TRI Hands-On: Rat King Games Wants You to Go After the Fox…

TRIAllLevels 

Okay, my preview for TRI is a bit late (the game drops onto Steam this Tuesday), but this is one of those wonderful indie gems that NEEDS to be played and enjoyed. Developer Rat King Games has made a fun and very challenging first-person puzzle/platformer that’s got influences from Portal and Okami to even a teeny-tiny bit of Minecraft. The build I spent some time with offered up some fine and challenging large levels that grew progressively trickier and from that simple tutorial, opened up into a game that’s going to surprise fans of quirky visuals and complex gameplay that keeps you hooked in. Come meet the Odd Gods and stay for a while – you’ve got a fox to catch (if you can)…

Continue reading

Guardians of the Galaxy Headed to Home Video in November and December. Talk About a Holiday “Surprise”!

I wish I were more of a betting man, as I predicted well before it was released Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy would be out for the holidays (as in Christmas) and yep, it’s making it out earlier than that as in before Thanksgiving on Digital 3D and HD Digital (November 18) and before Christmas on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand (December 9!). This new normal of movies shooting out on disc and legal download so soon after being released still drives me somewhat batty, as it’s almost not worth going to the movies because I prefer to see films in the comfort of my own home without worrying about nasty theater situations, screaming kids and now, Ebola (heh, I had to get that in because every news channel is screaming mad cow over this latest fear). Yaaaaaaah!

Er, anyway… I finally saw GotG in a pretty decent theater and a few kinks aside, in my opinion it’s one of the better recent Marvel Studios movies. Granted, I prefer the stuffier more noble Star-Lord from his second Marvel Preview appearance (issue 11 with that wonderful Byrne/Austin artwork), but the kids like that newer snarkier model just fine and Chris Pratt did a stellar job as the character. Well, this one goes on the gift to me list at some point. Damn list is getting longer by the second, but I need to stock up on entertainment for the Ebola-free bunker, right?

MEDICOM & Bear Model’s Swamp Thing Sofubi Gets Me Seeing Green All Over…

Swampy SofubiAs big a fan of DC Comics’ Swamp Thing as I am, I tend to only stick to reading the comics and doing the occasional bit of fan art when I have the time to tinker around with assorted art materials. Anyway, news of this limited edition figure popped into my inbox very early this morning (I happened to be up and working on an emergency proofreading job for a friend) and I allllllmost reconsidered making space somewhere for it before I came to my senses and realized that I really have no room for anything this nice and large.

The first over-sized DC Sofubi from MEDICOM and Bear Models stands just over 10 inches tall and weighs a hefty 24 ounces. hey, for tat size, 24 ounces IS hefty! Boxed, it’s a bit taller and a tiny bit heavier, of course 9and if I had one, it would stay in that box, folks!). Anyway, only 300 of these exist, they’re $99.99 ($50 off the retail price!) and they’re only available through GoHastings’ web store, so go grab one if you want a nice looking collectible for your shelf. Or MY shelf if you decide you want to get me something cool that will make me knock a hole in a wall here to store it in…

IDW’s Marvel Covers Artist’s Edition: The Next (& Least Expensive) Best Thing To Owning The Originals

IDW Marvel Covers AA
 
If you owned just one of the pieces of cover art found in this latest must-buy Artist’s Edition, you’d probably be able to buy up every copy of the book directly from IDW and hand them out as really awesome holiday or other surprise gifts. Thankfully, you don’t own any of this artwork or it wouldn’t have made it into the book at all, right? Anyway, this excellent 144-page tome of Marvel Comics history (scanned and printed full size) will only set you back $100, which is a STEAL if you love comic art and want to see plenty of key covers from the 60’s onward. If you happen to want to buy me a copy of this tome o’ joy, I wouldn’t stop you at all either, you know. Just don’t tell me you’re doing that, though – I like surprises on occasion…

The Twilight Zone: The 5th Dimension Box Set: Throwback Thursday Gets The Ultimate Gift!

Twilight Zone Box Set 

55 years ago to-day, The Twilight Zone premiered on CBS and while it only ran for five years (1959-1964), it’s still one of the most memorable anthology series to this day. There was a revival in the 80’s that ran from 1985-1989, and while it wasn’t as great as the original series, there were a number of excellent episodes in that reboot that come to mind as worth tracking down. According to USA Today, the fine folks at Image Entertainment have decided to collect every episode from both series along with a wealth of special features and is going to release a very limited edition 41 DVD set called The Twilight Zone: The 5th Dimension on November 11, 2014.

