SOMA Update: Freaky Friday Nets You Two New Videos. Or Three…

Posted on October 11, 2013 by geelw

Frictional Games’ upcoming hybrid sci-fi/horror game, SOMA gets two nice new trailers in the form of another live action update and a gameplay teaser that’s popped up on Frictional’s YouTube channel and Sony’s PlayStation channel. That the game is coming to the PS4 as well as PC makes me smile because this may mean we see Frictional perhaps bring Amnesia: The Dark Descent to Sony’s new console or something all new and scary as hell to put horror fans under their couches.

And innnterestingly enough… the PS$ trailer is a WHOLE two seconds shorter than the PC version. Oooooh, creepy! OK, not creepy at all, folks – I have the window open and it’s chilly in here! Anyway, my eyes are peeled for this one to be a big fat sleeper hit. We’ll see. Of course, getting this on a DISC along with some of Frictional’s other games would be perfect, but we’ll see what happens with that soon enough…

Dustforce Trailer: This Sneaky Sweepy Game Could Lead To Good Clean Fun…

Posted on October 8, 2013 by geelw

I actually haven’t played Hitbox Team’s Dustforce yet thanks to my Steam Library being already packed with stuff I haven’t gotten to yet and the fact that I simply do not live on Steam like a lot of folks who swear by the service do. I’ve got a good 30 or so other consoles here and believe it or else, I play a few of them every month when I get the time, so digital games are generally low on the totem pole unless they’re highly recommended or I get a review code popping up in my inbox. That said, this looks pretty fun, quite amusing and right up my nostalgic alley on a few fronts. It’s also going to be a game I’ll recommend to cranky adults who say games are DIRECTLY responsible for all sorts of behavior. If that’s true, then I say forcing your kids to play this until they plotz will make them the cleanest kids EVER. You won’t even need to ask them to do the dishes, sweep up or clean that mucky oven out. You’ll open your mouth to speak, but *Poof!*, it’ll get DONE before a letter leaves your lips!

Dustforce arrives on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita this January. Oh yeah – don’t get mad at Capcom that this isn’t on the Wii U, kids. They’re only PUBLISHING the game. If you want to fire off a missive of cranky “importance” go bug the folks at Hitbox Team for not having a Wii U dev kit or whatever.

Strider NYCC Trailer: Hiryu Go Again!

Posted on October 8, 2013 by geelw

Capcom and developer Double Helix are counting on a combination of classic old school hard gameplay and a fan base who actually remembers the arcade classic or other versions of Strider to make this reboot a big hit and I think they’re on the right track. So far, the combination of lush 2D and 3D visuals, familiar gameplay with some nice twists and what I’m hearing is a high level of challenge should propel this to some decent scores and sales on anything it’s released on. Sadly, there’s no Wii U version (yet), but hopefully this error will be rectified sooner than later. Those Wii U owners tend to get mighty cranky when they feel they’re being screwed over, that’s for sure…

Gallery: Hello Kitty Kruisers (Wii U)

Posted on October 8, 2013 by geelw

I’ve found that one of the big secrets to enjoying life is smiling more and anything Sanrio is usually quite good for getting a grin going, no matter what your mood is. Austin-based Scarab Entertainment knows this, so they’re cooking up a fun family friendly kart racer for the Wii U and mobile devices (with other platforms TBA) called Hello Kitty Kruisers, set for a Q4 2013 release from publisher Bergsala Lightweight.

Granted, I’m betting the bulk of you fist-pumping, caffeine swigging uber-core gamers are probably cringing from all the bright colors searing your eyeballs and rainbow juice splashing onto your keyboards scaring that mouse you were clicking under your seat. But, hey… I say everyone needs a too cute for words game in their libraries just to break up the monotony of grays, browns, greens and whatever color big explosions are.

Besides, EVERYONE loves Hello Kitty – they just don’t all admit it in public. For those of you immune to the charms of Miss Five Apples Tall (weight, three apples!), you’d better put on those sunglasses now if you dislike bright colors in super shiny HD, folks – things are about to get Kitty up in here:

Screens above, press release below the jump.

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Stuff You Can’t Unsee: So Much For Good Star Wars Memories…

Posted on October 7, 2013 by geelw

Eep, Opp, Ork, Ugh. To quote a certain dark Jedi, NOOOOOOOOOO!

OK, I automatically shut down the thought of even looking at any images or reading up on a lot of info when George Lucas sold off Star Wars to Disney, but this picture popped up in an email I got the other day and it made me laugh and cringe simultaneously because a few years back it would have been someone really good with Photoshop who cooked this up and not the reality it’s turned out to be…

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Sniper Elite 3 Trailer: Rebellion’s Up for Another Shot. Are You?

