Jun 19, 11:00 am
It’s not too early to start planning for San Diego Comic-Con 2009 as it is coming around the corner next month on July-23-26 with a special preview night on the 22nd! Frag Dolls will be there in the game area demoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up- and this time each of us even gets a day off to travel the show floor and hang out!
Did you know many people save all year for this show to shop? It doesn’t surprise me as you really want to buy everything you see at this consumer focused show! It makes me wish that other games expo’s would follow suite and start bringing all the games and related peripherals and by products to other shows throughout the year so we quite having to make those store runs! I know that would make my life simpler at least!
This year games really get their spotlight as the entire Convention Center’s Mezzanine level is devoted to games all four days of the event. There is also a gaming room at the headquarters hotel, the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, offers action into the wee hours of the night.
There are already some preliminary tournaments too scheduled for Comic-Con 2009 including: Pokémon, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bluedragon, Dragonball and Battlespirits tournaments, and the San Diego Tekken group annual video game tournaments.
So whether its games, anime, comic books or any of the other lifestyles that touch this huge convention that influence you, make sure you head out to see us next month at San Diego Comic-Con and get ready to Brawl on TMNT: Smash-Up! with the Frag Dolls!
Jun 11, 11:00 am
So when I was at E3, I noticed a trend about the games I was most excited about- almost all were sequels or trilogies of my popular franchises. With all the great games coming our way, I thought it was odd that out of the years I have been gaming most of my favorites are only on their second or third installment. Sure, there are some games that are on their 5-6th installments even though their names suggest else wise, like: Splinter Cell Convection & Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, but really most of the best games either are new franchises started within the last few years or franchises that for some reason haven’t made the sequels in a long time.
Anyway, the back to my epiphany: this year pay attention to the 2’s & 3’s in the names because you won’t be disappointed! Titles to keep an eye out for include Killzone 2, Starcraft 2, God of War 3, Diablo 3, Sims 3 and Red Steel 2. While these are only a sampling of the sequels coming, I also have three favorites coming up within the next year that you won’t want to miss.
Here are my top three of my favorite sequels I got to see at E3 this year:
ASSASSIN’S CREED II: Assume the role of another Ancestor of Desmond Miles & Altaïr- a young nobleman-turned assassin named Ezio Auditore di Firenze. Take control as he seeks his revenge on the rival families that attacked his family, in the year of our lord 1486.
Walk, run, swim and fly on machines. left by your famous friend Leonardo da Vinci, as you battle your way against other famous enemies and controlling families of the Renaissance Era. Now you will be using duel blades and other weapons that will provide you with a multitude of new ways to combat and finish your enemies. A whole new assassin, a whole new story, and new improved game play!
E3 Take: I think I pooped my pants! Seriously, the graphic’s look outstanding and the new fighting techniques ramped me up
!(I’ll have a V-blog on this soon, but even I couldn’t get them to let me film me playing ><)
BIOSHOCK 2: It’s ten years later and towns around the world have been reporting kidnappings of young girls, who we find out is one of the Little Sisters from the earlier game who has modified herself to be like the Big Daddies and is now the ruler of the underwater city of Rapture. She now wants to make other little sisters just like her, in order to maintain power.
Become the first Rapture created Big Daddy, who possess superior speed and intelligence, and use your rivet guns and drill against your enemies, such as other Big Daddy’s and Big Sisters, as you choose to harvest or “adopt” the little sisters you find along the way.
E3 Take: Non Applicable
(Apparently 2K Games were the sheriff’s in town, because even though I had an all access pass they wouldn’t let me in to see the game on my short break. You had to have an appointment, and I about had a hissy fit! Don’t you know who I think I am?)
MASS EFFECT 2: Keep the story going from the first Mass Effect as the decisions and conversations you made continue to influence the next one via your saved files. Reacquaint yourself with the characters you loved and potentially had sex with before (if you didn’t kill them) and use the same character you spent so much time on in the first game to explore even more the darkest reaches of space. Suicide to save mankind? Maybe, maybe not. But I’m sure going to have a blast doing it!
E3 Take: NO FING WAY! This game blew me away with the graphics and the idea that my characters and relationships will be reused. THAT’S Innovation!
(Thank you to the dev/marketing guy that actually took the time to give us a complete walk-through of the game. Bioware is now my new favorite developer after Ubisoft)
Seriously, who needs new games when you got so many killer franchises. Start saving up now kids!
May 27, 11:00 am
Ok, a few weeks ago I told you all about the reunion show for WCG Ultimate Gamer in NY. If you missed that don’t worry! For all you viewers that wanted to hear the nitty-gritty about what really was going on during the filming of the show, you can still get the low down. You can watch the special reunion show with Adande, Chelsea, Jamal, Amy, Mark, and Rob as well as WCG US Champ Geoff that was filmed at the WCG US Invitational’s in NY online! Here, your favorite host, Joel Gourdin, facilitated a special Q&A with the cast and fans of the show which will be aired tomorrow online at Samsungusanews.com.
But the biggest part of this is while your watching the reunion you can still ask that question that has been lurking in the back of your mind, as the top six cast members will be participating in a Live Chat Q&A session with the release of reunion show. This live chat session will be held tomorrow, Thursday the 28th of May at 6:00pm ET online also at Samsungusanews.com. . If you watched the show, you aren’t going to want to miss getting the inside scoop and your chance to pick the brains of the cast of the show, so set your reminders now!
