This is our den. It may not look like much, especially in its pictured state with all of the clutter, but its a step forward for Steff and I comfortably living together. In the past, we did not have the room for my gaming setup to get its own space, which forced me to set up shop in the main living room. While I liked being within close proximity to Steff while she watched TV, it was far from ideal for both of us, especially when we wanted to zone out and do our own things. With this den, the plan is to use it as a place for all of my gaming stuff, while also accommodating some storage to hold assorted house stuff.

Right now, I’m using all of the same furniture from the old place to house my gaming stuff. The core of the experience happens at my desk, while games and other assorted stuff is housed on narrow shelves. This was the only viable setup in my old condo where space was limited. All of this stuff still works now, but it doesn’t fully take advantage of the space I’ve got to work with. Someday, I’d love for this to be a more comfortable experience for myself and guests. To make that work, I envision having a larger TV, a TV unit, bigger shelving for all of my media and assorted house stuff, as well as a sofa.

Realistically, this is a venture that I will not be able to afford any time soon. One can dream though, right?

From the deeply personal subject matter covered on Late Registration, to the emphasis on singing on 808′s & Heartbreak, I’ve always admired Kanye West for constantly pushing the boundaries of what hip-hop music can be. Kanye’s latest opus is his most daring yet. Featuring a heavy emphasis on grungy synthesizers and unusual vocal arrangements, this is an abrasive audio assault that the genre hasn’t seen since Public Enemy was in style. But is it good?

Despite appreciating its efforts to be different, I hated it on my first listen. I was caught off guard by how much of a departure this was from his previous efforts. Also, the general lack of melody (or at least conventional melody) rubbed me the wrong way. At first listen, I couldn’t even put together what the desired emotional response was to most of this music. Yet, I couldn’t stop listening to it. Something gave me the sense that I wasn’t getting it, and I wasn’t going to stop until I did. After a number of listens, it started to grow on me, but I still find it hard to vibe with.

I’m curious to see what the legacy of this album will be 10 years from now. Was Yeezus ahead of its time or a giant misstep? For now, the album still has me scratching my head as I try to make sense of it.

At one point, I thought I just had it in for 3D fighters in general, but then I fell in love with Dead or Alive 5. Maybe Tekken is the problem after all? After finding Tekken Tag Tournament 2 on the cheap, I gave the series another shot.

As someone who is virtually a complete newbie, I started out by going to the game’s new Fight Lab mode. This is meant to act a tutorial mode, though there’s a lot of story payoff if you’re into the Tekken lore. In it, Violet is creating the perfect fighting robot, which you assume the role of. As he’s teaching the robot how to fight, he’s also teaching you the game’s core mechanics. The challenges within Fight Lab I actually found to be quite difficult, but to their credit, helped open my eyes when it comes to playing the game properly. In particular, it gave me an understanding of how punishing attacks works.

Having said that, learning how to punish attacks is a very deep rabbit hole, as each character has roughly 100 moves apiece. You can start learning all of this in training mode, as it features full move lists, on-screen display of those moves that are easy to toggle between, and even demos for how every single move appears when you do them properly. I like how it goes to this level of depth, but there’s still a bit more it could do to really wrap up the package. One, tell players which moves are ‘the best’ and explain why they should commit them to memory. SoulCalibur V had this feature in there, and I think it goes a long way towards developing a solid foundation for playing each character. The other thing the game could use is a challenge mode that shows off a handful of great combos as a base.

