Book Review: Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

Without a doubt my favorite one of the Halo series. Coming from the best author in the series, Eric Nylund who started the novels, I feel more comfortable in his story structure than others. Contact Harvest, The Flood and the Cole Protocol are written by other authors. 

Ghosts of Onyx centers around a unique spartan apart from the others we already know named Kurt, Kurt is noted by Master Chief to "spend alot of time making friends". Or basically to be the humanitarian coach to the Spartan-III, the next generation of Spartans he is in charge of.

Eric Nylund also has exclusive storylines around Dr. Catherine Halsey, the brains behind the Spartan Program. I happen to like this character because she is a mother to the spartans, but in a surrogate angle where she is comfortable company to the Spartans unlike the intense reactions from everyone else in the UNSC.

It was interesting to see the creation of Spartan-III's, and it was also good to get a storyline on the Covenant side. Nylund started this after William Dietz did in The Flood, Nylund started this in First Strike. The story of the elites banding together in light of the prophet's betrayal seemed like a glorious moment in the book, and then it went downward in so many areas I really got eager to flip page after page to learn fates of the characters. 

This, to me, is the best Halo novel and I recommend you read it. Even if you don't like to read. 

1 v 100 impressions

The 1 v 100 beta from 8-11PM tonight was extremely fun, I hadn't really researched how to play the game but it really got addicting after a couple of minutes. I got in around 20 minutes after 8 and stayed for the whole duration. Man am I wiped.

I gotta say, a lot of the people chosen as "the One" were greedy. It was sad too because one person lost everything because he didn't answer, and he was high on points. Others were just plain greedy and assumed they'd know every answer. 

And some people did seem to know every answer, everyone with me assumed they were googling in the background. I don't know how that's possible, I mean maybe they could get all of them correct but like 2 seconds after the answers are all shown. NAH!

Besides the Trivia, it's worth it to win Microsoft Points. And there was even mention of a 40 inch flat screen TV. I don't know if that was real though. 

The only POSSIBLE downside to 1 v 100 is that its a scheduled thing weekly, other games have allowed you to play endlessly but always end up running dry on new trivia. Obviously this game won't suffer for it.

I hope it gets released soon. :)

Batman on NES

Earlier in the week we briefly mentioned Batman: Arkham Asylum on our podcast, and touched on the fact that most Batman games have sucked. Because there isn't a memorable Batman game that stands away from the large amount of poor Batman games, I decided to delve back to Batman on NES to see if the first attempt on a console worked. It didn't

Batman on NES has "messy" graphics, I'm okay with that. But when enemies come after you, all you have to fight with is your fists. And it is a pain in the neck when you have those robotic contraptions at your feet hurting you every time you kill one. I've avoided taking damage a few times, but mostly have gotten hit. What's even more stupid is that the enemies don't represent any henchmen like resemblance to any Batman enemy I can think of. The enemies are so stock and random. 

Only later do I realize that because select is start, start changes your attack from punches to bataarangs, a gun, and other stuff. The sad part is most of the weapons are useless, the gun only shoots straight, the bataarangs are okay, and I don't like punching everything unless its one guy repeatedly. 

So does this Batman game stand out as good? I think it's easy to say it doesn't. It's really flawed, but i'll try to beat it without getting too annoyed. 

I give it a 1 out of 5

Am I saying Batman: Arkham Asylum will suck too? No, but gamers have played enough of them to be uninterested. I hope it defies expectations to suck. 

Geeksquisite Gaming Diary #3: Mario

Ed talks about the experience of playing Super Mario Brothers on NES and how it was for him to lose and reclaim that part of his life.

E3 2009: Shadow Complex Impressions

This game hasn't been the highest on radar for most people and was a complete surprise at Microsoft's press conference.

But man, I really like the look of this game. It's a sidescroller which I don't get too many of to play, and most of them on Xbox Live Arcade are simple left to right plowthroughs. But this one goes to new levels, obviously stretching the limits of Xbox Live Arcade for the sheer scale and programming to make this nice looking game.

I have to say I like when you get several alternatives to go through a game, and this game doesn't just give you the option to pick. The map screen, which i'm concerned will be confusing at first, shows you were to go. But when you go through a room you might think to yourself that some upper landings enemies are on might be a shortcut. I've seen alot of times where the foam gun has made stairways or frozen enemies to use as a boost.

That's not all you can do, i've seen demos where there is a need to explore the levels for powerups. I saw that you can "hang on" to stuff while shooting at enemies from a crate at one point. The possibilities are interesting, I can imagine sneaking on one of those walker like robots and clinging to them as they take me through the rest of the base until i'm spotted.

The really cool thing is one of the designers said we see what we can become but we start out with our hands and a flashlight. So it's a skill building, power grab approach to the game. At first, you might not be able to open a door, but soon as you gain powerups, you can just burn the door down. So there's also a rebel aspect to playing this game.

I'm buying this game, but the interesting part is it will be out this summer (August?) so it will be one of the first games announced that we'll get to play.

E3 2009: Heavy Rain Impressions

So, I've been in love with Heavy rain for a while now, everything about the game just screams perfection. The story, the presentation, the graphics, just everything. So, it's no surprise that when they showed the game at E3, I was going to be excited. What I didn't expect was for them to show a full scene from the game!

After watching this five part developer walkthrough of the game, I feel like they are making this game amazing. The whole thing seems a lot like Indigo Prophecy, Quantum Dream's last game on the original Xbox. However, they took some of the things in Indigo Prophecy that didn't work, and changed them or improved them for Heavy Rain.

In the walkthrough, they show one of your main characters. In the actual game you'll have 4 different main characters you can play as at different times in the story. Here you're playing as an FBI agent named Norman Jayden, and he's going to the junkyard to interrogate a man nicknamed Mad Jack. The demo starts out just walking around the junkyard. The interesting thing about these walking sections of the game is that instead of just using the left analog stick to move, you instead use the left analog stick to look around, and use the R2 button to move forwards. I personally think this is a very intuitive control scheme and helps give the character a much more lifelike and much more fluid animation.

So, Norman goes up, and talks to Mad Jack, and asks him a few questions. Jack says he doesn't know anything. So, then you begin searching around the warehouse using your special sunglasses that can scan things in the environment, and eventually, Norman stumbles upon a Skull in a pool of acid. At this point, Mad Jack comes back, with a gun, and puts it to the back of Norman's head. Now, we have a nice QTE sequence much like in Shenmue or God of War, But instead of losing if you miss one button press, you just go to a different string of events. Of course, if you miss too many button presses, then you'll die.