Posted on October 4, 2013 by geelw

Talk about going out with a bang. 505 Games and UK developer Rebellion are following up their successful Sniper Elite V2 and Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army with a new game that leaves a destroyed Berlin for the hot and dusty sands of Africa (or that’s what I’m gathering from this trailer). Granted, blasting holes in assorted Nazis may not be your cup of tea and nope, this isn’t a historical recreation at all, folks. But there’s always that odd satisfaction one gets from this series of tinkering with old history one bullet at a time for all the right reasons, of course…

Your Friday Evening Slight Freakout, Courtesy Frictional Games

Posted on October 4, 2013 by geelw

Hmmm. It looks as if Frictional Games is working on a new horror game and as this slow burner of a live action teaser shows, it will have a sci-fi angle. I’m a huge fan of the developer’s three Penumbra games and Amnesia: The Dark Descent and while I’ve yet to play their latest, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (developed by The Chinese Room), the mixed reactions I’ve seen and heard make me more intrigued because it seems some were expecting one thing and got something else entirely that stands up on its own for the most part. Anyway, the new game (which seems to be titled SOMA) already has a teaser site up that’s intentionally designed to look a bit glitchy, so don’t freak out if you click on that link and see some garbage on your screen for a spell.

As for gameplay and screens? Well, I guess I’ll keep an egg peeled on my inbox and see what pops up in there. Back in a bit with more on this one once that happens…

Thief “The Bank Job” Pre-Order Bonus Has Me Thinking Stolen Thoughts…

Posted on October 2, 2013 by geelw

…As in I’ve seen plenty of annoying comments from people who think this game will be awful because Looking Glass Studies isn’t working on it, the color palette is too blue and black, the “stealth” seems easier and so forth and so on. All of this by looking at movies and screens from a game that’s not even done. Wow, the psychic prowess on internet trolls is REMARKABLE sometimes (well, ALL the time), isn’t it? I say shut up and wait for that knock on the door that will be followed by a conk to the noggin if you were silly enough to fling that door wide open without checking first. It’ll be Garrett reminding you that this reboot is probably going to have some stuff you haven’t yet seen and might actually be fun if you pipe down and hold out for a demo and/or maybe some ratings (although, if you rely on those solely to buy games, there’s something mildly to moderately wrong with you). Opinions are only worth the time to read these days if the person is at least INFORMED, not speculating to the point of draining the brainpower of anyone who reads their scribblings about how little they know about everything and how that lack of fact makes them an “expert” because the scream the loudest and their soapbox has spinning rims or whatever…

Lichdom Gallery: Looks Like A Magical RPG Experience for PC Gamers…

Posted on September 25, 2013 by geelw

Atlanta-based developer Xaviant is hard at work on what’s looking like an incredible new role-playing game, Lichdom (which in those screens below seems to be subtitled Redeemer). The currently PC-only title, (powered by AMD and Crytek’s highly versatile CRYENGINE) is centered around some rather heavy magic spell usage and as you can see in that trailer above, those spells pack quite a wallop. From what I’ve read on their YouTube channel, the game isn’t an open world experience at all, but promises to have an extreme level of immersion (always a good thing in a game such as this).

While those screens below don’t show off any in-game character models (that trailer above does nicely enough at that), but does feature some very nicely detailed environments that yes, recall Skyrim and a few other RPGs of the soon to be previous generation.

Even in an early graphics test the game looked magnificent, so it’s definitely going to be a PC card melter when it’s finally completed. That said, this is exactly the sort of game the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One need to lure in gamers who don’t see any RPGs on the horizon, so there’s hopefully at least some consideration given to porting the game over at some point (after it launches on PC, of course).

As for the game’s story, main character and other details, well… that’s below the jump in handy press release form (of course)…

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TGS 2013: Ah, So… THAT’S What a Lily Bergamo Is… Maybe.

Posted on September 23, 2013 by geelw

Well, OK… I still don’t know what this is other than the first PlayStation 4 game coming from Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51 for GungHo Online Entertainment. That one-two punch, by the way, means you’ll be getting a truly wild experience that has to be played to be believed. I think this is only the third game they’ve done with a sole female lead (if you count Sine Mora), so there’s another interesting thing to consider (at least if you’re like me). According to Gematsu, Lily Bergamo is an online action game meant to be played with smartphones and the PS4, but if that is indeed the case, I need to get someone over at GungHo and grasshopper to realize that the VITA needs to be in that mix somewhere, as it’s quite silly to skip something so obvious that even someone as dumb as me has figured out from early on (that the Vita needs MORE cool games like this!). And oh yeah, that gal in the teaser isn’t named Lily or Bergamo. She’s called Tae Ioroi, meaning now I’m all confused again about just what the heck this game is all about (and why it’s not coming to the obvious Vita or slightly less obvious upcoming Vita TV “console”). Eh, it’s still quite early in development and yep, things will change for better or worse (or somewhere in between as a happy middle ground)…