Eye-kido: PS3's Kung Fu Live

Get it? Aikido, Eye-kido? What? Fine, forget it..

These "Eye" peripherals are pretty stupid, aren't they? A gloried digital camera that uses the player's likeness in your favorite Eye-games like.. Well none come to mind, probably because the Eye peripherals are stupid. Why are they stupid exactly? Because there was never a game like Kung Fu Live for them before.

Kung Fu Live casts your likeness in the mean streets of Backalley USA, where brick walls are your home and belligerent thugs are your guests of honor. Looks like you'll really have to work to clean these streets, pucnhing and kicking your way through waves of meanies. The collision detection looks really slick for an Eye game, with enemies responding timely to the in-game manifestation of your corporeal attacks. That's right. And if that wasn't cool enough, cut scenes seem to be Quick Time Events where an outline is flashed on screen and you have to position your body to fit, capturing you in comic book styled panels. Sick!

I've been anti-Eye peripherals since their Inception, but this Kung Fu Live thing might make me change my tune.

Get Your Ass Under Mars

Fact: Red Faction is a highly underrated series. Red Faction Guerrilla came out a few years ago with little fanfare, great reviews, solid gameplay, a seamless transition to the open world, and was a lot of fun. It flew under the radar for a lot of people, even with the RF series' solid lineage of past releases. 

Now here we are waiting for the newest Red Faction, Armageddon, where much has changed from Guerrilla. As we can clearly see from the title, shit is going down. Gone are the days of freedom fighting, we're now in a time of living underground and warring with an unknown mutant-monster type of enemy. I'm gonna miss the dusty red surface of Mars, but as long as we can disintegrate the hell out of some underground structures, I'm still game.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Shinku Tatsumakisenpukyakus

Drawn by Genzo, for Udon's Art of Capcom 2. See it full size here.

Review: Red Dead Redemption

A few years removed from spiritual predecessor Grand Theft Auto 4, Red Dead Redemption is Rockstar's latest offering in a long line of open world crime games. And while RDR is set some hundred-odd years before the GTA series, the setting may be the only major difference between games. Does this work in Redemption's favor or not? Read on to find out.

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Do Games Hate Skaters?

Skateboard and snowboard enthusiasts Knife Show live in a world where dudes just want to board. I don't know how to skate, but damn do I want to live in their world too, because it's fused seamlessly with some parts of a video game world! Thwomps, the Pac Man ghosts, the Portal Gun.. Can I get in on that? Probably not, looks like I need to learn how to shred first.

This video combines some slick skating, awesome post production work, and a killer soundtrack by hip hop group Ground Up Sounds. That first beat is fucking nuts! It's all very reminiscent of another real-world-meets-video-games video that we saw in the past, and while that one may be better done, this one has better music. So hah!

Crysis 2 Collector's Edition Blings at $200

How much are you willing to pay for a Collector's Edition of a game? Crysis 2 is willing to bet you a bunch of crap that you'll pay $200 for their Collector's Edition. Aside from the game, the package supposedly includes a backpack styled to look like the protagonist's Nano Suit, a steelbook case, an 8 inch tall statuette, exclusive in-game unlockable content, and more. 

Okay, 200 bones is a lot of money to spend on something game related, that's not a system. I don't mind special editions that come with handy things, like GTA4. I'm still using that lockbox it came with to store important documents (and drugs) and the duffel bag came in handy on my travels before the zippers broke. Cheap piece of crap. However that special edition was only $90. I have to pay more than double for a bookbag and a statue? Man, I have a hard enough time bringing myself to pay $60 for these half-assed games that seemed to be released every week, now you want me to pay $200 for some shit that will probably be released as DLC? C'mon. 

Finish Him! An Aborted Mortal Kombat Game

Game Informer recently interviewed Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, who spilled the beans on a Mortal Kombat game that was a fatality early in it's development. Developers started work on the game shortly after releasing Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, the dope coop beat 'em up that has players control Liu Kang and Kung Lao. It's so sad to hear that the successor, Mortal Kombat: Fire and Ice, which was set to star Sub Zero and Scorpion, was scrapped due to time constraints. Why?! 

Mr. Boon must have not gotten the memo from gamers on Shaolin Monks' reception. It kicked ass, man! It was fucking awesome! So awesome, that a friend and I loaded up on coffee and played for about 12 straight hours, from 8pm to 8am, and enjoyed every last minute of it. Just couldn't get enough of mincing dudes with Kung Lao's hat.

After the game was beaten, Sub Zero and Scorpion became selectable characters in story mode but it was weird to see the two Lin Kuei assassins referring to each other as Liu Kang and Kung Lao in the cut scenes. So, if they thought that unlockable was good enough to can an entire game dedicated to Sub Zero and Scorpion, think again. 

New New York Never Looked Blockier

It's hard not to like Futurama. I love it not only because it's well written, hilarious, and filled with unforgettable characters, but also because it takes place is my home town of New York. Well, sorta. New New York, as it's called in Futurama, is filled with quirky nods to the Old New York that I was born and raised in. Things like Madison Cube Garden, Citihall, etc always make a gangsta smile. 

Flickr member Pepa Quin aka Matt has gone all crazy and created New New York out of Legos. That is some dedication Matt! His creation of NNY is full of Futurama flavor, like brick characters, Slurm billboards, and.. A landspeeder with Luke, Obi Wan, R2 and 3P0? Huh, okay.. Well, weird but, cool regardless! Check out all the nuances of New New York here.

Beyond Black Mesa, The Half Life 2 Film

I never really got into the Half Life series. It seemed too much like a run of the mill FPS to me. Though Valve must have really done something right, because HL2 has a massive cult following around the 'nets. Also they most definitely hit the character design on the head, any hero that resemble's House's Hugh Laurie is good in my book.

Beyond Black Mesa is a short film created by a bunch of loyal HL2 fans that follows the story of a small band of resistance fighters in the Half Life universe. I must say, HL2 has some seriously skilled fans, because this is not the first amazing short we've seen set within the Half Life storyline. 

Beyond Black Mesa is schedule to show at the Action on Film Festival in California later this month. As a bunch of hardcore fans who put the money they earn at their day jobs into something they love, many of us can feel where these dudes are coming from. I can't wait to see this flick in full! 

Geeks Have Sex Too

Safe sex at that! A guy by the name of Ben Marsh devised the brilliant idea of pairing two things that no one ever expects to go together; video games and sex. I'll have the uninitiated know that we ain't all about games, gadgets, and geekery. No, us geeks love sex, as Mr. Marsh has illustrated. With the condoms sporting catchy wrappers like Donkey Shlong, Sextrix, and The Long End of Zelda, not only did he hit it out of the park with the design, but the puns too! 

Check out some more photos at Geek Art. Thankfully, there are no pictures of the condoms in use.