A UStream Experiment...

Today I got myself a new phone, aka the Droid and I have messing around with it throughout the day. Turns out the UStream app was also for Android phones than just iPhones as I thought, so I decided to turn it on and see what happens. For this first clip, I decided to stream some random Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 action, but different things are expected to come out of "The Life & Times of G Unit Ver1." I think the experiment sort of worked and we'll see what happens in the future.

The Legend of Zelda... A Retrospective on the NES one.

Some random day last weekend, I had some Wii Points left over and even though I rather save for upcoming Virtual Console or WiiWare games like Mega Man 10, I decided to buy a classic I should of bought a long time ago, which is the first Legend of Zelda game on the NES. I'll be honest, I've never beaten it till tonight and running through that game for the first time felt as satisfying as the 3D Zelda games I beaten (Ocarina of Time and Twlight Princess). Now of course, any 2D Zelda game past or present has been a little more harder than the 3D ones due to precision and how much damage you would take from enemies, but going through the first game, I have seen all the foundations it established for the rest of the franchise to be what it is today. I also tried to play this game with limited help from the interwebs for videos as I wanted to feel like the 80s playing it, but I couldn't resist when I was stuck or something isn't right like not being prepared equipment wise for a certain dungeon. With the first game, I have experienced the frustrations like players would feel back in the day from getting lost in the overworld wandering what to do next, dying too much (50 times for me till I killed Ganon at the end), and lots of backtracking.

I went into this game knowing what I seen from previous speed runs and go from there. The first Zelda did something games today rarely do, which you are thrown into this world and beat the game. The sense of exploration was there finding secrets, being surprised of how much damage you take in a single hit (pending if you don't have the blue ring or even the red ring at the end of the game), and so on. Early on, you can not as reckless as you can be with limited health and even with as many heart containers because the difficult enemies will take out if you go in the various dungeons guns blazing. This is especially the case later on against rooms filled with Darknuts or Wizrobes, as you feel like you actually approach them with a gameplan in mind and timing your attacks. Even with lots of heart containers, you still like you're not safe from everything, you're some badass with all these weapons mowing everyone away compared to the 3D games. Maybe that's the classic philosophy behind old school and new school where later Zelda games, you rarely feel like you are in trouble unlike Zelda 1. It is some trial and error effect that works, well for me, in a classic game like this.

I also did approached Zelda 1 in a completionist mindset trying to do everything the game offers, such as get every weapon, have the max health, explore every dungeon room (this was the case with the final dungeon), and so on. From what I seen, the formula didn't really establish itself until A Link To The Past (which I also have on my Wii via the Virtual Console but haven't finished that one yet) as the items you get within a certain dungeon, you don't use them to defeat that boss (Ganon being the exception with Silver Arrow). Most of the bosses can be taken out with just the sword and bombs for certain ones. I never realized how valuable the bombs in this game compared to modern Zelda games opening more doors in dungeons, taking out multiple enemies at once, and opening hidden areas in the overworld. These days with Zelda games, the usage of bombs have been limited to doing the same thing, but it is not as powerful than it should be. Your sword is still your bread and butter (with long distance powers at full health) in every situation and I often used the boomerang a lot too in this game compared to the bow/arrows since it required Rupees to use.

For the start of a legendary franchise that influenced all of gaming, being Game Informer's best game of all-time, and a phenomenon in the late 80s when the NES was the hotness, The Legend of Zelda definitely established the foundations and standards for games then and even today. Now that I finally experienced this landmark game from beginning to end, I have realized how this game was amazing at the time. The sense of adventure was definitely something ahead of its time then and pushed players to explore the world taking chances on what they see. We'll see if I decide to play the harder second quest or even finish A Link to the Past, but playing through Zelda 1 was definitely one of those times I feel like killing time to do something. This ain't a review of Zelda, but for something I have missed for quite a while, it is a good thing I got around to doing it. (The videos up in this post is not me playing, but a speed run by one of the best Zelda players around in the Speed Demos Archive community).

Music Roundup for January 2010...

With January coming to a close, I might as well try to remember how the month went by for me in terms of music.

