So thanks to my cousin, I now have a FaceBook page... As if I hated these type of web sites, now I join them that started with Twitter and now FaceBook... Just great.
Been listening to the new Eminem album too... He's back alright as stated on Twitter.
Other than that... Coming soon on the reviews front.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Wii) - I'm on the B Kingdoms, so I'm almost done with the game meaning expect my review on this later this week or the weekend.
Punch-Out (Wii)
UFC 2009 Undisputed (PS3)
Pikeljunk Eden/Encore (PSN) - I need to go back to this game again, but now it is pretty much in my summer backlog.
Infamous (PS3) - So looking forward to this.
Speaking of Punch-Out on the Wii, here's the awesome commercial (Has Nintendo really stepped up their commercial game?)
Yesterday was another ranking battle tournament at Arcade Infinity for Street Fighter IV and I had a new plan in mind, which is to go with my second main character E. Honda. Turns out my Honda is not tourney ready and I went 2 & out running into bad matchups for the sumo man. The first loss was against a Sagat player in which I had a chance of winning, but I did some stupid things and that was that going to Losers' Bracket right away. My last loss and SF4 playtime was against Sanchez by the luck of the draw as that went poorly getting raped by his Bison (Couldn't get anything going as his Bison started the rushdown right away). While my tourney chances didn't go so smoothly, other things happened that day in AI.
Apparently there was some drama regarding a money match between shglbmx and DSO as shglbmx's Blanka straight up owned DSO's Bison. I'm not really into the drama scene in regards to the SoCal SF4 community as u check the results thread on SRK for more on that. Some heavy hitters weren't there like Gootecks and Mike Ross, who were at East Coast Throwdown repping the West Coast as they finished 4th and 7th respectively. For other heavy hitters, some of them had their bad days like Keno, John Rog, Sanchez, and Bebop, who is starting to use Dhalsim while the AI regulars like Tatsu, Moval, Fuson, and Jack stepped up their game by going to the top. In the end it was Edma, aka the #1 Ken in the U.S., winning the whole thing with his second main Akuma and Kai took 2nd with his El Fuerte (at times Chun-Li when down by one). Vicious's Rufus took 3rd as he leveled up like crazy and randomly was referring to that New Boyz song, "You're A Jerk" to people. I also appreciate some of the heavy hitters like Keno and Edma brought their hot girlfriends along to witness something like this that is so male driven, so props to the ladies for enduring the event and supporting their men.
Other than the SF4 tournament, I played more BlazBlue and King of Fighters XII trying to get somewhat better at those games learning them slowly. But first, DJ Vest and Bebop were playing Action Deka, aka the secret best light-gun type game ever, and that was comedic gold especially Bebop being his usual self getting hype punching fools left and right. I still haven't played it myself yet, but it feels like the Wii at an arcade with the motion controlled gloves. I'm now getting slowly better at KOF XII learning some more characters as I'm sticking with the team of Ash, Shen, and Terry for now, but I still need to learn some of the advanced stuff especially the critical counter system since its so crucial to the gameplay. It was good times playing this game especially with the likes of Rickstah and Sanchez as they were getting crazy when playing characters like Daimon (puts hands in the air after he does his super), Shen, and Raiden.
Even though there was no direct feed video or commentary at yesterday's SF4 tournament, I still had a good time regardless of getting owned in SF4. In case you're not aware of the SoCal SF4 scene yet and even how Arcade Infinity is awesome, check these videos below from the SF4 3 on 3 tournament a couple weeks ago.
Today I went arcade hopping as stated on Twitter playing the newest fighting games at various SoCal arcades. First off was Super Arcade trying to shake off any rust of Tekken 6 BR and Street Fighter IV (Getting ready for Sunday's A.I. Ranbat 2.2 tournament). Then it was some Pho for lunch and then Arcade Infinity for some BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and King of Fighters XII, both of these just came out at AI in the past week or two. But first...
