PlayStation Plus Actually Pays For Itself In January Alone. Wow. (But…)

That said, I think even Sony realizes the insanity of forcing PS4 owners to pay for the “privilege” of multiplayer gaming on their new console. Stick around until the end of this trailer and note how that stupid little thing about paying to play online is shoved in quickly at the end. Granted, they just hit you on the head HARD with the free games mallet and you’re already so dizzy you didn’t even realize you’d whipped out that credit card and signed up. The free games are MORE than worth that $50 and yes, Sony’s not kidding about that “instant game library” thing. The drawback to this is STORAGE space, as even though you get free cloud saves and a nicely sized HDD this time out (which is still small when you consider the size of some new games), you can’t access them should PSN go down for the count for a few days or even a few hours for simple maintenance.

Thankfully, the PS4 will play disc games and anything you have stored locally offline if the game has offline play. Anyway, I think they need to DUMP the requirement to pay to play MP games, as it’s NOT a privilege at all. If a game is made to be played online, any fee should be part of the price of the game, period. Asking people to pony up as part of a package is lame, even if they do get what amounts to a few thousand bucks a year in free content. Granted, having thee time to PLAY all those freebies AND buy and play NEW games requires either quitting one’s day job, renting out a TARDIS so you can go back in time to fire up a game, complete it and go back to start a new one and some other time magic. But hey, who can pass up FREE when the buffet is so tantalizing?

Tex Murphy Is Coming Back? I Need To Pay More Attention To Stuff Like This…

Tex Murphy - Tesla Effect Molten SilhouetteWell, well, well… I actually haven’t played a Tex Murphy game since 1994’s Under a Killing Moon, so I’ve been way out of the loop on the noir/tech detective and his adventures for (eek) almost twenty years now (eek!). Anyway, Atlus (which is generally not known for publishing these types of games) is producing and publishing the long awaited PC follow up to the 1996 PC game Tex Murphy: Overseer and developer Big Finish Games is, as you can see, making a FMV (Full-Motion Video) game for the ages.

I actually loved these types of adventure games back in the 90’s, grainy video quality and all, so it’s fantastic to see this style of game get a nice boost thanks to better technology that allows for crystal clear FMV scenery in the cinemas as well as in-game environments and effects work that’s not embarrassingly cheesy for a change. I also love the idea of a film noir-ish detective in a post World War III San Francisco, which is sort of like Blade Runner without the pompous ego crisis and Philip K. Dick pedigree, ha ha. Heh, I may need to hire a Blade Runner of my own to protect my from the legions of fans of that classic film, but I think I can take my chances and survive. I’ll take on the all of the Pris impersonators first, though. I think my feeble brain could really use the vigorous thigh massage (Ouch! I was kidding, ladies, Don’t hit! Don’t hit!!!)…

Anyway, my eyeball is now fixed on one more great game that’s going to roll up in 2014 and get a lot of people buzzing about it for a few reasons. Anyway, all this gabbing and I still haven’t officially* linked you to the game’s official site where you (yes, YOU) can check out the assorted screens and a few FMV movies that will let you know what some are bouncing up and down in their favorite chairs about. I’d be doing the same, but I’m in the library here, these damn chairs are as hard as a rock and I’d rather not have to be hospitalized for being giddy. At least for this particular reason.

*”Officially, as in if you didn’t click on those other links already, you haven’t seen the site yet, of course)…

Unconventional Games of The Year Choices Incoming. You’ve Been Warned.

(Thanks, movieclips!) 

As some of you may know, I hate making “best of” lists, as it’s always a case of what one DIDN’T experience not making the cut almost always being as good or (or better) than what was chosen. That goes double for public choice where popular seems to outstrip good by a few leagues. That said, if you kidnapped me, tied me to a couch with a bunch of random strangers and submitted them to some rather strange blood testing to see who was infected with an alien virus, I’d fess up beforehand that yes, I’m one of those Things just because I hate me the hell out of needles and sharp objects (unless I’m in the kitchen cutting up stuff to cook). I’d also probably admit that out of all the games I’ve played this year, I probably put MORE time into a few than most did because I liked them a lot more than most did. Okay, that and my backlog is insane and I no longer review too many games in a “speed to the finish!” manner, as that’s how you miss some important stuff… Continue reading

BUY IT! Tale Of Tales Prototype Sales: It’s Off The Scales

ToT_Anniversary If you’re a firm believer in the Games are Art school of thought and you’ve never, ever seen or played anything from Tale of Tales, you’re not only missing out on some outstandingly creative work, you’re also probably not seeing games as ACTUAL art pieces. Whether or not you’re interested in game development or art or seeing how interactive and non interactive projects comes together, in celebration of their 10 year anniversary the developer is offering up some truly amazing prototypes, demos and other neat stuff for a small donation, Which, by the way, will help fund their next title. For a minimum of $5, you can access at least 35 demos, test builds, a few different screensavers and more which are available as 18 separate downloads. Being a silent fan of their work for a few years, I paid the full $15, as this stuff is worth much more than that and in the words of the mighty Valkor, “I love seeing a plan come together!”