Norman ends up getting the upper hand on Mad Jack, getting the gun from him and pointing it at him. Mad Jack doesn't believe he'll actually use it, so you have a few different options now, to prove it to him. Of course, Norman starts having withdrawals from his drug addiction, making him fall over and pass out. Letting Mad Jack take his gun back.

After you wake up, you're handcuffed to the inside of your car, heading towards a giant trash compactor. There's a bunch of different actions you can take to try and escape. Also, the screen has now split in two, much like it does in 24. The bottom screen acts as a visual timer, while you control the gameplay in the top screen. It's this part that really sets the QTE system apart from other games, because in order to find the different actions you can take, you have to look around your environment. This looks like it'll create a much more frantic experience than your standard QTE system.

So, Norman ends up being able to escape from the car, at the last second, and now has to fight off Mad Jack, who isn't the happiest person in the world right now. This involves another short QTE sequence, in which Norman comes out on top. There's another possible way to do that part where you die, however, the developer has said the story would continue, even if all of the 4 main characters die, creating a ton of replay value with a very different, very varied branching storyline. I think this kind of emergent gameplay is exactly what the industry needs to keep moving forward, and this game is definitely a very good reason to get a PS3. Look for it when it's released early 2010.

E3 2009: 'Scribblenauts' Demo Impressions

So, E3 is winding down now, and if I can think of one HUGE technology announcement that TOTALLY blew me away, it'd definitely have to be... Scribblenauts. No, not Project Natal, not Sony's motion wand... just Scribblenauts. Obviously, I'm not serious, but Scribblenauts does look to be packing some pretty interesting technology in it.

So, the concept of Scribblenauts is simple, type in various objects and you'll be able to spawn them and use them. Supposedly, you can type in anything and get anything. I don't know how true that is, but so far they seem to have a pretty impressive amount of stuff in the game. In this gameplay demo, they show off the spawning system, and manage to spawn a lot of varied and different items. They also show some physics-based puzzles, and a sandbox mode, which looks a lot to me like 2D Garry's Mod.

The game controls like your standard 2D platformer, but the spawning aspect of the game is pretty ambitious, and it'll be interesting to see how well it pans out when the game is released later this fall.

E3 2009: Impressions of 'The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks'

So, for a while now on the podcast, I've been pretty adamant about my distaste for the new Zelda game coming to the DS, Spirit Tracks. So, you'd think that when E3 rolls around, I still wouldn't care about it.

So now, I've seen a new gameplay trailer, I've seen a developer walkthrough, and yaknow what? I'm starting to like the game just a little more.

Now, don't get me wrong, I still hate the idea of traveling on a train, as opposed to exploring the entire world using your boat. A train simply gives you less freedom since you're limited by tracks. However, the new dungeon stuff looks pretty compelling.

For anybody who's played the multiplayer mode in Phantom Hourglass, they're taking one of the Phantom Knights from that mode and giving you control over him in some parts of the dungeons, creating some new types of puzzles to solve. For example, in the new gameplay trailer, they have the fire-resistant knight walk past some streams of fire, blocking them from shooting out, while link follows along on the bottom ledge. Also, all of the combat and dungeon gameplay seems ripped directly from Phantom Hourglass, which is a good thing, because that stuff was all very compelling.

Overall, I feel like The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is probobly going to turn out to be the "Majora's Mask" of the DS Zelda games. Somewhat fun, but overall just not as compelling as the first game.

E3 2009: Sony Motion Controller Thoughts

First we had the Wii remote, then we had the Wii Motion Plus, and then the announcement of Project Natal by Microsoft. After all those announcements Sony unveiled it's motion controller at the Sony conference. While some of the tech demo's they showed were interesting as proof of concept. It was hard to get excited by another motion sensing device.

If this demo was shown before Project Natal maybe the response would be slightly different but with it being placed the way it was, it really fell flat. The one thing going for it was that it seemed more feasible and easier to understand then Project Natal. I can get my mind around the Sony want and how it works and how the light is read by the Eye Toy. Project Natal looks like it works but I don't understand why it works and I think most of the main audience won't either. If you don't care about how the technology works then maybe it doesn't matter. I for one like to know about the technology that I'm using and that's why I liked that I could understand what Sony was doing.

The demo that interested me the most was probably the archery and showing how the game would work with first person shooters. It also showed how RTS games could be used with the system. RTS games have always been plagued by bad console controls so if it works well this motion controller might solve this old issue once and for all.

E3 2009: God of War III thoughts

At the Sony conference we got a quick look at what God of War III will end up being like. If, however you look around the web you will find much more in depth footage of the game. The demo itself is about 20 to 30 minutes long and ends with probably the best and goriest head decapitation I've ever witnessed.

while I always knew I'd be getting the game I was never impressed by the graphics until the newest demo. The VGA trailer that was shown a few months ago was just atrocious and while it showed some interesting gameplay options, graphically it wasn't the leap forward for the series I was hoping. Finally getting a chance to see the game in action it really is a painting come to life like David Jaffe mentioned months ago.

This is a game of excess and everything just seemed amped up to the extreme. The game is gorier, prettier, more options, better camera placement, better pacing. The game is looking for a March 2010 release date and all I can say is I hope the next 9 months go by fast.

E3 2009: 'Scratch: The Ultimate DJ' Impressions

So, after Ed said just how horrible DJ Hero looks, I'd like to bring up another DJ simulator game that will be coming out soon that was also shown at E3, entitled "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ".

Unlike how DJ Hero is loosely based off of the Guitar Hero name, and has the same sort of structure as it, Scratch is a totally unique IP, and looks like the method of control is a lot smoother. I have to admite, though, that when I first saw their turntable controller I was a bit underwhelmed. However, since then, I got to see a gameplay demo, and all of that changed!

This game looks to not only have a smooth flowing control layout, but also a lot of originality in mixing and re-mixing the tracks. You have five different buttons on the controller, which are used much like guitar hero at first, to simply follow the song's beats. but there's a certain amount of originality at some points, where you can use the buttons to make different sort of sound effects. You also have a fader switch, and a record wheel. You can control the intensity, the speed, or the craziness of all of these effects using the record part of the controller, pretty much doing actual re-mixing, simply, and easily.

The game is looking great, not to mention the amazing tracklist that they've announced so far. Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Mixmaster Mike, Gorillaz, 2Pac, and tons more.

I kind of feel like this game is taking a different approach than DJ Hero, and a much more exciting and creative one, and it'll definitely be on my radar in the months leading up to it's release. Scratch: The Ultimate DJ is due out September 30, 2009 for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii.

E3 2009: Ed's Thoughts on Day 2

Reuploaded due to technical issues, Ed's thoughts on Sony and Nintendo.

The Best Harry Potter Movie to Come?

