Now…

Now playing: Mother 3 (English Translation of GBA RPG), FALLOUT 3!, Rock Band: Unplugged (Awesome!)

Now listening to: Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures, Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine, Taking Back Sunday – New Again

Now Watching: Batman – The animated series, Chuck Season2

Now reading: Knightfall part 1: Broken Bat (comics), Any other stuff I want to read

The NEXT Metal Gears

I’m really, really, late with this news post since E3 was last week. Some personal issues needed to be settled but now that everything’s pretty much okay, back to some nice MGS news!

TWO new MGS games were announced last week. Metal Gear Solid: Rising for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP/PSP Go.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising is the new next-gen console MGS game starring MGS 2 hero, Raiden. Here’s all the info so far:

• Series tag line TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION has now been replaced by LIGHTNING BOLT ACTION. As seen (and heard) in MGS4, Raiden is “the lightning” lol. The new tag line will probably be most evident in the gameplay.
• Pictures and the teaser trailer show Raiden as the cyborg Ninja first shown in MGS4.
• Hideo Kojima aka “the voice of god” will not direct the game but will serve as producer.

The other Metal Gear game, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is a sequel to Metal Gear Solid: Portable OPs and will have Big Boss as the lead character.

• The game is set in 1974, 10 years after Snake Eater and 4 years after MPO.
• Set in Costa Rica, an unknown military force invades and nation must rely on Militaires Sans Frontières, the mercenary army that will eventually give rise to Outer Heaven.
• There also seems to be an updated CQC and evacuation system along with the ability to move while crouched as seen in MGS4.
• The game will be written, produced, and directed by Hideo Kojima.

Finally, here’s the trailer. Looking forward to playing both of these games next year.

Terminator: Salvation review

Bale stars as John Connor

The 4th Terminator film, Terminator Salvation, was my most anticipated film of the year for 2 reasons. The first was because I am a huge Terminator fan, and the second was because Christian Bale is my favorite actor. The film was released internationally 1 week after its US release, and with it, came mixed to negative reviews. Forums were already filled with T4 hate so when I finally came to see it yesterday, I was a bit skeptical. Fortunately, I didn’t find it to be as bad as the Internets had been saying. In fact, I’d say it’s a very good action film.

The Opening battle scene is incredible

I wasn’t really expecting a film as good as Terminator 2 but at the same time, I was expecting a great action flick, a good Terminator film, and a movie that is better than Terminator 3. Fortunately, “Salvation” fits all of those descriptions. Right of the bat, I noticed the visuals and the art direction that this movie took. The CGI (computer generated imagery) is spectacular, the explosions feel real, and the decay and destruction shown by this post-apocalyptic world is stunning.

The action sequences are probably the best part of this film. This movie has one of the best action set-pieces I’ve seen on the big screen. The desert chase scene involving some key characters and several machines will leave you breathless. The opening sequence which sees resistance members setting off chains of explosions in a Skynet facility does a nice job of setting up all of the man vs. machine mayhem that follow.

Christian Bale, fresh from fighting murder clowns and half-burned district attorneys, takes on the role of John Connor, the Jesus-like central character of the Terminator Saga. I found Bale’s performance to be decent, although this definitely isn’t his best performance. It was great watching him gun down terminators and bark orders to other resistance members, even though his voice leaves some things to be desired. When he isn’t speaking in a low voice that sounds like he’s whispering, he’s yelling using his patented batman voice which is great for some scenes but inappropriate for others. His performance could have been a lot better if his voice found the right balance between the two. Still, Bale is intense, emotional, and truly sets out to display the different sides of John Connor. I admired his performance most especially in one scene where he broadcasts a message to other resistance members saying “if we think like machines, and make cold and calculated decisions, then what is point in winning?”

Father and son (the other way around)

Other cast members who had great performances include Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright and Anton Yelchin as a (very) young Kyle Reese. Worthington plays Marcus Wright, arguably the movie’s main character, a murderer on death row who supposedly died in 2003 but eventually wakes up in 2018. Worthington gives life to a character who turns out to be the one of the not so-human characters in the film. Marcus runs into Kyle Reese in wasteland LA, a teenage boy aiming to join the resistance against the machines and would later go on (as shown in the first Terminator) to go back in time and become the father of John Connor. Yelchin is perfectly cast here as he really does look like a young Michael Biehn.

