Music Video of the Week: Rush “Tom Sawyer” (Live in Holland)

Five Games I Can’t Wait To Play In 2013

Welcome to a brand new year. It’s 2013, and yet I’m still trying to finish games from as far back as 2010. Yes, I’m looking at you Red Dead Redemption and Dead Space 2. While I’ll be working diligently trying to complete older games I’ll also be reviewing all the new games that will arrive. Once again there will be a heavy influx of titles during the next couple of months starting in February, and I think part of this has to do with the the fact that there’s a new Xbox console on the way later this year. So until the Xbox 720, Durango, or whatever Microsoft wants to call the new console arrives, or if I retire from gaming, there’s still a shitload of games on the horizon that I want to play. While some of these games have piqued my interest only five are on my must play list this year. So what games can I no longer wait to play? Check out my list.

Bioshock Infinite

Diving into the depths of Rapture was an amazing moment back in 2007. Returning as a Big Daddy a couple of years later…not so much. The Bioshock sequel was good, but it didn’t have the same magic due to the fact that I’ve already been to Rapture once before. Now a new Bioshock adventure is on it’s way and this time I’ll be taken to a brand new world up in the clouds. A turn of the century Cloud City. Now this is very interesting. Plus there’s an amazing story yet to unfold in the process. Hang on Elizabeth. I’ll be there to rescue you soon.

Gears of War: Judgement

Going the route of a prequel, this chapter of the riveting Gears of War saga takes place just days after “Emergence Day” and stars Baird and Cole. Yes, I’m going to miss Marcus, but the idea of playing as other characters definitely breathes new life in the cover based shooter franchise. Plus I get to experience the early days of the war before the real doom and gloom of humanity’s epic struggle really set in. Looks like I’ll have plenty of grubs to kill along with other human players online in multiplayer. Roadie roll into a shotgun blast to an enemy’s head FTW!

Grand Theft Auto V

Yes, I’m a GTA junkie. Nothing says fun than going on a rampage and taking the cops for a wild ride through the city while I cause absolute mayhem. That’s what I do when I’m having a good day. Just imagine what I do when I’m having a shitty one. The new GTA game takes place back in another familiar setting…San Andreas. Now I wasn’t a big fan of the previous San Andreas game due to the fact of the game being more like Boyz n the Hood which didn’t interest me. GTA V is not going that route, and from what I’ve seen so far from the few screenshots and trailers it’s safe to assume that things are looking on the up and up.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

This has to be the biggest South Park undertaking ever. The games based on one of my favorite long running animated series has seen titles from all genres. Now it’s time for an epic role playing game, but this time it stars me! I get to make myself into a South Park character and interact with Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Eric Cartman, Butters, and the rest of the gang. With Trey Parker and Matt Stone behind it I can hopefully expect the best South Park game of all time. Plenty of references to the show and laugh out loud moments are awaiting me. Best of all…completely uncensored! The big question for me is what type of character do I start out with. I think the Jew in me is going for the High Jew Elf.

Tomb Raider

Call me weird, but I’ve never been big on the Tomb Raider franchise. I did play the original game and for a time, like most fanboys, I was hooked to Lara Croft’s hot curves. While most of the latest games have not done Ms. Croft justice, this new reboot from Crystal Dynamics will provide an origin story that will make old and new fans scream out in joy. This new Tomb Raider game feels a bit more realistic and down to earth compared to the other games. Survival becomes a key element, and this young Lara Croft will continue to find a way to survive against the overwhelming elements that confront her. I really like what I’ve seen with this game in the last year, and I’m hopeful that everything stays true to form reviving the rather tired franchise.

So there you have it. My eye is fixated on these five titles that look to shape up my gaming year of 2013. These titles are mostly early releases so I’m sure that maybe the late holiday releases could be even bigger especially with a new console on the way. However, I’m not concerned with that at this point, because these games are what’s going to take up the most of my playing time this year. Game on my friends.

