I need someone to mow my lawn. I know, I went on and on last year about how excited I was to have my own yard and my own grass to mow, but you should see this junk. It’s stupidly out of control in my back yard. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that my lawnmower would look at me and ask me if I was serious if I tried to crank it in the jungle that used to be my back yard. I’m not sure how this even happened. One day it’s cold and rainy the next day I live in the Amazon. It’s kinda ridiculous… If you wanted, you could say it’s as ridiculous as the FIFA World Cup is going to be this summer. I.Am.Excited!!! USA v. England for our first match is going to be the most epic football match in our country’s recent history. Yup, it’s that major. To celebrate the upcoming tourney, EA is releasing 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the team at EA have made some pretty cool changes to the popular footy franchise. I’m posting the latest trailer below which showcase the Global Elimination multiplayer tournament that is sure to be one of the most popular modes in the game. The game looks pretty good, of course you could slap FIFA World Cup on an empty packet of M&M’s and I’d probably get hyped over it. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
I love pretty much everything about hip-hop music, and hip-hop culture as a whole. The first CD I remember deciding for myself that I wanted was Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic”. I stayed up late watching Arsenio Hall one night and Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg were the musical guests. My life was never the same. Since then the world has taken hip-hop everywhere it could possibly go. The culture is used to sell everything from sodas to cars. There have been a few videogames based in the hip-hop world, and they’ve run the spectrum of enjoyability. (Side-note: the Spectrum of Enjoyability is sort of like the Matrix of Leadership.) The best of the bunch has been GTA:San Andreas. The worst? Well, that’s got to be the upcoming title from Def Jam and 4mm Games, Def Jam Rapstar. Like the last time I wrote about this game, I’ve got nothing good really to say about the Rock Band-esque title where the player becomes the rapper. This is not what KRS-One meant when he said, “You are hip-hop.” Anyway, Konami has decided to publish the game and announced a few of the 40+ songs that will be released with the game.
2 Pac — I Get Around 50 Cent — I Get Money Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg == Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx –Gold Digger Lil’ Wayne — A Milli Notorius B.I.G. — Juicy Slick Rick — Children’s Story T.I. featuring Rihanna — Live Your Life Wu Tang Clan — C.R.E.A.M. Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West — Put On
I don’t even know what to say. Young Jeezy? Really?? Please just shoot me; make sure you do it before I’m forced to watch any of the sure to be horrible user generated “freestyle rap videos” that players can publish. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but this game sounds like a very bad idea. I don’t like to end the day on a bad note, so let’s end this with a video featuring the greatest hip-hop band of all time, The Roots. Suzanne Vega was on Jimmy Fallon the other night, so she teamed up with ?uestlove, Black Thought and the rest of the crew for an amazing performance that you’ll find below. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
You’ve got to love Comcast. I’m pretty sure they’re staffed by the cast of 16 & Pregnant. It’s ridiculous. I have no clue how one minute my internet can work fine, the next minute it’s out, then it’s working, now it’s out. Don’t even try calling for help, all they can advise you to do is unplug the modem and router then plug it back in. Seriously?!? You think I haven’t tried that already Comcast?? Oh, and trying to explain to them that about half of my HD-Channels don’t come in is like trying to explain to Helen Keller what Mount Rushmore looks like. (Side-note: Was Mt. Rushmore even around when Helen Keller was? Was that a mean analogy?? Whatever…) So, between fighting with my internet, pollen trying to kill me, and pretty much no Wii news coming out this week, it’s been a bit dull. Well, let’s liven this bitch up a bit!! There are tons of “viral” videos for Monster Hunter Tri over at Gametrailers, there’s also a nice dev diary for the WiiWare title Cave Story, as well as a trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man game, Shattered Dimensions; I’m posting all of them below. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
I’ve talked about the totally badass looking Capcom game Monster Hunter Tri on here before, so you know it’s a game I’m a bit hyped about. You probably also know that the game has been a massive hit in Japan, and will be released here in the states April 20, which is just over two weeks away. So, if you want to see a bit of the game (which comes shipped with the ridiculously sexy Classic Controller Pro, BTW) in action, follow me down the rabbit hole.
