Anyone going to the Street Fighter IV Launch Party??

This was mentioned in my Twitter earlier today, but Capcom-Unity has been rolling out open invites to the Street Fighter IV Launch Party next Thursday at Downtown Los Angeles and I'm hoping I get in. The details are here and I already sent an e-mail requesting one, but who knows if it went in. If not, I'll just try again tomorrow I guess. If I am going, then it is going to be an awesome time with the amount of stuff going on at the event from giving early copies of the game, the fighting game community and gaming press at large will be there in a big way, performances by DJ Qbert, The Knux, and ABDC's Season 2 favorites Supreme Soul. Hopefully, others can be come and I might provide some pics and moments from the night if it is on.

Welcome Back to 2005... Resident Evil 5 Demo Impressions

After about 1.8 million people download the Resident Evil 5 Demo on Xbox Live Marketplace, which came out last week, the same demo is now on PSN as of yesterday morning and about time PS3 only players get a shot of what's to come with RE5. The demo consists of two sections, Private Assembly and Shanty Town, the same two scenarios we have seen since last E3, but now available for download. You can play these sections alone or co-op both local and online. Lastly, there's 4 control options ranging from the old-school RE4 style controls (Type A) to the "Gears" controls (Type D). Good thing the demo is there for people to figure out which control style to prefer. After playing through the sections twice, I am currently preferring the "Gears" controls to the classic RE4 style. Of course, the gaming message boards have been divided whether or not this game is still good and relevant despite being RE4 in HD gameplay wise. Sure, players have been spoiled of Halo/COD/Gears style controls because those shooters got it right, but returning to the RE4 playstyle where u stop and shoot at enemies, it does feel weird and dated in this age of the current generation.

The core gameplay is pure Resident Evil 4, but enhanced due to the co-op mechanic with Sheva around. It is clear that this game is designed for co-op throughout and Capcom did a good job with Sheva's CPU A.I. Of course, the game would be more interesting with another human player around as u have to act more as a team, but even as a CPU, Sheva does hold her own end helping you revive from death and give you cover. The co-op mechanic surprisingly delivers in the co-op specific sections where Chris and Sheva divide up, but still in the same vicinity helping each other out (the two buildings part of the Shanty Town section). Yeah, going back to "tank" controls standing still shooting at enemies is awkward especially if people have been playing shooters like Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead like crazy. Personally, having not played shooters seriously, the change of pace with the shooting feels fine even with the limited movement options. This is the case fighting the chainsaw guy at the end of Shanty Town demo when my plan of attack is to hit and run with the rifle after hitting the burning crates. At least with the Private Assembly section, there is some sense of freedom due to being an open area of how to survive the enemy encounter before the helicopter comes for the rescue.

Despite my mixed feelings with the gameplay, the game does look beautiful with detailed characters and the action does fit the setting. Even though the demo environments feel the same, at least the final game will spice it up with the variety of locales from the vehicle chase scene, some nighttime levels, and more. I didn't notice any framerate drops on the PS3 version compared to what people are saying as the game runs pretty smooth and constant. Good thing there's also a mandatory install to minimize load times. The game also delivers on the sound department especially when the music picks up in intense moments and enemy encounters. The voice acting seems fine to me as Chris and Sheva are not as annoying as I thought they would be when screaming out orders. Then again, the demo didn't provide enough different lines when giving out partner commands or giving Sheva items.

I haven't tried the demo yet cooperatively both locally and online. Even though it is a great feature and nice to have another human player around, I don't mind playing RE5 alone like RE4. The single player feels fine as Sheva does hold up as a great partner. It does feel like I'm back in 2005 playing Resident Evil 4, one of my favorite games of that year, but I can see why people think this style of gameplay in 2009 feels somewhat dated especially if they have been playing Call of Duty or Gears-like shooters every day. It is a different game than those previously mentioned shooters and I do believe we are spoiled of that standard control scheme, so it is nice to return to this different change of pace with Resident Evil 5. It is going to be a tough decision between Killzone 2 and RE5 after my game of the forever Street Fighter IV comes out in 2 weeks (I'm spending too much money on that damn game). If I'm buying RE5, I'm not even going to bother with the Collector's Edition this time as I will just spend the normal 60 bucks. Yeah, Japan still has some catching up to do especially in the action shooter genre, but that topic can be saved for another time. Plain simply, the Resident Evil 5 Demo is not that bad and I hope the final game (story, gameplay, and replay value) delivers in the end. Otherwise, I'll stick to Killzone 2 instead of this. 

