Basketball is back and here's some funny moments...

This is just funny and Sasha the Machine should of just shot that thing. Good job Lamar Odom...



The Hack-A-Shaq is back already and it is going to be a long season for the big fella.

Off-topic: Congrats to the Phillies for winning the World Series...

Reunited with a bear and bird... Banjo Kazooie N&B Demo Hands-On

Another day and another big demo is up on Xbox Live Marketplace which is for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts by Rare. I think its pretty smart that Microsoft decided to put up a demo for this game before its release to get players who never played the original BK and its sequel on the Nintendo 64 to get familiar with the bear and bird along with the vehicle-driven gameplay that this entry focuses on. For me, this demo felt like a reunion with them as I loved the original BK that much back in its day that I 100% the game], but I never played Banjo-Tooie yet. Since it is a reunion, Rare has brought back the franchise's signature humor and personality of the characters to Nuts & Bolts. In addition to all that humor, there are lots of references to the previous games already in this demo just by the quotes, Banjo Land (which feels like memory lane of previous worlds in Banjo games), and other random business like more teasing for Killer Instinct 3 and a plug for the XBLA port of the original.


In this pic above (thanks to NeoGAF for pics), Kazooie is pissed that he doesn't have his signature moves like flying and his peck. All he does in Nuts & Bolts is to use a wand that can move objects around (compare it to the gravity gun). Banjo himself can't really attack either missing his roll and other abilities. It is clear that Rare is taking the vehicle-driven gameplay more seriously than making just another Mario-like platformer, which fans want to see the platforming return in huge ways, but you're not going to do much jumping around unless you're at Showdown Town, the hub world, trying to get on the top of buildings getting music notes and various parts to bring to Mumbo's garage where you customize vehicles. Since the beginning of the game has some weak parts to add to vehicles, the handling of them seems sluggish and it can lead to some frustration tackling some of the missions especially in this demo. Hopefully, with better parts allows for better controls in the later worlds of the game. Collecting music notes in Nuts & Bolts is basically the currency to buy blueprints and more parts for vehicles. For jiggys, aka the puzzle pieces, collecting more of them unlocks more worlds to transverse as long they are deposited to the jiggy bank at Showdown Town. In this demo, there are four jiggys to collect once you enter the second act of Banjo Land, the demo ends.

The levels themselves feel different to the original games in terms of structure of progression and exploration as they are huge with lots of scope and no wonder vehicles are needed because running around will just take a long time. Various missions and challenges are scattered throughout the levels by talking to certain characters to start them. In the demo, there is a race event, time attack, a different twist of soccer, and defending Clanker fromn Grunbots. There are not really a lot of enemies in these levels, but completing these challenges at a faster time earns you more notes and jiggys. I can see the replay value of playing them again and again to go after T.T Trophies (a nod to Diddy Kong Racing) which require a perfect run of these challenges to earn them. Usually, the right vehicle of choice is the way to go to beat them, but there could be other solutions to beat them as well. Sure, the missions provided in this demo may seem a little boring and frustrating at first, but I can see them being fleshed out more in later levels. I haven't really messed around with the vehicle customization (Did today and the potential is there to be amazing as you can spend hours just trying different parts and assembling vehicles like Legos) and the multiplayer yet as this first run-through of the demo is just trying to finish it.


The graphics for Nuts & Bolts look amazing and Rare has done a good job delivering big worlds while maintaining the personality and style they have known in their previous games on 360 (mainly the Viva Pinata games and Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero doesn't count). I did notice rare instances of slowdown in this demo, but the game looks at a smooth framerate. As for the sound, there is some great music in this game already that sounds standard for the genre. Rare also kept the voice acting to only grunts like the original games, which works for games like these, but I can see why fans are complaining about this especially with the small text of the subtitles. Plus, for this generation, all-out voice acting feels like a requirement these days - the Ratchet & Clank games are good with that.

For 1 GB of hard drive space, I highly recommend downloading the demo for Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts if you're on the fence considering how much of a departure the core game is from the previous platform-heavy games. I believe this will be Rare's best game with Microsoft so far trying to put a different spin on the platforming genre, but with competition from Sony and Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet, which is pretty much amazing, who knows if people will still buy this. Fans of the franchise that appreciate the change like me and little kids would enjoy this, but it won't be that much of a success sales-wise. At least Microsoft dropped the price for N&B at 40 bucks and if you pre-order it, you get the XBLA port of the original BK for free, which is a good deal. Speaking of pre-ordering, I need to do that on Friday to get that free code.

