One Year Later & Still an Amazing Space Epic... The Mass Effect 2 (PS3) Review

Last year, Xbox 360 owners experienced arguably one of the best games of this console generation with Mass Effect 2. Now, Playstation 3 owners that don't also own a 360 now get a chance to see what the fuss is all about with this BioWare shooter/RPG franchise. One year later, Mass Effect 2 is still that amazing from beginning to end and the PS3 version feels more complete with some additions. These additions range from the DLC that the 360 version had (Shadow Broker, Overlord, etc.) and it is now already in the disc. Since the PS3 missed out on the original Mass Effect, there is an interactive comic at the beginning of the game recapping the major events of that game along with making the key decisions that will play along in this sequel. If you thought BioWare will put out a lazy port for the Playstation 3, think again because Mass Effect 2 is still as good if not better.

Mass Effect 2 continues the adventures of Commander Shepard as his ship, The Normandy, was brutally attacked by an unknown race known as The Collectors. The ship got completely destroyed and it was like the end of the line for Shepard until a human organization, Ceberus, comes in and gives him a second chance of life and retribution. The Illusive Man is behind Shepard being brought back to life and gives him a "suicide mission" of taking down the Collectors at their homeworld by going through the Omega 4 Relay. These Collectors are apparently working for the Reapers, the big enemies of the franchise that almost took out The Citadel in the first game. It is up to Shepard to assemble an expert team of people with varieties of skills to achieve this "suicide mission" for humanity's sake and pretty much everyone else's. The story is pretty straightforward with a certain goal to accomplish, but of course with BioWare it is more than just the main mission and being also a character study diving into the various faces you recruit during the game. The philosophical ties are also worth exploring with these characters through the course of the game learning about their morals and their ethical ways of their lives.

While the original Mass Effect was an amazing game on its own, it was a flawed experience even from a gameplay standpoint. BioWare's solution to this to make Mass Effect 2 more shooter-y than a RPG with a combat being a huge focus. The approach did work even though it is debatable if it is now classified as a third-person shooter than a RPG. Deep down, Mass Effect 2 is still a RPG at heart with the RPG-like elements from the dialogue-heavy choices you make throughout the game, but with improved shooting combat, it is a better gameplay experience. The shooting feels more in vein of a Gears of War with cover-based combat along with rechargeable health/shields and the biotic powers the franchise has been known for. Your squadmates will do their part of the mission as their AI do a good job for the most part of helping out and not dying as much for you to waste medi-gels to revive them during a kill room against enemies. You can still dish out orders for them to hang at certain positions for a tactical advantage, but honestly, I didn't need to use orders that much throughout the game. Like the original game, there are varieties of classes to choose from at the start that suits your playstyle from the standard Soldier class of being gun-heavy, to my personal favorite Vanguard maintaining a balance of guns and biotic powers especially the awesome charge attack.

Other than the combat being improved, other gameplay elements have been improved as well in Mass Effect 2. Exploring planets for minerals is not as much as a chore anymore from the uncontrollable vehicular sections back in the first game to now just launching probes when scanning them. Speaking of vehicular sections, there is a big lack of them this time around as these only appear in DLC missions like Shadow Broker and Overlord, which I mentioned earlier are in the game at the get go being able to play them as early as possible. There are still side missions to play through exploring planets and visiting cities, but there is not as much of them compared to the original being way repetitive in design back then. The franchise signature dialogue sequences have improved drastically from generic scenes of standing to more dynamic scenes with various camera angles during conversations and basically making them feel like you're talking to someone in reality. Paragon and Renegade choices still matter throughout the game and there are times when you to have to press a button for an interrupt in a good or bad way pending with how you want your Shepard to be. BioWare was able to learn from their mistakes from the first game and were able to make a better game with Mass Effect 2.

