Free Swim

Ryu: A study on Design and Inspiration by Arttronik

2012-01-28T10:10:00.001-05:00

Of all the video games I've played since my childhood the one franchise I've consistently enjoyed is Street Fighter, I can remember playing the original Street Fighter in the arcades back in 1989. My addiction to the franchise really took hold in 1992 when Street Fighter II came to arcades. Aside from enjoyment of playing the game, Street Fighter has a fascinating and diverse cast of characters that have a rich story of how they came to fruition and where the inspiration was derived from.
Today I read a blog article regarding the origins of the design for Ryu and the inspirations that helped create one of the most iconic and recognizable video game characters in history.
Even if you're not a fan of Street Fighter or fighting games this is a worthwhile read I highly recomend!

Ryu a study on design and inspiration by Arttronik

Uber Mondays! Eddie Wachowski: The Worm

2012-01-23T08:17:00.007-05:00

Gamestops pre order bonus character Eddie shows off his signature Uber; The Worm, on this weeks Uber Monday!

Resident Evil 6 Debut Trailer!

2012-01-19T18:31:00.001-05:00

Ooops looks like Capcom's Zombie Franchise infected the interwebs a bit sooner than expected....DAM YOU MACAFEE!!!
I'm telling you the folks at Capcom know how to make awesome trailers!
Leon you said it! This does look like Racoon City all over again....and that is a great thing! This game looks great!
Will Chris and Leon unite in this game to stop those darn zombies? We'll find out this November!

Street Fighter X Tekken New Cinematic Trailer & Game play Trailer

2012-01-17T08:03:00.006-05:00

I was starting to wonder where all the media had gone for SXT and along comes Jin, Bison, Juri, Xiaoyu, and Paul Pheonix!
I'm psyched about SXT but a little voice in my head is saying wait....wait till Super Street Fighter X Tekken.....

Uber Mondays! Zoe Payne Pommel Me

2012-01-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

The second week of Uber Mondays EA gives us Zoe's signature Uber The Pommel Me!

PSN's 12 for 12 Sale!

2012-01-16T20:47:00.001-05:00

Sony has just released the list of 12 PSN titles that will go on sale from 1/17/12 - 1/23/12.
They are 30% off the regular price and if you're a PS+ subscriber they are 50% off!

• PixelJunk SideScroller – Regular $9.99, Sale $6.99, PS Plus $4.89

• PAYDAY: The Heist – Regular $19.99, Sale $13.99, PS Plus $9.79

• Dungeon Defenders – Regular $14.99, Sale $10.49, PS Plus $7.34

• Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection – Regular $9.99, Sale $6.99, PS Plus $4.89

• Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition – Regular $14.99, Sale $10.49, PS Plus $7.34

• Eufloria – Regular $9.99, Sale $6.99, Plus $4.89

• BloodRayne: Betrayal – Regular $14.99, Sale $10.49, PS Plus $7.34

• Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken – Regular $11.99, Sale $8.39, PS Plus $5.87

• Cubixx HD – Regular $9.99, Sale $6.99, PS Plus $4.89

• Sideway New York – Regular $9.99, Sale $6.99, PS Plus $4.89

• Rochard – Regular $9.99, Sale $6.99, PS Plus $4.89

• Okabu – Regular $14.99, Sale $10.49, PS Plus $7.34

RDR Multiplayer Event w/ 3X XP Friday the 13th!

2012-01-12T02:50:00.005-05:00

Guess I know what I'll be playing tommorrow from 4-7pm

"How about a little Undead Nightmare for Friday the 13th?

Get Triple XP all weekend in Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition and enter for your chance to win two custom PlayStation 3 controllers in tomorrow's Social Club multiplayer event on PSN.

It all begins tomorrow January 13th with the multiplayer event from 4-7PM Eastern when we'll be posse'ing up in-game, broadcasting live with a video stream and chatting on the multiplayer events page. Any version of Red Dead orUndead Nightmare is compatible with Game of the Year Edition multiplayer - so even if you don't have the Game of the Year Edition release, you can join us to play in any of the applicable modes on PSN. Triple XP will be active for both PSN and Xbox LIVE all weekend."

If you want to know where, how and when to enter the sweepstakes, it's simple. During the event on January 13th, head to the multiplayer events page between 3:00 and 8:00 Eastern US time. Under 'Sweepstakes Entry' at the bottom of that page, you can enter your details for a chance to win the two specially customized Red Dead Redemption PlayStation 3 controllers you see above. Once you enter, you'll also have the chance to win one of 20 runner-up Rockstar prize packs that includes an official t-shirt, deck of Red Dead playing cards and assorted stickers.

OFFICIAL ROCKSTAR PSN IDs

RedDeadDev3
RedDeadDev4
RedDeadDev5
RedDeadDev6

HOW TO FIND US
Start multiplayer from the main menu, choosing 'Normal' from the list of difficulties. This will place you into a Free Roam lobby. It's best to invite at least one friend and form a posse, but this is not required. Then enter the game mode being discussed by "SocialClub" in the chat.

HOW DOES FREE ROAM WORK?
Free Roam is the hub of your online experience. Supporting up to 16 players, Free Roam allows you to explore with your friends and enemies, take out the gangs of outlaws or launch into more structured gameplay using the markers placed around the world. We'll be forming posses and then heading into several game modes during the event.

FORMING A POSSE
To start the game, invite your friends, form a posse and find Rockstar, follow these steps:

From the main menu, press 'Start' and then enter 'Online Multiplayer' by pressing the 'Square' button, and choose 'Normal'.
Once in a Free Roam lobby, press the 'Select' button to open the in-game multiplayer menu.
Press the 'R1' button and then the 'Triangle' button to 'Show Friends'. Invite at least one friend into your posse using the 'X' button.
Once your friends are in the game, press the 'Triangle' button again to return to the 'Players' menu and select them with the 'X' button to 'Propose New Posse' or 'Send Posse Invite'.
Once you and your friends are ready to go, start up the game mode we're currently playing. We'll announce modes in the chat.

This is SSX

2012-01-11T08:23:00.001-05:00

EA has posted yet another trailer for SSX today. The game looks absolutely amazing, the one thing I haven't heard of before is geotags, I think they are going to be the equivalent of SSX3's snowflakes. The wait is killing me!!!

PS Vita/ Taco Bell Promo "Unlock the Box"

2012-01-11T08:05:00.001-05:00

Remember your new years resolution to start getting in shape and exercising? Well forget it! Start stocking up on toilet paper and tums instead! Playstation is teaming up with Taco Bell and wants to give away a PS Vita every 15 Mins!

"PlayStation and Taco Bell just dished out some exciting news live at CES! While the US launch of PlayStation Vita is still more than a month away, PlayStation and Taco Bell have teamed up to give you the chance to win yours before they go on sale in stores. Starting January 26th through March 11th, one winner will be selected EVERY 15 MINUTES!
The folks at Taco Bell are eager to give you three ways to win your very own PS Vita: Unlock, Battle or Boast. Here’s a quick breakdown:

UNLOCK THE BOX: Beginning January 26th, Taco Bell’s specially marked $5 Buck Box – which includes a Cheesy Gordita Crunch, Crunchy Taco, Burrito Supreme and medium fountain drink – will also provide a code that can be entered online for an instant chance to “unlock” and win a PS Vita.
BATTLE: Download Taco Bell’s new mobile app to check out the exclusively designed Reality Fighters Dojo game where you can “battle” your friends to win a PS Vita.
BOAST: Taco Bell’s online contest will encourage you to submit a photo or video “boasting” about what you’re willing to do for a PS Vita. Submissions will then go into an online gallery where you and your peers can vote for the winners – it could be you!"

Why Taco Bell! WHY!!? I'll admit I have had my fair share of those Grilled Stuft Burritos and never had "issues" but folks if you've never had a burrito from Chipotle you're missing out...now those are STUFT!

Uber Mondays! Mac Walking the Dog!

2012-01-09T16:06:00.001-05:00

EA brings us UBER Mondays from today thru till launch, every monday EA will post a character specific vid showcasing that characters signature UBER, today is Mac, and his UBER is Walk the Dog!

Free Swims 12 games for 2012

2012-01-06T14:49:00.002-05:00

2012 has alot of promising games coming and I'm hoping the Mayans just got lazy. Below is my list of most anticipated games for the year, Some people will call me insane with the order, putting SSX ahead of ME3, and Twisted Metal above GTA V! Don't get me wrong Mass Effect 2 was awesome but I've been hoping and waiting for a good successor to SSX3 forever!!! Same goes for Twisted Metal, I enjoyed TMB but the ad hoc multiplayer was too little too late on the PS2, and to be honest I despised GTA IV so I'm keeping my expectations in check with GTA V. So without further ado here is my list of "Day 1 purchases" for 2012.

#1 I've been waiting 9 years for a new SSX that is a worthy successor to SSX3, I hope this is it! I've been following this game very closely since it was announced and we are now 54 days from launch! My only concern is I haven't seen any half pipes, bleachers, fireworks, or life other than the SSX crew in any of the video's Batty and EA have released thus far.
I only have 2 requests Allegra & DJ Atomica, now!

#2 on my list is Mass Effect 3, I loved ME2 and wish that the original could somehow be made available on the PS3. Regardless whether Bioware adds multiplayer or not this is a definate must have day 1 title.

#3 is on my list is one of the Playstation's longest running franchises, Twisted Metal!
TMB rescued the franchise on the PS2, the game was solid and as a fan myself really took the car combat genre and made it serious...although I missed blowing up the Eiffel Tower...
The multiplayer looks like a it will be a significant aspect of the game much like some major FPS out there. I just hope the single player experience isn't left on the sidelines.

I put the PS Vita launch title Gravity Daze at #4, above many "S rank" titles like Final Fantasy XIII-2, GTA V and Tomb Raider first and foremost because it's a completely new IP and the game's visuals and incorporation of the Vita's tech really make's this title unique and in my opinion the best reason to buy a Vita at launch.

In the #5 spot in my list is Street Fighter X Tekken, I'm still actively playing SSFIV AE 2012, and I can't seem to break my hypenosis with Capcom's fighting games...SXT could slip lower on my list due to a few things lingering in the back of my mind, first is how long after SXT releases will the "Super" / "ultimate" edition be announced? And WTF is up with those dam gems! Gems are for N00Bs!

#6 on my list is FFXIII-2, Unlike most major game sites I didn't have a problem with FFXIII's linear game play for two reasons; it re-emphasized the story line of a group trying to make their own fate vs a predetermined life...even though up to the very end of the story it was all pre destined anyway. It wasn't until they defeat Barthandelus and Orphan they they gain the freedom to forge their own fate. And I think Square Enix wanted to keep the storyline in check after the problems FFXII ran into mid development.
I loved FFX but never picked up FFX-2, I look at FFXIII-2 as Square apologizing and saying "look we can do a better job"....I wish Vs XIII would finally be announced!

#7 on my list is GTA V, As mentioned already I'm keeping my expectations in check due to my experience with GTA IV. I remember how hyped I was with all the coverage from the different gaming sites and then I met Niko Belic and his cousin Roman...meh

Some Franchises get the "reimagined" treatment and don't need it and are thus rejected by the fans, I'm actually hoping my #8 choice does get the "re imagining" treatment, I think this franchise REALLY needs it. If the trailer is any idication Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix (WTF!?) might just breathe new life in the world of Lara Croft.

I also have a sneaking suspicion this game will have RPG elements, HP, weapon creation ect...
I want to see some actual game play footage!

Until War for Cybertron came out I never bought a game based on the Transformers universe, but the folks at Full Moon really impressed me with WFC, the game play, story line and apparent knowledge of the Transformers G1 lore.
My #9 choice, Fall of Cybertron, it has Dinobots...what else do I need to say?!

My #10 pick for 2012 is Star Hawk, I never played the PS3 Warhawk, but I did own Warhawk for the PS1 waaay back when.
The reason I have StarHawk on the list is because I'm actually pretty tired of the whole FPS genre and it seems Zipper Interactive can't seem to find what made Socom 1 & 2 so great. I think StarHawk may fill the void nicely...

