BOUGHT THAT! RPG Trifecta Pack Get!

Posted on August 22, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, yeah… I a bit late in picking this awesome deal up (it was released on August 6), but the RPG Trifecta Pack is all mine and I just saved a few hundred bucks in the process by not tracking down the out of production cart versions. Granted, the collector in me still wants to shell out for the two Genesis RPGs I’m missing from Super Fighter Team (I already have one of the few hundred copies of Star Odyssey here in the library), but this set will most certainly do.

Amusingly enough, if you happen to be the owner of a creaky PC from the last century, guess what? All of the games will actually run on any system with the following operating systems: Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, ME, and 98SE (which is amazing but not unexpected, given emulation works well on any modern PC). Mac users? Well, you’ll need Mac OS X 10.5 and above. I don’t own a Mac, so I have no clue if that’s good, bad or ugly, but if you’re jumping up and down at home or the office, it’s all good. OK, I need to shut up and get downloading. Well, it’s only a 4MB file, so it’ll be quick, even on a crappy dial-up connection. Of course, I won’t get to PLAY any of these three until I whittle down my backlog here, so I guess this is an early holiday gift for myself – whee!

Gamescom 2013: Murdered: Soul Suspect Trailer: Can I Get A Witness?!

Posted on August 22, 2013 by geelw

Airtight Games and Square Enix are going to be dipping a toe into the supernatural with the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game, Murdered: Soul Suspect, set for a 2014 release. If you’ve been around the gaming block a bit, this one looks like a cross between L.A. Noire, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and a couple of cool PC adventure games from way back when. I like that the video plays like a little hint book of sorts and there will be more to come that will no doubt aid games who snap this up in uncovering a few important clues as they go through the game. Of course, I tend to avoid spoilers and tips before or while I’m playing, so I’m probably only going to watch each of the rest of these trailers once and hope my short term memory gives out like I’m starring in Memento II or something. Er, pretend I didn’t type that – I can see some lousy straight to video sequel popping up in what, two weeks from now…

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut Gameplay: Aha, FEMA Camps DO Exist!

Posted on August 21, 2013 by geelw

Oh, you should have seen the face on the nosy guy in the library today as I was watching this trailer. He was behind me looking at the DVD section and I guess at some point he turned around and saw the title of this trailer and promptly lost his mind. Well, it was already gone because he says to me “Wait, is that true?” As if I knew what “true” was in his brain. Of course, I said, “Yep, it’s coming to the Wii U”, which confused him even more. Well, the next two or three minutes were spent telling him about Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut and how it’s a specially enhanced Wii U version of the (that’s coming to other platforms later because Square Enix probably won’t make a huge profit on the Wii U game), which flustered him even more. I think he thought he was watching a movie (and probably a documentary, at that).

He finally leans in to hiss “No, I mean the FEMA camps, man!” as if they’re real places and not some talk radio claptrap cooked up to make people like him crazier. I had to slowly tell him “This is a video game”, whisch seemed to work for a few seconds until he says … “But it’s about FEMA camps!”, which made my brain face palm itself inside my skull. He went away shaking his head (and will probably be calling whatever show he listens to on the radio tonight or tomorrow to report what he’s seen). Hoo. Boy. I hope that man has NO children at home.

So, um… yeah… good job, Square Enix and Eidos Montreal (plus whomever handled the port) – you’ve made someone more paranoid about the future who wasn’t even a gamer. Now I really have to buy this when it launches later this year.

Borderlands 2 Is Vita Bound. So Much For Anything Resembling Free Time in 2014…

Posted on August 21, 2013 by geelw

Buried under all that PS4 news yesterday was the really nice “surprise” that there’s a portable version of one of the best games of 2012 in development and set for a 2014 release. This is a great thing for anyone who has yet to play Borderlands 2 as well as an even better thing for those who loved (and still love) the game for all its crazy fun and loot drops galore. 2K Games has only sent out this teaser image (boo!), but we’ll definitely be keeping a collective eyeball peeled for more on this one.

Actually, it’s a good thing it’s coming out next year, as my calendar of games to play is quite full (and then some!)…

October’s Dark Souls II Live Beta Will Test the Best (and Kill the Rest)…

Posted on August 21, 2013 by geelw

If you’re a big Dark Souls fan, you’d better pay very close attention to the game’s facebook page. Namco Bandai is going to be running an exclusive closed Beta for the PlayStation 3 version of the game over Sony’s PlayStation Network starting October 5, 2013 for players in North America and Europe. From the press release, it sure looks as if developer FromSoftware is going to be showing off an all-new area packed with death in every corner, but don’t take it from me – get a load of this snippet:

The depth of the DARK SOULS II Closed-Beta experience will truly test players’ skill, intestinal fortitude, and their sheer will to survive. The DARK SOULS II Closed-Beta will delve into one of the most treacherous areas of the DARK SOULS II world; players will not only get an opportunity to explore an entirely new area of the game, but also experience overwhelming enemy encounters, diabolical challenges, and the unrelenting difficultly that only the developers at FromSoftware can deliver.

