Hmm… I’m Seeing Ghosts All of a Sudden Thanks to Activision…

Posted on November 5, 2013 by geelw

I actually wasn’t expecting to get a copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts for a bit after launch for my Wii U, but surprise! Activision shot over a PS3 copy of the game this morning, so into the queue it goes. Actually, progress has been made on more reviews, so I’ll be popping this one into my old system (still going strong after what, almost seven years?) later this evening.

I’m about to run out the door here in about 15 minutes to go to some press events or I’d be playing this now. OK, back in a bit to see what all the fuss is about. I’m a campaign guy first and foremost, so I’m gathering if this one’s like the last couple of installments it will be pretty intense and dramatic (to say the least) with a few unexpected surprises. Alrighty then – off to the races with me. Now, I’ll be thinking of controllable army dogs and some sort of high-speed vehicle chase until I get back home, woof!

As Usual, Call of Duty Gets A Celebrity Crazy Live Action TV Spot…

Posted on November 3, 2013 by geelw

Here’s an answer to a question I was asked by not one but TWO readers in person within the space of a week or so (yes, people ask me stuff on the street when they see me) about coverage of some of the bigger AAA titles and why I don’t spend a ton of space covering them like other sites. It’s mostly because I prefer to NOT rush out a review before or with everyone else and partly because I can;t get access to loaner debug units like I used to a few years back. Complain, gripe, whine, et cetera, et cetera. I miss my old PR wranglers who did me the occasional odd favor, but what can you do, kids? Meh, life goes on! I was supposed to get a trumpet blast with that last sentence, but I’ll settle for a bleated out note on the STL Ocarina I’m reviewing…

Anyway, I actually liked last year’s big celebrity-packed TV ad much better, but this has its fun moments:

Granted, I’m a LOT more interested in Call of Duty: Ghosts for the single player campaign (no matter how long or short it turns out to be) and YES, I’m much more interested in the upcoming Wii U version just to see how it turned out (Yes, *shocking!* isn’t it?), as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 wasn’t bad at all on Nintendo’s overly maligned (by some of the Internet’s troll-iest under bridge dwellers) console which REALLY just needs some love and a lot more good games from first and third parties, as there’s NOTHING fundamentally wrong with it at all.

That said, it certainly looks great on any system I’ve seen it on, so I guess everyone will have it on their a favorite console soon enough. Yeah, that’s right. I’m a root for the underdog guy myself these days, so there you go…

It’s Geralt of Riva’s Birthday! What Did YOU Get Him?

Posted on October 25, 2013 by geelw

Okay, okay… some you may not have heard of Polish developer CD Projekt RED or their outstanding The Witcher series of games, but those who know what the heck I’m talking about get to ogle that art above and funny infographic below with a nod and a smile.

If you’re not a fan and that info has piqued your curiosity, feel free to do the clicky-clicky thing with your mouse and read on for some press release action on why six years is so important for Geralt and his future (which is looking quite bright indeed)…

And oh, yeah… I go him a nice pair of socks, as I think they weren’t invented back then and it gets COLD in those medieval fantasy winters! Continue reading →

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game Teaser: A Bit Early For That Bug in Your Ear, But…

Posted on October 14, 2013 by geelw

I didn’t like the Spider-Man movie reboot at all for too many reasons to list here, but the game was actually pretty decent stuff. Although this teaser for the game based on the upcoming sequel (also set for a 2014 release) isn’t showing anything at all on the actual gameplay front (it’s still in production just like the film), I’m gathering the dev team is planning to stick to what works well as opposed to going too far out on a limb to be “innovative”. Granted, there’s only so much you can do in a super-hero themed game (even one set in an open world NYC), so I’d say the best way to enjoy this one (as well as the new film) is to go in with no expectations whatsoever and come away surprised when you do get hit with something more fun than you thought. Of course, given the cast of villains in that movie sequel, I’m not expecting much anyway, har har…

SOMA Update: Freaky Friday Nets You Two New Videos. Or Three…

Posted on October 11, 2013 by geelw

Frictional Games’ upcoming hybrid sci-fi/horror game, SOMA gets two nice new trailers in the form of another live action update and a gameplay teaser that’s popped up on Frictional’s YouTube channel and Sony’s PlayStation channel. That the game is coming to the PS4 as well as PC makes me smile because this may mean we see Frictional perhaps bring Amnesia: The Dark Descent to Sony’s new console or something all new and scary as hell to put horror fans under their couches.

And innnterestingly enough… the PS$ trailer is a WHOLE two seconds shorter than the PC version. Oooooh, creepy! OK, not creepy at all, folks – I have the window open and it’s chilly in here! Anyway, my eyes are peeled for this one to be a big fat sleeper hit. We’ll see. Of course, getting this on a DISC along with some of Frictional’s other games would be perfect, but we’ll see what happens with that soon enough…

Strider NYCC Trailer: Hiryu Go Again!

Posted on October 8, 2013 by geelw

Capcom and developer Double Helix are counting on a combination of classic old school hard gameplay and a fan base who actually remembers the arcade classic or other versions of Strider to make this reboot a big hit and I think they’re on the right track. So far, the combination of lush 2D and 3D visuals, familiar gameplay with some nice twists and what I’m hearing is a high level of challenge should propel this to some decent scores and sales on anything it’s released on. Sadly, there’s no Wii U version (yet), but hopefully this error will be rectified sooner than later. Those Wii U owners tend to get mighty cranky when they feel they’re being screwed over, that’s for sure…

TGS 2013: Ah, So… THAT’S What a Lily Bergamo Is… Maybe.

