Avatar The Movie... A Blockbuster

If you haven't seen this movie yet go and do so now. I went last night and I was mesmerized by its awesomeness. I was awestruck by its brilliance. The story was perfect as well as the visualization of the movie. I went to the 10:30 showing because it was being shown in 3D. It was something that I couldn't pass up. It was my first 3D movie I've even seen in a movie theater. How fitting that Avatar would be my first. When you put those 3D glasses on the movie really pops out at you. They were a great pair of 3D glasses too. They weren't the flimsy paper kind with the film lenses. These were hard plastic frames with thick plastic lenses. I had to take them home. I don't want to be a spoiler, as I've already told a little bit on Twitter, so I'll show a teaser clip. James Cameron thanks for spending over $300 million to bring this movie to life. Enjoy!

December to March Review Scedule - Radical's Dreams

Yellow Light of Death Repair Review - Radical's Dreams

Microsoft To Lock Out 3rd Party Storage Devices

It seems that Microsoft is planning some tricks with their next Xbox Live update. It turns out that they'll be locking out all third party storage devices used by gamers. Meaning if its not MS branded then it won't work on your system. So if you have game saves and profiles on Datel branded storage devices then you better switch it over to your Microsoft Hard Drive or original save card otherwise you're out of luck. I guess another thing you could do is to not take the update which would also mean not getting on Xbox Live because they force you to download the update before getting online. Talk about a catch 22. That's a huge fail by MS. They're forcing customers to buy only MS branded products like their overpriced hard drive that they have. If you're smart you know you could buy a cheap laptop drive and turn it into a Xbox hard drive if you know where to look for the howto's. I wouldn't even dare thing of buying an original Xbox hard drive. It's expensive as hell. It's $150. There also a 60gb hard drive bundled in a XBL starter package that costs $100. I really hate when companies scam the customers. MS has denied request for a listing of all the third party storage devices they will ban. I'm sure it will be all of them no doubt about that. People if your smart do the hard drive hack. Let's just hope that they haven't found a way to circumvent that.

Classic Game of The Day: Super Dodgeball

This was one of my favorite games to play when I was a kid. I played it day in and day out. My favorite team was of course the USA team. I loved this game because each player had a special dodgeball attack. Also it was funny to kill your opponent. They made hilarious faces when they died. This was one of the best games ever made in my book. I'm gonna break out my Nes emulator and play it for old times sake. Here is a clip of the game for those who are too young to remember.

The Gunslingers of The West

I don't know if I've told you that RockStar makes some very unique and great games because they really do. I've played a lot of RockStar titled games and I've been impressed with most of them. Red Dead Redemption is the sequel to the RockStar hit Red Dead Revolver featuring the brash gunslinger James Marston once again shooting his way through the west taking down one bad guy after another. I loved Red Dead Revolver and spent a lot of time playing it. The game was very unique from the outlandish characters to the fast pace action. It really felt like I was in the Wild West. I'm hoping Red Dead Redemption will be the same way and more. Red Dead Redemption won't be released until 2010. Here's a trailer of the upcoming game.

New Addition To MUA 2

Well she's not so new to the Marvel world but she is to the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 game. The sexy femme fatale has been confirmed as the latest addition to MUA 2 in the upcoming DLC for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Psylocke is the hottest Marvel female character in my book. She just oozes sexiness. She's always been one of my favorite Marvel females. If I had to list them I would put Psylocke at the top, then Storm, Rogue, Shi'ar empress Lilandra, and Polaris. There are so many others but those are my top 5. Here's a Psylocke feature vignette from G4TV.

Video Game - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

Enter Kratos: The God of War

The God of War series has definitely been a great one to say the least. Its one of the most popular series in gaming right now. With the anticipation of God of War III Sony has decided to release a bundle of the series called the God of War Collection. The collection features the God of War 1 and 2 titles also with a God of War III demo on a single disc. This would be great for gamers who haven't previously played the original two God of War games. I recently finished replaying the God of War 1 game on my PS2. Yes, I still have a PS2. I even had the original game save from 2005. I'm planning on finishing up God of War 2 probably before the third release. This bundle would be even greater if they added the PSP God of War title via a free download to the PSP Go. Just a little wishful thinking on my part for all the God of War fans out there. The bundle will hit the stores sometime in November. Here is a trailer of the upcoming release.

