The Ultimate "Club G" Mix

So I have this playlist on my iTunes/iPod called The Ultimate "Club G" Mix, which is simply all my clubby stuff I can fit in that can last a night at a nightclub. Since I'm still in my house/dance music phase in my life, I decided to put it together as if I'm some DJ (as if I'll be one in the future). Currently, this mix is almost at five hours as it consists of my favorite clubby songs along with some mainstream hip-hop, but it is mostly house stuff from some of the bigger names in that genre. In the meantime, I would be to share some of my favorites from my mix.

Can't go wrong with some Deadmau5 at the clubs especially his breakout song, "Ghosts N Stuff."

A bit slower, but it is actually one of my favorite songs of the year. (And yes, it does sound like Bruno Mars is singing).

It ain't a club mix without Flo Rida and David Guetta especially this song... I remember going nuts at Vegas when this came on.

Okay, this is my current favorite song in my mix and also one of my favorites of the year too.

Also another mainstay at the clubs these days...

That's just a taste of what's in my clubby mix. It is always a work in progress of trying to find more songs more worthy along with changing the set order whenever I feel like it. Maybe I'll try to add some older stuff even though newer stuff seems to fly more these days. In the meantime, enjoy my five picks above the next time they get played in the clubs.

Ten Minutes of BioShock Infinite...

Xbox Live released the first gameplay video of BioShock Infinite today and I must say it is already looking very impressive so far even though it is a still ways off from its 2012 release. At its core, its still BioShock in terms of shooting and mixing in the elements as well for unique attacks along with the tone and presentation of how events go down. There will be definitely some jaw-dropping moments in this game that Ken Levine has been working on for years especially how the lore and backstory will fit to this iteration at a floating city. Even though it is a ten minute video, you do get a feeling of it being scripted, but it is expected to be for that theatrical tone, so who knows how wide open the gameplay will be since Irrational has a lot of time to polish things up. BioShock Infinite is still planned for a 2012 release, so things can change dramatically for this game in the coming months.

UPDATE - I just saw this 45-minute interview Giant Bomb did with Ken Levine, and if you're skeptical of what you saw above, I'll let Ken try to convince you because he sure convinced me about how awesome BioShock Infinite will be. Plus, it is also nice to see what is in his twisted mind of how he handles game development.

Fighting Game Announcement Overload at TGS Weekend (Tekken Tag 2, Arcade SSF4, MvC3)

With the Tokyo Game Show and SBO (Super Battle Opera) going on this weekend, looks like the perfect time to announce some new fighting games or at least what's new in existing ones that are out or still coming...

I'll start off with the bombshell that is the announcement of Tekken Tag Tournament 2. It has been only a matter of time when Namco Bandai goes back to the tag style and people have been demanding it, so it makes sense putting this one for now after Tekken 6. From the brief teaser, you'll see new tag combos with the bound system being shown off by Jin/Asuka and Kazuya/Leo as the potential is there for some crazy stuff with the other characters. Of course, it is unknown how many characters will fill up the roster, but I can imagine everybody in the series will be playable. Tekken Tag 2 is expected to come out next year at Japan at arcades first with stateside to follow soon after. Since I haven't been playing Tekken 6 (even by running to some I haven't seen in a while at Arcade Infinity last night), Tekken Tag 2 will bring me back and perhaps seeing some friends was a sign that this will be announced.

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition gets a proper arcade test at SBO as the trailer above finally shows footage of Yun and Yang in action. It will be interesting to see how much of their 3rd Strike game will be gone making the transition to SSF4 even though most of their moves remain intact. Yun still has Genjei-Jin as his super to wreak havoc, but I think it won't make him that high tiered in SSF4 as he was in 3rd Strike due to meter management as I don't expect it to be that game changing along with damage scaling as well. Personally, I think Yang will be the better of the two with his Rekka game staying the same for Super for the most part. Both characters do have dive kick pressure like 3S and boy we do love dive kicks in SSF4. The question is will the AE balance changes along with the new characters be a downloadable purchase for consoles, or is it worth it enough for another retail release. Who knows, but Capcom seems to do the right thing handling Street Fighter IV stuff lately as the arcade version should be out at Japan by the end of the year and stateside assuming arcades are willing to buy it next year.

As if showing off X-23 and Tron Bonne weren't enough, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds gets two more characters into the action with Spider-Man and Wesker. It wouldn't be a versus game these days without Spider-Man as he seems to be better this time around with the addition of web zipping along with his familiar MvC2 movetest. His better looking Maximum Spider super is likely level 3 as Crawler Assault and the Ultimate Web Throw supers are still the same. Wesker from Resident Evil fame has some crazy tricks at his disposal such as stopping (or maybe stealing) supers where opposing supers are activated and also throwing a rocket to someone's face. He seems like another fine addition for the Capcom side (Chris being the other RE character in already) of the roster. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been bumped for a Q1 2011 release and there's a Fight Club event featuring it at Chicago next week.