I only stumbled upon this traditional 2D fighter a month or 2 ago but it looks really fun. I recently read on Shoryuken that it's getting a console release....I doubt it will make it stateside but if it does I may check it out...Aquapazza grabs the #11 spot.

My final spot for 2012 is a tie between an MMO and a quasi MMO...Waku should be breaking outta beta soon and looks like a great game to return to the MMO scene I love the art direction. Wakfu just looks fun and takes itself a little less serious than other MMO's but doesn't lose the enjoyment of MMO's.

The other game is Journey by That Game Company, from what I know the idea sounds interesting..."An online line game that doesn't fit in with the traditional confines of multiplayer games". Ok you have my interest.......

SSX: Surviving Travis Rice's World

2012-01-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

EA just put out a new video for SSX starring Travis Rice, I guess he'll be in the game to some extent.

Merry Christmas from Free Swim

2011-12-25T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hey kids hope you have a Merry Christmas...if you don't get EVERYTHING you wanted, try and understand....Santa is a blue collar guy, he's been doing Christmas for a long time and these last couple years the economy has sucked pretty hard. Alotta elves are on the dol (ask your parents) and 2 is the new 5 in the workforce so poor Rudolf is pulling the slack for Dasher, Dancer Vixen and Blitzen.
Santa knows you've been a good boy but the 1% don't care how good you are, no Christmas miracle is gonna help stop their greed!
So if you didn't get your Red Rider BB gun this year, be merry for the stuff we too often take for granted, your family, a roof over your head a warm bed to dream about sugar plumes in, and all that good food your probably shoving in your face.
You know the best Christmas gift you can give your folks this year? A simple "Thankyou".
Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to taking the ribbon off my brand new Nissan GTR :)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey trailer

2011-12-21T07:31:00.000-05:00

Todays forcast for Middle Earth, sunny and warm, no sign of Smaug! A good day to step outside your door and go for a stroll with some friends ;)

Prometheus Trailer

2011-12-20T20:24:00.001-05:00

Ok it's not the best quality...that officially hits the interwebs Thursday, but this will do for now.
The moment I saw the vertical lines across the screen beginning to spell Prometheus I knew this was gonna be great! And this trailer does the job! Derelict Spacecraft spotted....this movie is gonna be EPIC!!!!

The Dictator Trailer

2011-12-16T20:56:00.029-05:00

Sacha Baron Cohen, Megan Fox, Anna Faris and Ben Kingsley @.@ star in the story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

Looks stupid funny, but not as ridiculous as Borat....

Twisted Metal Grimm Trailer

2011-12-16T19:38:00.000-05:00

Mr Grimm is one badass mutha..
Hey now!
I'm just talking bout Mr Grimm!
My friend Krogenar from Buried Planet used to love playing the hog riding reaper known as Mr Grimm! This Trailer might get him pumped to hop back in the seat.
Rob Zombie and Twisted metal...it's as good as Chocolate and peanut butter!
Q1 2012 is gonna be expensive! Vita, Twisted Metal, SSX, ME3 DAM!!!

Yet another Playstation Vita Trailer

2011-12-13T20:01:00.001-05:00

This trailer pretty much sums up all the reasons why Sony's PS Vita combined with the PS3 and the PSN will be as epic as other great combinations like the Constructicons, Surf and Turf and Cheech and Chong!

SSFIVAE 2012 patch video

2011-12-01T12:08:00.017-05:00

The Arcade Edition balance patch (read as: me can do moar better ) is coming tomorrow. I'll report my findings in a few days.Here is the link to the SSFIVAE2012 BALANCE PATCH PDF with a detailed breakdown of ALL the buffs and nerfs to the entire roster.

Anime Matsuri 2012

2011-11-27T13:14:00.000-05:00

Anime Matsuri focuses on the promotion of anime and Japanese culture and its related industries in a fun event for the entire family.
Anime Matsuri also serves as a meeting place for members of the industry to connect with the fans and gather feedback on their products and services.
For the three day weekend, Anime Matsuri creates an atmosphere for talented artists, business leaders, ambitious students and many more who come together to express creative ideas and find solutions to industry questions.

This year I opted not to post awful cos players vs pro's like Yaya Han...maybe next year ;)

I did notice on Yaya's site that she had colaborated with a Anime Matsuri and stars in a Resident Evil fan film titled Ada Rising (pic on left). Ada Rising will hit the interwebs on 12-13-11 on animematsuri .

I've never heard of this con before but all you crazy cos players that go have fun and if there's any good (by good I mean attractive) Sheryl Nome cos players

send me your pics so I can scrutinize them...and Yaya if you're reading this pls do a Lyn Minmay photo shoot!

Aquapazza New 2D Anime fighter

2011-11-26T16:29:00.001-05:00

After seeing Skullgirls at EVO 2K11 and being utterly unimpressed, I've just stumbled upon this lil jem from the land of the rising sun. With Street Fighter IV single handedly resurrecting the fighting game genre and all the familiar franchises rising from the ashes it's great to see some new IP's sprouting up, Character animation looks solid, hit detection looks tight, specials and "finishers" look great, stages look great and I like the 2D sprites...brings me back to 1991 in the arcades. I swear while watching this video I saw Sheryl Nome, Ranka and Alto from Macross Frontier!
I hope this makes it's way over here!
aquapazza website

Rosa short film

2011-11-26T11:02:00.001-05:00

This short film by Jesus Orellana had me glued to my monitor, as far as I can tell it's 100% CGI, there's no dialog through out the almost 10 minute film but with the abundance of action and atmosphere none is required. The film is a visual tour de force and by the end you'll be wanting to see more.
The graphics are trully next gen and it feels like a graphics engine demo video, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible! The inspirations seen in Rosa are obvious but work perfectly in the film!
For more info check out the Official Rosa website .

ROSA from Jesús Orellana on Vimeo.

Ent. Weekly Prometheus pics

2011-11-24T14:39:00.006-05:00

Entertainment weekly's latest issue has some very interesting pics of Ridley Scotts Prometheus. I am really looking forward to this film....to say I have high hopes for Prometheus is a bit of an understatement. With the Interwebs minions working overtime analyzing the images and supposed leaked trailer my anticipation is growing!
Prometheus is planned for June 8, 2012 release and regardless of what Scott says I believe there will be a definite connection between 1979's Alien and 2012's Prometheus...tell me you don't recognize the inside of the derelict space craft in the second picture with the big humanoid face!? And look closely at Idris Elba's tee shirt in the shot with Charlize Theron....I believe that is the Weyland Yutani logo!
And the very last pic screams face hugger hatchery inside derelict space vessel!
And kudo's to the maker of the fan made poster I used for this post it has just enough of an Aliens homage without being too obvious...kinda like the tiny morsels of info that have made their way to the interwebs.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:27:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving a day Native Americans and Pilgrims sat together in peace and harmony and ate Perdue or Shady Brook Farms oven buster Turkeys, Cranberry sauce that slid out of the can like dog food, Stuffing made with at least 2 whole sticks of Land O' Lakes Butter, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffed Mushrooms, Enteman's Coconut Custard Pie and washed it down with a frosty Sam Adams or Milwaukee's Best. Then the Native American and pilgrim men rolled themselves into the living room to watch football or play Modern Warfare3 while the women cleaned the kitchen.
Later the fella's sliped into a food coma while the women sat around in the kitchen and complained incessantly....
And thus an American holiday was born!

Macross Frontier: Wings of Goodbye

2011-11-20T14:51:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed the Wings of Goodbye, but I think if a fan of Macross, that some how missed the series, saw the movie they might not enjoy it as much. In my opinion the differences between MF and MF:WOG are not as poignant as SDFM and DYRL. The characters are significantly better realized in MF:WOG than in the series, most notably Alto, Ranka and Sheryl, I remember
watching the series and feeling like they were developing the characters as they went. In the
movie the three seemed like they were finally truly realized. Alto feels more grounded and mature and less of an angst ridden teen trying to find his own way in the world versus following the family Kabuki tradition. Ranka seemed a lot less childish and Sheryl much less stand offish, which I think was their major short coming early in the series for both of the characters.
I think old school fans, fans of SDFM/DYRL will have issues with the surfing Macross Quarter, I was like WTF but went with it, and it really didn't detract much from my enjoyment of the movie. The animation quality was superb from start to finish, the songs were good but I liked the songs from the series much more. The Open Ranka concert song being the notable exception.
Like the series there are many homages to past Macross series and even a quick cameo by Isamu Dyson!
I'm glad they finally resolved the triangle but it still felt like a bit of a cop out having Alto pull a Shin at the end. Of all the resolutions throughout Macross' history SDFM still has the best ending in my opinion followed by Macross Plus.
Macross Frontier: Wings of Goodbye is an awesome anime movie and a very good Macross movie that I think is better enjoyed if you've seen the series first.

SSX Dub Step Tricky Trailer

2011-11-17T10:38:00.000-05:00

I love the Dub step remix of the song it reminds me of little Kyle Edwards with his Atari T shirt on stage bustin' some hardcore dance steps LMAO!

Soul Calibur V Full Trailer + CE deets

2011-11-16T09:43:00.002-05:00

Check out the Soul Calibur V trailer just released by Namco Bandai. Looks like they're recapping the games history from SCIII onwards. For those looking to pre order the CE head over to soulcalibur.com
Interesting trailer especially at 1:32 when someone logs off the PSN @.@

The Hunger Games Trailer

2011-11-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

This movie may be hitting theaters at just the right time, with public frustration with our own government growing more and more the themes in the story may hit very close to home. The obvious comparisons to other films like The Running Man, Logans Run, and The Island are unavoidable but this film may actually be leaps and bounds intellectually above those films.
For more info check out the movies official site at thehungergamesmovie.com

UMVC3 Full cinematic trailer

2011-11-14T22:47:00.000-05:00

The full cinematic intro for UMVC3 was just released by Capcom, again it's pretty awesome with the whole Matrix thing going on and all. Poor Pheonix Wright you're barely noticeable.
If you're a fan of this series I'm sure you're gonna get it...me I'll stick with Street Fighter...and if you think Capcom won't be releasing an UMVC3 AE or something like it you're only lieing to yourself...and now if you'll excuse me I need to count the days to the SSFIVAE 2012 balance patch.

Veterans Day 11-11-11

2011-11-11T16:16:00.001-05:00

Today in the U.S., we observe Veterans Day to pay tribute to our country’s veterans, to those who have made the ultimate sacrafice in the service of protecting the rights and freedoms of our country, and to their families.
To those who have served the

United States of America

in past and present I sincerely appreciate the contributions of our country’s veterans.

Snow White and The Huntsman Official Teaser Trailer

2011-11-11T10:50:00.000-05:00

Mirror mirror on the wall...
Charlize Theron as the evil Queen, Malphas by the unbelievably awesome trailer, Oh Hell YEAH!. SWATH also stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Kristen Stewart (those gay-ass vampire movies).
From the trailer I have to say this re imagining of the fairy tale looks EPIC!

FFXIII-2 CE

2011-11-10T23:09:00.002-05:00

Square Enix just released info on the Collectors Edition for FFXIII-2 in North America. Of the three retailers I would recomend the Best Buy Pre-Order as the other two can easily become DLC at a later date.

The FINAL FANTASY XIII–2 collector's edition will be available in limited quantities at GameStop®, Amazon® and Best Buy® for $79.99. Enclosed in premium packaging featuring artwork by Yoshitaka Amano, the collector's edition boasts an impressive 4–disc official soundtrack and a collection of concept artwork. The full–color concept art collection contains material from the making of FINAL FANTASY XIII–2, with a variety of never–before–seen illustrations, environments and more.
Additional exclusive incentives are available for users who preorder the standard or Collector's Editions for FINAL FANTASY XIII–2 at the following retail outlets:
GameStop®Receive an exclusive in–game item by preordering at GameStop e/retailers– Alternate costume for Serah, visible throughout the game
Amazon®Omega Boss Battle– Unique coliseum battle against boss enemy "Omega," who joins the player's party afterward
Best Buy®Collectible Hardcover Book– FINAL FANTASY XIII –Episode i– novella, an original story that ties together the events of FINAL FANTASY XIII and FINAL FANTASY XIII–2
This collector's edition is exclusive for North America and may not reflect editions available in other territories.
FINAL FANTASY XIII–2 will be available at North American retailers on January 31, 2012.

