Today Begins A New Era For Windows

Well not today per se. But today you can pre-order Windows 7 Premium and Professional Upgrade Editions for 50% off through July 11. It won't be released until October 11, but good price for a new and fresh start for Windows. Yes, I have tried it and yes it should have been Vista. Some people have said the new interface looks like Mac. I highly disagree after playing around with it. The toolbar may look somewhat similar to Macs, but it obviously isn't after seeing how well they have doen something new to it compared to how it is today.

To note what the Upgrade means, is that its a straight update from XP or Vista editions of Windows to Windows 7. That means its cheaper for us Windows users which is awesome. If you have the machine power and have some extra cash to spend and want something new from XP or unfortunately have Vista. Buy Windows 7 before July 11. I can guarantee* you will not be dissappointed with the new Windows.

*not an actual guarantee.

You can buy Windows 7 either from Best Buy or Amazon. If you can find it someplace else, its just as good. After that, prices are: $119.99 and $199.99.

Inside: The 25th Anniversary of Ghostbusters

Hm, I'd imagine it be longer, but thats just me. Also it was around my time when more merchandizing came out in promotion for the 2nd movie which is when it really took off, not so much for the 2nd movie just the franchise in general, but I digress... So its been that long, eh? Just 5 years ago they re-released, if I'm correct, a 2 disc edition of the movies, which I bought and now this year comes the Blu-Rays and a new video game of the movie, which is a blast by the way. Ghostbusters has come a long way. The new video game can be called a continuation or the 3rd movie in video game form, but as playing it and from reviews it is quickly becoming one of the best movie to video games out there. Besides that, I thought I would take a look back with some music videos from the movies, some stuff from the cartoon shows and whatnot. Yep a bunch of YouTube vids again, but then again what would we do without it? I can't explain most things in picture form, so just enjoy the videos:

Ok, I'm going to kinda go in order here. Here's the strangely imaginative music video (in my opinion) for the first Ghostbusters Theme Song. As sung by Ray Parker Jr.:

John Candy's ghost? Not bad other Ray. Next, as to my surprise, came The Real Ghost Busters. Not to be confused with the other Ghostbusters, accompanied by a gorilla which came years before. I still don't know if theres any connection to this day, sans the gorilla. I see no real connection besides the name.

Here's The Real Ghost Busters Theme:

Yes they added: The Real, so the original show that had Ghostbusters in their won't sue. I just found the pilot episode which is pretty awesome, which takes some key parts and is placed within the intro. Also Ray apparently is allowed to ride on the roof of the Ecto-1:

I also noticed they can somehow contain so many ghosts including the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man. But then again its a cartoon and I am pointing out things too much. Now I know someone will enjoy the End Credits:

Next to be released was Ghost Busters II (Electric Boogaloo), not the greatest, but its got its moments. The music, was well, appropriate for its time. Which include a rap song and a redone main theme, which both I don't find too bad and I'm not a fan either. New theme sounds like a remix of the original theme. It probably is:

Here's the rap song by Bobby Brown. It aint bad. It was the end theme to the movie which showed the Statue of Liberty placed to its original position. I didn't find the ending, instead I found a picture compilation unfortunately:

I'd post the music video, buts its pretty awful, even for its time. Its got Rick Moranis and Donald Trump making appearances though.

Well the thing with Ghostbusters II, even though not a great movie, its within pop culture now and will be remembered for mostly that. I enjoyed the beginning of the movie in part of its defense.

There were some video games that came out in between the times, but too much to point out and weren't made as well as the one we have now. So lets move to 6 years after The Real Ghostbusters to Extreme Ghostbusters. Probably how the 3rd movie will turn out, if it ever comes out, it takes place probably just the right amount of years after Real. It was great to see Ghosbusters come back from long cartoon retirement, but then again it took a strange new turn to appeal to the generation of fans. Take a look:

You don't have to watch the whole thing, the intro comes up around a minute. Very different style though, and the intro, well the guitar was a nice touch. The singer for the song was pushing it. Awesome to see it come back after so many years though, unfortunately it was short lived which only lasted a season. The reason could be not enough of an audience or other numerous reasons. I don't really know, but I'm surprised it didn't last longer. I was just happy to see Ghostbusters again.

Now on to something different. Apparently Universal Orlando had their own attraction to promote the first movie. It was an entertainment show with its own street based on which the firehouse the Ghostbusters stay at within Universal. Dang, can't believe we never got that. This video speaks better than words:

Louis was never that quirky. And apparently years later to coincide with the new Extreme Ghostbusters show, this happened:

Yeah...maybe we dodged a bullet for that one. Beetlejuice crossover was an interesting formula that didn't work for this. Seriously who thought it was good to do it this way? I expected more...

