Son To Meet Murayama In 9/8 Shooto Tilt

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

Sustain has added another Class B bout to their next Korakuen Hall card.

Hard-hitting Scramble Shibuya fighter Fanjin Son will be back in action on September 8th, while he takes on Shooting Gym Hakkei veteran Eiji Murayama. Son notched a gritty win over Kyotaro Nakao at the March 24th Shooto card at Korakuen Hall. Perhaps the most potent striker in the 65 kilogram B Class ranks, Son may be a handful of wins away from a Class A license in a 65 kilogram Shooto class in need of young blood.

Shooting Gym Hakkei has now become known as the gym of Shooto super-rookie Takeya Mizugaki, but four years before Mizugaki made his pro debut, Eiji Murayama made his. The 27 year old Murayama boasts wins over Akitoshi Tamura, and Hideki Kadowaki, both of whom are now Class A professional shootors. Though he has fought sparingly in the last four years, taking draws against Tamura in a rematch, and Takeshi Matsushita, a win over Son may get Murayama back into the swing of things, giving Shooting Gym Hakkei another strong representative.

Crymson and Sustain Present Professional Shooto
September 8th, 2006
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Doors Open: 17:00
Fights Start: 18:00

Tentative Fight Card (Card Subject To Change):

2006 Shooto Light Heavyweight Rookie Tournament Semifinal
Class B, 83 KG, 2R 5M
Mitsuhiro Takeda (Paraestra Hakodate) vs. Sakatoshi Furukawa (Taijutsu Soho)

2006 Shooto Feathterweight Rookie Tournament Semifinal
Class B, 60 KG, 2R 5M
Atsushi Asano (Paraestra Tokyo) vs. Teriyuki Matsumoto (Shooting Gym Osaka)

2006 Shooto Welterweight Rookie Tournament Semifinal
Class B, 70 KG, 2R 5M
Michiyuki Ishibashi (Pareastra Sapporo) vs. Shinji Sasaki (MMA Dojo BURST)

Class B, 56 KG, 2R 5M
Yuki Shoujou (X-ONE Shonan Gym) vs. Takashi Okada (TK Esperenza)

Class B, 65 KG, 2R 5M
Fanjin Son (Scramble Shibuya) vs. Eiji Murayama (Shooting Gym Hakkei)

Class A, 70 KG, 2R 5M
Ganjo Tentsuku (PUREBRED Omiya) vs. Kohei Yasumi (Paraestra Tokyo)

Class A, 56 KG, 3R 5M
Shinichi Kojima (Abe Ani Combat Club) vs. Yusei Shimokawa (K’z Factory)

Also Scheduled To Participate:
Mamoru Yamaguchi (Shooting Gym Yokohama)

Remember: Dale’s The One Who’s Always In Trouble

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

One of our favorite old stories — memorialized in a classic early Bill Simmons column — was the Atlanta Gold Club trial. Remember that? The one where all the athletes — Patrick Ewing, Andruw Jones and, uh, Stephen Baldwin — kept getting sexual favors from a strip club in Atlanta. (Yes, Rodman was involved. Obviously.) The whole thing was the type of enterprise that would have provided sex-boat-meets-lesbian-Panthers-cheerleaders excitement around here, had we been around then.

Anyway, the best part of the story was how Gold Club executive Thomas “Ziggy” Sicignano fingered Antonio Davis as one of the regular clients … but he meant Dale Davis. Oops. We’re guess someone might not have been pleased by that.

Point is, there should be no more Dale/Antonio misidentification: Dale Davis, now with the Pistons, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest without violence, assault and assault of a law enforcement officer. To finish off the event, they tasered him. This should further distance the two Davises and alleviate any more confusion.

Davis Arrested In Miami Beach [Detroit News]
Inside The Gold Club Trial [ESPN Insider]

When It Comes To Foreign Substances, Listen To Gaylord Perry

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

For those who don’t remember Gaylord Perry, despite being the only member of baseball’s Hall of Fame named “Gaylord,” he also holds practically all of the modern-day petroleum-based pitching records. All of our current CSI television programs combined would be hard-pressed to figure out how Perry kept the spitball alive a full 60 years after it was officially banned in the majors, but he did; getting caught only once, in 1980. So what would you say that Perry’s take would be on baseball’s current steroid controversy? Not what you might think. He wants the game cleaned up.

