Review: Driftmoon

Posted on February 26, 2013 by geelw

Platform: PC

Developer: Instant Kingdom (Ville/Anne Mönkkönen)

Publisher: Instant Kingdom

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: N/A

Score: A (95%)

Do you own a decent cap or hat, dear reader? If you do, go get it now, put it on and tip that cap or hat in the general direction of Finland (Jyväskylä, to be a bit more precise). If you don’t have a good cap or hat, what’s wrong with you? It’s cold outside! Anyway, what’s with all the polite haberdashery tilting? Well, dear reader, it’s a hats off to Ville and Anne Mönkkönen for the seven years of work that went into one of the best games of this year. Driftmoon is an instant classic you’ll want to dive into and explore at your own pace just to experience great game design in action. Solid writing, great visuals and the excellent hybrid adventure/RPG/puzzle gameplay make a visit to Driftmoon well worth the price. As great as the game is, the included easy to use editor gives this one endless possibilities for users to craft their own potential classics…

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Capcom Arcade Cabinet Livestream: It’s Like Friday Night Again (With Much Cooler Friends)…

Posted on February 25, 2013 by geelw

Hey, now – don’t get (too) offended there. Some people had cool friends back in the day, some didn’t. I had both cool and uncool buddies, so I can speak for each side of that particularly pesky coin. That said, Capcom Arcade Cabinet is out now and if those first three titles are any indication, this series will indeed be quite a winner. 1943, Avengers and Black Tiger are the first trio in a nice collection of games headed to PSN and Xbox Live Arcade (and sooner than you think). I’m hoping this lot gets onto the Vita and Wii U, as those remastered visuals are screaming for some portable and GamePad love. Or even better for those who don’t use download services, if this eventually makes it out on a disc at some point. More served means millions served, I always say…

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.

Hey Lukewarm Games! You’re Lucky I Like Dinosaurs…

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

As I noted last week, this whole Harlem Shake thing is SO played out, but toss in a couple of dinosaurs and I get all “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in…” about this dopey fad. Well, it works with THESE dinosaurs. Hell, if it were Barney or any other purple dinosaur out there, I’d be beating my laptop with a baseball bat and suing someone so I can buy a new one. Anyway, OK – I laughed… but this is the last time I’m going to watch one of these videos. Maybe…

Hey, Lukewarm! Maybe think a tiny bit about getting your nifty-looking multiplayer-centric game Primal Carnage onto consoles and the Vita with a solo play campaign so I can finally play this game. It looks like a ton of fun, but I don’t do online gaming much (crap connection and I prefer games with stories to keep me interested more than running around shooting stuff)…

Review: Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken (Vita)

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita (via PSN)
Developer/Publisher: Ratloop Asia
# of Players: 1 (online 2 – 4)
ESRB: Rating: M (Mature)
Official Site
Score: A- (90%)
Before you even ask, nope, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken has absolutely NOTHING to do with Angry Birds. Zero. Zilch. So, please clear that Jenga with a slingshot game out of your heads before reading further (I’ll wait)… and if you happen to have grown up playing classic NES side-scrollers, a few too many platform-based puzzle games and maybe a few oddball arcade flight shooters, well… this game’s got your name on it somewhere. Ratloop Asia (sorry, but that studio name makes me want to avoid eating Chinese food for a few days) has cooked up a tasty bird buffet that’s a tad spicy for the kids thanks to a bit of foul (or is that fowl?) language, blood and lots of stabby and shooty violence. But for those of you Vita owners with a sense of humor and a few bucks in your pocket, it’s a guaranteed fun time while it lasts. A few new Vita-exclusive elements added makes this the most complete version out there and yes, it’s a definite must-buy if you’re looking for a solid adventure that, while not the longest game out there, is going to get a few replays and perhaps even stay on that memory card long after you’re all done.

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Bugbear Entertainment Has Been Some Busy Bees. You’ll Want A Seat Belt For This One.

Posted on February 23, 2013 by geelw

I’ve had a mad crush (pun intended) on Bugbear Entertainment and their games since I first got a debug demo for FlatOut on the original Xbox many years back and played it to death. I have almost all their other racers (yes, even Glimmerati for the Nokia N-Gage, which needs to remade for other platforms so more people can see how fun it is) and in general, all you need is one go at any of their games to see that these guys love making arcade style racing games that aren’t supercar showcases at all. They’re still around and have made some fine racers, but some were better than others and while each game was well worth playing, I felt it would be a nice thing to see the developer go back to its roots and do something that was fun and chaotic with a hefty amount of car damage making it a guaranteed smash with fans of this type of game. Hey, car puns are too easy to write – I’m holding back here just so I don’t go overboard, folks…
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Here’s MUD In Yer Eye: Namco Bandai Gets Milestone’s Moto Racer In Stores Next Week

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

Namco Bandai Games is turning into quite the busy bee of a publisher these days, picking up distribution rights to a bunch of cool-looking titles from a few developers. Milestone’s upcoming MUD FIM Motocross World Championship is coming to the PS3, PS Vita and Xbox 360 on February 26, 2013, so here’s a look if you haven’t seen it yet. The game combines simulation and arcade racing with some real-life riders and racing that’s based on the FIM series plus some stunt-heavy maps to tool around on when you’re not racing. While it probably won’t wow the graphics hounds out there, the game looks decent enough and might be a bit of a fun diversion for those seeking a bit of bouncy bike action in an off-road flavor. You can catch bugs in your teeth at home when the game jumps into stores next week (and on PSN for the Vita).

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PS4 Reveal Event (Full Version)

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

Put on a pot of whatever and pull up a seat. Here’s the full press event I didn’t get to see live, so whee, we get to watch it together! Hey, it’s NOT a rerun if you’ve never seen it, right? Hmmm. this brings back memories, though. I need to interview Mark Cerny at some point, as he’s been missed for a while on the gaming scene. KNACK looks like a classic PSOne platformer remade with amazing physics and I can’t wait to see more. Amusingly enough, I haven’t seen Dave Perry in years (he’s something like seven feet tall in person), but I remember a chat we had about Shiny’s development on The Matrix: Path of Neo and some other fun stuff a few years back at a loud Atari event. Enjoy the ride, folks… Sony’s just getting started.

Below the jump is the official press release (I fixed a silly spelling error I caught), as I’m too busy to edit the darn thing down, you get to pore over every official word and hold Sony to the fire if they don’t deliver the goods…

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Watch_Dogs & Watch The Future Arrive on PS4

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

That’s almost it for the PS4,
some cool tech on the way
A new controller, camera too,
and some new games to play.

I’ll post more vids later to-day
I’m just about to drop
Expect more Sony stuff to see
(your eyes, they just may pop!)

NEW Driftmoon Trailer: It’s All Done (The Game and Trailer, That Is), So Go Buy It, Already!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by geelw

As in noted last week (I think – this month is a TOTAL blur!), Ville and Anne Mönkkönen indie adventure/RPG Driftmoon has been getting some final tweaking and as you can see in the new trailer above, it’s tight as a drum and all set to brighten up your hard drive. The game is fresh, funny and near perfect, now has a nifty modern camera angle adjustor 2.0 added (er, in English, the Pg Up/Pg Dn keys tilt the viewpoint), a gentle kick in the lighting’s pants by accident has boosted it a bit more and yes, the game is easy on the eyes, to boot. Did I mention the level editor? No? Oh, I did last week? Well, I’m glad someone is actually reading this site! Either that, or I’m having a conversation with myself (shhh!).

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