Toronto Thumbs

I Like To Move It Move It
PlayStation Move Controller

Last year, Sony revealed that a motion-based controller for the PS3 was in the works.  Since that unveiling, the interwebs has been abuzz with the usual speculation, nay-saying, and fanboyishness that is to be expected.  All sorts of questions have been on everyone’s minds, specifically ones dealing with the similarity to Nintendo’s Wii-Motes, and whether or not there would be a lot of buy-in from developers.

A few days ago, Sony announced that they will be releasing the PlayStation Move controller in the fall, along with the PlayStation Move Sub-controller.  Sony has also stated that 36 developers and publishers will be supporting Playstation Move. This year, more than 20 games are to be released that are either dedicated to or will support the platform.

Read the rest »

Posted in Awesome, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

Video
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Let’s say you love Prince of Persia but just can’t stomach any more soft-focused publicity images of Chesty Jake. Good news! Ubisoft has your PoP fix sans Gyllenhaal.

Check out this gameplay trailer (complete with developer commentary) and prepare to be enthralled by the Prince yet again. What’s not to love about parkour mixed with elemental control and lots of baddies?

Read the rest »

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, Microsoft, News Bytes, PSP, PlayStation 3, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Announcement
New Management

The halls around the office don’t echo with the light-hearted banter that it once did.  When Shaun was picked up by The Electric Playground, a good deal of the wind behind the sails of this site changed; our momentum started to diminish.  Truthfully, Shaun is a dynamic and incredible person with enough work ethic, enthusiasm, and creativity to power a small country.  Perhaps that may not make a lot of sense to some of our newer readers, but to those who know Shaun, it is probably an understatement.

Read the rest »

Posted in Awesome, Blah Blah Blog, Blog, Events, True Gaming Friends | 8 Comments »

Who Buys This Shit?
Jesus Hates Zombies, Lincoln Hates Werewolves

I know I was a little harsh on our friend Abraham Lincoln and his star-turn in Time Lincoln a few weeks back.

Recently, during my travels around the Internet, I came across a Lincoln-related comic that I could definitely see myself getting behind. It is perhaps the most interesting historical figure crossover comic ever produced: Jesus Hates Zombies featuring Lincoln Hates Werewolves. Here’s the publisher’s description:

“The zombie plague has swept across the Earth, and Jesus has been sent down to take care of it. Along with Laz, his loyal zombie sidekick, Jesus must unite the remaining humans to stand up and defeat the zombie menace. With a time-traveling Abraham Lincoln at his side, and a zombified Angel hot on their heels, can this mish-mash of heroes save humanity - or themselves?!”

I am concerned, however, with the historical inaccuracies of this book. Everyone knows that Jesus loves zombies. In fact, Jesus was a zombie himself! I was taught as much during my youth as a part of the Church of Zombie Christ. We learned all about the importance of feeding on the body, blood, and brains of our saviour so that we could unify as one large zombified army against the forces of evil. Of course, we didn’t have any of Jesus’ actual brains, so we substituted animal brains most of the time.

Before the RCMP burned our compound to the ground and seized all of our assets, we were quite busy preparing for the joy of the upcoming rapture and zombie apocalypse. Ah, those were the days!

Jesus Hates Zombies is the creation of writer Stephen Lindsay and artist Steve Cobb. From the preview pages I saw online, it looks like it would be a funny and entertaining read. Jesus has quite the chip on his shoulder and he is not afraid to show it! I will be ordering the book into my comic store, and you can do the same at your local shop.

Why does Lincoln always end up being a time traveler in comics? Is there something in his genetic makeup that makes him an ideal candidate? Personally, if I were Jesus and facing an army of zombies I would choose to partner with a dead president who had a little more combat experience, such as Ulysses S. Grant or Dwight Eisenhower.

In any event, I believe this book has definite “cool shit” potential. What do you think?

Posted in Awesome, Comics, Who Buys This Shit? | 4 Comments »

OMG
Mega Man 10 on WiiWare Today

It doesn’t explain my absense over the last six days, but Mega Man 10 is now available via WiiWare. So if you’re a glutton for difficult games, sharp graphics, and chiptune goodness, it’s a title you might want to check out. In related news, this could explain why I won’t post anything for the next six days.