And come to think of it, who would know better than Perry, the greatest cheater who ever played? And we mean that in the best possible way. Said Kevin Modesti of the LA Daily News:

Doctoring a ball without being detected while standing on a mound in front of 40,000 people requires the sort of finely honed skill, wit and nerve that defines a great baseball player. Proceeding to admit it bespeaks an admirable audacity. (But) Jamming a needle in your backside while hiding in a clubhouse bathroom stall is the act of an oaf, a dullard and a coward. Denying it in the face of scientific evidence suggests the shrinkage the experts warn about is already in effect.

Makes sense when you put it that way. We guess.

To Some, Cheating Is In The Eye Of The Beholder [LA Daily News]

Card For Inoue’s 8/15 Kokoro Completed

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

The line-up for Enson Inoue’s first MMA event, Kokoro, is complete.

Three bouts, each featuring a Shooto veteran, have filled out the remaining portion of Enson Inoue’s Kokoro: Kill Or Be

Killed. Shooto Class B veteran Seiji Otsuka. Otsuka was victorious in Shooto back in March over Takamaro Watari, and will now take on standout Guamanian grappler Zach Rapadas. The debuting Rapadas finished his high school wrestling career undefeated, and took the 60 kilogram gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2005 Oceania Championships.

2005 Shooto middleweight rookie runner-up Yoshiyuki Yoshida will return to action against upstart Brazilian Luis Sapo. Like Otsuka, Yoshida saw victory in March’s Korakuen Hall Shooto card as well, as he pounded out Lithuanian Mindaugas Smirnovas in the first round. Sapo is coming off of four straight wins, including three this year, after starting his young career with a loss in 2005.

Machado jiu-jitsu ace George Sotiropolous will finally get to see action in Japan. Sotiropolous was scheduled to face Yusuke Endo at Shooto’s July 21th Korakuen Hall card before suffering a case of acute gastroenteritis. The Australian will now meet up with Shooto veteran and T-BLOOD team member Shigetoshi Iwase. Iwase is on a four fight skid, including a loss earlier this year to sambo expert Hidehiko Hasegawa at DEEP’s fifth anniversary show in February.

PUREBRED Presents Kokoro: Kill Or Be Killed
August 15th, 2006
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Doors Open: 17:30
Fights Start: 18:30

Tentative Fight Card (Card Subject To Change):

60 KG, 2R 5M
Naoki Yahagi (PUREBRED Omiya) vs. Hiroaki Takezawa (Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW G2)

95 KG, 2R 5M
Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren (Mongolian Pro Wrestling Association) vs. Takeshi Tosa (Freelance)

63 KG, 2R 5M
Zach Rapadas (PUREBRED SPIKE22) vs. Seiji Otsuka (Combat Sports Circle OZ)

80 KG, 2R 5M
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Tokyo Yellow Mans) vs. Luis Sapo (Bulldog Team)

76 KG, 2R 5M
George Sotiropolous (PUREBRED Omiya) vs. Shigetoshi Iwase (T-BLOOD)

Special MMA Rules
70 KG, 2R 5M
Jadamba Narantungalag (Mongolian Pro Wrestling Association) vs. Toshikazu Iseno (PUREBRED Omiya)

Kickboxing Rules
115 KG, 2R 5M
Sergey Shemetov (Freelance) vs. Jason Suttie (ETK Gym)

86 KG, 2R 5M
Hiromitsu Kanehara (UKR) vs. Ruslan Abdulkhamidov (Freelance)

72 KG, 2R 5M
Tetsuji Kato (TRENCH TECH) vs. Alexei Maligin (Tiger’s Den)

The Xbox 360 summer showcase

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Reviews, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Fighting, Online, RPGs, Simulations, Sports, Strategy, Competitive Gaming, Peripherals, Business

Over the past couple of days here in New York City, Microsoft has been in town playing host to a few NYC game journos, giving us the opportunity to test drive all the latest titles you’ll be seeing soon and even some peripherals, like the Xbox 360 camera.

