Saturday, October 3, 2009
Geeksquisite Question of the Day #83: 10/3/09
Question #82: Whats your favorite space horror film?
If you'd like to submit a question just send an e-mail to geeksquisite@gmail.com with the subject line "Question of the Day".
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section, thank you.
New Rock Band DLC
YES YES YES YES YES
Finally, Rock Band will be adding more Queen to it's list of bands. This is long overdue, and now I have a reason to pick up Rock Band 2 more than once every two weeks.
Thank you 1UP for the....heads up lol
No pricing but here are the songs
"Another One Bites the Dust"
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
"One Vision"
"Fat Bottomed Girls"
"I Want It All"
"I Want to Break Free"
"Killer Queen"
"Somebody to Love"
"Tie Your Mother Down"
"Under Pressure"
Some crazy fan of mine wanted me to inform you they come out October 20th, and thy word has been spoken. Good day :D
Trine PC Review
Trine is a game much like The Lost Vikings in that they give you three different characters to control. You can play single player, or you can have one or two more guys join in for co-op action. It's also a lot like LittleBigPlanet in terms of how the platforming feels, which I think is a good thing... Not to mention the difficulty of the platforming feels very old-school, and in fact, me and Matt spent an hour trying to master the final level.
The story is pretty generic, and at times, me and Matt were both jokingly comparing it to Lord of the Rings. However, it still gets the job done and gives you an excuse to go through the levels, not to mention it does flesh out the characters probobly the best I've seen any platformer do before. Even if they are just generic stereotypical characters.
However, let's not just sit here and compare it to other game and movies... Trine has some individuality as well. First and foremost, this is probobly the best looking side-scrolling game I've ever seen. A lot of developers try to bring things into 3D while keeping the 2D gameplay roots, but they usually end up creating some uninspiring visuals. Trine Proves you can do both, and do both well.
But enough about graphics, let's talk about gameplay. Each character plays differently, and has their own unique abilities, and you can switch between them at will. Not only that, but each character has their own little skill tree, much like Diablo. The size of the tree complements the length of the game, and you're not left feeling you missed anything by the end.
Let's go over each characters specific abilities now... The Barbarian can do various sword attacks, and also gets some charge moves, this is your main melee combat guy. The Thief has arrows, and also a grappling hook which is useful for getting places other characters can't reach. The wizard can draw lines and shapes to make various platforms, as well as move them around, and other objects in the world, simply by clicking and dragging, in fact he can't attack at all, in order to kill an enemy, you have to drop something on their head. On the controller it's made slightly more difficult using the stick and the A-button, making the keyboard the ideal way to use the wizard. All of the other characters seem to play better on a controller, however, making it kind of confusing what platform they were focusing on.
This didn't turn out to be too much of an issue, since Matt tended to stick with the barbarian or the thief, and I stuck with the wizard or the barbarian mostly. In fact, the character switching in two players lends itself to the puzzle solving as well, and you can solve puzzles differently than you would have to in single player. I think this works to the game's benefit and makes you want to go through the game multiple times with multiple players.
Overall, Trine is a fun charming little game with some old-school difficulty to it, and some cool new features that I haven't seen before, such as the wizard's box drawing abilities. The execution is solid, and while the story leaves something to be desired, I still had lots of fun with it and it's definitely worth checking out for anybody who enjoys platformers or action RPGs.
I give Trine a 4 out of 5.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Final Fantasy XIII Trailer Dubbed
5 minutes of 2012..............OMFG!!!!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Geeksquisite Question of the Day #82: 10/1/09
Question #82: What is your favorite movie monster?
If you'd like to submit a question just send an e-mail to geeksquisite@gmail.com with the subject line "Question of the Day".
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section, thank you.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Dead Space 2 coming?
Seeking a highly motivated Lead combat designer for the Dead Space franchise on Xbox360 and PS3. This is a major opportunity to contribute creatively to an exciting new franchise.
The previous installment in the Dead Space franchise received numerous awards for gameplay, visuals, and sound design, and the same core team is in place to create an even better follow up.
So... does this mean Dead Space 2 is coming? Well, not officially... but I'm guessing we'll be seeing something that's a much more authentic then that OTHER Dead Space Sequel.
