The Last of Us TV Spot #1: Still Among the Living… Mostly

Posted on March 31, 2013 by geelw

TLOS_standard cover Finally, Sony drops the first of what’s probably going to be a few TV ads for Naughty Dog’s upcoming (and possibly final) PlayStation 3 game, and it’s a nice and tense doozy. Those aren’t your garden variety zombies popping up throughout that ad, by the way… you’ll see. Anyway, the game looks great and if the multi-million selling Uncharted series is any indication, this game will do quite well at retail and with the critics.

Of course, it’s going to be hard to show too much of the game so nothing from the plot gets overly spoiled, but I think a lot of folks going in expecting one thing will be surprised when they get something else. Me, I’m looking forward to this for a ton of good reasons, so I’ll be there with bells on come launch day.

EVIL DEAD “College Reaction Screening”: If THIS Is So Scary To Those Kids…

Posted on March 29, 2013 by geelw

… Oh, just they all WAIT until they have to start paying back those student loans. Mua-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa! Yeah, who’s REALLY peeing their pants NOW, huh? I bet some of your parents will be watching you scream in this video and wonder if that’s all the hell you did for four (or more) years. Damn kids. OK, maybe I’m jealous that I never get invited to these screenings like the over-privileged youth of to-day. Bleh. All kidding aside, I’m glad this reboot is freaking people out, as it makes me want to see it sooner than later. THAT said, I’ll probably stick it out for the Blu-Ray set with all those juicy behind the scenes bits, as I just hate leaving the theater thinking I’m missing something. Then again, a few pints of pee are never missed and I won’t need to bring a change of underwear to the theater. Or something like that. April 5, people. Go get in line somewhere and defend that spot with your lives. I have the feeling that if you don’t go see this movie… it will come looking for you.

Hmmm… Shouldn’t it be “College Screening Reaction”? That sounds more correct (and I never went to college!)

The Great Gatsby TV Spots: It May Be Good, But Throw The Book At It, I Say…

Posted on March 27, 2013 by geelw

Eh, do we REALLY need this flashy-looking new version of the classic book at all? Baz Luhrmann’s at it again? Oh, well then – that changes everything. My brain is still recovering from Moulin Rouge, though. I’m more of a classic musical and film guy, despite all the efforts to make these new movies look and sound “vintage.” Well, there’s NO doubt this sure looks amazing and will rake in the loot for a while. That said, sure, it’ll rope in the rubes who flock to theaters on those lonely weekends looking for some solace in the virtual arms of superstar hunky type actors (and who don’t know a penny’s worth of the plot) and those dragged-along spouses who trade in “Date Night” deals. That said, I think F. Scott Fitzgerald’s angry ghost would be rolling up yellowed, crumbling newspapers from the era or filling dirty socks with stones so he could do a day’s worth of REALLY old school drive-bys on those expensive movie sets.

OK, it might be really good, but my eyebrow is still up on this one. Well, as long as it’s not “Based on a True Story” or “Inspired By Actual Events…” Those films almost always stink under closer scrutiny…

Iron Man 3 TV Spot 1: Not Too Early, Never Too Late, Right?

Posted on March 25, 2013 by geelw

IM3_poster Sure, May 3 isn’t exactly THAT far away… then again, it’s not exactly close, is it? Still, this seems to be the sweet spot for these blockbusters where a month or so in advance, the TV commercials start dropping in many varieties. Of course you can expect 30 and 60-second spots, clips scattered around cable and online, the early screening buzz (where the more fortunate press get to show up and blab about positively or otherwise on their sites) and finally, a few premieres of the star-studded variety.

Of course, for most films I eventually choose to see, I just flip a coin and decide whether I catch in a theater with a bunch of annoying people around me and sit through 20 minutes of trailers for stuff I probably won’t see or wait a few more months until it pops up on video. Tick, tick, tick, tick…

BioShock Infinite TV Spot (Long Version): A Good Week Is Many Miles Away… Look Up!

Posted on March 18, 2013 by geelw

March 26 is what, a week away and 2K Games is finally getting the bigger, more splashy ads for this out in full force. As usual with a game so long awaited and important, I’m not going to go poking around for quickly written reviews or the opinions of friends who blow through this in a day at all. I’m thinking this is yet another one of those deeper than it looks games that deserves a full play on my own time and not some speedy rush through just to make a deadline. I’m gathering Ken Levine and Irrational Games would prefer people take the time to “relax” when they’re not being shot at or otherwise maimed in the game world and check out as much of Columbia as they can survive, as I can see the potential for Easter Eggs galore that take a bit of Sky Hook action, some deft shooting skills or other fun, challenging navigation and/or gameplay to reach. As usual, we shall see, folks… we shall see…

