Monthly Update: September 2013

Welp, PAX Prime has once again graced the Pacific Northwest with it's presence (and is currently in an unprecedented Day IV).  The Labor Day weekend for me however was spent at work, so much so that I'm going back today.  I was going to hit up Safeway on my way home too, but now remembering that a lot businesses celebrate holidays and might be closed or have modified work hours.  Not us!  We're Amur'can!

Self loathing aside and back to happy times.  Like a game D'Octorpotts got me called Papo & Yo.  Which is a really spiffy game.  I saw it on Steam for quite a while, but for whatever reason had never looked into it.  Then I played it.  It's a somewhat uplifting game with pretty dark undertones of alcoholism and child/spousal abuse.  

Right, happier things.  

As some may have predicted, the re-Kickstarter campaign for Shadow of the Eternals failed to reach their $750,000 goal.  However, the game was greenlit as part of Steam's Greenlight indie gaming place/thing, which is good news.  This doesn't seem like the game is going to be shelved and the company will implode, so there's still hope, even if it is just a fools hope.  Thanks Gandalf.

In similar news, fellow [ENFORCER] Jupiter of Earth (aka Jupiter) is working for/with Sword & Spirit Software to make a game that looks/sounds a lot like a mix between Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.  The game is called Shades of Sanity and they started their own Kickstarter back in mid August and it will run until Friday September 27th, 2013.  Their target goal is $200,000 and they're currently 5% of the way there.  Here's to hoping, and better hoping than Shadow of the Eternals.

I have not a whole lot else to report in the wide world of video games.  I did recently find out that The Elder Scrolls Online will adopt the apparently poisonous pay model for their game.  The first month will be free followed by a $15/month fee after you purchase the game for around $50-60.  That's pretty much what I expected.  I'm still on the fence if I want to delve into this monster.

Infinite Space is continuing to be played, despite an obvious error in programing by Nude Maker and Platinum Games where celestial objects observed and discovered in other games affects if you discover them on your current game (even if you delete all game files by saving over them, which is the only way to delete saved files).  DKC Returns hasn't been played in a number of weeks because Infinite Space is just too engaging.  Torchlight is still being delved into.  Ace Combat Assault Horizon hasn't been played in over a month because of annoying/aggressive/bastardly vicious Ruskies that just won't die (ie let themselves be shot down) in the later half of a long level.  Plants vs Zombies 2 is seeing a resurgence in both gameplay and the number of popups to buy stuff.

So that's where I am currently at.

Oh, and the book Letters of a Woman Homesteader is doing a great job of reminding me that I'm not as much of a wilderness bad-ass as I would like to be.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Pussy, Pussy, Pussy. . .

Monthly Update: August 2013

Happy August everyone!

I'm playing a couple of games right  now (story of my life), some that I could (and should) be writing about and others that I haven't spent enough time to warrant a sit down and interview.  I have a First Impressions in the work for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind that I haven't actually played in a month or two due to a possible glitch that keeps crashing the game; I've also put some hours into Ace Combat Assault Horizon: Enhanced Edition, Torchlight, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and Scribblenauts Unlimited.  

Then there's the Shadow of the Eternals Kickstarter that started off strong and in the last couple of days seems to be slowing down.  It really saddens me that this game might not get made (again).  After seven days the Kickstarter is at 25%, which is still on track, but their gain went up so much in the first couple of days that they've now reached the point where they're going backwards against the daily average needed to reach their goal by Friday August 23rd.  (It started out that they would need $25,000/day and now they have to average $26,700/day).  I guess I'm just ever the pessimist, but I would love, LOVE to see this game made.

