Skyrim Fan Interview

Todd Howard, Game Director
Bruce Nesmith, Lead Designer
Matt Carofano, Lead Artist

1) Will the character be able to change into certain creature? 
Todd: We’ve done various things like that in our previous games, and it’s something that we probably won’t be talking about specifically on this one. Don’t read anything into that, we just prefer to not discuss this one. We ‘d like to leave that an open question until the game is out.

2) What sorts of cosmetic options, like beards, tattoos, or body proportions, are available? Can we edit them later in the game? 
Matt: There is large amount of customization available for each race. You can choose from multiple hair styles, beards, scars, and face paint. Each race and gender has a light and heavy build and you can pick any level in between. We’ve completely redone our facial system, and we’re really excited to show off the results.

3) Is armor handled like in Oblivion (with each body part being welded together) or in Morrowind (with each body part separate)? Will you be able to wear both clothes and armor at the same time? 
Matt: The armor system is very similar to Oblivion’s. The main difference is that the upper and lower body armors, the cuirass and greaves, have been combined into one piece. This helps create armor styles that have the look we needed for Skyrim. In most of the Nordic designs we created, the upper armor would completely cover the lower armor, making it unnecessary. We get much better visual results combining those pieces, and it renders a lot faster too, so we can put more people on screen, so that was an easy tradeoff for us. We can also make a lot more armors now, so the number and variation types are more than we’ve ever had.

4) Are the main and faction quests branching or linear? What about side quests? 
Bruce: We’ve focused on telling one story well. There are decision points in all the quest lines that can change things, but overall it’s a single story. Because the side quests are smaller stories, they are more likely to have major branches. For example, you can decide to save or betray someone, which changes the whole end of the quest. Overall the quest structure in Skyrim is closer to Oblivion than Fallout 3, in that there are many more quests, but they have fewer branches.

5) Are loot and quest rewards level scaled, like in Oblivion? Will there be any powerful un-scaled items? 
Bruce: We’re handling leveling stuff similar to how we did in Fallout 3, but with a few new twists that we hope players won’t even notice. The enemies and loot are based on the “encounter zone” you’re in, so it could be higher or lower level than your current level. We do have a new concept of epic or “special” loot that you can randomly find in many cases, regardless of the zone, and you will still get better stuff in the better zones with your level higher. Same goes for quest rewards. We try to make them appropriate for what you did. Sometimes that is random, sometimes that is a set item. There’s a lot of specific stuff that is very powerful, like the Daedric artifacts .

6) Will items present in Morrowind but not in Oblivion, such as spears, medium armor, and mark / recall spells, be making a return? 
Todd: They are not in Skyrim for the same reasons we didn’t include them in Oblivion. I’ll address each one. First spears, the truth is we’d love to do them, but it becomes a priority and development time thing for us. We feel it’s better to spend our time right now making sure the gameplay for the other play styles is really solid. That includes sword, sword and shield, two-handed weapons, and bows. You can also add magic to that list . Getting those all working well together, while feeling different, is our priority.

As far as medium armor, that’s not a time or polish thing, it’s a design choice to focus on two armor types and making sure those feel different and the player appreciates them. We try to make your character move and feel different between light and heavy and having a 3rd one in the middle just muddies it up in how it plays, as well as visually. And even now, we still have to tweak those two armor types so they feel different, while remaining fun. Every time we slow down heavy armor more, it feels bad, but it’s the main way of balancing it. We’ve added other ways of balancing it that feel right-like different stamina drain rates when sprinting and such.

Mark and recall is one where it’s a lot of fun, but like levitation, was removed so we could design better gameplay spaces and scenarios. We were really limited in Morrowind because the player could recall or levitate out of many situations and break them. There was a lot of good gameplay and level design work that we just couldn’t do and now we can. Back then it seemed like many good ideas we had were shot down when another designer would say “oh yeah, I just levitate or recall away . “So we got rid of them.

7) Will we be able to have relationships with the NPCs, romantic or otherwise? 
Bruce: Absolutely! You make friends with people by doing things for them. Friends in the game will treat you differently. Some of them will even agree to go with you into dungeons and on adventures. You can even get married. If you own a house, your spouse will move in with you.

 8) Are there any new armor / weapon materials unique to Skyrim? 
Matt: One of the most prized and rarest sets of armor is made ​​from dragons. It can be forged in both a light and heavy variant. You’ll see a return of many armors from previous games, such as leather and steel, however these have been redesigned in the Nordic style.

9) Can we have some specifics about the PC version of the game? How will it’s UI be different? Will there be a 64-bit executable? 
Todd: 64-bit specific exe? Not at this time. As far as UI, it visually looks the same across the platforms, but the controls are entirely different. There’s also a lot of “power user” stuff we do with the keyboard from how favorites work, to quick saves, and more that is similar to what we’ve done before in that area. We’re packing a lot of info on the screen and the whole interface is much less ‘look at giant fonts!’ than , say, Oblivion. The PC version also gets higher res textures, larger render modes, and a bunch of other effects you can scale up if your machine is a beast. Last but most important, is the Creation Kit we’ll be releasing for the PC. Modding the game and making it your own is very important to us and our fans, so we’re going to keep doing whatever we can in that area.

10) How will enchanting work in Skyrim? Will we have to constantly refill our enchantments with soul gems like we did in Oblivion, or will it be more like Morrowind in which the weapons recovered after a certain resting period? 
Bruce: The method in Oblivion worked really well, so we kept it. Magic weapons use charges and have to be refilled with soul gems. Magic armor is always on and doesn’t need to be recharged. Soul gems and their lore and usage are a staple of the Elder Scrolls.

We have revamped the enchanting system though. Enchanting is now a skill. The better your skill and perks, the better you are at creating enchanted items. You’ll be able to find enchanting stations all over the world, which will make it much more accessible.

There are some changes from Oblivion, including the effects you can use when creating items, as well as how you learn effects. You now learn enchanting effects by “breaking down” a magic item you find, as opposed to them coming from spells you know . This allows us to separate enchanting from the other magical skills better.

11) What are the differences between the races? I guess they’ll have different skill bonuses, but will they also start with different perks or have different “hard-coded” attributes, such as different running speeds or maximum encumbrance, etc.? 
Todd: They each start with some skills that are higher by default, but those aren’t hard to overcome with another race in a short time. They also have different starting spells and each has its own passive abilities, like before, as well as powers, like before. So Khajiit can see in the dark, Orcs have a berserk power, Redguards have Adrenaline Rush, and so forth. They work differently in the new system, but the flavor is the same. We kept all the racial movement speeds the same, that’s now a factor of what you’re wearing and have equipped. And starting max encumbrance is the same and is based on your Stamina attribute.

12) Is there any game content (story, quests) that might be locked for a character based on race / faction / politics allegiances / morality / choices? Or one can experience all the content in one single play? 
Todd: We do have some stuff that gets locked out based on decisions you make. It’s wherever it felt natural. It wasn’ta goal that you could or couldn’t play everything with one character. The game’s honestly so big that we don ‘ t think about it much.

13) To what extent will our racial / gender selection at the start of the game will affecting our gameplay? Are there relationships affected by these choices? 
Bruce: Your race is very important. It’s more than just how you look. Each race has a bias toward certain types of characters. If you want play a wizard, it will be easier with a High Elf or a Breton. If you want to play a warrior, it will be easier with a Nord or a Redguard. However, just like in Oblivion, we don’t force you to follow that bias. If you want to be a Nord wizard, that’s completely viable.

Gender does not change any initial skills or abilities. There is nothing that men do better than women or vice versa in the game. Other characters will recognize your gender and address you properly. Some may have prejudices for or against a particular gender as a part of their character, but it won’t change what you can or can’t do.

14) Do you plan to include non lethal ways of defeating opponents?? 
Todd: Depends on what you mean by “defeat”. We have various stealthy ways of getting past people, and the various poisons and spells allow you to basically render enemies harmless to you, whether that is casting a calm or fear spell, knocking them down, or something else.

Oh, and we now have tavern brawls that are non-lethal! I love those.

15) Will boss fights involve interesting mechanics involved as opposed to just more health and hits harder? 
Todd: We have many new combat behaviors in our AI that makes fights with certain enemies very dynamic and interesting. It matters what the enemy can do. Dragons, for example, can do lot of things from multiple shouts, bombing runs, picking guys up , and more. An enemy that has a sword and shield, a bow, magic spells, and potions will use all of those things, and those fights are the most interesting. But we also design some combat encounters where the player simply may get mobbed by more simple enemies, and those have a different pace and strategy.

16) Do companions have skill and perk trees we can train? 
Bruce: No, you only manage your own. Though companions often have certain perks so they behave different or better.

17) Is the culture in Skyrim strictly Nordic, or are there places (like Cheydinhal in Cyrodiil) that show influence from other cultures nearby, like architecture, religion, etc? 
Matt: While there are pockets of other races in the game, we focused on the Nordic culture and their regional differences. The architecture between cities is dramatically different and reflects how the Nords live in that area.

18) So, the dragons are big and powerful. Did you include some destructible environment so they could leave marks and scars everywhere they attack? Can they demolish buildings, break trees, start avalanches, burn houses, things like this that emphasize their power? 
Todd: They do leave marks and scars everywhere, but as far as destroying buildings and such, it’s rare. It does happen, but not a lot. Systemically destroying our spaces is something we have not found a good way to handle yet, because it’s so dynamic. We’re dealing with places that we have NPCs living, and providing quests and other game services. It’s something we avoid in every game unless we can specifically wipe it off the map, like Megaton.

19) Will there be any difference between the animation sets of male and female as well as human-like and ‘beast’ characters? 
Matt: The animation system is completely new and dramatically improved. You will notice huge difference from previous games. There are differences between male and female animations, and even beast races have some specific animations.

20) Will any sort of karma system be incorporated like there was in Fallout, or will it be the Fame / Infamy system of Oblivion? 
Bruce: We don’t provide a numeric score that you can track, but the game knows if you’ve been naughty or nice. We felt that a number really didn’t do your fame justice. Characters in the world will acknowledge the specific things you have done rather than just a generalized reputation. If you are a criminal, they’ll know that too. But if you pay your debt to society, all is forgiven.

21) Will crafting (weapons, armor) be effected by the tools you use as well as the ingredients used in the crafting? Such as the hammers and clippers, mastery level of the weapons and your level? Basically, will I be able to produce a more powerful, or even unique, weapon if I use a master hammer or clipper as opposed to novice? 
Bruce: The blacksmith’s shop includes a forge, a grindstone, and a smithing bench. You can improve your weapons at the grindstone. The higher your skill, the more you can improve them, and the more damage they’ll do. Same thing for armor with the smithing bench, only the armor rating gets better. The forge is actually used to create new weapons and armor from raw materials.

22) Will your character have a voice? So that you can hear yourself having a conversation with other people? 
Todd: You do have a voice, but you only here it in grunts and shouts. So we have recorded for each race and sex you can play, all the different combat grunts, as well as the dragon language shouts.

23) Obviously every character is “Dragonborn”, but not every character will be playing the same way. The question is: Will dragon shouts support all types of characters? Are there long ranged shouts? Some kind of stealthy “shout”? 
Todd: Yes, the shouts support all character types. We’re not ready to talk about the other shouts yet, but soon enough.

24) Are there going to be places where you can use nature to your advantage? Like make a trap out of a falling tree or climb a tree to stealth attack an enemy? 
Todd: Yes and no. You can’t make things, but our environment is so dense, you’re almost always using the natural terrain to get an advantage, especially with stealth.

