Last weekend pretty much concluded my summer as it is a return to the grind at the end of this week, but the title says, I had the best summer I ever had.
It all began with a Vegas trip seeing the Beat Freaks perform inside the Jet Nightclub at the Mirage. Yes, I went there alone to watch it and it was worth it. There is a blog post somewhere about this trip if you want more details on that.
The end of June was another fun weekend with the Ladies of Street Fighter IV tournament. This is just one of many examples how awesome the SoCal SF4 community is this whole summer as this game has brought me so many new friends and I loved hanging out with them every chance I get to. From the tournament itself at Arcade Infinity to after-party shenanigans at Banana Bay, it was an awesome day. The megapost has more details from more video, interviews, and pictures of the day (photo shoot and tourney) if you want to check out more about it.
Despite missing Evo and San Diego Comic-Con in July, I went to Vegas again this time with all my best friends I have known for years, which is obviously the best Vegas trip I could ever have. From Jet, swag flus, sideshows, and XS, this trip had it all, but I'll let the blog post about it provide more details on that.
The last big event of my summer of epic proportions I experienced was West Coast Warzone at Irvine a couple of weeks ago. It was obviously a HYPE event throughout that whole weekend from the pool party, drinks, and the tournament itself (I'm in the video above for like 3 seconds). Good times throughout with the SoCal SF4 community again. The megapost has way more than what is here so check that (photos, video, interviews, and more insights).
So that's my summer in a nutshell in terms of major events that happened with me. Of course, there are lots of other things that happened in between all of those from various chill sessions, local parties, random club appearances, beach trips, and so much more. I might as well move on to shoutouts (never done on this blog before) to all my friends who made "The Best Summer I Ever Had" possible.
Starting with the local homies/homegirls (Thanks guys and ladies for an amazing summer!!!)
Pat 112
Mike Dub
Christian
Fred
Dennis
Matt
Devyn
Brent
Arthur (aka Michael Cera)
Mike B
Stephen
John (thanks for the "dead leg")
Nick B
Ray A
Tiff
Genevee (word!!!)
J Ro
Ana (sideshow!!!!)
KP
Jennie
Betty
and many more...
And now, the SoCal Street Fighter IV community... (Thanks for good times as well!!)
Gootecks
Mike Ross
Keno (why are u so nice?)
Teresa
Naomi (shake well!!)
Shoo
Sanchez
Luka (why so HYPE?)
Bebop
KillerKai (The man with the "list")
Sherry
Duralath
DJ Vest
Jeremy aka "Vicious"
ComboJack
Dae
Bustabust (Kobe!!)
TingBoy
UTJ
Jay Jay
Bryant the Tyrant
Warren
AJ "PotatoHead"
Kara
Kelly
Cami
Kai
John Rog
Anna
Colin "Fade Out"
Tatsu
shglbmx
Art
Vic the Slick (Why so purple?)
and many more... Sorry if I missed anyone!
That concludes "The Best Summer I Ever Had." While I had such an amazing time with such great people, all good things must end eventually, which sucks but its true. Once again to all my friends (old and new), thank you for an amazing three months of summer.
Okay, a quick hit about the new Muse album, The Resistance, which is already my favorite album of the year!!! Is that damn good and I love this band too much!! For once, it is one of the rare albums I listened to this year I can listen to from beginning to the end every time I would play it compared to everything else that came out this year so far. The title track is already becoming a favorite of mine. If you're not a Muse fan, better become one after listening to their new album.
I also have the Kid Cudi album too, which is pretty dope stuff too. If you have been anticipating this one for a while, its worth the wait as the album goes like a story as Common (I think) narrates the various acts to set up the next stage of the process.
Not really a part of the music roundup, but I might as well plug it again: please buy The Beatles: Rock Band!!!! Its pretty awesome!!! I was thinking of renting it myself for the weekend (if I can find it which will be hard) and hope some brave soul with instruments can have some fun with me tearing through this game in an afternoon (it is a short game after all).
While most people are likely chilling out on their Labor Day weekends, let's just say my weekend is a little different or actually way different. Last weekend was West Coast Warzone, aka the biggest SoCal tournament in existence as big names from the region as well some of out of towners from NorCal, Shytown, and East Coast. Street Fighter IV was the main game as nearly 300 players entered that alone and about a third of them registered at the last minute. Other games were Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (aka I love watching this game!), Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (on Dreamcast!!!), BlazBlue, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (Teams 2v2), and King of Fighters XII. As West Coast Warzone is my first console major tournament, it was definitely a fun event to experience competing in Street Fighter IV, hanging out with familiar and new faces, and getting my drink on (sort of). I gotta give hosts of the tournament John Rog and Kai for doing their thing even though its their first time hosting a major like this as I'm sure they learned a lot of what to do and not do next time.
