Nintendo wins.

Seriously. The last time Nintendo had an exciting press conference was way back in 2006 when they first introduced the Wii. Since then it's been several agonizing years of loyal Nintendo fans hanging onto small tidbits here and there while crap like the vitality sensor and Wii Music or Wii Fit took center stage. This year, Nintendo seemed to (mostly) have the message that they in fact had not forgotten about delivering one hell of a gaming experience on a consistent basis, as every game (with the exception of Just Dance 2 damn every one of you who bought that trash) was not only mostly a surprise in that we hadn't heard about it, but welcome updates to old favorites that everyone has been clamoring for. A redone Goldenye, a New Donkey Kong, a New Kirby for Wii, and Zelda & Metroid both looked fantastic, and Epic Mickey looked insanely good, with Kid Icarus apparently leading the charge on the new 3DS. The 3DS is still a big question mark, as while they talked about it quite a bit, it was impossible to see the 3D in action without being there and I imagine it might be the same till you can get your hands on a demo yet. Also no price or release date was announced, so I wouldn't be surprised if it launches next year, and I'm willing to bet it will be around $199, which would be a great deal for 3D gaming and movies on the go (that's right, movies, if you didn't catch the conference, you will be able to watch movies like Avatar in 3D on the 3DS, which is pretty frakking insane).

In fact the only thing I'd say was apparently lackng in Nintendo's conference was that there really wasn't any new IP, virtually every title was tied to a long running franchise, most of which have been around since the NES era. And Nintendo has officially pretty much dug everything out of the vault by now, so next year they better have some new stuff to present.

Sony also had their conference today, and while it wasn't nearly as amazing as Nintendo's, it was pretty entertaining in its own right and miles better than Microsoft's. I'd say the biggest issue much was again, lack of big surprises, though a new Twisted Metal game certainly holds my interest. And while Move still mostly looks like a Wii rip off, it looks like one that can certainly hold its own. Aside from the crossover action game Heroes on the Move, I didn't see much that interested me personally, though. And frankly, while the hardware seem mostly reasonably priced, it goes up rather quickly if you are buying for 3 or 4 people. They are certainly facing an uphill battle trying to convince people that this would be a better option than the $200 Wii. They are also facing an uphill battle with their big focus on 3D gaming, because frankly 3D TVs aren't selling and Reggie mentioned why in the Nintendo press conference, it's literally thousands to have a 3D set up in your home. I just really think it's going to be awhile before it catches on. Hopefully their seemingly new focus on the PSP actually works, cause that system has been pretty much crap from day one.

So to sum up, Microsoft failed big time. Sony entertained but didn't really offer anything groundbreaking, and Nintendo regained a lot of lost credibility with their best show in years. I'll probably give some highlights of my most anticipated games either tomorrow or Thursday, so see you then.

God I miss J. Allard...

Because seriously, Microsoft has rarely been the belle of the ball at E3, what with usually playing it extremely safe and having jack squat that we didn't already know about, but at least Microsoft's former pirate was able to keep the crowd engaged. Not one person could do that this year, some didn't even try, including noted egotist Cliffy B, preferring to let the mostly meh games speak for themselves. Halo: Reach especially failed to look like anything evolved from previous Halo titles, the only game I could muster any excitement for was Fable III, and it's awesome to know that as of right now, it's not all that far off (Oct. 26th). And while the announcement of the ESPN partnership is huge in some aspects, but they spent far too long on it.

But let's get the meat of the conference, Microsoft's Kinect. Was it a complete disaster? Ok, not completely. There were some positive aspects, namely titles like Kinect Adventures and Kinectimals showed some actual potential (though the little girl acting like the virtual tiger was actually licking her was just stupid), but the rest was pretty much a disaster. Their Wii sports rip-off looked unplayable, the dancing game(s) just exist to make you look like a complete tool, and even the much-hyped Star Wars title looked meh at best. The conference as a whole was a giant fucking mess. To be honest, I'm not completely sure the others will be good, the last good set of conferences (or at least entertaining to watch) was right before the latest consoles launched. I watched this one live and it was an absolute exercise in slow torture most of the time, snapping the occasional decent bit from time to time. I don't really plan on watching the other press conferences, I'll just get a recap after and comment on the highlights and lowlights. A rather auspicious way to start E3 IMHO....

The obligatory pre-E3 musings.

Well here we are, hours away from the biggest gaming event of the year, and I can honestly say I can't remember a year when I've been less excited about the industry's big event. Barring any major reveals, we already know what the big three's main focuses are going to be, and not one of them sounds all that appealing. For Nintendo, it's their official DS successor, the 3DS. Portable 3D gaming on the go sounds like a fantastic sales pitch, but much like the DS when it first hit, it will probably take awhile before developers really figure out what to do with it in an actual gaming sense rather than just pure gimmickry. Sony's move has got to be as close as you can possibly get to Nintendo's own Wii remote & Nunchuck without violating copyright, even with their own version of Wii Sports. I'm just not sure of the appeal of HD waggle over non-HD. Core gamers sure as hell won't want it, and the more casual crowd will struggle to see the difference, especially since you have to buy a PS3 and the move controllers, which will probably add quite a bit to the more appealing Wii package. And finally there is Microsoft's Natal, which I've talked about previously about how much of a joke it is. I cannot imagine the appeal of this to anyone. There's just a lot of genres that require something tactile like a controller to work properly. Sure, a fighting game might work, but that's really about it.

