Entry to Shawn Eliott's Symposium: Review Scores

My entry to Shawn Eliott's Symposium: Review Scores

What does one of the "normal" people (as Dan Hsu describes us) feel about review scores? From someone who has read reviews since 1989 for purchasing decisions to now, my attitude has changed

At first, review scores have become the litmus test of a game that I am on the fence about or now nothing of. I want a review to answer the questions of a cynic, a skeptic or just a confused gamer if the game is worth one's time. It is especially true for sequels, sports games and now, all those Activision games that get once a year treatment.

Reviews are no longer the only source that influences my purchasing decision, I often listen to podcasts, the vidcasts, demos and/or follow the "buzz." Even previews have time to time influenced a decision, just recently, Shawn Elliott's Far Cry 2 preview spark an enough interest to buy the game. Stephen Totilo's daily dairies have become like a book club, as I play similar games, for example, I experience the same frustrations that Stephen faced in Dead Space.

Reviews will never go away, as Dan Hsu points out, "It’s ingrained in society and it’s pointless and stubborn to fight it. People don’t always have time to read a 2000-word, well-crafted review to get inside the brain of the reviewer. For most folks in this short-attention-span world, that “4 out of 10” usually says more than enough." The problem with Review Scores are not the scores themselves, but the fact that one person can never review the bulk of weekly game, as Roger Ebert does with the movies he watches for the Chicago Tribune. The last point is better reserve for the next topics.

Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box PC February 09 Release

"Just when I thought I was out, THEY PULL ME BACK IN!"

EA and Criterion have announced the release date of Burnout Paradise for the PC arriving in February 09.  EA has a checkered past with DRM issues, Crysis Warhead, Dead Space, Red Alert 3 and Spore.  Criterion's Alex Ward once claimed they will never do PC games and its overclockign shenanigans.  With Burnout PC, they seem to be moving away from DRM.

With Burnout Paradise, EA and Criterion will be distributing the a trial version for free, with a limited time demo all of Paradise City has to offer (download and dvd disc).  To purchase the full content, EA and Criterion have attached an ingame store, with a few clicks the trial version unlocks to the full retail game.  Details are limited, as the ingame store will be fully revealed in an upcoming CrashTV Episode. 

Are PC gamers going to be pulled into Burnout Paradise, a year after its console release?  Has EA learn its on how to properly handle consumers and DRM? 

Call of Duty: World at War

Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War is the next installment of the successful first person series and sequel to last year mutli-million seller COD 4 Modern Warfare. WaW returns to the battlefields of World War 2 with two new theaters of war, the American invasion of the outlying islands of the Japanese Empire and the Soviet Union invasion and defeat of Nazi forces in Germany. As much as the publisher, Activision, leads us to believe, WaW remains to be the same 'war' with only updated visuals, an uninspired world war two atmosphere and tired gameplay.

More of the same

In WaW there are two campaigns, the American invasion of the Japanese islands and the Soviet Union march to Berlin with each portraying war as a necessary method to eradicate evil. The portrayal of the Japanese soldiers are one of the changes in WaW. In previous COD games knife and melee attacks only occurred in close combat scenarios or when the player would rush to positioned enemies' stationary positions. Now, the Japanese soldiers are trained to do suicidal 'bonzai' bayonet attacks. After a successful knock down, the player has one to two seconds to execute a counter by pressing down on the right analog stick. The 'bonzai attacks' become so frequent it play as cheap gimmick rather than innovate design.

Another new wrinkle is powered by the amazing rendered foliage as seen in Modern Warfare, however, WaW allows only the enemy A.I. to take advantage of the environmental cover. Japanese fighters will cover in trees, hide as dead soldiers, and lay in grass. Never do they flank, advance to better cover or show any other type of A.I. behavior.

The Soviet Union campaign is more of the same as previous COD games. A sniper mission. Check. Street fighting. Check. A tank mission. Check. The tank episode actually was enjoyable and captured the 'total war' atmosphere games strive to reach. There was multiple infantry, other enemy tanks, and a continuous battle, the level was a breath of freshness. Unfortunately, there are multiple levels tread the same areas tried and done from the COD franchise.

As a now veteran of five call of duties, WaW is not the best, MW is, nor the worst tour, COD3 is. World at War at its best, becomes the frankenstein monster experience, made from the best and worse gameplay pieces of previous entries searching for a soul.

Two out of Five stars.

Watchmen Trailer...I am still on the fence

Alan Moore's Watchmen is perfect as graphic novel, and the movie seems to be just a rip off.

Well here is the trailer...

River y Chivas: Simeone is fired

The River defeat against the mexican club Chivas, the loss to Boca Juniors and at the bottom del Apertura, Simeone is fired during its worse tour in years.
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Diego "Hand of God" Maradona to head the Argentine National Football Team ***NO JOKE***

I am in utter disbelief...not sure to laugh manically or call the token "che" to ask for his opinion. Carlos Bilardo is to be included on the coaching staff, but still this reeks of desperation.



UPDATE

Just talked to my token "che" friend, he dropped the phone...and cut his wrists....

From Reuters Soccer Blog

Little Big Planet Beta Code; I have one to share for one lucky poster

Just describe in the comments on why you deserve to be in the Little Big Planet Beta before the game hits retail.

Best response gets the LBP beta code courtesy of LGs.

Update. The contest ends 10PM PST Time. The one code will be sent to the winner at 9AM PST on Thursday Oct 2.

Thank you.

kanYe West : Blog##

kanYe West : Blog##

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Messi fullfills his dream; Maradona in tears...

Not only has Messi, arguably one of the best players of the world, joined his Olympic teamates in Peking. Today he was announced as the cover athlete for Konami's highest selling sports title, PES 2009. Instead of shelling out for the best player of each region, as EA does for their FIFA series, signing the Messi is the way to go.

Maradona is in tears, he was never a cover boy athlete...
Press realase

PES 2009 gets Messi

Argentinean forward announced as the pan-European face of PES 2009

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that Argentinean forward Lionel Messi is to be the face of its forthcoming PES 2009 title for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PlayStation®2, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), Wii and mobile phones across Europe.

Messi is one of the most exciting and paciest forwards in the modern game, and is an ever-present in both the Argentinean national side and for his club side, FC Barcelona. Having played for Argentinean sides since he was five, Messi moved to Barcelona when he was just 13,13 working his way through the CatalanFC Barcelona side’s youth and reserve teams, before making his full debut in October 2004 as the youngest player ever to play in the Spanish top flight. He made his debut for Argentina against Hungary in 2005, and has been a permanent member of the squad ever since.

