It's been a while, eh? The last half of 2007 has been incredibly hectic, leaving almost no time at all for blogging, etc., or even games. Overall, though, it was an awesome year, as I was able to do a ton of stuff and meet a lot of people, and finally go to Japan -- basically where I want to be as soon as humanly possible.

Games and other side-rants:
As for gaming and things of that nature, I just haven't had the time since starting school, really. The first half of the year was awesome, with Forza 2, VF5, and Odin Sphere coming to mind. In Japan I scooped up Trusty Bell and Blue Dragon, neither of which I've finished yet, but when I head back from my little vacation I think I'll pick them up again. Trusty Bell might be tough, being in Japanese and all, but I hope to at least finish Blue Dragon before Lost Odyssey hits the States. I hope it's decent...

Late summer brought BioShock, which, with my amazingly short gaming attention span, I never finished. Madden ended up getting much more play time, as I haven't bought a sports game in ages. I wasted at least two hours a day playing Madden, and then Halo 3, both of which were stolen. I guess I wasn't as blown away by Halo 3 as many others were, as I couldn't bring myself to play it as much as every single one of my friends. After both of these games were stolen, I just didn't feel like buying any more games. Two months later (I think?) I finally picked up VF5 and Mass Effect, both of which have proven to be awesome. I haven't gotten too into Mass Effect, however, as I wanted to return Assassin's Creed to it's lender. AC, as it turns out, is awful.

Also stolen, by the way, were my incredibly bitchin', incredibly expensive limited-run Prada sunglasses, which I was able to retrieve only to find out that the lenses were scratched to hell. Awesome. R.I.P.

What has yet to be stolen (knocks wood) is my purchase of the year, the Apple iPhone. Unlimited texting + unlimited data + MP3 and video = mobile awesomeness, all wrapped up in a shiny interface. Getting e-mail on my phone is also unexpectedly awesome, as is trolling Google Maps. Edge's impressively slow transfer rate is the only thing to really complain about, but with wi-fi almost everywhere, it's almost a non-issue. It's still nice to have the Internet practically everywhere, and it was a lifesaver on my recent trip to Hawaii, the majority of which was spent in the Pacific, where service is surprisingly strong.

Winter has been surprisingly good, between seeing friends again and a trip to Hawaii. The trip was good, despite the rainy weather. Found some delicious tonkatsu, which I haven't been able to find since I was in Tokyo, where I was first introduced to it. Got a second; Wii for Christmas (sold the last one for a decent profit last Christmas), with Mario Galaxy, and after that I picked up Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (3rd copy of RE4) and RE: The Umbrella Chronicles. So far I've played through the majority of The Umbrella Chronicles in a drunken haze with a friend, and a fair chunk of Galaxy. I'll play through RE4 again whenever I have the time.

Music:
I've listened to so much new and random music this year that I couldn't even begin to list the highlights, but I will say that my song of the year was easily "Int'l Players Anthem" by U.G.K. ft. Outkast, which is fitting considering Pimp C's tragic and untimely death. To be honest, I wasn't even close to being a fan of U.G.K. before this song's release, but after listening to it a kabillion times on the way to and from Japan, I can say that it is easily my song of the year. Album of the year was BY FAR The Dear Hunter's Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading. If you haven't listened to it, please do so, because it's incredible. Shout-out to jrm for that, among other things.

2008:
2007 was awesome in many respects, although with two of my closest friends leaving, I'm not so sure I'm going to stay where I am. The goal is Japan, but it just doesn't seem like I'm in the best position to move over there. We'll see as the year progresses. Late addition: going to Tokyo again in August!