Well surely the games that are confirmed are something to be excited about right? Well I see a few interesting possibilities (Mafia II, Dead Rising II, Lost in Shadow), but few titles to really, really get excited about, especially that are coming out this year. As I see it now, assuming releases hold firm, I see very few purchases for myself for the rest of the year-Epic Mickey, Fable III, and Birth By Sleep are the only games that I'm really pumped about. I'm hoping there will be some surprises (seeing footage of a new Zelda title & an Arkham Asylum sequel is almost a lock) but those will be far off titles that we may yet again be seeing in a more complete form next year. The event itself may be back to the glitz and glamour of past years, but what's on display doesn't seem to really be on par with the majesty of the event. Hopefully I'm proven wrong, with lots of great surprises over the next couple of days. I'll most likely be doing a daily posting of events through Wednesday or Thursday, starting with thoughts on Microsoft's press conference (and EA's/Ubisoft's if they have anything worth talking about), so we'll see.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The curse of movie tie-ins

I've brought this up before, but as a rule, video games tied to movies suck. The Watchmen games pretty much suck, The Kick Ass game sucks, the Avatar game sucks. I have hope the Toy Story 3 game won't suck but I won't be too surprised if it does. One game that looks like it's chances of suck are relatively low is the upcoming Scott Pilgrim downloadable title coming to PSN this August. It stays pretty true to the look of the comic (which admittedly I don't know enough about to fill in a Cliff Notes version, but I plan to get up to speed because it sounds to awesome for me to miss out on), which itself is a giant love letter to geek culture. I'm more excited about this than some AAA titles coming out because frankly this looks more fun. I mean really, somewhere along the line between games getting real and artsy and deep, a lot of people have forgotten to make them fun. I'm not saying it's a lost art, a solid number of games still have that, but it's hard to say stuff like God of War III or Modern Warfare or Final Fantasy XIII is just fun. They are being too serious to be fun. Scott Pilgrim will hopefully just be fun.




New Mortal Kombat movie? That seems to be the buzz. Judging by this trailer, it looks like it might actually have some promise, but it sucks that Cage is dead at the beginning, he was the best part of the original...



Well it took about 3 weeks, but I finally got some quality time in with Red Dead Redemption. I hesitated just right out buying it, because while I normally enjoy Rockstar's work, I get tired of the game about 20 hours in. I feel like I get my money's worth mind you, but Rockstar games tend to be ginormous in scope, so I get nowhere near done with them. And while sometimes I get lucky in renting the newest games (i.e. Red Steel 2 or Alpha Protocol), since I do nearly all my renting through Gamefly, I'm at the mercy of their seemingly random availability, which can be a cruel bitch. I even scoured Blockbuster off and on for weeks, finally getting lucky on Monday. Granted, this seems to have the same scope, but it's very cool, and with no annoying cousins constantly bugging you on your cell phone, you actually have the freedom to do what you want when you want rather than be at the beck and call of some random asshole because you don't want to hurt your relationship with them. So I do plan on owning it , but I'd really like to put away Super Mario Galaxy 2 and hopefully Fallout 3 (which I think I'm finally nearing the end of) before I actually pick it up.

Finally, I love Torchwood. Granted, it kind of stumbled through season one, but season two was a pretty massive improvement and Children of Earth was absolutely brilliant, so I had hopes for awhile that it would be coming back. For awhile it seemed destined to land on Fox, which would be a horrible idea given their history with sci-fi shows, then that deal fell through and we hadn't heard anything for awhile. But now it's confirmed that it will be back, just not til next summer (boo!). It does sound like it will have a much grander scope, so that's a plus, and hopefully being broadcast on Starz will expose it to a wider audience.

All right, that's all for today, but I leave you with arguably the most epic FREE GAME OF THE WEEK yet: Zelda II: FPS

Nintendo finally competing graphically with Sony & Microsoft?

On a portable console, no less. I find the rumor itself highly suspect, probably the kind of screwy math that had Atari claiming their horrid Jaguar system was 64 bits. Or at the very least, if it does possess that kind of power, it may all go into providing the glasses-free 3D gaming without much of a visual upgrade. And the big question is what would that do to the battery power? The extremely lengthy battery life is one of the top reasons to own the console, if it's drastically reduced to say, PSP levels, that would be a major flaw in the design IMHO. With only  a week left til E3, we will find out the answer relatively soon.

And it's alost like someone heard me complaining about the lack of interesting stuff at E3, because, not one, but 2 upcoming Kingdom Hearts games should be at the show. One is almost guaranteed to be an near final version of the PSP game Birth By Sleep, the other better not be the just leaked remake of a series of cell phone games. It's been more than long enough between the Kingdom Hearts proper titles and we're several years into the current generation of home consoles. BRING US KINGDOM HEARTS III.

Yes, I did play the Lego Harry Potter demo this morning. It was fun, so if you are a Lego/Harry Potter fan you will probably have fun with it. But it really isn't all that different from any Lego game you've previously played (complete with idiotic A.I. parnters). I seriously feel like the Lego games are starting to become a little long in the tooth, and aren't too far from becoming in the same league as WWII games, where everyone will just be sick of them.

Dreamcast classics coming to XBLA and PSN? Well. sort of. Sure, some people fondly remember Crazy Taxi & Sonic Adventure. But those people are horribly, horribly mistaken. Sonic Adventure  was a completely terrible game that much like Dragon's Lair, we were too amazed by the presentation at the time to realize. Crazy Taxi is fun for about an hour, tops. It is fun in an arcade setting, where you'd play it once in a while, but available to play all the time on a console, the shortcomings and limited appeal crop up quickly.

Dragon Age Anime? I'm not horribly thrilled. So far, game based movies in general have been pretty much garbage, and the attempts at anime (Dante's Inferno, Halo Legends) haven't fared much better. Plus, anyone want to give odds on it skirting so close to Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson might be looking to sue?