25) Will you be able to carry on after the main story? 
Todd: Yes, absolutely.

…and of course the amazing trailer voiced by Max Von Sydow that’s been floating around over the past couple of months:

I get chills every time I watch that damn video..

As I’m sure anyone who reads this stuff knows, over the past few months I’ve been going through the the first three Metal Gear Solid games on PS2. MGS and MGS2 I posted impressions for, but I figured I’d go all out and post an entire review of MGS3 since it’s now the front runner for my favourite in the entire series. Let’s do this!

1. Story
The story for MGS3 is pretty epic and does not spare on the dramatics, that’s for sure. Set in Cold War-era Russia, FOX operative “Naked Snake” (aka the future Big Boss) is first sent on a mission to rescue a Soviet scientist weapons scientist named Sokolov who wishes to defect to the States. Upon his arrival, Snake discovers that this isn’t a simple extraction mission. A renegade Soviet commander, Volgin, is using Sokolov to finish building the first Metal Gear known to man — the Shagohod — a massive tank equipped with a nuclear warhead, that is also capable of launching it’s payload at great distances. Add to this the betrayal and defection of Snakes mentor, the Boss, to Volgin’s team and you have the makings of Hideo Kojima’s best story to date, in my opinion. Even the minor characters are fleshed out enough that you find yourself wanting to see more of them and listening intently to their radio communications with Snake, instead of just skipping through them as I wanted to do so many times in Metal Gear Solid 2. The epilogue to this story, is also a great piece of storytelling. It’s very important to understanding how Big Boss got set down the path that he would follow in his attempts to create Outer Heaven and his future encounter with Solid Snake. Seeing it all go down, instead of just being told about it, makes all the difference.

Story Rating: 10/10

2. Graphics
MGS3 was initially slated for the PS3, but was released onto PS2 because of the delays with releasing Sony’s third console, so I can only imagine how great it would’ve looked in high-def. That being said, it’s obvious that developers at this time were already maxing out the PS2′s graphical capabilities, so with MGS3 you’re really getting some of the best of what you can on that console. The cut scenes alone are clean, crisp and flow at a respectable frame rate. A nice touch to these is that Snake even wears whatever camo he’s wearing in-game in the cut scenes. My only gripe with these scenes is that the characters mouth’s barely move when they’re speaking. It just looks weird. Outside of the cut scenes, the in-game graphics are pretty smooth as well. Characters in-game are pretty much identical to their cut scene counterparts from what I could tell. There are jaggies here and there and some awkward looking patterned textures (ie: the sides of some cliffs and closeups of some foliage) and the fire/explosions is definitely nothing to write home about. The liquid effects (waterfalls, rivers, etc) look great, though.

Graphics Rating: 8/10

3. Sound
The music is always one of my favourite aspects about Metal Gear Solid games. From the James Bond styled “Snake Eater” intro track (written by 日比野 則彦 Hibino Norihiko) right on down to the amazing in-game pieces composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, MGS3 has an excellent and memorable soundtrack. The English voice acting is a few notches above your standard English dub fare, with a few stand out performances here and there – David Hayter as Snake, of course, but also EVA as voiced by Suzetta Miñet stood out for me. Some of the voices are terrible, though. The younger Ocelot’s voice is just awful and doesn’t fit him at all. I also couldn’t understand why half of the Russian characters (like Volgin) had standard English (ie: American, not British) accents instead of Russian accents (like Sokolov).

Sound Rating: 7.5/10

4. Control & Gameplay
The controls for MGS3 are pretty much mirrored to what we saw in MGS and MGS2. As with the other games, it’s not a perfect control scheme, and it loses points for the awkwardness of the first person mode. But otherwise, since I started with MGS4 where the controls were significantly changed, I had to get used to this new style when I popped in the first game. Thankfully, three games in and I have no problems using this scheme. What MGS3 brings in that’s new to the series are some twists on gameplay that make for a great experience when we’re talking about “tactical espionage action.”
First off, there’s no radar in MGS3. Well, not a traditional radar. Much like how, because of the era that this game is set in, Snake has to use a standard radio (instead of a codec) for transmissions with his commander, Snake only has a battery powered motion detector at his disposal to indicate where enemies may be located on the map. This device works just fine, but you have to wait for the radar to do a 360 each time in order to spot a potential enemy. I’ve read a lot of complaints about this, but I actually prefer this change. It adds more to the experience of the game and the whole fact that you could get caught at any second by your enemies if you’re not actually scouting your surroundings.
The second aspect I really enjoyed is the introduction of camo and face camo. As many fans know, this is fully expanded upon in MGS4, but MGS3 is where the feature was introduced and it definitely helps with keeping Snake hidden from the enemy. Snake has a set of standard camo uniforms but also a set of face paint camo that can further reduce his visibility on the games “camo index.” The game also offers several additional camos that the user can find throughout the game – such as the Sorrow’s “spirit camo” which is just all kinds of bad ass.
CQC, or Close Quarters Combat, has been refined and built upon from previous entries into the series. Snake can now not only administer choke holds to his enemies, but he can also choke them out, slit their throats, or use them as human shields while using his free hand to fire a handgun at other enemies.
Finally, another huge aspect to the gameplay of MGS3 are stamina and injuries. As Snake loses stamina (not necessarily health) he gets hungry. His stomach starts to groan (which can get him spotted) and he just has to eat. This is where your surroundings come in. Snake has to hunt and eat the various wild animals of the Russian wilderness in order to stay alive. Seriously, seeing this guy eat a Snake (ha ha, Snake Eater) for the first time is pretty funny. Different foods will have different effects. Some taste like garbage and give you minimal stamina, but others can max you out or go rotten and even poison you! Snake also has to keep an eye on his injuries. If an injury is left untreated it can sap the health bar until Snake succumbs. Luckily, Snake has a first aid kid with all sorts of handy goodies. What if he runs out? Well, get out your garden shears because you’ll need the local flora and fauna to mix new herbs and ointments in order to get by. Good times! Seriously, though. These two aspects of food and injuries bring a bit more depth to the game and they’re welcome additions in my opinion.

Gameplay Rating: 8.5/10

5. Replayability
Replayability really depends on if you’re a fan of the series or are just playing the game casually. I’m going to consider it from the vantage point of a fan – which I am. As far as the main game goes – you may want to play through again in order to grab some items that you may have missed (camo and facepaint mainly) or just to experience the awesome story again, which is fine.  The two disc Subsistence version of MGS3 has a TON of replay value. Never mind the whole introduction of Metal Gear Online (which I won’t get into because I don’t have a connection going to my PS2) but you’re given quite a few bonuses in the form of mini-games, video theatres and the super excellent ultra awesome inclusion of the ORIGINAL MSX2 versions of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake in all of their 6-bit glory! These two gems will be getting their own review down the line!

Replayability Rating: 9/10

6. Balance
At times the game may leave you feeling frustrated with enemy AI or constantly being spotted in certain areas. This forces you to sit back and scope out the AI’s patterns or just look for an alternate method which there almost always is. Though, there is one spot in the game where you have to escort an injured comrade across the forest and the enemies just keep on coming, and your comrade keeps getting you spotted – argh! Besides a few instances like that, I never once felt that I was overwhelmed by the enemy AI, even in boss battles. Outside of the enemy AI, there are always ample caches of ammo hidden around the bases, as well as various scurrying wild animals with which to make a meal out of, so the game definitely doesn’t leave you out there empty handed.

Balance Rating: 8.5/10

7. Originality
I don’t think you can get more original than the mind of Hideo Kojima, to be honest. This man has the ability to weave an intricate tale, which may be confusing at times, but is captivating enough that it keeps you glued to the screen from start to finish.. or until it’s 3AM.. and you just realized that you have work the next day. In-game, MGS3 doesn’t reinvent the series.. even better, it expands and evolves upon the system that the games before it were based on. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” they always say. Which is kind of why I’m disappointed with the news that MGS5 is getting a brand new engine. Of course, I’ll reserve judgement on that one for when I actually play the game.

Originality Rating: 10/10

8. Addictiveness
I always have a hard time putting down MGS games, and MGS3 was no different. I think I finished this one in record time (for me, in recent years anyway) which was about a week. Okay, so obviously I don’t have the kind of time for these things that I used to have. But outside of that, I found that MGS3 offered plenty of opportunities for me to put the game down, which I did take advantage of during the “escorting” mission I mentioned above. But the norm would be to save and just keep on going! It’s just that damn good!

Addictiveness Rating: 9/10

9. Appeal Factor
Fans of the MGS series love it and it shows – the game originally received critical ratings across the board and things aren’t going to change here in 2009. If you’re a new fan to MGS like I was, then go for it! The beauty of MGS3 is that it’s a prequel to everything else, so you could feasibly even start with this game and be a-okay with the storyline. Plus, where else are you going to see the origins of Big Boss?! Okay, maybe Wikipedia, but that’s no fun..
Also, it goes without saying that you should probably be a fan of these types of stealth/action games in the first place, but even if you’re not.. MGS3 might be the game to start out and test the waters.

Appeal Factor Rating: 10/10

10. Miscellaneous
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence was released about a year (a bit longer in North America) after the original Snake Eater title came out. Konami and Kojima continued their trend of releasing enhanced versions of their games loaded with extra content such as the groundbreaking Metal Gear Online and the inclusion of the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake 8-bit games. The 8-bit games alone make tracking down the Subsistence version worth the trouble!

Miscellaneous Rating: 10/10

*It should be noted that the MGS3 disc that comes with the Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection is only disc one of the Subsistence version. If you want disc two with all of the goodies, then you’re going to have to track down the original Subsistence release.

The Scores
Story: 10/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 7.5/10
Control & Gameplay: 8.5/10
Replayability: 9/10
Balance: 8.5/10
Originality: 10/10
Addictiveness: 9/10
Appeal Factor: 10/10
Miscellaneous: 10/10
Total Score: 90.5
FINAL SCORE: 9.0 (CLASSIC GAME)

Short Attention Span Summary
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater / Subsistence is just as the rating says – a CLASSIC GAME. From beautiful graphics, a monumental soundtrack, an EPIC storyline and just an all around excellent gameplay experience — it’s ALL there. Do yourselves a favour and play this game if you haven’t already. If you have.. well, play it again! It’s worth it!!

On December 22nd I finally received my beta key for DC Universe Online. Granted, by this point the full version of the game is about 2 weeks away, but it’s still nice to get this early preview and to get a chance to see what is coming on January 11th 2011!