As part of the new agreement, Lionel Messi will grace the box of all versions of PES 2009 when it is released later this year, and will also feature in promotional materials for the game. PES 2009 is the latest installment of the award-winning Pro Evolution Soccer Series, and will boast a wealth of extensive new additions to enhance the series’ reputation as the most realistic football game available. The new game enjoys a stunning graphical update wherein its players look and identically to their real-life counterparts, while new moves, innovative control elements and key online enhancements will further the realism of the new game.

“Most modern players are aware of the realism and skill of the PES series,” commented Messi on the deal. “It is a game that truly mirrors the pace and control of real football, and as a die-hard fan of the series, I am delighted to be working with Konami on the latest version.”

“Lionel Messi is an incredibly exciting player, and one who enjoys a world-wide reputation for skill, pace and all-round ability,” commented Jon Murphy, PES European Team Leader for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “As such, he is the ideal player to front PES 2009, and his enthusiasm for the new game is certain to shine as we work closely together in the promotion of what will be the most advanced PES title to date.”

Konami will be announcing further enhancements and player contributions to PES 2009 in the coming weeks.

PES 2009 will be released for PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC-DVD, PlayStation 2, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and mobile phones in Autumn, and for Wii in Spring 2009. For more information, please contact…

All copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used under license.
© 2008 Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.

EA announces Madden NFL 09 for the spanish speaking audience

If you want the collectors edition, you may want to learn how to read english...
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Memo Ochoa linked to an EPL transfer

Everton is the rumored team, not sure on how Tim Howard will feel. Cause like Mexicans and Americans can not get along...
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Memo Ochoa FIFA 09 Cover athlete....again

My aunt, the aguilas fan she is, asked, "Do you think he is sexier in a suit or in a jersey?"



gah!

I guess she has not seen Beckham's bulge...

Sven Goran Eriksson Alert!

Please apply sun block on face and body. Thanks!




via monterrey.theoffside.com

Eto'o recent impressive play might make him stay

Could Eto'o find his goal scoring form from previous seasons to aid Barca's run to topple over Real Madrid?

Fans surely remember his perceived cowardice in drawing a yellow in a match before the rivals Real Madrid. We will all forget his faults after a few scores and brilliant play.
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Top PC Games that I want to play NOW!!!

Left4 Dead
Think Half Life 2 zombie levels with co-op, a must play!

Spore
From the creator of sims, Will Wright, need I say more?

Fallout 3
A Bethesda's game that is not Elder Scrolls, first in-game character birth, insert your own cliche excitement here!
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Soul Calibur IV

Tomorrow our souls will burn.

If there ever was a fighting series that promoted button smashing over finesse skilled play, it is Soul Calibur. Of course there is that stigma around the title, gamers shelling out hard earn dollars for "arcade" quality joysticks. Soul Calibur is a mainstream game, as Dead or Alive, anyone can jump right in and start playing laying out combos randomly. The payoff is wonderful, my niece can pass the story mode of DOA4 with every character, and the create your fighter feature in SC4 has piqued her interest. Tomorrow will be a fun day, but the true casual test will be on Saturday, when the whole family will be fighting for their own soul calibur.
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Violence in Sports

Another sad day for sports, as violent scuffle broke out between two WNBA teams. Detroit Shock and LA Sparks players and coaches exchange pushes and shoves, as a Detroit assistant coach, Rick Mahorn, pushes star forward Lisa Leslie to the court floor.

Ronnie joins Brazil in Peking

Ronaldinho will be joining with the under 23 Olympic squadmates for the August games. The decision came from his new club AC Milan who earlier this year said no to Kaka's olympic wish.
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Generation Kill; an HBO Miniseries

Generation Kill a book written by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright has been adopted to television by the creators of the Wire, David Simon and Ed Burns. The series will adapt the award winning book, chronicling the events of his time with the 1st Reconnaisance Battalion during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Evan Wright's story with the US Marines was originally in Rolling Stone. The award winning articles and book will be the backbone for the HBO Miniseries airing every Sunday.

Ronaldinho accepted AC Milan contract

Rumors ahoy, Ronaldinho has agreed with AC Milan regarding the players contract, time will tell if Barca accepts the transfer bid.
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Maradona sera abuelo del hijo Sergio "Kun" Aguero

Chalk it up as a rumor, but the grandson of the "10" being fathered by Argentina's star in the making is ludicrous and crazy.
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E3 08: Microsoft best foot forward

Today at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Microsoft showed off their blockbusters, family initiative, a 3d avatar with a new user interface, music must haves, arcade exclusives and the closest guarded secret that MS ever held.

Don Mattrick, in the middle of MS E3 conference, boasted, "the 360 will outsell the PS3 this generation." For North America, it will be point less to argue, that the PS3 will one day catch up to the Xbox 360 or even the Wii.

The blockbuster lineup consisted of two multi platform and two exclusive games being released in the fiscal 08 calendar. Resident Evil 5 and Fallout 3 were both demoed with live gameplay, showing off RE5 co-op play over xbox live and F3 showcased a bleak Washington DC. Fallout 3 will have exclusive downloadable content.

The two exclusive xbox 360 titles were Peter Molyneux's and Cliff Blezinski's, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2, respectively. Fable 2 impressed the crowd with an impressive co-op functionality, allowing a player to invite a friend to their world for questing, dungeons, or to hang out in the player created world. Peter claims Fable will innovate co-op play by allowing players to have their own unique world and to be able to invite friends without lobbies to any player at any point of the Fable 2story. Gears of War 2 co-op demo showed the already scene, meat shields, and brumak fight but announced a new five player co-op mode named "Horde." The mode will allow five players to team up against wave after wave of enemies.

The family strategy laid out by MS, included a new partnership with NBC/Universal as well as with MGM and Constantine to bring video content to North American and other regions of the world. Nintendo Mii's brought the family in to creating avatars of family, friends and even neighbors, MS hopes to bring that same mania with Avatars, a 3D model that will be implemented through a new dashboard or user interface this fall. Avatars will be used in family friendly game, Scene It? Box Office Smash and a new MS "Primetime" channel or portal.

The dashboard update will include new "Live Party," a mode currently used in select console titles and available on the PC. The Live Party will be up to 8 players, who can voice chat, launch certain multiplayer titles, basically a shared experience while playing games.

The biggest surprise of the conference, Square Enix announced, that one thought it would happen, Final Fantasy XII went multiplatform via the GDC announced Crystal Tool Software. The change, explained in a later Q&A session, is based on hardware numbers per region. Japan will see a small exclusive window via the PS3, with North America release seeing the Xbox 360 and PS3 launch on the same day and date.

