Welcome my peeps to another edition of The Doctor's Prognosis! I am your humble host, Dr. C-LOS.

Freakazoid!

I just wanted to mention that one of my favorite WB cartoons, Freakazoid!, is now on DVD. I still think it's funny but I think it's not for everyone. Purchasing the first season was a no brainer for me. They also just released Tiny Toon Adventures on DVD which was a fun show when I was a kid. WB is usualy very good at making smart, funny cartoons so check these releases out if you're into that kind of thing like I am.

SoulCalibur IV

Well I don't really have too much money, I get paid tonight, but I bought SoulCalibur IV anyway. I just charged it...

So far, it's a great game and plays similar to the original Dreamcast iteration. I admittedly never played the sequels or SoulEdge though.

This time around they have armor pieces and you can break the armor if you stay offensive and your opponent likes the guard button. This can put them at a huge disadvantage where you can eventually break their guard and perform a critical strike that will finish them off.

So the game actually forces you to play smart. It's more about knowing when to react and strike instead of mashing buttons and hoping you pull off long combos.

So far it seems like the meat of the game is the Tower of Lost Souls Mode. The Story Mode is too short and the Arcade Mode offers nothing new. The Tower will have you ascending and then descending several floors filled with fights with multiple characters. The cool thing is that you can unlock treasures/items for the game by completing challenging objectives in each floor. Some are easy like just throwing an opponent once but some are more difficult like performing a critical finish on all opponents on the floor.

I haven't tried the online yet but so far I think this is a great game and will have you playing for hours in the Tower or with multiplayer. Definitely pick this up if you want a good fighting game.

DS Games

This is kind of random but I recently been playing some DS games my friend let me borrow and here are some notables.

Arkanoid DS: I was a fan of the original and this new iteration is a blast. Of course you get some nice power-ups but I was surprised with the quality of the music in this game. It actually tries to have a story to it which is kind of odd but not really needed. The great thing is that you can quick save during gameplay so you can come back to where you left off. Great update to a classic and worth looking into if you want some quick fun on the go.

Space Invaders Extreme: I was surprised with this one as well. Reminded me of Meteos, Rez, and Lumines in the way that it incorporates puzzle and/or music game elements into the gameplay. The music is great and you help it along with your actions which I thought was cool. It also seems like you get bonuses for nailing same-colored groups together. I only played it a little bit but it was a lot of fun and I think is another great update to a classic.

So there you have two new iterations of classic games which I thought for sure would suck but I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely check these game out as they're great additions to the DS library.

Cosplayer of the Blog

I thought this was pretty bad ass. It doesn't hurt that Samus is cute too.

Here is some advice for cosplaying... try not to look like you hate doing it.

That is all for this edition of the Prognosis. Thanks for reading my peeps!

Make sure to come see me again next time!

Hello my peeps! And welcome to another edition of the Doctor's Prognosis! I am your host, Dr. C-Los.

For now I am still just putting the same blog over here that I do over at GameSpot but I may change it up in the future. I like that they let you put in larger photos in your blog here. It's different but for now I think I still like GS better. We shall see as the two sites evolve.

Anyway, I saw The Dark Knight twice now so I think I'm ready for a review. Before that I wanted to share the Watchmen trailer if you hadn't seen it yet. I am very excited for this film because it is one of my favorite Graphic Novels and also considered by many to be the best. It was long thought to be unfilmable but this trailer has instilled some hope in me. Let's pray the final version is worthy of the Watchmen name.

Dark Knight Review

It's been 3 years since Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins hit theatres, and nearly 2 decades since Jack Nicholson's Joker debuted in Tim Burton's Batman. What we have today, is the evolution of Batman to a fine point where The Dark Knight has surpassed being merely a great superhero film.

With the origin of Batman Begins out of the way, the Dark Knight plunges 1 year later where we are introduced to a Gotham that is better for the introduction of the Batman. The streets are cleaner but with Carmine Falcone in jail, the mob continues its rule from the shadows. Enter the ambitious District Attourney Harvey Dent, Gotham's White Knight. Dent works with Batman and Lieutenant Jim Gordon in their fight to rid Gotham of the mob.

However, with their back to the wall, the mob hires a new threat to help them remain in control.... the relentless and psychotic anarchist, The Joker.

The Dark Knight tells it tale well with great acting on all sides. All the characters serve a purpose in telling this story as we are taken on an emotional roller coaster.

Christian Bale reprises his role as the titular character and does a great job as he doesn't just play a great Batman, but remembers to play up the rich playboy Bruce Wayne as well. It must be said that his Batman voice is a little distracting though it doesn't ruin the performance. And it could be said to be better than being the same as both Batman and Bruce Wayne (like George Clooney).

Gary Oldman does a great job as Lieutenant Jim Gordon as well. Fortunately, they gave Gordon a lot more to do this time around. It's great to see the character being useful like he is in the comics as opposed to other incarnations where Gordon is really only there to call Batman for help. Oldman is a great character actor and does an awesome job as Gordon.

Aaron Eckhart is one of the new guys in the series as he admirably takes on the role of Harvey Dent. The Dent character is one of the more interesting characters in this film as we see his character develop and change throughout the film. Dent literally puts his neck out on the line as he takes on the mob full on and genuinely looks like a real hero as he becomes Gotham's White Knight. But we see Dent's demeanor change as he soon finds a foe greater than the mob itself when a new menace appears.