Looking forward to seeing the game in action, which probobly won't be very long if they're using the framework from the first game. I am interested in seeing where they take the sequel, though.
AVATAR The Game: Story and Features
Geeksquisite Question of the Day #81: 9/30/09
Question #81: Have you ever watched a silent feature film? (and Wall-E doesn't count)
If you'd like to submit a question just send an e-mail to geeksquisite@gmail.com with the subject line "Question of the Day".
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section, thank you.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
TGS 09: Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Trailer now with subtitles
FFXIII Japanese TGS Trailer
Geeksquisite Question of the Day #80: 9/29/09
Question #80: Ever see a trailer for a movie that let you down once you saw the movie?
If you'd like to submit a question just send an e-mail to geeksquisite@gmail.com with the subject line "Question of the Day".
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section, thank you.
Halo 3: ODST Review
After a long, tedious week I managed to beat the campaign at the very last minute. Since I am one of the only owners of this game for Geeksquisite I thought it would be appropriate to share my thoughts on the game.
Campaign: Many have said this campaign was short, but it isn't as short as it seems. it's a good 5 hours if you play it on Normal, but I found it hilarious how most considered it short and finished it quick; but on easy. To me that is unrealistic and because most will play it on Heroic, it will be enough to satisfy Halo fans. You really become aware of how vunerable you are, it feels close to Halo: Combat Evolved in terms of health and shields(No Sexy AI voice included). The cutscenes are numerous, some being unnecessary, others being fun to watch several times with buddies of mine in Co Op. However one gripe I had was the flashbacks the Rookie had to find, you basically went back and forth in the city. Stupid. The city is also pretty dark alot of the time, but in the buildings it's annoyingly dark and not even the nightvision in the visor helps enough. So at times you are groping to find your way in the buildings, as for the Visor feature it's pretty cool but OH MY GOD does it have to run the tutorial every time you start at the beginning. You can't end the tutorial right away, that was so annoying. Overall the campaign was nicely varied in terms of combat and "missions", it showed a good amount of what marines have to do since Master Chief isn't around.
Maps: Yeah I had them all already except for the three specifically in ODST, they're nothing to go crazy over. Longshore is a medium to large map that's designed pretty badly to be honest, it's too easy to navigate the whole map in 2 minutes. Citadel is slightly better than my low expectations of it, could be real fun for juggernaut if there are enough nooks and crannies to hide in. Heretic is a carbon copy of Midship, which is good because that map was good, it's just graphically updated. The Maps don't really add any value.
Firefight: Easily the best part of ODST, I spent 3 hours trying to stay alive with two friends of mine. You really start to engage in guerilla warfare when your ammo starts to run out, and you do run out of ammo before like level 3. The Drones are your worst enemy, not only are they able to pick you up (i'm serious, they do) but they also have a variation of themselves in red with shields. The ones with shields are the priority to take down, you can't let them surround you. The Firefight maps are pretty big, some are bigger than the multiplayer maps (Why is that?)and it's a real challenge to fight with melees when your weapons really run out of ammo. The bonus rounds where grunts are the only enemies is frustrating as hell, because it becomes a plasma grenade acid rain shower, those grunts are suicidal almost 70 percent of the time normally. But they are next to impossible to score more than 20 of them before you get stuck, although the worst enemies to fight are invunerable brutes with hammers and fuel rod guns. The crazy part is sometimes those come in threes, that's right three invunerable Brutes with hammers and fuel rod guns. Your going to lose a couple of lives.
Overall Halo ODST will stand alone, it's worth the buy for what it has. But if you need a reason to buy it, buy it for firefight. It's tons better than Horde Mode and I am unsure if Halo Reach will have it. If it does, it's still a more fun challenge to do it as an ODST.
You know you want the Beta Code, I can't wait for that.
This game gets a 4 out of 5 from me.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Geek Gadgets: THE USB MISSILE LAUNCHER!
This toy definitely goes down as one of those things I never thought I would need (and still really don’t). It works either on the computer it is attached to, or remotely. I assume someone thought it would be a good idea to make a personal webcam that shoots at where it is looking, and can be accessed from around the globe. (Imagine if you finally got that girl to bed and your buddy from down the street logs on and decides this would be a HILARIOUS time to shoot you/her, because you [stupidly] left the damn thing on) Honestly, I do not see a purpose.
