Most Anticipated Video Games of 2009.

This year is almost over and that means a few things; newly made resolutions, time standing still for one second, a soon inaugurated president, a year closer to the apocalypse, breaking newly resolutions, and of course video games. Here are a few I'm looking forward to.

Street Fighter IV may be a success or a big failure or maybe just another fighting game. Regardless of what it is, I am extremely excited to see what it will bring. I've always been a fan of the series, especially when they included everything I loved into the Marvel vs Capcom games. It included almost everyone and you could tag in and out. I love tag games although this won't be one. In straight up Street Fighter spirit, it's 2d with 3d characters. Kind of like Super Smash Bros. The trailer looks great, but it's been such a long time since I've played a real SF game that I'm not sure that I'm even good at it. Those VS. games were much different. Will I have to figure out all the little moves and counters to master this game? Probably. Or I probably will just be horrible at it and let the real pwners pwn. It should come out February 17th in North America.

I've always liked the final frontier better than middle earth. That's why I can't wait for StarCraft II. WarCraft (Not WoW) was fun and all but space is where it's at. The Frozen Throne had me playing for years with its ladder matches and custom games like DotA and Snipers (I was a semi-legend on USEast). And considering people still to this day play StarCraft I on Battle.net, StarCraft II should be as epic as those two games combined.

StarCraft II will actually be a trilogy with the main game coming out first with the Terran campaign, then two expansion packs released with the Zerg and Protoss missions. Blizzard has said that the expansions will feel like full games because of all the content in them. The story line of SF1 was great and I cannot wait to see things unravel in the upcoming trilogy. Kerrigan is back! I would have liked to see a new species or something introduced but Blizzard are sticking to the original races this time. The game doesn't officially have a release date but has been in development since 2003 so hopefully it will come out sometime in '09. Although I can't wait for the game, I'm not sure if this will be a purchase of mine. It will come out on the Mac OS, but I'm not sure how I feel about playing it on a Mac. Although it would be the only game I ever needed. Hmm.
I only recently heard about Heavy Rain and I'm really liking what I see. The video for it is a casting call with an actress playing the role of a wife who has found out about a cheating husband. It looks incredible. What all PS3 games should look like. It's got some special engine or something and is developed by a French company. I have no idea what the game is about but it is highly stylized like a film and if Origami Killer means anything, it's about a killer. Who kills with paper cranes! Maybe? Who knows.
I played the developing studio, Quantic Dream's previous game Farenheit aka Indigo Prophecy last year and it had a really interesting concept of gameplay. Hopefully this game will not disappoint. Out sometime in 2009.

I was never really into horror games or even horror films. Why? I don't want to have nightmares, DUH. But sometimes, I just want to blow up some damn zombies. And when is a better time then at the release of Resident Evil 5 on March 13th? No longer will it be another a girl in a miniskirt shooting up dogs in the middle of Times Square, it's now some white dude shooting up African villagers. Which is good right? I've only played one RS game and I couldn't figure out how shoot for about 30 minutes. Hold R2 first?! I think the only reason I disliked the RS series was because Parasite Eve made me brown my pants ever since I was little and that put me away from all games like it. But 2009 is a new year! We'll see how this goes.

I've waited for this game for a while now. Don't know much about it other than Team Bondi is developing and Rock Star is publishing. I think it's a sandbox game, it apparently has a perfectly created LA. Oh yeah, did I mention it takes place in the fucking '40s? Excuse my language, but I just love that era. The drugs, the corruption, the jazz! I've seen the trailer for it probably a hundred times and it still amazes me. Looks great. Check out L.A. Noire out sometime in the 2009 fiscal year.

Tekken 6, has one of the most confusing.. I don't even know what it is. It's been out in the Japan arcades since 2007 and is coming out again under one of those ":" titles in October 2009. I love this series, especially Tekken Tag, ever since I owned a Playstation, but I don't know if I can keep all of the moves for Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 6 in my head so I may only choose one. It's the only 3d fighting game I like. I hated Soul Calibur. The more I write about this game, the less I think I will like it. Too many characters have been introduced for me to keep up and it's slowly slipping off my list. I think I will remove it. But will only keep it on the list to have record of me saying that it is off the list...