Clip of the Week: South Park Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

E3 2012: The “Maybe” Games

With all the E3 hype behind us now, and my winners and losers picks done, I wanted to concentrate on the other games that caught my attention. Now I can’t call any of these games definite buys just yet, but they’re clearly on my radar which could be both a good or maybe even a bad sign. Good news is that I have plenty of time to keep an eye on these titles before making a commitment. Looks like another busy end of the year. My wallet is ready. Hopefully these games will be as well.

Dishonored: At first when I saw the trailer for this game before E3 it didn’t impress me that much. Then as the show went on, and I witnessed some gameplay videos, my mind had a quick change. Dishonored looks really good featuring stealth, plenty of abilities, and tons of action as you make kills to clear your name. By the way, the possession skill is awesome.

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Forza Horizon: Cars and partying in the desert. It’s Race Wars! Ok, this isn’t The Fast and the Furious, but Forza Horizon does remind me of a cross between Need For Speed and Test Drive Unlimited. Unlike the Forza Motorsport series, Horizon is more of an arcade style of control with more speed on the open road instead of on the track. I’m interested in this game, but I still need some further convincing.

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Injustice: Gods Among Us: DC superheroes back in another fighting game from the team behind Mortal Kombat. All of a sudden I had memories of Mortal Kombat vs. DC and I hated that game. Injustice looks great with plenty of over the top fighting action including flying thought buildings and even outer space. Everything was going great until thoughts of Mortal Kombat vs. DC kept creeping into my head. Plenty of time between now and 2013 to see how this plays out.

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Need For Speed: Most Wanted: It’s been awhile since I purchased a Need For Speed game, but Most Wanted could change that. Wait a minute, wasn’t there a Most Wanted game in 2005? Man, where’s the originality in the name Criterion? Here’s another random thought. For a Need For Speed game Criterion’s latest sure looks like something from the Burnout series. Maybe this should be called Burnout: Most Wanted. Either way I want to see more before returning to the series.

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed: The first game was a lot of fun for a mascot racer. Now there’s a sequel. At first I felt that this new entry from Sega was to “gimmicky” with the transforming vehicles for land, sea, and air. As of late my interest has changed to the positive and it has nothing to do with Danica Patrick being in the game. The unique Sega themes for each track look fantastic especially the Golden Axe stage. Can’t wait until the holidays for this one.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth: Trey Parker and Matt Stone showed off the game at the Microsoft Press Conference as well as shared a few laughs with the crowd. I had my suspicions well before E3, but after seeing the game in action my interest grew. This South Park RPG feels just like an episode of the popular show as I get to play as my own unique character and interact with the gang. I can even call Cartman a “Fatass” using my Kinect and he’ll respond to you. Sounds like fun.

E3 2012: Microsoft Press Conference Positives and Negatives

Hardcore gaming fans, Microsoft has NOT forgotten about you. After watching the 2012 E3 keynote press conference on Xbox Live it looks like they listened to their customer base and delivered the goods. Games, games, and more games. Of course there was also plenty of Kinect, apps, and the introduction of Smart Glass which looks like a great innovation. More on that in a bit.

So what did I enjoy out of the press conference? Well here is my positives and unfortunate negatives of the big show today.

Halo 4: Kicking off the show was Microsoft’s premiere franchise. Good move, because I didn’t want to see Call of Duty…again. From live action to the gameplay itself Halo 4 looks like it will deliver on it’s promises especially considering the fact that this game is developed by 343 Industries and not Bungie. Master Chief is back! And so is the Battle Rifle. from the campaign footage I saw I can tell you that this game looks awesome. A new enemy joins the fight which had one moment where the chief threw a plasma grenade only to have it thrown back at him. 343 did announce before the show about multiplayer with both competitive and co-op gameplay with Spartan Ops. As of right now this game is living up to it’s tremendous hype.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist: Holy shit Ubisoft I didn’t see this one coming! Sam Fisher is back in a whole new adventure taking place on the Iran/Iraq border where his mission is to prevent the next blacklist attack. In other words it’s more kick ass stealth, interrogation, and execution tactics that I love. Busting through doors and taking out enemies you tracked beforehand in slow motion looked amazing. Kinect voice recognition also played a factor in this game as Sam can get the enemies attention as well as call in an air strike. This is something I’m going to like. Too bad I have to wait until Spring 2013.

