Onlive Is Now Right At Your Finger Tips: OnLive App Announcement

Well folks its here and its live. I'm talking about OnLive, the cloud gaming service. Its not an after thought. Its revolutionizing the way we play our games. Yesterday the company announced the new OnLive App made available for tablets and smartphones. Game will be right at our finger tips for our gaming pleasure. I'm really loving this cloud gaming service. I gotta tell ya its really something else. So now I can play games via OnLive with my android phone or my future tablet I'm gonna get.

No more waiting to get home from work to enjoy a quick game of Arkham City or NBA 2K12. The transition from game devices would be seamless as well. Imagine playing a game on your tablet or phone on the way home and then continuing the same game from your TV or PC. The options are phenomenal. Check out the announcement video.

Xbox Dashboard Update Demo

Check out the new Xbox Dashboard Update!

PS3 System Software Update (v.4.00)

The PS3 finally made it to its update version 4.00. I turned on my PS3 this morning and I was directed to update it. It kind of sucks because if you don't you can't do anything online with your PS3. This particular update was just making preparations for the PlayStation Vita. Software updates were installed in order the PlayStation 3 to incorporate functionality with the PS Vita.

So now my PS3 will be able to transfer files back and forth between itself and the Vita along with some other minor features. I'm really debating whether I will get one or not. I wondering if I'll totally ditch my PSP all together because I'll have the Vita. I don't think I will unless someone finds a way to hack the Vita and gives it the functionality to be able to run emulators like my PSP does. It's gonna be really interesting to see how its gonna play out when the PS Vita release.

The release for the Vita is December 17th for Japanese gamers. For us Americans, we won't see the won't see the highly anticipated portable gaming device until sometime in January.

Update on PlayStation Network Instrusion Scare

Sony just posted this update earlier today regarding the PlayStation Network external intrusion last week. They confirmed that customers credit card information may have been compromised. They might be back up with in a week, they say. Check out the full story here: Update on PlayStation Network and Qriocity

Ryu You're So Mean

Looks like Capcom is coming out with yet another version of Street Fighter 4. This time its Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. That sucks because I held out on the original Street Fighter 4 to get Super Street Fighter 4 and now they're gonna release this new version. That's not fair at all. I was just getting into SSF4 too.

The new version of SSF4 will feature Yun and Yang from Street Fighter 3, Oni Akuma, which is a souped up Akuma, and none other than Evil Ryu. Akuma and Evil Ryu will serve as bosses in the game. I really hope that they do some kind of DLC for SSF4. I would hate to have to shell out another $60 to buy another game. That's not gonna happen. Here's some footage of Evil Ryu in action:

Messin' With Max is Like Messin' With The Devil

Trying to get some info on this game is hard right now. I check out the RockStar Games website to see what they have on Max Payne 3 and all they have as of late are two new pictures of the game. This game has been delayed since last year. I guess the pics mean that they're getting closer to releasing the game. There's no official date on the website but I check about 4 retail sales websites and they have a release date of August 1st of this year. Another store had a date of December 12th later this year.

I didn't like the movie that came out last year. I'm hoping that the new game release will make up for it. I just wish they'd make up their minds on the release dates. RockStar Vancouver is developing the game. Rumor has it that they'll be using the same game engine that was used for GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption. Max looks likes he's been through a whole lot since that last game. He's even lost his hair. He's more burly looking and his demeanor is more menacing. I'm looking forward to playing this game. This is definitely looking like a gun and chaos type of game as its always been. Anyways here are the latest pics and a teaser trailer.

Madden Needs Your Vote!

Man, the people over at ESPN, Doritos, and EA Sports sure are optimistic about the Madden 12 release. I hope they know that there's a NFL lockout going on right now as we speak with no immediate notions of anything getting settled anytime soon. If I were them I'd be thinking of saving the promotion for Madden 13. I sure do hope that the team owners and NFL Player's Union get this thing sorted out because its going to be a long fall season without football if they don't. Nevertheless, I guess the show must go on.

The campaign for the new Madden cover is underway and there are some viable candidates who want to be on it. A few notable ones come to mind. One would obviously the reigning champ of the Superbowl, Aaron Rogers. He definitely proved himself worthy in the playoffs. I saw some very spectacular play from him. He was actually waaaaaaaaaaay better than I thought. So I'm definitely eating some crow for that one.

The second one in my mind would be none other than Michael Vick. His talents proved supreme during last season as he an his Eagles tormented a handful of teams with their superhuman play. I think he was definitely humbled by his past wrong doings and redeemed himself on the football field. The third would be Matt Ryan. He willed his team all the way to the playoffs. The Atlanta Falcons were first in their division, with home field advantage, but got side swiped by the Packers in the end. Nobody saw that coming. If you say you did you're lying or better yet a Packers' fan.