Look. I don't need to explain this to you. Just know, if we make it past 2012, The Sims will be the only game we play. Why? Because it can simulate anything! Career - Football Player. BAM, the whole game changes into Madden 2049! It's crazy. Someone needs to do everyone a favor and pirate this and all future expansion packs of this for the Mac immediately. It can simulate everything! But true love...
Is it weird that I don't kill my sims but instead make them all have perfect lives, and having a single sim marry every hot sim in the neighborhood? But then when I kiss one in the same household, everyone gets pissy at each other so that I have to restart the neighborhood and make five different sims each with an alias of Duy Nguyen and have them marry all the hot redheads and brunettes and blondes and aliens? Is that creepy?! Released on February 20th on Windows...

It started with VII. That game single-handedly changed the way I view my life. When viewing it as a nerd bored thinking of RPGs. I actually only played FFVII. I didn't want to be exposed to any other game in the series because of its imperfections. (Well maybe that's a lie. I played 9 and liked it but didn't have the last disc. And also X and X-II which was horrible.) I never even beat VII because I never wanted it to end! FFXIII Versus seems like it has the potential, aesthetically at least, to be the next VII. It doesn't look like another X clone. The regular one looks alright as well. I guess I'll get both. If they ever come out that is. What I really want though, is for Square to re-release VII on the Ps3. C'mon! Haven't you read the petitions?

Street Sk8er to THPS. I love skating games. It makes me want to go out and skate. But then skating wants to make me go home and cry. But no other game can do both like the realistic Skate 2. Getting this game will really just be an excuse as to why I never got the first one. I'm just really assuming it will be better because it's the sequel. And based on the introduction movie, it looks so sick. Hopefully not all hype. January 21st.
Well those are the games that I will probably get next year. And the following are some that I regret getting. Worst of 2008.

So I didn't really get this guy. I downloaded it for about a week, read some reviews, then deleted it from my computer. Creature Creator was fun, but there are just so many ways one can make a giant penis. The actually game Spore was probably the most disappointing game of the year. It was supposed to change the way we play games or something. It ended up just staying on the shelfs. I guess I should have given it a chance. But I don't have any time for that. I have meetings to go to...

This was definitely my biggest disappointment. Resistance 2. I only bought it because I loved it's predecessor. It was nearly perfect to me and I only stopped playing it because people moved onto Warhawk and stole all the noobs to own online. I ditched the awesome CoD4 to get this game. Worst decision. It has great reviews, but I don't understand why. I feel like it has worse graphics than the first, and the online is obviously less organized. And for the first month or two it wouldn't even work. I think it tried to be too much. took on a similar perk system from CoD and failed. 60 players online is insane but is kind of unnecessary when you think about it. I like to get to know the noobs I'm killing. This game was a no-no. Anyone want to trade for World at War?

I hate every Madden game except for '95. Plain and simple.

A few honorable mentions for anticipated games; MadWorld, God of War III and GTA: Chinatown Wars.
MadWorld looked interesting before I read it was coming out on the Wii. God of War III looks good and probably should be on this list. But I haven't really played I or II so I can just buy those. The new GTA is on the DS but focuses on the Triads. I'm sick of crappy sandbox games that are based on Asian culture but are just so bad. It's about time we had a Triad or Yakuza game that was good. too bad it's not on the Ps3 or 360. (The Yakuza game doesn't count.)

St. Peter and John Wayne.

Every year, Christmas was the time I looked forward to the most. The songs, the lights, the whole feeling of Christmas and everything that came with it. However recently, it seems disappointing each time it arrives. When I was young, the whole family would gather in one house, from the morning to late in the night of Christmas Eve. I would play with my brother and cousins, running around the house being kids and oblivious to everything around us. We were not worried about fixing our cars, paying the rent, or anything about that. We were just kids.

