The Ponza Report

The Review List for PRES

2009-10-05T22:10:01Z

The Review List for Ponza Report Energy Shots:

(These are in no particular order.)

Rockstar Energy Shot - Wild Berry

Rockstar Energy Shot - Tropical Punch

Amp Energy Shot "Jakfruit" Citrus

Monster Hitman Energy Shooter

Monster Hitman Energy Shooter - Sniper

Mana Potion

Health Potion

Hype MFP Shot

Hype Marionberry Shot

NOS Energy Shot

Jolt Energy Shot - Grape

5-Hour Energy - multiple flavors (grouped together)

There's still a few to work on, but already, you can see there is quite a list forming. If anyone can tell me some other shots to look for, I'll start touring around stores here looking for them. Most gas stations and corner stores place them close to the front, by the register, for easy access. The newest to hit the list are NOS Energy Shot and Monster Sniper. I found those at a pharmacy shortly before they were available everywhere.

I'm excited to show off my findings and crown a champion Energy Shot! It's a close one!

Foreword: Ponza Likes Caffeine...

2009-09-03T02:30:00Z

For those of you who don't know me that well, or haven't seen me in public or at work very much, there's one thing that I enjoy. I enjoy caffeine. I don't just enjoy coffee mind you, I also enjoy energy drinks, shots, and caffeinated soft drinks. Sure, there's a lot out there, but not much in Nova Scotia. So, I've decided to start to devious task of documenting the energy drinks and energy shots in my home province, to dig into my caffeine lifestyle, as well as teach the readers of my blog about me, my terrible habit, and about energy.

Energy Drinks and things of that nature, by themselves, are bad for you. There, I said it. They are BAD FOR YOU. By themselves anyways. With that noted, it is highly recommended that you drink your daily intake of water, and on top of that, a few more cups, beyond the consumption of energy drinks or energy shots. Why? Well, let's do some quick, logical and wise fact-checking to figure out why water is so important.

Most energy drinks, shots, and things of that nature, contain caffeine, of course. They also contain other sources of "energy". One in particular that comes to mind is Taurine. There is an instant problem here: Taurine actually doesn't give energy. In fact, the only proven things Taurine has accomplished is reduced blood pressure, and potentially prevent tendonitis (since it helps in the maintenance of skeletal muscles). So don't rely on Taurine to provide anything but help your hands from cramping up. The next thing energy drinks contain that claim give energy is Vitamin B Complex. B vitamins are eight very helpful vitamins that play roles in cell metabolism. Energy drinks and shots are LOADED with Vitamin B Complex. In fact, the human body can only take so much before you piss out the rest. 5 Hour Energy Shots claim to have 8,333% of your daily intake of B-12, and 2000% of your daily intake of B-6. These aren't totally necessary, and any claim that Vitamin B Complex gives energy hasn't been proven at all. Thus, two of the major "energy" sources aren't really energy at all. While Taurine and Vitamin B Complex are helpful, too much Vitamin B Complex can be harmful to the human body.

Let's go back to a big word for a minute: Metabolism. I generally have high metabolism. I weigh 150 lbs, and I probably drink 8-12 glasses of water a day. This is a good thing, considering I drink energy drinks, because the water keeps up with the metabolism increase caused by the Vitamin B Complex. Energy drinks and shots dehydrate you. It's a proven fact. Drink water to avoid being dehydrated. Also, drink water so that the extra Vitamin B Complex in your body gets processed as waste. If it doesn't get processed as waste, and gets consumed by the body, it could be potentially harmful. That's why they have warning labels on these things. When used incorrectly, they'll not only dehydrate you, but they'll also caused physical damage.

Alright, so I have covered the partly important bits. There is other things to discuss about when it comes to the dangers of energy drinks, but I'll get to those later on in the Projects. Sugar is the big one, and that will be discussed in the next Foreword.

Project PRES (Ponza Report Energy Shots) is the first project to kick off. I'm still trying to gather the materials, so the project will be in 2 parts. Part 1 is the major label brands, those being Amp, Monster, and Rockstar. Part 2 will be the lesser known brands, those being Hype, Jolt, 5 Hour Energy, and whatever else I can find that fits the category of Energy Shot. Thank you for reading the Foreword, and

Breaking News: Slim PS3 exists at $299 US, Worst kept secret ever

2009-08-19T02:38:00Z

The rumors were true.

Sony's Playstation division is releasing a new model, a "slimmer" PS3 unit with a small power consumption value, and lacking certain features compared to its bigger brother, for $299 US. The Slim lacks PS2 backwards compatibility, a Flash mem-card reader, and an ethernet cord, so you must have WiFi to use Playstation Network on this Slim so you must supply your own cord if you want a wired connection (ed.). The bright side? 120 GB hard drive in the initial units, with a 250 GB hard drive coming shortly after, possibly to either increase the price point again, or to skip another price drop. I think this is a good deal.

Microsoft and Nintendo have yet to counter this move. This makes the Playstation 3 more affordable, AND the beauty of a Blu Ray player at $300 US is pretty nice.

Introducing: Project PRES and PRED

2009-08-16T14:33:00Z

Today, I'd like to introduce two new projects I've been working on for a long time, one of them is near completion. Project PRES - Ponza Report's Energy Shots - is nearly complete, as I've been personally reviewing on paper all of the energy shots in the Maritimes of Canada. Project PRED - Ponza Report's Energy Drinks - is a bigger project, and it's about half complete, but will be more in-depth.

The Energy Shot market is starting to pick up around Nova Scotia, with many of the carbonated soft drink brands and energy drink regulars getting involved. Monster, Rockstar, Amp, 5 Hour Energy, Jolt and Hype all have shots available, between standard grocery stores, pharmacies and discount stores. Project PRES will investigate the shots for flavor, value (dependent upon sale prices and typical regular prices) and volume. Right now, it looks like Monster Hitman is a clear winner, so those not willing to wait for me to finish the project, that's the definitive solution. However, some energy shot brands claim their product does not cause crash, so that will be investigated as well, if they do talk about such claim. If not, "crashing" will still be part of the project.

The Energy Drink market is huge, and is consistently changing. The Maritimes is a huge market, and Nova Scotia has drinks that New Brunswick doesn't have and vice versa. So Project PRED is only for Nova Scotia, with a couple exceptions (those being XS Energy and Bawls Guarana, which are readily available in other provinces and in the USA).

I look forward to the completion of the projects, as they are fast approaching.

Follow-up: Halophax Season Finale

2009-08-09T16:23:00Z

So, I went to Halophax's Season Finale at the Halifax Forum yesterday. (Quickest review ever: Worst...venue...ever. Fuck, Rampage Promotions, you had Dal, you had the Sportsplex, and then you end things where? The shittiest small room in Hali?) For anyone wanting to know who won, I knew, pretty clearly, who would win, and did win, but some of the games were pretty close. Amp Energy's North of 49 took home the Halophax Championship. I think I saw a very tight TS Construct (Game 3 of 5, for top of Winner's Bracket) that ended 50-49. But by then, it was mostly last ditch effort attempts at getting a game on N49. No dice.

It's pretty simple, MLG fans: If you play Halo 3, learn to "Strongside". If you don't do that, you will die more. How hard is that to comprehend? Practice it, over and over. Usually, when I Strongside, which is to point your field of vision to the ground, making your head hard to shoot for the easy kill, I can't see where I'm going. Sadly, that's not a good excuse. N49's Importedd used Strongside very successfully at Halophax, which may have helped them win a few games, because this left him partly unkillable.

Another thing: Grenade Spam is noobish at close range. It's also noobish if you have camo, and the guy is right there, and you can't stick him. You WILL get mocked, and you WILL die, so way to waste that camo? Get your two shots and your punch in, and he's dropped, and you won't have to worry about dying for a few seconds. And, oh yeah, you have that grenade. Just my personal thought, anyways.