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Trailer

^click before you read, please. =)

This movie is very significant, book wise many things get resolved or answered as to what will come of the wizarding world.

But behind Warner Brothers there are many things about this movie looking very good. Consider that the first two were charming and stylized nicely by Chris Columbus but had a general family friendliness. We never expected it'd go beyond that, but it did with the third movie which ended being the worst of the series. The fourth movie took on a more serious tone and allowed some maturity in the content, and we got to see one of the greatest nemesises called Lord Voldemort.

The fifth movie brought the final director to the franchise, David Yates, who did a good job considering the movie was more talk than action, and was also able to make the characters stronger. Steve Kloves who had written the first four screenplays could not fit in the fifth movie screenplay at the time, he is back now, and likely will put the series back in a comfort zone. So the movies have gotten better over time.

Warner Brothers had also delayed this movie from November to July so they could make more money, which really annoyed me. But considering WB doesn't ruin movies like Fox does, and they've been on a roll lately with the careful attention to production and proper utilization of time, i'll let it slide. Plus they answered the call, as seen in the trailer, for more quidditch :P

The Trailer looks fantastic, and that doesn't hurt either ;)

Release Date is July 17th 2009

Blame it all on Video Games

So yesterday evening I was having dinner with some of the family, and I was telling a cousin of mine about the E3 news since she has an Xbox. And before I knew it the debate began again.

My grandfather brought up the "issue" of gamers spending so much time playing video games. I immediately flamed back that "people" blame video games for everything.

The point is, video games in their existence alone DO NOT cause issues for people. Think about it, if they are bad, why not ban porn magazines too? Aren't they about the same since, like video games, people under the age limit have been able to grab them. That's bad parenting, not the company's fault.

And even if this was not bad parenting, if you can't differentiate between games and real life then you have a problem. Steven Speilberg, as an example, is one of the greatest all time movie directors and an avid gamer. Does it look like intensive gaming is ruining his career or turning him into a nutjob? If you answered yes, then I pity you.

If people really need a positive reason to like video games, consider the social networking going into gaming now. Facebook, Live Netflix Parties, Staying Connected. And my personal favorite, the deep critical debate over the Zelda timeline of their games as explained by James Rolfe. This shows critical, intelligent thinking doesn't go away with video games.

Anyway I really hope the opposition to video games stops, because hoping it doesn't exist does nothing. Trying to help people realize the difference from reality and a video game would help. Video Games helped me become less shy when talking to people and helped me understand people on their many different levels of life and attitude.

In other words, anyone claiming video games caused them to be violent or shoot people is a lie. Because you still have a part to play in how video games affect you, video games reveal your true nature in what games attract you. Let that be a lesson for how useful games could be to psychology of the human mind.

PSP Go: Will It gain momentum?

The PSP Go was the worst kept secret of E3, Sony's conference even acknowledged that, even though some details were kept secret.

For one thing, we knew the PSP Go would have a slide out controller for a better "handling", kinda liked the design myself. I want one, just like everyone else. And i'm considering buying it as an entry level PS3 alternative, but the release had issues.

For one thing, it only downloads games. There is no CD drive for the games, hence the fact that the PSP GO is 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter. I LIKE THAT. But others like Rob, fellow blogger :), would rather have a physical copy or get a digital copy with a physical copy as T.J. would want. I'm more easygoing (hence the favorite blogger :D) and I just like the fact that the digital copy will cost less than the physical copy. 

Although when it came to price, the retail is to be $250. $250 dollars for that? Seriously, the high end PSP 3000 with more hardware on it having the drive for physical copies is $170. There was no miniaturization of technology for the PSP, just a slid out keyboard. Yes I know the games will cost less, but it's kind of a pricey entry fee into the PSP world. 

Also, for me, having an exposed screen on a handheld unlike the DS makes me hesitate. 

E3 2009: DJ HERO IMPRESSIONS

So T.J. wanted me to give my thoughts on DJ HERO, and sent me demonstration videos of the game. Being that I have had Guitar Hero and own Rock Band, I was curious how a DJ record peripheral and a game would work. Sadly to say i'm not too thrilled.

It's a great idea but the thing is its hard enough to get good songs with Rock Band and Guitar Hero taking a huge chunk out of the industry. But the idea of DJ HERO is not to replay those classic songs, the idea is to remix and play with those songs. That makes this game appeal to a different crowd somewhat, and some like me wonder why you wouldn't do the real thing instead.

It's one thing to play a classic song you like, but there is something odd about hunching over a table or sitting at one with your hands flying over the DJ peripheral than it is to hold a guitar or play drums.

Granted be this is a nice idea, why didn't they just go to Guitar Hero or Rock Band and try to get a contract where they provided the DJ device for future titles and further diverse the rock universe. Adding DJ mixing to the Rock Band universe would be kinda sick to give something extra like mixing the song or adding to the universe. Even if its scripted.

DJ Hero doesn't look scripted, so for the "players" its going to be a labor of love more than it would be a challenge to follow along with a pattern. And seeing the buttons on the record spinner made me think you might SLIP sometimes if you really get into it. And the buttons are to mimic you playing the song, but is it me or were the buttons making you play the guitar's notes? If your playing the guitar's notes it makes the DJ element pretty pointless, and the DJ peripheral should have just been patented and contracted to either Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

That's my opinion

E3 2009: Impressions of Brutal Legend Gameplay

So, I've been pretty excited about Brutal Legend for a while now. Jack Black is probobly my favorite comedian, Tim Schafer is one of my favorite video game designers, and Heavy Metal just totally rocks! There can't possibly be anything that you can think of that would make that combination bad.

So, it was really a treat to get to see a live demo for Brutal Legend. Now, This wasn't at the press conference, and it wasn't on G4. Instead, on the now infamous site, Gamespot, they had Tim Schafer talk through a live gameplay demo of Brutal Legend. As much as I dislike Gamespot now, it's currently the only place with any gameplay footage for the game! If you want to check it out for yourself, then follow this link.

They showed off the part of the game where Eddie Riggs first gets transported into this world of metal. He finds a guitar, an axe, and he rips and shreds both physically, and through the power of rock. With his axe, he has normal melee attacks, with various combos, and it looks like your standard 3rd person action game. However, since the whole world is powered by rock, when he shreds on his guitar he's able to cast various stage effects such as lightning, as well as pyrotechnics. He also has a big earthquake attack that he can do by pressing A and X simultaneously, and doing a power chord.

