Tag Archive: ray carsillo


How Sweet It Is

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April 18, 2010

Originally Published: April 6, 2009, for 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

After two months of waiting through a sports drought, baseball season is finally starting. With it comes the smell of freshly cut green grass, warmer weather, and the feeling of rebirth that accompanies the game and the changing of the seasons. I recently had the opportunity to screen a movie that played on this theme of rebirth through baseball: Sugar.

Sugar was a 2008 Official Selection of both the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals. It is the fictional story about Miguel “Sugar” Santos. Miguel is a Dominican league pitcher who gets signed by a fictional major league team and the struggles he faces in the minor league farm system as he chases after his dreams.

I had a chance to talk with the man who plays Sugar in the film, Algenis Perez Soto, and we discussed everything from his training to become a pitcher for the movie to the difficulty of playing such a complex, emotional, role on film.


CLICK HERE – to listen to my interview with the star of Sugar, Algenis Perez Soto.

The movie opens up on a baseball field where Sugar is pitching in the Dominican League where he is dominating. After the game, we follow Sugar to his home in a small village in the Dominican Republic where we find out that Sugar lost his father at an early age and is the main provider now for his mother, grandmother, younger sister and brother, and helps maintain the two room shack they survive in.

As the movie unfolds, Sugar ends up being signed to a small contract for the Kansas City Monarchs after a grueling tryout session. He is soon on his way to Iowa to join the Class-A affiliate of the Monarchs as a highly touted pitching prospect. He meets his teammates and quickly learns they are also his competition. He realizes, after speaking with older friends on the team, that not many prospects ever make it out of the minor leagues. Thus, the stage of self-discovery is set for Sugar to find out what sacrifice will truly mean if his dreams are to become reality and for him to find happiness.

What many people misunderstand about this movie is that this is not a movie about the process of how major league teams scout foreign players or how they can be treated once they arrive to the states. It is a story about one man’s unique struggles; the game of baseball is simply the vehicle for his journey.

What I loved about this movie is that it did not have the typical Hollywood ending-in-a-can that you all too often see with these fictional accounts. It had a sense of realism to see this man struggle, fail, pick himself up, and, in his mind, still succeed and find a semblance of happiness.

Sugar is a well-told story about the maturation of a young man and the pursuit of his dreams which forces him to leave everything he knows behind. It then chronicles his journey as the trials he face change his dream into something he wouldn’t have recognized at the start of his travels. It shows how time can change a person’s course in life and that in the end, being happy and satisfied with one’s self is all the matters.

This movie shows that not everyone who comes from the Dominican Republic ends up as Sammy Sosa or Pedro Martinez. For several scenes in the movie, real people who came from Latin America to chase a dream of playing baseball were introduced and it was revealed towards the end of the movie that many of them ended up doing something else, but they all cherished their memories playing for the minor league affiliates of the Padres, Mariners, Yankees, and many other baseball teams. It was a touching scene that gave credibility to this fictional account and reminds us that even though they may have failed at baseball, they are still people.

The only problem I really had with the movie was that it seemed difficult to follow Sugar’s thought patterns at times. The movie had a habit of showing Sugar doing things, but not always showing his reasons until well after he made his decisions and acted out on them. This made it a bit difficult to follow his character development and since the story revolves solely around that, I have to dock points from it.

When all is said and done, Sugar is the compelling coming-of-age story of a young Dominican man as he deals with problems many of us in the United States do not have to worry about (a language barrier, extreme poverty) through the game of baseball and how he finds himself in the end after being lost in this foreign land.

Sugar is out now in New York and L.A. and runs at 1 hour and 54 minutes.

Sugar gets 3.5 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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A Slobberknocker to Remember

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Originally Published: April 3, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), ESPNVideoGames.com, and Lundberg.me

It’s that time of year again: Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, 250-pound men are hitting each other with steel chairs and baseball bats covered in barbed-wire…

That’s right, it’s time for Wrestlemania! Wrestlemania has grown over the years into an event that encompasses an entire weekend and the days leading up to the event, almost like the Super Bowl. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies are always the night before and with Friday Night Smackdown, ECW on Tuesdays, and Monday Night Raw, the buildup is almost as big as the Pay-Per-View itself.

This year is extra special because it is the 25th Anniversary and in that vein the WWE has released a new video game titled Legends of Wrestlemania. This game takes 38 of the greatest WWE wrestlers to ever grace the squared-circle and allows you to pick your favorites as you re-enact the greatest matches of all-time.

Before we even get into how great this game is, though, I had a chance to catch up with the voice of the WWE, “Good Ol’ J.R.”, Jim Ross, and talk to him about this year’s Wrestlemania matches, Hall of Fame class, and the video game itself.


CLICK HERE – to listen to my interview with the voice of the WWE, Jim Ross.

Now, like I said above, Legends of Wrestlemania is amazing. Unlike other wrestling games that struggle to find a storyline or to immerse you in the action, this one is all set in that regard because the storylines were used 10-25 years ago and show they stand the test of time in terms of immersion because everyone remembers where they were when Hogan body slammed Andre at Wrestlemania III, when Bret Hart won back the WWE Championship against Yokozuna at Wrestlemania X, or when Stone Cold stunned the Rock twice at Wrestlemania XV. And if you forgot (shame on you!), there is a short 2-3 minute montage highlighting the development of the rivalry between the opponents before each match which can be reviewed anytime you like in the movie gallery. The opportunity to play through “Relive” mode for these great matches is one of the key selling points of the game and if you are a fan of wrestling then you don’t need much more than that.

