Hey guys. I am back make another first impression on a game that I bought recently. And that game would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game. For those of you who haven't read since early 2009, my first impressions are my 1-2 hour experience of a game and I post my brief thoughts. It's not very well written or anything, but rather that impression set on me by the 1-2 hours. At the end of my points, I write a first impression score and after some time return with an update and second impression score or final score (depending on how long the game is).

Anybody who knows my taste knows that I am a huge beat-em up fan. I've played through X-Men, Final Fight, The Simpsons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the awesome arcade game), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time, Double Dragon, Double Dragon 2, Knights of the Round (an underrated gem), Viewtiful Joe, Viewtiful Joe 2* and plenty more. Simply put it this way. I love beat-em ups. So when I downloaded the demo, I was not sure what to expect. When I played it, I loved it and bought it today.

First things first, the game does not spoil the books. This is a huge relief for anybody who wants to read the books, but also want to try out the game. If you read the books, you'll get all the references, areas, and locations thrown at you. However, Ubisoft does not point it out and only readers of the books will notice it. There really is no story either, which again is a relief. In between evil exes, you will be treated with a cutscene of Scott and Ramona kissing, while Stills and Kim are ignored.

The graphics as 16 bit, which is really awesome. The areas looks very colorful and creative. I also love the designs of the characters that they went with. One thing I love is that Ubisoft did not let the book restrict themselves and expanded the areas that were shown in the book. For example, in Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (the book), Scott encounters the second evil ex, Lucas Lee, in a park and that's it. In the game, the park serves as the climax of the level, but you have to go through an entire studio fighting costumed aliens and dinosaurs, destroying cars, and avoiding various traps in order to reach Lucas. This makes the game so much fun, due to the imagination of the enemies and locations. They also make fun of Guitar Hero. That's hilarious.

The gameplay feels like a fusion of Final Fight and River City Ransom, which makes it awesome. Each of the character's fighting styles differ from each other. All of the characters are fun to play as, but my personal favorite is Scott. It also helps that one of his moves is a shoryuken. The controls are also pretty good. You have your standard heavy and normal punches, which you can chain up and juggle your opponent. You also get to use a huge amount of items thrown around the place. You can use swords, trash bags, and even buckets to destroy your enemies. There is also a leveling system that gives you different amounts of new moves and ups your stats. You can also a person summoned to give you a boost (which takes away from your energy meter). For example, using summon with Scott bring out Knives Chau, who breathes out a giant cloud that says LOVE (anybody who read the book will get it).

The best part of the game is the evil exes. Each evil ex is divided into one stage, which is based on the events of the book (again, not pointed out in the game) In the books, they're pretty cool (Lucas Lee is my favorite), but in the game they are blown out of proportion. Enemies now have an expanded move set that gives them creative attacks. Along with his Demon Hipster Chicks, Matthew Patel can use hadokens, Lucas Lee summons skateboarders while beating you with one, Todd uses his vegan powers to turn into a giant monster that shoots an array of vegetables at you. To put it into simple words, the boss battles are incredibly fun.

One other thing that I like is the difficulty of this game. The game doesn't hold your hand, but starts off a little easy, before throwing in more enemies in the mix. By the fourth stage you have to learn to roll and block, which can be followed by well placed hits and juggles.

And finally, oh my gosh, the music is amazing. I honestly did not expect the music to be so good. And the music that accompanies The Clash at Demonhead in the beginning of Stage 3 is AMAZING. It is kind of like a 16 bit rock soundtrack, which I absolutely love. That is all I have to say about the music.

So do I recommend the game? Heck yes. This game is an amazingly fun beat-em up that any fans have to pick up. If you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim, beat-em ups, or fun in general. Go pick this up.

First impression score: 9.5

Thanks for reading.

*Capcom, Platinum. Viewtiful Joe 3. Work on it. Now.

Oh and I'm going to be driving to the theatres tomorrow to catch the film. Might review it. Maybe.

There comes a time in your lives when you have to vote for the greatest villain ever to grace your console. Sure there are demons like Akuma, sissies that have daddy issues like Sephiroth (I regret nothing), and god like monsters like Ganondorf, but those wimps have nothing against the unstoppable force of Albert Wesker. Sure there's Dr. Wiley with his robot masers, but he always kneels on his knees and is all, "Oh I'm so sorry Mega Man, don't kill me. I promise I'll be good", but then escapes like a wimp, and is all, "HAHAHAHA!!!! I escaped Mega Man and will appear in 8 more games (Mega Man 2 and 3 were amazing, 4 was good but meh, 5 and 6 were alright, 7 and 8 sucked). No, if Wesker loses, he is all, "Whatever, I'll just cause everybody to turn into bloodthirsty zombies HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" You may be thinking Ganondorf, but he is a wimp too. Think of it this way. Ganon becomes a god, the people are like, "Oh, what do we do? We'll all die." and the townspeople are like "We'll just send in some stupid green skirt wearing kid with a wooden sword and annoying fairy to go kill him." and they're like, "Are you sure?" and the other people are like, "It worked the last 15 times". Yeah a kid with some wooden sword kills a god. Some villain indeed. But no, even the government can't stop Wesker. They're all, "Oh, we nuked Raccoon City, the zombies are dead! HAHAHAHA!!!!" and Wesker is all, "Whatever I'll go turn Africa into zombies."