The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, is introduced in this film and we are left with a haunting performance that will stick with you. The Joker is humorous alright but he is also dangerous. The Joker will make you squirm and gasp as he commits atrocities and seems to have no other desire than to create chaos and watch people die. He laughs at other people's tragedies and is the perfect antithesis to Batman as the Joker even gets under the hero's skin. Ledger doesn't just play the role, he disappears into it as he genuinely looks like a twitchy madman. You never know what he is going to do but you don't want to be in the same room when he does. It's a real shame about Ledger because it will be very difficult to cast someone that can match such an amazing performance. He deserves a supporting actor nomination as he has helped to create a memorable movie villain in the vain of Hannibal the Cannibal. Heath Ledger's joker will never be forgotten.

Now aside from Bale's Batman voice, the film still isn't perfect. Some of the fight scenes were not up to par with previous outings. But these weakness are negligible because there is so much good in the film and the focus really isn't on full-out fight scenes anyway. Aside from the great storyline, we have great character development, some fun action scenes, an awesome chase sequence, and of course some cool gadgets.

This time around the focus is more on telling a great crime story than an all-out action blockbuster, which would have probably sufficed. The Nolan brothers have crafted a dark tale with many twists and turns featuring the rise and fall of a hero. What we have is a film that isn't just the best Batman film, or even just the best superhero film. What we have instead is an epic crime drama. This is a must-see for anyone that enjoys films. Huge thumbs up!

Cosplayer of the Blog

I really liked this Phoenix so here ya go! I know there isn't much skin but she's purdy...

This is one for the ladies....

Sorry I couldn't help myself...

Thanks for checking out The Doctor's Prognosis, also an epic crime drama! See you guys next time!

Welcome and thanks for making an appointment with the first ever The Doctor's Prognosis...... Giant Bomb eidtion! It's basically a cut and paste of my last GameSpot blog....

I wanted to clear something up real quick about my name. DrCLos, or Dr. C-Los as I refer to myself, is pronounced "Doctor See-Los" and NOT pronounced as "Doctor Close" or "Doctor Claus." Many people get this wrong so I felt I should clarify. Not that it won't happen again.

Anyway, sorry for not being on much lately but I worked a lot over the weekend and also partied a bit due to a couple birthdays.

GameSpot's E3 Studio Experience

So it's been almost a whole week since I went to the GameSpot E3 Studio and it was quite exciting. I met with Jody, the GameSpot community manager, in the hotel lobby. She was very friendly and took me to the studio. When I walked in I was quite surprised. The stage is just a green screen which makes sense but I guess I never thought about it and just assumed it would look like it did in the videos.

Anyway I was introduced to some nice ladies when I walked in who offered me soda, beer, or wine. I took some water. One of the coolest things about this little trip was being able to see how everything worked backstage. Seeing them do the live stage demos for like 10-15 minutes and then a taped segment for another 10-15 minutes. During the taped segments they got ready and set up for the next live segment so it all worked out.

Now they had this area set up for "guests" like me, and fellow GameSpotters Jediskilz173 and DouglasBuffone who were also in attendance at the time, including bean bags and a swank HDTV for viewing the live stage demos. This TV looked incredible and really helped sell the games better than watching the demos over the net.

However, I opted to sit near the opening for a good while before sitting in the guest area because that way I got a better view to observe how things worked around the studio. Like how everyone interacted and how much work goes into the show.

Also, being near the entrance I saw many people from different developers come in and announce what company and games they were there to represent to the ladies that offered me drinks. It was especially cool to see Koji-san of Castlevania fame come in with whip in tow.

Seeing the games on the big HDTV really helped sell some games to me as well. What a sucker I am. The stage demos that got my attention were Darksiders: Wrath of War and Dead Space. I wasn't very interested in these games before but their awesome demos got me keeping an eye on things as they develop. And this is why stage demos are important! They get people excited to play your games and maybe buy them!

Another game of note was Soulcalibur IV. Seeing it in action got me excited for it's impending release. Seeing Yoda flipping around with his light saber cemented my want for the 360 version. Nothing against Darth Vader, but I loved Yoda's fighting sty|e.

I also saw the new DS Castlevania game, Order of Ecclesia, which looks great. The Wii fighting game, Castlevania Judgment, didn't look that good but I may pick it up for two reasons: it links with the DS game and it has AWESOME music featuring some of my favorite tracks from the series. The DS game is a sure buy though.

The day ended with a great stage demo/performance of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" featured in Guitar Hero: World Tour. Everyone got into it as they rocked the stage. Man am I happy that it will be compatible with Rock Band's instruments. Now I don't have to spend another $100+ on new peripherals.

After the show ended I got to talk to my fellow GameSpotters a bit and thanked Jody for everything before heading out to have dinner with friends to celebrate a birthday. It was fun and exciting to see the inner workings of the GameSpot studio and the staff was really nice and accommodating. They even fed me the same stuff they fed the great Koji-san. No doubt giving the Doctor what he deserves.

I have a great respect for what the GameSpot people do. There are so many people working on the show it really is incredible. Behind the stage and my seating area, there were rows of computers and GameSpot staff doing what they can to help with the show and the site.

Anyway I want to thank Jody and the GameSpot staff again for helping make this happen as it was a fun and enlightening experience. It also made me consider another line of work. Game journalism could be fun and it's definitely something I'm passionate about. And believe me, I got plenty of opinions I wouldn't mind sharing.

Cosplayer of the Blog

I wanted to write a review for The Dark Knight but this is running long and I'm tired so let's just end with the real reason anybody visits my blog.... Hardcore nudity!

Wait... what? I can't post nude images? Well okay then here is my second best ploy for readers! An attractive cosplayer!

Uh..... Let's try this again...

Yeah! That works! And this one's for the ladies.... or guys that are into that sort of thing!

Thanks for making another appointment with The Doctor's Prognosis with Dr. "See-Los." Next time I will have a review for The Dark Knight so keep an eye out.

See you next time!