Anyway, take a peek at the Anniversary page and see the whopping amount of stuff up for grabs. Once you buy the collection, you’ve got 13 days to download it all (more than enough time) and forever to enjoy it. I say this stuff is a MUST if you’re even thinking of getting into game development or want to see the art and game world truly merging in your own virtual gallery. This is a LIMITED time offer than expires on Christmas, so definitely do this NOW if you’re interested! I wish more developers large and small would open up their vaults in this manner, as there are MANY games that never see the light of day despite multiple builds that are well worth seeing and playing just for historical and educational purposes. I guess we’ll see if this becomes a trend in the future (I sure hope it does!)…

Nintendo Direct 12/18/2013: Some Very Nice Surprises From Now ‘Til Thenever…

I actually wasn’t expecting all that much from this new Nintendo Direct video, as it clocks in at just over 33 minutes and the last live reveal the company did outside their straight to the consumer YouTube series was underwhelming at best (or: I don’t give a rat’s banana about Cranky Kong!). That said, there were some nice surprises here in the form of NES Remix a cool mash-up mini-game series available today on the eShop and for me, Hyrule Warriors is going to be a go-to game for a while whenever it actually hits retail. Seeing a Legend of Zelda take on the supremely addictive long running “mindless” hack and slash Dynasty Warriors franchise (done by the folks who make those games, of course) made me a wee bit too giddy. I say this one should have been a launch or launch window game for the Wii U just because it’s one of those series that like it or not, anyone who can hold a controller can dive into and play without a single tutorial or hand-holding moment…
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Proof I’m Not A (Completely) Cranky Bastard: Doki Doki Universe Is Awesome.

DDU_Screen1What, ME Worry? Not really, robot – it’s just a Monday thing, that’s all. So, HumaNature Studios new PS3/PS4/Vita game, Doki Doki Universe is actually really fun and interesting and like the gloriously inventive Tearaway, one of the better indie titles on Sony’s assorted platforms. I’ve only played the wonderful (and lengthy) demo so far, but a few friends who’ve been enjoying the full version are bugging me to get the full game. Yeah, yeah – I will once I chop down my backlog significantly.

The GREAT thing about buying this one outright it is any version you buy gets you a game that will run on the PS3, PS4, and Vita. If you’re one of those overly social butterflies, guess what? The Doki Doki Universe Mail feature can even be used on some mobile devices, meaning you can facebook like a champ using some kooky hand-drawn characters and a custom page on your console, phone or tablet. I hate the fake word “phablet” so I won’t use it in a sentence, although I just did there. Oops. OK, I’ll NEVER use that word in another sentence from now on. Better? Thanks you. Now stop reading this post and go check out this game, I say…

Review: Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!

adventure time Wii UPlatform: Nintendo Wii U/Nintendo 3DS (also on PS3/Xbox 360/PC)

Developer: WayForward Technologies

Publisher: D3Publisher of America

# of Players: 1-4

ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Official Site

Score: B (80%)

You don’t need to be a big Adventure Time fan at all to enjoy Adventure Time: Explore The Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!, but it may help out considerably if you’re a fan of ancient dungeon crawlers, intentional use of 8-bit visuals and a certain classic four-player arcade dungeon crawler. Insanely busy developer WayForward Technologies has managed to capture all of those elements in this game, and while it’s a pretty straightforward experience, as a long time fan of anything dungeon related (er, don’t get any “whip-smart” thoughts in your noggins, people!), this one’s a fine bit of nostalgia that’s even more fun with a few friends along for the long haul. Going in solo is also enjoyable if you’re that old school (raises hand high!), but if you want to rack up more loot and enough money for gear and skill upgrades, you’ll need to pick your hero or heroine wisely. Survival can be pretty tough in the later maps when you’re alone and not able to get to those out of reach goodies… Continue reading

Dungeon of the Endless Trailer: The Final Frontier Is Only About FOREVER Long…

DOET_revealimageEndless Space was (and still is) a pretty amazing 4X strategy game that still draws in players thanks to a ton of depth and replay value plus a very healthy modding community. So, as one of a few follow up titles, developer Amplitude Studios is making… a dungeon crawler set in the same universe? Yes, this is Dungeon of the Endless, currently in development and coming soon to PC via Steam.

Well, that actually works very well for me, as I love that genre more than poking about amount the stars and hoping all my ships aren’t blown into space dust because I got lazy and forgot to do something twenty hours before that’s coming back to bite me in the butt. As you can see above in that teaser trailer, the game will feature randomly generated maps, loads of space beasties to dispatch or be dispatched by and is pretty much guaranteed to suck many, many hours of free time away from stuff you SHOULD be getting done except you were too busy being up too late at night not doing things like sleeping and dreaming of more productive endeavors…

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Atlus Joins The Humble Weekly Sale Action – Knock Yourself Out For A Few Bucks….

While it would have been nice to see an ALL Atlus bundle, the three games here plus the Tripwire Interactive titles aren’t bad at all and for six bucks (which unlocks everything including the soundtracks), you’re getting a really nice deal in this Humble Weekly Sale. Of course, if you’re like me, this tempting set of titles only means your backlog of games you’ll need to play only grows like a beanstalk up to a giant castle full of MORE games (and a golden egg laying goose, perhaps?). And hey, as you can see above, Rock of Ages is insane and hilarious enough to pay six bucks for on its own. Both Zeno Clash games are a hoot as well. Anyway, you know what to do, correct?

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt VGX Trailer: Oy, Geralt!

Wow. Well, you certainly can’t say CD Projekt RED is slacking off one bit, as every little update and scrap of footage that rolls out from the Polish developer is more and more incredible. I’ve only watched this twice and I’m already thinking about selling off unused body parts to afford something to play this on. Unfortunately, I need all of my parts just in case, so I’m accepting volunteers to donate to the cause. Cash or parts, I can find a use for either, a ha ha. (Sings):“Gonna make me a monsterrrrrrr… gotta stitch and sewwww…” Okay, not REALLY, as my sewing skills stink and my freezer is a bit too small to fit in my own head, much less YOURS. Besides, you need that head to read this site and at least ONE hand to click around, correct? You’re safe, dear reader… you’re safe… for now (Dun, dun DUNNNNNNNNN!).

Yeah, it’s been a long day here, kids…