Cheap games, scary movies, and the paranormal

I've got a bit of a mixed bag for you today. First off, let's talk about games!

I've been a game collector for over 10 years now (and a gamer for over 30). It's been my main hobby, and the focus of most of my spending money, for a long time. But sometimes in life you have to tighten that belt up a bit. So here lately I've been saying that my game collecting is on hiatus. Times are tough, money's tight, and I just can't necessarily afford to go spending anything on games I know are just going to sit on a shelf. That's why it's nice to see so many games right now dropping so low in price. Of course, it seems to happen at the end of every generation. Gen 7 is winding down, and many of its games are getting to be pretty cheap. But I've even noticed it with gen 8 already! Just the other day I found a number of Wii U games that had come down quite a bit in price. Not any of the really big titles, of course, but still some solid stuff.

If you own any of the gen 7 consoles, or a Wii U, now would be a great time for you to get out there and do some bargain hunting. Be sure to check your locally owned independent game stores first, as that helps your local economy and is just more fun, but if you don't find anything you like there you can always do Amazon. It's a good time to be on the look-out for cheap games! Oh, and by the way, I did manage to pick up that Mass Effect 3: Special Edition for Wii U that I talked about in a previous post, and I got it for very cheap.

Now on to movies! I'm a Netflix subscriber. I've had it for a number of years now. In fact, I no longer have cable in my house, and I don't even really miss it. Netflix and the internet give me pretty much everything I need. That said, I haven't used my Netflix much lately. I barely watched it at all for the past couple of months. I've been watching a ton of stuff on the net. But, the other day I got on Netflix just to see what was new, and wound up adding almost a dozen movies to my instant queue. Mostly horror flicks. Over the next few weeks I'll be checking them out. I've got some supernatural horror, ghost stories, monster movies, etc., as well as some suspense thrillers and that sort of thing. I've got a few Asian horror movies, a lot of Hollywood stuff, some independent movies also, it's a pretty good mix.

If I find anything in there that really stands out, I'll be sure to mention it here. If any of you have any recommendations, I'm always open to them! Let me know in the comments, or on Twitter.

Lastly, I'd like to promote one of my favorite podcasts. If you're into the paranormal at all, or even just like to be entertained while hearing about some really out-there stories, please check out Mysterious Universe! If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen me talking about them there last week. I've been listening to MU for a few years now. No one else I've ever listened to strikes just the right balance between being serious about the subject matter and being humorous and entertaining. These two guys, Ben and Aaron, are among the top in their field. They're funny and engaging, but also know when to let the creepy stories they talk about just be creepy. Far too many of the paranormal podcasts and radio shows I've come across feel the need to constantly joke about the subject matter in a way that makes me feel like the hosts aren't being respectful.

It's one thing to be a skeptic, skepticism is healthy, but why would I, as a listener, want to listen to a show where the host comes off like they're laughing at me for listening to their show? When I listen to Mysterious Universe, I always feel like they're laughing with me. I'm not sure how to put it any better than that. There are plenty of other paranormal shows on the internet, and I do listen to a number of them, but MU is always my first recommendation to people.

That's it for today! Thank you for reading! If you have any recommendations for me, be they movies, games, or paranormal podcasts, leave a comment here, or follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.

New Strider? Great! Not for Nintendo? Boo!

You may not have heard yet, but Capcom has announced a brand new Strider game! The trailer looks pretty fantastic. I love it any time a game comes out that is 2D and has an old school style, even if it's not based off of an old series. But here's the thing I have an issue with. This game is coming for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3. No Wii U. Sorry Nintendo. Even though your NES was the first home system Strider appeared on, you don't get this game. Even though Capcom is bothering to make versions for the now-last-gen 360 and PS3, both of which aren't quite as powerful as your current system, they're still not bothering to make it for you.