This man is amazing, plus he got smacked by the Tyrant and just took it like a man. He also made the STARS go through so much trouble and destroyed everything. Too bad they killed them off in RE 5 (seriously, Sheva should have not killed him. She has nothing to do with him. It should have been Chris and Jill (and maybe Barry (actually no, he would make some stupid joke (he was pretty funny in RE 1 though (It's pretty funny how he tells me, "Use this, it's a weapon. It's good for killing living things (well duh, that's why I'm going to use it (he did call me the master of unlocking though, that was kind of nice (but he almost betrayed me (but he did save me (actually no, I rocket launched Tyrant and Nemesis by myself, while he was making stupid jokes with Chris (wait a minute, Nemesis was not in this tournament!? He was awesome in RE 3 (Resident Evil 6 should star Barry (it would be pretty cool if he was in MvC 3 (along with Jill, she's awesome at close combat (unless of course you're fighting Sentinel (cheap character, like come on HE CAN SHOOT HIS ARMS AT ANY PART OF THE SCREEN (he should be banned from fighting games (how come Chris still looks like a fridge in MvC 3 (look at those arms! (I need to know his workout program (Speaking of which, Capcom has a habit of turning their characters into overmuscularized beasts (look at Ryu, I mean he was kind of muscular in Street Fighter II (awesome game) and then got super huge muscles in Street Fighter IV) (speaking of which Spiderman better be in MvC 3 (I love that guy (I may have some sort of secret obsession with him, but he's so awesome (I also want Gambit in MvC 3, Doc Oc, The Punisher, The Human Torch (How come all my blogs always end on me talking about MvC (then again any game that features Spiderman and Venom in the same game is the greatest game ever (maybe not the greatest game, but awesome nonetheless (plus it has Resident Evil and Street Fighter (if you have a 360 or PS3, go download MvC 2 right now (I heart that game (I should stop this)))))))))))))))))))))))))))), seriously), but his other appearances were awesome.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, the only people that can stop his campaign of terror are Chris, Jill, Mike Tyson. Jacquio (from Ninja Gaiden), and the square block from Tetris. My question is why are they not in the contest. Jacquio makes a near impossible game more impossible (the death music in Ninja Gaiden is burned on my brain) and the square block nearly ruins Tetris. Speaking of hard games, why did IGN say Contra is one of the hardest games of all time? No it's not. I suck at games, but I managed to beat Contra with the 30 lives code and not die once in the first four stages. It just takes quick reflexes. Super C is a different story. I had to use a Game Genie again. DANG IT, I got distracted again. Anyways, vote for Albert Wesker as the greatest game villain, because he is pure evil and he wears sunglasses. That is hot. Gosh, this got awkward. Speaking of which, I need to go get to beating Okami, that game is cool. Funny thing is that the only game I bough this year was Resident Evil and I still haven't got to my backlog of 2 games. Turok 2 is annoying, but I like the weapons. I will beat it, eventually. Darn, I'm getting distracted, so I should end this blog.

Vote for Albert Wesker. He caused a zombie apocalypse.

Hey guys. I'm here to give a short update on things and whatnot.

Now that the World Cup is over, I have a cold and empty feeling that only soccer can fill. But this is the third World Cup in the rwo where I predicted the right team to win the final! I guess I can wait till the Euro 2012 or the Asian Cup, but only 4 years till Brasil 2014....

I haven't been playing much recently. But I have been playing a bit of Okami. To put it short, it is an excellent game that I absolutely love. It feels like a fast paced Zelda game with a brush. My only issue is that the combat feels a bit clunky on the Wii-mote. I would have easily preferred the combat to be done with buttons instead of me mindlessly shaking my hand and try to register a hit. I also have been playing some Marvel Vs Capcom 2 online and I despise the community. Seriously, I have barely met anybody who doesn't use a team of Cable, Magneto, and Sentinel (he should be banned from videogames). It doesn't help that they rage quit as I deliver the finishing blow, despite me being patient when they repeatedly infinite juggle me to death. It helps bringing a book along when this happens, since there is no way you can escape. Still, the game never gets old for me and I can't wait for MvC 3(though I'm disappointed at the new characters, aside from Dante and Deadpool (Spider-Man and Frank West better be in this game Capcom…. and Doctor Octopus. He could replace Omega Red. I despise that guy)) No, even better. They should use Stan Lee as a character. I would buy that game just for that one reason. Capcom, if you're reading this (chances are you're not), put Stan Lee in Marvel Vs Capcom 3.

Video games aside, I've been reading some books in these past weeks. In the 2 week frame I finished The Inferno (awesome poem/book) and I've rereading the Bible (finished Genesis). I'm starting Othello (awesome as well) and should finish it in about 3 hours if I sit down and just read.

Film-wise, I haven't been watching much. The only film I remember watching in its entirety would be Dr. Strangelove (love that movie) I have North By Northwest on my desk and I'm almost done with Throne of Blood (I promise I'll finish it), which I got from the library. A few weeks ago, I decided to buy The 400 Blows for $15 and that's on my desk as well. I should probably get on it.

Also, I want to know why the heck I keep getting broken cases with the stuff I buy. Seriously, I was just looking at some CDs and saw Rocks by Aerosmith for like $6 and was like, "I'd be stupid if I didn't buy this." Then I found Ten by Pearl Jam for $8. So I bought those two. I get home and open the plastic covering on the cases and the cases were cracked and scratched. Only then did I notice a tiny USED sticker on the CD case and not on the plastic covering. The good thing was that I had a few spare cases and just switched off the paper and CDs (surprisingly not scratched) into new cases. Same goes with my copy of The 400 Blows. It was brand new and the DVD case was broken on one part. Again, I switched the cases, but seriously. It seems I have the worst luck when it comes to cases being broken. D=

Oh, I'm also disappointed at the Greatest Game Villain lineup. No Dr. Wiley? No Wesker? No Ganondorf? Come on. I voted for Jacquio, because it took me forever to beat him in Ninja Gaiden (awesome game).

Oh yeah, football season is coming up! I forgot about that! I can't wait to watch the first Raiders game and then turn off my TV in cold disappointment. That's always fun.

Hey guys. Recently I was going through some Indie games that I really enjoyed to talk about. As you all know (or not), I am a huge basketball fan and know a ton about the NBA. What better game to play than the awesome Barkley Shut Up And Jam Gaiden: Episode 1 of the Hoopz Barkley Saga? Wow, that's a mouthful. Though it has been talked about before (better I may add), I felt that I needed to add a second opinion on this piece of awesome. Anyways, this game was first released on January of 2008 by Tales of Games, a small team that used RPG Maker to deliver this game. I must say that this game has reached far beyond my expectations, back when I played it 2 years ago and it's still a sweet game to play.