The games I’ll talk about are Gears of War, The World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, Dead Rising, Call of Duty 3, NBA 2K7, WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw, and Tony Hawk’s Project 8. Check out my impressions after the break.

Gears of War

CliffyB and a few of the Epic boys were here to show off what appeared to be the same single-player build showcased at E3. There wasn’t a whole lot new here; however, having Cliffy personally walk you through got the adrenaline pumping to finally play this game on Nov. 12 Emergence Day.

For those that don’t know, here’s the basic rundown of what to expect: the game’s story takes place over a 36 hour period (this is not how long it will take to play); the A.I. can basically do everything you can do — so no mindless zombie drones here; third-person camera view; 4v4 multiplayer; you have a friggin’ chainsaw on your gun!

And that about does it. As mentioned in my sit down with Cliffy earlier, the game is all about intimate violence. The action feels perfectly paced, and the visuals are nothing short of stunning. While going through the level, I didn’t notice any particular screen tearing or slowdown and there were no frame rate issues either. So, by all means, the game looks good … I’d even say demo-good. Though, Cliffy was very quiet on a possible demo coming anytime soon.

Whether or not the team can really pull it off in the final product remains to be seen. But, they’ve got a good start going.

World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions

Not to be confused with the previously announced XBLA poker title, the World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions is a retail game by Activision that simultaneously launches with the Xbox 360 camera on September 19.

To differentiate itself from the aforementioned XBLA game, WSP will take full advantage of the camera by not only letting you see the other players, but also map your purty little face to your character. No more moving sliders to get that perfect result, now you can just snap a few pics and be done with it.

Also, the game features a very robust single-player mode where you move up through the ranks and can participate in tournaments as large as 2,000 different players. There are around 30 pros involved who you’ll recognize if your an avid viewer of poker on ESPN and various other networks.

After asking how the game would improve upon traditionally poor A.I. in poker games, I was told that the team behind the game went to the actual pros and asked them various poker-specific questions, and tweaked the A.I. accordingly. Seeing as how it is a next-gen game, the poker A.I. problem should be solved — at least it oughta be.

Back to multiplayer. Players can set up to 9 to play at a table and host up to 21-player tournaments. As incentive to actually wanting to win — rather than just going all in every time — the game uses what are called collector chips that will unlock various hints and other content in the game. If you lose to someone, they could take your precious chip.

I was a little taken aback by this strategy as it really didn’t seem to be much of an advantage or incentive. The XBLA version’s idea of having a persistent bankroll and big money tournaments seemed more logical whereas in WSA, there is no continous bankroll. So, in essence, players will have to rely on finding a good steady set of friends to play with. Otherwise, you’re gonna get a lot of Halo 2 kiddies ruining everyone’s game each time you sit down.

Dead Rising

Let’s get the most pressing question out of the way first. We all know this anticipated zombie killer will be out next week, but what we don’t know is when the demo will hit Xbox Live so those still wary about it can test it out. I asked and (predictably) didn’t get much of an answer. I was basically told, “Next week, probably, but maybe earlier.”

So, there you have it. Maybe soon. Perhaps.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I got to take hold of the controls and actually play this sucker. We all know the story, background, blah blah blah, but how does it play?

It plays fairly well, but not as clean and crisp as I would have liked. I didn’t feel that certain sense of preciseness that I wanted. For instance, when trying to hit a zombie with a table or chair or whatever, I felt as if I couldn’t line up correctly, that there was just this general sense of a “hit area,” so to speak. When zoomed into first-person mode, again, it wasn’t the smoothest thing in the world to aim.

Though the controls weren’t perfect, it was, however, hella fun to play. The various weapons, zombie dodging, and variety of gameplay make this game what it is — pure, gory fun. And who doesn’t like that, huh? Zombies, that’s who!

Let’s not be mistaken though, this is not just a “kill as many zombies as you can” game. I was promised that Dead Rising actually has a compelling storyline and plot. Hmmm, zombie killer with a plot. I’ll take it.

Call of Duty 3

Not only will this be a 360 and Wii title, but I was also told it will be a PS3 launch title as well. So, Sony fans, you’re on notice.

