NHL '14

In the new edition to the NHL franchise that has been built by EA Sports, there seems to be some improvements.  The brand new Fight Night "enforcer engine" has changed the fighting techniques and frequency.  If there is a big hit, shot after the whistle, or beginning the traditional way by pressing "y" you enter a third person view where the two players are either circling one another, grabbing each others jerseys or whaling on one another.  The fighting includes pushing, pulling, right hooks and uppercuts.  This is a much better improvement than the first person fighting of yesteryear.

Now to some other features added to the game.  There is a new "Live the Life" game mode that is essentially an upgraded "Be a Pro."  In this game mode you can answer interviews pre/post game and also talk to your team manager/coach.   There are endorsement deals offered to you as well as options to pay for your team's dinner.  Over all I have enjoyed this game mode thus far.  EAS also added a '94 anniversary mode to make playing a little easier for the younger generation.

In conclusion I'd give this game an 8/10.  I enjoy playing it, it has great replay value with the continued seasons and the online play.  The skating is a lot more fluid and the game play is more realistic.  It's worth giving it a shot if you're into sport games.

-A-

Black Keys album El Camino

This article is reviewing the newish black keys album, el camino.
I have been a fan of the black keys ever since I first heard their blusey guitar riffs way back in 2007, with their album Attack and Release.I remember listening to that album my senior year of high school and listening to their hit single “Strange Times”, and thinking I can definitely get behind this bands sound. What drew me into this bands style was their mix of blues and rock to create a unique sound, very 1970s rock esque. The Black Keys are unique in their musical style and the way they play just two guys Dan Auerbach who does guitar and vocals, and Patrick Carney on the drums.

Their newish album El Camino was released in January, and after listened to it all the way through several times now I believe I am qualified to give an album review. While not my favorite Black Keys album overall(that honor would go to their Brothers album of 2010), I really enjoyed this latest release. The thing about this album is it has the usual bluesy catchy songs of past albums in the likes of Little Black Submarines, and Lonely Boy, but it also experiments with some techno and some fusion in catchy songs like Nova Baby and Hell of a Season.

The album goes from an energetic starting point in Lonely Boy, to slower songs in Dead and Gone, and Gold on the Ceiling. Then it explodes into an energetic guitar ballad very Zeppelin like in Little Black Submarines, which was my favorite song of the cd. The song starts off slow and slowly builds up its pace until it hits a point about halfway through when it just lets go with some sick guitar solos and good drum beats.
After the awesomesauce that was Submarines, it then slows down with Money Maker, Run Right Back, Sister, and Hell of a Season. With the exception of Hell of a Season I thought this part of the cd was not very good, the songs lacking that traditional Keys catchy drum beats and guitar riffing.
Good news is that the album puts itself back into gear for the last three songs, with all three of them being excellent from the halting guitar of Stop Stop, to the techno infused Nova Baby to the finale Mind Eraser.
Mind Eraser was a very good classic rock sounding song to end the cd on, and my second favorite song of the album with great haunting vocals and excellent guitar.

All in all, my second favorite Black Keys cd after 2010s phenomenal Brothers, the cd started out well enough with Lonely Boy, then slowed down, picked up in the middle with the amazing Little Black Submarines, and then slowed again, but picked it back up for the excellent trio of songs at the end toped off by an the awesome Mind Eraser.

All in all out of 10, I would give this album a 9, rating it a very good album, with the exception of about three lackluster songs most of the songs on this cd hit hard and are excellent, while overall this cd is not full of as many hits as Brothers, you cant fault the Keys for not making as good a cd as that amazing grammy award winning one.
So ya, solid 9s across the board, definitely worth a listen to readers, so go out and get it you can buy it at most music stores in the world I would assume, and there is always iTunes, and downloading it in other ways for all you naughty readers out there.

edit: I found the entire album for free on youtube for yall, you can listen to it in full, even listed are the song titles, and what time they start in the hour long playthrough. enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrC08CsIOoM

Until next time readers.

