Star Wars Humble Bundle: WANTED By Bargain Bounty Hunters Across The Universe!

Posted on February 10, 2015 by geelw

Holy cats. As I was hoping, the Humble Star Wars Bundle went from “Must Buy!” to “Oh, you’d BETTER Buy It NOW!” status. As you can see (well, once you pop your eyeballs back in from looking at the selection of games), the roster of titles got bumped up so that even if you pay the lowest possible price (a dollar a game), it’s a STEAL even a Corellian would pay for. Yow. Even if you skip that $12 tier and the three games that make up the deal, you’re getting enough games to keep you busy for months. As in you’ll probably still be playing by the time the new Star Wars movie hits theaters in December.

Yup, you know what you need to do, right? Force grab that wallet and force choke out that debit card, folks. Get enough games to zonk anyone into a digital coma and help charities in the process. You don’t need to be Yoda to realize this is a wise deal, Padawans. Now, get to it! You’ve got a galxy far, far away to save. or ruin, if that’s your thing. Anyway, this deal ONLY lasts until next Tuesday, so don’t wait (or pray that it’s altered any further, you cheapskates out there). Jump on this like it’s the last ship leaving Hoth or else you’ll regret it. Or at least your backlog will!

Star Wars Humble Bundle: You Won’t Need Force To Be Sold This One!

Posted on February 4, 2015 by geelw

Nope, not at all. In fact, there’s a very good chance you’re jumping on this link and slapping down the twelve dollars to unlock all nine titles as well as the surprise bonus games coming next week. The two Knights of the Old Republic games are worth that price and Republic Commando was and is very underrated gem that’s a solid FPS as well as fairly amusing in spots thanks to a snappy scripting job. The rest of the lot (so far) is an interesting selection of genres from straight up action to real-time strategy without the resource gathering and makes for an excellent deal for the money.

As for what those upcoming additions to the bundle are, it’s tough to say. It would be nice to see more Jedi Knight games make it into the bundle, as both Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II with the Mysteries of the Sith expansion and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast were pretty impressive for their respective times. Jedi Academy is okay and fun to play, but those two other game were sweet spot central, bumping up the visual quality and gameplay to nice heights.

Given that it looks as if whatever games Disney comes up with in the future will be meant to replace these mostly classic Star Wars experiences, this bundle comes not only recommended, but also comes with the recommendation that you give it as a gift to anyone tho know who’s a fan of the films (and has a decent gaming PC). That, and a portion of those Republic Credits you spend on this deal will go to two charities: Star Wars: Force for Change and Unicef’s US Fund. Already, over 191,000 of this bundle have flown out of the Humble Bundle site, meaning a lot of people out there know a fantastic deal when they see it. Anyway, you know what to do, Padawans, so I’ll let you get to it.

R.I.P., Lucasarts (Earn It, Mittens. EARN IT).

Posted on April 4, 2013 by geelw

If I were a REALLY cranky and cynical bastard, I’d say Disney REALLY killed off Lucasarts (and pretty much anything Star Wars related in the game space forever) so cheaper to make casual games like Mittens could live. Sacrifice that expensive cash-draining bigger studio and two solid-looking works in progress along with that formerly proud sci-fi IP (that still has a gigantic fan base, mind you) that’s had a bunch of not-so-hot games mixed in with a few winners over the years for this cute kitten and a ton of other faster to cash in mobile and social titles? Sure, why not? Any non-gaming industry analyst worth his salt (and a few who do, I’d bet) will say it makes PERFECT economic sense at the end of the day (albeit at the cost of too many jobs at a newly shuttered studio)…

Hey, all is not lost, right? Disney still has some of its own famous (and new original) properties that are SURELY guaranteed a huge audience based on that company name recognition alone? And hey, NO one will miss Lucasarts save for a “vocal minority” (as we get called by the executive types who trumpet these casual games and their monetizing schemes over “risky” IP with a shaky track record).

Yeah, sure… that’s the ticket…

Fortunately, I’m NOT that guy… I think. So long Lucasarts. Hopefully, the Force will be with those now unemployed.

Need Another Reason to Beat Up on Star Wars? Try Installing Knights of the Old Republic On A PC That SHOULD Play It…

Posted on September 18, 2012 by geelw

With few exceptions, I haven’t had any major issues installing and running older games on my PC, but every once in a while, I get hit with a problem child. While I’m still using Windows XP, I have more than enough memory, an external HDD and a pretty decent nVidia video card (that runs almost everything I’ve thrown at it just fine). Overall, I’m pleased with the results (especially as I don’t play many modern shooters or games that demand an annual or biannual update to a new card just to show off nice and shiny stuff but deliver nothing new in terms of gameplay). Anyway, I finally got stymied big time by of all things, one of my favorite console games I just picked up in its PC incarnation. Worse still, it seems that a lot of other people are having the same (or even more extreme) problems once they manage to install this classic.

Since it was released on the original Xbox back in 2002, I’ve replayed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic at least once a year because it’s a damn good game and like a good book, it deserves a fresh read every so often. After a few years of ignoring the PC port (I was perfectly pleased with digging out the console version), I finally decided to pick up a copy of the PC version mostly to see how it would look at a higher resolution and with whatever improvements any patches added. Turns out, it was Darth Glitchy working the production droids to death in some sweatbox on Dantooine and giving Jabba the Hutt his 70% cut of the profits, as I can’t even get the damned game to install, let alone play…

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Star Wars 1313 Gamescom Trailer: So Far, The Force Is Strong In This One…

Posted on August 17, 2012 by geelw

I’m not the firmest believer in the whole “uncanny valley” thing game developers are striving for in the upcoming generation of console and PC games where visuals get so realistic that you can’t tell whether you’re watching a CG trailer or actual game footage. However, I’ll give credit where credit is due to the dev team at Lucasarts working so hard towards that goal with their upcoming Star Wars game. Granted, at the end of the day, story and gameplay matter even more than even the best visuals in the galaxy for my money. Hopefully, this will be a game for the ages that’s got longevity (as in replay value) and legs (as in sequel power where we don’t just get a retread of what’s come before). As always… we shall see, right?

Telltale Games Celebrates International Talk Like A Pirate Day With Free (Monkey Island) For All!

Posted on September 19, 2009 by geelw

That’s right, me mateys (Arrrr!) – to celebrate International Talk like a Pirate Day , Telltale Games and LucasArts be givin’ ye a chance to nab a FREE chapter in its award-winnin’ Tales of Monkey Island series for the PC… but thar be but one catch, mateys (Arrrr!). The freebie only lasts from midnight tonight (PST) to midnight Saturday, September 19th, 2009 (PST) , so those of ye readin’ this article had better get with the piracy and nab ye some free booty as soon as the clock strikes twelve bells, (Arrr!).

In addition, Telltale be practically givin’ away the entire season of Monkey Island for a mere pittance of $29.95. And hey, if ye happens to already owns the entire season, no need to raise that Jolly Roger! Telltale still wants to give ye somethin’ – a FREE episode of one of their other fine PC games, (Arrrr!)…

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