I found it hard to believe that most mainstream reviewers actually found this game good…instead of marginal at best. 

Are these reviewers on drugs?  Or have they actually not played a decent fighting game before playing DJI?  I would say both, and that they were paid by EA to give a positive review.  I mean, seriously, check out these reviews:

“…but it really shines thanks to its crazy story mode and healthy roster.” -Gamespot.  Is it me, or is the current line-up of Icon roster is so LAME compared to its predecessors?  If the highlight of fighting game is its story mode, we have a problem.  The last thing I care about in a fighting game is its story.

“A great entry to the series, combining a fluid control scheme, pulsating environments, and cool simulation features…”  -GameZone.  Unless you check the author’s name, you’d swear an employee from EA wrote this review.  Real impartial for somebody who sipped every drop of that Kool-Aid.

“In the end, Def Jam Icon is more like a bump-n-grind slow jam instead of the club banger that it should have been, but it still deserves merit.” -Team XBox.  Wait, that’s a negative sum-up, right?  And the game still received an 8.0?  Wait there while I pick up the pieces of my head that just exploded.

“But as pretty as the game is, and as great as the soundtrack might be, the game’s real draw lies in the eight amazingly detailed rumble locations. ” -Gamepro.  This one’s my favorite.  I always look for the amazingly-detailed rumble locations in a fighting game. Whoopee.

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The article.

Record #1: Brian Crecente for having the biggest balls of steel, ever.

Record #2: Sony for having the biggest collection of nitwits that run the PR department.

Sony p0wn3d.

Make that 3 records: Shortest online catfight ever (read: L-A-M-E).

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Last night, I have downloaded the game demo to get a feel of how it plays.  I admit that I was kind of intrigued by the game since it has been announced because it’s touted to have a radical departure from the previous Def Jam incarnations…which I’m not too crazy about.

When I saw the first gameplay video a few months ago, I was impressed by how the game looks (albeit the character facial expression is always lifeless despite the detail)…but was let down on how the game moves…to take a quote from the movie “Invincible”: I’ve seen glaciers move faster.

Now with the actual game in hand, I have nothing really positive to say about it apart from the nice graphics and somewhat-consistent framerate:

• The EA trademark long loading times (to think this is loading from the HDD, i can’t imagine how it would be loading from a DVD!)
• The characters still move stupid slow.
• Combos are absent.  Nada.  Zilch. 
• Next-to-impossible throw maneuvers.  You have the simple throw wherein you use the right analog stick and then there’s throwdowns, where you use the analog stick + the D-pad.  What? 
• Unintuitive blocking system.  
• The “fighting with the music beat” and music mixing is utterly POINTLESS.  I couldn’t care less about throw my opponent in the exact beat; I just want to beat the crap out of him.  And DJ mix move?  Wow, so underwhelming.
• The deal breaker for me is the off-the-wall button configuration for punches or kicks.  Note that it’s not punch AND kicks.  you press the X,Y,A,B to do upper right/left strike and lower right/left strike respectively…depending on the character, it would either punch or kick.  Big Boi doesn’t have a “kick” button.  T.I. is all kicks.  Now to do a super stike or kick…you use the right analog stick!  Holy crap, talk about convulted button configuration.  I needed to pause the game several times to review the button config.

I really wanted to like this game.  It’s just horrible.

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• Assassin’s Creed.  From the creative minds behind Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time. 
• Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  From Naughty Dog, creators of Crash Bandicoot and Jax & Daxter franchise.  I’m not too wild about either games, but after seeing the trailer of their new PS3-exclusive the other day, it reminded me so much of Flashback, one of the greatest games ever made.  And if the trailer that was shown is actual game footage, this would be the only game I know (outside of Metal Gear Solid) where the developers appied realistic detail on facial expressions of its characters.
• Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.  Never played the first one, but when I played the demo, I was hooked.  IMO, its graphics and animation are a lot better than both Gears of War and Rainbow Six: Las Vegas (both using the overrated Unreal Engine 3 graphics engine)
• Resident Evil 5/Resident Evil Wii.  I think I don’t have to explain this.
• Metal Gear Solid 4.  Two words: Hideo Kojima
• NBA Street Homecourt.  I have a little reservation about this because it’s an EA game, but seeing the game footage, this might be the first basketball video game that I’m looking forwared to.
• Half Life 2: Episode 2.  I will probably need to upgrade my PC when this game comes out

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This game rules rocks is great good.

Update: I love this game.  It’s just that it’s awfully short.

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Given the coma-inducing price of the PlayStation 3, I hypnotized myself that I don’t need it…yet.  I will only own one–cost notwithstanding–only when the PS3-exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4 hits next year.

Or so I thought.

Rumors abound that Metal Gear Solid 4 is no longer a PS3 exclusive.  On one hand, there’s an argument that Kojima thinks that the the installed userbase of PS3 isn’t that huge by the time the game is released, therefore hurting the profit potential; on the other hand, there’s no way Kojima’s “pissing on the well he drinks his water from.” 

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I just found out TODAY that my favorite Kotaku writers Florian Eckhardt and Eliza Gauger has left to work for Wired (Florian goes by the name John Brownlee, which happens to be his real name, based on what I’ve googled).  I did notice that they haven’t been posting for a while but their names were still on the credits on the sidebar…well…that is, until today.

Michael McWhertor is alright, I guess.  He’ll probably work for Wired in a few months…

Update: Florian writes a blog entitled “Tabled of Malcontents“…I’m not sure what’s it about (yet)…but a quick scan on the postings titles tells me they’re not about gaming at all…Eliza writes for “Game|Life.”  Time to update those Bloglines subscriptions…

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 I have been one of those semi-skeptics when Nintendo finally revealed the design of their much-hyped controller.  When they explained that it has some motion-sensing technology built in, it only gave me nightmarish memories with the POS ”Power Glove” in my high school days.  Not only was Power Glove heavy, it only worked 0.000328% of the time.  And it was heavy.  

Fast forward to today: I have been playing almost non-stop with my Wii since I got it last Monday (breaking for sleep and…um, work).  I know some reviewers are bitching about the how the controller play with the Wii Sports…here is my take:

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Last April, I made a bold prediction that the Nintendo Wii (code-named “Revolution” back then) will win this generation of console war.  I’m still 100% behind that.  I’m going to get my Wii pre-order tomorrow and will post my first impressions as soon as i clean up my pants after creamed them.

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