The clock is ticking away as Season 4 is headed to HBO and fans prepare their brains and bodies for what’s coming. I can’t keep more than one eye open at the moment thanks to my long day, so I’ll just let out a squeaky “Yaaay!” from the back of the room and fall over in a heap to sleep. Good night, people. I’ll be back and in better shape tomorrow… I think. Zzzzzz.
While I’m a huge fan of the classics, I don’t like most modern Hollywood musicals or biopics because they try to hard to be entertaining and just feel as if they’re baked from the same stale mold. I can’t put my finger on anything other than a certain soullessness thanks to a few factors seen as “necessary” to whatever formula makes a “hit” these days.
Anyway, moving on. Despite some fine acting and singing, primo Oscar bait like Dreamworks’ big 9and massively hyped) 2006 film Dreamgirls didn’t do a thing for me either. Still, I’ve watched it in its entirety twice and one part at least two dozen or so times because it made me fall off the couch laughing the first time and stuck with me to the point that whenever the film pops up on cable, I will turn to it just for that single scene.
If you know what I’m talking about, then good for you and you’re chuckling already. If you don’t, well here you go. Mister Jimmy Early… do your stuff! Um… you may want to have a seat there, kiddo. Oh, and don’t drink anything while watching this clip if you’ve yet to see the movie (spoiler alert? I guess so):
I had to leave the room for a few minutes, as if I have to see this clip again, I might pop something inside. Heh. Gets me every time. As for the rest of the film? Meh. I have my Motown and Stax memories and the actual music from that era to keep my ears, brain and (if I feel like shaking a tail feather) hips occupied. So I don’t need any expensive (but nice looking and well intentioned) films that want me to “feel” something for the people in it when all I care about are the old tunes and memories those classic songs bring forth. That said, Eddie Murphy kills it dead here. “Jimmy got soul” indeed. Heee.
I haven’t even played Coilworks’ incredible looking Cloudbuilt yet, but between that very descriptive game trailer above and the lovely screens below, I’m getting a serious Gunvalkyrie meets Mirror’s Edge meets Mega Man vibe – and that’s a damn good thing.
Man, I wish this game was on consoles on a disc so MORE people could play it. The sense of speed and what looks like solid controls only add to the fun, and given the levels seem to be open to each player’s skills, I’m expecting this to be one of those games that’s not played and put away (or deleted) any time soon (unless you’re a total loser who despises a decent challenge). Now I just need to find time to actually play that demo I’m being teased with, as Toy Fair is going to take up a huge chunk of my time for the next four days and afterward as I write up a few articles. Eh, it’ll all work out soon enough. It always does. Back in a bit.
I can only imagine what would have happened had Alejandro Jodorowsky actually gotten his wild version of DUNE made way back in 1975 or however long it would have taken to film properly. Well, this must-see documentary may answer that for me to some extent, but I still won’t be satisfied because I still want to see it made at some point. Even as an animated film (traditional with a dash of CG enhancement in backgrounds, please!), I think it would blow the minds of anyone who sees it, especially with all those amazing artists like Moebius, Giger, Foss and others who contributed to this failed project before moving on to bigger and better things. Anyway, this one’s a must-see documentary for a few reasons and I’ll most likely shell out for the Blu-Ray/DVD when it gets a release just because this chronicle of a never made adaptation is something that deserves a few looks outside of a theater setting.
A-ha. I was wondering just what developer Spiders was up to, as they last teamed up with Cyanide Studios for Of Orcs and Men and Cyanide is now busy with the follow-up, STYX: Master of Shadows. Spiders is working on BOUND BY FLAME, an upcoming fantasy action/RPG set to hit PC, PS4 and “last” gen consoles later this year (although there seems to be no Xbox One version? Hmmmm…). Casting such a wide SKU net usually means a drop in quality somewhere unless you have a developer who knows their stuff, and I think Spiders can pull this off if they’ve learned from proper criticism of previous games. I like the visual style here (although the faces on the characters look a bit… “off”) and the gameplay and mature time seems similar enough to CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher games that the game may find an audience among those who like European-style RPGs as much as they like the games made here and elsewhere. That crafting system looks pretty fun as well and I hope it’s as flexible as noted in the trailer above.