Another thing that’s great about this movie is the nods that it gives to past Terminator films. Lines like “Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back” are present in film’s dialogue, to be noticed by hardcore Terminator fans. Also, Set pieces like the final fight sequence, and the opening battle between Connor and a T-600, draw heavy influence from the James Cameron’s Terminator films. This really made me feel like the movie recognizes the connection with its prequels. Hell, we even hear Linda Hamilton’s voice (Sarah Connor) when John listens to the old cassette tapes that Sarah recorded for him.

The last 20-30 minutes were exciting to watch, especially when the T-800 shows up. I saw a picture of Arnold’s CGI enhanced younger appearance a few days ago and it honestly looked just like him. In the film there was a split second or so you could tell it was CGI, but other than that, he looked pretty damn cool when he showed up. I almost busted a nut just because I kind of forgot about seeing him and when he showed up, I was like “oh shit!” It would have been cool if Bale had said a line after he sees Arnold’s T-800, something like “I was expecting you” or “you again”. This can signify this John Connor’s connection with the John Connors from the past.

Now, on to the things I didn’t like in this one. I didn’t like the score. What the hell, I barely noticed when there was music playing in the background. The music added nothing to the film, such a waste since this movie could have been better had the score been kick ass and not as lame as it actually is. Oh well, at least they used the classic Terminator theme during the opening and the ending credits.

I also felt like some of the characters were under-developed, more specifically, Kate Connor played by Bryce Dallas Howard. I don’t think she got enough screen time and her character was one-dimensional since it wasn’t really given too much attention. This is made even more disappointing by the fact that she just looked so beautiful in this film. I guess John Connor is one lucky bastard. As for the screen time shared by John Connor and Marcus Wright, I wished it was more balanced. Wright’s character got too much attention at first that it seemed like Connor was a secondary character. People would have cared about Bale’s character more had he been in more scenes.

Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor

One thing I read about the movie is that the Terminators didn’t actually terminate any human beings. This was quite a funny thought but then I realized that it was true. Previous terminator films had Terminators which killed a lot of people. Terminators in this one didn’t. This is a terminator movie and I expect to see Terminators actually terminate humans. A few kills here and there would have been cool.

Finally, on to the aspect of this movie which has gotten the most hate, the story or the lack of it. Unlike most critics, I actually enjoyed the film’s story. It was pretty simple to follow. The pacing was ok although some parts were a bit dry or rushed. I liked all the twists that are revealed in the end and the ending was something I wasn’t expecting (great ending). Overall, the story was good and very satisfying.

One thing that sucked though was the plot holes. There are several plot holes in this movie that are probably the result of parts of the movie that were edited out of the film and by bad writing. I noticed some while watching the film and read about others online. Some plot elements didn’t make sense, and others were underdeveloped. And while I agree that all of these plot holes shouldn’t have been in the movie in the first place, the story still manages to stand on its own, and at times, even echoes the brilliance of the first two films, albeit, in a diminished capacity.

The two main stars of Terminator Salvation

In closing, see this movie if you’re a Terminator fan, or even action/sci-fi fan. This Terminator movie though not as good as T2, clearly demolishes T3 and sets everything up for possible sequels. Brilliant action, stunning design, strong performances by most of the cast, and a story that does more than enough to keep you interested. It even ended with my favorite terminator quote of all time: There is no fate, but what we make.

PSP GO! Unveiled!

Sony announced the new PSP earlier than they wanted. It’s called the PSP Go! Here’s some pics of the new PSP together with the official list of features. More features will probably be announced soon.

PSP Go

1. 16gb on board flash memory
2. 3.8 inch screen
3. 43% lighter than the PSP 3000
4. Blue Tooth Support
5. All Digital Content, NO UMD!
6. You can add extra memory via memory card slot
7. Games , Movies , TV Shows, To Go
8. Releases This Fall 2009

As for the games, the PSP Go will be accompanied by the previously announced Little Big Planet (shown in the pic below), Gran Turismo, and a new Metal Gear Solid game (which has also been recently announced). All I can say at all of this is, YES!