#justin

Videogames to look forward to in 2012

Hey boys and girls, sorry it took a while to finish this post, we have been quite busy with stuff lately.
So without any further hullabaloo, this is our list of videogames to look forward to in 2012. Cheers!

Also clicking on links will take you away from this post so hold down control to open up a new tab.


          Mass Effect 3
                  

  A game I have been quite looking forward to since the last one in 2010.

The game puts you in the shoes of commander Shepard, a futuristic soldier on the frontlines in a war against an extra-galactic menace known as the Reapers.
This game starts off with a massive reaper invasion of the human home world of Earth, which you have to escape and try and unite the various races of the galaxy to come back and try to help save Earth before it is destroyed.

This is a shooter/RPG hybrid game, you level up your character the more you progress in the game and you use guns and special abilities to take down your enemies. Another thing that makes this game unique apart from its future sci-fi setting, is the ability to import old saved games from your previous adventures in Mass effect 1 and 2, that depending on choices you made in those games affect how you start off in Mass Effect 3. This game is going to be a fun romp through the galaxy trying to unite the various races of the galaxy in an attempt to save Earth.


Here is a link to watch the ME3 trailer, enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG2mdZ23eP8




  Bioshock Infinite
                 

 As a sort of spiritual sequel to Bioshock, the awesome game that took place under the sea. Instead of fighting Andrew Ryan’s forces in an alternate 1960s, you are fighting high amongst the clouds. The place is a city forged out of the turn of the 20th century ideals of American exceptionalism.
You play the role of agent Booker Dewitt a pinkerton agent in the early 1900s,(pinkertons were an sort of national private police force). While the first Bioshock game could be described as an art deco undersea world, i think the motif the developers are going for now is a steampunk city in the clouds.

You were paid a lot of money to infiltrate the floating city of Colombia and rescue a woman named Elizabeth. But like all things in this floating city she, and the city is not as it seems. There are factions fighting for control of Columbia the Vox Populi, claiming to fight for the common man, and the Founders, who are the people who were or are still trying to maintain power in Columbia. This game is going to be a unique steampunk experience among the clouds, and is one of my favorite new games for 2012.

Watch the trailer and be amazed, warning this is a long video like 15 minutes long, but so awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEBwKO4RFOU




       Assassin’s Creed III
             

  ACIII, is a long time coming.
For fans of the series like myself the last two updates just sort of built on the awesome ACII, but I felt unsatisfied with the last two games Brotherhood and Revelations.
I for one am excited at this new direction for this franchise and I think it has the potential to be the most interesting and best of the series.
The game takes place in a new setting, the American revolution against the dastardly Brits.
You play as young assassin Connor, who must aid the Americans in their attempted revolution against the world superpower at the time, Great Britain.
Not a whole lot is known about this game right now, other than the fact that you will be interacting with famous revolutionary characters like George Washington and Benedict Arnold, and you will be aiding the american forces, and traveling to revolution era Boston, New York and Philadelphia among others.
Like I said earlier this game has a lot of potential in it, I really enjoy the period that it is set in and I think it will be one of the big hits of 2012.

trailer is as follows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVUMPrv8oRw

             Minecraft
               

 We're sure you've heard of Minecraft, the craft-anything Java game for PCs where the world is molded from giant Atari 2600-style 3D cubes; where you're building gizmos and gadgets either for the sake of building or to defend against wolves, "spider jockeys," and ghoulish ghasts that come looking to pulverize your handiwork at night. This is truly a game where anything is possible feel free to explore your imagination and build whatever you want, wherever you want, in whatever fashion you want to.