I can see the fun factor something like this would initially have, just… I cannot see someone actually using it for a long time. It would be a good thing to use some of that freeware security software that can follow something that is moving (I’m sure the program has an “Autofire” option).
The missile launcher does not take a lot of space, and can be operated on a run of the mill computer. The website doesn’t disclose the resolution of the camera, so I really cannot say if the $78 price tag is justified. If you are interested you can hit up their website: http://www.blokeystuff.com.au/Product.php?bar=872888008283 and find out yourself.
3D custom and perscription glasses coming this Fall
Variety
Marketsaw
TGS 09: Epic New Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Trailer
Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 Trailer
Geeksquisite Question of the Day #79: 9/28/09
Question #79: Favorite Author?
If you'd like to submit a question just send an e-mail to geeksquisite@gmail.com with the subject line "Question of the Day".
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section, thank you.
Titan Maximum Premires on Adult Swim
The story revolves around the pilots of 5 space ships that form into Titan Maximum when activated together, much in the style of Voltron. But Voltron isn't the only reference I noticed... there were also a few references to Evangelion. In the beginning, everything starts out like your standard generic mecha anime, but the show really gets going when we find out the opening sequence is only a roleplay by some kids with action figures, and that the real titan maximum crew are wash up deadbeats. I like this change, it makes it feel a little more mature, and actually makes things funnier, when we learn about the pilots' real-life personalities.
The story is nice, but the best part about the show is how it combines all of the anime spoofs it sets forth with the same Robot Chicken style humor we've come to know and love, and it does it all without sacrificing plot development or pacing. I'm definitely looking forward to the second episode, and the rest of the series. Titan Maximum currently airs at 11:30pm every sunday. Check it out if you haven't already.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Geeksquisite Question of the Day #78: 9/27/09
Question #78: What's the coolest thing in your room/Geek Space?
If you'd like to submit a question just send an e-mail to geeksquisite@gmail.com with the subject line "Question of the Day".
Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section, thank you.
A new way to enjoy Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody
I don't know what drives me more crazy, the effort involved to do this, the flux of computer sounds, or the fact that it's a great remix.
Found it at Cinemassacre
Misery Review
I've slowly realized my liking for Stephen King novel to movie adaptions such as Christine, Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Mist, Children of the Corn, ironic I haven't read his novels. So heres comes Misery, a pretty old movie that ranks very high critically.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
I thought this movie was brillantly directed by Reiner, because even though we know Annie Wilkes is crazy, the movie makes you feel sympathetic about her. This is no doubt one of Kathy Bates finest moments of acting, but she somehow made me feel sorry for her as James Caan's character Paul Sheldon was being held prisoner. Making me feel sorry for the captor felt so wrong, and yet Annie Wilkes seemed like a desperate fan wishing for a happy ending.
What makes the movie unforgettable is the scene where she "makes sure" Paul Sheldon can't leave her, she decides to break his leg. Watching that happen made me cringe, no this wasn't simply Annie hammering his leg. She took her sweet time doing so by putting a board between his legs and hitting his left foot to the right. When that happened, I bugged out, oh my god that looked painful. I know it's not really happening, but it rendered me speechless.
It's so interesting that during the second half of the movie, Paul and Annie seem to bond. No, Paul clearly wants to get away from crazy Annie. But he realizes he has to appear content and submissive to her, and it seems they bond through the books that he wrote. Once again, having me feel okay with the situation during the movie even though Paul is a prisoner is infuriating and amazing at the same time. I've heard so many things about people falling for their captors, but this movie made that seem so true. I kept thinking how I would feel in that situation, and personally I probably would have been more frantic and hysterical. Haha.
Misery is a creepy movie, a memorable movie that is paced and timely executed so good. However, I will give it a 4 out of 5. I've been giving too many high scores but this one deserves a 4 for taunting me with the relationship between Annie and Paul that is so wrong but somehow had good moments where they bonded. It's so inconceivable, but it worked so well due to Kathy Bates.