Is This Madden NFL 09??

Today on GameStop's Blog, yeah the game retail giant has a blog too apparently, they are continuing their Monday series of blogs revealing some features in this year's Madden along with this screenshot above of a snow game since today's post was about the weather effects. This pic has raised some eyebrows of whether or not it is real or fake as they did a comparison of shots to Madden 08's snow effects. Then again, this is getting closer to what EA showed that target video before the Xbox 360 even came out. I have a feeling EA is ready to blow out a cover athlete and the major gameplay improvement (if there is) at this weekend's NFL Draft, but as history says, last year was the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare reveal and that shook the gaming world for a week. I also have a fetish of buying the new Madden every year since 2003 being a cultural phenomenon it is now, so I will still give 09 a shot whether if it sucks or not.

Clip of the Day (4/21/08) - The Presidential Candidates on tonight's WWE RAW

To prepare for tonight's WWE RAW featuring the return of King of the Ring, our presidential candidates for this year's election have decided to make an appearance. Here's their promo for the night, but be prepared for a horrible spoof in the actual ring like what WWE tried to do with the feud between Rosie and Donald Trump last year. This upcoming segment has Botchmania material all over it as if Mike Adamle's horrible announcing from last week's ECW was enough. Anyway, enjoy Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John McCain try to make their own versions of past WWE superstars' catch phrases.

Racing Games for 2008 (My Picks to Watch Out For)

So the racing game genre has been doing well this year with Burnout Paradise and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, but the remainder of the year for these games seem good so far (I'm not counting Mario Kart Wii even though it is a racing game). Here are my top picks of racing games to watch out for the rest of the year (I may repeat this post again to remind y'all of this).

WipeOut HD - I already went crazy about this one in an earlier post so read that and watch some awesome footage while you're at it. It is still one of my reasons to get a PS3 now for its June release or maybe even next month.

Race Driver GRID - (pictured above and below) After the success of DiRT, Codemasters is at it again with GRID, their current-gen take on their TOCA Race Driver series, and changes are abound if you're played the previous TOCA games before with this one being more arcade-focused than simulation. This is also one of the best looking racing games so far even though it is based from screenshots and limited trailers. If this is running at 60 frames per second (I think it is 30 for now, but steady), this could be another sleeper hit like DiRT was last year along with the DiRT style navigation menus maybe making a return to this one and proper online multiplayer. I'm hoping for a demo of GRID before its June release (also pictured below). If u want more info on GRID, check out this recent IGN preview.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles - (pictured on the right) I was a fan of the last two Midnight Club games with 2 being a challenging, but fun racer and DUB Edition being a little easier along with the addition of licensed cars. With this new one, but set only in Los Angeles (previously seen in Midnight Club 2), so far it looks like the same old Midnight Club game adding along elements seen in 2006's sleeper racer, Test Drive Unlimited. Cockpit views are also added in this game as well. The release date was announced today for MC: LA which is September 9th and I can't wait to go back to Rockstar's successful racing series even though not a lot of features have been finalized yet or any footage despite a recent showing at an Auto Show. As long as it is done right, I'm happy (also pictured below).
Well's that my top 3 picks for racing games to watch out for this year (still not counting Mario Kart Wii). Even though it is still April, there's still more racing games to be announced like another Need for Speed game that EA is promising a return to the series' roots and the inevitable F-Zero game for the Wii along with others I won't even mention. The racing genre is not usually as consistent as the constant flow of first / third-person shooters, but the limited number of them are great quality, which goes along to the whole quality over quantity thing. Also, factor in more downloadable support for Burnout Paradise, last year's Forza 2, and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and we will have another good year for racing games.

Tekken 6 Tournament at Super Arcade

Unfortunately, I wasn't there to witness the craziness of a Tekken 6 tourney in Super Arcade at Walnut yesterday, but thanks to YouTube user SuperArcadeBox, u can watch the matches that took place. Even if I showed up there and entered, I would likely get my ass whooped so it was better to watch anyway since I have faced most of the guys that are in it and they're pretty good. Here's one of many that took place.