I love MLG play, but I'm not much of a Halo guy. Maybe when ODST comes out in Sept, I'l be more interested in working it up, but for now, courage. My heart is in November, the weekend of Remembrance Day, because that's where everyone in MLG circles will be looking and waiting for an ultimate MLG game: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Bring. It. On.

Meanwhile, I need to practice my Bumper Jumper. (Dammit.)

Mad props to G-SpOt, DARKscorpion, Importedd and Moniz for being cool dudes and still kick ass (they did kick ass, oh yes... they did). Good luck to you guys at Dallas. Don't play too much ODST, eh?

My Boring Ass Life gets an update

2009-07-22T12:34:00Z

No, I didn't suddenly turn fat and wear the number 37 on half of my wardrobe. I'm not that crude or vulgar. Okay, maybe I'm lying, but I'm still a gamer after all. I thought about placing a post in now that I have a chance today.

Those Tekko pics I took are kind of horrible. I really should have taken more. I will post them if my photobucket allows it. The video is way too long for youtube, so I'll have to compress it and make it available for free somewhere.

Videogames have taken a back burner for a while, so I can get adjusted to something new: I'm dating again. Erin is a fun girl to be around, even though she's a bit quiet like me. She's a gamer too, a casual one at that, and she has some experience with games I haven't played yet (mainly WoW TCG, which is actually something I look forward to). She recently had her vacation in the USA, down in Danvers MA for some conference about photography. She's a really good photographer. She puts her nice work on Facebook but keeps her amazing stuff elsewhere. She's definitely fun to game with, too, so I hope I can talk more about her in the future, while I review some games. We're playing a fun party game right now, and I might post a review in the next month on it.

Quick review time for a couple games that are on the download for their respective consoles or handhelds:

- Magic: The Gathering has a game out on XBLA and PC, called Duel of the Planewalkers. It's basically a massive tutorial, but doesn't give enough edit options for deck builds, outside the preset decks they give you. The new rules for 2010 Core Set are used, so current players can get a grip of those while new players can learn the ins and outs of Magic. Definitely worth the BUY, if you're a Magic fan or not, because the 200 Gamerscore isn't complicated to take a decent stab at. Even has online.

- Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman: What Did I Do To Deserve This? is a quirky Japanese "ant-hill" defense game for the PSP, available only on PSN, where you are a master God of Destruction (you think), and you make minions based on nutrients in the ground, to try to protect an Overlord from being captured by Dragon Quest inspired warriors and magicians. The funny catch is it abuses all known internet memes that flow with the game itself, like Omnoms as critters, and an almanac describing your monsters in the most hilarious of ways. Aside from the humor, the basic game is hard, as you micro-manage your critters to spread resources and make more critters, more powerful critters, and then even demons and pixies who are hard-set on destroying the enemy heroes at all cost. On the brightside, there's lots of resources on the internet to try and become a better player at the game. It'll just take time.

There's a demo available as well, so check it out. I say RENT or DEMO the game before you buy, as $20 US might seem like a stretch for a game like this, but I say it'll keep you busy for a while.

Ponza's Thoughts on E3 2009 So Far

2009-06-03T03:07:00Z

Alright, I have seen all of what Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have had to offer for this year's installment of the E3 Keynote Addresses.

Here's how the scorecard breaks down, we'll start with Nintendo, since they clearly lost again this year.

Nintendo

New Title: NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii - Probably the most intriguing title in the lineup, but unfortunately the big N starts a terrible trend with this one. A 4 player Mario game for Wii, done in the NSMB Style that was on DS. Mini-games likely included. Score 1 point.
New Title: Wii Fit Plus - A sequel or standalone new title, in bundle and software form, Wii Fit Plus adds to the fitness fun of the first game. I say yaaaaawn, because no one in my household still plays Wii Fit in the first place. What, are we getting these once a year now?
Wii Sports Resort walkthrough. Basically Reggie Fils-aime and another guy (Bill Trinen) demonstrate the Wii MotionPlus attachment and show off the Resort in one go. Archery, Kayaking, Skydiving and Basketball are shown off. Other games using MotionPlus are mentioned, including Tiger Woods 10 and Red Steel 2. (If you didn't fall asleep during Monday night's James Cameron lecture at the Ubisoft keynote, then you saw some sweet Red Steel 2 action.) No score for stuff we already saw LAST YEAR.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - Square Enix continues to make some fine stuff for Nintendo, but we've known these titles existed for a while anyways.
New Title: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - Finally something new! Mario and Luigi RPG 3 finally out in the open, this time it looks like it's a side-scroller with RPG elements, staged inside Bowser's Digestive System. Um... ew? Score 1 point for something new.
New Title: Golden Sun DS - YES! A thousand times yes! This is a shocker, and one of Nintendo's few bombs this year. The fans have been wanting it for years and it's finally real. Looks like Golden Sun, although more 3D, and the djinni action looked pretty cool in 3D as well. Only a tease from Reggie, but definitely a fantastic surprise at E3. Score 1 point.
About this time, Nintendo starts plugging random stuff for the DS, and then moves on to the DSi. While Flipnotes Studio is intriguing, I don't find it that impressive yet.
New DSiWare Title: Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again - Available June 8th (that's next week), it's the same Minis action people know and love, if they've ever played it. Included is a level editor and a sharing system that is all online. I didn't know this was coming, so it's worthy of scoring 1 point.
DSi will let you upload photos directly to Facebook this summer. AS IF YOU COULDN'T DO THAT ALREADY?! Nintendo, you fail!
Attachment Announcement: Wii Vitality Sensor - What?
Megaton New Title: Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Nice! Finally, picking up some steam, Yoshi appears with Mario in the saddle, as they're back on the spherical worlds. Score 1 Point.
Reggie comes back and flirts with the crowd about Nintendo wanting some edgier titles. We know Nintendo's getting Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction and The Conduit, but then Reggie says Nintendo is collaborating with Team Ninja on something...
Megaton New Title: Metroid: Other M - Nintendo ends the show with this blockbuster announcement. A game to dig into Samus Aran's origins, I guess, and she speaks in the trailer, which is a first for Nintendo as well. Team Ninja, do this property proud! Score 1 Point.

Final Score: 6 points.

