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Nintendo was disastrous, Sony was alright, and MS was… fine.

Alright. It occured to me today that Slipknot’s been out of the game for a while, and that I should research how their rumored 2008 album was coming along. It’s coming along next month, as it turns out, and there are two singles released on iTunes.

First on deck is Psychosocial, which is most comparable to Vol 3’s biggest single, Duality. A groovy, heavy set of riffs is classic Slipknot, and the melodic, catchy chorus had me smilin’. Even the regular verses, while difficult to understand (I get off to a rocky start with Slipknot), have a kind of hypnotic, heavy groove to ‘em. Psychosocial is about what I expected, and I really, really dig it.

All Hope is Gone, which I’m pretty sure is the title track, comes out of the gate like a fucking machine gun all around, with hard-hitting, rapid-fire Joey Jordison drumming and a pretty decent guitar lick. The lyrics, which again, I can’t really pick up on until a listen or two, are a bit too screamy–pre-Iowa kind of screamy– and there’s a pretty bland solo about halfway through that I didn’t care for. The chorus is powerful though, and it had me bobbin’ my head as the song slowly grew on me.

According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, this record will feature some acoustic tracks — something I’m down with, since Corey Taylor is great in his slower songs, though I didn’t care much for Vol. 3’s acoustic tunes — and melodic vocals, as evident in Psychosocial.
Not so much with the melody in All Hope is Gone. Just raw aggression, which is fine. I’m not blown away, but I’m definitely stoked for the new record. I’m pumped to check it out in a month, and see if it is any better than the supremely underwhelming Vol. 3.

Just a few words that popped in to my head recently that I will no longer be using, ever.

• Wii-Mote
• Hardcore Gamer
• Boring (this is lazy!)

No reason. Just a small list. That is all.

With SoulCalibur IV coming so soon, it seems like a smart idea for Namco to dish out a classic version of its revered fighter, but despite how well the original SoulCalibur holds up almost a decade later, it feels like an awkward release.

With no online play or widescreen support, and everything unlocked “out-of-the-box”, it’s a wonder why anyone would purchase this version, despite being one of the most inspirational fighters ever, when the “big” version of what is essentially the same game is out less than a month later.

Still, there’s enough in the game to satisfy fighting fans- plenty, actually. The amount of content in the game is kind of mind blowing, considering how limited many current games are: the variety of fighting modes on top of the campaign and a dozen or so characters make it all feel worth the ten dollar price tag; even though SoulCalibur is hampered by 4:3 sidebars, the increased resolution and smooth-as-butter animation still impress; the deep combo system and still-brilliant fighting mechanics will tickle nostaligia bones while still somehow feeling fresh.

There’s a ton to enjoy, and even if the release comes at kind of a funky time, it’s worth checking out the roots - well, the roots that made the series popular - of the SoulCalibur series, and anyone who’s never played the original game owes it to themself to see where the upcoming sequel came from. They’ll have a great time in the process, too.

More on this in the morning. Until then, know that oh my god this is the best movie I’ve seen ever.

Ok, maybe not really, but it’s like a 49 out of 10.