Pre-E3 madness

Well, only a day away from that much awaited video game convention, and only the biggest once a year event that even the most hardcore of gamers would stop playing just to experience. Yes, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2012 is knocking ’round the door step and the excitement can be felt all over the net, even though the event has not yet officially started.

I believe with the threat of the iOS and Android, the video game industry will start its decline if it has not started yet. This generation’s  console’s are not enough for today’s generation of people who have strayed away from the path of hardcore gaming and joined the ranks of the busy-bodies casual gamers. The net generation of consoles should provide the type of… whatever it is people see in iOS’s and Androids combined with the complexity of the usual games we gamers play in our consoles and/or hand held Nintendo’s and/or Playstations. The ball is in Nintendo’s hands this year with it’s full revelation of what the Wii U can do, what it can offer to the table, and how it can define a new era, a new generation of gaming consoles. The Wii U has the opportunity to raise the standard of video gaming as how its predecessor was able to. Should Nintendo fail to provide anything revolutionary with the Wii U… I’d sadly say the future of console gaming looks bleak.

Much to anticipation though, most of the 3rd party developers have already revealed their (partial) line-up of big-named games. So, to get to the reason this writer wrote this post, to make you game geeks’s mouth water. Let me give you all a breakdown in this list below.

According to publisher:

2K GAMES
Spec Ops: The Line
Borderlands 2
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
NBA 2K13

ACTIVISION
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Skylanders Giants
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
The Amazing Spider-Man
Family Guy: Back to the Mltiverse

ATLUS
Persona 4 Arena
Persona 4 Golden

BETHESDA
The Elder Scrolls Online
Dishonored
Doom 3: BFG Edition
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — Dawnguard

BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE
ArmA III
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission
DayZ

CAPCOM
Resident Evil 6
Lost Planet 3
DmC
Street Fighter x Tekken

CCP
Dst 514

D3 PUBLISHER
Ben 10: Omniverse
iCarly: Groovy Foodie!
Madagascar: Join the Circs!
Madagascar 3: The Video Game TBA
Rise of the Gardians: The Video Game     3

ELECTRONIC ARTS
Battlefield 3: Armored Kill
Battlefield 3: Close Quarters
Crysis 3
FIFA Soccer 13
Madden NFL 13
Medal of Honor Warfighter
NCAA Football 13
Need for Speed Most Wanted TBA
NHL 13
SimCity
Outernats Facebook
World Series of Poker
Dead Space 3 TBA

GAMIGO 
Otherland
Grimlands

HARMONIX
Rock Band Blitz XBLA PSN

INFERNUM
Brick-Force Web

KONAMI
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow — Mirror of Fate 3

LARIAN STD
Dragon Commander
Divinity: Original Sin  MAC

LUCASARTS
Star Wars 1313 TBA

MAJESCO
NBA Baller Beats
Zumba Fitness
Double Dragon: Neon

MICROSOFT
Halo 4
Gears of War Project

NAMCO
Star Trek: The Game
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Dark Sols: Prepare to Die Edition
Dragon Ball Z for Kinect
One Piece: Pirate Warriors PSN

NINTENDO
Pikmin 3
Super Mario

PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT
Neverwinter
Raiderz

SEGA 
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
Jet Set Radio

SNOWBIRD GAME STD
Eador: Masters of the Broken World

SONY
The Last of Us
LittleBigPlanet Karting
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Sol Sacrifice
Gacamelee!
Papo & Yo

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT
DC Universe Online
Free Realms
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
EverQuest II
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
Bullet Run
PlanetSide 2
Wizardry Online

SQUARE ENIX
Hitman: Absoltion
Tomb Raider
Sleeping Dogs
Qantm Conndrm
Heroes of Ruin
Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy 3
Gameglobe Web
American Mensa Academy
Daris Brst Second Prologe
Raystorm
Guardian Cross
Demon’s Score
KooZac
Motley Blocks
Qwirkle
SolaRola