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Saw Blackalicious in concert tonight... needless to say, it was pretty damn awesome. I was a fan before, but Gift of Gab's flawless lyricism and bitchin' freestyles put me over the edge. Shitty cell phone pics...

falconkick.com

New domain, same layout. Here's a brief explanation: I used to write for the (bitchin') anime fansite Anime Axess a couple years back... The head honchos Neal and Sean decided that the site was taking up too much time, etc. (basically how all fansites end) and closed down AA. In the meantime, the two agreed to host my blog, and when they closed down AA, keep me hosted. The only condition was basically that they would stop paying for the domain / webspace at "some point in 2007." Not wanting to lose all of my site (layout, etc.), it was time to get a real domain, etc.

the journey

I recently moved from the west coast to Colorado-- here's what I rocked out to as I drove through some of the most miserable places this country has to offer...



Mobb Deep - The Infamous
About once a year I randomly need to listen to Shook Ones Pt. 2-- it's easily one of the best rap songs ever, and the rest of the CD is pretty much on par.



Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
A great CD with bitchin' instrumentation, I listened to this quite a bit. Key tracks - Take Me to the Riot, Personal, Barricade, and (even though it sounds nearly exactly like something Asobi Seksu would put out ) Bitches in Tokyo.



Asobi Seksu - Citrus
At this point, I don't know if this album will ever leave the rotation. It's just too damn good.



The Mars Volta
For accentuating the fact that you're driving through Nevada.



gaming

Right now I'm basically playing Bioshock exclusively... it ownz. Will get back to Lost Planet after that, and Stranglehold next week.

Until next time... For now I'll just try to get all my links and categories back in order.

I've been unexpectedly busy this month-- couldn't get as much gaming in as I wanted to.

Playing

Blue Dragon (360) - Almost on disc 2, I think I'm around 14 hours in. I'd like to finish this up before summer ends and BioShock, Halo 3, and Stranglehold start to dominate my time on the 360 throughout the fall. Still loving it-- seems to just get better and better as I push through it.

Minna no Golf 5 (PS3) - Finally came in from Play-Asia a few days ago, this is just about all I've been playing within the past week. It is incomplete, with no online play aside from huge "tournaments," but the other modes and hopefully more courses will be patched in throughout the coming months. Others have complained that it's not a big enough step up from the last Mingol games, but since I've only really played the PSP one before, this is just fine for me.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3) - Meh. I guess I just don't get the whole Ninja Gaiden thing anymore. It was awesome on the Xbox years ago, and the first level of this one looks incredible, but the rest of the game honestly screams Xbox 1.5 in HD to me. It's not technically impressive and the gameplay isn't doing it for me either. I know it's supposed to be all about the combat, but the mediocre graphics and super generic level design are really disappointing.

Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3) - Still playing casually with friends, can't wait for the 360 version with online play!

Other Impulse Buys

Metal Gear Solid 20th Anniversary Collection (PSone, PS2, PSP) - Picked this up thanks to DC, and although I can't play it / don't have a Japanese PS2, it's still awesome to have. It's bitchin' package for a really good price.

WarCraft III Battle Chest (PC) - As if Blizzard doesn't have enough money, I had to rebuy this because I lost my other copy.

Resident Evil 4 (PC) - I'm tired of this game looking terrible upscaled to HD through the PS3, copy number 2 of RE4.

Shopping List

BioShock (360) - Easily one of my top five most wanted of the year, hopefully it'll live up to the hype.

Stranglehold (360) - Sorry Sony, but I want this game now, not in September. Besides, it'll more than likely be better on the 360.

Warhawk (PS3) - Not sure if I want this or not... $40 is definitely not worth it for the download, and I don't know if I want to drop $20 more either just for a headset.

MTV has declared the top 10 MCs in the pop rap game, and they are:

10. Jim Jones
9. Common
8. 50 Cent
7. Jay-Z
6. Young Jeezy
5. Kanye West
4. Andre 3000
3. Game
2. T.I.
1. Lil Wayne

HAHAHAHAHA LOLZ REALLY?!?!1!1!?!ONE!!one11!

I shall go down the list:

10. Jim Jones - Ballin! Really? "We Fly High" may have been the rap anthem of the last year, but does it REALLY give him a spot on the top 10 rappers of all time? C'mon, if anyone compiles a list of top 10 rappers, not top 10 best-selling rappers, it should be based on skill, not album sales. Jim Jones has the creativity of a chair.

