Resident Evil Revelations 2 Goes The Episodic Game Route. This Is A Good Thing.

Posted on September 10, 2014 by geelw

Excellent. I was wondering when Capcom would take a page from Telltale Games and start releasing episodic versions of its Resident Evil franchise, but I guess I can wonder no longer. Set for an early 2015 launch, the upcoming multi-platform game Resident Evil Revelations 2 is going to be divided into four digital chapters and like Telltale’s chapter-based game experiences, there will be the option to buy a retail disc version that compiles all the chapters plus any additional content Capcom plans to add to the package. I’m a physical media guy myself, so this is a great thing to see even if it means waiting until all four weekly episodes are out and people are spoiling the story all over the internet. With a game such as this (and Telltale’s The Walking Dead series), I tend to tune out those annoying blabbers who spill the beans anyway. So I won’t have a thing spoiled and I won’t have to go to gamer prison for beating someone senseless with an old controller for ruining any surprises Capcom has in store.

RER2 is currently in development for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. Nice work in progress screens up there, huh? Anyway, back with more on this one soon…

VGA 101: Happy Birthday, Sega Dreamcast: “It’s Thinking”… But Probably About Better Times.

Posted on September 9, 2014 by geelw

Note: This isn’t at ALL a “complete history” of the console. It’s just more random off the top of the head wistful reminiscing!

(thanks, Wiidork!)

For one brief, shining moment (well, that moment lasted three years or so), Sega has many of us gamers on the edge of our seats and extremely happy about it. Once the US arm of the company deemed the Saturn “dead” and started peeling away support for it, there was a gap of time where we were wondering what was coming next. When whispers of a new and more powerful console code-named “Katana” started getting traction in the game press, followed up by early screenshots of works in progress, some fans were trumpeting that upcoming console as a redemption and return to form for the company and in Japan, while Saturn games were still being sold, it seemed that everywhere you went in some spots, ads popped up announcing something was coming from Sega that would be new, unusual and exciting. And oh, was it when it finally did arrive… Continue reading →

CREEPY Is 50 Years Old! Dark Horse Comics Is Having A Little Reading Party…

Posted on September 8, 2014 by geelw

And guess what ladies and germs? You’re allllllll invited! Well, provided you read at home or wherever you’re allowed to these days and just so happen to buy your very own copy of the upcoming celebratory tome, Creepy #18 (on sale October 8th at your favorite comic emporium in the physical or digital realm!). Hmmm, now that I think about it for a second, I’m actually creeped out because that damn magazine is as old as I am. Eeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaghh!. I think I’m more consistent and less scary than that old rag is, but I have my moments. Just you try to get in my way before I’ve had my coffee and you’ll see for yourself. Er, anyway… This special issue will feature the following content:

Cover: Dustin Nguyen (Batman Eternal)
Frontispiece: Arthur Baltazar (Itty Bitty Hellboy)

The Executor:
Script by Fred Van Lente (Conan the Avenger, Archer and Armstrong)
Art by Alison Sampson (Genesis)
Weird, supernatural goings on surrounding the death of Edgar Allen Poe and the posthumous editing and publishing of his work.

Over the River to Charlie:
Script by Corrina Bechko (Star Wars: Legacy, Planet of the Apes)
Art by Drew Moss (In the Dark)
Young girls are haunted throughout their childhood by a hanged man who’s taken up residence in their dollhouse.

Keeping Up with the Creepys:
Script and art by Peter Bagge (Hate)
Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie’s attempts to outdo each other with their classic rides escalates into neighborhood-destroying hilarity.

The Man Who Walked Through Walls:
Script by Dan Braun (Creepy consulting editor)
A man who discovers a way to become intangible takes his revenge on the neighbors who have wronged him.

Gallery:
Kevin Ferrera (Dead Rider)
Kelley Jones (Batman)
Eric Powell (The Goon)
Pete Woods (Terminator Salvation)
Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man)

Feel free to reserve this at that comic shop near you or just plop in and pick it up. Uncle Creepy will wait for you, you know. He KNOWS he’ll be haunting your dreams at some point, so he’s got all the time in the world…

TCM Wants You To Stay Up Late Weekends…With No Chaperone!

Posted on September 8, 2014 by geelw

Although unsupervised movie watching is ALWAYS a darn good idea in my book, TCM’s Underground kind of NEEDS a friendly yet slightly sinister guide to the treasures it holds within. Granted, the channel tried using a host in the past (Rob Zombie), but his tenure didn’t last all that long. I’d LOVE to do this job, as I know a bit about some of the films they run and don’t mind researching the ones I don’t know about. Then again, I’m not exactly the most exciting person on camera as I think I have an aversion to being filmed and I’m not at well-tempered enough to sit in a makeup chair (unless someone’s going to make me look like some monster from a 50’s “B” movie!).

Hmmm, perhaps a compromise is in order. I’ll pretend to host the films while watching at home (yeah, I’ll be talking out loud to my television. Quiet, you in the back!) and TCM can pretend to pay me for my efforts. Yeah, that should work out just FINE. La la la laaa. La la laaaa. I’m a STAR! (Cue the men in white coats in 3… 2… 1..)

It’s Sunday and You Need a Drink… But a Big Laugh Works Better.

Posted on September 7, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Faux Toez!)

