Raymond Padilla

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer: Batman vs. Bane!

The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer debuted with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and high quality versions are finally available online! It’s short and it’s subtle, but the ending is killer. I love how it closes with a seemingly unsure-of-himself Batman facing off against Bane. While he doesn’t exactly look like the Bane that dazzled me in the Knightfall storyline, he appears to be much closer to the real thing than that crap Bane from 1997’s Batman & Robin.

Any thoughts on the teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

I usually don’t include downloadable games in this spot, but I’m so psyched for Bastion that I can’t help myself. I’m definitely picking it up this week and hope a bunch of you do too. Other notable released include Call of Juarez: The Cartel, Captain America: Super Soldier, Just Dance Summer Party, and The Smurfs Dance Party (just imagine the graphics!).

Any of you guys and gals picking up new games this week?

WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Results and Thoughts

WWE Money in the Bank 2011 was the best non-WrestleMania WWE PPV I’ve seen in years. The wrestling was strong and the results were outstanding for Internet marks. For fans that prefer pro-wrestlers that can actually wrestle (sadly, not always the talent pushed by WWE), this was a refreshing and satisfying show. Here are some results and random thoughts.

~~Daniel Bryan~~ Bryan Danielson Won the SmackDown MitB Match: This was an outstanding match full of high spots, believable near finishes, and a bit of power wrestling thrown in. All the credit goes to the diverse talent that managed to work well together. There were crazy high-flying spots, nice bits of technical wrestling, and tremendous power moves throughout the match. I’m a huge Bryan Danielson fan and was thrilled that he got the nod. The Chicago crowd was into the win too, which wasn’t too surprising since Ring of Honor often has shows in Chicago Ridge and Danielson has loads of fans in the area.

I was actually surprised by the result. Even though I’m a huge fan of Danielson, WWE seems to have cooled on him lately. He’s an outstanding technical wrestler, but he’s also smaller than the guys the writers usually push. The big fear among Danielson fans is that he becomes the first guy to fail miserably when cashing in the MitB title shot.

Some Divas Match Happened: I was completely uninterested in the match so I went to get a drink, pee, and read email. I was really excited about the Divas division when Awesome Kong (Kharma) was in the mix. Now it’s back to the same old pretty girls with limited abilities when it really should be about Beth Phoenix and Nattie Neidhart ruling the division — you know, two women that can actually wrestle.

Mark Henry Beat The Big Show: My expectations for this match were low and I was pleasantly surprised by what these two put together. Henry looked monstrous and Show did a great job of selling. It was hardly a classic, but Henry and Show wrestled an above average big-man match.

Alberto Del Rio Won the Raw MitB Match: This wasn’t nearly as good as the SmackDown MitB match, but I’m still pleased with the result. Del Rio has been lost in the shuffle for more than a month and it’s great to see that he’ll be in the title hunt. He does have a fabricated “issue” since the status of the WWE title is up in the air. (Yes, I just spoiled the main event for you.)

As for the match itself, it was good, but it was hard to follow the excellent SmackDown match. It’s odd that they unmasked Mysterio for a bit. I wonder if the writers will use that for more Del Rio vs. Mysterio matches until the CM Punk situation is resolved. The Miz did a great job heeling it up and keeping the crowd involved. ~~Evan Bourne~~ Matt Sydal probably had the high-spot of the night with his crazy shooting-star press from the ladder. Kofi and Swagger were good, but I was hoping for more out of them since I want them do get pushed. This match didn’t take either to a new level.

Christian Won the World Heavyweight Championship: I love that Christian won the belt, but I hated how he won it. It was good in terms of putting heat on Christian and putting Randy in a position to chase the belt (he’s better chasing than as champion), but it made Christian look kind of lame. He’s a great wrestler and he got to show some of that ability in this match, but he’s capable of more. It’s kind of weird thinking that Christian had better matches in TNA.

CM Punk Beat John Cena for the WWE Championship: Wow. This was just an outstanding match. It had great wrestling, fantastic storytelling and an awesome result. It was definitely the right way to get in terms of storytelling. So many different angles and opportunities are now opened up. Cena put on a good effort, but Punk really carried him to a great match. This was the best WWE main event I’ve seen in years (that didn’t involve Shawn Michaels).

On a side note, it was awesome to see Colt Cabana and Ace Steel in the crowd. Cabana is a close friend of Punk’s and wrestled in WWE as Scotty Goldman. He came up with Punk and they wrestled together in the indies. Steel was one of Punk’s early trainers and they also wrestled together in the indies.

Closing Thoughts: I loved this PPV. The right guys won. The wrestling was mostly great. For Internet marks like me, this was an amazing show. I’m pretty sure Summer Slam 2011 is screwed. Even with The Rock making an appearance, I doubt it will top this show.

Coffee Talk #375: Game Ratings and You

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Women’s World Cup finals, NBA players signing with European teams, or Jennifer Lopez divorcing Marc Anthony, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Game ratings are a hot-button topic and I’m not really sure why. I think the ESRB does an outstanding job rating games — much better and more consistent than how the MPAA handles movies. However, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about today. Do you think about game ratings before you’ve purchased a game or after you’ve played it?

There are several times when I’ve watched a PG-13 movie and thought, “This would have been way better as an R-rated movie.” Have you ever felt that way about a game? Are there any games you played where you wished the publisher and/or developer pushed the envelope more? Are there any T-rated games that you wish were M-rated? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Awesome CM Punk Interview on GQ.com

GQ.com has posted a brilliant four-page interview with WWE Superstar CM Punk. It’s a long and excellent read that covers all sorts of topics. Obviously Punk has been getting a ton of attention for his current “I’m quitting!” angle, but the interview covers several “real” topics as well. I highly, highly recommend reading the whole thing. For now, here are four of my favorite clips.

