House Shark: Become A Chum, Help This Indie Horror Comedy Get Made

Posted on January 30, 2016 by geelw

House Shark Poster

A killer “B” in the making, House Shark caught my eye (ow!) with its intentionally cornball “Jaws in a house” plot and liberal doses of humor and primarily practical effects work. SRS Cinema and veteran indie director Ron Bonk (there needs to be a cartoon sound effect here) is looking for like-minded horror fanatics to help him fund his latest venture with a mere $15,000 target between those who donate and the completed film. There are 22 days left to get this show on the road (or back on the road), so if you’re a fan of low-budget gore and spirited film making in a jugular vein, you know where you’re clicking next.

(Thanks, SRS CinemaLLC!)

In English: Check out the Indiegogo campaign here and take note that contributing at least $60 to funding will net you (among other rewards) House Shark on one of three formats (VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray), you’ll also get a copy of his upcoming homage to female revenge flicks of the 1970’s, She Kills (that trailer isn’t for the kiddies, folks!). You can also choose to dive into the shallow end of the pool and get less perks or belly flop into the ocean as a high roller and actually be an EXTRA or even one of the film’s producers if you’re willing to travel.

Hmmm… does anyone want to ring up a certain wealthy, wild-haired egomaniac running for office and get him off the trail for a few weeks? Sharking in a house in upstate NY just may be more up his alley than stirring up all those hornet nests all over the place. Better to have him in the real entertainment business than making a “reality” show out of more serious stuff, I say.

Lovely Planet Arcade: The Unknown Known Gets A Fast Followup

Posted on January 16, 2016 by geelw

I’ve heard about, but actually NEVER played Lovely Planet (*gasp!*), so I guess I now need to, thanks to developer QUICKTEQUILA and publisher tinyBuild Games announcing this maybe it’s a sequel? return to the colorful pastel world of the first game. If the zippy and amusing videos of the first game are any indication as to what’s in the second, players can expect a load of challenge and even more good times when the game jumps out of the developer’s talented hands and lands on Steam later this year. Hey, don’t trust me on that last sentence at all – just go read about the game using on of the links above.

I think by the time LPA is released I’ll have played the first game. I hope. My backlog is a mountain of code that needs to be scaled and the clock is always ticking…

Road to Ballhalla: Brains of Steel Required in This Humorous Hybrid

Posted on January 15, 2016 by geelw

tinyBuild is at it again with another upcoming game bound to entertain and get you out of the casual funk into something far funkier. Road to Ballhalla is coming around the middle of 2016 and if that trailer bove is any indication, it will make a mockery of your gaming skills while teaching you a few things about proper reading comprehension. This will lead to you ignoring real world stuff like speed limit signs or proper parking procedures, which in turn will lead to you having to fight tickets of all sorts by explaining how this game taught you not to trust everything you read. Aha. tinyBuild wants you to disobey rules and orders just so you’re super cautious but still make ridiculous mistakes because you’re silly enough to take what a game it teaching you about IT and try to use those rules in the real world.

tinyBuild, you are EVIL. I still want to play all your games, though (so you’re not so evil after all).

The Final Station: A Hell of a Commute Coming Your Way

Posted on January 14, 2016 by geelw

What the heck is going on over at tinyBuild Games these days? All they seem to do is make games, and damn good ones at that. That’s not supposed to happen at all, folks. Where are the crowdfunded failures, the whiny employees griping about long hours as they spend too much time hanging out on message boards responding to the slightest complaint about an Early Access game that didn’t work or ate someone’s save files? Nope, I don’t see that here. Just more games that want me to play them when they’re out. Stupid indie developer!

All kidding aside, tinyBuild’s upcoming The Final Station looks really fantastic. Take one part survival horror, one part train simulator and you get innovation wrapped up in yummy, excellently animated pixel visuals that end up more lifelike than some big buck AAA release that has every map bumped and requires you to upgrade your 3D card. Anyway, go add this one to your Steam wishlist (it’s set for a summer 2016 launch) and be prepared for more, as this week the developer has been introducing a new upcoming title for the last three days with a fourth and final one to get an announcement tomorrow. I’ll do a post on each as soon as I un-bury myself from a little backlog I’m staring at.

The Angry Birds Movie Update: Blake Shelton Is A Big Fat Pig

Posted on January 6, 2016 by geelw

Hey now! Step away from the keyboard and put down that baseball bat, folks. Shelton IS a big fat (and green!) pig. Or more precisely, he’s voicing a big fat (and green!) CG pig named Earl in the upcoming The Angry Birds Movie:

Blake Shelton voices “Earl” in in Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation’s ANGRY BIRDS.

Of course, the filmmakers aren’t letting the man’s musical talents go to waste at all. The award-winning singer (and co-host of The Voice) is also lending his voice to the film’s soundtrack. No news as t what he’ll be singing or when it will be sung has been revealed, but there’s nothing wrong with a little (or big) surprise, I always say. Um, that does depend on the surprise, though. This counts as a good one.

Adding to an already talented cast that includes Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Hannibal Buress, Ike Barinholtz, Jillian Bell, Cristela Alonzo, Danielle Brooks, Romeo Santos, and the YouTube team known as Smosh (Anthony Padilla, Ian Hecox), it looks as if the film will be getting a few (well, a lot) more fans hoofing it to a theater new them when it opens this summer.

