Current plans for G Unit Ver1's World in the coming months.

Since its summer, I need to get back on the review train and hopefully have my reviews of inFAMOUS and Punch-Out!! this week. Plus, expect the usual Street Fighter IV shenanigans periodically as I continue to play it every now and then to get better (G2-D in Championship Mode) along with me going to SoCal SF4 events like this Saturday's Ladies of SF4 tourney at Arcade Infinity and John Rog's West Coast Warzone next month (that's a maybe). I don't see myself going to Evo next month at Vegas even though I wish I can go to live it up with the fighting game scene competing and hanging out with the best (I would just play SF4, KOF XII Tekken 6, HD Remix is a maybe, but I haven't played that in forever since SF4 came out).

The gaming queue as it stands and likely will change:

• The Conduit (Wii) - Thought about it, but will pass
• Fight Night Round 4 (PS3) - Passing on this too, UFC 2009 Undisputed is better for me even though I suck at that game now not playing it anymore.
• BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PS3) - The wheel of fate is turning next week and not sure I'll get it.
• King of Fighters XII (PS3) - Likely the next game I'll buy. I'm actually preferring this to BlazBlue and I hope it comes out early, but it is likely delayed to the end of July now or even August, which sucks.
• Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - Also buying this as well since its the Wii Sports sequel and it comes with MotionPlus... Not sure if I want to buy three more MotionPluses for an even multiplayer experience, we'll see.
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (PSN) - Also coming out next month... "I wanna take u for a ride!!"
• Fat Princess (PSN) - Who knows when this comes out this summer, it is shaping up to be the PSN's "Castle Crashers" in terms of hype for a downloadable game.
• Madden NFL 10 (PS3) - Actually skipping this year... then again that would likely change once its out.

As for this fall, the current plan is:

• Tekken 6 (PS3) - I need to pre-order the LE bundle like asap since it comes with a wireless Hori arcade stick and its 150 bucks, but its excuse to get a 2nd stick rather than getting another one too.
• DJ Hero (PS3) - If this comes out the same day as T6, then this is a pass.
• Uncharted 2 (PS3) - I already love this game by playing the MP beta and its my #1 on the most wanted for a reason.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Likely my only Wii game for that time. Its 2D Mario with 4 players = Good for me!!

And of course, I hope this blog can reach out to more people and it has been a slow but satisfying process (on Feedmil now). Hopefully, big things are ahead, but we'll see on that.

Nathan Drake gets competitive... The Uncharted 2 MP Beta Hands-On Preview

So I have been playing the Uncharted 2 multiplayer "closed" beta ever since its release two weeks ago during E3 week. There have been lots of ways of people getting in this beta, whether by a Qore subscription, buying inFAMOUS, or by giveaways by various people. At least more and more people are getting in to try this out because this will be a big game for Sony and Naughty Dog as it comes out on the fall. The beta lasts I think till the end of this month as it consists of both co-op and competitive multiplayer with three maps (one for co-op and two for competitive). After playing it for a while and dealing with the patch, it is safe to say that Uncharted 2's multiplayer does not feel as tacked on as many people have feared since its announcement and it is actually fun if you love third-person competitive shooters.

The co-op mode only has one map in this beta which is an urban background that has shown already. Three players are required to play an online co-op game playing as Nathan, the new female introduced in this game Chloe, and Sully. Basically, you are going through sections of the main game with two more teammates as it is kill room after kill room with some sections requiring teamwork to proceed on. The computer A.I. will give you a fight, which is nice as making the wrong move such as going into open territory getting blasted by enemy fire would likely lead to death. At least there's a simple revive mechanic if your teammates are down for the count, but it is for a limited time like Gears of War. There's also a multiplier in which your score gets increased by killing enemies at a consistent rate and getting various awards. The co-op session does end with a tease of a "to be continued" type of deal as you receive your points towards your level.

