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1-15-10:
Games & Movies Of 2010:
Here is a small list of some of the games and movies that I am looking forward to this year.
Video Games |
Movies |
| Aliens Vs. Predator | A Nightmare On Elm Street |
| Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 (Not Confirmed, May be DLC) | Iron Man 2 |
| Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow | Jackass 3D |
| Crackdown 2 | Little Fockers |
| Dead Rising 2 | Piranha 3D |
| Fable III | Predators |
| Gears Of War 3 (Only rumored at this time) | Shrek Forever After |
| Green Day: Rock Band | Toy Story 3 |
| Halo Reach | |
| Legend Of Zelda: Wii (Only rumored at this time) | |
| Metroid: Other M | |
| Mortal Kombat 9 (Only rumored at this time) | |
| Naughty Bear | |
| Sonic The Hedgehog: aka Project Needlemouse | |
| Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2 | |
| Super Mario Galaxy 2 |
1-1-10:
2009 Video Game Stats:
Last year I started keeping detailed stats of what games I buy, where I buy them, how much I pay for them and if I fully complete them or not. I thought it would be fun to share some of those stats:
112 Games Bought/Received
29 Completed
Amount Spent: $ TOP SECRET
5 Free Games
Cheapest Games:
World Of Goo (PC) $ 1.00
Flatout Ultimate Carnage (Xbox 360) $2.50
Most Expensive Games:
Batman: Arkham Asylum: Collectors Edition (Xbox 360) $99.99
Resident Evil 5: Collectors Edition (Xbox 360) $89.99
Most Games Bought In The Month:
November - 14 Games
Least Games Bought In A Month:
TIE January/July - 3 Games
Systems I Bought Most Games For:
Xbox 360 - 51
Xbox Live Arcade - 19
Nintendo Wii - 14
Other - 28
Stores I Bought Most Games From:
Gamestop: Mundelein - 31
Best Buy: Kildeer - 25
Best Buy: Mundelein - 13
Other - 43
9-21-09:
Madden NFL 2010 Review:
There is not much for me to talk about with Madden 10 that people don’t already know, it’s a football game that comes out every year, and every year that it comes out the franchise see’s improvements. This year the game looks better than ever. This year they included showing the referees on the field, something that makes the game look even more realistic then before. The only thing I would like to see added to the Madden games is the ability to be able to save during a game, quit and then come back to it at a later time. To many times now have I been playing my franchise mode with the Chicago Bears and my son David comes in and wants to watch Netflix on the Xbox and I have to tell him he has to wait until Daddy is done or if I’m getting my ass kicked I will just quit and let him watch what he wants. But I would really like to see an option to save and come back to a game in case you have to leave and do something else.
9-21-09:
Splosion Man Review:
Splosion Man is a 2D side scrolling puzzle platformer that your objective is to “splode” yourself to get from one point to another. “Splode” is basically another word for jump, as the main character doesn’t jump, he explodes himself which lifts himself off the ground. When the game was first released the downloaded the demo. The Demo only let you play until level 7 I think it was and I had a good time and thought I would really like this game so I decided to buy it. That’s when the game took a major turn, after the first few demo levels the game started to get really, really hard. Nice little trick developers are trying to do now, show people that there games are fun and entertaining in the demo then once you buy it they throw you into levels that start to make you want to rip out your hair. The game gets real challenging, really fast and your going to die, a lot. There have been times that I have just had to walk away from the game and come back to it a few days later just to try to beat a single level. The game is fun though, and once you do beat one of those challenging levels you do feel like you accomplished something, even though you really haven’t because the next stage is just as hard if not worse.
9-21-09: (9-23-09 Updated)
Contra ReBirth Review:
Contra ReBirth is a $10 game that is available on the Nintendo Wii as WiiWare. It features classic Contra gameplay, classic weapons from previous games, and graphics that look like they are from the 16-bit era Super Nintendo days. Contra ReBirth also features redone classic Contra music that once you hear it you will remember it, if you have played the original on the Nintendo. With just these features the game seems like a great deal at $10, but then I played it and wish I had not. First off the game is HARD. Even if you set the difficulty to Easy, the game is still very punishing. One thing the game does do, if you set the game on Easy and you die, you do not lose the special gun you are carrying. So you can always have your Spread Gun and not worry about losing it if you die but like I said, even on Easy the game is very hard and I have trouble getting past Stage 2. Maybe the main reason for that is in this Contra game you can NOT run and shoot your gun at the same time as you could in EVERY CONTRA GAME EVER RELEASED. Every time you want to shoot your gun at an enemy you have to stop and shoot, can’t just run and gun your way thru this game, it adds a lot more challenge to the game, but it just doesn’t feel like Contra because of this. I saw an official trailer for this game on the Nintendo Channel on the Wii and they showed the characters shooting while running at the same time and it just pissed me off. I think if I could run and shoot at the same time I would have liked this game a lot more, because it sure does look good and the music is awesome. Brings back those good old Contra memories.