But wait! There’s more! Along with the “Relive” mode for all those great matches, there are also “Rewrite”, “Redefine”, and “Legend Killer” modes. “Rewrite” mode has you take on the role of the loser of some of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history and has you complete objectives to “rewrite” history like Junkyard Dog vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine in Wrestlemania I for the Intercontinental Championship.

“Redefine” mode adds new stipulations to classic matches from Wrestlemania lore like turning the Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy in Wrestlemania XI into a No Disqualification Match or Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka vs. Rick “Ravishing” Rude at Wrestlemania VI into a Steel Cage Match. It’s a great way for the game to introduce different match dynamics, from climbing ladders and steel cages to throwing your opponent around the arena for some hardcore action, without forcing you to sit through a tedious tutorial; or reading what should be an instruction booklet, but what looks more like an instruction novel.

Then there is the “Legend Killer” mode, which has you use the expansive “Create a Wrestler” feature and put your fictional wrestler up to the test as he takes on a random stable of legends in 10-man gauntlet matches. If you win all the 10-man gauntlet matches, you can also test your mettle by taking on the ultimate gauntlet match, a 38-man gauntlet comprised of the entire roster of Legends of Wrestlemania.

There were only a couple of things I found this game lacking. Some really great legends were excluded and the fact that there are no special unlockable wrestlers also takes away from the time you can spend playing the game. No “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “Mankind” Mick Foley, or George “The Animal” Steele is a real disappointment.

There were also no female wrestlers in the game. Being a geek who watches wrestling, one of the major drawing factors is the divas in the WWE (sex, violence, and humor sells what can I say?). I understand that there weren’t as many lady wrestlers as there were guys 25 years ago, it’s just the way the business was, but a handful in their primes might’ve been a nice touch.

Another problem was that the A.I. is beyond simple. I would run through gauntlet matches with nary a punch being landed on me. Only a handful of the objective based “rewrite” matches gave me any difficulty and even then it only took the second or third try before victory was again within my grasp.

Aside from a lackluster A.I. and dearth of wrestler choices, this game delivers everywhere else. Gameplay was as solid as it can be for a wrestling game, with only a minimum of physics problems and glitches (wrestlers falling through one another when missing a clothesline, for example). The attack/counter system is easy to pick up and the new “chain” attack system for certain grapples is a true test of reflexes where you have to punch in button combos to execute moves or counters. When playing in the standard-equipped multiplayer mode, this is a great safety mechanism to prevent relentless friends or online opponents from bashing you into submission.

Graphics were solid for a wrestling game and the audio was as good as could be, with “Good Ol’ J.R.” and Jerry “the King” Lawler doing ringside commentary, and with original entrance themes as the soundtrack for the game. Authentic entrances are always nice to see and having ones like the movable mini-ring to escort the wrestlers through the crowd at Wrestlemania III with accurate character graphics introducing each wrestler was a great touch and shows the meticulous detail that went into this game to make it feel like you were watching the moments live all over again.

Another nice detail is that wrestlers who traditionally had managers, also have them in the game and they make certain matches even more difficult. It isn’t easy trying to avoid Mr. Fuji’s white powder AND wrestle Yokozuna; or how about Bobby “the Brain” Heenan jumping onto the ring apron, when you wrestle Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, distracting you just enough for Valentine to apply the Figure-Four Leg Lock. Jimmy Hart isn’t a picnic when you wrestle Honky Tonk Man either and Paul Bearer wielding that damn golden urn is especially a nuisance when wrestling the Undertaker.

This game delivers for the most part on every front you would want from a game highlighting the greatest matches in wrestling history. The few minor complaints aside, if you are a fan of wrestling or are just getting into it and need a history lesson, then this is a must-have game.

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

Graphics: 7.5: This has the standard graphics for a wrestling game on this generation of consoles. The only real unique effect is that when you make someone bleed, the blood will usually stain the mat like in real life, which has been a complaint for years. Still though, audience members look only good in the distance, for when you get close shots of them in an entrance or a match that ends up around different parts of the arena, they look like polygon zombies. That’ll shock you back to reality.

Audio: 8.5: All the original entrance themes for the wrestling roster serve as the soundtrack (I forgot how much I loved “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes’ theme). Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler is a great touch as the legendary ringside commentators for the WWE, but their limited phrase track begins to get tiresome quickly and is a major factor for me taking points away.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: There isn’t an original plot to the game, but that is also part of the appeal. If you picked this game up, it is because you most likely remember the storylines and matches when they happened live and you want to be a part of those historic moments. Still, the plots and development were great on weekly TV 20+ years ago, a 2-3 minute montage fills in the necessary gaps, but doesn’t give all the details you would want as a wrestling fan, and for that the score has to suffer.

Gameplay: 8.0: A sub-par A.I. takes key points away from the greatness of the game. The physics system has a couple of glitches, but that is to be expected with most wrestling games considering the complexity of many maneuvers and this game is fairly smooth compared with those that have come before.

Replay Value: 6.5: After beating all the gauntlets and individual matches and their variations, this game doesn’t have a real lasting appeal. It has a standard multiplayer mode with online capabilities that you can get in any wrestling game. It barely gets a passing score.


Overall (not an average): 7.5: This is a game devoted to the hardcore wrestling fan and that is all. It does not pull any punches by trying to deviate towards any other audience and it is that single-minded focus that makes it so great and yet so flawed. Only the lack of a broad appeal takes it down a notch. The bottom line is: If you’re a wrestling fan, this is a must have.

Legends of Wrestlemania is out now for the PS3 and XBOX360.

-Ray Carsillo

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Played on the 4th of July

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Originally Published: March 29, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

When I first got my hands on Big Bang Mini (created by Arkedo and brought to you by SouthPeak Games for Nintendo DS) I was pleasantly surprised. I had in my head that the game would be some sort of Space Invaders knock-off with brighter colors and fireworks from what I had seen and heard of it. Oh, I could not have been more wrong.

