Music Video of the Day for 8/17/10

Trey Songz - "Bottoms Up" feat. Nicki Minaj

Hey Girl, Hey Girl... Yuuuuupppp!!!

Gaming Video of the Day for 8/16/10

The Intro to "Epic Mickey"

Hopefully this will be one of the critical darlings of the upcoming holiday season.

Music Video of the Day for 8/15/10

Lloyd Banks - "Any Girl" feat. Lloyd

Some Thoughts about Scott Pilgrim vs. The World...

So I just got back from watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and it definitely lived up to the source material from the graphical novels as being totally crazy. For those that are not familiar with the movie, the game that just came out last week on the Playstation Network, or novels, it is simply Scott Pilgrim, played by Michael Cera, which decides to date Ramona even though he has to fight his way against her seven exes. It is a simple concept on paper and yet with the references to video game culture, the movie definitely uses those to its advantage and it hits them hard. I can see why the movie is truly dedicated to a specific targeted audience that knows the culture inside and out as they would have a blast watching it from beginning to the end, but the normal moviegoer may be just wandering what in the world is going on with the crazy game-like effects. My first exposure to the franchise was the game and my knowledge coming from the game as I could tell what is going on right out of the gate. They nailed the setting and effects right with the coin drops, Zelda and Sonic sounds, etc. The actors definitely lived up to the characters seen in the comics. It also feels crazy seeing Chris Evans and Brandon Routh as two of Ramona's evil exes as they were awesome as them. Sure, some of the side plots can be somewhat of an annoyance especially with Scott's gay roommate, but it is a change of pace from the main plot. It is unfortunate that the film won't do gangbusters at the box office with stiff competition by Eat, Pray, Love and The Expendables, but at least it is one of the craziest movies I seen this year. It is definitely catered to an audience that lives and breathes video game culture, so it is not really for everyone. I still had a good time watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World today. As a movie, it could of been better pacing-wise, but I do believe the targeted audience will love and embrace it as one of their favorite movies of the year.

A Beat-Em-Up Filled With References Everywhere... The Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Review (PSN)

Note - Videos are from the XBLA version, but the PSN version looks identical if you wanna compare.

When you have a movie coming out that is filled with video game references or reminds yourself of your gaming past time, it sounds pretty cool in concept. That is the case with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World starring Michael Cera as he dates Ramona, but he has to deal with her seven exes. All of this seems like a cool video game as well as Ubisoft Montreal decided make an old-school beat-em-up revolving this franchise. Being a beat-em-up of the glory days of the genre really fits the description well with Scott Pilgrim reminding you of those games when they were cool from River City Ransom, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Double Dragon. Like the comic book and movie, this game is filled with video game references everywhere with the games you love in the old days as even some of the levels themselves remind you of those beat-em-ups as well. Despite all that fanservice to games in general, does the Scott Pilgrim game live up to those games' legacy? The answer to that yes even though there are still flaws that prevent it from becoming something special.

There are four characters to choose from with Scott, Stills, Kim, and Ramona as the select screen is straight up Super Mario Bros. 2 on the NES with the curtains and more. There is an overworld screen after that refers to the Mario games with pipes and multiple paths. Since there are seven exes to beat up, there are well, seven levels to traverse through, but it is no easy task especially alone. As an old-school beat-em-up, this game is clearly designed for up to four players at once to beat up the opposition and it can be done locally, but not online unfortunately, which is the game's biggest setback. I am not sure what the thought process was behind the developers deciding to not have online co-op, but you do have to consider trying to release the game in time for the movie's release and you also risk the potential of lag issues too especially with a game like this where chaos can be everywhere. However, if you do have three more friends locally to join along, then the game is a total blast.

River City Ransom was pretty much the big template behind the Scott Pilgrim game from the enemy design, shops to buy supplies and upgraded stats since there is a level up system for the characters gaining new moves as they gain more XP by beating up more enemies along with increasing your strength, defense, speed, etc. The controls are pretty simple as expected with light and heavy attacks, special moves like the Streets of Rage games, picking up various weapons, and so on. While not as fluid as the old-school beat-em-ups, Scott Pilgrim's gameplay is still solid. If playing solo, expect yourself to grind at previous stages if you're stuck at a certain point because you're not strong enough to go till to the end of the level where a boss fight awaits because this game is indeed tough alone even on the easiest difficulty. There are no checkpoints in the stages, so a game over after losing all your lives will result in restarting a stage from the beginning, but at least your stats will be saved which makes this game somewhat of a grind and the repetition does kick in. If playing with multiple people, you can revive fallen teammates if they lose health and you better so quickly before they lose a life. Also sticking to the beat-em-up tradition, the game is not that long to beat which is several hours solo, but obviously less than that with more players around.