WTF is Wakfu?

2011-11-08T22:45:00.000-05:00

A couple months back I received an email from Square Enix regarding a new game called Wakfu, the first thing that caught my attention was the very unique art style! So I did a little research and this little gem is based on an animated TV series ( wakfu TV Series ), it's an MMO, it's a Strategy RPG sorta like Final Fantasy Tactics...but this game has no ties at all to the FF games.
The game is in closed beta right now, but should launch February 2012 according to the games page on the Square Enix website http://www.wakfu.com/na/mmorpg

LOS ANGELES (October 28, 2011) — Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in the Americas and ANKAMA, an independent digital creation group and developer, today announced that their upcoming tactical massively multiplayer online role–playing game (MMORPG), WAKFU®, will be launching worldwide in February 2012. WAKFU will launch as a free download from the official site at www.wakfu.com/na and include with it a large amount of gameplay content to experience at no cost. In addition, a monthly subscription fee of $6.00 will give players access to premium content, and a microtransaction–based store will allow users to purchase cosmetic items.

"WAKFU's deep political and combat system combined with an ever–changing ecosystem delivers an exceptional MMORPG unlike any other product in its category," said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing for Square Enix. "The team at Ankama created a unique, fun and entertaining online game and we believe a monthly subscription fee and online store makes for a rewarding experience all players can enjoy."

With up to 14 distinct, completely customizable character classes to select from and a variety of missions and turn–based combat to engage in, WAKFU takes place in a vibrant and immersive anime art style world where players' choices are paramount and actions directly impact a continuously evolving ecosystem. Featuring a rich political system, players can defend their nation against enemy attacks, conquer new territories, vote, elect government officials and even run for governor!

CoD MW3: There's A Soldier In All Of Us

2011-11-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

So Who missed work today and pulled an all nighter last night? I did that for MW2 got home at 2 AM and went to work the next day with totally blood shot eyes and a throbbing headache.
Below is the "There's a soldier in all of us" commercial for MW3....Jonah Hill, really? Sam Worthington is ok I suppose,but Jonah Hill is probably more of a gamer in real life. I think the Black Ops Trailer was so much better! You be the judge..

Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney The movie!

2011-11-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

Over at buriedplanet Krogenar has recently discovered the power of Pheonix Wright, and cannot wait to throw the proverbial "book" at 'em! Yes Pheonix Write the man himself is becoming a force of justice to be reckoned with, he's a new character in UMVC3, and now Pheonix Wright will be gracing the silver screen!

Pheonix Wright-movie.com

2011 VGA's

2011-11-07T21:47:00.044-05:00

The first year spike did the VGA's I was into it...until I sat there and tried to watch it. Good Lord Almighty that was painful! And it hasn't really risen above mediocre in my opinion, the whole show is just painful to watch with ridiculous over the top antics and presenters that can't even get the games title correct. It boggles my mind how an industry that is rivaling Hollywood can't do better!
With that off my chest this year's VGA's on Spike will be hosted by Geoff Keighley, and the executive producer is Mark Burnett...so there is a chance that this years VGA's might actually be viewable.
The VGA's are December 10, 2011 at 8PM et.
For mor intel head over to Spike's VGA website

This Old Home

2011-11-07T17:06:00.003-05:00

Playstation Home gets an extreme make over! Home looks to be more of an "all inclusive" experience compared to it's previous zones.

SSX Massive World Producer Video with Todd Batty Pt3

2011-11-07T11:09:00.025-05:00

In the third massive world video with Todd Batty and art director Geoff Coates we are shown Kilimanjaro in Africa where the deadly descent is......darkness @.@...ok I wonder if that was done on purpose. Next is The Rockies where you'll be avoiding trees, grinding power lines and a train wreck and finally The Alps where you'll be trying to avoid large rocks and boulders as you're carving the powder!

Bond 23 officially titled SkyFall

2011-11-03T18:48:00.001-04:00

Bond 23 has a title Skyfall, and a villian...Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men).
The official plot synopsis reads;
"As MI6 comes under attack 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost."

GTA V Trailer

2011-11-02T15:12:00.002-04:00

Here's the official trailer for R*'s next chapter in the GTA franchise! Lots to take in, so far I see we're in the city of Los Santos, confirmed that @ 1:05 on the police car, there's also Las Puerta and Vinewood. And is that a homeless Niko Belic @ 00:59!? I am wondering if we're not being shown the main character because R* plans to have multiple intertwined storylines ala Crash! That would be something!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Box Art revealed

2011-11-02T09:24:00.017-04:00

Square released the final box art for FFXIII-2 yesterday via their official FFXIII twitter page .
I'm not crazy about it, I usually like the minimalist approach Square uses for their FF titles boxart. This just comes across as a lazy ctrl. C ctrl. V job.

Melancholia Review

2011-11-01T14:54:00.000-04:00

mel·an·cho·li·a (mln-kl-)

A mental disorder characterized by severe depression, guilt, hopelessness, and withdrawal.

This was a fascinating film, it certainly won't have you feeling very uplifted when you leave the theater. It was a very thought provoking film though, I'm not entirely sure this film can be categorized as a Sci-fi/ Drama. The film is set with two distinct chapters the first titled Justine which focuses on Kirsten Dunsts' characters wedding reception at her sister's mansion. Her sister Claire and her husband have spared no expense for Justine and her new husband. It is blindingly clear that Claire and John (Keifer Sutherland) are extremely wealthy, it's not clear if Justine and Michael are. We first see Justine and Michael in the stretched limousine struggling to navigate the thrawned trail leading to John and Claire's estate, already things are not going well. They finally arrive two hours late and the guests are becoming restless as is the caterers, it's here we learn that Claire has coordinated the entire evenings affairs and is frustrated by their tardiness...her plans are now out of sync. To make matters worse Justine seems to avoid joining the celebration by going to the stables to see her horse, it's here Justine notices the star of Antares, and we learn John is an avid astronomer. According to John the star seems to be brighter than usual....but by the end of the first act Antares is no longer visible.
The evening by all standards is a collosal failure, the evening would best be described as the polar opposite of a Disney princess film.

The second act, Claire, begins a few weeks after the failed wedding with Justine in a severe state of depression, we hear how debilitating depression and Kisten Dunst does an impressive job of displaying a trully believable person in the throes of depression.
While Claire struggles to care for her ill sister the effects can be seen taking their toll on her and her family. Also the second half of the film introduces the astrological phenomenon of Melancholia, a giant earth-like planet that will, according to scientists, safely pass by earth in a few days. Claires husband John is elated and wants to share his excitement with his son Leo. Claire begins to show signs of concern, she has read articles online regarding Melancholia and the "Dance of Death". Claire's anxiety builds as her concern over the collision grows stronger and stronger. Her Husband tries futilely to calm her till The night Melancholia passes by. Interestingly as Claire's calm controlled persona unravels with the approach of Melancholia Justine seems to regain composure and displays an unnerving serenity with the threat of Melancholia growing ever larger.
As mentioned prior depression is a debilitating force many people struggle with, the director, Lars von Trier actually was suffering from depression while writing this film. I'm sure we've all seen the commercials for the anti depressant pill Cymbalta or Zoloft they tell you that Depression not only affects the person but everyone around them and that brings me back to my original statement about this films categorization as Sci Fi/ Drama. After seeing the film and digesting everything I saw, I believe the planet Melancholia is the directors avenue of visually representing the size, scope and magnitude of Justine's illness and the films conclusion is the outcome it had on John and Claire's family.
Regardless of what I think, the film is worth seeing, but be warned the title says it all!

A

SSX Massive World Producer Video with Todd Batty Pt2

2011-10-31T18:09:00.001-04:00

In the second massive world video Todd Batty and art director Geoff Coates shares some info on Patagonia, Antarctica and New Zealand and the dangers associated with them.

G4's Sara Underwood rockin the Supreme being outfit from the 5th Element

2011-10-31T18:05:00.010-04:00

Happy Halloween!
If they ever make a sequel to the 5th element and Milla Jovovich is unavailable may I be the first to cast my vote for Sara Underwood as her replacement!

Video Games - E3 2012

GTA V !

2011-10-25T12:15:00.000-04:00

For all the little gangsta's out there R* just updated their site with GTA V! Most people realize the V is a roman numeral 5 so why the word FIVE bannered over the V? I'm gonna take a guess that the V either stands for Vice City or Vegas..Any other guesses?
So check R* on 11-2-11

SSX Interview with Creative Director Todd Batty

2011-10-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

Another interview with SSX creative director Todd Batty discussing the "Survive It" aspect of the game and how each character is equipped to handle a specific deadly decent.
He also touches on the multiplayer aspect a bit and mentions that EA is looking at SSX for the PS Vita!

Batman Year One Review

2011-10-22T19:40:00.179-04:00

Got a chance to watch Batman Year One yesterday, Warner Bro's animation studios did a great job realizing Frank Millers graphic novel. The movie starts with Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham and Lt. James Gordon starting his career over in Gotham after being transferred from Chicago PD, the two quickly realize just how corrupt Gotham is. Gordon meets his new partner, Detective Arnold Flass, Flass tells Gordon how things "work around here". Gordon realizes he's got his work cut out for him.
Like the saying goes "there's nothing more dangerous than an honest cop."
Gordon begins to go against the grain when he saves a bunch of child hostages from an Arkham Asylum escapee single handedly without the help of Gotham's SWAT team lead by LT Brenan. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne struggles to find the persona that will strike fear into the fear mongers of Gotham, but after a street fight with a pimp, his ho and Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne barely manages to escape and make his way back to stately Wayne manor. It's there that the Dark Knight is born and soon word of the Batman makes it's way to Commissioner Gillian Loeb's office. Batman crashes Carmine Falcone's dinner party where he promises to all the crime bosses and crooked politicians that they will be brought to justice.
Commissioner Loeb puts Gordon in charge of a special task force to bring Batman to "justice" this is where James Gordons career against crime in Gotham becomes intertwined with Batman's ...

Batman Year One is a fantastic movie that is as entertaining as Batman Begins, with many of the same elements and characters seen in Nolan's films. Wether you're a fan of Nolan's series or not, this animated movie should be seen! The story is so well written and the characters are perfectly developed, I never knew Jim Gordon was such a bad ass cop! And the little fan service sprinkled throughout is a nice touch, Scarface in Loeb's office!
The movie deals with very adult theme's and I don't recommend it for younger viewers under 7, but if you're mature enough this is a great movie that stands on it's own and compliments Christopher Nolan's films very nicely! Any fan of the Dark Knight owes to themselves to check this out!
B+

SSX Survive It Trailer

2011-10-22T14:26:00.002-04:00

Here is the latest trailer from EA for SSX 2012. It showcases the dangers of the deadly descents, avalanches, thin air, gravity, rocks, trees, darkness, ice, below zero temperatures and white outs! And we get the official box art for the game and a launch date! Valentines day!
....Just hold your line

A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas Red Band Trailer

2011-10-21T13:22:00.023-04:00

OK kids parent check... All Clear? Go!
OK parents kiddie check...All Clear? GO!
It goes without saying this trailer is NSFW...proceed with caution my friend.

More A Very Harold %26 Kumar 3D Christmas Videos

SSX Massive World Producer Video with Todd Batty Pt1

2011-10-21T09:10:00.034-04:00

Awesome video with Todd Batty giving us a little run down on the Mountain Man program which gives a better idea of just how MASSIVE SSX is gonna be! We get a sneak peak at uhh some peaks like the Himalayas...maybe I'll see Chun Li while carvin up the Great Wall! Alaska and the Alaskan Pipeline! Sup Sarah Palin! And in Siberia we'll be zipping down the ice and through an abandoned Nuclear power plant! Ultimate Atomic Bustaaaah!
This game is really looking good! February 14th is ~~Valentines~~ SSX Day!