Only 7500 of these must-have sets will be made and while that $349.98 price tag may seem steep to some of you who think anything old and in black and white isn’t worth that kind of money, old fogeys like me who grew up in the Zone are breaking out our knives and are getting ready to fight it out with other fans and collectors just to get our grubby mitts on this collection. I’d imagine the chances of Image shooting one of these over for review are absolute zero, I’d trade one of Alicia’s robot arms (from The Lonely), a bar of gold (from The Rip Van Winkle Caper), a family-sized can of chicken (from Two) or a Kanamit cookbook (from To Serve Man) for one of those babies. Okay, all I REA::Y have is an old tin can here, but I hear it’s quite magical once kicked around a few times…

Falling Skies: The Game Lands at Retail for PS3/Xbox 360, Digital for PC, Wii U


 
This month went by WAY too quickly, ladies and gents! Anyway, one of the games I’m looking forward to playing has arrived, so I’m cracking my knuckles and getting ready for it (by whipping through a few recent titles and whipping out impressions over the next few days). Actually, you’ll probably be playing Falling Skies: The Game before I will, as review codes are going out later this week. You can zap yourself on down to any game retailer and get this for you PS3 or Xbox 360 or if you have a gaming PC or Wii U, hit up Steam or the Nintendo eShop respectively.

 
Oh, go on and buy it, already. You need a surprising tactical sleeper in the XCOM vein between the AAA blockbusters out now or waiting to drop in October and beyond and hey, those Espheni aren’t going to shoot themselves, right? I thought so! Get to it, pal!

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Unboxing: Poor Teddie’s Gonna Get Bopped Quite A Lot. It’s in the Cards!


 
Hmmm. It seems that Atlus USA has a lot of headless people working for it. Okay, that’s just PR guy John Hardin showing off the game and bonus items in that video and not the Headless Non-Horseman doing some part-time work. Anyway, half a set of tarot cards and a inflatable Teddie Bop Bag may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but both will get some usage by fans of the Megaten games who need a break from this rather awesome fighting game. As noted in that title above, poor Teddie’s gonna get beat up pretty badly, but just follow the instructional portion of this video and don’t go all NFL player on the poor vinyl bear-thing. Besides, he’ll probably haunt your dreams and beat up on YOU in them if you play too rough…

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is out on September 30 for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Crimes & Punishments (Sherlock Holmes) Launch Trailer: Elementary? Not So Fast, You Armchair Sleuths…


 
Oh, the rather droll and humorous closing exchange between Holmes and Watson is probably worth buying the game outright, but I think Focus Home Interactive and developer Frogwares want players to get more than just a moderate chuckle when the snap up this latest Sherlock Holmes game. It’s out on September 30 for PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/Xbox One and PC and looks like it’s going to be a pretty solid game. I’m actually behind in the series, but I may grab this one and work backwards just because it’s not really a franchise where you need to dive into each game in a particular order at all. You just have to love the man and his work. Still, I wonder what’s for dessert on that menu and whether or not the detecting duo actually attend that soiree they’ve been kindly invited to? A good mystery always deserves better clues, I suppose…

STM Wants To Keep Your iPhone 6 Non-Bendy – Let Them, I Say…

STM Harbour 

Eh, you’d figure Apple would give a nice sturdy case away for free with that new expensive phone they sell, but we’ve been “trained” to pay out the nose for something protective that SHOULD come in that box. Yeah, yeah, I know people like to have variety in their first or third-party phone protection solutions, and in the words of one Apple-head I know who lemmings up for each new model “They’d probably just give you something cheap you’d want to throw away” (ouch!). But if you have to buy a case for that new every-phone, let me be the first to say STM will never steer you wrong. Their new Harbour case for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has a hardshell frame and soft rubberized lining along with a hinged base that doubles as a handy stand, allowing for easy removal. At a mere $24.99, it’s a must if you like your tech less bendy when it’s not supposed to budge. Yeah, you know what to do, right? I thought so.

Funko Unmasks Batman For The Masses (Well, Provided Those Masses Shop at Target)!

Funko Blue CrownWhat, was there a vinyl shortage or something, Funko? Not only did you reveal Batman’s secret identity to the world, you’re releasing this new Pop! Vinyl collectible exclusively through Target, one of the bigger retailers out there this week. EVIL! I can here that PA system now: “Attention Target shoppers! Get your Exclusive Unmasked Batman Pop! before they sell out!” EEEEEVIL!

Target Exclusive Unmasked Batman Pop 

Of course, me posting this along with that image above means I’m an accomplice to all this, but that’s the “news” business these days, folks. Show those pics – get those clicks!