Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 4 Preview: On The Other Hand…

Posted on April 14, 2013 by geelw

Yikes… and double yikes. How about that ending to this week’s show, hmmmm? Wow. Let’s give the writers a BIG hand (har har). I totally didn’t expect it, but hey – that’s the good thing about going in cold to each episode, folks. I will get in a big wag of the finger here and say that LAST week’s preview was a total bait and switch job, as it looks as if someone else was going to be in some nasty trouble and not you-know-who. Well, that happens with every TV show, so I guess I can’t complain. Anyway, I’m being more intentionally vague than usual just in case you haven’t seen Episode 3 yet. OK, back to breathing normally…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Art Appreciation (2)…

Posted on April 13, 2013 by geelw

As far as I can tell, Greenvale doesn’t have much of an art “scene”, but if you look around, you’ll see art in the strangest places. Sure, you can stroll about and see the occasional park sketch artist of passers-by and trees and such, and yes indeed there are pet painters and a few brave folks who paint in public for all to admire (or not). But I’d say the most gruesomely gorgeous art has to be by the Red Seeds Killer, who’s a bit hard to track down for a one-on-one interview session. Granted, posing for one of his works means you’re probably not going to make it home for supper, but chalk that up to him being a truly modern artist reinventing the medium on a few levels because he refuses to die for his art like some have done in the past. Of course, killing one’s models in order to create is kind of a not so nice way to make a living, so it’s a great thing he’s only in a very strange video game and not a real-life personality. Er, don’t go telling this to FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!), as I think that would upset his investigation somewhat…

Can you EVEN imagine a documentary about an artist who kills his or her subjects but becomes hugely popular because of that way of making art? Yikes. Of course, this isn’t going to happen (well, not THIS year), but you can kinda sorta pretend you’re part of a crazy performance art piece when you play Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, headed exclusively to the PlayStation 3 from Rising Star Games. Featuring over 100 improvements over the original game, refined HD graphics, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, all-new DLC and more, it’s basically an art appreciation AND game appreciation class all in one for less than it costs to hit a few real museums (well, if you only go to museums where you have to pay admission to get in)…

Speaking of artistic things, Game Director Swery 65 often gets into the picture in a few ways even if he’s not doing anything but waking up in the morning. Thanks to his controversial creation, fans are always sending him artwork of all types and to any creative person, this sort of praise by creation is more often than not a welcome thing to experience. If I were a LOT less busy strolling around Greenvale and seeing the sights, I’d try and whip up a little something of my own to share with him. But alas, I’m so tied up with stuff to do that I can barely get these daily updates out on time. Man, if I could only think up SOMETHING clever to show him I’m just as big a fan of his work as anyone. Hmmm… I’ll come up with some way one of these days….

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: It’s A Dog’s Life…

Posted on April 12, 2013 by geelw

“Spotted dogs have appeared throughout history in Europe, Asia, and Africa, credited with a dozen nationalities and as many native names. The dog we know today as the Dalmatian has been a dog of war, a draft dog, shepherd, ratter, fire-apparatus follower, firehouse mascot, bird dog, trail hound and retriever. Most importantly, he is the original and only coaching dog. His affinity for horses remains a basic instinct to this day and the breed is a natural follower and guardian of the horse-drawn vehicle.”

Source: American Kennel Club

So, now that you know you don’t need 101 (or 102) Dalmatians at all to keep a child safe, ladies and gents… just one really well-trained one. The again, I’d bet a forest full of those spotted dogs would be keeping that creepy Red Seeds Killer a bit more at bay (pun intended) and FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!) a lot less busy…

Anyway, make sure you don’t go howling at the moon yourself because you missed out on picking up a copy of Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, headed exclusively to the PlayStation 3 on April 30, 2013 from Rising Star Games. Featuring over 100 improvements over the original game, refined HD graphics, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, all-new DLC and MORE. You’ll only find out what a dog and small child are doing mixed up in all this only if you play the game (no, the ghost of W.C. Fields isn’t in the game at all, but it would be funny to those who remember his work), so now that you’re curious, you can get on board the same train to Greenville a lot of us are already riding.