Although simple in design, it more than makes up for its lack of depth with non-stop, straight-shooting fun and addictive mayhem; I couldn’t put this game down! If you’re strapped for cash and need something to eat up some battery life on your DS, Big Bang Mini is a solid choice at only $19.99. If you’re anything like me, by the time you’re three stages in, you’ll be pleasantly surprised as you will be completely hooked.

You’re given a ship and the objective of the game is to shoot fireworks at enemies to blow them out of the sky and then collect the stars they drop to advance through the levels. However, it’s not as simple as it may seem; as your missed shots explode and the debris from their ensuing explosions are just as dangerous as enemy fire to your avatar. Not much of a plot, I know, but the game more than makes up for it in gameplay.

The controls are simple yet add a degree of difficulty you don’t find in most of these retro arcade-style shooters. To shoot your fireworks you simply drag the DS’s stylus over the screen to fire in all different directions. To move your ship, you also need to use the stylus to drag your ship around the screen to avoid enemy fire. This lends itself to you only being able to do one thing at a time, dodge or fire, and you can’t advance through the stages by just dodging.

It is difficult at first, but it soon becomes second nature as you develop the necessary balance to start flying and firing all over the screen. This balance gives the gameplay a nice level of difficulty; it’s not impossible, but not a cake walk either. Add in interesting special level-specific powers (usually shields or enemy weapon nullifiers) and a couple of permanent upgrades (homing missiles, stronger fireballs) and what started as a simple Space Invaders or Asteroids-like shooter because a fully fleshed out modern game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

Aesthetically the graphics are simple compared to what the DS has shown it can support, but they get the job done. The vibrant colors and themes of each level are a nice change from the dull monotonous palettes in most games nowadays. Each level has its own specific theme and most work well. From the bottom of the ocean, to a snowy mountaintop, to Hong Kong and New York City, the levels are different enough from each other to hold your attention relatively well throughout the game.

The music, on the other hand, is uninspired and the SFX become repetitive to the point where you’ll end up playing most of the time with the volume on your DS off and your iPod on in its place.

There are 90 stages over nine levels, each with its own unique devices to help you or hinder you over the course of the game. If you survive all 90 levels, then you can unlock a Mission Mode that notches up the difficulty even more for hardcore gamers. Add in some other secondary modes (setting high scores, versus, etc.) to flesh out the game and it has enough content to keep you coming back for a long time. Space Invaders…what was I thinking?

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

Graphics: 6.5: The graphics are solid, but nothing spectacular, especially with the DS’s capabilities. I enjoy bright colors just as much as anyone else, (“The colors Duke, the colors!” You know it’s a good commercial if you’re quoting it a decade later. Kudos to the Popsicle people.) but it takes a lot more than that to impress me graphically. Barely average.

Audio: 5.0: The music is original, but along with the SFX, gets very repetitive very quickly. By the time you get to the 4th or 5th stage of each level, you’re turning off the DS’s volume and plugging in your iPod. Points for originality and that’s it.

Plot/Plot Development: 1.0: You fly, you fire, you dodge, and you blow stuff up. There isn’t anything else to this in terms of plot so I can’t give it a good score.

Gameplay: 9.0: This game more than makes up for the poor score in plot in gameplay. Challenging, yet still fun, this game gives you hours of solid gaming as you blast your way through nine completely different levels with a variety of powers and abilities to help you on your way. Add in several different modes of play and you’ve got a game that will eat up your time like a fat chick shoveling food down at a Chinese buffet.

Replay Value: 8.0: Lots of levels, lots of modes, lots of fun. This will keep you coming back for more for a long while until you beat every level and every extra mission. Or until your battery dies. Whichever comes first (probably the battery).

Overall (not an average): 7.5: A lack of plot aside, this is in the same vein as all the classic arcade shooters. Add in the different take on the control scheme and you’ve got a really solid shooter. Not spectacular, but solid, and for $19.99 it’s a great way to spend some free time.

Big Bang Mini is available now for Nintendo DS.

-Ray Carsillo

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Ha-dou-ken! 20 Years of Street Fighter

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Originally Published: March 25, 2009, for 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and ESPNVideogames.com

It started as an arcade unit in Japan in 1987. Then it was ported to home consoles in late 1988 and it finally hit American shores in early 1989. The Street Fighter phenomenon has been an integral part of video gaming culture ever since.

There were only two fighting franchises you ever spoke of in public during the beginnings of the video game revolution, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, and lines would be drawn in the sand for which one you preferred. I admit, I was a Kombat-freak, but I still enjoyed and appreciated the nuances of the Street Fighter franchise. Now, 20 years later, Capcom has pulled no punches for its American anniversary with the release of a new movie, video game, and national tournament. In this article, I will take a look at each part of this celebration that has been going on since early February and will wrap up in April with the crowning of a national Street Fighter IV champion.

The first aspect of the celebration was the release of the new video game, Street Fighter IV, on February 18, 2009.

In Street Fighter IV, M. Bison has fallen from power and Shadoloo is no more. All the combatants of Street Fighter have gone their separate ways when a mysterious organization known as S.I.N. has sponsored a new tournament. All the classic characters return with a few new faces to fill out a 25 fighter roster (12 to start including the four new ones, and 13 unlockables from previous Street Fighter incarnations) in what is to be the greatest of all Street Fighter tournaments as the fighters come together to figure out why exactly this new organization has put together a new tournament.

