Tag Archive: ray carsillo


Interview with a Vampire Writer

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April 19, 2010

Originally Published: June 12, 2009, for 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Being a true geek to my very core, it is easy to understand why I am a fan of most everything that Guillermo del Toro does. He is easily one of the premiere special effects and costume design experts in the film industry and his directorial work speaks countless volumes about the depth of his creativity. Add to that his Oscar for Pan’s Labyrinth and his résumé speaks for itself.

It was for these reasons that when it was announced that he was releasing a vampire novel, what would be the first in a trilogy, that I had to jump all over it. Already a New York Times bestseller, The Strain is a thrilling read that is everything a vampire novel should be.

I was given the rare opportunity to sit down with this visionary media emblem and talk about everything from his inspirations for the book to how his work on The Hobbit is coming to the possibility of a third Hellboy movie. Check out the interview below!

Ray Carsillo with Guillermo del Toro
Video by Jared Bodden

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Who Ya Gonna Call?

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Originally Published: June 8, 2009, for 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Examiner.com

When trailers were leaked on Youtube about 18 months ago, I can still remember the cheers eminating around the office as I forwarded the link along.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game strikes a cord with fans young and old alike and looks like everything die-hards of the franchise have been waiting for since the end of the cartoon series.

Picking up about three years after the second movie, the Ghostbusters are revered like heroes, but the ever rising amount of paranormal activity leaves them looking to expand their ranks.

That’s where you come in. You’ll get your chance on June 16th (ironically, the 25th anniversary of the franchise) to strap on a proton pack and lace up your boots as the 5th Ghostbuster and learn the ropes as you battle the newest paranormal threat to NYC.

I had a chance to catch up with the man who played Dr. Egon Spengler, acclaimed writer, director, and actor, Harold Ramis, about the franchise lasting 25 years, doing voice over work for the new game, and if we will ever finally see a third Ghostbusters movie.


CLICK HERE – to listen to my interview with one of the original Ghostbusters, comedic genius Harold Ramis.

Also, be sure to check out my preview of the game with Josh Parker of Red Flag Studios who worked on the Ghostbusters video game.

Ray Carsillo: Ghostbusters: The Video Game Preview
Video by Jared Bodden

Look for my full review of Ghostbusters: The Video Game when it is released on June 16th, 2009.

-Ray Carsillo

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And the Winner is…

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Originally Published: June 5, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Examiner.com

After four days of press conferences, huge announcements, and new demos, E3 has drawn to a triumphant close. Only now can we look back and truly analyze the full goings-on of the conference and draw the undeniable conclusion that Xbox 360 was the clear winner amongst “The Big Three”.

Now, this isn’t to say that Nintendo or Sony did not put up gallant fights, because they did.

Nintendo came out with the big news of a new Metroid game and that Retro Studios, the developer of the Metroid: Prime trilogy, would not be working on this game, but that Team Ninja of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive fame would be mixing first- and third-person shooter elements in Metroid: Other M. An early trailer with Samus fighting against Ridley looked breathtaking, but I’m not sure if the strong anime style graphics will appeal to Nintendo’s hardcore audience. Fanboys everywhere though will rejoice from the many scenes of Samus outside of her famous gold and red spacesuit.

Along with this, Nintendo’s other surprise reveal was Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario’s first true sequel since the SNES and the first in 3D. The early trailer showed that the Yoshi clan will return with many different powers and colors, much like in Super Mario World for SNES, to lend Mario a hand once again. These reveals, along with New Super Mario Bros. for Wii, another remake of the all-time classic, this time with 4-player co-op action and new powers like the propeller suit, were the only real eye-openers to Nintendo’s presentation.

Other news from the Nintendo front was the reveal of a Wii Vitality Sensor which monitors your heart rate as you play games. I appreciate Nintendo always trying to think outside of the box, but unless it is packaged with one of their Balance Board workout games like the newly revealed Wii Fit 2 (basically Wii Fit with more exercises; Heath Bell will be thrilled), this sensor looks like the biggest waste of money since the Virtual Boy. This lack of earth shattering reveals means that Nintendo is simply staying the course and that they are beginning to hit the same problems they had with the Gamecube: a lack of third party development, aside from a look at No More Heroes 2: Desperate Measures and Red Steel 2. Of course, in terms of economic times, it’s also safer just to push established titles (which you see from everyone now; we are living in the era of the sequel), hence another Metroid and two more Mario games.

Sony led with the worst-kept E3-secret since they were promoting the PS1: the PSP Go! The Go! is a smaller, sleeker, touch-screen-enabled PSP with 16 GB of flash memory and the ability to download games directly to the system. Along with the new system, Sony announced exclusive Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Assassin’s Creed, Gran Turismo, and Little Big Planet games for their PSP line that will be able to provide exclusive content for their PS3 brethren when you link the PSP and PS3 games.

On the console front, Sony had a couple of blockbuster games up their sleeves to try to steal thunder back from Xbox’s press conference, which revealed a lot of Sony’s formerly exclusive titles would no longer be exclusive. However, Sony did unveil Final Fantasy XIV to be an exclusive. Unfortunately, a nice trailer does not mean the game is anywhere near finished, and considering we’re still months away from FF XIII, I don’t think we’ll see FF XIV for a long while. Along with this, Sony revealed Mod Nation Racers, a game that looks like Little Big Planet, but with go karts.

