Random Art: Not Quite A Tree This Time, Man. Thing Is, It Was Once…

Posted on April 1, 2014 by geelw

The cool thing about drawing digitally is you can make mistakes and “fix” them without going through piles of paper. Anyway, this Man-Thing started out as another tree sketch, but I mucked it up a bit too much and was about to scrap it when I saw a hint of something, flipped the image, did some playing around, flipped it again and decided to keep hacking away until I got this as a result. Yeah, he sort of looks like he needs a tattoo on that arm of his and there should maybe be a low rider in the background bouncing up and down to some trippy beat, but hey – it was late and I couldn’t stop once my brain started moving my hand around. That happens a lot these days it seems, so I just go with the flow…

Random Art: Darn Kids And Their Subliminally Cheesy Requests!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by geelw

Ha. So, the library seems to be slipping in it’s “shut the hell up” policy, as lately, I can’t spend a few hours there writing without someone yakking on and on about stuff no one needs to hear about. Between the guy yelling out his credit card numbers and such while ordering personal care supplies, the geeky teenage guy with the whiny voice hiccuping and burping while sexting and chatting too loud with his sweetie for something like three hours non-freakin’ stop (I swear, if I hear him kiss his phone one more time, then hiccup and burp, he’s going to need a lip cast), I’m about to go postal in public. Of course, every now and then I get treated to something that’s actually hilarious like the kid today who kept begging his mom to take him home so he could have some string cheese. As he kept hitting the resend button on that vocal tweet, my brain kept hearing string TREES, so I stopped working on the article I had been trying to complete and knocked this piece out. Thank you annoying child and his mom who finally went home after something like a thousand requests for processed dairy product!

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II Beta Hands-On: It’s The Reckoning For That Hunter…

Posted on March 31, 2014 by geelw

Thanks to the fine folks at Neocore Games, I had the opportunity to take a beta version of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II for a spin and am happy to report it’s looking like a bigger, badder, meaner and harder game than the first one, especially if you’re hopping into it with your saved hero from the original. I hadn’t played the first game save for some hours with the demo, but Neocore also sent me a code for the Complete Pack, which got a marathon playthrough over the past week or so (and me a nicely maxed out Level 30 Hunter by that cliffhanger ending).

The new game starts off with a rather massive siege on a factory by many enemies being airdropped in capsules and a large army of civilian soldiers assisting Van Helsing and Katarina, his ghostly (and snarky) AI companion. Granted, one could play the beta using a few default high level characters in a few classes, but after trying out a few of these overpowered guys, I decided to take the longer, tougher (yet highly enjoyable and rewarding) route and go through the first game just to have a more personalized experience… Continue reading →

Random Art: It’s National Crayon Day? Okay, Go Celebrate!

Posted on March 31, 2014 by geelw

Wah! I did not know this, but it IS! As I just found out about this and am at the library, I have no crayons to scribble this post with or do a fast sketch to post. On the other hand, I do just so happen to have an old piece I did on my deviantArt page that LOOKS as if it was drawn with a crayon, so here you go. Anyway, time to get learned a little!

Here’s some handy info for you fresh from the fine folks at Crayola:

Did you know…

– The first box of Crayola crayons was introduced in 1903. It sold for a nickel and included the same eight colors available today: red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown.

– Crayola produces nearly 3 billion crayons each year, an average of 12 million wax sticks daily. That’s enough to circle the globe 6 times!

– The average child in the United States will wear down about 730 crayons by his or her 10th birthday (11,464 boxes or 7 lbs of crayons) enough to cover an NBA basketball court!

– According to Christian Science Monitor, parents buy enough crayons in a year to make a giant crayon 35 feet wide and 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty!

So, yeah, let the kid(s) get away with that wall decorating to-day. Who knows, you could have the next Van Gogh “ruining” your formerly freshly painted walls or other surfaces!

Dark Souls II TV Spots: Oh, The Places You’ll Go (Just To Die Over and Over)…

Posted on March 30, 2014 by geelw

Heh. I get a phone call during The Walking Dead finale from a friend asking me “So, what’s this Dark Souls II all about?” right after this ad airs. Whee! Of course, I had to tell him to ring me back in an hour or so or just wait for a quick email. He’s not a gamer at all, so I’ll give Namco Bandai props for getting an ad out that gets people not into the hobby all hot and bothered. Amusingly enough, I actually don’t have a copy of the game yet – it’s in my backlog of stuff to grab for the PS3 once I make a bit more money. I’ve played a bit of it already thanks to walking another friend through the first two or so hours of the game as he grabbed it on launch day and was having a hard time because yep, it was his first time playing something that difficult. Anyway, I got to play and he got to keep the character I made, so that’s a fine trade off, I’d say. Naturally, he got the poor guy I created killed a few times since, but my tech support ends when I leave the premises. Otherwise, I charge a flat fee (and it’s not cheap), heh…

Raven’s Cry Update: Shipping Out 10/14/2014, Loads of New Stuff In The Cargo Hold!