Are Wii U sales really that bad? I know the month-to-month numbers are very low, but I was under the impression that the Wii U still has better lifetime sales than the Xbox 360 and PS3 did at this point in their lifetimes. Plus, it's July! This is always a slow time of year for the industry. We've only really had two blockbuster AAA releases all year, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. Sales are slow all around. Or is it something more than that? Is there a grudge in place here? There are many third party publishers that used to work closely with Nintendo, companies like Capcom, Konami, Square-Enix, Tecmo-Koei, and EA, who now are not. Or in some cases they'll put out a couple lazy ports then complain it's Nintendo's fault when they don't sell well. Is this all because of the way Nintendo used to treat the third parties back in the NES/SNES days? I can't imagine these publishers, companies whose main goal is to make money, would lose out on profit just to spite Nintendo. It can't be denied, however, that Nintendo used to be pretty heavy handed with the third parties. But hey, newer third parties, that weren't around or weren't as big back in those days, do this too.

Could it be, as so many people around the internet say, that third parties don't like to put stuff on Nintendo's systems because their games are always outsold by Nintendo's own games? Nintendo's first party games do tend to sell more than anything else on their systems. Let's look at one example in particular. When the Wii U launched, EA made a Special Edition version of Mass Effect 3 for the system. The Mass Effect series was very popular in gen 7, selling huge numbers on both Xbox 360 and PS3. It was very cool to see it appearing now on a Nintendo console. How did is sell? Abysmally, by all accounts. Why was this? Was the draw of New Super Mario Bros. U just too strong? Well, that might have been part of it for some people. Let me tell you my opinion on the matter. I love the Mass Effect games. I very much enjoyed the multiplayer on ME3. I had plans to buy it on Wii U so I could continue playing the online for free (my original copy is for 360, and I don't currently have Gold). It was listed at $60, which I thought was a bit high for a year old port, but I loved the game so much I was considering it. Then some information came out. The Mass Effect Trilogy, a bundle of all three games, was announced as coming out at the same time as the Wii U version, but only for Xbox 360 and PS3. It was to sell for the same price as ME3 on the Wii U. On top of that, EA also said that there was no plans to bring the ME3 DLC to Wii U at all. Upon hearing all this I abandoned my plans to buy ME3 Special Edition. I may still pick it up eventually, if I find a cheap, used copy.

How could EA expect Mass Effect fans to be happy with a $60 year old port with no DLC support, when the entire series was being re-released, with DLC support, for the same price on older consoles? And then they had the nerve to complain that it didn't sell well and blame Nintendo for that! The tinfoil-hat-wearing part of me thinks it was all a conspiracy. They wanted sales of ME3 to be low so they could use it as an excuse to stop making games for Nintendo.

Okay, I'm going to stop myself here, before I get into fanboy territory deeper than I already have. Bear with me, folks, please. Yes, I do accept the fact that I can be a fanboy at times. But, that said, I do own all the systems, and always find great games to play on each. I love me some Halo, Fable, and Gears of War. I love Uncharted, Infamous, Jak and Daxter, and plenty of other Sony games as well. To this day the only controller I feel comfortable playing a Tony Hawk game with is a DualShock. So why should I care what games show up on which system if I have them all? Nintendo just happens to be my favorite. Even before the NES days, Donkey Kong was one of my favorite games on my parents' old Atari 400. Nintendo is always going to be my favorite company. They've given me so many happy memories. I just hate seeing them brushed to the side of the current game industry. Many out there might say they're doing it to themselves. I say Nintendo is still making the exact same kind of quality, fun games that they have been for more than 30 years. So it bugs me to see an old school series like Strider coming back as a modern 2D game, but not on Nintendo systems. Especially since the 360 and PS3 are getting a version.

