Preview Alert: Kung-Fu Panda

Ah yes, the inevitable video game that ties in to this summers “biggest” cartoon movie. I’ve just finished playing the demo and this game has serious potential. Not potential as in game of the year mind you, but defiantly a game that deserves a rental from what I experienced in the short time I had with the game. In Kung-Fu Panda you play as Po the Panda in the demo where it teaches you the basics of the game in a multi-tiered level. If you like Jack Black (the voice of Po) and button mashing, beat em up style games then give this one a try cause I doubt it will be a disappointment.

“Santa Monica, CA – May 1, 2008 – Starting today, gamers can become the ultimate Kung Fu Master as Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) releases the Kung Fu Panda™ video game demo on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Based on the upcoming feature film from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NYSE: DWA), the Kung Fu Panda video game demo features a full, multi-stage level in which players can experience a taste of the game’s kung fu awesomeness and bodacious humor. Assuming the role of Po the Panda, gamers will be able to deliver incredible combo attacks against a variety of enemies, navigate stunning multi-tiered environments and execute the hilariously powerful Panda Stumble and Panda Quake maneuvers. Additionally, players who beat the demo will receive an exclusive cheat code for the full game allowing them to unlock playable characters in multiplayer mode.

The Kung Fu Panda video game takes gamers on an epic adventure through 13 awesome levels from the movie and beyond. Players must master the specialized kung fu fighting styles of Po, his teacher Shifu, and the legendary kung fu masters, the Furious Five, to become the Dragon Warrior and finally defeat the ultimate enemy, Tai Lung. Featuring a deep variety of gameplay, unique co-op and competitive multiplayer modes, collectibles, and a host of character upgrades, the Kung Fu Panda video game provides an experience gamers of all ages will enjoy.

The Kung Fu Panda video game will be available June 3, 2008 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Games for Windows®, and the Nintendo DS™. The console and Windows PC versions are rated PG by the BBFC.

For more information on the Kung Fu Panda video game please visit www.KungFuPandaGame.com.”

WoW-Gasm! Part III (Return of the Gasm)

This is the third and final update for our Wrath of the Lich King coverage here at Triumph or Die! This final update will tell you everything we know about the upcoming expansion and hopefully get you as excited for this game as we are. All the intel we have gathered comes from various gaming sites around the web including 1up, Curse, Gamespy, Eurogamer, WorldofRaids, and WoW Insider.

General:

• Players will be able to unlock their flying mounts at level 77 by either doing a quest or a gold-sink
• Once unlocked all previous flying mounts can be used, plus Blizzard will have some new ones for purchase.
• WOTLK flying mounts will be a little bit faster than your standard Outland flying mount. More like the speed of the Phoenix or Armored Netherdrake mount.
• “One of the things we’re talking about right now, it’s not finalized, but we’re talking about the ability for those mounts to carry a passenger, so if your friend doesn’t have an epic flying mount or if they are a lower level or whatever, they’d be able to jump on your mount and off you go,” says a Blizzard employee.
• Northrend is considerably larger than Outlands in WOTLK.

• The new “vehicle” system will let characters “drive” an object around. An example a Blizzard employee gave was “players will fly over a human settlement being overrun with the Scourge, lowering a ladder down to pull up and rescue civilians. In one dungeon instance, players will be able to “liberate” some blue dragons that they can mount up and fly around, fighting their way up a massive tower.”

Old Azeroth contents used in Northrend:

• There are quests and content relating to the Worgen and the sons of Arugal (from Silverpine forest)
• The Scarlet Crusade returns in Northrend but now calls themselves the “Scarlet Onslaught”
• Advances to the storyline of the Forsaken, adding unique Forsaken building and architecture

Factions:

• The Argent Dawn returns in Troll instance (or raid) Zul’Drak
• In Sholazar Basin, players will be able to choose which faction to align with. Either the wolverine like Wolvar or the next evolution of the murlocs called “Oracles.” Reputation will be easy to gain here as Blizzard wants you to defect to and from your chosen faction.

Professions:

• Blacksmithing may be able to put gem slots in items that didn’t have them before

Inscription:

• Inscribers will create glyphs that allow players to modify their spells and abilities.

• The first recipe is going to require Peacebloom, thus they’ll rely on the herbalist gathering profession.

• Every player will get a new spell book page to which they can add six glyphs – currently, four major and two minor.

• Major glyphs will be effective in combat – adding damage over time or stun to a physical attack, for example – while minor glyphs will give convenient or cosmetic improvements, removing the need for some spell reagents.

• Glyphs can be sold on the auction house.

Dungeons & Raids:

• Similar to World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, all 5-person dungeons will have a Heroic mode, and the loot tables for the 2 modes will be totally separate. Heroic dungeons will have their own “Tier” of armor completely unique to that level dungeon.

