Weekend, what are you playing?

It's PAX weekend! But for those of you who are at home, what are you playing?

Migoy: Rainy weekend and I got no money so I'm stuck here at home. Played some Rockband Unplugged and K-On! on my PSP. Also played some Gundam SEED: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. II Plus just to test it out as I'm lending my copy to a friend.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ViG6hV1ehU&feature=watch_response]

Arlie: I finally finished my first play through of Mass Effect 2 with the default male Shepard. I survived the suicide mission with all my teammates alive, though all of the Normandy crew perished. I'm gonna start my female Shepard in Insanity difficulty on my next play through to prepare my import save for Mass Effect 3, and to get the Platinum trophy. I haven't touched my copy of Demon's Souls yet, so I might give it a go next. Is this game really that difficult?

Quash: Been busy lately so was able to play just a bit this weekend. Played Starcraft 2 and worked on my 1v1 ladder(i suck now). Also played some League of Legends with some friends for fun. Playing a Dota-like game brings back memories, also reminds me why I stopped playing games like this. I'm just waiting for Dead Island really, which is coming out on Sept 6. Hopefully it comes out on time. Want some zombie rpg madness!

First look at Counter Strike: Global Offensive

We finally get a first look at Valve's next Counter Strike, Counter Strike: Global Offensive. We all know what Counter Strike is, so there's no need for an introduction. I still remember players(me included) running around with the Artic sniper rifle in De_Dust, good times. Just simply enjoy the official trailer and gameplay preview of CS: GO that's coming to PC, Playstation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade. Yes, it's coming to consoles too.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1ctPRMQeBQ

Not only am I excited to play Counter Strike again, be it PC or even consoles, I'm excited for the cross-platform feature. It's something I want to see happen more often. Players with different platforms all mixed up into one matchmaking? it's going to be chaos, it's a feature I think all multiplatform devs should explore more often. PS3 and PC seems to be all set for this feature, Xbox 360 on the other hand won't have this feature. There's also reports that PS3 players will be allowed to plug-in a mouse and keyboard for the game, if they wish to play it that way. Valve head Gabe Newell mentioned Xbox Live and it's "restrictions", the sole reason to why Portal 2 in the Xbox 360 does not have cross-platform play. Valve approached Microsoft about this but Microsoft does not want to open up to the idea of having steam, or even cross-platform play for that matter. Come on Microsoft!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN93xXfews4

Graphics have been improved, weapons have been added, changes have been map, but the core gameplay that we all know from Counter Strike still looks intact. Famous maps returning like De_Dust, Aztec, Italy, and more will return with new tweaks like the new underground passage of De_dust. You got to hate those snipers waiting for you to come out of that passage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP5D2N6pKKg

This is looking pretty sweet. Ok yes, nothing like Call of Duty or Battlefield. Nothing ground breaking at all. Valve is simply giving us an improved version of what many people still enjoy to this day. No need for killstreaks, tanks, or even iron sights. Just the good old point and shoot.

Twisted Metal launching on Valentine's Day

Hopefully this new date sticks. Twisted Metal gets a new release date and it will be on Valentine's Day. If by any chance you don't have plans on that special day at least you can grab Twisted Metal. If you do have a date, maybe squeeze in to buy the game? I'm sure your date will understand.

David Jaffe revealed the new date on the Playstation Blog with a little video.  A few weeks ago, he also revealed the huge delay back to 2012. It was originally date for October 4, but they needed the delay since they won't make the release date, the game was just not ready. With around 6 months to go until the release, David Jaffe and his team have all the time they need to polish, develop, and hopefully create the best Twisted Metal title.

Also in the video is a teaser of the story trailer of Doll Face. Yes, it is hilarious that they release teasers for trailers nowadays. A teaser for a teaser. Since I can't find a YouTube of the announcement right now, here's the link again of the announcement.

DBZ: Ultimate Tenkaichi is not as bad as I thought

Remember that first trailer of Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi? The one that looked just like any other Budokai Tenkaichi or Raging Blast game out there? After looking at some gameplay clips from Comic-Con, the game looks much different.

When fighters are a certain distance apart the view goes into split screen, just like the local versus mode in the old Budokai Tenkaichi games. But when upclose, they do a little melee clash animation and then the camera shifts into a more Tekken style view like the Budokai / Shin Budokai games (so many Budokais) while still retaining the full 3D combat mechanics. When engaging in hand to hand combat, it seems like doing a combo can initiate a sort of rock-paper-scissors style mini-game and activate a slew of different chase attacks.

From the footage, it's a little hard to grasp the gameplay but the best way I can describe this game is that it's a full 3D rendition of the old SNES Super Butohden games where the screen splits when fighters are a certain distance from each other and from that distance can activate cinematic blast attacks. This game shows off a "Melee Range" and "Blast Range" and while doing a blast attack, opponents can choose to either guard, counter or deflect the attack much like in the Super Butohden series.

So yeah, basically I'm actually getting excited for this game now. I just hope they add more voice clips so that we won't be hearing the same grunts over and over again and that the chase segments won't get repetative over time. The characters do a little intro before they fight much like in Burst Limit which I think is a nice touch.

Oh yeah, this game also has a character customizer so that's something new. The large boss fights I am not amused with because it looks very similar to the ones in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqH36gQyleo&w=560&h=345

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3yYkAPtbls&w=560&h=345

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2uy8QNFiRQ&w=560&h=345

Green Lantern Blu-Ray Includes A Yellow Batman For Arkham City

Superhero flicks have become a common thing in summer boxoffices. With almost every cape doning, web throwing, suit wearing, and ring bearing hero having their own big screen blast every year, it's no surprise why old heroes are getting new iterations in both the movie and video game franchise.

This year's Green Latern movie has come and gone but will be seeing a Blu-ray release come October 14th. The sequel to the highly acclaimed Arkham Assylum comes out 4 days after. What's the connection you ask? The Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and the Blu-ray Combo Pack will include an access code to unlock the Sinestro Corps Batman skin in Arkham City for use in both the story mode and challenge maps. The code is only usable on the PS3 version of Batman: Arkham City.

Batman user FEAR... It's super effective!