Video Game - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

Morgan Web Brings The Deals

Morgan Web spots out the deals for the budgeting gamer. Check it out here.

Video Game - E3 2009 - X-Play

Treasure Troubles

I can't believe Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is already out. I haven't even fully indulged in Uncharted: Drakes Fortune yet. I've only played the demo of that. Its hard reviewing games when you have so many of them. Anyways I think the Uncharted series is a good series. Its everything that I wanted the Tomb Raider series to be. Among Thieves is very action driven. I think every part of the game is immersed with volatile high action game play. I think gamers will have fun playing this one. It's definitely my type of game. I can't wait to get it for my PS3. Here's a video review from Gamespot.

It's Time To Crack Some Heads Again!

I was reading the Game Informer magazine yesterday and saw an article about Crackdown 2 being developed. That's great news to me because I loved the first Crackdown game. I spent hours upon hours playing the game. There's a lot to accomplish in that game. Your a super agent protecting the streets. Your main objective is to take down 3 major crime syndicates by any means necessary. You play in a vast open world environment allowing for hours of adventure and game play. Just talking about it makes me wanna sit down and play it again. The new Crackdown 2 features new enemies, weapons, and various elements and nuances throughout the game. I think Morgan Web and Crackdown 2 producer/developer, James Cope, can explain it a little better than I can though. The game is set for release December 2010.

Video Games - E3 2009 - Xbox 360

Tokyo Game Show 2009 Hands On - Only in Japan

They Fightin' In Da Streets!

Street Fighter is just one of those staple games that you just have to play. It's the equivalent to the Air Jordan's. You just have to get it. Its just the fighting game among fighting games to play. Remember the first Super Street Fighter game? That game introduced to gamers everywhere to 4 new fighters; Fei Long, Cammy, T-Hawk, and Dee Jay. Now they have Super Street Fighter IV coming soon to a next gen console near you. The game will feature 8 new characters. 2 of which will be T-Hawk, a new-old character, and Juri, a brand new character. The game is set for release in the Spring of 2010. The game will not be a DLC for people to download. It will be a stand alone game. Sorry gamers. You actually have to get up off your butts and go to your local game shop and buy the game. The good thing though is that you'll be paying a lot less for the release. Here is a interview with Yoshinori Ono, game producer of Super Street Fighter IV.

Phoenix Wright Musical 2 Review - Only In Japan

The Return of Ryu Hyabusa

Ryu Hyabusa has comeback once again for an encore reprise of Ninja Gaiden II in Ninja Gaiden: Sigma for the PS3. I beat this game on my Xbox 360 and now I get to beat it on my PS3. Great! Ninja Gaiden II: Sigma is still the Ninja Gaiden II we all know and love with some added nuances. Now you can choose between 3 more characters in the game from different Ninja Gaiden titles. They're all hot women too, Ayane from Dead or Alive 2, Rachael from Ninja Gaiden, and Momjii from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. There is also a new team horde mission mode in which you fight and endless wave of goons. The game is a bit harder but the story still plays out the same. The game is set for release September 29th. Here a trailer of the upcoming release.

Video Game - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

PSN and Dreamcast In Perfect Harmony

I bet you never thought that you'd see these 2 insignias together. This will be good news for die hard Dreamcast fans. There has been information floating around the web that shows that Sony is considering an extensive long term deal to host a choice selection of Dreamcast games on PSN. The information was leaked via Sega's personal FTP. In exchange for the deal Sega will provide marketing support. Now that would sound like some good news to me if I didn't still have my Dreamcast and a plethora of games. I always keep my old stuff for nostalgia's sake. My Dreamcast still works too after all these years. There is no other information regarding release dates or pricing. You can get a look of what else Sony is up to here:

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2009/09/22/dreamcast-returns-on-playstation-3/