Much of Sony’s press conference revolved around two things though, God of War III, which was expected (and the live demo of Kratos ripping harpies apart looked fantastic!), and a new motion controller that looks like a remote with a light bulb on the end. This new 1:1 motion controller won’t be released until Spring 2010 and requires the purchase of the PS Eye with it. Its best feature, aside from the 1:1 movement, is the light bulb changes colors depending on the game and actions you take during the game.

Nintendo may not have been the winner, but it definitely wasn’t a loser. Sony on the other hand should just fold up shop at this point like SEGA did after the Dreamcast because the PS3 is going nowhere in terms of innovation. This new motion controller is clearly a rip-off of Nintendo’s Wiimote and adds nothing to the gaming experience besides a light bulb. I understand that bright lights and colors often grab people’s attention, but I’m pretty sure most gamers will want something with a little more substance in the long haul. Considering that Nintendo’s Wiimote will be 1:1 in a few weeks, the Sony motion controller doesn’t have any special features that Nintendo hasn’t thought of.

The PSP Go! is a direct response the DSi as the inclusion of a touch screen seemed necessary as the DS and its variants are outselling the PSP and its variants at about a 2.5:1 ratio at this point and will most likely continue to as long as the PSP and its variants are $100 more than the DS.

In addition, one of the games they spent the most time on, Mod Nation Racers, is nothing more than a Mario Kart rip off with a create-a-track mode, just shows that Sony has run out of good ideas and is the exact opposite of Nintendo in that they have to rely on their third-party developers to survive because their lack of originality is leaving them floundering in the game community. The fact that the games they announced that were the most interesting, Agent, a Rockstar developed game that deals with international espionage, and God of War III, had the least amount of time spent showcasing them just shows how backwards Sony is at this point in time.

This leaves Xbox 360 as the only one to come out with true blockbuster announcements and reveal an actual step forward in motion sensor technology with Project NATAL, which if when released is anywhere near as good as the demo at E3 was, will fly off shelves like the Wii did with its release over two years ago.

With a little help from Steven Spielberg (yes, that Steven Spielberg) and Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios (of the Fable franchise, who coincidentally, looks like a bad James Bond villain), Xbox 360 unveiled a motion sensor that would eliminate controllers altogether. With graphics reaching their fullest-potential with current technology, the next step in gaming is apparently going to be finding ways to give gamers a more immersive experience beyond the television set. The Nintendo Wii had capitalized on this with their pre-set waggle commands (which the Xbox 360 folks took a bit of a shot at) and this left Xbox 360 asking “what would be the next logical step in gaming technology?”. They would give us an answer.

Imagine a sensor that connects to your current Xbox 360 and could scan your face, your clothes, objects in your room, and then follow every motion you make perfectly. You would become the controller. No more rechargeable batteries. No more tripping over cords. No more limitations. As development kits are being shipped as you read this, Xbox 360 showed to everyone at E3 several of the endless possibilities this device could have.

They began by playing a Brickbreaker-type game, where you served as the paddle that would deflect projectiles at the bricks. The woman doing the demonstration danced around in a small circle as she hopped, punched, and kicked her way through the first three levels. It was a simple demonstration, but enough to start making eyes bug out of heads.

The next demonstration reminded me of Mario Paint for the Super Nintendo, a game that debuted almost two decades ago. It was a simple program where your arms served as the brush and your voice commands were recognized when you wanted to go to a more detailed or broader painting tool. An interesting concept, but how many gamers would really drop their hard-earned cash on it?

The demonstration that took my breath away though was done with a small film presented by Molyneux, one of the first to get their hands on the development kits. Peter proceeded to introduce us to “Milo,” an A.I. program that responded with original thought to the context of questions and answers it was given and reacted to objects that were scanned into the system, recognizing colors and shapes. This mind boggling revelation means that, in theory, for truly the first time ever, the game could intelligently interact back with you.

It is a bit of a scary thought when you think of all the sci-fi movies that always begin with a benevolent A.I. that runs amok, but also think of the gaming possibilities: Calling out commands to squad mates in Call of Duty, climbing up towers that nearly touch the sky in Assassin’s Creed, ducking for cover in Gears of War, all with never pressing anything more than the “on” button.

Of course, I’m sure there are a lot of additions and changes that need to be made before an optimistic release for the Fall of 2010 (and to get the image of SkyNet out of people’s minds when they see it ), but Project NATAL’s announcement was the left hook that Sony and Nintendo didn’t see coming. Nintendo is strong enough to withstand it, I’m not so sure about Sony.

Project NATAL aside though, Xbox 360 also dropped major game and system announcements that will have repercussions throughout the ongoing console wars. The announcement of exclusive relationships with Twitter and Facebook that can be accessed via your Xbox Live account and all Netflix movies coming in at 1080p HD brings Xbox Live to a new level in terms of providing quality entertainment and interactivity to home consoles and this comes at no extra charge to your Xbox Live subscriptions.

Add in the announcements of FF XIII and a new Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, will be coming to Xbox 360 as well as the PS3 is a huge blow to Sony’s dwindling exclusives list. This just shows how little of the market Sony is actually appealing to right now and that Xbox 360 is still going strong, even though the Wii is far and away the number-one seller as of this moment.