UPDATE: After watching a few more trailers of the game they showed the main characters still running and shooting at the same time. Even in other game video reviews they were doing the same thing so I started thinking maybe something was wrong with my copy of the game. After experimenting for awhile and trying different things, I found out if you play the game using the Nintendo Classic Controller you can run and shoot at the same time just as you could in classic Contra games. Why you can't do this with the normal Wii Remote controller turned sideways is beyond me, maybe you are not meant to play the game that way, and if that is the case they should give you a warning in the beginning of the game saying that this game requires a Classic Controller or GameCube controller to work properly like it does when you try to play a Super Nintendo or Nintendo 64 game. Knowing now that I CAN run and shoot, the game is a little more enjoyable, still really hard but a little easier then I stated before. So my advice is if you’re going to play this game, make sure you use a Classic Controller.
9-21-09:
Turtles In Time: Review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time: Reshelled is a remake of the classic arcade released in the early 90’s of the same name (besides the Reshelled part). Ever since the Original ’89 Ninja Turtles arcade was released on Xbox Live Arcade with its original graphics, music, and online multiplayer support people have been asking for the sequel to be released and now it has been, but I don’t think anybody ever expected this. Instead of releasing a port of the arcade they completely redid it with new graphics and music and I must say it sucks. The original arcade seemed more colorful, friendlier and just overall a more enjoyable game. The stages in the remade version seem very dark and don’t have any real life to them, and speaking of life the Turtles look boring as hell. The online and offline multiplayer suffer as well, depending on what difficulty you choose, you are only given a certain amount of lives. The game would have been a smash hit if they somehow included the original arcade as an unlockable, but nothing. If you want to try Turtles In Time, I would recommend finding a copy of the Super Nintendo version, as that is the best version out there.
7-15-09:
Top 25 Super Nintendo Games:
Today I completed something I have been working a little bit on in my free time, a list of my top 25 Super Nintendo Games.
My Top 25 Super Nintendo Games
6-26-09:
R.I.P. Michael Jackson:
(Michael Jackson with Siegfried & Roy feeding a White Tiger)
Michael Jackson died yesterday and I felt I had to pay somewhat of a small tribute to him as I grew up listening to a lot of his music. I wouldn't call myself a die hard fan but just like millions of people I loved the hits and there were so many of them. He was an incredible singer, songwriter and dancer. I wish I would have had the chance to see him perform live. In my generation it was not cool to like Michael Jackson (due to the first child abuse charges), in fact kids would make fun of you or call you names if they found out if you listened to MJ, but I am sure even those people went home and cranked up some of his best selling songs because no matter how weird he may have gotten, how his face transformed, or even the charges that he faced, nothing could deny the fact that his music brought the world together and his music will carry his legacy on. People will remember Michael Jackson for the entertainer, the musician more then they will for what the news media has made him out to be for the past 15 years.
6-22-09:
Top 10 Anticipated Games For 2009: PART II:
Now that the year is just about half over and the E3 expo is now over and we know what new games are coming out and we have a better idea of what is coming and not coming out this year, I have decided to made a Most Anticipated Games Of The Rest Of 2009. Some of the games on the list are still on here from the first list I made since they haven’t been released yet, some have been taken off because they have either been delayed till next year or they have already come out, but most of all I have added new games that have been announced that are expected to be out by the end of this year. So here are the games I am most looking forward to for the remainder of the year.
Batman Arkham Asylum
BioShock 2
Sequel to 2007’s major hit, BioShock 2 takes place 10 years after the events of the first game, and puts you in the role of the iconic Big Daddy, one of the first games most dangerous enemies. Not much is know at this time but is slated for a fall release. November 3rd
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Seems like every year there is always a new Madden Football, Guitar Hero and even Call of Duty game and this year hopes are there is a sequel to 2007’s Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which departed ways from typical World War II setting and brought the series to modern times, with modern guns and modern story. I was never a huge fan of Call Of Duty games, but Call Of Duty 4 really impressed me. Last year they released a new Call Of Duty game but took it back to World War II, but there have been a lot of talk that this year will bring the return of Modern Warfare which makes me happy. Expect it November 10th
Left 4 Dead 2
Sequel to last years smash hit game comes out this year. Lot of fans are mad by its quick release by saying everything in this game should just be downloadable content for the first game, but it doesn't’t bother me any. 5 new levels, 4 new characters, melee weapons all sound like a great new experience to me. Get ready for the second wave of the zombie apocalypse November 17th
Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The game looks and plays the same way as the last Nintendo DS Zelda game “Phantom Hourglass” did, but this time instead of riding a boat around the world you are riding a train. Hopefully this game will come out later this year as Nintendo said it would.