The Gundam in Japan Lives!

E3 2009: Part 3 - Sony Conference

As E3 is slowly winding down here is whats covered so far for my E3 blog watch:

Microsoft Conference

Nintendo Conference

Now we continue on with Sony's E3 conference with whats to come:

I have to be honest, I am not the fan of Playstation I was when Playstation 2 was on top of the game. There were a few things that impressed me at Sony's conference that peaked my interest, but its not making me buy a Playstation 3 right away. Here's a few reasons why: It lost 2 major video games; Final Fantasy series and Metal Gear Series to Xbox 360. It basically copied Project Natal and Nintendo Wii's Wiimote and put then together, which didn't impress me at all. Here's the Conference Clip:

I mean look at the thing, it looks like both Natal and Wiimote combined. Think about it, your going way beyond Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" with Project Natal. Also when I saw the graffiti demo, I thought, they copied Wii. Wii is developing something similar and better called WiiSpray. The motion controller is quite odd with the sphere on top. I think that was the early design of Xbox's GameTrak controller as well. All copied stuff here Sony.

Lets see, I'm no Uncharted fan, but this is basically Gears of War and Far Cry mixed of the PS3. But what I really liked out of the whole conference was the introduction of MAG. What this monster lets you do is play up to 256 players online. I heard of this, but passed it thinking it was impossible. I was blown away:

After that theres some Hanna Montana PSP bundle coming, how lame. Now is the time when the worst-kept secret of E3 is revealed: The PSP GO. I'm serious they even name it that. They say it won't kill the PSP-3000 nor the UMD; it will someday. Here's a small pic of the new PSP. Its more than 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the PSP-3000. Here are some of the specs:

• 16 GB of Internal Flash Memory
• Integrated Bluetooth
• No UMD Drive

And thats all thats known so far. Also a new PC application is made avalible today called Media Go, which is supposed to make things easier from their previous Media organizer. Also something called Sense Me is coming to PS3 and PSP to generate Playlists for you. PSP Go will be out October 1st for as much as a Wii which is $249.99. I'm getting a PSP-3000...

Gran Turismo PSP is previewed, how long ago was that announced? Anyways a new Metal Gear Solid Game was announce which looks promising. Its called Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP, and whats this? 4 Snakes!?:

That was cool. Also a Resident Evil Portable is announced, when will it come out? That is unknown so far. New PSOne classics are hitting the store to play on PSP and PS3 including Final Fantasy VII, finally!

Another Final Fantasy is also announced which is said to be online, and skipping a bunch of unimportant stuff we come to Mod Nation Racers which looks really cool:

Now a new Team ICO game is announced which is like a cross of ICO with Shadow of Colossus:

Its also a cross of "The Neverending Story's" Falkor and "Where the Wild Things Are".

Now to the last of the event; God of War III which is stated to be the last of the trilogy; its not:

You can continue to watch the Gameplay after the video ends by clicking the next part. Well, not sure what else to say. Metal Gear Arcade was also announced and 2 things I noticed was missing was the Zune HD and the PS3 slim. I would like to know more about the Zune HD and wither PS3 slim is real. Not sure what else still needs to be announced, but just in case if it needs a post I will update it here.

E3 2009: Part 2 - Nintendo Conference

Earlier on I posted live coverage of Steve Wiebe attempt the Donkey Kong World record live at E3. Unfortunately Wiebe came up short with 989,000 points, but did come to the fabled kill screen. The record now is 1,050,200 by Billy Mitchell. Wiebe may not have set a world record, but put on a good show for everyone else. I bet he will attempt this again sometime in the future and everyone will be rooting for him just like today.

Now on to the Nintendo Conference. Today many games were announced including a new device and a more in depth look at the Wii Motion Plus. The first bit of big news was the return of the Super Mario Bros. franchise. It will make its return on the Wii titled: New Super Mario Bros. Wii. As you may have guessed; it will certainly be quite similar to the DS game: New Super Mario DS. Not only will this game feature two player co-op, but it will feature 4 player co-op and versus. Here's a preview:

As you can see, their will be 2 new suits., the one previewed at the conference was a propeller suit as seen here, and a newer one, which looks like a penguin freezing type suit. Also the return of Yoshi is a really good touch, which I missed in the DS game. This game should release during Winter 2009.

After that it seems Nintendo has been working on something called Wii Fit Plus, which is basically just a sequel to the other Wii Fit. Next up was the beginning to Wii Sports Resort, showing more how the Wii MotionPlus works as your player skydives to the island. Here's a video:

Very cool stuff to say the least. Now onto RPGs. I forgot the name of one game which features many crystals apparently, and a brief trailer for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the DS which can be watched here:

Can't wait for that. The unfortunate part was that their was no official announcement of a sequel to the Kingdom Hearts series as of yet. Hopefully next years E3 will have something and for possible multiple platforms or something different.

