We shall start this with some old school 3rd Strike action because 3rd Strike is still an awesome game. I said many times I suck at this game, but still play it here and there. Rather than the good match above which took place three or four years ago be the star, I'll let Rockfeller's amazing commentary be the star of it.
Next up is another arcade game, aka another one of my favorite "I wish I was good at it" games, DJ Max Technika. I think this is some special event that this dude played with some stipulations like no line to help you and its on the harder difficulties. It is just crazy to me seeing the game being played without the line as if you need perfect memorization and timing to do well.
Lastly, I might as well put this up here since it features some of my Street Fighter IV friends as this took place at the House of Cicada tournament last Saturday at Moreno Valley. I missed out on going to this one due to other plans, but I checked out the stream for a bit saying what up and such along with checking out the SF4 action. Alex Valle won this one, Mike Ross was the runner up, and Keno finished 3rd. Marn is also back in town for this and Bar Fights II this weekend, but he wanted to win it from losers bracket and it didn't happen. I wished I was there personally for the madness, but there's Bar Fights II on Sunday in which I have a VIP ticket ready to get hype for the West Coast/East Coast 5v5 main event.
So DJ Hero is out at the end of October (27th to be exact) and it is looking to be the gaming holiday gift of the season (other than the Wii again, DS stuff, Guitar Hero 5, and The Beatles: Rock Band). Even though I won't buy this myself that day because of Tekken 6, I do want to eventually get it likely on December as a Winter Break game. The soundtrack is looking like to have a great mix of pop, hip-hop, rock, dance, and techno stuff for us to mess with (also Daft Punk!!!). Sure, there are the skeptics out there being this is a completely peripheral-based game out there to buy as the turntable itself can either be amazing or a complete flop, but I can see this game being very fun and especially a great learning experience. As a fan of music in general (well besides country and especially my dance/rave music phase with David Guetta week), I'm excited for it and I hope it catches on to everyone that wants it and those non-gamers too. We shall see about that, but meanwhile, enjoy the new footage of some full mixes.
UPDATE - Full track list has been announced, so click here to check that out. Also, one of the upcoming DLC packs that will be released soon has David Guetta songs like "When Love Takes Over" with Kelly Rowland and "Sexy Chick" with Akon (aka that hit song you have been hearing at the clubs lately).
So I finally was able to try out the demo for Brutal Legend, the highly anticipated game by Double Fine (headed by the awesomeness that is Tim Schaefer) starring Jack Black. This demo has been out for a couple weeks already if you already pre-ordered the game, but it is now out available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network. In case you don't know, Double Fine has made some amazing games like Grim Fandango and Psychonauts, but Brutal Legend could be their coming out party they always wanted with EA publishing, Jack Black starring as Eddie Riggs, and all that heavy metal it will offer. The demo is pretty much the beginning of the game where how Eddie is randomly in a different world filled with demons and such to gain his battle axe and guitar to take out enemies. The combat is pretty simple, which is the norm of third-person action games being mostly a hack-and-slash type of deal, but the game is more than that with vehicle sections, using the guitar, controlling minions (not featured in the demo, but also in multiplayer), and Double Fine's signature humor all rolled up in an open world. I did enjoy what the demo offers, which is a good taste of what's to come in the final game and I'm sure fans of Double Fine's previous games will love it right away, but we'll see if Jack Black's voice acting will eventually become hit and miss. However, if will enjoy heavy metal in a different way than Rock Band and Guitar Hero, then give Brutal Legend a shot. Since this is out the same day as Uncharted 2, I don't see myself playing this anytime soon, but if you're in the fence about Brutal Legend, try the demo to see if it's your cup of tea.
So today's news in Super Street Fighter IV (looks to be the official title now for this expansion) is the reveal of a new character, Juri, and a return of another one with T. Hawk. Not a lot of details about Juri have been revealed yet, but hopefully she's an interesting character to play as. The logo seems official and the latest pics also reveal the fact there will be two ultras and one super for each character, which will change up the game a bit with the different meters. Even though T. Hawk is not really a fan favorite compared to most characters in the franchise, it will be interesting to see how he fits in the SF4 style gameplay. Hopefully he plays like he does HD Remix with easier command inputs for his special moves, but I don't see that happening. For now, I can see him being mid-low tier, but scary and annoying if played with the right hands.
Capcom will make the official reveal of this news maybe tonight or tomorrow as they'll slowly reveal more about Super SF4 (with these two officially in being true, it seems likely that the other rumored characters and changes are true as well). I don't see myself playing the current SF4 seriously now and for the coming months because of school and the big fall lineup of hot games, but I'll still hang around the scene to support it like Bar Fights II on October 11th and so on. In the meantime, anyone hyped for Super Street Fighter IV yet?
