The surprising success of this hit from last year (as well as the failures of 25 to Life, FInal Fight Streetwise, and many others) proves that not everyone who plays Grand Theft Auto plays it for the sex and violence, but for the way it implements it’s open world design.  Pick one of three mercenaries, each of which with thier own special talents, and blaze across North Korea in an attenpt to dethrone a dictator, capture the deck of 52, stop a nuclear strike, and get paid beaucoup dollars while doing it.  You take missions from 4 different factions, playing each side and staying on good terms with them to gain special advantages.  The Russian Mafia for instance, gives you access to the “Merchant of menace” website where you can purchase weapons, vehicles, and anything else you need in your missions.  The main draw of this game is the ability to blow up pretty much anything standing.  You are also free to go about the missions however you choose.  Pandemic, this game’s developer is also behind another solid open world sandbox game, “Destroy all Humans”.  A sequel is also on the way, for PS3 and hopefully Xbox 360.

Fatboy Slim survived the late 90s fascination with techno by creating a big beat sound that… well crap I don’t know how he survived, but it was long enough to compile a greatest hits record.

The opening salvo of “Rockafeller Skank” lets you know pretty much exactly what you’re in for. Fast, fun dance music bouncing along with a refrain repeated to the point that you can sing along by 30 seconds into the cut even if you’ve never heard the song before.

It is kind of amazing how well “Weapon Of Choice” holds up as a track on its own without the video of Christopher Walken dancing along. But after “Praise You,” “Going Out Of My Head,” and sped-up remix of “Brimful of Asha” by Cornershop whiz by, the second half of the record fall off. I suppose part of the problem is that there was no radio format available to play these more recent singles, but they also don’t seem to resonate as “hits” though “Demons” and the new track included “That Old Pair Of Jeans” do show some growth into creating some real songs instead of just mindless head bobbing music (no matter how fun the head bobbing is).

Its summer time. This is your opportunity to get in the car with the sunroof down and holla “Right about now, Funk Soul Brother!” at others. And don’t feel guilty if you want to listen to the same track more than once.

The crack editorial team here assembled in the Powet Watchtower this week to dish out the Final Word on Superman Returns.
After the jump, you can read four reviews, and four differing views on the same movie.
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Throughout gaming, mega man has been one of the most consistent franchises ever.  There have been over 40 games on nearly every major system, a cartoon show, a comic book, an action figure line, and several spin offs (mega man x, legends, zero, and battle network).  This collection contains the first 8 games of the core series, and two unlockable fighting games that until now, had been only seen in japan.  Also, players can unlock artwork and music.  You can play the games in their original 8-bit form, or in navi mode, which has remixed music,(PS2 and Xbox only) new subs menus, and a hint feature for various level points. Still, you can’t power up until mega man 4 or slide until mega man 3.  For the few players who don’t know about Mega Man, the series stars a blue robot. There are 8 stages in each game (6 in the original) which you can tackle in any order.  After you beat each boss, you acquire their weapon.  The trick is knowing which weapon works on which boss.  Mega man 2 introduced a password feature (although each game on this disc can be saved to memory card), while mega man 3, (considered to be the best in the series by many fans) introduced Rush, mega man’s cyber canine side kick.  Mega man 4 and 5 improved on the formula, while 6 didn’t garner much attention since it was released towards the end of the NES’s life cycle and mega man x made it’s debut on the Super Nintendo at the same time.  Mega man 7, which almost didn’t come out due to the SNES being near the end of it’s own life cycle, was the first game of the original series to hit the Super Nintendo. (until then, there was just the mega man x series) Mega man 8 bought the series to Playstation, with cd quality music and anime scenes.  This compilation is pretty much required for anyone who considers themselves a true gamer.

Becuase I’m late and it’s the holiday, I’m gonna break you off with two 20 dollar GOTWs this week. So happy 4th of July everyone!

For all of you whining about original IPs dying out, here ya go. An original IP from the creators of the phenominal Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic. Jade Empire is a nice take on the old RPG conventions. It’s set in a mythical land not unlike Ancient China, and you take the role of one of several customizable characters, each with thier own abilities and attributes as you try to find out the secret behind your past. You’ll gain several abilities throughout the course of the game, such as magic, weapons, and th eability to change your form. Just like in KOTOR, you can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy, but soon, the choices won’t be that easy. You can also enlist the help of several followers who will add thier own might and muscle to yours. The combat system is thankfully all real time, with the ability to preform basic strikes, power attacks, blocks, dodges, and even combos.
I can’t understand for the life of me why this game didn’t take off as well as it should have, but it’s still solid. I found a copy of the limited edition at gamestop for 12 dollars! This is an excellent game for RPG fans looking for a break from the same old conventions. WIth Bioware exclusive to Microsoft, this game is a sign of things to come, particularly thier upcomming 360 sci-fi RPG Mass Effect.

The first wave of Revoltech figures has finally hit retail and I was able to get my hands on a Shin Getter 1 figure a couple weeks ago. I have taken a number of pictures of the figure and posted them in a gallery available here.

Continue reading for a review of the figure.
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In the world of 3-D fighting, three franchises come to mind: Virtua Fighter, Tekken, and Soul Calibur. The first game pioneered the genre, the third introduced complex weapon-based fighting to the tried and true conventions. Tekken may not have had the impact on the genre that the other two did, but it still deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. After 4 solid entries (including Tag Tournament), the series took a step back with Tekken 4, when a frustrating wall fighting system and the attempted insertion of more Soul Calibur-like foot movement turned many players off. Last year, with Tekken 5, Namco revitalized the franchise in a major way. A handful of new characters were added to the Tekken mythos, and the moveset of every returning character recieved a major overhaul. Speaking of returning characters, nearly every character from the past Tekken games shows up. The graphics are some of the best seen on Playstation 2, and there are lots of extras in the game. As an added bonus, the arcade versions of Tekken 1, 2, and 3 have been included for players who want to see how far the series has come.

In the world of 2-d fighting games, 2 names remain at the top; Capcom and SNK.  Sure Arc System and Sammy’s Guilty Gear series may be the better game at the moment, it, as well as other fighting games (both 2-D and 3-D) owe thier existence to the two top dogs of the genre.  The KOF series, with it’s 3 on 3 team-oriented fighting, cast of characters spanning nearly the entire SNK catalog, and it’s heavy storyline has proved to be the fighting genre’s equlivalent to John Madden football.  Ever since it’s inception in 1994, each yearly installment of the series has managed to keep the action fresh as well as satisfy it’s leigons of fans even as the Neo Geo hardware shows it’s age. 

This double pack is a compiliation of the 9th and 10th entries in the series.  KOF 2002 is a “Dream Match”, which is a break in the series’s main storyline.  As such, there is no real plot or endings, but the nature of this game allows for the return of several characters who were either killed off or M.I.A. in the previous installments.  (Most notable of which are Yashiro, Chris, and Shermie of the Orochi team as well as long time SNK villain Rugal.)  KOF 2003 makes the biggest impact however, as it adds a brand-new tag team system as well as lays the ground work for a new storyline featuring the return of the Orochi.  Both of these games are filled with extras, such as hidden artwork, remixed music and backgrounds, and online play (for Xbox only of course).  Anyone who considers themself a fan of fighting games needs to pick this up, and learn some history.  Hopefully we’ll see Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and King of the Fighters XI over here in the near future, but until then, this will definently tide fighting game fans over.