As for the game itself, it’s more of the same in the single player. But, after the disastrous multiplayer last year in CoD 2 for the 360, the CoD 3 team put an extreme amount of focus there.

Supporting up to 24 people, multiplayer will resemble something closer to the Battlefield series. You will have different classes to play and vehicles to use, there will be six different game modes, as well as a persistent online ranking system. As far as the lag we all experienced in CoD 2, I was told they’re doing all they can to ensure that would not happen again. I’d keep your fingers crossed on that.

Two big additions making their way into CoD 3 are what is called “Battle Actions” (which are more in-depth button sequences) and branching mission paths (your commander may tell you two different ways to approach an enemy, giving you different ways to not only finish the game, but replay it).

As far as looks, this game is beautiful; most notable were the explosions and resulting smoke cloud. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything look as realistic as this. If someone saw just that, there’s absolutely no way they’d know it was a video game. Out of everything, I was most impressed at how real those ’splosions looked. Bravo, Treyarch.

NBA 2K7

Another year, another sports franchise game is out. The first thing I noticed when I sat down with the game is the way it looked. It was much more polished than 2K6, and actually looked like a next-gen basketball game this time around.

But, besides a graphical improvement, the game will now feature signature styles for star players. However Shaq dunks the ball or Steve Nash licks his fingers, you’ll see it in this game. What a difference a year makes.

Also new is an included story mode called 24/7 Next. You play a streetball nobody and try to work your way up the circuit to God knows where. I’m not exactly sure why 2K decided to throw this mode in. I’d rather see more depth or improvements in the single player and multiplayer side, rather then some rinky dink story mode that most of us will never touch. Either way, it’s there if you want it. But, I’ll pass.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8

I’ve got a confession to make: I hate Tony Hawk games. I played and appreciated the early efforts, but after a while, it just got to be really old for me. The series was just completely done in my mind, and after seeing that piss poor 360 version last year, I had completely buried it.

Thankfully, the guys at Neversoft were thinking the same thing. So, although Project 8 (by the way, another PS3 launch title) isn’t completely revamped, it is improved enough to make those like me who gave up on the series pick the controller back up and skate.

But why? First, the game looks incredibly smooth and polished. With its Matrix-like slowdown effects and use of the control sticks for various moves, this game finally deserves that “next-gen” tag.

And, rather than just picking easy, medium or hard, the game is an open world where you’re given more points depending on how well you do different tasks. Overall, it’s a definite improvement from having to do goal A or B to move on.

I didn’t have many concerns about the game, and that says a lot coming from someone who had been completely fed up with the entire series.

WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw

Why THQ decided to show off the game at this stage is beyond me. Still in development, the game was pretty much the buggiest thing I’ve ever seen out of any pre-Alpha or Alpha build. While playing the game, the rep from THQ and I had the game freeze on us several times, and really couldn’t do much as the collision detection wasn’t there for a lot of the moves. And lets not even get into the obnoxious load times. Keep in mind though, this was a very early build.

That being said, the game seems to be your standard fare wrestling game with all the bells and whistles you’d expect. There’s not much to say about this game, because, really, it is what it is. Much like other sports games, there’s just not much you can do with a wrestling game. You make your custom wrestler, do the storyline thing, bash some heads, and jump off some ladders. Been there, done that.

There are minor improvements here or there, so I’m sure if you’re a huge WWE fan, you’ll soak up this game in a heartbeat.

As far as the PSP version and its infamous load times, I was told that that will be fixed and won’t be an issue this year. We’ll just have to all believe it when we see it.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Xbox 360 summer showcase

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Reviews, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Fighting, Online, RPGs, Simulations, Sports, Strategy, Competitive Gaming, Peripherals, Business

Over the past couple of days here in New York City, Microsoft has been in town playing host to a few NYC game journos, giving us the opportunity to test drive all the latest titles you’ll be seeing soon and even some peripherals, like the Xbox 360 camera.

The games I’ll talk about are Gears of War, The World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, Dead Rising, Call of Duty 3, NBA 2K7, WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw, and Tony Hawk’s Project 8. Check out my impressions after the break.

Gears of War

CliffyB and a few of the Epic boys were here to show off what appeared to be the same single-player build showcased at E3. There wasn’t a whole lot new here; however, having Cliffy personally walk you through got the adrenaline pumping to finally play this game on Nov. 12 Emergence Day.