Off topic (woof!), Yesterday was Game Director Swery 65’s birthday! For real! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! OK, because I didn;t know about this until after the fact, I didn’t get him a gift at all. Er, except that post I wrote for that day, so I feel a bit bad about that. The again, he really liked the post, so it’s all good in the end. I suppose it WOULD be bad form to let him know what MY birthday is (it’s coming up next month), but if he asks me, I’ll let him know right away…

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Enemies Video: Eight Million (More) Ways To Die…

Posted on April 12, 2013 by geelw

Gran Soren just got a whole lot more dangerous. Seriously. Granted, it already WAS pretty deadly as it was teeming with all creatures great and small wanting to grind your party’s bones to make their bread (or a tasty filling for that bread), but the mad wizards at Capcom have worked in plenty of new not so wee beasties guaranteed to send you into a frenzy of running away if you’re too weak a character to handle it. On the other hand, if you’ve got the buff stuff and no bluff, you can tough it to those creatures rough until they’d had more than enough. Yeah, I liked Basil Wolverton’s bizarre comics as a kid, so sue me. Or go track down some of his freaky funnies.

Anyway, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 on April 23, 2013) brings you the COMPLETE original game, ALL the DLC packs AND an entirely new adventure all for a measly $40. This means your friends who missed out can hop in and start off and see what’s what, while YOU, dear reader (well, if you played the original) can upload your save files and beat up on those bruisers with relish. Well, the relish they were going to slather all over that bread they were going to get to baking…

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: Not A Joke After All, But Full Of Laughs Nonetheless…

Posted on April 12, 2013 by geelw

OK, other than clicking on the page on April 1 and entering the Konami Code on my keyboard to blow up all the stuff on the site with clicks, I ignored this “game” because it was pretty obvious that it was an April Fool’s gag gone viral. Hell, NO ONE would make a game like that after Duke Nukem Forever, Bulletstorm and a few other humor-centric shooters didn’t exactly set the world on fire. That and hell, Crytek was too busy working on stuff like Warface, Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 DLC plus whatever else they’re cooking up, so this HAD to be a big, fat joke. Welllll, to quote Ah-nuld in that gun shop scene from The Terminator… WRONG.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is not only real, it’s a standalone game that doesn’t require owning the original version of Far Cry 3 to play, looks completely nuts and sorry to say, isn’t going COMPLETELY old school because it’s a DIGITAL-ONLY release. Hell, if Ubisoft were smarter about this retro thing, they’d get this out in a LIMITED edition for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and sell it on that fake online shop they’ve set up on the Blood Dragon site. Do one run and that’s it for physical copies. They’d certainly get the attention of core gamers, collectors and those who just want more options in how they play their games, that’s for sure.

Hopefully Ubisoft and their PR will pay attention to my non-negotiable demands and make this happen as a retail product – I can see a bunch of people snapping this up if it’s packing the heat they expect.

PREVIEW: Dark Souls II: It’s Not Easy Being Green (Or Hardcore, For That Matter)…

Posted on April 12, 2013 by geelw

If there were ANY doubts that Dark Souls II would “go casual” among the pack of journalist-types who attended Namco Bandai’s Global Gamers Day last week here in NYC, those were squashed VERY flat by the mighty throwing of one VERY large axe by an enemy during a demonstration of the game. While the team at FromSoftware’s main design goal is to make the game more “accessible” to players, to the producers that word (which means “casual” to some gamers) meant accessibility ONLY in terms of making sure the game’s pacing put players into even MORE dangerous situations much faster than in Demon’s Souls and the first Dark Souls. Fetch-questing for NPCs has been minimized and backtracking through enemy infested areas is out (although you CAN choose to explore anywhere you like), replaced by a refined warp system and areas where surviving enemies and the insanely deadly environments will become your primary challenges. Continue reading →

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: Soup to Nuts & Out of a Jam…

Posted on April 11, 2013 by geelw

“Ruh-Roh”. Welllll, this COULD go three ways for FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York… and call him a cab, as he’s going to need one if he makes a clean getaway from that Red Seeds Killer). He could try and engage the mad killer he’s been seeking for a while in a physical altercation (not a good thing if it’s suit-wearing fisticuffs against ratty robe wearing axe-swinging). He could try to put him down with a couple of well-placed shots from that gun he’s hopefully carrying (since he IS a FBI agent, he SHOULD be carrying his gun when exploring such a freaky location, right?)… OR he could remember that old comedy movie classic that was on TV late last night and attempt to confuse the killer completely before getting away in that cab you called.

