Mega Man 9 review status (pending)

The Mega Man 9 trifecta ends tomorrow as the XBLA version will be released then (still pending whether or not I would buy this version since I already have the WiiWare version). Then again, playing Mega Man 9 on my Wii does give me a reason to turn on that thing rather than letting it continue to collect dust as many people are waiting for the Wii's saving grace (possibly announced on Thursday at some Nintendo event) to happen. I guess the better support of leaderboards and achievements for the XBLA version is my reason for giving it a shot, but I generally prefer the controls of the Wii version playing it with the Wiimote sideways (NES style). I can at least get four of the twelve achievements on the XBLA version.

As for the Wii version and whether or not a review will happen, I'm at the Wily gauntlet (the four Wily stages that culminates in a final boss battle against the doctor himself) in which I'll try to beat it this weekend.

An example of crap on the Saturn

Want to see one of the worst games ever made, check out this new Broken Pixels episode. Pretty hilarious stuff - check out previous episodes for more hilarity from Shane, Crispin, and Seanbaby.

To Get Ready for Entourage tomorrow...

If you want to get hyped up for a new episode of Entourage tomorrow night, relive last Sunday's moments with Ari and Adam (truly awesome stuff).

Gouken footage in Street Fighter IV

As Capcom promised, Gouken is out at Japan as a secret boss in Street Fighter IV (Probably a week or two before he is playable unless he is now everywhere else). In order to fight him, certain number of perfects and not losing a round is required to do so. At least he doesn't play like a shoto at first even though he did teach Ryu and Ken those moves. He has no special Shoryuken (His Ultra is the Shin Shoryuken seen in this clip). His order specials are a Hurricane Kick that is similar to Ryu's in SF2 Hyper Fighting, another Hurricane Kick that does do vertical (semi-similar to Ken's MVC2 Hurricane Kick), Haduokens that can go horizontally or diagonally, and a dash-like punch. His focus attack is Ryu's Blade Kick from SF3: 3rd Strike. No word on whether or not Gouken will be gimped when playable like Akuma with his low stamina, but so far Gouken is finally in a Street Fighter game and that alone is cool.

Also, here's the latest anime trailer that was shown at the San Diego Comic-Con now in direct feed that focuses on Chun-Li, Guile, and Cammy (in the console versions). Check elsewhere for the English version if you don't know what they're saying.

Rock Band 2 gets red hot again on Tuesday

Tuesday will be the third album in three weeks up on Rock Band 2 (and the first one if you're still playing that) which is Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers for 20 bucks. I'm excited for this release because of certain songs like "Under the Bridge" (video above) . This is also the second album in a row I will buy in full (Rush's Moving Pictures definitely lived up to the hype as a great RB album). With this and Megadeth's Peace Sells (I didn't get this one) out already, who knows when the other four albums Harmonix promised like the Foo Fighters and No Doubt will be out.

Hail to the King... The Duke Nukem 3D XBLA Review

When Duke Nukem 3D first arrived on PC, it was truly something else despite being another first person shooter in 1996 that Doom started. While it played like shooters at the time like Doom and Quake, the questionable content raised some eyebrows among the gaming industry. Twelve years later, Duke makes his return appearance on Xbox Live Arcade maintaining what was great in the PC version and added more features to be more of a complete package. While Duke Nukem Forever may never come out or disappoint, playing the one that made him famous still feels great today. As a nostalgic festival of what first person shooters were before Halo or Half-Life, Duke Nukem 3D is worth a playthrough for fans and even newcomers who want to know why this game made a stir of controversy in the gaming world in the mid 90s.

As a mid-90s FPS, Duke is all about killing alien scums and being a true American with his signature quotes of "Come Get Some" or "Hail to the King Baby." The story is as simple as it gets with Earth being dismantled and it is to Duke to get rid of the aliens who wrecked havoc and save the planet. The gameplay follows the same formula that Doom started of shoot bad guys, don't die, find some keys and sometimes get lost, and shoot more bad guys for a few hours. That formula surprisingly still holds up today and being old-school means you not as babied through a shooter as you are today. All the fundamental weapons are there such as the shotgun, chaingun (Ripper), and the rocket launcher along with obscure ones that generate laughs at times with the Shrinker and the Freezer. At default settings, there is some sort of auto-aim in the game even though aiming in general with it on can be a pain of times. In addition, expect yourself to die a lot if you run to tight situations, but a new rewind system allows players to return from the moment they died or even the beginning of the level if things didn't go well (along with the save at any time system). Another potential issue with some players is motion sickness if playing for a long time especially having run mode turned on, which makes things go faster than it could be. As a single player game that came out twelve years ago, it still feels like mindless shooting, but it feels great despite some minor flaws.


Other than the single player campaign, there is multiplayer in the XBLA version of online deathmatches either one-on-one or free for all where a maximum of eight players go crazy in any of the levels in the campaign. It is a little unfortunate that deathmatch only levels don't exist and having eight players trying to kill each other while everyone in run mode feels too chaotic that lots of luck rather than skill is required to win games. Sometimes, you just have to fire at will and hope you kill someone in the process, but at least online games performed well with minimal lag. The other major multiplayer feature is co-op with also up to eight players tackling the campaign together even though the first one who ends the level also ends the level for everyone else. Despite that issue, it is still cool co-op play is still in in some way. New to the XBLA version also is a Halo 3-like saved clips system of keeping recent games of both campaign and multiplayer. This system is also neat to see blazing speedruns of the game's levels happen in mere minutes.

As a port of Atomic Edition with one more episode compared to the original PC release, Duke Nukem 3D seems fine running at a constant 60 frames per second with little to no instances of slowdown. Sure, the game looks ugly now compared to what is seen today, but if you have a nostalgic love for the enemy sets and Duke himself, you don't need to worry. There is no widescreen support in this XBLA version as the game screen is in 4:3, but at least the border surrounding the game screen looks like a cool wallpaper you would use on your PC. The sound quality remains the same from the PC version with Duke maintaining his signature personality and generic music throughout the campaign.


