Thursday, July 31, 2008

ABDC Season 2 Episode 7 Recap



Tonight's ABDC is the Missy Elliott episode with Missy herself performing with the four remaining crews and also judging alongside Shane, Lil Mama, and JC.



So Real Cru were up first doing "One Minute Man" and it was another solid performance from them. The intro was the sickest part of the routine while everything else felt right. Another judge fight was at hand with Shane and JC on So Real's difficulty of the performance, but you can make a case for both of them.



SuperCrew got off the bottom 2 this week (Yay!!!) and they did "We Run This." It was another memorable performance with more b-boy mastery and a tower intro. It was definitely better than So Real's performance.



Boogie Bots and Fanny Pak were in the bottom 2 (America got it right!!!) as BB went first doing "Work It." After reading about last minute changes for a whole new routine, it is clear that this is not a good performance. It almost felt like they pulled the white flag out as the judges clearly noticed the sloppiness especially this late in the competition. Don't get me wrong, they're a great crew when the switch is on, but not on a consistent basis.



Fanny Pak, on the other hand, KILLED IT. It is in caps because it was their best performance of the show and perhaps the best one of the season so far. The whole vibe of "Get Your Freak On" was there from the weird looking eyes, the unorthodox movements of various sytles, and it was awesome. The performance was too awesome that the judges gave a standing ovation, which is amazing. Even though So Real and SuperCrew had great performances, Fanny Pak just killed theirs and expect them to be #1 next week getting them a free pass to the finale.

With Boogie Bots' elimination, it is anyone's ball game on who can win this season's ABDC. My rankings are... (The last time for the season)

  1. Fanny Pak
  2. SuperCrew
  3. So Real Cru

Even though I had SuperCrew and So Real as my top 2 for the finale from the start of this whole thing, Fanny Pak's performance pretty much made my finale for next week (even though SC and Supreme Soul last week was pretty epic). The cool thing this season is that you can make a case for any of these 3 to win compared to last season where it was the Jabbawockeez show (and Kaba Modern). Next week is the 80s theme and Fanny Pak better kill it again next week (They can seriously win this thing).

Shout out to the Yuri and Taeko Show coming soon (Yuri from Kaba and Taeko from Fysh N Chicks were at the show again this week watching and they became best buds since season 1 ended).

Time to Break the Faces and Play Some Football...



Today, two demos of EA games are out on both XBL Marketplace and PSN. First up is Madden NFL 09 and it shows off the new Madden Test functionality of testing your skill with Offense and Defense to set up your adaptive difficulty for the game. It is a neat idea (All-Pro on Offense, Rookie on Defense - didn't know WTH I was doing). Other than that, the demo is short with reliving the last minute and a half of this year's Super Bowl involving the Giants and the Patriots. It does look better and has a new Gears-like roadie run cam when a receiver or running back is running to daylight, which is cool. For 1.1 GB, it is not much since the full game is out in less than 2 weeks (Note - I will not review Madden 09).

The demo I was most interested in was Facebreaker, a new toon boxing game. The controls are simple, but maybe too simple as I am having a hard time timing dodges and parries. Add along a licensed soundtrack that doesn't fit into a game like this and great toon-shaded graphics (Like Team Fortress 2 and the upcoming Battlefield Heroes). I'll probably give it another chance, but it can be fun just mashing faction to break someone's face (There's XBL Vision Cam and Playstation Eye support for custom characters in this demo and the final game). Good thing Facebreaker is 40 bucks too.

Off topic: ABDC Recap tonight and Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 Review tomorrow.

Having Pho with ABDC....



ABDC is tonight as well as the first day of X Games 14, but as a warmup for the Missy episode, here's SuperCrew and So Real Cru eating at a Pho place (Vietnamese food), which is actually good (Maybe I will have that tonight??).

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Streets of Rage Remake Appreciation



It has been a while for me to talk out about this amazing PC fan-made game known as Streets of Rage Remake. I found a newfound appreciation for the series in recent years and revisiting them on the Wii Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade. This fan-made remake came out two years ago and it has been improving ever since with new additions, more customization, and bug fixing. I downloaded the latest version (at 4.01 with Version 5 coming later this year hopefully) and it is still a blast to play witnessing true old school beat-em-up goodness. For those out on the loop, Streets of Rage Remake is a culmination of all 3 Streets of Rage games into one game of branching paths, remixed music, and all the gameplay throughout the series with the specials that was introduced in SOR2, running and rolling from SOR3, and more. It is still the same storyline of Mr. X and his posse corrupting the city and it is up to the SOR folks (Adam, Skate, Axel, Blaze, Max) to clean it up and get rid of Mr. X once and for all. For a link, just search for it and its easy to find. It is actually not that bad controlling SOR Remake with a keyboard if mapped correctly. There are also unlockables from more characters, artwork, and multiplayer modes. The remixed soundtrack is truly amazing with singnature tunes from all three games (It is too awesome that I downloaded it). If you been waiting for Sega to resurrect the franchise, keep dreaming as this PC Remake is worth playing if you're a SOR fan.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Comic-Con 2008 Megapost....

Warning: Long post ahead.... Will update with my own pics later.

So I went to the San Diego Comic-Con yesterday on its last day and yet it is still crowded for a Sunday. The panels that day weren't really that interesting, so I hung out at the show floor instead and surprisingly the booth setups are pretty organized with the games on one side, the major TV and movie booths on the middle, and the comics/shopping on the other side.