For those that don’t know, here’s the basic rundown of what to expect: the game’s story takes place over a 36 hour period (this is not how long it will take to play); the A.I. can basically do everything you can do — so no mindless zombie drones here; third-person camera view; 4v4 multiplayer; you have a friggin’ chainsaw on your gun!

And that about does it. As mentioned in my sit down with Cliffy earlier, the game is all about intimate violence. The action feels perfectly paced, and the visuals are nothing short of stunning. While going through the level, I didn’t notice any particular screen tearing or slowdown and there were no frame rate issues either. So, by all means, the game looks good … I’d even say demo-good. Though, Cliffy was very quiet on a possible demo coming anytime soon.

Whether or not the team can really pull it off in the final product remains to be seen. But, they’ve got a good start going.

World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions

Not to be confused with the previously announced XBLA poker title, the World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions is a retail game by Activision that simultaneously launches with the Xbox 360 camera on September 19.

To differentiate itself from the aforementioned XBLA game, WSP will take full advantage of the camera by not only letting you see the other players, but also map your purty little face to your character. No more moving sliders to get that perfect result, now you can just snap a few pics and be done with it.

Also, the game features a very robust single-player mode where you move up through the ranks and can participate in tournaments as large as 2,000 different players. There are around 30 pros involved who you’ll recognize if your an avid viewer of poker on ESPN and various other networks.

After asking how the game would improve upon traditionally poor A.I. in poker games, I was told that the team behind the game went to the actual pros and asked them various poker-specific questions, and tweaked the A.I. accordingly. Seeing as how it is a next-gen game, the poker A.I. problem should be solved — at least it oughta be.

Back to multiplayer. Players can set up to 9 to play at a table and host up to 21-player tournaments. As incentive to actually wanting to win — rather than just going all in every time — the game uses what are called collector chips that will unlock various hints and other content in the game. If you lose to someone, they could take your precious chip.

I was a little taken aback by this strategy as it really didn’t seem to be much of an advantage or incentive. The XBLA version’s idea of having a persistent bankroll and big money tournaments seemed more logical whereas in WSA, there is no continous bankroll. So, in essence, players will have to rely on finding a good steady set of friends to play with. Otherwise, you’re gonna get a lot of Halo 2 kiddies ruining everyone’s game each time you sit down.

Dead Rising

Let’s get the most pressing question out of the way first. We all know this anticipated zombie killer will be out next week, but what we don’t know is when the demo will hit Xbox Live so those still wary about it can test it out. I asked and (predictably) didn’t get much of an answer. I was basically told, “Next week, probably, but maybe earlier.”

So, there you have it. Maybe soon. Perhaps.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I got to take hold of the controls and actually play this sucker. We all know the story, background, blah blah blah, but how does it play?

It plays fairly well, but not as clean and crisp as I would have liked. I didn’t feel that certain sense of preciseness that I wanted. For instance, when trying to hit a zombie with a table or chair or whatever, I felt as if I couldn’t line up correctly, that there was just this general sense of a “hit area,” so to speak. When zoomed into first-person mode, again, it wasn’t the smoothest thing in the world to aim.

Though the controls weren’t perfect, it was, however, hella fun to play. The various weapons, zombie dodging, and variety of gameplay make this game what it is — pure, gory fun. And who doesn’t like that, huh? Zombies, that’s who!

Let’s not be mistaken though, this is not just a “kill as many zombies as you can” game. I was promised that Dead Rising actually has a compelling storyline and plot. Hmmm, zombie killer with a plot. I’ll take it.

Call of Duty 3

Not only will this be a 360 and Wii title, but I was also told it will be a PS3 launch title as well. So, Sony fans, you’re on notice.

As for the game itself, it’s more of the same in the single player. But, after the disastrous multiplayer last year in CoD 2 for the 360, the CoD 3 team put an extreme amount of focus there.

Supporting up to 24 people, multiplayer will resemble something closer to the Battlefield series. You will have different classes to play and vehicles to use, there will be six different game modes, as well as a persistent online ranking system. As far as the lag we all experienced in CoD 2, I was told they’re doing all they can to ensure that would not happen again. I’d keep your fingers crossed on that.