The competitive multiplayer is the main attraction of this beta as it consists of two modes, team deathmatch and Plunder, a variation of Capture of Flag. Both modes are pretty self-explanatory and stuff you seen before, but with Uncharted's style of combat, it is surprisingly good with great maps (The Plaza and Village are the only ones playable) that are large enough to fit ten players. There is also light customization in which you choose the character you play as for either the hero or villain team and boosters, which are COD4-like perk abilities to raise ammo or hold a bigger clip for example. When the beta started, games were only up to 25 kills or three captures in Plunder, but recently the number to win was considered in both modes which allows for longer games like 50 kills and five captures. If you played a cover-based shooter like Gears of War or Army of Two, Uncharted 2 is no different at its core, but with its acrobatic controls and diverse settings to fight in, it does enough to separate itself from the rest of the pack. The shooting feels fine with all the weapons available like my personal favorite, the FAL Rifle, a burst rifle with a scope that reminds of Halo's Battle Rifle, the M79 grenade launcher, a portable minigun, shotguns, and other standard weapons you expect in a multiplayer shooter. Like the co-op, the ranking system consists of players getting kills and racking up the various awards like melee killing someone, getting a kill from the grave, and more.

Since Uncharted 2 was considered as the best game of E3 at many game sites, it is because of its amazing graphics and sound, which shows in this multiplayer beta. Even with playing the various maps, it still feels one of the best or perhaps the best looking PS3 game out. The characters look very detailed and alive with their acting and the backgrounds flat out look stunning. Of course, it is still a beta as there were some technical issues such as players getting stuck in various parts of the maps and levels getting reset, but it seems to be fixed by the recent patch that came out the other day. The sound department is no slouch either continuing with the epic theatrical soundtrack and loud sound effects from the weapons to the explosions to a point it feels like a high budget summer blockbuster.

The Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta has been an enjoyable experience despite my rank getting reset twice, which is okay since it is easy to rank up by racing up kills and awards. All the fears of it being just another mode in the already epic single player game are washed away as it is pretty fun. This is pretty good especially for Sony and Naughty Dog since Uncharted 2 is the PS3's biggest exclusive for the holiday season and it needs to deliver on being an amazing game. Even though I still look forward to the single player campaign more because of the storyline revolving around Nathan Drake's adventures, the multiplayer is pretty solid and will likely give the game the replayable legs that the first game needed. Plus, it is still the best looking game to come out for the PS3 this year, so if you're looking to get one game on PS3 this fall, count on Uncharted 2 to deliver and live up to the hype.

Budget-Priced Tapping!!! The Let's Tap Review

The Wii has been obviously been known as the casual gamer's machine and Sega is looking to tap with that market with the conveniently titled Let's Tap. Prope, the developer of this title, is headed by Yuji Naka, creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, NiGHTS franchise, and Samba De Amigo, and it truly shows in his first retail game for the new developer. Let's Tap is pretty self-explanatory just by the title itself as the gameplay completely revolves around tapping on flat surfaces to a minigame collection that consists of five games. The game recognizes the tapping by setting the Wiimote down with the A button facing the surface you're using to tap. Unfortunately, this game does not come with a tapping box as seen on the box art above. Even the Best Buy "limited edition" comes with a tapping pad that is arguably false advertising because it is not really a tapping box other countries would get when they get this game even though it did come out in Japan first bundled with boxes. Anyway, Let's Tap is a whopping 30 dollars and it is truly worth a steal at that price because it is surprisingly one of the better casual games out on Wii.

Let's Tap consists of five mini-games as mentioned before. Tap Runner is the premiere mini-game in this collection as you guide a player through various obstacle courses racing against other opponents by tapping. Just tapping lightly allows your player to run and firmly tapping makes him jump, which is needed in various stages. This mini-game is pretty unique in a way that it tests your tapping abilities of when to tap firmly to jump or tapping softly when crossing a tightrope as one mistake can lead to defeat especially against the computer A.I. Rhythm Tap is a rhythm game similar to Samba De Amigo and Taiko Drum Master in which you tap to the beat. The way the tapping works depends on how loud you tap to accurately get a better score as there is no failure when playing the available songs. In a way, it is pretty forgiving how the game measures how loud you tap and you can get away from perfect stretches at times. The other reason what makes Rhythm Tap great is the energetic and charming soundtrack, consisting of various J-Pop and electronica like you hear in a DDR game, so it depends on your taste whether or not you enjoy that type of music to get enjoyment out of the mode.