I'll start off with my favorite song right now, which is "Hey Daddy" (Daddy's Home) by Usher as the video went up this morning on MTV. Even though most of his new album, Raymond vs. Raymond, has been apparently leaked, it is about time Usher put up an official music video for one of his songs. This is your typical Usher right here doing his thing and that's fine by me because I'm still eagerly waiting for the official album to come out since his last one was somewhat of a disappointment.

I have also been in a Sade mood lately with her new album out in a couple weeks. She has been on the comeback trail with "Soldier of Love" and its an awesome song. It is just nice and relaxing to hear some true soul music every now and then. I'm just hoping the album will deliver.

Lastly, I'll probably get hate for this for putting it up, but this month has been the rise of Ke$ha for her hit song "Tik Tok." I gotta admit, this is another of those one hit wonders every radio station plays and gets the club rolling. Yeah, people are sick of hearing of this nonsense, but hey we have to deal with it. This was definitely a song going crazy when I was at Vegas earlier this month in the clubs. I guess everybody will be trying to wake up feeling like P. Diddy now.

There's so much more I can cover for this month's music roundup, but I'll leave it for now. Since I update my top 10 songs I have been blasting on a daily basis, just check out that for more of your music needs.

Japanese Randomness with Roided Up Dudes... The Muscle March Review

Every now and then, there will be some random game that comes from the wonderful land of Japan and then it eventually comes out in America for some odd reason. No matter how random it is especially knowing how absurd it is, anyone will get a kick out of it whether for the good or the bad. This is the case with Muscle March, a WiiWare title that came out at Japan sometime last year and somehow got a stateside release thanks to the fine folks of Namco Bandai. In case you're wandering what in the world Muscle March is, it is surprisingly self-explanatory. Except the Japanese twist is that you are playing as roided up men in their underwear marching along to take down a thief that stole some random thing. It is as absurd as it may seem to be and probably better explained in a video rather than text, but Muscle March is meant to be played as an off the wall experience. For five dollars or 500 Wii Points, you get your money's worth out of it for something truly bizarre that will make your mind blow up of some sort.

As a game, Muscle March does not offer much as it is meant to be played as a pick up and play type of a deal. There's the standard single player modes of three stages offering three levels each and then there's the multiplayer that is an endless run with up to four players. Once you start, you can clearly tell that this game is meant to be played with a Wiimote and Nunchuk as the controls are simple to understand. It is almost like you are playing a game of "hole in the wall" while marching trying to match the leader's muscular poses (hence the title of the game) by tilting the Wiimote and Hunchuk in various ways. While the game lets you just tilt the Wiimote or Nunchuk up or down to correspond with the poses, you almost feel tempted to just flex like the actual poses the leader gives out, which makes it also bizarre. The character lineup is a collection of roided up men in their underwear from various countries with one exception being a polar bear, which is also crazy. Once you are following along to the leader's poses, you have a stamina meter of five hearts in which every mistake costs you a heart and losing them all in a stage allows the option to continue from that same level you lost. At least, a normal level will start out slow and steady, but once the other members mess up by slipping into banana peels, then it goes fast and frantic testing your reaction skills. These reaction skills will make or break your success in Muscle March and at times, the controls will feel unresponsive making it frustrating especially at the end of the third level where the Mech Muscle tries to trick you into following a certain pose. Once close enough, you have to shake the Wiimote/Nunchuk repeatedly to tackle the leader down and beat the level. After beating the last level of a stage, whether in the city, village, or a space station, you get ranked on your performance, which does not do much other than bragging rights. Gameplay wise, that is Muscle March in a nutshell as it is a simple concept, but can get pretty old pretty fast in long stretches and also frustrating at times when the controls just fail when needed.

Graphically, Muscle March looks as it is intended to be and nothing else. The three stages are diverse enough as environments for the marching to take place while the core gameplay remains intact. The character roster consists of your average everyday roided up stereotype from the country they live even though a polar bear that marches along and flexing seems too crazy for a normal person to grasp. Basically, the graphics are what you expect out of Japan and that is fine for a game like this. As for the sound, the same thing can be said for a game coming from Japan. The music consists of your generic J-pop, but the song goes along to the marching and once you're left alone with the leader, the song speeds up into something else. For the presentation alone, Muscle March does indeed look like you are playing something from Japan.