Two big additions making their way into CoD 3 are what is called “Battle Actions” (which are more in-depth button sequences) and branching mission paths (your commander may tell you two different ways to approach an enemy, giving you different ways to not only finish the game, but replay it).

As far as looks, this game is beautiful; most notable were the explosions and resulting smoke cloud. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything look as realistic as this. If someone saw just that, there’s absolutely no way they’d know it was a video game. Out of everything, I was most impressed at how real those ’splosions looked. Bravo, Treyarch.

NBA 2K7

Another year, another sports franchise game is out. The first thing I noticed when I sat down with the game is the way it looked. It was much more polished than 2K6, and actually looked like a next-gen basketball game this time around.

But, besides a graphical improvement, the game will now feature signature styles for star players. However Shaq dunks the ball or Steve Nash licks his fingers, you’ll see it in this game. What a difference a year makes.

Also new is an included story mode called 24/7 Next. You play a streetball nobody and try to work your way up the circuit to God knows where. I’m not exactly sure why 2K decided to throw this mode in. I’d rather see more depth or improvements in the single player and multiplayer side, rather then some rinky dink story mode that most of us will never touch. Either way, it’s there if you want it. But, I’ll pass.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8

I’ve got a confession to make: I hate Tony Hawk games. I played and appreciated the early efforts, but after a while, it just got to be really old for me. The series was just completely done in my mind, and after seeing that piss poor 360 version last year, I had completely buried it.

Thankfully, the guys at Neversoft were thinking the same thing. So, although Project 8 (by the way, another PS3 launch title) isn’t completely revamped, it is improved enough to make those like me who gave up on the series pick the controller back up and skate.

But why? First, the game looks incredibly smooth and polished. With its Matrix-like slowdown effects and use of the control sticks for various moves, this game finally deserves that “next-gen” tag.

And, rather than just picking easy, medium or hard, the game is an open world where you’re given more points depending on how well you do different tasks. Overall, it’s a definite improvement from having to do goal A or B to move on.

I didn’t have many concerns about the game, and that says a lot coming from someone who had been completely fed up with the entire series.

WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw

Why THQ decided to show off the game at this stage is beyond me. Still in development, the game was pretty much the buggiest thing I’ve ever seen out of any pre-Alpha or Alpha build. While playing the game, the rep from THQ and I had the game freeze on us several times, and really couldn’t do much as the collision detection wasn’t there for a lot of the moves. And lets not even get into the obnoxious load times. Keep in mind though, this was a very early build.

That being said, the game seems to be your standard fare wrestling game with all the bells and whistles you’d expect. There’s not much to say about this game, because, really, it is what it is. Much like other sports games, there’s just not much you can do with a wrestling game. You make your custom wrestler, do the storyline thing, bash some heads, and jump off some ladders. Been there, done that.

There are minor improvements here or there, so I’m sure if you’re a huge WWE fan, you’ll soak up this game in a heartbeat.

As far as the PSP version and its infamous load times, I was told that that will be fixed and won’t be an issue this year. We’ll just have to all believe it when we see it.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Xbox 360 summer showcase

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Reviews, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Fighting, Online, RPGs, Simulations, Sports, Strategy, Competitive Gaming, Peripherals, Business

Over the past couple of days here in New York City, Microsoft has been in town playing host to a few NYC game journos, giving us the opportunity to test drive all the latest titles you’ll be seeing soon and even some peripherals, like the Xbox 360 camera.

The games I’ll talk about are Gears of War, The World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions, Dead Rising, Call of Duty 3, NBA 2K7, WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw, and Tony Hawk’s Project 8. Check out my impressions after the break.

Gears of War

CliffyB and a few of the Epic boys were here to show off what appeared to be the same single-player build showcased at E3. There wasn’t a whole lot new here; however, having Cliffy personally walk you through got the adrenaline pumping to finally play this game on Nov. 12 Emergence Day.

For those that don’t know, here’s the basic rundown of what to expect: the game’s story takes place over a 36 hour period (this is not how long it will take to play); the A.I. can basically do everything you can do — so no mindless zombie drones here; third-person camera view; 4v4 multiplayer; you have a friggin’ chainsaw on your gun!