Lego Rock Band
A game that was rumored for a few months has finally been confirmed, and people don’t know what to think of it. Take the Lego universe and mix it with the Rock Band universe and you get a family friendly version of Rock Band with easier game moods and family friendly songs. The setlist hasn't’t been posted yet, but I hope that you can take the songs that are in the game and export them so you can play them in Rock Band 2. Rock your Lego’s out in November.
Guitar Hero 5
I was not a big fan of Guitar Hero World Tour, but I am willing to give the Guitar Hero franchise one to chance to come back strong with Guitar Hero 5. Not many songs have been announced as of writing this so I don’t know much about it. I am more of a Rock Band fan myself, but like I just said, I am willing to give Guitar Hero 5 a chance. Guitar Hero 5 comes out September 1st.
Halo 3 ODST
A new Halo game is being released this year. You do not play as Master Chief in this game instead you play as an ODST soldier. I have not researched much of this game other then it uses the same engine as Halo 3, so basically it is just an expansion to the game. It will feature multiplayer as Halo 3 did. Halo 3 ODST drops September 22nd.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
The Mario & Luigi RPG series on the GBA and Nintendo DS have always had great gameplay, story, and writing and that’s what makes me excited for the newest installment in the Mario & Luigi series. Look for Bower’s Inside Story in late October or November.
New Super Mario Bros Wii
A classic side scrolling Super Mario Bros game that can be played with 1 to 4 players is coming to the Wii later this year. Although I am not to interested in the 4 played features in the game, I am sure I will play 2 players with my wife at times. The game looks just like the Nintendo DS version, but this time includes new power up suits, Yoshi and the famous Koopa Kids return. The Koopa Kids have not appeared in a game since Super Mario World way back on the Super Nintendo. Nintendo has said the game will be out Holiday of this year.
6-18-09:
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Review (Xbox 360)
Being a Ghostbusters fan all my life I was so excited to learn about this game coming out. Being what is called the third Ghostbusters movie since it is written by and voices are done by the original actors, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and even Bill Murray. I have followed the development of this game closely and waited so long to get my hands on it, and I can finally say, I came, I saw, I kicked its ass. (Ghostbusters reference when they caught Slimer for the first time)
First I will address the story which was written as I said by Harold and Dan who wrote the first two films. If people are about to play this game and never saw the films I would highly recommend you seeing at least the first Ghostbusters film since a lot of the events in this game are linked directly to that film. The game does not reference the second film much in the plot, but there are nice easter eggs hidden in the game that if you saw the second film you will recognize. The games plot focuses around Gozer who is the villain from the first film, but half way through the game you find out there are other evil doers at work. Like I said it is really important to see the first movie because they reference everything from the building the Gozer was on, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the Sedgewick Hotel and even the Library.
The looks and effects of the game are great. The characters really do look like the Ghostbusters as they would look in 1991. Today all those actors are getting old, fat and gray hair, so it’s nice to be able to see them in their younger form. The only problem with the character models is sometimes the voices to sync with their lips. A character could stop talking and then you see their lips still moving, it’s a small flaw, but something that maybe should have gotten more attention. Like I said they were able to get all the original actors to reprise to roles as Ghostbusters, they even got the original actors to reprise the roles of Walter Peck and Secretary Janine. The game didn’t game Rick Moranis as Louis Tully due to his retirement to acting, and the game is also missing Dana Barrett who is played by Sigourney Weaver but her character is mentioned a few times during the game. The actors do a great job playing their roles as Ghostbusters and really sound like they are into it, except one. Bill Murray most of the times sounds really bored. It felt like either he didn’t put much effort into this project or he is just so used to going into a studio and doing his Garfield voice because that’s what he sound like most of the time in this game, not Peter Venkman but Garfield and that was really disappointing. The game features the original Ghostbusters song by Ray Parker Jr. and also features the entire score from the original film and it is awesome to hear it, after you get done playing you will be walking around humming the themes.