Action Figures I bought:
  • Marcus Fenix (from Gears of War)
  • Kratos with Armor (God of War II)
  • More Street Fighter ones: Blue Cammy, Red/White Guile, and Gouken
I was bummed that SOTA Toys were sold out of their SDCC exclusive action figures of Rainbow Mika, Zangief, E. Honda, and Dhalsim (Oh well, wait till they're out online).

Random Sightings:
  • Greg Oden promoting some basketball cartoon for Shonen Jump.
  • Saw Cesar and Mike Nelson from 1up/Gamevideos.
  • Chris Gore from G4 doing some trivia competition at the G4 booth.
  • Supernatural autograph signing (don't care for that show).
My main highlight for the show is the games and arguably the best display of games for a Comic-Con yet (It feels like public E3 and better than E for All).

The Capcom booth was my favorite booth last year and once again my favorite booth this year because of Street Fighter IV. I was just glued to that area watching the tournaments because the game looks amazing in person running smoothly at 60 FPS and playing it for myself twice at their boxing ring. The two times I played, I picked Guile and Sagat because I'm tired of playing shotos (Ryu and Ken) in the SSFIIT HD Remix Beta (also playable there with Dee Jay, Akuma, T. Hawk, and Vega playable as well as more stages). Plus, the majority of the crowd were playing shotos doing Shoryuken combos, Ultra Hadoukens, and some focus attacks. I straight out played Guile like I used to in the SF2 era adding along some EX Sonic Booms. Sagat is again pretty fun to use and a good mixup and ranged game (I love those Tiger Knnes) even though I had to ask a Capcom rep how to do his Ultra (Ultras involve all three punch or kick buttons to do I think). I didn't enter any tournaments (I rather watch), but it was good times with Street Fighter IV (This game is TOO good!!). The icing of the cake regarding SF IV is the merchandise with a exlcusive SF IV SDCC 08 Shirt I bought, Ryu headbands, and Mr. Ono (the director of SF4) autographing my exclusive poster), which is cool. Here's an example of the SFIV action... (Shout out to Seth Killian and the Capcom staff for a great job handling the craziness - The line is about 30 minutes just to play one match, but that's good enough for me).



I almost spent a hour over at the Bionic Commando area playing both the new 3D game and Rearmed (now coming out in August 13 = Yes!!!). I first played Rearmed at the beginning of the game. Since I never played the NES original, it is still that hard as Simon from GRIN gave me some tips. I think I got the basics nailed down with the grappling and shooting at least. For the new 3D game, the 360s had some problems, but it wasn't that bad. I played the Jungle level and also got the basics nailed down of the swinging and shooting. Ben Judd from Capcom has been helpful too when players are having a hard time (Both Ben and Simon are cool guys to hang with being crazy people). At least the guys autographed a BC poster too, which is cool too. I did have a hard time at the boss and good thing God mode is on, but if you're in the water, you're screwed. The guys also told me that a demo for the 3D Bionic Commando will come out closer to its release.