As the title suggests, you play as the NBA star Charles Barkley in a world where chaos reigns and basketball is banned. Why is basketball banned, you ask? The reason basketball is banned is because Mr. Barkley unleashed The Chaos Dunk, a dunk that is so powerful that it can cause mass destruction. Doing that, Barkley destroyed New York (now Proto-Neo New York), his wife, and millions of people died, including many of the NBA stars. Basketball was since banned and many basketball players were murdered in the hands of the evil Michael Jordan, now part of the organization to ban basketball. What makes matters worse is that a terrorist organization, known as B.L.O.O.D.M.O.S.E.S. wants to harness the powers of the Chaos dunk, through the ball that Barkley's powers were sucked in during the Space Jam (yes, the game references the movie, Space Jam).

Seems that though Barkley's powers were returned to him after the event, a fragment of the power grew in the ball and now is powerful again to unleash a Chaos Dunk, which only Barkley can do. However Charles' son Hoopz (great name by the way) is the chosen one and you befriend an intergalactic dwarf named The Cyber Dwarf and bring along Balthios James, the great grandson of Lebron James. Balthios also happens to be a ninja that mastered the art of the Zaubers (I do not know what the heck that is). But wait, that's not all. The Cyber Dwarf fell from a burning spacecraft and the surgeons did not have any Cyber Dwarf skin, so they replaced it with basketballs. Epic. And to top it all off, you team up with a cyborg Vince Carter. That is amazing enough to warrant a free download.

Chaos Dunks, serious business

So with your team of 4, you set off to build a new basketball in the Spalding Basketball factory, to be able to do The Chaos Dunk once more. Yeah, the story is so stupid and unpredictable that it actually works. It's amazingly hilarious. One thing I also like is that the game throws references based on past basketball stars, film, and videogames, even going as far as making fun of gamers who play Madden and Halo. To make it simple, it's extremely entertaining.

The gameplay feels heavily influenced from the Square RPGs, mainly taking inspiration from the amazing Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo. The four characters each specialize in a specific fighting $tyle. Charles Barkley shoots basketballs and relies on projectile attacks; Hoopz uses a handgun that relies on timing and accuracy, and if done right you can cause a high amount of damage; Balthios uses alchemy (or the art of Zaubers), and mainly is the teammate that lowers the stats of the enemies; while the Cyber Dwarf relies on close quarter combat, that can be triggered by pressing the action buttons, and is useful for healing your fellow teammates.

Also, each character has special moves that take away energy, but are really useful. For example, Charles Barkley has a double team move, where he duplicates himself and repeatedly throws basketballs at the enemies, causing high damage. Though these moves are useful, you have to be very careful in not wasting them, as it costs a rather high amount of money to buy items to replenish them. The currency (called neo-shekels) in the game is also rather easy to find and come in high amounts when you defeat enemies. This enables you to buy upgrades for your characters, which come in weapons and armor (though it intrigues me how Barkley is not uncomfortable holding a spiked basketball).

The combat system is surprisingly deep

The enemies are also very varied. Sure, there's the stereotypical bad guy with guns, as a type of enemy. But there are also spiders and monsters made out of basketballs, referee whistles that can "foul whistle" you to death, undead referees, and best of all, a zombified Kobe Bryant, which I find hysterical. The imagination behind the characters are so hilarious and well done that I wish more games were like this. Every area you go to, there are varieties of enemies that are introduced that obviously poke fun at the history and the world of basketball. Just think of the enemy designs as a basketball version of EarthBound.

Moving on from the gameplay, the graphics are very good looking. The game adapts the 16 bit graphical $tyle of Super Nintendo games. The areas have a very dark tone to it, and there are very few areas that use light colors. But then again, I really can't argue since the game is taking a post apocalyptic look, but it would be nice to see some color. These gripes aside, the graphics look very nice. There are many areas ranging from the city, to a underground city where people surgically transform themselves into animals, and factories. It is also worth noting that the game runs really smoothly. There really isn't much left to say about the design and graphics, but this is really darn impressive from a program like RPG Maker.

The sound, in my opinion, is the weakest part of this game. I mean, it's not too bad, but the guitar pieces and other tunes just don't sound too good. Of course, this is all opinionated, but there is one track that I love and that's the victory music in the game that you get once you defeat the enemy. It's really catchy. Another thing that the game doesn't use is voice acting, which is wonderful, since the opening has quite possibly the worst impersonation of Charles Barkley of all time. My gosh, it sounded like Shaquille O'Neal and Sylvester Stallone fusing their voices together. It's so terrible that it's absolutely hilarious. So overall, the music is not too much of a strong factor in the game, but it'll pass.

Curse you Michael Jordan!!!!

The game itself will last you around the five hour mark, give or take. The game itself progresses quite well and never feels too cheap and unfair nor too easy. It is just a whole lot of fun that you definitely need to experience. The game is so well done and fun, you might warrant a second playthrough. And guess what, it's free, so you have no excuse of, "Oh Ehsan, I have no money." Go download it now. I don't care what time it is or what you are currently doing. Go do it. Right now.

In conclusion you'll definitely have buckets of fun. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Wow, that ended terribly.

Download it here.

Thanks for reading and Tales of Games, I'm waiting for part 2.

Hey guys, I am here to talk about the effect of violent videogames in our youth and society and the cloud surrounding this controversial topic. I know that many of you have heard this debate to death, but hear me out. I myself know that videogames should not be banned, but our youth should not be playing mature games. Anyways, let us begin.

Implied explicit violent videogames have always been with us. In the days of the Atari 2600, games like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have been in the market for mature audiences. However one of the most early and controversial games was a small title called Death Race. In 1976, a company named Exidy released this game, which was inspired by the 1975 cult-film, Death Race 2000. The basic objective of the game is to run over "gremlins" in the game with your car, which grants you points and transforms the "gremlin" into a grave. The more "gremlins" you run over, the more points you get. At the end of the game, you get a ranking based on the amount of kills you tally up.

In 1976, this was extreme violence

When this game was released in the arcades, people were outraged by the amount of violence that was shown on screen. The game was even quoted by the National Safety Council of being sick and morbid. Never have people been so angry by an arcade title and many arcades took the game out in fear of angry customers and the controversy surrounding the game. Sequels were made of the game, but used different titles to avoid the controversy of the predecessor.

The influx of the violent videogames in the public has not stopped and many other games in the same violent nature have been released. Further controversy rose after a new violent videogame by Midway came out in 1992, titled Mortal Kombat. The game was a fighting game that used realistic character models, which at that time was deemed impressive. The thing that separated this game from the others was the use of moves called fatalities, which can be used by the victor of the match. Fatalities are basically an overly violent method of murder that you can apply to your defeated opponent, with an example being to rip out your opponent's head and spinal chord and hold it high as the body on the floor is covered in blood.