Graphically, Mass Effect 2 looks and runs a little better on PS3 due to BioWare actually using the engine that is being used for Mass Effect 3 in this version. Character models look amazing and detailed and the various backgrounds you visit look beautiful as well. Sure, there will be many moments where the framerate will slow down when things get hectic during combat situations. Plus, there were times where the game gets a little buggy with enemies being stuck to the point you can't continue progressing causing a restart to the nearest checkpoint or a previous save. In addition, your character can be just stuck in the geometry walking around areas you didn't plan to walk on. During a side mission for example, it felt like I was floating in the air walking around. There is also a mandatory install for the PS3 version, but even load times feel a little long especially when navigating around floors of your ship. Another nitpick is some areas not looking as good as other areas especially in Overlord where it feels like textures were missing. Despite all those nitpicks, Mass Effect 2 still looks great on PS3 and the potential is there for Mass Effect 3 to look better with the engine. As for the sound, it is a top notch effort once again by BioWare from the soundtrack to the voice acting. The soundtrack, even feels a little similar to the first game in regards to tone, is still one of the best gaming soundtracks that fit the game's style exceptionally well. Voice acting is also superb in all aspects for the variety of characters from Martin Sheen being the Illusive Man, Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda (Their character models are based on their real-life counterparts), Seth Green returning as Joker, and so on.

One year later and Mass Effect 2 is still an amazing space epic from beginning to end. Even though most of the RPG elements are limited such as the armor customization for your characters and less weapons to choose from and customize, the improved core combat makes the game feel better as a gameplay experience. Some say the game feels more of a cover-based third-person shooter than a RPG, but deep down, it is still a BioWare RPG at heart with the signature dialogue sequences making Paragon/Renegade choices on the fly. Plus, your choices and results after you beat the game will affect things in Mass Effect 3 if you plan to import your Shepard there, which is a nice bonus as well continuing the story by your choices. The PS3 bonuses are good having the DLC available on disc out of the gate and the digital interactive comic recapping the first game for those that never played it. In addition, BioWare continues to deliver an amazing visual and audio production from how beautiful the game looks and the movie-like voice acting. For those that missed out the game last year on the Xbox 360 and even those that wandering what this franchise is all about, you can not miss out on this version of Mass Effect 2. It is still highly regarded as one of the best games of this console generation and I support this notion. As a fan of this franchise, bring on the third game and we'll see if BioWare can end it with a bang.

Score = 9.5/10

Pros:

• More content out of the gate for the PS3 version with the DLC that is been available for the 360 on disc plus the ME1 interactive comic.
• The core combat has improved significantly becoming more shooter-y
• Top notch production by BioWare both in visual and audio departments
• The RPG elements, despite limited this time around, are still the heart of this franchise, and still done exceptionally well (the dialogue sequences in general).
• Moral choices still matter throughout the game and for Mass Effect 3 if you're planning to import your Shepard there.

Cons:

• Framerate will slowdown when things get hectic especially in combat sequences
• Can be a bit buggy at times as well

A fitting end to MvC2 High Stakes Money Matches...

Last Sunday at West Coast Warzone 3 was history being made as arguably the last high stakes money match in Marvel vs. Capcom 2's existence happened between Neo vs. Clockwork for 15,000 dollars. Being there in person to experience the HYPE was unlike anything I have witnessed in the world of fighting games. The environment was just insane with one side cheering for Clockwork and another side cheering for Neo. Even though Clockwork was considered the crowd favorite because of being the originator of Strider/Dr. Doom/Sentinel (called team Clockwork for a reason) and Neo has been playing a solid Santhrax (Storm/Sentinel/Captain Commando) being undefeated in high stakes money matches. Sometimes, the underdog is what you want to cheer for, but for me, you gotta go where is the money is at, which is for Neo (safe pick) specifically if you're side betting in the hundreds and even thousands of dollars. While most of SoCal was behind Clock, even top players of MvC2 and SSF4 knew where the money is at, and it was up on Neo's side. Hanging out with the likes of Marn, Filipino Champ, Crizzle, Dark Prince, Noel Brown, and Flash Metroid was fun stuff as Facebook references are on Marvel slang now. There were moments that some drunk and crazy girl that was cheering for Clockwork losing her voice like no other would take her drunkenness overboard and then Ricky Ortiz would slap her. Anyway, enjoy the first to 15 match between two amazing Marvel players and witness the HYPE why this game is still the business for 10 years because Marvel 3 won't be the same regarding HYPE.

