Late Night Game Week (Day 4): Jimmy Answers the Call of Duty, Gets Ghosted…

Posted on June 21, 2013 by geelw

I actually wrote the headline before Jimmy’s show kicked off (hey, planning in advance works when you know what’s coming, correct?), but in case you missed it, the proof is above (or will be once NBC gets its act together, grrrr!).

Anyway, the show was a bit more game-centric and snappier than last night’s thanks to Defiance’s Grant Bowler, Jimmy running viewer videos of themselves playing with their mothers (pretty damn funny) and Elijah Wood geeking out with Fallon over The Last of Us before talking briefly about the new season of Wilfred and the remake of Maniac and then some fake video games in a skit.

As for CoD:G, well, it looks great on the Xbox 360 (but I think that dog has a LEAN button… whaaaat?!), but the demo was too short and other than a nice scripted building tumbling down and the novelty of playing as Riley (the dog) for brief bits, it’s looking like a CoD game, which is great to bad depending on your bias in either direction. I only play for the campaign mode anyway, so I may look into this on the PS3 or PS4 in the future. And oh yeah, I was actually wrong up above! Jimmy didn’t suck so much at the game today. Well, other than barking at the screen at one point (OK, it made me chuckle a bit).

Well, tomorrow is Nintendo’s day on the show, although I noted in the teaser for the show, they had “Nintendo Wii” and not “Nintendo Wii U” as the system being demoed. Oops. Er, unless Nintendo has some surprises we didn’t see at E3 planned for tomorrow, that is…

Batman Arkham Origins TV Spot #1: Good (And Slightly Unbalanced) Guys Wear Black…

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

I’d say by now that the older 60’s era campy Batman is no longer the “ideal” version of the character (and hey, I’m old enough to have been around for that original series), so it’s good to see the darker Dark Knight get so fully embraced by the bulk of the fans out there. OK, mostly embraced, as I know there are some REALLY stubborn die-hards who refuse to submit to “gritty” being the new black for their favorite hero. Granted, there IS that exclusive Adam West skin for the PS3 version that’s going to be fun to dink around with (although, I’d also want DLC that adds a ton of those campy full screen sound effects for the combat and you KNOW you want those as well), but I’m going to stick to the cranky newer guy I’m more used to these days. Sometimes, nostalgia needs to have a seat in that comfy chair with its feet up and sleep for a bit in front of whatever old stuff it used to watch on TV…

E3 2013: Deadpool Trailer: Um… Well… I Suppose… Oh, Nevermind…

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

OK, OK, fan favorite or not and guaranteed big, BIG deal to those who know despite the “M’ rating, the kids who want this WILL be playing it, I still don’t get this fascination with Deadpool. I guess he’s so unconventionally non-PC a comic book antihero (basically he’s the insane adult cartoon version of Beavis and Butthead and Bart Simpson with access to all sorts of weaponry) that his antics are immediately appealing to that crowd, but maybe I’m getting old or something. Anyway, if the game is good, I’ll give it a try. I’m not expecting much at all, but that’s actually the best way to go into ANY game, I say. It’s best to end up always surprised by something as it helps keep the jade eye somewhat more closed.

Stride Gumulon: Chews Your Weapon? Nope, Not In This Chomp & Jump Game…

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

File this under “Now I’ve seen everything…”, folks. Stride Gum has teamed up with W+K London and Johnny Two Shoes to create Gumulon, which as you can see above is… yes, a game controlled by players chewing to jump. And I’m betting you’ll want a gum with a long-lasting flavor to play, meaning (cue Stride Gum theme music… if they don’t have a theme, they better get one and fast)… you’ll be buying some Stride with this new iOS game (as in: iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3rd & 4th generation, iPad Mini, iPod Touch 4th & 5th generation). I normally don’t cover iOS stuff (hey, do I look as if own anything Apple other than actual apples which aren’t “owned” for long because they’re eaten in a few delightful ways), but this was amusing enough to catch my eye when it hit my inbox, so here you go. Er, I guess if you get REALLY good at this one you can consider yourself… (wait for it…) chew chew trained. A ha ha and ha…

Thank you, thank you… I’ll be here all week…

Two For The Road: James Gandolfini and Slim Whitman…

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

I actually didn’t like The Sopranos the first time I saw it (coming into the middle of an episode in the middle of a season has that effect on some people), but I wised up and stuck with it, enjoying the ride over the last four seasons or so and going back to catch most of the episodes I missed out on. For me, that final episode was quite a nice surprise but not too surprising, as it didn’t go for the expected. Of course, neither did the show on many occasions where stories were layered with hidden and not-so hidden depths mixed in with some shocking deaths just to hammer home the point that Tony’s world wasn’t a very nice place after all. I liked James Gandolfini’s work in most of the films he was in, but like many fans, he’ll always be Tony Soprano, driving down that highway through New Jersey on the way to raise some hell or suffer through some of his own creation. He’ll be missed…

As an impressionable teen, these commercials for Slim Whitman’s albums had my friends and I always laughing (and occasionally warbling awfully mangled versions of his tunes while strolling down the street), but I think they also made us appreciate other musical styles. Granted, I’m a nut with wild musical tastes (AM radio USED to play great music before it became home to the insane, incessantly annoying “opinions as facts” and “I’m famous because I have a radio show and people who believe my crazy BS!” talkers), so I think I came to see the man’s genius a bit more over time. But I do recall having the stupidest yet most amazing dream where Slim was covering The Ramones and yes, it was a spectacular a vision indeed. “I Remember Yoooooooou-ooooooooou-oooooooou!” (I still can’t listen to that song without laughing, by the way).

