Music Video of the Week #2

What’s better than one Phil Collins? Three Phil Collins.

Ok, but seriously, I thought this was the sweetest video ever when I was five years old. See, I wasn’t that cool back then.

Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love

 

Money Talks: July NPD Numbers

 

The video game console sales numbers for July were released yesterday and they’re kinda scary. Yes, scary. Well, both scary and obvious I should say.

(via GameDaily BIZ)

Wii – 425,000
DS – 405,000
PS2 – 222,000
PSP – 214,000
360 – 170,000
PS3 – 159,000
GBA – 87,000

“What’s so scary about a list of numbers, Chu?” you ask? How about the fact that there was not a single decent release for the Wii in July yet it still managed to move 400K units? No good games whatsoever. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Mind you, Mario Strikers Charged doesn’t really count since it came out on the last day of the month. What’s scarier is that it even managed to outsell to outsell-able Nintendo DS Lite by a convincing amount. This machine is definitely evil. What’s “obvious” is that Nintendo dominated this month once again. Nothing new there.

The PSP is going great but is once again overshadowed by the DS Lite. The PS2 is still as healthy as ever while the PS3 wishes its older brother would just die already. Sorry to annoy the Sony fanboys out there, but I see trouble for the PS3 come this fall. Even after a substantial price cut firesale the PS3 still cannot beat the 360’s numbers. And with Halo 3 looming closer and the recent drop in price for the Xbox 360 I don’t think Sony is going to gain any ground on its competitor. Sony has a great lineup of original IP’s coming the fall (Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune) and exclusives (Ratchet & Clank) but they are simply no match for Master Chief and his gang.

The software charts show that America just loves that American football. The number one spot will obviously belong to Madden ‘08 next month.

(via GameDaily BIZ)

1. NCAA Football 08 (Xbox 360) — 397K
2. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s (PS2) — 339K
3. Wii Play w/remote (Wii) — 278K
4. NCAA Football 08 (PS2) — 236K
5. Mario Party 8 (Wii) — 177K
6. NCAA Football 08 (PS3) — 156K
7. Pokémon Diamond (DS) — 144K
8. Transformers: The Game (PS2) — 143K
9. Guiitar Hero II w/guitar (PS2) — 138K
10. Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360) — 108K

WHO THE HECK IS STILL BUYING Wii Play?!!!

BTW: Wii Unofficially Overtakes the Xbox 360

Nintendo has just proved that a year’s head start doesn’t mean jack.

According to vgchartz.com, and independent game sales tracking site, the Wii has exceeded the worldwide sales of the Xbox 360. The fact that the 360 doesn’t actually exist in Japan probably has something to do with this event happening so early.

You can hate all you want, but you have to hand it to Nintendo. They took big risks when others chose not to and it’s paying off. Even they didn’t expect things to go this well. No one did. To surpass your competitor, who had a year and 7 million unit advantage, in 10 months is truly a feat.

Simply amazing.

Conchord Song of the Week: “Mother Uckers”

Flight of the Conchords – Mother Uckers

 

Cheap Thrills: Rachet & Clank – Up Your Arsenal, Call of Duty 2

Unfortunately for us, the human race is not a highly advanced one that’s able control the fabric of time. If we could, then some of us would squeeze in enough hours to play all the games we’ve wanted to get our hands on but simply couldn’t. The good thing about missing out on some games is that they sell for much cheaper a year or so after release, which does less damage on your wallet. Cheap Thrills is here to point out those gems you might have missed. Cheap Thrills is your friend.

Hit up your local Gamestop or EB to guarantee these games at these prices.

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Greatest Hits) $20
Playstation 2

The Ratchet and Clank series is one of my favorite Sony exclusive franchises to date. You play as Ratchet the Lombax (don’t ask me what the heck those are), who is somehow always left with the job of saving the galaxy, and his robotic sidekick Clank, who acts as his multi-purpose backpack. Up Your Arsenal is the third installment in the series. I got really into the first two, which were serious kick-ass platform shooters, but kinda forgot about picking up the third one for some reason. Maybe San Andreas, Resident Evil 4, Guitar Hero, God of War, countless matches of Smash Bros., and the Wii had something to do with it.

The basic idea of R&C is pretty simple: hop around and blow stuff up. I like simple ideas. What made this series stand above the rest are the inventive weapons and the humor, and Up Your Arsenal perfects the two. The dialog is extremely witty and sarcastic, which is right up any teenager or young adult’s alley. The weapons are quite imaginative. Take the “Quack-o-Ray”, which turns enemies into ducks that then lay exploding eggs. Or how about the “Agents of Doom”, a group of tiny kamikaze robot with freakin’ lazers attached to their heads. They only get better. The gameplay varies quite a lot, which is always great; one mission you’ll be running and gunning and the next you’ll be in control of a car equipped with turret…being manned by a monkey. Believe it. The game never gets boring.

Picking up UYA was one of the smartest buys I’ve made in a while. It has value oozing out of the case at a mere $20 (about $17 used). It is one of the best titles on PS2, hands down. If you don’t believe me, ask 1UP or IGN. If you plan on adding this game to your collection I recommend playing through it’s two prequels, which are priced at about the same (maybe even less). You will no be disappointed.

By the way, Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction comes out for the PS3 this fall. Nothing like good ol’ Ratchet blowing crap up in HD!

Call of Duty 2 $20
Xbox 360

World War II shooters never seem to get old, do they? COD2 was considered the best launch game for the 360 in 2005, and surprisingly the game still holds up well after 2 years. The graphics are solid, the sound is great (especially if you have a 5.1 system), and the controls are tight. I have almost completely ignored the single player campaign because the online multiplayer is so damn addictive. For some reason I prefer it to Call of Duty 3’s online gameplay.