With all the absurdity and randomness, is Muscle March still worth your time and money? I would still say yes as it is always nice to see random Japanese games make way to the United States with no problem at all even though the content and premise alone may offend some. It is a decent pick up and play game for a few minutes at the right price and also something weird to show to friends about the wonderful world of Japan. Sure as a game, Muscle March could of have been better if more stages are in and the controls feel more responsive eliminating the frustration, but it is better as an experience seeing a twist of hole in the wall with buff stereotypical men. Even though WiiWare has been mostly full of shovelware, Muscle March is one of those games that makes the service unique compared to Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network. I can even imagine this game with Project Natal support on the Xbox 360 with full body motion of the flexing poses, but I can see why this game is meant to be on the Wii than the other two. It is as Japanese as it gets and if you're in for a cheap fix of random hilarity, then Muscle March is worth checking out.

Score = 7/10

Pros:

• Great price for the content offered - Wouldn't buy if more expensive
• Fun as a pick up and play game for a few minutes if you want to play something quick
• As random and bizarre as it is intended to be especially it coming from Japan
• A great experience if you're into the Japanese lifestyle as it is not frequent a game like this would come out outside of Japan.

Cons:

• Controls can fail at times when needed making some parts frustrating
• Lack of modes (only two significant ones)
• May be too absurd and bizarre for some

LA Riots II Megapost!!!

Yesterday, I was at the heart of Los Angeles for Gootecks's LA Riots II tournament, which took place in thestream.tv studios. At first, I was like where is this place even with directions. Turns out, it is in fact a small studio in a small building, but enough for everything to go down. I happen to part of a small audience getting hype along with thestream.tv staff and the players, which was pretty cool realizing how they make their shows such as Coin-Op TV and GTFO.tv happen. If you saw the stream at around 2 pm yesterday, Gootecks and John Rog (the host master of West Coast Warzone and now its sequel on April 2-4) provided commentary to the matches as well as "the people's champ" Mike Ross with other insights and Cami making sure the stream works smoothly. As for Street Fighter IV, this tournament was an invitational of eight of the best players in SoCal with Combofiend (winner of the 1st LA Riots), Keno, Kai, and the pad warrior Shizza making return appearances along with Alex Valle, Ken I, Yeb, and the 15 year old phenom Jayce the Ace locking their appearance from the Hooters Bar Fights tournament.

The brackets were set up nicely with great matches all around as Combofiend and Jayce the Ace faced off first. In case you forgot who Jayce the Ace is (pictured above), he made a big splash at the Hooters Bar Fights tournament making top 8 playing as C. Viper. If he didn't impress you then, he would of impressed you now taking more of SoCal's finest to the limit, but he went 2 & out losing to Combofiend and Ken I. It was a great showing by him regardless and he has what it takes to be an elite player at such a young age. Also highlighted in this tournament was the Chun-Li pad warrior Shizza stepping up finishing 2nd by taking out Combofiend to losers and beating Ken I twice (picture below of Shizza rocking an orange shirt along with Ken I's trademark orange sweatshirt as if it was on purpose). It goes to show pad warriors can be successful in Street Fighter IV and there are plenty of others out there that are pretty good. Ken I made a better showing as well than the first time by actually sticking to his main Rufus the whole way (exception being that he used Honda for one game against Shizza as if he is trying to prove Mike Ross that Honda is legit since Mike's main is Honda and he always gives him a bad rap even though he still wins with him).

The other player that went 2 & out in this tournament was Yeb, the Gen master from San Diego, as he lost to Keno and then Kai, who had another strong performance as well. Kai's El Fuerte was on point against Yeb and Combofiend, who he got revenge after losing to him last time in the match of the tournament (clip of that above). As the guy who is known for "hating Street Fighter IV," Kai's Fuerte is definitely a beast as the internet probably exploded with when he wake-up ultra-ed to peace out Combofiend. At the end of the day, it was Alex Valle taking another win defeating Shizza. Of course it was no easy ride for Alex, the SoCal Street Fighter legend, for victory beating Kai, Keno, and Shizza twice.