Yeah, it’s been that sort of day here, but I won’t be like Charlie above, trying to scam my way to a better outcome. I like my work like I like my imported cheese: hard exterior, soft inside and slightly aromatic. Wait. That made not a lot of sense. Oh, I’m just delirious from walking up too early and buying a dozen cans of imported tomatoes for 88 cents a piece. One had a tiny puncture in in that I only noticed after I got home, so that had to go back and be replaced, as there’s nothing worse than getting a nice case of food poisoning from something like that. hey, better safe than stupid, i say. Anyway, I’m in the middle of a quick proofreading thing and some other stuff (like some dough proofing at home while I’m out typing this post). Let me let YOU go watch that flick above and laugh yourself silly while I get back to doing more productive stuff. Um, it’s a short, so you won’t need to make any popcorn unless you already have and it’s a serving or three you can wolf down in about fourteen minutes.

Back in a bit…

Random Film of the Week(end): Journey Into Fear

Posted on September 6, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, felixxxx999!)

Orson Welles may have not directed Journey Into Fear, but it sure looks and feels as if he was behind the lens or at least had a hand in setting up a few scenes. Featuring a bunch of Mercury Productions actors (Cotten, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead and others), a snappy, script by Welles, Joseph Cotten, Richard Collins and Ben Hecht (based on the Eric Ambler novel), the film is a spy drama with a fun cast and some great, memorable sequences that keep you hooked in right from the clever pre-credit opening sequence.

Cotten plays Howard Graham, an American munitions expert (or is that arms dealer?) who has to go on the run from a rather pesky Nazi assassin after an attempt is made on his life. Well, by “on the run”, the film means Graham has to temporarily separate from his wife (Ruth Warrick) and travel by steamship from Istanbul to Batumi (a Russian port city) to finalize a deal with the Turkish Navy. Wait, Turkey had a Navy back then? You learn something new every day, I suppose… Continue reading →

Bundle Fest Deals 4 & 5 Offer Up Pains, Trains, & More Awesome Deals…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by geelw

Ha! See what I did there? No? Oh well. I’ll let you off the hook this time because I just KNOW you were distracted by one of both of these awesome Bundle Stars deals. Go let of some Steam with the Trainz Bundle, which gives you Trainz Simulator 12 and eight DLC packs for a mere $3.99 (try getting a real train ticket for that price!). This surprisingly addictive set of train simulations and construction tools allow anyone to run their own railroad and even hop online to share content with other users anywhere in the world.

If, on the other hand you’re in the mood for a lot less train travel and a great deal more fantasy and horror coming your way, well… the Night Dive Bundle has your name stamped all over it. Classic RPGs Wizardry VI, VII and VII are here, as is the scary sci-fi masterpiece, System Shock 2 (looking better than the trailer shows thanks to some great patches that come with the game install). You’ll also get the gory adventure chiller, Harvester, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (the great Harlan Ellison story that was turned into quite a memorably bleak adventure game experience), More horror with Shadowman, The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, and finally, the intentionally “buggy” tale of a very unique cockroach in Bad Mojo: Redux $3.49 nets you these nine titles and you’ll get a few weeks or longer out of the Wizardry games alone.

Summer may be coming to a close, but these two deals will make your backlog GROW like it’s spring inside your computer’s hard drive, I say! That goodness can be all yours in a couple of clicks and I don’t want to stop you at all from getting what needs to be done DONE. So, get to it already!

Hikari Friday Time! Funko’s Mystic Powers Frankenstein Looks Magically Creepy…

Posted on September 5, 2014 by geelw

That said, you KNOW you want one, right? Well, as usual, Funko is giving away ONE of these vinyl figures (and #1 of 1000 at that) as part of their Hikari Friday campaign and by now, you know what’s the deal as far as trying to get your claws on one of these VERY limited edition figures. What? You’ve forgotten already? Okay, one more time, then. Geez, I know school is back in session and all and your brains are all full of summer dreams deflating and turning into piles of homework and such, but come on now! Anyway, click thee to one of Funko’s social network pages:

http://www.facebook.com/OriginalFunko
http://www.twitter.com/OriginalFunko
Instagram @OriginalFunko

Follow the rules there and enter away! Remember, ONLY one lucky winner gets chosen and notified by next Thursday, the rest of you get to buy that colorful monster at your favorite Funko retailer in November. As always, GOOD LUCK!

Random Film of the Week: The Big Parade

Posted on September 4, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, SilentPianoNinja for making this spectacular modernized trailer!)

If you know someone who’s straddling the silent movie fence or avoiding it entirely for some strange reason, The Big Parade is a great movie to get them into appreciating a great many important films they’re missing out on. Director King Vidor’s absolutely brilliant and hugely influential 1925 film benefits from stellar performances all around, and a half comedic/half dramatic structure that introduces its cast of characters with vigor and plenty of humor in that first half before pulling no punches in its latter half’s battle scenes.

The great and handsome as heck John Gilbert along with the beautiful Renée Adorée give what would have been Academy Award-winning performances had the Academy existed at that point in time and for me, this is one of the more stirring pre-sound epics worth rounding up friends and/or family to watch this classic with. You’ll need a kettle of popcorn, a barrel of root beer (that barrel will come in handy later) and perhaps a box of tissues to go ’round the room, as this is 141 minutes of fantastic film making that’s truly stood the test of time Continue reading →

IDW’s John Buscema’s Artist’s Edition: This October Surprise Is A Must-Buy For Silver Age Fans

Posted on September 2, 2014 by geelw

Three words: Oh Hell Yeah. This 12 x 17 Artist’s Edition is a MUST for anyone into John Buscema’s art at its best (at least in my opinion). This collection isn’t the COMPLETE run of his on The Silver Surfer, just issues 5, 6 and 8 for your perusal. Nevertheless, this scanned and printed actual-size from the original art limited edition should sell out quickly at comic shops and online retailers that carry it. Sure, these over-sized collections are expensive, but this one’s WELL worth the price, folks. Buy two if you can and make sure one has my name on it when you’re wrapping up that gift!