This last weekend ( by weekend I mean the last two days I had off, which were Tuesday & Wednesday) Conklederp and I saw Pacific Rim, which initially didn't interest me when I first saw the poster a couple of months back.  Then I saw it was directed by Guillermo del Toro and that Ron Perlman was in the film as well.  That sold me.  Then, I was listening to the Nerdist Podcast #273 and director Guillermo del Toro stated (old news) that he had contacted Valve to see if he could use the voice of GlaDOS in the movie.  Then a former KDVS Metal DJ posted a link to the soundtrack (composed by Game of Thrones fame Ramin Djawadi)  and I knew it had to be seen.  Now, I've never been into Mechs of any kind, so the fact that Pacific Rim was as entertaining as it was says something about it.  Conklederp even liked it and she's not one for loud action movies.  We also saw The Conjuring the week before, which was a solid ghost-ish type movie that takes place in 1971 with excellent kid actors (which is important when there are five of them).

I also haven't forgotten about "Demo Time" either.  Sometimes it can be hard to find time to sit down and play a game I know that is a demo that may take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes when I have a game right over here (Half-Life, Infinite Space, BIT.TRIP.RUNNER, Torchlight, DKCR 3D) that keeps reminding me to play them.  First World Problems, I know.

And finally, it the time that I have been typing this out, the Shadow of the Eternals Kickstarter has gained an additional $976, so there's still hope.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Instrumental

Special Edition: Precursor Games presents "Shadow of the Eternals" for Wii U & PC Kickstarter

Yes, Precursor Games previously tried to do a $2,500,000 kickstarter a while back to "kickstart" their "spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem that didn't go over too well.  Speculations aside, they've started it up again and hopefully this time they will succeed, especially coming out of San Diego Comic Con with a lot of positive reviews and a lot of public interaction and gameplay.

I was going to pin this on the end of the post I just put up (the one right below this), but felt I would do it better service just to put up a separate post about the kickstarter campaign.  This campaign will run from yesterday (Thursday July 25th, 2013) through Friday August 23rd, 2013.  Already, after one day, they have just under $10,000 of their previous earned amount after 24 days of crowdfunding.  Things are looking up.

I feel that I could say a lot about Precursor Games and their handling of redoing a kickstarter, but I'll just direct you to their Kickstarter page for you to do as you will.  Do I want to see this game made?  Very much so yes.  Will I be bringing it up every post?  No, but I'll be putting the banner I made (using their artwork) at the bottom of my posts as my way of supporting and promoting something that I would like to see.

That's that.  Have a good Friday.  It's my Monday and I'll see you all again in a couple of days, being next Monday, which will be my Friday.  It's all good.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Cell Qui Sirias

Nine days into June, and I'm posting again

Whelp, I've been busy lately, 



I'm going to take a moment to comment on the various things Jaquonian said in his previous post. Just 'cause. And I'm going to do it in reverse order.

Firstly, I guess I'm okay with Evangeline Lilly, until further notice. It makes sense that they'd want to have a character with a name who is an elf, given that in the Hobbit Book, the Mirkwood elves don't really have any distinguishing characters. It's kind of like how they expanded Haldir's character in LOTR.  Also, it makes sense that she'd be female, because there is a serious lack of female characters in Middle Earth.  

Personally, the thing I didn't like about the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was how bloody long it was. Granted, I expected it to be long when it was first announced, but I don't see the point now that it's been broken into three films. In addition, it felt much longer because of the directors insistence on regular 'edge of your seat' chase scenes. Over and over again, the characters were literally - and I do mean literally -  hanging from cliffs. It just made for a stressful viewing experience, especially for a movie based on a book that I find rather relaxing.  

I'm prepared to forgive non-canon moves, but when they contribute to an already over-long and stressful movie experience, then I'm not happy.  That said, I'm excited to see the Mirkwood scenes, and for god sake, SMAUG!  I mean... I have some pretty high expectations for that guy.   Benedict Cumberbatch is pretty awesome in Sherlock, and was great in Star Trek II.  Quick aside:  Star Trek II was not as good as Star Trek 1, though not particularly bad - just not particularly good.  It also suffered from the 'roller coaster ride' effect, like the Hobbit.  I guess that's just how it's done now.  I could have used much more dialogue from Cumberbatch. 

Topic Jump!