• The regular five-man instances take around one hour or less to beat (this probably won’t be the case for the heroic versions)

• Zero raid bosses have been designed at this point

• PvE ladders on the official armory are possible in the future

New Two-Tier Raiding System:

• All raid dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King will have both 25-person and 10-person versions

• 25-person raiding progression is not dependent on 10-person raiding; players will not have to obtain keys or attunements in 10-person raids to participate in 25-person raids

• 10- and 25-person raids both have their own, independent progression paths

• Players will receive more, higher level rewards for completing the 25-person raid dungeons over the 10-person version

Dragonblight: (new zone)

• Players will interact with Arthas for the first time at a relatively low level, around 71-74 in Dragonblight – the final encounter with him won’t be until the final patch of the Lich King cycle, some time after release.

• The Chamber of Aspects in Dragonblight will offer a series of different single-encounter short raids with dragon bosses.

The Nexus:

• The Nexus is located in Coldara (a sub-zone of Borean Tundra) is a three-wing dungeon for 70s, 80s and a short Onyxia-style raid against Malygos himself.

• The Nexus is structurally a broken tower with rotating rings surrounding a column of blue energy.

• During some of the boss encounters, players will actually free drakes to fly around the ring. Using the game’s new vehicle technology, players will be able to engage in free flight around the dungeon and use some of the drake’s abilities to take on some of the dungeon’s challenges.

Death Knight:

• Death knights will be available to all players with level 55 characters

• Players can create one death knight per realm, per account

• Death knights can be any of the races

• Once created, death knights can undertake a series of quests to introduce the player to the new class and its associated lore

• Death knights utilize a rune system as their resource mechanic

• Three different rune types are available: Unholy, Frost, and Blood

• These runes allow death knights to cast spells and abilities; spells can cost any combination of these runes

• Spent runes automatically refresh after a set period of time, similar to a rogue’s energy bar

• The death knight will have the ability to customize which array of six runes is currently available

• As rune abilities are used, the death knight also generates another resource called Runic Power

• The death knight will have several abilities that cost all available Runic Power, with varying levels of effectiveness based on total Runic Power spent

• Runic Power decays over time if it’s not spent, similar to a warrior’s rage bar

• The death knight has three different presences to use: Blood, Frost, and Unholy; each presence grants the death knight a unique buff that will allow him or her to fulfill different roles in combat

• The death knight can serve either as a tank or as a melee-based damage-dealing class

• Death knights are designed to be highly viable tanking, magic-using characters

• Death knights will have the ability to summon undead guardians to fight by their side

• Death knights will have the ability to summon a Deathcharger mount.

WoW-Gasm! Part II (The Gasm Strikes Back)

More news coming straight from Blizzard HQ via WorldofRaids.com where Tigole (Jeff Kaplan) and Kalgan (Tom Chilton) discuss specific quests in WOTLK.

• “There’s this whole quest chain in Howling Fjord where you learn how to train falcons. You do a number of quests where you get a falcon pet and you send it out and it has to kill things and then come back to you; you learn the basic controls of the falcon. Then it has this great climax where you get to go to the edge of the cliff and actually control the falcon from his point of view and then you have to steal these eggs that are down on a cliff that are heavily protected.”

• “There’s another quest where you get to assume the form of an iron golem and there are these huge jump pad runes all over a very vertical… it’s in Howling Fjord, that zone with the huge cliff walls… there are these runes all over the cliff wall and you get to control this iron golem as he’s doing these giant jumps up and down the cliff walls to give you a more visceral, gamey, platformey feel to it.”

• “The Dalaran wizards here play a major role that ties into one of the early dungeons called the Nexus. First you have to do a few chores for them, like a quest to capture an enemy magic user and drag him back to the Dalaran camp. There’s then a torture sequence where you repeatedly zap the prisoner with lightning bolts from a special quest item until he cracks and divulges information necessary for the quest to continue.”

• Blizzard also mentioned you’ll able to fly around in planes and have you pick up passengers or pick them off, as well as fly around in helicopters, pick up and deliver cargo, and parachute out.

I also found this awesome 9:27 video of the WOTLK gameplay and has a detailed summary of what your seeing.

WoW-Gasm! Part I

Part I

Part II

There you heard it from lead designer Jeff Kaplan & co-lead designer J. Allen Brack. Of course, Blizzard didn’t even hint at a release date but my guess is late this year or early 2009. Seems like the new expansion is shaping up very nicely and I will continue to bring you coverage throughout the day.

In other news, Blizzard announced this years Blizzcon which will be held in Anaheim, CA on October 10th, 2008 and cost a hundred bucks a pop. Their is no way i’m missing it this year.