The game takes about just a little more than 6 hours to complete which does seem short but there are things that may make you go back and play through again. There are hidden collectables in each stage and you need to scan each ghost in you PKG meter. There are 7 levels in all, I would have liked to have seen more levels then what there are and maybe the length longer than 6 hours but for what it’s worth I had a great time playing Ghostbusters. Other then Bill Murray’s poor performance I didn’t have much bad things to say about this game, it was well written, it stars the Ghostbusters, you can tell the developers were really into this game and were Ghostbusters fans themselves with all the little nods you see to the franchise especially in the firehouse such as the painting of Vigo, the dancing toaster, the ending screen to the original Nintendo Ghostbusters video game (complete with spelling errors), there are so many things you will spend a good amount of time just looking around trying to find them all. I had a lot of fun playing this game, I would recommend it to anyone who was/is a Ghostbusters fan, as of right now it’s the only thing we have that is a true sequel. The writing is great, the jokes at times are stupid one liners but that is what made the movies so good. It is shorter then I was hoping for, but there is some replay value. There are a few online multiplayer modes, but I have yet to try them, and they are not the focus of my review. I am tempted to pick up the Nintendo Wii version which features a totally different graphic layout, a few different enemies and of course motion control. If I do maybe I will write my impressions on that one as well, but I am already sure that the Xbox 360 version is the best of them all.
6-05-09:
Terminator Salvation (Film) Impressions/Problems
*Contains Major Spoilers*
I really enjoyed Terminator Salvation. I went into it thinking it would be bad, I mean having Batman also being John Connor, just didn’t sound like it would work for me, but Christian Bale did a good job as John Connor. I have been wanting a movie based on the future war ever since I first saw Terminator 2 and now I finally got it, but when I first saw trailers it didn’t look as dark as I thought it would be. Then I found out this is taking place 11 years before what we saw in Terminator 2, so they have not invented plasma gun’s and the T-800’s have not been created yet. I walked out happy, I think the ending sucked. I mostly had more questions about certain things than anything, below is just a few of them.
My main problem with the film is the origins of Marcus Wright. How is he half human, half Terminator? He was put to death in 2003, that means between 2003 and 2018 Skynet made him what he is today, but how is that possible. How do they have that kind of advance technology to make a half human, half machine, when they have yet to make the T-800 Terminators which are all machine? It seems like Marcus is the most advance Terminator they have ever created since he can feel pain, emotion and hell he doesn’t even know he is a machine but yet they created this most advanced machine before the T-800, the T-1000, and the TX. There is just something that’s missing, was Marcus created way in the future, and then sent back in time and programmed to live as human and committed crimes that led to his execution just to be reactivated in 2018? It just bothers me that the most advance Terminator was created even before the T-800 (Arnold’s model)
When Marcus enters Skynet’s main computer room, why is it so clean and neat? It almost looks like something you would find in a high tech Apple Store. They even have a chair in the middle of the room. Who is going to enter this room? Does Skynet expect a lot of human visitors in their main control room where they need a chair for them? Or do Terminators go in there and talk with the girl on the screen and sometimes their legs get tired and need a seat? I just found it funny, the one room that would never see the light of day from a human being is so nice and neat, clean and has a chair, but yet the prisons are so rusty, dark and gloomy.
Why does Skynet tell Marcus that “They have tried many times in the past to kill John Connor and failed”? How does Skynet know about those past attempts if they haven’t happened yet? The first Terminator was sent back in time from the year 2029, so how does Skynet in 2018 know that it is going to send Terminators back in time in 11 years?
When Marcus first enters Skynet’s control room, he is all beat up and half of his endoskull is showing, at the same time, John brakes into Skynet. Pretty much the next scene, Marcus is all healed and in a different outfit. How did his skin heal itself that fast? Did he enter a machine and get “reskined”? Skynet itself just learned this technology so I doubt they have “skin machines” all around their buildings.
At the end of Terminator 2, they destroy the chip, arm and Arnold in the liquid steel right? Well in this movie, when John shoots container that holds the steel open and it pours all over the T-800, shouldn’t that have caused it to melt, or at least cause major damage? Then he shoots open something that causes it to freeze. Should that have made the T-800 to bust or something? When I take a hot frying pan, and then put it under ice cold water doesn’t it bend or burst? Shit, while the T-800 was frozen why didn’t John shoot it or knock it over, didn’t he learn anything from what the Terminator did to the T-1000 in T2?
John Connor needs to stop flying helicopters. Both times when he did in the film he crashed.
Why don’t they focus more on the fact that John’s wife Kate is pregnant? You can totally tell she is.
There were things in this film that brought back memories of the old films; here is a list of things I noticed:
The opening title used the crawl scroll that the original did.
“Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back” are used
Linda Hamilton returned to rerecord her voice for the tapes John listens to, and you see the famous picture from the first film.
The tow truck that Marcus, Kyle and Star use to escape from 7-11 looks almost like the one the T-1000 used in Terminator 2.