I used a Hori Stick EX3 since this tournament was on Xbox 360 as I at least played early in the second pool compared to most people waiting the whole day to play in the later pools. As I rolled with M. Bison, aka Dictator, I won my first match against some random Balrog player. Most of the pools seem stacked with big hitters despite many roadblocks, specifically players rocking console characters. My pool was stacked with solid players from Combofiend, who I had to face next after winning my first match and Yeb, the San Diego Gen master and crowd favorite. I had to face Combofiend with the internets watching on live stream, which was cool to play on the main stage, but certainly the nerves kicked in a bit. My mindset is just go there and play the game, which I did (Yet Gootecks plugs my Twitter before the match starts lol). Peter is a nice guy and a veteran of Street Fighter games having big tourney experience for years. He played Sagat against me and while he won 2-0, I gave him my best and didn't go anything stupid playing a smart match as some rounds were close. After that, I was sent to losers and won my next match against some Ryu player. Usually Bison has the tools to beat shoto characters like Ryu and Sagat, but still those shotos win the matchup. I was eliminated in my next match against Fade Out, another Ryu player who knew what he was doing compared to the other Ryu player I faced. With that, I was knocked out of the tournament and at least I didn't get 2 and out, which makes me happy. All that is left to do there is just chill, hang out with friends within the awesome community and drink.
How does it feel to get the "Double R. Kelly" as Yeb's Gen shows Magus1234's Viper what's up.
West Coast Warzone was filled with so many people. It was great hanging out with friends I have met in the last few months thanks to playing SF4 as they are nice people that like to go crazy at times. I already made my shoutouts on Twitter and the SRK results thread, so check those places as there are so many folks to shout out even though I knew I forgot some people (Sorry!). Also, I filled my stomach with fast food, beer, some energy drinks, and a cranberry vodka, in which I feel so unhealthy, but hey there was an open bar the whole time and sometimes you just need something to get hype, which was the case for me. Even with the tournament going on, the whole weekend just felt chill hanging out with friends like going to Carl's Jr. with Mike Ross and Eliver aka "KillerKai." It was such a friendly environment that it is hard not to get mad at people especially being at SoCal, where it feels like family and maybe we're just too nice.
Street Fighter IV was the main event of the weekend as Empire Arcadia's Marn from the East Coast won that tournament. I gotta hand it to him for going to hostile territory across America to take it from SoCal Street Fighter legend Alex "Calipower" Valle. Alex could of had it in the bag as he whiffed a jab dragon punch to lose and eventually Marn came back after losing five straight games. Sure, there might be suspicions of Marn sandbagging it playing it cute against Alex, but still played to win regardless (he just wanted drama to happen I guess). While West Coast may feel pissed off that a known player from East Coast invaded it and won because of pride, still California represented at this tournament. Edma finished 3rd with his Akuma, Yeb the Gen master from San Diego finished 4th as SD was there in force getting hype (GYT Interview with him above as you'll probably see me walking somewhere), which was cool. Johann aka UTJ finished 5th with Dhalsim, which was cool too. NorCal represented as well with Filipino Champ's Dhalsim finishing on the top 8 and Magus1234 did well with his Viper even though he got double perfected by Yeb.
While no after party happened as advertised since things didn't run on schedule which was expected, the pool party still went off and that was chill and fun. Despite not a lot of pool action and some lack of ladies, it was still good times hanging out and drinking with friends. Other highlights from the weekend ranged from me buying drinks for some, some buying me drinks, paid half of Duralath's SF4 entry, and a Kobe Bryant sighting at the nearby IHop to Irvine Hilton as Dae, Bustabust (who feels that his life is complete meeting Kobe and also making Yi "5 Star" jealous), Duralath, and ComboJack saw the man himself getting some food taking a picture with him. (Damn I missed this!!!). While old and new faces were everywhere at the event, it is also cool seeing some of the OG guys in the Street Fighter scene from Alex, John Choi, James Chen, MrWizard, and Mike Watson. Some ladies such as Sherry, Teresa, and Naomi from the ladies-only tournament earlier this summer were there hanging out as they are my friends supporting other friends in the tournament and appearing on the live stream at some point. Get Your Tournament, was also hard at work the whole weekend providing coverage for everything, so I gotta give Glenn, AJ, Kara, Kelly, and Cami their props for taking video and pictures of the madness (stay tuned for those soon).