UPDATE - (Found this at the Super SF4 Shoryuken forums) New scans (Famitsu I think) have new info and pics for Super SF4 featuring Juri (one of her ultras have a time limit = huh?), T. Hawk showing off his ultra and super (looks to be 720 motion or double half circle motion?), and now officially confirmed Dee Jay (Yay!!!!). The Jamaican also makes his return and hopefully an awesome character to play as (one of the pics has him doing a huge Max Out fireball (EX perhaps?). Dee Jay is also keep his same special moves and perhaps new tricks once he has a Focus Attack. I'm trying to imagine the possibilities now how good Dee Jay could be (hopefully as good as in Super Turbo). Oh man, getting more hyped for Super SF4 now = A happy man.
UPDATE 2 - GameSpot interview with Ono confirming Super Street Fighter IV!!!! Also GameSpot has the first preview on the game as well with some more details.
UPDATE 3 - The debut trailer is above now. Check SRK for the magazine scans on Juri, T. Hawk, and Dee Jay.
UPDATE 4 - New gameplay footage of Juri and T. Hawk (T. Hawk throw ultra can do ridiculous damage pending on your stamina like Juri's and Juri is a very flashy character to mess with too.
UPDATE 5 - The newest trailer (now in direct feed instead of from some Capcom conference) featuring Juri, T. Hawk, and Dee Jay (Yes!!! HYPE HYPE HYPE!!!)
So this highly anticipated TGS 09 Trailer for Final Fantasy XIII finally went up a couple hours ago and all I can say is OMG OMG OMG! No translation yet for this clip, but hey just watch the amazing. This is coming out at Japan on December 17 and good luck on importing it because it will be a little pricey and hopefully understand what is going on with Lightning, Snow, and crew. The Japanese theme song is also playing in this trailer which is a nice touch, but also expected for a big Square-Enix game. Even though Japan gets it this December (also the special 250 GB Slim Bundle FFXIII PS3 there too that same day), everyone else will get the JRPG of the generation in Spring 2010. As you know, I'm not really a hardcore Final Fantasy fan (only played and beaten FFX), but I'm looking very forward to FFXIII.
This clip is from West Coast Warzone earlier this month as AJ "PotatoHead" Papa from Get Your Tournament did a video montage of the magic that is Yeb, the Gen master from San Diego. You will witness San Diego getting hype and of course Yeb deserves all the respect he gets especially after the performance he pulled at WCW. I'm in this clip at the end as everyone gave their applause for his play after being defeated by Edma in the top 8 of finals for Street Fighter IV.
Speaking of Street Fighter IV, this random quick teaser showed up today for what is likely to be the expansion to this game aka Super Street Fighter IV. Rumors have been flying left and right for the past couple of weeks in terms of new characters and changes the game will offer. Hopefully this week, Capcom will reveal all or at least announce that it officially exists. If so, I'll give my thoughts about it eventually.
Headlining this PSN Demo showcase is Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, which is out this week. Now, you can my review on Ninja Gaiden II for the 360 if you're curious how disappointed I was with it and how it didn't recapture the magic the first game and Black had. However, after playing Sigma 2, aka the expanded version of NG2, a few times, it is pretty safe to say that some changes were made to make the game better, but some decisions are left to be desired for some of the hardcore folks. First is the toned down difficulty and perhaps this game is more beatable on Mentor and Master Ninja, but still hard enough to be a challenge. Next is the censoring in which I don't mind seeing the purple gaze than the blood, but I can see it being a problem for a lot of people that expected the gore to be as drastic as the original NG2. Graphically, this game looks way better than it did on 360 being flat out sharper and more detailed as if the 360 version was some rush job (perhaps it is being a technical nightmare, which I touched on heavily on my review). The demo had some long load times, so hopefully that won't be the case with the retail version considering it has a mandatory install. Also, this demo is filled with content with about a third of the first chapter as Ryu on all four difficulties (Mentor and Master Ninja have to be unlocked though), a section in the Rome area in the night as Ayane, which is a great diversion from Ryu with her playstyle so she is pretty fun to play as in this game (also way better looking than ever before and arguably the best she ever looked in any Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden up to this point). Also unlockable are the team missions in which there are three to mess with (two on Acolyte and one on Warrior fighting Elizabet). Other than the main game, the mission mode is a good side mode for players to go for high scores and online co-op (not in the demo sadly) could be cool as two players are in certain sections of the game fighting multiple enemy encounters. Right away with the first chapter, you will notice the gameplay changes and enemy placements from the get go with the Buddha statue mini-boss at the end of the demo. In addition from what I read from various forums, the various changes made to the campaign really do make it a completely different game with multiple characters having different levels of their own and so on. For Ninja Gaiden fans like myself, I think Sigma 2 will be worth a playthrough to experience the changes Team Ninja made to it even though personally I'm not getting it right away (possibly a Winter Break game).