For 800 Microsoft Points (ten dollars), the XBLA port of Duke Nukem 3D offers a lot of value with a lengthy campaign the first time though, but can be beaten in a hour or two if you memorized the game to death. Along with online co-op and multiplayer deathmatches that are too chaotic requiring some luck to be successful, there is still some replay value after beating the game in addition to the saved clips system. The port quality seems fine as well keeping it faithful to the 1996 release with all the graphics and sounds in tact. The normal XBLA requirements of leaderboards and achievements ranging from game progression and racking up kills in ranked deathmatches are in too. If you're itching to relive the days of first person shooters when they were controversial and before they were too mainstream, I recommend checking out Duke Nukem 3D on Xbox Live Arcade.

Score = 8/10

Pros:

• Accurate port of Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition
• Gameplay feels nostalgic, yet it still holds up to today's FPS.
• Great additions of 8-player co-op and a Halo 3-like saved films system.

Cons:

• Motion sickness may be a problem for some if the game goes too fast.
• Multiplayer deathmatches can be too chaotic at times with more luck than skill.
• Aiming issues can be a pain with auto aim on.
• No widescreen support, but the neat border makes up for it slightly.
  

Banjo Kazooie XBLA Footage...

With Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts out on November 14 on 360, Microsoft and Rare also planned XBLA versions of their first two adventures on Xbox Live Arcade. The first game (shown above off-screen) is planned for release on November 26 for 1200 Microsoft Points (15 bucks), but it is also if you pre-ordered Nuts & Bolts (that game is 40 bucks and a good deal getting two jam-packed games). If you didn't pre-order, I think 15 bucks seems fine for now considering how long it takes to beat the game and also 100% it since I did it back on the N64 version (still a great game today). The original's sequel, Banjo-Tooie, is planned for release sometime early next year for the same price and I am checking this one out since I never played it when I had my Nintendo 64.

Anyway with the footage above, it seems pretty good so far being a port of the original game. While making everything in HD (Nuts & Bolts engine) would have been cooler, the quality seems great so far. Rare integrated the requirements for a XBLA game in great fashion as well with leaderboards and achievements. No border in the way also feels good and looks like the graphics have been tightened up to be considered "enhanced" graphics. I'm actually still hyped up for Nuts & Bolts and hopefully it lives to Rare's late 90s greatness even though it is out a week after the juggernaut that is Gears of War 2. Doesn't matter, I'm buying both anyway.

Street Fighter IV's Box Art...

Capcom revealed the final box art for the console versions of Street Fighter IV and it looks okay. Chun-Li being front and center is fine even though she is low tier in the game compared to her 3rd Strike days along with the upcoming movie starring Kristen Kreuk out around the same time as this game (the current date is February 2009). It would be cool if there are multiple covers with each character getting the spotlight in the center like C. Wiper, Abel, Guile, and others. Expect both PS3 and 360 versions to make a big splash at next month's Tokyo Game Show revealing new details about the console exclusive characters (also Gouken now confirmed to be playable this week) and more.

Meanwhile - More Dhalsim ownage in this match clip...

Remembering the 90s Mega Man cartoon

Since I bought Mega Man 9 today on WiiWare (yes, it is hard), Youtube user, TheSwitcher, made a compilation of moments from the 90s Mega Man cartoon just like his videos of the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat cartoons. I actually did watch this back in the day too as a kid and it was enjoyable, but now you can tell how hilariously bad it can be at times.

Let There Be Rock!!!! The Rock Band 2 Review

Note: I don't have the new instruments as I am only reviewing the game, so check elsewhere for thoughts of the new Stratocaster and Drum Kit.

Last year's Rock Band took the rhythm game to a whole new level. Harmonix, the originators of Guitar Hero and Frequency, managed to top themselves of making a full band experience that satisfies both hardcore and casual players with a balanced soundtrack based on difficulty while keeping it a challenge for genre veterans. Rock Band also had long legs with weekly downloadable content of varying quality, but still was a reason to keep playing for new songs. Now Harmonix is already on Rock Band 2, which is arguably how a sequel to a rhythm game should be made fixing nearly everything the first game was flawed on along with unleashing an awesome soundtrack that spreads throughout decades of music. The full band experience gets better with more recognizable songs that were hot during their day and also a challenge for returning players to tackle more difficult songs that the first one did not have a lot of.

Rock Band 1's career mode is gone in Rock Band 2 as Band World Tour can also be played solo, which is great and not as frustrating as last time trying to get people to play along with you. In addition, fans asked for Band World Tour to be online and got their wish for the sequel as you can hop online to progress through the long journey. The structure for the mode remains the same from the first game of traveling across the world playing in different venues unlocking songs, in which you have to pass them once to be playable in quickplay, and gaining money and fans. Of course, the harder the difficulty, the more money and fans the player would gain. Another improvement in this mode is the player can play any instrument instead of a specific one, so your guitarist or bassist can be a drummer if a drum kit is connected and even a vocalist if the mic is hooked up. Speaking of different players, the customization is still the same from last time with more outfits and instruments even though you can't transfer a character from the first Rock Band to Rock Band 2, but it is easy to recreate them anyway since all the customizable items from RB1 return. Mystery setlists can as varied as ever if you have a lot of DLC that works from the first game along with the songs from the first disc that can be exported for five bucks. Playing Band World Tour alone is still enjoyable and satisfying once it is beaten, but it is still more satisfying with more players.



Rock Band 2 has the same difficulty progression of songs as the first game as in being easy for the first two or three tiers and then difficult, but passable in the final tier of songs specifically playing on Expert with any instrument. The challenge is definitely beefed up for the sequel with harder songs such as "Painkiller" by Judas Priest and "Battery" by Metallica. The note charting this time around is fine as well introducing hammer chords, but that experience can be altered by turning on breakneck speed (Rock Band's version of hyperspeed) or even turning on no fail mode. Speaking of no fail mode, it is great especially for parties where people just want to go crazy and not worry about failing a song halfway in especially some of the longer songs. Of course, no fail mode does not factor in to Band World Tour and turns off leaderboards and achievements.