Tomb Raider: While I’ve never been really into the Tomb Raider series, the latest gameplay demo for the rebooted origin story for Lara Croft really blew my mind. A mature style Tomb Raider with amazing visuals and combat along with a more realistic feeling. I really liked the outstanding visuals (especially the water effects), the combat, and the destructible environment as it objects would splinter and break from gun attacks. I really enjoyed the cinematic action from the waterfall and parachuting scene where Lara literally fought for her life while going through tremendous pain and suffering. A great demo from Crystal Dynamics and more than likely a buy for me.

Gears of War: Judgement: OK, so this was only a trailer, but the prequel that takes place just after Emergence Day and stars Baird and Cole Train is looking pretty good so far. Too bad I have to wait probably another year to play it. Hopefully this game debuts on the new Xbox with the new Unreal 4 Engine.

Resident Evil 6: Could it be? Another game that feels like a Hollywood blockbuster movie. Leon tore through zombies better than any USS soldier in Operation Raccoon City. No bullet sponge enemies and clunky movements made for some great action. Objects crash and explode along with the zombies that stand in your way from completing each objective. The demo was spoiler free leaving plenty to the imagination.

Xbox Smart Glass: The mere thought of having my Xbox connected with my iPad and iPhone has me excited. From television, to movies, and even my games I can coordinate everything into one smart source. I can be playing a game of Halo 4 and my iPad displays key information of locations and about what I’m doing. My iPhone can be used as a remote control to integrate to the new web browser. Even my Kinect integrates much simpler with Windows 8 for easy web browsing and voice recognition. Full integration begins this Fall.

Other things that interested me included the expansion of ESPN with all channels along with NBA Gametime and League Pass so that I can watch the Miami Heat anywhere when I’m working on the road. South Park: The Stick of Truth has me very interested considering the fact that I’m a big fan of the show. I also liked The Wreckateer which could make for a fun Angry Birds clone with Kinect this summer. Finally, I’m going to keep my eyes on Ascend: New Gods from Signal Studios, LocoCycle from Twisted Pixel, and Forza Horizon which sort of reminds me of a mix of Need for Speed and Test Drive Unlimited.

So here is my list of negatives.

Madden NFL 13: NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana was a great highlight, but the laggy voice recognition controls for calling plays at the line made things look terrible. EA Sports and Tiburon have a lot of work to do to make this feature work seamlessly. August 28 is not that far away so get busy.

Nike + Kinect Training: I’m not going to fault Nike for announcing this innovative product featuring your own personal trainer, development program, and challenging friends on Xbox Live, but I just don’t see a lot of people buying this Kinect based program. Just look back to last year with UFC Personal Trainer. Not everyone has a Kinect and more people would rather just play games or watch movies and sports. Besides most of us all have gym memberships already.

Xbox Music: With so many apps on Xbox Live including last.fm and Pandora already available Xbox Music and it’s 30 million songs to choose from will have a hard time fitting itself in. Also will this be a free service or pay per song like iTunes.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2: Since this series has fallen out of favor with me due to it’s crappy multiplayer filled with cheaters, glitches, and boosters, it would take a lot to bring me back. Activision and Treyarch are taking a big leap here with a future war, but there wasn’t enough here today to sway me back. Zombies will return, but I need more of a reason besides that to make me commit the money. Hopefully I’ll get that answer in the coming months, or else it’s another year of avoidance.

Overall, I enjoyed Microsoft’s presentation for the Xbox 360 for the rest of the year and beyond. No terrible actors, no casual kiddy games taking control of the show, no fist bumping. Microsoft went back to what made them successful since the beginning and left the majority of fans, including myself, happy. Time to get my wallet ready for another busy season.

