Playing An Outrun Cabinet in Real Life?

This is some random video I just saw regarding an Outrun arcade cabinet being driven in the real world. Apparently, when the game tells you to turn, you turn the actual vehicle for reals. Shoutouts to UC Irvine for coming up with this even though it is still in experimental stages, but there's some potential despite how scary it can be at open environments than closed ones.

A New Modern Warfare 3 Campaign Trailer

We're about a month away from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's big release as the latest campaign trailer is now up on the interwebs. Activision is obviously expecting big things from their latest cash cow as if they're going to trump Black Ops as the biggest entertainment launch of all-time. The crazy setpieces will still be there along with a summer Hollywood blockbuster-like plot to conclude this trilogy. I'm still on Team Battlefield, but obviously MW3 is no slouch.

Let's Get A Drink From Subway & Go Hands-On with Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Again...

Subway has a big contest and promotion going for Uncharted 3 as the grand prize is some trip to various locales around the world. Buying a medium drink gets you a code for the latest version of Uncharted 3's multiplayer while getting sandwiches and chips gets you codes for other in-game goodies. This is not apparently the final version of the multiplayer as there are only six maps and a level cap of 35, but there are enough changes that are different from the summer beta. This version will last for the whole month of October till the final game's release date of October 1st, but it allows your stats, loadouts, and unlockables to carry over. Its basically a head start for those that want it to mess around early because the big multiplayer juggernauts are coming out by the time it arrives on retail. The feature set at its core is still similar to the summer beta, but the subtle gameplay changes did change people's playstyles.

Other than the three maps that appeared previously, this new version offers three more maps with Desert Village, London Underground, and Syria. The cool thing about Desert Village is that a sandstorm will occur mid-match and the visibility will decrease for a short time. London Underground follows a similar structure than Airstrip when playing team deathmatch as the start of the game takes place in a moving train before stopping at the station. These sequences are still nice to have in concept, but disrupts the flow of a normal mutliplayer game as teams can get big leads easily if they have a positional advantage. Even the train can kill you at the station if you're standing on the tracks too. Syria is a nighttime map in a castle that works well for objective-based games. These maps are great additions with more to come in the final game.

If you played the summer beta, you'll feel right at home with this Subway version. The major thing you'll notice however is blindfire being better to the point it becomes chaos when close against opposing players praying you'll get a kill. A recent patch supposedly fixed this with stopping power, but I haven't had much time with that. Melee can still be a 50/50 as its been trying to out-mash someone for the two hit kill. Of course, there are moments where an enemy would take lots of shots can still not die and headshots don't act like headshots, but Naughty Dog still has time to tune things up for the final release. Sprinting was improved in the latest beta as well as increasing the medal count for the RPG kickback from eight to ten (previously with that kickback, I can get three kickback king pretty easily if I'm doing well). With this build, there is an argument that Uncharted 3 has become a blindfire fest like how Gears of War has been shotgun fest with its multiplayer, but you can stop and pop your way to victory.

The playlists and the party system remain the same for the most part with team deathmatch, free for all, plunder, team objective, and three team deathmatch. Having a party around is obviously advantageous if you're able to communicate well especially in objective-based games. There will be always players that play objective games to rack lots of kills rather than go for the win, so be prepared to encounter some games like that. Replays, YouTube uploads, and Uncharted TV still function the same as well even though Uncharted TV is showing footage from the summer beta rather than this one now. The HUD change is another thing worth mentioning as the scores appear on the bottom right of the screen, which is fine. Unlockable boosters, guns, weapon mods, and characters are expected too as you play as the villains that have a viable role in the camapaign here. Since this is the Subway version, you can get attain Subway exclusive items that won't appear in the final game, so get it now while you still can last month if you're that completionist type.

At first, I wasn't a fan of the changes in this Subway build of Uncharted 3's multiplayer, but it seems like the developers have noticed the new player tendencies and hope to balance things out for the final version. Even though it has become a blindfire festival, the core tactics still work fine as usually you have to resort to the BS to win, which is the case in multiplayer games in general. I'm still having a good time leveling up quickly even though there are tons of people that reached the level cap of 35 in a matter of hours. The campaign is what I'm most anticipating seeing how Nathan Drake survives this new adventure, but its a cool thing that the multiplayer is already out to get it over with.

Ultimate Assist Me is Off and Popping...

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is about five weeks away and Maxmillian was able to snag a near final build of the game to start off his Ultimate Assist Me! series, an in-depth tutorial featuring the new characters. This week is Strider-Hiryu and Hawkeye as Max covers the basics for these guys with his roommate Doctor Doom. Don't expect the crazy business right away since the game is not even out, but this is a good overview of what the new guys will play like. Also, expect the live nation hilarity that the Assist Me videos has been bringing the past few months as well.