The other mini-games however are hit and miss compared to Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap. Silent Blocks is a Jenga-like game where you have to tap softly to get rid of pieces of a tower like in Jenga or like playing Boom Blox with the Wiimote. Now it seems like a nice concept at first, but it seems flawed in execution and plus it is somewhat boring of a mode compared to the other mini-games. Bubble Yovager is also an interesting mode just by the concept alone, but also feels like it is missing something to make it better. This mini-game is a horizontal shooter guiding some guy by tapping softly to float and firmly to fire missiles and other power-ups. At least it is still unique in a way that you're a controlling a person by tapping to avoid obstacles, enemy fire, and blow up anything that comes up in your way, but without tapping controls, this would of been just another shump in a world where better shumps exist. Lastly, there is a visualizer mode controlled by tapping, which is self-explanatory as well as there are five visualizers you can mess around with tapping to make special effects appear. All of the mini-games in Let's Tap are playable with up to four players, which is neat especially for parties since it is a casual game and easy to pick up by just tapping.

Graphically, Let's Tap looks pretty good as a mini-game collection. It definitely has a Rez-like vibe when playing the mini-games and Tap Runner has its own visual style that seems somewhat futuristic racing in space. The visualizers do their job as well as being visualizers, but certainly there are better ones out there besides on Wii despite its interactivity. As for the sound, it will depend on whether or not you like J-Pop and electronica music as mentioned earlier because this game is very Japanese in terms of production on both audio and visuals. As a soundtrack that contains that type of music, it is actually one of the better ones around and just playing the song alone makes Rhythm Tap more replayable than trying to get S ranks.

Even though it is budget priced at 30 dollars, Let's Tap is one of the better casual games out on the Wii with its unique tapping controls. You can use any flat surface like a stool to play this game even though a box is highly recommended. The Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap mini-games are indeed the stars of this mini-game collection as the other ones feel somewhat boring compared to the other two despite all games having multiplayer with a maximum of four players. Of course, playing this alone will eventually be boring if you're just trying to get high scores and fast times, but the multiplayer makes it more replayable since it is easy and pick up and play in the end. Let's Tap also has connectivity with the WiiWare game Let's Catch in terms of unlocking more content, which is still doable in the game itself. After all, this is a great start for Yuji Naka's new company Prope as I look forward to what's next from them and Sega for starting their "Let's" series on the right track too.

Score = 8/10

Pros:

• Tapping controls actually work and it is forgiving that it doesn't feel like a gimmick.
• Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap are the stars of this mini-game collection.
• All five mini-games have multiplayer support with up to four players.
• Great soundtrack for Rhythm Tap if you're into that type of music.
• Budget priced at 30 dollars!!!

Cons:

• Silent Blocks and Bubble Voyager feel like hit and miss mini-games.
• If you don't have friends, playing this alone will eventually get boring other than improving high scores.

More Vegas shenanigans...

While I missed on graduation weekend for more colleges and universities back at home (Congrats to those who graduated - u know who u are...), I was at Las Vegas last weekend for the first time since that crazy trip back in late December. Friday night was just shenanigans as I was randomly walking around The Mirage and checked out who would be at the Jet nightclub. Turns out that the Beat Freaks from America's Best Dance Crew season 3 are there performing, and I was like I'm going in as an one man army. So, I jet-setted back to my room in the Palazzo to quickly change to "nightlife attire" in which I brought along just in case something like this would happen. I did see the crew walking along entering the club for a quick second or two while I was in line for about an hour alone, and then I got in around 12:30 am. I didn't think rolling into Jet alone would happen, but I got in no problem so that was cool. Now, I know if you're in a place like Jet, you're supposed to go crazy dancing like a freak and drinking till you can drink no longer. For me, however, I was just there to enjoy the music, the atmosphere, and the performance as I rolled in solo and I didn't want to do anything stupid, but considering the shy person that I am especially at a place like that, maybe that is a good thing even though it is Vegas. Then again, "Sandstorm" with the timed lights is pretty nuts. Just being in Jet for the second time made me realize how I missed the friends back at home and especially my original Jet partners in crime back in December (I wished they were there too for more good times).

