ABDC Season 2 Episode 3 Recap

I'm going to write this early as the episode just ended here at the West Coast. Let's just say it is another great show tonight with some awesome performances.


A.S.I.I.D. was first tonight and it was okay as u can tell this song wasn't really their element with "Roll" by Flo Rida feat. Sean Kingston. While Shane still praised them, Lil Mama did go off and I have to agree with her that it was sloppy. I wouldn't be surprised if they were bottom 2 next week. but I could be wrong.


So Real Crew delivered another solid performance (one of the best for the night) with R. Kelly's "Snake." Out of all the groups, they probably nailed their song challenge the best tonight implementing as many imaginative snake dances as they could in their routine. This week was definitely better in terms of the routine being clean and creative.


SuperCrew blew me away again this week with their crazy stunts and b-boy moves dancing to Jim Jones's "We Fly High (Ballin!!!)." Da Knock was literally in the sky falling some 30 feet and there were the sky flares along with the "Make It Rain" of money on the floor. They're still my #1 pick for now.


Boogie Bots were next and made me go nuts with the video game references like the Street Fighter Hadoukens and Shoryukens (They did Lil Flip's "Game Over"). Even the Tron outfits and the lights going off for the glow to happen was crazy along with the merging of a robot with fits their name. They definitely climbed up the leaderboards this week for me.


Fanny Pak did Britney's "Toy Soldier" and it was another solid performance with the props and creativity. Of course, it is not their best performance so far on the show, but their originality is still racking votes, which is cool by me.


Supreme Soul is almost reminding me of the Detroit Pistons during the NBA Playoffs this year of turning on or off the switch. They did Flo Rida's "Elevator" and it wasn't their best so far, but better than the first episode. I wouldn't be surprised if they go bottom 2 next week with A.S.I.I.D.


Phresh Select and XDF were the bottom 2 this week with Phresh going first doing T.I.'s "Big Things Poppin." It was a good performance, but not as clean the judges wanted it to be. They could likely be bottom 2 again next week with better crews delivering better performances.


Xtreme Dance Force are eliminated tonight and it is like a victory of those watching because the true competition begins. Their routine wasn't bad, but definitely not good enough to keep them around. Seriously, the dude with the spiky hair needs to stop smiling the whole time when dancing or waiting for results (Lil Mama is so right last week - "Fix the face!!!").

With XDF's elimination, the voting is getting tougher now with the good crews sticking around and the "trash" out. Here's my top 7 after this week's performances.

1. SuperCrew
2. So Real Crew
3. Boogie Bots
4. Fanny Pak
5. Supreme Soul
6. A.S.I.I.D.
7. Phresh Select

Next week's challenge should be interesting with fast-paced songs headlining the episode.

This Box Art Has Two Words for You....

IGN has exclusively revealed the box art for WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 and it is a little surprising to me that D-Generation X would be in the cover for this year. Triple H and Shawn Michaels are your coverboys and it makes sense considering THQ and Yukes' focus on tag team wrestling this year with hot tags and more double team moves. Yeah, most of us got a little tired of Trips on RAW and that he's in Smackdown, he has new territory to conquer (HHH vs. Edge at is the main event for the Great American Bash PPV). HBK, on the other hand, he's still on RAW with that injured eye feuding with Chris Jericho (a good feud at least). Usually I don't buy the Smackdown games anymore, and this year will continue that, but I would buy TNA Impact! the day it comes out.

UPDATE - Wrestling related... Here's Botchmania 46!!!

Get Hyped for Bungie Day 2008!!

This July 7, or Monday, is Bungie Day 2008 (U know they like sevens) and their gift to the fans is the Halo 3 Cold Storage map for free on Xbox Live along with a playlist update, themes, and gamerpics that are only out for this day only. Here's Bungie new ViDoc showcasing the Chill Out remake and how they took another Halo 1 map to something new for Halo 3.

Considering UT3 on 360....

Unreal Tournament 3 for 360 comes out next week and I'm considering checking this one out (Maybe trading in GH Aerosmith to get it for a little cheaper). I always liked the Unreal series of FPS (loved Unreal Championship 2 on XBOX) because of its twitch gameplay and intensity of multiplayer matches if a session is full that other shooters can't match. Even though this game came out on PC and PS3 last fall, the 360 version does have some exclusive stuff, but missing crucial features like mods and keyboard support that are in the PS3 version. Who knows if even the 360 audience will buy this considering other shooters like Battlefield: Bad Company out, COD4 still the #1 title on Xbox Live, and Halo 3 getting a free map on Bungie Day (Cold Storage is out on Monday).

The first one still has a burning soul.... The Soul Calibur XBLA Review

1999 may seem like a long time ago, but it was the year Soul Calibur came out exclusively on Dreamcast and changed the fighting game landscape for a number of years. To this day, it is still the most critically acclaimed fighter in recent years and it finally makes a reappearance on Xbox Live Arcade three weeks till the fourth game in the franchise comes out on 360. For 800 Microsoft Points (10 bucks), you will get the Dreamcast game with missing features and everything unlocked. Being nine years old, this first entry is still fun to play holding up to even today's standards. Even though online play is absent in this XBLA version, Soul Calibur is still worth the admission for nostalgia and good warmup for the fourth game if anyone has never gotten into the series to get used to it.

