On the Fence: Def Jam Rapstar

Def Jam Rapstar is out next week and yeah it is pretty much hip-hop SingStar with a ton of community features like video sharing and other stuff. I have always this temptation of having a karaoke game around the house for parties just like having Buzz Quiz World for a trivia fix here and there with multiple people. The soundtrack for Rapstar is not that bad with joints that spread across hip hop's existence from Biggie, 2Pac, LL Cool J, Kanye West, Drake, and more with downloadable songs likely in the future as well. The dilemma for what this game faces is that how can it be competitive with the likes of DJ Hero 2 and Rock Band 3. Good thing its only a karaoke game as the game bundled with a microphone is 70 bucks compared to what the other games are offering bundle-wise in terms of pricing. Then again, maybe the more you pay for something like DJ Hero 2 will reward you the better experience. Who knows, but I'm pretty sure there will be an audience out there that will support Def Jam Rapstar when it comes out next week for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

In the meantime, enjoy the Giant Bomb guys' rendition of Nelly's "Hot in Herre."

UPDATE - Here's the commercial for the game below and the final setlist.

UPDATE 2 - Giant Bomb's quick look of the game just sold me on the game - I'm really considering it now.

On the Fence? Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is out this week and yes, another Guitar Hero game, but Activision has been smart enough this time around not to oversaturate the market with this franchise even though you can argue that Guitar Hero killed the genre that modernized it for this current generation. Anyway, people have the game early knocking out FCs of the songs in the game. I have been out of the rhythm game for a while even though I have been paying attention to what is going on because of the music fiend in me. It is indeed a make or break year for the rhythm genre as most of us believe it has run its course among the mainstream audience, but the hardcore fans will keep it going from completely dying. Warriors of Rock, to me, doesn't offer anything new to the table as expected other than a story mode that is somewhat pointless. With Guitar Hero and Rock Band in 2010, you get a sense of separation between the two these days even though the core game on both are the first. Warriors of Rock is becoming more of a game with Neversoft putting in "gamey" stuff to make it stick out from the competition while Rock Band 3 is becoming more of an actual experience with the pro instrument stuff, the addition of a keyboard, and more. It is probably for the best that Neversoft not to attempt beating Harmonix at their own game and establish their own identity, but that's pretty much the case with the visual styles both games are going for. In the meantime, here's some Warriors of Rock footage featuring some songs (it is about the soundtracks these days that the disc games have that will decide my purchase, but of course DLC will also matter too). It is more of the same for Guitar Hero fans, but hey more songs to FC I guess for them. Personally, just wait till Rock Band 3 if you are only buying one of these games this fall.

The Cabs Are Here!!!!

MTV Shows

Oh boy, I have to post this here too... THE CAABBSS AARRE HEERREE!!!!

Also, Its T-Shirt Time!

Nicki Minaj Gets All Complex...

Now for something different, here's Nicki Minaj on Complex being well, herself. There's a new song that leaked out too today, called "Right Through Me," which is whatever. I'm still curious how her debut album, Pink Friday, will turn out whether if she is for real worth all the hype when it comes out in November 23.

Finally, new DKC Returns Footage!!!

Donkey Kong Country Returns by Nintendo and Retro Studios is still on track for its November release as there is finally new footage in a form of a new trailer. The spotlight in this new clip is the return of animal buddies, mainly Rambi specifically in the video above. It seems that Rambi can pummel through spikes and walls, but he is pretty much the same as it was in the two DKC games he appeared in. Now the question is, will the other animal buddies like Enguarde the Swordfish and Squawks the Parrot also have appearances in this reboot for this classic series? I hope so with certain levels catered to those guys as the core DKC formula is still intact for the most part. I still love the games back in the day and hopefully this new game can live up to Nintendo's expectations as their big game for the holiday season.

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.