TEAM17
Worms Revolution

TECMO KOEI
Dead or Alive 5
Pokemon Conquest
Mugen Souls

THQ
Darksiders II
Metro Last Light
Company of Heroes 2

TRION
Defiance
End of Nations
Rift

UBISOFT
Far Cry 3
Rayman Legends
Assassin’s Creed III
Rocksmith
ShootMania Storm

VALVE
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

WARGAMING.NET
World of Tanks
World of Warplanes

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
F1 2012
Guardians of Middle-earth

ZEN STD
Zen Pinball 2
Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles
Marvel Pinball 3D
CastleStorm    Mobile
KickBeat

 

I don’t have the time to be blogging during the course of E3 2012 but I will be constantly be updating through twitter: @tatsutm

So, I will blog at the end of this year’s E3. Seeya in 3 days my faithful readers!

 

My best of 2011 list

Hello again my faithful readers!
I know it is too late for this already but ever since i downloaded chronotrigger on the psn, not to mention i read hunter x hunter on the pc, i just could not seem to fit blogging on my schedule. Anyway, checkout my 1st list of the year, the top 10 things i am thankful for the year 2011.

2011 best things for me:

1. The nintendo 3DS came out, even though i do not own one yet.

2. The nba season pushes through after the lockout seemed to makw things look bleak. See, compromise goes a long way people.

3. I was able to watch the new studio ghibli masterpiece- karigurashi no arrietty.

4. I still have a job thankfully.

5. Awesome anime that came out this year: fate zero, hunter x hunter, gundam age among others.

6. The release of my anticipated games such as dark souls, zelda: skyward sword, portal 2, uncharted 3, skyrim, batman: arkham city and others.

7. I finally received my 1st profit share last april and i was able to buy a brand new 32 inch lcd panasonic viera tv, resonance of fate and dark souls because of it.

8. I finally was able to buy an android phone. I am abld to play emulators in my new phone, games that i was not able to play before like ff vi and old zelda games.

9. Crono trigger and final fantasy 6 was released for the psn which i can download and play.

10. We bought a brand new and much more powerful ps3 when the our old fat one bit the dust.

That is all for today my faithful readers! Til next time!

Happy 2012!!!

welcome me in android world people!!! This is my first official blog of 2011. Stand by for more later…

The list part 2011

Wow! It sure is great to be back my faithful readers. It has been a really, REALLY busy past few months for me trying to balance work, play, watch and use internet. Anyway I would want to bring back my semi-annual updated “LIST” of favorites. I will be posting a separate list on my other blog as well.

Top 10 favorite video games: (Note that up to date, I have not played FF X yet)

1. Kingdom Hearts 2
2. Kingdom Hearts 1
3. Final Fantasy VII
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. Xenogears
6. Metal Gear Solid 1,2,3,4
7. Super Smash Brothers Melee and Brawl
8. Valkyria Chronicles
9. Final Fantasy VIII
10. Wild Arms

 

Top 10 Favorite anime series:

1. Hagane No Renkinjitsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist): Brotherhood
2. Hagane No Renkinjitsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist)
3. GTO
4. Fullmetal Panic!
5. Gundam Seed
6. Rurouni Kenshin
7. Slam Dunk
8. Yu Yu Hakusho
9. Eureka 7
10. Mushishi

Top 10 most awesome Anime characters:

1. Maes Hughes – Hagane no Renkinjitsushi
2. Roy Mustang – Hagane no Renkinjitsushi
3. Hiko Seijuro – Rurouni Kenshin
4. Heero Yuy – Gundam Wing
5. Sagara Sousuke – Fullmetal Panic!
6. Hei – Darker than Black
7. Archer – Fate/Stay Night
8. Son Goku (Whichever)
9. Ginko – Mushishi
10. Holland Novak – Eureka 7

 

Top 10 favorite songs of all-time:

1. Mizerable – Gackt
2. Redemption – Gackt
3. Tears – X-Japan
4. Go to the Limit – Jurassic
5. Sakura Drops – Utada Hikaru
6. Daybreak’s Bell – L`Arc~en~Ciel
7. The Pot – Tool
8. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
9. Angel Love – Santana Feat. Tony Lindsay
10. Shine – Mr. Big

 

Top 10 favorite movies of all-time:

1. Ran
2. Star Wars episode original trilogy
3. Seven Samurai
4. The hidden fortress
5. Yojimbo
6. A Tale of 2 sisters
7. Whispering corridors 4: Moksori
8. Koizora
9. Shutter
10. The Godfather 2

 

I might also further breakdown the favorite movies and video games into different genres and add anime movies as well.

Well, that’s it for now. ‘Til next time my faithful readers!!!

 

 

A New dining experience #1

For this post, I will try something I have never done before – Food review.

Restaurant: Tender Bobs

The name itself should already give one an idea as to what type of restaurant this would be and what would be the bulk of their menu. At least on that aspectthey did not disappoint. The place was not to shabby given that it was located at Glorietta. It was spacious, with red leather couch-type seats on the wall-sides (which I foolishly did not reserve for myself). There were I think 4 or 6 32-inch LCD TVs on the wall – all on mute of course (Writer’s note: I don’t see the point in doing that). The food items on the menu all looked so mouth-watering (as do most if not all restaurants) but the prices were not really within my regular budget, knowing that If I spend for something worth more than PHP 200, I would already have eaten 2-4 plates of scrumptious home-cooked meals. The sandwiches/burgers range from If I recall correctly, PHP 130 – PHP 300+. The single meals were around PHP 200+ – PHP 300+. A Single serving rib-eye steak was PHP 260, which is not a bad price for something that you get for PHP 350/kilo in the supermarket and cook-it-to -perfection-yourself-instead-of-wondering-if-the-restaurant-will-be-able-to-properly-cook-a-medium-rare-steak (sorry, I had A LOT of bad experiences with restaurants ruining the steaks that I order). Of course that was too much for me to afford so I decided to go along with the rest of my office mates and split a meat platter worth PHP 990 and a fish platter worth PHP 800.

The service was pretty good. We ordered 2 plates of fried potato skins and we received it in less than 10 minutes. The platters that we ordered, we received in 20 minutes. The potato skin were pretty disappointing, I’ve tasted better potato skins when we cook it ourselves when we drink at my friend’s house. The mix of melted cheese, white-sour sauce (not sure if that was mayonnaise or sour cream or white cheese) but it had a weird mix of flavor when eaten together with the melted cheese -and have they ever heard of salt? I did not even taste any semblance of saltiness there. I was expecting that the white sauce would be like the white sauce in the nachos of Palms, but not even close. I tried the buffalo tenders that one of my officemates so graciously ordered and shared. Now, I am no expert but I always thought that buffalo wings/tenders should be spicy but apparently not. The buffalo tenders they had were sweet, it tasted like chicken tenders with a sort of sweet-and-spicy UFC sauce. They even had their house Habanero sauce which was so watered down that the essence of the Habanero chili was reduced to a mere red pepper. The chicken was tender enough for me not complain about it… Although it could still be a little more tender, just enough for it to be cut/shredded without the use of a knife.

Now for the heavy stuff. I naturally started with the seafood since I enjoy red more more (save the best for last). The baked mussels were simply superb. Aside from it being unnaturally huge (which according to the people from ocean park are due to excess pollution of the sea), it had melted cheese, garlic with a hint of creamy mushroom taste that just blew my mind away. The only thing I have to complain about the baked mussels is that it was very few and I wanted to eat more of them. I want to know how to bake mussels the way they did so that I can eat it while drinking beer. The fried fish fillet was nothing special, the tar-tar sauce had no twist to it making it a bore to eat in a semi-fancy restaurant in one of the most expensive places in the Philippines. That dish did not belong in that type of restaurant because of its plain looking and easy cooking process- it is just breaded fried fish without the chips! The grilled shrimps were also quite delicious. It had the grilled-smokey flavor to it plus the natural sweetness of the shrimp itself. The calamares of course is scrumptious as  it should be… although I only ate one…

