New Super Mario Bros. 2 3DS TV Spot: Nintendo Does It Again (Again)

Posted on August 7, 2012 by geelw

To me, it’s simply amazing that Nintendo can crank out a new Mario game that’s basically an old Mario game with some funky tweaks plus a few innovations every so often and make a mint every single time. Any other publisher that does this gets called all kinds of names and sand kicked in their faces by the more jaded critics and gamers alike out there. But Nintendo seems to have a pretty solid lock on what their fans want to see, so thanks are in order somewhere, I suppose. Of course, if you hate Mario games, your thumbs went into your eyes before you read this, right?

Total Recall TV Ad: I Say Colin Farrell Goes 2 For 2 On The Remake Front

Posted on August 1, 2012 by geelw

I finally got around to watching the Fright Night remake a week or so ago and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was while doing a number of things that made it a lot less campy than the original. Farrell’s performance as an apple (and human) chomping vampire was pretty neat and the rest of the cast did a great job throughout. Granted, the film wasn’t quite flawless, but it certainly kept my attention and didn’t wear out its welcome. Total Recall looks as if it will be along the same lines in terms of outdoing the original, but we’ll see how it holds up under the scrutiny of the folks who like to (over)compare good and bad points.

Sleeping Dogs Official Site Goes Live With A Bit Of Hidden Object Fun

Posted on July 26, 2012 by geelw

I’ve been quietly following United Front’s work on this one since it was announced and yes, I’m pretty happy with how this is coming together and hope it does great when it ships out. Amusingly enough, after watching all those gameplay videos and taking in the scope of the game (it’s going to be huge), I noted to a friend that all the game needed was puzzle or hidden object game elements to appeal to the super-casual crowd. Of course, Future US and Square Enix have kicked off the official site with… you guessed it, a hidden object mini-game that, while not for the casual crowd at all, does unlock a cool new gameplay video once you find all four objects in the rather cool interactive “marketplace” complete with people and items you’ll see in the game proper. Go on, check it out (you know you want to). August 14, 2012 is the big day, by the way – so get ready….

The Dark Knight Rises TV Spots 14 & 15: You’re In Line Already, Right?

Posted on July 16, 2012 by geelw

Unless, of course you already bought your tickets and are going to step out to the theater and skip the long lines (provided there’s aren’t longer lines for those picking up tickets thanks to some sort of computer glitch). I’ve purposely been avoiding as much info as possible on the story and have even NOT watched all of the TV commercials when they suddenly popped onto my TV, but I finally gave in over the weekend and yeah, this looks like it’s going to be bigger than I thought. Nolan is throwing in everything and the kitchen sink here and I sort of feel bad for any director who wants to take over the series after he’s gone. At this point, unless the movie goes into a comedy/tap dance routine in the middle and has the ending chopped off, there’s no way it’s going to be a bust at the box office.

Assassin’s Creed III July 4th Trailer: A Bit of Flag-Waving From A Few Directions…

Posted on July 4, 2012 by geelw

How amusing that US ad agencies make stupid “patriotic” commercials with stuff like the founding fathers driving Detroit muscle cars into battle (Um…. oooookaaay?), while a non-US based company like Ubisoft does stirring stuff like this that manages to draw interest to both their product and a traditional American holiday in a more inspiring manner. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the holiday and please try not to blow anything off you’ll need for work (or play) later on.

The Dark Knight Rises TV Ad #2: And Then, What Happened?

Posted on June 20, 2012 by geelw

Sus-pense! At this point, if this film isn’t as long as Lawrence of Arabia, I’ll be very disappointed. Just kidding, but. that said, director Chris Nolan has pretty much pulled out all the stops here and I’m almost convinced that staying home and hunkering down for the inevitable Blu-Ray box set release with all three of his Batman films might be a better idea than running out and seeing this in a theater. Granted, I’ll more likely than not do both, but I want to see what got left out of the theatrical release, as Hollywood likes getting asses in seats like clockwork, sometimes killing a director’s true vision until the home versions hit retail. As always, we shall see…

The Dark Knight Rises… Just In Time To Take Your Ticket Money Early.

Posted on June 12, 2012 by geelw

Hmmm… there’s over a month to go before its release and they’re selling tickets already? I didn’t know there was a Broadway play version coming (ha ha). Anyway, this pre-selling stuff is obviously in place to give the film a record-breaking box office take for the first day and weekend more than it is to assure everyone who wants to see the film can see it when they want to. Well, I guess as long as you don’t have to wait for those tickets in the mail only to lose them under the stove or go to pick them up at the theater only to get there and forget that you left your receipt stuck to the fridge (with a bat-signal magnet, no less)…

E3 2012: Spec Ops: The Line TV Spot: I’ll Have a Shot Of Yager, Please…

Posted on June 3, 2012 by geelw

2K Games and developer Yager really have a hit here, what with all that amazing sand technology and the source material (Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness) being perfect for the game they’re presenting. Here’s yet another example of a genre game defying the usual conventions and stepping outside of the box to do it differently. Like a few other titles pushing the envelope, I’m hoping gamers can free up a few extra brain cells to actually appreciate the hard work that went into this one without complaining about the experience NOT being what they “expected.” Hell, sometimes, it’s NICE to be surprised about a game, I say…

Lollipop Chainsaw TV Ad: Just About All You Can See During Primetime…

Posted on May 16, 2012 by geelw

I really like that WBIE didn’t fall over themselves trying to whip up a tame and unremarkable commercial for Grasshopper’s upcoming game. Yes, if you’ve been ogling the trailers before, you’ve seen most or all of this footage already. But this spot isn’t for YOU, silly rabbits. It’s for those folks who haven’t pre-ordered on heard of the game for some reason and are seeing all that weirdness for the first time. Hell, I’d buy this if I saw this ad and didn’t know a thing about the game just for the comedy bits alone. I predict a nice summer for Juliet if the game does well (and everyone involved will be happy as well)…

The Avengers Hits Big Overseas, Making for Some New-ish Movie Math…

Posted on April 30, 2012 by geelw

Personally, I really miss the days when a film made here was released here first, THEN in overseas markets. Nevertheless, it seems the strategy here is Marvel wanting to juggernaut the hype machine with a boffo box office take everywhere else so it’s a total no-brainer that the film kills at the ticket counter when if officially launches here on Friday. Of course, by that time, the bootleggers who shot and shipped DVD’s from some of those foreign markets will take away some of that gross, but not enough to put a dent in the wallets of Marvel, who’s going to be smiling for a while, it seems…