Around 1:30 am, The Beat Freaks finally came out to perform a 10-15 minute dance medley. At first, I thought I missed the performance while I was in line and I was about to leave too, but good thing I waited around just in case. The major songs they danced to were "Universal Mind Control" by Common, "Boom Boom Pow" by Black Eyed Peas, and "Beggin" by Madcon. My view watching them was from the middle of the dance floor, which wasn't really the greatest view especially watching a dance group, but it was good enough for me even though I couldn't see the footwork (oh well). After they finished performing, I decided to leave as well and that was a fun time actually seeing them perform in person (Also they look cooler in person too).

The rest of the Vegas trip was pretty much chill as I went to as many hotels/casinos as I can to check out what's new and who's performing in the coming month. Some upcoming acts made me wish I would come back to Vegas like The Dream & Keri Hilson at the House of Blues on the 20th, Pitbull at LAX on the 26th, and Lil' Jon at Prive on the 27th. Last Saturday night, I didn't feel like going to the nightclubs as I wasn't really feeling the performances there such as Fat Joe at LAX, Eve at Pure, and the Ronnie G Audio & Visual Show at Jet. Plus, it was a Saturday night when there's more people in long lines ready to party and so on. I decided to go on my usual Vegas marathon walk going to the MGM Grand from the Palazzo to shop around looking at stuff if they're worth purchasing and stare at whatever is left of the Vegas casino arcade scene, which is indeed slowly dying as I mentioned before. Pretty much the new hot game at hotel/casino arcades is Guitar Hero Arcade, which is basically Guitar Hero III for the arcade, meaning it is a year or two late compared to console versions. The guitar has no whammy bar, but generates star power generously when playing those long notes and the fret buttons/strum bar felt fine as well as I didn't really have any problems. Then I was staring at Blazing Storm in GameWorks, a light gun shooter by Namco that is a combination of Time Crisis and Criterion's FPS Black with a huge emphasis on destruction. Plus, that game has Shadow of the Colossus-sized bosses to defeat as well, but my issue with the game as a whole is the choppy framerate, which is 30 frames per second. If it was at 60 frames, it would have been way better.

Okay, that's enough of my Vegas shenanigans. Other than making 8 bucks to 40 bucks at the slots yesterday, it was just another Vegas trip for me besides rolling into Jet solo. Other fails consisted of me not buying anything at all shopping-wise and staying alcohol free the whole trip (I thought about getting a Fat Tuesday to remind myself of the last time I had one when I completely lost it), but I made it up by drinking at Ra last night with the friends to celebrate the Lakers' title win. Hopefully, I will go back to a regular schedule and try to catch up on reviews like the Uncharted 2 MP Beta and inFAMOUS (I still wanna talk about it even though it has been 2 weeks since beating the good run and I want to start an evil run maybe today). Perhaps, Fat Princess, the highly anticipated PSN game of awesomeness will come out this week too and my mind will be blown. We'll see on that (Update - Just bought Let's Tap for the Wii.. This should be interesting).

(Pics courtesy of Beat Freaks' TwitPic)

The insanity that was SF4 SBO Qualifiers...

Last Saturday night at Denjin Arcade was the West Coast block of qualifiers for Super Battle Opera 2009 (or SBO or short) and even though I wasn't there myself (Simi Valley is "too far" from where I live), watching the insanity on UFragTV was arguably the best Street Fighter IV tournament ever since the game out last year at arcades. Even though staying up till 3 am to watch the madness was crazy, the HYPE remained throughout the tournament till the end as it was the best Grand Finals I have ever seen with Alex Valle/Combofiend against Edma/Ken I. It turned out that Valle & Combofiend won it in the end with the craziest comeback ever with Combo's Viper against Ken's Rufus. Those four players played like crazy from Valle's OG instincts (since he is an OG SF player from back in the day), Edma's Akuma being too good (EX whiffed Hurricane Kick to Raging Demon = sick!!), Ken I's consistent Rufus play (even though he was also playing 3rd Strike SBO qualifiers as well), and Combo's Viper not being stopped the whole day.

Lots of other things happened at the long and draining event from team East Coast that consisted of LongIslandJoe and Arthuro Sanchez proving that East Coast is not just Justin Wong with their deep run at the tourney finishing 3rd in hostile territory (Going to the other coast and going deep is very good). Perhaps the most epic moment of the day was Mike Ross's legendary Honda comeback against Haunts and Magus1234 (video below) as the whole place went crazy (I went crazy from my computer) when he did the "eagle eye Ultra" countering Haunts's Sagat EX low tiger shot to win that game and then perfecting Magus in the last round with 2 Hundred Hand Slaps to super combo to win the match making him and his partner Keno continue on in the losers bracket eventually losing against Team MoMuchDamage (Moval and Paul "somuchdamage"). 