All right, that's it for today, but I did finally get my hands on a rental copy of Red Dead Redemption, so I'll hopefully get some time in with that and give impressions, as well as thoughts on a few other things. Til then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Beastly

Yeah, I'm NEVER buying Natal

I've mostly stayed quiet on this whole Microsoft and Sony trying to capitalize on the Wii's success stupidity because I hadn't seen much of it. Now granted, any motion-controller has the capacity to make you like like a complete idiot, but Natal takes it to a whole new level, and frankly it's not just looking like an idiot. Any precision gaming of any kind just doesn't seem possible period on this thing. I you can't drive with just imagining the steering wheel, brakes and gearshift there, you cannot swing a sword or bat or shoot anything properly with nothing to hold. Granted, all Sony is really doing is offering an HD version of what you can already get on the Wii(even with its own version of Wii Sports), but a unapologetic rip-off seems better than this controller clearly designed with complete Spaz's in mind. I'm not saying I'll never give it a shot, but I cannot imagine any game that will make me want to buy this, and it's hard for me to imagine it appealing to anyone other than little kids and frankly the parents aren't going to pay more when they can get a wii for less and motion control is all the same to them. I'd argue it's a similar uphill battle for the Move, but since HD is actually starting to take off, they may actually be able to steal a good portion of the Wii's market since they will offer much nicer-looking motion control games. Of course there is this history of virtually any add-on not doing all that well to worry about at all. I mean how many people own a Playstation eye or an Xbox live Camera? Granted, more is being put into these, but history really isn't on Sony & Microsoft's side. The reason Nintendo's has worked is because it's core to the system, it's how it works. Even the motion plus, which probably would not sell all that well on it's own no matter how many games supported it, is working because it's essentially a pack-in as well. Neither Natal or Move is necessary to the core experience of their respective systems and so the chance for them being the novelty they keep claiming the Wii is (and yet are trying to follow) is much higher.

Ok, back to the weekend, I doubt I'll post tomorrow as I'm fairly sure I have at least a 12-hour day, but as I said last time Monday or Tuesday is almost a definite so see you then.

Talkin about a revolution....

I absolutely loved Deus Ex 2, and this trailer has me very pumped for the next installment. It just sucks that we have to wait til next year to experience it.

Unfortunately I still haven't seen Prince of Persia. Twice now plans to see it have failed, I think its a sign that I should wait for video.

E3 is only 9 days away? That's awesome, because right now there are basically 2 games coming out for the rest of the year I'm really truly looking forward to-Epic Mickey & Fable III (assuming it actually comes out this year). That's it. I have a passing interest in Fallout: New Vegas, but considering I'm finally plugging through Fallout 3 at a slow but steady pace, I'll probably need a break. DC Online Universe looks somewhat promising, but there has yet to be a solid console MMO so I'm not holding my breath. I have virtually no interest in Natal or Move (though that may change depending on what they have at the show) and I'm pretty sure the 3DS will be like the DS in that it might take a year or two before it really starts having a solid library of titles that effectively use the 3D technology. So hopefully, E3 will give me a few more reasons to plunk down my hard earned cash on some games.

Lord of the Rings Online is a well received popular MMO, so it would never be free to play right? Apparently not., because this fall it will go free to play. Sounds like just the ticket to pull me back into the MMO well, though I would need a much better computer than the crappy laptop I've got now before I would even consider it.

So these are supposed concept art for the upcoming Captain America and Mighty Thor movies, giving us a rough idea of what the characters will look like. I'm hardly a hardcore fan of either, but I think they both look fine. The infamous wingtips on cap's old school costume would look silly live action. Though I think Thor is missing something without his trademark helmet, so hopefully that will be part of the final costume.

Finally, I got Alpha Protocol in the mail from gamefly today. I figured given all I heard about the game, I still might digg it. I've certainly been able to overlook damning flaws before (I really enjoyed Advent Rising, for instance, even though it was massively flawed). But honestly I couldn't even get past the training. You heard me. I DIDN'T MAKE IT PAST THE TUTORIAL LEVEL. Why? mainly due to the headache-inducing hacking game. I even looked up help videos on youtube and I couldn't figure it out. But there were plenty of other problems. The enemy A.I. problems show up immediately (essentially they are all morons), and essentially the real issue is that there are insanely strict time limits on everything. Even from the very beginning of the game, you only have seconds to make dialogue decisions (often before the person has finished speaking), disable alarms and hack computers. And frankly both the alarm and hacking minigames are a giant exercise in massive annoyance. And while I readily admit to not being a great gamer, my over 20 years of experience in the medium should pretty much mean I'll have little if any trouble getting past the tutorial level of virtually any game. Alpha Protocol is broken and not fun, plain and simple.

Ok, I should be back Monday or tuesday with  impressions of the Harry Potter Lego demo and probably at least a couple other things. Til then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Chubby Ninja

Now everyone can run around with an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on their back...

Why couldn't they have backpacks like this when I was a kid? Well, I may get one anyways when 80stees actually start selling them, it would awesome to wear to a convention.

47 stars in on Super Mario Galaxy 2. Am I still loving it? Absolutely. However, I am at the point where even with getting more than a few optional stars, I need even more to advance, which will lead to quite a bit of annoying backtracking and possibly trying to get stars from sources I loathe, such as the prankster comet stars. It would be nice if I wasn't forced to go after stars that I feel are frustrating and not worth the effort.

Being that the God of War Collection was a ginormous success, it would be a no-brainer that Sony is looking into releasing other HD collections. What is surprising is that the most likely up for a conversion to HD are a couple of their less successful titles, Ico & Shadow of the Colussus. Granted, these are gorgeous, amazing games that are worthy of an HD upgrade (especially, Colussus, which really pretty much needs it), so I don't think there's anything bad about it, but I'm surprised they didn't go with something more high profile.