I feel like I can mention more about the awesome weekend that is West Coast Warzone, but its getting a little long and coverage from the event is not over yet. Besides Street Fighter IV, I enjoyed watching certain games like 3rd Strike and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 because we still believe in the old school. Especially I was getting hype for 3rd Strike because its one of those games you love to watch, but suck at playing it. Yi "5 Star" won that tourney with his Ken defeating Ken I's Makoto in grand finals, who provided a great show as character variety represented from Ken, Oro, Chun, Alex, Akuma, Remy, Yun, and Yang (Good thing it wasn't filled with high tiers compared to Marvel). Chunksta won Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in convincing fashion as the highlight of that game there is Mike Ross returning to his beginnings and finished 3rd. I still think he loves that game deep down even though he hates it now. Seeing these old games get major rep is awesome as 3S is still amazing as you can't get away with stupid crap compared to Street Fighter IV and Marvel is whatever. BlazBlue and King of Fighters XII were there too, but I didn't care that much for it. Other than that, an amazing weekend and another highlight of the "Best Summer I Ever Had" (that post will be soon). Again, thanks to hosts John Rog and Kai for doing their thing at this tournament as well as other staff for holding it down especially Gootecks for making sure the stream worked at least. There so many shoutouts to friends I would mention, but you know who you are. Thanks for good times everyone and I'll see you guys around sooner or later.
Keep checking this post for more on West Coast Warzone from photos, videos, and more.
Kelly from Get Your Tournament's pictures of the weekend... (some shown here). Click here for the others.
Kara from Get Your Tournament's pictures of the weekend.
Guitar Hero 5 is out this week and even though I'm way tempted to get it since the word from the streets say that this one is the best GH game in a while, which is a good thing. From what I seen, they took out the distractions and the interface seems easier to navigate making it more user friendly especially for casual players. Above is "Comedown" by Bush, which is like the only Bush song I would play in these type of games.
The first trailer for the next downloadable episode in Grand Theft Auto IV, The Ballad of Gay Tony, went up earlier this week and once again Rockstar Games deliver on making awesome trailers for their products as I'm pretty excited for this one even though I don't have a Xbox 360 anymore. The storyline seems like up my alley and introduces some gameplay elements that were in previous GTA games like parachuting. Also, club music FTW!!!
Last not but least, I gotta plug this since I'm going to be there as West Coast Warzone will be an amazing event for the fighting game community. Get Your Tournament's Cami Vicencio put this video up of her interviewing the hostmaster, John Rog, Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez, Kai, Keno, Sherry (repping the ladies of SF4), and Bryant. Oh man, I can't wait till tomorrow and the whole weekend not just for the tournament, but good times with friends the whole time. Check out warzonetournament.com for more information like the stream that I might be on hanging out maybe and other stuff.
The Playstation Store last week had four demos out for download, which are NHL 10, DIRT 2, WET, and F.E.A.R. 2 Reborn. I decided to get three of those four as I'm not that much of a hockey fan, but from what I read, it looks like it will be pretty good.
First off is DIRT 2 and Codemasters have been doing a good job this console generation delivering on good racing games such as DIRT and GRID. DIRT 2 looks like a typical sequel with more content added including more variety of races and online multiplayer. The demo has two races playable (both online) as one features buggys and the other is a rally point-to-point race. If you are used to the Codemasters' racing games, you will feel right at home with its controls. As for me, it took a little while to get used to the game's physics and handling of cars, but eventually I got better at it somewhat. Top names in the rally scene are featured in this game such as Ken Block and Travis Pastrana as you race against the best at various locales. The random chit-chatter by these guys can get a little annoying while racing as well. Online multiplayer with I think up to eight players does indeed work, but of course experiences may vary if players wanna play dirty. DIRT 2 is out in a couple of weeks and looks like it will be another solid racer out there to buy.