My first impressions of the game:

• Load times are extremely quick. Of course this is to be expected when all 14 gigs of the beta are installed to the PS3 HDD. I am actually hoping that the bluray disc for the full release installs, fully or mostly, to the HDD as well. Everything loads so fast, and the cities rarely lag when loading up textures or other landmarks.
• Visually, my only other benchmark for this type of game (MMO) would be World of Warcraft, and DCUO has it beat in that department, IMO. Textures seem more intricate and detailed and I’m also noticing less “jaggies” than what I’d seen in WoW. The character models can get pretty complex as well. You can combine several different pieces of equipment to create your own unique look, complete with your own custom colour palette. You can even choose to equip new items, but keep the “old” look from your previous items should you want your characters outfit to stay consistent throughout the game – a nice touch.
• The AI can be a bit frustrating at times. I’ve had instances in Alerts (similar to Raids) where an entire group of enemies would only come after me and totally ignore the other three players on the team. I’m hoping that this is a bug and is confined to the beta. Otherwise, enemy encounters during “regular questing” seem fine on the whole. Ie: they attack if you get too close, but if you’re using a ranged character you can gain an advantage by attacking from afar.
• My favourite part of the game as to be the Hall of Doom. It’s kind of like DCUO’s version of Orzammar or the Underworld – for DC Villains (alternatively, the DC Heroes get the Watchtower). It’s at the bottom of a body of water and is HUGE. It contains teleporters to transport your character to various villain safe-houses within Gotham and Metropolis as well as a ton of vendors who want to sell you the latest in weapons and armor. I loved exploring this area and running into and having conversations with various villains such as Captain Cold, Zoom and Bizarro.
• As far as character builds go, you’re really given the go-ahead to create anything you could possibly think of, within reason (for instance, I believe that becoming a Green Lantern is something you have to work toward – you can’t just choose to be one from the get-go). For my villain, who is mentored by Lex Luthor, I went with a female archer with a look not unlike Green Arrow, except in blue – mainly to go with her meta-ability to control and produce ice. Movement style, instead of flight or super-speed, I chose acrobatics. You can literally scale any building and even glide across long areas – pretty much the same as having flight in the end. I was also going to create a hero, but I think I’m going to wait for the full release before I get into that. I need the full experience to create a student for the Dark Knight.

I could probably write much much more about how much I’m loving this game.. but I think you get the gist. The game retails for $59 (Canadian and US) and also requires a subscription which comes in at $15 per month – with discounts given for signing up for multiple months. The game also comes with a free month for new purchases.  I know that this has been a sticky point for a lot of games – but you have to realize that ALL MMO’s do this. This is just the first one on a console, so it feels new.. but these kind of subscription fees cover all sorts of things – from hardware, networks, employees/game-masters to enabling the developers to provide a steady stream of new content at no extra cost. So I’m cool with it. Sign me up.

FYI, only fans familiar with the franchise will understand what the hell I’m talking about for the next few paragraphs. This week marked the release of the 12th Yukes-developed (THQ-published) WWE Smackdown series – WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011. Can’t believe it’s been 12 years. Yukes/THQ have been known for taking a few steps back in previous entries just so that they can take a leap forward for a future title and promote the re-additions as new features. That’s what this game feels like to me, a tiny step back to act as a stepping stone to next years game.

Sorry Jericho. Ireland always wins.

Number of grapples reduced? Check.
Number of moves reduced? Check.
Inability to defend titles in Exhibition mode? Check.
Inexplicable removal of the transparency feature in the create mode? Check.
Scaled back graphics? Check.

Those are just a few. Not to say that this isn’t a great game with some fun new features. We’ve got an online Royal Rumble this year, but I don’t play much online with it comes to wrestling games as the players are notoriously cheap. Lots of new stuff for the story mode this year, including a storyline for Toronto’s own (more like Orangeville) Christian and Edge. A very cool feature called Universe mode that tracks everything you do. With a little tweaking, Universe mode could be all aces. Right now it’s more or less a souped up GM mode.

Like I said, it’s a great game, but it feels like a stepping stone to bigger things in 2012. I’m sure it’ll keep dedicated fans of the franchise busy for the next 12 months.

Rex

Tonight, the Mojave wasteland beckons as I still have so much more to do in Fallout: New Vegas!

When I last left off, my hunt for a cyborg dog to join my band of crazy adventurers led me to Vault 22 overrun with killer vegetation. Creepy-ass plant-zombies popping out of random patches of foliage FTW!

Have I mentioned how much I love this game?

ED-E

Anyway, I’ve been playing this game for about a week now and I have to say: it’s freaking awesome. Seriously. It’s “more of the same” of what we saw in Fallout 3, with some new features and some tweaks here and there.. but that’s totally cool. You know why? Fallout 3 ruled, that’s why. I’m more than happy to sink another 60+ hours (cumulative) into the same type of game.

My favourite part of these games has always been the landscape, and it only gets better in New Vegas. Lots of sprawling hills and vegetation in the Mojave “wasteland” which is quite a change from the DC Capital wasteland in Fallout 3. The Mojave also has clear skies, day and night, for the most part, which is also quite nice. It’s amazing how such a simple thing as this can go overlooked, but I really love to appreciate the amount of work and art that goes into crafting something like this. How the shadows cast properly, and how the sun and moon actually follow the in-game time.. so when it’s 12 noon, the sun is right over head. Good stuff.

It's a beautiful day in the Mojave.. for killing crazy police robots!

Outside of that, I’m really just exploring right now and taking on side quests instead of working toward the main end-game. Trying to find the various followers you can get to tag along for the adventure. So far I’ve found a floating eye robot named ED-E and a sniper named Boone. Boone rocks, by the way. Nothing more satisfying than having a seasoned sniper watch your back while you’re treading into dangerous territory. BOOM! Headshot right outta nowhere!

More impressions later.

Direct video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uHd4tuq0kc

SO. AWESOME.

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/4070/0.576

So, that Capcom x Namco / Namco x Capcom dual-fighter release turned out to be Street Fighter X Tekken – how awesome is that? Here’s the video reveal (plus a better quality teaser) from SDCC:

Video direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6U7jZ-qMfI

Video direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9EpHRdlI3M

Capcom’s press release sez:

Utilizing the same technology that powered Street Fighter™ IV & Super Street Fighter™ IV, Tekken™ characters such as Kazuya Mishima and Nina Williams will make the transition into the Street Fighter™ universe having been re-imagined using the much-loved art style of these seminal titles; while retaining their unique characteristics and signature moves as they go head-to-head with classic brawlers from the Street Fighter franchise in what promises to be the ultimate match up.

As in Street Fighter IV, 2D gameplay will feature fully realized 3D character models battling for domination in both new and familiar highly detailed environments that are brought to life with engaging animations. In addition to modes such as Versus and Training that will feature new enhancements to make the fighting experience more in-depth and enjoyable, Street Fighter X Tekken will include Tag Team combat where players select two fighters to deliver knockout assist attacks and special combos.

Namco is also developing their own version, no doubt based on the engine of their Tekken games. I’ve never been into Tekken, personally, but I’m all about crossover games, especially ones that come from Capcom and feature their patented “3D fighter on a 2D plane” styling, so I’ll definitely be picking this bad boy up on release day!

Now for some sweet video-stills from the reveal footage, courtesy of Capcom-Unity!

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/3972/6.983

From the Marvel side: Doctor Doom and Super-Skrull! From the Capcom side: Trish (Devil May Cry) and Chun-Li (Street Fighter).

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnKGiQYuOKs

Namco x Capcom RPG on PS2

Game Informer is reporting on a rumor that Capcom and Namco will be developing a crossover fighter that will feature two games! Capcom x Namco is rumored to be developed by Capcom and based on the Street Fighter IV engine, and Namco x Capcom is rumored to be developed by Namco and based on the Tekken 6 engine. Other rumors put a teaser/reveal trailer debuting at SDCC.. we’ll see soon, I guess.

This seems almost too good to be true as I’ve been waiting for something like this for quite some time. Since the Namco x Capcom ナムコ クロス カプコン RPG, actually.

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the Tekken games, so if this does come to fruition, then I’ll be sticking with my old faithful gaming companion Capcom.

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/101062.html

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfA_2Pc-New

The trip itself was great. Pure awesomeness, as Tokyo always is. This was my fourth time out there – I just have this thing for Japan – especially Tokyo. They do almost everything we try to do here in Toronto with more thought, logic, efficiency, and.. well, they just do it better! But, I do make a living in Toronto, so I can’t diss my city too much so I’ll stop right there.

Our hotel was in Ikebukuro – kind of a business area of town, but not short on it’s fair share of department stores and even electronic shops. The hotel itself was pretty sweet, especially after we upgraded to a bigger room. We mostly stuck in and around Tokyo for this trip. We tried to do Mount Fuji but the prices were just crazy expensive for some reason. I should have booked that trek when I booked the flight, I know. We did get to go to Kamakura and see the Great Buddha (and go inside of it) so that was pretty cool.

As for the nerdy stuff..

We got to attend a pretty awesome New Japan show – the first-ever Super Jr. Tag Tournament. Really great card with fantastic work all around. Yuji Nagata got thrown right into us! Thanks to Fergal for scoring us amazing seats! I really wish we could get these kinds of shows live in Toronto!

I managed to rack up a respectable credit card bill while I was there.. I spent way too much on art books and video games.. and UNI QLO.. damn you UNI QLO! If we ever get one of those stores in Toronto.. I will be the happiest man on earth.. with the saddest wallet, ever.

But that’s it. Back to the real world. Back to work. I’m going to try to go back for the Tokyo Game Show in September, which should be a crazy experience all on it’s own.

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yht0vRmVBtY

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzvE7e94Z_A

Highschool of the Dead / 学園黙示録 is getting it’s own animated TV series courtesy of Madhouse Studios. There have been a ton of (usually terrible) movies abound about killing zombies over this extended boom period for the genre… but not much in the way of animation. Glad to see this one come out of the woodwork. Trailer below!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl6cNSBg3Wg&feature=fvw

I’ve been playing for about a week now and I’m just over-the-top impressed with the entire package that this game gives you:

• Excellent, stylized cel-shaded graphics that zip along at an impressive framerate during even the crazier battles.
• An awesome soundtrack complete with licensed tunes, but also with some great instrumental stuff in-game that really hammers home the post-apocalyptic vibe – think of the instrumental soundtrack to 28 Days Later, or stuff by Godspeed You! Black Emperor (who also had a song in the movie, but not on the soundtrack).
• The weapons – oh, the weapons! I’ve read that there are thousands of weapons in this game – and I actually believe it. I’ve come across so many variations already, it’s insane.
• The baddies – outside of the bandits and smaller creatures, I’ve already fought some awesome kaiju-inspired monsters including Skagzilla and the Mothrakk. Insane!

I haven’t had a chance to dive into the multi-player yet, but from what I understand you can co-op with three others to take on the story in a squad. You can also enter duel arenas where you can fight it out to see who has the baddest baddass Crimson Rage on the block. There are also some great DLC add-ons available for this game, as well. One of them is a full-fledged assault on a zombie infested island. Yes. Yes, please! This is definitely next on my list after completing the main campaign.

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3a5nkEEF6o

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/2606/0.993

Lately we’ve seen a ton of these beat’em’up classics come out on the Wii’s Virtual Console – Double Dragon, Renegade, River City Ransom – but Bad Dude’s is nowhere to be found. I’d love to see the arcade version of this game get a release down the road. Rumor has it that Data East is prepping a “classics” disc for release sometime in 2010, and that this game will be included, but I’d honestly rather shell out a few bucks for a single download rather than a disc of games that I’m probably not going to be that interested in.

For now, check out some gameplay video, below…

Arcade gameplay – direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTjgV_9YFDQ

NES gameplay – direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPYJsxeQOMc

Nobunaga's Ambition Online

According to 4Gamer, Koei is bringing the popular strategy sim Nobunaga’s Ambition 信長の野望 Online to Japanese PS3′s sometime in 2010! Lots of fingers crossed over here for a North American release soon after!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGxG1f5_JPo

Guy, Adon & Cody!

Consider my wish granted! Thanks to Famitsu magazine, we now know that Adon is coming back to the Street Fighter franchise! Woooohooooo!