Finally, is Sony finally doing something right with the PSP/PSPgo? Well sort of. They are dropping prices on a lot of games, and throwing in 3 free ones with the PSPgo. Now this is a great initial deal, but then you are a slave to Sony's overall ridiculous pricing structure with no other options. And I'm saying as an owner that the library just sucks. You can get the occasional solid rpg port, which is nice, but the only reason at this point I haven't just dumped it is because of Birth By Sleep. Maybe E3 will provide a couple of additional reasons, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

Hope everyone had a great memorial day weekend, I'll most likely post again on Friday with thoughts on Prince of Persia and whatever else goes on in the next couple of days.

Spy Hard

Ok, I didn't really get a chance to see Prince of Persia this weekend, but I have every intention of seeing it this Friday, so I'll give my opinions of it then.

Alpha Protocol. An espionage game mixed with rpg elements by Obsidian (KOTOR II, Neverwinter Nights and the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas) sounds like a no-brainer to get excited about. I was extremely excited about it. Until the reviews started popping up. The dialogue system seems to be getting rave reviews, but the consensus is that the actual gameplay itself  leaves a lot to be desired. So considering there are other titles you can get out there with great dialogue systems and awesome gameplay (namely Mass Effect 2, and some would say Heavy Rain, but not me) it seems like something you'd be better off not wasting your money on. I'll leave it on my gamefly queue and give my impressions if I get around to it.

Is the film version of the Hobbit doomed? After being essentially placed in limbo thanks the the troubles of studio MGM, director Guillermo del Toro has left the project. How much this will effect the quality of the movie itself is questionable, as there are a number of solid directors who could take his place, though admittedly historically that hasn't gone all that well. The real question now is if the movie will ever see the light of day in the first place.

A Mass effect movie? Sounds potentially awesome, but the chances of it being a mess are high. A key point of Mass Effect is that there wasn't really a right and wrong, just shades of grey in your approach. That will probably be lost, which I'll be willing to accept with a good cast. If they don't have Seth Green as Joker, that's an automatic fail. What about the ubiquitous Commander Shepherd? Well, if they aren't totally stuck on the default bald space marine look, the options open up quite a bit. Personally, I think Mark Valley (Human Target) would be an excellent choice, though they are probably aiming for someone a little younger. More likely someone like The Rock or (ugh) Channing Tatum. Hopefully, they will not fuck this up.

Ok, that's all for today, I will probably post again tomorrow, but til then enjoy your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Tron Legacy (new)

"Home isn't shit"

 That's one hell of a marketing tag Granted, everybody has a right to their opinion, but the even Sony is claiming the thing is nowhere near out of beta, and it just seems like some unecessary appendage that should be lopped off at some point. I've never really had the urge to set up shop in there, but I haven't really heard any particular reaon to. I mean really, what is the point of setting up a virtual gamerspace? I can personalize myself fine with a theme and a gamer icon, I don't really need more than that, and it makes playing with people online a more complicated process. Sony is heavily rumored to be introducing a so called "premium" subscription service at E3, I wouldn't be surprised if they try and shoehorn Home into the deal somehow and make it even less appealing.

Homage or lawsuit? That'a a line something 3D Dot Heroes treads extremely carefully(I just got it in the mail from gamefly today), because the music, the look, the items, and even some of the dialog are taken off of the original Zelda way back in the NES era. Whether it's a love letter or a shameless rip-off is an argument best left to bitter cynics, as I'll be busy having fun playing the game rather than looking for some reason to hate it. I'm pretty sure I plan on keeping the title as I can get it for the bargain price of around $25 thanks to my gamefly discount and coupon.

What the hell is up with virtual console? There hasn't been a release in weeks. Some have theorized its because there aren't many good titles left, to which I say bullshit. Is Earthbound there yet? Either of the mutant league games? FFIV or VI? Any of the licensed NES era classics like Ducktales or Rescue Rangers? There is still a huge library of great catalog titles to fall back on and this is pretty inexcusable when it's easy money for both parties involved. Seriously, I want my Ducktales like yesterday. And my Goonies II like last week.

Ok I haven't been talking about movies much since I got back into writing, mainly because I didn't really want to put energy into writing about crappy movies I don't want to see. I still may keep that up, but this weekend there is a movie I'm very interested in seeing-the first really big budget movie based off a video game license, The Prince of Persia, starring formerly pasty white dude Jake Gyllenhal as an Arab prince, yeah that makes sense. Nevertheless, Disney seems to be hoping this is their next "Pirates" with all the marketing muscle behind it, and gamers are hoping it's something that will make video game movies (which have a history of well, sucking) at least a bit respectable. The reviews aren't horribly promising, but I'm looking for a fun dumb movie, not something on the level of the Dark Knight, and the general consensus is that it's the best video game adaptation yet, so I will most likely have a good time with it.

And finally, while I thought the whole Lego games thing was getting tired, every trailer I see for Lego Harry Potter, Years 1-4 seems intent on proving me wrong. Check it out and have a fun Memorial Day weekend (which I'll be working pretty much all of):

Too much for motion control?

So the big rumor of the day is a very solid word of the 360's stab at motion control, Project Natal, coming in at seemingly steep $149 by itself, and in a bundle with the arcade unit for $299. The internet is already outraged, but of course most of the internet crowd wretches at motion control as it is and needs little reason to. Is $149 really that bad? You get one item that supports up to 4 people, add in a pack in game (almost a necessity these days) and it seems fair compared to Sony's rumored pricing for its move peripheral-around $100 for a couple of wands and some sort of undisclosed pack in (most likely their massive rip off of wii sports). I think the real big question at the end of the day isn't price, it's support. Accessories and add-ons have an extremely long history of not being very well supported. How many Playstation eye games are there? How many games support Wii-DS connectivity or Motion Plus? How many games use the Xbox live camera? Granted, both Sony and Microsoft seem to be putting a lot more weight behind these, but the end result may be the same anyways. Its too early to tell anything about any of this, but my guess is the public won't care about motion control in HD and the core gamers will just scoff at the technology anyways.