IRVINE, Calif. – May 12, 2008 – – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for its third BlizzCon™ gaming convention, to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on October 10 and 11. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment^®’s Warcraft^®, StarCraft^®, and Diablo^® franchises. In response to the demand to accommodate more attendees, this year’s event has expanded from two convention halls to three.

“Whenever we’ve been able to meet and interact with Blizzard gamers from around the world, it’s been a great experience for us,” stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re looking forward to seeing even more of our players at this year’s BlizzCon and delivering another entertaining and informative event for them.”

BlizzCon will offer a wide variety of activities to help all attendees get the most out of the two-day event. In addition to serving as a gathering place for the different Blizzard Entertainment gaming communities, attendees will be able to enjoy:

• Hands-on play time with upcoming Blizzard Entertainment releases
• Discussion panels with Blizzard Entertainment developers
• Competitive and casual tournaments for players to showcase their talents
• Areas and activities devoted to licensed products such as the World of Warcraft® Trading Card Game
• Costume, machinima, and character sound-alike contests with great prizes
• Commemorative merchandise based on the Blizzard Entertainment franchises
• A silent auction
• More exciting activities to be announced

Tickets for BlizzCon will go on sale in the next few weeks at a price of $100 USD per person. As the event draws closer, further details will be announced on the official BlizzCon website: www.blizzcon.com.

WoW-Gasm!

Alright guys, as you all know (or finding out now) i’m a huge fan of World of Warcraft and MMO’s in general. Earlier this week Blizzard had an event for the press where they showed off tons of new stuff for the upcoming expansion Wrath of the Lich King. I fully intend on writing about every single detail that was announced at the event, but since I just write here at the blog and am not on any deadline I will take the entire weekend to write it all up and make several posts on Monday. After I put all the information up then will come my favorite part where I will be speculating on things that were not announced and when they will release the game. For now just enjoy that images.

Images courtesy of 1up.com

Indie Game of the Week

Every week (hopefully) I will be bring you my pick for Indie Game of the Week. This week comes from the developer Pencilkids and their new ninja game called Bowja The Ninja (on factory island.) Bowja is a point and click adventure/puzzle game that is played in your browser as most good free games are. Your mission (if you choose to accept) is to infiltrate the enemy’s island and destroy the Gi8000 (Ranby the Robot.) Also, Indiegames.com mentions that knowledge of Roman numerals is needed to complete this game.

Top Ten Lists are Overrated

Have you ever looked at a Men’s Health magazine while waiting for the doctor? Neither have I, but if you are as tired of “Top Ten” lists as I am, I’m here to educate you about which major American cities have the most deadliest drunks, where Baton Rouge ranks in a certain category (not drunkest city in America) and why these lists are completely irrelevant.

According to Menshealth.com, the city with the most deadliest drunks in America is Denver. I totally believe this to be true simply because the Broncos (That’s a football team for you non-sports types) have been terrible ever since John Elway left.

The second city in this category is Anchorage and, not to knock Alaska, but I wouldn’t know anything else to do in the A.K. except drink. By the way, the least deadliest drunk city in America is Durham, N.C., home of my pick to win the NCAA tournament, Duke. According to Men’s Health, Baton Rouge is ranked No. 1 in cities with the lowest annual alcohol liver disease death rate. Might as well be first in something, I say.

By now I bet you are tired of hearing about this list aren’t you? To spite all things Top Ten, I will give you three reasons you should never pay attention to another list again. The most obvious reason is that whoever is doing this list couldn’t cut it when it comes to writing a relevant article, so they had to rank things such as drunkest city in America, fittest and fattest cities for kids, and America’s best cities for men.

Another reason is that these lists shouldn’t decide your life for you, but some people probably let them. The last reason is that Top Ten lists are only good for making you laugh (See Letterman’s Top Ten).

Well, I hope by reading this article you gain a better understanding of why Top Ten lists are overrated and you should just avoid them at all costs.

Originally Published in Tiger Weekly Issue 601 – March 26. 2008

A Night of Originality with Highlines & Oh Juliet

At the Caterie on April 26, patrons will be entertained by two bands that have a style all their own and continually put out original and honest music. Both the Highlines and Oh Juliet have different ways of approaching music but end up with the same outcome. Both bands make you want to clap your hands along with the beat.

What drives the Highlines musically is the lack of something different around Baton Rouge and trying to appeal to every genre, while Oh Juliet guitarist Patrick Trumps says this about their drive.

“When I joined this band two years ago, they instilled upon my brain the words ‘outside the box,’” said Trumps. “When [Oh Juliet] first started out, they wrote songs that were WAY left field. After recording with Eric Bass twice, he kind of dragged us more to the center … but still appreciated our songwriting for what it is … so, when people ask what kind of music we play, I tend to always reply, ‘it’s a little left of center.’”

Baton Rouge is becoming a major destination for bands on tour who want to experience an energized crowd on a nightly basis. Highlines have lived in both Baton Rouge and Los Angeles while traveling all over the country.