Say hello to the next generation of videogame controversy

The extreme violence in the newest generation in gaming outraged many people and as a result, a hearing on video game violence and the corruption was held, which was led by Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl that ran from late 1992 into 1993. After the hearings, the entertainment software board was given a year to develop their own ratings system, or the federal government would take the matters into their own hands. This led to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (or ESRB) to be formed, followed by other console companies (like Sega of America and the 3DO Company) to follow suit with their own ratings system.

The process of the ratings system is that the game company submits footage of the most graphic and extreme content, along with a fee and questionnaire that describes the game's content to the ESRB. Raters then look over the content and try to reach a consensus on what the rating shall be. If there is not a consensus, additional reviewers are brought in, or they go with the majority. After the rating and descriptions are given, the ESRB in-house personnel look over the footage and all the descriptions to make sure everything is accurate and the certificate is sent to the publishers. The publisher has the option of appealing the game's rating if they wish. When the game is ready for release, copies of the final version are sent to the ESRB and the in-house personnel randomly play portions of the game and check the packaging. If the content was more extreme than the application suggested, then there is a penalty.

Obvious fact of the day: Ratings say if the content is mature or not!

The current ratings that the ESRB follows can parallel with the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system with Early Childhood being the lower G, Everyone being higher G, Everyone 10+ being PG, Teen being PG-13, Mature being R, and Adults Only being NC-17. With the ratings, there are also descriptions on why the game has the ratings, which is based on the language, violence, sexual content, simulated gambling, and drugs and alcohol use.

Now that I gave you this brief history lesson, I am going to delve into the human mind and the influences that violent videogames have on them. Based on the articles I read, videogames in some cases do influence aggressive tendencies in the brain that can be given off as violence. Here is where it crosses the line for me. Children playing mature videogames. In my opinion, not all children are mature enough to be playing these videogames. A game like Resident Evil or Doom is most certainly not appropriate for a grade school and heck even lower middle school level student. Notice that I said some, because not all of us have the same personality and personal traits. People who are more influenced by mature videogames are the one's that deem traits such as high neuroticism, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness. Being children, they are not mature enough to grasp the concept of what they are playing.

The kids at recess will never believe how many noobs I pwnd

I am distressed when I overhear children playing these violent videogames and when something happens, the parents blame these videogames. Here is the deal; it's their fault that they are buying these videogames. I recount that one time I was at my local GameStop and a woman comes in and takes 50 Cent: Bulletproof. The cashier asks that if the videogame is for her or for her child. She responds her 8 year old child. The cashier then says why this game is mature rated and says that he doesn't recommend a child play it, which the woman shrugs off and buys the game anyways. I can recount many times when I overhear children still in elementary school talking about that time they got a high kill streak in Call of Duty. Whenever these issues happen, people resort to their ignorance, saying, "Oh, well I don't know the business of videogames, but it's something I don't want the industry exposing to my child." That's not a good enough argument.

When I was a child, I remember that every time that my parents were going to buy a videogame for me, I had to say what rating it was and why. If the game had a mature rating and/or contained content inappropriate for my age, I didn't get it. This is coming from my parents, who never play videogames. They rely on the ratings systems to restrict me from buying a game too mature, as they do with the MPAA's rating system when I want to watch a movie. That is also another major point. Looking at the videogames, why do people assume that videogames should be taken more leniently when buying the content than other mediums?

NO! You may not watch this film! Oh, alright. You can play this.

Let's take a movie like A Clockwork Orange for example. How different is it that a person is permitted to play a game like Manhunt, yet is not allowed to watch a movie like that? Both examples contain extreme amounts of violence and content that is not appropriate for anyone at a young age. The videogame companies like Rockstar have stated that their videogames are not for children and were never intended for children. Videogames can be compared with film, because they are presenting the same amount of content (heck film gets away with more), yet videogames are the ones that get the constant backlash from everybody. Do you want to know a solution for getting rid of this mess? Check the ratings, see if your child is mature and old enough to play this game and then we won't have this problem.

One person that stands by these issues and battles them is none other than Jack Thompson, a former lawyer who speaks highly against violent media. I agree with him that violent media should not be sold to children, but his methods are so ridiculous that it acts as a double-edged sword. To put it simple, he is the wrong person fighting the right cause. In many cases, Mr. Thompson says that his battle is for children not to play violent videogames, then he goes and tries to prevent certain videogames being sold saying that they act as murder simulators.

Mr. Thompson is quite a figure in the videogame industry

The problem is that he pinpoints videogames as the reason people are murdering and killing. There have been numerous occasions where he tries to force in videogames as the sole reason of the crime. His overall bias towards videogames is astounding, as many other things can be the reason of the crimes committed. I agree that mature videogames should not be permitted for children, but banning them is just ridiculous. It would be wrong if a game like Halo 3 was banned, but R-rated films with extreme violence are allowed to pass. Getting to my point, I believe that there are so many more reasons violence upon our youth is witnessed. Violence can be provoked through many other means, and videogames are not the only reason, as Mr. Thompson tries to push.

Wrapping it up, I believe that our society today has enough information and knowledge to acknowledge the fact that mature videogames are not the only reason why violence is used, but can be served as a contributing factor. We have the knowledge to show whether a certain videogame is appropriate for little Tommy, or should be left only for the adults to play. We have little excuses to claim our ignorance of videogames, and it all can be avoided by checking the ratings.

Just if you are curious, here are some articles that I based some of my thoughts upon. Found: here, here, and here.

Thanks for reading

Wow, I'm not writing a serious blog? No, I just got a bit tired and decided to be a little silly this time. Plus, I haven't been all too happy recently and thought this may lighten me up. So, enjoy.

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I was never compelled to play a Duke Nukem game. I just found the character and content to be too mature, so I never bothered. I also failed to mention too much about Duke Nukem Forever. It happens that the guys at 3D Realms noticed my lack of interest and sent me a copy of Duke Nukem Forever in a concealed package that only I was allowed to open. I was blown away, literally. Also note that due to the fact that the game is so eye-blindingly incredible, I couldn't take screenshots. Instead, I drew them. So, here is my review of Duke Nukem Forever.