Pre-Order UPDATE - I placed my reserve after trading in Wii Fit and the Balance Board, so I'm set on that being paid off along with Gears 2.

Yes, I will buy this over other big fall games as it will be my calm and refreshing game compared to the juggernaut that is Gears of War 2. Expect a review on this soon (likely December-ish).

Let's officially welcome Dan and Fei Long to SF IV...

Fei Long and Dan have been confirmed for the console versions of Street Fighter IV for a while, but Play Magazine has the first scoop on them along with the first pics of the two characters in their cover story. I'm curious to see if any significant changes will be made to either of them, but I'm guessing they will fundamentally stay the same from previous games. Fei Long should likely remain his special moves with the SSF2T HD Remix movelist and have two versions of his super from ST with his Ultra being the better version with his crazy anti-air flame kick to end it. Dan's Ultra could be a mixed bag. It can be possibly his self-destruct like super from Marvel vs. Capcom 2, a crazy taunt that leads to a deadly combination, or even a better version of his weakling fireball. Anyway, they're now official with pics as proof, but now they need to confirm Cammy or Karin and they should stop expanding the roster from there.

Thanks to the Street Fighter Blog and Shoryuken for the pics.

Re-Emergence Day draws closer...

Gears of War 2's "Launch" trailer has surfaced and some later parts of the campaign were revealed by quick flashes ranging from huge boss battles, Reaver chase scenes, and more. I probably said this already, but I'm way more excited for the campaign than the multiplayer, even though I will play MP like crazy for the first month. This game is going to be filled with so many Oh S*** moments that will be amazing. November 7th is getting closer and closer than u think...

UPDATE - More multiplayer footage, this time in Stasis. Check out this user's page for more MP ranked matches like this.

Lara Croft shoots more animals again... TRU Demo Hands-On

A demo of Tomb Raider Underworld came out today on Xbox Live Marketplace (PC demo coming later in the week and who knows if this demo will be out on Thursday for PSN) and its also a big download of 1.3 GB showing off the Thailand level. For fans of the franchise, this sequel won't disappoint maintaining the Tomb Raider formula of platforming puzzles, shooting combat (especially against some animals in this demo), and Lara herself looking good. I do however have some nitpicky issues with it that ranges from the camera being too close at times especially at times when I try to angle jumps. Also, when you first swim around at the start of the demo, the world may seem open, but invisible walls do make that section a little annoying. Another thing I'm annoyed about is Lara taking damage after taking a fall. It does seem realistic at first as even medium distance falls can kill Lara especially if a jump is misjudged. The trial and error mentality of tackling the puzzles can be annoying too especially for non Tomb Raider fans like me, but the checkpoint system is pretty generous. As expected with TR puzzles, these require some observation that takes some time to figure out, but the hint system does help a bit. Graphically, the game looks pretty good with the water effects, Lara's player model, and the environments themselves.

The combat is pretty standard for the franchise of gunning and evading in which the demo has birds, tigers, and annoying insects to shoot. Other than that, I can see why Tomb Raider Underworld is will be great for fans of the genre and the franchise. As for non-fans of Lara's adventures, it is a good rental to try out, but this demo is worth a shot to see if the game is worthwhile to you despite taking a GB of hard drive space on 360.

Fallout 3 = My RPG for December

Last December, I played through Mass Effect during my holiday break (Check my old-school review on that on the reviews section). I loved that RPG at the time since everyone else is going crazy over it and its flaws are pretty noticeable too. This December will be another RPG journey to tackle, which will be Fallout 3 (not Fable II). I enjoyed Bethesda's previous game Oblivion (100+ hours of it and no Shivering Isles) and now that Fallout 3 is already a GOTY contender, I will likely enjoy this one too since everyone else is going crazy like ME last year. I'm not in a rush to buy it now even though I want that Collector's Edition lunchbox, but I'll wait till I have more free time to mess around in post apocalyptic D.C. soon. It is definitely leading my December stash of gaming (2nd being MK vs. DC Universe and then Midnight Club LA).

Gears 2 = Less than 2 weeks away...

As people are luckily getting Gears of War 2 hella early thanks to connections or torrents, more multiplayer footage is rolling out and yes, this game will be awesome. This video has lots of headshots and shotgun close range business. I tried playing Gears 1 MP again the other day and I still suck at it. The good thing for me in Gears 2 MP is that it will be a clean slate all over again as the first month will be an all-around festival, but the good players will separate themselves soon enough.

Off-topic Update - Tonight's Entourage was amazing.... This show is so good!!!!