As we would say, it has been a good time to play fighting games again, but next year keeps getting better and better as if we are at the 90s again.

A Classic Gets All Trippy and Crazy... The Space Invaders: Infinity Gene Review

Another classic game gets reinvented for the modern generation with Space Invaders: Infinity Gene for both Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network. This is not the first time though that Space Invaders has been modernized in recent years with releases on the handheld platforms, so it has been used towards reaching out today's audience. Infinity Gene is arguably Taito's best effort of making Space Invaders feel modern and fun at the same time by taking the simple shooter formula of the original game and taking it to eleven in every aspect. I am usually a sucker for playing modernized takes on old classic arcade games as Infinity Gene is no different with its simple yet hard to master gameplay and a decent amount of replay value with the numerous modes being offered. It manages to take such an original concept as it flips the switch around for a more trippier and crazier experience that is worth the ten dollars.

Infinity Gene is divided up to three major modes as they consist of the normal game, challenge stages, and the music mode. The normal game is the bread and butter of the bunch as it starts off with a throwback to the original game for a few seconds before realizing that this is not your father's Space Invaders. You start off with limited abilities as you progress with the five worlds that consist of six levels each, but as you keep filling up the gene meter fully after beating the level or even getting a game over after running out of lives, you will evolve gaining more abilities such as free movement, various shot types, more lives to start with, and bonus stages. It is actually recommended you start off with the normal game first to gain some abilities that will save you later on in the other modes, specifically free movement. The first world is pretty much a warmup as the game starts taking shape getting more crazier and chaotic from the second world on with more enemies on screen to shoot and obstacles to avoid. The amount of enemies in a snap and everywhere on the screen does remind me of a similar classic getting modernized, which is Galaga Legions, but Infinity Gene handles it better with a progressive experience-based system to gain more weapons besides the normal rapid shot. These unlockable shot types are hit and miss for the most part as some are usable like the wave weapon, which is a spread gun-like shot. There also bosses at the end of the levels as well, but expect them to reappear multiple times later on in the game as if you're playing a boss rush of sorts they consist of many shapes from giant UFOs, a sun, and so on. You do get a sense a repetition seeing these bosses again, but the game manages to throw some twists in the way to make the battles not feel the same with walls and other enemies.

The fun does not stop there with the normal game in Infinity Gene even though there are harder difficulties to unlock as well. The 99 challenge stages are just more of the same in the normal game, but shorter. They will get progressively harder in the later stages, so it is a matter of being prepared for anything they will throw at you. Bonus stages are also unlocked by evolution over time as well which are similar to all the other stuff going on. The music mode is perhaps the best feature in this Space Invaders game as you play a stage with your own music at your disposal. As long as you have music on your hard drive or an external device that the console recognizes, you're able to enjoy the full potential of music mode. Even though the same song will loop if you're playing a long game, it would be nice if a playlist feature within the game can be added later on.

Graphically, the game sticks to the same style the original has with the enemy design of the invaders along with enemy ships. There are a variety of backgrounds in all of the modes, but at times you might be confused of whether or not a line is part of the background or an enemy firing a line at you which likely results in a loss of a life. Infinity Gene still does a great job of retaining the visual style of the original while handling the amount of enemies on screen well with a smooth framerate. The same goes for the sound as well as if you're playing an arcade game back in the 80s as it plays along to those sound effects expectedly. These sound effects may get annoying for some especially if they have used to more modernized games, but it is a matter of realizing you're still playing a Space Invaders game in 2010.

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene is another example of how to treat a classic in the modern era and spin it around to make it more trippy and frantic. There are so many twists and turns in the normal game on how the enemy waves are treated as if you have to be on your toes at all times preparing for the worst. At times, you will lose a life just for being at the wrong spot at the wrong time which will be the case later on in normal mode. As a package, it still feels like you're playing a game in the 80s, but with more technology backing up especially with the amount of enemies on screen to shoot at. There is enough replay value to play for long and short sessions evolving to unlock more weapons, bonus levels, and stuff for the collection as well the music mode is open to your imagination in terms of what to blast. For ten bucks on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network, Infinity Gene is worth your time and money if you love modernized takes on classic games or even the itch to experience something trippy.

