Bud Select 55
By Ricardo | March 9, 2010
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I’ve changed my eating habits recently, cut out a bunch of junk food, have been eating smaller portions, etc. One area that can sabotage weight loss is the weekend. What do you do when you want to drink? If you’re not careful you can totally derail whatever weight loss momentum you had. The answer of course is to take shots of hard liquor, but the problem is that sometimes you get that thirst for beer and you have to quench it. That appears to be the market for these ultra light beers. So is it any good? It really depends on what you’re looking for.
I bought an 18 pack and drank this with my cuz. I was surprised with the taste. It had a faint AB flavor to it but I had to take several sips to really get an impression. It didn’t foam much (I don’t give a fuck about foam anyway) and it was definitely an indication of a problem: this is definitely watered down. The way you make a beer have less calories is by decreasing the amount of ingredients in it, starting with alcohol. Obviously, this is the reason light beers “taste like water” compared to regular beers but holy shit Bud Select 55 takes it to a new level. This is like they took half a glass of Bud Light and filled the rest with carbonated water. In fact, Select 55 makes Bud Light taste like Heineken. I would expect this to taste really nasty but it doesn’t. All it is is really really watered down Bud beer.
Okay, so the taste is forgettable but definitely drinkable especially if it’s really cold. We were watching the WEC fights and drinking these at a steady pace. After my fourth one I hardly felt anything. Yeah there was a buzz coming, I could feel it since the second one but it should definitely have arrived by then. Yet, it remained elusive. Then I realized I drank a 6 pack and didn’t feel anything remotely close to what you feel with one of regular beer. That’s when I had the bright idea of taking a shot of Don Julio y nos pego bien bonito haha! Really, right after the shot everything felt good. We actually chased it with beer, since it’s basically water it should be okay right? It took a fucking shot of tequila to get things going. Of course after that each beer was icing on the cake.
Would I buy this again? I don’t think so. I drink to catch a buzz, maybe if I stick to this formula of mixing in some hard liquor, preferably start off with a few shots and then start drinking this. Maybe if you don’t want to catch much of a buzz cuz you’re a designated driver or if the calorie counting is really important to you… I just checked the “nutritional info” (I’m abusing the term) and everything makes sense now:
Bud Select 55 – 55 calories, 1.9 g carbs, 2.4% abv
MGD Light 64 – 64 calories, 2.4 g carbs, 2.8% abv
Bud Select – 99 calories, 3.1 g carbs, 4.3% abv
A regular beer is about 5% alcohol so it’s now obvious you have to drink two Bud Select 55s in the same amount of time you would drink a regular beer just to catch the same buzz. They sure edged out MGD 64 calorie wise but at what point is it acceptable to buy a product that’s essentially watered down? The only plus side I see is that each can only has 1.9g of carbs. Still, I rather just get a regular beer whenever I get the thirst for one.
Topics: 2.5 Stars, Alcohol, Beer | No Comments »
Miguel Torres’ Cut
By Ricardo | March 7, 2010
Fuckin nasty! No wonder it was gushing, pobre vato was out of it after it happened.
Topics: mma | No Comments »
Dead Space – Audio
By Ricardo | March 7, 2010
Really informative developer video giving insight on how they approached the sound in Dead Space. I would have to agree that it’s largely responsible for making the game so fucking creepy.
I liked how they talked about the fear meter. I can’t play this game without being able to hear everything or else I feel lost. You really do get a sense of direction from far away sounds, enemy positioning, etc. I also loved that freaky room, holy shit it’s like a sensory overload I remember I ran the fuck outta there too.
Topics: Survival Horror, Videogames, xbox360 | No Comments »
Resident Evil 5
By Ricardo | March 6, 2010
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Resident Evil 5 was a long time coming, people had been waiting for this shit since RE4 in…. 2004? RE5 was one of the first ‘next gen’ games that were shown at the time and the graphics were amazing. They’re still impressive but other games have since caught up and surpassed it.