WET is some long awaited game that looked like it is never coming out, but it is also out in a couple of weeks. I call this game the female Stranglehold as it is that game, but you play as a chick instead which is Rubi, voiced by Dollhouse's Eliza Dushku. WET as a whole is a pretty edgy third-person action game with a weird graphical style that looks pretty ugly, but very Tarantino-like. As Rubi, you abuse her slow-mo abilities with her twin pistols and sword to take out random thugs. As with games like this, they like a cool first impression, but eventually you get that feeling that it will get pretty repetitive with the full game, which was the case with John Woo's Stranglehold. You definitely feel like a female Max Payne running around going all matrix on the opposition as it is mindless fun, but something not fun for like ten hours. Rubi also has a berserk mode when her face gets all red to go nuts against enemies in the second scene you play during the demo. The last scene is a context-sensitive highway chase scene as you jump car from car to take out the guy that jacked your bag. Unfortunately, while this scene seems cool on paper, the context-sensitive controls seem a bit off especially with the timing as I had a hard time knowing when to press at the right time. Maybe I just suck, but yeah whatever. Eliza Dushku's voicework in WET seems somewhat forced as if she is trying too hard to make Rubi edgy as cursing constantly is not the solution. WET is just another game in the vein of Max Payne clones that do not get it right just by playing the demo. It is definitely worth a rental if you like playing as badass chicks, but definitely not worth 50 dollars.
Finally, there is a demo for the F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin downloadable expansion called Reborn as you play as Foxtrot 813, who goes rogue to help some guy get reborn (not sure, didn't play Project Origin). It is basically more F.E.A.R. 2, so if you enjoyed that first person shooter, which is actually a decent one, Reborn is worth the purchase. I have nothing else to say about this one as it is a FPS, so you have guns, slowmo, and you shoot them at enemies.
That's it for this week's PSN Demo showcase. Now that I got Batman: Arkham Asylum over with (100% the campaign and don't feel like playing it again other than the challenge mode), its time for me to go back to Street Fighter IV to prepare myself for West Coast Warzone next weekend, which will be amazing and I can't wait. Let's just hope I don't go 2 and out again, but I just want to have a great time hanging out with the SoCal SF scene as always.
Note: The PS3 version's exclusive downloadable content of the Joker challenge maps will be also mentioned in this review. Plus, the videos may contain possible spoilers, so watch at your own risk.
The gaming industry gods have not been so kind to the Batman ever since the NES days. Sure, there might be some Batman games that are somewhat decent, but the majority of them are pretty bad. Even with last year's amazing success that is the Dark Knight movie, it seems like things are going right for the Caped Crusader. There are always the skeptics when Batman: Arkham Asylum was announced that the developers Rocksteady have no chance at all of making a good Batman game. Not only Arkham Asylum is a pretty good Batman game, it is a pretty good game that is an early contender for game of the year. It captures the essence and atmosphere of the Batman universe beautifully as well as giving you so many OMG moments to experience. After all, you are truly the Batman in this game.
The story of Arkham Asylum is basically straightforward. Batman captures the Joker easily and sends him to the infamous prison. However, Joker had planned something bigger than Batman thought and now he controls the asylum thanks to a little help by Harley Quinn. It is up to the Batman to stop the Joker from escalating things to worse proportions in Arkham Asylum, but as you progress through the game the story becomes more than just stop the Joker as some of Batman's greater villains such as Bane, Killer Kroc, and Poison Ivy are roaming around as well ready to cause trouble. In addition, there are moments where it throws you in a loop once Scarecrow starts doing his shenanigans as these are arguably the best moments of the game. The story does pace perfectly as you navigate through Arkham Island from one section to another trying to figure out Joker's true motives are.
The gameplay is split into three major parts and they all work exceptionally well. First, the hand-to-hand combat is simple to grasp, but difficult to master going to big combo multipliers. In terms of simple, there are buttons for attacking, countering, cape stunning, and dodging. At first, the combat may seem a bit mashy pounding on the attack button, but as you progress through the game especially in the later sections, it becomes less mashy and actually requires some skill and luck to get past them. Once the combat flows though, it is a pretty beautiful sight as Batman can just take out crowds of Joker's goons in such a badass and stylish manner. Other than the combat is the stealth mechanics in which Batman really shines at. Sneaking around is pretty simple as well just like the combat. He can use his gadgets to his advantage for stealth purposes such as his grappling hook, battarangs, explosive gel to blow certain surfaces away against enemies, and more. Especially when in a room full of armed thugs with guns, executing the perfect plan of attack just using stealth feels very satisfying, but one wrong move can often lead to Batman's death and at least the checkpoint system is pretty generous as going to a different room, the game autosaves. Then there's detective mode where you turn the game to Batman vision to try to find hidden collectibles, visible enemies' locations and emotions whether or not he has been scared or not, and clues toward completing puzzles and objectives. This mechanic works beautifully well in lots of situations, but sometimes you may rely on it too much as if you're going to play the whole game in this blue-ish vision not grasping the atmosphere that is Arkham Asylum. The overall gameplay makes you feel like you truly are the Batman being both intelligible and badass.