Final Fantasy 13 coming to the XBOX 360

Oh my god
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Iker Casillas the next Lev Yashin

It is that time of year, where le creme de la creme of footballers are being penned to be the next winner of the Ballon d'Or award. The highly coveted award, rivaled only by FIFA Player of the Year, is being pursued by Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Leonel Messi and Fernando Torres.

If I was to vote, which one day may occur (probably not) I would cast ny ballot as Casillas to be first followed by Ronaldo, Torres and Messi.

It was the play and marvelous goaltending of Casillas that ended a long drought of under performing at the major football men events. Always being sent home early in the past World Cups, after dominating the opening round, Spain were vexed long enough by winning Euro Cup 2008.

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Olympics 2008: Messi is a go

Messi and AFA, can now breathe a sigh of relief, as FIFA assured, that all players under 23 years (Messi is 20) are obliged to play if they are selected. La Pulga has been has won one youth World Cup, and is eager to add the Olympic gold to his growing trophy case.
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Eriksson address Mexican Press and Fans; World Cup or bust, presents his assistants

Sven Goran Eriksson presented his group of assistant coach and medical staff in a conference addressing the media and ultimately the fans of the Mexican National Team. The Swede and former England coach has his first match on August 20th against Honduras, a team known for upsetting Brazil in Copa America 2001, believes Mexico is the better team. Eriksson explains, "I think that qualifying for the World Cup is an obligation for Mexico, without doubt," but with only three days for prep, "It's not ideal, but it's reality, we have to do it that way and that's the end of it."

There was no answer in regards to using Mexican nationalized foreigners for the national team, the Swede is not even sure what format they will take field with, or with what style, until he has spoken to the players.

"I feel that Mexico have a strong team and we won't have trouble adapting." There may be Big Trouble in Mexico City if the Mexican National team continues to play poorly. Only time will tell if the European direction via Eriksson will influence the Mexican players.

FIFA World Cup 2010 in the USA?

How awesome would that be? Suck of the hundred thousands of South Africans who may have attended the games, but as an American I would love to have the finals here.
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Ronaldinho says Si Si, Barca No No, Messi ok ok

The Brazilian olympic turmoil turn to a expected area, Ronaldinho wants to go to China and play for the selecao. Ronnie is quoted by the spanish Marca, " I only imagine playing at Olympic games, playing well and winning the gold medal.". As Barca has asked all of their players to report to training camp ready for the 2008/2009 season.

Leonel Messi, star player for Barca and Argentina is expected to be in Pekin and will miss the first weeks of August. Messi wants to play, and believes there will be no issue with the club.

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Too Human, Denis Dyack, Bringing it Home E3

With only a few weeks for the release of the highly anticipated Action RPG Shooter, Too Human, today was the announcement of a demo to be on XBL. Microsoft's Bringing it Home E3, in the past has conisted of videos, vidocs, demos, and trailers for all the software shown at E3 available with a simple download interface via Xbox Live.



The demo of Too Human completes Denis Dyack's goal of world domination, err, to reach out to gamers without the Neogaf snark filter. Xbox live users love their demos, and is arguably a great way to get the game out to gamers who do not get all of game info from the Gaming Press or Gaming Forums. Bioshock is prime example, of how a demo, increased awareness before its release.

Is Too Human this year's Bioshock? Besides being released in August, offering replayability and offering a story besides "the bald space marine", action RPG's can be hit or miss. Action games this year have been lacking in sales as well, Devil May Cry 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2 have been critically thrashed for its unchanging and unevolving gameplay.

During the week of Denis laying out his, For or Agaisnt NeoGaf Post, I sent a few words of encouragement to Denis, that I would play Too Human before jumping on the hate or love bandwagon. He replied,

Denis Dyack
still figuring it out
(06-27-2008, 06:52 AM)
Reply | Quote
Fwd Re: Your "Pepsi Challenge" #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally Posted by dasupremeone:
Hi Denis,

Your "Pepsi Challenge" while foolish to some, is an admirable one under the circumstances of how the internet may fuel the fire of a "bad word of mouth." I will take your "Pepsi Challenge," but the issue is, I do not own a 360. I can be your "guinea pig" and play the game without any fanboy influences, and I also can vouch that I do not have a predetermine "for" or "agaisnt" vote on Too Human. I can also post on my blog, "latinogamer.blogspot.com" my impressions of the game. Let me know what you think? I can probably borrow a friend's console, all I would need from you would be a copy of the game. Heck, send me a 360 and two copies, I can verify the co-op as well.

Ciao

Juan


Hi Juan,

Thanks for writing. The fact that you want to wait to play before making a call is the right thing to do and is actually one of the points of the thread. It is a fools challenge otherwise. :) Please try the game when you get a chance and write me with your impressions. I would love to hear them.

Best regards,
Denis




It is odd that a major head game developer would respond to the fans. Does Speilberg, Del Toro, respond to fans before a movie is released? Or even listen to critiques before the movie is edited? It just shows that Denis is a gamer at heart, and is making games for the end gamer in mind, and not just for the "dollar dollar bill yall."

Team Fortress 2; Heavy Weapons Pack

At the Team Fortress 2 blog, Valve has opened their pandoras box when it comes to creating the new weapon class packs. The Medic and Pyro both received boosts, which makes them more viable in offesnsive and defensive situations. Next up, is the Heavy Class, which is a considered a defensive class, with Valve asking what one can add to the class without unbalancing the game. What can the heavy use, without entroaching on other class abilities?

I came up with three weapons.
1. Brass knuckles, critical hits when hit from behind or side.
2. Saw Off Shotgun, bullets have a spray shot effect.
3. Minigun with nuclear bullets, have an effect of bouncing incoming enemies back, no crits.



An added weapon to included the already upgraded ones, would be a riot shield. This will enable the heavy to push forward and give cover to teammates. The riot shield witll asorb damage buil can detoriate over time. So a charge field can be implemented or can only be used once during a life.

National Endowment of Arts "Big Read"

There has a been string of posts in regards to NEA Big Read program. In a nutshell, they believe that the american adult reader will read on an average of 6 books in their lifetime from the list of 100 books provided.

Many of these books were read during my high school years, and with only a few from college. In college, it seems I read more essays on literature rather literature itself. I also majored in History…trying to minor in Film Appreciation.

The bold only selections are books that I have read, italicized selections are movie/cartoon adaptations I have seen, and bold/italicized means that I have done both. There are some of the selections that I have played them on a gaming console/pc. Coming up soon, will be the list of the top 100 films of North America. How well did you do, with your summer required reading

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Favorite Games of Mid 2008

In no particular order;

Patapon


Pon Pon Pata Pon
Metal Gear Solid 4


BROTHER! LIQUID!