I’ll tell you why. The evil CEO of S.I.N., Seth, is a weapons manufacturer and he has turned himself into the ultimate weapon by injecting himself with a virus that allows him to absorb and mimic all the fighting techniques of those he comes into contact with. Only one person remains to absorb before he can become the most unstoppable force on Earth; he must absorb Ryu, the champion of the Street Fighter tournaments. Thus, the events of Street Fighter IV begin to unfold.

The story has never been the selling point for the Street Fighter franchise. It has always been about the fighting mechanics more than anything else. The story in this is similar to those that have come before; it’s like any anime you would see at 4 AM on Adult Swim so I will not spend any more time talking about the lack of a decent storyline.

What makes or breaks a fighting series is the combat and any additions made over the course of the series. Street Fighter IV, in my mind, disappoints on this front. This is the first entry into the series in nine years (all those Street Fighter III special additions like Alpha or 2nd Impact do not count) and all they added was an “Ultra Combo” that is easily avoided or lacks the power that you would expect with all the work that goes into building up that bar, and a “Focus Attack” that does add an interesting aspect to strategy, but after nine years you would think they could have come up with something with a little more “oomph” than one decent extra attack per character.

For everything else involving the fighting mechanics, it is all the same. Light, medium, and heavy punches and kicks, press both light attacks for a throw, retreat to block, and the special moves are all the same. So after nine years of waiting, all that has been added is four crappy new characters, one new regular move, and one extra combo bar that always misses? “Disappointed” is an understatement. The best aspect of the new game is the awesome opening movie. After that, you might as well break out your Super Nintendo and stick Street Fighter II Turbo in there. Even the cut scenes are disappointingly done in a cheap anime style, which pales in comparison to the amazing looking opening movie.

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

Graphics: 6.5: Considering how great the opening movie was, the rest of the game wasn’t up to par visually. When you have a 2D fighting game, I understand you can only make it look so much like a 3D game before you actually just make it a 3D game, but the lackluster anime cut scenes and the fact that it only looked marginally above the Street Fighter games of old gets this a barely passing grade.

Audio: 8.0: The voice acting reminded me of a badly dubbed kung-fu movie from the 70s. Since I’m not sure if that was the effect they were going for, I can’t dock it a lot, but I do doubt it. The music was catchy and original and the SFX were solid enough to strengthen the score some.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.5: I get that no fighting game ever has a great plot, but again it seems like a bad anime you find in a bargain bin at the grocery store. I miss the days when Bison was the bad guy and you had to fight through his Shadoloo henchmen. At least it was a system that worked.

Gameplay: 7.5: The game had the typical fighting game glitches so there was nothing to get all up in arms about, but considering all the time between titles, they could have added more to this to make it stand out from the rest of the series. I love nostalgia, but give me a break! I didn’t want Street Fighter 2.5, I wanted Street Fighter IV. I wanted something completely new to break the mold and reshape the franchise.

Replay Value: 8.0: Great online play and tons of unlockables make it so that if you enjoy playing the game the first few times through, you’ll probably keep coming back for more.

Overall (not an average): 6.5: The plot was poor, there was a minimum of new features and characters, and the graphics were not concurrent with this generation’s consoles. The voice acting was horrible and the control scheme was the same as it was 20 years ago. For a 20th anniversary installment, this falls on its face faster than Zangief while performing his power bomb. It’s just the same Street Fighter with a new number on the front and for me, that’s not enough.

The next aspect of the 20th anniversary was the national tournament that began on February 21st, 2009, and will continue on until the middle of April.

The national tournament was put together with help from Microsoft and GameStop to provide locations and systems for the tournament and the first round was to be held on the first Saturday after the release of the game, which was February 21st, 2009 at 2PM EST. 2,419 GameStops around the nation would host 64 participants in each location with the top two from each advancing. This totaled 154,816 people competing at the same time nationwide for only 4,838 2nd round spots at another 288 locations, again with the top two advancing leaving only 576 sports for the 3rd round. From these remaining 576 spots, the top 16 players would be taken to San Francisco to compete in the final tournament for a $15,000 Street Fighter IV arcade style unit. Also, all 16 finalists would be given automatic bids into the semi-finals of the Evolution 2009 fighting game tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, in July.

The rules were simple. Do not interfere with your opponents during gameplay. First to 3 wins would advance. The loser is eliminated. One must be at least 18 years of age to compete or over 13 and accompanied by a parent.

We put together a nice little video here showcasing some of the footage of me competing. Due to legal issues, we could not show any footage from inside the GameStop, only of the game itself.

Street Fighter IV National Tournament – Round 1 w/ Ray Carsillo
Video by Jared Bodden

The stakes were high, but I would advance to the final four of the 1st round with E. Honda before I lost to one guy playing as Balrog. I was one win away from advancing to the next round. It was my best showing in a tournament since my early days in college when I was a Madden and Super Smash Bros. Melee freak.

I had a major gripe with the tournament, though. It seemed fixed. Several of the participants did not show. Not an uncommon situation in a tournament of this size. The problem was that the managers at the GameStop failed to re-bracket the people who did show up.

Now, in situations like this, a re-bracket is expected in order to try to prevent unfair advantages as much as possible. At this particular GameStop, no re-bracketing was issued, which allowed the person who ended up winning the tournament, and defeating me as Balrog in the Final Four, not one, but two rounds worth of byes. On top of this, the participant in question was not requested to leave the room and therefore was allowed to watch all other participants compete and watch their patterns. It gave him a clear, unfair advantage over the rest of the field.

When questioned on this, the manager on duty, whose name I will not reveal to protect him, responded that the participant in question was very good to begin with since he had won a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament the previous year at that location, insinuating that the managers had stacked the odds in his favor because of his success in a previous tournament for a completely different game.