Well, it's coming to the Xbox 360, exclusively, and--surprise, surprise--it features full-on Kinect support.
This is one of those rare games that is simplistic in nature, but it is only limited by the limitations of your imagination, I for one am excited to hop in and see what I can imagine into this reality.
Seriously im not joking someone built this… ridiculous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWPk5zlKAEM

    The Last Guardian

         

 New unique adventure for the playstation3, from the guys behind the cult artistic hits Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus comes The Last Guardian.
Not a whole lot is known about this secretive game other than the fact that you play as a young man who must aid the titular character known as the “last guardian”.
This character is part dog part eagle, and he protects a series of temples which with each others aid you must go through in order to restore balance to this world.
The main reason we included this game on our list is because of the pedigree of the developers behind this game. Shadow of the Colossus was a stunning if not confusing game that really filled the niche in gaming that you get when you are tired of killing zombies and or nazis and just want to sit down and have your brain challenged.
This is a very laid back, type of game and I expect it to be another cult hit in the vain of Ico and Shadow.

here is the trailer and it will show a bit more, about this confusing beautiful game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42nM2KYZiWo

            Halo 4
               

 I honestly don’t think I need to tell you, the reader why this game is going to be awesome do i?
This is another halo game which is awesome in itself, but its another halo game with Master Chief, which is like awesome multiplied by infinty.
So anyways after the events of Halo 3 , way back in 2007, master chief found himself adrift in a cryo pod somewhere in space, and tells cortana to wake him when she needs him.
So he goes into cryo sleep for an unknown amount of time, and boom he is awake again and we are starting a brand new trilogy called the reclaimer trilogy which will feature Master Chief again kicking alien ass and discovering all new kinds of universe destroying mega weapons.
So to sum up this is my game I am looking forward to the most in 2012, so ya Master Chief + Halo = one super happy me.

here is a reveal trailer for halo 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9iQiHNXgMU, like I said awesome.

and here is the newest making of halo 4 trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6UL63Zo-uo

Honorable Mentions:

Darksiders II
Fable 4
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
Diablo III
Resident Evil 6

So boys and girls that about sums up my list of awesome games for 2012, I am looking forward to hearing any feedback from any of you guys and you need to definatley try out these games you will not regret it, until next time cheers!
We will add games to this list that we think deserve to be added in due time.

#justin

Movies I am Dying to see in 2012

Have you ever had that feeling where you want something to come so badly that it actually makes that very thing that you are so looking forward to seem to creep forward to you that much more slowly? That is how i feel about the following movies, and while they may only be several months away, it seems like an eternity. Some of these movies i have been waiting years for, cough Dark Knight Rises cough, while others i have done research on and they seem like huge hits.
Without further adieu here is my movies i am dying to see in 2012, with trailer links so we can all enjoy said movies, and wish they were opening today.

By the way when you click to open trailer links, make sure you hold down control, as that opens a new tab. mkay thanks.

         Dark Knight Rises
                July 22

This is the proverbial eight hundred pound gorilla in the room, this is the big kahuna, the championship trophy, the well you understand my metaphors now. This is THE movie of 2012, in most peoples viewpoints. This movie in case you have been living under a rock for the last five or six years, is the third in the revamping of the Batman movie series. This movie starts about eight years after the events of the Dark Knight in which the Joker was captured, (poor Heath Ledger) and Harvey Dent aka Two Face was killed due to his own deeds. Batman and Gordon decided to cover it up and make Dent look like he died a hero, and Batman was the one who killed him. So now here we are eight years later Gotham has been hunting Batman for the last eight years. Now a threat looms large over Gotham the anarchist terrorist Bane, has made Gotham his hunting grounds and the people of Gotham are at his mercy, its up to Batman to save the day (again). Batman is once again played by Christian Bale, Police Chief Gordon by Gary Oldman, and his faithful butler Alfred is played by Michael Caine. New to the series is Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway (very meh on this casting ), Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing a detective and finally Tom Hardy playing Bane. While i think the new cast is spectacular i just dont know how they are going to top Health Ledger's performance in the Dark Knight as the Joker. I think that is the main question on most people's minds going into this movie, is how can they top the awesomeness that was the Dark Knight?
Enjoy trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gFwvozMHR4.




               The Avengers
                May 4

This is a movie literally years in the making. Marvel has assembled multiple heroes from their movies of recent years, into one giant superhero smashup. This movie has it all if you are into superheros,
 We got Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and finally Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. WOW!
This movie is what you expect from all the heroes coming together, they have to join together, and fight off a threat bigger than any of them individually, expect lots of explosions and tons of CGI, this is the action movie of the summer no doubt about that. While i don't expect this movie to compete with the Dark Knight Rises in terms of critical acclaim i do expect it to be close to it in terms of overall money made. Both films i estimate will be at least 900 million worldwide, Dark Knight Rises i can see topping a billion dollars easily as its predecessor did.


Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9cuGZJ9DP0





        The Amazing Spider-Man
                     July 4

This movie is taking the popular spider-man character from previous movies and making him more like the amazing spider-man from the comics. I think this is going to be the sleeper hit of the summer, a movie people will go into with mixed thoughts, thinking just another superhero movie. Just like X-men first class surprised us last summer, this is the one to watch out for this coming summer. With a great cast featuring Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Emma Stone (superbad) and Rhys Ifans (The Informers). This movie takes spider-man back to his high school roots, in which he gets involved with a Gwen Stacy, and not a Mary Jane. He discovers his powers and must use them to defend against a monster of his own creation. Sounds like a great summer movie.

enjoy trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atCfTRMyjGU 




                     Rock of Ages                   
                  June 15
Yes I know I honestly did not expect this one to be on this list either, but after watching multiple trailers for it and doing some research I have to admit I am excited for this movie. First of all it has one of my favorite actors in it, the always enjoyable Alec Baldwin. Secondly it has Tom Cruise played a rock legend and many many supporting stars that are getting together for this quasi-musical movie. This movie is going to be good on several levels, as a movie it has an interesting story, seeing Cruise play a rock legend will be entertaining to say the least. With this many big named and the kind of pedigree that the creative team has behind it (Chicago, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), this will definitely be a musical movie for the ages (excuse the pun).


Trailer follows:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USxhXb5VC5E




                                Skyfall
                 November

Not a whole lot of information is known about Skyfall, other than in it Bond himself delves into M’s mysterious past and finds out if she is really who she says she is. The reason I am excited for it is because it’s a Bond movie with Daniel Craig. Casino Royale was my favorite bond movie ever made, and I like to pretend that the abysmal sequel Quantum of Solace never happened. I have very high hopes for Skyfall and hopefully it can redeem the piece of steaming crap that was Quantum and make the new rebooted era of James Bond movies, something to be held up in front of its predecessors and marveled at like Casino Royale was six years ago. Alas my friends, I do not have a trailer for this movie as there hasn’t been one released yet, but there should be in the next couple months, as soon as I hear of it coming out I will update this page. Now onto our next movie.




The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
                      December 14

This is the movie all lord of the rings nerds have been clamoring for since Frodo threw his ring into Mount Doom with a little aid from Gollum. This is a prequel to the lord of the rings novel series, in case you have been sheltered much of your life.
This movie is a part one of two parts, with the following part to release a year after. The First part for all you people who did not read the Hobbit in grade school, is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins ( shocker). Bilbo is greeted at his doorstep one day by the wizard Gandalf the grey and thirteen dwarves from the Lonely Mountain, which is an ancient dwarven kingdom far to the east.
The Dwarves and Gandalf propose to Bilbo that he journey with them to the Lonely Mountain and try and steal back the treasure that was taken from them and is now guarded by the great dragon Smaug.
I am really looking forward to this movie as it tells not only the tale of Bilbo and Gandalf more but it really starts the path towards the Lord of the Rings movies. Not to give too much of the movie away but Bilbo meets Gollum on his journey, deep within the misty mountains and finds there a ring that might be of some importance in the future….

Well here is the trailer for the hobbit part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0k3kHtyoqc


Well folks that is my list of the movies I am most looking forward to in the year 2012, I will add any the list if I see the need to thanks for reading and until the next post.
PS If you want to read more on me and Austin’s favorite types of media read the post top 10, it has our top 10 favorites of movies, television, games and music. Cheers!

#Justin

Awake (pilot)

Awake
(NBC/ Thurs 10-11PM)

This is a brand new tv show on NBC. I got an early sneak peek at the show which doesn't air until march 3. The show stars jason isaacs of lucius malfoy fame. In the show isaacs plays a detective who has just lost his son in a horrible car crash. In the show when isaacs falls asleep he dreams an alternate reality where his son lived and his wife died in the accident. His realities start blending together to the point that he lives in both realities and doesn't know which one is real and which one is a dream.
The reason the show is so enjoyable to watch is because of the similarities between the two worlds, how they both have him visiting a psychiatrist, in which both doctors say the other reality is made up in his mind to overcome the loss of his loved one.
I really enjoyed the show, and thought it was a good look into a persons fractured mind in the case of a recent loss.The show has great potential for being a great series, the only problem is i see the show as being too intelligent for most cable tv viewers. I feel that NBC has a very intelligent hit on its hands, but it might lack the big viewership that comes along with being an intelligent show very like community. Another aspect of the show that i found very interesting was how both realities were blending over into his cases in each reality. In one reality he might get a clue for why the little girl was kidnapped in the other reality. It makes for very intresting and pleasant melodrama and adds to the overall mystique of the show and the premise that we as the viewer really do not know what is going on.
All in all, i give the show a 10/10, the show had an excellent start and i hope it continues to be clever and inventive.
Till next time!
#Justin

Something Borrowed

So I just watched a chick flick with my girlfriend last night and was not impressed... The movie is titled "Something Borrowed."

The whole premise of the movie is based on a man and a woman falling in love. (Sounds familiar, right?)  Except that the man (Colin Egglesfield) is engaged and the woman (Ginnifer Goodwin) he falls in love with is the best friend of the bride-to-be (Kate Hudson).  This wouldn't be so bad had they just met after the engagement, but they've known each other the entire time the couple has been dating.  Not only have they known each other for the entire 6 years but the best friend introduced the bride and groom.

I apologize for those of you who think this is a sweet movie, but I cannot classify it as such.  It's a movie about cheating on your fiancé with her best friend.  Yeah so what if they "loved each other all along."  That doesn't make it OK to walk out on your bride and to screw over your best friend.  If you "loved each other" then the whole 6 years with the other girl shouldn't have happened... Hate to break it to you bro but you shouldn't have "popped the question" to the wrong broad.

This movie gets two thumbs down... (If I had more thumbs I would throw them down as well).  Do not see this movie. I do not recommend it at all. It was a waste of time.  The only good thing about the movie was the end when the credits started rolling.... Oh and John Krasinski's role.  His sarcastic character made the movie semi-tolerable.

Sorry for the rant.  Just giving my opinion on a terrible movie.  IMDB gives it a 5.6/10... I think that is very gracious... I give it a 4.3/10 and that's only because John Krasinski made me laugh a few times.

"Top 10"

Here is our first official post. Top 10's... These lists will be compiled of our own personal Top 10's so you can get to know our taste in different areas of the media.  With each lists, we will include the release year and genre.

Movies:

Justin's Top 10:
1) The Dark Knight (2008, Action/Drama)
2) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003, Fantasy/Drama)
3) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Sci-Fi)
4) Boondock Saints (1999, Crime/Thriller)
5) Gangs of New York (2002, Crime/Drama)
6) Fight Club (1999, Drama/Thriller)
7) Reservoir Dogs (1992, Crime/Thriller)
8) Goodfellas (1990, Crime/Drama)
9) Inception (2010, Action/Sci-Fi)
10) Pulp Fiction (1994, Crime/Thriller)