Those are pretty much my favorite moments of the whole day as I break down what I else I played and I seen gaming-wise.
  • Capcom also had other games like Dark Void, which it plays like Gears with stop and pop shooting. The vertical cover and the jetpack/flying mechanics keep it original from Gears, which is cool. The framerate needs some work, but this is probably an early build of the game. I won't mind buying this one (played the 360 version).
  • Yes, Mega Man 9 is hard. I played it for a minute and kept dying. Watching others get through the level feels better. Only the WiiWare version was playable.
  • I played Soul Calibur IV and Afro Samurai at Namco's booth as I didn't play SC IV that much since I'm going to get it tomorrow (played three games - picked Nightmare, Misturugi, and the Secret Apprentice on PS3). Afro Samurai, on the other hand, is fun hack and slashing with anime dismemberment. I just sliced and diced some dudes (A slowmo mechanic is there for accurate slices) throughout the demo. The camera does need some work however.
  • The Sony booth is a little disappointing with not much of their first-party stuff playable, but the quality of games there is good. I only played MotorStorm: Pacific Rift there and it is still MotorStorm, but now in the jungle. The race is a long two lapper with alternate paths and choosing between a racing truck and a bike. The new PAIN DLC, SingStar, Buzz PS3, some PSP stuff, and the amazing LittleBig Planet were also playable. Unforuntately, I didn't play LBP, but I did watch some of the custom stuff while walking around. I don't think LBP demos well in the public, it is better in a private demo.
  • The Activision booth is also a little disappointing with Ghostbusters pretty much the only good playable game (didn't try it myself) with other games I don't care about there too like The new Mummy movie and a new Crash game. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion weren't playable in the public as they showed trailers instead.
  • Konami's booth wasn't much either with stuff I'm not interested in (MGS4 is there, but it's already out). Playable there were Castlevania Judgment for the Wii, the new Castlevania for DS, Silent Hill Homecoming, and DDR Hottest Party 2 (Forgot the others).
  • Microsoft made a last-minute showing having a small booth (The first time they have a booth at Comic-Con I think). The retail game showing is disappointing with only Too Human playable (Banjo and VP2 would have been better). The XBLA games are indeed playable with Braid (out on August 6), Geo Wars 2 (out Wednesday), Castle Crashers (out on August 27), Lode Runner, and Galaga Legions (out on August 20). I only played Geo Wars 2 and Galaga Legions as GW2 is more Geometry Wars, which is good (Played Deadline and Waves), and Galaga Legions, which is pretty cool as a different take on the Galaga formula of backup ships firing at all angles and wave after wave of enemies to blast as the game shows the path they're going. I also set the high score there. There were lots of neat 360 Elites there on display with the Gears 2 Elite (Red), The Dark Knight Elite, and the Lego Batman Elite. The Gears 2 poster they gave away is pretty cool also.
That's it for the detailed analysis of some games I played. The rest of the gaming is what I seen because of the crowds. I'm just going to list the games with maybe some small comment about them.
  • Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - The kids were crowding over it so I didn't want to wait. A LucasArts rep did say a demo will come out on XBL Marketplace and PSN next month (maybe the same level I seen there).
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Wii) - Also the kids were going crazy with this waggling out of control.
  • Fracture
  • Lego Batman - Its a Lego game and that's what matters (The Lego booth is crowded with new Clone Wars Legos for the new movie and more).
  • Mirror's Edge - I was bummed this wasn't playable at the EA booth as they were just demoing it. It looks good in person and a free comic was given away.
  • Dead Space - There was a line to play this (10 minute demo) in a blocked area because it is rated Mature. I rather wait in a line for SF IV than this anyway. Free posters and comics were given away too.
  • Lord of the Rings: Conquest
  • Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
  • Mercanaries 2: World in Flames - Hopefully a demo comes out before release.
  • Battle Forge
  • Saint's Row 2 - You can play the intro scene of escaping the prison. Still looks like Saint's Row with the graphics not really improved.
  • De Blob
  • Darksiders
  • Red Faction: Guerilla
  • WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 - Inferno matches!!!
  • DC Universe Online
  • Tales of Vesperia
  • Prince of Persia - Like Mirror's Edge, I was bummed it wasn't playable when I stopped by the booth as some Frag Doll and a Ubisoft guy were demoing it for the crowd.
  • Neopets
  • Naruto: Broken Bond
  • A Namco Naruto game
  • Games with NICK Cartoons
Games Notably Absent:
  • Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - I looked everywhere for this, but it wasn't there for the public.
  • Square-Enix lineup - Nothing playable for Squenix games as they showed trailers for upcoming games like Chrono Trigger DS and Infinite Undiscovery. They still have lots of toys from the various games they're known for (Mostly Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts stuff).
  • The Music Games - Activision and EA had booths and no shows for Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2. Comic-Con is probably not the place to show these games.
  • PSN lineup - No Fat Princess, Ratchet for Clank: Quest for Booty, and Pikeljunk Eden there.
  • Nintendo - Another no show for Nintendo for first-party games on Wii (Wario Land Shake and Mario Super Sluggers). The only Nintendo presence is pretty much the Pokemon booth of DS games, trading card games, and others (The giant Pikachu too).
  • Resident Evil 5 - It would be cool if it was there playable (The E3 08 trailer is shown). Degeneration trailer was also shown.
The non-gaming booths that looked cool
  • Star Trek booth (Hyping the new movie)
  • Star Wars booth with Stormtroopers, Clone Troppers, etc.
  • Lego Booth with Lego Batman / Robin, and others.
  • WB Booth (I wanted those big bags they give out every year)
  • Watchmen
  • Marvel
Cosplay I noticed: (Not much for a Sunday crowd)
  • Joker seems to be the trend for this year's Comic-Con thanks to The Dark Knight movie (A mix of old and new Joker cosplayers there).
  • Some dude was holding a giant stuffed Kirby in the air.
  • A Myspace cardboard (Dumb!!!)
  • The Red SPD Ranger
  • Pikachu
  • Ryu and Ken at the SFIV area
  • Various anime characters
That's it for Comic-Con 2008.... We'll do this again next year if I'm there again.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Old-School World War II Gaming Reborn.... The 1942: Joint Strike Review


Capcom's remake renaissance continues in this generation of consoles with 1942: Joint Strike, a new game based from the 80s 194x series of World War II shumps. For ten dollars, or 800 Microsoft Points, you're getting a HD facelift, five levels, and pure old-school gaming in terms of no saving and memorization of enemy fire patterns. This new entry does have that same 1942 feel you expect and that's good enough for fans to enjoy it. If you're not in it for the nostalgia, getting high scores, or achievements, you're not going to get much of Joint Strike for more than a day. This is just another example of a good XBLA game that can be played in short bursts when you're tired of other games and not meant for a long stretch like other XBLA games.

Like the title, Joint Strike, this new 1942 plays differently with two players than doing it solo. Three planes are selectable when you start up a run that differ by stats of health, missiles, and speed which allows for different styles of gameplay. The three pick-up weapons also cater to different styles with spread fire, machine-gun fire, and lasers, which is neat too. As a shump, it can be challenging even at the normal difficulty as several enemy shots can take you out pending on which plane you used. The difficulty scale depends on the number of lives you start wish and how aggressive the bosses will be. Speaking of bosses, there isn't much variety to the bosses and the enemy set, which is kind of expected for a game like this, but be prepared for some repetition of enemy ships or fighting the same boss twice with a different twist the second time. Also similar to an old-school shump, once you run out of lives, its game over and you have to start over from the beginning which is not bad being five stages, but the frustration will kick in once you're close towards beating it. I also like the multiplier system for Joint Strike in which the closer you kill enemy ships, the more multiplier of points you get. Along with missiles (single-player only) and bombs if you're in a tight situation, the Joint Strikes are the main reason this game is meant to be played on co-op with another player locally or online with different attacks like a joint shot or a chain of lightning which allows more ways of taking out the opposition. Speaking of online, it runs smoothly from what I played with minimal lag, but it doesn't mean you might run into some disconnects at random times.