Aside from snuffing out some of Sony’s exclusivity for certain franchises, Xbox 360 also made strong showings from their own exclusive titles as well as a few new ones. The first one, which did not surprise many people, was Forza Motorsport 3. With the promise of over 400 available cars, new tracks, and better controls, this was an expected announcement that had racing fans nodding with approval.

Then the big guns came out. Halo 3: ODST was revealed as expected along with a new Firefight mode that resembles Gears of War 2’s Horde mode. As everyone knows by now, ODST is a side-story that follows a new character during the events of the third Halo, expanding on the already rich lore of Xbox’s premier franchise. What no one expected though was the announcement of Halo: Reach, another new game in the franchise due out in 2010 that takes you through the fall of humanity’s main colony. Although only a teaser was revealed along with the details that it will be a first-person shooter, this announcement shows that the Halo franchise is alive and well and should have Nintendo and Sony a little worried considering how well Halo always does.

Xbox also revealed an Xbox Live exclusive download called Shadow Complex. It reminded me of a Metroid game in that you start off with all your upgraded devices and weapons in the first level, only to lose them all and have to search through a giant complex that you can go forward and back in as much as you want as you find new weapons to open new doors. Considering it is an Xbox Live game, the promise of a 10+ hour campaign, it is made by the guys who brought us Gears of War over at Epic, and that it reminds me of a great classic franchise like Metroid, will have this at the top of my Xbox Live list when it comes out later this year.

The last exclusive that really knocked my socks off was Alan Wake. Set-up almost like a murder mystery TV show, this survival horror game redefines the idea of lighting effects, especially since it is your main weapon in the game. Alan is a novelist who has lost his inspiration and hasn’t written anything worthwhile in over two years. His wife suggests a nice relaxing vacation in a backwater town up in the state of Washington. Everything seems picture perfect until Alan’s wife disappears and his only clues are pages he keeps finding to a book he hasn’t begun to write yet. With a feel like Stephen King meets Silent Hill, this looks like it will be a worthy addition to Xbox’s exclusive library in the Spring of 2010.

Along with these exclusive titles and announcements, Xbox also revealed that along with PS3 it will have Tekken 6 and a new re-launch of the Castlevania series that is being developed by Hideo Kojima of the Metal Gear series that people are already comparing to God of War in terms of its style. On top of those announcements, looks at Bioshock 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Fight Night Round 4, Madden ’10, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, The Saboteur, Brutal Legend, and Alpha Protocol, which will all be out this year for multiple systems along with the console exclusivity Left 4 Dead 2 (now you can wield an axe!) and Xbox 360 looks very strong in the coming months in terms of their library and the direction they are headed in.

Therefore, as the only system to make an actual technological advancement and to have both strong first- and third-party projects coming out that after a long week of gaming greatness being on display, as the dust has now settled, Xbox 360 walks away the winner after quite possibly their best showing ever.

-Ray Carsillo

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Breaking Down the Breakdown

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Originally Published: June 1, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

I don’t cover a lot of music what with all the comics, video games, and movies that are constantly drawing my attention. But when Green Day releases their highly anticipated 8th studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, you have to give it the focus it’s due. Owning all seven of their previous studio albums, I also readily admit I have been a Green Day fan for a long time.

Much like their previous album, American Idiot, a rock opera in how it depicts the story of a fictional character dubbed “St. Jimmy”, 21st Century Breakdown does much of the same following the story of two star-crossed teens, Christian and Gloria. Whereas American Idiot was one continuous story with several marathon-like songs broken into multiple parts, this album is plainly broken down into three acts, each with a different theme that progresses the story of Christian and Gloria.

The fact that Green Day has evolved into this story-telling, rock opera producing machine has them drawing comparisons to legendary bands like The Who and has some misguided people thinking we’ll see a Green Day inspired play on Broadway soon.

I’m not here to argue that Green Day has solidified their place in the heart of American music, they did that long ago, I’m here to say that 21st Century Breakdown isn’t as good as people are making it out to be. It’s a good album, but if you didn’t tell me this was Green Day, I don’t know if I would have recognized them.

Some would say that they are simply evolving and that is the mark of a truly great band. I would argue that they already went through this metamorphosis with their last album, American Idiot. 21st Century Breakdown sounds forced and like a continuation of the same teen angst and social disorder themes that they bottled in American Idiot, but following different characters. If anything, there is devolution here for producing an inferior product to American Idiot.

Many are calling this their greatest album ever. From speaking with many other Green Day fans recently, when the conversation turned to a debate of Green Day’s greatest album, 21st Century Breakdown is nowhere in the picture. The debate has always and is still only between Dookie, Nimrod, and American Idiot.

The main reason for this has been that things are usually judged on your initial reaction. The initial reaction for many of us has been that 21st Century Breakdown was okay. Only after repeatedly listening to the album did it grow on us to even be considered amongst Green Day’s better albums, never mind the best of the best.

Even the singles off the album so far, 21 Guns and Know Your Enemy, although solid, are nowhere near as powerful as the first singles off previous albums. And you know Green Day has missed the mark when the singles are being used as beds for “Sportscenter Top 10” highlight reels. I don’t think Know Your Enemy is talking about the Yankees and Red Sox.