Joining my favourite self-proclaimed “God of Muay Thai” are two more fighters from the Alpha series (and also, Final Fight ファイナルファイト) – Cody & Guy!

This one is shaping up to be a great expansion!

No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise

Famitsu magazine is reporting that Goichi Suda’s No More Heroes ノーモア★ヒーローズ will be ported to PS3 in early 2010! The game will lose the motion control but will get a full HD upgrade (screenshot above!) and a few new modes. The offcial title for the release is No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise!

Add to this the release of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle ノーモア★ヒーローズ デスパレート ストラグル on Wii in January 2010 and it looks like we’re going to have ourselves a winter chalk-full of Suda51 goodness!

RE5: Alternative Edition

Awesome news! Looks like North American gamers will have the option to purchase the Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition as either DLC or on a physical disc! That’s what I call customer service!! See below for details, taken directly from the Capcom Unity blog:

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about new Resident Evil 5 content coming as a new Japanese version of the game called RE5 Alternative Edition. We asked you guys to tell us how you wanted to get your mitts on the content and gave you the option to vote for either digital download or a new boxed product. We let the poll run for a couple weeks and then snagged a bunch of your comments from the original blog posting as well as from threads in the forums and presented it all to the RE5 team in Osaka.  As of this morning, we had close to 1500 people vote for DLC and close to 900 vote for a new physical product. In addition, we had over 300 comments on the blog posting, which is amazing to all of us here at Capcom.

And here’s an example of Capcom Unity in action: based on your feedback, in North American, European and Australia territories, Capcom will be making the new RE5 content for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 available as downloadable content. You will not be asked to purchase a new copy of the game just to get at the new stuff, just make sure to hold on to your RE5 disc and you’ll be ready to roll in Spring 2010 when we make available new Resident Evil adventures (and some other things we haven’t told you about yet) for you. Keep that in mind when thinking about selling RE5 back or handing it off to a friend

I’ll be honest: we had a strong feeling going in that most folks were going to be ticking the box for digital delivery. Seeing as how we were asking you ONLINE to tell us if you would like to nab new game content via the internet, we thought we may have been skewing the results a bit. What surprised us, however, was just how many of you ended up voting for a new physical package. We’re still trying to wrap our heads around this strongly stated position from a vocal range of the community, but we’ve definitely heard you guys loud and clear as well.

Thanks to all of you as part of Team Unity in helping us reach this decision!

Car Smashing Goodness!

Famitsu magazine had images of it recently.. and now Capcom has confirmed it! The car smashing bonus stage we all know and love is returning for Super Street Fighter IV ストリートファイター IV! Awesome! I’m especially glad that it’s not the falling barrels stage!

Fist of the North Star

“Musō” style meaning a beat-em-up style game in the vein of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, a style that should mesh well with the world of Fist of the North Star since it’s all about kicking some ass and making some poor chumps head explode!! Awesome, and gory, video below!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIkaOhkizCw

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VdTXpPWZkw&feature=player_embedded

Gatchaman‘s Joe Asakura aka Condor Joe!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mA0uQpxYQQ&feature=player_embedded

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJD9k2-puXA

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrDE0hDOZdU

Some big Super Street Fighter IV ストリートファイター IV info from EscapistMagazine.com (via Gamespot, I guess):

Gamespot has the full skinny: SSF4 will bump up the existing character roster of 25 by adding eight new fighters, three of whom have been revealed thus far. Juri is a new female character, a nimble Tae Kwon Do practitioner from Korea, whereas Super Street Fighter II combatants T. Hawk and Dee Jay will be making a return.

This, of course, leaves five unannounced characters, and while it’s possible that some of them could be original fighters like Juri, it’s probable that some of them will be fan favorites from other games as well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Dudley and Ibuki from Street Fighter III, personally.

SSF4′s pre-existing fighters will get an overhaul, too. New Ultra attacks will be added, and balance issues will be addressed based on feedback from the community and testers – so hopefully Sagat won’t be quite so overpowered anymore. According to producer Yoshinori Ono, the game would include a superior online system (including a long-awaited lobby feature) but consequently would not be compatible with plain ol’ SF4.

That, of course, is the crux of the matter – unlike, say, Fallout 3, this won’t be a simple DLC update for people who already have Street Fighter IV. Super SF4 will be a retail-disc release, though it won’t be a full-price game. While I’m glad to hear that it won’t be sold at full price, any and all enthusiasm will be tempered depending on how much it will sell for.

After all, didn’t gamers get tired of buying the same game over and over again back around the time Super Street Fighter II Turbo rolled around?

Have to agree about the not-full-price being a good point.. but I’m actually not as disappointed about another disc-based release as I thought I was going to be. After thinking about it, there are probably gamers out there who haven’t bought this game yet, and it would totally suck to be one of them having to buy the first release at full price and then shell out more for a DLC update.

First up, some new footage from Dead Rising 2. The video showcases what looks like a reality show from within the DR2 universe entitled “Terror Is Reality.” Lots of Running Man/American Gladiator type shenanigans with, of course, lots and lots of zombies. What makes this even better? Well, Terror Is Reality is actually a 4-person multi-player portion of the game! Can’t wait for this one!!

Direct Link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/2078/2.081

Next, Capcom’s own entry into the hack’n'slash action genre based on Japanese historical figures is coming to North America! Sengoku 戦国BASARA 3 will make it’s way to the PS3 sometime in 2010! This game is preceded by two (three if you count the expansion on 戦国BASARA 2) other games of the same style as well as a versus fighting game – 戦国BASARA X (Cross). Not quite as flashy as Koei’s Dynasty/Samurai Warriors franchises, but definitely a similarly solid gaming experience. Trailer below!

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/2067/30.302

Frank West

Check out the bad-ass video below, showcasing some of Frank’s moves – including the infamous shopping cart and Mega Man blaster!

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd4yUQwlIrg

Need I say more?

Wolverine & The X-Men Season 1

Genre: Animated (Action, Adventure)
Studio: Marvel Animation
Original Canadian Airdates: 6 September 2008 ~ 23 October 2009
DVD Release Date: 15 September 2009 (yep, this DVD comes out before the actual series has aired all of it’s episodes on TV! o_O )
Runtime:  585 min (5 discs, 26 episodes)

I’ll admit that I was very skeptical about a new series starring the X-Men, especially considering idiotic “X-Men Evolution” that came before it. Thankfully, my fears were unwarranted, as Wolverine & The X-Men is more and more like the original 90′s animated series than anything else in recent memory.

In this outing, Wolverine plays the role of leader to the X-Men – I guess since he’s the main guy in the live-action movies, he’s the one that Marvel want to focus on with all of there X-Men-related efforts. Okay, that’s cool. Steve Blum is doing the voice work for Wolverine and, while he’s no Cal Dodd, he’s still perfectly acceptable as Weapon X.

The show itself plays out over a 26-episode season featuring a main storyline, which we rarely get with animated series these days. There are very little “filler” episodes that feel like a waste in this one, and everything comes together nicely in the season finale, which also features an excellent cliffhanger for season 2.

One of my favourite things about this series (and also the original animated series) is that they borrow a lot of storytelling from the first Chris Claremont tenure (1975-1991) – a tenure, which I would say beats anything that Marvel has done with the X-Men the last ten years to fifteen years (even including Claremont’s other tenures in the 2000′s). Things aren’t exactly as they were written in the comics, obviously, but they stay faithful enough that the essence of the stories are still present while also working in other writers’ aspects and original bits for the series as well.

My gripes are few.. and they’re just nit-picky, really. The major plot point of this series is the X-Mansion exploding, Jean Grey vanishing and Professor X going into a coma. Xavier awakens 20 years in the future to find Sentinels running the Earth and enslaving both humans and mutants. He communicates with past (present) day Wolverine to restart the X-Men and stop this from happening. My questions are nit-picky, like I said, but if Xavier is supposed to be 20 years in the future, then i) why haven’t Marrow or Domino aged, but Lorna Dane & the other Morlocks have? ii) Bishop says he was born in the mutant facility run by the Sentinels and also trained by Wolverine.. so I’m supposed to believe that he’s only 20, or possibly younger? Not buying it.

Outside of the 20 years in the future thing, they do a n episode with a Cyclops flashback about his early teen days as an X-Men with Beast, Angel & Jean.. but also Iceman. Now, Iceman is already on the team in the present time where he’s a teen-aged Bobby Drake. So is this supposed to be another “unnamed” Iceman from the past? It’s odd to me that they’d even include him in this flashback when they already have a much younger Iceman on the current team. Why not just retcon him out of the flashback?

Those are just a few very bizarre things that really stood out for me (aside from the fact that they also made Forge into the comic relief/doofus role.. but I guess someone had to take that one.) Otherwise, I really enjoyed the entire season. The animation looks great for standard definition on an HDTV, which is surprising given that standard definition animation usually looks extremely flawed when up-scaled onto HDTV.

The verdict: At first glance, it may look like it’s for the kiddies but there are definitely some more mature themes throughout this series and there are also lots of nods to older fans. Therefore, highly recommended for X-Men fans! But… animation fans should definitely check this out, either way!

A Street Fighter IV sequel? Bring back Adon, please!!

It’s rather early to do a full-on Street Fighter V sequel, so I’m expecting an expansion on IV, much like how we had SF2: Champion, Turbo and Super editions in the past.

Colour me excited, either way! I just hope they have enough material to warrant a new addition to this series. Ideally, I’d like to see a continuation of the storyline and ultimately the return of some missing favourites like T. Hawk & Dee Jay from Super and especially the self-proclaimed “God of Muay Thai” Adon from Alpha.

Tekkaman Blade

A recent magazine scan (possibly Famitsu, not sure though) shows a new addition to the Tatsunoko タツノコ vs Capcom roster in the form of Tekkaman Blade / 宇宙の騎士テッカマンブレード!

Originally intended to be a Tekkaman: The Space Knight / 宇宙の騎士テッカマン reboot, Tatsunoko put 49 episodes of this anime series out via TV Tokyo in the early 1990′s and it was also released in North America as “Teknoman” – first by Saban and then again by Media Blasters in a less kid friendly uncensored cut.

Tekkaman Blade’s inclusion makes sense to me.. and now he’s here to fight alongside his predecessor, Tekkaman, who is also a part of the original character roster.

In even more “new character” news, NintendoWiiFanboy.com has gotten word of some interesting lines of code on the Tatsunoko タツノコ vs Capcom website that refer to some very interesting file names.

• ‘images/oncharactor_btn_zero.jpg’
• ‘images/oncharactor_btn_frank.jpg’
• ‘images/oncharactor_btn_yatter02.jpg’
• ‘images/oncharactor_btn_joe.jpg’
• ‘images/oncharactor_btn_tekkabla.jpg’

So it looks like we’re getting Zero (Mega Man series), Frank West (Dead Rising) from Capcom, which is just all kinds of awesome. Frank West!!! On the Tatsunoko タツノコ side we’ve got Yatterman #2 (Yatterman #1 is already on the roster), what looks like Joe Asakura from Gatchaman (Science Ninjas FTW!) and of course the aforementioned Tekkaman Blade.

Now if only we could get some Phoenix Wright action!

This game is really shaping up to be THE title that finally revives my interest in the Wii. The Wii that is currently collecting dust in my entertainment unit. Just sayin’.