Fundamentally, the game still plays the same as the original with hitting notes, the five star scale (or gold stars if playing on Expert), and the overdrive system for both solo and full band play. Bass grooves, drum fills, and saving a failing person are still in and work the same way. There are improved training modes in Rock Band 2 especially for drummers learning patterns and doing better sounding fills. I mentioned earlier that I don't have the new instruments, but the older instruments that worked in Rock Band 1 still works for the sequel if you prefer playing guitar or bass with the Xpiorer or the Les Paul from Guitar Hero III. Sure, you will miss certain features when playing with the Guitar Hero guitars like solo fret buttons and altering effects when in overdrive, but the experience is still the same despite the Xpiorer having delayed Overdrive and my Les Paul is starting to lose it.



There also other modes in Rock Band 2 worth playing through other than Band World Tour. One of the new modes are specific challenges of playing varied setlists based on difficulty and other setlists based on downloadable content packs like a Weezer specific one or Oasis. Battle of the Bands is also a neat new mode of more challenges such as longest drum streak, longest bass groove, or playing the latest downloadable content pack in a row like the recently released Megadeth album Peace Sells. Online leaderboards also cater in to the songs, battle of the bands, and world tour scores. Other than cooperative multiplayer with a full band, the head-to-head modes Score Duel and Tug of War return, but they're still a distraction from what else is offered in the game.

Graphically at its core, Rock Band 2 definitely looks like the original, but it is significantly improved in nearly every aspect. It is easier to spot hammer-ons and pull-offs as they appeared a little smaller than last time. The new visual effects truly make it perhaps the best looking rhythm game around with the music video venues and other colorful effects even though it may hurt the eyes a bit if playing for more than two or three hours along with your fingers as well if playing on guitar or bass. The characters themselves also look fundamentally look the same from last time even though it could be weird at times specifically during setlists of a guy signing a female song and vice versa. Even though it may seem like a marginal improvement at first, Harmonix definitely stepped it up in a significant way.



The soundtrack has also drastically improved from the last time with an amazing count of 84 songs that spread throughout decades of music and hundreds of more songs by downloadable content out now or soon on the Rock Band Music Store. Also the genres of music represent well ranging from "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park, "Everlong" by Foo Fighters, "Livin on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, "Chop Suey" by System of a Down, and many more from the 60s to today. As of now, Rock Band 2's soundtrack is the best one so far on a disc. All 84 songs are master tracks, which shows that the rhythm genre is mainstream at this point compared to playing covers when the Guitar Hero juggernaut first started. Sure, some covers are still playable if they're downloadable songs, but expect from this point on that you're getting the official song and not a cover that can either hit or miss.

Rock Band 2 is definitely worth owning if you loved the first game to death of being the definitive rhythm game and full band experience. It is also worth it for first-time plastic rockers who want to know what the big deal is about these games taking over the industry, but they should wait for the full bundle next month. With an slightly improved Band World Tour, a more challenging journey for veterans, and no fail mode for parties, Harmonix has created near perfection. Expect nothing but good times every time Rock Band 2 is on your system whether alone or with friends, online players, and loud parties.

Score = 9.5/10

Pros:

• Band World Tour way better this time around whether playing alone, locally, or online.
• Improved full band experience with the addition of no fail mode for parties.
• A rewarding challenge for veterans and the option to play on Breakneck Speed.
  
• Amazing soundtrack that consists of many decades of music.
• Slightly improved graphical presentation.

Cons:

• If you're expecting some sense of innovation, you're not finding it here.
• Tastes of music may also determine a purchase or not.
  

On the Fence - Wario Land: Shake It!

Wii owners like me may found some worthwhile stuff to buy next week with Mega Man 9 on Monday (WiiWare), De Blob during the week, and Nintendo's very own Wario Land: Shake It on Tuesday (or Monday if you're lucky). My Wii is continuing to collect dust despite some playtime when cousins /nephews / nieces want to play it (usually Mario Kart Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl), but this new Wario Land may bring me back to Wii before school starts (I return on Friday).

I blogged previously about Shake It! and it seems to be the "definitive" game for the hardcore that fanboys think Nintendo gave up on. It looks and plays like old-school platforming and it is a short one too to beat. In addition, it has great graphics with anime-like cutscenes and Wario having some of the best animations on Wii with this game. Who knows, if I plan to buy it next week (now its this or Duke Nukem 3D XBLA - maybe both), expect a review as well.

Speaking of reviews, my Rock Band 2 review will be up tomorrow.

Old-school Mega Man returns next week...

Mega Man 9 is out next week as fans are going nuts. Capcom confirmed a Monday release on WiiWare, Thursday on PSN (That and WipEout HD out on the same day = Madness!!!), and XBLA the week after on October 1, which is fine as Microsoft gives Duke Nukem 3D XBLA its week of glory before Mega Man's time. Remember, Mega Man 9 is as old-school as it gets from the 8-bit graphics and gameplay, the press kit (pictured above) with that "amazing" box art on a shirt and a NES cart that doesn't work. Also, Mega Man games are usually hard, so this new one won't be a cakewalk either.

Bandages, Bandages, Bandages...

Other than the long awaited Rush album Moving Pictures coming to Rock Band 1 / 2 as DLC on Tuesday, more songs are out that day as well such as Hot Hot Heat's "Bandages." I think I'll buy Bad Religion's "Sorrow," The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary," and Kasabian's "Shoot the Runner" along with the Hot Hot Heat song. I don't know yet about Rush - but I'll probably buy it anyway.

More AM Show 2008 Clips...

This year's Amusement Show is still going on at Japan now...



Here's the latest trailer for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, which is now coming to the Wii at Japan at the end of the year along with the arcade release. The latest additions to the roster are Tatsunoko badsss swordman Karas and Lost Planet's PTX-40A Vital Suit.



King of Fighters XII is another big hitter at the show and this new entry looks amazing (perhaps the best looking fighter now and it is still in an early state). This game is out next year on arcades and consoles (PS3/360). Expect this to give Street Fighter IV some competition for your quarters soon along with Tekken 6 BR.