Besides the combat, however, Mr. Schafer also talked about how there would be a big open world that you could drive your car around in, and they even showed off a little bit of that. I thought the open world stuff looked good, but I'm not exactly sure how well the car controls will be... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Overall, I really think the game is shaping up to be everything I hoped it would be, the iconic Tim Schafer comedy is there, and Jack Black does an amazing job of voicing it, and giving it his own little style, too. I feel like the combat might get old fairly quickly, but the boss battles should prove to be fun, the cutscenes will be amazing, and hilarious, and hopefully all of the open world exploration will prove to be amazing. The game is out "Rocktober" 13th later this year, and I couldn't be more excited.

E3 2009: Rob's Day Two Impressions

Day two impressions! Nintendo! Sony! My thoughts! Extreme camera angles!

Watch!

Do it now!

Geeksquisite Episode 31 Game Edition: E3 2009 Tuesday Coverage

Episode 31 E3 2009 Tuesday Coverage

In this Podcast we talk about the Nintendo and Sony press conferences. So get ready for some exciting announcements and our thoughts on them. On the show today we have TJ, Rob, Ed, Kris, and new guest Sarah.

Enjoy

Nintendo Press Conference: Not Torture?

(Also see: Wii Virtility Sensor)

Nintendo took the floor this morning and we all here at Geeksquisite held our breathe. Frightened that we'd get a repeat of their poor performance last year at E3. That tension didn't go away right away as they have Cammie come out. Thankfully they got off to a good start when they announced that "New super Mario Brothers" would be coming to the Wii. The game will include 4 player co-op which should be great. I don't know at the time weather it's online or offline co-op but I'm pretty excited about this game. The good thing about is that they aren't trying to introduce waggle into the game. They used the controller like an NES and the game seemed to work great. This wasn't the end of Mario announcements though as they announced many more. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is coming to the DS, it's an RPG and looks wonderful. Mario vs. Donkey Kong for DSI looks great. Then the biggie came with the announcement of Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii. Sadly the game will not be coming until 2010 but they did show the return of everyones favorite dinosaur, Yoshi. The gameplay looked great, so it looks like the Mario franchise will be stronger then ever in the coming months.

They mentioned Wii Fit Plus but lucky for us they decided not to show any of it. Surprisingly Wii Motion Plus was not brought up with the title. They got off the fitness talk pretty fast thought luckily. Instead showing more "actual games" including a bunch of RPG's. Some of which will be more Final Fantasy games, Golden Sun for DS, Cop: Te Recruit, and Kingdom Hearts.

The Nintendo press conference hit it's low when Iwata came out and announced the new Vitality Sensor. Basically if you've been in a hospital or have seen one in a movie you have seen this device before. A sensor that goes on your finger and reads your pulse and some other things. We have no clue what this is supposed to work with thought which is kind of weird. Nintendo was doing dam good until this part too :(.

They got things back on track with the announcement of Super Mario Galaxy 2 as mentioned before. some 3d party titles like the Conduit and Dead Space: Exctraction were shown but neither really excites me. Silent Hill was mentioned which I've seen demoed in long form and looks really good.

Then the big end announcement came and it was a new game in the metroid series. A game being developed by Team Ninja the makers of Ninja Gaiden. The trailer they showed had some incredible moments which took everyone by surprise I think. If you think Ninja Gaiden with a Metroid skin that's the basic idea. Don't be worried though it looked fantastic and totally a fresh way for the series to go. Overall it was a good press conference that was greatly improved over last years.

Biggest Flop at E3: Wii Vitality Sensor

When Nintendo brought out the Wii Vitality Sensor, I recognized it in an instant because I had one on my finger during a trip to the hospital. And I thought to myself, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. In the bad way. 

What the heck was the President of Nintendo thinking?! If this device sells even one of these i'll be surprised. But lets consider an honest possibility. Perhaps they will make games where they try to scare you enough to make your blood pressure go over a limit and you lose. Or maybe they'll make future shooters where your heartbeat will be heard by nearby enemies the more your real heartbeat gets higher. That would be cool and demonstrate a new way to control the Zen of gaming. 

But none of this will work because I gotta wonder if people could play any games with the vitality sensor on one of your hands. No, the answer is no. So all they have is casual games focused on the ability of the vitality sensor to sense your heartbeat. Seriously, who cares about their heartbeat when they're going to raise their blood pressure playing video games. Could people with high blood pressure benefit from this? No, if they want to play games anytime during the month. 

So what is the point of the Vitality Sensor, theres no fun game for it. It's data, and god know's people hate looking at graphs during the Nintendo Conference. If anything the only good use it has the vitality sensor will tell you when your sooo bored of your Nintendo Wii; so basically this peripheral is basically a hardcore gamer test. When you see your heartbeat is flatlined when wearing that thing, you know its a sign the Wii has lost everything, especially with Microsoft topping its Wiimote with Natal. 

My E3 2009 quick thoughts on the conferences of Monday and Tuesday

Sony Press Conference Impressions

Sony was definitely the high point for the second day of E3, or at least the more packed conference. Many predicted Sony would be the best of the three conferences, we will discuss this later tonight but for now how did Sony do as a whole?

First they had a countdown showing they would be delayed a half hour, but yet they started on time anyway? Go Figure. Jack Tretton put alot of effort into showing that PS3 was bringing us the next stage in gaming, kinda pointing to its game lineup frequently. 

Multiplatform games like Beatles Rockband and Arkham Asylum were briefly mentioned. 

Uncharted 2 was brought out, the multiplayer beta starts tonight. Then they showed a Demo, the traversing of the buildings, the conflict with airborne threats while scaling the numerous buildings had me drooling. You can't just run away from enemies either, because the helicopter kept following you on the outside while you engaged enemies inside a building they went in. It looked fun, so fun the Naughty Dog label proves this is not a dream. It's a sweet PS3 exclusive.

Then came the MAG demo, live 256 player gameplay. It was sweet to look at, especially being it had to support that many players. It didn't perfect everything but was very satisfying, the map view system, the objective system had the enemies respawning further inside their bunker the closer you got. That makes alot of sense, and the offensive team is set up that on time intervals helicopters came in and thats when friends could respawn. Sweet, the game will be awesome. 

Then after some audio difficulties they got into PSP bundles, rock band was one and hannah montana was another. hahaha. Then they had Kaz Hirai come out to show us the PSP Go, only uses downloaded games so no game slot on PSP Go. That was cool and the full controls slides out of the PSP Go, but it costs $250 to buy. I'll consider buying it if the games are cheaper when you consider the lack of something to physically buy with your game purchase. None of the current PSP's will be phased out but its the lightest and easiest PSP to carry around. 

Then they announced PSP titles like Gran Turismo. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be on PSP, which is a sequel title, not a spinoff. Gameplay of Peace Walker was good looking and is coming in 2010. Resident Evil title coming for PSP, Little Big Planet and Fat Princess as well. Some of those will sell extremely well. 