The initial problem I had with the game was the fact that it blew up my Wii, which was quite uncalled for. Only then did I notice that a letter was inside the package telling me that the only console that was capable was a Sega CD and 32X combined, which explained why a cartridge came with the game. Why a Sega CD and 32X? I clearly don't know. So after hunting for a Sega CD and 32X on eBay, I discovered that I also got a controller in the package as well, stating that it is the only controller compatible with the game. It was called the Duke Controller (not to be confused with the Xbox controller), which has 65 buttons and 12 analog sticks to run the game. There was also a kick pedal that came, which I never understood why I needed until I played the game. I was also told that I required the controller to access the online play, which was indeed surprising.

The many years of development is rather apparent

Anyways, when I started the game I noticed that the game had to install in the system to be playable. You thought an hour of install time was bad? Well I had to wait for the game to install for 2 days! After installing and setting up the Duke controller, I was greeted with a 7 hour narrative explaining the origins of Duke Nukem's awesomeness and I was also shown the huge problem that was occurring in this game. It showed Duke Nukem playing videogames in his apartment with his dog, until an army of generic helmet wearing soldiers busted in, blowing up his dog and stealing his nachos and Power Rangers bed sheets. This makes Duke to lose all hope for humanity and start a quest to find his Power Rangers bed sheets.

The first thing I noticed in the gameplay was that I kept dying after 3 minutes. After looking in the 200 page manual, I noticed that you use the kick pedal to breathe. However, if you kick too fast, Duke will lose his breath. After figuring it out, I set off to beat the first level, which involved in doing Duke's chores. When I try to describe the gameplay genre, it literally is every single genre that is possible in mankind. It is a hybrid shooter turned based RPG strategy action adventure racing sports point and click game. Just think of it this way. Whatever game you ever played is implemented in Duke Nukem Forever. This makes it a huge problem as the controls change and there are too many options. 44 of the buttons result in Duke blowing himself up, which becomes a hassle as even buying a carton of milk can result in you blowing up. What makes it even worse is that the button mapping changes between every level and if you try to access the button configuration menu, Duke blows up!

Now this is an FPS!

Those gripes aside, the shooting in the game is very solid. You have the choice of over a few hundred weapons and different perks to add in it. The gun that I am accustomed to the most is the Super Ultra Hyper Combo Gun Version 8.0 Graphix Extreme Turbo Beta Edition. It basically shoots a green beam of light and shoots multiple bullets, while shooting flames with an attached flamethrower. The best part is that you can ride a dinosaur while going on your rampage. The controls then shift to the dinosaur for walking, while you take a gun and shoot the heck out of the bad guys.

The biggest problem that I have with the game is how confusing it is controlling the game. Not only do your repeatedly use the kick pedal to breathe, but you have the use the analog sticks to walk, while pressing the different buttons to interact. This is even harder as you have to fumble with the controls to shoot people. It just gets so frustrating. All the other controls for the fighting, driving, golfing, etc are all right, but not too fun. The problem is that there are too many different controls, and with 300 levels, the game is a test of madness.

The graphics in the game are so amazing that any normal man would be blinded by just giving it a small stare. I also received a pair of glasses with the game to avoid being blinded by such awesomeness. It's also worth noting that though I don't have a 3D TV, the graphics in the game are in 3D without needing a 3D TV. You get the first real taste of the technology when you have the objective of ironing your clothes in 3D. It is just amazing on how much they focused on the environment. I also love the details in the enemies. Sure the generic soldiers are the only normal enemies, but Duke Nukem gets in intense tussles with many legendary video game characters. The matches are rather fun, but get repetitive by level 145. In general, the graphics are amazing and the best part is that you don't have to wear the stupid 3D glasses! You just have to wear stupid glasses to protect your eyes from the awesomene- oh wait….

Ironing just got extreme

The sound in the game is also quite varied with an audio ranging from any genre you can think of. There are about a few thousand tracks that can be accessed through Duke's iPod. This is really cool, but the sound effects in real time are also amazing. The explosions and the intense screaming the soldiers do upon being vaporized by Duke's guns are just astounding. But again, the sound does not do enough to fix all the errors brought to the complicated gameplay.

I also tried doing the online play, but I really couldn't play, due to the fact that I'm the only one who possesses the copy of the game. So that kinda sucks. Then again, the game has over 300 missions and it took me about a year to beat this game. But it would be nice if I got to do the quest with a friend.

Something tells me this won't end well

Since you guys would never find out the ending of the story I will spoil it, due the fact that I have the only copy. So as Duke sets off to find his Power Rangers bed sheets, he discovered that he has become a hit for the mob ran by Mario, due to the fact that one of Duke's practical jokes caused Luigi to tragically drive off the edge of a cliff. Mario then attempts to shoot Duke Nukem with his shotgun, but gets fried by Duke's Super Ultra Extreme Laser Superb Justice Delivering Cannon Version 6.4 Awesome Edition.

Doing this, Duke uncovers a secret that his Power Rangers bed sheets are being hidden in a pyramid in Egypt. As he sets off, he brings his pet dinosaur along, but gets in trouble because his dinosaur ate a few hundred people. Duke then apologizes and everybody forgives him, until his dinosaur eats the President, which makes everybody mad again. Duke escapes with his dinosaur on a rocket ship and goes to Egypt to uncover his bed sheets. In the end he discovers that his dog was actually the real Duke Nukem after all and he is the fake. But in reality the dog was actually the dog in a Duke Nukem costume wearing a dog costume.

This looks rather familiar....

They then engage in a fight on top of a skyscraper when the dog reveals that he is actually M. Bison and Duke is all like, "Really??" and the dog is like, "No" and then kicks Duke off the roof. It was then revealed that the dog was sent by SkyNet as a Terminator to destroy Duke Nukem, but in reality the dog was actually M. Bison in disguise. So with the help of Gordon Freeman, Duke defeats M. Bison to save the world from SkyNet and recovers his Power Rangers bed sheets. Then everybody gets happy again at Duke and they all live happily ever after. That is until Duke's dinosaur eats the new President, which makes everyone mad again. This leaves an opening for the sequel to come out.