Square-Enix Going Big for 2011 at Japan... (Trailers for FFXIII-2 & Versus XIII)

It was rumored for a week, but now its official. Final Fantasy XIII-2 exists and its coming out in Japan by the end of the year (stateside next year). This means a return for Lightning as it seems like she's more of a knight. Nothing else besides that was revealed during the clip other than part of the XIII ending (spoilers, but good thing they didn't reveal the real spoilery part of it). This is the second direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game and plus X-2 was good, but not amazing. We'll see if XIII-2 fixed the problems XIII had as both PS3/360 versions are planned for release.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII, on the other hand, is still amazing and this new trailer reveals a lot of more than Squenix has in the past. If you thought the CG cutscenes were amazing in XIII, think again because Versus is already blowing it away with the visuals. Plus, believe in Nomura (the man behind the Kingdom Hearts franchise) to deliver the goods again even though it has been development for a while. Even the trailer style is straight up Kingdom Hearts with the random quotes. There's even gameplay in this clip which seems Kingdom Hearts-y but in the next generation. If you want Kingdom Hearts 3, you'll have to wait longer as this fills the void for that and maybe provide the template for KH3 to happen since the gameplay is somewhat similar. Versus XIII should be out next year for the PS3 as still no 360 version is announced (likely at this year's E3).

All I Do is Party Party Party... A LTTP Review of DJ Hero 2

Even though I never owned the original DJ Hero, I loved the game a lot playing it at my cousin's house to the point I am pretty good it on hard difficulty five starring mixes left and right. Among the oversaturated Hero lineup two years ago, DJ Hero was the underappreciated one of the bunch since it was different and people were starting to give up on the genre as a whole as it started to become an one hit wonder. However, those who played it appreciated it for what it is and it was actually a pretty good game laying the groundwork for what has become a legitimate franchise. The developers Freestyle Games have learned from what they missed out on and were able to make a more complete sequel with DJ Hero 2. Basically, DJ Hero 2 is a significant improvement over the original from more modes, gameplay additions, and better collection of mixes that spread among numerous genres of music.

DJ Hero 2's main career mode is called Empire as it is pretty much like the first game with some slight differences. Most of the selections will be a setlist of certain mixes (usually three or four) where you scratch and crossfade away to as many stars to unlock more sets and venues increasing your worldwide rep as an upcoming DJ. On your way towards achieving that worldwide success, you run into other DJs and even famous ones as you battle them in certain mixes, which is the game's biggest addition being more multiplayer focused. The main DJ battle mode is about performing well getting more checkpoints than your opponent by doing well in the various sections of a mix. In the specific checkpoint battles, you can even end the battle quickly by the knocking out your opponent getting a certain number of checkpoints first. These battles can be intense at times as even if you can 100% a certain section, you can still lose the checkpoint because your opponent nailed more perfect notes and did better at the fresstyle sections, another big addition in DJ Hero 2, which I will mention later. Sometimes, it can just depend on luck if your opponent messes up at times, but these battles are fun and challenging providing a completely different gameplay experience than just any normal mix. There are also a few songs that have to be unlocked in the Empire mode, but the majority of the songs are playable out of the gate on Quickplay. Other unlockable goodies from playing Empire are more outfits for the DJs and power decks, which I'll also mention later on.

Other than the main Empire mode, there is the standard Quickplay mode where you can play any mix you want to making setlists as well if you want to play numerous songs after another. There are nice additions to setlist management as you can save setlists so you don't have to create the same one over and over again. Another notable addition is being able to like mixes Facebook style, which goes along with the social aspects of the game. Also in the Empire mode, but available on their own after played there are megamixes. These megamixes are certain sets by the more known DJs like David Guetta, Deadmau5, and Tiesto as these aren't just your normal sets. The mixes in these sets flow continuously as if you're at some nightclub dancing away hearing the transition from one song to another, which makes these megamixes sound great. I hope we see more of this concept in future DJ Hero games because these are the closest into the real club experience. One of the more important social features in DJ Hero 2 is the Hero Feed. Also somewhat borrowing from Facebook, this feed tracks your progress in the game, lets you know when a friend has beaten your score in a mix, and any news of DLC that is released. The nice part of this feed with the friends beating your scores is that you can instantly try to beat their score and claim your top status back, which goes along with the competitive aspect of the game when you see your friends' ranking while playing a mix. I love the social element of the game which gives the game's solo modes more replay value especially if you have friends at your skill level competing for high scores.