I remember I almost didn’t play this shit because of the controls. Although RE4 had a revolutionary control scheme for it’s time, games have really evolved since. 3rd person shooters now have controls just about as intuitive as an FPS so having to go back to not being able to move and aim at the same time was a big reality check. Resident Evil’s new style was already dated. It didn’t help that games like Dead Space completely elevated the Survival Horror game. Funny that despite all of this the game is pretty damn fun.
The story takes place in Africa, obviously, and frankly it isn’t all that interesting. I used to pay attention to the story in the early games and things got more interesting in Code Veronica (although that’s where it started to get ridiculous as well) but now it’s just plain uninteresting so I don’t bother to read the memos that are scattered about.
What really makes the game is the co-op. I played the whole thing co-op and it was entertaining. Not so much because it has great co-op gameplay or whatever, but because you’re not playing this alone and have company throughout perdition or you can laugh at shit… like when Wesker has mutated for the 3rd time and refuses to die.
Like I said, I almost didn’t play this game because the demo turned me off. The controls were clunky and I died quickly… but controls are one thing that you eventually get used to. Actually, that is the biggest complaint against this game. After playing it for a while I realized that it’s not that bad. Although you can’t move and aim at the same time, the game was developed accordingly. It allows you to run away from an enemy, turn around and have time to aim. It’s not a big deal that you can’t move and aim because you can do just fine without it. The gameplay is not hindered by it, the enemy design is what’s affected. Because of your restricted movement they’ve designed these zombies to rush at you full speed, only to stop about 10 feet away from you and slowly walk towards you. This gives you time to stop, aim, shoot. It’s pretty ridiculous but you wouldn’t stand a chance if they didn’t do that.
Anyway, the game’s a solid 4. It impressed me especially because I didn’t have much hope for it. There’s a lot to complain about but I have to say that the game is good and I had fun with it. That’s what matters, right? It’s just that the series has strayed so far from survival horror that it’s now in the action genre where it’s definitely being outclassed.
Topics: 4 Stars, Survival Horror, Videogames, xbox360 | No Comments »
El Chivo – Vagabundo Video Trailer
By Ricardo | March 6, 2010
This was just released, a short music video to promote “En Mis Venas” available 4/6/10. The song’s cool but the video is definitely on point:
Topics: Music | 2 Comments »
Mass Effect
By Ricardo | February 28, 2010
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This game was always on my list of games I needed to get through but it became urgent after Mass Effect 2 came out and it was declared by a lot of people as one of the best games ever made. So… should I jump right into part 2? Breeze through part 1 first? It was a hard decision but what ultimately won out was my completionist mentality so I bought this used off of Amazon for about $10. Worth it? YEAH.
Mass Effect is an action RPG from Bioware, makers of Knights of the Old Republic on the original Xbox. Although Mass Effect is a few years old the graphics still hold up very well and it features some mechanics that are more advanced than games that are current right now. My favorite is the dialog tree, you get to choose what the main character, Shepard, gets to say a few seconds before the other character is finsihed speaking. The conversation flows fluidly between characters with different camera angles, all while giving you the choice of tone in which to reply in. Will you be doubtful, sympathetic, or a jackass? You use the analog stick to point at potential dialog responses and Shepard responds accordingly. This option of choice is what really makes this game stand out. I realize that the game is funneled to an ultimate outcome (a showdown with an enemy will result in the same consequence no matter what you choose) but the most important thing here is the illusion of choice.
The fact that it’s hard to differentiate between an illusionary choice and a real one is the brilliance of Mass Effect. There are a few plot results where team members have died and characters have been killed by myself that it’s still difficult to determine whether there was another way out of that situation. Whether those characters could have lived on had I picked another dialog choice. “Your life ends here” has an obvious result, but stil….
Anyway, Mass Effect is not without it’s flaws. Because it looks so damn good, the 360 hiccups here and there, slowing down when there’s too much action or getting choppy on occassion. It might be disheartening to think that the Xbox can’t handle the graphics but after playing part 2 I can safely say that the 360 can handle it just well, it’s simply programming error.