9. Common - Common deserves his place on this list, and he sure as hell shouldn't be ninth.

8. 50 Cent - Lolz. Like Jim Jones (x8), a kabillion records sold does not equate whatsoever to MC awesomeness. What's even more infuriating is that he's behind Game on this list.

7. Jay-Z - Not really a good lyricist anymore, he does deserve to be on this list for his history. At least his songs vary thematically.

6. Young Jeezy - WHAT. THE. FUCK. PUTTING YOUNG JEEZY ON THIS LIST IS LIKE PUTTING THREE 6 MAFIA'S CRUNCHY BLACK ON THIS FUCKING LIST. YOUNG JEEZY IS NOT A GOOD RAPPER WHATSOEVER, UNLESS YOU CONSIDER RETARDED GRUNTING AND "AD-LIBBING" CRITERIA FOR GOOD RAPPING.

5. Kanye West - I am an unabashed Kanye West fan, and while he is not the best rapper, he at least innovates. He is, however, a great producer. He deserves a spot on this list for challenging pop rap as it is.

4. Andre 3000 - Awesome and innovative. No one on the list besides Kanye West can hold keep up.

3. Game - As someone wrote on a HipHopDX blog a while ago (or similar to this): "Dr. Dre, low rider, Dr. Dre, blood, gang member, Dr. Dre." Game is so inept at rapping with any sort of rhythm that at times it's difficult to listen to him. No wonder his first CD succeeded only on the basis of 50 Cent's writing and Dr. Dre's production. Number 3? Get serious.

2. T.I. - Better than Young Jeezy, still not top 10. Ever. At all.

1. Lil Wayne - This doesn't infuriate me as much as the others. Number one? No fucking way. Top 10? Maybe.

So who does deserve to be on this list?

The Motherfucking Clipse


The brothers Thornton are by far the best [pop-oriented (or not?)] rappers in the game, period. And whether or not you are a fan of rap, you should give their "Hell Hath No Fury" a spin now.



Also, where are Nas, Lupe Fiasco, the rest of the Re-Up gang after Clipse, GLC, Busta Rhymes, and Ludacris? Especially Ludacris.

Fuck you, MTV. Maybe hip hop really is dead. [/angryrant]

Since my return from Japan, this has been the first summer where I've actually been playing fairly new games.

Blue Dragon (360) - DCharlie informed me of the Blue Dragon Asia Version with English text while I was in Tokyo, leading me to impulse buy a J-360 (core :\) along with a mini-memory card in Osaka. Great game with pretty nice visuals and bitchin' boss music. This is my RPG of the summer, and it feels good to be a little up to date on an RPG and actually maybe even ahead of the game (U.S. version is next month). Last summer's RPG was FFX.

The Darkness (360) - Picked it up as a sheer impulse buy a few days after my return, but quickly shelved it indefinitely as I came upon the realization that I didn't and don't really want to play an FPS at the moment. It looks nice, but nothing really jumps out at me as amazing, and I can't say I'm a fan of the fact that the settings and feel of the game so far more or less scream Max Payne redux to me. Meh. Might pick out a day to beat it so I can resell.

Forza 2 (360) - After going to Japan I can't bring myself to get back into this at all, which is a shame, considering how good it is. I didn't even start messing around with the decal editor! Maybe I'll come back to it again later, but for now I'll blame my inability to come back to it on my short as hell gaming attention span.

Trusty Bell (360) - This came *for free* with my already cheap J-360 (~$200 ftw?), and I don't know if I should count it as a compliment or not that I don't know any Japanese whatsoever, yet I've progressed pretty damn far in this game with no problems whatsoever. That said, the graphics in this game are beautiful (I prefer Blue Dragon)-- a nice change of pace from the muted color palette of every 360 game ever.