The core gameplay concept of DJ Hero 2 is fundamentally the same as it uses the same controller from the first game as you press the three buttons, scratching (in specific directions on Expert difficulty), crossfading, spiking, dialing, euphoria for a bigger multiplier, rewinding, and so on without failing at all. The new gameplay additions though make the game feel like you're doing more than what you did originally. Held notes and scratches are examples are that especially in the Tiesto mixes, rewinding has improved significantly as you can rewind complete sections if timed right, but the big addition is the freestyle sections. There are sections in a mix where you can crossfade like crazy, but there is a certain element in doing them right as you can't mash the fader left and right as it won't be an effective freestyle. Freestyle scratching is a different story as you can scratch in any direction you want to even though you do that on hard and lower difficulties. The red part of the turntable is changed as you can't mash Flava Flav samples anymore as the samples are more related to the mixes now, which is a good thing at the end of the day. Then there's the power decks that allow more scoring opportunities like more points while scratching, hyperspeed (which I prefer to go with), and a bigger multiplier than can go to x10, which kind of ruins the leaderboards a bit, but not much if you aren't into going for the top score. Borrowing from the Guitar Hero games, there is also Party Play, which can drop in and drop out at any time playing mixes. Also improving the party aspect is the addition of vocals, but it seems tacked on as it is similar to the Guitar Hero system and signing certain parts of songs that go back and forth from one song to another seems weird at times. Plus, vocals are not in all of the game's 80 mixes, but at least half of them have it. It is still nice though that it exists in DJ Hero 2 for the sake of parties.

The online aspect of DJ Hero 2 has also significantly improved because it has become more a competitive game with all the battle modes available to play. Normal DJ battles in the battle-only mixes and checkpoint battles are playable, along with other multiplayer only modes such as star battle, compete for the most stars in a mix, streak battles to compete for the longest streak, and accumulator, which is similar to streak, but your streaks keep adding after storing them by pressing the euphoria button. There is a leveling system for the online modes that goes up to 50 as you level up for winning mixes, battles that can have up to five mixes, beating people that have a higher level than you, and so on. The only rewards you're getting from online is more medals and tags to choose from a la Street Fighter IV and Call of Duty for performing this many perfect notes, scratches, etc. The online experience can be a mixed bag though depending which difficulty you're playing on as you can be playing on Hard while your opponent plays on Easy or Medium as it can be unfair at times especially in streak and accumulator battles where there are more notes on higher difficulties. Online strategies can be weird though depending with your playstyle going the safe route on lower difficulties hoping your opponent screws up on harder difficulties, which dampers the balance a lot. Imagine messing up on Easy on a streak battle and you have no chance of coming back against someone is 100% a mix on Hard or Expert. When you and your opponent are playing on the same difficulty though, the online experience becomes better and even as it depends on skill than luck. Despite some issues especially with people ragequitting knowing that they will lose rather than try to finish the battle out, DJ Hero 2 has one of the better online competitive experiences in the rhythm genre.

Graphically, DJ Hero 2 looks pretty good even though like all rhythm games, you're focusing on the chart of notes popping up rather than the environment you're DJing in. The venues look great and there are a variety of them from the small club to some big stadium. Even the famous DJs look really close to their real-life counterparts and not as cartoony to the point Freestyle games nail their signature poses such as David Guetta fist pumping and Tiesto stretching his arms out while the camera is spinning around 360 degrees. You still don't see the DJs not actually DJing at some points like the first game if you want to get nitpicky, but it is pretty minor. The presentation has also improved over the original as it is easier to navigate in the game's menus finding what you want to do.

While the first game's soundtrack was pretty good, DJ Hero 2 turned it up to 11 with more mixes and more genres of music to mess around from. Personally, I liked the fact Freestyle Games added more house music since there was a lack of it in the original. With the house music they added, they were able to get the hits from Deadmau5, Kaskade, that "Show Me Love" song, and more. There is still a lot of hip-hop and pop in the game especially the mainstream representation as you still get classics like "California Love," you can get an awesome mix of that and recent hit "Nothing on You" by B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars. A lot of mixes in the game that I thought would suck definitely impressed me and feel underrated compared to most of the more played mixes like ones revolving recent songs like Enimem's "Not Afraid" with Lil Wayne's "Lollipop." A variety of artists from over the decades and various genres are in this game from Janet Jackson, Salt N' Pepa, Pitbull, Lady Gaga, Missy Elliot, Sean Paul, Metallica, Kanye West, and I can go on. There are definitely songs that you will definitely be interested in playing, but of course there will be some misses depending with your music tastes.