» Classic GI Joe TPB Vol 1
» Classic GI Joe TPB Vol 2
» Zombie Tales TPB Vol 2, 3, 4 (3 & 4 were pre-releases, woohoo!)

Then add to that some nerdy action figure… action. Well, more like vehicles. When I was a kid the HISS Tank was my absolute favourite thing that Cobra had on the market. Well, low and behold, they’ve made a sweet-as-all-hell Arctic HISS Tank for their 25th Anniversary line of toys. Two of my favourite things together! Winter and HISS Tanks! Of course I’m gonna buy that!

Kaijin no Soki & Polimar vs Ryu & Casshan (aka Casshern)

Direct Link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/54565.html

Polimar & Viewtiful Joe vs Chun-Li & Ken the Eagle

Direct Link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/54567.html

Kaijin no Soki & Yatterman-1 vs Casshan & Alex

Direct Link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/54566.html

The Chinese government loves to tell it’s people what they can and can’t read when it comes to the news, so why not what they can and can’t play when it comes to video games? “Foul language, drugs, vandalism, theft, sexual assault, and other various crimes,” is a pretty vague list of blockable offenses, IMO. Unless the Chinese government is restricting “the glorification of mafia life” to the stereotype of what we’re used to today, then this can open up the doorway to all sorts of other games being blocked. What era of mafia life? Black thugs? Italian gangsters? Ancient Mongolian warlords? Where is the line drawn?

In my opinion, this is a bit of a blow against freedom of speech and freedom of expression – especially for a country that’s short on those areas to begin with. Most countries have a rating system in place for this mode of entertainment and they’re more than adequate. China, that I can gather, doesn’t have a ratings system. Perhaps this would help? Either way, consumers and parents need to start taking responsiblity for their purchasing habits – whether they’re for themselves or for their children. *shrug*

IRON MAN

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4yrOLQniCk&feature=player_embedded

WOLVERINE

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1vqCUB15os&feature=player_embedded

PART I

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/53138.html

PART II

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/53139.html

KOFXII ライバルなど、いない art and design featurette.. Hey, I used that exact tablet, good stuff!

Direct link:http://www.gametrailers.com/player/53041.html

Morrigan vs Yatterman

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/52777.html

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/52698.html

In celebration…

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMYCO1nOxJk

Melty Blood: Actress Again メルティブラッド

With all of the time I’ve been spending on hyping on BlazBlue, Street Fighter IV, King of Fighters XII and various Metal Gear games, I’ve neglected to mention that TYPE-MOON タイプムーン is releasing a sequel to Melty Blood: Act Cadenza – which was an awesome as hell 2D fighter for the PS2. Melty Blood: Actress Again comes out on August 20, 2009 in Japan for PS2 and I’ve already put my pre-order in.. so expect a review on that down the road.

Melty Blood is based off of Tsukihime – which started as a visual novel, but also spawned into a manga and anime series as well. The fighting in this game series is a bit reminiscent of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue.. maybe not as hard core as those games can get but it definitely has it’s similarities. The first time I played this game was in an arcade in Akihabara. I was kicking the CPU’s ass until some kid joined in and proceeded to kick my ass. He looked about 12. Yep, they start ‘em young over there. Anyway, the game is very fun, has a ton of interesting characters and some great combo spots.. I’m expecting this sequel to be more of the same, so I can’t complain there!

Some game play video…

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcF4HrOl11o

..and the intro video

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfp5_jv2u7E

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/1400/150.709

Seth, aka Sean Patrick Flannery

Apparently Ryota Niitsuma of Capcom has admitted that they may have made Sagat and Seth slightly more powerful than they had originally intended.

In CPU matches? Sagat, maybe.. Seth? I’ve always found him to be one of the weakest characers in SFIV. *shrug*

Source: http://www.videogamer.com/news/capcom_on_sfiv_sagat_and_seth_are_overpowered.html

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/1394/25.303

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/52447.html

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/1379/0.774

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PS3)

So, did anyone pick up BlazBlue? I managed to nab one of the scarce PS3 versions.. all of which were Limited Edition boxes, so that’s cool, though that whole thing that Joystiq reported about the LE Box being the same price as a single disc game didn’t translate well up north as I paid the standard increase for LE Boxes..

Anyway, the game itself is pretty fun. I’m not finding it much different from Guilty Gear but I am getting the hang of it much faster.. if that makes sense. The 2D sprites are beautiful in HD, and the 3D stuff ain’t too shabby either. As usual, with these guys, the music is awesome.

The cut scenes in story mode are really messed up, though. There are three types – manga style drawing with voiceover, landscape background with voiceover and text overlay, and the usual SRPG style of a character portrait with a moving mouth and text boxes underneath (also with voice over). I dunno.. they could’ve done something more with these.. not full on anime video but at least something little more pleasing to the eyes. Oh well.

Online so far is pretty good, even though my opponent in my first match dropped out because I was winning – loser. No lag to speak of, so that is a nice change of pace.

Anyway, I’m on my own this weekend so I’m sure I’ll be spending the next 48 hours playing the hell out of this game. More later.

Direct link: http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/1334/0

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51981.html

Direct link:http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51979.html

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51978.html

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51977.html

Direct link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/51961.html

X-Men Animated Volume 3

X-Men Animated Volume 4

X-Men Animated Ad

Source: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/X-Men-Volumes-3-and-4/12148

Wiki sez: “The game was confirmed as a canonical installment in the Metal Gear series the E3 2009 Sony Press Conference, and will be written, directed, and produced by Hideo Kojima. Set in 1974, ten years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and four years after Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. The game is set in Costa Rica, with Big Boss as the central character once more. When an unknown military force invades Costa Rica, the nation must rely on Militaires Sans Frontières, the mercenary army that will eventually give rise to Outer Heaven.

Multiple Snakes are shown in the trailer, hinting at the inclusion of co-operative play. There also seems to be an updated CQC and evacuation system along with the ability to move while crouched as seen in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

1. it posts automatically to two other (older) blogger/blogspot pages that I never use anymore.
2. it posts a link to the blog at the dreaded Twitter – which I still think is lame, because who cares that you just ate a blueberry muffin at 3am? Not me. But using it in this sense works out much better and if it drives more traffic, then what the hell.
3. it to Facebook (Notes) automatically — this has been done for a while, actually.

I’ve also set up my YouTube account to post to the blog whenever I upload a video or want to “share” one – which, of course, then triggers all of the afforementioned updates as well. The final piece I have to figure our or find a plugin for is Picasa. I was using Flickr, but I didn’t realize that they have a monthly limit. Lame! So I switched to Google’s photo solution, which has a 1GB limit and have been uploading photos since last week. Not everything, though. Just the cool stuff from Tokyo and maybe some other bits and pieces, here and there.

I really can’t pinpoint why I’m doing all of this, but I think it has something to do with my latest class on the way to finishing up my Marketing at Ryerson — eMarketing. The class is very dry, and boring as hell, but some of the online content (videos) have really piqued my interest about this sort of technology and how I use it – and why, as well.

So, I guess that means I want to post more and make more of an effort to do something with the time I tend to waste. I mean, I’m stuck here all day, and we’re not always 100% busy so why not? More full reviews and not just impressions, more news pieces and opinions, and so-on. Here’s hoping I can make it work this time.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

About a year ago I purchased a PS3 that was bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I loved the story behind that game so much that, after I finished it, I went out and picked up the Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection. The collection contains the three other main console titles in the series – Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (the Substance version) and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater  (the Subsistence version).

Even though I’m writing this particular post about MGS2, a few months ago I finished MGS1. I thought it was a great gaming experience despite the aging of the graphics technology. I’ve actually picked up Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for GameCube – which is a remake of MGS1 but with souped up visuals and new audio, and I’ll be going through that and posting impressions soon as well. But since MGS2 is the most fresh in my mind, this is the one we’re going with today.

Solid Snake

MGS2 is split into two chapters. The first takes place in 2007 (2 years after the events in MGS1) on an oil tanker dubbed the U.S.S. Discovery. As Solid Snake, you infiltrate the tanker to discover that it’s actually housing the newest form of Metal Gear: RAY – an amphibious weapon of war. Things get hairy after a visit from some unexpected guests in the form of a Russian military outfit and the arrival of an old friend (read: enemy). All hell breaks loose and the tanker is cracked in two, supposedly creating an off-shore environmental disaster what with all the oil it spilled. Chapter one ends.

The second chapter takes place 2 years later in 2009. You’re now controlling Jack, aka Raiden, a rookie member of FOXHOUND on his first real life mission. Up until this point he’d only been involved in VR battle simulations. The location of this chapter takes place on the exact same waters.. except this time you are on the Big Shell – a clean up facility designed to deal with the mess that the tanker left after it’s destruction. Why is Raiden here? The President’s been kidnapped and taken to the Big Shell by that same Russian military outfit, along with a terrorist group known as Dead Cell. Raiden’s role is to save the President.. or is it?

Raiden

That’s as far into the plot that I will go to avoid spoilers for anyone out there who hasn’t played the game yet. Sure it’s old, but I hadn’t played it til just this past month. Some of us are slow on the uptake, alright?! All I have to say is.. final battle? EPIC – Nuff said.

Anyway, the game has aged well, in my opinion. It builds upon the engine set out in MGS1 but adds several more levels of dynamic gameplay to it. Sneaking is still the top aspect to this game, but there are lots of new combat options as well. The whole fact that Raiden eventually gets a katana is just pure awesomeness.

Graphics are much better than it’s PS1 predecessor, which was to be expected, but they’ve actually aged very well themselves. It didn’t feel at all like I was playing a game that was made in 2001! As for sound.. I find that aside from story (which was a tad confusing at times but still solid from my vantage point), that’s one thing that Kojima Productions always gets right! The music is just phenomenal. Just like with SFIV, if find myself humming these tunes at any given moment during the day. The voice over work is spot on, as well. That’s one thing I like about every MGS game that I’ve played so far – the voice over work has always been very professional and not the normal garbage we’d get for games produced in Japan that eventually come over here – KOEI, I’m looking at you!

Huh?!

As far as extras go – there are quite a few. Lots of additional content to read through contained within the game, VR missions, playable side-missions titled “Snake Tales” and a fun little skateboarding game where you channel Tony Hawk while aboard the Big Shell.

Bottom line – excellent buy, and and definitely worth coming back to down the road for a second go.. when I have the time! At first I was a little disappointed that Snake wasn’t the main character for the majority of the game.. but I got over it pretty quickly. Raiden is an interesting character and I’m psyched to see more from him in Metal Gear Solid: Rising.

X-Men Volume 1

Wow, so it’s about damn time that this series came out on DVD! The 90′s X-Men, Animated, is regarded as one of the best comic-to-animation adaptations ever created – alongside Batman, the Animated Series of course. When this show was originally airing I’d only caught episodes here and there. I liked what I saw and wanted to see more, but by that point in time it was too late. I actually resorted to dropping $30 on 5 bootlegged DVDs (all episodes downloaded from the net) on eBay a few years back, but the quality was pretty awful so I never did get through all of them. Thankfully I can now toss those aside, because Buena Vista has answered my wish and we’re treated to the first two and a half seasons of X-Men on DVD!

The DVD’s themselves produce a faithful transfer from the original airings – that is, you’re getting a 4:3 aspect ratio, some choppy animation in places, and some wonky soundtracks. All-in-all, none of this takes away from the great stories that are presented in this series and some really fantastic voice over work from all involved. Just as with Kevin Conroy as Batman, in my mind Cal Dodd will forever be the voice of Wolverine.. not to mention Cedric Smith as Professor X, George Buza as Beast, Alyson Court – aka Claire Redfield from Resident Evil 2 – as Jubilee and John Colicos’ AMAZING performance as Apocalpyse.