The Madden curse seems to be over and done with. It seemed to stop right at Drew Brees for some reason. I guess the trade off was him not winning the Superbowl for the second time around. Serves him right. He and his team beat my beloved Colts! Ah(sigh), but I digress.Voting has already started. The first round of voting is over but the second round is currently underway. If you want to make your picks just click on the second round picture below and it will take you straight to ESPN's Madden Cover 12 voting site. Enjoy!

US Pre-Release 3DS Unboxing

With the upcoming release of the Nintendo 3DS the excitement is overflowing. People are going crazy over this thing. There are people, who are standing outside stores as I type this up, just waiting to get their hands on it. I don't know about you guys but I have never stood outside waiting in line to buy a game system or game anything for that matter. I'll take that back. There was one time, only one time, that I stood in line for the midnight release of Metal Gear Solid 4, but that was it. I only stood outside for like 20 minutes though. There are people that stay out there for weeks. That's something I just can't do. I gotta life.

The latest Nintendo DS release features 3D without the used of 3D glasses. That seems to be the height of everyone's anticipation.  There's also the simultaneous release of the 3DS's gaming line up which includes games such as Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Nintendogs + cats, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Dead or Alive: Dimensions to name a few.

With that said I will leave you wild & crazy Nintendo 3DS fans with a little eye candy. Its a pre-release unboxing video feature from GameSpot. They can explain the features of the 3DS better than I can. Enjoy!

Tomb Raider Trilogy HD Released For PS3

Today is a big day for Tomb Raider fans. If you're a religious Lara Croft fan like I am then you'll be happy to know that Tomb Raider Trilogy has been released for the PS3. The trilogy consist of three previous Tomb Raider games that have been remastered in HD format. The games that have been bundled up are Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and Tomb Raider: Underworld.

This release has been made exclusively only to PS3 customers. Sorry Xbox owners. The new release also includes some extra goodies for the Tomb Raider elite in the form of extra content. The bundle comes with Tomb Raider Trilogy PlayStation 3 theme pack, the official Lara Croft female Home avatar outfit, the Viking Thrall male Home avatar outfit and a collection of “making of” trailers in HD for the entire series. Trilogy is available for purchase at your local GameStop.  Here are some screens of the notable differences of detail from the PS2 version of Trilogy versus the PS3 version.

Aww Man, Grab Your Guns, Here We Go Again!

Another round of Gears of War is right around the corner. There are a lot of new goodies in the game such as new weapons, new baddies, new characters, and the introduction of, dare I say it, women! They finally put some eye candy in the game that we can look at. The game takes place right after Gears of War 2 when Marcus and the gang had to sink the city of Jacinto, the last haven city for humans, in order to destroy the Locusts' underground stronghold due to the imulsion. Well the imulsion does something crazy to the Locusts' which carries on into Gears of War 3. Just from looking at the previews alone, the game looks great. There's a lot of action in this game.

The schedule for the game release has been pushed up somewhat. Originally the game was slated for release late this year around the Christmas season. It has been recently pushed up to September. The beta demo will be released next month April. The beta will feature several online multiplayer modes such as team death match, capture the leader, king of the hill, fan favorite - horde mode, and beast mode where you play as a Locust. Here's an interview with Cliff Blezinski, Design Director for Epic Games, as he explains the details of Gears of War 3. Listen carefully because he talks pretty fast. lol

Shoryuken! Hadoken! Fighting In The Streets

Looks like there might be another Street Fighter movie in the works. Joey Ansah, actor and movie producer has hashed out a script. He says with the right funding from investors and licensing from Capcom he could bring the movie to life within 5 months. He plans to make the movie as close to the gaming series as possible. The plans for this movie have actually been in the works for about over a year now but Ansah took on other projects. In between that time though he managed to finish a script for Street Fighter.

Recently, Ansah did the voice-over for the character Chino in Crysis 2. I hope he gets all that business out the way and pulls this off. I'd love to see another Street Fighter movie. Well one that's actually done right. The first one was ok for the gaming series actually coming to light. The one that featured Chun-Li wasn't so hot. I've been a Street Fighter fan for years. Its the fighting game of all fighting games. Having a great movie that can compliment the series would be great for the fans and the franchise. From the looks of this trailer it seems that it could head that way. Take a look.



Street Fighter Legacy Full Movie by FrenchGamers

The Fury In The Eyes of Kratos

Kratos, "The God of War", will be featured in the new Mortal Kombat release. Sorry Xbox elite, this is exclusively only for the PS3. No exclusive character for the Xbox 360 has been mentioned yet. I'm so happy I have a PS3 now. Though Kratos will be featured in the game he will not be featured in the story line. He will though have is own moves, fatalities, and his own God of War based stage. I always wanted to see how he would fare against the MK characters. Now I will get my chance.