The Avengers: Choose your Super Hero + Official Trailer

2011-10-17T17:15:00.023-04:00

Courtesy of marvel.com some sweet character posters and a trailer for the Avengers movie next year! Looks like the Cap ain't to keen on Tony Stark....c'mon fella's leave the drama fo yo mama, and avenge da Erf!!

Mega Man with a Portal Gun

2011-10-16T18:28:00.006-04:00

How do you make the Blue Bomber better? Dorkly found a way! Why didn't Dr. Wily think of this! Portal Man FTW!!!

Transformers Prime Season Finale Review

2011-10-15T22:48:00.077-04:00

I just sat thru a 3 & 1/2 hour Transformers marathon and my childhood memories were resurrected! I started off my little marathon with a trip back to 1987 with The Transformers animated movie, then I fired up the ol DVR and watched Transformers Prime episodes 23 24pt1, pt 2 and pt3.

Absolutely amazing! This show is written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, recognize the names???
They are the co creators and executive producers of Fringe with J.J. Abrams, which in my opinion is one of the best shows on TV today, and interestingly enough they are also the writers of the first two Michael Bay Transformers movies...which, again, my opinion are absolute shit fests. I think we all know who is to blame for those hot messes.
Anyway any fan of the G1 series will not be disappointed by Transformers Prime, I can't hype this series enough, give it chance you'll be pleasantly surprised! Transformers Prime airs Saturdays 8:30 pm EST / 5:30 pm PT.
For more intel on Transformers Prime check out hubworld

FFXIII-2 Change the Future trailer

2011-10-14T13:40:00.001-04:00

Yet another trailer for FFXIII-2, looks like Lightning has pulled a Peter Bishop! And only Serah seems to remember her sister's existence!
From the trailer it appears Serah will be a playable character in XIII-2 as she tripping the time fantastic with a new character Noel....who looks a bit like Sora from Kingdom Hearts. The trailer also gives us a better look at the primary antagonist Caius...get it? Chaos. :/

Real Steel Review

2011-10-11T09:54:00.160-04:00

It's sad when a movie based on rockem' sockem' robots has more heart than a multi-million dollar franchise about sentient robotic life forms from another planet.
Real Steel doesn't pull any punches, what you see is what you get, a dead beat dad down on his luck, an adoptive couple who want a child but don't want to sacrifice their lifestyle in the process, a son who losses his mother and now finds he's an inconvenience to both his father and the couple who plan to adopt him and an old G2 sparring bot that bridges the gap between father and son.
Hugh Jackman did a decent job playing a total asshat in this movie, even by the end I really didn't care for Charlie Kenton, his son Max on the other hand was enjoyable and brought a solid performance to this movie, as I was watching him in the movie I was thinking to myself. "this kid would've made a much better anakin Skywalker than Jake Loyd" but then I remembered who wrote and directed TPM...
The real star in this movie was Atom, the old second generation sparring bot recovered by young Max. Seeing Max working with Atom was cute but the fights were the highlight of this movie, the effects are well done and are as entertaining as watching Rocky Balboa go toe to toe with Apollo Creed especially the title fight where Atom fights Zeus.
The movie is rife with stereotypes like Japanese make great tech but can't operate it....but neither can adults....only teens "get it". The movie also hints at the tension between good ol boys and blacks, that scene felt forced and really didn't didn't need to be in the movie.
Real Steel has some charm and you'll be routing for Atom till the bell rings,the fights are entertaining and the special effects are well done. Basically Real Steel is rockem sockem robots meets Rocky.
C+

Street Fighter X Tekken Teaser Trailers

2011-10-10T15:05:00.000-04:00

Capcom has released some new character teaser trailers for SFXT at a Brazilian game show. I'm not a fan of these stupid teaser trailers, but it looks like Zangief, Balrog and Juri and some Tekken characters...

To Michael!

2011-10-06T13:23:00.000-04:00

How many franchises can you spot in this brilliant commercial from Sony? I spy Medal of Honor, Madden, Tekken, Resistance, God of War, Twisted Medal, Bioshock, Hitman, Uncharted, Final Fantasy, Dead Space, Little Big Planet, Assasins Creed, Killzone, Army of Two, Infamous, Portal, and MLB.
I can't figure out who the chick in the begining is who accepts the mens payment, I think the orb is materia in the dish though, and who's the chick at 1:51?
To the gamers!

Newest SSX Trailer

2011-09-30T15:21:00.001-04:00

Here's the newest trailer for the up coming SSX. And the game just keeps looking better and better! I have actually been playing SSX3 alot lately in anticipation of the January release. Check out the fresh faces, locals and powder in this uber hype inducing trailer.

And enjoy these screen shots....they're all amazing but some show that the game is still a work in progress more than others.

Terra Nova Series Premiere review

2011-09-27T15:11:00.001-04:00

Terra Nova premiered last night and after the 120 minutes were over I can say this show was seriously over-hyped! I loved the Blade Runneresqe cityscape of the future....that's pretty much it. I sympathized with the father when the authorities found his third child hidden behind the ventilation panel and I would've done the same thing. Unfortunately I found too many things in the show totally illogical....perhaps I missed some crucial bit of dialog to explain these aspects that confounded me, I'll have to fire up the DVR and give it a second viewing.
The thing's that had me scratching my head and saying what the f*ck were where was the TSA? Where was the security??Ok there was a few rent a cops on the catwalk but seriously....I wish JFK was this easy to get thru! Next I couln't stand the emo son, Josh Shannon! I wanted to reach through the screen and choke the shit out of him! How the F can you be angry with your father for trying to defend his family???
Third and most puzzling....the technology in the med lab is straight up left overs from the Avatar set YET when we pop out on the other side of the worm hole or whatever we have to trek thru the forest of endor? No safe transport to get to Terra Nova?And why is the Terra Nova commune walls built with logs?? I get the whole humanity f*cked up and this our second chance thing but in my opinion Lincoln Logs don't make the best defense against 6ers and carnivorous dinosaurs. Get some fricken laser beams that'll cauterize shit up or at least a moat with sharks with lasers!
And what is up with the only fatality being a black man and then the only injuries going to a young black boy and young black girl?
The next thing that I couldn't get past was Stephen Lang as Commander Nathaniel Taylor...I don't know why I don't like him, perhaps it's because every time he was on the screen I saw Colonel Miles Quaritch, and honestly his bravado just seems ridiculous and often times completely unbelievable. I did however like the character Mira (Christine Adams), her character came across as powerful, intelligent and multidimensional.
In the end I felt like I was watching Time Cop meets Jurassic Park meets Swiss Family Robinson, the show didn't leave me very enthusiastic to see the next episode.

TGS 11 Final Fantasy XIII-2 trailers

2011-09-25T18:27:00.032-04:00

TGS 11 once again had some great updates to the industries best developers, games, and tech updates. Below are two new trailers for FFXIII-2. The first one is for the PS3 version for Japan only, the second trailer is for the PS3 & Xbox 360 everywhere else.

Fringe S4 E1: Neither Here Nor There

2011-09-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

A fantastic start to the fourth season of the best show on television!
I need to re watch episode 3.22 "The Day we Died" I could swear the Observer August says to Observer September that Peter Bishop never existed.
Season 4 episode 1 "Neither here Nor There" begins a week after Peter Bishop unites the two warring universes and seemingly vanishes from existence, Lincoln Lee and his partner chase a man into a warehouse Lee's partner is killed by a mysterious translucent man. Olivia informs agent Lee that she will be taking over the investigation, Lee refuses but Olivia pulls rank...a rank Lee is totally unaware of and drives off. Not satisfied Lee tracks Dunham to the Lab at Harvard where he meets the Fringe team. Just as Olivia is about to rip agent Lee a new one she gets a call of another incident this time involving a female driver.
Meanwhile Observer September is tasked with ensuring all of Peter Bishop's existence is totally erased. He visits an antique shop to collect the parts he needs to build a device that will erase Peter Bishop forever. Once completed he sits outside the Harvard lab with the device concealed in a briefcase, September pauses then shuts the briefcase and walks off in the night.
Dunham and Lee eventually track down the translucent mans hideout Dunham kills one but Lee realizes there's a second and tracks it down and kills it. Afterwards Olivia decides to bring Agent Lee up to speed and takes him to the hangar where the machine is.
"Neither Here Nor There" was a great episode that effectively shows effects of Peters decision in the final episode in season 3. There are new threats to our universe, but are they from Walternate or a newly created threat resulting from Peter Bishops decision? Also Peter has not been completely erased from existence because he is seen by us the viewers for a fraction of a second and apparently Walter has seen him but doesn't recognize him...or doesn't recognize peter as an adult. Walter does mutter something about seeing the one you love die twice. Is one of the effects of Peters decision that in this timeline both Peters die? I think the effect of Peters choice is that he now exists in a third universe.

Fringe Season 4 Premiere Tonight!

2011-09-23T11:42:00.000-04:00

Season 4 premiere of Fringe is tonight 9/8c!
Nothing compares to this show! I cannot wait for tonight's episode! I have read some great theories on the fringe boards the interwebs will be inundated with awesome speculation....mine included.

TGS 2011 Gravity Daze Trailer

2011-09-20T22:01:00.002-04:00

I first heard of Gravity Daze for the PS Vita from E3 this year, the Vita looks poised to take a huge chunk of the market share away from Nintendo's 3DS, and games like Gravity Daze looks to help propel the PS Vita! The game boasts some very cool game play features, and looks to take advantage of all the Vita's features. The game looks good enough to be a PS3 yet it's on a handheld! I cannot wait to get my hands on a PS Vita! Enjoy the TGS11 official trailer for Gravity Daze and some gameplay video below!

TGS 2011 SFXT Pandora Trailer

2011-09-20T11:49:00.037-04:00

What the Deuce! This trailer is so full of win it's insane! We get Rolento and Ibuki reveals, Heihatchi and Kuma reveals, and Lili reveal! New gameplay modes! 2 v 2 battles, scramble mode, breifing mode; 2 player simulaneus training mode and Pandora! A team mate can sacrafice themseves to give the other a huge power boost and go into "rage mode"
This trailer has convinced me that SFXT is gonna be epic and a must have game...please get the netcode right on this one capcom!

