A giant monster is headed to PlayStation, EA gets a new golfer, and robots come to life…
Many apologies for this being late. This has not been the week I thought it would be. I figured I’d just prep a few things ahead of time for LT and then head off to meet my family in Las Vegas for some buffets and gambling. Then, right as I’m boarding the plane, I check Twitter to see an outpouring of sadness over the unexpected and tragic death of Satoru Iwata. Like most people who had been so closely following his career, I felt pretty horrible about the whole thing, and has been processing it in my own way – a.k.a writing a numbered list about Iwata’s life and legacy. Sigh. But life goes on, and so does Laser Time’s weekly features, including our weekly rundown of what’s new on Amazon this week. It’s certainly busier than the wasteland that was last week, so if you see anything you like, buy it through our links and it supports LT at no extra cost to you. Ok, let’s just dive in now and hope that things start to feel a little more normal when we’re done.
Just in time for it to come more than a year after the reboot, there’s a new Godzilla game out on both PS4 and PS3. That combo of systems with the lack of a Microsoft console should already tell you this is originates from Japan, where the PS3 version has been out for months. The early reviews were… not great to be honest. But, given Godzilla’s abominable history with game’s a middling ‘Zilla title might still be one of his bests. If you’re as fanatical about the series as Brett Elston, it might at least be worth watching a trailer.
Kratos’ story ended some years ago, not that you’d know it based on the sheer volume of prequels and remakes that the angry god has appeared in. And like the circular nature of Greek myth, we’re right back where we started with a PS4 remaster of God of War 3. So, three years ago, did Sony and Microsoft both forget to actually plan releases for their new systems? Cuz in about a month we’ve got the full Uncharted trilogy coming, which does beg the question of why Sony is only putting out GoW3. Oh well, I can’t say I’m against watching an upgraded version of a first person blinding.
Unless you were paying attention to PS3 and Vita releases last year, this PS4 rerelease will make you go “huh?” The most recent game in a series that’s almost 20 years old, and Nightmare Princess is the Super Ultra EX edition of the sexy horror game. You play as one of Tecmo’s typically cute heroines, and you have to set traps to kill or stop your enemies from reaching you, which can lead to some pretty weird moments, as the Laser crew discovered when streaming it.
For the first time since 1998, EA Sports’ golfing series isn’t headlined by Tiger Woods, who has been replaced by Rory McIlroy, the top ranked golfer in the world who I first heard about while writing this entry. But the real star of this release might be the Frostbite 3 engine. Yes, the same graphics that power Battlefield now runs EA’s golf series, and it even features a few courses that take place on classic Battlefield maps. I hope next year EA just morphs this into their own version of Mario Party.
This week marks the 15th anniversary of the first X-Men film, and while comic movies have come a long way since then, Bryan Singer’s first installment was a serious take on comic movies that very few had seen to that point. So it’s fitting tthat the extended cut of Singer’s most recent X-Men film, Days of Future Past, should come out, because it heavily features Rogue, arguably the lead character of the first film. If you liked the theatrical version of DoFP, but wished Anna Paquin actually said words and appeared for more than 8 seconds, here’s your Blu-ray.
As a comic nerd I kinda wish this was based on the comic of the same name, but I think that’s just to cover my regrets for not having seen this film yet. In a world of sci-fi sequels and remakes, here’s an original script and story from a new director and a modest budget. This fresh take on the possibilities of artificial intelligence got many positive reviews, so perhaps more people will join the chorus soon now that it’s out on disc in the states.
I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago when it appear on streaming, and I’ll just repeat myself here: This has been one of the most buzzed about horror films in recent memory, and horror expert/one-time Laser Time guest Louis Peitzman was a big fan of it as well. Check it out for yourself and see if this scary take on STDs doesn’t give you some good scares as well.
SPECIAL SALES NEWS! THESE GHIBLI BLU-RAYS ARE CHEAPER THAN EVER BEFORE
The US Disney releases never go on sale, yet these are all set at just over $17!
Also, you can pick up the first two volumes of Southern Bastards for under $10!
CAPE CRISIS RECOMMENDS:
UPCOMING VIDEO GAME PRE-ORDER BONUSES
Fallout 4 *New*
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection *New*
-Pre-order for early access to the Uncharted 4 beta, as well as The Nathan Drake Pack, which includes: Uncharted Drake’s Fortune Drake skin, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Drake Skin, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Drake Skin, Wetsuit Drake Skin, Nepal Drake Skin, Golden AK-47, and Golden 92FS.
J-Stars Victory Vs+ *New*
-Pre-order J-Stars and receive a free PSN code to download a digital version of the J-Stars Victory Vs+ Compendium, which contains over 75 pages of art, insights and information about the game and it’s vast cast of favorite anime and manga characters.
Mighty No. 9 *New*
-Pre-order Mighty No. 9 to receive the Beck Retro Hero DLC, an Artbook, and Poster; Plus Special Offer for PlayStation 4 Customers
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos – ‘Banana Split’ Edition *New*
-Pre-order Onechanbara Z2: Chaos and receive a free upgrade to the ‘Banana Split’ Edition which includes a soundtrack disc, an art book and DLC code for the ‘Strawberries and Banana’ costume
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
-Pre-order for early access to the Black Ops III beta.
Mad Max
-Pre-order and unlock The Ripper vehicle early
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
-Pre-order the Day 1 Edition to get a physical map + DLC content which includes: • Adam-ska Special Handgun • Personal Ballistic Shield (Silver) • Wetland Cardboard box • Fatigues outfit (Blue Urban Snake Costume) • Metal Gear Online XP boost
Star Wars Battlefront
-Pre-order and get early access to 2 map packs, including one based on The Force Awakens
Batman: Arkham Knight
–Pre-order to play as Harley Quinn. Utilize her unique weapons, gadgets, and abilities. Plus, contains 4 Exclusive Challenge Maps
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
-Pre-order for FREE guaranteed Beta Access
The Godzilla game is lacking but I really think its current Metacritic score is too low, not going to change either because I doubt any professional critic will admit to liking it now. I know it seems a tad conspiracy theory/Gamergatey but I do wonder this sometimes with bad games particular.
But you are right, the King of the Monsters never really caught a break in video games.
Two of my favorite films are out this week: Ex Machina and It Follows.
Along with Mad Max: Fury Road, Ex Machina is my favorite film of the year. I was glad to hear that Ex Machina was somewhat successful, and I’m looking forward to the next film directed/written by Alex Garland.
Also, I believed I (or someone else) have mentioned this before, but the STD connection to It Follows is too simple. For me, the It Follows monster represent the past coming back to haunt you, or something horrible or regrettable from your past coming back to haunt you.
I’ll be looking forward to Golfzilla PGA 2016