Grand Theft Auto 4


I kill people, I smuggle people
UEFA Euro 2008


GOAAAAAAAAAAL
Mario Kart Wii


Aww Crap, blue shell!

All of the games chosen were played to completion or enjoyed hours of co-op play with friends and family

Omitted games were either briefly demoed or never finish the game to completion, for example, Super Smash Bros and Devil May Cry 4. I played a bit of Super Smash Bros and Wii Fit at GDC San Francisco, and I never completed Devil May Cry 4.

I am a hobbyist, do not have access to all the games.

Top Five Games of mid 2008

In no particular order

Patapon
Metal Gear Solid 4
Grand Theft Auto 4
Uefa Euro 2008
Mario Kart Wii

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Patapon 2

Patapon's effective rhythm game mix with light RPG elements, made Sony ' a little game that could' a hit. From the magazine, Famitsu, the scanned images show huge bosses, five classes deployable, new classes and a flying mount. There will be multiplayer modes, the possibility of fighting friends' other patapons is just tantalizing.

Patapon made forty hours of my commuting time enjoyable and addicting.

Set to release in Japan in December, hopefully Patapon 2 will hit state side soon after.
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Robinho and Ronaldinho heading to the Olympics.

Brazil's bid for Olympic Gold is now being pursue by Robinho and Ronaldinho. The Men's Olympic Football Tournament starts in August and will be arguably favor to win the gold. For Brazil, they will need to gear the players into match fitness in hope that their magic returns for the tournament.
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Brazilian footballer, Kaka, leaving Milan...

The rumor mill is being blown strong winds of Chelsea offering an "astronomical" price for Kaka. He is worth it, as he is last years recipient of both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA Player of the Year awards. Kaka would be following his once coach and teammate, Scolari and Shevchenko to Stamford Bridge. The source is non other AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani.

Currently, The Blues, are denying the claim from Galliani.

Why would Milan lay the string to selling their current play maker and star? Is the financial debt the concern for the Milan corporate office, as they are out of the Champions League in the coming fiscal year, with no additional revenue from the europe tourney, what is Kaka worth to them? Remember, it is World Cup qualifications for the next year, should they sell, in hopes Kaka does not get injured during their payroll?

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Argentina Futbol en route Beijing

It is no surprise that AFA takes their winning titles seriously. It has been a sour spot that the Argentina Men's National team have not won a major title since Copa America 2003 with their 2 to 1 victory over Mexico. Even leading ELO Fifa Rankings for months, only to fall down five rankings to six.

Argentina's recent championships come from their youthful exploits in the FIFA U - 20 World Cup, of the three titles from came from the tutoring of Jose Pekermen. The two recent titles came from the two Maradona's to be, Messi and Arguero, in the 2005 and 2007, respectively.

With the Olympics in the horizon, as being defending champs from Athens 04, Argentina will be boasting a team of past youth champs. The trio is made of past youth champs of Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi and Sergio "Kun" Arguero, all once pegged by the crazed Argentine media to be successors of Diego.

Is it enough, with another Olympic victory being very likely, to satisfy their home front of fans? Can this Olympic be a preview of an Argentine team that can lift the World Cup in South Africa?

Spain's Fifa ranking jump as along with other European teams was expected because of the nature of the ranking system. The top mover was Russia who jumped 13 spots. The Fifa rankings are just a meter of the better played teams of the past four years at best, at worse, it is used to justify which national country is the best.
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French Coach keeps job after disastrous Uefa Euro 2008

Raymond Domenech is still in the for the French National team. After a failed attempt to reach the second round of the UEFA UERO 2008, Domenech will keep his job. The French gamble with this decision, as the national team seems to be always titterring away from the great form they had in the World Cup 2006. Without a Zidane or a Plantini in the horizon, can the french afford the risk.

So when is Zidane's oldest son turning pro?
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Ronaldinho to Man City...

FC Barca and Brazilian champ, Ronaldinho, is still being persuaded by Man City officials. Man City is seeking to qualify for an Euro Tourney, with transfer record signing of the twenty one year old Brazilian Jo. Man City is hopeful that two time FIFA Player of the year, will make a move to the Eastlands.
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Soulcalibur XBLA

Soulcalibur has been re-released for the X-Box 360. Instead of downloading, spending space points and hound my cousin to step away UEFA 2008, I decide to reminisce. Back in the day, this is still relevant, day one console buyers had a to have a go to game at release. For the Sega Dreamcast it came as Namco's blade fighter, Soulcalibur.

Namco's lesser known Souledge (Soulblade in NA) looked and at times played like a Virtual Fighter. Soulcalibur branched away from those roots by included a free run allowing the player to go any eight ways by holding the joystick in any direction.

Combos were easy to learn, and with leniency on the buffering of moves, any casual could pull crazy combos on gaming veterans. Soulcalibur became the game to play when showing off your imported Dreamcast or whooping your cousin who lived and died by Virtual Fighter.

Widely considered to be the Dreamcast's killer app, as also receiving perfect scores from Famitsu, IGN and Gamespot. The release will pull your strings on nostalgia at best, but for new xbox live players, they may fill cheated and disappointed without any 2008 gaming make overs of online vs mode, wide screen hi res 720p(black bars with the 4:3 ratio). The original should of been included on the upcoming Soulcalibur 4.
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Ciao Deco, FC Barca parts way, Stamford Bridge bound

Frenemies? John Terry and Deco jostling for the ball...

Can Deco fill the playmaking void that Chelsea suffered after the Arjen Robben departure? Can Ballack and Deco co-exist in the same midfield? What type of stucture will the Chelsea coach, Scolari, implement at the Stamford Bridge?


The Premeirship is only getting better and better with all these fabolous new signings...

Eagle Eye and Portal may have something in common

Might be a bit of a stretch, but Valve's Portal famous villain GLaDoS who leads players to a certain doom sounds very familiar to the Shia Lebouf movie, Eagle Eye. The woman on the phone, leads Shia's character through similar obstacles in last weekends premier trailer.

Will post comparison videos...
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"We are every where"

UEFA UERO 2008 Game Video

How awesome is this Henry gol? So awesome

EA SPORTS™ Football World: FRANCE - GERMANY 2 - 0

The Godfather will be Blu this Sept...

The Godfather trilogy has once again been revamped for a holiday season release. The noticeable changes will be the HD presentation and restoration of the two classics and its forgettable second sequel. A frame by frame restoration overseen with Francis Ford Coppola including unseen featurettes.