Yeah, that sounds like a double-dog dare with a side of fries and cheese (the cheese coming from the game’s notoriously vicious and crafty enemy AI – trust me, it’s BRUTAL on the unprepared player!), so you know what to do if you accept that challenge (and you’ve survived being slapped upside the head with that metal gauntlet you just got served up fresh and hot). “Prepare to Suffer” needs to be the slogan for that Beta, I say…

Gamescom 2013: Microsoft Keeps Trying, But I’m Not Buying (Don’t Let Me Stop YOU, However)…

Posted on August 21, 2013 by geelw

As I noted yesterday, Microsoft also stormed Gamescom with a bunch of new titles, but I can’t even look at anything the company is doing with its Xbox One thanks to the seriously mixed messages they’ve been sending. Sure, that new console looks pretty awesome, but between the enforced evolution thing they wanted to dump onto their user base, then the backtracking and in between, insulting anyone who didn’t have the proper connection to be always online or didn’t want to use that new Kinect or maybe wanted to sell or lend the games they owned to anyone at any time (and so forth and so on), it’s been a nightmare they need to wake up from soon.

Sure, some of you out there have VERY short attention spans and tend to forgive anyone for even the most blankety blanket of minor apologies. But there’s been a nice swell of pissed off gamers kicking Microsoft around who have little interest in the system, which seems to be forcing the company to do some insane stuff like give Europe a free (digital) copy of the FIFA game while stiffing US buyers because we’re dumb enough to pay full price for Madden every year (well, I don’t anymore).

So, the abusive relationship will continue between Microsoft and its die-hard fans with some great games on the new system, less draconian mandates (for now… but they’re coming back bit by bit, mark my words) and All sorts of exclusive content. Hopefully, that new system will be a LOT less prone to dying randomly like the Xbox 360 (I went through FIVE, dammit!) and people aren’t griping about not being able to access some stuff because they don’t want to turn on that new Kinect and it’ll be mandatory for some games or services we’re not yet informed about. I’d have to say this is the FIRST time I’m not excited for a new console cycle since I started gaming back in 1972. I’ll probably pick up an Xbox One eventually… but I certainly won’t miss it this year at all…

Gamescom 2013: US PlayStation 4 Arrives November 15, Vita Gets Price Drop Now…

Posted on August 20, 2013 by geelw

I’ve been saying this for a few years, but here we go again: E3 has lost pretty much any relevance it’s had because Gamescom and later, TGS always have more exciting news stories and even better game reveals. Sony, coming off a pretty successful year for revealing new products (in its game division, at least) has dropped info on the worldwide launch dates for its eagerly anticipated PlayStation 4 console. North American consumers get their on November 15 and European consumers can plan on a November 29 launch. Sony also revealed that at least one million PS4 pre-orders have been taken, which means that’s a lot of folks who will be taking sudden early Thanksgiving vacations here in the US so they can snap up their systems and camp out at home with one of the many launch titles…

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Bundle Stars Wants You To Think Strategically, Win or Lose…

Posted on August 19, 2013 by geelw

Four games for four bucks might not seem like a stellar deal to some of you used to Bundle Stars‘ usual crazier deals, but three of the four here are nearly endless in what they have to offer and the fourth is an interesting take on a famous historical character. This new deal, dubbed Strategy Classics, nets you Capitalism, Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars, Warlords: Battlecry III and Wars & Warriors: Joan of Arc.

As noted Joan’s game isn’t as deep or “classic” as the others, but if you like Koei’s long-running Dynasty Warriors franchise with a bit of RTS action thrown in, it’s not that bad. Granted, Koei’s later Bladestorm: The 100 Years War did this much better, but for a dollar you get an interesting (and yes, visually dated by today’s standards) 3D action game that’s a funk and funky solo play diversion.

The Walking Dead Lives Again on PlayStation Vita (Buy It. Or Buy It Again!)

Posted on August 19, 2013 by geelw

Well, tomorrow the game is up and kicking on the PSN Store and yes indeed, if you’re a Vita owner looking for a nice and superbly scary as well as excellently written horror adventure, well, here you go. Even if you’ve played this already on any of the other platforms it’s been on, it’s worth a buy just to support Telltale Games (and scare the crap out of some poor soul sitting next to you on the train or bus on the way to work). This one’s going on the top of the queue, although at the moment that just means it’ll be played within the next month or so (yeah, the backlog is THAT big here, but progress has been made! You’ll see…). Of course, in a perfect world we’d see MORE of Telltale’s past games popping up on the Vita, but I guess that depends on a few things (such as this one doing well enough and fans beating down the company’s doors like a pack of starving undead)…

Diablo III Console TV Ad: What the Hell, Indeed (But In A Better Way Than Some Think)…

Posted on August 17, 2013 by geelw

I don’t know if Activision knows this yet, but this hilarious ad is a nice twist on the two Japanese TV spots from 1995 for the PlayStation port of Wizardry VII where a guy playing the game is suddenly visited by characters from the game (actors in costume) who grab him and take into into the game world. I’ll need to figure out how to get those clips from the import demo discs I have here and maybe post them (with fingers crossed that YouTube doesn’t get all jerky about it). Anyway, I’m certainly looking forward to this one a HELL (ha!) of a lot more than a chunk of the nasty naysayers commenting on this over the internet. It kind of sucks to be them and so unappreciative of Blizzard doing a console port that looks as good as the PC game in many respects while being more accessible to all sorts of players, but what can you do. Some folks made up their minds to hate this game as soon as it was announced and that’s just too bad…