The ZL1 Chronicles: When Things Are Too Good To Be True, They Usually Are

OK, so I thought that ordering a 2013 Camaro ZL1 would be the way to go. However, in the past week several dealerships were trying to offer me a 2012 model. While my excitement peaked I still decided to keep my cool just in case they were all full of shit. Well it turns out that they all were exactly that. So it was time to make another decision. Do I stay the course, or move on to greener pastures with my current Camaro SS? Well here’s my story.

As I was getting ready to leave Alabama, Rick Hendrick Chevrolet continued to call me about their shipment of ZL1s. In a previous entry I mentioned how they were full of themselves because the cars never arrived. That is still true to this date. No cars, no business…period! Sadly, they never really got the message very well because they keep on calling me for customer satisfaction surveys. Now what part of me would be satisfied when you don’t have the cars that you promised?

Back in Florida, I received a call today from Bob Steele Chevrolet in Cocoa Beach. they had a 2012 ZL1 in stock and ready to sell. At first I thought that it was too good to be true. Turns out that when I arrived they actually meant what they said. There she was in the color of Victory Red. “Victory!” is what I claimed. I sat in the car and was instantly in love. Godzilla was here for real, and it was everything that I wanted. Now the salesperson a wanted to bring me in for the sale. Get the paperwork ready man. Let’s make a deal!

Now before you all think I went into this deal blind, let me assure you that I did all my homework before arriving. I knew the price of the car, what I could work the dealer down to, as well as the value of my trade. I was ready to make the deal until the paperwork arrived and that’s when the ether left the room. How did I feel? Well this clip will sum it all up.

This is when you learn that when things are too good to be true, they usually are. The fucking was now underway. I don’t know what was up with this salesman, but you could smell the shitstorm coming from a mile away. He arrives with the paperwork from his sales manager which now shows a $10,000 bump in the price of the car. This was only just the beginning. I then look down to see the trade in value of my car and see that it was $4,000 lower than what the average value is for my Camaro SS.

I said, “What no anal lube. I mean seriously, if your going to fuck me at least bring the grease monkey over so that I can feel a little easier about this.”

As I once again take a look at the paperwork, I tell him that this is not the price that is offered on the Chevrolet website. He then looks dumbfounded while still telling me that this is the price. I tell him to check his facts again. He responds by saying “do you know what these cars go for on eBay?”

I told him “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I was at eBay Chevrolet. Your supposed to price a car based on it’s value, features, and options and not on trends. eBay and Craigslist do not determine the price on a car!”

The salesman then says “Well I have a person in Alabama who is willing to pay $7,000 over the price for this car.”

I replied “Well if that’s true then why hasn’t he bought it yet? What really irks me is the fact that you want to get another $3-7 thousand on top of that from me.”

He replies “Well this is the best that I can do.”

I then tell him “Oh I’m sorry, but where does it say “sucker” on my head. Better yet can you please get me the phone number of the dealer your sales manager gets his crack cocaine from so I can have some of what he’s smoking.”

I then stormed out of the dealership laughing along the way. No way am I buying from them or anyone. I’m not even ordering a new one. The ether is gone. For the last month I’ve been filled with disappointment only to notice that I already have a Camaro. My 2011 Camaro SS. I’ve always loved my car even if I felt like I was cheating on her and almost ready to replace her. She’s been loyal to me all this time and now it’s time to make up for it. Upgrades! I went to Rosner Chevrolet in Melbourne, Florida and they took care of me right away. I ordered some new black wheels and a supercharger for my 6.2 Liter V8 engine giving me the horsepower I want to measure up to the ZL1. Now my excitement has really peaked and I don’t have to wait forever for it. By this time next week my Camaro will now be “Godzilla!”

I’ll post some pics when it’s done.

South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge Review: The Ginger Revolution Takes On A Whole New Level

Pros:
A fun platforming game with multiplayer in mind
Everything you love about the television show is well represented
Coon and Friends

Cons:
Playing in single player could lead to some frustration
Character selcetion mid-level would be nice
Where’s Butters as a playable character?