Moving onto PS3, we got to finally see Assasin's Creed 2 gameplay. It looks slightly better than the first but now you can use a multiple amount of weapons or take them from guards. At one point your flying on a hangliding device which perked my interest for a moment, smoke bombs are also available. Ironically they didn't have a release date but we know its November 11th. 

Then we got Final Fantasy 13 with more footage, looked GREAT. Then they showed Final Fantasy 14...the MMO! Graphics are good for an MMO, although MMO's haven't been my thing. I'm sure Masin (Charlie) will be more talkative about it. Then they brought the Motion Controller Wand out, I really don't have much to say about it. But Sony realizes it's casual and gimmicky, so comparing it to Xbox's motion controller is kind of unfair for both parties. This Wand will be available in Spring 2010.

New Franchaise called ModNation Racers brought out that let you race with online players and create your own maps with a good amount of choices and very easy building controls. Looks fun to me although I heard T.J. comment it really took the graphics ability of the PS3 down a notch. They also showed Project Trico, now named The Last Guardian. OMG it looks even better in alot of areas and less good in a few areas, you play as the boy we finally know. But not really any gameplay.

Then they showed an actual sequel of Gran Turismo 5 for PSP. But the biggest game release was the presentation of the God of War III Demo. It looked flat out amazing, combat was amazing with typical sword slashing, Chimaeras where you could rip their horns off. And if i'm not mistaken did the main character grow wings at one point? Whatever, the game looks crazy good. There was 20 more minutes of the Demo we sadly didn't get to see, and the game will come out 3/10/10. 

Sony threw together a pretty good press conference, Unlike Nintendo it didn't have alot of issues they were a fault of. As to whether it was the best conference of E3, that will very likely be a subject to talk about on the podcast tonight. Sony and Microsoft really fought against eachother here, and Nintendo didn't really but once again. Geeksquisite needs to have some feedback before we can officially broadcast our views. 

Sony Press Conference (E3 2009 Live Blog)

E3 2009: Ed's Day One Impressions

E3 Impressions for Day One, Microsoft wows. Ubisoft Blows and Electronic Arts didn't interest me in the slightest.

Nintendo Press Conference (E3 2009 Live Blog)

E3 2009: Rob's Day One Impressions

I love myself a nice Cappuchino, and I love myself some E3, I talk about both of these things, while I give you my impressions of day one of E3 2009.

Geeksquisite #30 Game Edition: E3 Coverage for Monday (podcast)

We started podcasting very late but hope it was worth it. I bring you our first podcast covering E3. The podcast is nearly 3 hours long because we touch on just about everything that happened at the 3 press conferences. Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and a bit more. We also have some new music to start the show since it's been over a year now it's time for a change. So with that enjoy the show.

Episode 30 is here

EA Press Conference Thoughts and Reactions

So The new day has come but lets one last time go over the events of the EA Press Conference. So the Conference started with a trailer for the game Dante's Inferno. The problem with the trailer was the fact that it was the same one that was shown on Spike TV sunday night. So sadly it started the conference with a bit of a been there done that feeling. They didn't do a great job of getting the show off the ground either, because shortly after Dante they showed their EA girls line of games.  

The girls games included Imagine Pajama party, prom, mall, and show. They talked about the Charm Girls Club and did a good job of making me fall asleep. I honestly can't tell you what happened I wish I could for those who cared but I just didn't have it in me.  

Finally though they got to some "manly" titles like the new Need for Speed: Shift game coming this fall. They talked about how they are now having a leveling system that looked pretty impressive. You can get your profile up to level 50 which is determined by winning and having rivals. The game itself looked really good and in my opinion even better then Forza Motorsport at least from the small amount of footage I saw.  

They then went on to show a few trailers for upcoming games. Including Dragon Age: Origins from Bioware. They showed this new trailer that was super gory and very MTV style. The trailer didn't really reflect the game but I can see how it would get the kiddies all excited watching it on G4. They gave the game a release date of October 20th which sounds good to me. Bioware of course continued their incredible showing at E3 with Mass Effect 2. While I have to say the game itself didn't look that great from the trailer since like Dante it had been pretty much seen before. There isn't anyone out there that played the first game that isn't excited to see how this story continues.  

As Bioware left the floor (for now) Peter Moore took it. EA Sports had a big presence as the conference as is to be expected. Starting with Fight Night Round 4 which got it's release date moved up a week. Also came the announcement of a 2010 title EA MMA which seems like it's going to be a similar title to UFC 2009 from THQ. They then continued to get us looking at fitness games as the next big thing. While they are selling well I have to ask myself, do i actually know anyone with these games? Answer is no, and why? Answer, I have feet and can walk.  

So next in the lineup was The Saboteur which I personally didn't enjoy at all. It was way to "gamey" for my taste. The city of paris is black and white and as you free areas from the Nazi's the city gets it's color back. Assassin's Creed + De Blob = The Saboteur. That is just a game I'm not interested in.  

EA partners finally hit the stage with some of the highlights of the show. Including Brutal Legend which was discussed by Tim Schafer. We got a new trailer for the game showing all the heavy metal stars and the roles they will have in the game. Then APB a new IP from Realtime Worlds was shown in trailer form. From what we can gather it is almost like a MMO with a city consisting of 100 players living within the world. I got a Mad Max type of vibe from the preview.  

EA ended the show with a band having Jedi's walk up onto the stage to introduce a new trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The trailer was a fight between a Sith Lord and Jedi. The only sad thing was that they mentioned that the game will be released when it's ready. Here's hoping that day comes soon. So the conference went pretty well after the rough start and I'm really excited to see more of a few of these titles.

Ubisoft Conference Impressions-THE PAIN!

After Microsoft and Electronic Arts had their shot, It was Ubisoft's turn to wow us with their upcoming projects. In stride the conference began confidently, Ubisoft really got me excited. 

So for the first 30 minutes some interesting stuff happened, James Cameron came on stage and talked about his upcoming Avatar movie and the release of a loose MMO based on it. Sounded cool, but after that we had..James Cameron talking about Avatar. Well he lasted a while but then we had....................................James Cameron talking about Avatar. Tell me whats wrong here?!

I'm not kidding, a quarter of the conference was about Avatar and James Cameron. Steven Speilberg took only 4 minutes in a half hour shorter Microsoft Conference than the half hour James Cameron did in the 2 hour conference for Ubisoft. 

But when it was over, then we got to see Red Steel 2 using Wii Motion Plus. It was pretty nice art style wise and the combat with the Wii setup looked well executed, however this is verbatim from T.J. who showed more interest in the game than I. After that they got into soccer, which had technical issues showing the video and ended up being boring to anyone outside of sports. Then they pointlessly proceeded with a move-for-move showing of Splinter Cell: Conviction with the same demo people, just like the Microsoft press conference.

