Pick-Up Post: Blur

 

Picking up Blur at this point in the game’s life-cycle seems like an odd choice. For one, it’s roughly 7 months old. Two, Gran Turismo 5 is out, which is a much higher-profile racing game. Three, despite its critical acclaim and heavy marketing push, it bombed at retail, which prompted Activision to drop Bizarre Creations.

None of that matters to me. I want to play this game.

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Girlfriend Gaming – The Co-op Adventures of 50 Cent and Tony Yayo

As I watched my girlfriend shoot up dozens of terrorists in 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, I longed to join in on the fun. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t feature local co-op, which is par for the course for this style of game. Instead, I picked up my own copy and we recently had the opportunity to play online co-op together. Without spoiling anything (as if anyone cares about the ‘amazing’ story contained in this game) we started playing at the point just before you fight a helicopter, and ended our session just after we shot down the third helicopter. Yes, that plays out as ridiculous as it sounds.
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Early Impressions of Plants vs. Zombies on XBOX 360

 

Having first played Plants vs. Zombies on the iPad, I had no doubts going into the XBOX 360 version that this was going to be a good game. However, I did have a few concerns about how the game was going to control. The game lends itself perfectly to touch screen controls, which just isn’t an option on the XBOX 360.

I was also curious about the multiplayer aspects that PopCap Games incorporated into the title. Would multiplayer just be tacked-on or actually add something meaningful to the mix? My brother and I played through a quarter of the game recently to find out.

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Girlfriend Gaming – She Plays 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

My girlfriend wasted no time in building up her PlayStation 3 game catalogue. After just 24 hours of buying the console, she had already obtained six games. Her system came bundled with NHL 11 and Infamous. She then went out and bought Batman: Arkham Asylum, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Bioshock and most curiously, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. When she sat down in front of her new PS3 and chose what game to play first, the choice was clear to her. It did not involve hockey, super powers, caped crusaders, plasmids or Snake Eyes. Instead, she christened her PS3 with desert cities, a non-Indiana-Jones crystal skull and Tony Yayo.

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Canadians Looking For Mad Catz Fightsticks

The Mad Catz fightstick situation in Canada is horrible nowadays. Unlike in the United States, where many different local and online retailers carry the whole line, Mad Catz products are technically only available at EBGames/Gamestop here. When they were available, each store would have maybe one TE and one SE. However, Gamestop has not replenished their supply in months, and I don’t think intend on doing so anytime soon.

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Third Hori Fightstick Breaks

 

As if it did not suck enough that my Hori PS3 Tekken 6 stick broke, my brother and I’s Hori XBOX 360 Tekken 6 stick began failing almost 24 hours later.

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Update: Hori Tekken 6 Limited Edition Fightstick

When I bought this stick almost two months ago, I figured that it would work out just fine as a casual stick to play Street Fighter with. I initially planned to use it only for when I play my coworkers on PSN, which I figured wouldn’t be much at the time.

Well, it ended up being a lot. As in, over 100 hours a lot. Has it withstood the crazy amount of stress I’ve put it through during these last two months?

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Tony Hawk: Shred is Out and No One Cares

 

I thought things couldn’t get any tougher for the Tony Hawk series. After Tony Hawk: Ride bombed at retail, Activision decided that making the sequel a more kid-friendly experience would help the game move units.

Instead, Tony Hawk: Shred has put up some of the worst video game launch numbers I’ve ever seen made public.

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Street Fighter and the Execution Barrier

One of the players I admire most in the Street Fighter IV scene is Sako. He’s notorious for rarely ever leaving his house to play in tournaments, but he’s built quite a buzz for himself through God’s Garden online tournaments, his appearance at SoCal Regionals and from all of the YouTube exposure he gets from fans who upload all of his public matches. Why the buzz? Because he has the most amazing execution the world has ever seen in the Street Fighter IV series. He’s able to do combos that no one else in the world can do, and he can pull them off every time, in live matches, without breaking a sweat. The above combo video is an example of some of the stuff that only he can do.

Watching Sako play as Cammy inspired me to hop into training mode and give her a shot. I was hoping to at least master one Sako-like combo before moving onto something else. I didn’t even come close.

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Early Impressions of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

As much as I loved Assassin’s Creed 2, I cringed when Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood was announced. By the sounds of it, this game exhibited all the signs of a dirty cash-in. For one, this wasn’t called Assassin’s Creed 3. Two, Ubisoft planned to make this game in only a year. Three, and most alarming, Ubisoft announced that this game would feature multiplayer, a feature that nobody asked for from this series.

I’ve warmed up to it enough to pick it up on launch day, but I’m still a bit skeptical. Is Ubisoft treating Assassin’s Creed: Botherhood as a real game? Or is this just another title to slap the franchise name on?

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