Alex Riviello

On my way to Baltimore for a beer fest tomorrow.

If it were only for Sam and Max, Telltale Games would be one of my favorite developers. Just bringing back adventure games and doing it so damn well would make them stars in my eyes, but then they had to go and rejuvenate Monkey Island and even continuing the adventures of Back to the Future. Genuinely funny games are a rarity nowadays, and I love to support the company in any way I can. It’s why I always wear a Max hat (this one) and drink beer from a Monkey Island mug (this one, that fits a 22 ounce beer perfectly). Their next eagerly anticipated series, Jurassic Park, was supposed to release this month but it’s been delayed.

The delay is pretty significant as well, all the way to Fall.The reason? Quality.

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I don’t buy many films these days, but I need to own Hobo With a Shotgun. Magnet just announced the dvd and blu-ray release of the film on July 5th. Most of you haven’t experienced this ridiculous, great film just yet, as it’s getting a limited theatrical release on May 6th, but it’s on VOD right now too so there’s really no excuse.

Here are the specs! Curious what that “Shotgun” film mode is, and can’t wait to see the alternate ending with The Plague.

• More Blood, More Heart: The Making of “Hobo with a Shotgun”
• Behind the Scenes Interactive “Shotgun” Film Mode
• Alternate Ending
• Deleted Scenes
• Video Blogs
• HDNet: A Look at “Hobo with a Shotgun”
• Original “Hobo with a Shotgun” Contest Winning Trailer
• Faux Trailer Contest Winner
• TV Spots
• Original Redband Trailer
• Theatrical Greenband Trailer
• Commentary with Jason Eisener (Director) and Rutger Hauer
• Commentary with Jason Eisener (Director), Rob Cotterill (Producer), John Davies (Writer), and David Brunt (Original “Hobo with a Shotgun”)

One of the biggest issues I had with Portal 2 (my CHUD review) was that once you were done with it, you were done with it. You could go back through to mop up some new achievements but once you know how to solve each puzzle there’s nothing else, not even a challenge mode like the first game to try and beat each level in a certain amount of time, or using a certain number of portals.

DLC was almost a given as this is a Valve title, but Doug Lombardi finally confirmed it in an interview with Fast Company.

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Anyone else get this delightful email today?

Valued PlayStation(R)Network/Qriocity Customer:

We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011,
certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account
information was compromised in connection with an illegal and
unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this
intrusion, we have:

1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;

2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full
and complete investigation into what happened; and

3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our
network infrastructure by rebuilding our system to provide you
with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill
as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and
efficiently as practicable.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident,
we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following
information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country,
email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login,
and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data,
including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip),
and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may
have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your
dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have
been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit
card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have
provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity,
out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit
card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have
been obtained.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email,
telephone and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive
information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email,
asking for your credit card number, social security number or other
personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information,
you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation
Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that
you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation
Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or
accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them as well.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we
encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and
to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information
for those who wish to consider it:
- U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually
from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report,
visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.

- We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S.
credit bureaus below.  At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus
place a “fraud alert” on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps
to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can
make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however,
that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you,
it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your
identity.  As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others
are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a
fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report,
please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division,
P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

- You may wish to visit the website of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at
www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect
yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice
on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or
suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General,
and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be
contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone
(877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney
General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202;
telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.

We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this
incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the
clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes
information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that
additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information.
Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is
our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any
additional questions.

Sincerely,

Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment

Just polishing up a review on Mortal Kombat (you’ll see where it ends up!) and was ruminating on how you never were given any instructions in the old games. Remember how frustrating it was to have to play fight after fight, trying all kinds of stupid combinations and hoping that it would set off a fatality? Then you’d end up jabbing the staggered character and have to start up another match to try it again, or actually listen to that one annoying kid at the arcade who knew every move.

I guess it was considered part of the gameplay, a little replay value for your money. Now every single special move and fatality in the game can be found in the pause menu. Look how far we’ve come!

I missed a chance to meet Ozzy and see this film on Monday. Damn it.

A little bit of web history!

Late in 2005 Dan Whitehead took over Creature Corner. Johnny Butane and Ryan Rotten had turned the place into what was arguably the best horror site on the net, but like everyone who comes into contact with CHUD/CC they had moved on. In their absense the place become a shadow of its former self, but with Mr. Whitehead in charge things were looking up. Never discount how important an intelligent, knowledgeable editor is for a website.

One day I noticed that he was looking for help and I knew that the job had to be mine. Here’s the original call for entries he posted on the site- http://replay.web.archive.org/20060514221533/http://www.creature-corner.com/?type=news&id=935

I can’t remember what I sent in the email but I do know that I bugged Dan a whole bunch of times till he gave me the gig, flaunting my reviews at Empire Movies and GL.com, as well as my internship at Troma to bolster my horror cred.

Here’s my first article I wrote for the place, about some Day Watch posters. It’s not too horrible but I find it hard to read any of my old stuff without cringing- http://replay.web.archive.org/20060514224545/http://www.creature-corner.com/?type=news&id=973

To be continued…

The trifecta of Demon’s Souls, Persona 3 on PSP and Zeno Clash (on XBLA) made me a Atlus USA fan for life, and this year’s lineup of Rock of Ages and Catherine has me giddy. In a time where companies seem to be taking fewer and fewer chances they’re putting out these bizarre and unique games, and you have to love them for it.

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Rockstar just sent over some new screenshots for Max Payne 3, and I was surprised to see him with a full head of hair. The first round of screenshots they released almost two years ago showed him with a bald, scarred head and a wifebeater, walking around in the sunlight (!) in São Paulo. Quite a different look from the last two games, but it looks like we’re going to get to experience what exactly made him so broken and crazy-looking.

Before-

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Decided to expedite things. Had planned to push through the last week but not when my former boss was talking shit about me publicly and privately. That’s pretty much the last I’ll speak on this, cause I really did love writing for the place and the opportunities it afforded me. Definitely did not want to go out on this note but… what can you do. Now to find a better fit with someone who appreciates my work.

For posterity, my last reviews on CHUD. Seven in three weeks- not too shabby.

Portal 2- http://www.chud.com/48430/review-portal-2/

Crysis 2- http://www.chud.com/47465/review-crysis-2/

American: The Bill Hicks Story- http://www.chud.com/47234/review-american-the-bill-hicks-story/

Saint/Sint (Tribeca) - http://www.chud.com/46590/review-saint-tribeca-11/

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead- http://www.chud.com/46133/review-fat-sick-nearly-dead/

Hobo With A Shotgun- http://www.chud.com/45468/review-hobo-with-a-shotgun/

Hanna - http://www.chud.com/33662/review-hanna/

I haven’t checked this site in a long time, but then again I never really utilized it except as a catch-all for my RSS and Twitter feeds. It looks like it did a half-assed job doing that. Then again, I’m not sure how well the CHUD RSS feed works- nothing on that site really worked the way it was intended. Just look at that redesign.

Anyway, I’m beginning to transition off of that site and trying to see what’s next in store for me. Another website to write for? Perhaps I can finally finish up one of those half-dozen stories I’ve started? Pitch a few more articles to magazines? I’m actually glad that the stress of getting up daily content is temporarily gone, writing up silly news pieces that are forgotten as soon as they are read, but I’m undoubtedly going to miss the place. Combined with my time at Creature Corner I spent almost six years (!) writing for them. Sad to see it going down the tubes the way it has.

I figure this is as good a place as any to drop some thoughts, since I can’t just stop writing. More to come.