that you normally do). Their awesome $79.99 box set, The Elder Scrolls Anthology stormed into retail on the 10th (here in North America, $89.99 in Canada, European territories this Friday for €59.99 / £49.99 / $89.99 AUD) and YES, you need to buy this just for the hundreds of hours of adventuring plus the chance to make some of your own content if you so desire.
There’s a ton of stuff in that box to discover, so make this one your big gift to that favorite RPG fan (or for yourself if you want to become one).
In other Bethsoft news, October 8 marks the release date of Dishonored: Game of the Year Edition (whee!), which means I need to pick this one up as well:
As for what’s in THIS box, well, read on (below the jump!):
Here’s a good reason to quit smoking (or cooking) all that meth and start saving up some of that cash you’re throwing out the window like a certain Mr. Pinkman. $300 (or less if you shop around online) will get you this set of 16 Blu-Rays packed full of every episode of the show PLUS a ton of special features (or whatever 55 hours weighs these days). So yeah… “Fire in the hole, bitch!” – go dig up one of those barrels you buried in that secret spot and buy up a ton of these to give out as gifts if you’re so inclined. As for exactly what’s in the box, just peek below the jump for the long press release… go on, you KNOW you want to…
Is the world ready for Focal Upright seating? Martin Keen thinks so. The famed industrial designer and founder of Keen Footwear has moved on to a great new venture that’s bound to change the way many of us sit… provided we all rethink out current seating arrangements on a few key fronts. Keen’s Focal Upright Locus Desk, Seat and other accessories offer a comfortable, ergonomic and far better work solution that I can safely say after trying one out, NEEDS to be implemented in as many offices (home and otherwise) as possible. And the new portable MOGO Travel Seat makes for a revolutionary portable solution that’s also quite the conversation piece in the rright company.
I’ve been trying out a MOGO for a few weeks on and off and it’s certainly been an interesting and educational experience. Alternating between two weeks of using the seat as much as possible and a week or so of sitting on assorted normal furniture reveals that the MOGO makes for a much more comfortable, yet energizing seating solution. It’s definitely weird at first and yes, takes some getting used to, especially if you’re one of those people who prefer passive seating at the office or at home. However, once you spend a few days using it and start taking it along with you (it quickly comes apart into two pieces that fir together and go into a red carry bag), expect to get plenty of queries and comments from all over.
A few fun and oddball things I’ve found out in my test phase are most New Yorkers tend to not say much when they see a Mogo. Other than a few heads popping up to peek at me from a latte/newspaper/device/phone before popping back down, No one approached me to ask about the seat. I did get a few comments from a barista at a coffee shop where the counter was the perfect height to sit and whip out my laptop to post a few articles. He thought I was assembling a unicycle when I put the MOGO together, but once he saw it wasn’t wheeled, he just nodded and grinned before telling me of his error. A stop a few bars was good for a free drink and a few bartenders testing the chair out and finding it “cool” or “strange but cool” and a few variations thereof.
Of course, thanks to its wider footprint once in use, the big city isn’t quite ready for this simple-looking modern classic seat in places such as theaters (movie and otherwise), some restaurants and public transportation. There’s also the weight limit of 200 pounds and seat height maxing out at 36 inches, which means larger and very tall people will have to hold out hope for some sort of custom MOGO sizing if this takes off as it should. Granted, the price points of the Mogo and Locus line make them premium items geared towards those who want something that’s going to last as well as fit their healthier lifestyles.
I say if you can swing it, spring for a MOGO ($100 either online or through one of its retail partners in the US and Canada) and take it for a spin. your back and butt will forgive you for the abuse you’re currently putting them through and who knows? You may just get a few friends up off their behinds and shifting forward into the future of seating. That, and I foresee a Locus in your future if you’re room for it in your home or office (or home office)…
In other words, the inmates have taken over the asylum and yes, Bats needs to do some darknight detecting and with due diligence at that or he’s not getting out in one piece. This 3DS/2DS and Vita game (set to launch with the console and PC versions on October 25, 2013) brings things down to size in “2.5D” form, but manages to look pretty cool and should feel like a classic side-scroller with a nice Arkham twist. Sure, you can get cranky and say the Vita game should be closer to the PS3 version, but here’s a case where I’ll defer to the dev team over at Armature because they’ve done a really good job with the visuals on both handhelds.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 