In retrospect, I wish I'd paid more attention to that first Humble Weekly Bundle.  Walking Dead has gotten great reviews, and I think it's mostly a point and click adventure.  And, what the hell, maybe Back to the Future is good too.  I think point and click is right about my speed these days, given I'm 30 going on 60.  Just kidding, but yeah, getting older sucks, especially the part where you have to work all day.  

As another aside,  my life has felt a bit like this scene from Ghostbusters.  "Dogs and Cats, living together!"

Bummer about Shadow of the Eternals.  However, their message does seem very hopeful, so even if they couldn't come up with the cash, maybe this will continue to lead to good things.  

-D


I'll leave you with a link:  Good old Games.  This is yet another digital gaming store.  The focus here is on retro PC gaming.  This is a pretty deep well for me, seeing as my years up until recently have been spent console gaming.  I'm particularly interested in giving a game called 'Planescape: Torment' a try.  

And you know, while I'm at it, here's another retro gaming link, Racketboy.  It's a really well designed retro site, where you can find great images, and well organized topics, and articles on a very extensive selection of gaming systems.   Except... so far, I haven't really enjoyed the writing.  I guess you can't have everything.  Check it out when you're in a retro mood. 

New Things in the First Seven Days of June, 2013

There are some good things, some amazing things and a very sad thing in the world known as the only planet in Sector 001 known to contain living life.  There's actually a lot more going on than what I'm about to go into, but this is what I'm qualified to discuss.  

First off, the sad news.  Last Wednesday (June 5th) Precursor Games, the company that was born from the wreckage of Silicon Knights and are the creators of Shadow of the Eternals, the "spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem," has cancelled their Kickstarter campaign with less than two weeks remaining and with less than 10% of their goal reached.  One can say that the lack of "funding" was due to the negativity of a Kotaku article, or the known lawsuit against Silicon Knights.  Basically, blame can be placed almost anywhere, if you're the kind of person that needs to place blame somewhere to feel better.  Despite the closing of the Kickstarter, I still see the light at the end of the tunnel, I still have hope.

Last Wednesday, L.D. Robots talked about the current Humble Indie Bundle (8).  I'm not sure when this happened, probably after a week based off of previous HIB's, but the HIB has multiplied to now include four additional games (Tiny and Big in Grandpa's Leftovers, Intrusion 2, English Country Tune and Oil Rush) on top of the seven games that are already listed.  And, now a total of ten soundtracks.  That's just damn amazing/awesome.

A side note with the HIB, is now they're offering a Weekly Sale.  The premise is the same as with the regular Humble Bundle, that you have the option of splitting money between the Humble Bundle people, the game developers, the EFF and Child's Play.  But, instead of waiting months for a massive collection of games and soundtracks, each week there'll be a selection of games offered at a name your own price, price.  The first week (Which ran from May 30th - June 5th) included The Walking Dead, Back to the Future: The Game, Poker Night at the Inventory and some other games that I've since forgotten.  Each week it looks like a new set of games will be up for the now formulaic "name your price."  This week (Week 2) are a collection of Serious Sam games, of which I know nothing.

In another corner of the internet entitled "Take Even More of My Money," Amazon.com has entered into the Online/PC Indie Gaming ring.  After only briefly browsing the store, Amazon's Indie Gaming store looks a lot like Steam's store, with frequent sales and even HIB-esque in that from June 6th - 10th Amazon is offering three free games (Huntsman: The Orphanage, Dynasty of Dusk,  and The Curse of Nordic Cove) when you purchase one of their listed indie games.

Lastly and not video game related, Entertainment Weekly released a picture of Evangeline Lilly as her non-canon character of Tauriel in the upcoming movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  You can read about it here.  I feel like there's going to be a splintering of fans into "I Hate It" and "I Like It," which is going to happen anytime Jackson/Walsh/Boyens make any changes/additions to Tolkien's Middle Earth.  I personally am going to hold any judgement until I actually see the movie.  Yes, I can be a hypocrite and say that something is/will be bullshit at the slightest hint of something I don't like but then say I'll hold judgement, but that's just me.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
And I'm Waiting Patiently