I’m Much Older Than Street Fighter (and Ryu Can Still Kick My Ass)

Posted on September 1, 2012 by geelw

Wow – 25 years is a pretty good run for any game, but Capcom’s long-running Street Fighter series was and is a key point in quite a few people’s gaming lives. Me, I’ve always been terrible at fighters like this, but that’s probably because I always seemed to have to play against people who were training to be competitive fighting game players, had more quarters than I did or were just plain good at mastering even the worst characters. Eh, I’m a bit of a passy-fist (ha ha) anyway… and a bit of a voyeur as well, as I like watching people play a good fighting game more than I do playing them. That said, I can play a BAD fighting game all day for some reason. There’s something about a busted combat system or super-cheap moves anyone can pull off that’s oddly appealing.

Or maybe I just suck in reverse at this whole fighting game thing… Anyway, happy anniversary, Street Fighter!

Bastion Finally Hits The iPad (But Apple Still Isn’t Getting A Dime From Me)…

Posted on August 31, 2012 by geelw

OK, I don’t have an iPad and have no interest in buying or owning one, thank you much (where do I put the games again and where’s my controller?). But for those millions of you out there who can’t let go of that trendy tactile tablet thingamajig, you need to get Bastion now that it’s finally hit the App Store. It’s a great game that worked perfectly on the PC, so Supergiant Games is expanding their multiple award-winning game with some touchy-feely controls and other enhancements that make an already superb RPG even better. Android device owners, you’re still going to be waiting around for a bit if you haven’t played this gem yet… but hey, if you have a PC or laptop, just buy the darn game for your actual computer, I say…

Video Game Appreciation 101, Scary Side: Roxy’s – A Little Slice of Silent Hill, Circa 1960…

Posted on August 29, 2012 by geelw

Edward Kienholz was an artist you may or may not have heard of (depending on your level of education), so if you know his work and happen to be a gamer, you’re smiling right now. For those of you who are scratching your heads, I’ll let you Google him and more of his work up at your leisure. Before that, take a peek at that image to the left. Go on, it won’t bite (I think)…

OK, maybe this should be ART Appreciation 101, huh?. It’s from Roxy’s, an environmental installation piece from 1960-61 (and the artist’s first large scale work) based (loosely, I hope) on the artist’s memories of a visit to a Las Vegas bordello in the 1940’s. Long story short, I’d seen this image years ago in an art book and it bugged the hell out of me for weeks. As in seeing that figure hovering around in a nightmare or two and maybe wanting to dig my eyes out with a cold spoon after waking up bugged…

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Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise Hands-On: Behaviour’s “Fluff Film” Gets Some Big Improvements…

Posted on August 29, 2012 by geelw

One of 2010’s great guilty pleasures for me was 505 Games’ Naughty Bear, cooked up by the slightly twisted (like a pretzel dipped in slightly tainted chocolate sort of twisted) minds at Behaviour Interactive (formerly Artificial Mind and Movement). The lead character, a rather pissed off teddy bear out for revenge for all sorts of minor to moderate social snubs, made for quite an efficient killing machine and despite a few flaws, the game was uniquely amusing and challenging, albeit a bit on the short said for some players who may have been a wee bit too good at the serial killer thing. Hey, I’m just sayin’… everyone needs a hobby, so I judge no one. Just don’t tell me what’s in that duffel bag you always carry around, Mmmm-kay?

Anyway, that first installment seems to have done well enough with gamers who grooved on its combo of cute and psychotic elements (plus some memorable bloodless yet violent stealth kills) that a sequel was a no-brainer and yes, it’s merrily on the way (and like a good serial killer, sooner than you’d think). You’re getting an all-new Naughty Bear starring in a bigger, better and badder game as a PSN and Xbox Live download this October, so break out the digital duct tape and garbage bags – you’ve got some killing to do.

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CREEPY: An Old Friend Makes Another Comeback (Thanks To Dark Horse Comics)

Posted on August 27, 2012 by geelw

Yikes, I’m old. I used to have a HUGE collection of Warren mags back in the day with a few boxes of Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Famous Monsters of Filmland and even a handful of Blazing Combat issues taking up room along with my massive comic collection. I sold them all off a few years back as more and more video games started taking over my free space (and time), but every so often it’s good to relive the days of ogling great art (much of it from a wide rage of comic legends) and occasionally being freaked out by a well-written horror tale.

These days, Dark Horse Comics is keeping that frightening little flame alive this fall with a new issue coming up, so keep your eyeballs peeled at your favorite comics emporium, I say. Oh, I was going to make a joke about that monster looking like the headboard from Hell or something, but I probably wouldn’t sleep right later. Nothing like that monster under the bed getting pissed off because you now think it doesn’t exist, right? Hmmmm… now I need a pot of coffee…

He’s Baaaaack (And In a Better, Harder Game This Time)…

Posted on August 27, 2012 by geelw

Shhhhh… don’t tell anyone this, but Behaviour Interactive and 505 Games are going to be unleashing a big and furry surprise on PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers soon enough that’s a pretty nice treat from what I got to see and play. I can’t talk more about it until the embargo lifts (soon enough, soon enough…), so I’ll just keep you in suspense for a tiny bit.