All the modes except story and mission mode are in this version of Soul Calibur from arcade, versus, time attack, and survival modes. It is unfortunate that those two modes is not in because it provided more replay value to the Dreamcast version than a normal fighter would back in the day. The overall fighting mechanics still hold up today with the assortment of characters from Mitsturugi, Kilik, Ivy, Nightmare, and more along with the signature guard impacts and ring outs. The action is fast-paced with rounds only lasting 40 seconds at default allowing characters to have more damaging attacks at their disposal. This was toned down in later games to make fights a little longer. Leaderboards and achievements does this XBLA version have some replay value from beating time attack records and survival wins. The major disappointment of this release other than missing modes is the absence of online play. Even though Namco are saving that feature for Soul Calibur IV, it would have been cool if this game is online if people still prefer this game over the later entries in the franchise.


The graphics of this Live Arcade version of Soul Calibur did receive an upgrade, but a marginal one at best. The game does look a little more cleaner than the Dreamcast version catering to the HDTVs. All the backgrounds still look as good as they were in 1999 even though every level is an open ring for more opportunity for ring outs compared to later games. The only major disappointment graphically is the lack of widescreen, which means there is a border surrounding the game screen even applying the stretched option. For the sound, it is mostly unchanged from the Dreamcast version, which is good since Soul Calibur games provide great soundtracks. The music still holds up along with the character voices and the announcer. Other than that, the overall presentation of Soul Calibur XBLA is good, but not great.

Soul Calibur for Xbox Live Arcade is still a good game despite its missing features. The gameplay is still as fun as it was in 1999 with fast-paced fights and deep mehanics that kept the franchise different from other fighters. The lack of online play does hurt this game's value and any chance of great multiplayer other than local matches hopefully against someone with similar skills. Graphically, the improvements are great, but the lack of widesceen does affect the game's presentation. With Soul Calibur IV around the corner, it is hard to recommend the first game, but if you are nostalgic for it and never played any of the games, this is a good start to get used to the game's fighting mechanics. Soul Calibur is indeed worth the ten bucks for fans of the series and fighting games in general to experience one of the greatest games of all-time.

Score = 7.5/10

Pros:

• Gameplay still holds up even for today's standards
• Good warmup for Soul Calibur IV for newcomers to the franchise
• You don't need to worry about unlocking anything as everything is unlocked.
  
• Still one of the greatest games of all-time

Cons:

• No online play
• Mission and story modes absent from the Dreamcast version.
• Lack of widescreen options
  

The best SNES RPG comes to DS...

We end the day with this countdown timer for a highly anticipated remake that every RPG fan has been waiting for. Yes, Chrono Trigger is coming to the Nintendo DS and it will be official when the timer stops. For those who don't know, Chrono Trigger is one of the best games of all-time on the Super Nintendo. It was a RPG that changed the rules during its time and still loved among its fans for more than ten years. Even though the sequel has not happened yet, CT is getting a second chance after all with this DS remake. Does this mean it won't make an appearance on the Wii Virtual Console anymore now that this DS version is happening? Honestly, I never played Chrono Trigger, but I know how its greatness changed gaming and the fans have been clamoring for a remake or a sequel. Expect this to be official at E3 later this month with a trailer and maybe a 3D facelift like Final Fantasy III and IV on DS.

Curve Them Bullets = Wanted is Awesome!!!

I saw Wanted tonight and it is pretty awesome (spoilers ahead). From beginning to end, this movie kept me going throughout with so many OMG like action scenes. James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, the protagonist of this flick, is entertaining throughout with the humor and the guy he was in the end being the killing machine like his father. Angelina Jolie as Fox was awesome as well and what can u expect from her from those commercials and trailers with she comes out of the pool naked and does the whole curving bullets thing. Morgan Freeman once again is amazing like in every movie he is in (That shoot this mother****** line is funny and coming from him was just nuts everyone laughed). With all promos and trailers seen, I did not expect the plot twist that caused Wesley to go on the rampage against the Fraterenity. If I had to compare the storyline of this to a recent game, it had to be the Saints Row games with the similar plot twist (if u played all of Saint's Row) and getting revenge in the end (that's the upcoming Saint's Row 2). All the action scenes in Wanted are just intense and awesome with that gun combat and other things. Throughout the movie, u felt for Wesley being the normal person with nothing special and then becomes the assassin he is in the end especially in scenes at his accounting job with standing up to his boss and nailing his best friend with the keyboard (A gif of that is in the NeoGAF thread). I also have to give a shout out to my boy Common as he keeps getting in good action movies even though in this one he had a minimized role. It is clear that McAvoy, Jolie, and Freeman are the stars of this movie and they delivered the goods.

Wanted is perhaps my favorite movie of the year until The Dark Knight later this month. As to end this post like the movie thanks to Wesley, "WTF have u done lately?"