Burnout Paradise Bikes DLC Hands-On

So the Bikes Pack for Burnout Paradise came out today on both PS3 and 360 for free adding more ways to mess around Paradise City. You start out with 2 bikes and 2 more are unlockable by beating burning and midnight routes with them (those 2 are basically upgraded versions of the default bikes). As for how they handle, they control fine with no boost and less traffic to worry about. Since this is not something like Motorstorm where the rider flies out after a crash, crashing is a simple reset to the game not seeing the rider flying like crazy (I think its not Criterion's style anyway). There is enough content contained in this DLC from more single player events, new road rule times for the bikes themselves, and more freeburn online challenges designed specifically for the bikes that could take a few hours to beat. The burning / midnight routes are pretty easy for the bikes (if u choose the faster Firehawk) as you're given a lot of time to beat them (even the Road Rules as well). I haven't messed around online with the bikes yet, which I'll do that tomorrow along with finishing the game since I'm already 3/4 done with it after four hours.

The other big feature in this Bikes update is the day / night cycle to Paradise City, which works well to the game as gameplay reflects pending on time of day. As for a 24 hour day in the game's timeframe, it takes nearly about a hour for it to pass, but it can be customized for quicker days. The sky itself changes throughout the day from sunny days, some fog, or being cloudy. Graphically, this game looks better with dusk and dawn skies along with nighttime. When darkness comes, traffic is barely in meaning you can cruise around with the bikes as a madman allowing more opportunities to do long wheelies. With traffic not being that much of a distraction, the night visibility itself can be one at times, especially playing while the sun is up.


So far, I'm really enjoying this Bikes update to Burnout Paradise. It is another reason why this game is still awesome today while Criterion continues to release big updates like this for free (The new island DLC should be out this fall). The Paradise Awards adds more replay value to the pack as well being "in-game achievements" (No trophies or achievements were added yet to the console versions). Simply, the bikes themselves are fun enough to drive with even though the single-player events are only burning routes, so no races against AI opponents unless you're online against human competition. If the Cagney update wasn't enough for anyone to go back to Paradise City, this Bikes pack is worth a return trip with hours of content to mess around.

Tekken 6 BR at AM Show...

The 2008 Amusement Show is going on right now at Japan as the big hitters so far are King of Fighters XII and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. This post focuses on T6 BR as the game is playable with new content ranging from characters, stages, and customizations. Hopefully, the balance changes will be right for this version, but here's the trailer and some pics featuring the two new characters Alisa and Lars (for more details check out SDTekken or Tekken Zaibatsu).

My only reason to buy a PS3 this year....

WipEout HD is out next Thursday on PSN and arguably the game I'm most excited for on PS3 other than Tekken 6 at this point. Honestly, I never played a WipEout for a long amount of time, but this game is just amazing on every end. With great graphics, awesome electronica music (with custom soundtrack support), and in your face gameplay, WipEout HD could be racing game of the year being a downloadable title among stiff competition (Burnout Paradise, GRID, MotorStorm: PR). If I want to buy a PS3 this fall, this and likely LittleBigPlanet will be my first purchases.

Meanwhile, I beaten Band World Tour on Rock Band 2 today (not 100% finished) and I went nuts after beating "Painkiller" for the second time on Guitar Expert (took me two tries). That song just grew on me as being awesome and fun to play while being hard at the same time. Review of this still maybe on the weekend (have to mess around online play and the challenges for a bit).

The Year of the Gentlenan Indeed...

I have been listening to the new Ne-Yo album, Year of the Gentleman, and it turns out to be more of the same, but that's good for me since Ne-Yo is still one of the better R&B artists out there today. The hit singles obviously are currently favorites, specifically "Closer," but the other songs are good at best. If you're expecting drastic changes for Ne-Yo in this album, you're going to find it here, but it is still an enjoyable R&B album to kill a hour on.

Music related, but Kanye released the "official" version of his new song "Love Lockdown" on his blog. Also watch out for the Common and Pharrell video for "Universal Mind Control" soon.

Meanwhile, back to Rock Band 2 - review maybe in the end of the week.

Rock Band 2 Hype Fest Final Part

Less than 24 hours from Rock Band 2's release, so this is the last batch of videos from the disc (DLC that I like from now on again). This post features "Master Exploder" by Tenacious D, "Spoonman" by Soundgarden, and "Give It All" by Rise Against (another crowd favorite band).

More Amazing 2D Fighting on XBLA... The Samurai Showdown II XBLA Review

Even though the Street Fighter II series dominated the arcade scene during the 1990s, SNK delivered more hardcore and satisfying 2D fighters with the Samurai Showdown series. The 2D weapons-based fighter is unlike anything else at that time with diverse characters, and a gameplay system that offers intense moments throughout fights. Samurai Showdown II is considered the pinnacle of the series improving everything the first game had and having the gameplay as balanced as possible even though there are high-tier characters and strategies any player can go with. It finally makes its appearance on Xbox Live Arcade a year after it was announced as SNK Playmore's 3rd game on the service. Despite the price mix-up when the release date was announced, this 2D fighter is still worth the money if you loved it back in the day with great online play.

As a 90s fighting game, Samurai Showdown II still holds up today with great fighting and a good amount of characters to choose with from favorites Haohmaru, Genjuro, Ukyo, Charlotte, Galford, and more. The original arcade cabinet had a four button setup of slashes and kicks as pressing both slashes as an example counts as a heavy slash. This XBLA version can map heavy slashes and kicks to any button to ease control. The POW meter on the bottom of the screen plays a major role in the action as the more damage you take, the more red your character gets allowing to unleash more damage on your opponent. When the meter is full, a character is allowed to do a super move when it hits an opponent, they are weapon-less for a limited time even though they can still attack with punches and kicks. The random elements like health items or bombs dropping and doing Super Deformation moves make fights more intense and dramatic as one mistake can lead to defeat. As with any 2D fighter on XBLA, there is also the issue of the 360 controller with its d-pad, so if you're having trouble executing some of the moves, an arcade stick is recommended especially for purists. With learning specials and supers for the characters, SamSho 2 has the depth to be one of the greatest fighting games in existence.


As with every SNK game that has appeared on Xbox Live Arcade, the amount of modes and presentation are pretty much bare bones. The single player game is there and still as challenging as ever especially the annoying last boss, Mizuki. The border surrounding the game screen is pretty bland, but not that big of a deal. At default settings, the single player game is limited to five credits, but that can be changed to your preference along with difficulty especially if you're playing local versus games. Online play is the version's biggest feature with ranked and quick matches that are easy to access. As long as the game runs at a ping of less than 200 ms, matches will run smoothly with minimal lag, which is great for a fighting game like this. Of course the competition especially against other human opponents makes the online truly worth it as most of the characters will be used including the hidden character Kuroko.

