Dead Space Dev Edition: Swag in the Box Makes Me Jittery (But in a Good Way)…

Posted on January 16, 2013 by geelw

You’d think the dev team at Visceral Games would totally wiped out after working on Dead Space 3 for so long to even think getting together to cram a bunch of cool stuff into an awesome collector’s edition,but here you go. From what I played last year, the co-op is pretty impressive and innovative (trust me, it’s a total mind f#@k when one player is seeing stuff the other isn’t and is freaking out while you’re not) and overall, it looks as if Visceral has gone and done it once again. I;m in this for the solo play, but if you were worried about the co-op being shoved in to appease EA or whatever, feel free to kick yourself gently, as it works (and yup, the game is still scary when it needs to be). As for what’s in that big ol’ box? Go on ahead and watch the video. I’m just wanting the game itself (PS3 version, as my 360’s are dead) but my oh my, that bonus stuff just may tempt me back over to the dark side. I just need to find the shelf space (which is kind of non-existent at this point)…

The Cave Full Character Trailer: The Gang’s All Here (and Ready to Play!)

Posted on January 16, 2013 by geelw

Ahhhh… Smell that, kids? It’s the scent of ADVENTURE! Well, adventure gaming to be exact. Wait, you don’t have a “Sniff” key on that keyboard? Hey, it’s 2013 – where have you been? OK, I’ll try and describe what adventure games smell like. It’s sort of a rainy weekend, hot cocoa, graham crackers and recently laundered blankets. A touch of pet hair (*achoo!*) and if you’re really lucky, the lingering scent of tomato soup (not from a can) and a grilled cheese sandwich can be detected. You may only get a hint of that overall aroma, but it’s all in there if you close your eyes and lean back…

Review: Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD (PS Vita)

Posted on January 16, 2013 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Just Add Water

Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A

Even if you’ve already bought and played the PS3 version back in 2011 or still own the original 2005 Xbox release, it’s absolutely worth picking up Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD on the Vita just to see how well the game was tweaked for the system. As with the console version, the reworked HD visuals from the Xbox game, smooth animation, newly recorded voice acting and other features translate quite nicely to Sony’s portable. It also holds up incredibly well as a stellar single-player game thanks to a great story with an excellent plot twist or two, some fine and witty dialog and a great Oddworld vibe that’s still fresh today as it was back in 2005. There are some issues with the touchpad and game camera being a wee bit too touchy, but otherwise, the game is a solid effort that’s long and often challenging if you’re trying for the least violent means of playing through the game. Continue reading →

DmC Hits Retail, Kicks Haters In The Groin Area By Actually Being Good

Posted on January 15, 2013 by geelw

See, I told you Ninja Theory could knock this out of the park. The game is getting some decent reviews all around and yes, it’s still not stopping the crazier conspiracy theorists out there who’ve been saying Capcom “paid off” people for those scores. Worse still are the folks picking apart reviews for their negative points about the game and using them as ammunition to claim the game isn’t good at all because there are issues that keep it from the “perfection” they think every game needs to meet their standards or whatever. Of course, neither Capcom nor Ninja Theory are going to pay any of these folks any mind at all because they had total confidence in the end result. That said, I did see a funny in-game cinema that seems to poke the haters in the eye for all that bile they’ve been spewing from the moment the game was announced. Eh, whatever – congratulations to the developer, publisher and any fans who respect both companies and are enjoying the hell out of DmC on the PS3 and Xbox 360. PC owners, you get your chance to dive in and beat the crap out of demons on January 25…

(And… here’s the PS3 trailer just to rub it in a little more…the game is good. Deal with it! Or maybe actually PLAY it and enjoy all the hard work NT has done!)

Fools and Your Money Are Soon Parted: Game Industry Heading For Cliff, Crazy Blogger Warns…

Posted on January 13, 2013 by geelw

So, let’s get this straight: There are industry analysts, small to large game studios, publishers and even some casual to core gamers who think the console model is dead or close to death because retail games are too expensive (yes, they are), consoles aren’t as powerful as they should be (that’s a matter of opinion and a more importantly, a developer’s skills), and a few other things I keep hearing over and over online. Yet they almost all seem willing to buy into this new set of Android-based controllers that turn a phone into a handheld system, all-in-one PC-like boxes and other inexpensive to costly under the set tech (which seem to be hated by those who build their own custom gaming rigs) that will play games already running on mobile phones and tablets. No thanks, boys – I’d rather sit on a hot stove while reading Ulysses in its entirety… twice. Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): Mars Attacks!