And that about does it. As mentioned in my sit down with Cliffy earlier, the game is all about intimate violence. The action feels perfectly paced, and the visuals are nothing short of stunning. While going through the level, I didn’t notice any particular screen tearing or slowdown and there were no frame rate issues either. So, by all means, the game looks good … I’d even say demo-good. Though, Cliffy was very quiet on a possible demo coming anytime soon.

Whether or not the team can really pull it off in the final product remains to be seen. But, they’ve got a good start going.

World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions

Not to be confused with the previously announced XBLA poker title, the World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions is a retail game by Activision that simultaneously launches with the Xbox 360 camera on September 19.

To differentiate itself from the aforementioned XBLA game, WSP will take full advantage of the camera by not only letting you see the other players, but also map your purty little face to your character. No more moving sliders to get that perfect result, now you can just snap a few pics and be done with it.

Also, the game features a very robust single-player mode where you move up through the ranks and can participate in tournaments as large as 2,000 different players. There are around 30 pros involved who you’ll recognize if your an avid viewer of poker on ESPN and various other networks.

After asking how the game would improve upon traditionally poor A.I. in poker games, I was told that the team behind the game went to the actual pros and asked them various poker-specific questions, and tweaked the A.I. accordingly. Seeing as how it is a next-gen game, the poker A.I. problem should be solved — at least it oughta be.

Back to multiplayer. Players can set up to 9 to play at a table and host up to 21-player tournaments. As incentive to actually wanting to win — rather than just going all in every time — the game uses what are called collector chips that will unlock various hints and other content in the game. If you lose to someone, they could take your precious chip.

I was a little taken aback by this strategy as it really didn’t seem to be much of an advantage or incentive. The XBLA version’s idea of having a persistent bankroll and big money tournaments seemed more logical whereas in WSA, there is no continous bankroll. So, in essence, players will have to rely on finding a good steady set of friends to play with. Otherwise, you’re gonna get a lot of Halo 2 kiddies ruining everyone’s game each time you sit down.

Dead Rising

Let’s get the most pressing question out of the way first. We all know this anticipated zombie killer will be out next week, but what we don’t know is when the demo will hit Xbox Live so those still wary about it can test it out. I asked and (predictably) didn’t get much of an answer. I was basically told, “Next week, probably, but maybe earlier.”

So, there you have it. Maybe soon. Perhaps.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I got to take hold of the controls and actually play this sucker. We all know the story, background, blah blah blah, but how does it play?

It plays fairly well, but not as clean and crisp as I would have liked. I didn’t feel that certain sense of preciseness that I wanted. For instance, when trying to hit a zombie with a table or chair or whatever, I felt as if I couldn’t line up correctly, that there was just this general sense of a “hit area,” so to speak. When zoomed into first-person mode, again, it wasn’t the smoothest thing in the world to aim.

Though the controls weren’t perfect, it was, however, hella fun to play. The various weapons, zombie dodging, and variety of gameplay make this game what it is — pure, gory fun. And who doesn’t like that, huh? Zombies, that’s who!

Let’s not be mistaken though, this is not just a “kill as many zombies as you can” game. I was promised that Dead Rising actually has a compelling storyline and plot. Hmmm, zombie killer with a plot. I’ll take it.

Call of Duty 3

Not only will this be a 360 and Wii title, but I was also told it will be a PS3 launch title as well. So, Sony fans, you’re on notice.

As for the game itself, it’s more of the same in the single player. But, after the disastrous multiplayer last year in CoD 2 for the 360, the CoD 3 team put an extreme amount of focus there.

Supporting up to 24 people, multiplayer will resemble something closer to the Battlefield series. You will have different classes to play and vehicles to use, there will be six different game modes, as well as a persistent online ranking system. As far as the lag we all experienced in CoD 2, I was told they’re doing all they can to ensure that would not happen again. I’d keep your fingers crossed on that.

Two big additions making their way into CoD 3 are what is called “Battle Actions” (which are more in-depth button sequences) and branching mission paths (your commander may tell you two different ways to approach an enemy, giving you different ways to not only finish the game, but replay it).