It’s great to finally see a new Green Day album, and I’m sure most people’s initial reaction has been so positive simply because Green Day fans have waited so long for a follow up to American Idiot. Unfortunately, when you really analyze the product, it isn’t anything new or special and shouldn’t be put at the same level as Dookie, Nimrod, or American Idiot; those are albums that marked true evolutions in the band while providing unforgettable hits. 21st Century Breakdown is a solid album that grows on you the more you listen to it, but in the end is nowhere near the level we’ve come to expect from Green Day.

A great test for an album is if you would give someone who has never heard of the band before that album to give them a solid representation of the band, their music, and what they are all about. 21st Century Breakdown is not one of those albums and should only be bought by true Green Day fans who can forgive the band for a sub-par product.

-Ray Carsillo

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Xbox 360 Project NATAL initial reactions

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Originally Published: June 1, 2009, on Examiner.com

Many people believed that Xbox 360 was going to have a quiet E3 this year. You knew that there would be the major franchises: Halo, Gears of War, Forza. But what Xbox 360 revealed was more than anyone could have expected.

As if the revelation that MGS 5: Rising (starring Raiden and not Solid Snake) was coming to the Xbox 360 as would Final Fantasy XIII from Square Enix (probably due to Sony’s awful sales) were not enough, Xbox 360 dropped the bomb of what could be the next step in gaming.

With a little help from Steven Spielberg and Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios (the Fable franchise), Xbox 360 unveiled a motion sensor that would eliminate controllers altogther. With graphics reaching their fullest potential with current technology, the next step in gaming was going to be finding ways to give gamers a more immersive experience beyond the TV set. The Nintendo Wii had captalized on this with their pre-set waggle commands (which the Xbox 360 folks took a bit of a shot at) and this left Xbox 360 asking “what would be the next logical step in gaming technology?”. They would give us an answer.

Imagine a sensor that connects to your current Xbox 360 and could scan your face, your clothes, objects in your room, and then follow every motion you make perfectly. You would become the controller. No more rechargable batteries. No more tripping over cords. No more limitations.

Xbox 360 has very likely created the next step towards virtual reality with what they have dubbed at this point “Project NATAL”. As development kits are being shipped as you read this, Xbox 360 showed to everyone at E3 several of the endless possibilities this addition could have.

They began by playing a Brickbreaker type game where you served as the paddle that would deflect projectiles at the bricks. The girl doing the demonstration danced around in a small circle as she hopped, punched, and kicked her way through the first three levels. A simple demonstration, but enough to start making eyes bug out of heads.

The next demonstration reminded me of Mario Paint for the Super Nintendo from almost two decades ago. A simple paint program where your arms served as the brush and your voice commands were recognized when you wanted to go to a more detailed or broader painting tool. An interesting concept, but how many gamers would really drop their hard earned cash on it?

The demonstration that took my breath away though was done with a small film presented by Peter Molyneux that was done at Lionhead Studios, one of the first to get their hands on the development kits. Peter proceeded to introduce us to “Milo”, an A.I. program that responded with original thought to the context of questions and answers it was given and reacted to objects that were scanned into the system, recognizing colors and shapes. This mind boggling revelation means that in theory, for truly the first time ever, the game could interact back with you.

It is a bit of a scary thought when you think of all the sci-fi movies that always begin with a benevolent A.I. that runs amok, but also think of the gaming possibilites. Calling out commands to squad mates in Call of Duty, climbing up towers that nearly touch the sky in Assassin’s Creed, ducking for cover in Gears of War, all with never pressing anything more than the “on” button. The possibilities are nearly endless and my mind is already racing with these very thoughts.

Of course, there could also be limitations. Not many people have the space in their living rooms to re-enact a futuristic war or sneak along shadowy corridors before assassinating their target. It will be interesting to see how Xbox 360 overcomes this question of space recognition, but the thought of this revolutionary immersal into video games is nearly beyond belief.

There was no date as to when we could expect to see the bugs worked out of NATAL or the complexity of games we could see to go along with it, but even without Sony of Nintendo’s press conferences taken place, Xbox 360 may have already stolen the entire show. So much for a quiet E3, eh?

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Well I’ll Be Damned

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Originally Published: May 31, 2009, on Examiner.com

If someone came up to you and said they were going to make a game that combines the plots of Wild Wild West and Terminator, what would you do? I know I would be pretty damn excited.

That was exactly what was attempted with Damnation, a new third person shooter for Xbox 360. Unfortunately, this Frankenstein-like hodgepodge of plots falls flat on its face before the disc can even get warm in your system.

In Damnation, along the timeline of American history, somewhere during the Civil War, things have taken a nightmarishly drastic turn. Steam powered weapons have been invented by a man named Prescott and sold to both sides of the war. This war profiteering has extended the conflict to the point where people cannot remember a time of peace. Using his now immense wealth, Prescott has emerged in an attempt to reunite the country under his own tyrannical fist with the help of a handy mind control drug he uses to poison unsuspecting towns’ water supplies and an army of robots. As Captain Hamilton Rourke of the resistance, you set off in search of your lost fiancée while undermining Prescott’s advancing robot/zombie army at every possible turn.

Aside from a plot with unrealized potential, this game is a total and utter waste of time. It resembles something from the previous generation of consoles instead of the current. There are more glitches in the first level than most game trilogies have in them.