X-Men: Volume 2

As far as the episodes go, some of my favourite stories are played out within these first two volumes. “Come the Apocalypse”, “Days of Future Past”, “Repo Man” which follows Wolverine back to Canada where he’s ambushed by Alpha Flight. This episode also explores the origins of “Weapon X”. The X-Men’s resident shape shifter Morph also has a great ongoing storyline throughout the entire set which involved him being left behind in battle and then manipulated by Mr. Sinister in order to mess with the X-Men. Finally, I have to mention that “The Phoenix Saga” is also a part of this set. This is an arc that explores Jean Grey’s “awakening” with the power of the Phoenix, and a lot of people normally overlook and instead head straight to “The Dark Phoenix Saga” (where Jean goes insane with the power) with all of the kudos. This one is my favourite of the two stories, though.

I’d really be pushing it if I were to go on and on gushing about this series.. and I could, believe me. But really, bar none, if you’re an X-Men, Marvel, comic book, or even a fan of good storytelling who is open to animation, you should check this series out!

The verdict: Highly recommended!

Moving on…

Let’s get back into the swing of things with some gaming impressions. Wow, the last time I did one of these was 2008/12/30! I have no idea how much gaming I’ve done since then, so I can really only speak to what I’ve been playing recently and then come back to the other stuff at a later date when I’ve had a chance to refresh my opinions on them.

Street Fighter IV / ストリートファイター IV
(PS3, Capcom)

Why not start off with a biggie? I honestly haven’t been THIS into (and satisfied with) a fighter in many years. Yes, I buy pretty much any 2D figther that comes out on the market (foreign and domestic) but none, in recent memory, have felt as fresh as SFIV does. With a roster of 25 characters, you’re likely to find that a favourite of yours is included.. unless you loved Dee Jay or T. Hawk, then you’re outta luck. The visuals are stunning – every character and background are completely 3D, but the fighting is done on a 2D plane. I know that this has been done before but it’s never felt as fluid, for me, as SFIV does. Sound is top notch – a great soundtrack, that I find stuck in my head at all hours of the day, as well as a full Japanese language track makes this gamer very, very happy!

Add to this the awesome addition of Focus Attacks (absorb an attack and launch a counter attack) as well as a good amount of offline and online modes (online Championship Tourney’s being my fave) and it makes for a great return to the fighting ring for the Street Fighter franchise.

Empire City courier Cole MacGrath delivers a package that contains a city-destroying, super-power-giving, and all around orb-o-doom. Upon arrival, the orb (dubbed the “Ray Sphere”) detonates and fulfills it’s purpose of making Cole into Empire City’s own version of Electro. This is how inFAMOUS begins, and from there you set Cole out on a quest to either save or damn Empire City.

inFAMOUS does a lot of things right – great visuals and stunning particle effects, controls that are extremely easy to learn and “pick up and play”, a sandbox environment with lots of explore and interact with, storyline divergence depending on your actions. But, for all of the right, there is quite a bit “wrong” with inFAMOUS as well. The gameplay is solid, but the missions are extremely repetitive and the enemy AI is a bitch – honestly, they can shoot me from anywhere? ANYWHERE? The environment is vast, but you can only explore the streets and building exteriors – there will be no interior redecorating in Empire City! The idea of choosing between good and evil is great, but it doesn’t really effect the endgame. It’s more or less just a modifier that decides on specific side instances during the story or how the citizens react to you during gameplay. Since there are no alternate modes to this game – no DLC, no online, etc. – the replay value is very slim. I really liked the game, the first time through as “Evil Asshole Cole”, but I found it a bit of a chore to play through the second time as “Good Guy Cole” and I don’t really see myself coming back to it unless there is some significant addition via DLC.

I’m going to do my best to get back on track with this otherwise what’s the point of paying for hosting if I never use it. For those of you who see these as “Notes” on Facebook.. these posts are actually imported from dubq.ca and my WordPress blog.

My trainer and I devised this routine in early December after realizing that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted with my old routine. The basic idea of the old routine was (at four days per week): Do Routine A for 2 weeks; Routine B for 1 week; Routine C for 2 weeks; Rest for 1 week; Repeat. The exercises within the routines were great.. but it’s just that there were too much of them to do in a good amount of time and I think the impact it was having on my body was actually negative and I seemed to plateau much quicker.

With the new routine, I’ve seen results much quicker and it’s much more consistent with growth, etc. It’s to the point now where I’ve only been doing this for 2 months and I’m already outgrowing shirts that I’ve been wearing for the last 2 years. o_O

Anyway..

This routine is under the assumption that I am doing four days in a row – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday at about an hour and a half per day (much better than the two and a half hours the other routines took). There is an optional 5th day (Friday) that could be very low impact cardio, but I rarely take it and instead use Friday as a rest day to lead into about an hour (each day) of stretching and yoga on Saturday & Sunday mornings.

Each of the four main days have a cardio and core component.

The cardio is always roughly the same, but has room for variation: 25 minutes (give or take) of interval running. Like I said, it can vary, but I have a routine that’s working very well for me.

Cardio breakdown (Speed/Incline/Time Interval) – this may seem a bit long, so bear with me.

This works out to just over 5k worth of running. It burns about 315 calories, which is perfect when weighed against my caloric intake for a single day.

Core breakdown – I actually do this at the end of the entire routine just before final stretching.

Day 1, 2, 3 – Plank/Front Support (1min), Right Side Plank (1min), Left Side Plank (1min), Plank/Front Support with left leg raised (30sec), then with right leg raised (30sec).

Day 4 – Barbell Torque. I really love this one. I’d never heard of it before my trainer introduced me to it. This site does a good job of describing it: http://www.menshealth.com/powertraining/cms/publish/rotational-core-exercises/Barbell_Torque.php, though I do a bit more pivot with my feet than what the guy in the photos shows. I use a 45lb barbell for two sets of 15 (on each side) and then add more weight for the last two heavier sets of 8.

Onto the weights… Each exercise has 4 sets. The first two sets are to be considered warm-up sets of 12 to 15 reps each. These are done with weights that aren’t necessarily easy, but that I know I can do without struggling. The final two sets are heavy, as in, a lot heavier than the first two and are 5 to 8 reps each.

Day 1 – Monday
1 Arm Dumbbell Bench Press
Triceps Extension
Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Side then Front)
Bench Press

Day 2 – Tuesday
Leg Press
Calf Raise
Leg Curl
Front Squats

Day 3 – Wednesday
Front Lateral Pull Down
Barbell Row
Inverted Wide Grip Row
Bicep Curl

Day 4 – Thursday
Skull Crushers
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Cable Rows
Barbell Step Up (ground to bench)

Each day has 4 exercises, but I can also add in more if I have the time or if I feel the need for it. The thing I love about this routine as compared to my last routine is not just how fast I’m getting results.. but really the time it takes to complete it. Really, 2.5 hours in the gym every morning before work (this is the only time I can realistically do with my schedule) was ridiculous. I was having to get up before 6am to accomplish this and it was really bugging the hell out of me. Cutting that down to 1.5 hours is just awesome.

…and that’s pretty much it! Good times. I’d have to say, that as a former “fat guy” this is probably the smartest thing that I’ve ever done to improve my health. Adopting a serious weight training program, that is. I spent way too long overdoing my cardio, because like almost anyone else who has lost a ton of weight, it’s always in the back of your head that you’re gonna gain it all back one day. After finally letting that baggage go, and getting into this kind of routine, I feel about a million times better than I ever did before in terms of energy and physicality. My goal is to hit 175lbs and maintain that for the foreseeable future. Right now I’m weighing in at 156lbs which is up about 16lbs from when I first started this new routine at the beginning of December 2008. 21 left to go!

Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero

Genre: Wrestling, Documentary
Studio: World Wrestling Entertainment
Released: 11 November 2008
Runtime: 540 min

Clearly I didn’t have time to watch this entire set last night what with the two hour season premiere of LOST and all. I did recently watch all three discs back in December, so for this review I had this DVD on in the background while I was making dinner. I just skipped most matches and concentrated on my favourites and the interview segments in between.

This DVD is a great companion piece to Guerrero’s other DVD “Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story” in that not only does it cover what happened in his career after the first DVD’s release, but also in that nearly every match on this set is appearing on DVD for the first time.

The ‘documentary’ portions of this DVD are done in interview segments that come before each match. This is another reason fans should probably pick up both sets as Viva La Raza doesn’t really cover the story of Eddie in depth aside from his death. FYI, in case you’re wondering, there is also no content related to Chris Benoit in this set, for obvious reasons.

For the interview segments, you’re getting the usual ‘tribute’ stuff – a lot of great stories, insights and memories of Eddie as told by his friends and co-workers. The matches themselves are hit or miss. Eddie did a lot of amazing stuff in the WWE ring, but some of those matches didn’t seem to age well and I found myself enjoying his ECW and WCW work the most by far. The 1995 ECW match with Dean Malenko is easily my favourite.

The verdict: highly recommended for Guerrero fans
Also recommended: Cheating Death, Stealing Life: The Eddie Guerrero Story

The rules.

1. I’m trying for one DVD a day, here.. but if I skip a day here and there, no biggie.
2. If there’s something I want to watch, I’ll specifically pick it and review it. But normally the DVD will be chosen at random.
3. If a TV Series is chosen, that means I have to watch and review the entire season that the DVD is a part of. This might take longer than normal so it’d be considered a review in progress, and I will still do single DVD reviews in the meantime.
4. I reserve the right to skip any random selection if I’m just not in the mood for it. Ie: if i really don’t feel like being depressed, I won’t be reviewing Grave of the Fireflies any time soon, heh.

On with the first review…

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise

Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise
王立宇宙軍 オネアミスの (Blu-ray)

Genre: Anime (Drama, Military,  Science fiction)
Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga
Producers: Shigeru Watanabe, Toshio Okada
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Studio: Gainax
Released: 14 March 1987
Runtime: 125 min

I’d known about the Wings of Honneamise (WOH) for quite some time but never had the chance to view it until about 10 years after it’s initial release. In my younger days, the only anime you were going to get your hands on was whatever was on TV at the time (Voltron, Astro Boy, Sailor Moon) or anything you were lucky enough to find advertised on the back of a magazine like Heavy Metal (the order form for Akira on VHS, oh the memories). Add to that the fact that WOH did poorly in it’s western release, it’s no wonder that it took so long for me to actually have the chance to watch the damn thing.

My time to experience WOH finally came in late 1997 or early 1998 on the still fledgling TV channel known as Space. They’d aired the English dub late one night, back to back with another favourite – Night on the Galactic Railroad. I set my VCR to record both and until about two weeks ago this was my only copy of WOH. I was able to score a brand new copy of the DVD/Blu-ray release for $40 on ebay. The set normally sells for $60+ on sites like Amazon. Upon further inspection, it also looks like this set is officially out of print – looks like I made the purchase just in time.

So, now that we’re through with the little history lesson I’ll move onto the review of the movie itself, on Blu-ray. I’ve screened both the English dub and the original Japanese audio for this review.. and just a note about that. This is one of the few instances, for the time period, where you get a pretty good English dub. Most of the voice actors pull off a great job of playing the characters convincingly. Sure, there are a few here and there who seem to walk through their lines.. but that’s to be expected for the time period. Ever heard the English dub of Vampire Hunter D? *shudder* Compared to that, the English dub on WOH is a masterpiece.