PS3 Target Practice

Apparently it's better to use the good ol' mouse & keyboard for games in the shooting genre. Being a console gamer by nature I've always stayed true to the conventional gaming controller. I've tried to become a PC gamer but I've always had trouble using the keyboard and mouse as controls. I just never found it easy. I hated that because I missed playing a lot of great games on the PC. Now most of those PC games that I have always wanted to play have been ported over to the consoles which I'm happy about. It seems that Sony is going back to square one by returning to what worked with PC games via third party. Bannco has developed the perfect solution for the serious gamer, the FRAGnStein. Its something that I would like to try. Maybe I'll get better at shooting games and be able to pick people off with long range precision. I might even try it with Kill Zone 2. The FRAGnStein will be supported by software that you use on your PC to program its buttons. Your PC will also be used to update the device as well.
Source: http://playstationlifestyle.net/2009/09/11/ps3-review-fragnstein/

Costly Funky Colored 360 Controller

This is a new dual colored controller by Microsoft. I love the color and the design. It reminds me of the Marvel comic book character Dead Pool, "The merc with the mouth". The thing that I hate is it's price. This controller is $70 freakin' dollars. Now who in there right mind is gonna shell out $70 for one controller. Well to help Microsoft's case the controller is bundled with a battery and a charger but that only lessens the pain of the price just a little. You gotta wonder how they come up with these outrageous prices. The controller cost more and an retail game and the average xbox game price is $50 new. Most likely the people who already have an Xbox 360 will not buy this in my opinion. It's outlandish to pay for a controller that cost more than a game. I know I wouldn't do it. Besides its just a controller. It doesn't do anything else differently from the default basic Xbox 360 controllers. If your smart and good at searching 4 deals you would know that there are alternatives out there that would still appease your needs to add some flavor to your controllers. One would be buying a third party controller with a similar design. You can actually, in some places, get 2 third party controllers for the price of one Microsoft controller. If you search hard enough there are some places where you can buy a variety of custom made 360 controller shell cases if you want to hook up your 360 controller with some bling. So save your money. Don't buy into the hype and retail gimmicks because at the end of the day all it is is just a controller.

Beware: Big Daddy Is Coming For You

If you anger Big Daddy he will find you and drill you a new one, literally. There's something about games that are eerie and weird that draws me in to play. Probably because they are just that, eerie and weird. These games really freak me out. I admit I have been afraid to play some video games at night. I know some of you out there are too. If you've played Resident Evil or the Silent Hill, or even Dead Rising, you've flinched a time or two. Maybe you've made some screams sounding like a girl. You've even paused the game and looked around because you heard some odd noises in the background and you were not sure of what it was, thus adding to your paranoia. That's how BioShock was and still is for me. I've yet to finish the game. I hope I can get over my fear quick and finish the game because BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams is set for release next year on February 9th. In BioShock 2 you'll play the role of Big Daddy reaping the benefits of havoc and mayhem in the underwater world known as Rapture. Here is some video of the game:

Put Your 360 In Some Modern Warfare

Good news gamers! Come November 10th you will be able to purchase the Modern Warfare 2 edition Xbox 360. Activision and Microsoft have teamed together to bring this deal to life on the same day that the Modern Warfare 2 game will be released. The limited edition Xbox 360 will be bundled with a 250GB hard drive, 2 black xbox 360 wireless controllers, an Xbox Live headset, and a copy of the Modern Warfare 2 game. The price for the bundle will be $399. I'm really digging the addition of the 250GB hard drive. That means you can store more games and more media content. They definitely score big with that.

Being A Roadie Is Brutal

It's not easy being a roadie. You have to be dedicated to the band and dedicated to your profession. You've gotta have something to bring to the table or else your just another groupie fan. Jack Black's character, Eddie Riggs, is just that in Brutal Legend. Brutal Legend is the tale of Eddie who gets zapped into a alternative world of heavy metal made from its album covers. Eddie is put on a quest to destroy the supernatural beings of the heavy metal underworld using his magical Flying V guitar named the battle axe. This game seems like its gonna be a good one to play. It went through a lot of legal trouble over publishing to get here so let's hope it was worth the fight. The game is set for release October 13th. Here is the opening scene to the game:

Video Games - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

The Return of The Icemen

I think we can all agree that the last season of hockey was a very big one to say the least. Especially watching the NHL finals. Who would've thought that the Penguins would pull it out. I'm sure the bet ratios heavily favored the Red Wings. I know a lot of people lost money betting on the finals. I'm not a big fan of the game but I do enjoy watching the sport from time to time. You'll never catch me on the ice though. I'm definitely not built for that. I love the hits, the falling on the ice, and the precision of a play being made to score. Its also the only team sport where you can get a good brawl in and not get suspended for it. One of the break out stars that I grew to love was Alexander Ovechkin. This guy is like the Kobe Bryant of the ice. He has moves for days. It was crazy what he was doing on the ice. Well now you can play as Alexander and reenact all of the best moments of last season on NHL 2k10. Here's a trailer of the game:

Video Game - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

G4 NHL 2K10 Review: http://g4tv.com/games/ps3/62259/NHL-2K10/review/

Scribble These Nauts In Your Mouth

A friend of mine has been telling me that this game is the game to play right now. It looks a little kiddish to me but then again I like a kid game or 2 from time to time. Scribblenauts; "Write anything, solve everything as they say. This DS game is a puzzle action game where you manifest objects just by writing the word of that particular object. You simply write the word and the object or animal comes to life. The game has an extensive vocabulary to use at your disposal. The only thing that would be stopping you would be your lack of imagination. The objects you create will be used to solve puzzles within the game. My friend promised me that he would let me borrow his DS so that I could play this game. I wanna see how it plays for myself. Here is a review from GameSpot:

Mario Will Never Die!

I'm beginning to believe that Mario cannot be killed and you cannot simply wish him away. He's like Bebe's kids. He doesn't die, he multiplies. I bet you can't name all the Mario games that have ever been released. Neither can I. I've only played the original 3 on the NES, Super Mario World's 1 & 2, and my favorite, Mario Kart. There are so many other Mario games out and Nintendo is still cranking out more. Why don't they make a Luigi game or Princess Toadstool? Now Super Mario Bros. Wii is coming out and the Mario pandemonium continues. Here's a preview of the upcoming release.

Video Game - E3 2009 - Wii

I Feel The Need 4 Speed!

It seems that EA is just rollin' out the gate with Need For Speed titles. It's been a longstanding title that I've enjoyed for years. I'm not a racing purist but I've had my fair share of racing games and the Need For Speed series is the one that I keep coming back to. It seems like yesterday that Need For Speed: Undercover was released and now they're introducing Need For Speed: Shift. No matter, I'll just add it to the list of Need For Speed games I currently have. My favorites are Underground 1 & 2 and currently Undercover. You can check the review of the game by G4 here: http://g4tv.com/games/ps3/61972/need-for-speed-shift/review/

Video Games - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

The Beatles: Rockband Review

Now as I've said before, I'm a littled behind on the music gaming genre. With new games like Guitar Heroe, Rockband, and Lips, its hard to keep up. Now I won't say I'm necessarily a hater of the music gaming genre because I have a Guitar Hero Xbox 360 controller quietly stashed away in my closet waiting to be played again. There are just so many different versions now that I just can't stay on the bandwagon. I'm going stick with my Guitar Hero 3 game for now and quietly strum to Black Magic Woman. But for those who want to keep pressing on there's a new Rockband game out featuring The Beatles. I'm not a big Beatles fan but I definitely respect their music. One of my favorite songs that they've done is Yesterday. Its been done over so many times by other artists. That's a timeless piece. There music had be held in high regard for years so much that its been sampled by various modern hiphop and rock artists of today. Their music was so good that Michael Jackson outbid Paul McCartney for their whole masters library containing every song they ever made. It was only fitting to put them in a game. I'm gonna sit back and let the good guys over at GameSpot review this one with this video.

Madden Curse Claims Yet Another Victim!

This is too coincidental. Every year a new Madden game comes out the cover athlete always seems to get injured in some way. Its so odd. They're almost doomed to injury when EA Sports places the NFL players' mugs on these games. I think they should start drawing the cover instead of using pictures. That's some strange Madden voodoo going on. The curse started early in the NFL's season opener taking out Troy Polamalu with an MCL (medial collateral ligament) injury playing against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday. He's likely to miss 3 to 6 weeks. Now that just sucks for him. The Madden cover was also shared with Larry Fitzgerald. We should really keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't fall victim to the curse. Here's the game analysis by ESPN:

How Good Is Your Draftee?