Posted on September 23, 2013 by geelw

Well, OK… I still don’t know what this is other than the first PlayStation 4 game coming from Grasshopper Manufacture and Suda 51 for GungHo Online Entertainment. That one-two punch, by the way, means you’ll be getting a truly wild experience that has to be played to be believed. I think this is only the third game they’ve done with a sole female lead (if you count Sine Mora), so there’s another interesting thing to consider (at least if you’re like me). According to Gematsu, Lily Bergamo is an online action game meant to be played with smartphones and the PS4, but if that is indeed the case, I need to get someone over at GungHo and grasshopper to realize that the VITA needs to be in that mix somewhere, as it’s quite silly to skip something so obvious that even someone as dumb as me has figured out from early on (that the Vita needs MORE cool games like this!). And oh yeah, that gal in the teaser isn’t named Lily or Bergamo. She’s called Tae Ioroi, meaning now I’m all confused again about just what the heck this game is all about (and why it’s not coming to the obvious Vita or slightly less obvious upcoming Vita TV “console”). Eh, it’s still quite early in development and yep, things will change for better or worse (or somewhere in between as a happy middle ground)…

Import News… From The Future!: Earth Defense Force PS4 Bound

Posted on September 12, 2013 by geelw

Given the formerly budget priced series’ loyal following since it appeared as part of the Simple 2000 lineup on the PlayStation 2, it was pretty much a given that D3 Publisher and developer Sandlot would be bringing gamers a new EDF game on Sony’s upcoming console. Import gaming site Siliconera reports that there’s a game in the works, which is awesome to hear. No news on how far in development it is, who’s making it (no doubt it’ll be Sandlot’s first title on the new hardware) or what the intended release date is.

Of course, just hearing this news is enough for me and I’m hoping Sandlot can finally make an EDF game with a stable frame rate when the going gets tough on those crazier maps. Granted, the series is known for its sometimes wonky technical issues (that don’t stop the games from being a hell of a lot of FUN, mind you), but given the PS4’s power under the hood, it would be fantastic to see a locked in 30 or even 60fps in the new game even with all those giant bugs, robots and buildings blowing up into assorted pieces. OK, I’ll take a solid 30 at this point, as even thinking of double that is a bit of a pipe dream unless Sandlot gets some help in optimizing whatever engine they’ll be utilizing. I’d gather it’ll be an all new in-house bit of tech, as the EDF 4 engine had some issues on the PS3 that weren’t in the Xbox 360 version of EDF 4.

As usual, we shall see… stay tuned for updates.

And NO, Dream C Club: Host Girls On Stage is most likely NOT coming to North America. Like it or not, that’s TOO niche for even D3PoA to even consider unless they want to sell something like 5000 or so copies of a game (at most) and be happy with that.

Pre-TGS News: SCEJ Drops Plenty of Vita Bombshells Plus a Late PS4 Release In Japan…

Posted on September 9, 2013 by geelw

Weird, wild stuff going on overseas, as Sony is surprisingly bringing out a redesigned, less expensive Vita in different colors with 1GB of on board memory, an even more inexpensive Vita TV device that will let users play Vita and other PlayStation titles, watch movies and more plus a whole load of so far Japanese-only info including the release date of the PlayStation 4 in the territory. The big surprise on that end is the PS4 is shipping out AFTER the North American and European launch, which is something of a first for a Sony gaming console if I’m not mistaken.

Back to the Vita for a second – Sony has also announced a new 64MB Memory Card as well as price drops on its other proprietary memory cards for the handheld. The 64GB card will retail in Japan for 9,980 yen (about $100) and the new pricing on the currently available cards is as follows: the 4GB card drops to to 1,480 yen (about $15), the 8GB card to 1,980 yen (about $20), the 16GB card to 3,780 yen (about $38) and the 32GB model to 6,480 yen (about $65). Meanwhile, as noted above, North American and European gamers will get their PlayStation 4’s a few months earlier than Japan, as a February 2014 launch window was revealed. According to a few news sites, the reason seems to be Sony having issues meeting high demand for the console worldwide and probably targeting more units for the US and Europe first thanks to greater demand in those countries.

Finally, the launch title lineup for Japan was revealed as well, but we’ll take a peek at some of those titles in another post shortly. My fingers are of course, crossed that these price drops and new products pop up here in the US, but as always… we shall see…

Sony’s Third Party Production Team Gives The Vita A Big Boost

Posted on September 1, 2013 by geelw

One of the coolest bits of news that popped up from PAX Prime this year was the announcement of Sony’s new Third Party Production team which will be dedicated to bringing more titles from third party publishers to Sony’s current and future platforms. According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, gamers can expect new IP, ports and localized games, which opens up a ton of options given Sony’s strategy to make as many upcoming titles compatible on the PS4 and Vita. The team is currently working with Iron Galaxy Studios on the eagerly awaited Vita version of Borderlands 2 and OSny fans have been bombarding them with requests (many of them impossible or improbable thanks to the posters not quite grasping how this studio will function).

Anyway, I’ll be keeping an eyeball peeled for more news, as I more or less know what they can and can’t do and want to see them succeed with whatever they’re tackling. Yep, it’s a dull post… unless you’re a Vita owner or soon to be PS4 owner wanting to see more games popping up more often.