Duke Nukem lives again? At least in some form. Duke Nukem The Manhattan Project is confirmed to be in development for XBLA. I'm sure someone, somewhere cares, but aren't most of us just bored of the guy by now? I mean Serious Sam does a better job of the same act while completely ridiculing it at the same time. It's long past time for Duke to stop stealing catchphrases from much more awesome characters and just fade off into nothingness.

What's the highest rated game ever? Why it's Super Mario Galaxy 2 according to gamerankings.com, showing that when it comes to their top franchises, Nintendo does indeed know what the hell its doing and continues to give gamers legitimate reasons to own a Wii, even if that only amounts to a few select games a year. If only a majority of the companies developing for Wii took it as seriously instead of trying for a cheap cash in. My verdict? I'm only a few levels in, being distracted by other things, but it seems to retain the pure fun that comes with nearly every Mario title.

That's pretty much all I got for today, but I will try and post at least one more time in the week, in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Necronator

Are Ratchet & Clank coming to a 360 near you?

In all honesty, it's highly unlikely that Sony won't use all of their weight to keep the Lombax and his mechanical buddy a Sony-only franchise, but it's an outside possibility with Insommiac signing a potentially ground-breaking deal with EA to go multi-platform and make a game for both the PS3 and 360. The most likely product to come out of this deal will be a brand new IP altogether, though I'm extremely hopeful it will be in the vein of a 3D platformer rather than some fps or big action title. The 360 has tons of the latter, and the few attempts of the former have been pretty abysmal, so it would be nice to have something of that genre besides the underwhelming Banjo Kazooie or craptacular Sonic & Crash games to play. Whatever it is, the deal is currently only for one game, so clearly Insomniac is just testing the waters. I hope its successful and we see then try things on other platforms (I would love to see them put out a quality Wii title, for instnace).

In other potentially ground-breaking news, the father of the Xbox (and official Microsoft pirate) J Allard, along with Robbie Bach have left the company. How much this will affect the direction of the company remains to be seen, but much like Sony's Ken Kuturagi, he was a very public face of the company for many years, probably much more associated with the gaming side than any other MS bigwig including Bill Gates himself. I doubt the gaming division will suddenly tank or anything, but shakeups like this usually have some bonehead maneuvers come afterward, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few of those in the near future.

So, the original Mario Kart came out 18 years ago, and despite all the advancement in technology, it hasn't really changed all that much (and its still a lot of fun after all the years, so its hard to argue). Many challengers have come, but most seem to be decent knock-offs at best (personally the only kart racer I thought ever stood up to it was the original Crash Team Racing) but Sony and United Front games are taking a genuine crack at it with Modnation Racers, out today. The hook is being able to design your own racer and tracks, making it more or less a racing version of Little Big Planet. Most reviews are saying the actual racing doesn't top the current king but obviously the ability to make the tracks you want has a huge appeal all its own, not too mention friend-code free online racing.

That's really it for today, but I will try and post tomorrow. For now, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK:

Resident Evil: Afterlife

More Resident Evil: Afterlife News & Previews

Mario is my master now....

With movies nobody  (or at least nobody should) cares about opening this weekend, easily the biggest event going on is this Sunday's (Nintendo and their wacky release days) release of in some people's opinion one of the few reasons to own a Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2. It's an extremely rare happening for a couple reasons-the last time we saw more than one Mario game (and crap like Mario & Sonic at the Olympics doesn't count) on a platform was way back in the original NES days. This is also the first game (not counting Super Mario Bros. 2 that was originally only released in Japan) that is really a direct sequel that refines the gameplay of the previous title rather than trying something completely different, and from all the rave early reviews so far, it was the correct decision, with many claiming it's the best platformer available right now. And while New Super Mario Bros was fun, it seemed like so much more could have been done with it and they were basically charging $50 for what could've been a top tier $20 downloadable title, because they can. So, it's good to not have to wait til a few years into whatever Nintendo has planned after the Wii for our next fix. Now, while we all anxiously await Sunday, enjoy these fun Mario Vids and a related game of the week:









FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Enough Plumbers

The biggest game out this week is...

Easily Shrek Forever After. Yeah. I mean Alan Wake? What the hell is that crap? You run around with a flash light. Red Dead Redemption? Nobody likes westerns. Super Mario Galaxy 2? Who cares about Mario these days? And the new Prince of Persia? Dude, time control is SOOO 2003....

In all seriousness it weeks like these that make wallets cringe. It might be a little easier if you own just one major home console, but every gamer has suddenly got plenty of options to spend their cash on. Do you go with the long-in-development survival horror masterpiece? The lovable plumber? The returning (and hopefully refreshed gameplay-wise) prince? Or the hotly anticipated open world of the wild west (where thank god they don't have cell phones so your annoying cousin can't constantly beg you to go to a strip club with him, then again maybe they'll just send messenger ponies or something)? It's a seriously tough decision, especially with reviews or at least buzz being extremely high. Admittedly with a wedding on the horizon I'm very much in penny-pinching mode, so I'm only going with the sure bet of Super Mario Galaxy 2 if for no other reason than I tend to get bored of Rockstar games at about the 12 or so hour mark, I haven't really enjoyed a POP game since the 2003 version, and survivial horror usually just annoys the hell out of me rather than giving me a good scare or a geniuinely fun gameplay experience (Resident Evil 4 is pretty much the only survival horror game I have truly enjoyed). But I certainly at least intend to check all these games out and will let you know my thoughts as soon as I get my hands on them.

What if you are way too broke for a $50-$60 game? Well, if you have a 360, I would highly reccomend spending a measly 5 dollars to download a great remake of one of the all time classic adventure games-The Secret of Monkey Island as I plan to. This is one of the greatest comedy adventures ever, period, and well worth a fiver.