I then went to the red meat platter. I unwisely went for the tastiest looking item on that platter which were the ribs. I like the tenderness, the meat was easy to separate from the bones which is an indication of proper preparation of the meat. I kept my hopes up… The ribs had a sweet, hickory glaze which I felt missed some tangy flavor to it, so I added their own steak sauce. It was not racks or A1 but, it somehow satisfied my tongue temporarily. I ate the pork chops next, dry as they were. I did not enjoy the pork chops as they were charred to a point that the oils were gone removing the natural taste. To put it simply, it tasted more like charcoal than pork. The grilled chicken was also a disappointment since again, the charcoal flavor drowned whatever taste the chicken may have had. Not even the gravy (which is a far cry from KFC gravy) could remedy it.  swear, KFC gravy should be the universal gravy from now on IF adding red wine, liver juices and Worcestershire will not be added. I spent PHP 230 for it. On a regular day, PHP 230 SHARED with 10 people should get me nachos, liempo, sisig, onion rings, calamares, popcorn, 1/4 a burger, and a bucket of beer. So was eating at Tender Bob’s worth it? Not for me it was not. I’m not sure about the rich people who have no qualms about spending that kind of money for mediocrity have to say about it.

The final verdict: I give Tender Bob’s a 3/5.

 

 

 

Branded stupid for getting ripped-off

Salutations all those who can read this!

(Will be inserting a picture here as soon as I receive them from facebook). Earlier today, My friends and I participated in our first, and what would be our last “marathon” (it was more of a fun run since it was short) for a cause. It was the Condura Skyway Marathon- run for the Dolphins (apparently Dolphins do not run- surprise surprise). Kidding aside, this Marathon was a fund raiser to save Dolphins from I’m guessing extinction or being turned into canned tuna. I only joined the 5 K(m) run because it was the cheapest one at PHP 750 – well, the 3 K was also PHP 750 but I felt like 3 K was a very short distance. It turned out that  5 Km was quite short as well, I finished around 40 minutes. PHP 750 just run? I could do that for free in my village for a longer time. I do not even find Dolphins cute. I just did this for 3 reasons:

1. I needed and still need to lose weight
2. We were “convinced” by our health-buff friend to run.
3. To cross it out of my none existent bucket list.

Champion Team?.. with coach!

Well, I got experience a real fun run – it is not all that is cracked up to be. I guess guys join these sort of events because of  the pretty women (highlight of my day aside from crossing the finish line). We had to sacrifice one Saturday of drinking for this… I feel somehow violated, I was robbed of a Saturday evening and a Sunday Morning sleep. Did I mention I spent PHP 750? I could have bought a game with that money. Instead what do I get? 300 calories burned, a dri-fit shirt which I might not where anymore because I don’t where dri-fit shirts, a medal that I cannot pawn so it gather dust in my house just like all my other medals, 2 bottles of juice that I don’t drink and a sachet of corned beef that I will consume later and the feeling of hunger and wanting to go number 2 at the same time (I had a lot of popcorn the night before).

Notice how forced my smile is...

I did not get my money’s worth, what happened to my PHP 750? The medal and shirt probably but all others were given by sponsors. There were fireworks before the start of the race, which probably weakened all the runners’ lungs even quite a bit (luckily I am a smoker so that kind of smoke is nothing to me). I do not even know if these Condura people are true to their word that they will save the Dolphins with the money that I Paid. If the population of Dolphins in wherever they plan to save them declines, they just robbed thousands of people of their hard-earned money just so that the one who organized and sponsored this event gets to have tax exemptions. I definitely did not sign up and pay to watch a fireworks show, I light fireworks every New Year (for the past 2 years at least), they could have paid the host, I know I did not sign up to pay them either. I thought that there would be cars on the road while we ran, I did not know that they were closing the roads on our route either. Just imagine how much they had to pay for that., that was in the Fort. Oh, before I forget, why the heck is the finish line near the barbecuing area” I had to pass through maybe 100 meters of tempting delicious, mouth-watering aroma of grilled meat and the smoke slightly covered the finish line drew me toward the Tent with the scrumptious looking food. I swear I almost went out of focus and not cross the finish line because I really wanted to eat.