On top of that, most third person shooters allow the character to duck behind cover, but this game conveniently forgot that so most of the game you’re stuck in the open during a fire fight hoping your trigger finger is faster than the A.I.’s. To make up for this shortcoming, the A.I. was made so abysmal that they won’t use cover either, leaving you and your enemy just out in the open shooting at each other. To say the game play leaves something to be desired is like saying the Palestinians and Israelis have a misunderstanding.

Add in that when you’re not fighting, you’re unnecessarily climbing up walls just because the game wanted to have some Assassin’s Creed elements to it or roaming around on a boxlike motorcycle just to get from desert outpost to desert outpost so they can say they had vehicle levels and the only thing left in the dust is the 10-15 hours of your life that you lost playing this piece of garbage that you’re never going to get back.

There are multiplayer vs. and co-op modes, but why you would ever want to put another person through this kind of torture is beyond me. The worst part is that, if you should play it, you need another person to get about 60% of the Gamerscore for this game and unless you’re in Guantanamo Bay, people are going to be a little hesitant when it comes to torture like this.

Along with horrible, last-gen graphics, insane load times even for Xbox 360, and the worst voice acting I’ve ever heard in a game, Damnation is just plain damned and not even worthy of serving as a coaster for my coffee mug, never mind ever seeing the lens of my Xbox 360 ever again. Avoid it at all costs.

-Ray Carsillo

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More Serious than Swine Flu

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Originally Published: May 28, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (ESPNNewYork.com), Collider.com, and Lundberg.me

Normally literature doesn’t fall into my realm of reviews, but when the director of the Oscar winning film Pan’s Labyrinth and the comic book movies Hellboy 1 and 2 says he’s written a vampire novel, you reconsider. Guillermo del Toro, the premiere modern guru of visual effects, teamed with accomplished fiction writer Chuck Hogan, and they have released the first in a trilogy of thriller novels.

The first book in The Strain Trilogy, aptly titled The Strain, sets the stage by playing on the fears of the modern age mixed with classic figures from horror’s lengthy mythology.

A plane suddenly dies on the runway after a perfect flight overseas and landing at JFK airport. After the plane is pried open since it was locked from the inside, and almost all of the passengers are found dead, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is called in and the head of their early response “Canary” team, Dr. Eph Goodweather, is baffled by the strange findings in the plane. After examining the situation, he is left with a feeling of dread that chills him to the bone as he tries to implement his scientific methods to a situation that clearly does not follow the rules of modern science.

Meanwhile, on the Upper East Side, a pawnbroker from the old world realizes that there is an even older evil at work and it is a race against time to contain this ancient force before it spreads outside the city limits.

As events unfold to bring these unusual allies together to contain this viral invasion of immense implications, other forces behind the scenes begin to work against them in the hopes of seeing a grander plot come to fruition.

The Strain is a tremendous, thrilling read. I had to keep putting the book down after every few pages because I was so creeped out by the amazingly descriptive passages. If you can work up the courage to finish the book, you’ll be clamoring for the second and third installment of this trilogy in no time.

This story will redefine how you look at vampires; del Toro mixes science and mythology like some mad chemist. Bela Lugosi doesn’t hold a candle to the vampires depicted in this book. There are a few clichés thrown in as well which probably comes from del Toro’s previous vampire works (he directed Blade II) like a “day walker” or “chosen one” they refer to as “Sun Hunter”, but aside from these necessary stereotypes for the vampire novel, this is an experience unto itself.

This will especially appeal to anyone from or familiar with New York City. The story carries you from JFK Airport to the Bronx and Queens to Vesey St. down in Tribeca or the very heart of Times Square. The thought of vampires emerging in these familiar settings, ready to prey on unsuspecting tourists (although I wouldn’t mind a few less tourists in the area) as the lights of Broadway flash over their pale, almost transparent flesh is a terrific mental image. Even if you are a stranger to New York City, del Toro and Hogan paint such a vibrant picture with their words that it shouldn’t take away from this phenomenal read.

With the culture flooded with media that aggrandizes these classic horror figures (Twilight and True Blood just to name a couple), it was refreshing to see someone represent vampires in the way they were meant to: scaring us into leaving a light on at night. If you like a good thrill and aren’t apt to nightmares (and even if you are), The Strain is a must read for any horror fan.

The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, will be on bookshelves this coming Tuesday, June 2nd. If you want a little bit more information on the book, be sure to check out The Strain’s website by
CLICKING HERE.

-Ray Carsillo

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Searching for Salvation

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Originally Published: May 25, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

Continuing the trend of movies geared towards the geeky genre this summer, we look at the second movie and game combination of the summer blockbuster season with Terminator: Salvation. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine fell flat on its face in the theatre, but delivered a strong performance on the home gaming consoles, you were wondering if T4 would be this summer’s best hope for salvation; would it rise up and be able to provide that rare combination of great movie and game that we haven’t really seen since Spider-Man 2?

Terminator: Salvation takes place in the year 2018. John Connor (Christian Bale) has always had his fate intertwined with the fate of the world and is now one of the top heads of the resistance against the machines in California as Skynet’s global network has overridden the entire world and established itself as the dominate form of “life”. Now he searches for Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the man Connor will send back in time (the original Terminator movie) to protect his mother and end up becoming his father before the machines can find him and wipe Connor from the timeline of existence by killing Reese.