Like Focus Home Interactive other RPGs, I’ll be keeping an eyeball on this one. I still get use out of my PS3, so I may go that route for the final just because I don’t need to connect it online in order to play stuff. We shall see, as usual…
So, Nintendo is definitely trying hard to find its place in this crazier era of free to play games, pay to win and cheap, cheap indies and major releases bundled up and ready to sell as a song for charity at the drop of a hat. I’m a happy Wii U owner disappointed that first party titles that use that otherwise innovative gameplay seem to be slow to get made, a misstep the company that usually pioneers things that get copied hasn’t quite made up for thanks to other issues they’re dealing with. Granted, this set of new games on the way goes a long way in making me cheer up a little, but for my tastes, things don’t get interesting until about 24:11 when the indies roll in. Renagade Kid has always been one of the best developers on the DS, so it’s remake of MOON for the 3DS, MOON Chronicles should be quite a showpiece that makes waves as the first “FPS” for the handheld. It’s also a sci-fi/mystery game between the aliens coming at you, so hopefully those elements get played up as much.
As for first party games? I’m not a HUGE fan of those uber-cute franchises these days, but I see the need for them. I hope more publishers jump on board the Game Boy Advance reissue bandwagon, as there are some true classics for that old handheld worth seeing and playing once more (or more). Finally, Monolith Soft’s upcoming RPG looks great, although I get a sense that some of the gameplay quirks from Xenoblade (Chronicles) will be in full effect. Bayonetta? I wrote about you yesterday, my dear and I know you HATE being spoiled (well, too much). So far, so good… but I’m still wanting to see more and more unique games on the way.
Namco Bandai seems to be conducting a little experiment and I’m gathering they need your assistance. For a little while the company has been releasing digital versions of popular Japanese anime-based fighters available overseas as retail and digital purchases, and now they’re trying out a limited edition physical release to go with the (to some) more convenient downloads.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is coming sometime this Spring via PSN (digital) and as a limited edition physical disc (ClubNamco.com and Amazon.com). No price has been announced just yet, but I think it’s a good idea as even niche games have fans who want them who can’t buy digital only product. Ever busy developer CyberConnect2 shows once more they’re the master of making anime fighters look as close to their source material as possible, as you can see above and in the screenshots below.
As for what’s on that disc or download, below the jump is some cut ‘n paste press release work plus those eleven screens… enjoy!
Well, this is a pretty neat Valentine’s Day post for you warm-hearted Kleenex-carrying freaks out there who get all weepy at the drop of a hat. I’ve heard of like-minded gamers proposing in all sorts of online only games and I think I even recall proposals given by game developers for fans of certain titles. However, I believe this is one of the first proposals I’ve seen made by one person for another using a game editor. I still haven’t gotten around to buying or playing Divinity: Original Sin yet (hey, my backlog is killing me!) Okay, I’ll admit it… I’m a kind of (shh!) hopeless romantic at heart (shhhh!), so this stuff makes me grin inside (I can’t let the world see me smile much – it hurts my curmudgeonly image a bit).
Okay, I’m not THAT cranky and this is pretty sweet. LESSON: video games aren’t all about running around and killing each other dead and some are even wonderful at allowing players the freedom to pull off super cool stuff like this. Well, congratulations and best of luck to the happy couple and everyone else who’s going to be hitched because of their love for Larian Studios and their excellent game!
I think I’m the only person I know who wasn’t hesitant about buying a Wii U because I knew Bayonetta 2 was an exclusive. PlatinumGames has gone through hell thanks to fans begging, pleading and even threatening them to get this on other systems, but the team has stuck to their guns and as Nintendo is publishing this one, the chances of this popping up elsewhere are ZERO. Unless Platinum decides to recode this at some point, which I’d say isn’t going to happen. I have to give them all the respect in the world for sticking to their guns on this and I also say if you own a Wii U, you need to support these hard-working guys by buying this game as soon as it drops for full price and not waiting a few months or longer for a price drop when no one notices you picking up the game at a discount. That’s NOT support, folks (despite it being the big thing to do with PC games in those charity bundles). It may seem backwards, but the big three still rely on day/week one buyers to get games such as this selling well enough to justify their development costs AND keep people employed at the end of the day…
Hmm, judging by the spike heel now sticking out of my ear (ouch), I think Bayonetta wants me to let her go so she can get back to that game she’s starring in soon. Well, I shall do just that (and remember not to squeeze her so much while typing). Ouch.
While Of Orcs and Men didn’t light up the RPG scene when it was released, the game’s two leads drew enough attention that developer Cyanide Studios is cooking up an all new adventure starring one of them and based on the teaser trailer above, it looks quite interesting. STYX: Master of Shadows puts that mean-faced but very charismatic little goblin back in the human world and looks to be a stealthy action game along the lines of the Thief series. We’ll see how this one plays out and if the stealth elements make the cut among the fans of the genre who demand perfection. So far, this is PC only, but I’ll hold out a hope it makes it onto consoles at some point just so I don’t need to spend more money upgrading my dinosaur rig that’s still holding its own but is aging in dog years by the day. As always, we shall see, but this one looks like it would fit well on either the PS4 or Xbox One at some point…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 