Seeing LA Riots II in person rather than online was a way better experience being a part of the small audience. Now I realized the hard work it takes to put together such events like these especially in a legit studio (congrats again to Gootecks, Cami, and thestream.tv staff for a great job!). It seemed very professional how things turned out in the end compared to other streams I have seen. Upcoming events were hyped up as well from the mysterious "Project Blocks" that will change your life next month, MarkMan showing off the new Super Street Fighter IV TE sticks (which I finally touched one in person and it looks better), and West Coast Warzone 2 hosted by John Rog in the Long Beach Mariott on April 2-4 (just after my birthday!). As always, it is great to hang out with the community as it just good times and laughs throughout. Most of the players were on double duty that day competing in LA Riots II and the House of Cicada 3v3 tournament last night (or this morning lol) at Moreno Valley with Mike Ross, Keno, and Combofiend winning that one with the team name "Always Bet on Black." (GS to them) Anyway, it was a fun afternoon at Los Angeles, which I'm rarely around that area these days, and I can't wait for more Street Fighter IV events in the upcoming months. It has been a great start for the year for that game and with Super in a matter of months, the hype can go only up from here.

Photos by Get Your Tournament's Kelly Bracha (Shout outs to the GYT staff that was there too providing additional coverage: Glenn, Kelly, and AJ "PotatoHead")

Get Your Tournament's recap here.

Link to the rest of the pics is here.

Coin-Op TV's recap here.

Download the whole event here.

A "Retro Review" of one of my favorite games of all-time, Rez HD

Note: This is a review I posted back in GameSpot in 2008 (in its exact text) of one of my favorite games of all-time and I wanted to give it the blog treatment here for a while.

Before Lumines, Meteos, and Every Extend Extra, Q Entertainment released Rez earlier this decade for the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2. It became a sleeper hit and a revolutionary game at the same time defining the rhythm genre into something else besides time yourself with button presses or Dance Dance Revolution style movements. The graphical style was out of this world and a simple shooter concept kicked in as well. Now it is 2008 and the second coming of Rez is here in HD for the Xbox 360. Those who missed it back in the PS2 and Dreamcast days should not miss this opportunity to play such an amazing game and witness how Rez was meant to be in true high definition. Veteran players should also buy it again because the HD graphics make a huge difference and adding in 5.1 surround sound support just solidifies the experience even better. Rez HD is a steal at 800 Microsoft Points considering how hard to find the original versions and it is arguably the best Xbox Live Arcade game now.

Rez HD is more about the experience than being a game, but the gameplay is pretty good for a rhythm shooter. It definitely has the approach of being easy to learn and difficult to master. Even the modes Rez provides both casual and hardcore experiences such as the traveling mode where you can play the levels without dying as some sort of practice mode before playing the actual game when health matters. You still have to play the real game to unlock the other levels and extra modes which gives the game some legs even in this world of downloadable games. For hardcore experiences, there is a score attack mode racking up points nailing chains and support items which adds online leaderboards support as well as replays that can be seen online. Extra modes such as direct assault, a survival mode of all five levels, also give players some sense of challenge if the normal game is too easy for them.



The simple controls of Rez HD translate well to the Xbox 360 controller with left stick being the cursor, A button being the shoot button, and B being the overdrive bomb type attack. Other controllers such as arcade sticks do work, but it feels slower to aim at enemies. Once you get in the groove of timing the A button for chains and max type attacks, it means that you are good at the game. The character's various forms is its health as one hit from enemy fire drops down a form and it is game over when your ball form gets hit. The way to level up forms and gain more overdrives is by shooting support items (some blue box for a meter to increase its level and a red box for overdrive respectively). The way to progress in these levels (with exception to the fifth and final area) is to hit these Rez portals to be transported into another zone of enemies (there are 10 of them with exception to area 5 again) which counts for the analyzation ranking. Speaking of rankings, after each level of killing a boss, you are also ranked on how many enemies were shut down and support items found (these are in percentages). The gameplay as a whole seems simple enough for casual and hardcore players, but deep enough to give them more reasons to play these levels for perfection.