In the end, Duke Nukem Forever is a great game, but suffers from a few errors. I really think that the narrative compelled me to finish this game and I really don't have to buy another game, due to the fact that this game has the elements from all of the other ones. All in all this is a great game for you guys to bu- wait….

Thanks for reading.

3D Realms, you owe me a new Wii. I want it in black.

Hey guys, it's been quite a while that I have wrote one of these. Anyways I haven't been up to much, but I guess I'll do one of these update things.

Recently I've been getting back into Okami. I'm trying to beat all the backlog games I have had (which were 6). So far I have beaten 3 (LoZ: Spirit Tracks, Rayman 2, Super Mario RPG), due to the fact that when I gave up on them I was pretty much in the last level or had like an hour of gameplay left. After beating those I may go buy Demon's Souls, which I hear is rather hard. And I also finally set up my online play for my PS3. In case you're wondering, my id is ehsanesmaeili, so feel free to add me.

Though I haven't been writing a lot recently (the top ten and the review were already started on quite a bit back), I'm thinking on tackling the debate on whether games are art that Mr. Ebert has recently argued about.

And E3. Today's was a bit under whelming, but the awesome chat room with the other users made the experience a whole lot better.

I've also been following the World Cup quite a bit. For those of you who don't know, soccer is one of my favorite sports and I pretty much watch almost every World Cup game in those every four years (which unfortunately are at 5 in the morning).

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say in this short period of time. I'm hoping to write more of these small updates and that's about it.

Oh look, E3 is arriving in our presence again. 3 days of coverage of many games and technology that is going to hit big in the coming year. As an obligation to write blogs about E3, this year I'm not writing about how to spend your E3 or even about the games coming out, let alone my anticipated ones (a tie between Zelda and Marvel Vs Capcom 3). Why you may ask? Well I'll sound like I'm repeating myself if I make another blog on how to spend your E3 and my moral code of laziness refuses to allow me to spend time researching games and sequels to write about. So what am I going to talk about you say? Well I'm going to talk about the business side of E3 and gaming in general and how companies can flourish in sales and fans just by attending this small conference. I will also be talking about how the progression of technology can influence our choices in games.

Before we start discussing the business side of E3, I am going to give a short and brief explanation on E3 and how it came to be. In the past, gaming companies used to unveil their gaming technology in other consumer shows, but E3 began as a new platform for the gaming companies to deliver their news about their new products and software as well as present them with tech demos. It all started in 1995, when Sony unveiled the PlayStation, SNK presented the Neo Geo CD, and Nintendo announced their Virtual Boy and their then Ultra 64 for a release date of 1996. Though it was their first year, E3 was shown to be an extraordinary event for gaming in the United States.

Who knew their first year could be such a success?

As the years went by, E3 was a commonplace for all the manufacturers and developers, until it essentially became a must attend show for all the console makers. Many milestone consoles like the Sega Dreamcast and Sony PlayStation 2 were unveiled, while many legendary games like Panzer Dragoon and Halo: Combat Evolved were announced. In other words, E3 became more than an event. It was an essential marketing tool for success in the game business.

Let's face it. We're in an age in technology where television and the Internet are huge factors in marketing to the mass. I hate to admit it, but many of the consumers of games (us) have moved on away from the days of reading previews of Nintendo Power (a bit unreliable in the NES days for good recommendations) and other company magazines, but moved on to gaming websites and the occasional game review magazine. Through the power of the Internet, we were given resources to work with making the best purchase we can. We now have access to gameplay movies, previews, and reviews; to base our judgment upon. This makes it easier for us and harder for the developers.

What I mean is that we have more knowledge of the games, and the developers have to work harder into delivering a better made. Developers cannot make shortcuts and leave the game buggy or feel incomplete. If they attempt that, reviews will point these out, and it can influence the sales of the game, due to those choices. Gone (sort of) are the days of buying a game based on the cover art and coming home to your disappointment. I'll give you an example. Look at this cover

Looks awesome! Can't wait to play it!

Knowing nothing on this game, people would most likely buy this game, because a lot of people thought it looked cool in the store shelves and they liked the screenshots in Nintendo Power. When they reached home to play the game, they soon discovered that they just bought an excessively hard game that isn't all too fun. If the game were released with the perks we had, it couldn't even fly by with any success.

Now getting to E3. As we all have witnessed, after the booming success of the 90s for E3, more and more 3rd party developers began to bring in their software to show off and present. Companies like Electronic Arts (EA) and Activision took a huge amount of advantage with this event and even brought in celebrities to advertise their games, an example being Stan Lee, famed creator of many popular series in Marvel Comics like The Amazing Spider-Man and The Fantastic 4. Also brought in were Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, famed musicians for the Beatles, to promote The Beatles: Rock Band.

Hey, I love those guys!!

E3 is used as an open opportunity for developers and other companies show off their products to build anticipation. And that is the key word, anticipation. Show off the best features of your game and make sure the journalists approve of the game, and you have an easier road to travel. An example would be of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty 4 was spectacular, but Activision played it really smart and hyped up many fans and other people interested with a tech demo. The sales numbers pretty much sums up the success rate of the game. Activision played it smart at E3, and their answer came in as soon as the game was available for pre-order. It also helped that Call of Duty 4 was spectacular, and that fans expected the same in Modern Warfare 2.

Now let's move on to the standard gaming consoles. Over the years, innovations are flying in through the door and companies want to show it to as many people as possible. For example when in 2005 the Wii, code-named the Revolution, was announced (though the motion controls were not unveiled until the Tokyo Game Show). In 2006, Nintendo used this opportunity to blow us away with new motion controls that results in more interaction with the game (if developed right). Using E3 2006 as a great boost to success, Nintendo is still currently doing well in the console race against the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

One problem that the companies have recently been facing is showing off their consoles too much. Listen Nintendo, I mean no offense, but the Wii was innovative in 2006. This is 2010 and we know what the Wii does. Just show us the games. And that is the major problem, the lack of showing the audience of what they want. I agree with Nintendo on delivering the fans what they want in small bursts, but it doesn't work when you guys constantly just show off hardware and stating that it's revolutionary. The same goes with you Sony and Microsoft. I know that you guys are trying to push into the motion controls race as well, but present subtly. Don't spend most of your time talking about your motion controls and 3D, which has been around since the 50's with Dial M for Murder and spiked again in the 80's. With the exception of a few well-done 3D movies, I don't care about some dude's hand flying at me.

