Batman: Arkham Origins Collector’s Edition: All You Need Is A Room To Store It All In…

Posted on August 14, 2013 by geelw

Holy WOW, Batfans! I suppose a limited edition wooden shelf or build it yourself bookcase would be out of the question, huh? Actually, at $119.99 for all that stuff you’re getting, this isn’t a bad deal at all AND it’s packing more than what’s in the European version announced last week. Um, “Don’t mess with Texas? Everything’s BIGGER in…” oh, never mind. The sheer scope of all this swag automatically nets this limited edition an automatic entry into this year’s Holiday Gift Guide and given that word on the street is the gameplay’s stellar… this one’s a total no-brainer if you can only afford the standard edition.

Anyway, here are photos of the massive set (one each of the PS3 and 360 SKUs) and below the jump, a listing of what’s in the box. Add a cape and you’re practically Batman, folks!

Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and Windows PC. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, the handheld version (developed by Armature Studio), will be available for PlayStation Vita handheld and Nintendo 3DS. The game will release on all platforms worldwide on Oct. 25, 2013. I don’t think there’s a collector’s edition for the portable versions, as it sort of looks silly carrying a shelf or small bookcase with you when you’re out and about (ha ha)…

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GTA V Update: You Have To Love Rockstar’s Marketing Department…

Posted on August 13, 2013 by geelw

They have quite possibly the easiest gig in the gaming business AND they know the game they’re representing is going to blow people away based on the insanely high quality of the work. I’ve been sold on Grand Theft Auto V as soon as I heard it was in development, but these new gallery and very funny Los Santos Visitor’s Guide (aka the game’s official site), the ridiculously packed screenshot gallery and desktop ready wallpapers plus all the other stuff the community is up to means I really don’t need to do much except post something on the game and let you all run out to the store or drop a pre-order in online.

Hey, I’m NOT lazy! Well, not THAT lazy. I’m merely saving up my energy for the inevitable long “vacation” I’ll be taking in Los Santos myself. Playing a new GTA game is very much like stepping off a plane into the biggest and most exceptionally special amusement park ever created. Of course, the best thing is being able to explore at will and do stuff outside the guided tour (i.e, raise all sorts of hell or just poke around for secrets and in-jokes), so I need to be tanned rested and ready because I’m sure not seeing any REAL sunlight for some time. Rockstar is dropping more cool news about the game on Thursday – I’ll be back with a quick post on that (of course)…

DuckTales Remastered Now Available: It’s Time to get Quackin’!

Posted on August 13, 2013 by geelw

OK, it’s finally here and it’s a really rainy day outside (well, at least it is here, bleh!). So… you know what to do, folks. PROTIP: Play on Easy first. This way, you get to learn the levels and be prepared, as the game gets pretty darn old-school tough on the harder difficulties. That’s not my review, though – that will go up around the weekend. Shutting up now, as I have some piles of gold to collect for my bank vault/swimming pool…

Random Indie Game of the Week: Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (XBLA)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by geelw

Since I’m sitting here with a couple of RROD’d Xbox 360’s (shakes fist at busted consoles) and no willingness to throw more money away at Microsoft to fix them or buy a replacement (shakes fist in the direction of Redmond HQ for producing such faulty junk of a console), I’ll need to wait for this to pop up on PSN or Steam. On the other hand, I think a friend is picking this up over the weekend, so I’ll probably boogie on over to his place and play this after he’s done with it. Given that Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is designed to be played in a single sitting, I don’t mind at all and I can get a perspective from someone else about the story’s impact and how he liked the unique control scheme. As noted in my earlier hands-on preview, this is one of those special games that’s worth a buy despite the relatively short length because you get to see a great developer stretch its wings with a fine new IP from a film director trying his hand at game development (and succeeding quite well). Back with a review probably around Monday.

Lost Planet 3 “Frozen to Death” Trailer: It’s Midsummer, So Half Frozen Will Do, Thanks…

Posted on August 1, 2013 by geelw

Well, today is a bit chilly and rainy here in NYC, but you know what I mean. Actually, both Poles here on the real Earth could use some refreezing now, especially with Santa’s workshop now submerged and probably churning out flippers and scuba suits for all those elves. Don’t even bother asking for a new gaming system or something cool this holiday season, folks. Santa’s going all Oprah on everyone this year: “YOU get an aqualung, and YOU get an aqualung!”… oh, we’re SO doomed, ladies and gents. In the meantime, I’ll be up on the roof away from the flood waters waiting for my copy of Lost Planet 3 to be airdropped with some more supplies. Hey, business as usual here. Anyway, if you have some sort of app-getting device and/or a facebook account and like what you see above, go check out the Great Survivors app and see if you’ve got what it takes to stay warm when things get a wee bit too brain-freezy up on E.D.N. III

