Rating : 90 The Ultimate Dragon Ball Z game! The power levels go to NINE THOUSAND!

Dragon Ball Z : Burst Limit for Xbox 360 was Kamehameha anime blast.

The Japanese anime series Dragon Ball Z has seen it's fair number of fighting video games since the 16-bit Nintendo Super Famicom days on just about every video game platform out there. The long running super-powered martial art manga about super-badass aliens with super-spiky hair is the brain child of legendary comic artist Akira Toriyama. If it looks familiar the same guy designed graphics and characters for Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon. The long running comic spawned an even long running animated series that is popular and universally well regarded in Japan. Modern anime series like Naruto and Bleach are trendy flashes the pan compare to the lasting staying power of Dragon Ball Z. It is an epic drawn out melodrama with lots of manly dudes with spiky magical glowing hair that will spend several episodes locked in gigantic battles that consist of hyper fast punches, flying around at lightning speed and massive energy blasts that pretty much anyone in the series can do. It is on a scale of a Wagner opera but with influences of the Chinese literature tail The Journey to the West. The motivations and epic drama of these super egos are narrated in a scale that puts Mexican soap operas to shame. If you are unaccustomed to the series it might make as much sense as a Mexican soap opera untranslated even if you watch the english dubbed version of Dragon Ball Z. The Dragon Ball comic series started in 1984 and lasted to 1997. The reason why I am going on about the series is that you have to keep it in mind while judging this game.

The Namco and Bandai affiliated development studio Dimps has developed many 3d fighting games but this is the first high-definition Dragon Ball Z for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The company Dimps is a codeveloper of Street Fighter IV with Capcom so there is a good chance that the shaded anime technology that went into this game is also going into Street Fighter IV. Trust me that is a very good thing.

Update : Looks like there is some serious dough in publishing Dragon Ball Z games.

The makers of this game have a loving respect for Dragon Ball Z and they put an inordinate level of detail from the series into the graphics, characters, music and animation into the game. It is a 3d hyper kinetic fighting game that recaps and recreates battles from the series, but in 3d cel-shaded fluid animated high definition treatment that ended up looking more eye-popping and visually awesome than the original hand drawn animated series. They set out the make the ultimate Dragon Ball Z game and they knew that the Otaku were going to be going over it with a microscope to make sure it is faithful to the series. Their dedication to the original source might adversely affect the games enjoyment to gamers that have never seen Dragon Ball Z before.

If you are interested in this game I suggest you rent a DVD the animated series to get ready for it. The game is an interactive recap of all the epic fights. There are dramatic cut scenes with dialog mid fight that sort of breaks them up into mini-chapters accompanied with power ups.

The story switches to the bad guys for some fights and there are tons of costumes, characters, chapters and other unlockable content goodies that are unveiled by playing the main story.

The high-definition character graphics are the best looking cel-shaded on the Xbox 360/PS3. The motion blur and special energy effects were especially tasty.

The play control was very tight. Timing and reflexes are essential in combat in this game. I am very glad that I did the tutorial before jumping right into the game. The controls use every single button on he Xbox 360 pad and are more complex than most 3d fighting games. The combat is well done but but repeats often, most of the characters play pretty much the same. Flying around and teleporting behind your enemies while they try to get you with an energy burst are the real key here. There is Xbox Live game play but it seamed that there was more lag than other fighting games.

This game has lots of dialog in both English and Japanese by most of the original voice actors.

The background and skies look nice but there are essentially flat. It would have been better to have some destructible environments but it's fun knocking your opponent so high that you have to fly after them.

They set out to make the ultimate Dragon Ball Z fighting game and they succeeded for better or worse. If you don't like Dragon Ball then your going to hate this game. It is one of the most impressive anime games I've ever seen but it is so hard core otaku that only the neo-Akihabara nerds will appreciate it to the fullest. If you love Dragon Ball Z that you should fly on a magical sky cloud to the store to get a copy of this game (you would also be the only one to understand that reference).

MTV Games, Electronic Arts and Harmonix announced on Monday that Rock Band 2 is coming this September and it is going to be hitting the Xbox 360 first.

This is a limited timed exclusive and eventually the PS3 and Wii will get their own version of Rockband 2 but for the time being you can expect that Microsoft is going to be pretty stoked that they are going first on one of the biggest music games of Holiday 2008 while Sony an Nintendo have to sit at the back of the Tour bus. It's a little crazy that we are already talking about what games are going to be out this holiday season.

