NBA 2K13 Review

2K Sports has done it again. What's left for them to prove? What other improvements can they make to an already almost perfect NBA gaming franchise? Introducing the control stick. Taking their idea from EAs NBA Live 2003 freestyle controls and incorporating it into their gaming engine, 2K13 is now a beast to play. Players are now given more freedom to dribble, crossover, and shoot in different ways than ever before. The Association mode has been remodeled to the more challenging Dynasty mode as well.

EA: doing crossovers before it was cool.

MyPlayer afficianados should be excited for the new feature called MyCareer. Your player will start with a basic skill-based profile; choose from being a natural athlete, shooter, distributor, post-up guy, and other profiles matching your position of play. But in order to became a monster in the court you have to earn a lot of VCs or Virtual Coins, which you get by playing the game, A LOT. What's also nice is that even if you lose games, you still gent to earn VCs

So what's the point of earning VCs? You get to use these points to upgrade your player's skills, do more unique and creative pre-game rituals, get new headbands, shirts, t-shirts, jerseys, accessories, shoes to dress your player to look like the winner and prodigy that he is.

2K13 also revamped their already star-studded cast of guest rosters and teams. Now you can duke it out using the fabled '92 Dream Team against let's say, the 2012 USA Basketball Team (I know all you fans out there have been waiting for this moment). Bill Russell and Celtics are not too far behind, not to mention Magic and Kareem, Run TmC too. And to add a little fun to the mix, you also get to play a Celebrity Team featuring some of this generations famous stars: Justin Bieber, Bow Wow, Sean Kingston - to name a few.

Those who pre-ordered the game get to play the All-Star Weekend modes much similar to NBA Live 2004's feature. Pitting Dennis Rodman against Ray Allen in the 3-point shootout contest is just too fun to watch. Or maybe Spud Webb versus Nate Robinson to decide who's the baddest little guy dunker once and for all? You decide the outcome.

Now this is a dunk contest!

Overall NBA 2K13 is certainly a must-buy for fans of the franchise, the NBA, and the game of basketball. I can't remember how many hours I've spent playing as my favorite Brooklyn Nets team. Plus if you'll notice, every team has the same intro before the start of the game, Brooklyn's a little different. Well, the game was executive produced by Jay-Z so expect something special for my all-time fave Nets. I give NBA 2K13 a gargantuan damage score rating of 9.5/10.

I'd also like to thank Cynetzone Gaming's Cubao branch on their wonderful facility and services which allowed me to enjoy the 2K experience to the full!



My PSN ID is NinjaKabute. You can also follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates on my blog, PS3 news, manga, the NBA, photography, or just my gaming experience cramped up in 140 characters.

White Knight Chronicles II Review

When it comes to Role Playing Games I have always been a Final Fantasy fanatic. Ever since I started gaming and got my first ever RPG, FFVII, the standard for RPGs got higher and the clamor to play the succeeding and previous FFs came after. So when I got a copy of White Knight Chronicles II, I didn't know what to expect.

Premium Heart :)

White Knight Chronicles II (or WKC2) is your typical save the world, save the princess RPG. While its battle system is reminiscent of Kingdom Heart's, but with a twist. The story revolves around your 5 main characters: Leonard, Yulie, Eldore, Caesar, & Kara, and their quest to defeat the revived Kingdom of Yshrenia from taking over the entire world. The battle is a recollection of the vicious and brutal Dogma Wars which happened 10,000 years ago between the Yshrenian and Athwani empires. During the course of the game Leonard, Caesar, and then Yulie can control giant robot-like beings called Incorruptus.

What makes WKC2 unique is the creation of your own special Avatar character which would fight alongside the other characters, for a total of 6 sprites to control and level up to your liking. But unlike the others, your Avatar has the chance to learn all the different classes to become one heck of a strong character! I remember spending hours just trying to create, mix-n-match, or just play around with the system until I was satisfied with what my Avatar looked like. Another thing to point out is that late in the game, your Avatar would also have the chance to get his/her own Incorruptus.

The online community is something to look forward to as well. This is where you can interact with other Avatars, do guild quests together, buy rare stuff only available online, and buy parts for your Incorruptus that you could not find offline to make it stronger. It would be challenging at first to find friends online, but once you do, you'll forget about going offline and just spend countless hours grinding and doing missions with your fellow Avatars.

Time to meet your maker!

I didn't know what to expect from WKC2, but boy did I enjoy every second and every hour of gameplay experience I spent. Plus, the blu-ray disc includes a remastered version of the original White Knight Chronicles game for you to further play and explore. What's also fun about it is that you can import your Avatar to WKC! For gamers who've been looking for other alternative RPGs to pry their gaming experience on, this is certainly worth a buy. I give White Knight Chronicles II a gargantuan damage score rating of 8/10.



My PSN ID is NinjaKabute. You can also follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates on my blog, PS3 news, manga, the NBA, photography, or just my gaming experience cramped up in 140 characters.

Buying New Games vs. Buying Used Games

Being an avid PlayStation gamer for so long, it has always been in my best interest to buy games when they are fresh off the market. That gaming rush I feel whenever I head to the nearest stores after school to buy a new release, it's just pure geekasm! Opening the CD case, reading the manual, or simply plugging it on to my console is joy in itself. This has always been the case, since games were cheap to buy back then.

Come the PS2 and PS3 age. What was once an easy access to gamers was now limited due to expensive prices and limited stores that offered the games. Now what did retailers and the masses back home here in the Philippines think of in order to solve the problem? Second hand games. The market was small when it first started, but through the years it eventually became as big as it is respected by gamers. I've never really thought that I would eventually participate in this type of transaction, since I would prefer to save up and buy a brand new copy instead.

Oh! Bunny ears :)

So what's the deal you ask? When you buy a brand new copy, you're sure that your disc is 100% scratch free, sealed, free from dirt, and of course, certified fresh. You also get interesting freebies along with the purchase like DLCs (DOA 5 extra costumes come to mind), extra manuals, maps, soundtracks (think KOFXIII), secret codes or characters, additional levels (2K13 is that you?), free shirt (RE6 anyone?), free action figure / toy (hello ACIII!!!) - this of course assuming you pre-ordered the game. But even if you didn't, some games still come with those additions we spoke of.

Now why buy a second hand game you say? It's CHEAP - you get to buy the game at about half or one fourth its original price. What you need to be aware of is where you buy these. Since the copies are already used, you don't know how intact the disc is; scratch free, no loading errors, etc. Plus, as these games have already been purchased by a different gamer don't expect that you'd still be able to use the redeem codes or DLCs to get those extra maps, costumes, or characters. No free shirt for you too!

Another thing that comes to mind in terms of second hand games is the monetary value that comes with it. If you're on the receiving end of this, retailers aren't the only ones who buy these types of games, you could also sell them yourself and earn some extra bucks! What some gamers do is buy a new game, quickly platinum it then sell it at around half the price. Instant cash!

Wario wants his cash now!

And like I said earlier, I never really thought that I'd actually participate in type of transaction. But lo and behold I bought a second hand copy of Final Fantasy 13 from a trusted friend with no second thoughts (apart from checking the CD for any scratches), I was good to go. With that being said, I leave it up to the reader their purchasing power of choice: new games or used games. In the end you'd still get to play the game no matter what your preference is.



My PSN ID is NinjaKabute. You can also follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates on my blog, PS3 news, manga, the NBA, photography, or just my gaming experience cramped up in 140 characters.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Review

I was never a Tekken fan (no flame intended folks) ever since its inception back in 1994. So, everything was new to me when I tried out Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (or TTT2 to fans all over the world) at Cynetzone last Sunday. The game lists all the characters from the first Tekken up to the present, and what's also great is that gamers have the option to either create a team of two characters or go solo.

What makes TTT2s gameplay unique is that it expanded from the first Tekken Tag and added extended tag combos and combined moves. New techniques include combined tag throws, simultaneous tag combos can be done by both characters, plus, it also has the Bound hits and walled arena features from Tekken 6!

Being a Tekken newbie, I was impressed by the realism of the fighting gameplay and character movements. The combos are hard to pull off and really takes a lot of practice before you can achieve God-like status in this game. Heck, I couldn't even defeat the final boss in Easy mode!

Konami code on?

Kidding aside the game is great, especially for die hard fans and gamers who'd like to test out all the Tekken characters and duke 'em out to find out who's the greatest. As for me I'll stick to my favorite Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and my new fighting gem, P4A. I'd like to thank Cynetzone's Cubao branch on their wonderful facility and service which allowed me to enjoy my TTT2 gaming experience.



My PSN ID is NinjaKabute. You can also follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates on my blog, PS3 news, manga, the NBA, photography, or just my gaming experience cramped up in 140 characters.