Microsoft

Okay, this keynote happened Monday, and started with The Beatles Rock Band. To keep you all informed, this game is multiplatform, so I think MTV and Harmonix just wanted to start E3 with a bang on Microsoft's time. Did I mention they brought guests? Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Um, yeah. I geeked out. That was impressive. They jabbered on to advertise their game, that they're excited for, but can't play because they're old, I guess.
Next, Tony Hawk comes out and talks about his new game and peripheral: Tony Hawk's Ride. Working with Activision, they made a deck with buttons and infrared sensors, that detects hand movements. Sure enough, they've made the next evolution in skating games. Because Skate 2 was a threat (DUH!). While Ride looks awesome, it's something that will get people off the couch... and the stereotyping lives on.
Infinity Ward gets on stage and demoes Modern Warfare 2. After the demo, they announce that 2 map packs will be timed exclusives for Xbox 360. Score 1 point. (Why the point? Well, anything that Xbox Live gets first is a sign that it's better than something else.)
Square Enix took the stage and showed some Final Fantasy XIII running on 360 architecture. As my friend Joddat Rafih pointed out: Look at the jaggies! I have to admit, he was right. Game did not look that stunning in comparison to the PS3 visuals we've seen in the past. Probably a sign that the Cell processor is better for Square Enix to develop with.
From this point on in the show, all of the games (except one) are EXCLUSIVES! *big cheers*
New Xbox Live Arcade Title: Shadow Complex - A first for Epic Games and the Unreal 3 engine together on Xbox Live Arcade, Shadow Complex is a Metroidvania style game, with tons of depth and exploration, weapons galore, and boss battles. Looks awesome! Score 1 point.
New XBLA Avatars Title: Joyride - A kart racer for Avatars. Luckily it's free to download. That's about all that I found interesting about it. I'm not even excited for it, in the slightest.
Megaton New Title: Crackdown 2 - OH MY GOD! AGILITY ORB SOUND!?! I jumped out of my seat for this one, I was so pumped. This time, it appears you're the villain instead of the good guys, but this time, there's even more epic boss battles... monsters out of the ground? Score 1 point.
Megaton New Title: Left 4 Dead 2 - Wow, so soon? Exclusive to 360 and PC, we get some more zombie slaying action, and they've brought melee weapons to the foray this time. November 17th, 2009 release window. Score 1 point.
Splinter Cell Conviction - Looks like they've changed the game a lot since the last time we've seen it, but at least Ubisoft is shipping this exclusive soon. Sam Fisher's daughter is dead, and Sam wants vengeance. He goes all vigilante when his organization, the 3rd Echelon, puts his job on ice. Lots of Krav Maga in the 2 demoes I have seen of the game. Normally, I'd score this a point, but this game was announced long ago.
New Title (worse kept secret at E3 for MS): Forza Motorsport 3 - Dan Greenawalt talks smack to the imitators of racing sims, pumping up his Turn 10 Studios team, and showing off an Audi R8 V10 in the background. Sexy game, sexy cars, and new damage engine. Did I mention FM3's got rollovers? Yep, it's got ROLLOVERS. Score 1 point.
Halo 3: ODST - Joe Staten comes out and talks the game. ODST takes place just as the Prophet's carrier jumps in Halo 2. In a Halo first, there will be supressors, a modified Night Vision, and flashbacks to see earlier moments in time from other teammate's point-of-view. Multiplayer includes the maps that are out for Halo 3 as it is, as well as a new mode: Firefight. Much like Gears of War 2's Horde mode, but with skull modifiers as well. Interesting concept. But the surprise is yet to come.
Megaton New Title: Halo: Reach - Not much is said about it, other than it's coming in 2010. Buying a copy of Halo 3: ODST will secure access to the Halo: Reach beta. Score 1 point.
Alan Wake - About time this game got demoed. Looks scary as hell, man! Gives me chills thinking about it.
That does it for games, for now at least. Microsoft announces Last.fm, 10 more countries to Netflix, UK getting Sky and SkySports support, and all video will now be streaming 1080p HD. Quite the announcement, but living up to it is half the challenge.
Felicia Day arrives and announces Facebook and Twitter to the Dashboard this Fall. That's big! But not scoring a point, since Wii and PS3 do this already with their own browsers! Microsoft, you fail! Okay, the Facebook thing sounds interesting, because it groups friends by Avatar and by profile, and searching for things now seems to be a snap. One thing I find about Facebook.com is it's really crowded on there. Xbox 360 will make it simplified and more transparent.
Megaton New Title: Metal Gear Solid Rising - "Another bites the dust!" Raiden returns to star in his own game, which according to rumor, takes place between the events of MGS2 and MGS4. This game is for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, and possibly for the PC. Hideo Kojima is looking forward to developing for the Xbox 360 platform. Score 1 point for taking away an exclusive.
And that's about it. I lie!
A lot of chatter about this "motion controller" stuff that people like. Can MS make one? How about, can MS make you the controller? Microsoft reveals Project Natal. Natal (pronounced nah-tal) is a camera bar that fixes to the bottom of the TV. Basically, it has voice-recognition and distinguishes where your body is, what your movements are, and translates it to actions on the screen. They show a video demonstrating examples. Steven Spielberg even comes out to say he's been working with MS on this tech. (Give us Boom Blox, Steve!) Creative director Kudo Tsunoda comes out and demostrates it with his actual avatar. Still lots of bugs with the hardware, I take it. Either way, Kudo makes a comment attacking Wii: "This isn't the kind of game you end up on the sofa using some kind of preset waggle commands." Crowd got loud over that one.
Following the gesture gaming demo with Natal, Peter Molyneux comes on stage and on video screen and shows off some impressive tech with Natal: Project Richter is this codename. Basically, it's an AI called Milo. He's a boy, and he's just like any other AI movie you've seen. Creepy stuff if this is actually real. No proof though, since this is all on video.

Final Score: 7 points.

Sony

Jack Tretton (I shall call him... MISTER T!) starts with some awesome stabs at everyone else, talking about "industry leaks" and "economic downturn, yet so many people showed up to this keynote". Har har.
Jack also thought people at the press event were tired because they were too busy playing inFamous. Could be true...
Uncharted 2 demostration - Game looks as sick as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune does. The demo guy wanted to remind people that the beta is starting very soon for Multiplayer, so keep those inFamous discs in the slot.
MAG demostration - This blew my mind. Zipperfish came out and brought 8 guys, each playing their own account, while simultaneously, 248 others were playing the game from various studios across the world. Right there on stage. That sets a DANGEROUS precident for how they want MAG to work, and work well. And it looked cool.
New Model: PSP go - "Worst kept secret at E3" - Kaz Hirai. Yep, he said it, not me. 40% lighter than the original PSP-1000 series, price point will be $249.99 US or 249 Euros. Includes built-in 16 GB storage space for games and data, Bluetooth and WiFi, as well as downloading capabilities from Playstation Store directly, which is alright. Also, new media transfer software is being made. Called MediaGo, this software will make moving files from PC to PSP Go a snap! And, a new feature for the PSP. SenseMe is a piece of software that scans your music and allows you to pick a theme. It then takes your music and sends to your PSP a playlist of music that suits that theme. Pretty nifty stuff right there. Score 1 point for the new device. October 1st launch date.
Announcement - All PSP software, going forward, will ship on UMD, as well as via downloadable software. Great news for some, terrible news for people who like UMDs. Seriously though, once you have the internet, there's no reason to want to carry around UMDs.
Gran Turismo for PSP - It's real! Unbelievable! Cars look amazing! Enviroments, however, look like ass. GTP will ship with 800 cars, 35 tracks, and run at an impressive 60 frames per second. Fidelity matched GT4 on PS2 incredibly well. GT PSP will ship on the same date as PSP Go, which makes a lot of sense, since GT usually does ship at the same time as a system.
Megaton New Title: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - The 2nd part of Kojima's Countdown Clock. Set shortly after MGS3, in the 1970s in Costa Rica. It's all about Big Boss, obviously. Trailer was pretty funny, but there were 4 Big Bosses, meaning there might be some co-op play. Score 1 point.
New Title: Resident Evil Portable - Capcom says it's a Resident Evil built from the ground-up, specifically for the PSP. Awesome, I say. Score 1 point.
New Title: echochrono - Was caught in the video montage.
New Title: Final Fantasy VII - On Playstation Store RIGHT THE F*** NOW! $9.99 US, running at 1.32 GB. Play it today on PSP or PS3! Incredible shocker even though I found this on ESRB a few days ago. Score 1 point.
New Title: Agent - Rockstar North and Sony collaboration on a massive endevour. A GTA-clone but set in the spy realm of the late 60 and early 70s. Very nice. Score 1 point for the exclusive.
Jack Tretton cues the Final Fantasy XIII trailer, and then...
MEGATON NEW TITLE: Final Fantasy XIV Online - WHAT?! They made another one? And... is Jack saying it'll be out in 2010? Holy crap! That's huge! And exclusive to PS3?! Give Sony a medal! Score 1 point.
Sony shows off a Motion Controller they have been working on, in conjunction with the Playstation Eye. Looks awesome. I know what everyone's thinking: They're copying Wii! Who cares?
Little Big Planet news - Disney characters are headed to LBP, in particular, Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Incredibles.
New Title: ModNation Racers - Think Little Big Planet, Mario Kart, and Forza all jammed together. Got it in your head now? Good. This game will rock! You create the cars, the drivers, and the tracks. I'm personally already excited to see this. Score 1 point.
New Title: The Last Guardian - From the team that brought us Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Looks interesting, and I'll be playing this crazy acid-trip of a game when it comes out. Reminds me a bit of "The Never-Ending Story". Score 1 point.
Gran Turismo 5 trailer with MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENT - Gran Turismo 5 proudly brings to you... an exclusive deal with the World Rally Championship, and, for the first time in Gran Turismo history... NASCAR! Score 1 point for stealing a property from EA! Seriously, that's huge news!
And then Sony ends the show with some God of War III demo that people love a lot.

