Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Top 100 Songs of 2010

My end of year blogging grind concludes with the long list of my top 100 songs of 2010. It will be a familiar format like how I did it last year. Also, the majority of the songs will have their video attached, so enjoy.

5) Mike Posner - "Cooler Than Me (Single Mix)"



This song was just too sick when it came out at the beginning of the year and still is today.

4) Rihanna - "Only Girl (In the World)"



Let's face it, this song is what Rihanna needed for her latest album Loud to be successful. Plus, I just go nuts every time it gets played, so just imagine me at the clubs going off. Oh, the video is just perfect for this song too.

3) Wiz Khalifa - "Black & Yellow"



This is like the catchiest song I heard in a long time. I was late to the "Black & Yellow" train, but now I know why everyone loves the chorus because "Uh huh, u know what it is." Of course, this song has spawned many remixes especially LA's favorite "Purp & Yellow" in honor of the Lakers.

2) Kanye West - "Runaway" feat. Pusha T



From the moment he premiered it at the MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye's "Runaway" is just one of those songs that are pure genius. So let's have a toast for the u know what.

1) Usher feat. Will.I.Am - "OMG"



Oh my gosh...

PSN Demo Showcase for 12/22/10

The Playstation Store had to go nuts on this week's update since Christmas is just around the corner (well this weekend!) as they put out a lot of games to download, a PS1 classic I remembered loving with Front Mission 3, the Neo Geo station (that's a whole another story), lots of DLC, and of course, there big demos. It is appropriate we do a Demo Showcase post with these three big games that are out next month.



We start off with a sequel to one of the better original games of this console generation with Dead Space 2. Honestly, I didn't play the original at all and this demo was first time with this rising franchise. Playing through it late at night, I can see why this game is pretty crazy and the sequel will take things to the next level. The way Visceral Games does the HUD in these games is still pretty cool for today's times as more and more games are trying to have as limited a HUD as possible. What I classify Dead Space though is a survival shooter, as Issac Clarke, you are trying to survive the Necromorph threat with some weapons at your disposal, but with limited ammo at times. We'll see with the sequel if they made the game more shooter-y, but so far they have retained the survival aspect as any enemy can just swoop on in and kill you if you're not careful. Plus, this is a very atmospheric game with dark backgrounds, so you're expected to get a little spooked when enemies pop up. The initial scare does kick in, but it depends how much you can take scares in a game like this. I didn't get a chance to play the multiplayer beta, which is another big feature for Dead Space 2, but it seems like another of those games that is willing to take a chance having some sort of a multiplayer component to an otherwise single-player heavy game. Dead Space 2 is out next month and already shaping off to be the first big gaming hit of 2011.



Mass Effect 2 finally comes out for PS3 next month and good thing EA decided to release a pretty lengthy demo to give PS3 newcomers a chance what they're missing out on the Xbox 360 versions. They already gave you a scenario that you didn't decide on for this demo as there are two main sections to play through, which are the introduction to Jacob and Miranda as well as the part you're recruiting Mordin. This was also my first time with the game as I didn't play it on 360 in hopes of maybe getting it for myself to continue the story and get ready for Mass Effect 3. The BioWare choices model is still in place as well as making easy Paragon/Renegade decisions especially on the spot when an icon appears on the corner. The camera angles were still fixed in the dialogue-heavy cutscenes as some were just weird at times, so I'm assuming they're fixed for the final PS3 version. I can't make exact comparisons between the two console versions graphically, but the PS3 version so far looks fine to me. As far as gameplay is concerned, it still felt like Mass Effect with the shooting, which seems to be improved, and biotic powers along with the wheel to access different weapons and powers (I rolled with my class that I rocked from the first game, which was the Vanguard class). We'll see in the final game if people were right of Mass 2 being more shooter-heavy and as much RPG elements as they wanted. After playing through the demo, I'm more likely on getting Mass Effect 2 on PS3 next month as I enjoyed the first game a lot on 360 and I never had the opportunity to continue the story of Shepard till now.



Now for a little more cutesy as a demo for LittleBigPlanet 2 came out yesterday too. This demo is pretty much a story mode introduction as many people had their opportunity to mess around with the new create tools making any game they want to with the beta. Three story levels are available to play here as they demonstrate Sackboy's new toys with grappling hooks and Robo-buns. I haven't noticed any significant changes to the platforming as it felt the same to me for now, but now there are crazier levels to go through in this new entry. Despite the demo being story mode only, this game is pretty big and loaded with content like the first game with all the user-created levels. Honestly I didn't get that much into the first LBP, but I still have high hopes for LBP2. Maybe its not for me, but we'll see if I get it next month.