Er, that and I need to figure out how the hell to get that darn bear from stalking me (I think he’s on the roof, judging by the sounds of pigeons being squashed). Anyway, drop by on the 28th for a status update (provided that bear doesn’t get into the house)… Off to bed (with a light on and a few bear traps slathered in honey laid out near key entry points)…

(Another) Random Indie Game of the Week: Space Funeral

Posted on August 24, 2012 by geelw

Yeah, yeah, I’m late to the whole Space Funeral appreciation party, but hey, I was kind of busy. Actually, I’d heard about the game a while ago from some friends, but I finally just got around to downloading and playing it over the past week and yes, it’s an instant RPGMaker classic. While the gameplay is pretty standard RPG 101 fare all the way (using an Active or Wait time-based system common to the older Final Fantasy games), it’s the amazingly strange art style and general weirdness that makes the game so special. If you recall the more bizarre alternative comics from the 80’s by Gary Panter, Charles Burns, kaz and more, all filtered through a David Lynch lens with a shot of Suda 51 on the side, the game will grab you from the moment you hit BLOOD on the title screen. RPGMaker.net user catmitts must own a time machine or still get videos on his MTV channel on cable or something, as he’s managed to tap into the new wave vibe perfectly, creating an original game that manages to feel as if it was made for a Bizarro World NES.

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Nintendo Power Shuts Down: The End of an Era, Despite Me Ignoring It (Mostly)…

Posted on August 22, 2012 by geelw

Amusingly enough, I didn’t much care for Nintendo Power back when it launched in 1988. I wasn’t a big NES fanboy and I knew the mag was a house organ designed to pretend anything Nintendo was the best thing since sliced bread. Being system agnostic, I’ve always disliked this sort of thing when it’s that biased against other platforms, so it was quite easy to stick to my guns. Sure, Nintendo was the company that pulled the game industry out from the grave back with the successful launch of the NES in 1985, then created the dedicated portable gaming market with the original Game Boy in 1989, but that didn’t mean they (or any other game company) could always ignore other platforms that had games of equal or better quality.

Despite Nintendo’s instant deity status among millions, initially, I wasn’t too impressed with the NES because I’d played Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Popeye, and a bunch of the other classic arcade ports to death (in actual arcades) and didn’t see the need to do so all over again, no matter how good the games were. Stubborn (and stupid), wasn’t I? OK, maybe I was a tiny bit biased as well, as I somehow had little to no trouble playing some Sega Master System and later, Sega Genesis arcade ports. Ah well, nobody’s perfect, right? I did come around to the joys of the NES and later, SNES once I got my paws on Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Wizardry, The Bard’s Tale and a bunch of other RPGs I wasn’t seeing on any Sega platform, but that took a few years longer than it should have…

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Update Before the Update Department: Some Kinect-ing Thoughts…

Posted on August 22, 2012 by geelw

So, I played a bit of Dragon Ball Z Kinect yesterday and (*surprise!* ) I didn’t hate it at all. It looks great (well, for a DBZ game), the controls are simple enough to understand (I’d say most fans will appreciate them more than non-fans) and yes, there’s a good workout in there with all that punching, ducking and occasional jumping you’ll be doing.I didn’t ask if there was a calorie counter option, but they will definitely be burned as this game is played…

That’s a good thing, although I’d bet once it hit stores, more kids will enjoy the game than adults. I was about to keel over like a fallen oak tree after one fight. Maybe Namco Bandai is planning some sort of revenge on jaded, out of shape games journalists who keep knocking them when they try to do something different. Then again, I’m not jaded, just really out of shape. The amount of physical exertion needed to play DBZ keeps it from really being a “casual” game experience and it looks as if families with a Kinect in the living room will be getting another game to keep them occupied (and relocating furniture before a foot goes through it).

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Tokyo Jungle: I’d Have Worked A Wall of Voodoo Song Into This PS3 Game’s Trailer…

Posted on August 20, 2012 by geelw

Specifically, the eternally quirky “Animal Day” off 1981’s excellent Dark Continent LP. Well, that’s the sone I’d pick if I were working in SCEA’s marketing department. That and hey, this was on a Blu-Ray in Japan, but it’s only getting a PSN release here, grrr. If i were running things out west, or at least had a say in matters, I’d have done a release through PSN as well as a double-game disc with this and Papo & Yo or rain on it plus a few demos of other PSN titles and yes, added a PlayStation Plus discount voucher to the game case so more people could play both games. I’m just saying, the MORE people that can access this content, the better in the long run for SCEA (and gamers, too!)