Not sure if the feature film edition has been changed from the 2001 box set. One small tidbit, the film differed over time, with the spanish version including cut scenes from the american version. These scenes will be available as they were in the 2001 box set.
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Civilization IV: Colonization, PC?

"There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately, this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where extraordinary moral strength is called for." WEB du Bois

Today's post is in response to Ben Fritz's and Stephen Totilo's blogs via Variety and Kotaku, in regards to the remake of Sid Meier's Civilization Conolization.  Please read these two posts before reading my impressions.  :)

Colonization main focus is the conolization or conquest (a small c) of the New World by the entroaching European powers.   During the era from about 1500 to the 1800s, after the discovery period. The key players are all here, the English, the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch.    

The goal is to compete with other European powers, but historically, the competion was between groups like trading groups of the Dutch East India Company, Proprietary Governors ( individuals or companies granted commercial charters by the King of England to establish colonies) and Spanish Conquistadores.  The conolization of the New World is one of mass death of the Native Americans by the means of slavery, disease and war.  Is this a game you want to play?

Is Civilization 4: Colonization outright racist? Since the game has not been released, we have no idea if the developer and the creator have up their sleeve in regards to the New World people. Is the players' only interactive goal is to colonize, destroy or to enslave the New World AIcounterparts, is that racist? Would it be historically accurate to have the chance to use chemical warfare by contemplating the use of passing smallpox through infected blankets? If the player loses a battle, would Mesoamerican AI perform sacrifices of the captured Spanish Conquistadors and their allies? 

These questions will largely remain unanswered up until the game is released If they can portray a historically accurate account of what happen to the new world, show the effects to the Columbian exchange and to tell the story for the tragic incidents of Trails of Tears, the Fall of the Aztecs and Incas, then I am all for it. History can be a tragic affair, and at times we do not want to hear the inconceivable truth, but we must know it. My hope is that the developers, publisher and the creator will not allow a simple lie prevailing the complicated truth in regards to the New World and its colonization.

My question to the reader, knowing the horrible tragedies that occured during the exploration and conolization of the New World, is the game racist or insensitive at best?

A game to remember, Germany edges Turkey with 3-2 victory

EURO 2008 Semi Final
What a way to start the semifinal, Turkey proved that they can stanf with the best of Europe.

One of the most thrilling nights in Basel, the Turkish luck has finally ran out as Germany advances with a Lahm goal. Even with a blown penalty call, Germany manages to survive the Turkish attack, which was relentless at times.

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Ruud Van Nistelrooy the end?

Was it the end of Van Nistelrooy's illustrious career with the Dutch. Will he retire from international duty?
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A Spanish Lost =

A spanish lost in the UERO quarters will be the end of a disatorous tourney for all group winners. Portugal, Crotia, and the Dutch have all failed to win in the quater rounds. Can the "Nino" Torres perform his magic? Will Xavi and Ineista be "on" for tomorrows match?
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Russian victory in Euro 2008

The dutch were eliminated on a cold night. The Russians are one win away from a finals birth, they will face the winner of Spain v Italy match.
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Suprise Suprise, Germany up 2 nil

Ten minutes left until half time whistle is blown, Portugal has been outplayed. With a clinical counter and cross, Germany opened the scored card. Shortly thereafter, a subperb freekick cross was headed by German forward Klose.

Did the Madrid and Chelsea hoopla distract the two most important figures of Portuguese futbol? Was Portugal doomed to begin with, using two proven but much older defenders? Did Deco's sudden leave cause some inner turmoil between players?

Not sure what the distraction was, but German maestro, Ballack, has been able to free himself even being man-marked by shutdown player Pepe. Who knew Germans loved to counter, and why is Portugal letting them do so freely.



***Nuno Gomes knocks in a Ronaldo shot. We have a thriller on our hands.

Top Five Chores to do while watching Metal Gear Solid 4...

5. Fold laundry.
4. Work out on the tread mill
3. Feed the dogs
2. Make a sandwich
1. Post this blog
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A needed Romanian win can cause needless penalties for Les Bleus and Forza Italia

Whoever was the one who came up the idea of deciding tie breakers by penalty shoot out, needs to be pelted by soccer balls. Who deemed it necessary to decide who is third and fourth in the group stage is unfair for the players and their fans.
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Mom! The Turkey is not done yet...

A miracle in Geneva, the Turkish players bounce from a 2 - 0 deficit to score three goals in fifteen minutes. ESPN chose the correct time to show the EURO Cup, with Nihat Kahveci scoring the tieing and the winning goal.
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Movie Time

I hate the whole dvd to ipod interface. Just hate it. I had to watch "Clockwork Orange" in french.

Not the reason of the post. Two geek/otaku/ guy films are release today. The autuer everyone loves to hates, "The Happening" and the reboot of the Marvel franchise, "The Incredible Hulk." What astounds me, and I may be a bit suprised. The Hulk was originally grey. Why has that not been shown in the movie? Grey as a color fits, is he good or evil or is he just misunderstood becuase of his split personality...

I have met the original tv Hulk, Lou Ferrigno (I know I just fucked his last name) at this years Wondercon in Sf. Eric Bana and Edward Norton were unsuprisingly not there. Lou mentioned a part in the new film, but I imagine a very small cameo was in the cards. The jumnp from a tv seriesb to movies was a leap that needed to be done. The Hulk in the comics was not some lose who lost to the Terminator's Arnold in the Olympia competition, but a freaking hulking giant that loses it safe to rage. Are the casual movie audience going to care that the Eric Bana Hulk never existed? Now we have two, green hulking beasts, with the same mythos. In comics this type of action, mucking with a characters' mythos or continuity would be fatal to the series. I saw it once, why do I have to see it again, if the Hulk mythos is the same but with better cg and a different villian?


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MGS4 Update

Three hours in, I feel like I have watched a movie/tv show rather than playing a game. Atleast the plot and story is not as wacky as I thought it would be.

Jozy Altidore Top Five Reasons to play with Villareal in Spain

5. It has come full circle, Jozy was concieved in a night of sangrias and the Beatles Yellow Submarine playing in the background.
4. Wants to end racism in Spain.
3. Wants to return to the MLS when he retires.
2. Does not need to change his name when booking into a hotel in Spain, Josephina Altidore works great.
1. How do you say, "give me the damn ball" in spanish, without looking egotistical...
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Metal Gear Solid 4

The energy is in the air. In a matter of hours east coast American living dwellers will be getting their hands on Japan's latest gaming import, MGS4. Like last months gaming craze, Grand. Theft Auto 4, this is the fourth installment of the Solid Series. Where GTA4 is a crime-drama epic story, MGS4 details the end of Solid Snake and an ending point of the Solid Saga. Questions have been lingering in the minds of fans; how liquid ocelot became to be, who are the patriots, why is snake aging so fast and can love bloom in a battlefield? Tonight gamers can start the plunge of the sci fi espionage drama, and finally put to rest four years of gaming anticipation.