Since then, the 16 national finalists for the title have been chosen and are preparing for the final tournament to be held in less than two weeks from the posting of this article. It felt great to compete again for the first time in a long time. I just wish I didn’t feel that the tournament was tainted by outside sources and it makes me question the credibility of tournaments that are held by the GameStop Corporation. The reason why this article was not posted sooner was because I had to struggle with myself on whether to include this part or not. I finally came to the decision, as the Finals approach, that it is necessary to help serve as a warning for other competitive gamers in the future to know what standard tournament procedure is and to be not be fooled when told otherwise unless shown in writing by an official tournament representative.

The final aspect of the 20th anniversary was the movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li starring Kristen Kruek as Chun-Li, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, and Neal McDonough as Bison.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is a prequel to the entire Street Fighter series, taking place months before the original tournament. It gives you an interesting take on the origins of some the staples of the franchise like Bison, Vega, Balrog, Gen, and, of course, Chun-Li.

I had a chance to catch up with Kristen Kruek back in December at the SpikeTV Video Game Awards and talk to her some about the movie. I think she was scared of me.

Ray Carsillo w/ Kristen Kruek
Video by Jared Bodden

Kristen was really sweet, but I was afraid I was going to break her hand when I shook it after the interview. The girl needs to have a cheeseburger.

The basic premise of the movie is that Chun-Li is a girl born in America and that moves to Asia at a young age when her father, a hugely successful businessman, is transferred. Here, he gets involved with an unsavory character (Bison) who steals Chun-Li’s father away one night for his own diabolical purposes. Chun-Li then begins training for revenge on Bison and to find out her father’s fate.

Anyway, I have to say, even if you are a die-hard fan of the franchise, you will hate this movie. This is the most abominable thing I have ever seen on screen (and I saw Elektra with Jennifer Garner). Clearly the people at Capcom know nothing about modern cinema. I think their entire special effects budget went into Chun-Li and Gen’s fireballs and everything else had to be scraped together at the last minute. From seeing the clear seam of Bison’s pregnant wife when they show her abdomen, to the cheesy and clearly fake explosions that were added in post-production, to the overly grainy text of the entire film, this movie was beyond low-budget.

Add in that they found Chris Klein probably drinking himself into a stupor in some alley somewhere and threw him on screen and I threw up in my mouth, just a little. He played Charlie Nash, the rough-around-the-edges-but-still-a-great-cop character that was chasing Bison around the world. He read his lines like William Shatner in those Priceline.com commercials. Chris Klein has no purpose being in any kind of film. Ever.

The only positives were that Kristen Kruek and Moon Bloodstone, who played Nash’s partner Det. Maya Sunee, looked amazingly hot in the movie. That’s it. Michael Clarke Duncan’s amazing skills were wasted on three lines and a crappy fight scene with Gen. Neal McDonough was solid, as was Kruek, but the script was just so awful that there was nothing they could do to save it. If you’re smart, you’ll continue to avoid it as it probably only has a week or two left in theatres.


Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li gets 0.5 out of 5.

So, the game was okay, the movie was awful, and the tournament was fixed. Maybe Capcom should have taken all that money they put into the movie and put it into making a better game and finding a better host for their tournament. I really hope that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters franchises work a little harder on their anniversary galas! (TMNT celebrates 25 years in April; Ghostbusters celebrates 25 years in June)

-Ray Carsillo

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Prepare for Punishment

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Originally Published: March 13, 2009, for Collider.com and 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

The original anti-hero, the Punisher blasted his way into the comic culture in 1974 in Amazing Spider-Man #129. Since then, he’s left his skull print all over pop culture by inspiring several comic titles, countless merchandising items, and three seperate movies.

I had a chance to catch up with the latest man to don the white skull, Ray Stevenson (HBO’S Rome), as Punisher: Warzone is about to hit store shelves everywhere on DVD and blu-ray on March 17th, 2009.


CLICK HERE – to listen to my interview with the star of Punsiher: Warzone, Ray Stevenson.

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The Ultimate Gamer!

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Originally Published: March 10, 2009, for 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Video games are amazing because they can send you through a plethora of emotions in a matter of moments and you control all of the action that causes it. Sci-Fi Network took this concept and expanded it into unknown territories with their new reality TV show, WCG’s Ultimate Gamer.

The show puts 12 hardcore gamers against each other in a battle through the virtual world and the real world. Alliances are to be made and broken in this gamer free-for-all that puts a whole new spin on the concept of reality TV. $100,000 and a sweet Samsung electronics package goes to the winner along with the chance to represent the WCG (World Cyber Games) in their annual tournament that has been described as the Olympics of video games.

I had a chance to speak with the hosts of this revolutionary new reality TV show, Joel Gourdin and Hannah Simone. Joel and Hannah are both avid gamers themselves (Joel lists Bioshock as a modern favorite on the Ultimate Gamer website http://us.wcg.com/wcgultimategamer. Hannah lists Gears of War 2. She’s beautiful and a Gearhead; I may be in love.) and relished the opportunity to participate in this project.


CLICK HERE – to listen to my interview with the hosts of WCG’s Ultimate Gamer, Joel Gourdin and Hannah Simone.

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Who Watches the Watchmen?!

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Originally Published: March 8, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (ESPNNewYork.com)and Lundberg.me

Mine isn’t the most original title, but when talking about DC’s Watchmen, no other title fits. What many experts considered impossible to bring to the big screen, visionary director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) grabbed by the horns and wrestled into a masterpiece worthy of the novel. To describe this as anything less than a labor of love would take away from the awe-inspiring brilliance ripped straight from one of TIME Magazines 100 Best Novels of All-Time.

