VGA 101: Running the Gauntlet to Get Gauntlet IV Running…

Posted on February 4, 2014 by geelw

Sometimes, the simplest things can take way too long but the payoff is well worth it. I was recently in the mood to dig up a classic and had Gauntlet on the brain. Not just ANY Gauntlet, mind you, but Gauntlet IV on the Sega Genesis. That version of the game is not only four players, but has a few game modes not in the original arcade hit including a story-based RPG mode with a bunch of element themed levels and an ending that’s a total corker. Imagine my surprise when I went to my bookshelf full of Genesis and Mega Drive games and… there was no copy of Gauntlet to be found.

Eeek. Just when my eyebrow was shooting up over my forehead, I recalled that I’d traded my cardboard box version of the game for a second manual-less copy of Shadowrun (which I still need a manual for) and something else I needed a cart of that I had a box and manual for. Oops. So, I now needed a replacement and thanks to a bit of quick hunting around, I found a plastic-boxed version in really nice shape for $16 shipped. NOW, I could get playing…

Or not, as I soon found out… Continue reading →

Bottomless Bucket List #1: Ennio Morricone US Tour 2014

Posted on February 3, 2014 by geelw

When I was much younger, I really didn’t appreciate Ennio Morricone’s work until I started listening to movies as background noise while doing homework. Sure there were the famous spaghetti western themes that were favorite from the first time the were heard, but I didn’t bother putting a name to those tunes and others until I started collecting soundtracks back when I was around 14 or 15. As I broadened my cinematic horizons, I started to see Morricone’s name pop up even more frequently than some of my more favorite composers and when I dug up more information on the man’s output, I was floored at just how many film and TV soundtracks the man wrote, composed and conducted (it’s currently over 500 since 1959)… Continue reading →

PF Flyers Won’t Make Me Faster, But I Do Feel A Lot Less Old…

Posted on January 28, 2014 by geelw

So, new sneakers today. Yeah, they’re SUPER retro (but not actual vintage) PF Flyers I stumbled across on eBay and as I hadn’t seen a pair of these since the 70’s, they were sold before I even got around to changing my mind. Hey, for $20 shipped I’d have gotten a few pair but I want to try these out first and see if I survive a long day on my feet (which, as luck has it… will be tomorrow).

Anyway, these are a dark blue (I thought they were black in the picture online, but no worries, blue was my second choice), made like the originals (but yes, in China) and amusingly enough, there was a tiny green cloth fortune under the left insole! It reads: ‘Sometimes A Closed Door Is The Sincerest Invitation’ and has a Chinese character underneath I should probably have translated. I guess that’s a good fortune to have (unless I’m a vampire), but I’ll see how that closed door policy works out. If I like these kicks, I’ll have to get another pair just to see if the fortune is different.

Hmmmm… this could get bad if I end up hooked on cheap sneakers with cryptic cloth fortunes that are open to interpretation. Back in a bit. I’m going for a short walk…

Gog.com Makes Time Travel REAL With Their Latest Sale!

Posted on January 28, 2014 by geelw

A-ha, I KNEW IT! Of course, it wold be gog.com that discovered how to make time travel work, as they’re the KINGS of bringing us Good Old Games from the era before all this nasty DRM. Anyway, they’re doing you PC gamers a favor deluxe with their latest promotion, a DRM-Free Time Machine Sale that lets YOU choose how long a game stays up for sale (eek!) as the day creeps onward by adding or subtracting one second from each sale’s time limit. I’d actually prefer a straight up sale page over a gimmick like this, but it’s actually interesting because sod old farts like me will want certain games up longer than others so more of you kids can try them out. Anyway, go poke around on that page and check out a deal or five, I say. With classic PC games from 1983 and up going for as little as 59 cents, you may find yourself hanging out a bit longer than you thought.

Random Film of the Week(end): Planet of the Apes (2001)

Posted on January 25, 2014 by geelw

Thanks to reports from around the internet and a few periodicals about all sorts of problems during the pre-production phase and more issues during the rather speedy shooting schedule to meet a July release imposed by 20th Century Fox, I certainly didn’t want to see the otherwise reliable Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, but my mother sure did.

I was camping out at her place during that summer after a breakup and on the day the film opened, she pretty much rolled up on me and said we were going to the movies, so off we went. The funny thing was 33 years earlier, she took me, my older brother and sister to see the original film (my first movie experience), so I guess she was trying to jog my memory a bit out of the funk mode it was in. Well, that worked to a point as we both ended up not liking this remake much at all.

