Random Film of the Week(end): War of the Worlds

Posted on November 16, 2013 by geelw

These days, I’m not much of a loyal Tom Cruise fan, but I happen to like some films he’s in when the cast around him gets to do some decent work around his not so silent takeover method of acting. That said, 2005’s War of the Worlds is pretty much Stephen Spielberg’s film to win or lose as he puts Cruise, the rest of the cast, some stellar visual effects and a mostly tensely coiled John Williams score to work in this updated version of the classic H.G. Wells science fiction story.

Save for some overuse of the “Hollywood escape” and still not yet patented Cruise running style in scenes where plenty of extras get vaporized or otherwise killed as the actor and his movie kids make a few too many narrow escapes (at least for the first part of the film) and a wee bit too much allegory on the director’s part, this is a solid little movie that still packs a bit of a punch… Continue reading →

A WHOLE Week of Doctor Who? Apple Sales Will DROP Drastically!

Posted on November 16, 2013 by geelw

EDIT: Edited!

No, not those popular (but slipping in sales as of late) fruit-named hi-tech devices of many uses, but the more popular (and slipping off a tree branch, so get with the dodging, Newton!) fruit that makes some great pies, sauce, leather and other stuff you might not enjoy if other things were labeled as such. Crow pie is terrible, Kudzu sauce? Nasty! Llama leather? Awful AND it makes you seriously gassy! Anyway, next week should be pretty hard on Whovians who haven’t yet invested in that digital delay device or happen to have BBC America on their Free on Demand service in case they miss anything thanks to actual work or play activities. My own schedule suggests I’ll be playing catch up unless I go and “EXTERMINATE!” a few tasks early. I probably won’t break my routine all that much, as that tends to do nothing but make time holes in a few areas where I don’t need them (or have had to do a simple patch job that doesn’t need any further fiddling.

BandFuse: Rock Legends Updates: The Clips Just Keep On Comin’…

Posted on November 16, 2013 by geelw

Just a few more days before it drops into retail and it looks as if BandFuse: Rock Legends has a few more surprises up its sleeves. Check out the third “Fused Thoughts” above and that cool upright bass clip below for some quick fun you can have with the game when it lands on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 November 19, 2013.

YES, I said PS3 and Xbox 360 – it may be “next-gen” time in some circles, but there are MORE of those older consoles STILL in use than both of the new ones (yeah, yeah, that Xbox One isn’t out ’til the 22nd, but it’s still going to be outnumbered by Xbox 360’s for a while yet). And yes indeed, that launch Party at the House of Blues was (wait for it)… rockin’ pretty hard with Slash and Bootsy playing like there’s no tomorrow.

Thankfully, there WILL be a tomorrow (and a few more after that!) or else this game wouldn’t even come out, right? Yeah, I knew you’d agree…

Random Indie Game of the Week: Last-Last-Last-Last-Last-Gen Isn’t Dead: EPIC ELF 2 Is Out!

Posted on November 15, 2013 by geelw

Little in-joke there, but yeah! Spirit Young is BACK with the sequel to his ridiculously amusing RPG parody/satire/whatever he wants to call it that got improved with an update he did later, Epic Elf, a RPG Maker 2003 game that I liked because it made me laugh a wee bit too much. I’ve only put about a half hour into EE2, but it gets the grins going early (specifically if you’re a fan of old school JRPGs) and it looks as if they’ll keep coming for as long as the game is. Oh yeah, the PlayStation 4 came out today. I don’t have one (yet), but it’ll get here eventually. Heck, if SCEA puts in a RPGMaker.net channel on PSN, I’ll get one sooner than later. Anyway, check this game out if you recall the days of 8 and 16-bit RPGs eating up your weekends and free time like a termite nest taking out a cheap Ikea table.

STL Ocarinas Have You Middle-Earth Fans In Mind This Holiday Season…

Posted on November 15, 2013 by geelw

While licensed movie swag is indeed cool to buy and own, in some cases, specifically with fantasy films like The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings trilogy it can get you into a good deal of trouble under the wrong conditions. Granted, a nifty T-shirt, cap or other wearable isn’t going to cause anyone grief at all (unless you’re wearing all that to some sort of formal dress meeting), but that replica sword and shield? Yeah, try toting those down the street on a fine day and you’ll be face down on the pavement surrounded by the local gendarme. Fortunately, the fine folks at STL Ocarina has an option that will not only keep you OUT of trouble, it might garner you some local fans in the process.

Their 6 Hole Lord of the Rings Shield Ocarina ($32.99) plays in C5 to E6 pitch and is a perfect gift for yourself or anyone who wants a little more music in their life. Don’t know how to play the ocarina? No worries there, chief. You can actually download free tablatures from STL’s website and learn anywhere you can carry that new tune-maker you’ve just picked up or gotten as a gift. Other than being terminally lazy, you have no excuse not to, I say. With your new instrument (which, by the way is made of high quality ceramic and comes in a gorgeous black and silver) you can soothe a few savage breasts, perhaps charm some rodents to follow you out of town to the nearest body of deep water (whereupon you’ll find that they actually swim pretty well – they’ll thank you for that trip to the lake or beach, by the way) and probably make some new friends in the process.