Along the way, Connor also discovers that the machines have begun making the necessary advancements in order to upgrade the common, but still very deadly T-600 model (the famous skeleton-looking foot soldiers that comprise the bulk of the machines’ army), to the T-800 infiltrator unit that could mimic a human’s appearance with living flesh and tissue covering the silver skeleton of the Terminator units (made famous by Arnold), just as he had always known they would.

Meanwhile, a “too good to be true” fault in the machines’ programming is found and Connor must weigh the decision to go after Reese or lead an assault that could possibly end the war with one massive offensive.

While Connor searches for Reese, Reese stumbles across Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convict given the death penalty back in 2003, but signed waivers to donate his body to science upon his demise. An un-aged and amnesiac Wright was released from a human holding pen that was supposed to be used in the T-800 experiments after an attack on a Skynet base by the resistance and was sent stumbling through the California desert before being found by Reese.

Reese saves Wright from a “Skin Job”, a T-600 covered in rags and rotted rubber skin to appear more human from afar and lure resistance members close before mowing them down with their mounted mini-guns. Reese proceeds to catch Wright up on everything he has missed over the past 15 years and they set off to look for John Connor in the hopes of meeting up with the resistance, all the while Reese not realizing his fate is pre-ordained should he be able to survive the machines for a little while longer.

As Wright and Reese head out on a grueling mission to find John Connor, Connor struggles with his decisions on what orders to carry out, his superiors’ or fates’. The two groups don’t realize though they are headed for an explosive collision course that will change the fate of the resistance forever as Wright is not exactly what he appears to be on the surface…

This was a spectacular action movie from start to finish. Everyone involved gave great acting performances from Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as Wright to smaller characters like Common as Connor’s left hand man Barnes, his wife Kate played by the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard, or sympathetic Blair Williams played by the lovely Moon Bloodgood.

The special effects and settings were unbelievably real and you couldn’t tell what was CGI’d or not. The robots moved and acted with a realism that you just don’t see and the post-apocalyptic California countryside was amazing to behold.

The story was well-written and kept well with the continuity of the first three movies, making sure to keep the set-up of the story of Kyle Reese having to go back in time and the resistance getting their hands on a T-800 model to send back in time later in tact.

Watching this already established story unfold and be expanded upon was easily the most wonderful part of the movie though. From robots that lurked in rivers and attacked humans looking for a drink to giant Hunter Killer aerial units patrolling barren patches of desert to smaller motorcycle units racing down highways void of any and all traffic, the thought that Skynet ruled the world was not a stretch to believe from the picture portrayed in Terminator: Salvation.

The only problems I had with the movie was that there were a lot of nukes going off in relatively close vicinity to humans and usually if you can see the mushroom cloud coming, you’re not going to survive, and from the looks of a “Skin Job”, I don’t see how anyone could get fooled into thinking this thing was human.

Aside from these minor complaints and add-in a special CGI’d Arnold cameo and this movie gave you everything you could ask for in the 4th in the series. Terminator Salvation has at the very least saved the Terminator series as we look forward to a 5th film to continue the futuristic adventures of mankind’s last hope in John Connor after watching this fun, action packed gem.


Terminator Salvation gets 4.5 out of 5.

After such a wonderful viewing experience from the movie, my hopes were raised that the game would deliver at least a par experience, but it would be all too soon before my hopes were markedly dashed.

The Terminator: Salvation video game, out for XBOX360, PS3, and PC, is set two years before the events of the movie, which immediately had me groaning knowing that it would not follow any of the events of the movie that I enjoyed so much.

The plot follows John Connor, of course, but as a low-level member of the resistance instead of one of the higher-ups as we’ve always known. He receives a distress signal from fellow resistance member David Weston that he is trapped behind enemy lines with his unit. John sets off alone to try to rescue his comrades since “every life is sacred” and so against all odds, he is joined by his good friend Blair Williams as the two of them set off against the machines and work their way deep into Skynet territory.

What I liked about the game is it finds a way to introduce all the main resistance characters from the movie and show how they joined up with John, but aside from this point, the game is a complete waste of time. Even on Hard mode, I beat the entire game and got every achievement in less than eight hours, nowhere near worth the $60 price tag this baby carries.

The graphics are easily subpar for any current generation console. It looks similar to Fallout 3‘s unpolished graphics, but at least that had the excuse of cramming a massive world, 30+ hour plot, and an open-ended decision based path onto one disc while this is a small, linear world with no room to explore and only nine short, simple levels. It was supposed to look like a post-apocalyptic world, not like it had been made in one.

The audio is one of the few bright spots for the game since it takes the music straight from the movies and the constant din of gunfire and explosions work. Unfortunately, Christian Bale refused to do the voice-over work for the game or have his likeness used and his replacement had some big shoes to fill and fill them he did not. Although getting Rose McGowan to serve as another resistance fighter, Angie, and getting Common and Moon Bloodgood to reprise their movie roles was nice, the voice acting overall was still subpar.

The gameplay was full of glitches and frustrating as both you and the enemy would occasionally find holes in the cover that you could both shoot through. Last time I checked though, grenades could not be lobbed straight through steel girders.