Final Score: 9 points.

Your winner of E3 2009: Sony by a slim margin, but clear winner over Microsoft and Nintendo.

What are your thoughts on the 3 major keynotes? Comment below!

A few of the things I'm working on

2009-04-27T00:05:00Z

As anyone may not know, I'm getting my hands on a sweet limited-edition shirt from the people at SEGA of Europe. I beat their in-house Outrun player over Xbox Live, and they agreed to send me a t-shirt of the retro Outrun logo from the 1986 arcade machines. If you'd like to see what the shirt looks like, either Google for it (because F40, a beastly fast British Outrun 2 player, has it) or watch this very blog, and I'll post pictures.

Also coming soon are some Tekko pics that I've been meaning to post.

Here's the games I've been working on recently. Please don't boo until all of them are read, and leave comments appropriately.

Phantasy Star Portable - PSP

Saw it, saw some ads for it, bought it, and now... I'm starting to think Assassin's Creed for DS was actually GOOD.

DJ Max Portable Fever - PSP

As some guy from IGN said, it's one of those quirky Korean titles for anyone who likes Guitar Hero or whatever, but with Korean music of different genres. Brought it on my trip to Pittsburgh, and I must say, it's kind of catchy. Review might not happen, but it's a nice game, and gets insanely difficult, I find.

We Ski and Snowboard - Wii

A sequel to one of my favorite Wii games, and I know people will want to read that review.

Hot Shot Golf: Out of Bounds - PS3

You know me and my cartoony golf games...

Pangya! USA - PC

You know me and my cartoony golf games, and how much I missed Albatross 18 when the server closed. All of my purchased gear returns to me on the next maintenance though, so good times are in store, Pangyamaniacs. Ntreev USA brought it back, and there may be some good times to be had again.

MadCatz Street Fighter IV Tournament Arcade Sticks

They're here! Going to try them out with some friends, I hope, since one player playing the CPU doesn't give them any justice. The Japanese Sanwa (I hope I spelled that right) sticks and buttons are a terrific feel for a true masterpiece of a fighting game, but do they make it more fun to play? Watch this space for a review!

Just can't stop... Just can't stop... Gotta keep going...

2009-04-17T18:51:00Z

Wow. I don't have a review for today yet, but good things are in store. I finally got my hands on TWO, not one, but two MadCatz Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition FightSticks for PlayStation 3. Broke in one last night, and getting used to the square gate is taking some time. Not really a big fan of it. Kind of wish it was an Octagon, so I could feel it better. Always a critic, I am, but if it's realistic for the Japanese arcade machines, it's good enough for me.

Also coming soon, my pet project is finally coming into fruition. A massive review of most, if not all, of the energy drinks I've personally tried, starting at the first (Red Bull, Red Rain, Red Fire) and working my way to the newest craze (5 Hour Energy Shots, Rockstar Energy Shots, Amp Energy Shot). It will be a detailed breakdown, including best value per mg of caffeine! You'll be surprised with what the results will be.

(To be honest, the first energy drink I tried is no longer available. It was called KMX.)

Last thing I want to mention: Congratulations to Ashton Kutcher, who can be found on Twitter at twitter.com/aplusk , who successfully reached 1 million followers last night in a campaign to beat CNN there. He donated $100,000 US to the Malaria No More foundation, which that money will go to buying mosquito nets and things for people in 3rd world countries. CNN apparently matched the offer. Lots of other celebrities got involved afterwards. It was a stunning night, to be sure, with plenty of awkward moments, like when CNN caught up and passed Kutcher... that was really awkward.

Off to work I go. I feel good now that I'm posting more. Might have to renew the blog! That'd be sweet.

Ponza Review - Outrun Online Arcade

2009-04-16T09:00:00Z

Outrun Online Arcade

Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sega
System: Xbox 360 (played), Playstation 3 (coming later today for European regions)
Rated E for Everyone!

For more information regarding the ESRB, visit www.esrb.org

"Splash Wave, Musical Sound Shower, or Passing Breeze?"

Almost 13 years later, and I still wish I owned a Ferrari. I was 4 years old when I saw my first Outrun cabinet. Outrun was out for a couple of years, I know, but the whole idea of racing a car along a series of highways at breakneck speeds, dodging traffic with reckless abandon, all the while being told off by your co-pilot girlfriend for crashing, at trying to get to the checkpoints before time ran out. It was a satisfying experience to play it. You even got to choose your music before you raced. It was what fun was to me, back in the day.

Outrun 2 came out for Xbox, but was first on an OXM demo disc, and let's just say I played that demo to death. Bought the full game later, and played it like crazy too. But it sort of got forgotten when the big name games, like Halo 2 and Forza came out. An arcade game wasn't wanted in the times of FPS or simulation racers, certainly when Outrun 2 only had 8 cars to choose from. My love for Outrun faded, and memories went to the wayside like a passing breeze.

Yesterday, Outrun Online Arcade came out, and my childhood memories returned with a passion. At 800 Microsoft Points, owning a home copy of Outrun2SP is a steal. While the game is missing a few features - like the old 1986 chiptunes, or the Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast variants and the F430 and Superamerica models - the core game is still awesome. You drive your choice of Ferrari along the highway at speeds in excess of 300 Km/H, wind whipping through your hair (or not...), drifting around hairpins with the slam of the brake pedal or gear shifter. There's plenty of enthusiasts for the SUMO Digital racer, mainly because it's so technical. There's very few shortcuts, it's all skill and technique to play the game.

The modes are pretty simple to choose from. You have your classic Outrun mode, which requires nimble reflexes to hit your apexes while dodging the traffic. You score in Outrun mode depending on how well you maintained a high speed, passed traffic, and strategically placed Rival cars. The next mode is Heart Attack mode. Your girlfriend decides she wants certain requests during your drive, and now, it becomes challenge oriented. Speed isn't generally the name of the game in Heart Attack mode, but you do still need to get to the goal, so hit your mark, complete her requests, and you'll make it through with a rating from AAA to D (and hopefully it's not D). Time Attack is next, which lets you race against ghost cars along the Outrun paths. In Time Attack, you have the option of using a harder to control Tuned version of the car you choose, which has a top speed, without slipstream of course, of 300 Km/h. Driving the Tuned cars are important, because most online racers use them, and that means the entire field in the race uses them, so get used to Time Attack mode. The last mode is 15-course Outrun. Basically it runs a full drive of every section in Outrun 2SP. It's the Ironman's way to play, with some time attack runs falling below 14 minutes as of the posting of this review.

(Ponza's Pro-tip for Outrun Mode: Draft behind a Rival for a bit, getting a Slipstream bonus. Not only does that increase your score even more, but when you pass the Rival car, if you don't touch them, you get 50000 points instead of 25000. If you do touch them, you only get 12500 points.)