A music video to end the weekend...

As big sports weekend (UFC 94 and Super Bowl XLIII) closes, midterm hell begins and I'm stressing out as usual. Then again, here's "Begging" by Madcon to end the day as this song is getting lots of playtime on LA radio stations now.

Plus, the Resident Evil 5 Demo is out tomorrow on PSN and we'll see what side I'm on concerning whether or not this game feels dated in the current console generation later in the week.

ABDC Season 3 Episode 3 Recap

The Britney episode turned out way better than I thought. We're already in the third episode and you can already tell who's good and will go deep compared to those that will leave eventually. Even though tonight's elimination of Team Millenia (Shout out to Fullerton!!!) was shocking, that moment may be the last straw for a lot of people and stop watching this season. In NeoGAF terms, America loves gimmicks confirmed.

Here are the top 3 performances of the night...

Quest killed it with "Toxic" and clearly the best performance of the night.



Beat Freaks murdered "Womanizer" and at first when the song debuted, I wasn't feeling it, but this song gets u hyped like crazy!!



Strikers All-Stars also killed it with "Gimme More" and the mirror prop.

Here's my rankings after this week.

1. Quest
2. Beat Freaks
3. Strikers All-Stars
4. Fly Khicks
5. Dynamic Edition
6. Ringmasters

Next week we do this again I guess...

UPDATE - Yeah the videos usually get taken out once they are up the day after the episode, so watch if u can here, or just search YouTube and get lucky or go to MTV's website to watch them there without the judges' thoughts.

Okay, I'm excited about Final Fantasy XIII again...

A new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII has arrived hyping up the upcoming demo that comes with the Advent Children Complete Blu-Ray (Japan only). Let's just say I'm excited again for this game and now I'm considering importing it to be played on my PS3 (It is region-free). I think it is out sometime in April and will sell like gangbusters because of the demo itself and hopefully I can import it or maybe get it during my vacation to the Philippines that same month.

Music Videos of the Day: "That's Not My Name" and "Spaceman"

Looks like a second video for The Ting Tings' "That's Not My Name" has surfaced for the U.S. audience. I think I like this one better than the original video (The song is now out in U.S. version of Singstar PS3 and uses the 1st video). It is one of my favorite songs of 2008 and this video has brought it back to my life.

UPDATE - Also adding "Spaceman" by the Killers for this post (Another weird video by them). This song is playable in Rock Band.

6 Hours of Tekken 6 BR!!!! (Hands-On Impressions)

Originally, I was going to Super Arcade at Walnut, CA to play more Street Fighter IV and surprisingly, Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion is already out (it came out on Friday) in SoCal. Six hours and over ten bucks later, I was done for the night playing with SoCal's best players and Super regulars ranging from Kane, Cynnik, Suiken, Unconkable, Rip, MYK, Calsonic, and more. These six hours were pretty fun times even though I lost all my matches, but came close on several against some of these tourney-level players. Every 50 cents spent per game is a learning experience in terms of what to do and not in certain spots. I as usual was playing my main character Bryan Fury and it is about time I return to the Tekken franchise even though console SF IV is just around the corner.

Anyway, your card from Tekken 6.0 works in Bloodline Rebellion as a transfer, but your character resets to the default costume even though the items you bought from the previous game are still in. The character customization in terms of wardrobe is pretty crazy with more wacky items. Some customizations can be too nuts and you can't tell if your character is the same from his or her's default appearance. Other than that, the card system is the same as before winning matches gets you more money even though you still earn money by losing. Also, the roulette is the same as before with more opportunities for money and getting lucky for rare items.

As far as gameplay is concerned, it is pretty much the same as Tekken 6 with the obvious changes to characters' movelists and properties to balance the game further. The low parry is now an automatic bound and certain things you can get away in Tekken 6 doesn't work anymore in BR. From what I seen, the new characters, Lars and Alisa, are fun to play as adding more unique styles to the huge character roster (about 40 to choose from, which is nuts). Even though the machine is set to three rounds, eventually, it will be five in a month or two. The rage and bound systems are basically the same as before too which change the momentum of a match to someone's favor pending on the situation. Sure, its still a combo heavy juggle festival, but its Tekken, and it is still the most fun I had with a 3D fighter.

Okay, I save other thoughts for my review soon, so stay tuned for that. If you're around the SoCal area and a Tekken fan, go play Bloodline Rebellion because it will be a while before it comes out on consoles.