IGN has posted up a nice little preview of Tri, but there’s no need to visit those guys; you can stay here with the cool kids!! (Side-note: If, by some weird act of fate, someone from IGN is reading this, I didn’t mean it. You guys can be the cool kids too. All you have to do is hire me!! BOO-YAH!!!) Basically, in MHT you play an insane, murderous sociopath who hunts the crap out of monsters and then kills them dead. After he murders the innocent monsters, he decides to degrade them even further by using their corpses to upgrade his own weapons and armor. That’s right, this psychopath doesn’t ever get stronger, faster or smarter by hitting the gym and using XP points, he just makes weapons out of his victims. It’s actually a bit disturbing if you really think about it. Let’s be honest though, you don’t come to TheSpin to think, you come here for the awesomeness and the videos!! Luckily, the videos I’m posting below are chock full of awesomeness. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
Japanese Role Playing Games, or JRPG’s as I like to refer to them, are a pretty big deal to a lot of people, especially Japanese people. The Japanese are also notorious supporters of all things Nintendo. I can only imagine the amount of tears that have been shed over the lack of substantial JRPG’s for the Wii. The PS3 and the 360 both have Final Fantasy they can wave in the face of Wii owners. Well, if you’re someone who’s been clamoring for the next major JRPG, then your wait will be over sometime this Spring when Monolith Software releases Xenoblade. If you’re someone who’s never really gotten into the JRPG genre, but have always wanted to play a game where the world is made up of the corpses of dead Gods, then Xenoblade may be for you. Head over to the official site for the game if you want more info on the game. (Side-note: You may need to speak Japanese as it’s a Japanese site. If for some reason you don’t speak Japanese, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t, you could head over to IGN for the details in boring old English.) Once you’ve done that, watch the trailer for the game below. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
In case you live under a rock, allow me to let you in on the secret that The UFC is freaking huge. Personally, I’m more of a boxing fan, but for the most part I’m in the minority when it comes to my preferred way to view sanctioned ultra-violence. There’s just something about the sweet science that speaks to me. The fact that the G.O.A.T, Manny Pacquiao, represents Mrs. Mike’s homeland is icing on the cake. (Side-note: I don’t care how controversial it may be, Pacquiao is the greatest boxer of all time. Once he destroys Mayweather, you’ll all know I’m right.) While I may prefer boxing, I am a fan of the UFC’s CEO, Dana White. Dude’s awesome and he just got awesomer! Kotaku recently interviewed the man behind the UFC’s success, and he admitted that the Wii is his console of choice.
I can play the Wii with my kids. I can’t play PlayStation. They kill me. .. But the Wii, I can play with the Wii.
White also went on to say that, despite all the fanboys claims, the Wii is actually the console for adults.
But the Wii, I can play with the Wii. Sounds like it’s for the kids, but it’s for the grown-ups.”
That’s right son, the baddest CEO in the universe basically just said that if you consider yourself a mature adult and not some little annoying kid, you should own a Wii. (Side-note: I know that is not at all what he was saying to Kotaku, but whatever. Not like he’s gonna send Rampage “BA Baracus” Jackson over to punch me in the face. I hope..) Since this post was only mildly Wii related, and White doesn’t make a UFC game for the Wii, I’m gonna post a video that will convince the most diehard cynic that Pacman is the greatest. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
EA has been kind enough to allow some game journalists the opportunity to get some hands-on time with their upcoming title NBA Jam. Unfortunately, I apparently didn’t meet the standards needed to be one of the lucky few chosen. It’s okay, I’m not bitter or anything. Don’t sleep, I did have Mrs. Mike confiscate all my of my shoelaces, but I think I’m going to pull through. The screens and details behind the cut are a cure that even Magic Johnson would pay for.
What I’ve pieced together using just a couple of my sources is that basically, NBA Jam is going to be the poo so you should go ahead and take a big whiff. EA has kept the rules of the game the same; no goaltending, everything else goes. They’ve kept the announcer the same, yes he’s still on fire. You’ll be able to play with classic controller, Wiimote turned sideways, or a Wiimote/Nunchuck combo where you flick the Wiimote up then down to shoot. There’s no word on online play yet, but EA loves online action so I expect it to be there. The game looks gorgeous at 30fps, and the team hopes to reach the coveted 60 frames per second. Enough with the words though, you came here for the pictures and I’m here to please. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
You all know how I feel about The Conduit, last year’s winner of the first annual prestigious WiiSpin’s GOTY. I love the game, I love Agent Ford, and I love ASE. So, do you think I was excited when High Voltage Software announced that they were currently working on The Conduit 2? Hells to the yeah I was excited! The team is promising to make the game bigger and better, and are even including online & offline co-op!! Can you imagine playing The Conduit Goldeneye style?!? I’m literally drooling right now. There’s not much to see of the game so far, but check the screens below then hit the jump for some Mario Galaxy 2 goodness.
