Need For Speed Shift [PS3] Review: Personality vs. Precision

 

As a reluctant Gran Turismo fan, getting into another hardcore racing simulator comes with a fair share of baggage. There is even a longer road to hoe if your hardcore racing sim has Need For Speed in a stylish font splashed upon your box. The Need For Speed series has suffered from what has left Tony Hawk and other annualized game franchises completely stagnant. The games are either too by-the-numbers, like ProStreet and Underground, or they are a failed experiment, like Undercover. If this is the age of the first-person shooter, pulling up a distant second place finish would be racing games. Within the past two years we have seen entries such as GRID, Forza Motorsport 3 and of course Burnout: Paradise. With the exception of Paradise, the aforementioned racers have staked their claim critically, proving that hardcore racing sims still have relevance in the gaming community. What about Need For Speed: Shift? 

 

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Turn It Loose Trailer

A handful of the people reading this page know I am a huge fan and enthusiast of the hiphop culture. Even as of this day I am a practicing bboy. But it doesn't matter how large or small of a jam I have been to, I am always amazed at how large this culture has gotten. I see fashion and slang influenced by the style or the music, but I never would have thought for one minute documentaries would be made with bboying/bgirling as the focal point. I hope Turn It Loose is as good as this trailer touts it to be. If it is the event I think it is, then...well, I have feelings on Red Bull BC One, I am hoping the South African culture and worldwide influence gets pushed to the forefront.

One Of The Few Reason's I Still Check IGN's site: Mega64

Mega64: Final Fantasy XIII Announcement!

How many times must I watch something of the Mega64 lot and think, "Damn, why didn't I come up with that?" Yeah, I'm a hater. They do good things and there are talented people in the IGN halls, so this shouldn't be seen as a complete slight to the company. Let's be honest though, who on IGN is funnier than these guys though?

After the Jump, "Why Would You Do That To A PSP Go?"

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Preview - Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Beta

This may come off partially off-color and in poor taste. Writing about a game's successes or short-comings while it is in closed-beta should not be good practice, but this is something that should not be avoided as a forum of discussion. There are a lot of people dying out there and they want to know why. There are a lot of people playing this game and realizing they are just as good as Jesus or at least his Senior-VP. Even the development team dropped some hints noticing the gap of elite to meat-shields.

I do not know if this article will meet those who are participating in the closed-beta, but please feel free to chime in with your thoughts and opinions. I would also like to state that I am super happy to be reaping some inkling of reward from my little foray in the games journalism world by being invited in a beta. This is not a 'nee-ner-nee-ner' article, but one that hopes to discuss games that carry the label, "Work In Progress".

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Exclusive: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 'More Realer'

Powerful isn't it? If I were to gamble, I would say the narrative would be more interesting in this Call Of Duty than the previous Modern Warefare games. Bah, who am I kidding? They'd probably botch the ending to this too. Gaming just isn't there yet to deal with realism in a realistic manner. Did that make any sense? Props to The Onion for their 'South Park-esque' finger on the pulse of society content.

Who am I kidding? I would buy it.

King Of Fighters XII [PS3] Review - A Post-Mortem Post-Patch

In the past couple years, the fighting game community has been fortunate to revel in the genre's return to glory. Capcom was able to produce Street Fighter IV, Tatsunoku vs. Capcom and Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix within two years time. If there needed to be evidence of the fighting game community's squeals of a breath of fresh air, the variety of fighting games released within the past two years would be a resounding "We hear, you!" The problem with this call and response is what is actually being delivered. The troubling genre that is fighting games struggled in the past ten years because it could not continue giving fans what they wanted while experimenting with new technology and fighting mechanics. This could not be more apparent than with SNK Playmore's King Of Fighters XII.

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Yet Another FFXIII Trailer With Beautiful Unintelligibleness [yea...that's a word]

Wow, there sure is a lot of talking in this game, huh? So much so, that a good chunk of the beginning of the trailer is talking. Sure its in Japanese, but is there ever a logical reason for people to ride airships on the fourth of July? Of course, for love! I am looking forward to FFXIII [otherwise it wouldn't be making it on to the brog in the first place], but that feeling of being 'super-pumped' for a RPG has kind of waned with me.

"But look at the graphics!"-Me ten years ago, which is probably when they initially began working on this hilari-epic. I got high hopes, just like I got high hopes for Gran Turismo 5, eventhough four or five other games in its genre have came out since its last iteration. [shrugs Kanye-style, then drops the mic]

Source: Joystiq

No Explanation: Dock Ellis & The No-No [via James Blagden]

There really is no reason why I should put this on my blog, other than filing it in the 'Why the F Not' category. And if you listen closely, you'll hear some Rufus Thomas playing in the background. Dock Ellis is a very powerful man, I'm glad he shared his story.

New Moon: The Best Shirtless Teenage Angst

Although I have seen both of the 'Twilight movies' this is the first movie I have seen in the theater. By the time you read this, you will realize that New Moon has had one of the best opening weekends in movie history. Eclipsed by the highly praised Dark Knight and the forgettable, Spiderman 3. What New Moon has over the aforementioned blockbusters is a fan base so truly dedicated to this series, that they are willing to tolerate some of the worst acting and character chemistry seen since Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox. New Moon has everything in a movie a logical thinking person should hate. The story is tedious, the world has all the trappings of a trashy novel aimed at teens and abandoned housewives. The stars could be replaced by shirt-less mannequins. And the movie is kind of offensive to Native Americans. Thank you New Moon, I will remember the laughs forever.

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BlazBlue [PS3]: Solid Fighting Game, Furry & Cosplay Fodder

There is something to be said about a 2-D, hand-drawn sprite fighting game. Even more can be said if it is well made with accepted oddness to boot. In this age of first-person shooters and 3-dimensional sandbox games, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger holds true to the core values of what makes a great fighting game. Unfortunately, it holds on to a lot of the weird elements that turned fighting game fans off ten years ago.

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