The the big news is that all of these all ready downloaded and purchased songs from Rock Band 2 will instantly switch over and be imported into Rock Band 2

They are working on new versions of the Rock Band controllers but most of the existing Rockband accessories should work on the new game.

The PRess release as follows :

More Music, Online Modes, Features Than Ever Before With New and Improved Drum and Guitar Peripherals
Rock Band Online Music Store Passes 15 Million Paid Downloads
Rock Band 2 Makes Exclusive Debut on Xbox 360 This September

Harmonix, the world's premier music video game company in the world, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with marketing and distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), are taking the groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level this September with the release of Rock Band 2. With the original providing millions of players a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 is the next evolution of the franchise that redefined the standard for music games.
Rock Band is the groundbreaking platform that allows music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before - challenging players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Rock Band 2 builds upon its foundation as the first music game to introduce co-operative band gameplay, multiple instruments, a robust online multiplayer experience, an unrivaled offering of downloadable content and raises the bar by delivering an entirely new level of depth, connectivity, authenticity and features including:

"As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we've now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans' requests and to build upon that foundation," said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. "Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level."

Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for additional platforms later this year.
"We expect Rock Band 2 to continue to drive an amazing social music experience on Xbox 360, said David Hufford, senior director, Xbox Product Management for the Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft. "We look forward to supporting Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 as gamers continue to download hundreds of new music tracks from Xbox LIVE so they and their friends can perform the rock music they love most.
More details regarding features and music for Rock Band 2 will be revealed at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit. Rock Band, the first installment in the franchise, garnered more than 40 awards including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007.
In addition, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 15 million paid downloads since the game's launch in late November 2007. With more than 200 tracks available to date via download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated "T" for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.
For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

Remember back when I had a write up of Xbox's Shane Kim when he was speaking at the Vancouver Game Conference. He flat out unambiguously said that he didn't always think that the $249 Nintendo Wii was always going to have a lower price point advantage over the Xbox. I took that to mean that there was going to be a hardware price cut combined with the fact that they have new manufacturing partners in Taiwan and the new "Jasper" Xbox 360 motherboard is due out at the end of the summer.

Fast forward to now, Joystiq and Xbox 360 fanboy have come across a potentially leaked K-mart news paper insert for July 6 that states the price of a Xbox 360 with a 20Gig HD at $299 that would mean a $50 price cut. Now the Xbox 360 Arcade currently is 280 and if they knocked $50 off it that would mean a $230 price point would be twenty bucks lower than the Wii.

They also might want to clear out all the existing 20-Gig Hard Drive Xbox 360s they have instock in case they finally announce the change to the 60-Gig Hard Drive coming standard at E3.

This could just be a Photoshoped hoax but the possibility of a Pre-E3 price cut for Xbox hardware is pretty likely. You would not believe how many things like this are leaked by a printer with bad security.

Update : Another ad has surfaced showing the Xbox 360 price cut coming the weekend of July 13. That would mean a price cut would be announced at E3.

Crack open a cold one and put a steak on the grill because the Xbox 360 DRM License Transfer Tool is finally live. This is a big deal to folks that have suffered through the Red Ring of Death and have not hand their purchased content transferred to their newer box.

It is an online web tool that can transfer the licenses of content that you purchased on another Xbox 360 to a newer one. It should be just the thing if you get a post RRODed box or an upgrade. Until now having your Xbox 360 die on you and then not getting your purchased content to work on the Xbox that you got back has been salt in an already painful wound. This tool is probably the most important peice of software for the Xbox 360 this year.

Now there is nothing stopping me from getting a Jasper powered Xbox 360 this fall.

A FAQ was just released.

A week and a half ago I downloaded a movie rental off Xbox Live Marketplace that was a free rental as a part of their Ninja Gaiden 2 weekend of the Ninja promotion. It was a 1970s martial arts movie that I think was made in China but it was supposedly about ninjas and ninjas are Japanese. Anywho. The DRM on the movie will expire with in 24 hours after you hit play on it and it will expire on it's own in about two weeks. That time is going to be up in the next two days and I am not sure if I am going to find the time tonight or tomorrow to watch the whole thing. This is the third movie that I have downloaded from Xbox Live. The first was the quintessential mind blowing anime film Akira in HD, I thought it looked great but I was busy that weekend and did not get to finish watching it until the DRM expired, the next was when McDonalds was giving away free download rentals of Austin Powers, I watched it for ten minutes then played a game and didn't get back to it and the DRM expired. I understand that the MPAA and other Hollywood groups are the ones that make Microsoft and others put these kind of strict restrictions.