It looks pretty cool Nintendo, but I'd like to see some games please.

This is also a strong point here. Don't shove innovation down journalist and people's throats. Let the innovation do the talking. Set up some tech demos that show off the hardware, but leave some software for people to interact with. Most of the fun that people have at E3 is trying out the newer games and having fun. From my predictions, I feel that the motion controls will indeed carry on to the next generation, but they would rather be in co-existence with the standard based controls that we have so grown to love.

Another thing that companies should make sure to do is kind make sure their product can deliver the wants of the people. An example of that would be the Virtual Boy. This beautiful disaster was shown at the first E3, and it still couldn't deliver the sales, because it was just flawed. How about Wii Music? It would have worked well if it were cheaper and deeper. And make sure not to deliver too many promises, like with Fable or Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Fable was said to be a game to blow your mind and so many promises were made, but they weren't delivered (still a mighty fine game). The Force Unleashed was said to be the ultimate Star Wars experience, yet failed. Game developers, do not over-anticipate a game. Anticipating is good, but over-anticipating often results in angry gamers ranting about a disappointing game and reviewers will also be more bitter towards it. The Force Unleashed received quite a bit of hate with the people that were expecting an amazing experience. I myself borrowed it from a friend, and had a lot of fun, just because I enjoyed it for what it was. If you present a bit more subtle or spend more time on developing, you will get better sales and a better audience.

That doesn't count!

In the end, when we look at it, E3 is a phenomenal event. Some of the best moments do come with the announcements of new technologies and if done subtly, sales will do better. So let's just have a good time like always at a great event.

Thanks for reading.

Hey guys. I am here to deliver a top ten, based on the newly critically acclaimed game, Super Mario Galaxy 2. One relationship that the games in the series had was that there are a ton of power-ups and suits to be found. From fire inducing flowers to stone turning bears, Mario certainly has some creative suits. So here is the top ten best Mario game power-ups. The only rule is that Mario is able to use this power-up and the power-up is featured in a canon Mario title, no spin-offs (sorry Mario Kart blue shell).

10.Super Mushroom- Super Mario Bros.

Starting off the list at#10 is the famous Mega Mushroom that debuted in the original Super Mario Bros. on the NES. In Super Mario Bros., the Super Mushroom basically made you larger, which helped in important tasks like ducking and vandalizing bricks with your head to destroy them.

Sure when we look back, there are a whole lot more useful power-ups, but theSuper Mushroom served as a strong part of our nostalgia in the series. Who doesn't remember their first nostalgic memory of hitting a power block to reveal a mushroom as a goomba is waking towards you in World 1-1? I sure remember, which is why this is at #10.

9. The Hammer- Donkey Kong

Now we are going back to Mario's roots as Jumpman and remember thearcade cl@ssic, Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong was a memorable arcade game with the simple story being that some plumber has to ascend a bunch of stairs to retrieve his girlfriend, all while clashing with a stubborn gorilla that throws stuff at you. Jumping across many of the items flung at you, while ascending to the top can be frustrating. However once you got The Hammer, Donkey Kong better halt dead at his tracks.

When you receive The Hammer, you can easily break through all those nasty barrels and objects that Donkey Kong threw at you with ease. The Hammer was so popular in the arcade original, that is has made cameos in other games, such as Super Smash Bros., where The Hammer is used in the same function as it was in the arcade game, providing non-stop merciless hammering.

8. Starman- Super Mario Bros.


Now normally when you play through the levels of Super Mario Bros., you only take down enemies with either a jump or a fireball. However, once you find the Starman scattered across one of the many blocks, your period of invincibility destroys all while awesome music is blasting through your TV.

As you are running through the stage in a golden sparkly color, there is no enemy that can stop you. You can touch any hazardous enemy you please, without consequences. Basically your only worry that is to be found is if you fall in a pit. Though a rare item to find, the invincibility and distinct theme song makes your struggles to acquire it worth it.

7. Propeller Suit- New Super Mario Bros. Wii

The recently released New Super Mario Bros. Wii was an incredibly fun game with quite a few power-ups and challenging difficulty. The propeller suit was a very great power-up to use, which basically allowed you to fly a great amount and land by either floating or using a drill attack. Plus Mario has a helicopter propeller sticking out of his head and that is just cool.

What makes this power-up so great is that it helps you go over long distances, which is very convenient when the ground has too many holes and enemies, or you are trying to grab that hidden coin that is placed too high in a Koopa castle. All in all this power-up serves as a great convenience to have just in case you run into a very tough level.

6. The Hammer Bros. Suit- Super Mario Bros. 3

In Super Mario Bros. 3, the Hammer Bros. are a tricky enemy you take on. They constantly chuck hammers at you while jumping on platforms, often halting your progression. Though they are very annoying, their suit is a joy to use, simply because the tides are turned once you acquire it.

What I mean is that you basically inherit all of the Hammer Bros.' abilities, which include the chucking of hammers. Think of it as a fire flower, but instead of throwing fireballs straight ahead at enemies, you are lobbing a barrage of hammers. And throwing hammers is pretty awesome.

5. Yoshi- Super Mario World


"Wait a minute! Yoshi isn't a suit! This list is flawed!!!!" Yoshi is not a suit, but he is technically a power-up, since he technically adds extra abilities and powers to Mario. Anyways, Yoshi is amazing. He can swallow enemies, jump great heights, and is just plain cool. However the best iteration of Yoshi has to come with his side-scrolling debut of Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo.

The reason that I chose the Super Nintendo Yoshi is because he basically can have different powers and colors, all of which are awesome. Depending on the shells that he consumes, he can either fly, breath fire, or become heavy. Playing with Yoshi was an absolute joy in Super Mario World and was a heavy factor of helping the game become one of the best in the series.

4. Fire Flower/ Ice Flower- Super Mario Bros./ New Super Mario Bros. Wii



The Fire Flower originally appeared in the original Super Mario Bros. and it was the most powerful non-temporary power-up in the game, due to the fact that most enemies can be destroyed by the power of the fireballs. Heck, even Bowser can be taken down if you shoot enough fireballs at him.