Then they showed R.U.S.E which didn't have anything new we haven't seen. Couldn't get worse right? Well it did as it showed Pets and other Feminine based games no guy or serious gamer would care about. Then they showed us almost 20 minutes of Rabbids Go Home, a virtual acid trip that made me smile a few times for an otherwise juvenile, pointless game. Then the TMNT game for the Wii, that looked good but it didnt have enough to erase the bad taste from everything else mentioned that presented itself. 

Then they showed us the crown jewel, Assassin's Creed 2. Gameplay? Nope, just a Cinematic Trailer introducing new characters. Not enough to have made this whole ride worth the painful moments we had to endure.

So is this the WORST conference so far? Yes. Is it as bad as Nintendo's with the Sarah Palin predecessor woman host from last year? No, It's MUCH WORSE. It can't get any worse than it did for Ubisoft, which is a big empire. But they showed no effort to continue their march to fame, and further buried the change they seemed to want within the company. Core Gamers, I sympathize with you. But remember, at the end of the day if Ubisoft had to pick. It chose the money because everyone without a creative leader eventually does. 

Modern Warfare 2 Impressions

^No, that picture doesn't play. LMAO!

Let's be honest, this is a Dark Knight story with the hype this game has. We wanted this game to be good, and was it? Actually it was pretty bad, I wished they had shown better gameplay than giving about the same thing as they did with COD4.

Just Kidding :). But they did evoke the same feeling when we first saw COD4 and thats a GOOD THING. It did start pretty slooow with you just climbing the side of the mountain for about 3 minutes. Then you did some stealth work around the soldiers with the same basics and even characters as COD4's demo was. Doesn't sound like they weren't being original right? 

WRONG

They had some people come at you on snowmobiles, that was fun. Me and T.J. were joking wouldn't it be something if we could ride them. Then BAM! that's what they did in the demo and I was flipping out. My favorite thing is to run over people in a game, you can't beat running over people with a snowmobile. But hey I can understand it could get a little old, and the novelty could wear off. Not this game, in fact, the idea of death by gunfire from passing snowmobile has finally been realized. Hence the fact that I specifically found the best pic I could right now for the snowmobiles. 

I had no doubt this game would be good, but to put the final nail in the coffin. Get ready for two more map packs after launch, heck yeah!

Modern Warfare 2 is going to turn COD4 into a collector's item, either because people will transfer immediately to Modern Warfare 2 and shelve COD4 or the weird, ignorant people will hate Modern Warfare 2 and will treasure the first game even more. 

Halo: ODST Impressions

When we got a first look at Halo ODST at Microsoft E3, I was a bit skeptical when all of us saw the ODST Shock Troops with Recon and ODST Helmets, those helmets looked silly on the soldiers since i'm used to seeing full spartan armor going with it. I also was hunting to hear Nathan Fillion's voice (being a fan) since he's playing the captain in ODST. Anyway onto impressions...

First of all, Joseph Staten delivered on a fanfare by showing that the "power" of the M6D pistol from Halo: Combat Evolved is back! yes it was stronger than a pistol should be but we loved using it and we finally get it back. No Zoom? either they didn't show it or it made it too strong but that's not too bad. At least we get the power of the M6D slugs back. 

You know how Master Chief didn't really talk? so the ones around him weren't ready to engage in conversations. Well since your playing a rookie marine, I expect some more dialogue in gameplay, bungie had some good dialogue in Halo 3. So I'm betting there are some funny moments coming for us. 

Also, the HUD is different as T.J noticed before I did. But then again it's expected when you aren't a Spartan this time around. 

One of the biggest things finally answered for me was the timeline. Halo ODST comes before Halo 3, but exactly when was not specified until now. At the start of the trailer you see the Prophet of Regret's ship going through slipspace over New Mombasa, you would of thought from the way they handled that in Halo 2 that New Mombasa was destroyed. Nope.

The Gritty, technological future of New Mombasa excited me for the little I got to see, but it looks like you'll tour the city fighting the covenant. Which is great, because when they showed the Halo 2 demo, we got to see the city. We wanted to tour the city ourselves but it never came to be in Halo 2 or Halo 3. But now we shall have that chance. 

One of the things i'm concerned about is, once again, you're not a spartan. So I hope they take the idea that marines might have a harder time against brutes, elites and various covenant. 

Otherwise, can't wait for Halo ODST. 

Ubisoft Press Conference (E3 2009 Live Blog)

EA Press Conference (E3 2009 Live Blog)

Microsoft Press Conference Revelations

Alright so what did we learn from Microsoft this year...

1. Rock Band: The Beatles will be fantastic and how a lot more then 4 players at a time possible with singers. At the press conference they had 3 singers, 2 guitarist, and a drummer all playing on the same tracks.

2. Tony Hawk Ride: This game is just a accident waiting to happen. On top of that after showing a skate board scanned in with the new Project Natal (see Project Natal) what is the point? I think this game will sell descent at first but I just don't see it being a success in the long run.

3. Modern Warfare 2: Treat us to some gameplay and while it wasn't as mind blowing as the demo of the first game it was quite good. The snowmobile footage really brought it home and just looked like a ton of fun.

4. Final Fantasy 13: Is still coming and hopefully it will be in spring 2010. By the way I predicted that weeks ago so, yay me.

5. Epics new game (Shadow Complex): looks like it's setting a new standard for XBLA games. It is a side scrolling shooter that looks incredible. Think Bionic Commando: Rearmed times 100x and your almost there. Cliff has done it again. The game should be hitting the marketplace this summer.

6. Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Splinter Cell Conviction: All have nice trailers and should be shown in more detail as E3 goes on. Splinter Cell got a demo and looked great from what was shown.  Sam Fisher also has a new haircut.

7. Forza Motorsport 3: Will be shipping this october and looks to greatly improve on the title. 

8. Halo ODST: Had a demo which I think looked really good. The graphics weren't overly improved since Halo 3 but it still looked good. New weapons and the return of the strong pistol just excited the hell out of me.

9. Alan Wake: Not as impressive as when it was first announced but looked really promising. Spring 2010 is it's release date. Sounds good since the fall will be cluttered once again.

10. Last.fm/Netflix Live Party/Facebook/Twitter: all coming to XBL and all gonna be huge I suspect. Love 'em or hate them these add ons will have a huge presence on XBL this fall.

11. Metal Gear Rising: No MSG 4 but a new title featuring Raiden is coming to the 360. The last big 3rd title as given in and is no longer Sony exclusive.