Guns n’ Roses “You Could Be Mine” is used, it was also used in Terminator 2 when John is riding his bike.
Marcus shows Kyle how to tie a rope around a shotgun. Kyle uses this in Terminator when he hides his shotgun under his coat.
The T-800 scratches Johns face which gives him the scar you see on the future John Connor in Terminator 2, and Terminator 3.
Cyberdyne Systems is mentioned. I thought they went bye bye after T2, but I guess they didn’t sell to the government until after 2003. Judgment Day happened in 2004
The first prototype of Model 101 is shown. He looked ok, even though it wasn’t Arnold and it was just CG effects.
5-21-09:
Terminator Salvation (Xbox 360) Review
Terminator Salvation was one of my top 10 most anticipated games of this year, but after playing it, the game will probably end up on my worst games of 2009 list. The idea of the game is one that I thought would be great for a few years now, Gears of War gameplay and cover system meets the Terminator universe. The game does try to copy the Gears of War cover system, but they failed big time. The thing that bothered me most was if I was behind say a small barrier wall, I could not jump over it to get to the next piece of cover. I would have to get out of cover, expose myself to enemy fire and run around to get to the next safe point. If maybe the developers spent just a few more months on the game they would have gotten it right. The controls are pretty standard and don’t take too long to get used to so that is a plus.
The games A.I can either be really smart or really dumb. At all times you have a partner (Blair) who you need at all times to help you fight certain types of machines, one person needs to get their attention while the other sneaks behind them and shoot them in the back because that is their only weakness. Sometimes you partner will know exactly where to go to lure the enemies fire and sometimes she will even take out the enemy herself, but then there are the times that your partner is so stupid she gets hung up behind a wall while you have moved on 2 full screens. The enemy A.I is pretty smart, the machines that require you to kill from behind that I just talked about are very cautious and keep an eye on both you and your partner and at times takes a few minutes to line up to get a good shot. However the T-600 Endoskeleton Terminators come right at you with their chain guns blazing. They have no fear and they are really tough to kill. There are only about 4 different types of enemies in the game so it can get really boring fighting the same things over and over again.
Now the main problems with the game, first off there is no online co-op. There is local co-op so if you have a friend over the two of you can play via split screen, but this game could really have been good if it had online co-op. Second, the story is just boring and gives no life to the Terminator universe. The story is set in 2016, two years before the events of the movie Terminator Salvation. You play as John Connor, you are not the leader of the resistance that you will one day become yet, instead you are just a solider under someone else’s command. On a mission you receive a distress call from survivors that are in your location, your commander says that they are going to leave them and not risk the lives of his platoon, Connor decides to disobey his commander and go out on his own to rescue the survivors. That’s it, nothing exciting or anything. Third thing I could not stand about this game was the long loading times. After every level and during every cut scene you are faced with loading times of about 45 seconds to up to a minute. Even if you install the game on your hard drive it doest even help.
Finally the worst thing about this game is its length. I completed this game from beginning to end in four hours, that’s right 4 freaking hours. I paid $60 for a game that took me 4 hours to complete. The game has no replay value, nothing to go back and collect or find. Nothing. I always hear complaints of people getting mad for spending $60 on a game and they finish it in 8-12 hours, but for a game to be only 4 hours in this current generation of game systems is just unacceptable in my book.
So there you have it, a game that when first shown last year which looked like a Gears of War meets Terminator game that I thought would kick total ass turned out to be a total let down. I do not recommend anyone buy this game, instead go rent it, or wait till you can find it for less than $10 cause as short of a game as it is, it is not worth the full retail price of $60
The animations of the characters look great. Every time I saw screen shots I thought the characters looked too much like cartoons and childish, but after seeing them in motion I think they look great. Each character talks in their native language, such as Glass Joe is from France, so he speaks French, and there are no subtitles so you have no idea what he is saying. I am not a fan of this. It gets annoying and I would like to know what they are saying.
The controls are great. You can use a single Wii Remote, turn it sideways and play it just like the classic Nintendo version of Punch-Out. They also included motion controls, so if you hook up a Nunchuck you can use that and the Wii Remote and swing away. I tried using that control setting for one match, but my arms got tired from all the punching motions that I found the first mentioned was easier and was more responsive and worked better on later characters. You can also use the Wii Balance Board but I do not have mine at my house at this time so I wasn’t able to try using it.
I do highly recommend this game, but don’t expect it to be a quick walk in the park. The boxers you fight do put up a good fight and it will take some time to learn their patterns and moves for you to get an understanding of how they fight to take them out quick and easily.