The Ice Flower first appeared in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, but was the best in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It basically acts similarly to the Fire Flower, but instead freezes the enemies frozen solid. Once the enemies are frozen, you can use them as platforms to jump on and also as weapons to throw to more oncoming enemies. Though the Fire Flower is more nostalgic, the Ice Flower is simple a more useful power-up.

3. Penguin Suit- New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Taking the best parts of many suits, the Penguin Suit is a rather phenomenal suit in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. From running through normal levels, to swimming in bodies of water, to sliding in icy areas, the Penguin suit can serve many purposes for the player and is one power-up you want to keep in your arsenal. And you're a Penguin. Penguins are rad.

What makes the suit so great is the many functions that it took from previous games. First of all you can swim in water with ease, modeled after the Frog Suit. Second you can slide on your belly, just like the Shell Dash function in New Super Mario Bros.. Third, you can shoot ice balls and jump on frozen enemies as platforms, just like the Ice Flower. So yeah, this suit covers many grounds, which lands it in the #3 spot.

2. Kuribo's Shoe- Super Mario Bros. 3

If a power-up only appears in one level yet lands in a #2 spot, you know it is pretty sweet. Kuribo's Shoe is an item that can only be obtained at Level 5-3 in Sky Land. Essentially you obtain it by jumping on top of a goomba that is moving along in a green shoe. Knocking out the goomba allows you to hop right in.

Riding the shoe, you can jump on any enemy you please. Remember those spiky shelled enemies? Well you can jump on top of them, which normal Mario never dream to do. How about spikes? Psshhh…. You can jump across those too without a scratch. The Kuribo's Shoe is so fun, which makes it seem like a crime that it only appears in one level. That aside, it is awesome enough to steal the #2 spot.

1. P-Wing/ Cape- Super Mario Bros. 3/ Super Mario World

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a rather challenging game. The last levels in the game are truly a test of madness, in which you have to practice so much to be able to pass a single stage. Whether it's running and jumping across tanks to avoiding cannons on airplanes, many players can consider these levels just plain cruel. But you can use one item to skip all of this madness.

The P-wing is basically the Raccoon Suit power-up, but you get to fly for an unlimited amount of time, which allows to essentially skip the stage. Like the Raccoon Suit, you can whip enemies with you raccoon tail, which makes attacking a bit safer than jumping.

The raccoon-like abilities from Super Mario Bros. 3 were adapted with the cape in Super Mario World. Though it may look different, there are very similar functions between those suits are very apparent.

One awesome thing about this suit is that you can soar for an unlimited amount of time, which already makes it better than the Raccoon Suit. Another thing that is cool is that you can use a bumping attack as you home down towards the enemies. With all these perks, you can tell that these are the best power-ups in the Mario series.

The Mario games are some of the best games to grace the gaming world and the power-ups make it even better. Creativity and fun is the key for them and it makes me wonder on how the future powers can be. Thanks for reading.

Ugh, today was like the worst day of my life, ever. I was like o my gosh this day sucked. It started at the morning when I went to school. I was too busy pwning some noobs on Killzone 2 when I said to myself geez school sucks. I'll stay home. So I got a phone call and answered it. It was my principal and he was all rawr why aren't you in schoolz. And I was like whatever you can't tell me what to do. So he got all huffy and puffy and yelled and was all rawr you're not helping society and stuff. But I was too busy pwning some more noobs on like Killzone. After he yelled some more I was like whatever I'm coming and stuff. So I like went to school and went to math class and it sucked. We do stuff like hieperboales and loguritheams and stuff and I'm like whatever. The teacher comes and says Ehsan do this problem on the board and I'm all I don't feel like it. He got all huffy and puffy and yelled so I'm like whatever you're not the president and stuff to tell me what to do.

After yelling some morez I got sent out cuz he said that I'm not contributing to society and stuff and I was like whatever. So the principal waz all rawr you're being bad and stuff and was all whatever youre not the president and stuff. So he got all huffy and puffy and yelled some more. I got bored so I started to listen to mah muzicz on my ipod cuz lil waeiyn is like the bombz and the principal was all rawr give me the ipod you triouoble maker and stuff so I was all whatever youre not the preseident and he got all huffy and puffy and waz all rawrs give me the ipod and stuff. I threw it at him and got allz suspended and stuffs. I went home and waz all pwning some noobs on killzone 2 again and my girlfriend comez and is all Ehsan, what are your doingz you said we were supposed to spend time at the parkz and I waz all whatever im too busy pwning noobs and go buy me some more vidyogaemez so she got all huffy and puffy and waz all rawrs your so insensitives and stuff and I waz all whateva Im pwning noobs and so she gets huffy and puffy and like sais I need to work on my attitudez and I was like whateva and was all owning more noobs. So she leaves and stuff and waz all huffy and puffy.

So I getz hunigries and wantz some food and I go to the fridge and no food is there and im all aw man. So I goez to macdoanolds and oderz some foodz and the cashladiez is all that's like 4 bucks yo and im all I have like 1 dollar and fifty and she waz all no cashes no mealz and im all madz and throwz the foodz at herz and she getz all huffy and puffy and kickz me out. so I go to a boagor kingz and like 5 buckz in my walleeet and I waz all eatinz and stuffz but I got mad cuz they put pickeelz in my burgerz and I waz all dude I hate pickelz and he waz all sir keep it wuietz and ill help yuou and I wasz all youre not the president and get madz and stuff. So he getz huffy and puffy and kicks me out sayingz all rawr yoaore not contributiinz to societies.

So I go on myspace and stuff and show my coolness off and then one my my friendzcomes and is all like yoez you said we meetz in the theaters in like tonight and im all whatever youre not the president and stuff and he gets all huffy and puffy and he leafes and stuffz and im all whateverz im gonnaz pwnz some noobs on killzonez and stuffz and go plaiz killzonez.

So im all sittinz pwning noobs and stuffz and stuff.

Ehsan the uberpwnerz outz….

[spoiler] APRIL FOOLZ. If you got all huffy and puffy from anger free feel to send a complaint [/spoiler]