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Top Four Reasons Why Giovanni Dos Santos should stay in Barca

4. You lose the chicken dinner and get with a winner, not the other way around.
3. Tottennham Hotspurs has not had a wiining season since the 90's.
2. Brits and Mexi-Brazilians do not mix well during tea time and conchas.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer the young boy of the EPL.
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Clockwork Orange are baaaaack; defeat reigning World Champs

The Dutch, or the Netherlands, lead by national team coach Marco Van Basten, who won the same Euro tourney twenty years ago, defeats Italy with a strong 3 nil showing. Having players coming off championship season at Real Madrid are now destined to show their mark in Euro 2008 as Italy was favored to win the tourney. Lead by Van Nistelroy, Snjeider, and Robben, the Orange Clockwork are back, and they started with an Italian rape...

MGS 4 Metreon SF Signing Update

Be there or be solid....

Hope to see you there!

Sexiest Goalkeeper, Oswaldo Sanchez arrested in Chicago

Chingado! Mexican Futbol Goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, who lead Torreon Santos to a Mexican Championship this season, after the victory over a weak Peruvian team on Sunday, was arrested. Mexican players decided to throw an impromptu fiesta. (Should of been a siesta) Early reports are indicating Oswaldo Sanchez became unruly after police officers responded to loud disturbances in an unamed Chicago hotel.

No word has been released by FMF, or the Chicago Police authorities regarding the arrest.

Ronaldo's Top 5 Reasons to go to Real

5. He prefers Spanish silverware when he eats
4. Spain is closer to his Momma
3. Tired of being ridiculed for always wearing shades in foggy England.
2. Tevez, Rooney and Rio were not keen to do a "Devils show their tail" calendar. Ramos, Gago, and Robinho will.
1. Fashionitas claim Purple is the new Red!
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Villareal; Keeping up with Madrid, well trying to

Villareal, known as the "Yellow Submarine," has signed two young prospects. American phenom, Jozy Altidore and Uruguayan foward Robert Mario Flores. These young playmakers will hope to make the senior squad who might be stretch a bit thin with Champions League duty this year.

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Ronaldo and company too much for the Turkish

An easy victory for the Portuguese, Turkey will be looking to bounce back. Pepe and Meireles were the unlikely scorers for the team filled with past and present european club champs.
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Uefa Uero 2008

Will be on espn, but will sprinkled on espn 2, deportes and I assume classic.

Czechs def the swiss by 70 minute winner, by super sub Vaclav Sverkos.
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Metal Gear IV; IGN Trailer comapre vid

Today, IGN has released a comaparision video of 2006 E3 trailer to its now final build. Just a few more days of the worldwide release of Metal Gear Solid IV.

Metal Gear's creator

Will be on hand for signing at the San Francisco Metreon next Saturday. Be there early and expect long lines...
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Sven's Top Six of the week

6. No queen to disgrace in Mexico.
5. British food and weather is bland and cold just like sweden.
4. Nery says they love and accept foreigners if ones drink enough tequila to sing the national anthem.
3. Drunken mariachi night at the pub ended in fights.
2. Gas prices has raised the cost of imported tortillas in Great Britain.
1. Blue and yellow makes GREEN!

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Sven Goran Eriksson mania invades Mexico

It is true, Sven became Mexico's ninth foreign head coach on Tuesday. To be honest, I support the decision, I just hope he gets the victories he could not get with England.

I positive Sven will excel in Mexico, he has a natch on eyeing new talent and will not favor any players as only has ever played under him.

Being the coach of Mexico is a challenging position, and stressful, but Sven has enough pedigree in his resume to sway anyone. Hopefully for tri color fans, he will take them farther in the world cup than he did with the brits.

****Mexico has reached the quarter finals twice, in 1970 and in 1986, both being staged in Mexico. All of their games resulting in a win or tie all played in the Azteca, with the advantage going to Mexico do to the altitude.

My point is, in 1970, there was no second round due to the size of the tourney. In 1986, they were lead to the quarters by the famed and Yugoslovian borned now Serbia, Bora Milutinovic, not bad for a foreigner.

Can Sven lead a team with a homefront as viscious as it is in England? Does he have enough clout to choose his players and not the ones forced onto him by the federation or the Mexican club team owners?
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Torreon Santos winners of the Clasura!

After a year of almost joining the Mexican lower division, Santos Guerreros win the Mexican championship. It was a hard road, Monterey and Cruz Azul played to the occasion and made Daniel Guzman's men earn the victories.

Can Santos hold their core group of playermakers of Luduena, Vousso, and Benitez? The victory earns them an automatic berth to the new CONCACAF Champions league, but if players are sold to cover their spending spree from a year ago, how well can they fare?

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Martin Palermo, the reason why Hat Tricks are rare in Futbol

The last one is a beauty....

Maradona, Hand of God Review

With Cannes Movie festival closed, there are two top Spanish speaking films that may hit the market soon. One is a documentary of Maradona on the field exploits and the other a biopic of Che Guevara played by Benicio De Toro.

Maradona is a controversial figure, politics, drugs, and doping, have lead Maradona to be an outsider of FIFA, footbals governing body.
The movie, Maradona, Hand of God portrays Maradona as a man of rises and falls through his life. The portrayal of these two films are the ones that legends are made of, but is that what really happen?

Torreon Santos en La Final; Video

I love the technology of youtube; relive the excitment of Santos glorious come from behind victory. Both games ended as ties, but Santos advances with superior league record. Down by 2 with 15 minutes left to play, Santos scores two to chance at the Mexican title.

The Penalty that never was whistled; Toluca VS San Luis

Sad the way the game ended with bitter feelings; but soccer is an emotional sport. One referee mistake, a player that over reacts, and a silly tie breaker rule creates an emotional atmosphere.

SF Bay Area Heat Wave

Do you know where your dog is sleeping?

Mines on the tiled kitchen floor...lucky bitch!

April NPDs; Videogames are popular?

With billions being spent monthly in the US alone, or maybe North America, who knows, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony are content. Really who cares, as long as they publish the gamea, that gamers want to play, how hard can it be?

Each party will have a stellar year, with record breaking months ahead of us. I do not foresee a "Sega" someone jumping ship and only doing videogame software anytime soon.