Austin's Top 10:
1) Boondock Saints (1999, Crime/Thriller)
2) Green Street Hooligans (2005, Crime/Drama)
3) The Dark Knight (2008, Action/Drama)
4) Fight Club (1999, Drama/Thriller)
5) Inception (2010, Action/Sci-Fi)
6) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Sci-Fi)
7) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002, Action/Fantasy)
8) Scent of a Woman (1992, Drama)
9) V for Vendetta (2005, Action/Sci-Fi)
10) Gangs of New York (2002, Crime/Drama)

TV Shows:
Quick forwarding note on the favorite TV shows list. These shows are the shows that at one point in our lives we loved so much. Im 23 now, and pokemon isnt a big deal to me anymore, but rewind to 2000, and i was as big of a poke maniac as any kid. So take this list with that in mind that these are the top shows of our lives and where they rank compared to the others. Cheers!

Justin's Top 10:
1) Lost (2004-2010, Adventure/Drama/Mystery)
2) Pokémon (1998-2000, Animated)
3) Community (2009-Current, Comedy/Drama)
4) Game of Thrones (2011-Current, Drama/Fantasy)
5) 30 Rock (2006-Current, Comedy)
6) Dragonball Z (1996-2001, Animated/Action)
7) Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1996, Animated)
8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996, Animated)
9) Eastbound and Down (2009-Current, Comedy)
10) Rome (2004-2006, Drama/Action)

Austin's Top 10:
1) Lost (2004-2010, Adventure/Drama/Mystery)
2) Smallville (2001-2010, Adventure/Sci-Fi)
3) The Office (2005-Current, Comedy)
4) Bones (2005-Current, Crime/Drama)
5) Community (2009-Current, Comedy/Drama)
6) Spongebob Squarepants (1999-2002, Animated)
7) Transformers: Beast Wars (1996-1999, Animated)
8) Game of Thrones (2011-Current, Drama/Fantasy)
9) Prison Break (2005-2009, Action/Drama)
10 Dragonball Z (1996-2001, Animated/Action)

Video Games:


Justin's Top 10:
1)  The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, Action/Adventure)
2) Super Mario 64 (1996, Platform Game)
3) Halo (2001, First Person Shooter)
4) Donkey Kong 64 (1999, Platform Game)
5) Resident Evil 4 (2005, Third Person Shooter/Horror/Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi)
6) Super Smash Bros. (1999, Fighter)
7) Final Fantasy VII (1997, RPG)
8) Batman: Arkham City (2011, Action/Adventure)
9) BioShock (2007, First Person Shooter)
10) Skyrim (2011, RPG)

Austin's Top 10:
1) Super Smash Bros. (1999, Fighting)
2) Sonic the Hedgehog (1991, Adventure/Platform Game)
3) Kingdom Hearts (2002, RPG/Action)
4) Halo (2001, First Person Shooter)
5) Super Mario 64 (1996, Platform Game)
6) NCAA Football (2007-Current, Sports)
7) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008, Third Person Action)
8) Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010, Platform)
9)  Star Fox 64 (1997, Rail Shooter)
10) God of War (2005-2010, Action/Adventure)

Bands:
For this list we're just going to put the genre of the bands.


Justin's Top 10:
1) Led Zeppelin (Classic Rock)
2) 30 Seconds to Mars (Alternative Rock)
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers (Alternative Rock)
4) Eminem/Kanye West (Rap)
5) The Black Keys (Blues Rock)
6) Foo Fighters (Alternative Rock/Post-Grunge)
7) Muse (Alternative Rock)
8) Radiohead (Alternative Rock)
9) The Beatles (Rock)
10) Audioslave (Alternative Metal)

Austin's Top 10:
1) 30 Seconds to Mars (Alternative Rock)
2) Linkin Park (Rock-Rap)
3) August Burns Red (Metalcore)
4) U2 (Rock)
5) Red Hot Chili Peppers (Alternative Rock)
6) Coldplay (Alternative Rock)
7) The Beatles (Rock)
8) AC/DC (Classic Rock)
9) Hillsong (Christian/Worship)
10) Go Radio (Punk Rock)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed getting to know us. Look for our future blogs as we get into the full reviews.