Batman: Arkham Origins Teaser: The Dark Knight Grouses…

Posted on May 16, 2013 by geelw

Man, that Bruce Wayne (er, Batman) sure is a real party-pooper, isn’t he? All that gloom and criminals are the scum of the earth stuff plus what looks like a vinegar and lemon diet make for one grumpy Darknight Detective, that’s for sure. Then again, this is ONLY the teaser for the upcoming game. The actual trailer drops on May 20, 2013… so I’m betting it’ll be even darker and grimmer. Hmmm… that man needs some cotton candy and a fancy paper hat, I think. Either that or he needs to stay in one night and maybe catch up on some old TV shows. Comedies, preferably…

Dragon’s Crown Cover Art, Artbook Revealed: Preselling A Not-So-Hard Sell…

Posted on May 10, 2013 by geelw

DC_Artworks_Glam

Lovely… and it can soon be all yours, at that. Dragon’s Crown finally gets some VERY pretty cover art for its retail versions as well as a really cool pre-order bonus in the form of a 64-page softcover art book that’s absolutely going to be snapped up by fans of George Kamitani’s work. I’d go as far as to predict the art book selling for more than the game does down thee road among those who miss out and want to pay through the pores on eBay or some other site, but that’s not Atlus’ concern what you do with that bonus item as they see not a red cent from secondhand sales of their cool goods. Anyway, check out the official site if you haven’t already for character profiles, more of Kamitani’s lush artwork and more.

Dragon’s Crown will hit retail and PSN on August 6, 2013. Be there or be square, I say…

Class of Heroes 2 Pre-Sales Now Live (Via Amazon ONLY, Unfortunately!)…

Posted on May 7, 2013 by geelw

COH2_small While it’s absolutely great to see Gaijinworks finally get this game out in a GREAT physical/digital pack for a measly $36.99 (with shipping!), the SOLE payment option (Amazon, via credit card ONLY, no Amazon credits, sorry!) means folks like me who don’t use credit cards are going to be holding out longer for the digital-only (boo!) PSN version to ship before we can actually buy this one.

Sure, I get that it’s much easier for the company to set up and deal with than multiple payment types (and those assorted fees they’d need to pay, plus PayPal’s stupid in general manner of doing business), but it also means they’re not going to see those pre-sales sell as fast as they should at the end of the day. So yeah… so much for that convenient Paypal option for those of us stuck with money burning a hole in our accounts or anyone with Amazon credit looking to polish that off.

Griping aside, a poke around the forums reveals that the game seems to be pre-selling well enough that Vic Ireland isn’t sweating the loss of a few cranky jerks like me who want to throw him our money but can’t – yet. Still, I hope to hell that we see some way we can get the game without paying a shit-mint on eBay for. And of course, there are people already “selling” the game there when it hasn’t even been produced yet. Well, a fool and his money are sooner parted than later, right? Anyway, looks as if I’ll have to “settle” for a digital version when the game is released.

New Dragon’s Crown Trailers: Something New For The Guys And Gals (And Any Other Art Fans)…

Posted on May 2, 2013 by geelw

Hey, it’s ladies first today (well, as always!):

Sure that Fighter below may have a lot more protection, but that’s because he NEEDS it. He’s not as powerful a spellcaster as the Sorceress is (as in NOWHERE near her skills), so he has to clank around in his horned can while dealing out massive damage to any and all who step in front of his blade (ouch!). That Sorceress has it going on in a few ways, so don’t underestimate her good looks and generous assets. Fools who get distracted and start in with the eyeballing get roasted, frozen, shocked or otherwise pained to death. I’d certainly say THAT counts as “Girl Power”… or “Woman Power” if you want to get picky about my choice of language…

Dragon’s Crown will be available in retail game shops and on PSN for the PlayStation 3 and Vita on August 6, 2013. You’re welcome, by the way…

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: It’s About Time The House of Ideas Got Bricked!