As for the graphics, 1942: Joint Strike looks good for a shump in this generation of consoles. The bloom and World War II-like filtering may be distracting for some players. Other than that, the game runs smoothly with rare cases of slowdown. Presentation-wise, Capcom and Backbone nailed the World War II theme with the look of the planes, the sounds and music, as well as the environments of the skies, a seaport, forests, and a city in ruins. Other than that, Joint Strike looks great keeping the 1942 spirit along with the HD facelift.

As another HD remake for Capcom, 1942: Joint Strike delivers on that front of retaining what was great in the old 194x games gameplay-wise along with the improved graphics. While it is a short game and can be beaten in less than a hour, the challenge is there along with the replay value of beating it with the three different planes and the four difficulties (Wing King being the hardest). Other than leaderboards and achievements ranging from getting lots of medals (that are picked up during the action like the old games), to getting a high score for completing the game, Joint Strike won't be your XBLA rotation for too long after getting all of them. The online co-op is great as the recommended way to play with the Joint Strike special abilities even though single-player can be a blast alone. Of course there are better shumps in Xbox Live Arcade, but this new 1942 is worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre and the franchise in the 80s.

Score = 7/10

Pros:
  • Has the 1942 feel nailed down
  • Co-op is the recommended way to play this game with the ability to do Joint Strikes
  • Has enough replay value with different planes and difficulties
  • Great in short bursts
Cons:
  • Short game (can be beaten in less than a hour)
  • The bloom effects and WWII filtering might be distracting for some players
  • Repetitive boss battles and enemy sets

Friday, July 25, 2008

New Street Fighter IV Anime Trailer at Comic-Con



During the Street Fighter IV panel, Capcom folks revealed a new anime trailer showcasing Chun-Li, Guile, and Cammy (pretty much confirmed for the console versions) and how fighters are disappearing for some reason with these characters trying to figure out what's the deal for their own purposes (Guile still thinks Charlie is still alive).

Hopefully I'll be playing this Sunday at Comic-Con if the lines won't be that long.

Also, IGN is running a story about the President of Marvel saying a new Marvel vs. Capcom game could happen someday in the future and sooner than we think. (What???)


Off-topic, but Capcom related: Been listening to the Bionic Commando Rearmed soundtrack and its good stuff. Also, expect a 1942: Joint Strike review tonight or tomorrow.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

ABDC Season 2 Episode 6 Recap



Oh man, this is probably the most shocking ABDC so far and perhaps we seen our final already with the bottom 2 crews this week....



Fanny Pak went first and it was a solid performance, but it could have been better. Their creativity and humor is still amazing (look at those Mario and JC pics).



So Real Cru gave another great performance this week and MTV just has to make a big deal of the storyline with Aliyn's parents not approving her dancing career. They'll be around for another week.



Boogie Bots were next and their performance was okay, but also the weakest number of the night. Seriously, who is voting for these guys - (Maybe all those Asian women who think they're hot). Obviously their storyline is the main reason they're still around for another week.

RANT Mode has commenced!!!!



Okay, this week's bottom 2 is my season finale already with SuperCrew and Supreme Soul. This is just nuts seeing these two in the bottom already. SuperCrew went first and their performance this week is why they are still my #1 pick to win the whole thing. The creativity and stuntwork is amazing with the basketball theme going. I thought they would be saved this week after last week's Black Cat performance - Clearly America has voted wrong yet again or MTV is deciding to keep whoever to keep their ratings high.



Supreme Soul perhaps had their best performance of the show with their hockey themed number. It just sucks they had to be eliminated (Blame MTV Politics!!!!!). Seriously, I feel like busting a tear or two like them because they didn't deserve to be out now. The judges are obviously correct with the voting this week that both SS and SC didn't deserve to be in the bottom 2 and this would be the finale. I happen to also agree with Lil Mama for calling out the Boogie Bots like that (it was probably her anger doing the talking because of SS and SC in the bottom 2).



Of course at this stage of the competition, it is going to be hard to see a great crew be eliminated like that, but it wasn't SS's time to go. Obviously, Boogie Bots should be out already, but the voting and I guess MTV has kept them in. The storylines have also casued this to happen since BB's story is supposed to be touching (It is indeed), but this should be their time to go. Hopefully the voting will agree next week.

You can tell Supreme Soul is pissed for leaving this week because MTV politics had to step in and do its work. Plus, having 3 West Coast teams in the final 4 doesn't make sense for them to attract the nationwide audience, but hello!!! The 3 West Coast teams were the best crews anyway this season. With this week's elimination, my rankings are...

  1. SuperCrew
  2. So Real Cru
  3. Fanny Pak
  4. Boogie Bots

As mentioned, it makes sense for MTV to keep crews from different regions in the game as long as possible (2 West, 1 South, and 1 East), but this isn't the right way to do this now that SS is eliminated.

At least next week's challenge will be good with Missy Elliott around to guest judge (maybe??) and crews doing her songs.

Again - Why America????