If you’ve been playing Tekken for years, my criticisms will not hold much weight. Odds are, you’ll be able to pick this up without a hitch. If you’re a fan of the tag format from the original, you should be glad to see the mechanic expanded to allow for more offensive creativity. In the hands of veterans, this can lead to rounds that are very short, as the damage output from these extended tag combos can be quite high. This isn’t necessarily a criticism, though it’s something to consider. If not, you can fight as one solo character with a few buffs to balance out the action. As a newbie, this is not as instantly gratifying as say, Dead or Alive 5, there’s definitely more meat to this experience if that’s what you’re looking for. I know that if I were to invest the time into the game, I’d get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

As far as modes go, this has the usual assortment, from a standard-issue arcade mode, to online play. Getting into the online mode can be slow if you wait for the ghost data to load, so I simply cancel it every time. From there, matchmaking is great. I like how the game quickly puts you into training mode while matchmaking does its thing. In matches, I found the netcode to be mostly solid, with only a few minor hitches. One neat feature the game has to help build the community is the World Tekken Federation, or WTF. You can form clans and gain points as a team through individual actions, which sounds like an interesting draw to me.

This isn’t the Tekken game that will turn me into a franchise fanatic, but Tag Tournament 2 has helped me understand why the series is where it is today. It feels like a very refined fighter that has a ton of depth for those who want to start/continue their adventure with the series. I enjoyed my time with it and wouldn’t be surprised if I go back from time-to-time.

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Pre-Order Your PlayStation 4 Now On Amazon.com

No DRM! $399.99! I don’t know about you, but I’m sold. If you are too, you can pre-order now through the handy link above!

Pre-Order Your Xbox One Console – Day One Edition Now On Amazon.com!

Hot off the heels of Microsoft announcing a release date (November) and price ($499.99), you can now pre-order the Xbox One now on Amazon.com! If you’re interested in getting one and want to support In Third Person, use the above link to get first dibs on Microsoft’s latest!

P.S. – Don’t act surprised when a PlayStation 4 version of this page goes up soon too

With Jett out of the country, Matt and Jason replace him with a paper shredder. Will it make better E3 predictions than its human counterparts? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Head over to Splitkick to listen to episode 18!

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Jett – Splitkick, In Third Person, @jettlandicho
Jason – Inside Gaming Daily, Slick Gaming, @jjasicki
Mat – Biff Bam Pop, The Screaming Ego Podcast, @matylang

Check Out My Dead Island: Riptide Review At Splitkick.com!

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Ever since I beat BioShock Infinite, I’ve been chomping at the bit to talk about what unfolds with others. Aaron, David and I got to do just that. Tune in as we spoil and analyze as many points about the plot that we can remember, though I’m sure there’s more that we missed. If you haven’t finished the game, I strongly advise that you don’t listen to show, though the choice is yours. If you have though, definitely tune in!

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A Contra remake on iOS sounds totally rad on paper. At a price of only $0.99, how could this go possibly wrong? Let me count the ways.

Players familiar with the NES game should find everything here fairly recognizable. It’s the same two dudes running through the same levels. The graphics have been redone and look alright by modern standards. There are new, unlockable characters, as well as weapon slots you can switch between mid-mission, a la Contra III. These are ultimately minor upgrades to the original formula.

Things go sideways from here. Regardless of if you use the virtual joystick or d-pad, character movement is never as precise as it needs to be for this game. You will die a lot because of this. Making matters worse is the continues system. After 3 lives, the game prompts you to spend Diamonds, which are a currency used in exchange for continues. You’ll get a handful to start, though they won’t be nearly enough to cover one full playthrough. Once those Diamonds have been depleted, you have to buy more for a chance to finish the game. Man, I wish this game had the Konami code in it instead of this rubbish.

Sure, you can also try to beat this poorly-controlling remake with only 3 lives, but it’s not worth it. Contra: Evolution is a scummy product that isn’t worth your time and money. As a diehard fan of the NES game, this is extra heartbreaking to see a game I cherish so much come back in this form. Avoid this at all costs.

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Though I continue to use Bruce Wayne as my main character, I really enjoy Batgirl. She’s super quick, can traverse the screen at will, and has a lot of fun moves. The big challenge I have with her is that her best combo tools – Bab’s Bola and EX Smoke Bomb – add a ton of damage scaling. Until I get a better feel for her, my current bag of tricks doesn’t hit as hard as it should, though it does look pretty.

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