Posted on March 28, 2014 by geelw

One of the upcoming games I’ve been keeping my telescope pointed towards the horizon on for a while now has been Raven’s Cry, the pirate-themed action role-playing game from developer Reality Pump (taking over from Octane Studios) and publisher TopWare Interactive. The game has had a few delays due to Reality Pump really going all out to add a ton of gameplay and story content to it and these new and new-ish screens show off a load of cool:

And the official site has also been updated with a new video, concept art and even wallpapers to download if this one floats your boat. As for the new features being implemented, here’s a rundown stolen from the press release:

– New skills for the captain (a skill tree with over 25 options)
– The personal story of Christopher Raven (more than 25 hours of main storyline)
– Additional adventures and skirmishes (open-world setting and side quests)
– An economic system with a wide variety of trade-able goods and simulated price adjustments
– Realistic naval combat
– Depictions of the dark life of pirates (or: cinematic cut scenes)

All of this should make for a game that’s at least worth a look to see if Reality Pump can pull it all off. It seems like a darker and grimmer game than their previous RPGs, so let’s hope it all pans out the way they (and we sea dogs) want it to. PC, Mac, PS3, PS4 and Xbox 360, folks. Yeah, once again, a decent-looking RPG is skipping the Xbox One, so you owners of that console can get cranky about that elsewhere. I’ll be busy Yo-ho-ho-ing it up and trying not to get sunk by some frigate I’m trying to loot…

Bound By Flame Gameplay Trailer: Could This Be My New BBF? We Shall See…

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geelw

Spiders’ upcoming action/RPG gets a quick gameplay showing and it’s looking pretty good so far. Granted, devotees of the many schools of RPG combat who don’t like this sort of hack/slash gameplay are perhaps a little skeptical and cranky, but I say hold off on the “it’s not realistic” complaints as it’s a fantasy setting and characters and a little balletic license is fine for a game like this. A dash of God of War and hints of The Witcher and a few other inspirations aside, Bound By Flame could turn out to be a decent little sleeper hit that grabs genre fans by the short ones when it drops into stores on May 9, 2014 (two days after my birthday, so everyone get me a copy!) for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and PC. I’ve got my eye on you, game – don’t let me down!

Wolfenstein The New Order: Meanwhile, On A Train To Berlin… Heißen Kaffee und neue Freunde…

Posted on March 27, 2014 by geelw

Well, now. So much for a peaceful train ride through a rather unique version of post WWII Germany, hmmmmm? This in-engine scene from Machine Games’ upcoming Wolfenstein: The New Order made me want a cup of strong coffee, but not the headache that comes later on from caffeine withdrawal. It doesn’t quite feel like a big mech stomping on my head, but I’d rather have a headache from one over the other. If I’m not mistaken, Tommy Tordsson Björk (see below!) wrote the dialog in this scene. That Frau Engel is a real witch (with a capital “B”) isn’t she? Granted, I’m all for strong female characters in games, folks… it’s the Nazi part that kind of bends my straw a bit. But hey, the best villains are the ones you love to hate, so she’s added to the my list of characters to keep an eye on.

Remember, Wolfenstein: The New Order, will be available on May 20, 2014 (and in Europe on May 23) on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. As an added bonus, pre-ordering the game gets you invited to access the DOOM beta

Color Cables To The Rescue Of The Lost (And Dull) OEM…

Posted on March 26, 2014 by geelw

Normally, I’d say something silly like “Power cables are a dime a dozen” here, but as anyone who owns an already expensive device knows… that’s just not true. Lose your iDevice or other OEM charger cable and you’re either shelling out a premium for a replacement or you’re stuck with some crappy inexpensive wire from one of those shady looking places that you ran into because you were in a hurry. Or you end up with a pricey substitute that you end up losing because you kind of need a cable that maybe glows in the dark. Well, guess what? Color Cables might be just the thing you’re looking for:

Over on Indiegogo, they’re running a bit of a funding drive that has 11 days to go and could use a few more people hopping on board. As I’m an old fart with no fancy mobile, I’m eyeballing the mini USB cable myself, as I usea few devices that happen to support that size plug. Yes, iOS and Android cables are available, the flat cord shape prevents tangling like your current cables love to do, there are some fun colors to choose from and who can pass up something that glows in the dark AND is actually something you can use every day? Umm hmmm.. I thought so. Well, that’s my good deed for the day, then and you’re welcome!

Welp, VR Just Went Viral. Literally. Yuk.

Posted on March 25, 2014 by geelw

People, I’m speechless. THIS just happened and while some in the tech sector are giddy, anyone who had any thoughts about privacy using that Rift when it comes out has just gotten a “poke” to both eyes. Blech, Yuck, Argh and so forth and so on. Not to mention that people who will buy that thing and not clean it because they’re dopey about stuff like this will end up giving everyone in their homes and elsewhere some sort of eye infection or worse. Ewwww…

Now, I’m not a big VR supporter (I still recall when it was attempted with mixed results in the 90’s), but I was willing to give it a chance based on all the people I know who’ve tried both development versions of the Oculus Rift hardware. Now, I’d not touch the thing with a ten foot pole unless I was using said pole to bash those goofy goggles to bits with. Data mining through your entertainment isn’t new at all, but facebook getting it’s money gloves into EVERYTHING is getting to be extremely annoying. Let me shut up here and vent with some ice cream for a bit. Man, what a day… between this and Fed Ex jerking me around with a package they keep failing to deliver (I’m HOME you idiots!), I’m not having a good day today. Blaaaaah.