The New Trailer for Punisher: War Zone



Comic-Con 2008 is off and running with so many surprising announcements from various panels of movies, games, comics, and TV. The Tron movie sequel announcement is perhaps the most surprising so far. There was also a Street Fighter IV Panel today with Capcom folks revealing a new anime trailer featuring Guile, Cammy (now likely in the console versions of SF4 with Dan and Fei Long), and Chun Li along with showing other trailers like the Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Gouken anime clip and the focus attack/ultra trailer that is now out on XBL Marketplace and PSN.

The trailer above is for the new Punisher movie, called War Zone, and it is definitely Punisher so far.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Xbox Live Arcade Explosion Next Week!!



Microsoft promised another great summer for XBLA games and they're delivering on that front already this week with 1942: Joint Strike (review will be up during the weekend), N+ DLC (messed with that a bit - its easier as adveristied), Go Go Break Steady (whatever that's called and I didn't buy it), and the Puzzle Quest DLC (just finished that up and its more Puzzle Quest which got me hooked for the day).

Next week is going to be even better with Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 already confirmed for a Wednesday release on XBLA. The other big game is possibly also the long awaited Bionic Commando Rearmed too, even though not yet confirmed for now. The last time I went crazy for a double whooper of XBLA games was when Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Streets of Rage 2 out on the same day, these two would top that.

With those two and Soul Calibur IV, I'm set for a while...

I'm going back to Paradise City (aka Burnout Paradise) tomorrow to check out the new update for a bit and skipping the new Guitar Hero III DLC. In addition, Ninja Gaiden II's Mission Mode DLC will be out on Friday.

Plus, I'm officially going to Comic-Con on Sunday = Yay!!! - At least it won't be as crowded hopefully.

UPDATE - So no Bionic Commando Rearmed next week and the Burnout update was delayed again (WTH??) Geo Wars 2 is good enough anyway for a single release.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Some Darth Vader footage in SC IV

Since Soul Calibur IV is out next week and some lucky people already got it, might as well show it off... (This part will feature the Star Wars stuff).



First up is Darth Vader action at the Death Star game (with Imperial March music!!!). Rumors and speculation are running around with a missing character slot where the Star Wars characters are at. One likely scenario is the obvious DLC for which ever exclusive character the 360 and PS3 versions didn't get (Vader on 360 and Yoda on PS3 by DLC). Another rumor is pretty random with R2-D2 playable in the game, but that is confirmed to be fake.

UPDATE - Looks like the exclusive character idea won't be exclusive after all.



This is likely DLC and probably pricey too since Namco likes microtransactions (yeah I fell for Ridge Racer 6 stuff and I will fall for SC4 stuff too).

Monday, July 21, 2008

Unstoppable.... The Unreal Tournament III (360) Review


Unreal Tournament III has been around for a while on other platforms (PC and PS3), but it finally makes its appearance on the Xbox 360 with some new content along with the same fast and intense FPS action that the series has provided. As an "old-school" first-person shooter that separates itself from the current crop of shooters that have more depth, UT3 is more of a relief of bringing back the glory days of late 90s shooters (The Doom, Quake, first UT days) into the new generation of consoles. Despite being that simple of a shooter, it remains to be seen whether or not this type of shooter is relevant now with Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 continuing to dominate the online world on 360. With the chaotic and simple gameplay along with great graphics and sound, Unreal Tournament III is a solid shooter to check out on 360 whether or not you are late to the party or not.

Epic wanted to improve the single-player component for UT3, but they still came away short with a campaign that still consists of bot matches, but with cutscenes that tell the storyline. In the campaign, you play as Reaper, another space marine on a quest of revenge against the Necris, an alien-like race that has wrecked havoc on the Earth. Other than that, the story is pretty bare-bones and it is just an excuse to get used to the game's modes and mechanics before hopping on to multiplayer. There is also instant action modes for more practice against bot-like opponents that can be customized to be way easy or difficult (godlike in Unreal terms). For an easier time compared to the PC version, the game does allow a little auto-aim, but it is still up to the player to be efficient using typical FPS-like controls. The vehicles also have simple control following console FPS traditions, but some of them are truly worth the drive especially the Necris vehicles. If you bought this just for the single-player without a Live connection, don't expect to be amazed even though the campaign on Intense will provide a good challenge. In addition, the lack of mod support that the PS3 and PC versions also hurts the replay value for this 360 version a bit.


The multiplayer, on the other hand, is the cream and crop of Unreal Tournament III as with previous games in the series on PC. All of the modes are playable from the staples Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Duel. Warfare is the new addition to UT3 which involves lots of nodes to link to attack a team's core. This mode offers lots of teamwork in order to do well especially when to be aggressive in attacking the opposing core or defend other nodes to keep the opponent defending. Exculsive to the 360 version is splitscreen and co-op play that can be played locally and online with other players. Even guests on the same console can play player matches online along with someone, which is cool. Online play is the main reason why Unreal Tournament is still around in today's world of gaming as the addicting action of killing sprees and monster kills is still as fun as it was back in the beginning days of the original UT. The signature Unreal weapons of the Flak Cannon, Shock Rifle, and the Rocket Launcher are still amazing to use in blasting enemies and opponents away in close or long range. The online multiplayer runs smoothly with minimal lag and a deep leaderboard system keeps track of victories, kills, awards, flag captures, and orbs returned.