12. Project Natal: Project Natal 

Overall it was a really impressive conference that will be hard to beat. Good luck competitors.

E3 2009: Project Natal, My Thoughts

So, just moments ago at Microsoft's press conference, they unveiled the latest peice of hardware they've been working on. A lot of people were speculating about it being a motion controller, and I suppose you can call it that... Except, there's no controller. Project Natal takes your body movements, tracks them in 3D space, and uses them in-game. There's also voice commands, and various camera tricks used to really make you feel like you're in another world, and immerse yourself in the game.

When they started to show it, I admit, I was VERY skeptical. At first, I thought Natal was just another kind of Eye-toy or Vision Camera. I thought it'd be a gimmicky little add-on that wouldn't provide any sort of substance. At one point during the conference, I even said aloud "oh, this looks sooo gimmicky". It wasn't until they demoed the girl on stage playing Ricochet (a sort of 3D kind of Super Breakout game using your body as a paddle) that I got really excited about Natal.

They demoed more than a pretty cool Breakout clone, they demoed a paint program where you use iPhone-esque gestures to paint a simple picture. They showed how you can navigate menus with motion control, and move your avatar around in real-time. They even got a program with a boy named Milo, created by Peter Molyneux and his team, who actually responded to your emotions and what you were saying to him. I was totally blown away!

The whole thing looks like it actually WORKS. I've tried other camera-controlled games, I've played Totemball with my Vision Camera, I've played You're in the Movies. NONE of that stuff really works, it's completely clunky, and you look like an idiot trying to do something that should be simple.

If Natal delivers on what it's promising (and it looks like it will), then this will be a giant leap in not only the Xbox's increased market, not only Video Game History, but it will be a giant technological advancement, and an achievement in modern technology.

Microsoft Press Conference (E3 2009 Liveblog)

Quick Thought On Why E3 Is Special

Alright so we are about to go live for E3 but I just wanted to mention something first. I finally figured out what makes me love the event. It is because unlike any business or industry E3 changes how we view the market in just a few days. Going into E3 we have a certain view on what we will see and what the year will look like. The day E3 ends though our entire viewpoint is changed. 

In industries such as movies, comics, or books while events like San Diego Comic-Con have new announcements they don't come as surprises. So with that lets launch our E3 live blog and get things going.

Happy E3 2009 Day Everyone!!!

E3 2009: Pre-Day Trailer Impressions

So, E3 hasn't officially started yet, but there has been a constant stream of E3 trailers showing up online. I've watched a handful of em' and here's my impressions of the ones I've watched:

---

Dante's Inferno - Link
This trailer was pretty short, and it makes the game look pretty generic. My hype level for the game has gone down considerably, which really isn't what a trailer should do...

Brink - Link
I've been a big fan of Bethesda's games for a while now. I think it really started with Morrowind, but Oblivion and Fallout 3 have also peaked my interest and have both turned out to be pretty awesome games. Brink looks like it might take place in the future, but I can't be entirely sure quite yet. All I do know is that I'm excited for it, and that's one damn realistic eye! even if it is pre-rendered...

DJ Hero - Link
I think the DJ Hero game has a lot of promise, and I think it'll probobly sell well, just cause it's so directly related to Guitar Hero. I'm not sure quite how it'll play just yet, but I'm interested to see. The trailer definitely looks like it has a cool style, and if they do it right, the game could be really fun, especially if you can mix multiple tracks together. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Alpha Protocol - Link
The trailer doesn't show any gameplay, but having seen the gameplay in action before, and hearing about all of the different action-RPG elements that are going in to the game, I can say that this trailer makes me pretty excited. I don't think this area has been explored much in video games before, and it sounds like it'd be great with the RPG elements.

Brutal Legend - Link
Not so much a trailer, but just a cutscene from the game. This makes me even more excited than I already was for Brutal Legend. The writing seems up to par with other Tim Schafer games, and Jack Black is hilarious as always, and really does a great job with the over-the-top voice acting.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Link
While I'm excited for the game, this trailer makes it seem like the joker will be playable in the storyline on the PS3 version. Really, the Joker is only going to be playable in multiplayer, so it's not that big a deal. Still, it does look like he has some pretty cool attacks and stuff. Overall, my hype level for this game is middling, we'll see how it turns out, I suppose.

Mass Effect 2 - Link
Looking just as awesome as the first game, but I'm still confused... isn't Shepard supposed to be dead or a Geth or something? I mean, that's what the teaser trailer would have us believe, but now they have him here, running around, fighting aliens, and just being Shepard. I'm excited for Mass Effect 2, but also, pretty damn confused!

Lost Planet 2 - Link
Lost Planet 2 looks so different than the first game, that I'm not sure what to think. It's starting to look a lot more like Gears of War more than anything else right now, and while Gears is a good game, I kind of feel like if Lost Planet was to go in that direction, it'd just be generic and loose what really made the first game so appealing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Heroes of Telara - Link
It looks like a generic fantasy RPG. Wizards, warriors, castles, giant orcs... I don't think you could get much more generic looking than this. I honestly don't know how it'll play but the animations and the style of the graphics are both just so underwhelming that I can't get excited much. The only redeeming value of this game is it's character designs, but it honestly doesn't look like something that would save the game.

Just Cause 2 - Link
I had a lot of fun with the first Just Cause, even though it had it's fair share of problems. Just Cause 2 looks like it takes a lot of stuff from the first game, and makes it even CRAZIER! I'm hoping they iron out a lot of the issues that plagued the first game, and make this a really solid open-world stunt action game. Viva la revolution!!

Split Second - Link
I'm kinda confused as to why Disney Interactive is involved with this game, as it doesn't look like anything even remotely Disney-related. Putting that aside, though, the game looks like it could be a pretty awesome racing game. It reminds me a lot of Full Auto, but hopefully this game will take the concept of that game, and make it into something that's actually fun to play. I am a bit skeptical, but I'm also fairly excited.

Dragon Age: Origins - Link
I'm already pretty excited about Dragon Age: Origins, simply because of the name, and because Bioware is making it... so this trailer only increases how much I'm anticipating it, even though there's not actually any gameplay. I kinda like how they have the metal music with the medieval setting, but I'm really hoping they don't have that actually in-game, cause it would probobly ruin the atmosphere for me.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Link
If it's anything like the first game (and it looks like it probobly will be), then it's going to be awesome! With the introduction of new characters like Venom and the return of other awesome characters from the first game like Deadpool... I can definitely say I'm excited.

