shovel
Latest
We wish The Crovel was in every game
It's fairly normal to see things in video games and wish that they existed in real life (gravity gun, ASHHPD, etc) but it's not every day that the opposite happens, where we come across something so ingenious that our favorite gaming heroes seem woefully ill-equipped in comparison. See, ever since we found out about The Crovel (pronounced crow-vel, like a crowbar-shovel), we can't stop daydreaming about all the different ways we'd like to slaughter hundreds and hundreds of zombies/orcs/demons with its various points and edges. Designed as a multi-purpose survival tool, The Crovel combines a spade, a sharpened edge for machete-style hacking, a serrated edge for saw-style sawin', a hammerhead for blunt-force trauma hammering, and a crowbar claw for good measure. For added Batman utility, the rope wrapping the handle can be unspooled for use as a tourniquet, or to transform the device into a grappling hook. The end of the handle can also be capped by an optional "Z Spike" for stabbing; it's basically the greatest makeshift anti-horde device ever created. Look, we know this isn't strictly video-game related, but it's awesome, and the only way we're going to see The Crovel in the next Valve or Irrational Games title is if we raise public awareness. Make it happen, developers.
Farming fun without the cow patties
Harvest Moon Heroes producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto posits that a farming sim is far more entertaining than actual farming, and we're forced to agree -- unless you're one of those freaks who actually enjoys yard work and such. However, if you want to get close to the real thing without breaking a sweat or sliding around in the byproducts of pork futures, then the Wii version of the long-running Harvest Moon franchise is just what you need. In designing the latest installment in the series, Hashimoto says they worked to walk a fine line between work and play. After all, if the game is too much like work, then why play? Why not trundle into the backyard, shovel in one hand and spade in the other, and make your own garden? Harvest Moon Heroes works to get as close to that as possible, albeit without the added bonus of fresh tomatoes or peppers. But it sounds like the game will be a perfect illustration of the Wii's ability to translate the gaming experience into reality, or at least a semblance thereof. Sounds like a sign a great things to come.