Graphically, Samurai Showdown II looks great on the 360 with the optional enhanced filter. Some people were a little worried that this version would be censored like Metal Slug 3's release earlier this year, but SNK Playmore released the proper version with blood and the characters being sliced in half fully intact. For purists, you can turn off the enhanced graphics to play it the original way, but it is not that much of a difference. The sound as well is great with minimal problems during laggy online matches. The music is very moody according to the stages from duel-like tunes at Genjuro's stage to more themes from Charlotte and Cham Cham's stages. The good thing is that this port is not toned down at all staying pure to the original.


For 800 Microsoft Points (ten dollars), this XBLA port of Samurai Showdown II is totally worth playing if you're desperate to play this game online and just a fan of the series even though 400 Microsoft Points would have been better when the release date was announced. Then again, there are other retro based fighting games on Live Arcade like Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 available for the same price point of ten bucks, so it is not that big of a deal that was overblown by complaints. Anyway, the gameplay still holds up in today's world of fighting games and the online play performs significantly well. With other consoles having this game at a different price point or in a compliation that will be released later this year, the XBLA version of Samurai Showdown II is perhaps the best of the bunch especially if you're craving to play it online on a console rather than a PC.

Score = 7.5/10

Pros:

• A true port of SamSho 2 with nothing toned down.
• Great online play with minimal lag.
• Gameplay still holds up today.
• Still one of the greatest fighting games in existence.

Cons:

• Bare bones presentation with limited modes like the rest of SNK's games on XBLA.
• Price point maybe too steep for some.
• An arcade stick is recommended if you're having trouble executing some of the moves on the 360 controller.
  

The Final List for GH World Tour is Out

Despite all my music game attention is on Rock Band 2 now, there's still that other game Guitar Hero: World Tour out next month with finally the whole list of songs announced (Check it out here). Even though a good portion of the list can be played in Rock Band 2 (and also DLC), here's some of my favorites right now that might make me buy the game.

• 311 - "Beautiful Diasater"
• Paramore - "Misery Business"
• No Doubt - "Spiderwebs" (featured video and eventually RB2 DLC)
• Coldplay - "Shiver"
• Korn - "Freak on a Leash"
• Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
• Muse - "Assassin"

I'm still on the fence (that special post will happen closer to the game's release) on World Tour and I do believe RB2's list is better by a mile.

Rock Band 2 Hype Fest Part IV

Today's batch of Rock Band 2 footage features well "Today" by Smashing Pumpkins (easy song), Pearl Jam's "Alive," a full band run of "Painkiller" by Judas Priest, one of the hardest songs in the game (guitar), and the Stephen Colbert song, "Charlene," that was out as free DLC yesterday.







Off-topic: My Samurai Showdown II XBLA Review will be up later today.

Rock Band 2 Hype Fest III

We're getting closer to Sunday as more people are getting lucky already getting Rock Band 2 at stores that broke the street date. Today's batch features the highly anticipated Guns & Roses song, "Shackler's Revenge," a Guitar Hero II favorite, "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas, and one of my favorites Paramore with "That's What You Get."

An Alternate Ending to Super Mario Bros.

This alternate ending is according to the guy who makes Family Guy and American Dad. Looks like the Princess wasn't too impressed.

Rock Band 2 Hype Fest Part II

More Rock Band 2 footage with personal favorites like Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness" (The easiest Disturbed song on Rock Band), Foo Fighters' "Everlong," and The Offspring's "Come Out and Play."

Rock Band 2 Hype Fest Part I

Sunday is going to be awesome with Rock Band 2 on my hands, but as predicted, some folks got the game early and unleashing footage on YouTube. Here's "The Middle" and "One Step Closer" for a start (hyperspeed is indeed in) as they are some of my favorite songs.

UPDATE - Modest Mouse's "Float On" Guitar Expert video added.

More notechart footage throughout the week even though u will likely see all the songs on YouTube before the game is officially out (I want this game NOW!!!!)

Why Quantum of Solace will be Awesome...

Here's the latest trailer and this movie will be the hit of the fall season.

Street Fighter IV at FFA (Tournament footage)

Walnut is not the only place in SoCal that has Street Fighter IV, which is also at Granada Hills' Family Fun Arcade (another successful arcade that top players go to). For me, its basically almost a hour compared to 15 minutes, but it has a better SFIV setup than Super with HDTVs (It is a dollar to play compared to 75 cents at Super). Here's tournament footage with Street Fighter pro veterans Alex Valle and Combofiend.

(Note: I only posted the first set of the grand finals, so for the second set click the videos for more).

My Favorite Thing of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Also: SF4 Akuma Hands-On)

I'll be honest, my favorite thing about Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is actually the BGM, Jazzy NYC 99 "Rearranged" (for Alex and Ken's stage). This is probably the best BGM for a fighting game since its so catchy and memorable. Of course, I'm not that great at 3rd Strike because I'm not a parry master (3S is all about parrying). I could see why this Street Fighter is still amazing and why tournament players play it to this day with Street Fighter IV already out in some arcades. Since I don't have my XBOX version of SF Anniversary Collection, I won't mind a XBOX Originals release and it will be worth it since the online still works well and there are people still on that thing. (Also MvC2 fixed please - but that won't happen).

Last night before live blogging my viewing of the VMAs, I stopped by Super again to play Street Fighter IV (No crowds!!!!) and surprisingly Akuma is already playable on the machine (I didn't think it would happen). So I decided to mess with him with single player and his low stamina makes him a crappy character if you keep getting caught. Other than that, he plays like the Akuma you know and love with his air fireballs and whatnot. His Raging Demon is his super and ultra doing the infamous combination (Forward for the Super and Back for the Ultra), but you can't just randomly do it against serious competition as they will avoid it or counter it with something devastating. It is best used to surprise someone out of nowhere. Despite my crappy time with Akuma, I won't mind learning more of him if no one else uses him, but his low stamina will be a problem.