The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest Review

2011-09-18T17:52:00.265-04:00

The final chapter of the Dragon tattoo trilogy begins with Lisbeth and her father, hospialized after their bloody reunion. With her half brother, Neiderman, still on the loose and now a new threat emerges from a shadowy government agency intent on silencing Alexander Zalachenko and anyone associated with him...
While hospitalized Lisbeth befriends a young doctor who protects her privacy as long as possible while Mikael requests that his sister, Annika, defend Lisbeth in her upcoming murder trial of her former state appointed guardian Nils Bjurman.
While Annika visits Lisbeth in the hospital a member of the secret government agency goes to the hospital and assassinates Alexander Zalachenko but is unsuccessful at eliminating Lisbeth.
After Lisbeth recovers from her near fatal wounds in the hospital she is transferred to a prison to await her court date but before that she is able to get a message to Mikael that his sister can use the "home video" she shot in the first film while in Bjurmans apartment.
After the failed assasination attempt the members of the secret "section" devise a plan to silence Lisbeth by proving she is unfit to stand trial and needs to be re committed to St. Stephans, the same institution she was committed to as a child after attempting to burn her father alive.
While recovering in the hospital Lisbeth documents all the events in her life from her "happy" (read as miserable) childhood, her time in St Peters under the supervision of Dr, Teleborian, to her rape at the hands of Nils Bjurman and sends it to Mikael who takes her story and plans a huge cover story of Lisbeth's life. Soon the team at Millenium begin receiving threat's via Email. The threat's escalate to attacks on their home in the form of vandalism and breaking and entering. Mikael is now pressured to delay the publication of the Lisbeth Salander story by fellow co workers, in a cafe Mikael meets Erika Berger Milleniums' chief editor to discuss her recent attack and the threats to her and the others when two hired hitmen enter the cafe and attempt to kill them.
Meanwhile Mikael's sister, Annika recieves Lisbeths's laptop and the copy of the rape video. Horrified by what she see's she finally understand's Lisbeth better and is determined to prove Lisbeth is not only mentally capable of standing trial but is also innocent of the crimes she is accused of.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest culminates in the court room where Dr. Teleborian tells the court the reasons Lisbeth Salander was institutionalized as a child and how she is delusional and made up the rape story. Teleborian's testimony is all part of the Sections plan to silence Salander and keep their secrets from being revealed.
Throughout the film every time Teleborian attempted to "evaluate" Lisbeth she remained silent, once the trial began though she dissected every question of Teleborian and detective Ekstrom brilliantly and methodically proving not only that she was mentally capable of standing trial but much more intelligent than the prosecution had ever realized. Watching this was so enjoyable, it was reminiscent to seeing the metamorphosis of the Ellen Ripley character in Alien and Aliens. In the first film Lisbeth is a victim that overcomes her adversary, in the second film she confronts her father but things don't go as planned which brings us to the final film where Lisbeth is forced to defend herself against another of her childhood nightmares and she proves to much more than her persona gives away. Watching Mikael's sister, Annika, also bait the prosecution into a false sense of victory then drop the bombshell piece of silicon evidence was so gratifying and then turning the table's by providing the judge with proof of over eight thousand pictures of child porn on Teleborian's laptop was just sweet justice that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lisbeth was innocent.
Oh and what happens to Niederman???Well lets just say having congenital analgesia has it's negatives also....
Each of the three films in this trilogy are good on their own but as a trilogy they are fantastic and has one of the best character driven stories I've seen in a long long time!
I highly recommend watching these Dragon Tattoo films directed by Director Daniel Alfredson, I have a feeling they will stand up very well against the David Fincher versions coming later this year.
A-

The Girl who played with Fire Review

2011-09-18T17:41:00.000-04:00

The second film in the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire, focuses much more on Lisbeth Salander than the first film. After hacking into Nils Bjurman's computer she returns to Sweden to ensure the terms of their agreement are honored. While there Lisbeth purchases a new apartment and meets up with her friend Miriam Wu and offers her her old apartment. Meantime Millennium Magazine interviews a potential new journalist, Dag Svensson who's been working on a story involving kidnapping , prostitution and sex trafficking in Sweden alongside his girlfriend Mia. With only a few contacts left to speak with Mikael Blomkvist welcomes Dag to the Millenium team. But Dag's employment at Millenium is short lived due to a slight case of death. The murder weapon is traced to Nils Bjurman...who is also found dead and guess who's prints are on the gun??? So now the authorities are searching for Lisbeth Salander, Blomkvist uses the knowledge of Lisbeth's computer skills to tell her he believes she's innocent. Through the course of the film we learn more of Lisbeth's childhood which explains why she has a state appointed guardian and we get a clearer understanding of her. As the two do their separate investigations into the crimes the threat begins to manifest itself to Lisbeth as a monster from her past but unbeknownst to her that very same threat to her is also a threat to the the government, thus she now finds herself the focal point of to opposing forces. The second film concludes with Lisbeth tracking down the the mysterious "Zala" and facing the monster responsible for her being suspected of multiple homocide and many other injustices she's had to live thru in her life. Much like the way she came to Mikaels rescue at the end of the first film, he finds her in a desparate fight for survival at the end of The Girl who Played with Fire!

I really enjoyed this film, the scope of events truly multiplies from a beginning that ties into events from the first film to a point where Lisbeth's life is threatened by secret agencies within her government to those closest to her. It is very cloak and dagger stuff that had my intently focused from begining to end! My wife and I went straight to the third film to see what happens next, it's not a cliffhanger per se but there is enough going on to make you want to see what happens next.

By this point in the trilogy the characters are so well developed that little more back story is required and the third chapter really takes off with the dangers to Lisbeth, Mikael and the team at Millenium all around them yet invisible!

B+

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Review

2011-09-17T11:32:00.000-04:00

With the release of the US version of theDragon Tattoo Trilogy series coming in about three months, I decided to rent the Swedish films and see what the craze was all about ahead of time. I admit the David Fincher trailer definitely got my attention a few months back when I saw X Men First Class...and now after watching the three films I can say the trailer for the US version does a fantastic job of grabbing the audiences attention but it is extremely misleading! It's interesting how the US trailer is spliced together, I think alot of people are gonna walk out of the theater this December wondering how they're anticipations were so different from what they just watched.

The other reason I rented these films was to see Noomi Rapace as she has been cast in Ridley Scott's up-coming Sci Fi film Prometheus. And I can say she has a very bright future ahead of her.
Ok so I enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I cannot imagine certain scenes in the US version being as vivid and controversial as the Swedish films, those who've seen it or read the novels know what I'm refering to.
There were a number of factors that kept me glued to the TV, the foreign locales, I'm actually tired of overhead camera angle over US cities, the panning shots of the Manhattan/LA/Boston/Chicago skylines and the overall over exposure of US landmarks like The Empire State Building, the Sears Tower and the Hollywood sign, so the scenes in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were a refreshing change of scenery.
Another factor that kept my interest was my unfamiliararity with the actors and actresses, not having a pre conceived notion of the types of characters an actor plays helps support the mystery. I liked not having the slightest idea what each actor was known for, like I mentioned it helped keep the villains less obvious to me.
There are a great many significant characters that encompass the trilogy and if you don't pay attention you may get slightly derailed, first there's Mikael Blomkvist a journalist for a small publication named Millenium. He is hired by Henrik Vanger, a member of the wealthy and powerful Vanger family to investigate the murder of his neice Harriet who vanished in 1944 after the Swedish Children's Day Holiday.
Lisbeth Salander a strong willed yet very private young woman hired to investigate Blomkvist who is also a skilled hacker, her state appointed guardian has a stroke and is replaced by Nils Bjurman.
Henrik Vanger supplies Mikael with all the evidence collected over the years by inspector Morell and a brief history of the Vanger family including Henriks brothers Harald, and Gottfried.
Mikael Blomkvist discovers that Lisbeth Salander has been hacking his computer, tracks her down and convinces her to assist him with his investigation. The two uncover that there is more to Harriets murder than originally thought and their investigation unravels a nightmarish story of abduction, rape, torture and murder.

The first film really focus's more on the character of Mikael Blomkvist and his investigation of Harriet Vangers disappearance and eventual partnership with Lisbeth Salander.
There are events in this film involving Lisbeth that lead to the events that take place in the second and third films, the Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest that make Lisbeth ~~Zalachecnko~~ Salander.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was good mystery with some honestly disturbing and unnerving scenes that I cannot imagine will be as graphic in the David Fincher versions coming later this year.
For more on Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo trilogy head over to http://dragontattoofilm.com/
B+

TGS 11: Lord of Apocalypse Trailer

2011-09-16T22:39:00.001-04:00

Hey kid wanna be a monster hunter, but you're just not sure if ya got the right stuff? And but stuff I mean synth items...well here try this! Lord of ~~Arcana~~ Apocalypse will be SquareEnix's second attempt at a monster hunteresque style game for the Sony handhelds....I find this very perplexing that Square is somehow unable to make a superior "monster-hunter" game over Capcom! Umm they are the house that built Final Fantasy.....

Screw Attack's Death Match! Chun Li Vs Mai Shiranui

2011-08-30T09:19:00.006-04:00

I love fighting game rivalries especially cross franchise ones like Proxicide's Street Fighter Vs Mortal Kombat one a few years back!
Screw Attack has done a bunch of Death Matches with video game characters, I wanted to put this one up because I love this matchup! Not for the immature reasons but because I main Chun Li and never had a worthwhile match against a Mai player in CVS2...but if I had I think the outcome would be a little different than this match.

SSX 2012 cast

2011-08-25T10:14:00.093-04:00

Here is the cast for SSX2012, I'm a little torn, I loved Allegra in SSX3 but this new french chick Alex looks to give Elise a run for her money in the looks department. I do expect to see my girl Allegra via DLC shortly after launch.

1. Elise Riggs

Nickname: Bombshell
Nationality: Canadian
Home Mountain: Cypress, Grouse, Seymour Mountains
Bio: Even though she left The Tour, Elise refuses to leave snowboarding behind, much to the chagrin of her agent and insurers she still gets out to shred between film shoots and convention appearances. Elise has found a perfect balance in her life between acting and riding and she’s never been more content. Always searching for the next rush, Elise has recently been consumed by a new obsession: base-jumping with a wing-suit. Contour flying down a mountainside at 150km per hour delivers a rush unmatched by anything she could do on a snowboard alone and quickly Elsie realizes that she has to find a way to marry the two.

2. Mackenzie Fraser

Nickname: Mac
Nationality: American
Home Mountain: Mount Baker
Bio: Mac is a legend on The Tour, holding all records on the pro circuit, having done and won it all – but being as good as he is has meant that there is very little left to challenge him. He is the epitome of ‘Shredder’, loves big air, big tricks and pushing the limits of what is possible on a snowboard. He’s usually the first person to nail an impossible combo and stick the landing (think triple corkscrew guy from 2011 X-Games), and has invented more tricks than Tony Hawk. Always looking for new challenges, and to elevate his skills once again, Mac left The Tour behind to co-found SSX.

3. Kaori Nishidake

Nickname: None
Nationality: Japanese
Home Mountain: HokkaidoBio: In the beginning Kaori had designs on joining the Japanese Olympic Team, but once The Tour came knocking, she quickly changed gears and focused on snowboarding as a career. Kaori worked her way through The Tour rankings and quickly established herself as one of the best. While she was burning up the circuit on her snowboard, her older brother Akira was busy working on his latest creation: The Tokyo Megaplex Snowboard Park. And he wanted Kaori to be the first to ride it. The Megaplex was a love letter to urban snowboarding, and theme park nuts, but mostly Akira’s way of telling his little sister how proud he was of her.

4. Moby Jones

Nickname: None
Nationality: British / Trinidadian
Home Mountain: Chamonix
Bio: Moby Jones was born in Brixton, England in 1982 to Trinidadian immigrant parents. Growing up on the rough streets of Brixton meant growing up fast but Moby managed to find a way around that rule; at age ten he had a skateboard thrust into his hands. Moby took to the sport like a duck to water. He began entering into local skate competitions and found himself winning more often than not. After a short while he was picked up by a local skate shop and given his first taste of what sponsorship could offer. After that more lucrative deals started to flow in; he was making a name for himself and it was paying off in dividends.

5. Psymon Stark

Nickname: Sketchy
Nationality: Canadian
Home Mountain: Garibaldi back-country
Bio: Psymon Stark was born in Squamish, British Columbia in 1974. His parents weren’t around much growing up so as a result, he rarely found much time for school, choosing instead to spend his time in Whistler snowboarding the backcountry during the winter and glacier climbing during the warmer months.

When Psymon turned eighteen, he moved to Whistler fulltime and took a job working the graveyard shift as a groomer. Psymon did more damage to the runs with his cat than good, spending most of his time secretly building “kickers” all over the mountain so he and his friends could ride them the next day. This played havoc with newbie tourists and ski-school kids but made Psymon something of a legend in the circles that mattered. Off the mountain Psymon was the same kind of renegade. He was an animal. The all-night partying, the bar binges and the dust-ups were just fuel for the fire for Psymon. Nothing could slow him down. He fully embraced the bad-ass side of snowboarding culture and he very quickly started to build a name for himself with both local police and people on the pro snowboarding circuit.

Alternate Bio: Psymon was the original wild man on The Tour. He was a focused and formidable rider on the track, and absolute loose cannon off. His exploits (stealing a police car, riding a dirt bike through a high-end hotel) earned him more than a few overnight stays behind bars as well as the nickname "Sketchy" due to his erratic behavior. When things got to be too much for his sponsors, they threatened to kill his contracts if he didn't behave. Psymon told them where they could put their contracts. Fed up with it all, he turned his attention to building custom muscle-bikes in his own garage and little to no snowboarding - until long time friend Zoe Payne showed up and offered him something new.