Although COD2 was limited to only 8 players (against COD3’s 24 player cap-bustin’ fiestas) it just feels so much more intense than it’s sequel. Playing COD3 online felt as though I was just thrown into a group of 12 people on a large map with random tanks scattered around waiting to blow me up. It felt like Smash Bros. in first-person mode; sometimes you have no idea what the hell is going on. COD2, on the other hand, makes me feel like I’m fighting for my dear life while three other dudes have my back. When I see my teammate get pumped by a MP44 Rifle, I can hear every single bullet crashing loudly into his chest. Seeing my other teammate get sniped right in front of me always leaves me saying the same thing: “HOLY SH*T!” And when I finally get sniped I can feel the dead silence that soon follows. You just don’t get that in COD3. You just see a bunch of people getting shot and blown up. That’s cool and all, but I’d rather play something that gets my senses jumping.

COD2 is made by the original makers of Call of Duty (Infinity Ward) unlike COD3 (Treyarch). Infinity Ward is developing the future release Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, so the best way to practice for those COD4 fragfests is to pick up a copy of COD2. Money well spent.

COD4 is crazy. COD4 wants to slap you in the face. COD4 wants to eat your children. You will play it.

Music Video of the Week #1

Every Monday I’ll be posting a music video that had a huge impact on my life. You might be familiar with some of them, but others are quite odd and will leave you confused; confused about why I would enjoy such peculiar music videos. Honestly, I have no idea why. Some videos just grab me.

Air – Sexy Boy

 

How I Wanted to Like Rush Hour 3…

…but just couldn’t. I tried.

Here were my thoughts going into the movie (aka my reasons for actually paying money to see it):

• Boy, Rush Hour 1 and 2 sure were funny back in middle school. It’s still probably funny now.
• Chris Tucker…and Jackie Chan. One is funny (or used to be, i’m not sure), the other does crazy monkey kung-fu. Nothing wrong there.
• Stereotypical racial jokes galore! Everyone wins!

I was so wrong. Nobody wins when seeing Rush Hour 3. The only people that do win are those could care less about plot in a movie or those who have no self respect. RH3 is a mish-mash of Chris Tucker being loud, racial cracks that you’ve heard before or just aren’t that funny, action movie plot clichés (good cop vs. his criminal brother) with martial arts and guns stuck somewhere in the middle. There. I summarized it. Now you don’t have to see it.

Seriously, if you are going to see this movie (and have completely disregarded what I have just wrote), don’t forget to leave your brain at the ticket booth; it won’t be needed. I made the mistake of bringing mine with me. If you are good at leaving your brain behind (Did you enjoy Van Helsing? Pirates 3? If yes, then you’re very good at it) then you’ll probably enjoy this movie.

My highlight of the movie was Tucker singing “Kung Fu Fighting” and the half-naked French women .

Luckily, I ended up getting a free movie ticket via my rewards cards, which I will willingly spend on Superbad this friday. I guess watching RH3 wasn’t a complete loss.

Conchord Song of the Week

Flight of the Conchords – “Leggy Blonde”

“I had a budgie, but it died. I…love…pieeeee!”

The song is just so…deep.

SSBBU: New Character! “Pokemon Trainer”

Wow. Just…wow. Pretty f*ckin’ awesome. Sucks that it’s not Ash though

via smashbros.com

“No way! The Pokémon Trainer has finally arrived. And it looks like he doesn’t do his fighting directly. Instead, he uses the three Pokémon with him—Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard—to do the fighting for him.”

“The Pokémon Trainer watches from the background.”

“Is… Is he issuing commands?! He needs to use his three Pokémon to fight. So the only ones who fight directly are the Pokémon. I guess you could say using this character is like playing three for the price of one! And the Pokémon Trainer uses a special move called Pokémon Change to switch between them.”

<Down Special Move: Pokémon Change>

“Good job, Ivysaur! Come back!”

“The returning Pokémon tags the next Pokémon.”

“Charizard! I choose you!”

“They swap out in a set order: Squirtle→Ivysaur→Charizard.”

“They all share the same damage meter, so they don’t recover from damage during Pokémon Change. But they also have another stat, which you might call stamina. If you keep fighting with the same Pokémon, or if you change them out too often, it’s not so good for the Pokémon. If you want to be a good Pokémon Trainer, you’ll need to learn these kinds of ins and outs.”

CHARIZARD?!! F*ck yes.

Imagine a melee with four Pokemon Trainers.

Recommend: Flight of the Conchords

With Lost and The Office both taking a (long ass) break, I find myself looking for new shows to pass the time. The latest one I came across was Flight of the Conchords on HBO, featuring a real band (from New Zealand) that goes by the same name. The show follows the two bandmates, who are attached at the hip, as they struggle to make it big in New York City; a place much different from their humble nation. They run into characters and random situations that prove just how out of place they really are in this country.

There are two great things about this show; the humor and (especially) the music. The humor is quite sarcasitic, witty, slightly Napoleon Dynamite-esque, and is filled with tons of awkward silences. The band manages to fit in two hilarious songs in every episode, which appear out of nowhere. It’s like watching your favorite comedy and having cheesy (but incredibly funny) music videos randomly appear. The lyrics are wonderfully silly yet creative while packed with charm. Trust me, it all works. Here are some of my favorites:

You’ll either enjoy this show or find it completely stupid. Nothing in between.

Catch it Sundays, 10:30 (I think) on HBO. And if you don’t have HBO, like me, you’ll find other ways to acquire the episodes (*cough* torrents *cough*).