NA Fans To Get Deluxe Edition Catherine

I'm jealous. $79.99 is a bit steep, but that's a pretty slick package. I guess I must have really enjoyed the game because part of me wants a pair of Vincent's boxers. Sweet shirt as well.



Finally got around to beating the game the other week, so I'll have a review up later.

Extreme Rules 2011

I'm not planning on making this a regular thing, but I went ahead and tracked down a copy of Sunday's event because I really wanted to see the Smackdown title match. This event is EXTREME, and we'll thus see the superstars going at it in various no disqualification scenarios. Tables, ladders, cages, oh my. We kick things off with Punk and Orton, and I swear, the amount of combined tattoos between these two men has already increased considerably since April 3rd. The anonymous Raw General Manager immediately sends the New Nexus to the back, which CM Punk does not approve of. One of the Nexus members seriously looks like Batista's pissed off little brother.

Randy Orton vs CM Punk (Last Man Standing)
Booker T is doing color here, which makes things infinitely more interesting. He kind of has that Dusty Rhodes vibe on commentary, where he'll get excited to the point that it isn't always immediately clear what's coming out of his mouth. Great match, as you'd probably expect from these two. Some pretty sick bumps here, including CM Punk taking an RKO on the announce table. Punk comes back by wrapping a chair around Orton's throat and ramming it into the ringpost. Booker: "Oh my goodness, he could have crushed a larynx or anything, WHAT THE HELL!" Finish comes when Orton catches Punk up top and brings him down with an elevated RKO. They gave them 20 minutes here, so no real complaints aside from the fact that CM Punk loses yet again. Does this guy ever win on PPV?

US Title: Sheamus vs Kofi Kingston (Tables Match)
This one is technically a bonus match since it wasn't advertised to be on the card. Good for Sheamus since he got shafted at Mania, though you gotta figure that he's losing here since RAW needs a secondary title and Sheamus just got drafted to Smackdown. Decent match. I like that they worked an actual logical tables match, with the entire focus being table spot, counter, table spot, counter, table spot, etc. Kofi takes it after coming off the top with his legdrop onto Sheamus who was outside the ring. Sheamus took the table bump while standing which made it look a lot more impressive.

R-Truth is getting interviewed backstage. I guess he had a title shot but lost it when John Morrison beat him on RAW. Truth smells conspiracy (but apparently can't spell it). Truth: "Conspiracies ain't good, they BAD." He's like Dead Prez meets Mystikal and Sesame Street.

Michael Cole & Jack Swagger vs Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross (Country Whipping Match)
I guess last month's King/Cole match didn't live up to expectations, so they decided to add Jim Ross and his technical wrestling wizardry to the equation. Cole comes out wrapped entirely in bubble wrap, which is actually kind of funny for a few seconds before the whole thing goes to hell. Cole surprises JR with a rollup to take the win. Moving on.

Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio (Falls Count Anywhere)
Cody Rhodes' character has really grown on me. He's accompanied to the ring by a pair of gentlemen who proceed to cover the faces of ringside fans with paper bags because they're "extremely ugly." Tremendous. Falls count anywhere, so they eventually make their way to the back where Rhodes catches Rey with that springboard knee of his. The fans backstage chant "holy shit" and "this is awesome" at that. Um, that seems a tad generous. Back in the ring, Rey breaks out the green mist (!) before hitting the 619 and a splash for the victory. Evil grin from Mysterio afterward. What is he, a heel?

Michelle McCool vs Layla (No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE)
Haven't sat down and watched a proper Divas match in ages, but McCool seems to be pretty good. Layla spends most of the match bawling - as in crying - which is somewhat annoying. McCool hits a Styles Clash, but Layla reverses the pin to steal it. Viscera makes his return after the match and kills McCool dead with a double underhook facebuster. Why is he picking on women? Oh wait, apparently it's not Viscera, but Awesome Kong. Cool. Her WWE ring name is Kharma.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs Christian (Ladder Match)
I like Del Rio a lot, but I've been a huge Christan fan for over 10 years so I'll let you figure out who I'm rooting for here. Booker: "Alberto Del Rio reminds me of myself back in the day as far as going out there and totally trying to get the job done at all times." Indeed, if the definition of "getting the job done at all times" is breakdancing in the middle of the ring instead of pinning your opponent. Not the Jeff Hardy-esque trainwreck that ladder matches are often associated with, but kudos to Del Rio for taking a big ladder bump off a missed elbow drop. Really good match here in spite of Brodus Clay and Edge getting involved. Christian annihilates Brodus Clay with a ladder, which leads to Clay bleeding all over the place like he got shot in the head. They're going to have a lot of fun editing that one out for the DVD release. Christian eventually pushes Del Rio off of a ladder all the way to the outside before climbing it himself to secure his first world title. Edge looks legitimately happy for his friend here, and Christian celebrates with the belt like the title actually means something to him. You don't see enough of that nowadays. Tough not to be happy for Christian, one of the guys who's worked hard and always been a total pro. Great moment.