DJ Hero 2 is definitely a great sequel to the original that was able to lay the groundwork and core concepts as Freestyle Games were able to make a more complete game full of features. From the Empire mode, online, and the social aspects, there are plenty of things of DJ Hero 2 especially with friends either offline to party with or online competing for high scores and testing each other's skills in the various battle modes. Even though the online experience can be a mixed bag depending on which difficulty you play and the amount of ragequitters still months after the game's release, it is still cool to have a good online competitive element to a rhythm game. The soundtrack is also amazing with more than 80 mixes plus downloadable content (depends how long the DLC schedule will be) even though there will be hits and misses depending with your preference of music. While it still feels like an underappreicated franchise because of the sales (bundle prices are affordable these days which is why I bought it recently) and the publisher, DJ Hero 2 one of the better rhythm games to come out in recent times. Hopefully, DJ Hero 3 is coming and I'm interested to see what Freestyle Games is able to do to attempt to top this one.

Score = 9/10

Pros:

• Gameplay improvements add more to the core DJing experience
• Numerous modes to play both offfline with Empire and online with the competitive battles
• The new DJ battles are a great addition making the game feel more competitive
• The social elements are also spot on from the Hero Feed being able to see how you stack up against your friends at an instant
• The soundtrack is amazing spreading across numerous genres (more house "clubby" stuff personally is great news)

Cons:

• Vocals feel tacked on, but hey, its still nice that its available
• Online experience can be a mixed bag pending on which difficulty you play - it doesn't feel balanced at times

My Top 10 DJ Hero 2 Mixes

I have been playing DJ Hero 2 for the past several days (yeah I bought it) and even though I don't plan to review it, I'll say that it is a pretty good sequel and finally I get to own it to play through Expert difficulty. I did beat Empire mode in two days because I'm crazy. Anyway, now that I played through all the mixes, I might as well share my ten favorite ones in no particular order (factoring in DLC I bought too). I think I did a similar list with the first week of the game's release, but now that I played it... some mixes really surprised me how good they are.

Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At?" vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll"

Usher feat. Will.I.Am - "OMG" (DLC)

Robin S. - "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Radio Edit) vs. Calvin Harris - "I'm Not Alone"

Pitbull - "Calle Ocho" (I Know You Want Me) vs. Nightcrawlers - "Push the Feelin On" (MK Mix 95)

Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"

Major Lazer feat. Vybz Kartel - "Pon de Floor" vs. Harold Faltermayer - "Axel F"

Iyaz - "Replay" vs. Rihanna - "Rude Boy"

The Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip - "Galvanize" (Hardest song in the game!!!)

Deadmau5 & Kaskade - "Move for Me"

Deadmau5 & Kaskade - "I Remember"

Some New Uncharted 3 Footage...

I'll let the game speak for itself how amazing it is so far.

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.

100) Rick Ross - "I'm Not A Star"

99) Ke$ha - "Your Love is a Drug"

98) Willow Smith - "Whip My Hair"

97) Will.i.am & Nicki Minaj - "Check It Out"

96) Taio Cruz - "Higher" feat. Travis McCoy

95) Nicki Minaj - "Right Thru Me"

94) Baby Bash - "Fantasy Girl" feat. Marty James

93) Diddy (Dirty Money) - "Loving No More" feat. Drake

92) Travis McCoy - "Billionaire" feat. Bruno Mars

91) Justin Bieber - "Somebody to Love (Remix)" feat. Usher

90) Rick Ross - "B.M.F." feat. Styles P

89) M.I.A. - "XXXO"

88) Yolanda Be Cool vs. DCUP - "We No Speak Americano"

87) Black Eyed Peas - "Imma Be/Rockin That Body"

86) Jay Sean - "2012 (It Ain't The End)" feat. Nicki Minaj

85) Ciara - "Gimme Dat"

84) Taio Cruz - "Dirty Picture" feat. Ke$ha

83) Jeremih - "Down on Me" feat. 50 Cent

82) Chris Brown - "Yeah 3x"

81) Justin Bieber - "Baby" feat. Ludacris

80) Kelis - "4th of July (Fireworks)"

79) Swedish House Mafia vs. Tinie Tempah - "Miami to Ibiza"

78) Young Jeezy - "Lose My Mind" feat. Piles

77) N.E.R.D. - "Party People"