The story is simple. Imagine an alternate universe America circa 1985. Superheroes have been outlawed for almost a decade, after a half century of service to their nation and to the world, due to a public outcry from events perpetrated in Vietnam. One of those now retired former heroes, the very definition of an anti-hero named the Comedian, is brutally murdered in his penthouse apartment and a set of events is set in motion that will bring some of the world’s best and brightest heroes together to unearth one of the most shocking conspiracies ever concocted.

Many felt this movie would be impossible to make because you would not be able to include a lot of the writing devices used in the novel and still keep it under three hours. The first and possibly greatest difficulty in bringing Watchmen to the big screen would be being able to still develop the amazingly complex main characters to their full effect without the ancillary characters and chapter addendum devices used throughout the novel.

The novel gave convoluted psychological profiles from everyone from the man selling newspapers on the corner to Dr. Manhattan’s former lover to the prison psychologist that has to analyze Rorschach when he gets taken into custody to help flesh out major plot points and character flaws in the heroes. The novel also had special addendums at the end of each chapter like excerpts from novels within the novel, shipping manuscripts, and other items that only make sense in the novel’s thrilling conclusion. So would the movie still be able to portray the main characters’ full spectrum of personality without these additional materials that could never be included in the movie?

The short answer is yes. The movie develops the main characters just as deeply as in the novel and compensates by keeping most major points from the original story and adding a handful of subtle moments to make up for the lack of these additional writing devices. This, along with some spectacular acting that made it feel like the characters had jumped right off the page, did pure justice to the characters of Watchmen.

Another problem that arose from the lack of extra writing devices was that without the ancillary characters and chapter addendums, the original story’s ending would not make sense. Even though Zack Snyder did his best to be as true to the original novel as possible, several major plot points had to be tweaked or removed in order to make more sense and appeal to a larger audience, especially the ending. Some would argue that the movie’s ending might have been better than the novel’s because it more directly related to the main characters, but that is clearly up for debate. Still, for the most part, the movie of Watchmen is ripped straight from the novel’s pages and it feels like the comic had come to life.

Another amazing aspect of the movie was the artistic style. From the perfectly emulated streets of the run-down 1985 New York City in the novel, to the colorful costumes and devices used by the characters, to the music choices made through many of the scenes from Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ to Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of All Along the Watchtower. Every visual and audio choice made by Snyder fit perfectly with the style of the novel and the music added so much more to the scenes than you could’ve hoped for.

There are only a couple of major critiques to this movie. I’m all for sex and violence in movies, but one major hang-up, especially amongst die-hard purists of the novel, is that Zack Snyder likes to step up the sensationalism in most of his movies and some of the gore and sex scenes were so amped up by Snyder’s style that you felt some of the movie could have been at NC-17 levels. I know that Dr. Manhattan was naked most of the time in the novel, but it is a little different when you see a blue-man group reject naked on the big screen for almost three hours. Combine that with 10-minute long sex scenes and people being torn to shreds when they aren’t having relations; it was all just too unnecessary.

Another major critique was that if you did not read the novel, you might not have understood or been able to follow as clearly everything that was going on. The plot is very complicated and even with the movie timing out at 2 hours and 43 minutes there are still some things you wish they could have expanded on to help the general audience. For example, if you did not read the novel, you’ll have no clue as to why Ozymandias has a blue tiger as his pet in his Antarctic fortress. Without being explained in the movie, I could see how something like a blue tiger could bother people. I guess we’ll just have to grab the 3 hour and 10 minute Director’s cut when it comes out on DVD. Oh, those tricky marketing and merchandising departments.

In the end, this is not a movie that you can just check your brain at the door. If you have not read the novel (highly recommended before seeing the movie) and miss a moment here and there, you could very likely not understand some of the major plot points. So, be prepared if you’re going to the theatre. Be sure to go to the bathroom, get your snacks beforehand, and get comfortable because if you miss any of the near three hours, the entire experience will likely be markedly worse. For this reason, along with the clearly unnecessary gore and sex, I have to dock my score some.

Watchmen gets 3.5 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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Stepping Up to the Plate

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Originally Published: March 4, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

For many the wait is torturous. The gap between the Super Bowl and the beginning of baseball season is like a walk through the Sahara of the sports world in which basketball and hockey simply serve as a reminder of a once full canteen now vapid of nourishment.

Don’t fret, though, the gaming world has attempted to provide an oasis to fill our needs for the next month. Just released this week was MLB2K9 for all systems and MLB: The Show ’09 as a PS3 exclusive.

Normally, MLB2K sets up 2K sports for the rest of the year since they have coverage of all three systems and their competition has only the PS3. You would figure that 2K would attempt to provide the best gaming experience out there as they need these sales to get through the fall when they typically get punished in sales by EA Sports in hockey and basketball. You would figure.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. MLB2K9 is as sad an attempt at a video game as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li was as a movie. 2K is blatantly taking advantage of the fact that they control the market during this time of the year as they are the only MLB title that reaches all three systems, a combined total of 97.29 million hardware units, which gives them a far more reaching audience than MLB: The Show, which only reaches the roughly 7.98 million American PS3 owners, which also happens to be the worst selling of the three main systems. (Numbers provided by http://www.vgchartz.com/ and accurate as of February 28, 2009)

Knowing they have the baseball game market cornered, 2K’s oasis is simply an illusion. This game has more glitches in it than New York City has potholes. While playing the game, I would position my outfielder directly in the circle censor to mark where the ball will fall only to have the ball literally fall through my glove. No error animation, no misjudging the ball, it falls through my glove and this happened several times a game.