Posted on May 1, 2013 by geelw

Take that as you will, but Marvel fans have been clamoring for a LEGO game with their favorites for years, so this way too short teaser trailer is giving them a reason to bounce up and down in their seats. I got a big grin going when I saw that the Hulk that looked as if it was modeled after the late Gil Kane’s version (except it doesn’t have that weird pineapple-shaped head his did), the Galactus shadow and yeah, those old costumes on some of the charaters. Speaking of characters, over 100 will be playable in the game, meaning this is going to be yet another game in the long running LEGO series with infinite replay value. This fall will be pretty darn busy for Marvel fans, that’s for sure…
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Soul Sacrifice Launch Trailer: (Some) Commitments Aren’t A Bad Thing After All…

Posted on April 30, 2013 by geelw

With today’s launch of Soul Sacrifice, Sony’s got a real winner here as well as yet another Vita exclusive the handheld absolutely needs in a pretty crazy year for the system. The library is growing steadily (especially if you’re looking at the amount of older available PSN One titles and PSP games that can be played on the system) and while a price drop is definitely going to be necessary for some potential buyers to make a commitment, games such as this one should be tempting enough to make them want to take the plunge.

Orc Attack: Casual Brothers Cooks Up A Cool-Looking “Gas & Slash” Game…

Posted on April 26, 2013 by geelw

OrcAttack Box Art With SO many indie developers getting so many games out there and not enough time in the day to cover them all, they need to be either really innovative or really amusing to catch my attention. Orc Attack isn’t innovative at all, but seeing it in action made me smile because it reminded me of some of the classic arcade beat ’em ups I spent way too much money on back in the day.

This may be developer Casual Brothers Games first project, but it certainly looks as if it won’t be their last if the right audience snaps this one up. It’s already getting interest as a potential Steam Greenlight candidate )go vote if you’ve an account there!) and is coming to PS3, Vita (yes!) and Xbox Live Arcade soon. I’ll have to check this out once it’s out because my retro sense is tingling, shiny 3D visuals aside. Alrighty, then – my work here is done. For now… Orcs, I’m coming for you (and holding my breath, you gassy brutes)…

Shut Up And Play It: Dragon’s Crown Coming To PS3 & Vita August 6

Posted on April 24, 2013 by geelw

DC display packs Vanillaware’s latest game, Dragon’s Crown seems to be generating some minor “controversy” online thanks to one prudish writer-type who’s “ashamed” to play the game in public because he thinks George Kamitani’s artwork is sexist based on how one character looks (see below) and nothing else. Yikes. For starters, while SOME of the heroines in his games may be exceptionally curvy (as in they make Christina Hendricks look like Twiggy), they’re not just lounging around falling out of their tops or waiting to be rescued by some lantern-jawed dude in shiny armor at all.

sorceress Kamitani’s larger than life gals do a damn good job at kicking all sorts of ass all around the screen, and I’d gather that the character in question will see her fair share of real-life cosplayers who like the outfit and Kamitani’s singularly pneumatic art style. As you can see here, some of the guys in Dragon’s Crown are exceptionally beefy (and even less dressed in some cases). Granted, I’m quite sure the audience for this will be primarily male, but I can recall quite a few gals and guys into Vanillaware’s excellent beat ’em ups buying the glorious Odin Sphere and/or Muramasa: The Demon Blade and not whining about boob size as an issue. Not to mention that it’s kind of foolish to fault an artist’s work because you don’t grasp his style… Continue reading →

Oboro Muramasa Gameplay: Your Japanese Lesson For The Week…

Posted on April 21, 2013 by geelw

Yes, Oboro Muramasa will be coming stateside this year (as Muramasa Rebirth) thanks to the fine folks at Aksys Games, but you may as well take a long look at the import version of game before it’s in stores or on PSN this June. As a big fan of the Wii version, it’s great to see this game in HD on the Vita’s lovely wide screen and coming to gamers with some new content and a few tweaks. As usual, Vanillaware is proving itself a master developer when it comes to “old-school” 2D gameplay and some incredibly gorgeous visuals that are bound to make this one a hot item when it’s released. Of course, if you can understand Japanese, you’ll get a hell of a lot more out of this gameplay video. However, it’s not necessary at all of you want to see how the game will look and play on a handheld as opposed to on a TV with a controller in your hot little hands…

MURAMASA REBIRTH VITA

Soul Sacrifice: Keiji Inafune Chats Up His Vita Exclusive…

Posted on April 12, 2013 by geelw

Yes, it’s almost here (April 30) and SCEA is dropping another behind the scenes video and site updates, this time focusing on game designer Keiji Inafune and his latest creation headed exclusively to the PlayStation Vita. Between great-looking games like this, a library that’s growing steadily thanks to indies, imports and some fine third-party titles, 2013 should be a pretty solid year for Sony’s handheld. Well, I think so. Sony needs to kick it up a notch and do some price dropping on the hardware and memory cards so more can buy in and get playing some of these stellar titles…