Posted on January 13, 2013 by geelw

As I’m still in full-on Earth Defense 2017 Portable mode this weekend, I figured I’d take a break and catch a movie while charging my Vita. Amusingly enough, Tim Burton’s underrated 1996 sci-fi black comedy was just starting up on one of the Cinemax channels, so I sat and caught one of my favorite end of the world films of the 90’s. Granted, back when it was released, it seems way too many parents were thinking they’d be getting a second Independence Day to take their kids to, so I remember the theater I saw this at on opening day being packed with parents and children (including some on a class trip). Let’s just say that when that flaming herd of cows came running past the camera before the brilliant main title sequence, about a third of the theater emptied out pretty quickly, leaving most of us true Tim Burton fans to our PG-13 rated treat…

Continue reading →

Side Effects May Include Me Wishing This Was A Different Sort of Movie…

Posted on January 11, 2013 by geelw

OK, it may be a great new flick when all is said and done (that trailer is quite tantalizing, that’s for sure), but as soon as I head the title a few months back, I actually thought Hollywood finally caught up to me and my bright ideas. I’d always imagined something called Side Effects being a David Cronenberg or David Fincher film about some pharmaceuticals gone haywire years after they were tested on people not realizing they were part of some massive and illegal field study. Oh well, my idea is safe as long as I don’t do something REALLY stupid like post it on the internet!

Oh, wait… $#!t. Eh, whatever. Not like anyone is going to do ANYTHING like that anytime soon, right? Oh, wait… $#!t.

CES 2013: iPotty? Really? Argh in the Time of Cholera…

Posted on January 10, 2013 by geelw

Now, I’m not one of those folks who believes dropping a kid in front of a TV playing PBS for an hour or two is a bad thing, but THIS crap? Or more precisely, THIS crapper? No. Hell no. No, No and NO. Sure, I get my best thinking done on the can, but dammit, a freakin’ TODDLER needs to concentrate on learning the basics of taking a good and safe poop, not helping his or her entire family contract a nasty case of whatever they deserve to get from handling an iPad that’s going to be Germ Central Station the minute some dopey hipster parent looks away at their phone (or lawd help them, reaches for that damn phone to snap a picture of the kid using the thing to post on Facebook) and Junior wipes a stinky hand all over the screen. Eww (even if it has a screen protector included). What’s the shelf life on stupid ideas? Bet you a dime this gets recalled at some point or just tanks flat out. Save your $39.99 and thank me later, folks.

And I usually LIKE some of CTA’s goofy but useful peripherals, by the way…

VGA 101 Personals: Hardcore Game Nut Seeking Reliable PS3 Controller For Good Times…

Posted on January 8, 2013 by geelw

Seriously. For some reason, I have NO luck with PlayStation 3 controllers. I’ve gone through no fewer than ten controllers in the past five or six years and it’s not because I’m some hulking ham-fisted beast-man or mean-eating Amazon snapping spines like twigs like Tura Satana in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (whee, a Russ Meyer reference!). I’ve only gone through two Xbox 360 pads in about six years, but I do tend to gravitate to the PS3 a bit more. That said, I don’t think it’s the controller’s construction at all because that total includes a few third-party pads that have died from a broken analog stick here or a rechargeable battery that wouldn’t charge there (the most common issue). My last controller was an otherwise excellent Power A pad that looked like an Xbox 360 controller and it worked beautifully until a few days ago when it flashed a few read lights around the ring in the center before pooping out completely. Boo. Hiss. Continue reading →

Oh, I’d Say Games and Movies Aren’t At All The Thing to Worry About Here…

Posted on January 8, 2013 by geelw

So, I’m walking to the library here earlier today and take a detour to the post office to drop off a package I’d forgotten to send out on Saturday (oops). While waiting on line, a couple of people are “debating” gun control off to the side near the pay phone. Ruh Roh. This always, always makes for some amazingly bizarre conversations to overhear if (and yes, when) things get heated. Let’s just say by the time one guy who was a retired cop with a wife still in the school system he didn’t want packing heat threw up his hands and walked away from the other guy who said he was a veteran and suggested that not only should armed guards be in and around schools, a single tank be placed outside every school school to keep ANY sort of potential threats away, yeah… I was taking mental notes galore…