MTV Video Music Awards 2008 Live Blog (West Coast Style!!)

Alright party people, I did this last year at my old blog and I'm doing it again. Hopefully this year's VMAs are better than last year's trainwreck. Then again, East Coast people already seen this so I'm doing it for the West Coast side and maybe it will be worth it. So far, I'm watching it for Russell Brand hosting the show since I don't know who he is at first and maybe he'll surprise me with his antics. I don't care for the performances yet so let's start this thing halfway thru the pre-show (Yeah I was playing Street Fighter IV for a bit before this - Akuma stinks with his low stamina).

8:33 pm - Alright, the ABDC Battle is coming on now (Kaba Modern and Fanny Pak)

8:34 pm - Kaba Modern is up first doing Ne-Yo's "Closer" and it was okay - Not the greatest thing ever. Lupe Fiasco approves of the performance.

8:35 pm - Fanny Pak is doing "Damaged" by Danity Kane and their creavitity delivers again with the wedding dresses and suits. Clearly better than Kaba's routine. I hope they win.

8:37 pm - Sway is doing his thing at the helicopter talking to the Jonas Brothers. Oh how original!!!

8:39 pm - Commercial break - So Tom Brady might be out for the rest of the season with his knee injury. Looks like the Patriots will suck now.

8:42 pm - Oh I'm hyped for the new season of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Island since I'm a fan of the series. X-Tina is now interviewed about her performance debuting a new song at the show to the world.

8:43 pm - Sway at the helicopter talking to Paris Hilton and Benji Madden promoting Paris' new reality show, which will be crap. (Reading WWE Unforgiven Results from NeoGAF).

8:45 pm - Damn, its the Jonas Brothers!!! Oh I hate them so much. Is MTV getting all Disney-ified? (Miley Cyrus is there and the High School Musical peeps).

8:46 pm - Slipknot now being interviewed being awesome with their looks. Another commercial.

8:48 pm - (Reading WWE PPV Results - Jericho won the WHC during the RAW Scramble?? What!!!????).

8:50 pm - Ashlee Simpson being interviewed - I hate her too.

8:51 pm - Kobe!!!! (Vanessa is there too) He shouts out the hip-hop getting the big ones tonight.

8:52 pm - Paramore came out in smart cars (Hayley's hair looks weird). They're performing tonight too. Once again, I will wish "Misery Business" for Rock Band 2 DLC (Its already in GH World Tour).

8:54 pm - Ciara being interviewed - She has a song with T-Pain out soon (Haven't seen her in a while). Will Britney redeem herself this year opening the show up again? One more commercial break before the big show.

8:59 pm - Start this show already.

9:00 pm - Show starts (Superbad and Britney??) and its a skit as he tries to kiss her.

9:02 pm - Alright Britney is first presenting.... Interesting locale for the show. This is the 25th one and looks like Rihanna is opening the show with "Disturbia" (Nice entrance).

9:05 pm - This single of hers is not that bad like most of her catchy and successful singles. The performance is not that bad so far. WTF White Stripes's Seven Nation Army sample?



9:08 pm - Way better than last year's opening performance. Russell Brand now comes out so let's see what he offers to the table (Did I just see The Hills ladies??).

9:09 pm - Brand runs down the performance lineup (lol at Slash in the audience).

9:10 pm - Brand supports Obama (Does his thing about the '08 election and making fun of Palin).

9:12 pm - He now takes a stab at the Jonas Brothers (They deserve it because they suck).

9:14 pm - Now its Madonna and A-Rod's turn (Nice!!!)

9:15 pm - First presenter is Jamie Foxx (former host of the VMAs). Best Female Video is being handed out.

9:17 pm - My pick would be "Touch My Body" by Mariah and I don't know why and the winner is Britney's "Piece of Me" = What!!!!!!???? Finally, she got a moonman - great for her. Maybe MTV just wants to be nice to her after last year's trainwreck.

9:19 pm - Pete Wentz with Heidi and Spencer from The Hills (Spencer is still a douche) doing the rundown of Best New Artist nominees. My pick is Jordan Sparks, but I could see Katy Perry or Miley winning for some dumb reason (Nice Wonderwall mix).

9:21 pm - Commercial break.

9:26 pm - Annnnd we're back as Demi Moore (random!!!) is presenting Best Male Video as she almost forgot her mic.

9:28 pm - My pick for the win is Usher's "Love in This Club" or maybe "Lolipop" by Weezy and freakin Chris Brown wins it with "With You." I agree with him that he didn't deserve to win it. One win for the youth so far this year and one for the vets.

9:30 pm - Taylor Swift presenting The Jonas Brothers as they perform - Great...... Did I mention that they suck and deserve to stay with the Disney crowd. I don't get why they're so damn popular.

9:32 pm - Annnd now is the swarm of worthless fans watching this horrible group at the Paramount Backlot.

9:34 pm - Katy Perry singing "Like A Virgin" as it goes to commercial.

9:38 pm - No Rock Band 2 commercial sighting yet during this award show (That game is out in less than a week).



9:39 pm - Back to Katy Perry doing "I Kissed A Girl" - This is almost like last year snubbing some of the performers. She deserved a stage performance I think.

9:40 pm - Here comes Michael Phelps with headphones introducing Lil Wayne's performance with Leona Lewis and T-Pain.

9:41 pm - Now Leona Lewis is a true talented singer and here comes Weezy doing his thing (Still not a fan of him - He's not really the greatest rapper alive). "A Milili" now playing - I can see why its a hyped up song (Where's So Real Cru to do their routine of this song from ABDC??).



9:44 pm - T-Pain now in the stage as Kobe approves - Supposedly this song by Weezy and T-Pain is also hype as well. Good performance I guess.... Way better than Jonas Brothers!!!!

9:47 pm - Ciara and Lindsay Lohan introducing Best Dance Video and Fanny Pak wins the VMA Battle!!!! I love this crew - they killed it again and deserved to win.



9:48 pm - My pick would be Ne-Yo, but Pussycat Dolls won that thing (Just for Fanny Pak!!!). Another win that they didn't deserve it. Please don't buy their album...

