Update and Status

Well anyone who has been on my site for the past several months has notice a “lack” of updates and news (understatement I know).

I just wanted to let you know I haven’t given up on the site but I found a job in December and have been pretty busy since. This leaves me little time for leisure and as you may imagine when I have a few hours for myself on the weekend I’d rather play a game (right now inFAMOUS which is really cool) than update the site.

Also this site, in my eyes, deserves better. One update per week won’t do it and it needs to be updated daily. Trust me I really wanted to bring you all a nice succint coverage of E3 which was awesome this year but I couldn’t.

Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to come back to this but in the meantime you can find comfort in knowing that I’m thinking about you 😉

Thanks to everyone who visits!

Seven Haunted Seas Gameplay Trailer

I first mentioned the new Titmouse game back in June when I heard about and found the first trailer. Now we have a new video featuring some gameplay and even though the developer are quick to point out it’s just a prototype it still looks like the game has potential.

I really like the art direction, that’s a given so let’s hope the gameplay and story follow suit.

Star Wars In Concert: A Review

So I realize this is not really a game but Star Wars ties into many amazing games and chances are if you like games you also like Star Wars and the incredible music by John Williams.
Last night I had the chance to go to the concert in Bridgeport, CT. After fighting traffic to get there and making the required stop at the merchandise stand I went to take my seat wrapped in my appropriate Dark Jedi robe (Geek I know).
On that note I was surprised to see there weren’t that many people dressed up. Maybe there aren’t as many geeks as I thought, and I know Bridgeport isn’t the MSG but still I thought the hordes like NY Jedi would show up (though they may go to the concert in Nassau or New Jersey).
Also, lest I forget, before walking into the concert hall you can look at several costumes and props from the movies that are on display. I tried to take some pictures but let’s just say my crappy iPhone didn’t do the best job. But I digress.

The first thing that I felt was that this was a once in a lifetime experience. Considering its success they might, like Play!, decide to do this again but it is no sure thing and as a fan… you had to be there.
That being said the movies and the music are amazing on their own so you have to make something really original in order to make you feel like you couldn’t get this experience from the comfort of your living-room couch. And it becomes clear pretty quickly that you couldn’t.

From the moment the orchestra plays the THX tune (yes it is the orchestra playing it!) you’ll enjoy a blast of a ride through the saga.
Throughout you have footage from the movies edited in a sort of trailer-like fashion playing on a big screen while the orchestra plays with great skill and feel. I particularly like how sometimes they catch you by surprise for example putting a scene from Episode I when the theme of the chapter is mostly related to Episodes III and IV. The way they tied the music with the theme of the chapters was thrilling because instead of bending the music to the footage they did the right thing in letting the score sing in its own voice and matching the video and laser shows to it (these are particularly well used at one point during the concert).

One great addition to this package is the ever-faithful Star Wars representative, Anthony Daniels (C-3PO). Daniels narrates with great bravado in-between each chapters and even has a great moment (at least i felt so) which I wouldn’t spoil in case you go see it.

The way the show is presented is fairly simple but very well executed, it retells the story of the six movies chronologically in chapters, each chapter more or less being a specific tune. So as you can tell it starts with the Star Wars fanfare and then you have “Dark Forces Conspire” which tells the story of the rise of the Empire with the ever-thrilling Duel of the Fates being played so on and so forth.
Sometimes they inject tidbits of dialogues from the movies perfectly. These really gave me goosebumps at times, hearing Obi Wan wail “you were the chosen one!!” on Battle of the Heroes is just….indescribable.

It is hard to talk at length about an experience that is essentially musical and express what you felt but the way they tied the footage to the music is great. Not always perfect but at times brilliant.
There were times when I felt the music and the footage were off by just a fraction of a second but this is really nitpicking and it might just have been my imagination (by the way don’t take the YouTube videos as a sign of this because this is most likely simply bad footage).
On the other hand at times it was really transcendental, seeing the Imperial Cruiser crash vertically with the flames rising up along with the music at the end of “A Sanctuary Moon” was awesome!