Every time we would hear the doorbell ring, we ran to see who it was. Mom's sister, Grandmother's brother. You see the house we were all at, was the first house owned by our family in America. It housed my family members that just came over from Vietnam, helping them get on their feet and move out. And after they'd move out, they'd all return for Christmas. For just one day. And it was great having literally everyone under one roof.

But now, I'm years older and Christmas has lost its touch. Those people that rung the doorbell, the people that had me running to see are gone. Either they're at the spouses family, or just simply off of this world. There's less family. And that's what I miss. That's what Christmas was for me. It's not even that the gifts came in the masses as a kid. It's not that the toy guitars and action figures have turned into the form of bills and cards. It's the massive gap between generations and the disconnect that has came because of it.

At least we still have those Christmas songs. They give me hope of someday having the perfect Christmas again. Maybe in five years someone will light our house on fire. And we'll all gather back in that little house. The whole family. Maybe I'll light the house on fire. I wish I was 10 again.

Lab.

So a lot of people have been confused with what I've been "teasing" them with. Apparently it's not even teasing if you don't know what your being teased about. Well let me give you some clues. You recently saw a post of some tees that are "coming soon". Right now I'm working in Illustrator on some graphics. So can you put those together? Huh?

2008 Shopping Guide.

Well as Christmas draws closer, less than 24 hours closer, some of you fellow rich, important, "unaffected by the economy" folk need some quick presents to bear but have no idea where to start. Well here's a little guide I made that to help you if your price range is around $1,000 to $1,000,000. This would have been my wish list if I didn't already go out and buy five of each myself.

The Nikon D90, for the "I May Actually Know What I'm Doing With A Camera" type. This thing does everything that the common D40 can do and then some. The main reason why I wanted this over my already capable D60 is because of a couple things. The autofocus motor. I have an AF 50mm and 10.5mm and the only AF-S is the decent kit 18-55mm. I'm perfectly fine with manually focusing, but when it affects my pictures in low-light areas, that's bad. It's too dim to even see how sharp something is. Help me out robot. With this bad boy, you can walk around campus knowing you have a better camera than all the other noobs with the kit D40. And by not having the D40, you'll probably know how to use it too. Not bashing on the D40 at all, it's probably the only camera you'll ever need. I'm just an elitist when it comes to other photographers. But seriously, stop with the flash photography.

Another thing is the 24 FPS 720p HD Video mode. That's right. You have probably seen me drooling over this in a recent post. This is the first DSLR camera able to record video. So you and your Canon can suck it Bobby. So what I stole this whole layout from you? The least you can do is return my calls dammit! That takes us to our next gift on the list...

You can never have enough glass. This is the best wide-angle zoom of it's kind on the market. It's also the cheapest. For the "I Lurked Flickr To Find Out What Lens People Use -- I Heart Ken Rockwell" type. I bought 5 of these because they're that good and I am that wealthy.

This is a big flash. If you have this flash I will not hate you for using a flash. Just make it bounce. For the "I Don't Want To Look Like The Tool Without A Speed Light While At The Latest Dance Party" type. Add this and a MB-D10, and you'll look like the most pro dude out there. Don't forget your hood lens!

Collectibles! For the "I'm Into Cool Toys From Japan That Sit On My Window Sill And Show What Kind Of Person I Am" type. You can get them the entire Final Fantasy VII x Play Arts collection, the tall standing 19 inch Cloud Strife Masterpiece Arts work of art for only $400. I bought them all but Square Enix will be restocking on May 2nd. Don't forget about Old Snake. And Naked Snake, Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake, Camo Naked Snake, Boss, Big Boss, Raiden, Grey Fox, Meryl, Naomi, Vamp, Otacon and the whole MGS Crew too.