As mentioned before, there are five normal levels in Rez HD (with exception to extra unlockable levels). The first four levels also feels like a warmup for the fifth and final stage, which is basically a culmination of everything in the game and longer than the first four levels combined. The final level alone is among the best levels ever in the world of video games which pretty much defines Rez as a whole. There is actually some sense of storyline in Rez, but it is probably not the reason you will buy this game. Rez is about the overall experience and that alone wants you to play these levels numerous times especially that last level.



The HD facelift for Rez on Xbox 360 makes the game achieves its full potential as a full experience of amazing vector graphics, no jaggies or slowdown, and consistent 60 frames per second. The vibrant colors and animations are better in HD as well as the various effects. This was Q Entertainment's full vision of Rez to be in high definition, no slowdown, and jaggies, which is why the Dreamcast and PS2 had its limits. Another cult phoenomeon from Rez is the infamous Trance Vibrator, which apparently works if anyone still has it. For those who do not, the substitute method is having all four Xbox 360 controllers rumble at the same time, which makes the overall experience even better than it supposed to be.

Rez HD is also known in its original release for its sound. Whether or not you like techno music, this game's soundtrack is among the best licensed (if it was) soundtracks in gaming today. If the game makes the songs better, then it feels like a success especially the song for the final area of the game. The music as you add effects to them as well shoot enemies and develop chains were executed perfectly. As a rhythm game, timing on the music side of things does not matter compared to something like DDR or Guitar Hero, It just feels like you are remixing these songs by shooting enemies up or some DJ spinning a different version of a track with all these varied sound effects. Even to this day, no game has ever replicated what Rez did to revolutionize the genre.

As a full game for the Dreamcast and PS2, Rez HD being a downloadable game almost feels like a retail game providing enough content to keep casual and hardcore players satisfied. The game feels like you are creating your own rave of sorts in some party you're hosting, which is a good thing and almost a point the developers want you to do it. For purists of the original game, Rez HD can be played without the HD and you will witness the differences clearly why Rez was meant to be released again in this HD era of gaming. For those who never played it, download this as soon as possible to witness a revolutionary. original, amazing experience that today's core games will never offer. To this day, Rez still feels original and it did pave the way for Q's recent games, but involving different concepts how to blend in music in games and controlling it instead of letting some orchestral song play in some modern first-person shooter. If video games do consider themselves as art, Rez is an example of that and its second coming is here as still one of the greatest games in recent years.

Score: Then = 9.5/10
Now = 10/10

The latest on my YouTube channel for 1/14/2010 aka the Tekken Movie trailer

Apparently there's still the Tekken live action movie and finally a legitimate trailer surfaces on the interwebs. Obviously, there's the whole "Oh, its another video game-based movie, its going to suck!" mentality, but maybe it won't be that horrible. At least the Tekken characters in there seems to be accurate to their videogame counterparts like Raven, Eddy, Bryan, Law, Nina, and others. Would others give it a chance? Likely not, but I can see this being better than something like Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Sometimes the Old-School Should Stay Old-School... The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles: Turtles in Time Reshelled (PSN) Review

Note - I bought this at a discounted price on the Playstation Store (half its original price) and plus this game came out about a few months ago too.

The four player beat-em-up is as old-school as it gets when it comes to video games. They are simple to play, but hard as nails to the point you keep spending your quarters to continue. That was the case with Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles beat-em-up games. They were timeless arcade classics at the same time being true to the source material while being a blast with multiple people. These classics have that special edge or soul to them that makes them great in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The original was re-released on Xbox Live Arcade back in 2007 untouched being a true arcade port with online play, but it was inevitable that the sequel Turtles in Time would get the same treatment after the success it had on the Xbox 360. Instead of just porting the arcade version in its purest form, Ubisoft decided to go the extra mile and remake the graphics entirely to a completely different game, which adds in the Reshelled part of the title. While Turtles in Time is still a timeless classic, there is just something missing with this HD remake that makes it not as worthwhile as it was when it originally came out.