Online, there's a few bugs here and there, but nothing game-breaking. The lack of the 1986 chiptunes, and the new tune remixes, definitely doesn't help matters. Listening to your own music means you'll have to turn down the in-game music's volume setting all the way, which can be problematic if you didn't already know that. The controller options use configurations, and won't let you make up your own style, but personally, I feel the default Config A, or even Config H is the best for anyone wanting to become good at the game. But, all the while, keep in mind that this is $10 US. I mean, you could blow how many quarters at the arcades playing this sweet game? Easily, I could see me blowing $10 in a single day. It's a fantastic game to just sit down and play. Lack of single system multiplayer really doesn't hurt it, because you're just going to play Time Attack instead. Only takes 5 minutes of your time to get through a run, unless you suck and run out of time.

In short, Outrun Online Arcade is well worth the money for the quality and ease of playing. The enthusiasts love this game, like they do other arcade racers, like Daytona USA 1 and 2, or Hang-On, or VirtuaRacing... Do I really need to go on? I give the Outrun Online Arcade a Buy Rating, for anyone who loves bargain basement racing games. Have fun getting those achievements/trophies!

P.Reviews: Street Fighter IV and Tekkoshocon VII

2009-04-15T05:22:00Z

Street Fighter IV

Developer: Capcom USA
Publisher: Capcom
System: Xbox 360 (untouched), Playstation 3 (reviewed), PC (soon), Arcade (untouched)
Rated T for Teen, includes Alcohol Reference, Mild Suggestive Themes, and Violence

For more information regarding the ESRB, visit www.esrb.org

"Straight Uppercut The Mounds That Brought You That Love Again."

To start this double post off with a bang, let's get to the video game that is arguably causing a bit stir in the USA right now: Street Fighter IV. Rather than be an awesome game in its own right, instead it's making people believe in the return of the arcades, and not directly, but indirectly. There's underground fighting arcades in the West Coast, but more importantly, a lot of console gamers are simply getting together to play anything that's a fighting game across the globe. It doesn't matter whether it's SF IV, or SF III: 3rd Strike (an awesome technical fighter, which is easy to obtain for $10), Super Smash Bros Brawl (even with argument about how much of a fighter it is in comparison to Melee), or Tatsunoko vs Capcom, which is a game a lot of people in Pittsburgh were vocal over when I was there for the Tekko weekend.

Capcom made Street Fighter IV to be a casual player's entry to becoming a better Street Fighter player. Casual players can pick the controller up and play, and it's a good time. The mechanics are explained in detail, and new Focus Attack is somewhat as well, but then, the cancelling and tricks of Street Fighter IV take over, and make the casual players shy away in fear of the truly pro players. In essence, it's the classic Street Fighter II with some III actions tossed in, and a new element of surprise with Focus Cancelling that makes IV new.

Everyone's favorite World Warriors return (Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Guile, Sagat, Zangief, E. Honda, Blanka) with the Shadaloo staples (M. Bison, Vega, Balrog) and others that easily had to return to mix it up (Rose, Cammy, Fei Long, Dan Hibiki, Sakura). Meanwhile, Capcom has introduced a few new characters to the Street Fighter legacy, those being the Shadaloo secret agent Crimson Viper, the luchador chef El Fuerte, the agile yet obese American martial artist Rufus, and the emo amnesiac Abel. A new end boss was added, Seth (get it, Seth and Abel? Don't ask about Cain.), who uses a stolen move from every one of the World Warriors, using data taken from the other fighters (ever wonder what Bison was having analyzed in the Street Fighter II animated movie? Now you know why that all went down). The evil Akuma makes a secret return as well, and finally, the EGM April Fools joke finally comes true: Gouken, Ryu and Ken's long-thought dead master, rises up from unconsciousness to meet his students in the Street Fighter story.

Capcom included a lot of things in the game to help players learn the moves and perfect their skills, once they get agile enough with their gamepads or arcade sticks. Besides the story mode and versus mode, there's a training mode, trial mode, time attack mode and survival mode, all used for unlocking various things like titles and player icons. These titles and player icons can be used online to identify yourself. A brief example is one of Cammy's titles for beating one of her trials is "I Like Cats". True story, I'm not making that up! Anyways, the trials range from easy to hard, but most are harder, as they require great skill and timing just to accomplish their feats. Survival mode lets you get back from health between rounds, while time trial mode requires you to beat a certain number of enemies within the time limit given. Beating these unlocks taunts (selected at the character select screen and done in-game by pressing both Fierce Punch and Kick) or costume colors for the default costumes each character wears.

Capcom already has some DLC codes out, to unlock the alternate costumes for Street Fighter IV. While many people find these are a rip-off, other people find they're a good strategy to tease their opponent. For example, the Chun Li alternate costume is a sexy evening dress. Try not to stare as she kicks the living crap out of you, I guess.

Meanwhile, Capcom's still working on the free update to SF IV, called Championship Mode. In that, you'll be able to run your own tournaments, as well as record matches and upload videos of the fights to a fileshare system, similar to what Bungie does with Halo 3. Cool idea, in theory, so I hope everything they have to offer in Championship Mode works, without a hitch. We've yet to see it really in action yet.

I'm always having fun with SF IV, even if I lose a lot (and sometimes, I just get really unlucky). For the most part, I feel that owning an arcade stick would definitely help anyone playing the game, because that's what Street Fighter truly demands. If you do own an arcade stick, or managed to find that very rare Tournament Edition MadCatz SF IV Arcade Stick, then you're well on your way to playing some good "Fighting in the Streets". I give Street Fighter IV a Buy rating, but mainly for anyone who is really into fighting games. Otherwise, try to stay away from it, because it requires some time and money investment that could go to other things.

Review: Tekkoshocon VII, Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh PA

Oh good God, my first convention. An anime one at that. Jeez, why did I agree to this?

To put things straight, Friday was the best time I've had in a long time. Met a ton of friends that I'd originally met on Gaia Online, and through Twitchblade Kreations. We started giving out bizarre little purple and green pins on Friday, and pretty well enjoyed what we could of the events. I recorded on my JVC Everio the entire Johnny Yong Bosch Q&A, and I'm trying to find a site that'll take the whole thing, it's a long file. Once I find a place that will run it (what, like Youtube? They won't take it right now, too big a file.), then I'll share it on the site here. It's a good interview with the man who is the voice of Ichigo from Bleach, Vash the Stampede from Trigun, Kaneda from Akira, and some other voice acting gigs. He's also the 2nd ever Black Power Ranger, for those wanting to show their age. In any case, I got to shake his hand, and talk to him for a minute of his time at the end. He's rather stoic, I found, and he draws a lot of attention, but he shakes it off when he can, because he can't help that he's popular. Johnny's Johnny, or at least that's what he tried to play off at the Q&A.

The rest of the weekend after Friday seemed to start to go downhill. Many of the videos I wanted to see early Saturday were either cancelled or I slept in... or both. Saturday night was the big concert, Otokage and Freezepop were playing. I thought Otokage killed and rocked the show! If they return next year, it's a given that I'm going again. Freezepop on the other hand I thought were kinda dry, and didn't move the people as much. Some attendees were trying their best to get into it, but it just wasn't as powerful or clean as it is when you hear it in Rock Band or Guitar Hero or DDR or whatever... very bizarre. They did end the show with Journey's Don't Stop Believin', but whatever works for them. I skipped the rest of the concert to see the Yugioh the Abridged Series panel, and laughed my ass off! First time I'd really gotten to see much of it, and on a big screen like the room had, it was something special.