UFragTV was hosting the tournament throughout the day with Slasher and SoCal SF4 ambassador Gootecks doing commentary and all that jazz along with IRC chat going off the whole event. Other than the IRC chat going crazy with the HYPE moments happening, there were the obvious comments when girls showed up at the cameras doing their thing along with hate for Slasher for getting things wrong and Rockfeller making a rare comeback appearance to commentate for a bit. I gotta give them credit for 13 hours of coverage for the whole event as they did the best they could with crappy Internet streaming it live and HD on-demand coming soon (maybe tomorrow).

With Alex Valle / Combofiend going to SBO for the U.S. along with four other players, this is arguably the U.S.'s best chance of taking Japan down at the event even though Japanese SF4 players are just too damn good in their own right. We'll see when that happens sometime in August. Speaking of more SF4, I might show up at Arcade Infinity for another Ranbat tournament on Sunday, but I'm not sure yet whether I'm competing or not. Let's just say that last Saturday's SBO Quals was an EPIC event for Street Fighter IV and the community as well.

Clips of E3 '09 (Part 2)

Damn, I wish I can go this year... Gotta know some connections.

Arguably the trailer of the show is for Star Wars: The Old Republic, the "KOTOR" MMORPG by BioWare. Even though this is just a cinematic clip that showcases none of the actual game, Star Wars fans are going crazy over what transpired in this Jedi/Sith battle. None of the movies never had that many Jedis and Siths in one building tearing each other apart. This game is only coming for the PC for now sometime soon.

A new Castlevania game was announced at the Konami press conference today called Lords of Shadow for the PS3 and 360. The crazy thing about this one is that Kojima Productions is involved in the development for the game and not the franchise mastermind, Iga. Other than that, it looks somewhat like a Devil May Cry inspired game (like that has been done before for the Castlevania franchise) to me.

I have said before that I am pretty much done with the "plastic instrument" genre, but I am awesomely sold on DJ Hero now to the point that I will buy this thing this fall. No official word on pricing yet, but count on it being 100 bucks like the Guitar Hero w/ Guitar bundles. Here's some gameplay on Expert difficulty from the show floor itself. The songs shown are "Boom Boom Pow vs. Satisfaction" by Black Eyed Peas and Benny Benassi (above clip) and "Hollaback Girl vs. Give It to Me" by Gwen Stefani and Rick James (below clip). Screw Guitar Hero IV and Rock Band this fall, DJ Hero is where it is at now for me as my rhythm game for the fall. Looks like I will be DJing some parties soon if I get good at this. (Lol)

That's it for now... More clips of E3 throughout the rest of the week even though I pretty much posted the big ones out of the show already.

Sony E3 '09 Press Conference Liveblog

So Nintendo already their presser today announcing games both for the casuals, the hardcore, and the fanboys, but now its Sony's turn to go crazy. Expect lots of PS3 stuff and a big focus on the new PSP Go. Anyway, we'll do this liveblog style with video up when it shows up online later today.

10:57 am - Should be starting soon, maybe a slight delay for people to show up.

11:02 am - Switching to the G4 feed (Looks like 1up won't be streaming according to David Ellis's Twitter).

11:10 am - Its starting. Expect this one to be the longest of the three big conferences having the traditional touches of a presser (data charts, big announcements, and speeches).

11:13 am - Alright Jack Tretton... Let's do this. (They're at the Shrine). Don't worry this dude knows how to speak. Oh yeah, there's pressure being the last of the three... Better end with a bang.

11:16 am - Starting off with the PS2 talk... Its still 100 bucks people.

11:19 am - Stats talk... The usual stuff about success.

11:19 am - Yes, Jack, I have been playing inFAMOUS and its awesome!!!

11:20 am - Oh yeah, the Uncharted 2 MP Beta starts tonight... Demostration of the game to follow now. Campaign footage = Yes!!!