KILLER IS DEAD Import Walkthroughs: Game Empire HD Does It Again…

Posted on July 31, 2013 by geelw

I hadn’t realized that this had shipped out in Japan (well, it’s officially out tomorrow there… wait, it’s tomorrow there already, right? Oh, my head hurts…) until I poked around in my inbox and spotted these Game Empire HD play through videos. There are four so far, but I’ll only run two here so as to not ruin too much of the fun. I absolutely LOVE that the menus are in English, which means I can import this and play it (but I’ll hold out for the US version just to support Xseed Games here) and it certainly looks as if Suda 51 and grasshopper manufacture had a blast making this one, so strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. Er, this isn’t for the kiddies, kids – so break out the blindfolds or go put them in the broom closet with a flashlight, a box of Popsicles and a funny hat or two.

Games of Summer: Dragon’s Crown

Posted on July 30, 2013 by geelw

Atlus may be struggling with its recent financial woes in Japan, but the company is still swinging for the fences hard and knocking it out of the park with some great titles on assorted platforms. Case in point, Dragon’s Crown, already a hit in Japan and headed to the PS3 and Vita in North America on August 6. George Kamitani and his team at Vanillaware have created an absolutely, outrageously gorgeous game that’s a throwback to classic side-scrolling arcade hits as well as a mighty challenging solo and online play experience. I know a few folks with the import and yes indeed, they’re very pleased with the game (and the AMAZING deluxe art book that came with it). Anyway, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on both versions, as I hear they’re different in a few key ways. Of course, I still want a proper Princess Crown remake or sequel one of these days, but at this point, Kamitani and company can make paper bag puppets and I’ll throw money their way…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Steam Bound!

Posted on July 25, 2013 by geelw

While a small but vocal bunch of PlayStation 3 owners have been ranting away for Rising Star Games to contract Access Games to stop working on their upcoming Xbox One exclusive D4 to do some fixes for Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut, that’s not going to happen any time soon. On the other, stranger hand… the game was recently surprised-dropped onto Steam Greenlight for a potential PC release with even MORE content and wonder of wonders… it was approved in what seems to be record time. Wow. Now, I’ll be the first to say I’m shocked and thrilled at this news, but I’m not expecting the PC version to be “perfect” by any stretch of the imagination. Even higher resolutions and tweaked controls aside, the game will still look intentionally cheesy and probably have the same driving setup for the cars as the PS3 version did (which is much better than the original Xbox 360 game from a few years back). Anyway, this is indeed great news and soon, you horror game fans looking for something TRULY weird and memorable will all get a little FK in your own coffee when DP:TDC is finally let loose for PC. Once I get an actual release date, I’ll let you know…

Things to Do When the Real World Stinks (One)…

Posted on July 24, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, Game Empire HD!)

OK, I actually didn’t do anything TOO productive today other than blow through 34 missions in Earth Defense Force 4 and take a bunch of notes for my review. Ive got a long way to go, as the game has got 94 missions total (eek), four character classes and five difficulty levels. I most likely won’t solo the entire game through ALL the difficulty levels before starting my review, as EDF games are made for seriously long play time. I’m probably going to complete Easy and Normal, but I’ve already played some missions on Hard and Hardest just to see how tough they are (they’re tough, but beatable), but haven’t gone near any Inferno maps yet because I need my sanity for the rest of the week. Which so far consists of a meeting to see a new game tomorrow, a screening I may or may not attend (it’s a bit last minute) and a bunch of stuff I need to write up from this week and last.

Er, that’s about it… I guess. Oh, right – I’ll add a few Random Film reviews in a bit. I haven’t watched anything in a few days, so I’m thinking I need a decent old comedy or really bad “B” movie to get back on track. My brain is still packed with mud a little from reality and I made the silly mistake of watching the news this evening (blech… too much crap going on in that real world and too many crazies at the wheel all driving off different cliffs). I’d go bake a pie or something, but I haven’t done that in oh, maybe a dozen years or so, I have no ingredients and I’d probably end up eating the whole thing once it cooled. Who doesn’t like pie?

Morose Monday Made Markedly More Meaningful…

Posted on July 22, 2013 by geelw

Well, let’s see now: coming home from a funeral: gloomy! Coming home TO a nice surprise in the mail (thank you, Play-Asia!) and a double surprise (I’d forgotten to cancel a big Namco Bandai press event for tomorrow morning, which is actually a great thing as it gets me out of the house and not sitting around moping) plus tax (another event on Wednesday and I think one more this week) mean life goes onwards, bumps in the road aside. OK, off to squash some bugs – I may post one more thing before midnight if I haven’t collapsed from being a wee bit too tired. It’s been a really long day…