Now rather than watching this movie on my own time they only chance I will have is to watch it tonight. It is ironic that since I am used to getting my TV and movies on my own terms and time table from PVRs, Netflix, iTunes, and BitTorrent but now I have to figure out if I am going to have time to squeeze in a movie on the technologies time.. not mine. I just don't like having a deadline to watch a movie in comfort of my own home. I don't see how anyone can be serious when they talk about how online movie downloads is supposed to replace physical media distribution when they have this software demanding self rotting. Yes I understand it is a "rental" but how about I get at least two full viewing of the movie without it expiring and watching it on my schedule. I think the best implementations of DRM are the ones that you never notice that it is there. Time expiring DRM Bah! I

Normally I don't get excited bout first person shooters set in world-war two but there is something about the Call of Duty : World At War in the Japanese pacific theater that I just know is going to make a sweet game. I had one grandfather that fought for the US in Europe and another that fought for the US in the Pacific. I know shooting virtual Nazis and Fascists almost never gets dull but it this trailer sent shivers up my spine. As a world war 2 game based on the new Call of Duty 4 engine it's chance to be an awesome game just jumped up a few knots.

Rating : 91% Rocks Pretty Darn Hard!

On monday I rushed out the store to get my copy of Guitar Hero : On Tour for the Nintendo DS.

It's an original Guitar Hero game built for a guitar like controller with four strut buttons that snaps into the Gameboy Advance cartridge port on the Nintendo DS Lite. The controller is held in place by a strap and house a detachable guitar pick stylus. You hold the Nintendo DS on it's side and grasp the back of the guitar controller with your left hand on the strut buttons. There is only four strut buttons instead of Guitar Hero normally having five but I don't see how they could realistically squeeze five on to such a small area. I have some pretty big hands and this was just about big enough for me. When I started playing it I had my wrist turned and got some minor cramping. After I saw the notice about keeping your wrist straight the discomfort went away and good times were had by all. Star power is triggered by talking into the DS's microphone port, I usually said "Rock out!". The virtual whammy bar is controlled by moving the pick over the screen while pressing down. When you strum you need to lift the stylus off the screen and sort of tap it.

You strum a virtual guitar on the vertical Nintendo DS touch screen on the right using the pick stylus and work the frets with your left hand. You can flip it for lefties and there is an connector so the controller can snap into the original Phat Nintendo DS. This feels like a first party accessory and I love the idea of additional controllers snapping into the DS and I instantly took to playing along to the songs. Having an actual pick to strum was more fun than I had expected and it would be sweet to see it on a large guitar controller.

The only real complaint is that it is way too short. There is only 26 tracks in the game and five venues to play in. That is a lot of music but the disc based Guitar Hero games had a much bigger selection. There is in room mulitplayer over Wifi but there is no online multiplayer.

The music sounds great. They used some good compression and it when you turn it on the game encourages you to play it with headphones. As a first for Guitar Hero games they had some band do covers of songs but put their own take on them. I think it paid off but they also have plenty of tracks by the original bands. I got a kick of of having "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield, "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister, and "Breed" by Nirvana in Guitar Hero game.

The graphics really push the Nintendo DS and it is instantly recognizable as Guitar Hero. The style reminded me more of Guitar Hero II and the freaky giant mouthes singer of Guitar Hero III was luckily toned down in general freakatude. Graphically it is pretty impressive for a Nintendo DS game. The note interface was clear and easy to follow.

The game was developed by Vivacious Visions who made the Tony Hawk games for Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS and Red Octane built the controller.
It is a bit more than other Nintendo DS games at $50 but it is totally worth it. It is about half the cost of Guitar Hero 3 and compared to the cost of the giant Rock Band combo it's down right affordable.

This is a real Guitar Hero game. I was way more excited about this one over Guitar Hero : Aerosmith this summer or Guitar Hero IV : Rock Band "Clone" coming this fall. I got the feeling it's not a pure cash in game.

It is the best Nintendo DS music game since Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan.
It was a pretty respectable effort and a very successfully conceptualized and executed game. I have no doubt that this is going to be one of the best selling Nintendo DS games of the year and I am impressed with the sheer amount of rockatude that they were able to cram into such a small form factor. This game rock hard but now in a friendly portable size.