STl also has a load of other fine ocarina from plastic to video game and comic licensed to collectible artisan-quality models, all of which should please that person looking for something unique this holiday season (or any other time, for that matter). So you know what to do, right? Of course, if you run into any wayward gold-hoarding dragons in your travels, you’d better hope that you’ve learned to playing something really cool on that new Ocarina. I think it will survive the fire blast pretty well, but it doesn’t make much of a decent shield unless you’re just under 3.5 inches tall and can hide behind it…

Need For Speed Rivals Launch Trailer: Fasten Your Seatbelts (And Wear Well-Padded Pants)…

Posted on November 14, 2013 by geelw

If any studio is going to master this new hardware first, my money is on Criterion and Ghost Games and their Need For Speed games. Granted, Need For Speed Rivals is a purely arcade-like game experience and racing fans who want more in the way of total car customization and more racing viewpoints will gripe a bit about the game as they usually do with other racers. Me, I’ll just be jamming on the gas, sliding through turns and causing all sorts of mayhem while enjoying the scenery and trying to wreck as little as possible. This one’s on current and next-gen consoles (not the Wii U, though – sorry!), so pick one and GO, I say. Online or off, it’s bound to be a blast.

BandFuse Rock Legends Update: Here’s Twofer For Your Thursday (Plus One)…

Posted on November 14, 2013 by geelw

Four days to go and the video fun is rolling out of Realta. Here are two quick and funny “Fused Thoughts” clips plus as a bonus track, it’s none other than Slash talking about his start playing guitar. All this leads up to what could be the most innovative real guitar learning experience on a console when BandFuse: Rock Legends hits PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 19. I’ve been working on my finger exercises, but just the lifting food to face part – I think the game will be teaching me much more useful skills, that’s for sure.

Next Car Game Update: Some Truly Smashing Alpha Gameplay…

Posted on November 14, 2013 by geelw

Of course, I knew the team at Bugbear was going to be going all out with this new demolition racer and for pre-alpha footage, this is really impressive. Yes, that car is purposely indestructible and YES, it’s that way to show off the game’s physics and all those lovely bits flying around when stuff is struck. Anyway, the game’s Kickstarter has 16 days to go and still needs a lot of pledges to make that $350,000 target, so if you’ve got a few spare bucks you need to unload and want to support a fine developer who loves making crazy racing experiences, give a little and get a lot back, I say. Hell, I want this to succeed only so the team can maybe make another Glimmerati game for a few platforms…

Jimmy and Ice-T Put The PS4 On The Hot Spot…

Posted on November 14, 2013 by geelw

Alright, it’s a given: CUTE ROBOTS SELL CONSOLES. And SUPER-cute virtual robots you can play with and/or kick around the room? When the audience goes “D’aaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!” more than five times a minute? Yeah, there’s Christmas in a box for Sony right there.

Okay, despite my occasional cranky side acting up from time to time, I’ll have to admit that Jimmy Fallon always gets me excited about gaming despite me having a longer history with them than he has. Granted, it’s his great enthusiasm for the medium and NOT his play style (that tends to lean towards the “Boy, do I suck at these games but I’m having FUN!” although he did beat Ice-T at that Pong variant) that’s hard to fake. And yep, game companies love him, Conan and anyone else they can get a console and controller to. Of course, none of them love ME, but that’s more my fault than theirs at the end of the day. Oh well, we’re workin’ on it… we’re workin’ on it. I’m thinking of writing a fake e-book (not really) called “How To Get The Respect You Deserve Without Being A Total Ass or Total Suck-Up” but we’ll say no more about that unless we want to be called a total ass. Or a total suck-up. Not too good at either of those, but I can swing both ways once I take some lessons. Is the Learning Annex still open here in NYC?

Valhalla Knights 3 Gets MORE New DLC. Game Definitely NOT Over!

Posted on November 13, 2013 by geelw

Wait, what? OK, I missed last week’s update thanks to me being buried in too many other games and other stuff, but it’s all good. So far I’m spending too much time playing this game and it seems Xseed Games NEVER wants me to stop. New content packs include last week’s “Good Cat Food” and “Foreigners No. 1” DLC that add some figurative (or is it literal) walking around money (every step gains gold!) and a new class to unlock and THIS week’s “Lady Clerks Set” and “Foreigners No. 2” that add a few new girls to the shops and another new class to learn once you beat the tough boss it gives you in the quest you’ll find at one of the guilds.

Xseed has more to come next week and most likely for the next few weeks, all of which are great for this action/RPG that’s much better than the reviews are saying. I’ve one of my own reviews to write (it’s about half done) that should help anyone on the fence decide if this one’s worth their gaming dollar (it is, but it’s not perfect and NOT for the kiddies). Alright, let me shut up here and get back to the game as once again… thing are getting innnnteresting in the story. Of course, there’s that VK3 Gold Edition Japan is getting that adds a lot of improvements and such that I hope to heck we see here at some point… but I’ll let Xseed take care of that when they need to and not say another peep until it’s a confirmed release here in the U.S. of A….