Other than being an old-school beat-em-up, what truly stands out with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is the graphics and sound. Graphically, the game looks very stylish as if you are playing a modernized 16-bit game in the current generation of consoles. The art on the characters, backgrounds, look pretty neat fitting to the retro look as well as setup scenes to the levels and boss fights. However, there are some little bugs where the game can hitch up for a bit as it takes a little longer to load up your status and move list when the overworld screen or the music doesn't kick in at the right time. Even the little things can disrupt a special experience from truly shinning as you just wish the execution was perfect on the developers' end. The soundtrack though is amazing blending in modern and 8-bit sounds together into one cohesive piece and another reason why you feel like you're in the 90s playing this game at some arcade. There are no voice overs, which is a good thing even though it is still a licensed game, as the game does do a good job of telling the straightforward story throughout.

For ten dollars, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is a worthy pick up if you love old-school gaming especially beat-em-ups like River City Ransom and Double Dragon. The gameplay is solid even though it might be slow at times, but that's probably the case when you're starting to level up a character as stats will increase by gaining levels and buying CDs, books, and other goodies. The shining point of the game is living up the franchise's source material and references to video games in general from Mario, Mega Man, and more as the fanservice is everywhere even to the hidden material such as similar codes to those games unlocking something similar to when you input them back in the day. It also looks great as a stylish beat-em-up that looks like you were playing a game in the 90s and the soundtrack fits along that description as well. The lack of online co-op and little bugs prevent this game from perfection, but if you have local friends along for the ride, then you would enjoy more out of the game than playing it alone grinding it out with certain characters to make them become stronger. All in all, you feel like you're playing a love letter to gaming culture as a whole with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game.

Score = 8/10

Pros:

• Solid beat-em-up gameplay
• Lives to the franchise's source material from the story to the presentation
• Amazing soundtrack mixing in modern and 8-bit sounds
• More fun with three more players into the mix

Cons:

• No online co-op
• Little bugs disrupt the experience
• Can be difficult alone, which makes the game a grind to level up characters
• Since the game can be a grind at tough moments, repetition does kick in

BioShock goes Infinite...

Irrational Games returns to the BioShock franchise announcing BioShock Infinite today in an anticipated reveal for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. Even though they still got X-COM coming out this fall (I think they're developing X-COM), this looks like their next game and its somewhat surprising they are coming back to a franchise they started yet others are wandering why BioShock again by these guys? Leave it to Ken Levine and his crew to take things to the next level in the franchise ditching away Rapture and coming up with a completely new setting, which is in case for this game, the skies with a floating city. The reveal trailer is pretty crazy stuff showing off what can we possibly expect with this next entry in the successful franchise even though BioShock 2 by 2K Marin didn't really do that well (I didn't play it). I do expect Irrational to go crazy again with an epic story filled with lore and secrets just like the first game and hopefully take moral choices to another level if they are leaning towards that position again. BioShock Infinite is still a long ways off coming out in 2012, but I'm already excited for it.

Here's a Shacknews preview for more stuff...

PSN Demo Showcase for 8/11/10 (The Mafia II Edition)

This time on the PSN Demo Showcase features a long-awaited sequel to one of the best open-ended action games ever... (The Mafia II video is NSFW for language and violence)

Mafia II will finally be out at the end of the month and so far its living up to be a satisfying sequel to the critically acclaimed original. Even though I didn't play the first Mafia, playing this demo does get a little taste of what the mafia is really like and it won't have any Grand Theft Auto-like shenanigans. The demo is pretty much one simple mission of driving and then a shootout sequence in a distillery. The driving is what you expect out of a game like this with vehicles handling like the good old mafia days. The shooting controls may take a little time to get used to if you have been playing first person shooters on the PS3 as aim and fire are on the L2 and R2 triggers instead of L1 and R1, but they are changed according to your preference. The cover-based shooting does work for the most part, but going guns-blazing without a plan of sorts will get you killed even though there is a health regeneration system. Vito can die in a snap if caught in a difficult situation especially in a mission like the demo above. Graphically, Mafia II looks pretty good as I didn't notice any glaring issues as some people would compared to other versions of the demo. I enjoyed my time with Mafia II as it will be worth a purchase if you love open-ended action games with a deep story.