That's it for my little rant. If you're a big Sony or Microsoft guy, don't let it scare you off! I like those systems too, I promise! Before I finish, let me also say that if you're a fan of horror movies, get yourself to the theater and see The Conjuring! I just got back from a screening before I started typing this out. It was one of the best horror movies I've seen in years! Great atmosphere, lots of good scares without relying too heavily on jump scares or so-called "cheap" scare tactics. Some really nice practical effects, and most importantly it didn't fall victim to dumb-ending syndrome. So many otherwise-good horror movies have been ruined by the writer not knowing how to end them properly. This was a very well written movie based off of a supposedly true story. Go see it with a bunch of friends!

As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI!

V/H/S 2 and The Last Exorcism 2

First off, a belated happy Fourth of July to you all! I hope you got to see some good fireworks. In my area it rained all week, so I didn't get much of fireworks this year.

Today I'm going to talk about a couple of horror movies I saw recently. Both are sequels to movies I rather liked, V/H/S and The Last Exorcism. Both of these movies were handcam movies, which I enjoy. V/H/S was an anthology movie with a pretty unique premise, at least in my experience. It centered around a group of guys who were payed to break into a house and steal a VHS tape. When they break in they find the house's owner dead and piles of tapes all over. The stuff on the tapes make up each segment of the movie. It wasn't a perfect film, but I enjoyed it. V/H/S 2 didn't let me down. The story in this one follows a PI hired by the mother of one of the guys from the first film to find her missing son. They go to his house and find a pile of VHS tapes. Just like before, those give us our segments. I'm not going to go into details about the segments, but most of them are pretty cool. Both films give you a nice mix of styles, with each segment being written and directed by different people. If I had to choose, I'd say the first one was slightly better overall, but the sequel has the best segment. A handcam story about alien abduction? I've been waiting for one of those for years, ever since I saw Incident in Lake County back in the day! A bigger budget version of that could be the most terrifying film ever made. The short in V/H/S 2 comes close to it, but it's just a short. Anyway, if you're looking for some good horror flicks, the V/H/S movies are pretty cool.

Now for The Last Exorcism 2. The first movie was another handcam flick, about a preacher who performs exorcisms, but doesn't really believe. In the movie, he's filming a documentary about what will be his last exorcism, hence the title. Of course, this one just happens to involve an actual demon. I'm not going to go into specifics, I can't without spoiling it, but it was a good movie with a cool ending. Horror movies, especially in recent years, have crap endings far too often. This was the problem with The Last Exorcism 2. The sequel follows the story of the possessed girl from the first movie as she attempts to get on with her life. The sequel is not a handcam film like the original, just a traditional movie. That's fine, I don't need all my horror films to be handcam. My problem is that it features some inconsistencies from the original, plus has a really, really stupid ending. So while I would highly recommend the original, I can't do the same for the sequel. It's not terrible, just not very good. Definitely a disappointment to me.

As always, thanks for reading! If you want to recommend me some good horror movies, leave a comment below. You can also follow me on Twitter @RevLink_GI.

Movie review - 28 Weeks Later

I like zombie movies, but I don't like it when zombies can run, so I never saw 28 Days Later. My buddy Shin DT wanted to watch the sequel, 28 Weeks Later, and he told me I didn't need to see the original to see this one, so I decided to check it out.

Overall it was a decent movie, but I have serious issues with any horror flick where the horror comes about due to sheer stupidity. Apparently the infection from 28 Days Later was wiped out, and London was safe to occupy again. Except that it wasn't really safe, and the government was bringing people back into the city before it was totally cleaned out. Why? Why in God's name would you bring people into a city that was infected with a zombie virus before you were absolutely sure it was totally clean? Why would you, as a civilian, want to move back into such a city?

And of course, the infection breaks out again when two kids sneak out of the military quarantine zone (again, stupid!). But once you get past the stupidity, it becomes a pretty decent zombie flick. Even though the zombies can run. I prefer Romero's shambling horde, but this was good enough that I'll try and check out the original 28 Days Later when I can.

Movie review: Legion

Hey, look, a review for a movie that's actually still in theaters! Cool. Okay, let's get to it.