Ok, so Nathan Fillion is not Green Lantern or Captain America. But how about another Avenger? Strongly rumored to be a lock to play Hank Pym, aka Ant Man, which admittedly might have a little to do with the fact that Joss Whedon is likely directing Avengers. Granted, Hank Pym is arguably the most messed up Avenger, having career highlights that include hitting his wife, creating Ultron, a psychotic killer robot that nearly kills the Avengers on a regular basis, and more recently making a murderous clone of Thor. Not the greatest track record, but I'd like to see Fillion tap his darker side, which he hasn't really done since his short stint on Buffy. Of course, the movie(s) will probably just gloss over most of Pym's darker moments....

All right, that's it for today, but should be back in the next day or two with... something. Til then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Adjustment Bureau

The annual spring massacre...

Just a quick impression of Rocket Knight before I get into things-I downloaded the demo, it seemed like a solid, perfectly competent platformer, but it seemed like my money was better spent going towards Super Mario Galaxy 2 since that is out in just 8 days . I realize that may not be an option for the platform gaming-starved 360 owners and the only slightly better off PS3 owners (let's see, there's Ratchet & Clank and Little Big Planet and..... yeah that's it.), so it may be a solid option if you are looking for something in that genre.

So, we are nearing the end of the tv season, and that always comes with a long, long list of casualties. Shows that were barely hanging on, shows that sucked and were lucky to even last a whole season, shows that want to end their run before they really, really go downhill and are a former shell of what they used to be. This season, several shows are ending that I'd like to share my take on.

Heroes: I spit on your grave. Heroes had arguably one of the most fantastic first seasons of any show ever, then it went all to shit for several straight seasons. Power-switching, inconsistent characters that everyone hated, carrying around goddamn turtles on vision quests, and even hints of possible incest. And it was reviled. People watched in the sheer amazement of how much worse it kept getting, while good quality shows went by the wayside, speaking of which....

Better Off Ted: I feel like ABC could've done more to promote this brilliant show, namely moving it to their incredibly successful Wednesday comedy block, but they did try to get someone to watch this completely brilliant series that much like Arrested Development, everyone says its brilliant and yet no one watched it. I wonder if its mere coincidence that Portia De Rossi was a star of both, she wouldn't be the first talented star seemingly cursed to be on failed tv shows.

Scrubs: Granted, it's only been on ABC for 2 seasons, but this was it's 9th total, and it was going downhill starting in its 6th. This last season just felt some weird abstract spin-off with Turk & Cox who would show rare flashes of their brilliance of past seasons, but really, it had slightly overstayed its welcome, so sending it off while the fans still mostly remember it fondly.

Law and Order: Unlike the equally long-running Simpsons, the original L&O has never really suffered a serious downgrade in quality over the years despite being around for two decades and facing constantly changing cast members. But it's certainly fair to say it probably ran out of really solid ideas years ago and just kept recycling ones with a slight twist. Granted, with 2 currently still running spin-offs and a 3rd on the way, it's hardly gone as a franchise, it was just probably time to put the standard-bearer of crime procedurals out to pasture.

24: Season 6 was one hell of a low point, but I just watched season 7 on netflix recently, and it was a pretty solid return to form, though it had some ridiculousness piled onto it (FBI being wishy-washy about Jack's method, the usual ridiculous sub-plot involving his daughter, more moles than all previous seasons combined, a key character being undone by a moronic friend/relative/significant other, etc.)  which has been increasingly necessary due to the once seminal format. The move to a movie franchise seems extremely promising, since they can do away with filler subplots, and frankly with both Bond and Bourne franchises in flux, we need a venerable super agent to enjoy on the big screen.

Ok, that's really all I got for today, though as I have an extremely busy week I will most likely be back tomorrow with a post about this absolutely ginormous week of game releases, in the mean time, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Cursed Treasure

EA fires the first volley in the used games war...

Ah used games, such a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they provide at least a little help to the cash-strapped gamer, with being able to get at least a few bucks out of their old games and saving a few more on new ones. But on the other hand, they provide a way for companies like gamestop to make a ton of margin without giving the hard-working developers and publishers who make the games a dime, which some would say is a huge contributor to a lot of layoffs if not outright closing of doors. There have been some minor attempts at curbing the flow such as premium content for newly purchased copies of games, but EA has taken a major step towards trying to curb it, introducing the "online pass", which basically makes you pay a fee to enjoy their future sports titles multi-player modes or online play if you rent or buy them used. Now, long term effects of this are questionable, sports games come out annually and drop in price pretty quickly, so their overall effect on the used games market is fairly irrelevant. Though I guarantee if their isn't a clear warning label about this EA will be looking at a pretty big lawsuit from some not so savvy gamer. That being said, if it works, it could have huge implications down the line towards non-sports titles, i.e. not having certain access to features or downloadable content that everyone who bought the game new gets. I guess the real question is if it' fair to basically cripple a game because someone wanted to save a few bucks? And if so, how much? Do you just cut off any online content? There doesn't seem to be a clear cut line the wat EA is handling it. Arguably the best solution would probably be for Gamestop and other companies that deal in used games to actually give developers a cut of the market, but at the very least gamestop seems unwilling to budge on that end and being that they pretty much are the only major game store around, it's kind of hard to see why they would cut their bottom line when they really don't have reason to.

Of course the argument many are making is that with digital content becoming more of a thing, this will be moot in a few years, but even if that is the case, is strictly digital the best way to go? Sony tried that with the PSP go and it was an utter failure. A lot still has to be worked out on that end as to what's a fair pricing structure and availability of titles and whatnot.