As far as looks, this game is beautiful; most notable were the explosions and resulting smoke cloud. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything look as realistic as this. If someone saw just that, there’s absolutely no way they’d know it was a video game. Out of everything, I was most impressed at how real those ’splosions looked. Bravo, Treyarch.

NBA 2K7

Another year, another sports franchise game is out. The first thing I noticed when I sat down with the game is the way it looked. It was much more polished than 2K6, and actually looked like a next-gen basketball game this time around.

But, besides a graphical improvement, the game will now feature signature styles for star players. However Shaq dunks the ball or Steve Nash licks his fingers, you’ll see it in this game. What a difference a year makes.

Also new is an included story mode called 24/7 Next. You play a streetball nobody and try to work your way up the circuit to God knows where. I’m not exactly sure why 2K decided to throw this mode in. I’d rather see more depth or improvements in the single player and multiplayer side, rather then some rinky dink story mode that most of us will never touch. Either way, it’s there if you want it. But, I’ll pass.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8

I’ve got a confession to make: I hate Tony Hawk games. I played and appreciated the early efforts, but after a while, it just got to be really old for me. The series was just completely done in my mind, and after seeing that piss poor 360 version last year, I had completely buried it.

Thankfully, the guys at Neversoft were thinking the same thing. So, although Project 8 (by the way, another PS3 launch title) isn’t completely revamped, it is improved enough to make those like me who gave up on the series pick the controller back up and skate.

But why? First, the game looks incredibly smooth and polished. With its Matrix-like slowdown effects and use of the control sticks for various moves, this game finally deserves that “next-gen” tag.

And, rather than just picking easy, medium or hard, the game is an open world where you’re given more points depending on how well you do different tasks. Overall, it’s a definite improvement from having to do goal A or B to move on.

I didn’t have many concerns about the game, and that says a lot coming from someone who had been completely fed up with the entire series.

WWE: SmackDown vs. Raw

Why THQ decided to show off the game at this stage is beyond me. Still in development, the game was pretty much the buggiest thing I’ve ever seen out of any pre-Alpha or Alpha build. While playing the game, the rep from THQ and I had the game freeze on us several times, and really couldn’t do much as the collision detection wasn’t there for a lot of the moves. And lets not even get into the obnoxious load times. Keep in mind though, this was a very early build.

That being said, the game seems to be your standard fare wrestling game with all the bells and whistles you’d expect. There’s not much to say about this game, because, really, it is what it is. Much like other sports games, there’s just not much you can do with a wrestling game. You make your custom wrestler, do the storyline thing, bash some heads, and jump off some ladders. Been there, done that.

There are minor improvements here or there, so I’m sure if you’re a huge WWE fan, you’ll soak up this game in a heartbeat.

As far as the PSP version and its infamous load times, I was told that that will be fixed and won’t be an issue this year. We’ll just have to all believe it when we see it.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Your Unwarranted Kevin Costner Update

Continue Reading August 3rd, 2006

You can always tell how Kevin Costner’s career is going by how much he remembers he “loves the beautiful game of baseball.” When he was stalling in the late ’90s, he tried to recapture the Bull Durham-Field Of Dreams magic with For The Love Of The Game, a movie so dull and torpid that you’d never believe it was directed by the Spider-Man and Evil Dead guy. Now that Costner’s career has flat-lined — he’s got a new movie with Ashton Kutcher — he’s back again, making his first appearance at the famous Dyersville, Iowa baseball field where Field of Dreams was filmed. His “band” is even playing a “free” concert before the film is shown.

Returning to the ‘Field of Dreams’ location to play a concert … has special meaning for me,” Costner said in a news release. “The movie was significant in my career, and the band is an important part of my future.”

Well, there’s a quote with a lot of soul to it. Not that we don’t mean to support Costner’s “career,” but we think it’s helplessly cute that Costner’s “band” — which doesn’t have a name — is such a big part of his “future.” Oh, and sorry: We love our dad and have even enjoyed a “catch” with him. But anyone who thinks Field Of Dreams is better than Bull Durham needs his/her head examined, if you ask us.

Costner To Return To Field Of Dreams [Philly.com]