Sunday was ugh, and yes, that's an adjective now. (Is that the word I'm looking for, adjective?) Very little sleep, but also, very little on the card for actual events. Mostly, the group I was in just raided the vender's room and artist's area, for last minute deals. While we stopped into the Artist's room, I came across Kroze from YGOTAS, and finally met him. He's the tech behind the website and forums, and he does a good job with it. Also, he helped the Loading Ready Run guys and gals with some video recording of the crazy stuff they did during Desert Bus for Hope '08. So, Kroze and I talked for a bit, he got in late so he didn't really get to take in much, but he didn't miss much anyways. I told him his panel kicked ass, and all of my friends missed it because they're weird! .... Okay, less awkwardness.

In short, Tekkoshocon was worth the trip for the first day. After that, kinda got dry and wasn't really that momentus. Maybe next year things will get better. In the mean time, meeting my friends was TOTALLY worth it, and I hope to stumble across their paths again the future. With that said, Tekkoshocon, look out, I might be back for another round!

- Ponza

This Weekend: Tekkoshocon VII, Pittsburgh PA.

2009-03-31T04:23:00Z

http://www.tekkoshocon.com

Will you be there?

I'm getting predictable. In a bad way.

2009-03-18T01:01:00Z

So yeah, as my cousin so lightly put it, I haven't updated with a new show. In reality, there was a live stream of Street Fighter IV up, but with 2 viewers total, it's hard to say when that might be reattempted. Possibly if I EVER get the SFIV Tourney FightSticks that I preordered, then there will be another shot at it.

Why there hasn't been a audio show: Last 5 weeks, I've either been in training for management coverage or actually DOING the management coverage. That coverage is over now, so I'm back to part-time until the summer. Also known as back to regular hours and having days off where I'm not slacking off.

The trip to Pittsburgh and Tekkoshocon VII is merely two weeks away. I'm getting excited, as it's my first trip to another country (albeit the United States) and my first trip to a con (at least if you don't count me accidently stumbling upon... well, I'll talk about it in a minute).
I have a camcorder, I have most of the costume ready. No wig yet, but it's ordered and on its way. If you want to see a preview, you have to be a friend of mine on Facebook, and it is my newest image. Travis Touchdown will be down from Santa Destroy, Canada-land, without a beam katana (customs won't let you bring weapons onboard a plane, obviously).

Now, for my news. Last weekend was my friend Phil Samms birthday bash. Of course, anyone who knows him, his birthday was really yesterday, but cut me some slack, the only way to party with Phil is the weekend. Participated in a Magic: The Gathering tournament for the first time in a long time, and got a typical score of 2-3 with a deck I never ran before. Special thanks to Mark MacGregor, as it was a pleasure to dream-crush "Zoo" with his deck. Enough inside jokes though! After my tourney rounds ended, I went downstairs and visited my first HALOphax! (http://www.halophax.com/) It's a big tourney circuit for Halo 3 and NHL 09 at Dalhousie University SUB, McInnes Room. Approximately 14 Halo 3 teams were there. The Amp Energy sponsored "North of 49" pro gaming team were in attendance, and although I never spoke with the members, I may be able to interview them in the future. They all have Twitter accounts (they aren't addicts yet). Also, if you enter a tourney at HALOphax, you get free Amp Energy, which would have been nice had they stocked Sugar-Free. Attention Pepsi Canada: BRING SUGAR FREE AMP IN MAY! Just a hint. Seriously. Will play for Sugar Free Amp. Will sell my soul too, because Sugar Free is really good. I'm not joking.

Speaking of Energy Drinks, my intake of them is down since I found that Glaceau Vitamin Water (is that what it's called? I don't know). Love that XXX flavor, it's got mad money written all over it. Everywhere I went in Halifax, XXX was sold out! Crazy stuff man. Tastes awesome, it's right up there with the Dragonfruit one.

Don't worry, PR fans, I'm not done yet, but until I get my butt in gear, you'll just have to hang on.

One last thing: Our tax dollars and government money goes to the CBC to run this sensationalized bullshit? Brandon Crisp "Top Gun" - Fifth Estate I think North of 49 are a bit peeved that they were taken so out of context, same with MLG and the ESA, but what must Pepsi Canada think! Um, I can tell you loud and clear: "No more commercial money to you, CBC, YOINK!" And that's a shoot.

Yes, there's an episode coming soon!

2009-02-16T04:32:00Z

I'm typing up the draft of what I want to talk about as this gets posted on the site here. The show will be recorded on Tuesday. There's a reason for that, which will be explained later. If anyone wants to take part in the episode, drop me a line on Skype, the account ID is ponza.report (That's ponza, then a period, then report).

Also, this week, possibly Wednesday or Thursday night, there'll be a live stream of the East Coast launch of Street Fighter IV (assuming my area gets it by then). I'm going to try to set up the Ustream in a bigger area, as my desk is getting cluttered to show off the new console setup. It's either that, or I'll have to do some cleaning. Not fun.

I'm not going to slack off this time, honest.

Ponza's Hands On - Halo Wars, Killzone 2, Auditorium

2009-02-06T01:12:00Z

Relatively new to the blog will be a hands-on series, especially for new releases that I will be reviewing, or demos that are now available via console stores. This week, I've got my hands on 3 different games, so I thought I'd mash my thoughts about each one into one post.

Let's start with Halo Wars. The demo just hit Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Set 20 years before the first Halo game, you set foot on Harvest during the last missions on the planet. The UNSC Marines are in a power struggle with the Covenant for key battlefields. Unfortunately, you've got some cleaning up to do. This time around, things aren't like you're used to: Halo Wars is a real-time strategy, much like Age of Empires and Warcraft. Using very simple controls, you build attached structures and towers around your base to fortify and make units. Resources are shipped in, and troops are limited, but you can make more to an extent. Missions are scored based on completion of objectives and side-objectives. Basically, for an RTS, it's very simple. Selecting units is all A-button stuff, while attacking is with X, and secondary attacks are with Y. Some examples of secondary attacks are, say you've got some grunts in front of your Warthog. Press Y while selecting the Warthog to get grunts all up in yo grill! Satisfaction guaranteed. Just don't ram buildings, that'll deplete some of your Warthog's health for sure. Halo Wars looks promising, I don't have it on preorder, but you never know, you might see a P.Review soon.

Next up is the incredibly short Killzone 2 demo. Killzone is an FPS with some very wicked visuals, possibly the best I've seen ever on a console game. Not a whole lot of gunplay in the demo, but plenty of things to cheer about. The lighting effects are stunning, and I can't stress that enough. Blood splats on the screen when you get shot, and there's even some co-op interaction, like when you reach the elevator, you can press circle to have a teammate prop you up onto the ledge, then you reach down and help him up, usually with a cheeky joke tied in. (For my 2 run-throughs, I was told not to mess up his hair, and not to drop him this time.) For a short, really hyped demo, it's partly worth the praise. The action is intense, but the AI for your side is pretty decent. Lots of ammo around too. Too bad on the shortness of it all.

Lastly, head here for a good game to try: www.playauditorium.com It's an upstart game that a lot of people are excited for, as it may be coming to iPhone. For now though, it's on PC, and it's fantastic once you get your head around it. As well, there's music that you can listen to afterwards, if you buy the full version. There's 15 acts in the whole thing, and lots of puzzle fun using the pieces each level gives you. I'm having a blast with it, whenever I can get a chance to play it that is.

P.Review - Skate 2

2009-01-29T02:55:00Z

Skate 2

Developer: EA Vancouver - Black Box
Publisher: Electronic Arts
System: Xbox 360 (reviewed), Playstation 3 (demo reviewed)
Rated T for Teen, includes Alcohol Reference, Language, Mild Violence and Suggestive Themes.

Things have changed, but one thing remains the same: You're the dude of New San Van.