As someone who is admittedly an avid consumer of used games, I'm honestly not sure how I feel. Everyone wants to peg this as yet another asshole move by EA, but it's hard to blame them for wanting to get some money out of a market that gamestop effectively controls and developers and publishers get squat from. I would probably be ok with measures like this on most games as long as it didn't cripple the game so much as I missed out on the core game itself. Although that causes other issues, potentially cutting off other streams of revenue for companies. The real answer is that there is no ultimate solution, no easy fix. Game companies and places that sell games will just sort of have to figure it out as they go along, constantly tweaking their policies until tghey come up with something that nobody will sue over. Granted, by the time that happens, games will probably just be downloaded directly into our brains...

That's it for today, but here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Super 8

Link to the Past

Well, yes, I did see Iron Man 2, and I thought though it was a tad bloated, loading a little too much into its story, it was an fun and excellent film, with fantastic action sequences anchored by very solid performances from Robert Downey Jr. Don Cheadle and Mickey Rourke. It does make me really wish that we did not have to wait a year to see both Captain America & Thor and then wait even longer to see the Avengers.

Anyways, the big theme in gaming this week seems to be revisiting the past. And no, I don't mean expected sequels like Lost Planet 2 & Skate 3. But between 3D Dot Heroes, which is a mushy love letter to the original Legend of Zelda, Rocket Knight Adventures making its long overdue return to consoles via download, and even the dsi getting in on the action with Earthworm Jim being available for download as well (one of the few times I actually want a dsi, maybe I'll just bogart my fiance's...), it seems like a prime week for someone who really enjoys old school. I will definitely give my impressions of Rocket Knight some time this week so I will be able to download it, but frankly my gaming money is going towards Super Mario Galaxy 2, so as intriguing as 3D Dot Heroes looks, it's gonna have to wait for a rental (or at least for me to beat a few more games for trade-in)

Ok, I plan for a more meaty post either tomorrow or Tuesday, but I've got a lot of things going on this week (including an interview for a new job, which admittedly may cut into my blogging time) so I'll just leave you with my FREE GAME OF THE WEEK, which is in theme with today's post: Ultimate Flash Sonic

Things that don't belong on blu-ray

I didn't really plan on posting before I saw Iron Man 2, but I had a solid idea and some time and I'm the mood, so what the hell. Before I get started though, today, another movie about a guy in an armored suit came out-the much anticipated fan-film MEGA MAN THE MOVIE. Now, I and many other geeks had been anticipating this film for months, fearing any number of things (most likely a cease-and-desist) would stop it from coming to fruition. Well, now that it's out, and my reaction is... meh. I mean, I know its a fan film. I've seen more than my share of solid low-budget fan films, and this is not a good one frankly. I mean yes, I can appreciate the work that went into it and the obvious love for the franchise, but the acting and dialogue are a massive fail, and the plot in itself is poorly constructed, with everything taking too long to really get going. I really wanted to like the film, but christ, I fell asleep trying to watch the thing. Yes, Hollywood could and has done worse, but this is a reminder that the fans don't always know what the hell they are doing either.

Ok moving on. Blu-ray. It's awesome. It makes everything look and sound better, so everything should be on blu-ray, right? RIGHT?!? Well, not really. I mean there are some things that just aren't worth the upgrade and you'd be better saving your money on.

WEB SERIES

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Joss Whedon. I own all his shows. I own Serenity twice over. And I love Dr. Horrible, I own that as well. But it was a 45-minute low-budget (relatively speaking) web series. There is no reason for this to be on blu-ray, the production values just aren't that high. I mean sure, giant Neil Patrick Harris stomping on downtown might look quite impressive, but that's only about a minute of the film. And series such as The Guild would be even worse off, being made on almost nothing compared to Whedon's opus. Not to mention their low-budget indie appeal is sometimes a big factor in why people like them. Putting them on blu-ray just seems like a way to shill a few more dollars out of fans.

SITCOMS

Ok, it seems like I might be picking on NPH projects here, but really it's coincidence as this is a sitcom actually available on blu-ray. I would put comedies in general, but frankly animated comedies can get a huge boost from HD in picture quality, and there are comedy shows like Chuck and Psych that benefit from blu-ray cause they mix in action and big effects as well on occasion. Straight out sitcoms biggest attraction period is their cast, which an HD upgrade at best will not really give any benefit, and at worst will make the viewer notice previously unseen flaws that might really distract them. I mean much like the web series mentioned previously, they do nothing to add to the humor and possibly only detract from the show.

OLD TV SHOWS/MOVIES

Not too long ago, two of my favorite movies of all time came out on blu-ray, I was very excited. Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves (that'd be the Kevin Costner one) and The Last Starfighter. I was so excited to own these in glorious HD. When I got them home, I was dissapointed. Sure, they looked a little better than a dvd copy, but not much. And that seems to be the best compliment nearly any old movie can be paid-that it looks good on blu0ray considering it's age. Pretty much the only exception to this seems to be classic animated films, but they are probably a little easier to restore and improve properly. But pretty much any movie made before HD cameras actually started being used suffers this same fate.

MOVIES WE'D RATHER FORGET EXISTED

Seriously, nobody went to see it in theatres, nobody bought on dvd in the first place, and now you are releasing it on blu-ray, why exactly? A terrible movie in blu-ray is still a terrible movie. I mean I guess I sort of get the reasoning behind this-studios trying to desperately recoup at least some of the huge loss they incurred from these horrible stinkers, but it had to cost at least some money to put the damn thing on blu-ray in the first place, and given the utter failure movies of this caliber usually are, I doubt they'd even make that back. It's probably actually why they already have bargain bin blu-rays.