6. Zoe Payne

Nickname: Demon
Nationality: American
Home Mountain: Flat Top Mountain, West VirginiaBio: Zoe Payne was born in the rural outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland in 1983 and from a very early age she knew she liked to go fast. She latched onto anything that would put the wind in her hair, even managing to get her Big Wheel up to highway speeds on the hill outside her house. Zoe received her first pint sized dirt bike at age nine – and never looked back. Riding took over her life. Each birthday the bike got bigger, the riding got wilder. The only thing that ever got in the way – was winter. But Zoe discovered that snow offered up a different kind of riding. She flung herself headfirst into snowboarding. An instant natural she soaked up the culture and quickly honed her skills to become a formidable rider. Always looking to push herself, she tried her hand at some competitive riding and instantly laid waste to her fellow racers. Through sheer willpower and almost psychopathic determination, she landed herself a spot on The Tour and quickly became a dominating force in the world of professional snowboarding.

7. Griff Simmons

Nickname: King of the Mountain
Nationality: American
Home Mountain: AspenBio: Born American and damn proud of it, Griffin Simmons is the preeminent pro snowboarder riding on The Tour today. An Olympic gold-medal winner in boarder cross and big-air, he currently holds the title of "King of the Mountain", according to top snowboarding Magazine Snow Shredder. The fortune and fame was very quickly going straight to his head, and Griffin soon became his own biggest fan. Consumed by arrogance and the idea of being number one, his expert skills as a snowboarder only worked to facilitate his insatiable hunger for the center podium. If Griffin failed at that number-one spot, whatever prize he won would go uncollected; because if he was accepting anything less than first place, he was accepting failure.

8. Tane Mumea

Nickname: Hippie
Nationality: Fijian
Home Mountain: None
Bio: Tane is the quintessential gypsy-surfer. His laid-back ways and zest for life attitude have earned him the reputation of being one of the most personable and approachable people on the beach. But once he hits the waves in competition, Tane turns on his razor-sharp focus, tearing up the circuit. Still, it's not the spotlight that Tane seeks out on the waves - it's the personal satisfaction he gets from connecting with the ocean and the adventure that it provides him. As the sport of surfing has become twisted into a competition of corporations, Tane longs for the days when all that truly mattered was your skills on a surfboard. Wanting to rid himself of this new wave of surfing, Tane has left the pro circuit to look for other ways to satisfy his hunger, something that speaks to his true self. Tane hooks up with friends Zoe Payne and Mac Fraser to start SSX.

9. Ty Thorsen

Nickname: Lucky
Nationality: Norwegian
Home Mountain: Lyngen Alps
Bio: Growing up in the remote town of Tromso, Norway - known as the gateway to the Arctic - Ty began crafting his skill as a snowboarder at a very early age. Never quite finding the success he eventually ended up working as a test rider for The Tour - a job that provided all of the riding and none of the pressure the others had to deal with. His easy-going manner, insane skills, and fearless attitude caught the attention of Zoe Payne. It was an easy decision to ask Ty to join her new team, and just as easy for Ty to accept.

Alternate Bio: Ty Thorsen is a Terrain park test rider who works for the professional snowboarding circuit known as The Tour. Ty sets up the boardercross and big-air runs, riding them to ensure that safety and regulations are adhered to prior to The Tour riders hitting them in competition. Growing up in the remote town of Tromso, Norway - known as the gateway to the Arctic - Ty began crafting his skill as a snowboarder at a very early age. His father was a helicopter pilot who worked for an adventure tour company ferrying boarders and skiers in and out of the Lyngen Alps - otherwise inaccessible mountains. As a result, Ty would spend countless hours on the mountain, shredding some of the most unspoiled terrain there was. Being one of the preeminent backcountry destinations on the planet, The Lyngen Alps drew in dozens of the world’s best riders. Pros from around the globe would descend on the area looking to get a taste of the unspoiled terrain experience. These pros were the people that Ty learned from. As Ty grew older he began to look at where he was headed in his life and what opportunities lay ahead. He loved snowboarding and knew that he wanted to do something with that but competition wasn’t in his nature; Ty was about the ride and the personal connection between rider and mountain.

10. Alex Moreau

Nickname: The Chamonix Assassin
Nationality: French
Home Mountain: Mont BlancBio: Alex Moreau was born in the Chamonix, Mont Blanc region of France in 1985 with the spirit of competition sewn into her DNA and coursing through her veins. Her grandfather Paul Moreau was a world-class skier who led the French National ski team to the Winter Olympics in 1924 - held in the family's own backyard of Chamonix. From a very early age, Alex embraced her lineage: she was in skis when most children her age were still mastering the art of walking. By the time she'd entered grade school, the skiing trophies on her mantle outweighed the finger paintings on the family fridge. But when Alex entered high school, she caused quite a stir in the Moreau family: she traded in her skis for a snowboard. Alex set her first snowboarding record on Chamonix just 6 months later. By the time she was sixteen she had set each and every record on Chamonix - and most of the surrounding mountains. Alex knew she had found her calling. As she grew older Alex's stunning beauty and flair for fashion made her a much sought-after model, but she never forgot her roots, and defends her seven world records with a ferociousness that has earned her the nickname, "The Chamonix Assassin."

Pre Order Bonus Character.Eddie Wachowski

For more info visit http://www.ea.com/ssx and the uber SSX fansite http://www.merqurycity.com/

SSX 2012 Pre Order Bonus Content

2011-08-22T11:36:00.009-04:00

SSX Pre-Order exclusive in-game content:
Origin.com

Walmart:

Amazon.com

Best Buy

Gamestop

Gamescom 2011: PSP Vita Trailer

2011-08-20T17:30:00.069-04:00

PSVita had a strong showing at this years Gamescom,
Below is the trailer for PS Vita, it emphasizes the hardware which, in my opinion, decimates the 3DS.
The dual analog sticks is huge and one of the biggest design flaws of the PSP, the 5 inch touch screen is fantastic and with today's smart phones and tablets this keeps the Vita on the level with that growing market, the rear touch pad is a unique addition which adds another level of control to future games....makes me wonder if this will be incorporated into future Dual Shock controllers, Six Axis motion sensors and Cross Play! PS3 <---->PSVita...if Cross Play works well I think Sony will finally overthrow Nintendo in the hand held market.

SSX @ Gamescom 2011

2011-08-20T12:34:00.049-04:00

Todd Batty presenting SSX at Gamescom this year, talks up the online features of SSX including Ridernet, Mountain man, and the three aspects of the game; ride it, trick it, survive it. The game is sounding better and better with each drop of info!

Soul Calibur V Gamescom 2011 Trailer

2011-08-20T11:04:00.040-04:00

The Fighting Game genre is really heating up and I'm glad to see that Namco isn't putting their flagship fighter on the back burner while they work on TXSF...I can't wait to see their version of Chun LI!!!
I enjoyed Soul Blade, SCII and SCIII, I skipped IV even though I was curious about Tira. Soul Calibur V looks great but that's like saying Eva Mendez looks great...of course she does!

The Change Up Review

2011-08-08T10:03:00.001-04:00

Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman are best friends since childhood, now as adults they lead polar opposite lives. One up to his ears with responsiblities the other not a care in the world. Kinda reminds me of my friendship with Krogenar a few years back...
Mitch (Reynolds) lives the bachelors lifestyle with a different PoA every night, Dave has a promising career at a law firm where he's driven to make partner, a beautiful wife a young daughter who is coping with a bully, and two adorable babies. Dave and Mitch have a bar night get drunk, and wish for each others lives while pissing in a fountain.
So their wishes come true and now Mitch is in Dave's body and vice versa. Can they make it thru the day/week without destroying each others life?
The Change Up has alot of funny scenes, a ton of T&A and more F-bombs than any movie I think I've seen in a long time. There's also one scene that I was a little uncomfortable with....baby fingers and a blender is just unnerving. It's definately NOT for those prim and proper ladies out there.
The Change Up was kinda interesting for me I saw a little of myself in Mitch when I was in my early 20's and I see a little of Dave's character in me now at 38.
Sydney Rouviere (Knocked Up) plays Daves wife and her performance is almost a carbon copy of her character in Knocked Up.
Olivia Wilde (X-men origins Wolverine & Cowboys & Aliens) is smoking hot in this movie!
The story is not original at all it's been done to death....Trading Places, Freaky Friday, Big, Face Off etc. I'd say wait for it to come to Netflix.
C-

Macross Frontier Wings of Goodbye Hybrid pack trailer

2011-08-05T12:36:00.016-04:00

Namco has posted a trailer for Macross Frontier: Sayonara No Tsubara (Wings of Goodbye) Blu ray hybrid package. We get a glimpse at some footage of the movie and a bit of the game Macross: Final Frontier which is based on the movie.
Very Decultcha!

Captain America Review

2011-07-26T22:33:00.145-04:00

When the original teaser hit the interwebs I have to admit I was really underwhelmed. But thanks to some die hard Captain America/puppet sex fans a simple addition of a soundtrack really helped beef up the trailer and get some buzz for the Cap.
Captain America really isn't a top tier Super hero in my opinion, he's no Batman or Spiderman but he leagues better than Aquaman and Shazaam.
I really wasn't sure what to expect going into Captain American, and with zero expectations and zero spoiler knowledge Captain America was a fun adventure from start to end. Marvel Studios did a very good job balancing the action and comic relief. The movie flowed exceptionally well and every character was enjoyable, the movie certainly benefited from the many A-List actors....cudo's to the casting director!
Our adventure begins with Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) raiding a tomb for a hidden energon cube, Weaving does evil so well, it was like Weaving had thrown Mr Smith and a Nazi in a blender and hit puree.
Chris Evans plays Steve Rodgers, a little guy with a big heart who wants nothing more than to join the army and kick Nazi ass! F*ck Yeah! There's only one small problem...he weighs in at around 150...wet, has asthma and is physically unfit for the army.
Enter Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), unlike every other recruiting officer, Erskine see's a perfect candidate for his super soldier program so he gives Steve Rodgers the go ahead. Steve goes off to special boot camp under Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) who thinks Dr. Erkine is wasting a spot with Rodgers.
Without summarizing the whole movie Stevie becomes Captain America, sells Bonds, saves troops and defeats Red Skull and HYDRA but misses his date...
Which brings me to Peggy Carter played by Haylay Atwell, I thought she was stunning and fit the role perfectly, she like Rosie the Riveter but hot! And if they were to ever green light a Super Dimentional Fortress Macross Live action movie (And I pray they don't) Haylay Atwell would make a perfect Misa Hayase!
What I liked about Captain America was it never took itself too serious yet never became as a comedy of errors either, the movie did a good job at keeping it fun and enjoyable similar to how Marvel approached the first Iron Man movie. The special effects used to make Chris Evans a scrawny little guy were impressive and the Red Skull effects were very good also.
Honestly if you took the shield and costume away this would've been a better GI Joe movie than the GI Joe movie.
And as usual if you stuck around after the credits you would've been treated to a sneak peek at The Avengers movie coming next year...actually looks promising.
B-

Street Fighter X Tekken Gameplay Trailer #2

2011-07-22T09:07:00.002-04:00

Here's the latest SFXT gameplay trailer from Capcom at SDCC11.
The hooded character at the end of the trailer sounds like Cammy but that doesn't make sense based on the rest of the trailer which has them teamed up.

SDCC SFXT Cinematic Trailer #2

2011-07-21T21:13:00.008-04:00

Here's the second cinematic trailer for SFXT from SDCC11 from Capcom!

I gotta say Capcom really has mastered the art of trailer hype! They got me with MVC3 and these trailers are doing a great job at hyping up the game...I just hope they don't rush the game to market and 6-9 months later announce SSFXT....

Looks like the Final Fight roster is growing...Cody and Guy I assume are in.

