If you had told me 6 months ago that come fall I'd be singing the praises of a Need for Speed game. I'd have said you were out of your damned mind.  The series had always held a lukewarm interest for me at best, and completely lost me when they made the switch to street racing more than half a decade ago.  But then something happened.  Their attitude ...shifted.  Their direction ... shifted.  Last month EA released the appropriately titled Need for Speed: Shift, and the title couldn't have been more apt.

Unlike the last 6 or so iterations of the Need for Speed franchise that focused on urban locales and shady situations, Shift brings the NFS name onto real world tracks with real world drivers.  In essence, this is EA's attempt to play with the big boys.  Working their own niche as they have for the past few years is one thing, but Shift boldly calls out the big names in real world racing with it's new direction.  There's no doubt that this is EA's attempt to create a third-party answer to major racing franchises like Forza and Gran Turismo, but does the game deliver on it's promise to hold it's own in the face of such storied competition?  Short answer, "ish."  Long answer, "not really, but..."

I've always loved Arcade Art and her amazing ability to turn pixel sprites into hang-able art.  While I'm typically not too impressed with 8-bit paintings as a whole, these have a flair to them that makes them stand out and earn my oh so prestigious title of "fucking awesome."  One of these days I'm gonna have to get around to commissioning a piece from her. 'Til then, I spell out my love by blogging her every move across the web. Nice work, Donna!

[Etsy]

• A competitive Style Savvy styling challenge featuring selected mother-daughter teams
• A live runway show where selected mother-daughter teams must use their creativity to choose from fashionable styles within a set budget
• A special appearance by acclaimed designer Charlotte Ronson
• Mini-style makeovers by a professional stylist and a red carpet photo station for attendees
• Hands-on demos of Style Savvy, which lets players run their own virtual boutique, style hundreds of clients with more than 10,000 fashions and share fashion ideas wirelessly with friends
• Giveaways (available while supplies last)

Hey, you know what this place needs? A huge bust of Master Chief. Classy!

Actually, considering I have the entire Megaman 9 boss select screen on my wall...in Perler beads (talk about class!)...I don't have much room to talk. But hey, at least it didn't set me back $225 bucks, like this bust. It only took $50 bucks worth of beads. And my time. And dignity. So there!

[One2One]

One might not think that a two year old film, created by a one-man team, and backed by less than the cost of a new car, could make a lasting impression.  But Paranormal Activity, written, directed, and edited by Oren Peli, is easily one of the best movies of the year.  And the whore-quotes on the TV commercials that proclaim the film to be one of the scariest movies ever made?  Yeah, it's true.

Thinking of starting up a game company?  Here's a tip:  Don't set up shop in New York City just yet.  A recent Mark Brooks article for free daily newspaper amNewYork calls out NYC as being less "startup-friendly" compared to other gaming hotspots such as Boston or San Francisco.

"Earlier this year, New York based Gamelab closed its offices, even though it was the brains behind the popular Diner Dash franchise.  'While New York City is a great city, it's just too expensive to run a competitive development studio,' said Jessica Tams, managing director of the Casual Games Association." -amNewYork

But NYC is not one to go down without a fight, or have its reputation smashed.  The city is trying to help out tech startups and boost the economy, by offering cheaper or alternative office space and other services.  It's interesting to see an article about gaming and it's effect on the current economic situation.  It further proves that gaming is bigger than ever, as far as the mainstream recognition goes.

Hopefully the money woes wear down soon, and New York can start creating great games, instead of just being destroyed in them.

The secksy new iMacs and MacBooks have just surfaced, but playing PC games on a non-Pro-level Mac still isn't that great, even when running Windows (also known as committing blasphemy).  My own PC is over four years old now, so I'm thinking of upgrading.  This one here looks pretty nice.

Other than a Fatal1ty (uhg, pro gaming) motherboard, the specs aren't revealed.  Even if it was running 10-year-old hardware I'd still take it, though.  It looks like a mix of a prettified PS2, a Mac when Macs were white, and something that popped out of a time machine.  I'd estimate its value at, oh, 10,000 Space Bucks.

More pics after the jump.

Shank is a highly stylized 2D brawler coming out from Klei Entertainment (the makers of N+).  I've always been a fan of button mashers and comic books so this game looks to be a dream come true for me.  The gameplay is reminiscent of the recent X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Devil May Cry series, where a lot of the depth in the gameplay comes from pulling off combos.  The combos range from pulling out chainsaws on downed enemies to shooting them in the air John Woo style.  Oh, and of course shanking them with your shank.  Though the demo was only five minutes long, one gets the sense that the developers have a lot more in store in terms of weapons and combos.  Shanks's art style seems to wonderfully contradict the violence of the game.  Games with this type of look get me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.  I admittedly squealed like a school girl when the characters got silhouetted from the setting sun on the bridge while doing battle.  I just hope the developers can keep a solid frame rate with this look in HD.

Some friends of mine got to play it when it was announced at PAX and readily called it the game of the show.  From the looks of the demo, I don't blame them.  Few details have yet to be mentioned though, including a lack of release date or platform (even though at PAX the station was set up using a 360 controller.)  To me it has the makings of a perfect XBLA or PSN title.  Regardless of the platform, this game already looks like a day one purchase for myself, whenever that may be.  Check out a video of the demo after the jump.

Tuesday, October 27th, aside from my sister's birthday, is the big day that DJ Hero is finally released to the masses, and New York City is getting the launch event.  Retailer J&R is celebrating the release with a party hosted by FunkMaster Flex, Mister Cee, and The Pitbulls.  DJ Hero units will be on hand to play, or to buy and take home.  Other special guests include Jazzy Joyce, Bobby Trends, Young Chow, DJ Spynfo, DJ Naim, Mike Sessions, DJ Tedsmooth, DJ Johnny Juice, and DMC himself, Darryl McDaniels.

Just looking at this lineup, and only recognizing a total of 2 names, it's safe to say DJ Hero's reach and market share may be stretching across several demographics, and not just that of the usual rhythm game fan.  This party is probably the closest most typical game nerds are going to get to The Source awards.

The events kicks off at 6pm.  Details here.