Turtles in Time Reshelled plays similarly to the original and it is as simple as it gets mashing the attack button against enemies and jumping at certain occasions. Just like any beat-em-up, the game does not take that long to beat which is good enough if you're feeling like playing something retro but with new graphics. The remake does add quickplay and survival modes along with the normal story mode at various difficulties, which bumps up the replay value a bit when playing locally. Playing at various difficulties does however make a difference in terms of enemy count, the amount of punishment enemies and bosses can take, how much punishment the turtles take, and the amount of lives you have. In single player, there is a continue option if you want to finish it at a later time and it is recommended you stay alive throughout the whole game to have a high score as continuing after losing all your lives resets your score. Also similar to the original, this game is not as easy as you think as pattern recognition and luck have to be your side to prevail. Even with this HD remake, the action feels a little claustrophobic than it used to take back in the day as the screen gets crowded with enemies at times which lead to chaos. The turtles do play noticeably different according to their stats when looking at the character select screen, but I'm pretty sure people still pick which turtle to play as just by their superstitions. Then there's the online play, which works fine from what I played, but it does suck when one person leaves a full room while playing, which totally can ruin the experience for some.

While Reshelled plays just like the original, the HD makeover ends up a disappointment. I mentioned earlier that this game felt like its missing something to be as special as it was back in the day and it is in the visual department. It feels like it is missing a soul of sorts to make it look worthwhile to fans of the old games. The makeover is based loosely off the CG movie with the turtles having their one-liners here and there when they speak. The backgrounds themselves feel bland as if they are just another lava level, sewer level, and so on with today's standards. As a whole, the graphics in Reshelled is a complete mess as well as the performance of how the game runs too. The framerate will slow down when there are too many things going on. At times, the turtles will glitch up at times randomly floating around, and other random stuff. The sound also feels bland as well as the developers did not use the original tunes as background music and they get placed by bland and generic tunes you expect out of a beat-em-up these days. In addition, the sound feels messed up when you are bumping it up as if the developers pumped the volume up way too much.

Turtles in Time Reshelled is a disappointing HD remake as whole to a timeless classic that certain gamers loved in the 1990s. While the gameplay is still on point, the visual makeover itself makes the game lose its charm and soul as if they should of kept the original graphics or have it as an option to appeal to the purists. Even the game itself feels like a boring mess from various glitches, generic tunes, and inconsistent framerate. At ten dollars, Reshelled is not worth your time and your money, but since I bought it at a discounted price on the Playstation Store, it is still a tolerable beat-em-up if you feel like playing something old-school with multiple friends together. It is probably best if you stick to the original game on Xbox Live Arcade for your times of kicking some shell or even you track down an arcade machine to play it the way it was intended to be as a good time with 16-bit graphics rather than this boring HD remake.

Score = 5/10

Pros:

• Still as old-school as it gets when it comes down to gameplay
• Quickplay, survival, and online modes does add a little more replay value
• Better with four players both locally and online (assuming no one quits mid-game)

Cons:

• The HD remade graphics are disappointing (makes the game look boring and bland)
• Frequent slowdown when too much is going on
• Bland and generic soundtrack replaces the original tunes
• Action feels claustrophobic at times
• As a whole, this remake is missing a soul that made the original the classic it was