Alex Riley is talking to the Miz about his upcoming triple threat title match. Riley says that Miz mathematically only has a 33% chance of winning. Well, not if you ask Scott Steiner:



Tag Team Titles: Big Show & Kane vs Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson (Lumberjack Match)
Not trying to be funny or anything, but I seriously have no idea who half of these lumberjacks are. Whatever happened to Wade Barrett's push? Never mind, perhaps Big Zeke ate it. Seems like they have big plans for Ezekiel Jackson, the dude certainly is...large. Show chokeslams Barrett to pick up the win. Nice to know that even though LayCool can't get along, Big Show and Kane will always be BFF.

RAW World Title: The Miz vs John Cena vs John Morrison (Steel Cage Match)
Remember when Miz and Morrison were tag champs? I would have bet money on Morrison becoming world champ first. Hey, this one turned out to be pretty good. Morrison really adds an interesting element to the match with his unique offense. He busts out a C4 at one point, which kind of goes over the head of the crowd. Cena and Morrison try a double superplex on Miz, but Miz takes the bump on his head like it's a brainbuster, resulting in the sickest spot all night. I guess Cena gets jealous of all of Morrison's springy, flippy offense, so he decides to break out a monkey flip. ABUNAAAAII!!! Morrison almost manages to escape through the cage door, but R-Truth shows up and kicks his head in. He proceeds to beat down Morrison and Cena before leaving. You know, I've never been a fan of Truth because he was always this goofy rapper/dancer character that couldn't rap or dance, but at least he has an edge as a heel. Finish comes when Cena recovers and catches Miz with an Attitude Adjustment off the top rope. Good show.

Two days later: reports from this week's Smackdown taping have revealed that Christian has lost the world title to Randy Orton. Wow. I hate that they didn't even let Christian make it through a single episode of Smackdown as champ before slapping the title on Orton for the 8th time. Would it have killed them to let Christian run with the title for one month before having him drop it at the next PPV? On the other hand, I'm happy that Christian got his moment. Taking the title off of him so quickly was absurd - especially considering the reaction he got from the fans when he won the belt - but he's a former world champ now, and that certainly counts for something. Hell, maybe now they'll finally turn him heel. A heel Christian going after Orton would at least be a pretty fresh feud.

Trying To Capture Lightning

With Nike releasing limited edition Tokyo 23 versions of the Jordan 5 and CP3.IV exclusively in Japan today, I made it a point to make good use of the holiday and try to land one or the other. First things first, you have to lace up a decent pair of hunting boots when going on the hunt:



With rumors swirling that these would be extremely limited (as low as a several hundred made of each pair), I decided to not take any chances and head to my sneaker spot early. Unfortunately, the mall's parking lot wasn't open yet, but I managed to find a pay lot a couple of blocks away.



As expected, several people were already lined up and waiting. Lots of heat in attendance - Cement III, Fire Red 5, Space Jams - but all the buzz was clearly about the T23 "Lightning" Jordan 5. Oddly enough, there were lots of people waiting in line at the theater as well. Not sure what's more weird, the fact that the movie theater opens at 8:00 in the morning, or the fact that there are actually people who want to watch a movie that early.



Unfortunately, rumors surrounding the production run seemed to be fairly accurate, as the store apparently only had 10 pairs of each shoe in stock. The size run was even a bigger surprise, as they only had 7.5 through 10. Considering the size breakdown, logic suggested that they would likely have no more than 2 pairs of the Jordan 5 in my size (10), and likewise for the CP3.IV.