Graphically, Unreal Tournament III looks pretty good on 360 with Epic's own Unreal Engine 3 doing the goods. The environments have tons of variety with over 50 maps in the game from a space facility, Chinese temples, urban-like settings, and more. The characters themselves also look great and similar to Gears of War with all that heavy armor they wear (well Epic made both games). While some will say that this game looks too similar to Gears, pending whether or not you are new to the Unreal games after playing Gears, it still looks better than most shooters in the market today.



As for the sound, Unreal Tournament III also delivers the goods. The music is great and moody pending on which map you are playing on. The weapons still sound as accurate as they were in previous games with the explosions and more. Even the signature announcing is pretty good as a staple of the franchise. It is just satisfying to hear the announcer say Rampage!!! or Flak Master!!! The voice acting, however, is still as cheesy as expected with generic lines coming out of the characters as if they are talking smack.

As a first-person shooter in this era of consoles, Unreal Tournament III is not as deep as other shooters, but it is still a good time especially for a game that goes fast and simple at a consistent 30 frames per second. There is enough content to satisfy anyone for weeks and months with the huge number of maps, different modes, and the intense competition online. While Epic has tried to improve the single-player campaign by giving it more of a meaningful story, it ends up being generic and an excuse for more bot matches. The game also looks great at Unreal Engine 3 even though some texture pop-in may happen at rare instances. It is also a good game to blast up the sound system for the music and the announcers. Even though this game is almost a year old, it is still a great shooter on 360 for fans of the genre and maybe Gears fans if they want to see a lengthy video about Gears 2.

Score = 8/10

Pros:
  • Fast and frantic FPS gameplay.
  • Loads of content along with additional maps, characters, and splitscreen for the 360 version.
  • Great graphics and sound under Unreal Engine 3.
Cons:
  • Pointless story for the single-player as another excuse for more bot matches.
  • Gameplay not as deep as other shooters on 360.
  • Voice acting for the characters can be cheesy at times.
  • No mod support compared to PS3 and PC versions.

The Giant Bomb is Out!!!!



A new gaming website launched today called Giant Bomb, which consists of former GameSpot staff members (Jeff Gerstmann leads the charge). Plus, this ain't your typical gaming website with tons more community input compared to other ones. Along with that, the database is pretty cool other than just games in which there are seperate pages for characters, famous people in the industry, and gaming locales (like a wiki of sorts). Check it out if u can and it is safe to say that I will officialy defect to Giant Bomb as well (already have a blog there too with the same username as here).

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Botchmania 49 to end the day...



More messed up wrestling - Highlighted in this one is Tornoto's crazy crowd at Summerslam 2004, Vince screwing up in an old-school program, why the last years of WCW sucked, and some other recent stuff.

Street Fighter IV (ARC) Blowout Part 3

More Street Fighter IV footage = Yay!!!



Awesome finish at the end of this clip....



Nice El Fuerte in this clip.... (Dhalsim = bottom tier??)



Good Guile / E-Honda match in this one.



I like Sagat's Tiger Knee now....

That's it for the SF4 Blowout.. Maybe some hands-on impressions next weekend, but it doesn't seem likely at this point.

The Dark Knight = Truly a Masterpiece....



(WARNING = Possible spoilers ahead)

The Dark Knight is truly an amazing film from beginning to end. There were so many OMG and Oh **** moments in the movie I was engaged and entertained throughout. Christian Bale once again delivers as Batman / Bruce Wayne despite busting out the raspy voice when in Cape Crusader mode (that could have been better a little bit). Truly, the star of the film is indeed The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. He is such an amazing villain with his personality and mind-games, it is nuts.



This is also not your typical superhero movie of hero meets villain, villain kidnaps love interest, hero defeats villain, and hero saves love interest. The director, Christopher Nolan, has definitely created a masterpiece in his hands from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight with his visceral visions of Gotham City, Batman questioning his hero-like motives, and The Joker being that torturous. It is truly a case of heroes actually being tested and willing to accept that you can't save everyone from danger, but still provide a safe environment for the civilians. Even though there are crazy action scenes, this film might be too much for kids even though it is the Batman I'm talking about due to the dark nature that Nolan is trying to tell. The movie was beautifully paced at two and a half hours with so many memorable scenes. Even Two-Face wasn't that bad for the time he was in.

This is arguably the best movie I have seen in a while and also the best movie ever involving a famous superhero (Out of the Marvel and DC heroes). Ledger should deserve an Oscar nomination for his crazy performance as The Joker. It already broke so many box office records, which is also crazy (155 million in the opening weekend). In NeoGAF terms, it might be the movie of the forever because it is that damn good. I don't know if Nolan can even top this one if they plan for another Batman movie (assuming what happened at the end), but maybe they should stop it here. Out of all the summer movies this year, The Dark Knight is easily the best one of them all.

I should download the amazing soundtrack too....

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Street Fighter IV Blowout Part 2

Oh hey, another Street Fighter IV post - more videos from Japan and the "secret" Capcom event at Downtown Los Angeles (I should of went there....)



Here's a good C. Viper player in this clip.



Capcom's own Seth Killian demonstrates high-tier Rufus and how he is really one of the best characters of the game (other than his looks). Watch out for the MvC2 Magneto reference when Rufus does his dive kicks.



More high-tier Rufus action at Japan...



High-tier Zangief goes on a SPD (Spinning Pile Driver) rampage against this Ryu player who keeps getting caught.

More later...