Don't bother comparing the medals please...

Now, let me reiterate that this run was to save Dolphins. Why not save the environment? As a grandson of an environmentalist, I was extremely taken aback by the way they allowed runners to just throw away plastic cups on the road and on the grass. So they clean it up, does that absolve them of doing damage to the earth? Apparently Dolphins are more valuable than mother nature. Congratulations Condura for being able to get PHP 750 from me… You played me for a fool and I accept defeat. Yes, I admit that it was a stupid idea sign up for this. Luckily, I learn from my mistakes and I will never do it again. To those who find it invigorating to run after spending money, do what you want but kindly do not include me anymore – or if you want me to join, pay for my registration fees.

F.U.!!! I WANT MY SATURDAY BACK!!! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!

‘Til next time my faithful readers!

Once Upon a Time in Texas

From El Mariachi to Desperado to Once Upon a Time in mexico, then again with Grindhouse- Planet Terror, and who can forget Sin City. Robert Rodriguez has done it once again with Machete. A blood fest of chopped limbs, splattered blood, stereotyping played into what can be considered as black comedy… and a whole lot of nudity.

Starring Danny Trejo as Machete, an ex-Federale agent who was robbed of everything… He was betrayed by the organization who hired him and is out on a rampage to take put these people into justice. Playing Opposite him is the untouchable Steven Seagal as the Drug lord Torrez, who controls the law using his drug money. Also starring Robert De Niro, Jeff Fahey,Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan and Cheech Marin.

The story of the movie Machete is set in Texas, where Mexicans cross the border to America to start over and have low-paying, menial jobs. The problem is, the border patrol of  Von Jackson (Don Johnson) is out to kill illegal border-crossers. With the help of Sen. John McLaughlin, Texas is aiming to get rid of the illegal immigrants once and for all. And guess who is there to stop them? You guessed it – Machete, with the help of Luz (Michelle Rodriguez) and Agent Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba), oh and let us not forget Cheech’s character – Padre Cortez. The rest will be spoilers if I continue to go on.

Machete is your typical Robert Rodriguez film- Low budget, fun to watch, bloody, action-packed but not the type of movie that will garner any nominations from your Golden Globes or Oscars. Machete is a sort of revolutionary hero with a strong sense of justice and honor… who enjoys using a Machete to mutilate his foes. The movie is quite pointless if you look at it in today’s perspective, although it could have been an inspiration to Mexicans looking to change their lives in the USA. The revenge plot in tis movie is so complex, it becomes a little too ridiculous but that is what makes this movie so enjoyable.  The B-movie theme, the intentional lousy editing makes the film seem more like an old school movie. Forget special effects and huge explosions, all this movie needed was a Machete and a shotgun-wielding priest with cheesy lines to keep the audience engaged. Regarding the politics of the movie, you can basically see the stance of Robert Rodriguez in this one. The “epic” battle scenes at the end are not as long and dramatic as your Bravehearts or Lord of the Rings type but it is definitely more entertaining with all the blood-splattering and the way Michelle Rodriguez “dramatically”  shows up with … SPOILER – I’ll skip that. The final duel between Machete and Torrez, -Machete versus Katana, simply unbelievable.

If you are a sucker for the more intellectual movies which require a deep understanding of everything and you do not like shallow, pointless movies – then this movie is something you should avoid. If you are the exact opposite of   the above, then this movie is right up your alley. I personally found this movie strangely alluring, it could be the aura of Danny Trejo or Cheech. I had an awesome time laughing my ass off watching this movie.

My final verdict, a 3/5.

‘Til next time my faithful readers.