I think that Mario and Samus Aran may have some sort of rivalry going on. They both had their latest games debuted at the same conference, and they are coming out within weeks of each other. Samus’ latest, Metroid:Other M, will be out June 27, which is just over a month after Super Mario Galaxy 2’s launch date of May 23. That could all be coincidental, but the fact that Galaxy 2 releases an epic gameplay trailer exactly one day after Other M just stinks of conspiracy. A conspiracy made of deliciousness that is! I’m posting the gameplay trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2 below. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
See, I announce some site news and I immediately start sticking to it. I love it when a plan comes together. One of the most anticipated Wii titles this year is Metroid: Other M. Fanboys and girls the world over are drooling over the promise of hearing Samus Aran speak for the very first time. I’ve never been a fanatic of the series because they are usually so damned hard, but I am hyped over the fact that Team Ninja is taking control over gaming’s most famous bounty hunter. Nintendo has been fairly shy about showing the game in motion so far, but it looks like in the weeks leading up to it’s launch in May they look to change that.
The first trailer we saw for Other M, while very beautiful, was all CG and pre-rendered animations. That’s all well and good, but everyone knows the real meat and potatoes are the gameplay trailers. Honestly, I thought we’d have to wait another couple of weeks before we saw this beauty in motion. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong before. Once you watch the trailer below, you’ll know why. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
So, I’ve decided to change how things are done here at TheSpin and want to let you guys in on what’s what. When I first started writing for TheSpin I was a bit torn at the task set before me. I was ridiculously excited that I would be able to write and get something out of it; the thought of people reading and enjoying my writing is still something that makes me smile when I think about it. On the other hand, I felt a bit bad that all I could really do was regurgitate the same news stories from other, bigger sites. I felt like I needed a little something extra, so I decided that extra would simply be my personality. This works very well if you’re the type of person who doesn’t mind reading posts that average something like 700 words. It was usually no bother writing those long posts either, only it made me miss too much. I had to pick and choose what I wrote about because I’m nowhere near creative enough to write 800 words on every Nintendo news story there is. As time has gone on, I’ve learned two things. (Side-note: That’s not even an estimation, I’d say it’s definitely easy to assume that in a years time I’ve only learned two things!) First, I figured out that every site posts the same stories up anyway, so there’s no need fighting the system. Secondly, and more importantly I might add, I’ve started to think that perhaps due to the limitations I’d set for myself, that I’ve held WiiSpin back. This isn’t fair to my readers, the people behind the curtains of TheSpin, or to myself. That’s why, starting today, things will be a bit different around here. If you want to see the very first change in action, hit the jump!
That’s right son, we’re going to start implementing some jumps up in this beast!! You may have wondered why I’ve never used them in the past and the only answer I can give is that it’s definitely not because it took me a year to figure out what that “more” button in Wordpress did… Other than jumps being utilized, I’m going to post more. Here’s what I have roughly planned in my head. (Side-note: When we first moved into our house I had a rough plan of how to get to the nearest Sears, and we wound up driving around lost for about an hour. Mrs. Mike was not pleased. Let’s hope this rough plan goes better than that one…) I’m going to try and get at least two posts up each day. These will more than likely be the same posts you can find on the big boys’ sites, but with a sprinkling of me added on. They’ll be short and to the point, hopefully no more than a couple hundred words followed by a video or some screenshots. Once I week I hope to do one of my patented 800 worders where I rant about the weather or gingers before talking for half a minute about something vaguely Wii-related, showing you the corresponding video, then wrapping it all up with a hip-hop video or some other randomness that has you wondering if maybe you typed in the wrong web address. I have no idea what days the certain type of posts will be on, and I’m not going to try guessing. It’s all gonna depend strictly on how I feel when my fingers hit the keyboard.
Hopefully the changes that I’m making will help push WiiSpin to the next level. It certainly can’t hurt posting more news up, and hopefully it will in turn drive traffic up. Maybe someone in that traffic would be named Reggie and work for a company whose name rhymes with “Binkenso” and he’ll absolutely love my writing and the site and decide to make me the official source for everything Wii. It’s just a dream, but it’s a sweet dream. Following my new guidelines, let’s consider this the long ranty post for the week. I’ll leave you with the launch trailer for Red Steel 2, which was released last week. I still don’t have it. We’re not going to talk about why I don’t have it yet because I’ll just get sad and cry myself to sleep. Again. I’m also serving up the tasty treat known as Reflection Eternal. The super-duos up-coming album is one of my most anticipated of the year, and the second video doesn’t disappoint. Enjoy, and stay thirsty my friends.