A&E’s Bates Motel: Oh, This Could Go All Kinds Of Wrong…

Posted on March 10, 2013 by geelw

But I’ll give it a shot. Maybe. “My hobby is… stuffing things…” OK, I’m not a huge fan of mucking around with something as classic as the original Psycho and previous attempts at making TV shows based on and around the film have not exactly been must-see entertainment. That said, I thought Psycho II was an interesting black comedy and a fun homage to Hitchcock (his shadow has a cameo in that film that’s easy to miss) and Psycho III was an even weirder flick with a nicely nasty edge. Of course, if this new show is actually good, it still mucks with the canon by pushing things forward a bit time-wise, something I’m not actually happy about. Of course, this will all be “new” to those whippersnappers who’ve yet to experience the first film because they’re somewhat cinema deficient and need a proper introduction to plenty of movies they’d otherwise ignore…

Evil Dead TV Spot: “Everything’s Fine”… Unless You’re A Character In This Film…

Posted on March 8, 2013 by geelw

“The joint is jumpin’… it’s really jumpin’…”

That’s because the damn house is HAUNTED, Fats. Nasty ol’ evil Book of the Dead ring any bells for you? No? Hmmm… let me explain it a bit better in English: Get the h-e-l-l off that damn piano and make a run for the door, big man.

OK, I’m not one for ridiculous over-hype, but this flick just may be worth the bother to drag my tired butt down to the local cinema to catch. I keep flipping the usual mental coin about more and more movies and usually (since I use a two-headed coin) I end up waiting for the cable premiere. As my LAST coin toss saw my trick quarter fly out a window never to be seen again, I have to judge things more like everyone else. So far, it’s been going well, so we’ll see how this turns out. I have no huge expectations going into this, but I just may pack a pair of extra underwear and pants just in case…

Soul Sacrifice Japanese TV Spots: April’s Real Fools Will Miss This Gem…

Posted on February 24, 2013 by geelw

Nope, I’m not taking ALL of today off, folks. Here are a trio of nice ads for Sony’s upcoming Vita exclusive which is headed stateside soon enough (oh, alright… I’ll be nice – it’s headed to PSN and HOPEFULLY retail in North America on April 30, 2013).

Granted, non-Vita owners hoping for the portable to slide into oblivion while they diddle away playing Fruit Ninja or whatever are more likely than not shrugging away or not taking much notice as they’re rubbing their fingerprints off on some tablet or phone. On the other hand, The core Vita fans who support the handheld know this is a key release coming in a pretty hectic year for the system.

Hmm. My long list of stuff to play has now officially reached “Too many games!” status. But according to experts in the field of “Hey, you have waaaaay too many games!” it’s been that way for a while.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance: Platinum Scores Big, Slices Skeptics Up Good…

Posted on February 19, 2013 by geelw

There’s nothing like a good game to shut up the naysayers out there, so it’s fantastic to see Konami, Platinum Games and yes, Hideo Kojima get a lovely bit of sweet Revengeance on the usual internet troll posses and their stale bile. Kojima has even made an amazing trailer for the game that shows off Platinum’s hard work quite well, spoils a few things and is pretty much not for those squeamish types, as there’s a lot of fake blood and lots of objects getting a good slicing on display. Of course, the game is SO far out there that much of this is pretty funny (in a weird way like most of Kojima’s work when he goes for the quirky). Hmmm – looks like that’s another game I need to get around to buying at some point. Also, the Japanese TV spots are slightly similar in tone (people having not so hot days at work and such), but funnier (and stranger) than the one US ad I’ve seen – see above and below the jump…

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Crysis 3 “Sharp Dressed Man” TV Spot: A Little Fun Before The Bodies Start Dropping…

Posted on February 19, 2013 by geelw

Amusingly enough, I actually had to explain to a non-gaming friend that this wasn’t some sort of cheesy 90’s action flick/comedy game after he kept seeing this goofy ad over the past week or so. I didn’t catch it until about three or four days back and it made me laugh because of the choice of ZZ Top’s classic 80’s tune more than the silly macho posturing going on (I was expecting something more serious like Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3 TV ads), but it’s all in good fun. I got to play a bit of the PC version last week at EA’s spring press event and it’s absolutely gorgeous and definitely Crytek’s best work to date (at least as far as the visuals go). As for the rest of the game, I’ll need to play through it at some point and see what’s what. I liked the second one (and never played the original outside of a demo and about two hours of the final version), so I’m probably going to have fun with this sequel as well.

Hmmm… I wonder if the ad agency that cooked this up is going to hit up more of ZZ Top’s back catalog for the inevitable DLC? I can think of a few other tunes they did that might fit, but I don’t want Crytek to get the idea that they’re better comedians than they are a games developer…