Other than the main storyline, there are tons of collectibles to collect in Arkham Asylum courtesy of The Riddler's challenges. They are scattered everywhere in Arkham Island of riddles, trophies, interview tapes with the various villains, and more. Besides the main campaign there is the challenge mode where you play certain sections of the game being scored on your performance. They are split to brawler and predator challenges testing both your skills at hand-to-hand combat and stealth. The predator challenges have specific tasks to complete compared to like the melee ones while trying to take out the opposition as quickly as possible such as a killing three goons by one explosive gel takedown, inverted takedowns, and other tasks that are similar. There is also online leaderboards for high scores and fast times giving the challenge mode a little more replay value than being just another diversion to the core game. Exclusively on the Playstation 3 is the chance to play as The Joker by download as they are the same challenge maps, but playing as a totally different character. Joker does not as much tools or health as Batman, but still can get the job done in his own way. Especially in the brawler challenges, Joker has to counter more since he has low health and if he gets caught in the predator challenges, he is pretty much screwed. You have to think a little differently utilizing Joker's tool set of his gun, exploding teeth, and specs to take out Arkham's guards. At least there will be more challenge maps available by downloadable content later down the line.
Graphically, Batman: Arkham Asylum looks stunningly amazing. The infamous prison and island environments looks very atmospheric and fits the canon as if you're in a terrifying place trying to escape. As for the characters, the major ones look great especially Batman and Joker while minor characters like random guards may not look as good as others. As a whole, this game is extremely polished with little to no glitches at all, load times are very minimal throughout the game, and the framerate stays consistent the whole time. What is also stunningly amazing is the sound in Arkham Asylum. It truly felt like you're playing through a long interactive cartoon as the major voices from Batman: The Animated Series reprise their roles as their characters such as Kevin Conroy as the Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker. Both of them did an amazing job as they are truly those characters once again just like the 90s. Just like the asylum is very atmospheric with the graphics, the same goes for the sound as well with very moody sound effects throughout the game along with Joker's constant heckling and his infamous laugh. The theatrical soundtrack is also extremely well done as it fits the Batman theme just like the cartoons and movies.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a pretty special game that comes out of nowhere and blows your mind. The hype was certainly there for this despite all those skeptics, but it was truly worth the wait to experience arguably the greatest Batman game of all-time. It is an experience that most be played right away as it is amazingly well done and extremely polished. On the default normal difficulty it will take a little less than ten hours to complete unless you are going for all the collectibles in which it will take you a little longer. Of course, there is a harder difficulty to mess with as well as there is no counter signal to rely on when in hand-to-hand combat. The gameplay flows smoothly as if you really are the Batman from the combat, stealth, and the puzzles. There is also some replay value with the challenge mode especially playing as Joker only on the Playstation 3. As my early contender for game of the year, Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of those games and experiences that should be not missed by anyone.
Score = 9.5/10
Pros:
Simply the greatest Batman game out now - so many OMG moments
Extremely polished and captures of the essence/atmosphere of the Batman universe
Gameplay makes you feel like you are the Batman
Amazing graphics and sound
Playing as the Joker on PS3 is a nice bonus
Early contender for game of the year
Cons:
If u don't buy this game, shame on you.
Other than the challenge mode, not much replay value beyond the main story.
Last week, the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Mixtape came out for download on Playstation Network and the interwebs as 10 tracks by some of the best underground hip-hop artists are there to blast to other than the jazzy stuff that has been on our ears for years. To download them, click here, or go to the Playstation Store and get them there too for your PS3. This mixtape to me is a little hit and miss as I have my favorites, but its nice that it exists and its good music in general to blast while playing something like MvC2 online especially going for OCVs with random teams like I do. Meanwhile, I might as well play that right now "making it rain" on random scrubs who just don't know.
Oh, this is not related to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 but I just don't want to waste another post on this video from some Street Fighter IV tournament yesterday at San Diego as John Rog and Keno actually box it out in this hilarious Balrog mirror. Maybe this is how Balrog mirror matches should be played now... I'll let the HYPE (mainly Kai) speak for itself.