Speed Runs!!! The DMC4 Edition

Speed Demos Archive has finally put up a speed run for Devil May Cry 4 which is beaten in about 98 minutes. I'm currently downloading it now, and I can tell that usually DMC speedruns are nuts due to skill and luck. Maybe this run will make me play the game again, since I started Son of Sparda difficulty, but never bothered to finish it. Plus, if I play DMC4 now, I'll just play Bloody Palace to stock up on more Proud Souls considering my average is at Level 20, which is Berial. I'm also curious that Capcom is still considering downloadable content of some kind at this point, but it is likely that they are not thinking about it.

If u haven't checked out Speed Demos Archive yet, check out all the other speed runs they have up for download with such favorites like Super Mario Bros., Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, and more.

Time to Jump on the Bourne Conspiracy Hype Train

I have to admit that the Bourne movies are on my pile of shame list since I never seen them yet. After watching this week's GameTrailers TV episode featuring The Bourne Conspiracy, maybe I should jump to the hype train of being an awesome license-based game. Just watching it in action feels like watching the movies of all the hand-in-hand combat with that intensity. Good thing there's a demo coming out on May 5 for a chance to try out this awesomeness. Then again, I'm worried that watching all those counters in the hand-to-hand combat would get a totally different reaction than playing it myself. Here's the latest trailer if you're thinking on jumping on the hype train towards its June release.

Sega's Iron Man game needs the Proton Cannon... Demo Impressions

I played the Iron Man demo today, which is up on Xbox Live Marketplace now and after two run-throughs (the demo is timed), the gameplay is not that deep as I thought it would be. First of all, the demo is timed, which is nine minutes to destroy tanks, helicopters, turrets, and crates as Iron Man. I have a feeling the final game's objectives will be more variations of what I played in this demo, which seems repetitive to me. All you do in the demo is fly, hover, and shoot, and repeat at what I mentioned. Occasionally, you can use the Uni Beam attack with the right bumper to take out tougher sets of enemies, but it takes time to set it up and leaves you wide open for to be hit. As seen in the demo trailer, you can use enemy vehicles to your advantage back at them, but nailing it in action seems sketchy and wonky to do. Quite simply, the overall controls for Iron Man feels really sketchy. Hovering and flying seemed confusing at first, but you will notice the differences after some play-throughs. Once you nail the flying controls, it makes you think you're freaking Iron Man flying at supersonic speeds boosting around, but I am worried after the playing the demo is that the combat doesn't make you feel like you are Iron Man especially when he is a high-tier beast in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 with Proton Cannons, Smart Bombs, Repulsor Blasts, and Infinite combos.

The graphics are at least the only good thing I can say about Sega's Iron Man game. At least Iron Man himself looks good and sharp, but the backgrounds can be somewhat dull in the final game (that's a prediction). The voice-overs also seem half-assed like most games based on movies with no emotion coming out of it from Tony Stark and your computer friend. Before jumping into action, there are some customization / RPG elements which is your basic spend money on upgrades ordeal. Even on Easy and Normal, the computer A.I. does not really put up a fight with your health being rechargeable quickly and a matter of avoiding missiles.

The Iron Man demo feels like target practice as Iron Man with its auto-aiming system. The controls feel sketchy for both movement and combat. I wished he had more of a move list or other available weapons in the demo (maybe there's more in the final cut) other than a normal blast, Uni Beam, and melee when close. Graphically, it looks good and shiny as well as having the effortless voice overs as seen in other movie licensed games. In the end, Iron Man might as well be just another crappy licensed movie game that feels rushed to coincide with the movie itself on May 2nd. Then again, everyone will be playing Grand Theft Auto IV, but this Iron Man game can be a decent rental at best if you're a fan.