Understandably, Skate 2 is a skateboarding game for next-gen consoles. EA made the Skate franchise to "give" Activision "the business" and shake things up, making the kickflip button not a button at all, but in fact the entire right-stick. Board control with an analog stick changes a lot of things, but makes the skating experience more realistic, in comparison to Activision's Tony Hawk franchise. Activision really hasn't put out anything amazing since Skate appeared on the scene, meaning our time with button-mash skateboarding games may be over.

First things first, Electronic Arts have really stepped up their gameplan when it comes to creative content. "Skate.", the first game that really irked me from EA, brought to play the ability to make your own videos, and share them not just over an online video game platform, but via the internet through conversion into a Youtube-like copy. Many of EA's sports titles have taken this and used the technology to make their franchises better, but I'm very sure that this all started with Skate. Skate 2 includes such a feature, and I'll be using it in this post to get the message across.

Skate 2 is beautiful. If you have an Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3, check out the demo and download it, just to see what I mean. The main characters, for the most part, are real people (with the exception of Slappy, Sammy, Mike and Freeway, who are support characters in the San Vanelona world). Real world skaters, like PJ Ladd and Robby Drydek, are "in the game", as if EA Sports had something to do with it. The world itself is adjusted slightly from the first game, but for the most part, if you're transferring from one game to the next, most of the key locations that you might remember are there to be explored through again. One of the returning venues is the Mega Compund, which unlocks rather early, but is expanded with the Fun Park attachment, in-game. Definitely enough changes to see plenty of new things though, like the harbour front "Lighthouse Park", which screams marble and concrete. As well, ambient music (although it's an option) starts pumping out hidden speakers when you're in prime skating zones. The soundtrack is very diverse, from Dragonforce to Cut Chemist. The only downer is the lack of dialogue in some cases. I really wish there were more interesting conversations between skaters, but when you have two high-profile skaters with their own challenges, it's hard to complain.

The game is broken down in a free-roam career mode, where you can compete in challenges of various modes, like jams, deathraces, S.K.A.T.E. challenges, Own The Spot missions, and competitive events. There's also a not-so-new but advanced mode for casual or hardcore players alike: The Thrasher Hall of Meat. Basically, by mashing both stick buttons and both triggers, you force a bail, and can uniquely crush, mash, or otherwise break a ton of bones in your rag-doll body to score points, and maybe unlock some stuff if you're really good at it. Thankfully, no trips to the hospital required, since you just respawn anyways, but this time around, after you get up from a bail, your clothes get dirty, and your body and limbs show signs of scars. A subtle touch, but very suitable if you wreck hard enough into a solid cement embankment.

Since the game is all about skateboarding, Black Box have added new ways to create tricks, and have added the ability to get up off your board and run around. To be honest, the controls while on foot need a lot of work, and seem to not fit in with the game itself, besides getting to places that you otherwise can't while riding a skateboard. Being able to caveman into tricks (run, then jump, then while in air get back on your board and start a line) is definitely a nice idea, but it isn't effective enough to score mongo points like the game asks you to. Also new are some different footplants that can happen anywhere, as well as hippy jumps and hippy flips. Hippy Jumps are rather easy, while Hippy Flips are for the skilled vets who really want that video they share to be bragging rights. Also, while on foot, you have the new ability to move objects around to make your own unique lines. Some rails, ramps and benches can be moved to new places to form a private skate park of your own, and then you can do whatever you want with it. Unfortunately, this works well, but in some cases, has some awkward side effects.

http://skatereel.ea.com/members/1/8500129.aspx

What this all comes down to is the online modes. Online you can skate with up to 5 of your friends in a single skating area. In Freeskate, you can actually just hang out and skate, or you can do little side-missions to keep you challenged, or get the people in the room to co-operate and nail a certain team objective. There's 6 ranked modes as well, for those so inclined to challenge Xbox Live or Playstation Network players in some friendly competition. EA Nation handles the online end, and has an interesting ranking system to determine who the pros are and who aren't. You can never go down in ranking, but obtaining Legend status is only for those who diversify their skills in multiple disciplines, not just one. You might be awesome at Hall of Meat, but if you suck at all of the other events, you aren't deserving of being a Legend, but you can still try to achieve those goals and make it.

Skate 2 is possibly the best skateboarding game to date. Real world skaters, a half-fictional enviroment, appropriate physics (when it's being good) and lots of fun to be had. With 4 player support, and an easy to read, in-game tutorial set and trick how-to guide, it's hard to put Skate 2 down for a rest. With that, I give it my only really positive approval score: BUY.

Must... Find... Traffic

2009-01-16T10:00:00Z

Alright, seriously, going to start working on that Episode 5. Basically, it's going to be recorded via Audacity, as always, because it works wonders. I just need to work on volume settings again, and it should be alright.

I've been chillin'. Actually slept all day Thursday to get my internal clock back into the work grind. Yeah, Christmas threw me pretty hard, I hate getting up in the morning for short work days. Evidently, it's going to happen more on Mondays. Whatever, I work Sunday nights so I can work, sleep, eat, work just fine. It's work, sleep, eat... do nothing but game for hours while working on reviews, work, sleep, work, sleep, work... Those are messed up!

Buying food at work, in this case, a grocery store, sucks. I buy a ton of junk food. I need to tone down, seriously, to save money for Tekkoshocon.

YES, I'm still going to that convention! I can't wait. I have a couple crazy things being worked on to enjoy pulling off when I'm there. The Twitchblade people are planning shenanigans. I hear other awesome people are showing up, maybe some Flash artists? Hmm? Just throwing that out there.

On the review side: Dammit, I might have to buy Skate 2. The demo is off the hook, I've been messing around with the Xbox 360 one for a few days now, and it's simply stunning. The changes make the game more realistic to some things that were missing, but keeps it simple still, which is the whole point of Skate's system. The Hall of Meat side-game makes for a "Burnout" quality of fun added to the mix. The magazine shoots remain, and are just as fun, and now, we can make our own lines by moving certain obstacles! Totally awesome idea, that makes those videos just a bit crazier to watch. EA keeps listening, which is a shock, because years ago, they wouldn't. Lovin' it. For those people saying "But Ponza, what about the PS3?", I'm downloading that demo as I type, so no worries.

Also: Street Fighter IV Tournament FightSticks are in so high demand, Mad Catz has to make a ton more. THEY BETTER! I want two of those sweet wireless sticks! Sanwa sticks are so awesome! I wish I had an arcade stick....

Now if you guys excuse me, I have some breakfast to eat.

P.Review - Gears of War 2

2009-01-08T04:31:05Z

Gears of War 2

Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
System: Xbox 360 (Exclusive franchise)
Rated M for Mature

Bigger, Better, and More Badass.

Unfortunately, I'd have to agree, on many levels. I did say unfortunately, didn't I? I'll explain as things progress. This is my first review of 2009. I thought I'd start it off with the 2nd most hyped title in the Xbox 360 lineup from last year. Gears of War is a franchise strictly created to push the power of the Xbox 360, and the egotistical might of Epic Games as a developer. While the Unreal engine is at work giving great visuals and stunning graphics in long doses, it's certainly not the engine that needs work. The game itself needs work.

Let's start on the positive here: Gears 2 has this awesome new mode called Horde mode. It's phenomenal, a true testiment to the way online gaming should be treated. You and four friends, that's 5 players, can get together online and defend a map from 50 waves of Locust enemies. Teamwork is demanded, and the difficulty increases as the waves rank up. Ammunition is somewhat limited, and a different array of guns come to you as do the Locust horde. Strategy, toughness, and comradery are the ways of this mode, and saving your friends from near death is definitely a help. Any map can be used, so it's definitely a thrill, and can help you learn the locales of multiplayer.