The game does feature a co-op mode where a friend could take on the role of Barnes or Blair, but this makes the game an even more simple experience as flanking the robots is about as easy as turning the game on to begin with. Even when Blair or Barnes is computer controlled, they understand how simple it is to flank the robots since most of the time your computer controlled partner will do it on their own. I don’t know if it is good A.I. for your partners or bad A.I. for the robots, but this is part of the reason why the game is a breeze as enemies refuse to use or find cover and can only target one character at a time allowing one of you to just fire away with the enemy’s back turned. Add in that there is always an abundance of ammo lying around when you are about to get into a firefight helps eliminate any element of surprise for the enemy and allows you to camp out in good positions to pick them off one by one as they haunter by.

Combine these poor experiences with no unlockables, no collectibles to search for, and no vs. mode and the replay value on this game has been nuked like Skynet dropping bombs on Judgment Day. Terminator: Salvation is easily one of the worst gaming experiences you can have on a modern console and probably isn’t even worth a rental for the die-hard Terminator fans.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 4.0: No current console game should look this bad. For such a big budget movie that ended up so good, you think they could’ve thrown the game developers a few dollars to get some designers that knew what they were doing.

Audio: 7.5: The audio is passable as the game takes the soundtrack straight from the movie and the firefights sound great. The voice acting was awful though considering the talent and I think part of that falls on the poor writing for this movie prequel storyline.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: John Connor sets off on another suicide mission, but survives because it is what he does as humanity’s last hope against the machines. Simple, to the point, and not nearly fleshed out enough to get any kind of a decent score. It was nice to see how Blair and Barnes join John and the resistance and how John begins to get some real recognition in the ranks, but even adding in those minor points, the plot is still a stinker.

Gameplay: 3.0: A bevy of glitches with a beyond simple enemy A.I. makes this game a quick and simple once playthrough, even on Hard mode, and I still unlocked every achievement.

Replay Value: 1.0: No unlockables, no collectibles, no vs. mode, and a co-op mode that makes the already simple story mode even more of a cake walk means you should start getting ready to trade this one in before the disc even gets to speed.

Overall: 2.5 (not an average): Even the most die-hard of Terminator fans should steer clear of this game unless you have a free rental coming your way and you want to see some poorly animated T-600s on your home console or are looking to bolster your achievements score with a ridiculously easy 100% completion. The game is lacking in every way imaginable and is just another victim added to the list of horrible games to follow great movies.

-Ray Carsillo

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Little Mac Comes Up Big for the Wii

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Originally Published: May 21, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

It started as an arcade game all the way back in 1984. It then invaded homes in 1987 riding some star power with Mike Tyson for the Nintendo Entertainment System. A sequel five years later for the Super Nintendo continued the game’s popularity even after distancing itself from Mr. Tyson and his legal problems. And then…we waited.

Now, after a 15-year hiatus, after throngs of fans screamed for a sequel, and after Nintendo came out with the perfect system for boxing video games, Punch-Out!! has finally returned to our home consoles.

Donning the green gloves of everyone’s favorite video game underdog pugilist with the big heart, Little Mac, and taking the odd words of advice from his trainer Doc in stride, (“There are many ways to eat chocolate, but only one way to eat a chocolate bar,”…thanks Doc.), you return to the ring once more to attempt to become the WVGA’s (World Video Game Association?) greatest boxer.

The control system is solid and with three ways to play, it gives you plenty of options. You can use the Wii Balance Board to duck and dodge while swinging the controls to punch if you want more of a workout. If you are a little less coordinated (like yours truly), you might want to just swing your arms and use the control stick on the Nunchuck to duck and dodge. And for others who might not feel like swinging their arms around for three rounds at a time, you can turn the Wiimote around and use the classic controls from the NES. These controller options, along with minimal lag in the control sensors and the over-the-top nostalgia factor, and the gameplay is even more fun than it was 15 years ago.

The graphics are superb. The cel-shaded visuals and the new cut scenes introducing each opponent and giving some depth to all the characters and plot are a great touch. The revamped original soundtrack along with original and brand new SFX will have you flashing back to 1987 in no time.

The best part of the game though is all the extras that have been added to the game to flesh it out because a straight remake would not be worth $50, no matter how strong the nostalgia factor is. Along with being almost as difficult as the original (curse you Piston Honda and Bald Bull!), there is a new title defense mode after you beat the game the first time. You have to attempt to defeat each boxer all over again as they have been training long and hard after you pummeled them on your way to the top. Even Glass Joe isn’t a pushover anymore due to some interesting new headgear on the second time around.

Add in challenges to help motivate you to try exhibition mode, a practice mode if you don’t want to tarnish your record as you attempt to figure out each boxer’s patterns, and a VS. mode for the first time in the franchise’s history and you have enough here to easily keep you coming back for more since the initial playthrough shouldn’t take you more than five hours for even the worst of gamers.

With many of the old favorite foes from the first two home editions being brought back, along with one new boxer added to round out a nice baker’s dozen for the stable of competition, a revamped edition of the original soundtrack, and the classic controls being implemented in brand new ways, and all the pieces are in play to make Punch-Out!! for the Wii a knockout.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 8.0: Since cartoony, cel-shaded graphics seem to be the Wii’s staple now, it’s no surprise to see this game chock full of them. On that note, they look beautiful and I think they work perfectly for Punch-Out!! If you want realism, Fight Night Round 4 will be out in a month.