But on a serious note, I was out of town for another gig. It’s nice to be back home, even though I’ll be spending most of the time playing videogames.

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, Nintendo, Wii, WiiWare | No Comments »

NES Zelda Cartridge
Converted to a Hard Drive Enclosure

Some months ago, a friend of mine grabbed a bunch of NES cartridges from a thrift store with the intention of converting them into hard drive enclosures. If there’s one thing geeks love, it’s re-purposing old stuff into new stuff. I’m not sure if he got around to making the enclosures, but today I found this really awesomely done enclosure made from The Legend of Zelda for the NES.

This cartridge has sold out since I spotted it, but the seller does have several other cartridge-turned-enclosures. Sadly none look as great as this one, even though a great game was compromised to make it. Would you buy a hard drive enclosed in an old NES game, or do you think it’s sacrilege?

Posted in Art, Awesome, Nintendo | 3 Comments »

First Trailer For
Guerrilla Gardening: Seeds of Revolution

Today Spooky Squid Games released a teaser trailer for Guerrilla Gardening: Seeds of Revolution, a game I’ve been following the development of somewhat closely. Even though the trailer contains footage from an early build of the game, it still looks like a lot of fun to play.

In it, Molly Greenthumb is a revolutionary who tries to cheer up oppressed and depressed citizens by planting beautiful trees, flowers, and the like. The isometric game has a heavy puzzle element to it, where certain plants need to be placed in specific locations to provoke a desired result. For instance, and the video shows this, you can use a screaming flower to draw the attention of patrolling officers in order to make a run for another section of the map. Other flowers emit bursts of pollen, attracting citizens to the area. It’s a good way to gather up protestors in key locations.

Check out the trailer »

Posted in Art, Awesome, Indie, TORONTO, Videos | 3 Comments »

First Video Footage
From Trackmania for Wii

Judging from how much I loved Trackmania when it was released for the DS, I am certain I’ll spend many, many hours on the Wii version when it is released. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. Today Focus Home Interactive and FireBrand Games released a one-minute long video showing off the game in action.

It’s great to see the game making the jump to Wii so comfortably. All the crazy stunts and smooth driving I expected are shown, along with a short glimpse of four-player split screen multiplayer. It’s also great to get a peek at how the track editor interface will work. Looks really awesome so far!

Watch the video »

Posted in Awesome, Videos, Wii | 2 Comments »

ART
General Bauhaus

Meet General Bauhaus. Kick-ass name, isn’t it? As expected, he’s quite the baddie in Guerrilla Gardening, the upcoming PC strategy game being developed by Toronto’s own Spooky Squid.

The colouring is by Miguel Sternberg of Spooky Squid, and the character design is by comic book illustrator and homegrown hero Eric Kim. Great to see this game’s progressing nicely, because I’m looking forward to playing it.

Check out the full-size artwork over at the Guerrilla Gardening dev blog.

Posted in Art, Awesome, Comics, Indie, TORONTO | No Comments »

FLASH FOCUS
Adventures in Sex City

I don’t even know where to begin. Rocco Commisso sent me a link to this crazy game from the Middlesex-London Health Unit called Adventures in Sex City.

Actually “game” is a bit of a misnomer. It’s more like “somewhat animated trivia.” Still, as a connoisseur of the gaming medium, I couldn’t help but be interested. Players choose a character and then go on to battle against the evil Sperminator. He attacks by shooting giant, single sperm through his, er, arm cannon. If you answer a question correctly, you get to put up a shield and deflect it back. Get a question wrong, however, and you get nailed.

Either way, it’s pretty disgusting. Back in my day we learned our sex ed the old fashioned way – with black and white textbooks full of awkward yet horrifying illustrations. This takes things to a whole new terrifying level. I’m not going to lie: I did not finish this game. I am too fragile.

NOTE: this game has a better soundtrack than my textbooks ever had.

Posted in Awesome, Awful, Flash Focus | 4 Comments »