Next up is Lost Planet 2 and I enjoyed the first game for what I was on 360. I have high hopes for this sequel to deliver on what the first game started, but after seeing the latest videos and playing this demo, Capcom is definitely increasing the ante for this one especially the scale and focus on co-op gameplay. As a lot of people would put it, it is definitely Monster Hunter with guns having a squad of dudes around shooting at enemies and huge bosses. Other than the significant change to the focus of the game, the core gameplay remains the same of shooting, grappling, except with more people around, which is cool. The controls remain the same and you can love or hate them if you play tons of shooters, but Lost Planet 2 is its own experience with its epic scale. I wished the framerate could be 60 fps instead of 30, which would make the game more beautiful than it should be, but we'll see about that. Playing it alone makes things longer in terms of taking out the opposition, but it is more fun to play this with multiple players on your side and perhaps easier if there is teamwork. Other than the framerate issues, the game looks amazing just like the first game. Lost Planet 2 is out in I think Q1 2010, aka let's delay our big games here because of the holiday rush and Modern Warfare 2 taking over the world.
That's it for the PSN Demo showcase for this week. I would talk about the new Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Demo, but since early reviews are already out and my claims of it being "game of the forever" on PS3, I'll wait till the game comes out to give a final opinion on both the campaign and the multiplayer. Maybe next time, I'll talk about Brutal Legend if that demo comes out on Thursday.
Last weekend pretty much concluded my summer as it is a return to the grind at the end of this week, but the title says, I had the best summer I ever had.
It all began with a Vegas trip seeing the Beat Freaks perform inside the Jet Nightclub at the Mirage. Yes, I went there alone to watch it and it was worth it. There is a blog post somewhere about this trip if you want more details on that.
The end of June was another fun weekend with the Ladies of Street Fighter IV tournament. This is just one of many examples how awesome the SoCal SF4 community is this whole summer as this game has brought me so many new friends and I loved hanging out with them every chance I get to. From the tournament itself at Arcade Infinity to after-party shenanigans at Banana Bay, it was an awesome day. The megapost has more details from more video, interviews, and pictures of the day (photo shoot and tourney) if you want to check out more about it.
Despite missing Evo and San Diego Comic-Con in July, I went to Vegas again this time with all my best friends I have known for years, which is obviously the best Vegas trip I could ever have. From Jet, swag flus, sideshows, and XS, this trip had it all, but I'll let the blog post about it provide more details on that.
The last big event of my summer of epic proportions I experienced was West Coast Warzone at Irvine a couple of weeks ago. It was obviously a HYPE event throughout that whole weekend from the pool party, drinks, and the tournament itself (I'm in the video above for like 3 seconds). Good times throughout with the SoCal SF4 community again. The megapost has way more than what is here so check that (photos, video, interviews, and more insights).
So that's my summer in a nutshell in terms of major events that happened with me. Of course, there are lots of other things that happened in between all of those from various chill sessions, local parties, random club appearances, beach trips, and so much more. I might as well move on to shoutouts (never done on this blog before) to all my friends who made "The Best Summer I Ever Had" possible.
Starting with the local homies/homegirls (Thanks guys and ladies for an amazing summer!!!)
Pat 112
Mike Dub
Christian
Fred
Dennis
Matt
Devyn
Brent
Arthur (aka Michael Cera)
Mike B
Stephen
John (thanks for the "dead leg")
Nick B
Ray A
Tiff
Genevee (word!!!)
J Ro
Ana (sideshow!!!!)
KP
Jennie
Betty
and many more...
And now, the SoCal Street Fighter IV community... (Thanks for good times as well!!)
Gootecks
Mike Ross
Keno (why are u so nice?)
Teresa
Naomi (shake well!!)
Shoo
Sanchez
Luka (why so HYPE?)
Bebop
KillerKai (The man with the "list")
Sherry
Duralath
DJ Vest
Jeremy aka "Vicious"
ComboJack
Dae
Bustabust (Kobe!!)
TingBoy
UTJ
Jay Jay
Bryant the Tyrant
Warren
AJ "PotatoHead"
Kara
Kelly
Cami
Kai
John Rog
Anna
Colin "Fade Out"
Tatsu
shglbmx
Art
Vic the Slick (Why so purple?)
and many more... Sorry if I missed anyone!
That concludes "The Best Summer I Ever Had." While I had such an amazing time with such great people, all good things must end eventually, which sucks but its true. Once again to all my friends (old and new), thank you for an amazing three months of summer.