Some quick recap of AI Ranbat 3.2

My first tournament of 2010 for me was at my favorite spot for Street Fighter IV action, which is Arcade Infinity at Rowland Heights for AI Ranbat 3.2. Obviously, I did little to prepare other than just getting some games off at home to get into the groove and have my execution on lock. So how I did yesterday? Well, it was another 2 & out for me which is of course disappointing, but I lost to good friendly players. My first match was against Art who usually uses Honda, but decided to go with Dhalsim first, which surprised me a bit. In case you don't know, Dhalsim can be a frustrating matchup for anyone, but once you get in range (or on our SF4 slang terms... get in that ass), you're pretty much good unless Dhalsim telports out. It didn't take me until the second game to adjust to playing against Art's Dhalsim and it took a random lucky ultra after a blocked slide by me to take that same game. The final game was a close one as I lost the first round by a nailbiter and then got perfected. Then I lost to Nima's Akuma in losers pretty decisively as I'm 50/50 against Akuma players, but when those players are just on their A game, you feel like you can't do anything. Just like that, I was out of the tournament as I lost gracefully, but they were fun matches regardless against those two players. Other than me, the top 8 for this ranbat was pretty unexpected even though the result was similar with ComboJack taking the win and extending his lead in the overall standings. Mr. KOF, an AI regular and godlike at KOF games, takes 2nd place, and Joe Dubbs, one of the best Zangief players in SoCal takes 3rd. The day as a whole felt great hanging out with the Street Fighter community as always even though I didn't go to the Banana Bay after party because I was getting tired and I ate at Life Plaza earlier hanging out with Teresa, Naomi, and Cami. There was even a 3rd Strike ranbat tournament going on at the same time with Gootecks taking it with his Urien as if he still got it in 3S and lots of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 action at the back with KillerKai (also placed top 8 in SF4) on a long streak. So what's next for me with Street Fighter IV? Who knows, I will still play it here and there till Super SF4 comes out as I'm pretty much ready for that game to just come even though I wished I played it at CES last weekend. I discussed some of the details regarding Super with some fellow SF4 players, more specifically 2nd ultras and other things. More SF4 events will be poppin this weekend though such as LA Riots II hosted by Gootecks and the House of Cicada 3v3 tourney (both on Saturday!) as well as others in the future. In the meantime, enjoy some of the videos that came out from this AI tourney with commentary by Sanchez and Shoo.

PSN Demo Showcase for 1/8/2010...

This week's demo showcase on the Playstation Network features two games coming out later this month that might be worth your attention or at least trying out.



First off is a short demo for Capcom's Dark Void which has been known for quite a while. I first played this way back at Comic-Con 2008 and it was a way early build, but showcased what the game is capable of with the vertical cover and the flight mechanics. It was a way early build with bugs and inconsistent framerate, but I still thought it was an okay game at that time. Fast forward to 2010 when the game is close to release and a short 10 minute demo gets released for players to mess with. The flight and standard shooting gets demonstrated for players to get accustomed to. The flight section is a simple tutorial of how to fly and such while the shooting part is your typical third-person cover-based shooter like Gears of War. Put together, the gameplay is okay, but other than the flight sections that remind you of Crimson Skies (those developers are making this game), the general shooting has been executed better in other games. The main character is voiced by everyone's favorite video game voice actor Nolan North (Nathan Drake in the Uncharted games and Desmond in Assassin's Creed 2) and you don't really get a good sense of the story in the demo other than it being the first time you're getting the jetpack. Graphically, the game looks okay for what it is, but don't expect it to look jaw-dropping such as the water not being as detailed, the environments looking a little bland, and so on. I do however dig the soundtrack of this game as it is sounds somewhat different compared to most games of the genre. My time with Dark Void is that it is an okay game for doing what its intended to do when the final product comes out, but it is not something that will blow you away at first glance. After the flop that was the 3D Bionic Commando with a western developer and Capcom publishing it, I feel that Dark Void may get that same fate, which is unfortunate, but likely happening considering the crowded Q1 lineup.

The other game I have messing with this week is the open beta for MAG, developed by Zipper, the folks that brought you the first three SOCOM games. This has been Zipper's baby for a while as well as what they have been up to. MAG to them feels like it is the next level for SOCOM being focused on massively multiplayer online battles. It has also been in beta for some months already only being open for I think this week only with the final game out at the end of the month. If SOCOM 3 felt like an experiment for Zipper, it indeed is in which MAG is expanding on what that started. Basically, this game does not grab me right away the same way SOCOM 3 did. Maybe it is the 256 player online battles with huge maps, there are better shooters out there to get or wait for, or I'm still tired of the genre in general. For shooter fans though, MAG may be worth your time especially for those with only a Playstation 3.

You choose a faction you stick around for the whole game (I picked Valor) and you deploy in the game's maps to take out the opposition in a variety of modes from suppression to sabotage, your typical territories type of game. The customization ranges from getting your kits ready and character's appearance. Weight does play a role in which what weapons you'll be using and the armor as well affecting your movement. Rolling with a standard assault setup (M4A1, M9 pistol, grenades, and a repair kit), its a typical modern-based first-person shooter with classes such as snipers and heavy gunners. The twist to sabotage mode is that once both choke points have been secured by the attacking team, then there's one more final choke point to be captured while the defenders are drawn back to their corner. MAG also follows other standards other shooters have started such as a level up system and more. However, as I said earlier, MAG didn't grab my attention as if it is just another shooter trying to be successful as Battlefield and Modern Warfar 2. If you want to compare betas, even the Bad Company 2 Beta is better than this beta even with one map because I have a better time with that compared to MAG. For the audience it is intended for that type of shooter, then it might be something for you.