“What old movie?” You ask, dear reader? Well, like I said… it’s a CLASSIC:

I think that Red Seeds Killer is in for quite a surprise. He’ll never see this coming, that’s for damn sure…

And just how will YOU get away from that axe-wielding maniac when you’re playing Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, coming exclusively to the PlayStation 3 on April 30, 2013? While you’re trying to decide that, make sure to take note of the updated HD visuals, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support, over 100 improvements over the original version and much more. Well, don’t spend TOO much time ogling those tweaks and letting that axe swinger get too close. Losing your head while checking out the scenery is only supposed to happen when you’re on vacation. Well, this long trip to Greenvale I’m taking IS sort of a vacation… but it’s certainly not what I’d call ANYTHING resembling a paradise. PROTIP: try running away, actually. I don’t think that killer has much of a sense of humor (or knows who the hell The Marx Brothers are, for that matter)…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… Game Director Swery 65 is certainly feeling quite cool these days, as fans of his work have been whipping up some very nice artwork about his game and there have even been cosplay sightings at some recent conventions of certain characters from Greenvale. If you get REALLY lucky, you may even see Swery doing a bit of his own unique impression of York at one of these events, but pretend you’re thinking he’s adjusting his glasses because he’s not wearing a nice suit and tie like York has…

Movies You Didn’t Know You “Needed” A Sequel To (2): The Hangover Part III

Posted on April 11, 2013 by geelw

Yikes, AGAIN? OK, time out. Look, the first one was hilarious and unpredictable in a few ways and the second one felt as it was a tracing done by a wagon-load of monkeys on a very bad acid trip. This third installment in the Hangover series is giving me a hangover just from watching the trailer, but hey – it’ll do big at the box office I bet. Yeah, yeah, crude chuckles are here to spare (OK, I laughed twice), but I hope this is the final voyage of the starship Wolfpack, as you can’t go any further down unless you make the next one a straight to cable flick with an entirely new cast. Which is frightening enough for way too many reasons. Hmmm… let’s seven say months from that opening weekend to the DVD release, folks? Start your clocks in three, two, ONE…

Oh, how I miss the Marx Brothers…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Random Screenshot of the Day: A Slow Day At Work…

Posted on April 10, 2013 by geelw

For the record, it’s always been a hard job being in a video game, folks. Even In the old days, standing outside stamping your feet up and down as a flat sprite was a total pain in the ass (but your feet hurt more) and as you can imagine, BORING as hell. Better tech meant that in some games, you couldn’t just stand and/or stamp around in the same spot at all. “Routines” became the new thing and now, you HAD to walk around and look as if you were busy. Of course, in the virtual open world of Greenvale, even if you’re NOT in the game that day, you’ll need to be on call just in case there’s a random event or sudden call sent out for some sort of scary moment to rattle the player. Of course, if you end up missing that call thanks to your cab not arriving on time or some other stupid thing, you end up going home annoyed, disappointed and tired. Well, at least there’s always a fresh pot of boiling water on the stove for tea and the A&G Diner has a secret delivery service for town residents (and its creepier denizens) only. I hear the fried chicken is great today…

Anyway, keep this Shadow employed and scaring YOU half (or more) to death, I say! Pre-order a copy of Rising Star Games PlayStation 3 exclusive Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, headed to retail on April 30, 2013. Featuring updated HD visuals, over 100 improvements from the original release, PlayStation Move and 3D TV support and MORE, this game is guaranteed to make all those Shadows happy overtime collecting guys and gals. And it’s all about the overtime for these guys, as they LOVE doing what they do so well. FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan (just call him York!) may not feel the same way, as the more of them that get work that day he’s on the set, the more running like hell he needs to do. Sometimes, you can’t “kill” them all fast enough… or at all. You’ll see.

Occasional slow work days and long nights aside, everyone I’ve spoken to in Greenvale during this extended project has nothing but high praise for Game Director Swery 65. They say he’s always willing to listen to input about a scene and even lets the actors do a bit of ad-libbing, which really pays off in certain portions of the game. Like I said above, you’ll see…

Three More Game of Thrones-Related Videos (But You Won’t Mind At All, Right?)

Posted on April 10, 2013 by geelw

I thought not. Still, it’s been pretty amusing to listen to some people who don’t like the show because it’s “too _____ (fill in the blank)” and find out they’ve never read the books or watched more than a single episode or part of an episode before ducking out. Or worse, they always operate in Prudish Mode when it comes to their entertainment options. Color yourself No Fun Blue (it’s that crayon you never use in the big box) and put a sheet over your head, I say. Zzzzzz.

In actuality, I’ve only skimmed through one book a friend lent me before giving it back because I didn’t want to become completely tied to the printed work like some fans who pick at the show for not following events EXACTLY as written. The Walking Dead also has some fans who get nuts about continuity, but as I’ve said before, in both cases, MORE story is always a good thing. All action all the time (or too much of it in overkill mode) gets mind-numbing fast (see Starz’ Spartacus series for a good example).

Yeah, you’re entitled to an opinion around these parts, but unless you’re running for office, you’re not entitled to letting your brain do less work than it needs to, I say. A little depth and variety goes a long way (and not only in what you watch on TV, either).