Friday, July 18, 2008

Sleeper Hit of E3 2008 = Fat Princess!!!!



In many gamers' minds at E3, the sleeper hit or perhaps some peeps' game of show is the PSN game Fat Princess. The name may be silly which makes up for being totally amazing in concept. This video above kind of tells why it will be awesome.

Street Fighter IV (ARC at Japan) Blowout Part 1

Some more Street Fighter IV matches from the first days of official release at Japan (Gosh... I love this game!!). Also to note: Capcom has confirmed Dan and Fei-Long for the console versions = Yay??



Rufus already high-tier?? There are stories of 25-win and 50-win streaks over at the Shoryuken forums and they seem true.







More throughout the weekend...

ABDC Season 2 Episode 5 Recap



ABDC got all steamy this week with the Janet Jackson themed performances. Add along a shocking elimination and we got ourselves a competition.



The episode started off with all crews performing together a "Rhythm Nation" like routine, which was pretty dope. It was definitely a great way to start the show.



Fanny Pak started the steaminess off with their performance of "All Nite, Don't Stop." As JC or Shane said, it definitely felt like an orgy of sorts when two girls kissed each other, which was nuts. They were continuing off their momentum from that awesome performance last week and this week was pretty good. I expect them to be safe next week.



Supreme Soul were next and it was another disappointing performance for them doing "Nasty." Like JC and Shane, it definitely had some good moments, but it was never consistently good throughout. Shane and Lil Mama were almost going to a shouting fight again with their disagreements. I expect to be bottom 2 again next week.



Boogie Bots, riding off their disappointing performance last week, were saved by the votes this week (lucky them) and sort of redeem themselves with their Janet performance. Even though it wasn't memorable, they did ok as I expect them to be bottom 2 next week with Supreme Soul.



Oh man at So Real Cru's performance of "I Get Lonely" (video above). It was definitely the performance of the night as the ladies stepped it up to go all out living up to Janet (accurate with the outfits). Clearly, the girls got all the attention with the MTV cameras as expected with a performance like this (the guys at the background basically). If So Real had their OMG moment of the show, this is the one so far. Also, lol at the So Real heads at the crowd.



SuperCrew and A.S.I.I.D. were in the bottom 2 this week, which was pretty shocking, but my prediction came true with one of the crews that did well last week getting screwed by the votes. As for SuperCrew, they did "Black Cat" and it was a return to form for the b-boys from the "lay low" performance last week. The judges were impressed of the guys nailing Janet-like choreography along with their usual sick moves.



Even though A.S.I.I.D. were eliminated this week, their performance of "If" was their getting out with a bang moment. It was a good performance, but I didn't expect them to be out this week since I thought they would stick around for another week or two.

With that, here's my rankings heading towards next week's challenge (whatever that is).

  1. So Real Cru
  2. Fanny Pak
  3. SuperCrew
  4. Boogie Bots
  5. Supreme Soul

Looks like all of the East Coast is voting for Boogie Bots now as all of the West Coast teams are still in as expected with split up votes.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Street Fighter IV is OUT at Japan!!

Well at Japanese arcades.... Street Fighter IV is finally out as Japanese peeps mad dash to the many arcades that are left at Japan to play the hell out of it. Expect lots of footage of this final version throughout the weekend as I try to post as much as I can find. Here's some matches below from Japan and E3. If things go to plan, I might play this a lot at Comic-Con next weekend (maybe to a point I'm just going to play that all day plus there's tournaments too). The Capcom booth is going to be my favorite booth again this year especially with Bionic Commando / Re-Armed, SSFIIT HD Remix, and Mega Man 9 playable (No RE5 Playable - that's ok).





Watchmen Trailer...


The first trailer for Watchmen is out and it is going to be really good. Check it out here as it comes out next year (The folks that brought u 300 are doing this). Expect this to be shown also before watching The Dark Knight (maybe watching tomorrow) as well as Terminator: Salvation.

Clips of E3 2008 (Day 3)

Last day of E3 = Not much footage to put up I guess of my interest since they were all up previously....



I'll start with another clip of Guitar Hero: World Tour with Hot Teacher being played at the Activision conference two days ago. Crazy solo to start the song especially with the dude doing it all by those touch frets. It is probably a little too hardcore of the casual audience to soak up in their minds.



Rock Band 2, on the other hand, a different story. Here's "Chop Suey" being played and as expected, it is kind of hard at first on guitar and bass. Good thing they were playing "No Fail" Mode because they would fail right away. Harmonix also confirmed Hyperspeed too for the next game. A clip of "Give It Away" is below.





Quantum of Solace is looking good for now (some missing sounds in this E3 demo). The FPS and cover elements seem to work well too. Part 2 is above and Part 1 is below this text.





BioWare's new game, Dragon Age: Origins, is coming along according to this gameplay montage. Watching interviews with Dr. Greg, they definitely want to return to the Baldur's Gate days and also have a solid single player experience that BioWare always delivers on (no multiplayer planned).

More later maybe...

Botchmania 48 = More People Messing Up!!



Highlighted in this new Botchmania video is more announcing screwups (lots of them by Jim Ross), Goldberg doesn't like cars, and Cena's mic getting shut down.

Music Roundup for 7/17/08

I haven't done this in a while. Been out of the music loop - Blame E3.



N.E.R.D.'s video for "Spaz" is finally out and it is a simple performance-like video.