And this is only the icing on the cake. The player animations are unrealistic and many stances and motions are recycled from player to player. The graphics are poor to the point that players look blocky and unrealistic, a problem that was corrected in the last generation of video game systems.
Even the menus on the pause and start-up screens are difficult to navigate. You have to go through multiple sub-menus before you find the game doesn’t even have the options you were looking for to begin with. Then again, that might have just been the difficulty in navigating the menu. After trying three different sub-menus looking for controls, I just gave up and played with the game’s defaults.

This game is an abomination and will sell well only because for about 75% of gamers out there, it is their only MLB option.

On the other side, MLB: The Show ’09. This game teleports you out of the Sahara to the French Riviera. And there are no French people around. That’s how good this game is.

First off, the basics are all covered. Smooth mechanics and animations, solid graphics, easy to navigate menus, and good gameplay. From there, The Show ’09 takes you above and beyond your typical baseball video game.
The greatest aspect of this game is the overall accuracy to real life. Every player’s stance, motions, and mannerisms have been emulated in this game to at least some degree. The batter’s hot and cold zones have been mapped out accurately and strongly enforced. If you connect with a fastball in one of your cold zones, it is a lot less likely to travel out of the ballpark than if one floated into your wheelhouse.

Add in a batting reticule that you have to maneuver to aim your swing and then watch it contract depending on your skill as a hitter makes offense a lot more challenging than in previous games.

Amidst a plethora of new features and innovations for The Show ’09, the most impressive easily has to be the one called “Sounds of the Game”. This is one of the most exciting features in any sports game to date.

The “Sounds of the Game” feature allows you to download 30 second music clips for everyone in the game. In other words, the music accompanying every at-bat as each individual player approaches the plate, every reliever entering from the bullpen, even hecklers in the crowd can be customized to your liking. You want an authentic Mariano Rivera entrance? Metallica’s Enter Sandman is there. You want Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline after every Red Sox game? Not a problem. And yes, Yankees fans, the Bleacher Creatures are available as well.

Of course, you don’t have to have it be authentic either. You can have Mariano come out to AC/DC’s Highway to Hell if you prefer. The possibilities are near endless and allow you to truly customize the game to your liking and give it an authentic feel you just don’t see in other sports games.

Even though MLB: The Show is far and away the best baseball game out there, it’s a stretch to warrant going out to buy a PS3 for this alone and that forces most people to end up having to settle for MLB2K9. This is really a shame because the only thing that MLB2K9 has better than The Show is their cover athlete. Tim Lincecum over Dustin Pedroia. I’m a Yankees fan, what can I say? I despise the Red Sox.

Whether you have a PS3 or not, both these games are out now and will hopefully provide you with enough sports nourishment to last you another month before baseball season finally gets underway.

-Ray Carsillo

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Ray and Robin Storm NY Comiccon

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Originally Published: February 28, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Ray “Ray 2” Carsillo and Robin Lundberg Storm NY ComicCon 2009
Video by Jared Bodden

It is always one of my most highly anticipated events of the year. The New York ComicCon. I was accompanied this year by Robin Lundberg, producer extraordinaire, who usually likes to play it cool, but as seen here in this video, is a big geek at heart (although not nearly as big as I am). This video is a short chronicle of only a handful of experiences we had at this year’s ComicCon. Hopefully you enjoy the previews and laughs we had along the way as we did.

I would also like to take this time to thank the people who make this blog and the features I post possible. I know that ComicCon took place three weeks before the posting of the article, but myself and the people who work on this with me do not get anything for this. We all have other jobs at 1050 or elsewhere that dominate a good portion of our time. I want to take this moment to recognize Joseph Layton of Rutgers University who serves as my text editor/proofreader on my long review articles and Jared Bodden whose name appears next to all my videos. Without Jared believing in what I’m doing and offering his taping and editing skills for free, the videos you view here would be nowhere near the quality they are.

Also, thanks go out to everyone who participates in the videos, the folks at all the gaming companies who have welcomed me into the video game journalism fold, and, of course, everyone at 1050 ESPN for allowing me use of the medium and to all those who tolerate this geek roaming the halls ranting to whoever will listen about Street Fighter 4 fighting techniques and RTS flanking manuevers.

This column, blog, blurb, or whatever else I’ve heard it called (I prefer column, sounds more professional), means the world to me and if I could write for it everyday then I would. Like I said above, myself and the others who work on it have a great deal of other responsibilities though. I, along with those I work with, have to use our judgement as to what is the most absolutely necessary geek stuff that you need to know about due to our limitations. We discuss what games I will review, what movies I will screen, what interviews I can conduct, and have to filter them down to 2-3 articles a week. This means that I have to throw out articles on Midway Games declaring bankruptcy, the CGS (Championship Gaming Series) folding after two seasons, comic book movies getting snubbed at the Oscars, countless game and movie reviews, and so much more. I, along with my rag-tag crew, will continue to try to provide for you the best geek stuff we can, though. That is a promise and leads to my final thank you to you, the readers.

Without you continuing to click on my page and read my articles, I would have been pulled long ago because let’s be honest, I’m a geek trying to make it in a meathead world. That is why I hope that in the future you continue to read my articles as I promise to continue to deliver the best quality info-tainment I can possibly deliver. All the best and I hope you enjoyed this latest video.

-Ray Carsillo

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In Space, No One Can Hear You Jump for Joy

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Originally Published: February 24, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

They can hear it here on Earth, though, and if you are a fan of RTS (Real Time Strategy) games or the Halo franchise then that is exactly what you’ll be doing after playing Halo Wars. After acquiring a review copy of the game, I played the whole way through its 15 campaign levels and played some multiplayer against the computer and can see already this game has everything you could want from it.