Audio: 9.0: The original soundtrack has been completely revamped and sounds great. Mix that in with some of the original NES SFX when throwing your punches and the game does not disappoint in terms of sound, even if it does get a little repetitive after a while.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: It’s the same plot as in every boxing game: no-name underdog fights his way up the ranks to glory. The only difference with this game that gives it a passing grade is there are short cut scenes that flesh out the history and nuances of the boxers you go against which no other boxing game does. It’s a nice change to see a game, even a cartoony one, give some depth to not only your boxer, but the boxers you have to fight as well.

Gameplay: 9.0: A minimum of glitches, considering the amount of motion control this game relies on, gives this a great score. Add that to difficulty reminiscent of a NES original and you have a great experience on your hands.

Replay Value: 7.5: I don’t see devoting more than 10 hours to this on the first couple of playthroughs, but that nostalgia factor coupled with a VS. mode will probably keep you coming back to it somewhere down the line just to relive the one hit KOs of Glass Joe and realize how far we’ve come.

Overall: 8.5 (not an average): When it comes down to it, this game is fun for all ages. The cartoony graphics appeal to younger audiences while the gameplay and characters strike a cord of nostalgia with us older gamers that you just can’t replicate. Why it took this long to come out with a sequel is beyond me, but now that it is here, it will stay warm in my system for a long time.

Punch-Out!! is available now exclusively for the Wii.


-Ray Carsillo

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Like Staring into a Crystal Ball

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Originally Published: May 18, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

One of the major selling points for any video game nowadays is its potential beyond the confines of the disc itself. Sequels are usually the first things that come to mind, but what has become increasingly popular have been the map and expansion packs that can keep you immersed in some of your favorite worlds. Whether it is ruined industrial wonders that you find in Gears of War 2, or once immaculate cities left in scarred shambles by nuclear war in Fallout 3, expansions packs have been key in keeping these great titles warm in our systems months after their release.

Continuing along these lines was another of 2008’s highly anticipated sequels and one of the best RPG’s out there, Fable II. With the success of one expansion pack already (Knothole Island), the developers knew that the world of Fable II was still ripe for new wonders to be discovered and explored. Thus, for the meager amount of 560 Microsoft points (roughly $7 American dollars) four new quests along with promises of great things to come for our heroes have been released in the new See the Future expansion pack.

Murgo, the traveling salesman of wonders both exotic and mysterious, and who unknowingly sets you on your fate in the beginning of the game when he sells you a mysterious music box that grants its bearer a wish that usually has unforeseen consequences a la the Monkey’s Paw, has returned to Albion with new magical wares. When the great hero approaches, Murgo realizes that he has found just the customer to help him push a few of his more difficult items. He reveals that he has several items that have been cursed and he needs someone to lift the curses to help his shop prosper.

Along with the cursed items, he also has several new goods to add to the game that you might find interesting including potions to turn your mutt into a pure-breed of a canine of your choosing (I chose the husky) and many new face paints and hairstyles to strike that extra bit of fear into your enemies (or friends).

The first item he sells to you, for the same paltry five gold pieces that he sold the cursed music box to you for, is a snow globe that contains a shrunken village that has been cursed (sounds like something from a Superman comic). Supposedly you can hear tiny screams emanating from the snow globe when you place it against your ear like a sea shell.

With a quick flick of your wrist, the curse is activated and you are instantly teleported to a world similar to your own, but lacking any color. Upon exploration of the black and white Albion look alike, you see blue demons sapping the color and strength of one of the snow globes’ denizens. It is then you realize that your weapons are glowing with the colors of your special abilities, blue is your melee weapon, yellow your skill weapon, and red for your will abilities.

After dispatching the blue demons with only your melee weapon, you realize that you must mix and match your styles as you begin to hunt down these color vampires in order to restore order and vibrancy to the miniature Albion.

Once this mission is complete, for another five gold pieces, Murgo gives you a skull, which when activated, teleports you to a graveyard separate from the rest of Albion. A fallen warrior pleads to you from beyond the grave that his soul has been wrongfully entrapped from an odd tomb that you encounter at the beginning of this mystical mound of death. You then acquire special costumes of some of your more bestial foes in order to mimic statues set about the graveyard opening up new doors and releasing the spirits that keep the fallen warrior entrapped.

Though, after freeing all the spirits, you realize you have been tricked: the fallen warrior is actually a ruthless necromancer who was imprisoned amongst those he conjured as an ironic punishment by benevolent spirits.

After defeating the necromancer and lifting the curse of the skull, Murgo sells you a dark item from your hero’s past; a model of Lucien’s tower. Upon activating the tower, you are teleported to where you had to defeat your greatest foe and are met by Theresa once more. She still keeps guard over the tower and reveals that she had sold the items to Murgo in order to test if you were ready for the visions of the future she was ready to impart to you.

After seeing your future, a final item is given to you. A model of what looks like a great Roman Coliseum where you can test your mettle (and earn fantastic prizes!) against wave after wave of foes. This can be repeated again and again for varying prizes and gold and is a sure fire way to build up you bank account (if you can keep surviving).

This expansion pack was a lot of fun because it encompassed everything that Fable has come to stand for, but if you’re a decent player who has leveled up their hero enough, you can blow through these extra quests in about two hours. So, the question then becomes, is two extra hours of gameplay worth seven dollars?

Considering the small price, I think it is well worth the buy and if you are a Fable-freak then you will definitely love the excuse to go exploring Albion again. The See the Future expansion pack is downloadable now via XBOX Live.

-Ray Carsillo

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