Alien Isolation: “Crew Expendable”? Not In This Video, Folks!

Posted on July 24, 2014 by geelw

While the internet still rages on about whether or not the adding the cast of the original ALIEN to this new game as paid DLC currently only available as a pre-order bonus, it’s good to see the old(er) cast here reminiscing for a bit about things old and new. I like how Harry Dean Stanton didn’t realize that 35 years had passed since the film was released (hey, sometimes an actor who’s appeared in so many films tends to not recall every single role he’s done and when he did them) and it’s clearly sounding like the dev team didn’t go the lazy route and just take voice samples from the first movie and drop them in where needed. The again, as Tom Skerritt notes: “It’s what you don’t see…”, meaning these missions add to the original film’s story, filling in a few gaps. Hopefully, fans of the film will more likely be a lot more pleased whether or not they like the idea of pre-paying for that DLC and Sega will decide to release both missions as a single download not too long after the game ships out so we all can enjoy them.

FREE GAME! Bundle Stars and PC Gamer Magazine Want A Million Of You On The Road!

Posted on July 23, 2014 by geelw

So, it’s the final week of Bundle Stars and PC Gamer.com HUGE giveaway (five million game codes over five weeks) and this last one’s a doozy if you’re into racing simulations and haven’t played GTR Evolution, Race 07 and RaceRoom Racing Experience yet. Granted, that latter title is a free to play game that to date, only has a solo play component and I know some folks don’t like the idea of a la carte gaming despite its popularity. But the great thing about this FREE deal is you can avoid any game you wish in the deal or try it out and if you don’t like your unpaid-for gift, you can simply delete it from your hard drive and go do something else with that free time. If you want that code, just click on the image below and grab it.

Act FAST, though – free stuff doesn’t last very long if you’re too slow in claiming it!

The Boxtrolls Didn’t Have Me Intrigued At First. The Trailer Changed My Mind…

Posted on July 23, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I’d been ignoring Focus Features’ upcoming animated film The Boxtrolls for a little while (because the name did nothing for me other than make me think of a generic new kid-friendly IP) until someone pointed out to me that it’s based on the Alan Snow book Here There Be Monsters!, is stop motion animated from Laika, the folks who made Coraline and ParaNorman. I decided to look up a few trailers and yes, I’m glad I did. Despite the light electrocution, ugly but cute monsters and a bit of weird hand-licking going on, this seems to be not as dark as the two aforementioned films. Of course, I tend to like my modern animation creative and slightly darker in tone, but this isn’t turning me off at all and you can’t beat the craft that goes into making films like this.

This one hits theaters September 26, 2014 in standard and Real 3D formats and given the current state of the box office this year, I’m actually wondering if we’ll see a holiday home video release just to make up for slow ticket sales. Eh, we’ll see what happens, I suppose. It’s almost always guaranteed that a film like this isn’t going to destroy anything coming out around the same time in terms of tickets sold…

Boring Life Update: ID, Phase Two! Alllllmost There…

Posted on July 23, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, sugasugaki!)

Hokay, the trip to the DMV was done this morning and it took a lot less time than I thought. There nothing like a nice walk bright and early in the morning to either wake you up or make you tired, depending on how productive that walk ends up being. Temporary ID get! Actual ID arrives in two weeks (and Phase Two complete!). Part the thirds SHOULD be easier, but my call to the post office to ask am few questions before I make an appointment was a bit odd. It’s FAR easier to walk into a place and SHOW someone something, ask questions and get answers in person over doing it all on the phone or online. Sometimes, a personal touch makes things much more… human at the end of the day. Anyway, back later this afternoon with some actual site updates. I think I need a short nap before I pop out to the library to write (hey, I woke up at 5:27am for some crazy reason!)…

Taking Tuesday Off? Not Really…

Posted on July 22, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, aero84!)

I just have some more ID stuff to tackle, but it will be easier than last week’s craziness. Hopefully, this won’t take longer to process than the two weeks promised on the DMV website. After that’s done, I’ve one more to tackle, but that part is interesting because I’m gathering from my poking about a few places that I’m a special case that doesn’t easily fall under some of the crazy rules set by some agencies. Anyway, the laws about expired documents need to be changed because they’re DUMB. If you get run over by a runaway bus steps from the passport office and EMS comes to retrieve your corpse, they’re NOT going to look at that old ID in your wallet or purse and say “Oh, this isn’t him/her – their ID isn’t current!”

Nope, not at all…

(Although, I’ll bet you a dollar that at least ONE of those folks who shows up to collect your corpse will say something disrespectfully amusing such as “Well, now he/she’s expired… just like this ID!”, before whipping out a pair of sunglasses and putting them on like Horatio Caine. YEAAAAAAAAAH!)

So Long, Jim- It Was A Nice Long Ride, Wasn’t It?