I know many of the viewers had a million questions coming my way during the show that I couldn’t answer, so don’t miss out on your chance to find out answers now that the lid is lifted! Who really kissed who? Does Jamal trash talk as much in person as he did on the show? Were Geoff and Kelly really on the way towards being a couple? Why the heck was everybody crying all the time? All you have to do is ask the question and it will be answered by the cast members- so don’t miss out on your chance to get the inside take exclusively at samsungusanews.com!
Fans & Enthusiast welcomed- Trolls not so much!
May 21, 10:00 am
In a few short weeks we will be gearing up for E3 2009 in Los Angeles again. Will it be the E3 of old as we move back to the LA convention center and will all the big boys be showcasing their toys again? One thing is for sure: Ubisoft will be there! We’ll be demoing and showcasing some of our major and minor titles releasing this year, including the one I am most excited about: Assassin’s Creed 2. This is the one game I have been hounding people for information about because I loved so many things about the first one but had issues with the game play and mechanics, all of which I have been promised have been fixed! So after I get my hands on it at E3, I’ll report back if everything I have been told is true!
This year’s E3 is also an important one for us as we gather together the six semi-finalists and throw them into the pit (the booth demos) to see who battles their way to the top. Here we will finally get to meet them face-to-face to see their personalities, work ethics, and general people skills and figure out who will fit best with the team. I almost feel bad for them being at one of the biggest events of the year and having to work their tails off instead of playing around with all the games, but hey, that really is the life of a Frag Doll! 
Not the least of E3 is the millions of parties that go on while we are there. We still have to pick which ones to crash… decisions, decisions. I know we’ll be at the UbiSoft party on that Wednesday night, but who do we choose on the other nights? We will be so exhausted that we’ll be tempted to simply pass out after work. My bet is the second choice as I have lots of experience with these things and am known to be quite lazy, but who knows. Maybe this new potential Frag Doll blood will have enough extra energy for us to leech off of!
Anyway, for those of you coming to E3, make sure you stop by the Ubisoft booth to say hi and check out our upcoming titles. And for those of you with the party hook-ups, send them our way to add to our decision list. After all, what kind of party would it be without the Frag Dolls?
May 14, 1:02 pm
So this weekend the WCG US Invitational is being held at the Samsung Experience emporium in New York City. On Friday, us final six players from WCG Ultimate Gamer will be there for a special reunion and performing a Q&A for the fans of the show to answer all the nitty gritty questions you might have! Always wanted to know what was really going on in the loft and how much the editing played a role, if any? Well now is your chance! This Q&A from the cast will be hosted by WCG Ultimate Gamer Co-host, Joel Gourdin and promises to provide the unfiltered thoughts and experiences of Mark, Rob, Adande, Chelsea, Jamal and Amy (myself) - so don’t miss out!
Also, Over the Weekend, WCG Ultimate Gamer Winner, Mark Smith Will Be Presented With the $100,000 Grand Prize Check by Samsung and WCG Executives. Think you got what it takes if a season 2 happens (I’m not promising anything), well now is the time to get your face out there and make an early impression as well.
Saturday and Sunday you can watch nearly 100 of America’s best gamers will compete in the most popular titles on the planet as the World Cyber Games (WCG) and Samsung Electronics America host the WCG US Invitational at the Samsung Experience. More than $10,000 in cash & prizes, will be handed out in the WCG USA National Final and much more is up for grabs in this two-day gaming competition which kicks off the American leg of the WCG USA 2009 Championship Series for the acclaimed international video game festival, which culminates with the WCG 2009 Grand Final this November in Chengdu, China.
Also on Saturday, WCG Ultimate Gamer runner-up Robert Paz will try to break a marathon Guinness World Record (GWR) in Rock Band 2. Officials from GWR will be on-hand to monitor as Rob tries to complete amass the highest aggregate score on all 84 songs from Rock Band 2 100 consecutive songs on expert mode using his ion drums. The World Cyber Games has been the recipient of many GWRs and is featured on numerous occasions in the GWR 2007 and 2008 editions, as well as the recently released GWR 2008: Gamers Edition.
The purpose of the WCG US Invitational event is to kick off the new WCG USA event season by showcasing pro and other elite-level gamers that succeeded in previous WCG events and give them the opportunity to compete against each other for auto-berths into the WCG USA National Final. The games the players will be competing in are the top of their genre and platforms to include:
• PC titles: Warcraft III, StarCraft, Counter Strike 1.2, FIFA 09, Carom 3D, Red Stone, TrackMania.
• Xbox Titles: Guitar Hero, Virtua Fighter 5
• Mobile Titles: Asphalt 4, Wise Star2.
• There is also a US only title: Gears of War 2!
Anyway, any of you gamers that want to hang out with any of us UG’s and watch some pro gaming in action should come on down to the Samsung Experience this weekend. It’s up to you to help support the one league left that offers world-wide professional gaming tournaments for multiple top games AND on multiple platforms- for all of us competitive gamers. Don’t forget if you think you have what it takes you can STILL try to make it to the US Finals by competing online for your chance to go to the Grand Finals in China! Registration is free so get off your butt and prove your skills by registering at wcg.com and come get the scoop on your competition and hang out this weekend!
WHERE:
Samsung Experience
10 Columbus Cir # 3 New York, NY 10019
WHEN/WHAT:
Friday 3PM-6PM (WCG Ultimate Gamer Fan Event)
Saturday 9AM-6PM (WCG Invitational & GWR Attempt)
Sunday 10AM-6PM (WCG Invitational)