There's one more character I wish they would add into the MK series. That would be Nariko from Heavenly Sword. She would make a perfect fit to Mortal Kombat with her range of moves. I think I might make a case for that and write to the guys over at NetherRealm Studios to plead my case. I think Nariko is a shoe-in for the game. Here is some detailed video of Kratos in action from the Playstation Blog.

The Kiss of Death: Jeri Ryan is Sonya Blade

Remember when she played Seven of Nine some years back on Star Trek: Voyager? Of course you do. Who doesn't? She's also been on other TV shows such as Boston Public, Boston Legal, The O.C., Leverage, and most recently, Body of Proof. Now she's taking on the role as Sonja Blade in the upcoming Mortal Kombat web series airing April 19. The web series airs the same day of the Mortal Kombat game release. I'll been looking forward to that. Heres a interview of Jeri with Andy Allo, from G4, as she talks about the upcoming web series.

Video Game - E3 2011

Mortal Kombat Rebirth Trailer

Finally, Duke Nukem: Forever

After almost a 12 year hiatus the Duke Nukem: Forever project finally comes into fruition. I've never seen development for a game, after being held out for so long, be brought back from the dead. This is a huge first. Its good to see it come back to life though and actually have a release date tagged to it.

I always liked the Duke Nukem series. I love those "Bad Mofo" type of characters. It brings the man out in me. It makes you feel like you need to be in a war or something. lol Here's the inside info trailer from XPlay of the upcoming release.

Update: Duke Nukem: Forever has been postponed till June.

PC Games - E3 2011 - Duke Nukem Forever

 

The King of Shooters, The King of Games

The king of shooters sits in his throne holding his cup of libation in one hand and his Famas Assault Rifle in the other as laughs at all his challengers below. Treyarch has good reason to sit on top of their high horses right now. One big reason is that Call of Duty: Black Ops sits on top as the game of games. It beat out not only other shooters but all other games as well.

Last month was very good to Treyarch and Activision as Black Ops sold 535,000 copies for February making it the Top game in the United States. I mean everybody and their mama plays this game. I know because I've lost in too many multiplayer matches to count. I'm lucky if I last a good 2 minutes in a match. The people that play are good and come for blood.

From the Xbox alone, approximately 166,000 have accumulated over 2 million hours of gameplay. Averaged out that about 12.05 hours per player. Thats half a day's worth of playing the game. I'm sure most of that is spent playing in multiplayer matches. I guess the campaign is treated as a bonus. The multiplayer portion of the game is the main feature. Right now, if you check http://raptr.com/game/360/Call_of_Duty_Black_Ops, there are over 12 million accumulated hours of gameplay amongst players. That really says a lot about this game.

Not only is Black Ops the present king of shoots, it currently serves as reigning king of games beating out notable titles such as Halo Reach, Modern Warfare 2, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Bulletstorm, AC: Brotherhood, Dead Space 2, Gears of War 2, and several others according to GameSpot.com.

So, to sum it up in one word, this game is fire. I had Call of Duty: Black Ops for a short while but I didn't like it. In the end I had to take it back. I'm not knocking Black Ops, its a great game, but I'm more of a Gears of War fan myself. I'm thinking with the release of Gears of War 3 it will slowly fall from grace and Gears will serve as the new king.

Welcome To Arkham City

Here's the latest trailer to Batman: Arkham City featured on GameSpot. I love the background music. It fits the montage of the video. I can't wait till this game comes out. Enjoy!!

NGP What?!

Next Generation Portable, that's what its called. I headed over to Playstation.com to blog about something else and I came across this. The NGP will be the latest successor to the PSP. It promises a new experience in hand held portable gaming. Its features include:

• Dual analog sticks
• Front and rear cameras
• Front multi-touch display
• Multi-touch rear pad
• GPS
• SIXAXIS motion sensors
• 5-inch Organic Light Emitting Display (OLED)

The portable gaming system will also include Wi-Fi 3G connectivity allowing location based gaming amongst players. The system will be generously bundled with your favorite adventure hero Nathan Drake in Uncharted Portable. Now thats something I'd like to get my hands on.

The NGP is slated for release towards the end of this year. You can watch this video interview of Kazuo Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, as he explains more about the upcoming release.

It's Like Cable for Your Xbox: IPTV

I remember this getting talked about a couple of years back. I just never saw it happening with the way people's original modeled Xbox 360s kept burning out with the mysterious 3 rings of death. I guess now they're speaking it back into existence. IPTV or internet protocol television delivers TV programming to households via a broadband connection which is primarily ran over a phone line.

So in essence its like having the AT&T service on your xbox. Well that wouldn't work for me because I run through Comcast and they use coaxial cable. Having that kind of service would be kind of redundant anyways for people who already have premium TV programming. I wouldn't want to pay two premium channel providers. That would be stupid.

Here's the link on the news update from Game Informer:
http://bit.ly/grzJxC

Here's more info on IPTV:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-iptv.htm

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.

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.