If you wanted to play the multiplayer, that is.

Everything that is awesome about Horde is scrapped in multiplayer due to an extreme amount of glitches and bugs. Attacking through walls, lag issues, matchmaking woes that have been patched, only to suffer more, the list goes on. A game "so awesome" that problems rise up everywhere in a hurry. There are many people who abuse those glitches too, making the experience not a laughing matter, it's more sad than anything.

The campaign levels in this iteration of Gears are also kind of sad. The first game was all about co-operation and tactical movement. This second game is all about railshooters (seriously?) and vehicle driving. The main problem with railshooter levels is if you don't know what to shoot, you'll become frustrated. I became frustrated rather early. Word to the wise: if you make a shooter, and you have a turret level, don't make the levels to chance. If I'm firing a turret, and it overheats when I need it most, I have to start the level over. Especially annoying considering I played most of those levels by myself. There's absolutely nothing wrong with working these levels into the story, it's just difficult to play unless you have friends there with you for the campaign there. The vehicle levels are plenty, with a couple of shockers in the story, but really, it feels like half the game relies on driving or shooting guns while being driven. I thought Gears was a tactical shooter? Odd.

The gunplay is as always top notch. You feel good hitting that active reload perfect enough times to get the achievement. There's satisifaction when shooting a foe in the head with a sniper rifle, or catching a larger enemy with a Torque Bow round. Blood splatters the screen when you chainsaw someone else in half, and the ass-kicking you're leaving on the battlefield is evident. The boss battles are alright, and keep you moving, but are forgettable. Finishing the game was a chore and a half for me, but I found comfort right away with the things I unlocked after completing campaign.

Gears of War 2 is a bloody mess, figuratively and literally. The story you know gets turned upside-down, around, and right back where you expected. It's just a shame that all of the problems with matchmaking and online play keep appearing, which is a sign of terrible quality assurance. With the recession around, skimping on QA for a high-profit franchise like Gears of War is only going to turn off the fans. As a result, this game only deserves the following score from me: RENT.

Rest in Peace: Electronic Gaming Monthly

2009-01-07T03:49:00Z

Earlier today, Ziff Davis Publishing sold 1up Network to UGO Entertainment, and closed the print magazine "Electronic Gaming Monthly". Over 30 editors, video game reviewers and others lost their jobs, while holding the highest standard of presumably unbiased, ethical video game reviewing and news reporting.

Let me empathize: EGM will be missed.

Normally, this would be considered, and has almost immediately been considered, the death of print media for video games. I beg to differ in a lot of ways. I love the print media, and I have bought many EGM issues off the newsstand. (I also used to subscribe to Racer Magazine, for my racing news, but found that it was easier just to get the issues I wanted, rather than the biased crap I was regularly reading...) EGM started really dying when Dan "Shoe" Hsu left the magazine. I'll talk about that later... no wait, I'll discuss it now.

Editorial integrity in the video game market is ridiculous. It's utmost impossible to maintain, unless you have a sound mind of journalism. Seeking the truth is what journalism is all about. Dan Hsu did just that, and still does for his own site I'm sure, Sorethumbsblog.com. Dan has always questioned other magazines and their integrity over the advertising money they receive from publishers. For realistic purposes, no amount of money should change how terrible your game is, as if it does, that's corruption of journalist integrity. Calling out other print magazines for this is potentially hearsay, though, but having the balls to talk about it is something else. Later in his career, Shoe called out Peter Moore, while the 360 was "winning the war" so to speak, on the hardware issues that Microsoft's console still has today.

I'm not saying that editors have balls any more, but what I'm saying is if I was a publisher, I'd want this guy on my print mag or website. He asks the questions that the people want asked. He's like the Larry King of video game journalism (maybe that's a bad reference). When he left EGM, that dealt a huge blow to the popularity of the magazine as a whole, and turned the empathesis away from the print magazine itself, and more towards online journalism and blogging, much like the battle between the entertainment networks are having right now for your bandwidth.

Personally, I kept reading (and buying!) EGM after Shoe's departure. The magazine went to letter scores (which I hate with a passion, because I hate review scores, and totally prefer a buy-rent-garbage structure) and flourished with awesome developer interviews and interesting event coverage. James Mielke had, forgive the pun, a big Shoe to fill. Now that I think of puns, he also had big pants to fill. During the Gamespot-Kane and Lynch incident, which led to the wrongful firing of Jeff Gerstmann, EGM seemed to be in open arms of anyone willing to leave Gamespot for EGM. That was all Shoe's doing, praising good journalism in the wake of bad corporate decisions. It seems that EGM was doomed from that point going forward, when the economy began to worsen. (It actually did, in December 2007, when the recession truly began. Shoe left in April '08.)

Perhaps I'm just a really casual gamer when it comes to certain things, but when it comes to print mags, it's all I've really truly come to trust for my news. The internet just doesn't make it the same, but it's mostly opinionated. I'll miss EGM for the good times, for the Halo stuff, for the epic lulz near the back of every issue, and the letters to the editors that make for very entertaining poking and chiding at some silly readers.

So, without Ziff Davis getting my money any more, there's still Future and IDG, right? Let's see here, we've got... OXM and Nintendo Power! Oh... and alright! GamePro! Sweet! We'll have to move the EGM issues into a safe place, once I finish scouring that December issue for Watchmen details, even though that movie isn't coming out....

I digress. Rest in Peace, Electronic Gaming Monthly. Good luck to those who lost their jobs, I hope you find something a hell of a lot more stable... just not with Ziff Davis.

- Ponza

P.S.: I'm sure SoreThumbsBlog will get bigger shortly.

Getting caught up to speed

2009-01-05T21:49:00Z

Ponza is now definitely back. I've had some wacky holiday weekends in my years, but none as weird as this year. I have survived, thankfully, and I'm ready to dish out the details on what I'm doing in the future. The past is definitely behind me.

I'm on track for some reviews, most written, but as of today, I am no longer 360-less. Before Christmas, my Xbox 360 Elite met with the long thought forgotten "Three Red Quadrants" and had to be shipped to Ontario. Almost a month later, it's back to me. This brings up a necessity of mine to do my first video review of a game I've been wanting to do forever: Fable 2. I think it will be timely, too, since the Knothole Glade DLC is coming soon, and my real life name is actually in the game: Gordon! I'm apparently an inventor with a submarine. Fun.

So, let's look at the review list here:

- Fable II

- Gears of War 2 (Now reviewed here)

- Fallout 3

- Little Big Planet

- Rock Band 2

- Kirby Super Star Ultra

- NHL 09 (for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the first of the console battles)

- Tritton Technology's AXPRO 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound Gaming Headset (with reviews related to both the 360 and PS3 end of the gaming aspect, including DVD and Blu-ray playback)

If there's any games I'm missing, I'll probably get to them later, or even just talk about them in Episode 5 of the show. (That's right, I haven't forgotten I have a VIDEO or AUDIO Podcast, ugh, so out of the loop.)

I can officially confirm an appearance in the United States in April. I have airline tickets to Pittsburgh purchased, and this will be my first trip outside the country of Canada. A lot of people are shocked that I went through with it, but now that I'm more prepared to make the trip, I think it'll be easier to accept. Half of the costume I'll be wearing for a day down at Tekko is complete. The other half isn't, and I've been putting things off way too long. Now that my 360 is back, I think I'll get more restless, thus screwing my prep time even more, so I really, really, really need to work on these things that keep getting put off. I'm going to go start some of those right now.

For those wondering, I do have a proper camera now, and the Fable II review will be done in First-Person, so it should be cool. I'm excited for the idea of it. I hope by this week an audio podcast will be out, and I can start making calls on Skype to prepare for it.

Stay tuned!