Last week I got to try out NBA 2k10 Draft Combine. I downloaded it from the Playstation Store on my PS3 for 4.99. It's probably the cheapest game I've ever had to pay for but its worth its weight. Its a very short game. Draft Combine focuses on a potential draftee that you create in hopes of progressing with him forward to the actual NBA 2k10 game as an NBA hopeful. Now this game is pretty straight forward. You're not gonna be able to make a superstar right out the gates. You have to really pay your dues to improve your player. With that said their are no game sliders or other selections within the options that will enhance your player to greatness. It really all depends on you and how you play the game. In the game you are allowed 6 skill drills and 6 draft combine games. The drills consist of shooting, dribbling, defensive guarding/blocking, offensive post shooting, rebounding, and stealing. You have to play this game flawlessly to have a perfect player. It's almost impossible to do so. In the draft combine games they grade you on your activity on the floor. Your grade raises based on how well you play so everything you do is crucial. You get good grades for rebounding, taking good shots, assists, running the floor well, blocks, steals, and good positioning. You get bad grades for doing everything of the opposite. Your grade is transcended by performance, team contribution, and completing 3 various objectives. One thing I hate is getting your grade lowered for calling for the ball too much which I think is arbitrary. It's to stop the ball hoggery. If you feel that you can make a play to score you should call for the ball anytime you want. Nobody says anything when Kobe, Lebron, or Dwayne call for the ball. I assume that most people would consistently use their created player since they went through the trouble to create them. So why not call for the ball for every chance you get? I tried so hard to get decent grades in the game but it was tough. I got an A- in one game and the rest of the games were from a B to a D. My overall team grade was a C with a overall rating of 42. That was the highest I could get for my player. The projected draft position for my player will be in the second round at the 25th pick. That's not really all bad. There have been lots of superstars that have come from the second round who have proved that they were better than people perceived. It's good to strive for the A because you get 1000 points towards the development of your player. The downside, depending on how you look at it, is that the game focuses heavily on the team grade and not just the individual player's skill. It's 60/40 team over individual skill. So even if you do have a really good player who can score and take over the game its not going to matter unless he can provide a positive contribution to the team. Draft combine also has a scrimmage and shoot around game modes which don't do anything to improve your player. I was little upset that you couldn't continue to improve your player through these modes. Another thing I hate is that you're only allowed one created player. Now if you feel that you're player is not good enough you can just delete you game save and start over. Once your finished with the draft combine your newly created player will be uploaded and will replace your previous draftee. I'm going to take another stab at it and see if I can get my player drafted in the first round before the new 2K10 game comes out. Try it out for yourself to see how you'll fair out.

New 2K10 Trailer Feat. Derrick Rose

I'm loving 2KSports' creativity with the NBA 2K10 trailers. They are definitely worth the download. I'm really excited about playing the new game. We have just under a month to go with the new release due October 6th. To pass time I've downloaded up to date rosters with 2K9 trying to see how 2K10 might actually play out. I wonder if the Bulls will sustain the loss of Ben Gordon to Detroit or if the Celtics will thrive with their new addition, Rasheed Wallace. You never know but its fun to play it out on these games. Here's a trailer of D. Rose shaking boys out of their shoes in NBA 2K10.

Calling On All Super Heroes!

Within a few days Marvel Alliance 2 will release. I'm looking forward to playing this game. I loved the first one and spent hours throwing Valhalla guards and Dr. Doom's goons around. The best thing part of the game was choosing between the plethora of super heroes & villians to play though your adventure. The new Marvel alliance game will put super hero against super hero. The game will be focused on Marvel's Civil War series. In the Civil War series super heroes and villians are forced by the government to reveal there true identities. Some are for it and others are against it. Marvel Alliance 2 has so many more characters to choose from than the first game. You can now play with the likenesses of Gambit, The Juggernaut, and Electro. The game is set for release September 15. Here a sneak peak of the game:

Perplexed Complexities

The game is Shadow Complex. The mission is simple; save the girl and destroy everything complex. I've been waiting to write this post for a little while now but I just had to play this game as much as I could first. As soon as I started playing this game I was hooked. For a 2-D game its very bad ass. Not bad for a Xbox Live Arcade title. It reminded me of playing an NES 2-D platform game but much better. The game kind of runs alongs the lines of the Metal Gear Solid Series. The game suggest to be secret and covert just as MGS but still allows you to take it to the enemy hard. It even has the CQC moves from MGS when you encounter an enemy. You can do the moves in a one-button action press. One of the things I love about the game is its layout of connectivity. Every level is connected in one way or another. You're able to find little nooks and crannies to return back to where you once were via air vents and tunnels. The game is level and experienced based. The more you progress in the game the more levels and experience you obtain. I found that you can gain levels and experience very rapidly in this game which is pretty nice. Another good thing is that you don't have worry about saving ammo or maintaining your health. Your ammo never runs out and your only a save room away from replenishing your health. Plus there are additional halfway points within the game that keep you up and running. Something else that I love is that you can jump from the highest point and still live to play another day. Other games, at a certain point, you would fall to your death. They really keep the game fun and allow you to focus on just the game. Unlike MGS the enemy A.I. is a bit relaxed. If you're not directly in their view they're not going to react. So you don't have to worry about them seeking you out. There are several collectibles within the game. Their are grenade canisters, gold, pass keys, and missiles hidden throughout the game that you must find. Some items are pretty well hidden. Others you stumble upon as you canvas through the game. The game is filled with back door entries and underground passage ways. I love a game that has elements like that. It keeps you playing. The story is pretty engaging. I love the way its starts out. Shadow Complex starts out with a lone soldier trying to eliminate the enemy with their own technology and save the vice president. He then realizes that the enemy had been undermining him the whole time and his vie to save the vice president is not successful. Then enters a young couple who plan a day to explore caves and stumble upon an underground complex. Naturally the woman gets captured and the guy is left to save the day. I only got as far as the room with the disappearing red laser beam force fields. I'm kind of perplexed as to how to get through that part. If you are seen by the guards they lock the area up and a gas starts to fill the room. It does initially stop when you duck back into the vents though. Overall, this is a great game. I'll give it a 9 out of 10. It has a decent story and great game play. I gave it a 9 only because I think it should have been made into a full blown console next gen game but its still just as good. If you haven't downloaded this yet get on Xbox Live and do so now! Its definitely worth its weight in MS points.

Big Things Come In Small Packages

I was just browsing and I came across this game called Mini Ninjas while I was on Youtube. I thought it looked kind of adorable. Its something I could let my little nieces play and not have to worry about the mature rating. Also it looks pretty fun too. I could probably enjoy playing it. This game is set for release in just 4 days. Here is a trailer of some game play:

An Assassin's Tale

I can't believe Assassin's Creed 2 is coming out this year already. I have a lot of games in que to play and Assassin's Creed is one of them. I started it but I've yet to finish it. The good news is I'll have plenty of time to do that because Assassin's Creeds 2's release isn't until November 17th. So I should be ready by then. When I first played the original Assassin's Creed I though it was going to be a period piece taking us back to the middle ages. It was but added a neat twist to the story. You play as a man in present time who goes back in time using his ancestors memories via a mind apparatus was pretty unique to me. I hope the second game is just as innovative as the first. Here is a trailer of the upcoming game:

Ballad of Gay Tony : GTA IV DLC

Man I can't keep up with all GTA Rockstar titles. They're coming out so fast these days. I still have to finish San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, and GTAIV. They're much fun to play that you sometimes find yourself lost in the games' environments. There's so much to do in these games that you sometimes forget about the actual missions and get side tracked. Now they have another one coming out, Ballad of Gay Tony: GTA IV Episode 2. Its the second DLC to come out for the GTA series after The Lost & Damned. The game is due for release October 29th. The game will be dowloadable through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. It will also be sold as a standalone with the first DLC, The Lost & The Damned. The title of the duo package will be named Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City. Here is a trailer from the upcoming DLC:

Get Your Rockstar On With GH5

This is a genre of gaming that has really taken flight. I've been really slow to jump on the bandwagon but I'm glad I finally did. Guitar Hero 3 has been my favorite as of late mainly because of the songs. Now I'm not a true Rock lover but a lot of those songs grow on you as you play through the game. I'm still not a ace with the guitar though. Now with the release of Guitar Hero 5 I'm hoping it will take GH3's place as my new favorite. It seems that with this new installment of Guitar Hero they've made it more casual and user friendly. You can just start the game up and literally start playing. You can form up your own band and even add your own avatar in the mix. Another thing is that you don't have to battle characters to use them anymore. I kind of liked the boss battles though. They were pretty fun. More details of GH5 are explained in this game review from GameSpot. Check it out here:

Gold Status Required For Facebook & Twitter On XBL

I was just catching up with recent news on G4 and I found out that apparently you must have an Xbox Live Gold subscription to utilize the full functions of Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox 360. So basically you're paying to use Facebook and Twitter on your Xbox 360 by way of your Gold subscription. This is kind of silly to me since Facebook and Twitter are free. I woundn't want to use Facebook or Twitter on my Xbox 360. I'm mean how connected do you want to be to your gaming console? I don't think that feature would entice me at all. That would mean I would have to purchase one of those keyboard add-ons that attaches to my game controller. I understand the whole gaming community experience but to me, in this instance, this particular feature is kind of redundant. Xbox Live Silver members will still be able to use the new Facebook and Twitter features but they will be limited. That's just too bad for them. It's a little too much for me. You know what's so funny about this story? While XBL Silver members are considering going gold to use the new social features I could hop on my PS3, jump into it's browser, and go straight to Facebook and Twitter for free. No paid subscriptions and no limitations. See there? Nothing standing in the way of my social digital happiness. The release date for these new features are sometime around the fall this year.

Adam Sessler's Got Some Words

You know you him. You love him. Ladies and Gentlemen, Adam Sessler, co-host of X-Play is back on his soap box ranting about backwards compatibility. Who out there loves it? I do in way. I say that because I have it with my PS2 and PS3 and I don't actually need it unless I want to occasionally play my PS1 games. Actually having both systems makes it kind of redundant. It's nice to have have though. Its something that a lot of people initially want just in case they feel the urge to play their old games again. Here's Adam Sessler's take on it:

Video Game - E3 2009 - Sessler's Soapbox

I'm Live, Your Live, We're OnLive

I was just over on G4TV.com and I read a little article about OnLive. Its supposed to supposedly change the we play videogames. It will be the new age of gaming so to speak. With OnLive you'll be able to play present games and newly released games online via your TV or your PC or laptop. This has, in a sense, been already done via PC/Console online gaming that requires the heavy hardware, physical game, and extra downloading and programming to support it. The nuance feature to OnLive is that you don't need all of that. You simply just download whatever game you want to play and that's it. The service comes with a small modem-like console that you connect to your TV/PC/Laptop along with a controller. That's it. Pretty simple huh? The website suggests that a browser plug-in will be needed for your PC or Mac which is not a big deal. So with a monthly subscription you'll have games on demand at your fingertips. Just yesterday the people at OnLive announced that they were taking submissions for beta testing. I applied when they first announced the service back in March. I think I'll just sit back and let everyone else have a go at it first. The thing I'm worried about is the network lag. I mean your running a whole game online. Its gotta make you wonder if you'll get a decent connection while you're playing. I wouldn't care for it that much if its gonna be skipping and pausing 50% of the time. Another is what you lose your internet connection, like not being able to pay your bill to Comcast or AT&T? If you're smart you still have your Xbox & PS3 in your closet. If the OnLive system is all you have then I guess you'll have to get creative. I suggest playing board games like chess or checkers. Or maybe you could give Sudoku a try. If this works I guess one of the perks would be not having to go to your local game or department store to see what's been released and having to shell out $50 only to find out that the game sucks. It would be a convenience having all the games you want to play right there in front of you ready to play. I don't think that this will single handily change the way games are being played now but it is a step towards the future. To get the full gist of OnLive and what its about check out this video here:

Strictly For The Gamers

Now this is an interesting find. I probably haven't seen a movie about gaming since the movie The Wizard back in 89'. Yeah 20 years ago. I'm definitely showing my age here. This movie, Gamer, is a gaming movie with a twist. I caught the promo commercials for the movie just over the weekend. It has a bevy of star personalities such as Gerrard Butler. You may know him from the movies 300, RocknRolla, and The Ugly Truth. Other starts include rapper/actor, Ludacris, Michael C. Hall from the Showtime series Dexter, Milo Ventimiglia from NBC's Heroes, Kyra Sedgwick from TNT's The Closer, and Amber Valletta just to name a few. The movie takes place in a futuristic setting where man plays the videogame and man is the videogame. Real humans, prisoners, are being used as game characters in live actions videogames. The characters or avatars are controlled by there gamer counterparts via mind control technology. Butler's character, Kable, is the game's cult superstar who is taken from his family and forced to fight each week to win in hopes of successfully gaining his freedom back. Somewhere along the lines I've seen this movie before. It runs along the lines of a few movies actually. I'll just name 2, Gladiator and Death Race. Watch those movies and you'll have the Gamer Movie plot. I think I'll just go see the movie to see how it plays out. I might actually be surprised with the outcome. The movie is set for release in just a few days, September 4th. Here is a trailer of the movie:

PSP Go, Go, Go!