Virtua Tennis (360) - I became utterly hooked on Power Smash 3 in Club Sega in Akiba, spurring me to rent Virtua Tennis 3 (U.S. name) upon my return to the States. It's the same game, and it looks just about arcade perfect. I love it. Does anyone know if the PS3 version is better or vice versa?

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - I picked this up for practically no reason other than to get it on its release date in Japan, but it's been really good. Unlike Trusty Bell, however, my lack of any Japanese prevents me from progressing through this game at a normal pace; the gameplay is amazing and the DS pushes out some great graphics here, so I'll probably just hunt down an FAQ and complete it by summer's end to rebuy it upon its U.S. release.

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS) - It's Ouendan-- I won't bore anyone with details. I waited until I was in Japan to buy it, and it was worth it.

Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 (DS) - Good, but the music and stories aren't nearly as awesome / crazy as those of Ouendan 1.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3) - Another impulse buy upon my return to the States, it's Ninja Gaiden-- again! It does look great, but sometimes not great enough to warrant a $60 purchase. The Sixaxis handles the controls well enough and the gameplay is as solid as ever; I just wish I didn't have to abandon the way of the ninja to progress through the story at a better pace.

Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3) - Another addiction caused by Akihabara's Club Sega, so of course I wanted to keep playing when I got home. When I was there, I bought a VF5 Player's Card on which my record is now 3 and 19. Salarymen are just too damn good at VF5. I can't wait for the 360 version so I can play with more than 1-2 friends.


Urban golfing FTW.

E3 Games of the Show:

360- BioShock
PS3- Killzone
Wii- Super Mario Galaxy
PC- Crysis

Overall Game of the Show: Super Mario Galaxy.


Hi-Tech Land Penguin? Yes.

Late July / August Shopping List:

Minna no Golf 5 (PS3) - I've been fully addicted to the Japanese PSN demo for a while now, so importing this months ahead of the U.S. version for $55 is a no-brainer. I've heard multiplayer is awesome as well, so hopefully I'll be able to join in on some of that.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - I already have it pre-ordered through Amazon's guaranteed release date delivery thing. I can't wait to power read it in four hours and spoil that shit on Facebook.

300 (Blu-Ray) - As I watched it in the theatre, this was one of those movies where I thought to myself "this would be so amazing in HD." Alas, sales +1 confirmed.

BioShock (360) - This, along with Super Mario Galaxy, Ace Combat 6, and GTAIV, is easily one of my most anticipated games of 2007. Everything about it looks incredible, so hopefully it'll all come together as well as it should. I can't wait!

Lair (PS3) - Dragons + 1080p FTW. Enough said?

Stranglehold: Collector's Edition (PS3) - I would get this on 360 for the achievements, but I'd rather have John Woo's Hard Boiled on Blu-Ray. Awesome way to use some of that space.

Warhawk (PS3) - If this is even coming in August for sure, I'll be picking up the box set with the Bluetooth headset, etc.

Until next time...

OH NOES!!!



The Jag can't handle corners at all.

Maybe I'll actually write something about Forza 2 soon...

Today I looked back at some of my earlier blog posts to find my completely furious, fairly blind anti-PS3 rant... An early adopter of the console, I guess I was just frustrated by a few things (which weren't really a huge deal in the first place-- buyer's remorse FTL). Now that Sony has released its delicious 1.8 firmware, practically all of my issues have been fixed, and I can eat this delicious crow:

I wrote: The PS3 should upscale DVDs to at least 720p over HDMI. If a $99 Samsung DVD player can do it, the PS3 should be able to as well.
Crow: The PS3 can now upscale DVDs to a bitchin' 1080p.

I wrote: The PS3 should be able to output Blu-Ray movies at 720p. Period.
Crow: The PS3 can do this now, although I move the PS3 to my 1080p set for Blu-Ray anyway. :p Still is nice to have.