Well that's it for the PSN Demo showcase this week. I still think Dark Void and MAG could still be decent games at the end of the day, but I don't see them being special games that everyone will remember. With the month already off to a great start with Bayonetta (still surprisingly passing on it) and the highly anticipated Mass Effect 2 at the end of the month on the 360 and PC, 2010 for games will be great throughout all twelve months. Then again, maybe it is the lack of being in a gaming mood I have been dealing with at the start of the year. I'll just wait for Super Street Fighter IV which is the game that matters to me this year especially with all the coverage for it at CES this week.

First post of 2010 - The newest Super SF4 Trailer...

Well I finally got around to blog something for 2010, which is obviously about my most wanted game of the year, Super Street Fighter IV. This game will have a big presence at this weekend's Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas (basically the only game that matters there since games are not that big at CES anymore) with the full roster revealed so far playable and hopefully the 2nd Ultras (which some of those debuted from this trailer). Also in this new trailer are new alternate costumes for the characters as some are awesome (Balrog's and Zangief going mecha while others feel like misses such as Chun-Li's (not sexy enough), Cammy getting Bison's attire, Rufus and Dan being crazy). The 2nd Ultras though finally get shown and now selectable between which one to roll with before a match starts. Ryu gets his Shin Shoryuken back (aka the Metsu Shoryuken), Ken gets a flaming hurricane kick variant Ultra (similar to his recommended 3rd Strike super art), Dhalsim gets a mid-air throw Ultra, Zangief gets the mid-air 720 ultra (Still makes me say WTF, but hey that's cool), Fuerte gets a crazy one too, and so on. It remains to be seen how useful these 2nd Ultras can be as some possibilities can come out of them such as will Ryu's Metsu Shoryuken have the same options as his Metsu Hadouken Ultra (What I mean is that there so many moves Ryu can utilize that can lead to his Ultra as a combo ender)? How much priority would air command ultras have in the game? Who knows, but let the speculation begin. The trailer also showcases new rival battles featuring Guile/Bison, Ryu/Ken in the temple, Adon/Sagat at the Beautiful Bay, Cody/Guy at Crowded Downtown, and Dee Jay/Rufus at the Overpass stage.

With second ultras now confirmed for Super Street Fighter IV, the only thing that's left on everyone's mind is when the reveal for the 3rd Strike characters (Dudley, Makoto, and Ibuki) will inevitably happen (since everything else according to that rumored list a while back seems likely true so far). I'm counting on that happening next month since the game is now delayed to Spring instead of the crowded March (good for me!) window of amazing games like Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III. I'm ready for Super Street Fighter IV to come out and dying to play it as does everyone else, but I'm willing to have the patience and let the HYPE continue to be embedded in my mind.

Speaking of Street Fighter, that reminds me, I'm playing at another Arcade Infinity Ranbat tournament on Sunday. So we'll see how that goes since I haven't been playing SF4 that much lately due to school being back in my mind again as well as spending more time and money with my friends (Specifically the one night Vegas trip last weekend, which was fun!). I'm already trying to cut down on the game purchases for the year as a New Year's Resolution so I can spend money on the better things in life rather than my own pleasures too (passing on Bayonetta as an example), but there will be still reviews of games I wouldn't pass on like Heavy Rain, FFXIII, GOW III, and of course Super SFIV.

With 2010 off and running, I'm ready for whatever is ahead for me this year as 2009 changed my life around as a whole.

UPDATE - CES is off and running and tons of new Super Street Fighter IV footage are showing up with more new ultras being seen for the first time. Take a look at them below:

Akuma's 2nd ultra could of been better (Where's the ground pound super?).



Viper gets a better looking 2nd Ultra!!! (Who knows how useful it will be in terms of setting it up).



Cammy gets an interesting one and it only works on counter hit? Hmmm...