Last night, iPlayWinner and Capcom hosted a little event called Ultimate NorCal vs. Capcom, where UMvC3 and Street Fighter X Tekken were playable to NorCal's best players. UMvC3 got more of the spotlight (hence the title and it was the Vergil/Iron Fist build) as we get the see some crazy sheninegans the other new characters have so far. It was a great stream filled with amazing commentary that NorCal has been known for along with some players already getting used to some new characters like Vergil, Nemesis, and Ghost Rider. I'll have the YouTube link up later for that. Next weekend is New York Comic-Con and also the next (final?) reveals of the remaining new characters, so stay tuned.

Rooollllliiiinnnngggg Stttaaarrrrtttt!!!!!

In weird fashion, Sega teases a new downloadable game announcement above, but the tease is too obvious (and by the title above). Anyway, it is about time Daytona USA is coming to consoles via download and I'll leave it at that.

UPDATE - The possible release date for this is October 25 according to the Playstation Blog as there is a discount on this if you have Playstation Plus.

Assuming it is Daytona USA, will it be just another rushed port of a classic or Sega actually caring about it adding in extra features? Who knows if it will have any multiplayer at all (at least locally) especially online. Online play could be limited to two to eight players, eight being the maximum for an arcade setup, or they could go the extra mile with 16 or 32 players even though that is a dream (imagine that though!).

Music Video of the Day for 10/3/11

Drake ~ Headlines (Official Video) from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

Drake - "Headlines"

Take Care is out on October 24 and I hope its better than Thank Me Later.

Just Dance 3 vs. Dance Central 2 - Soundtrack Battle!

This year's fall battle of rhythm games contains two dance franchises that follow a similar rivalry between the big plastic instrument games four years ago. Both Just Dance 3 and Dance Central 2 are out this month to compete for your dollars, but even though the games are different in terms of how dancing is handled. Just Dance 3 continues this mega popular franchise as it is now coming to all three platforms instead of only the Wii. Its a Kinect only on the Xbox 360 while Move controls are mandatory on the Playstation 3 version. Obviously being on all three consoles means it will sell better than Dance Central 2 easily and arguably one of the big selling games this holiday season, but it doesn't mean its the better game. Harmonix's Dance Central 2 is what I call the "Rock Band 2" of dance games improving everything and including what is missing in this sequel to the Kinect's most successful game so far. The dance routines are getting better and more accurate to music videos of certain songs unlike Just Dance 3 where it is the same old mindless moves that don't make sense. Anyway, this post is about comparing the soundtracks, which is the most important part to decide who would win this battle as the better dancing game.



Just Dance 3's soundtrack is the best of the franchise being a mix of new and old classic stuff. One advantage in terms of certain songs making this game compared to Dance Central 2 is LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem." The downside to this is definitely a lack of shuffling in the preview footage above, which is disappointing. Recent hits range from Katy Perry's "California Gurls" (One of the spokespersons advertising this game with exclusive DLC again at retailers I think), Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You," and more. There is a lack of infamous songs compared to the competition as there are some personal favorites in here I approve of like A-ha, Janelle Monae, Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous," and others. The soundtrack at the end of the day for Just Dance 3 is just another collection of tunes to dance to. The full list is here if you see some choices I didn't mention here you like.

Dance Central 2's soundtrack on the other hand is filled with banger after banger that has influenced the dance scene as if Harmonix knows what's up when it comes to song choices (they have been for the Rock Band games). Its a great mix of classic and modern songs that I know people are down to dance into at their homes. The old-school stuff that is in this game are basically the quintessential songs you expect to hear at parties and get things popping at the clubs. Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" (shoutouts to Pat 112), "The Humpty Dance," "Baby Got Back," and "What is Love?" are just some of the classics that are in this sequel. As far as modern radio hits are concerned, "Like a G6," "Rude Boy" by Rihanna, Flo Rida's "The Club Can't Handle Me," Gaga's "Born This Way," and more made it to the final disc. Even house favorites "Sexy Chick" by David Guetta and "Sandstorm" (yeah that DDR classic) will be awesome times as well. Slower songs such as B.o.B's " Nothin' On You" and "Grenade" by Bruno Mars are questionable, but I guess they offer a different change of pace if you're into that. Even though the whole soundtrack hasn't been revealed yet, you can still look here for what else made it to Dance Central 2. In Harmonix tradition, all songs from Dance Central 1 can be exported in the new one for a cheap fee as well as all DLC is also supported too, meaning you can have more than a hundred songs at your disposal when it comes out.

The soundtrack battle is pretty much no contest as Dance Central 2 easily wins it over Just Dance 3 due to the crazy amount of bangers and not a lot of filler (misses). Who knows how Ubisoft will handle downloadable songs for Just Dance 3 on 360 and PS3 if they have a monthly schedule planned out as I know for sure Harmonix, the kings of DLC, will be able to pump out new songs for weeks and months to come. If you have a 360, definitely go with Dance Central 2 for your dancing game of choice as long as you have a Kinect. PS3 or Wii-only owners will be fine with Just Dance 3 filling that void.