9:49 pm - Wait up Miley Cyrus is going to play Rock Band 2??? - Choose your side already Miley: Rock Band or Guitar Hero. (Commercial)

9:51 pm - Not watching MTV's Top Pop Group (An ABDC spinoff).

9:53 pm - Iron Man on DVD and Blu-Ray September 30 (Buying it!!!)

9:55 pm - Rock of Love Charm School hosted by Sharon Obsourne on VH1 coming soon... (Maybe...)

9:56 pm - Pete Wentz with Danity Kane doing the Best New Artist nominee rundown again (People actually vote). Wait.... What happened to the Viewer's Choice Award??

9:57 pm - I don't know about Brand yet - Kind of annoying.

9:58 pm - People I don't know in some movie I don't care about introducing Paramore's performance ("Misery Business!!!!").



9:59 pm - Yes, I like this band (This song and "Crushcrushcrush") - Can I repeat "Misery Business" for Rock Band 2 DLC??? - Another swarm of fans come in..... Definitely better than Jonas Brothers (Good performance!!!!)

10:03 pm - Commercial break, Paris's BFF show promo shows (Lame!!!).

Rock Band 2 commercial finally!!!!! (Don't forget the 360 is now as cheap as 200 bucks!!).

10:08 pm - Here's an unlikely pair: Shia and Slash presenting Best Rock Video.

10:09 pm - My pick is Linkin Park and they won for "Shadow of the Day." I prefer "Leave All Out the Rest" (DJ Hahn shouts out Transformers - Chester doing the right thing). They won another one - Yay for them.

10:11 pm - Great... Miley is really playing Rock Band 2 with Tokio Hotel. She then introduces Pink's performance.

10:12 pm - Wait Pink has a new song (This performance is interesting so far).

10:14 pm - So Pink is relevant again with her new generic pop rock song - Thumbs down for the song, but one thumb up for the performance however.

10:16 pm - Commercials again (More Hills drama on Monday!!!)

10:21 pm - My current favorite band, The Ting Tings performing "Shut Up and Let Me Go" during the commercial - Yay!!!!

10:22 pm - Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson doing another Best New Artist vote rundown.

10:23 pm - This should be funny.... Slipknot is presenting Best Hip Hop Video (Awkward!!!). Oh no its McLovin!!!! (Or maybe that's me... Whatever).

10:24 pm - My pick is Kanye's "Homecoming," but Weezy obviously won with "Lolipop" Well's that an obvious choice.

10:26 pm - Okay, I like to see a duet between these two presenters: Jordan Sparks and John Legend as introduce T.I's performance doing "Whatever U Like." at the Backlot. (Looks like lip syncing and a music video as well).

10:28 pm - Now he's driving (Obviously fake) - Change song to something better!!! Rihanna's back doing "Love my Life" (whatever that's called). Quick change of outfit for T.I. as well and still lip syncing (Oh well).



10:31 pm - Okay, this performance is not that bad. (Should I create a Twitter account for something like this??) - Commercial time again with "Take On Me."

10:32 pm - Adding more pics to this post.

10:37 pm - Oh great.... More Disney on my MTV with the cast of High School Musical 3 introducing Christina Aguilera's performance of her new song... Another interesting one here.


10:42 pm - Okay, this is not that bad either (Oh X-Tina trying to get with today's times of trying to fuse pop and some electronica or something like that - I don't know).

10:43 pm - What..... Tokio Hotel wins Best New Artist??? That's a WTF choice.. What's so good about them??

10:50 pm - LL Cool J doing his thing during commerical (Shout out to Travis Barker drumming like a mad man).

10:51 pm - Now it is Paris's turn to present and doing horrible as she presents Best Pop Video. So Britney won another one.... MTV is seriously being too nice at this point.

10:53 pm - Oh man.... I wanted to see an all out Lupe performance (Superstar), not getting the shaft BS. NeoGAF seems to agree. The better artists (Katy Perry, Lupe, LL Cool J, and Ting Tings) getting shafted compared to the real lineup of performances (I mean Pink and Jonas Brothers get crazy performances and not these guys??).

10:59 pm - Back from commercial... More guys I don't care about as they introduce Kid Rock.

11:00 pm - Kid Rock takes a stab of the lip syncing peeps (That's right!!!). He starts old school with "Sweet Home Alabama."


11:02 pm - It would be cool if he busts out "Bawitadaba" (spelling??) out of anywhere. That song should be RB2 DLC too. Oh look... Lil Wayne is back with Kid Rock rhyming as always.

11:04 pm - I enjoyed this performance too (A different change of pace for the show). Kid and Weezy make a good team surprisingly.


11:10 pm - Its Kobe!!!! That's cool that he is presenting Video of the Year even though Britney won the big one. Congrats to her and even MTV for pushing the comeback like crazy. First of all, my favorite band got robbed since The Ting Tings' video for "Shut Up and Let Me Go" was awesome. So Britney has never won a moonman till now and won three of them = crazy!!

11:13 pm - Russell is out and Kanye closes the show with a new song!! Okay, this is sick!!!

11:14 pm - "Love Lockdown" I think is what it is called - Another dope track by Ye!!


11:16 pm - End show (Kanye delivers yet again).

Live blog is now over as the post-show is up. It is clearly the Britney show racking up the moonmen and that's cool for her. As expected, some bands and artists got robbed of winning, but that's MTV for you. This post is seriously getting too long. Peace!!

Go download "Love Lockdown!!!"

The wait finally over for Samurai Showdown 2 XBLA?

The Xbox.com page finally showed up for Samurai Showdown II for Live Arcade and this is likely going be out on Wednesday. No price point is revealed yet (400 or 800 MS Points) as that will be announced tomorrow with the game. All I have to say is finally another SNK game on XBLA (Their last XBLA game was Metal Slug 3 earlier in the year, which I enjoyed for the week it came out). With this and King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match coming out next year for XBLA, fighting game fans will be happy (arcade version footage above). Fatal Fury Special, SNK's first fighting game for the service, was okay, but SamSho 2 has been regarded as the best in the series so maybe it will be better (online play is in like FF Special). Then again, its another reason my arcade stick will get some usage again, so yay on that. If this is out on Wednesday, expect a review before Rock Band 2 Sunday (Castle Crashers review is cancelled for me).