That and hell, Slim Whitman saved the earth, dammit. Go watch Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! if you don’t believe me…

Late Night Game Week, Day 3: Jimmy (Almost) Survives Watch_Dogs And Aisha Tyler

Posted on June 20, 2013 by geelw

The problem with five minutes of one game (or two and a half minutes give or take of two games) is it’s IMPOSSIBLE to grasp what the hell some games are about. That said, in the case of Ubisoft’s stellar-looking upcoming action/adventure game Watch_Dogs, five minutes on a crazy and funny talk/variety show with a giddy host is excellent yet somewhat less than perfect for a game so huge. Don’t get me wrong, kids – I’d invite Jimmy Fallon over to the home office and show off some wacky games he’s most likely never heard of at the drop of a hat, BOOM, I’m there… er, he’s here (oh, you know what I mean). Thankfully, Aisha Tyler (also a HUGE gamer and comic as well as Ubisoft’s go-to celebrity as she also happens to be a character in the game) did a great job of explaining the concept and some of the open world gameplay before Jimmy took over and failed a mission (*sigh*). Well, he got further than I thought, but still. I’d actually love to see the guy host an ALL gaming show one day, not just one with funny segments and a few stars popping up to plug their assorted projects.

Of course, that would be a different show entirely, but a NEEDED one for gamers and G4 is no more (although, like a zombie with a steel-plated skull, the damn channel is STILL on the air pumping out movies and reruns of old shows including X-Play and Spike TV is too damn dumb to watch unless GTTV is on, as it’s just macho crap and blood beat-fests all day and then some. Yuk). I suppose internet “TV” shows are a good source, but not if one has a crap connection or hell, prefers gaming news from eight feet away and doesn’t own a damn Smart TV or whatever it is that basically means you’re online watching Honey Boo Boo when you COULD be learning a new language or something else more interesting…

Memo to Self…

Aside

I keep forgetting. so here’s a friendly reminder.

Dear Self,

EMBED. EMBED. EMBED. Old habits die hard. Think of the children. If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again. Good Guys Wear Black, Elvis needs Boats!

That is all.

Love ya,

New Riddick: RTD Trailer: Cheer Up, Vin – Looks Like Lots Will Sit In the Pitch Black to See This Sequel.

Posted on June 19, 2013 by geelw

Nice to see Riddick: Rule the Dark isn’t being rolled out into theaters this September with any funky 3D added, as I think it will hold up as is without the gimmick. Personally, I hate wearing glasses over my glasses, although, it’s cool to take the freebie specs home and see if any games look interesting with them. Hey, I’m a firm believer in tech that multi-tasks! OK, I watched too many Good Eats episodes back when the Food Network was kind of still about cooking and not competitive food disposal contests mixed with crap “reality” TV… Oh, I’m not ranting here, folks… just speaking the truth is all…

Noose Flash: Microsoft Caves (Temporarily, I Bet) On Some Xbox One Restrictions…

Posted on June 19, 2013 by geelw

Read it and weep, or clap or run to the window and make like Peter Finch or whatever… but don’t get TOO happy, I say. Sure, Microsoft is finally listening to some of the rage (justified and unjustified) that’s been washing up over them since the reveal of the Xbox One, but the console is still packing a slew of restrictions that make it unpalatable under certain conditions. For one, a mandatory online connection is STILL required to activate the console (set up an Xbox Live account and probably check in with Kinect), meaning those gamers without broadband access at home or nearby (you know, the ones Microsoft told to buy an Xbox 360 if they wanted to play games offline?) can’t use the thing at all (duh).

That’s the main sticking point for me, but I also dislike the current licensing terms that say the product can (and will) change any time at Microsoft’s discretion. So expect things to roll back in as the system draws in ~~suckers~~ users who don’t mind or don’t know this until it hits them in the face when they turn on their consoles one fine day and get smacked upside the noggin with a mega-update that smarts because it’s the company thinking it’s time to move “forward”… We shall see, but I got a sack of pennies (well, 21 pennies) riding on not all going as smoothly as the company would like. Hell, at LEAST the damn box is region-free now (something the Xbox and Xbox 360 can’t claim outside of a handful of games that run on consoles in almost any territory)…

Random Film of the Week: Logan’s Run

Posted on June 19, 2013 by geelw

When 2001: A Space Odyssey set the bar for visual effects back in 1968, movie studios around the globe kept trying to reach that level of polish and for the most part failed miserably. Outside of a few major and minor sci-fi hits and misses in theaters (Marooned, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun and Silent Running pop off the top of my head) and on TV (those bits of Gerry Andersen’s UFO and Space: 1999 that work), it wasn’t until the release of Star Wars that a major studio film had a visual aesthetic genre fans could glom onto almost universally for sheer “wow” factor. Granted, when Logan’s Run was in its production phase, I’m betting it sure looked “futuristic” to the very hard working teams building that huge model of the city and domes, the set and costume designers and yes, the visual effects crew, actors and director. Hell, it certainly impressed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as a special Oscar was awarded the film at the 1977 Academy Awards. Of course, George Lucas and ILM made that award all theirs the next year in a film not predicted to do all that well by a few people (Lucas included)…

Still, that didn’t help matters much in my case, as even as a wee bairn of eight years of age, I knew Logan’s Run was going to be enjoyably junky thanks to the TV commercials and rainbow on those posters I saw in subway stations. Interestingly enough, it actually popped up on TV about a year later (an amazingly fast time for a major Hollywood film), and while I was fascinated by some elements, to my mind it still looked cheap and the story (which I didn’t know was even more edited for TV) was hard to follow. Naturally, even though I didn’t like the film much, I ended up watching every episode of the 1977-78 CBS TV series and just like what happened with Planet of the Apes on the network, it managed to be dumber than the film, but easier to follow once I figured out that nothing would happen to the leads because they needed to be around for next week’s show. But I digress…
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