Of course, I ended up heading back to that theater a few days later to make sure I was sure I didn’t like the film… Continue reading →

Heroes of a Broken Land Hands-On: No School Like The Old School (Again)…

Posted on January 23, 2014 by geelw

The ONLY reason I didn’t slap down that fifteen bucks for Heroes of a Broken Land right away after I saw that trailer the other day was there was a demo to try out and I love demos. Needless to say, it got downloaded and played for a bit and yes indeed, the game is quite fantastic on a few levels. For starters, it looks and plays exactly like a hybrid of Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and one of those great Dreamforge RPGs with dashes of Wizardry and even a little Heroes of Might and Magic tossed into the pot for good measure. If all those names and titles baffle you and you’re looking at that trailer and thinking “But it’s so ugly!”, feel free to turn right around and point your body towards the door (a little more to the left… Okay!), then lean forward slightly so my foot lands in the right spot. *Boot!*

Everyone else, there’s a fresh kettle on and tea cups a plenty in the kitchen. Oh, and some cookies are on the counter… Continue reading →

A Winter’s Tale, By Simon Bar Sinister…

Posted on January 22, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, bullwinklecanada!)

Ah, so THAT explains everything. Well, sort of. This snow we’ve gotten around here has been odd for a few interesting reasons. Sure, it’s winter, but it’s not a normal winter at all, kids. In fact, I’ll bet you an old penny that Simon Bar Sinister has a big Polar Vortex machine up in a lab somewhere and it’s getting a hell of a workout all of a sudden. Someone call Underdog (again!), as that man needs his butt kicked but good. And Cad? Yeah, buddy… you’re going down as well, grrrr…

Heroes of a Broken Land: This Throwback RPG Is Quite A Keeper…

Posted on January 21, 2014 by geelw

Hey, Winged Pixel? You just made my too-snowy Tuesday a great deal more tolerable. Heroes of a Broken Land is a classic style role playing game with a lovely Dungeon Master/Eye of the Beholder/Wizardry vibe (and a few other classics), procedurally generated maps, a hex-based over world map just to get me tingly and even some simulation aspects as you restore fragmented landscapes to their original forms.

That demo is calling me even as we speak, so it’s off to download and give this one a try. The full version of the game is also available for a mere $14.99 from the Winged Pixel site, Desura, or Gamersgate and if it gets voted in through the Greenlight program, expect this to also land on Steam at some point. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some dungeons to delve into…

Random Film of the Week(end): It Should Happen To You!

Posted on January 19, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, KaninFamily!)

The lovely Judy Holliday soars as a sort of ditzy but shrewd former girdle model who ends up becoming an instant celebrity thanks to a few simple billboards with her name on them George Cukor’s 1954 gem that shows off some fantastic looks at the New York City of the era. This film is also famous for being the movie debut of Jack Lemmon and here, he’s perfectly cast as Pete Sheppard, a documentary maker who shoots Holliday’s Gladys Glover in Central Park and of course, falls in love with her after some amusing assorted ups and down.

There are plenty of laughs in this classic to spare, many at Gladys’ expense as her sudden celebrity goes other head and she thinks her new found fame means all that attention is positive. While some elements are dated, the film does a very good job at foreshadowing today’s fame-crazy celebrities who do a heck of a lot more than simply toss their names up on a billboard to get attention…

Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): North By Northwest

Posted on January 18, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, moviegoof!)

One of my favorite “perfect” films, North by Northwest is one of those films that stands the test of time thanks to everyone involved being at the top of their game and throwing themselves fully into their work. Everything clicks from the moment Bernard Herrmann’s famous score kicks off into that Saul Bass-designed title sequence (note the booming drums that out-roar Leo, the MGM lion) until the final nod and a wink sex joke the adults will snicker or laugh out loud over (while the kids wonder what they’re snickering or laughing or loud about about) closes things out. I’ve seen this countless times since the 80’s and it’s always entertained me to no end.

This is probably the best “wrong man” film made (yes, it’s even better than The Wrong Man) because it combines dramatic, comedic and action elements in Hitchcock’s inimitable style. Sure, there are some plot holes and silly stuff that don’t hold up to too much scrutiny if you’re the overly picky sort. But if this film doesn’t have you cracking a smile or hanging out near the edge of your seat by the time it’s through, you’re either too jaded or watch films with one or both eyes shut…

Continue reading →