Supreme Commander 2 - Link
So, I never played the first Supreme Commander, but I know it was made by a US developer. Now, Supreme commander 2 seems to be in development by... who? Square Enix?! I'm confused as to how or why this happened, but it looks like it's giving the game a very Japanese feel. between the designs for the characters to the designs for the robots, every thing looks very anime inspired, and I'm not sure what to think of it quite yet. I guess it won't matter too much since it's an RTS, and you won't see much of the character designs aside from cutscenes, but I still just think it's weird.

Need For Speed: SHIFT - Link
I've never been a big fan of racing sims like Gran Turismo, PGR, or Forza. I could never really get into them, because the driving is so precise, that it takes a lot of time to get good at playing it. However, I do like what this game is trying to accomplish, and I am a big fan of the in-car view, with the motion blurring helping yo set your sights on the road, and not so much on your impressive-looking dashboard. My hope for this game is that it won't have the high learning curve of other racing sims, but still provide that realistic driving experience.

And that's about it! I didn't watch any of the sports game trailers, because frankly, I don't care much about sports games. However, if you want to check em' out, here's some links for ya:
NHL 10
Madden NFL 10

This is episode 2 of the gaming diary. Here i talk a little bit more on my thoughts about the first big chunk of story after the beginning of Final Fantasy 12. 

Serenity Review

Originally released in 2005, Serenity is a movie continuation of a series called Firefly that ran on Fox for a short time. Demanding fans wanted to see a movie of the series since Fox held rights to the series, and had cancelled the show with questionable moves on their part. Joss Whedon who created Firefly listened to fans and headed the movie followup "Serenity". So how did a movie, which holds the record for having the series cancelled, but had enough fanfare for a movie play out? Quite well.

Serenity is about a crew of space pirates who hold amongst them an Alliance Assassin, protecting her from being taken by the Alliance. While this secret Assassin lives among them, the crew become aware of a terrible secret the Alliance never let people know regarding the terror of space: Reavers. 

I have to say, this movie is interesting. The characters are likable and they all support the main character Malcolm Reynolds. The other characters are alot of the time providing comedy relief, there are some good laughs during these times. Not gut busting but witty and word plays that make you smile. And it's the kind of movie you also will notice something new each time you see it, I tried so hard to notice everything happening, not an easy feat. But these characters aren't just comedy relief, the entire crew balances so well in the film. If you aren't familiar with Firefly and see this movie the characters keep you in the loop pretty well, I watched it with family, and they enjoyed it despite knowing nothing about Firefly.

Reynolds is a hard character to understand at times because his actor Nathan Fillion who I like, has a problem delivering dialogue in the right inflection. I also pity Firefly fans wanting another sequel, at the end they will see a moving scene that devalues the idea that the crew would be back for another movie. I won't say why because it would spoil the movie, but one can hope a sequel will be made :). Serenity is a good movie, it's not for everyone. Those who don't like it probably can't follow how fast it progresses. That's okay, Whedon didn't expect everyone would see this. But I imagine he didn't avoid trying to make it appeal to everyone, it wasn't the greatest transition from televison series to the silverscreen. But it has a fair share of filler not forced on people to help them understand the Firefly universe. 

Having said all that, Serenity is a good movie. A very satisfying movie with moments you probably won't expect, shocking moments and okay action. But it can reach beyond its fans if people around the fans are willing to sit down and experience the Firefly culture. It worked when I tried. 

I give it a 4 out of 5

Also, since I proudly call myself a browncoat. I have to say, if your into Sci-Fi you HAVE to see this movie. 

Trailers of the Month: May 2009

        

Ed's Picks:

Sherlock Holmes Trailer 

This is a no brainer for May, it’s part of the growing respect for Robert Downey’s performances, and it’s Sherlock Holmes. But this is no regular biopic, heck it even goes under 6 genres including Thriller, Drama, and even has some crazy looking action. I have to see this. 

The Princess and the Frog Trailer

Disney’s formal return to the 2D animation that created the Renaissance in the 90’s with box office after box office. This one makes me laugh and is an interesting reverse take on what happened after the princess kissed the frog. I want to see this, but when there are less noisy kids around. 

District 9 Trailer

Directed by Neil Blomkamp, fairly new in the business. This movie goes into the issue of humans meeting aliens and apparently messing up communication in them. A piece showing how we as humans need to change our behaviors in times of peril or meeting other species, sounds fun to me. I will definitely see this.  

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra Trailer

As ridiculous as it sounds in this day and age a G.I Joe movie is coming, and the trailer has some cool moments thanks to the wonders of CGI. The slew of cast members makes me question whether this will stick with people, but the moments with the armor was the nail in the coffin to make me see this. I will see this and hope it doesn’t suck. 

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Trailer

A new Trailer came out in May, It showed some more footage. But the biggest one was at the end, the robot sucking sand which is likely Devastator. Another reason for me to see this movie, ILM made a kick ass looking devastator. I’d have to have broken legs to miss this movie. 

Runner up

Gamer Trailer

The makers of Crank bring us a futuristic look at death row inmates being used as MMO characters for real life stunts. If they survive they go free, as much as this defies logic as Brain Taylor and Mark Neveldine did with Crank. That movie delivered so this definitely should be fun. I’m still mulling over seeing this. 

TJ's Picks

The Road Trailer

The Road is based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Cormac McCarthy. I haven't personally read the book but the trailer that was just released is just absolutely phenomenal. It has a great atmosphere to it and from all i've been hearing if you see one movie this year it's the one to see. 

Sherlock Holmes Trailer

As Ed stated above this isn't just any ordinary biopic. I really don't know what to expect. The cast is looking brilliant with Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and one of my favorite character actors Mark Strong. The trailer is fast and hard and looks to be a fun time at the movies.

Surrogates Trailer

Based on a graphic novel the film starring Bruce Willis looks like a great robot mystery film. I,Robot tried to tackle the same sort of ideas but never really pulled it off. The trailer for this though looks very appealing just from a stylistic view point. I hope to read the graphic novel before the film hits theaters.

District 9 Trailer

A alien movie put into the style of a documentary? Sounds odd at first but if you have watched Neil Bloomkemp's short film on the same topic you can see it's possible. Plus who doesn't want to see what the would be Halo director can do with a feature film.

Blood: the last vampire Trailer

Alright I have seen the anime of this, I believe there is a manga as well but I haven't read it. I never really loved the anime but it was very much made for it's medium. Seeing a live action version seems like a odd fit to me but the trailer looks very good and like a ton of fun.

Runner Up:

Taking Woodstock Trailer

The trailer looks pretty good. It also helps that Ang Lee's name pops up. My biggest concern is in the trailer is that Demitri Martin is the lead. I have faith in Ang Lee's direction but Im still worried about Martin. It's the reason why Im not confident enough to put it on my top trailers.