If your a fan of Mario and Luigi RPG series, a new game is on its way back to the DS. The game is called Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story. The famous plumbers somehow shrink and become trapped within Bowsers belly. Sounds interesting.

If your a fan of the once popular RPG series Golden Sun, it will make its return to the DS in 2010. It will be in 3D and little else is known, so something to look forward to for the fans. Other new DS titles include Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion, COP: The Recruit, a new Mario vs. Donkey Kong game subtitled Minis March Again! as a DSi download, and a new Wario Ware game titled WarioWare Myself which you can now make your own WarioWare minigames. Sounds like good stuff here.

More announcements include some Facebook functionality with the DSi for facebook fans. Another new Wii attachment was annouced called the Wii Vitality Sensor, which to me so far I have no idea what it is and sounds really useless so far. Very little was said and no big examples were shown. Maybe next E3.

Now on to the bigger titles. For fans of Super Mario Galaxy a sequel was annouced including the return of riding Yoshi in the game. Here's a trailer:

If that doesn't get you pumped up, The Conduit is introduced, a Resident Evil sequel to Umbrella Chronicles video is shown and a new Metroid game. Watch the videos below and enjoy.

G4TV - Steve Wiebe Donkey Kong Cam

Watch live video from G4TV - Steve Wiebe Donkey Kong Cam on Justin.tv

E3 2009: Part 1 – Microsoft Coverage

Its that time of year again, where video game developers come together to announce awesome new things coming to the video game market. Today was not so different. Microsoft’s conference is long and gone, but did you missed what they announced? Oh boy, what a mix of good things to come for the Xbox 360’s now evolving system. Here is something big you may not have seen called; Project Natal:

Not much at first, until you see the demonstration:

More Gear Videos at IGN.com

And a small clip of that game I mentioned called “Milo” I believe:

Just seeing the live presentation makes me want to get this even more. This is nothing compared to the Wii nor Playstation’s EyeToy. Especially just watching Natal’s demo, it looks like its come a long way from this, almost perfecting this type of technology. Take a look at the Live Conference Demo:

Looks a little silly yes, like most of Wii’s commercials, but looks like it can be very fun once experienced. Although this confuses me as to why Xbox will have such peripherals such as the GameTrak Freedom and Tony Hawk Ride’s skateboard like controller.

Other big announcements included Modern Warfare’s 2 demo, another Splinter Cell; although it looks awesome too, Left for Dead 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Crackdown 2, The Beatles: Rock Band and---wait for it----not one, but 2 new Halo Games incoming.

The first, which already announced Halo 3: ODST with a new gameplay trailer:

Its an interesting new take on Halo, I’ll give it that. We will just have to wait when it comes out later this year. The other Halo game is called Halo: Reach. So far, nothing has yet to be revealed about this, what looks like, small addition to the Halo franchise. It looks like it can be quite big for it to have a Multiplayer demo. Ah, Bungie with its Multiplayer demo’s and it in general. When will it end? Not a bad thing necessarily, but that’s a lot of Multiplayer Halo’s now. Watch the Reach trailer teaser:

What’s It about? A prequel? I don’t know really. Its Halo!

The biggest news of the day? Not only will a new Metal Gear Solid Starring Raiden appear on the Xbox 360 called “Metal Gear Rising'’, but the whole Metal Gear Solid franchise is moving exclusively to the Xbox 360(!) A pun yes. Another triumph for 360 has come. Does it mean a substance like game of Metal Gear Solid 4 to be coming to the Xbox 360? It is more likely. Most people expected a game starring Raiden would be coming, but the whole franchise? Now that’s big. The Metal Gear series has been since only been exclusively for the Playstation. Well we did get a few Metal Gear games with extra stuff for the Xbox, but now having it exclusively is certainly a win for the Xbox.

Is E3 over? Of course not. Tomorrow will be both Nintendo and Sony’s conference. Watch both live on G4TV or look for updates on www.ign.com or www.gamespot.com starting at 9am with Nintendo’s Conference and Sony’s at 11am. What will Nintendo reveal? A new Zelda game? A new Mario game? Watch tomorrow for the results. Can’t wait on either one. Sony, don’t disappoint us, like you have already and in the past.

Also be sure to catch history in the making as Steve Wiebe of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters fame, try to reclaim his title as be tries to break the Donkey Kong world record live again tomorrow. He should be given full support and if you haven’t seen the King of Kong documentary you got to soon. Anyways, good luck Wiebe!

Extra E3:

This is cool: