Review: Umami Palo Alto is a burger joint without the burger experience – 5/12/2013

Located on University Ave., Umami Palo Alto is the newest culinary experience to come to Palo Alto by offering a new take on the classic burger.

I first learned about this place from my friend Refugio Garcia, local freelance writer and avid burger enthusiast. Having opened only a few months ago, we were down for our regular evening of beers and burgers.

For our meal we started with Truffle’em Thin Fries along with Thin Fries while for our main meal we ordered a Manly Burger and a Truffle Burger. All of this enjoyed with a few bottles of Stone Pale Ale and Coke.

Neither one of us are fans of thin fries but we did appreciated how well it was cooked and salted. The burger was exactly to my standards with quality meat that was properly marinated and grilled. Helping the flavor was the bacon, truffle cheese and mix of veggies that took me to burger nirvana.

Despite serving a perfect burger, Umami Palo Alto has a lot of issues with the atmosphere and presentation that keeps it from becoming a good burger joint.

The most obvious would have to be the “fish out of water” decor. Walk in and you will be stumped to see the place decorated with book shelf’s packed with some of the greatest works of literature. This kind of decoration may work if this was a classy coffee shop, not a burger joint.

Its understandable that they have an urge to be original and attract the Palo Alto crowd; but there is a major difference between cliche and traditional. So obviously who ever planned the theme could not tell two apart.

With its unusual choice of decorations resulted in attracting a crowd that is out of place at a real burger joint. The crowd was mostly made up of either obnoxious vegetarians or food snobs whose idea of a “good burger” can be described as blasphemous.

The next issues has to do with the poor presentation of the meal. When our burgers were served it was just a burger on an empty plate – that is it! For restaurants in Palo Alto, presentation is everything and so it comes as a total shock when such a good burger is given a very bland presentation.

Finally to top-off all that is wrong with the setting; the final nail on the coffin is the moment when you realize this burger establishment has no bar. Sure they have an good selection of beers (like every restaurant in Palo Alto) but no bar. Also fountain drinks was not an option and we were forced to pony-up $3 per soda bottle.

The service at best was mediocre as our waitress only attended to us just to take our order and to bring out our order. Also most the waiting staff gave a vibe that feels like they are Stanford students who are upset that their parents forced them to get a job and they lacked the tech skills to join a start-up.

With great burgers but an empty meal presentation and an out of touch atmosphere makes Umami Palo Alto only good for an exploration by burger enthusiast. After that its back to the many other burger joints in the area that actually have a burger atmosphere.

Final Score: 2/5

Written for Digital Journal
02/13/2013
Original Article: Review: Umami Palo Alto is a burger joint without the burger experience

Review: ‘Aliens: Colonial Marines’ is a bigger regret then ‘Alien 3′ – 2/12/2013

“Aliens: Colonial Marine” is not just a major disappointment but more like the “Duke Nukem: Forever” of 2013 for its high anticipation, cancellation and resurrection along with a long hiatus only for a disappointing end result.

Old school gamers will remember hearing about Alien: Colonial Marines for the PS2 back in 2001. That same year Alien vs. Predator 2 was successfully released for the PC. So gamers obviously had high hopes for the games. But than it was cancelled and its existence faded into oblivion until Sega bought the digital rights and resurrected the project. Unfortunately it should have stayed cancelled.

Pretending to be a sequel to James Cameron’s classic film, players take on the role of Corporal Christopher Winter of the United States Colonial Marine who is part of a search and rescue team sent to investigate the U.S.S. Sulaco. However things don’t go well when (spoiler alert) xenomorphs have infested the ship.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way; the colony on LV-246 was wiped out in a nuclear explosion, hence it makes no sense to return to the colony. Also every sci-fi fans already know what happened to Ellen Ripley and survivors, it is regretfully known as Alien 3.

Not helping the plot hole riddled story are the trivial moments that try to build a connection with the original film. Dialogue from the previous films are tossed in along with references in a nonchalant manner. At least gamers get to use the M1A1 Pulse Rifle.

Sadly there is no redemption regarding the game play aspect. Alien: Colonial Marine has the feel of a generic first person shooter from the Sixth Generation of gaming consoles. The action is very slow paced with a limited combat environment and at times it tries (but fails) to scare you with very predictable moments.

The multiplayer is also a lost cause and at times one has to wonder what was the point of even including it! It sadly dose more harm than good with its simplistic game play and lack of originality in maps.

Basically the game gets boring quick.

At this point anyone who bought this game without reading a review will be trying to find its one redeeming quality. Sadly it has none, you just wasted $60 of your (or your parents) hard earned money on a terrible game.

Thanks to a long wait and an overall disappointing experience, Alien: Colonial Marine has to be the worst induction into the Alien-series since Alien 3. With the money wasted on this game; one could have bought Alien, Aliens along with Prometheus on DVD and still have extra change.

Final Score: 1/5

Written for Digital Journal
02/13/2013
Original Article: Review: ‘Aliens: Colonial Marines’ is a bigger regret then ‘Alien 3′

Review: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is a proper ending for the trilogy – 7/22/2012

Gotham City has undergone a radical transformation since the trilogy began in 2005. Once a cesspool of crime and corruption on an equal footing with Detroit, it has cured been of the plague of organized crime thanks to the Dent Act.

Yet behind the glamor and smiles, we are introduced to our heroes who have in their own ways hit rock bottom. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) personal life has fallen apart and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has gone into social exile as each one has battling their demons.

Like all stories with a protagonist degraded by guilt; he must overcome a great challenge and make the ultimate sacrifice to achieve redemption.

Enter the villain Bane (Tom Hardy); a former member of the League of Shadows turned mercenary who is devoted to finishing the work of the late Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson) by destroying Gotham.

From the moment we are introduced to him, you know he is going to present one of the biggest challenges Batman has ever faced.

Bane is both cleaver and ruthless while Batman has grown weak after eight years in exile. With everything that matters on the line, the Dark Knight will have to overcome the ultimate personification of evil if he is save the city he has called home his entire life.

And that’s how you end a trilogy!

It has been a long wait for comic book fans and cinephilia but Christopher Nolan concludes his masterpiece with The Dark Knight Rises. This is truly one of the best movies of the summer and the perfect ending to a trilogy.

Like its predecessors; Nolan has crafted a gritty adaptation of the Batman-mythos by abandoning the comic book imagery in favor of a modernism setting. Again you have a movie that is rich in content while layered in thought provoking metaphors. All of this is driven by the amazing musical score composed by Hans Zimmer.

The standing ovation the film has received across the nation may imply this is a “great film”, however it has flaws that degrade into a “good film”.

The Dark Knight was one of the best comic adaptations but unfortunately Nolan failed to live up to those standards with The Dark Knight Rises. Instead you have a superhero movie that is just good but not great.

Most of it has to do with moment of the film that are ridiculous that it leaves the audience screaming “why didn’t you [insert idea here]”. Specifically moments like when Bane trapping most of the GCPD underground or the final battle were the army of cops and criminals clash in a medieval fashion. There also moments when the transparency from one scene to another is so choppy that it’s an embarrassment for Nolan and eye soar for the audience. Thankfully this only happens early in the film.

Despite its minor flaws; The Dark Knight Rises is definitely not on par with Spider Man 3 or The Godfather Pt. III. This is a movie one has to see unless you’re planning to be a social outcast for a week.

The Dark Knight Rises ends with our hero redeeming himself and finally becoming the symbol Gotham needs. Nolan ends the trilogy in a manner to ensure that no potential Joel Schumacher could poison his masterpiece with a camp screenplay or a Batsuit with nipples.

Final Score: 4/5

Written for Digital Journal
07/22/2012
Original Article: Review: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is a proper ending for the trilogy

Playing it Old School – Declassifying “Spec Ops” – 7/18/2012

After a decade long hiatus for the series, 2K Games will be releasing Spec Ops: The Line on June 26 for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Now Playing it Old School will be going back and declassifying the Spec Ops-series.

By now most gamers should be scratching their head and wondering, “Hey how come I’ve never heard of this game?” While Spec Ops: The Line looks promising, unfortunately the Spec Ops-series has been a series of poor rip-off’s and budgeted blunders.

Spec Ops can be best described as a failed attempted at mimicking the success of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. However unlike most half-assed rip-off’s, Spec Ops continued as a series that progressively got worse. Eight Spec Ops games were released between 1999 until 2001 for the PC, PlayStation and Dreamcast.

During this time period, the following tactical shooters were also released:
* Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998)
* Delta Force (1998)
* Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Rouge Spear (1999)
* Hidden & Dangerous (1999)
* S.W.A.T. 3 (1999)
* Delta Force 2 (1999)
* Operation Flashpoint (2001)
* Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon (2002)

Playing it Old School has a tendency to honor and pay tribute the greatest work, but one has to ask why would anyone want to resurrect a forgotten embarrassment? After playing the demo, I’m confident that Spec Ops: The Line would do better as a stand-alone game without being affiliated with any series, epically one like the Spec Ops-series.

Gamers will have to wait until June 26 to see if Spec Ops: The Line is truly a modern retelling of Heart of Darkness. Yet it’s unlikely that it will reignite interest in a forgotten game series.

Written for Bitmob
07/18/2012
Original Article: Playing it Old School – Declassifying “Spec Ops”

‘Resident Evil 6’-demo cast doubts among gamers – 7/7/2012

Xbox gamers got an early access to the ‘Resident Evil 6’- demo on July 3 thanks to a code offered with the purchase of ‘Dragon’s Dogma’.

Resident Evil 6- demo features three missions that allows gamers to take on the role of Leon Kennedy fighting zombies in America, Chris Redfield trying to contain an outbreak in China, and Jake Muller fighting zombies in Eastern Europe.

The demo has given gamers a window of what can be expected and unfortunately they’re not too happy about it.

Gamers have been venting their frustration regarding the new features on message boards and forums. The biggest criticism has been against allowing gamers to recover health through regeneration.

Several prominent game critics and journalists have also voiced their dissatisfaction regarding the RE6-demo. Most of the criticism regards how the game has abandon its roots and the lack of fear factors.

Ryan McCaffrey, executive editor of IGN, stated in his opinion piece, ” It’s not just one thing that annoys me about the next installment of the beloved, long-running survival-horror series. Its problems are numerous, both technically and in game design, leaving me questioning whether or not to buy the game at all, let alone pre-order it.“

In a similar opinion piece; Brenna Hillier of VG24/7.com stated, “What I certainly didn’t see is the return to the franchise’s roots Capcom has been trumpeting since the reveal. Yes, there are some familiar faces. Yes, we’re returning to the US urban setting which proved so popular in the early games. Beyond that, everything I saw looks like precisely what turned me off the last few installments.”

However as McCaffrey stated, gamers need to be aware that demo dose not represent the finished product and its expected that content may change during development.

Resident Evil 6 is set to be released on October 2 for the console and will be the ninth game in the main series. The Resident Evil-series has become gaming icon for establishing the horror-survival genre in 1996 and redefining it in 2004 with Resident Evil 4.

Written for Digital Journal
07/7/2012
Original Article: ‘Resident Evil 6’-demo cast doubts among gamers

Free-to-Play ‘Call of Duty’ coming to China – 7/6/2012

Activision has partnered with Tencent in releasing a free-to-play version of ‘Call of Duty’ for the Chinese gaming market.

Call of Duty: Online will allow gamers in China play the award winning game online for free while offering the sale of in-game items. The premise of the game will be based on the Modern Warfare-series.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, stated in a press release, ” We are very excited about our relationship with Tencent and the opportunities for gaming in China. We think China is one of the most exciting places in the world for us to grow our business and to develop innovative new games.”

Call of Duty: Online has been in development for two years by Activision Publishing Inc. (a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard) while Tencent, under a multi-year agreement, will have the exclusive license to operate in China.

According to Josh Engen of GeekParty.com, Activision releasing Call of Duty: Online as a free-to-play game is very significant for entering China’s gaming market due to the nonexistent console market (the sale of gaming consoles have been banned since 2000).

However due to the differences between Chinese and Western consumers, the move could be seen as risky according to Ian Sherr of The Wall Street Journal. Call of Duty: Online is expected to be available later this year.

The news of Call of Duty: Online comes several days after Aspyr Media announced plans to release Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Mac in Fall 2012. Meanwhile Treyarch is developing the sequel, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 which is set to be released on November 13.

Written for Digital Journal
07/6/2012
Original Article: Free-to-Play ‘Call of Duty’ coming to China

Kojima announces ‘Metal Gear Solid 5’ in the works – 6/20/2012

A young Big Boss in ‘Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater’

In an interview with French game magazine ‘IG’, Hideo Kojima has announced that ‘Metal Gear Solid 5’ is currently in development.

The only information Kojima has revealed is that the game will be using the new Fox Engine and the game-play mechanism will feature a blend of stealth action and interaction with other characters, similar to Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

“About Metal Gear Solid 5, I can tell you two things. There will be much question of infiltration, espionage, and convincing people to give you ‘a favor’ like in the last Metal Gear Solid,” said Kojima in the interview.

Kojima has also hinted the possibility that Solid Snake might return.

However according to Dan Dawkins at PS3M, Metal Gear Solid 5 may be set in Africa during 1970’s and gamers will once aging take on the role of Big Boss. This is based on several clues revealed on the MGS-Timeline along with how characters like Frank Jaeger (a.k.a. Grey Fox) and Big Boss have a background story that is set in Africa.

Metal Gear Solid 5 will be the ninth game in the main Metal Gear-series created by Hideo Kojima. The series is famous setting the foundations of the stealth action genre along for its dramatic style of story.

Written for Digital Journal
06/20/2012
Original Article: Kojima announces ‘Metal Gear Solid 5’ in the works