Born This Way Friday is Here...

Lady Gaga's new song is out and yup, good as expected. "Don't be a drag, just be a queen!"

Fireballs & Bicycle Kicks... Liu Kang in the new Mortal Kombat

It wouldn't be Mortal Kombat without Liu Kang and he's finally revealed with his signature moves. I miss his MK2 and MK3 voice, but this can do for now. Also in the video is Kano and Shang Tsung being confirmed, which we will probably see videos of those two soon.

Finally... First Gameplay Footage for L.A. Noire

L.A. Noire is already shaping to be another Rockstar classic like last year's Red Dead Redemption as the developers themselves premiered the first gameplay footage for the game. As expected, it is a mix of a detective game/action parts of GTA, and that's good enough for me.

February Plans for the World...

• Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Review (we'll see how early I get it)
• Music roundup maybe??
• Whatever else...

Another Crazy & Random Game from Japan... Brief Hands-On with the Catherine Demo

Every now and then, a Japanese cult classic comes around and blow people's minds whether there and here at the States. Atlus's Persona series has been a recent example of that in the past couple of years especially with Persona 4 being an amazing RPG. It took a while, but finally they are heading to the current generation of consoles with Catherine, a totally different, random, and unique game, but still shares a resemblance to Persona fans because of the graphical anime style. The demo that came out on the Japanese Playstation Store today is indeed mostly in Japanese, so you can't really understand what in the world is on with the characters and how the main dude, Vincent, is in some crazy love triangle. If I can get a sense of the story, he has some crazy haunted dreams because of one of the love interests, Katherine. He is just in his boxers and sheep horns in dream sequences where it becomes a puzzle platformer where he has to transverse vertically to a gate before a monster kills him or the blocks fall down running out of time. Once you get the hang of the core gameplay, it is simple to navigate the block puzzles moving them around in order to keep moving, but since it is a puzzler, one wrong move will likely lead to a loss life. Plus, with huge monsters chasing you before you reach the goal, the added pressure and intensity makes Catherine one crazy ride. Add along a random and anime-like story that will make players curious what the hell Vincent has got himself to, and Catherine is shaping up to be another underground Atlus classic. It is nice to see crazy Japanese games such as this still being made because of their random factor to appease fans. Catherine is out next month at Japan and who knows if Atlus plans to localize it for the States, but after playing this demo, I hope they do since there is a Persona-like fanbase still here.

Get HYPE for Rocket Punches, Drones, & Re-Flys Again... Sentinel + Hsien-ko MvC3 vids

Its no surprise by now, but Sentinel and Hisen-ko (of Darkstalkers & Puzzle Fighter fame) are now characters in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Sentinel is expected since he is one of the best characters in MvC2 as he makes the transition well here. It remains to be seen how good still he is, but pretty much of most of what made him such the beast he was can be applied to MvC3 somehow even if a little slower this time around. Hisen-ko is an odd one if u know her from Darkstalkers, but as someone who hasn't appeared in a new fighting game for quite some time, I don't mind the addition since now they're at 3 Darkstalkers characters for MvC3. The full roster is pretty much set besides DLC and we're only two weeks away, so the HYPE is getting closer to reality.

Quickie Hands-On with the Bulletstorm Demo...

A demo for EA and Epic Games' Bulletstorm came out today on Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network as of course I gotta get my hands on another anticipated first quarter game. From what I seen of Bulletstorm so far before this demo came out, it seemed like one of those first person shooters that just do not care what it is, which is actually a good thing. It brings the days when shooters don't give a you know what and focuses on the killing rather than trying to provide an epic war-like story. This game screams style over substance and that's what Bulletstorm is all about as they describe it as shooting with skill. The demo is a quickie though as it is an one level run of a Echoes level, pretty much a time attack mode of sorts to rack up the highest score possible doing it a fast enough time too. Out of the gate, this game, as many have claimed, feels like a first person shooter version of MadWorld (that Sega/Platinum Games violent sleeper on the Wii) and that itself is pretty good to stand on. Your imagination is the limit of how to kill when given the environment you're in. In this demo, there are spikes everywhere, bottomless pits near the end, and spots to electrify enemies for more points. Getting kills in a variety of ways racks up your high score as doing bullet kicks (even though cool and causes slowmo) numerous times will become less. Your weapon set will become more crazy in the final game which causes for more high score opportunities, but your leash, a grapple beam of sorts, is the main tool to get the party started basically. The Echoes mode has potential for addiction going for high scores beating your friends and top players on leaderboards like even Pac-Man Championship Edition DX to a certain extent when the final game comes out. Bulletstorm can bring back the classic fun first person shooters have been missing out on, which is killing in a stylish manner and you don't need some epic storyline to back things up. Plus, the non-serious bro-heavy tone is good for what it is in this game even though I can see it can turn people off because they rather prefer a character-driven shooter like the most of the ones out now. Bulletstorm is one of those games that don't care what it is and doesn't take itself seriously and maybe that's what I need again in the industry today. Sure, you still need those epic Halo or Call or Duty like experiences, but Bulletstorm to me feels like a straight up game, and hopefully people can recognize that when it comes out next month on 360, PS3, and the PC.