Previously on South Park:

Eric Cartman buys Scott Tenorman’s pubes. Cartman gets screwed. Cartman tries to get his money back only to get humilated by Scott. cartman then exacts his revenge by having Scott’s parents killed and placed in chili. Scott eats said chili only to later find out that he ate his parents. Scott cries in front of his favorite band Radiohead who eventually calls him a pussy. Cartman then enjoys the simple pleasure of Scott’s tears. (Season 5, Episode 4 “Scott Tenorman Must Die)

With his teenage life now in shambles, life for Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny eventually went on in South Park. Scott however had different plans in mind. It’s obvious that he knew the ancient Klingon proverb of “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” He starts out by stealing the hard drive from Eric Cartman’s Xbox 360 containing the gang’s game saves, and the travels to the future. There he creates a ginger robot army to keep Eric and company from getting it the orecious hard drive back. This begins our adventure.

South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge, from Microsoft Studios and Other Ocean Interactive, takes you on a platforming adventure spanning some of the memorable moments of the last fifteen years of the television series. From the opening cinema to the end credits, the game gives you everything you love about the show and holds nothing back. It’s action packed, funny and uncensored. However, the game is not without it’s faults which may turn off some, but fans of the show are not going to care because it’s quite fun to play.

Playing as a side scrolling platform game, South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge is well executed with plenty of jumping, weapon usage and special abilities for each of the four characters you get to play as. At first, I felt like I was playing Super Mario Bros. as I would jump on Ginger kid robots to destroy them. Along the way you’ll come across other enemies that will need something other than a jump or two to defeat them. Weapons also come into play as you’ll wield baseball bats, crowbars, etc. to swing away at enemy characters. Each character also has a special ability like Cartman busting through walls with his belly and Stan throwing footballs. Another interesting feature is the time system where you collect time orbs to keep the game clock down to a minimum. Besides you only get ten minutes to finish each level. Boss battles also take place on each level allowing you to take on Scott Tenorman and his creations and dare I say the return of ManBearPig!

Each of the game’s levels are themed to some of the popular episodes of the series. Levels include the future world based on the two part epic “Go God Go” to places like Peru from the two part episode “Pandemic” complete with wind flutes. Everywhere you look on each level has the authentic South Park look and feel filled with plenty of humor that you would expect. The boys also can transform into their superhero alter egos from “Coon and Friends” allowing them to access areas of each level that the other characters cannot reach adding for some fun moments. Cartman as The Coon can climb walls, Stan as Toolshed can dig holes on the ground, Kyle as The Human Kite can fly, and Kenny as Mysterion can die and access hidden areas unaccesible to other characters.

With all the fun you may be having, there is one major drawback. This fault is the fact that Tenorman’s Revenge is more of a multiplayer game which could impact some who prefer single player. Let me just state that multiplayer is great featuring drop in drop out co-op for up to four players locally or on Xbox Live. This is clearly fun with friends. Single player is a different story which at times could lead to frustrating moments when it comes to timing jumps, taking on hordes of enemies with little life to spare and dying a lot. It’s almost enough to drive you crazy. I’m not saying that it can’t be done, but there will be times where you wish you had a friend helping out in the three to five hour adventure.

I do have another beef with Tenorman’s Revenge and that has to do with character selection. A good idea would be to allow the player a chance to select another character in case they die or possibly try to reach another area as their superhero form. Sadly, once you choose your character before the start of the stage that’s who your stuck with for the duration. I also wish there was more characters to select from to play the game. The previous South Park tower defense game had multiple characters to play as. This is the type of game that I wish I had fan favorite Butters to play as along with his alter ego Professor Chaos. That would be fun.

South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge is clearly a game dedicated to fans of the series. The game is not perfect, but it’s still fun to play with friends even if you throw your controller down and yell obscenities at your television in fits of rage. The game is like it’s own episode which is a nice addition. Platform game fans should also give it a shot. I suggest downloading the demo first and see for yourself. Oh, and to Other Ocean Interactive, let’s work on bringing in Butters as DLC.