Here’s a breakdown of the chapters:

Chapter 1: “A Long Time Ago” – 20th Century Fox Fanfare/Star Wars Main Title Theme
Chapter 2: “Dark Forces Conspire” – Duel of the Fates
Chapter 3: “A Hero Rises” – Anakin’s Theme
Chapter 4: “A Fateful Love” – Across the Stars
Chapter 5: “A Hero Falls” – Battle of the Heroes
Chapter 6: “An Empire Is Forged” – Imperial March
Chapter 7: “A Planet That Is Farthest From” – The Dune Sea of Tatooine
Chapter 8: “An Unlikely Alliance” – Binary Sunset/Cantina Band
Chapter 9: “A Defender Emerges” – Princess Leia’s Theme
Chapter 10: “A Daring Rescue” – Ben’s Death/The Fighter Attack
Chapter 11: “A Jedi Is Trained” – Yoda’s Theme
Chapter 12: “A Narrow Escape” – The Asteroid Field
Chapter 13: “A Bond Unbroken” – Luke and Leia
Chapter 14: “A Sanctuary Moon” – The Forest Battle
Chapter 15: “A Life Redeemed” – Light of the Force
Chapter 16: “A New Day Dawns” – Throne Room/Finale

And with this Finale I bid you Peace, and may the Force be with you!

All videos were taking randomly from YouTube.

Alice Sequel Teaser Was Fake.

Well here we go folks. Two days ago several websites (mine included) posted a teaser for Alice 2. I wasn’t entirely convinced if was official but it was enough to raise my hopes up. Now American McGee has posted on his website that the teaser is a fake.

Here’s what he said:

“Yesterday, a few sites picked up a video of Alice made by one of our fans and confused it as an official trailer of Alice 2, I wanted to clear up any confusion — as I mentioned in my post it was unofficial, and does not represent any of the final art direction or story elements in Alice 2. We look forward to sharing information on the game in the future.”

The one positive is the last sentence in that post. Let’s get hoping!

Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Cover

Here you go! I like the simple white background with just the logo better but I guess it could be worse.

American McGee’s Alice Sequel to Hit 2011!!

I had pretty much given up on this but I guess Tim Burton’s upcoming remake of Alice in Wonderland helped greenlight the project.

Today though we were given the first (official looking) teaser for the sequel to the 200o cult hit. Details are still few but we know the game is supposed to hit in 2011 and it looks like it will be based on Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to the original book by Lewis Carroll.

The look is very different with a sort of stop-motion feel to it and we don’t know much about the sound. I really hope Chris Vrenna returns for the soundtrack because Alice’s is still one of my all time favorite. The voice of the Cheshire Cat doesn’t sound the same but I really hope it is because, again, Alice had some of the best voice work ever made in a game.

Anyway enjoy the teaser and cross fingers!

Star Wars: The Old Republic – Timeline Trailer 5

I know I haven’t been posting much lately because I’ve been busy but this is quick and this is good! Timeline trailer 5 was just released and talks about the events at the Battle of Bothawui.

also if you haven’t done it yet, don’t forget to sign up for the Beta on the BioWare official website.

Game Informer’s Epic Mickey Cover

This is the last issue before the big makeover (issue 200) that GI is about to go under but the font already looks pretty different. What’s really awesome here is obviously the amazing art for Epic Mickey.

In case you missed it Epic Mickey sort of came out of the blue just a few months ago and is supposed to be a darker, more adult game for the Wii created by Warren Spector.

In case you’re not familiar with Warren Spector, he worked on the Ultima and Wing Commander series, as well as Cult favorites Thief and Deus Ex. So as you can see this is a pretty exciting prospect and the cover just makes it even more epic…(Mickey).

Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta Sign Up!!!

It is time my friends!!

BioWare announced the opening of sign ups last night and as can be imagined the site completely crashed.

You need to go here to sign up but right now the process seems to still have a few issues, resetting before you are done signing up. It’s sure to be fixed soon though.

May the Force be with you!

TGS: Ninokuni Trailer

Ninokuni, also known for now as The Another World outside of Japan, is a joint project between Level 5 (Professor Layton, Dragon Quest VIII…) and Studio Ghibli (Princess Monoke, Spirited Away…).

The game, as can be expected, is amazingly gorgeous and has that Ghibli feel and the in-game graphics look really nice too. Now we just need to see more gameplay and see how the dubbing turns out but Level 5 as a history of doing really high quality stuff for voices so it should be fine, maybe a dual audio track?

Enjoy the marvelous 4 minute trailer.