Without spoiling anything – as Wikipedia loves to do – the movie takes place on another version of Earth. Industry is just beginning to boom and so are tensions between two warring countries. In the midst of all this we have a young cadet with dreams of flight. But instead of landing in the air force, Shirotsugh “Shiro” Lhadatt bombs his exams and ends up in the unimpressive and underfunded space program – the Royal Space Force. Shiro is pretty much an unmotivated doofus, and hits his lowest point after the death of a fellow astronaut in training. Early into the movie, he quickly makes a turn around. After meeting a young female street preacher named Riquinni Nonderaiko, Shiro is instilled with the confidence to be the man who will not only take the Royal Space Force into space (for the first time) but will take it from being the subject of jokes to the envy of the entire planet, including the opposing nation who will do anything to stop a successful launch from happening.

For the time period, the animation is crisp and fluid. There are a few points where the frame rate drops off.. but I’m not sure if I’m only noticing that because this is Blu-ray, or if it’s even noticeable on the standard version. There is some grain and film scratching going on in the transfer.. but it’s to be expected given the age of the print and it’s really nothing that can distract you from the movie. It’s actually pretty breathtaking.

WOH was the first commercial offering from a studio known as Gainax. Gainax are also the creators of other huge anime franchises like Cutie Honey, Diebuster, Gunbuster and of course Neon Genesis Evangelion. I am not really a fan of any of those series’ so it’s easy for me to say that WOH is my favourite offering from Gainax. In my opinion, it’s as epic as Akira (which was released a year later) and in some ways the characters are even more interesting. Another thing I love about this flick is the way science fiction was weaved into the industrial revolution era. You don’t usually see these two themes partner up, but when they do the results are usually pretty entertaining (think Katsuhiro Otomo’s Steamboy).

The verdict: highly recommended!

Also recommended: Katsuhiro Otomo’s Steamboy (film), “The Difference Engine” by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson (novel).

(PS3, Midway)

I’m not big on the 3D Fighter genre, 2D is my thing. Or, at least “2.5D” as it’s called. Add to that, the fact that the last couple of Mortal Kombat games were pretty crappy. So, a MK sequel is pretty much a must-skip for me.. but when you add in the ability to kick the crap out of Liu Kang with Batman? Sold. Honestly, this game isn’t Marvel vs Capcom but it’s still a pretty fun game. The controls work. They ditched the idiotic fighting styles and the main control scheme is as classic MK as you can get. The story mode is simple and does the job it sets out to do. My only big gripe was that during story mode you’re told who to use for each chapter, which can make the fights pretty hectic when you don’t know a new characters moves.  It’s really too bad that Midway is going under as I’d like to see some more of these “versus” titles from the MK universe. Mortal Kombat vs Horror Movie Icons? Bad ass. Mortal Kombat vs TNA Wrestling? Who wants to see Sub-Zero rip of Samoa Joe’s head? I do!!

(Wii, Konami)

More 3D fighting. Geez, for a guy who doesn’t like the genre, I sure get suckered in enough by it. Okay, okay. Admittedly I only picked this up because I’m a sucker for nostalgia trips and Castlevania is definitely on my itinerary. The game is pretty basic and has very limited attacks. Even more basic than Super Smash Bros. A cool aspect of the game is that you are also able to use those sub-weapons like in the original games.. like the throwing knife, holy water, or boomerang cross. You can grab these weapons by destroying lanterns or crates around the level. You can also grab hearts to replenish your life. Otherwise.. the graphics are fuzzy, but this is the Wii after all. The sound is alright, but I’m giving a ton of points for including the Japanese voice over track. All games should have that option, in my opinion. I’d say skip this one unless your really into 3D fighters. Maybe wait until it’s $19.99.

(PS3, Capcom)

The ultimate 2D fighter, in my opinion, and all for only $15USD! Thanks to UDON Entertainment (Canada represent!) we have an entirely new look to this classic game, all in high-def and done to match the art of the Street Fighter manga series. Honestly, the sprites on this baby are so clear and defined I feel like my eyes are going to bleed from staring too long at their magnificence. Lots of re-balancing has been done to the game play. Whether that’s good or bad is a matter of preference. The good part about that is that you can turn these new tweaks on and off in the game options. Online is pretty sweet so far. I’ve had some laggy games, but otherwise it’s pretty smooth. I do suck with a control pad, though. I’m an arcade stick gamer, which is how these games were meant to be played! I need to get one of those for my PS3, dammit!

(PS3, Sega)

I just started this one on Sunday night, but so far it’s pretty awesome. I love strategy/tactics games like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, Nobunaga’s Ambition, etc. and I think that Valkyria Chronicles could have the potential to be one of my all time favourites. I love the fact that the actual in-game battles are still turn-based, but each players moves and attacks are in real-time. Real-time as in you choose the unit to move/attack and then the game zooms into the battle field.. you then have the control to move them around the map, toss a grenade, or zoom in with your sniper rifle and attempt to pick off some soldier with a head-shot. It adds a really nice touch to the game play, in my opinion. Sega gets a huge kudos with this game. I hope there are tons more in the future!

As a lot of Torontonians know, Sushi joints are a dime a dozen in downtown Toronto.. and a lot of them just plain old suck – ie: Sushi Time. GOOD/GREAT sushi joints, are rare, but I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter my fair share over the years.

5. Sushi Sky – 478 Yonge St (at College). This is the first sushi joint I ever experienced and it’s still in my regular rotation. The Green Dragon roll is awesome, and HUGE. Their sushi pizza is the best I’ve had, bar none, as they use a really good quality of fresh tuna as the topping. This is my go-to place if I need a quick fix for delivery (they’re very fast!) or take-out since it’s so close to work. » www.sushisky.com

4. Sushi on Bloor – 515 Bloor St West (at Bathurst). It was hard for me to decide whether Sushi on Bloor would be #4 or #3 on this list. It’s a recent discovery for me, so I guess I’ll go in order of seniority. My first experience was just this past Friday and damn, it was good. Grilled tuna as an app – awesome! Their spicy tuna crunch roll is very good as well! The prices here are probably the cheapest I’ve seen, too. » www.sushionbloor.com

3. Sushi Xtra – 423 Queen St West (at Spadina). I found this place this past summer. I almost didn’t go here because I thought it was just crappy Sushi Time under a new name. Not so! Probably some of the best original rolls I’ve ever had. The Shibuya roll is minced tuna, tobiko, green onion and tempura bits – so good! Their spicy tuna roll is just that – very spicy!! Just recently had the “Fire Dragon” roll – which is essentially a spicy shrimp tempura roll with some fish and even more spice “baked” on top – and by “baked” I mean blow torched. » www.blogto.com/restaurants/sushixtra

2. Sushi Island – 571 College St (West of Bathurst). I haven’t been here in a long time, but it’s still my favourite all-you-can-eat sushi joint downtown. They offer black/brown rice as an option and this is the only place I’ve been to that uses shichimi togarashi in or on their rolls to spice it up. The “firecracker” roll is pretty much a spicy tuna roll coated in this very spicy Japanese 7-spice. Good stuff! » www.dine.to/sushiisland

1. TOKO Bistro & Bar – 637 Yonge St (at Isabella, South of Bloor). TOKO is a novel concept – a Japanese restaurant run by Japanese people! The owner and head chef is Japanese, as well as most of the management staff. One of the floor managers also spent some time in Korea so they’ve taken to infusing some pretty cool combinations onto their extensive menu. They also have a huge conveyor belt that you can pick and choose from – you pay by plate, prices vary by the colour. My favourite dish here isn’t even a sushi roll.. it’s their chicken katsu don! This chicken is unvbelievable tender and the portion is huge! Outside of that, their standard rolls are just awesome.. but the real action is with the rolls that go onto the conveyor belt (the types change daily). You can easily drop a lot of cash at this place if you’re hungry, but it’s totally worth it in my opinion! » www.toronto.com/restaurants/listing/516534

Honourable Mentions, Downtown: Sushi Inn (Yorkville), Kokyo (Yonge/College), Hosu Bistro (Queen/John).
Honourable Mentions, Not Downtown: Hockey Sushi (Thornhill), Sushi Fun (Thornhill), Wasabi Japanese Buffet (Steeles/Kennedy).

Work has been so….. work-like (read: busy) lately that I haven’t had a chance to do much outside of that. Vegging in my apartment in front of the PS3 is how I spend my time lately. Not that I’m complaining about that.

But yea..

No Star Wars: Force Unleashed review… sorry, Lucard, I just couldn’t get to it at all with class and work.
Sorry about that. One day I swear I will be able to put some extended thought into actually reviewing a game the way it should be reviewed.. but until then I guess I’m going to have to be content with just posting my impressions and random thoughts on the given subject matter.

Speaking of which…

Dead Space (PS3)
It’s been a long time since I played a really good survival horror game – but holy hell what an awesome, dark, gory killfest of a game Dead Space is. I really hope this is a sign that EA is starting to turn around because I would love to see more stuff like this. A lot of great jumps/scares, tons of claustrophobic environments that really up the tension, buckets of blood and gore, and some really kick ass weapons to boot. Capcom needs to take note for their Resident Evil franchise.. I love to walk and shoot at the same time!

Resistance 2 (PS3)
I haven’t been into a first-person shooter since Counter-Strike first came out on PC. Outside of that game, I hated (and still am not to fond of) FPS games. But… there is just something about Resistance 2. Lin’s cousin Tyler recommended it to me and at first I wasn’t so sure. But he sold it like a pro. You’d think he worked for Insomniac or Sony or something, heh.

Still, I’m not too sure exactly what it is that made me change my stance on FPS for this game. Maybe it’s the wicked storyline where aliens invade post World War 1Earth. Maybe it’s the kick-ass has-a-heat-sensor and shoots-through-walls gun. Or the crazy-ass 60 person online mode that has no lag (in my experience). Either way I’m enjoying the hell out of this game. It also helps that I have people I know who play it as well.

Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (PS3)
Huge.. HUGE improvement over the last couple of years. Still limited in terms of grapples.. but I think this is as close as we’re going to get to Here Comes the Pain or No Mercy. The story mode is solid. A lot of people complained that you can only choose 6 characters.. but I don’t mind at all. Honestly, who the hell takes every single one of the 45+ wrestlers through the story mode? I usually pick one or two. Three at most. Anyway, with this years storymode you get a different arc for each of the 6 characters (2 of which are grouped into a tag team scenario) and each story has multiple paths. That’s cool with me.

Other stuff:: Career mode harkens back to the championship paths that No Mercy had to you take. You pick a title and fight for it. Pick another title and fight for that. Simple and effective, IMO. The ability to use mp3′s on your hard drive to use as entrance tracks is awesome. I can finally use “Man in the Box” for Tommy Dreamer’s theme! AIC FTW! There is also going to be a ton of downloadable content this year, apparently. Should go a long way to keeping the game fresh.

Anyway, that’s it. Damn, I need another vacation.

Order cancelled. Futureshop had it in stock, so I grabbed it there.