Rather than risk a stampede when the doors finally opened, the employees did the smart thing and asked customers for their preferred model and shoe size before handing out vouchers. When the girl taking sizes got to me, there was just one pair of the Jordan 5 left in a 7.5, as well as a few pairs of the CP3.IV, with the biggest size being a 9.5. I weighed my options for a minute, but eventually decided to grab the largest available pair of the CP3s, figuring that I could make a 9.5 work with church socks (maybe). This is all that they had left by the time I got to the register:



I let the dude behind me take the last pair of the Jordan Vs. In hindsight, I could have just bought the shoes anyway and flipped them since they'd probably fetch Yeezy-type prices (people online were offering me $500-$600 to land a pair), but I never got into the sneaker game to turn a profit through reselling and all that noise. The dude behind me said that he planned to take the 7.5 pair and try to find someone online that would trade him an 11, and I believe him. I did make it a point to snap a picture of them, considering that it's possible that I'll never see another pair in my life.



Pretty nice huh? I do like the 5 silhouette a lot, but I don't know if I would have ever rocked the T23s, even if I managed to grab a pair in my size. With the Wolf Grey 5 due out on 5/14, I think I can manage without the Lightnings in my life. So, my spoils for waking up early on my day off? One pair of T23 CP3.IVs in 9.5. And some stickers.



I suppose my initial reasoning was that I'd rather have a pair of the CP3s a half size too small than a pair of the Jordans 2.5 sizes too small, but I'm kind of glad that I went with the CP3.IVs since they are really, really nice and just as limited. I'd been looking at those XI-inspired Bred CP3.IVs, but these T23s blow those way out of the water.



Clean. Needed New Orleans to win today to really put a cap on things, but it was still a good day. I'll post more detailed pictures later.

All Of The Lights

Been spending a lot of time ogling pictures of the Sharp Blue Crazy Light that Adidas has put out. They supposedly weigh a mere 9.8 ounces, good enough to earn the title of lightest basketball sneaker on the market.





Although the name of the shoe is a bit dumb, the design is definitely on point, as are most of the colors that are set to release. Derrick Rose has been playing in a nice black/red pair, but it's this shade of "sharp" blue that really punctuates the futuristic feel that the shoe has. The price is a bit steep at about $130 a pair, but if they perform as well as Adidas has promised, they should provide a nice alternative to Nike's current Hyper-everything basketball line.

Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light

Playing:
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
(PS3)

Not really much of a review since the game has been out for 8 months or so now, but I figured I’d post a few thoughts on this one after getting it off of the PSN store on sale for $7.50 a couple of weeks back. I’ll go ahead and call it my second favorite Tomb Raider game in the franchise (behind Tomb Raider II, which remains a sentimental favorite of mine), though you’re free to make of that what you will, as I only really played Tomb Raider through Tomb Raider III on the original Playstation before skipping every PS2 incarnation and jumping all the way to this one.

Although Crystal Dynamics has completely redefined the gameplay mechanics, Guardian of Light is a good deal of fun, providing tons of challenging puzzles in true TR fashion, as well as a multitude of treasures and weapons to collect as you make your way through the game. It plays nothing like the original trilogy, but manages to retain that “Indiana Jones with boobs & automatic weapons” vibe that we all fell in love with back in junior high. Combat feels more like Contra than TR, but the arcade-style shootouts mesh oddly well with the rather contrite puzzles that are scattered throughout the levels. A local co-op mode is also an option, as Lara teams with a spear-wielding God of War-ish warrior of sorts. I managed to beat the game over the course of a few days, although I imagine that a more dedicated gamer could conceivably plow through the whole thing in one sitting. The adventure is a tad on the short side and somewhat easy, but definitely a deal at $7.50, and probably worth the full $15.00 price tag as well if you’ve enjoyed a Lara Croft game in the past. Solid recommendation.

Hey Jealousy

It doesn't happen very often, but once in a while someone down here will pull something out of the closet that manages to really impress me. One of the school's former teachers showed up to visit yesterday with these on his feet:



Metallic Silver 6 Lows? Tough. I think this topped the time when one of the math teachers (different dude) broke out his 2002 Raptor VIIs during one of our basketball tournaments.

New SF X Tekken Trailers

Capcom recently released some new footage for the upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken at Captivate 2011. I don't smoke, but I almost needed a cigarette after watching that first trailer.