I'll mention the PSN Demo for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 that came out yesterday showing off what the game looks like in widescreen. The demo features six characters which are Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Ryu, Chun-Li, and Strider-Hiryu and its local multiplayer only with no online at all, which pissed lots of people off considering they only have one controller. Basically, its Marvel in 16:9, but there's options to play in 4:3. In addition, there are filtering options with classic, smooth, and crisp modes, but these filters pretty much look the same. Other than that, it plays like Marvel and looks like Marvel with the signature cheesy music in tow if you love blasting "I wanna take you for a ride" all day long. Unlike all the complaints that I mentioned earlier, I'm trying to use the demo as a practice mode to learn the characters more especially Iron Man since I want to learn the infinite for some odd reason. Just make sure you have someone along playing local versus with you for this demo if you want to get some mileage out of it.
Arcade Infinity's hottest new game, King of Fighters XII, is drawing some crowds because it is a SNK game and it does look that good with that HD 2D art style. Currently, it is 50 cents to play since it is a new game and as expected, the competition is already stiff. I, myself, am a newbie at this game only knowing certain characters like Andy, Iori, Joe, and Terry, but I'm willing to learn it and play it on consoles (which is out in July). I only played two or three matches at AI today and I just flat out don't know what I'm doing in terms trying to learn the new stuff KOF XII provides like parries, criticial counters, and more. Like usual SNK fighting games, it is a four button setup of light punches and kicks / strong punches and kicks while combining them allows to excute throws, evades, and the new stuff I already mentioned. It might be crazy at first playing this game because the screen seems zoomed in with characters looking a little big, but eventually you'll get used to it as you play more. I at least still know special moves by Andy, Joe, and Terry, but I know I need to do more than that to be considered decent at the game.
I had a much easier time playing BlazBlue than KOF XII since no one is really playing it at the time I was playing it and plus it is truly Guilty Gear with a new set of characters. Most of these characters seem like ripoffs of Guilty Gear characters like Ragna (my main) having somewhat a Sol Badguy vibe and Jin playing like Ky-iske. I mostly played single player as Ragna, which is 9 stages with rival battles halfway and the second to last fight. Basically, if you know Guilty Gear, you will feel right at home with BlazBlue. Personally, I'm not that good at the Guilty Gear games as I play them casually and I will feel the same way about BlazBlue in the end even though I'm still buying it on console in June 30 (50 bucks standard and 60 bucks for limited edition). Just like KOF XII, I'm willing to learn BlazBlue, but who knows if I have the time to be somewhat effective other than doing some basic stuff. My Ragna is currently a rushdown type style being aggressive towards the opponent. I'm not really worried about all the meters in the display since I don't know what's their purpose and my health meter is usually saying danger even when its high (probably because I use quick recovery too much). BlazBlue is a solid fighter by ArcSystemWorks continuing what has worked in the Guilty Gear franchise for those who appreciate that type of hardcore fighting.
The fighting game genre is still going strong for the rest of the year with the games above satisfying both the casual and hardcore audience. While games like Street Fighter IV satisfy both which is why its the early contender for fighting game of the year, BlazBlue and KOF XII do provide enough depth for the hardcore crowd and hopefully casual people can jump in to these as well than just SF4, Tekken 6 BR, and MvC2. Basically, its awesome to love fighting games again.
Before I forget...
Arcade Infinity also has some random new beat-em-up called Action Deka, which is crazy. I didn't play it myself, but from what I heard from AI regulars, the game is truly a workout with your arms. This game is basically controlled by gloves and you have to literally punch to take out the opposition. The reason this game is so random is the enemies you face which might be too offensive for some people. Here's the game in action below (I think this game costs a buck to play and 50 cents to continue):
That's it for the arcade experience for now... I'll be back at Arcade Infinity for the SF4 Ranbat 2.2 tournament on Sunday and hopefully I can do better than 1-2. The AI regulars like Kryojenix, Moval, Tatsu, and Paul (somuchdamage) were there today practicing up at casual play and usually the line to play arcade SF4 still to this day is hella long.
While I'm still going crazy with the official MvC2 announcement, I should of posted this yesterday oh well.
UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo - Good thing a demo for this game came out to get players used to the controls especially controlling the ground game with the right analog stick. It is about time a good UFC game came out with the sport being very popular now. The tempo is very Fight Night-ish in terms of being methodical and picking your spots to take out opposing fighters rather than mashing away with strikes praying you get a knockdown. The demo only has Shogun Rua and Chuck Lidell playable, but there's local multiplayer for two players to try it out. There's also a helpful tutorial in the demo to learn the controls especially when on the ground pounding away or going for submissions. I haven't grasped those controls yet, but eventually I will and use them to my advantage rather than winning by striking. The game is out next month and I'm now excited because I'm a UFC fan and seeing a good game out of this makes it better.
Street Fighter IV Championship Mode Patch - I messed around with this for a little bit as it is just another online mode for Street Fighter IV for players to play for bragging rights and more. Replays are also available in this mode only to look at matches learning what you did and what you need to improve if you lost. Anyway, I need to sharpen my skills again since the Arcade Infinity Ranbat 2.2 tournament is this Sunday and I should use a different character to try my luck.
Red Faction Guerrilla Demo - Quick one here as I played it once and it is another third person shooter with neat explosions and physics. Maybe I'm not a fan of these anymore due to the genre being unsaturated and I rather play an AAA one like Uncharted 2 (Multiplayer confirmed by the way).
I also bought PikelJunk Eden and its Encore expansion recently (Also finally) as it is another reason why I love downloadable games especially on PSN where quality > quantity compared to Xbox Live Arcade. So far, I barely started the game as I only played the first two gardens and not the new Encore content yet, but I can see why this game is pretty awesome right off the bat and picks it up later on. It's always nice to play some unique games once a while compared to your generic stuff you see at retail these days. (By the way, I almost bought Afrika and Aquanauts' Holiday to increase my random PS3 game taste at the Philippines, but decided not to). I look forward to play more Eden likely at a slow pace and hopefully have a review of it along with the Encore content soon.
Updating LittleBigPlanet and Noby Noby Boy - I just updated them and didn't mess around yet. Noby Noby Boy now has local multiplayer, so that's cool for such a trippy game.
That's it for now as I'm still excited for downloadable MvC2, but I might take a field trip to Arcade Infinity later this week to check out the arcade versions of BlazBlue and King of Fighters XII along maybe getting some practice in for the SF4 tournament, so look forward to impressions of those and the MvC2 Demo on PSN Thursday soon.
It is only a matter of time with all the rumors and leaks, but Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is finally confirmed for release on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network sometime this summer. Excitement is at an all-time high as I still play this game from time to time at arcades and never owning a console version (Dreamcast, PS2, or Xbox). Also cool is that an exclusive PSN Demo is coming out this Thursday with six characters playable (Spidey, Strider, Chun-Li, Iron Man, Ryu, and Wolverine) and local multiplayer. Here's the other stuff these new versions will offer according to all the major sites.
Dreamcast version
Online play similar to SSF2T HD Remix
HD upscaling
16:9 widescreen support (4:3 also there)
Custom music/soundtracks for those who hate the original soundtrack (I'm keeping it)
1200 MS Points / 15 bucks on PSN
No character unlocking = Yes!!!!
Exclusive PSN Demo as mentioned earlier this Thursday
I'm gonna take you for a ride online when this comes out. Trailer is below...
Oh yes, it is not a MvC2 blog post without this...
So I came back from the Philippines yesterday - blog about that soon when I have time (???). I might as well try to catch up on what I missed. First up is the music, which is not much other than two anticipated videos.
Kanye West - "Amazing" feat. Young Jeezy... Kanye has done it again with this video showcasing Hawaii and how beautiful (Or amazing as the song is) it is.
Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow" Well they did deliver on the futuristic stuff as they promised (Blame it on the Ayo Technology) and I surprisingly think this video could of been better as it doesn't get u hyped up like the song would at a club or something like that.
That's it for now I guess as I continue to try to catch up with reality.