Awesome PSP games on the way

“Come with me if you want to live”

Terminator Salvation just hit theaters. It’s my most anticipated movie of the year. One of my favorite things about the Terminator saga is the recurring scene where a character says “come with me if you want to live”. The line is just too epic and legendary. In celebration of “Salvation’s” release, I decided to show the scenes from the  Terminator movies where the line is said by various characters. From 1984’s The Terminator to this year’s Terminator: Salvation.

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Terminator: Salvation (2009)

Listen to Linkin Park’s “New Divide”

Linkin Park’s new song was released today. It’s the lead single from the Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen soundtrack. I like it. Sounds somewhat electronic, almost mechanical in way. Listening to it will transform you. Shades of 2007’s What I’ve done is very evident. The similarities are probably intentional since “What I’ve Done” was also included in the soundtrack of the first Transformers film. Chester’s vocals sound a bit different at first but it’s different-good. I also like the lyrics, it’s not as cheesy as past LP songs. The best thing about the song is the bridge though, I wasn’t expecting an electronic breakdown that sounds like Nine Inch Nails at first. Awesome. Just listen to it below!

A week of underachieving, tv time, a new girl, and love from Kojima Productions

A quick look back at underachieving on exams, 4 seconds of TV time, (possibly) landing a new girl, and being mentioned in the Kojima Productions report podcast.

I just went through one hell of a week. Monday had me taking a computer science/programming exam after a very rushed review session. I just hope I get a high enough grade for my performance to labeled “outstanding” (hey, it matters to me). I’ve been playing and programming with C/C++ and other computer science shit for years so not doing excellent is just underachieving.

Tuesday was my TV debut. Well, sort of. My boss (I do part-time work) got a TV interview regarding the 2010 national elections. Yeah, he’s a concerned citizen. So ABS-CBN, the nation’s number 1 (or 2?) TV station had cameras in our office last week. They took footage of my boss working and doing stuff and fortunately for me, they needed footage of my boss interacting and working with, well…co-workers. That’s where I came in. A few nights later, I saw my face (or part of it) on TV! We looked like we’re talking about some work related stuff. Hey, 4 seconds of TV time is pretty good. Have you been on TV lately? I even saw my laptop on-screen. It’s pretty big since the footage was broadcast globally. I’m moving up the ranks man!

Half my face is on TV!

Come Wednesday, things were moving pretty slow, until night time that is. I had dinner w/ this girl I’ve been going after for a few months now (read my Valentine’s Day post). Seemed like it was like any other night until it became longer and longer. God, I thought Wednesday night wasn’t going to end. And as perfect as it was, I didn’t want it to. This was girl-age win.

Thursday? It didn’t even start. Friday was better because it is Friday, and I’m in love. I actually thought Friday sucked. A little class called “elementary statistics” was giving me a hard time. But then I took the time to download the 92nd episode of the Kojima Productions Report. KP report is a podcast from Konami’s (yeah that famous Japanese game company that brought us Contra!) Kojima Productions studio, led of course by the legendary Hideo Kojima.

Kojima Productions are the creators of the award-winning and best-selling Metal Gear series of videogames.

I’ve been listening to this podcast since 2007. It’s about Konami’s and kojipro’s past, present, and future games; the videogame industry, and all the workings of a videogame company like Konami. Being a hardcore metal gear fan and dreaming of becoming a game designer someday, this WAS my favorite podcast. Two weeks ago, I asked a question to the guys (and gal) of the podcast through their website. My message read:

Hey guys I’m really glad that the KP report is back online. It’s been my favorite podcast since before MGS4 came out. Now, I have a question that I really hope you would answer on the air. I’m a Filipino communications major in college with my minor being computer science. Do you think that someday I can make it into Kojima Productions as a game designer? It’s been my dream job since I finished MGs3 in 2004.

Thank you guys for bringing the podcast back and thanks to everyone at Kojima Productions for creating the Metal Gear series.