Street Fighter X Tekken: Poison and Yoshimitsu reveal trailer

2011-07-21T18:05:00.004-04:00

Capcom can't seem to keep any character reveals from leaking and these two are doozies! Yoshimitsu for the Tekken franchise (not a huge surprise) and Poison from Final Fight and Hugo's manager in SFIII and Ryu Final Manga! Now that is awesome....but at the same time I feel weird getting excited for Poison being playable....know what I mean?

EVO 2k11

2011-07-20T08:26:00.006-04:00

PLAY!

Play pre-release new fighters like Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Soul Calibur V, Street Fighter X Tekken, and maybe more surprises?

Giant “Bring Your Own Console” area with freeplay on almost every fighter imaginable. You’ll find tons of fun side-tournaments as well as casual play on everything from the core tournament titles to games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, or even games like Magical Drop III!

Pre-party @ Insert Coin! What better way to begin your assault on the biggest tournament in the world than with a late night out? Come party with staff, players, and special guests at Insert Coin, Las Vegas’ amazing bar-cade founded by long-time community member Chris LaPorte. Free entry to all attendees, but like any club, there is a max capacity, so get there early to be sure you can get in! Thursday, July 28^th, 10pm-4am!

SEE!

Panels! Top developers, community members, and players come together for a great assortment of panels.

Friday, July 29th

Saturday, July 30th

10:00 AM - Evo Panel #5: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII: Panel and Discussion
12:00 PM - Evo Panel #6: Street Fighter III: Online Edition, Reinventing a Classic
2:00 PM - Evo Panel #7: Namco Bandai – Get Ready For The Next Panel!
4:00 PM - Evo Panel #8: New Directions in Street Fighter X Tekken

In addition to a giant list of star players, you can meet the people that made your favorite games, including developers from Street Fighter, Tekken, Marvel Vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Skullgirls, King of Fighters, and Soul Calibur.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3: East Coast vs. West Coast 5-on-5 (plus live Draft!). NerdJosh and EG Justin Wong will choose the players that best represent each coast in the eternal East Vs West coast rivalry. They will meet on the EVO main stage to see who can back up another year’s worth of trash talk!

Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Online Edition 5-man Round-Robin Kumite! On the eve of SF3:OE’s return, 5 representatives from around the world will be chosen to show the world the greatness of Third Strike.

World-premiere Video Exclusives. A few have been announced (like Desk’s new EVO combo video, and the premier of the “Balrog: Behind the Glory” short film), but EVO 2011 has more unannounced video surprises in store!

AT HOME!

Triple Stream! 2011 will feature an amazing new triple-stream to bring you as many of your favorite matches as possible, stretching the 72 hours of EVO into many more hours of amazing EVO stream. Stream #1 will run Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition and Marvel vs Capcom 3, Stream #2 will feature Mortal Kombat, Tekken 6, and BlazBlue, while Stream #3 will follow the action to late-night grudge matches where top players run it back in a series of high-profile exhibitions.
That’s all FREE!
FIGHT!

In addition to all of that, there’s also a little thing we call the 2011 EVO World Finals, aka THE BIGGEST FIGHTING GAME TOURNAMENT IN THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH.
Thousands of competitors from an unbelievable 44 different countries will come to Las Vegas as they attempt to climb the perilous path to EVO glory. They will play across 5 different tournament titles, culminating in only 8 finalists for each game. Finalists appear on Sunday to decide an ultimate champion.
EVO is where players from across the world come to show their power to the world and make a name for themselves, but of course it also features the best-known champions in the world. The following is a partial list of the amazing and otherwise notable players you will find in the competition;
Marvel vs. Capcom 3

EG Justin Wong, MCZ Tokido, EG FloE, RyRy, coL.cc Combofiend, DMG PR Balrog, Marn, NerdJosh, IFC Yipes, FlashMetroid, Shungoku Neurosis, and more!
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition

Poongko, Wolfkrone, MCZ Daigo Umehara, EG Ricky Ortiz, Gamerbee, Arturo Sanchez, DMG Inthul, Alex Valle, Infiltration, Air, Laugh, BLG JuiceBox Abel, Col. Filipino Champ, BLG Vangief, Hsien Chang, RF, Momochi, Shiro, Kayo Police, and many more!
Tekken 6

Insanelee, Emphy, Tokido, DMG Kor, NYC Fab, 725, and many more!
Mortal Kombat 9

EMP Tom Brady, DMG Perfect Legend, Frieda, EG Justin Wong, and many more!

Winnie the Pooh Review

2011-07-15T18:09:00.074-04:00

This movie was especially memorable for me because it was my son's first movie! He'll never remember it but I'll never forget it. For the most part I prefer Anime style over US animation the exception being Disney/Pixar films. I have always been a fan of the hand-drawn style of old Disney films and this latest Winnie the Pooh Film is a fantastic showcase of a long lost style that is warm and inviting.
The story felt a little familiar to 2006's Pooh's Grand Adventure where Pooh gets a letter from Christopher Robin which is misinterpreted.
The film was an enjoyable whimsical adventure with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl on an adventure in the hundred acre wood looking for Eeyore's lost tail and searching for Christopher Robin while trying to capture the menacing Bakson.
The movie seemed short compared to other films like the Tigger Movie and the above mentioned Pooh's Grand Adventure at 70 minutes, but I don't think that mattered to the children who all had huge grins at the end of the movie. You can't go wrong with a Winnie the Pooh movie with children!
A

Happy Indepenance Day America!!!!

2011-07-04T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Indepenance Day America!
While we're out enjoying our BBQ's, or enjoying the day at the beach or park take a second to be thankful to all those who gave the ultimate sacrafice so we can enjoy this day.

Now if you'll excuse me I gotta get back to CoD: Revolutionary Warfare! Sweet got my killstreak! Nuclear Cannonballs!!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review

2011-06-28T23:21:00.483-04:00

4 years and almost 3 billion in box office earnings later Michael Bay's Transformers trilogy is over....I can't say complete because these three movies are anything but, except a complete waste of time and money.
The first movie left me a glimmer of hope that the next film would be even better....it wasn't http://willsfreeswim.blogspot.com/2009/06/transformers-revenge-of-fallen.html
Now after all the excuses and hype we get Transformers: Dark of the Moon, was it good? In my opinion no, were the effects impressive? Yes, but this is the third movie and by now using the crutch that these are special effects blockbusters doesn't cut it.
In TDotM we are introduced to two major new characters Sentinel Prime, previous leader of the Autobots before handing the Matrix down to Optimus and Shockwave. The later is what got me to go see this movie, as a kid I thought Shockwave was the coolest Decepticon and the original Marvel comics series solidified that with Transformers issue # 5. This movie failed miserably to capture the essence of Shockwave and most of the primary Transformers. But when your design for Shockwave reminds me of the cinematic jem D-Wars...you've really done something incredibly wrong!
Back to Sentinel Prime...I liked the design, I was impressed they got Leonard Nemoy to voice the character and for the most part I was ok with the way they retconed the Autobot leader history with Sentinel Prime but the hardcore fans will cry foul. I would have preferred seeing the G1 Alpha Trion story where he takes a damaged Orion Pax and rebuilds him into Optimus Prime The first "leader" of the new Autobot army.....oh well, another fanboy dream dashed!
Ok lets change gears for a second to the fleshlings, Shia LeBeouf as Sam Witwicky, I liked the character in the first movie...a little less in the second and even less in this movie...I can't tell if it's the character that's changed or the actor.
Sam's new girlfriend Carly Spencer played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley aside from eye candy was useless, and when she got all up in Megatron's grill talking smack....I threw up a little in my mouth. I would've preferred Sam to be single and trying to make his way in the real world, than the panty waist he came across as in DotM.

John Turturro yet again comes across as complete douchebag...I've never seen a character span an entire trilogy as absolutely irritating and poorly developed as Agent Simmons. It's unfortunate Steve Buscemi wasn't available for the role....I honestly believe he would've done a much better job.
Ma and Pa Witwicky are back and I'm happy to say they're not as utterly retarded as in RotF.
Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson put in solid performances in DotM and their characters have been the most consistent and enjoyable through these movies for me.

Now for the new fleshlings in the series!
Dylan Gould played by Patrick Dempsey, I feel the character would've worked better with Megan Fox's character Mikaela, the first two movies we learn she's good under the hood and her pops was a car thief...with her being replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Dylan Gould and Carly Spencer seem disjointed and out of place in this movie.

Bruce Brazos played by John Malkovich...wait who!? The John Malkovich, I'm sure the ONLY reason he did this is for the paycheck. Cool that he's in the movie but really over qualified actor in my opinion.

And then there's Ken Jeong...this "little" guy seems to be everywhere since the hangover! He plays Jerry Wang and is in one of the most outrageous scenes in any of the 3 movies involving Sam Witwicky, Jerry Wang and a bathroom stall...nuff said. Suffice it to say I was glad to see Jerry Wang plummet to his death.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Buzz Aldrin cameo, seeing Buzz Aldrin talking to Optimus Prime was pretty geektacular.

Once the assault on Chicago got underway DotM hit a good pace and all the superfluous crap went to the back burner, the airborne jump above the battle by Lennox and the army forces was epic! And I have to admit the scenes with Sam, Epps and his squad trying to make their way to Cary and Dylan was also epic. As mentioned earlier I was not impressed with Shockwave, more exactly the cybernetic worms he controlled...what the hell were they!?
The other glaring problem I had with DotM was the significant lack of screen time Megatron had. We see him briefly in Africa then briefly throughout the assault on Chicago it's not till he rips Sentinel a new one, but then seems to revert back to a feeble shell of his former glory and then Optimus totally does something so out of character it had me go WTF!?

To sum up my feelings for DotM and all 3 movies It's not like we're looking for Shakespearian quality for a Transformers movie but if they had used the G1 series as a foundation for these 3 movies I honestly believe they would've been infinitely better than the crap Bay put on the screen. The work ILM put into bringing these robots to life is absolutely spectacular but I truly dispised the design of some of them. The elementary school scripts, obnoxious human characters, nauseating dialog and mind numbing inattention to detail has me depressed when you factor in these movies have made almost 3 BILLION dollars in worldwide BO sales.....WTF PEOPLE!!!

Someone is going to sit down one day and watch these 3 movies back to back and realize that in the first movie Megatron chases the All Spark from Cybertron to Earth and crashes in the arctic for millions of years, In the second Movie Megs needs Optimus Prime Dead to find the Autobot Matrix to power the Sun Harvestor but in the third movie Megs needs Optimus Alive to find and revive Sentinel Prime in order to power the space bridge to...these movies make guys like me who grew up watching the G1 series cringe.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon was better than Revenge of the Fallen but that's not anything to celebrate about.
C+

NCR9 SFXT single elim tourney

2011-06-27T07:47:00.029-04:00

At this years NCR9 Justin Wong, Ricky Ortiz, and some other familiar names from the fighting game tournament circuit had a chance for some hands on time with SFXT, check it out below!

Super 8 Review

2011-06-14T22:55:00.298-04:00

I think Super 8 is going to be a love it / hate it. I loved it, I also grew up watching movies like The Goonies, Poltergiest, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. and this movie reminded me of all these childhood favorites so I think part of my enjoyment of Super 8 comes from my nostalgia. If you didn't grow up in the time these movies were made you might not find the movie as enjoyable....yes before there was the interwebs we used our imaginations and found things to do outside in the big scary world!
The story takes place in a little fictional town in Ohio, Lillith, where 6 kids spend their summer making a zombie movie with their super 8mm camera. Charlie is the writter/ director of the movie, Joe Lamb is the make up artist for the zombie movie, his father, newly widowed, is the towns deputy who blames Louis Dainard, his wife's coworker at the local factory for her death. Alice Dainard, Louis' daughter agrees to be in Charlies movie as the wife of the detective played by Martin. And little Cary contributes as the "resident evil"/ pyrotechnics guru.
While filming a scene at a local train station one night the group witnesses a huge accident where a freight train gets derailed by a pickup truck the group finds their biology teacher behind the wheel. He warns the kids to never speak about the accident or they'll be killed. Charlie, Alice and the group flee just as the military arrive, Charlie picks up one of the mysterious cubes that are scattered all over from the wreckage.
As the group struggles to continue their movie Joe's father begins investigating strange events occurring in Lillith, like the disappearance of people, including the sheriff, missing engine blocks and power lines, neighborhood pets leaving the town and the arrival of the US Air Force.
As the military presence escalates and the town begins to slip into a state of panic, the relationship between Joe and Alice begins to grow....to the chagrin of Charlie. The two find common ground in the factory incident mentioned earlier, but their parents both vehemently forbid them from seeing each other.
Soon afterwards Alice is is abducted by whatever the USAF is trying to keep secret, the town is evacuated and Joe must convince his friends to help rescue Alice...