Fansworth Bentley has his own single called "Everybody" featuring Kanye West and Andre 3000. Pretty chill song...

Maybe more later (I need to download the Rock Band 2 soundtrack soon - Maybe a post about that again later).

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

E3 2008 Trailers Day 3



MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift is looking really good so far. Looks like the variety of tracks will improve with jungles, more deserts / mountains / canyons, and other environments. Definitely one of the better racing games coming out this fall.



More Resistance 2 footage as this is the demo from the Sony conference of Nathan Hale shooting that huge monster as it slams him around. Pretty intense stuff...



Street Fighter IV is still my #1 most anticipated game and another video shows the focus attacks in action. I'm not a fan of some of the English voices (specifically Ryu and Ken), but everyone else seems fine. Hopefully playing this next week at Comic-Con if I'm actually going.



Rock Band 2 is also there at E3 and here's Ace of Spades being played.



Castlevania Judgment for the Wii is a weird game. First of all, it is the first Castlevania fighting game and it looks pretty ugly. I don't even know if the infamous characters look the same they were in their incarnations. A for effort for Konami to go outside the box for a Castlevania game on Wii, but it is something that fans probably don't need.





Killzone 2 is already looking good, but who knows if the gameplay can live up to the hype. So far, it seems that way and hopefully it will be consistently good by its February 2009 release.

Looks like Nintendo finally announced Pikmin 3 - Good for the Nintendo fanboys even though I'm not a fan of the series.



Gameplay footage of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is interesting stuff especially for a Spidey game. The combat feels improved and more stylish with more flashy moves. The red/black suit change at the fly is an interesting idea too, so hopefully it will be executed well by the time of its fall release.



Dark Void continues to impress as another original IP by Capcom. Since they're on a roll this generation with their retail releases, I hope Dark Void continues that roll.





Oh hey, another Resident Evil 5 Trailer!! Then again, it is the same trailer with some alternate scenes revealing some new unknown characters that Chris and Sheva will eventually clash with. Still one of most anticipated games till its release on March 13, 2009.



Finally some gameplay footage of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, a game I would still buy for the hell of it (I sort of did with MKA, but didn't like it too much). It is actually pretty good so far as Ed Boon talks about bringing back the gameplay to 2D MK games with the 3D graphics adding in the environmental moves, close kombat, freefall kombat, and the fatalities / brutalities (Scorpion's and Superman's are shown there). Definitely can surprise some people who think the whole concept is stupid and I might play it at Comic-Con next weekend.

More later...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

E3 2008 Trailers Day 2

E3 continues running wild...




We'll start with the teaser for God of War III for PS3 and another reason I should buy this system (now the 80 GB PS3 will be 400 bucks soon which is affordable now!!). I loved the first two games and this conclusion will indeed deliver the goods.




The big surprise at the end of Sony's conference is the new Zipper game which is not SOCOM. Instead it is called MAG, Massive Action Game, a MMOS with up to 256 players at once playing together.



Wii Music was the conclusion of the Nintendo conference (currently watching on G4 by my Tivo) and I fell for Wii Fit and I'm not falling for this one - rather play Rock Band 2. The casuals will eat it up like crazy like they did with Wii Fit. Here's the demo with Miyamoto below (Prepare for emabrassment).





The big Ubisoft game at E3 is arguably I Am Alive which sort of has Assassin Creed-like buzz (blame Jade Raymond). The video itself is cool as it shows Chicago jacked up after an earthquake as the protagonist, Adam, tries to survive what's left of it. Supposedly, it is a first person game like Mirror's Edge, so hopefully it won't be as disappointing as Assassins Creed to some people.



Sony Online and DC are joining forces for DC Universe Online, which is a MMORPG for the PS3. Basically, it is City of Heroes with DC characters for now.



Wii Sports Resort was announced at the Nintendo Conference today and it will bundle with the new Motiom Plus add-on (I'm getting the N64 Expansion Pak vibe with this one). I'm buying this one because it is Wii Sports and who knows if people will buy this like crazy since the first was free with the Wii console.



Little Big Planet continues to impress on the PS3 as we continue to wait a long time. Finally it is coming out this fall and will be something special.


More as the night progresses.

Guitar Hero: World Tour is still coming while I'm more hyped for Rock Band 2 and it does look like Rock Band now with all those charts in one screen - Blowout of videos below. I'm a fan of the new guitar's touch solo frets for easier solos hopefully. Also kind of weird that Rock Band instruments will work in World Tour like the drums considering the GH drum kit is way better I think.





The new Wolfenstein game is finally announced and here's the teaser for it (Got my Game Informer mag with this on the cover today too).



The Afro Samurai game looks stylish being cel-shaded and all even though I didn't watch the anime that much when it was on Spike TV. Definitely curious on how will this will turn out.



Another Infamous trailer showed up during the Sony conference with more story and gameplay in it. Still one of the PS3 exclusives worth getting.



Sonic Unleashed is maybe the Sonic game that breaks the curse of crap with the speedy Sonic sections. The Were-hog sections, however, are a completely different story and I'm not feeling that aspect. Make the game 100% speedy Sonic and I might buy it.



MadWorld is perhaps the only Wii game I'm looking forward to now with Nintendo's lackluster first-party Wii announcements (No WiiWare, Animal Crossing: City Folk - not a fan of AC). This is definitely the second coming for Clover, now Platinum Games, and the amount of awesomeness is amazing so far.