When I said you can never have enough glass. I meant games. You can never have enough games. For the "I Am Not Really Good At Video Games So I Just Buy Them All To Compensate" type. Just to name a few games that I have yet to receive; Assassin's Creed, Heavenly Sword, Mirrors Edge, Bioshock, Call of Duty 5, and Rock Band World Tour just to name a few.

I know what you're thinking. "Duy, I thought you said you didn't want a bike and would skate everywhere." To be honest, it's hard skating on cobblestone roads and if I plan to get a job anywhere off campus, I'd rather not leave an hour before work and show up panting and smelly. So this present is for the "I Want A Bike To Go To Work And Other Things Like That" type. No this doesn't have to be a fixed gear, I don't like humping my bike to have it brake. But it can be a fixie. A lot of my friends are those "fixie kids". And they're all the rage right? I could say I got the bike from my Dad who used it in Vietnam where it wasn't trendy, it was just cheap. Yeah, thats it!

When I said you can never have enough games, that also goes for Authentics. They'll keep making different colors, and even then your white ones will get dirty so there's really no excuse. And wouldn't they go great with my bike? For the "I Keep It Real By Just Wearing Vans, I Have 50 Pairs..." type. I remember when the slip-ons were all the rage. I thought I was such a trailblazer when I bought the Converse slip-ons. Then little Tim Roskie comes up rockin' a pair of "the Vans with the Laces". 

But seriously, whatever you decide to get your little sister, older brother, significant other, or gay lover, make sure it comes from the heart. And at least costs $100. When you have purchased your gift, make sure you send them to me first so I can sign them.

Teaseee.

I told you it would be here soon. More photos to come...

Best: Video Games of 2008

This has been a pretty big year for video games. Some very anticipated titles and heavy hitters came out in 2008 giving us (nerds) eye strains and our mothers to lose their voices yelling at us to stop playing and reminding us to eat. That was a horrible sentence but here are some of my favorite games of this closing year.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is and probably will always be the only reason why I would want a Wii. A great pick-up game to take a break from the books and start owning your roommate with Lucas. Or you can call over a few people and let the wires tangle as the loser passes the controller. Who plays with the Wii-Motes anyway... It wouldn't surprise me if my friends and I played for six hours straight at a point. That is when I'm not on my G5 flying from meeting to meeting.

Five games for 60 bucks. That is the best deal ever and should give you no reason to own The Orange Box unless you're blind, an amputee or a girl... The Half-Life series is my favorite FPS. It is perfect in every way except for its finite-ness. I could do nothing but sit and play through the whole thing. Can't wait for Episode 3. Then there's Team Fortress 2, which is a decent online multiplayer shooter, but when you have another game soon to be mentioned, I don't think it matches up. And finally Portal. Portal is Portal. If you don't know you better axe somebody, then play the game. Best game of 2008. Hands down.

If not for PSN Network incapability where I used to live, this game would had the potential to cause me to drop out of school. Best online multiplayer I've played. Mainly because of it's ranking system and organization, Call of Duty 4 did an adequate job taking over for Resistance, taking over my life. Though the amount of time I can spend sitting in front of this game isn't as long as others, it sure can have me playing over and over again. As long as there are noobs for me to own. The only reason I stopped was for my loyalty for Resistance 2 which is  eh... The only reason COD5 isn't on here is because I absolutely hate World War II games and plus I haven't played it. BUT I don't want to...

Shocking I know. A 360 game appears on the list. But what can I say, it was pretty fun killing horde after horde of grub after grub, or whatever they're called, for hours upon hours on insane. It wasn't even online and I had a blast with myself and two other players. I still have no idea what the story line is and why that one dude is searching for his wife, but I guess chainsaws on guns can win anyone over. 

I only play this on the 360 but I'm counting this as a PS3 game because I can. I haven't had this much fun in a sports game since Super Baseball Simulator 1000. I can probably play this just as long as any other game as long as I have a partner. Silently killing with the Washington Wizards and pissing off people while doing it is a good feeling. Sorry Bill. Agent Zero > LBJ "The First Black President". I don't see why that nick name doesn't catch on. Does no one else realize those initials?!