The weakest aspect of the game are the battles, just like everyone’s complained about. The combat system is not bad at all, it’s just pretty basic 3rd person shooter stuff. The story itself seems kinda involved and it’s hard to keep track of all of the alien races and care for what’s going on. I realize that a lot of this has to do with me wanting to blow through the game and not giving a fuck about an individual’s history. It’s funny that when I had more time to play I would chop it up with random people more often to get more out of the story and when I didn’t have much time to play I would just ignore them and press forward.
The big question is… is it worth it? Is it worth playing this game before part II? There are obvious benefits to doing so, you get a ton of cash by importing your previous save when starting Mass Effect 2 along with some experience bonuses. Yet the biggest reward hit me after starting Mass Effect 2: the nostalgia element.
Whatever aspects were rough around the edges in Mass Effect, you’ll come to appreciate the refinement in part 2. A lot of the menus and gameplay elements remain the same so the first game comes across as a big tutorial, especially the history of the alien races and what went down in the first game. Mass Effect 2 does a pretty good job of summarizing the events of Mass Effect but I’ve caught many moments where the story references your old crew, old choices, old actions, that many times I’ve been like “Oh yeah that was sick!”. There’s the feeling of belonging that a summary can’t replace, you can’t really see how much of a bad ass Shepard is without playing Mass Effect.
Surprisingly the best recommendation for this game is it’s sequel. The Mass Effect series was written out as a trilogy since inception so this chapter of the overall story is important and worth checking out. Although the game itself can’t be considered 5 star, the fact that it’s an entry way to one of gaming’s new elite franchises definitely makes it worth the time.
Topics: 4 Stars, xbox360 | No Comments »
UFC 110
By Ricardo | February 19, 2010
Main card
| Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera | vs. | Cain Velasquez |
| Wanderlei Silva | vs. | Michael Bisping |
| Joe Stevenson | vs. | George Sotiropoulos |
| Keith Jardine | vs. | Ryan Bader |
| Mirko Filipovic | vs. | Anthony Perosh |
Preliminary Card |
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| Stephan Bonnar | vs. | Krzysztof Soszynski |
| Chris Lytle | vs. | Brian Foster |
| C.B. Dollaway | vs. | Goran Reljic |
| James Te-Huna | vs. | Igor Pokrajac |
This card is siiiiiick. If it were just Brown Pride vs Minotauro it would’ve still been the price of admission but holy shit just about every other fight is interesting. The high probability that Wanderlei will KTFO Bisping, we get to see if Joe Stevenson really is new and improved, and whether Keith Jardine should be considered more than Rashad’s gate keeper. Can’t forget about Cro Cop.
I think Cain’s gonna take it. Not only am I going for him but I think he has a very good chance of beating Nog. Neither of them have good KO power from what they’ve shown recently but I’d give the control edge to Cain. He’ll just out muscle Nog and wear him down. The BJJ threat will always be there but hopefully he’ll be able to get out of sticky situations. It’s actually hard to gauge this because although Velasquez has looked good in his fights he hasn’t really fought someone with good ground game. On the other hand, Nog hasn’t been too impressive… he got picked apart by Mir. Fuck a staph infection, seeing that fight a few more times Nog looked pretty much the same as he did against Couture. Mir just got the better of the exchanges and Nog couldn’t adapt to his combos.
Oh, and they fights are going to be at 2pm Sunday in Australia. That means it’ll be at the usual 7pm PST Saturday. Thank God there’s no tape delay.
Topics: mma | 7 Comments »
Lent – Ash Wednesday – 2010
By Ricardo | February 17, 2010
Today’s Ash Wednesday a.k.a La Cuaresma starts so time to give up that meat. I don’t think I’ve given up anything extra these past few years but I will this year: Coffee. Nothing like a hot cup of coffee in the morning, I’ll sure miss that. Actually I was having a couple of good ones this morning when I got the idea, I’m sure the Big Man will appreciate the offer just the same 
It’s actually kinda fun, it was an excuse to head to Subway for lunch and have a tuna sandwich…. the sub + soup combo for $5. Broccoli Cheese, it was dope. Maybe Fish & Chips on Friday? YES.
What are you giving up on the side?
Topics: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
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