Many skeptics out there worried that if you combined the long history of RTS failures on consoles with a prequel to one of the most successful franchises in gaming history you were going to get burned for playing with fire. Then when they heard it would be an XBOX360 exclusive with no PC port, they almost wrote this gem off before a demo had even been released. However, the folks at Ensemble Studios knew exactly what they were doing. Hailed for RTS staples like the Age of Empires series, Ensemble Studios proved they were the right ones to make what I am declaring to be the first successful RTS game for a console.

As an RTS, Halo Wars plays as if you were using your computer. Using the paintbrush tools and hot buttons to select troops and move from base to base make basic commands a breeze to the point that you forget you’re using an XBOX360 controller and not a mouse and keyboard. Supplies gathering and building upgrades are simple and have been streamlined to fit the console’s RTS scheme and make it so that you can build your supply depot and forget about it and know your supplies will continue to stream in (as long as you keep the supply depot from getting razed by enemy fire that is). The gameplay is crisp and there isn’t an ounce of lag throughout the game.

The only problems were the usual ones you find in most RTS games, such as trying to send a group of three or four large units, like tanks, through a narrow opening in the land and instead of them naturally deciding to go one at a time, they keep running into each other as all four try to fit through at once. This pathfinding bugginess is forgivable since that has been a problem with RTS games for years, not just on consoles. The battle engagements are challenging and most missions require more thinking than “I’ll just build more units than the enemy and unleash my entire army in a barbaric charge when the time comes”. With four levels of difficulty to play through and an online co-op mode, the Halo Wars story mode will keep RTS fans happy for a long time.

In terms of the head-to-head multiplayer, I will admit I wasn’t able to get a true feel for it due to there being only so many early copies out there for us media outlets, but I did play a few Deathmatches against the computer and it had everything you would expect from an RTS Deathmatch. Standard rules: wipe your opponent off the map. It gives you a huge amount of starting supplies and it’s a race to see how fast you can build the largest army to try and eradicate your opponent. The maps are all based off planets and locales you come across in the main game, but on a smaller scale to encourage constant engagements. Everything taken into consideration, the Halo Wars head-to-head multiplayer has a strong foundation for some great XBOX Live battles ahead for itself.

If you’re a follower of the Halo canon you can rest easy. The story is not only compelling, but it does justice to the series and highlights some obscure key events in the Halo timeline that many might not be familiar with that lead up to Master Chief’s escapades. Troops, vehicles, and buildings are all as accurate as can be for both the Marines and the Covenant and follow in line with what you’ve learned from previous Halo games. For example, you can’t make an army of Spartan soldiers; if you’re lucky you’ll get a couple at the beginning of the level to help you out and that’s it. Add in collectibles that concur with the Halo universe like a skull on each level and black boxes to reveal more of the Halo timeline feature and you’ve got plenty to keep this game warm in your machine for a long time. The only real drawback I felt was that the story seemed a bit short. The plot developed too quickly for my tastes and to have as much action as it did spread across only 15 levels felt like you had unfinished business. Then again, it does take place 20 years before Master Chief so that might have been on purpose.

If you want to learn a little bit more about the story and the characters, take a look at the interview I did with Lead Story Writer, Graeme Devine from Ensemble Studios.

Ray Carsillo with Graeme Devine, Lead Story Writer for Halo Wars
Video by Jared Bodden

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

Graphics: 8.5: Not a tremendous amount of detail is usually necessary for an RTS game. As long as the terrain is has some variations and is glitch-free, then you’re usually set. This being said, Halo Wars’ cut scenes are spectacular to view and bring up the overall visual quality of the game and are something to look forward to after each mission. A solid display to say the least.

Audio: 9.5: The voice acting was crisp and clean and the SFX were fairly solid. In-game explosions could have used a little work. I just didn’t feel it when I destroyed a Covenant base. The music was taken straight from the trilogy which was a smart move. Minor complaints, but really great overall.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: The plot seemed a little rushed at times and developed too quickly considering the grand scale of the Covenant’s master plan in this game. I understand that it was probably a lot of story to fit in over only 15 levels, but it left you feeling with unfinished business at the end. Then again, this is only one short series of events over a war that spans decades and is still 20 years away from Master Chief’s adventures.

Gameplay: 9.0: The game was mostly smooth and the A.I. was pretty impressive. The only problems were the usual ones you find in any great RTS game, such as trying to send a group of three or four large units through a narrow opening in the land. They decide that running into each other, as all four try to fit through at once, will be exactly the kind of reinforcements you need in any altercation. This has been a problem that has plagued RTS games for years and until someone figures out how to fix that, no RTS will ever earn a perfect score on gameplay.

Replay Value: 10.0: The telltale sign of an RTS game’s greatness is if you want to keep playing the missions over and over and this one succeeds. With hidden collectibles on each mission, co-op and versus options, and like any good RTS game, no mission can be completed the same way twice, this game will stay in your XBOX360 for a long time.

Overall (not an average): 10.0: Let me start off by saying that 10 out of 10 does not make a game perfect, there is no such thing as a “perfect” game. However, to not give this game the highest possible score would be a tragedy. What pushed this up from a 9 to a 10 is that this game is the first to break the stereotype of RTS games being abysmal on a console. Never before has an RTS been able to successfully transition from the PC to the home console or go straight to the console with such fluidity. This game could revolutionize the RTS genre and open up doors we had only begun to dream of. This alone would have garnered a great score, but combined with an awesome plot, stellar controls, and visually stunning cut scenes, I could not think of giving this game any less than a “perfect” score. Thank you to the people at Microsoft and Ensemble Studios for FINALLY getting it right. Halo Wars is available everywhere on March 3rd, 2009.

-Ray Carsillo

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