I wrote: The PS3 should upscale PS2 games to 720p or higher.
Crow: This is what I have wanted more than anything since the PS3's launch. I've basically gone all-HD, and I have yet to encounter an HDTV with a good scaler. As a graphics whore, I can now play FFXII (although 4:3 only) without a tear in my eye. Finally, PS2 games look good. Odin Sphere included. Fact.

I wrote:The PS3 should be able to run those downloadable PSone games via emulation or even the fantastic Emotion Engine that you decided to throw in there. The PSP can.
Crow: I always knew this one was coming, but it bothered me that it wasn't a launch feature.

Bottom line: It feels good to eat this crow, because Sony is finally adding some solid features to the PS3-- with the scaling, I'm glad I have a reason besides VF5 to even think about touching it. I guess my initial outburst was the product of only playing RR7, Resistance, and horrible looking upscaled PS2 games. Sigma hits next month, and then there'll probably be another drought for the PS3, but this is a nice little gift from Sony.



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Otherwise, I've been playing plenty of Odin Sphere-- I think I'll restart soon on an easier difficulty. It's beautiful (even scaled to HD)-- it'd be cool to see something like this on a next-gen console. And on Tuesday-- I wasn't planning on it-- I'm picking up Forza 2. The car customization just looks like too much to skip. I plan to make an Azumanga Daioh RS4 (I drive an A4) and a Bathing Ape version of some other car. We'll see...

The next gaming purchases after that will be Ouendan 1 and Ouendan 2 when I'm in Japan in 2 weeks.

It's been a while since I've done one of these...

Playlist:
Gears of War - Played this quite a bit, bought the new maps, and haven't played since. Awesome I know, but I couldn't connect to any of my friends' games after buying the map pack. I can't see myself playing this game very much after the Halo 3 beta is released.
Earth Defense Force 2017 - Picked it up used and played a solid hour and a half before quitting indefinitely.
Guitar Hero II - This was a complete impulse buy on launch day. I saw some friends playing it on XBL and immediately got in my car to go buy it. I'm almost through hard with my band Me. Ganondorf. Awesome enough, but I want a wireless controller, damnit.
Armored Core 4 - Borrowed this from a friend only to play it for 5 minutes and quit after struggling with the janky-ass controls. It looks kinda cool though. Sometimes. Also, the storyline seems kinda pretentious...
PGR3 - Like a few others, I've been playing this to get ready for Forza 2.
Virtua Fighter 5 - This is easily the most fun I've ever had competitively playing friends, and after going back to DoA4 for about 2 minutes, this game really is visually amazing. Still playing quest mode and stomping everyone (even way high ranks), but why won't myranking go up?
Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo - So awesome.
Okami - I have this awesome habit of not finishing games, and that of course kicked in last year a few weeks after Okami's release, so I'm replaying it with the hopes of finishing it before the Halo 3 beta is out. Dragon Quest VIII is next.
Pokemon Diamond - Yeah. It's a solid RPG. What. 6 hours in, but I bought it late (a couple days ago, in fact).

I also picked up Lunar Knights with Pokemon, but that'll wait until next month.

NGR
Volver Blu-Ray - Great movie with an amazing transfer. If you're looking for some mellow demo material (or if you don't like Casino Royale for some ridiculous reason) with incredible colors, pick this up.
Entourage Season 3 Part 1 DVD - The third season of TV's most addictive series hit stores just in time for its second half.

May shopping list:
Odin Sphere - I wasn't even thinking about this game a couple days ago, but Jeremy Parish's preview and blog have convinced me. I just hope it looks okay on my HDTV (most PS2 games besides, like Okami and Dragon Quest VIII don't, thanks Samsung, shitty scaler).
Forza 2 - I'll actually probably end up not buying this in May just because I'm going to Japan two weeks after its release, and the Halo 3 beta will probably be all of my 360 gaming.

NGR:
Lost in Translation HD-DVD - One of my favorite movies. In HD.
After Dark by Haruki Murakami - A new book. From one of my favorite authors.

Listening:
-Asobi Seksu - Citrus