Ok, on a closing note, there is at least one valid reason to get almost anything on blu-ray-it's much more damage resistant than your standard dvd. And granted, once blu-ray actually becomes the standard (assuming everything doesn't go completely digital before that happens), it'll be a little more acceptable, but I'm guessing that's still quite a few years off. I mean it took a long time for people to completely drop VHS tapes, and frankly blu-ray is still relatively speaking far from mainstream. What we probably really need is some kind of minimum quality standard to make sure the purchase of a blu-ray isn't such a crapshoot in terms of what your getting for upgrading...

Iron Man Video day

blargh. Tired from work and cleaning. Enjoy videos and I'll post thoughts on Iron Man 2 either Saturday or Sunday.

The Top 10 New Characters that should be in Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Ok, admittedly, Gametrailers already did this idea not long after the game was officially announced, but I swear I haven't watched that so it would have no influence on my list which will hopefully be mostly different. Anyways, the Vs. series is any wet fans dream of settling the question of "X vs. X", evenly if the series usually woefully misrepresents of many of the characters' actual power, it's the pure fun and absurdity of such possibilities. Both Marvel & Capcom feature a rich character roster that astonishingly enough hasn't been delved horribly deep into either roster even with the large cast of the previous two titles. Admittedly, there's a chance of an overblown and mostly redundant roster, but there are a ton of good possibilities that fit well into a fighting game that haven't been included yet from either side. So here are 10 I think should at least make an appearance if not be full on members of the roster (in no particular order).

#10: Luke Cage

Granted, the VS. series already has it's share of big burly power guys, but Luke Cage has been a key player in many of Marvel's biggest storylines, and is a natural fit for a fighting game with his super strength and invulnerability, not to mention his talent with chains could make for some very interesting attacks. Plus the fact that Marvel has a movie in development makes it seem like a prime way to start promoting him in subtle ways.

#9: Deadpool

It's easy to see why Deadpool wasn't really considered as anything more than an outside possibility until this latest entry. Before all the recent interest and supposed movie in development, he could certainly be considered a c-lister, with even his creator acknowledging he was basically a knock-off of the DC villain Slade before he really developed into his mentally unstable 4th wall breaking character we know today. But now with Marvel shoving him in nearly everything they can, he seems like a no-brainer and a natural pick. His abilities go incredibly well into a game like this, and frankly, assuming they really stick to his character, the running commentary he could provide would be worth it alone.

#8 Ghost Rider

It's almost a wonder why Ghost Rider didn't make the cut previously. It admittedly might have at least something to do with the abomination that was the Ghost Rider film, but that shouldn't detract from the fact that Ghost Rider is one of the most badass characters in the Marvel Universe, with a huge array of abilities that easily transfers into a fighting game.

#7 Mystique

Mystique would easily be one of the most versatile fighters to be in a Marvel game, as in addition to her natural non-mutant assassin skills, she could copycat virtually anyone on the roster, making for and extremely well-varied character. Not too mention she is easily one of the most popular characters thanks to her role in the X-men movies make her an fairly good and obvious choice.

#6 Dr. Strange

Granted, the hardest part of making Dr. Strange a member of the VS. roster is fairly obvious. As the sorcerer supreme, his abilities fall under the vague definition of "magic", which would be extremely hard to narrow down into a specified move set. But as one of Marvel's longest-running heroes, not to mention a key-member of the Illuminati, it seems that there should at least be an effort to include Marvel's greatest magician.

#5 Kingpin

He's one of IGN's top ten villains of all time, and despite his rather husky appearance, underneath his form-hiding clothes is a surprisingly muscular and well-trained fighter who never really needed his henchmen to do his dirty work, but just preferred it, at times easily going toe-to-toe with the likes of Daredevil and Spider-Man. Sure, he has no powers, but the same can be said for much of the roster already, and let's face it, the series has been lacking in the rogue's gallery since it's inception, this would be a huge boost.


#4 Green Goblin/Hoggoblin

Ok, don't get all fanboy offensive on me. Marvel has done a great job of making these two seemingly same characters very different, but for the purposes of a fighting game, they are virtually the same character. Either would be a great addition, but admittedly I'd rather seen Norman Osborn seeing how he was been a much more pivotal character in the Marvel Universe aas well as one of its premier villain and pretty much the closest thing Marvel has to a Lex Luthor. The move possibilities seem pretty awesome, especially with the use of the glider and pumpkin bombs.


# 3 Sagat

Granted, Sagat had hardly been forgotten, being a constant presence in the Street Fighter series itself, but as someone who has a huge following of his own and is constantly ranked as one of the best fighting characters of all time, the monstrous Sagat deserves to test his mettle against Marvel's greatest heroes, as well as characters from some of Capcom's other series.

#2 Haggar

That's MAYOR Mike Haggar, thank you very much. Admittedly, anyone from the Final Fight games would be a welcome addition, but the Mayor of Capcom is easily the most famous and well known. Also, he'd probably be an American clone of Zangief (there's even a Haggar costume Zangief can wear in SFIV). But that's what makes this such an ample opportunity, having these two either face off or team up just sounds awesome. He's been a Capcom fixture for years as well, often making cameos in many of their games, and deserves a bigger role. Also, if you don't put him in, he'll do to you what he does to Sharks...



#1 Zero

A Mega-Man spin-off that really grew into his own, much like the Haggar/Zangief idea, this would make for an awesome team-up or vs. match. Plus, it's Mega-Man with a freaking laser sword. Plus he's already been in a couple of Capcom fighting games, so the template is already there.

And that's pretty much the list. And remember, this is just 10 characters that should be included, there are a ton from both the Marvel and the Capcom Universe (and hell, maybe even the Disney Universe now that Disney owns Marvel?) that easily deserve a spot, so hopefully we will have fresh characters for years to come.

Finally, in going with the theme of today, the TRAILER OF THE WEEK isn't for a full-fledged film, but rather a short film for Street Fighter that looks far superior to the rather atrocious Hollywood efforts...