Super 8 brought me back to my youth and to a much less cynical time in my life and I don't care if some reviewers say JJ Abrams copied Spielbergs older works or it's not original, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie! Dakota Fanning's sister Elle was spectacular and reminded me of a young Drew Barrymore. And the chemistry between her and Joel Courney felt real and completely believable. The rest of the gang were fun and had that goonies-like chemistry, instead of Richard "data" Wang we got "boom boom" Cary.
The setting and time frame was a welcome return, the story was well balanced with enough lighthearted moments that didn't feel forced to keep the story from becoming too dark and depressing, the only scene that felt off to me was the scene when Joe and the guys are scrambling thru Lillith trying to rescue Alice. I kept thinking to myself "This totally reminds me of Exodus in Modern Warfare 2!"
The train derailment scene was intense! It made the one in The Fugitive looks boring!
And finally I think young Joel Courtney did a great job, I believe this is his first major role in movies....I really enjoyed the scenes he shared with Elle and I think he has a bright future ahead of him!
If you enjoyed Super 8 I recommend seeing the Iron Giant, the two movies are very familiar and are equally enjoyable!
A-

EVO 2k11 anouncement trailer

2011-06-12T17:24:00.008-04:00

Courtesy of SRK here's the first announcement for EVO 2k11!

SSX @ E3 2011 w/ Todd Batty

2011-06-12T13:21:00.017-04:00

The first game I had for PS2 was SSX....that game really flew under the game mags radars at first...I loved it! I skipped Tricky, but when SSX3 came out I had it on day one! I still play it from time to time....the game is amazing from the music to the visuals to the gameplay....it was and IMO still is the best snowboarding game ever made! I'm a bit apprehensive about a few things with this new SSX title,
1. Why segregate the different game types? Ride it, trick it, survive it. OK tag line but SSX3 had all that incorporated in the game! Todd Baty talks about "reimagining the franchise" the franchise doesn't NEED to be reimagined, just expand on SSX3 with 1080P graphics!
2. The control scheme Tod Baty mentions in the E3 vids sounds very limiting compared to the SSX3 control scheme....Custom ubers??? I don't see how with this new control scheme.
3. Shockwave destroys the flow....GTFO
4. I want DJ atomica back! And have a different DJ for each mountain, kinda like GTA radio stations...choose your favorite music genre and DJ to ride to.
5 I hate the camera angle shown for Survive It runs. Just incorporate the physics engine/environmental dangers Batty is hyping thru out the games mountains ISO making it a separate gametype.
6. I understand it's a pre alpha buid but the tricks demonstrated in the interviews looked so generic....custom tricks need to be in SSX
7. I'm called Batty's bluff on "total open world" riding....that's some serious Bravo Sierra!
8. Where's my Uber Meter? Get rid of the HUD stuff
9. Grinding looked "off"
10. Can we please just call this game SSX4?

E3 PS Vita Reveal!

2011-06-10T15:28:00.044-04:00

Kaz Hirai unveils the real name of the NGP...henceforth it shall be known as PS Vita... :/
Kaz touches on the awesome features of the Vita like Dual Analog sticks, front and rear cameras, 5" OLED screen the partnership with AT&T, and Near...I'm not too clear what Near is but I assume it magically finds other PS Vita's in range.

Get More: GameTrailers.com, PlayStation Vita - E3 2011: Features Walkthrough, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

SSX @ E3 2011

2011-06-10T12:57:00.027-04:00

I've been following this game since it was announced a few months back and I'm super uber psyched by this trailer!
Here's some 411 from a member of Merqurycity.com an SSX fansite.
http://www.merqurycity.com/ssx_forum...hp?f=18&t=9029

-There are a lot of f***ing mountains in this game.
-The menu is great.
-Mountains are not open sandboxes. Topographic data is (presumably) being used as the foundation for enclosed levels and the 3D skyboxes. They'll probably make it so there's no need for an "Out of Bounds" reset thing, but the tracks do have boundaries. I think this is a good move on their part.
-The boarding feels more weighty than past games, like the characters preserve momentum (no spinning on a dime just by holding left or right).
-The trick-system and controls are yet to be nailed down.
-You can use either the R stick or X/A button to jump.
-Steering and winding spins/flips is (for now) all on the L stick.
-You select loadouts for each event, which has at least enough flexibility to require a "chance of success" metric.
-I had fun playing it.
-The game is still early in production. Keep requesting features and giving feedback, because the game can and will change!

Street Fighter X Tekken Gameplay footage from E3

2011-06-09T14:36:00.002-04:00

Here's some gameplay footage of SFXT from E3, I like the slimmed down look of Chun and Sagat and the dramatic camera angles seen thruout the vid. And I may be mistaken but the stage looks an awful like like Retsu's stage from Street Fighter!

Street Fighter III 3S Online Edition Announcement Trailer!

2011-06-09T13:43:00.035-04:00

Capcom just released the first trailer for SFIII3SOE! After all these years there is still a strong commumity that prefers SFIII over SFIV, I played SFIII TNG and SI but never played 3S till I bought Capcom Anniversary collection for the PS2. GGPO network and uploading replays direct to your YT channel alone are deal sealers!

Capcom E3 Live Stream: SFIII 3rd Strike Online Edition Interview

Tomb Raider: Turning Point Debut Trailer

2011-06-03T22:55:00.001-04:00

Well hello there Lara....been awhile, haven't seen ya since 1998 when you and I went our separate ways. It wasn't you, really, it was, well to be honest you were moving too slow for me. I felt bogged down, and sometimes things just got so frustrating, and sometimes you just got so dam cheap.
But hey look atcha now, you're looking good girl! I know this guy, Nathan Drake...good guy you two have a lot in common, I'll introduce you some time.
I love the name of your boat....Endurance....ain't that the truth!

SDCC Soul Calibur V Trailer

2011-05-26T13:10:00.001-04:00

A tale of Souls and Swords eternally be told...
The next chapter in the Soul Calibur series takes place 17 years after SCIV and looks to pass the hilt to the next generation. We get a glimpse at some returning characters and some "new souls".
Looks like Sophitia had a son...Patroklos (1:30) who will be the main protagonist in SCV. The games newest antagonist appears to be the the guy with the crescent tattoo on his chest.
Funny how young Patroklos looks a helluva lot like young Siegfried....

Red Dead Redemption Review

2011-05-24T13:48:00.436-04:00

Red Dead Redemption is an absolutely amazing game! I had serious doubts after playing GTAIV, but I assure you if you have been putting off buying this game NOW is the time! I can't get over how R* could make 2 games that use the same engine and are basically the same game and one be so amazing and one suck such tremendous balls. May I be so bold as to say John Marston should be considered in the same tier as some of video games most celebrated characters like Solid Snake, Master Chief, Kratos, Samus, Mario, Sonic and the like. I'm actually very surprised at how much more enjoyable RDR is compared to GTAIV. I think I need to attribute that to the main character, the time period, and the environment. John Marston is a much more appealing character regardless of how you play him compared to Niko Bellic who I found kinda grating. Or maybe it was his annoying as shit cousin. And the environment, as cool as it was....was still not that appealing, maybe because it was the whole Liberty City 2.0 or the fact that I live minutes away from Manhattan and Liberty city just isn't that exotic to me.

On the other hand the American frontier at the turn of the century is fascinating, the push westward held for many the promise of a new beginning. And that is exactly where the games protagonist finds himself, Marston has returned to New Austin to track down men from a former outlaw life, bring them to justice so he can begin his new life with his wife and son.

Red Dead Redemptions' main story is broken into four chapters that take place in the three distinct areas, New Austin, Nuevo Paraiso and West Elizabeth. These fictional area's are based on the Rio Grande area of Texas and Mexico. Throughout the story you will come across some very unique characters, The first person you meet after getting off the train in Armadillo is Jake, an old scruffy man who shows you the way to Fort Mercer where you're told Bill Williamson is holed up with his gang. Things don't go according to plan and you end up on the MacFarlane Ranch where you meet Bonnie, as the story progresses you meet US Marshal Leigh Johnson in Armadillo and offer to help him clean up the town of outlaws. You also meet up with Nigel West Dickens a purveyor of fine elixirs and tonics that can cure almost any ailment...he's a scam artist. John is informally introduced to Irish and Seth Briars, the later a gollum-like grave robber/treasure hunter, the former a....you guessed it a drunk. These men offer to assist you in capturing Bill Williamson.

In the second chapter John tracks Wiliamson to Mexico and meets up with a host of new personalities like Landon Ricketts a legendary gunfighter from Marston's childhood, the revolutionaries Abraham Reyes and Luisa Fortuna, and Captain De Santa who eventually helps you capture Javier Escuella. By the end of the second chapter John has tracked down Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella and helped Abraham Reyes topple the government.

The third chapter has John travel to West Elizabeth where we learn more about his motivations for hunting down members of his old gang. At this point in the story works directly with agent Edgar Ross, and agent Archer Fordham to track down the leader of John's old gang Dutch van der Linde. With the help of

Native-American informant Nastas we find Dutch's hideout.

The final chapter show's John reunited with his wife Abigail and now teenage son Jack on their ranch.

The final chapters show John struggling to rebuild his ranch as well as his family, seeing John trying to mold his son into a man the player sees that Jack is very different from John and the two have very little in common. Interestingly it's guns that tore them apart years ago and guns are what bring them together....

I cannot stress how impressed I was with this game, the story, character development and environments are honestly better than some hollywood movies. I said it before, John Marston is one of the most interesting well developed video game characters I've ever played, by the third chapter the player has a clear understanding of his motivations and a vested interest in his story. The ending is phenomenal, it's bittersweet and will leave players and those just watching feeling like they were bucked off their horse. The towns of Armadillo, Black water, and the rest are perfectly reproductions of towns seen in so many spaghetti westerns and the environments across New Austin, Nuevo Paraiso and West Elizabeth Chuparossa have captured the beauty of the American South West.

Aside from the main story there are hours of "side quests", Ambient Challenges in four different aspects that constitute the men of that time- Treasure Hunter, Master Hunter, Sharpshooter and Survivalist. Throughout the story you'll also stumble upon secondary characters that offer you mini tasks to complete, these staranger missions help flesh out the world of Red Dead Redemtion even more. And if that wasn't enough there are six mini games offered all around the towns in Red Dead Redemtion, Five finger Fillet, Arm Wrestling, Blackjack, Horseshoes, Liars Dice, Poker...I'd like to thank my wife for getting a ringer in Horseshoes or I might still be struggling to reach 100% completion of the single player game!

Red Dead Redemption is a masterpiece that has an incredibly memorable story and main character, with a gorgeous and expansive environment populated by some very colorful characters. If that wasn't enough R* has also included a multiplayer game in RDR that utilizes the entire single player world. There is plenty to keep players occupied in the multiplayer game from FFA, TDM, Free Roam etc.

R* also incorporated their Social Club into the game, by registering on R*'s Social Club website you can track your progress in the game meet other players and see when R* plans to host Multiplayer events.

For parents I recommend this game for kids at least 15 years old, it's nowhere near as controversial as the GTA series but there is graphic violence and occasional F-bombs.

Soul Calibur V Teaser Trailer

2011-05-12T14:49:00.012-04:00

Transcending history and the world,
a tale of souls and swords eternally retold...
My second favorite fighting game franchise is returning in 2012