Score = 8.5/10

Pros:

• A great modernized take of an arcade classic
• The normal mode experience gets crazier and trippier as you progress
• Gene evolution meter is a neat touch for gaining new abilities
• Tons of replay value with the numerous modes and harder difficulties
• Music mode makes use of your own music really well

Cons:

• May be too epileptic for some especially with the backgrounds
• At some points, you can't tell the difference between the background and enemy fire
• Weapon styles are hit and miss as some only stand out being effective

Clips from TGS 2010 (Part 2)

So the conferences were last night our time for both Microsoft and Sony as they announced a lot of games for the upcoming year...

I might as well start off with the showstopper that is Gran Turismo 5, which is less than 2 months away from release. As NeoGAF claims, this game has "more features than God," and yeah, I have to agree with that statement because GT5 is indeed a nutty package. Even though its just more replay footage above, these trailers are put together nicely from the music and the various cuts. In addition, that inside view rain shot is just amazing. The weather effects are just flat out incredible in this game with the rain and snow. Its almost here and now I'm pretty excited for a Gran Turismo game for once.

My most wanted game, Child of Eden, also has a huge showing at TGS with some new stuff. Here Miz himself playing the latest build as I can't wait even though I'm still wandering how this will play with Move controls as the game is still being shown with Kinect controls.

Also somewhat flying under the radar for me this fall is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, which is actually out next month. This long trailer shows off more of the story in the game and what I mean by long is in the Konami/Kojima tradition with all these cutscenes. This return to a 3D action game instead of the traditional 2D Metroidvania style will be interesting to see how it turns out especially with Kojima Productions at the helm. Can they make Castlevania work in 3D that previous games last generation have pretty much failed? We'll see on October 5th.

Announced during the Microsoft TGS Keynote last night is the return of Radiant Silvergun, another Treasure classic, for a XBLA release next year. I would insert another "this is game is crazy expensive on E-Bay" joke, but I won't. Expect the same features as past Treasure releases on XBLA like Ikaruga with leaderboards, local/online co-op, and downloadable replays.

As if Japan is not sick of the Yakuza games yet, Sega announces another new entry to the series, which they are at five now. However, this an't your ordinary Yakuza game as Yakuza of the End stars our protagonists of the previous games against zombies and monsters invading Japan. This is all crazy stuff and way for Sega to mess up the Yakuza fiction more with putting out creatures to kill as if its some Earth Defense Force game. With Yakuza 4 out next year at the States, except this new one to come out around that same time at Japan in the traditional pattern. This reminds me, I need to get around to playing these games even though I play the demos when they were out.

I was shocked as many were when Capcom announced the return of Steel Batallalion to the 360 with Kinect controls at the Microsoft TGS Keynote. This new game, Steel Batallion: Heavy Armor, is also developed by From Software (makers of many games involving robots) wipes away that crazy mech-like controller of the Xbox game for body controls by Kinect, which is pretty nuts going from near hundreds of buttons to none. I'm curious to see how Capcom and From Software pull this off when this game is out next year only on 360.

More later...

Team ICO Finally Showing Stuff Again...

Team ICO has been quiet this year till this week's TGS as far as revealing anything new with The Last Guardian and now a new trailer has surfaced. We still know next to nothing about the game and its still ways off with a holiday release next year. Despite that, its easy to excited for this now that the project is still going and blowing people's minds. Other than The Last Guardian, they officially announced the Team ICO Collection of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for release next year with 3D support. The two classics are reborn again HD-up and another chance for them to shine because for one, I missed them when they came out on PS2, and gives others that missed out to experience two special games that are unlike anything else out now even today. The Team ICO Collection will be out next year only on PS3 and with that plus The Last Guardian at their disposal next year, the team has a busy time ahead for them and I know they will deliver on the expectations.

MvC3 TGS 2010 Video Blowout

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds has a new build at TGS showing off the roster so far as well as two new additions (more like one). We already know Tron Bonne is in from the last cinematic trailer, but gameplay has surfaced of her in action as she retains her MvC2 movelist for the most part with her supers intact as well as one more super new to the game. As a Tron user in MvC2, I'm happy she is pretty much the same and perhaps even better in MvC3 with more combos that link to her supers, but if her projectile assist is gone that made her one of the better characters in that game, then who knows if I'll still use her for MvC3. The new character announced for TGS is a surprising one as X-23 enters the fray. The first lady announced for the Marvel side is not a Wolverine clone as people feared, but she has her own crazy movelist and quite useful at best. She can be one of those quick characters that hard, so her speed may be used to her advantage. So far, X-23 seems like she will be a worthy addition to the roster with still others yet to be revealed in the coming months, so enjoy the gameplay footage of the new characters in action (Some Level 3 supers for the existing characters are also shown in the trailer above).