I love this game. I would call it my favorite this year but that would be biased. Hell, it's my favorites list so who cares. Sorry Portal, Metal Gear Solid 4 is taking over. It's a nostalgia thing, I'm not even that old but Hideo Kojima can do that to a person. It's all in the details. Everything in this game has been closely inspected to appease to every Metal Gear fan. Flawless. I've loved everything that has come out of the Metal Gear Series, and this is the perfect end to a perfect saga. And also to a perfect favorites list.

But wait! Honorable mentions!

GTA IV was a great game that didn't make it onto my list because I don't think I played it right and I was tired of making those little banner things in Photoshop. I basically went mission to mission, cutting out all the fun in running people over, jumping out of helicopters and survive by falling into a pool, and exploding car pileups with a single nade and walking away with the camera facing me in slow motion.

Rock Band. I can still have fun playing this over and over. I bought a ton of extra songs on a whim and am kicking myself over it a little. It's not on the list mainly because of my downstairs neighbors who will call the cops on us for every hair that floats down and grazes the floor to cause a miniscule vibration on the wood causing the slightest of sound. But there's nothing like playing the drums on expert and checking the peripherals to see jaws drop. "Ain't a thang but a chicken wang".

Also I'm sure there are more games out there that are better, but honestly these games above on the list are the only games I have. Haven't played much of anything really.

Video Daze.

Some of my recent favorites from over at The Hundreds Video Daze.

Ohh Baby.

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Shame.

I don't want to talk about it.

Home Sweet Home.

After about 4 years or something, Playstation Home is finally out to the public. It's kind of like The Sims x Habbo Hotel x Wii's Miis x Radiohead - Creep. First thing I do of course is make a hot chick to virtually scam on horny 14 year olds. I go to the theatre and watch the Twilight trailer and then Hayley Williams singing and junk. DUH. Anyways, this dude comes up and starts preaching about Christianity and the end of the world. I live in Richmond, I'm used to it. But in a video game? After his little schpeal, he stops. Says 'whatsup' to some other dude and leaves. Cool right?


So after all that, I take a stroll in the Central Plaza and am followed by some dudes. One of them ensures me he's no pedophile, just wants to say hi. Well who says I'm in the range of of a child? Anyways, one thing leads to another and next thing you know I'm doing the nasty to him in the middle of a park. Then I transform myself into Pancho the Homeless Construction Worker Giant guy and he gets the message. But then when I transform into Renae Reid, he runs away. I chase! He flees to his house. Then turns off his Playstation. How do I know this? Because he added me as a friend along with a billion other dudes thinking I'm a hot babe playing video games.

Home is okay I guess. It's free. And if you are living alone on a mountain with just a PS3 and an internet connection this might help. You can't do much so unless you want to pay cash money for a house and furniture and clothes. $5 for an oceanfront mansion isn't that bad. Especially with the economy the way it is. But since I have better things to buy, (D90 D90 D90) I find myself just messing with people, starting running man trains, and punching people in the face.

Capra.

It happened one night. Again...

Japan.

Spanglin'.

This is what my wife would sound like if she were to be Asian. This is what I expect that girl at Shafer with the pink G-Shock to sound like.

Santa.

I need this in my life. This is shot using the Nikon Digital SLR, the d90. 720p HD, it is beautiful. Vimeo doesn't allow us to embed HD, so what you need to do. Is hover over the video, turn HD on and check it out on the Vimeo site.

Trouble.

You see, the thing about being such a successful, important person and yet still being in school is having to balance work and play. Sometimes you can mold your work into play. For example, having a meeting at a strip club or say, throwing an expensive party for future collaborators. Hint hint. But in this case, it's waking up at 1PM, watching back-to-back Cassavetes then writing a paper comparing him to French filmmaker Claude Miller. But Shadows is my favorite. My American Breathless, just a year ahead of its time.

Oh yeah. Happy Birthday Angela! Too bad only your boyfriend reads this. What up!