Posted on July 21, 2014 by geelw

(thanks 11db11!)nbsp;

I can recall watching the pilot for The Rockford Files on NBC as a ten-year old kid and while not completely understanding everything that was going on, finding the show intriguing enough to come back week after week for almost the entire run of the series. Nothing lasts forever, and I was sad to see it vanish in 1980 (as far as original episodes went), but as with nearly any TV show that gains popularity and notoriety, reruns kept things going if I happened to be around to catch one. Of course, James Garner did much more memorable work in films before and since. Some of my favorite performances of his were in The Great Escape (1963), The Americanization of Emily (1964, the actor’s favorite role), Grand Prix (1966), Marlowe (1969) and Victor Victoria (1982). But, of course, since I was raised more on the tube, it’s Jim Rockford I’ll remember the best. I don’t have a favorite episode per se, but I absolutely recall rolling on the floor laughing at the episode where someone tries to bump off Rockford by sticking a canister of laughing gas in his car and hoping he’d have an accident:

(thanks 11db11!)

This sequence makes me laugh harder today because it’s an homage of sorts to the scene in North By Northwest where a drunken Cary Grant (as Roger Thornhill) is put behind the wheel of a stolen Mercedes Benz and sent down a dark road towards certain doom off a cliff. Of course, he survives by taking the wheel and zig-zagging away from that cliff and down a highway until he brakes into the back of a patrol car. Jim got a wall tap to wake him out of his sunnier drive above. Anyway, another fallen star in another year too full of them. I’ll let TCM roll me out of this post with one of their tributes while I get ready for a slightly longer walk home tonight…

It’s National Ice Cream Day! How’d You NOT Watch Your Waistline?

Posted on July 20, 2014 by geelw

Nope, this OLD contest is no longer valid, but I needed an ice cream-related video and this was the first one to come to mind. Anyway, today’s fake holiday was made to make your diet want to kick your expanding behind around the room if you celebrated it, so knock yourself out and pay the piper this week when you get back on the wagon. If you didn’t splurge ‘n purge, you still have a few hours before pumpkin hour. I’m staring at a pint of crappy vanilla fudge and mentally flipping a coin as to whether to finish the entire thing and go for a nice walk later and tomorrow morning or just have oh, somewhat less than half and do that same double walk. Eh, we’ll see… I don’t have any major vices these days, so I may as well do what I can to make someone feel better than I do on occasion…

Oh, The Adventurezator is Going To Get Me Into Trouble… And YOU, Too…

Posted on July 19, 2014 by geelw

Hmmm. Every once in a while, I get an invitation to try out an upcoming game and it’s a hit or miss proposition as to the quality of that work in progress or in some cases, the finished product. Pigasus Games’ Adventurezator caught my eye (OW!) as soon as I scanned the game’s Steam page and later, that video above.

Make your own emergent adventure games? Sure, why not? I’m downloading my beta code now and think I’m going to tinker a bit later this evening. Hey, my Saturday nights are usually not this interesting, people! Anyway, back in a bit – you should check this thing out too and get into some trouble with a story of your own, I say…

Random Film of the Week(end): The Punisher (2004)

Posted on July 19, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Flauntvids!)

When I finally got around to seeing the 2004 version of The Punisher last week, I was wondering how I missed this one back then in theaters (although I’d not pay a dime to see this flick) or on cable. Then I realized that the film came out when I was in a crazy jobless phase and had chopped out any ideas of spending money to hit the local theater (or any other theater for that matter) until I was back in the black.

Well, even if I’d wanted to see this gloomy and unintentionally hilarious (yet erratically violent) movie, I’d have chosen to save my money. While it works on a basic level of grunting guys saying unintelligible stuff before trying to out-kill each other, the film is far too uneven to be entertaining unless there’s someone on screen getting killed in a ridiculous manner. Where the first (and forgotten by most, save for the more die-hard Marvel movie fans) Punisher film from 1989 was an automatic camp cult classic thanks to Dolph Lundgren’s grumbling and mumbling through the role as sullen serial gangster murderer Frank Castle, some cheesy sets and laughable action scenes, this reboot tries a wee bit too hard to capture the mood of 70’s and 80’s action films to the point that it feels a wee bit outdated on a few fronts… Continue reading →

Bundle Stars & PC Gamer Magazine Want YOU (and 999,999 Others) To Nab a FREE Game!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by geelw

This week it’s Gun Monkeys, free of charge on Steam. Stop running around the room for a minute and pay attention for a second! If you want in on this wacky physics-based multiplayer online run ‘n gun shooter/platformer featuring procedurally generated levels and yes, monkeys with guns (and nope, it’s NOT at all related to the new Planet of the Apes film, thank you for asking), just click on over to the PC Gamer magazine site and in a few more clicks (provided you have a Steam account, facebook page and a PC capable of running this), it’s ALL YOURS! Yes, that’s a MILLION games codes. For FREE. Worldwide! Woooooo!