Land of A Thousand Gransys III: How’s Your German?

Posted on December 5, 2015 by geelw

(Thanks, GameStar!)

While I speak not a word of German, it’s not needed at all in this GameStar video preview of the upcoming PC version of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. I’m loving the now silky smooth frame rate and upgraded textures quite a lot and am definitely looking forward to diving into the game all over again. While some PC-only gamers may consider this “dated” by current standards, DD:DA has a fantastic sense of atmosphere that brings a solid level of realism to its graphics.

Well, if your description of realism includes a bestiary of mythical beasts trying their level best to kill your user created character dead and many times at that. Look for this one early next year, particularly if you happen to love action-heavy RPG experiences that do a few things differently and quite well at that.

Holiday Greetings From Some Not So Angry Birds

Posted on November 30, 2015 by geelw

Even the grumpiest Grinchy McScrooge, Esq. would get a chuckle or hoot out of this short promotional video cooked up to promote The Angry Birds Movie, headed to theaters in May 2016. It’s also the proper thing to do with an audio recording of kids who don’t know all the words to “Deck The Halls” trying their best to make it to the end of the song and failing miserably merrily at it. Of course, watch some overly enthusiastic Xmas supporters whine about this video not being in the proper spirit of the season or whatever when they should be chuckling at this while wearing a hideous holiday sweater and sipping a BIG cup of cocoa laced with something adult beverage-like. That bottle of peppermint schnapps Uncle Hugo game you two years back should come in handy right about now, I’d say.

The Angry Birds Movie: A Good Egg Is Getting Cooked Up For 2016

Posted on November 23, 2015 by geelw

While The Angry Birds Movie trailer met with the usual internet mix of smiles and grimaces (and the even more usual whines and moans from the haters), it really didn’t do much in the way of telling exactly what the film would be about. Cue Columbia Pictures and Sony sending out invites to assorted media folk to roll on by and see selected scenes from the still in production film presented by producer John Cohen in a fun behind the scenes “featurette” style like something you’d see on a Blu-Ray or DVD.

Invite in hand, this little piggy went for a stroll down to Sony’s midtown screening room for a spell and came up for air quite pleased and impressed by what was shown. I can’t reveal anything about the clips, but Cohen’s presentation was perfect and answered the big fat question many have had since the film was announced. That being how the heck a game with no story to speak of is getting a full on feature film. In short, a story was written specifically for the characters in the game and how they first meet. It’s the three-act structure in full effect and as Cohen showed off artwork, character models and completed to in progress clips from the film, any skepticism I may have felt about the project was a distant memory long before his presentation ended.

Okay, it was less than ten minutes in is when I felt the film would be a great way to get fans of the game as well as non-fans into theaters next May… Continue reading →

Attack on Titan & Arslan: The Warriors of Legend: Omega Force Still Has Some Chops

Posted on September 26, 2015 by geelw

I’ve been a fan of Omega Force’s work since Dynasty Warriors and Destrega on the original PlayStation shook up the fighting game genre. Of course, like many fans, Dynasty Warriors 2 was the game that made me really fall for the developer. While that series has seen quite a few entries and spin-offs into other series, it’s been their work on licensed and original games using that familiar engine that have really been the ones to watch. Between the Dynasty Warriors Gundam games, Fist of the North Star, Hyrule Warriors and now the one-two punch coming to consoles soon in the form of Attack on Titan and Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, it’s been fun to see Omega Force take on popular anime and game characters as they bring their Musou engine into new territory.

It’s too bad a great little sleeper like Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll on the PS3 never got the attention it deserved. That game is worth tracking down thanks to it being more of an action/RPG than a straight up Dynasty Warriors clone. A bit tougher to track down but worth it Warriors: Legends of Troy. While it’s not an Omega Force game (Koei Canada did the programming job), it takes elements of the Musou games, adds some M-rated gore (in a nod to Zach Snyder’s version of 300) and makes for a nice and lengthy diversion once you’re hooked in. Another sleeper (but one that hasn’t been forgotten) is Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War, which earlier this year got a PS4 and Xbox One update/sequel called Bladestorm: Nightmare.

Both Attack on Titan and Arslan: The Warriors of Legend are coming to PS4, PS3,and PlayStation Vita with North American release dates for AoT to be announced as they get closer to completion. Arslan lands in Japan October 1st for PS3 and PS4, and it seems that Europe and North America will get these two plus an Xbox One version at some point.

Dark Souls III Hands-On: Reliable And Improved, Yet Death’s Still Got The Edge

Posted on August 26, 2015 by geelw

The nice list of changes and improvements to Dark Souls III may fool some players into believing the series has gone soft in its third installment. However, FromSoftware and the assorted AI enemies out for your digital scalp will be laughing at those who take this upcoming PC, PS4 and Xbox one game lightly. While the game adds new charge attack and block-breaking moves to the already fine repertoire, all that really means is expert Souls players will have some new skills to make shorter work of certain enemies and new players will need to learn this isn’t a straight-up hack and slash game at all. The demo shown at Bandai Namco’s NYC event was thrilling and a ton of deadly fun to play.
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