UPDATE - SamSho II is officially out Wednesday for 400 MS Pts (Yay!!!) - At least something to do before RB2 (Review on Friday likely).

Entourage Season 5 Hype Fest (Part II)

Tonight is the Season 5 premiere of Entourage and I can't wait!!! Here's another Ari montage to ease the wait. Today is going to be a good day for my HDTV with the NFL season truly starting in 3 hours and hopefully this year's MTV Video Music Awards will be tolerable to watch (live-blog possibly tonight). Entourage may have to wait (then again I don't have HBO, so I'll just search the interwebs).

UFC 88 - Evans KTFOs Chuck

UFC 88's big story is the upset of Rashad Evans staying undefeated knocking out Chuck Liddell in the second round. It was just one haymaker punch that sent Chuck to the ground for a minute or two. Definitely not a good sight to see, but its MMA, what do you expect? Here's the replay before it gets taken down. Who knows how will Evans goes up in the ladder possibly for a title shot against Forrest Griffin and Chuck suffering another KO defeat.

Entourage Season 5 Hype Fest (Part I)

I'm very pumped for Sunday's premiere of Entourage Season 5 on HBO despite not having the channel on my TV, but here's a reminder why the show was awesome with a montage of Ari quotes from Season 4.

Why Skate 2 is still going to be the hotness...

The newest trailer for Skate 2 surfaced this week and I still can't wait for this bad boy to come out. Good thing this game is avoiding the crowded holiday rush for a release next year - being in my top 5 most wanted list is a good thing too. The same Public Enemy song from the last trailer is played again in this one and it is still a dope song. EA Black Box was able to establish the innovation the first time around and took Tony Hawk's crown away, but now is the time to perfectly execute on the formula and make the package even more sweeter.

In EA related news, yesterday I exported all my Rock Band 1 songs in preparation for Rock Band 2 next weekend. I'm still pondering if I should delete some of them to consume Hard Drive space for more songs. Who knows, but doing that export process makes me want to play Rock Band 2 now already. If the DLC next week sucks, I might as well trade in my RB1 disc (if I can) for RB2.

On the Fence: Pure

Today, I played the Pure demo on 360 (PSN demo should be up later today) and I have been sleeping on this racer till recently since the game is out in two weeks. After two hours of madness, Pure is a surprisingly fun game and likely will be the sleeper racing game of the year (with Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Midnight Club LA, and Need for Speed Undercover out in the fall). First of all, the game looks amazing for a racing game in this generation with great environments (only seven different types are in the final game with about 50 tracks as the demo says in the end) and draw distance. For the gameplay, Pure plays like a simple racing game with alternate paths and a huge emphasis on the trick system. The trick system is basically the bread and butter for Pure as doing them well will dictate your races. There are four levels of tricks which depend on the buttons will also dictates the boost meter. The more tricks you do, the more boost you gain as these tricks are done with any direction of the left stick and any of the face buttons (X however is boost). Whether to sacrifice doing advanced tricks (on the Y button) to boost more frequently if behind the pack or the other way around is a nice element to Pure's racing.

I'm still on the fence with Pure after playing the demo. This definitely feels like an off-road SSX than a core racing game, which is cool. Basically, this racer is simply fun to play with great graphics and soundtrack to listen to full of rock and electronica tunes. This one has that sleeper hit in it to be something overlooked with other racing games coming out around the same time. Then again, I can see some repetition with Pure as you progress through its World Tour mode if the races feel the same throughout the whole journey or the tricks eventually getting old pending on the character. Other than that, Pure is flat out fun to play and worth your attention for your dollars if you're looking for a new racing game this fall.

Another reason why the Dragonball movie will suck

Apparently, this is Piccolo in the upcoming Dragonball movie and another reason why it is an embarrassment to all the fans of the franchise. I don't know why they still plan to release this thing next year as this is almost like Street Fighter movie territory for how horrible it will be. Piccolo is played by the James Marsters, who was Spike in the Buffy and Angel TV shows. So yeah, can they at least try to get the source material right for once?

Lumines returns home...

Playstation 3 owners will finally get Lumines on their system with Supernova for the Playstation Network. This is actually more of a "finally" moment that Q Entertainment is now supporting PSN along with Xbox Live Arcade (Meteos Wars is their next XBLA game). I still wished these guys will make a new original IP someday, but I guess that could wait a little longer. This new Lumines has new exclusive skins and downloadable ones (not yet confirmed on the specifics on that like Genki Rockets skins). In addition, a new mode called Dig Down will be introduced in this iteration putting a different spin on the Lumines formula. It is still fudamentally the same game, but it is great that PS3 has their own version of Lumines now and the fact the franchise returns home to where it started, which is the Playstation brand (I'm curious if PSP Remote Play will be in this version as well).

The Ting Tings Appreciation

I finally got around to download my current favorite band's album, We Started Nothing by The Ting Tings. They're just a fun little Euro band to listen to right now. Sure they might another one hit wonder with "Shut Up and Let Me Go," but their other singles like "Great DJ" (above) are pretty catchy and enjoyable as well. I started noticing them after watching the "Shut Me and Let Me Go" video on MTV2 and then I didn't realize how popular the song is to even have an iTunes commercial looping at Las Vegas's Fashion Show Mall. At least their music videos get a million+ hits on YouTube. I recommend checking out this Euro-style band if you haven't yet and I also won't mind them having their singles on Rock Band 2 as well.

The 360 has another Japanese Action Game

So Microsoft had their pre-TGS Media Briefing today and other than Capcom teasing some of their upcoming lineup (Bionic Commando, GTA IV for Japan, Street Fighter IV, and Resident Evil 5) rather than announcing the dream sequel, Dead Rising 2, the only big thing worth mentioning about the event is the official unveiling of Ninja Blade. This Japanese action game is published by Microsoft themselves and developed by From Software (Chromehounds, Otogi series). During the briefing, they showed a teaser clip (below) of what to expect graphically in terms of cutscenes and a brief gameplay clip (not yet up anywhere). They also announced this game being playable at the Tokyo Game Show next month, so hopefully we'll have more impressions around that time.