I downloaded the demo for this a few weeks ago and it was pretty fun. The full game is much more fun, obviously, though. Tons of cool physics and assorted ways to toss Rebels around like they’re ragdolls. My only gripe so far is that this game experiences a lot of horizontal tearing during actual gameplay. Especially when moving the camera around while you’re running. The demo did this too, and I’d hoped it was just a bug that’d be fixed in the final build. Not so. It’s not so bad that it ruins the game.. but it certainly is distracting. Expect the entire DHGF review in a week or so.

When I started playing Metal Gear Online, I was surprised that there weren’t as many of these wankers on the server. It seemed like everyone was just there to play an have fun. Since then, I’ve come across some real douchebags. These douchebags make up for their lack in numbers by ramping up their stupidity and ignorance.

Case in point, a convo. Not word for word, but this is the gist of it.

Renagade vs dubq - I guess Renegade was taken?
Renagade: *something about noobs sucking something*
dubq: Dude, relax. It’s just a game. Play and have fun.
Renagade: STFU SPIC!
dubq: Wow, stupid AND racist. You must be a real hit with the ladies.
Renagade: Whatever NAZI BOY!
dubq: Clearly I’m not seeing the connection…

So, the guy who’s calling me a “spic” (I’m not Spanish. I didn’t speak Spanish to him.) is calling me a “nazi boy” because I called him out on his racist comment? Yeah, I don’t get it either. Luckily, as I said, MGO doesn’t seem to be overpopulated with losers like this… yet. Maybe they’re sticking to Gears of War or Halo whatever.

Finally, this past Sunday I picked up a Motorola H375 Bluetooth headset ($60 CAD @ BestBuy). Normally this would just increase the annoyance tenfold, because now you’ve gotta actually hear the idiots spewing their garbage.. but not in MGO. You only communicate with your teammates through the headset feature. Much more enjoyable.. and productive.. well as productive as a video game can get.

For the last little while (5+ years or so) I haven’t been much of a ‘hardcore’ gamer. Sure, I have my genres that I like to stick to – 2D fighters, arcade style shooter games, old school retro games that I can finish without much effort.. you see where I’m going with this? I’m a “pick up and play” gamer. I like something that I can spend 45 minutes max on and not have to worry about whether or not there’s a huge cutscene to deal with down the pipe, or if I’ve missed something essential to unlocking whatever later on in the game.

When I was younger I was heavily into games that took forever to finish.. as time wore on, as I got older, started a career, found that I could no longer go on 3 hours sleep.. all of that stopped. I can probably pinpoint the timing of this event to roughly Summer/Fall of 2002.

So, where is this all going? I’ve experienced something that I’d never thought would happen. I’ve just spent countless hours emmerssing myself in a ‘hardcore’ gaming experience and I didn’t once lose interest. I wasn’t once wrought with boredome. In fact, I loved it so much that I went back for seconds on the second-highest difficulty! Add to that that I plan to go back for thirds at the highest difficulty and I think we have a winner.

Metal Gear Solid 4. Guns of the Patriots.

Damn, did I ever not know what I was getting into when I bought that PS3.

So this is what I’ve been missing out on for all of these years? I tried Splinter Cell once a long time ago and hated it. The same goes for Hitman. I know that Metal Gear Solid has been around a lot longer than both, but at the time to me they were cut from the same cloth so I never bothered with them. But clearly, the Metal Gear Solid series is be-all and end-all experience of stealth/action gaming. I’ve even gone back and purchased the first three games to get a better handle on the storyline. Sure, some of the visuals may be dated, but I’m loving the experience so far.

Speaking of experiences, back to MGS4. The features this game boasts – the insane sneaking, awesome CQC, huge variety of weapons, the OctoCamo suit, a friggin’ iPod for Snake! The phenomenal cut-scenes boasting stellar audio/visual elements. The deep and sometimes confusing (remember I’m a noob to the entire plot of this series) storyline – seriously, how has this not been made into a series of anime OVA’s yet???

I’m giving this a 10/10! 100%! Perfecto! I can’t say enough how much I’ve enjoyed this experience. Sure, I may find something down the road.. and maybe I’ll find some imperfections later on. But for right now, while I’m riding this “gaming high,” a perfect score is what you get!

Konami. Kojima. Kudos to both of you!

2008 Bill

Past Bill

If 2008 Bill goes into the past, and removes Past Bill from the timeline.. but 2008 Bill stays in that past timeline and decides to live it out… what happens to 2008 Bill?

Does he immediately cease to exist? Does he continue on in this past timeline but perhaps certain aspects of him change due to Past Bill’s removal?

When I say “remove” Past Bill.. I don’t necessarily mean kill him. I mean just put him somewhere else..

Could 2008 Bill and Past Bill co-exist in the same timeline?

Man.. I’m not even high. I know it seems like there’s an obvious answer to this.. Ie: No, 2008 Bill would immediately cease to exist because Past Bill’s removal would mean that he would not go on to become 2008 Bill and therefore would not go back in time in the first place. But I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it fully.

Maybe I need to watch Back to the Future again or something.

So, I’m down at FutureShop Yonge/Dundas to see what they have on the cheap for DVDs this week.. and I spy a 80GB PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle sitting all by itself and surrounded by piles and piles of unsold Xbox360′s (Microsoft FTL). The price tag quotes $499.99 and even though the 80GB bundle is very limited and pretty rare, I’m not really feeling the need to drop $500 plus taxes on my lunch hour on this particular day.

Anyway, a salesgirl sees me eyeing it and asks me if I need help with anything. I decline and she asks if I knew that the bundle was on sale. So I’m thinking it’s probably marked down to $499 from $599. Not so! Price tag = incorrect! The actual retail price is… $399.

So, impulse kicks in and I grab it. Not bad, not bad at all. $399 is the regular price for a 40GB with NO game.. so at least I got a sweet deal out of it. Plus, I was going to buy a PS3 eventually anyway. Good times! The Blu-Ray is sweet, as is Call of Duty 4 (which I’d purchased MONTHS ago since I knew I would have a system by the end of the summer anyway) and MGS4. Even the BWC with PS2 games is fine so far. I’ve not once noticed the crappy emulation that everyone gripes about on this model. Maybe it’s just with really old games?

• Sengoku Basara (PS2)
• Sengoku Basara 2 (PS2)
• Sengoku Basara X Cross (PS2)
• Melty Blood (PS2)
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (PS2)
• King of Fighters ’94 Re-bout (PS2)
• King of Fighters The Orochi Saga (PS2)
• King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match (PS2)
• King of Fighters NESTS Saga (PS2)
• King of Fighters 2002 (PS2)
• King of Fighters 2003 (PS2)
• King of Fighters XII (PS2)
• Garou Mark of the Wolves (PS2)
• Street Fighter 3 Third Strike (PS2)
• Capcom vs SNK 2 Millionaire Fighting 2001 (PS2)
• SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos (PS2)
• Capcom vs SNK Millennium Fight 2000 (PS1)
• Marvel Super Heroes (PS1)
• X-Men vs Street Fighter (PS1)

Yup – lots of 2D fighting goodness.

Will try not to get stabbed in Akihabara…

More later…

Today, after class, I picked up:

New headphones. Opted for another set of noise reduction earbuds. I actually found the exact same make that I picked up in Tokyo. Except here they’re called “Sony Big Bass EX” instead of “Sony Nude EX” …I guess that product name didn’t go over well with the focus group.

A bunch of Marvel & DC mini-mates. Yeah, I’m addicted to these things. So much detail for such a small figure. I still can’t get over Lin calling Ultron – “Pumpkin Head!”

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for PS3. This should explain itself. I don’t have the PS3 yet, though. But when I do this will be a nice starter game to play online. Plus it was on sale for $39 (down from $59).

…and that’s it. See, it wasn’t so bad, was it?

Other than that, I have the horrible feeling that I’m getting sick again. I work up this morning with a raw throat and it’s just getting worse as the day goes on. As a result I’m gonna play it safe and miss the fun at the Duke tonight. I’m fully expecting to wake up at 2am this morning with a horrible three-day migraine like the last time this happened.

Let’s hope not, though!

This is the second offering from Dallas Green, of Alexisonfire, and his solo side project “City & Colour.” The previous self-titled effort was also solid from start to finish, and consisted solely of Green on vocals, acoustic guitar and sometimes piano. Green’s not affraid to try something a little different from the previous album, as BMYL ups the instrument ante and adds in harmonica, percussion and even a banjo. All of this gives the album a kind-of folk feel, but it’s also clear to see (and hear) that City & Colour is a very progressive project. I would say that even if you don’t like folk-style music, you’ve still got Green’s amazing vocals, which should be enough reason for fans of the first album to enjoy the second album.

I hear a lot of Johnny Cash in this album. I hear some Neil Young. I hear some Tragically Hip – and not just because Gord Downie guests on one of the tracks, either. Dallas Green, in my opinion, is a music legend in the making. Alexisonfire is lost in an over-saturated market of carbon-copy screamo bands, but City & Colour is something different and progressive, and in my opinion it’s going to be the project that gets Green noticed either south of the border or around the globe.

Verdict: highly recommended!

1. House of the Dead | Trailer

Clearly, HotD 3 is a step up from HotD 2 in the graphics, sound and voice-over departments, but that was a given I suppose.

That said, I really like that I can actually hear what’s going on in these games. Playing it in the crowded, noisey arcades was never really an immersive experience. For me at least.

The fact that there’s no need to use the nunchuk is a huge plus – this makes the Nyko Perfect Shot even more perfect for use with these games!

The infrared reticule’s responsiveness is probably the best I’ve seen on the Wii so far.

All in all this is a great experience so far. Very nostalgic, yes, but the games are actually still fun to play to this day. Supposedly HotD 1 was left off due to graphics so inferior that it would look so horrible on the Wii that you’d want to gouge out your eyes with a pair of sporks. Well, this may be true. But I’d love to see a complete rework of that game for the Wii. Soup it up. Either that or at least give us HotD 4, Sega!

2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Opening Montage (Japanese)

Sound and graphics get an A+ from me. The opening montage is awesome. I love the epic tune that goes along with it.

What about the roster? Well, it’s huge. It’s got everyone from Mario to Sonic, from Link to Snake from Metal Gear. I’m just disappointed that Capcom was left off the list. It would’ve been great to have Mega Man in there. I guess this is their punishment for not leaving Resident Evil 4 as a Nintendo exclusive title like they had initially promised.

The controls take a lot of getting used to. I’ll admit it, I rarely read instructions or goto help screens. When I fire up a fighter, one of the first things I try is the fireball motion from the classic versus games. Not so in SSBB. It’s a lot of flicking and tapping and holding of the Classic Controller’s control stick (I haven’t tried using the remote) and tapping of buttons at the same time. It’s kind of a pain in the ass, but I’m getting used to it.

The story mode is pretty weak so far. The online mode is great, however. I’ve had no issues with lag or setting up matches, as has been reported elsewhere.

I can see why this game was getting so much hype. In terms of presentation and sheer volume of content and modes it really is a polished effort, so far, and I’m not even 1/4 of the way through all of it.

That’s it for now.
More later.
Work tomorrow.

Ugh…

So, yesterday I picked up a copy of House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return for the Wii. $29 CAD for two arcade-perfect rail-shooters? HELL YES!

I’ve got two Nyko Perfect Shot’s at home – which is the perfect peripheral for this kind of game. The Wii Zapper? Not so much.

Either way, I haven’t had much time to spend on this game – or Super Smash Bros. Brawl for that matter – but expect a little more in the near future.

For now, this has been a test. A really boring test. But a test nonetheless.