As far as horror/action movies go, I can't say this movie was bad, but I certainly can't say it was great, either. The very premise of the movie, that God is sick of humanity and decides to kill us all off with angels, is out there at best. Apparently there's a baby about to be born, one that will somehow save mankind, and the angel Michael decides to defy God and come to earth to make sure that baby is born. The other angels, by possessing ordinary humans, are trying to kill the unborn baby, and anyone else who gets in the way. So Michael, the mother, and the people who just happen to be at the diner in the middle of nowhere the mother works at have to defend themselves from the angels until the baby is born. With guns. Lots and lots of guns.

The movie tries to flesh out the other characters, but ultimately fails. Why does the one guy have a hook for a hand? We don't know. Why is one guy going through custody issues, and why does he carry a gun? We never find out. There's a lot of stuff like this. We also never find out exactly what the significance of the baby is. Is he somehow holy? Well, that's doubtful, since the forces of Heaven are trying to kill him. But how, then, is he supposed to lead mankind out of the darkness? Wouldn't that be something God would be down for? At one point in the movie Michael tells another character to "find the prophets," and "learn to read the instructions". There's a brief reference later to the instructions being the angelic tattoos all over Michael's body (and that somehow manage to appear on a human for no apparent reason), but there is no mention at all of any prophets. None. They're not brought up again. Was this something the writers just forgot about? If I buy the inevitable extended director's cut DVD, will this be explained?

And on top of all of that, the dialogue was not great. A lot of unnecessary cursing. I'm not opposed to foul language in a movie, and this was rated R after all, but these lines sounded like they were written by an eight year old kid who just discovered swear words.

All of these problems aside, though, it was still worth a watch. But I wouldn't pay full price in the theater for it. If you can catch a matinee showing, go for it. Or maybe wait for it to hit second run theaters, it probably won't be long now. Or you could just wait for the DVD and rent it. There were some good actors in the movie, and they made the best of what they had to work with. The action scenes were decent, even if there weren't enough. Just don't expect it to be a riveting story. It's basically Terminator with a lot of underdeveloped characters and subplots. And a questionable religious angle.

Oh, I almost forgot. The one really awesome thing about this movie? I saw a trailer for the new A-Team movie in front of it! That looks awesome!

Movie review: Stan Helsing

Stan Helsing is a horror movie spoof, lampooning tons of recent and classic horror films. In the movie, Stan is a video store clerk trying to deliver some videos while on his way to a Halloween party with his friends. They get lost in the sticks and have to go up against parodies of such greats as Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, Chucky, and more. As spoofs go, it's a pretty good one. Lots of great laughs, and some hot women as well. There's one thing all truly great spoofs have in common, and this one is no different. That thing is Leslie Nielsen. His role in this movie is relatively small, but memorable.

If you spot this movie in a five dollar bin somewhere, it's definitely worth picking up. It may even be worth a bit more than that. Or if you are just bored and are looking for something funny to rent, this is a good choice.

Movie review: The Haunting of Molly Hartley

I like horror movies. That is to say, I try to like horror movies. So many of them simply don't live up to their expectations, and this one was no different. The basic premise of the movie was good. Molly's parents made a deal with the forces of evil to save her life as an infant. In return, she would be taken by the evil on her eighteenth birthday. This much I got just out of the commercial. Unfortunately, the movie itself never brought any of this up for at least the first half of the film! For all I knew, I could have been watching any teen drama, as all the movie dealt with was Molly moving to a new school. All of the scares were fairly cheap, people popping out from around corners and that sort of thing, and had nothing to do with the story.

Even when things started to get rolling, they still didn't make much sense. It was never explained what exactly was going to happen to Molly on her birthday, nor was it explained exactly who the people were that were behind it. Was it the devil? Was it witches? Demons? Some cult? You never find out. Even the ending, which I won't spoil for you, wasn't entirely clear.

It's movies like this one that re-enforce my rule when it comes to horror flicks. Always watch them before you buy them! They often turn out to suck.