76) Ice Cube - "I Rep That West"

75) Dr. Dre - "Kush" feat. Snoop Dogg & Akon

74) Drake - "Miss Me" feat. Lil' Wayne

73) Kid Cudi - "Erase Me" feat. Kanye West

72) Sean Kingston - "Eenie Meenie" feat. Justin Bieber

71) Ke$ha - "Take It Off"

70) Rick Ross - "Aston Martin Music" feat. Christette Michele & Drake

69) Ne-Yo - "Champagne Life"

68) Robin Thicke - It's In the Mornin' feat. Snoop Dogg

67) Usher - "There Goes My Baby"

66) Nelly - "Just A Dream"

65) Mike Posner - "Please Don't Go"

64) Nicki Minaj - "Your Love"

63) Ciara - "Ride" feat. Ludacris

62) Alicia Keys - "Unthinkable (I'm Ready)"

61) Drake - "Find Your Love"

60) Cee-Lo Green - "Bright Lights, Bigger City"

59) Linkin Park - "The Catalyst"

58) Gorillaz - "Stylo" feat. Mos Def & Bobby Womack

57) Eminem - "Not Afraid"

56) B.o.B. - "Airplanes" feat. Hayley Williams

55) Bruno Mars - "Grenade"

54) Janelle Monae - "Cold War"

53) Ne-Yo - "Beautiful Monster"

52) Axwell - "Leave the World Behind"

51) Diddy (Dirty Money) - "Hello, Good Morning" feat. T.I. & Rick Ross

50) Enrique Iglesias - "I Like It" feat. Pitbull

49) Big Boi - "Shutterbugg" feat. Cutty

48) Timbaland - "Carry Out" feat. Justin Timberlake

47) Kelis - "Acapella"

46) Clinton Sparks - "Favorite DJ" feat. DJ Class & Jermaine Dupri

45) David Guetta - "Getting Over You (Remix)" feat. Chris Willis, Fergie, & LMFAO

44) Ke$ha - "We R Who We R"

43) Katy Perry - "California Girls" feat. Snoop Dogg

42) Lady Gaga - "Telephone" feat. Beyonce

41) Kanye West - "Monster" feat. Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, & Bon Iver

40) Usher - "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)"

39) DJ Khaled - "All I Do is Win" feat. Ludacris, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, & T-Pain

38) Pitbull - "Hey Baby (Drop it to the Floor)" feat. T-Pain

37) YG - "Toot It and Boot It"

36) Drake - "Over"

35) Trey Songz - "Bottoms Up" feat. Nicki Minaj

34) Ludacris - "My Chick Bad" feat. Nicki Minaj

33) Rick Ross - "Super High" feat. Ne-Yo

32) Rihanna - "What's My Name? feat. Drake

31) Katy Perry - "Teenage Dream"

30) Lady Gaga - "Alejandro"

29) Far East Movement - "Rocketeer" feat. Ryan Tedder

28) Kanye West - "Power" feat. Dwele

27) Janelle Monae - "Tightrope" feat. Big Boi

26) Cee-Lo Green - "F*** You"

25) Taio Cruz - "Break Your Heart" feat. Ludacris

24) Justin Michael & Kemal - "Her World Goes On"

23) Flo Rida - "Club Can't Handle Me" feat. David Guetta

22) N.E.R.D. - "Hot N' Fun" feat. Nelly Furtado

21) La Roux - "Bulletproof"

20) Katy Perry - "Firework"

19) Lloyd Banks - "Beamer, Benz, & Bentley" feat. Juelz Santana

18) Chris Brown - "Dueces" feat.Tyga & Kevin McCall

17) Rihanna - "Rude Boy"

16) Usher - "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" feat. Pitbull

15) David Guetta - "Memories" feat. Kid Cudi

14) Lil' Jon - "Outta Your Mind" feat. LMFAO

13) Cali Swag District - "Teach Me How to Dougie"

12) Taio Cruz - "Dynamite"

11) Eminem - "Love The Way You Lie" feat. Rihanna"

10) Bruno Mars - "Just The Way You Are"

9) Swedish House Mafia - "One" feat. Pharrell

8) Drake - "Fancy" feat. T.I. & Swizz Beatz

7) Far East Movement - "Like a G6"

6) B.o. B. - "Nothing on You" feat. Bruno Mars

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...