I just have one message, you publish em, we will play em.

MadWorld; from the folks who Okami into our hearts

Be tempted to head to your Gamespot/GameKrazy locale and pre-order this bad boy...

Sin City Art, with gore to violent for Japan, and the makers of Okami. Capcom, you effed bad.

Weekend Update May 17 - 19 2008

I will be playing more GTA4. I find myself playing the game as I would watch the Sopranos, one hour at a time. A few missions and cutscenes here and there, hopefully I will still be intrigued for the summer. It is turning into a tragedy, sorta how Eastern Promises turned out.

No movies this weekend, but please go watch IronMan. Really. Start your summer right. Wall-E has me intrigued, those Pixar folks keeps the Disney name on the bleeding edge of art and entertainment. Without them, what would Disney have, how many Lion Kings do we need?

The Super-Con is this weekend. Jorge Garcia of Lost fame will be hosting two panels, with photo opps available. Maybe he can sign my Blu Ray Season 4 edition....

I expect in buying three to four graphic novels, I just need to catch up on Powers...

Also I will probably catch my usual six futbol games on Saturday and Sunday. Not sure how, but I usually do.

Gears of War 2; Return of Marcus Fenix

Who knows what the subtitle will be, but omiss was the famous Cole Train.

with 200k hits and counting, looks like Epic will have the same success they had in 2006.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Sunday Night, reviews, videos and spoilers aplenty. Who else is hiding during these times, just to keep themselves "virgins" for GTA4's Tuesday release? PS3 Bundle including GTA4 being launched? With Europe and Australia confirmed, is Sony of North America doing a stealth launch for April 29th?

Liverpool Vs Chelsea at Anfield 2008

Own Goals suck

Liverpool-Chelsea 1-1 But Riise CSC Demi Finale Aller 07 08
by TontonPedroHD

Resident Evil 4 and 5 screen "racist" shots

Which screenshot envokes racism or atleast insensitivity?

Which video envokes more controversy?

Resident Evil Series and its use of Race

The Resident Evil Series has moved from its obscure videogame horror niche to a back and forth between bloggers, writers, and forum posters. The issue is race. One of the dividing issues in American today, hey historians argue it was the cause of the American Civil War. The issue peaked again, within American conscience, during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, with Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X, Cesar Chavez and its various leaders pusing for an equal America. Race in the media, at least in the entertainment medium, has been insensitive. A multimillion dollar comedian arubtly quit over issues of race.

From minstrel shows, children books, and even "zoo" like showings through Western Europe, a proper representation of anyone of African descent has been racist. RE5, for some, has envoke the historical racist imagery. One side, we have the radical bloggers, who are calling foul for what the trailer images envokes. On the other side, we have forum posters, crying hypocrasy. No one complained about Call of Duty 4, or even RE4 and its violent portrayal of Arabs and Spanish.

I embark in a journey in RE4, to see if the imagery of the Spanish (you know those people in Spain) are represented in a fair light.

Twelve Minutes: I have killed non zombified humans, spanish humans with bad english accents. From the looks, they are light skinned, have a weird english accent. The only reason I know they are Spanish, like Antonio Banderas spanish without the tan or the dark hair, cause the game told me so. It seems an agent is looking for the missing American President's daughter a rural part of Spain. I saw Pan's Labrynith, maybe she is there? I killed one Spanish folk villager, I interrupted his cooking, was visibly and loudly upset. Swear words were thrown, a few waggles returned and he is dead. As I check his body, I come to find out he was a zombie. Heck I would be upset also, if some weird anglo person entered my home and started asking about some random chick. Do natural spanish speakers all have bad accents?

Thirty Minutes: The wife wants me to turn it off. It is late, she hates horror medium and the swear words are definately going to frighten the neighbors. The cursing is all in Spanish, and she is wondering why the hell Nintendo would release a game for the Wii. I try to explain, but she reminds the Wii is all about Mario and friends...

I realize these Spanish villagers are canibals, the policia eating kind. Atleast they are corking the pork... I kid, but really do canibals cook their meat or eat it raw?

Viggo Latino and a Tango?

Tango Viggo Mortensen Centenario San Lorenzo
by mundoazulgrana

Enjoy!

...and I thought Gnomes threw breadcrumbs

Could be Maradona's unborn fetus return to haunt the streets of Argentina....

Funny Football Videos

always seem to be le creme de le creme when it comes to sports advertising. remember the original nike commercial?
here are some fine examples




this pepsi one is cute



this one is funny also



my fav from 2006 world cup, the first of a series


and for the argentinian in you

Call of Duty 4

Infinity Ward has dare to moved to a different setting for their first person war shooter franchise and like a favorite pair of tennis shoes reissued with new colors and updated cushion, it sells. Call of Duty and the sequel COD 2, are acclaimed shooters, but the World War II genre was becoming stagnant. Instead of going the route of Relic Entertainment's Real Time Strategy affair, Company of Heroes, by having the German Wermacht to be playable in the single player campaign. Infinity Ward adds the subtitle "Modern Warfare" and brings the Mid-East conflict straight to the gamer via your console of choice.

Instead of sticking to the tried and true formula of mimicking historical battles, Infinity Ward creates a fictionalize war setting with a solid war story as its backbone. Inspired by modern war movies, especially Black Hawk Down, Modern Warfare's single player story is as action packed as any Hollywood war movie. Can Modern Warfare be the best pound per pound first person shooter, with its’ visuals, settings, scripted battles, and an extensive multiplayer component?
In previous IW's COD Games, you took a role of soldier participating in their respective theater of World War 2, as American, Russian and Commonwealth forces. Early on, as the credits are rolling just as a film, the player is front and center in the perspective of President Yasir Al-Fulani as he is being driven through a rundown city, overthrown what seems to be a military takeover.

The opening credits set the tone for the rest of the game to be a gritty in your face game. After the death of Al-Fulani, the first part of story progresses as an American Marine named Sergeant Paul Jackson, is part of the American invasion force in hopes to topple Khaled Al-Asad, the new leader of the same Middle Eastern Country and Al-Fulani’s killer. For the majority of the game, the player takes the role of Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish a member of 22nd SAS Regiment. With each player-controlled character there is a story of white knuckle action and military drama.



The campaign’s story is one emotional roller coaster from being shot in the head in the opening credits. Performing a timed black hawk down rescue on a female American pilot, as you flee from the city the helicopter is in a nuclear attack. There is a moment where you are helpless crawling away from the wreckage as life seeps away from you. To an ending where all of your friends and your mentor are executed in front of you, with time slowed down only to be rescued ala Han Solo or Hurley Reyes style by your Russian friend, it is timeless.