11:23 am - Now this is intense stuff... Uncharted 2 delivers!!! Nathan Drake feels like a live character... Yes one of the better looking games out and only on PS3.

11:26 am - MAG up next... This is by Zipper, the folks that brought u the first 3 SOCOM games. Yes, folks 256 players max online.

11:27 am - Oh man, feels like an old-school E3 crowd at this conference.

11:30 am - Yeah its 30 frames per second for a reason... to handle 256 players at once (One of many reasons I guess).

11:32 am - PSP time... PSP Go time soon?

11:34 am - Hannah Montana PSP = Yes!!!

11:35 am - "Krazy" Kaz Hirai time... Ridge Racer!!!

11:36 am - Yeah its PSP Go time!!! (Cue the montage... Worst kept secret of E3 indeed!!)

11:37 am - That thing is pretty stylish than the old PSP.

11:38 am - Media Go announced... A simpler way to navigate the PS Store on PC and PSP. Sense Me also announced for PSP only (Sounds like iTunes Genius for the PSP).

11:41 am - PSP Go out on October 1st for 250 bucks. (Encore of the PS3 price crisis?)

11:43 am - Finally Kaz of Polyphony is here to confirm Gran Turismo PSP. (Finally indeed!!)

11:45 am - Except it is "technically" not being shown now... It works on the PSP Go at least, but Kaz is just talking about the game's features.

11:47 am - This is almost an encore of James Cameron talking about Avatar last night at the Ubisoft presser.

11:50 am - At least a trailer showed up... out with the PSP Go launch. Then again, no GT5 = Boo!!!

11:50 am - Metal Gear?? Oh its Kojima again!!! New MGS game called Peace Walker out for PSP. Story being detailed (10 years after MGS3).

11:57 am - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker trailer is awesome!! Kojima trailers always deliver the goods and the lulz... (4 Snakes?). This is out next year.

11:59 am - Capcom secret game #2 is Resident Evil PSP, out next year too.

12:00 pm - PSP game montage now playing (featuring LBP, Jak, Monster Hunter, and more).

12:04 pm - PSN time = Yay!

12:05 pm - FF7 out on the PS Store soon like tonight!!!

12:06 pm - Home talk... I guess it is successful so far. (Montage now playing... People are using this really?)

12:09 pm - PS3 montage now (More montages...)

12:14 pm - Rockstar exclusive coming to PS3 called Agent.

12:15 pm - Assassins Creed 2 demo time. This is not from the Ubi conference last night.

12:18 pm - He can fly?

12:20 pm - Two man stealth kill was nuts. (PSP and PS3 connection confirmed with new weapons)

12:22 pm - New FFXIII trailer with English VO (out Spring 2010).

12:26 pm - Final Fantasy XIV? Already?? I think its MMO, which it is (Also PS3 exclusive). The second coming of FFXI? Looks that way.

12:29 pm - Sony entering the motion control business... Oh its "The Wand"

12:31 pm - Its being demoed now... Playstation Eye required for this to work. Oh a jab at Project Natal!!!

12:32 pm - This is getting nuts.. The crowd sure loves this tech demo of this "Wand."

12:37 pm - Is the gaming world really ready for motion control to take over?

12:39 pm - Sony Archery demo > Nintendo Archery demo.

12:41 pm - LittleBigPlanet talk... Disney costumes out this fall as DLC.

12:42 pm - ModNation Racers being shown now (A new game in the "Play, Create, Share" genre that LBP started).

12:43 pm - This looks like a mix of LBP and Mario Kart. Potentially could be awesome.

12:45 pm - Okay, this is awesome...  Track editor, Character customization, Fun gameplay. Definitely a mashup of LBP and Mario Kart.

12:50 pm - Wow, making a track in ModNation Racers looks so easier than making a level in LBP. I'm impressed.

12:51 pm - ModNation Racers is out next year.

12:52 pm - Alright, project Trico time aka The Last Guardian.

12:57 pm - Last Guardian looks good... Oh now its GT5 time!! (Where's the car damage Kaz? Then again, support for WRC and NASCAR is cool stuff).

12:59 pm - God of War III to end the show with a bang!!

1:07 pm - Gosh damn... GOW III will own your soul (Man, I love this!!!)

1:08 pm - Conference over (GOW III will be out on March 2010).