Having Pho with ABDC....

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

Streets of Rage Remake Appreciation

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

Comic-Con 2008 Megapost....

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

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

Action Figures I bought:

• Marcus Fenix (from Gears of War)
• Kratos with Armor (God of War II)
• More Street Fighter ones: Blue Cammy, Red/White Guile, and Gouken

I was bummed that SOTA Toys were sold out of their SDCC exclusive action figures of Rainbow Mika, Zangief, E. Honda, and Dhalsim (Oh well, wait till they're out online).

Random Sightings:

• Greg Oden promoting some basketball cartoon for Shonen Jump.
• Saw Cesar and Mike Nelson from 1up/Gamevideos.
• Chris Gore from G4 doing some trivia competition at the G4 booth.
• Supernatural autograph signing (don't care for that show).

My main highlight for the show is the games and arguably the best display of games for a Comic-Con yet (It feels like public E3 and better than E for All).

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



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

Those are pretty much my favorite moments of the whole day as I break down what I else I played and I seen gaming-wise.

• Capcom also had other games like Dark Void, which it plays like Gears with stop and pop shooting. The vertical cover and the jetpack/flying mechanics keep it original from Gears, which is cool. The framerate needs some work, but this is probably an early build of the game. I won't mind buying this one (played the 360 version).
  
• Yes, Mega Man 9 is hard. I played it for a minute and kept dying. Watching others get through the level feels better. Only the WiiWare version was playable.
• I played Soul Calibur IV and Afro Samurai at Namco's booth as I didn't play SC IV that much since I'm going to get it tomorrow (played three games - picked Nightmare, Misturugi, and the Secret Apprentice on PS3). Afro Samurai, on the other hand, is fun hack and slashing with anime dismemberment. I just sliced and diced some dudes (A slowmo mechanic is there for accurate slices) throughout the demo. The camera does need some work however.
• The Sony booth is a little disappointing with not much of their first-party stuff playable, but the quality of games there is good. I only played MotorStorm: Pacific Rift there and it is still MotorStorm, but now in the jungle. The race is a long two lapper with alternate paths and choosing between a racing truck and a bike. The new PAIN DLC, SingStar, Buzz PS3, some PSP stuff, and the amazing LittleBig Planet were also playable. Unforuntately, I didn't play LBP, but I did watch some of the custom stuff while walking around. I don't think LBP demos well in the public, it is better in a private demo.
• The Activision booth is also a little disappointing with Ghostbusters pretty much the only good playable game (didn't try it myself) with other games I don't care about there too like The new Mummy movie and a new Crash game. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion weren't playable in the public as they showed trailers instead.
• Konami's booth wasn't much either with stuff I'm not interested in (MGS4 is there, but it's already out). Playable there were Castlevania Judgment for the Wii, the new Castlevania for DS, Silent Hill Homecoming, and DDR Hottest Party 2 (Forgot the others).
• Microsoft made a last-minute showing having a small booth (The first time they have a booth at Comic-Con I think). The retail game showing is disappointing with only Too Human playable (Banjo and VP2 would have been better). The XBLA games are indeed playable with Braid (out on August 6), Geo Wars 2 (out Wednesday), Castle Crashers (out on August 27), Lode Runner, and Galaga Legions (out on August 20). I only played Geo Wars 2 and Galaga Legions as GW2 is more Geometry Wars, which is good (Played Deadline and Waves), and Galaga Legions, which is pretty cool as a different take on the Galaga formula of backup ships firing at all angles and wave after wave of enemies to blast as the game shows the path they're going. I also set the high score there. There were lots of neat 360 Elites there on display with the Gears 2 Elite (Red), The Dark Knight Elite, and the Lego Batman Elite. The Gears 2 poster they gave away is pretty cool also.
  

That's it for the detailed analysis of some games I played. The rest of the gaming is what I seen because of the crowds. I'm just going to list the games with maybe some small comment about them.

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - The kids were crowding over it so I didn't want to wait. A LucasArts rep did say a demo will come out on XBL Marketplace and PSN next month (maybe the same level I seen there).
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Wii) - Also the kids were going crazy with this waggling out of control.
• Fracture
  
• Lego Batman - Its a Lego game and that's what matters (The Lego booth is crowded with new Clone Wars Legos for the new movie and more).
• Mirror's Edge - I was bummed this wasn't playable at the EA booth as they were just demoing it. It looks good in person and a free comic was given away.
• Dead Space - There was a line to play this (10 minute demo) in a blocked area because it is rated Mature. I rather wait in a line for SF IV than this anyway. Free posters and comics were given away too.
• Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
• Mercanaries 2: World in Flames - Hopefully a demo comes out before release.
• Battle Forge
• Saint's Row 2 - You can play the intro scene of escaping the prison. Still looks like Saint's Row with the graphics not really improved.
• De Blob
• Darksiders
• Red Faction: Guerilla
• WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 - Inferno matches!!!
• DC Universe Online
• Tales of Vesperia
• Prince of Persia - Like Mirror's Edge, I was bummed it wasn't playable when I stopped by the booth as some Frag Doll and a Ubisoft guy were demoing it for the crowd.
• Neopets
• Naruto: Broken Bond
• A Namco Naruto game
• Games with NICK Cartoons

Games Notably Absent:

• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - I looked everywhere for this, but it wasn't there for the public.
• Square-Enix lineup - Nothing playable for Squenix games as they showed trailers for upcoming games like Chrono Trigger DS and Infinite Undiscovery. They still have lots of toys from the various games they're known for (Mostly Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts stuff).
• The Music Games - Activision and EA had booths and no shows for Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2. Comic-Con is probably not the place to show these games.
• PSN lineup - No Fat Princess, Ratchet for Clank: Quest for Booty, and Pikeljunk Eden there.
• Nintendo - Another no show for Nintendo for first-party games on Wii (Wario Land Shake and Mario Super Sluggers). The only Nintendo presence is pretty much the Pokemon booth of DS games, trading card games, and others (The giant Pikachu too).
• Resident Evil 5 - It would be cool if it was there playable (The E3 08 trailer is shown). Degeneration trailer was also shown.

The non-gaming booths that looked cool

• Star Trek booth (Hyping the new movie)
  
• Star Wars booth with Stormtroopers, Clone Troppers, etc.
• Lego Booth with Lego Batman / Robin, and others.
• WB Booth (I wanted those big bags they give out every year)
• Watchmen
• Marvel

Cosplay I noticed: (Not much for a Sunday crowd)

• Joker seems to be the trend for this year's Comic-Con thanks to The Dark Knight movie (A mix of old and new Joker cosplayers there).
• Some dude was holding a giant stuffed Kirby in the air.
• A Myspace cardboard (Dumb!!!)
• The Red SPD Ranger
• Pikachu
• Ryu and Ken at the SFIV area
• Various anime characters

That's it for Comic-Con 2008.... We'll do this again next year if I'm there again.

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

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

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


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

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

Score = 7/10

Pros:

• Has the 1942 feel nailed down
• Co-op is the recommended way to play this game with the ability to do Joint Strikes
• Has enough replay value with different planes and difficulties
• Great in short bursts

Cons:

• Short game (can be beaten in less than a hour)
• The bloom effects and WWII filtering might be distracting for some players
• Repetitive boss battles and enemy sets
  

New Street Fighter IV Anime Trailer at Comic-Con

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

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

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

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

ABDC Season 2 Episode 6 Recap

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

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



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



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

RANT Mode has commenced!!!!



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



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



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

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

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

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

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

Again - Why America????

The New Trailer for Punisher: War Zone

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

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