What blew my fucking mind was that they actually read and answered my question over the air! Not only that, they actually gave me tips on how to join the game industry. And they even brought up my question and my name several times! Most of it was during the actual comments section and then near the end of the podcast. I think they spent a lot of time discussing my question and giving me advice. This is just fucking awesome! I appreciate and really kept in mind everything that they said. I can’t thank them enough. Damn, this means so much to me now. It marks my first contact with people who actually work within game industry, and hopefully, it won’t be the last.

I made a clip of the parts where they read and answered my question over the air. I also put pictures of the hosts of the Kojima Productions Report, Sean Eyestone and Christine Kogure. They mostly work with the design and language translation part of making games (two areas I’m interested in). Check out the clip below.

Finally, you can listen and download episodes of the Kojima Productions report from their website.

Wow, that was an incredible week. Seriously, holy shit;  possibly the most eventful and exciting week of the year so far.  It’s times like this when I have to agree with That 70’s show when they said, “It’s a wonderful life”.

X-men Origins: Wolverine review

The most famous X-man finally gets his own movie…and it’s not a good one.

I never said this would be a good movie - Hugh Jackman

I saw X-men Origins: Wolverine last night and yeah, it wasn’t that good. When I go see movies, I want to enjoy it, and I didn’t get that feeling with Wolverine. Unfortunate, since this film had so much potential. After seeing the entire thing, I just thought X-men 3 was better. And in the comic book community, that’s saying a lot.

One of the major problems I noticed with this movie was that it had way TOO many mutants in it. X-men 3 also had way too many mutants, most left underdeveloped, and just there either for fan service or to put as much mutants on-screen as possible. But unlike X-men 3 which at least had a coherent and straightforward story, Wolverine feels so confused in the narrative that it wants the audience to see. First Wolverine kills his father as a child in the 1800s, then the intro credits show him and his half brother Sabretooth (Victor Creed), as soldiers and fighting through countless wars but not really dying and not growing old. Then there’s Team X, Weapon X, Sabertooth kills wolverine’s squeeze AKA Kyla Silverfox, wolverine hates sabertooth, then Kyla Silverfox isn’t really dead and admits she kept tabs on Logan, Weapon XI, Logan and Victor fight together again, and a bunch of mutants that the audience barely get to care about. The whole problem with the story is that it tries to do so much without really succeeding at anything so it doesn’t really climax. I could care less about the story not being too faithful to the source material as long as it works. In this case though, it doesn’t.

I was expecting to see emphasis on the origin of wolverine, how his life started, and how he became the animal with adamantium in his bones. Unfortunately, these 3 story elements were only given a few minutes. It’s an origins movie and they spent little time fleshing out the actual “origins” part. I wanted to see the more human side of Wolverine, as Logan, what he went through as a child, how he coped with not dying, and transcending time. They only spent 5 minutes to show these things during the opening credits. The whole Weapon X project where Logan gets adamantium grafted to his skeleton just felt so rushed. I always had the feeling that the entire weapon X process was the most important part of Wolverine’s origins. A few minutes on-screen weren’t really enough to justify it. How will the audience care about wolverine and the weapon X project if they deal with the entire thing so quickly?

Deadpool was ruined too. I’m not very familiar with him in the comics but putting him in the movie and showing him for just 5 freakin’ minutes (5 minutes that was pretty good), and then the whole Weapon XI disaster, it’s a big F You to comic book fans anywhere. There was also a great attempt to tie this movie to the first X-men film. A walking Professor X even appears near the end. The problem is that it detracted from the main story, from Wolverine and his origins.

I’m finding it hard to say good things about this film. Jackman is still excellent in playing Wolverine and the fight scenes are great. The special effects looked like it needed some more polish though. I was really disappointed with this film.  I never expected it be this bad.There’s no flow to the narrative and there’s no soul to the characters (one dimensional and all). Only the very casual X-men fans and movie-goers who don’t really nitpick will be pleased by this one. One last thing though, stay in the theaters until the entire credits are finished.

My Favorite Album Covers

I felt artsy today all of a sudden, probably because of looking at all of my albums and trying to figure out what to listen to. Then I remembered a blog entry I planned a while back: My Favorite album covers. (click on the images for larger versions)

Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)

I can’t believe this album’s 10 years old now. I Bought my copy in 2003. The graffiti artwork of a man w/ his arm raised and fist clenched fits the album’s sound perfectly.

Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (2000)

Still my favorite album of all time. I remember looking for a casette tape with a “soldier with butterfly wings” on its cover, how much I liked the gray background, the graffiti inspired artwork, and the idea of a “Hybrid Theory” – a mixture of different sounds and styles. Nine  years later, i still feel the same way.

A Perfect Circle – Thirteenth Step (2003)

One of the most outstanding, most visually striking piece of artwork I’ve ever seen. In my eyes, white and yellow never looked so good.

My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004)

First saw this during my last year of High School, and before the mainstream “emo” crap was in full swing. I remember listening to MCR when very few people even knew them (I miss those days sometimes). I like the visual style of the cover, reminds of an old faded painting. The blood on the lovers’ faces was a bit too much but it was good for its time. This album cover was how I pictured me and my girlfriend at the time would end up…or so I thought. It was romance or sweet revenge and romance wasn’t so sweet.

Armor for Sleep – What To Do When You Are Dead (2005)

The aftermath of sweet revenge. Armor for sleep’s 2005 album was one of the best stories i’ve ever listened to. It tells the story of someone who commits suicide and what follows after his death. As for the cover, I liked the green color template that they used. Everything else that’s pictured perfectly captures how I felt in 2005 and the whole concept of the album. I was floating and suicidal tendencies was kicking in. In my opinion, a visual masterpiece.

Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth (2005)

The first Nine Inch Nails album I bought. Also very minimal and yet very striking. I get the feeling of decay and post-modern technology (sorry, i don’t know what else to call it).

Deftones – Saturday Night Wrist(2006)

First of all, what an awesome album. I really like the album cover too. Why? Let’s just say that on the cover, I see myself on Saturday nights, alone, and feeling “the desire to shake my wrist.”

Metallica – Death Magnetic (2008)

My 2008 album of the year. Well, the cover’s pretty simple but based on the concept of “Death as being magnetic in that it attracts or repels people”, I’d say they did very good. A coffin with the effect of attracting or repelling? Pretty clever. And to end all this on the funny side, some people say that the coffin looks like a anigaV (just read it backwards! LOL)

Chester from Linkin Park tweets. Screw it, I’m joining Twitter!

Time to Tweet!

So I just joined twitter today and I’m amazed at how cool it can be. Reading updates from people/organizations that really interest me is something  I can’t continue to pass up. Twitter’s really different from the social networking crap I stay away from. New information that I’m really interested in can pop up at any moment and that’s pretty cool. I agree with the twitter home page when it says: “Twitter really puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.”

The one thing that probably convinced me to join was Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, who recently joined twitter, tweeting about the new Linkin Park song to be used as the theme for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. The new song’s entitled New Divide and It’’s out on May 18th!

Twitter’s good, isn’t it?

More PSP love in 2009

Earlier this year, I blogged about the PSP and how great it’s software line-up for 2009 will be. Little did I know that the PSP’s line-up will just get better and better. I’ll even say that the PSP probably has the best software line-up for this year out of all handhelds and consoles. Yes, it sounds insane but do take my word for it. Here’s a list of some previously un-announced games that will hit the PSP this year, starting from June onwards. More games will probably be announced at E3 2009. Note: Some screenshots/images are from the console versions of the game.

Rock Band: Unplugged

Oh yes, rock band on the PSP. I’ll be rockin out on the go.

Assassin’s Creed

Since I still don’t have a PS3, I haven’t had the chance to play Assasin’s creed. Fortunately, the PSP will now give me the chance.

Tekken 6

Nobody saw this coming but it made a lot of sense since Tekken Dark Ressurection was just great on the PSP. I better practice my Heihachi combos. Bring on Tekken 6!

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

It’s been 7 or 8 years since I finished Jak and Daxter 1 on the PS2 and i didn’t play any Jak game since. Time to give Jak and Daxter another go.

Little Big Planet

Wow, one of my most anticipated games for the year. I love platforming games and hopefully, LBP will have the same “play, create levels, and then share it to the world” cycle it does on the PS3

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

A remake of the Original Silent Hill on the PS1. I’ll play it since i didn’t play the original. Silent Hill Origins was pretty good too. I hope this one gets released around the holloween period.