Here's some video of the new PSP Go that's set for release next month. I would say I want one but I still have my original fat PSP that I got for free doing those stupid free offer gimmicks. Hey, a year of nagging and calling them really did pay off. Lucky me.

The New PS3 Update 3.0 Is Here!

The long awaited PS3 update has finally arrived. I just took this picture and its dated for yesterday. I think something screwy is going on with my camera. I got early reports that it was out as of last night and I just had to see myself with my own PS3. Sure enough its there and ready to be downloaded and installed. I'm going to refrain from downloading via my PS3 and I'll just install it via CD. The reason is I just don't want anything to happen via the download. It could possibly screw up my PlayStation 3 and from Sony's standpoint there is no way to fix it except to replace it all together. I just don't want to deal with all the hassle. I've read that Sony is even charging people upwards of $150 to replace it. You might as well buy the new PS3 slim. They act like its your fault when Microsoft replaces the XBOX 360 it for free. This all stems from research I've done which I found out that some people ran into this problem with updates 2.70 and 2.76. People accidentally turned off their PS3 or their connection was lost and they ended up with a dead system. I have a spare from someone sitting right in front of me as proof. Its basically a giant brick. It still powers up but the brain is gone. I didn't even know about all the problems until my research. I had been doing the updates via CD storage anyway. So better safe than sorry people. I already went to the website to download the update there but its still listed as update 2.80. I went ahead and downloaded it anyway just in case though. It might be the new 3.0 or it might not. I'll just have to see for myself. To see what the latest update entails check out the video here:

I Think It's Time To Get Wet

"Wet, Wetwork, a euphemism alluding to hands literally wet with blood. And this is such the case for Rubi Malone, a lone assassin who doesn't let anything get in her way. Toss in a little athleticism and acrobatics of Devil May Cry, some blood & gore from Ninja Gaiden II, the old time movie reel scenes of Red Dead Revolver, and the gun play of John Woo's Stranglehold, and you got Rubi Malone, the quintessential assassin. I downloaded the Wet demo from the PlayStation Store yesterday and just got around to playing it today. The game is really fun to play even though the demo is kind of short. It really left me wanting to play more. It does play sort of like Devil May Cry but it has its own mechanics that you can mix it up with. Watching how it plays its scenes like an old movie reel is very similar to Red Dead Revolver. And the all out blood and guts is definitely Ninja Gaiden II all the way. There's a moment in the demo where Rubi goes into a blood rage where the whole screen turns red and Rubi and her enemies are silhouetted in black. It's pretty awesome to see especially if you have a high definition television. The display of the game looked very vivid with bright colors. It really catches the eye. It definitely looks good on my 26" Sony Bravia. There's a small learning with the controls as far as putting your combo's together to take out your enemies. There is a matrix-like highway scene where you have to duke it out with the bad guys and Rubi is jumping all over the place by situational push button action leaping from car to car. I had some trouble trying to get through it at first. When it tells you what button to push it doesn't tell you whether or not you should keep pressing it or hold it. I finally realized that you have to push the button well in advance of the immediate action. So that was just one little hiccup. The enemies, or goons, in the demo are manageable. A few well placed shots and they're down. If you use Rubi's sword on them then they're taken out instantly. Wet has that automatic bullet times function that comes alive when Rubi jumps in the air and starts shooting. Using this feature also allows you to kill 2 birds with on stone as you're able to aim at 2 targets at the same time. Rubi's other abilities are to run up walls and to run across them. Now this is definitely something that Ryu Hyabusa can do. The demo was pretty short and sweet. If your into all things Quentin Tarantino, then this game is for you. If you liked Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Til Dawn, and Kill Bill 1 and 2, then this game is for you. I look forward to playing more of Wet. The game is set for release for September 15.