Infinity Ward continues to raise the visual bar on home consoles; the artistic style of being heavily based on modern war, IW exceeds their predecessor COD2 by inventing and re-creating world locales. One memorable level pulls off multiple strings of visuals and gameplay. The puppet is Chernobyl; IW manages to successfully recreate the doomed city. One has to navigate through eerily abandon apartments ending with moss covered Ferris wheel. Heck, ravaging dogs are thrown in, but five legged dear are oddly omitted. Starting first with a sniper mission that challenges you take to effect the wind velocity during the shot from a tall building. There is only a few seconds, with only one or two shots, until the level fails by missing your target. The level continues with running through abandon ghetto, chased by wild dogs, and mercenaries.

The ultimate showdown climaxes by holding off the dogs, soldiers, and then helicopters. All is missing are the turrets from Half Life 2, but the puppeteer has left grenades, claymores, multiple assault rifles, sniper rifles and sub machine guns for the puppet to create multiple destruction. It is a puppet show that you will not forget for the sheer madness on harder difficulties.

Call of Duty 4 is a type of online fps where weapons and play style are important and class customization is essential for winning. Having multiple weapon choices, grouped by sub machine guns, light machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, and snipers and three different perks makes COD4 an endless customization fest. Each weapon and perk combo, can be used differently for the various type of playlists. These playlists range from Team Deathmatch to Search and Destory and a Hard core mode. Basically, if you have played it on another online shooter, a COD variation will be there.

When the campaign mode is done, one can enjoy endless hours of COD4 Online, with its deep customization features and developer support via playlists changes. Hopefully map and weapon packs and additional missions via the arcade mode can be added through DLC.

The Soccer Minute on the Sports Anomaly

If you are into the beautiful game, love soccer players' sexy bodies or want to know more rules of the game, do no listen to the Soccer Minute. If you do want to be entertain by a trio with the most energy to boast with hilirarity that ensues on each podcast, listen to the Sports Anomaly. There is a new segment I start to pen, the Soccer Minute, to include quizes, quirky facts that will test the boundries of Sports Anomaly's wonderious trio.

Enjoy

Latino Gamerz Match...huh?

Latino Gamers rejoice Major Gaming Championships (not latino) and iNSPIRE! (latino si) have banded together to create the first and only, a latino focused gaming console tournament named "Latino Gamerz Match." These console gaming tournaments have ranged from Super Smash Brothers to Halo and EA's Fifa series and Madden. The tournaments became a hit on the PC front, with Quake 3, Call of Duty, and Counter Strike leading the way. Blake Pettirgrew (not latino) president of MJC reasons for the alternative organization, "The Hispanic gaming community purchases over $700 in gaming products each year, but don't have a gaming tournament targeted to them." Keep your gaming fingers rested, LGM will be touring the US cities Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Miami, and Dallas.

No word if non-latinos can participate....cause that would be unfair.

Brazil Bans Everquest...Wow Hordies and Allies shake in their boots...

Brazil Banning!
It is true, a Brazilian judge, imposed a ban agaisnt the MMO Everquest and First Person Shooter Counter Strike. The reason cited for the upheld ban, "the subversion of public order, were an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security." Lets see how long the Blizzard's popular World of Warcraft, world wide 9 Million player install base, stays ban free.

EGM VS UBISOFT Round 1

Dan Hsu in his monthly editorial in EGM, tittled Banned, calls out Ubisoft for pulling not only their Ads but also their upcoming gaming coverage. (How did Graw ever get a 10 was beyond me) With the Eidos and Gamespot fiasco fresh on everyones' mind and nearing the one year anniversery of the banning and unbanning of Kotaku at SF GDC 07 by Sony, I have one picture that sums it all up.

Enjoy!



After reading the post, it will easy to determine which dog represents who, the underdog will always have the peoples' support.



(No animals were injured for this photo...seriously, unilike UBISOFT, the Cocker Spaniel was in good spirits the next day)

Too Laugh or To Cry it is your choice

With CES in full swing in Vegas, demos of Little Big Planet, a Sony PS3 sidescroller exclusive, have been streaming onto the net. One of these offers a level compromised of Pig Pinatas, Pueblo style buildings, Chili swings and a samba de amigo lookalike, as the three playable characters jump and play across the level. Laugh or cry at the british accent voiced player, as he and other players "grab the Mexican," in the demo.

HD Movies are now...

The era of HD movies began at this year CES. I was not able to go to this years event, but gaming blog site Kotaku has been pumping out the coverage. Two important changes to the HD Format wars, MS goes the way of a download service, whereas Bluray seems to have won over HD-DVD.

The Sony articles
http://kotaku.com/341998/paramount-moving-to-blu+ray-hd+dvd-dead-can-we-all-just-get-on-with-our-lives-now
http://kotaku.com/341869/sony-makes-blu+ray+to+psp-movie-transfer-official
The MS article
http://kotaku.com/341367/mgm-disney-abc-all-coming-to-xbl

Having used both systems and Comcast's On Demand, the landscape of home movies is changing. There are positive and negative points for all three delivery systems, but Sony may come out ontop if it can deliver a similiar download service via their PSN Store ala Comcast or Xbox Live.

The UMD is dead. So long unliked friend.

Memo Ochoa linked to a Nou Camp transfer

Club America's goalkeeping phenom, Guillermo Ochoa, has been rumored to be a transfer pickup for the the prestigous Catalan Club. With backup goalkeeper Jorguera out for six months, Barca officials are scrambling for a top tier keeper to guide them through the Copa de Rey matches. Jorguera's previous starts this season have been for the Copa de Rey matches or when the primary keeper was rested. The rumor was first confirmed by Fox Sports Espanol announcer, Jorge Ramos, during the Interliga match between Morelia and America. Memo's performance, highlighted by a stopped penalty, showed that he is ready in match fitness for his probable transfer to La Liga del las estrellas. Ochoa played a consistent game, and lead America to an Interliga win with numerous stops on a cold Houston night.

Memo Ochoa has openly welcomed a transfer out of Mexico to any of the premier European Leagues. The number of Mexicans players in Europe has grown in an incredible rate since 2005, with La Liga having the highest number footballers. The only obstacles are, transfer price, and the number of non-European players allowed on the field. Will Barcelona and America come to terms with the price, and will Frank Rijkaard chance to sacrifice a non-European player for a keeper during the Copa de Rey matches.

Will Ochoa be joining his two compatriots, Rafael Marquez and Giovanni Dos Santos, at one of the prestigous clubs in Spain?
If it happens, it will be more than just a transfer.