“Baton Rouge, unlike Los Angeles, doesn’t have an over saturation of bands. This town has potential of becoming a great music scene with a couple of good venues and a great young energetic crowd,” said Highlines lead vocalist/bassist Johnny Clancy.

Coming from Lafayette, Oh Juliet has recently caught the attention of the Baton Rouge crowd and Trumps talks directly about his experience and why he enjoys playing in this town.

“Baton Rouge is unlike any other crowd we’ve played in front of, for the most part. Some cities, all it takes is one performance and you’ve won the crowd over,” said Trumps. “With Baton Rouge, it took quite a few shows before people started getting it. We’ve played countless shows with our best buds in Meriwether. I think their fan base is one of the most dedicated that I’ve ever seen. I’m just glad that they accept our music as worth a clap or a cheer.”

You always hear about crazy stories from the road when the band finally gets home. Danny Prince (drums) from Highlines had his front tooth chip off and fall out. He super-glued it back on. As of right now, the piece of tooth is currently missing in action. Another fun fact about Highlines is that they don’t tour the country in a van like most bands. This three-piece band travels from gig to gig in a Dodge Dakota. They have driven from Louisiana to Los Angeles and back in this truck.

This is the third time Oh Juliet and the Highlines have played together and something that I personally enjoy hearing about is bands talking about other bands they play with. So, I asked both Highlines and Oh Juliet what they thought about each other and got some really exciting answers.

Highlines described Oh Juliet as a modern, inventive band with great songs and energy. A member from Oh Juliet had this to say about Highlines: “Every time we play with Highlines, they blow me away. They raise the bar in their songwriting and performing every time. They’re an exciting band to watch.”

You can check out both of these bands on their MySpace pages and on April 26, Adam Dale will have a solo acoustic set before both of these bands get on stage, so get there early.

Originally published in Tiger Weekly Issue 605 – April 23, 2008

A Little Less Talk, a lot More Action

“The Forbidden Kingdom” has two of the best kung-fu actors in film today. Both Jet Li and Jackie Chan have had terrible co-stars in previous films (most notably Chris Tucker and rapper DMX) but team up in this movie to finally give us a martial arts movie that we can get into.

Wait, didn’t Jet Li retire from doing movies? Actually, Jet just retired from making movies that promote messages about the philosophy of Martial Arts.

This flick is perfect for this time of year when there just hasn’t been a good reason to visit the movies. It’s a kung-fu movie that gives you a reminder you go to a movie to be entertained just when you start to believe it’s taking itself too seriously. Most of the funny parts of the movie come from Jet Li’s character Monkey King, who, as you probably guessed, acts like a monkey.

The movie does a great job of throwing in tons of action scenes and rarely do you get a dialogue-only moment until about an hour in. With this in mind, if you don’t like action movies that barely have a plot, then this might not be the movie for you. “The Forbidden Kingdom” doesn’t try and be something it’s not and ends up being the best action movie so far this year.

The sad thing about the movie is that if you missed it on opening weekend then it will get overlooked with “Harold & Kumar” coming out this Friday and then “Iron Man” the following week. It really sucks that a movie this entertaining will end up being swept under the rug by movies that might not live up to the original or is over hyped.

“The Forbidden Kingdom” is rated PG-13 and definitely deserves a lot more love than it’s currently given by critics. The fact that it’s a funny action movie without the forced humor of major action flicks justifies why I’m rating this movie a B+.

Originally Published in Tiger Weekly Issue 605 – April 23, 2008

You can’t give it up! Triumph or Die!

Welcome to Triumph or Die! a new gaming blog that will report on all facets of the game industry. Obviously, with the two pictures in this blog you know where I got the name for the blog. Street Fighter Alpha 3 is my favorite fighting game of all time (second is Marvel vs. Capcom 2) and the other picture shows the only character I have used since his debut in Super Street Fighter II.

Not only will we be talking games here at Triumph or Die! but also the games industry and how it affects us as gamers. Sometimes the industry needs to be called out by the consumer and we will defiantly not have our voice silenced by anyone. My promise to you as a reader of my blog and a fellow gamer is that I will always put you first and do whatever it takes to get the info you want to hear about.

Also, I will be writing about my attempts to break into the games journalism industry for “realz” and become more than just a blogger. It’s not that I have anything against blogs like Kotaku or Joystiq , but I want to help make the title “game journalist” not be a dirty word within the industry.

In conclusion, I really hope you enjoyed the first official post here at Triumph or Die! and by the end of the week I will have a whole list of gaming sites I read on a regular basis. If you have any question or would like to see something covered on the site you can contact me by leaving a comment on my blog or e-mailing me at joshiepoo22@gmail.com. Thanks, and have a great day.