On pro-wrestling being one of America’s biggest contributions to the world:

It’s truly, I believe, one of the only art forms that America has actually given to the world, besides jazz and comic books.

On a potential match with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin:

I think the biggest match any wrestling company can do right now is C.M. Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. I’ve thought that since I was 15. I’m straight edge. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t smoke. And that is the perfect protagonist or antagonist to Stone Cold Steve Austin, depending on how you want to spin it. It writes itself. You would have to try really, really hard to fuck that one up.

On underutilized talent in WWE:

There’s plenty of guys and girls in house that are super-talented that we don’t do enough with. A guy like Evan Bourne, who’s a fantastic high-flyer, does the most fantastic stuff on the roster. I could go on: Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Beth Phoenix. There’s Nattie Neidhart, Tyson Kidd. Tyson Kidd is a fantastic wrestler, maybe not the greatest promo. So let’s help him. Let’s teach him to get better instead of signing someone from Europe who failed at Euro football.

On his close friend and former tag-team partner Colt Cabana (Scotty Goldman) getting fired from WWE:

I was really bummed when Cabana got fired. I didn’t feel like it was my fault, but maybe there was something that I could’ve or should’ve done to prevent it. He’s a super-talented guy. I’m brutally honest; he knows that. I can look at him and be like, “Maybe trim up, work out harder, do more cardio.” But when he’s in the ring, he’s the most entertaining guy. A company slogan is “We put smiles on people’s faces.” That’s what that guy does, and he does it with his wrestling style. It’s amazing. I was so bummed when he got fired because I want the best for my friends. If I could somehow trade places with him, I probably would, just so he could experience what I have. He deserves it.

Seriously, go read this interview now (please)!

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Ubisoft’s Uplay Passport = Another $10 “Solution”

Continuing the fight against used-game sales, Ubisoft has added its $9.99 Uplay Passport to the assortment of deterrents on the market. While the publisher has described Uplay Passport in saccharine terms, it’s simply charging gamers additional money for daring to buy used. Here’s more from Gamasutra:

Ubisoft has confirmed the Passport’s existence today, saying the feature will “provide players with access to bonus content, exclusive offers, and online multiplayer play” for “many of Ubisoft’s popular core games,” including Driver: San Francisco.

You can pretty much ignore the “bonus content” and “exclusive offers” drivel. This is just another publisher charging another fee that discourages buying used games.

I know that several of you have railed on EA and THQ for offering “$10 solutions”. How do you feel about Ubisoft’s Uplay Passport? Are you going to shy away from the company’s games? Does it impact your purchasing decision at all? Or are you starting to get numb to the practice and have accepted that this is just the way of the used-game world now?

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What Are You Playing This Weekend?

This weekend I’m playing a thrilling single-player game called Unpacking. I’ve been back on the mainland for two days and my luggage is still mostly full. This needs to be remedied (mostly for clean underwear purposes). Also, I started reading George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons last night. Packing and reading will take up the bulk of my weekend, aside from my mandatory Civilization: Revolution iPad breaks.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Vellamo Benchmark Measures Android Web Browsing Prowess

Qualcomm has released the Vellamo Mobile Web Benchmark, which is a testing suite that measures the web browsing prowess of Google Android phones. According to the official description, Vellamo measures, “browser performance and stability, including networking, JavaScript, rendering, and user experience.”

I just ran the test on the T-Mobile G2x by LG and the HTC Thunderbolt. The former uses a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, while the latter uses a single-core Snapdragon processor. The G2x scored a 604, while the Thunderbolt nabbed a 592. Please keep in mind that these were initial runs; any serious benchmarking should been done multiple times.

I’d love to see your results. If you have an Android phone and have some time to run a benchmark, please download Vellamo and post your score in the comments section.

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Netflix Hits Nintendo 3DS, 3D Content Coming Soon

Netflix has launched a client for the Nintendo 3DS portable gaming console. Considering that Netflix is already available on all sorts of platforms, that seems like a fairly ho-hum announcement. That said, there is one notable facet of the announcement — Nintendo announced 3D content on Netflix before Netflix did. Here’s a clip from the press release:

The new Netflix application for Nintendo 3DS displays movies and TV episodes in 2D on the system’s upper screen. Users will soon have access to an additional library of select movies that can be viewed in 3D without the need for special glasses.

For fans of 3D movies, the 3DS could be a compelling option for Netflix on-the-go. It will be interesting to see if other mobile 3D products, like the Android-powered LG G-Slate on T-Mobile, will be pulling from the same content pool as the 3DS or if Nintendo has some degree exclusivity.

I know that most of you aren’t into the 3Ds and that most of you aren’t into 3D movies, but I have to ask if 3D Netflix content on the Nintendo 3DS interests you. Would you use Netflix on your 3DS? Or are you satisfied with mobile Netflix on your Android or iOS device?

Three Awesome Game of Thrones Music Performances

Let’s celebrate the release of George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons by listening to these three awesome performances of the intro to Game of Thrones. First up is a slick acoustic mix. Next is a classical performance using acoustic and electric violin sounds. Capping it off is a rock version featuring heavy drums and electric guitar.

If you have a chance to listen to all three tracks, please let me know which one is your favorite. Thanks to Joey and Parisi for sharing these on Google+!