Street Fighter IV

 

In late February 2009 Street Fighter 4 was released. Leading up to its launch I had listened intently to everything the bombcast had said about it to get hyped up for it. At the time I was a fan of fighting games but only casually I had never watched one be played or anything like that (I don’t even think I really knew was Evo2k was) and I was generally pretty bad at them and never understood how to combo anything and for the most part mashed (Soul Caliber comes to mind here) After hearing everything to be said about Street Fighter 4 I decided it was a must buy and pre ordered the collector’s edition. On February 28 (I think) 2009 I went to pick up my copy. I haven’t been the same since.

                Street Fighter 4 started out slow for me I got mad a lot broke a head set because of how broken some things seemed to me. But for the most part I stuck with it. Blanka was my main for the most of this time (even now he’s my main) I had decided to play him before the game had come out because of how different he looked. I was not let down. Blanka has scored me a lot of easy wins during my time with Street Fighter 4 and I acknowledge that, but there have also had some real nail bitters that make me appreciate Street Fighter 4 even more.

 Now almost a year later I am still fully invested into Street Fighter 4 more than I have even been invested into a game before. To me a perfect game should make you experience a full range of emotions while playing it weather that’s threw story or gameplay. While playing SF4 I have experienced happiness, sadness, anger, bewilderment, astonishment, and so much more. These were all achieved because of one thing, the gameplay. I’ve played all the great RPG’s that have come out in the past few years, and the games that people said were a “roller coaster ride of emotions” but I have never felt what I feel when I play Street Fighter 4. Whether it’s a clutch win or a heartbreaking loss I love it all, honestly I think SF4 has touched me more than any story in a game ever can. Each moment in a fighting game is like its own mini story that rivals that of any RPG. It’s truly amazing.

Finally, since SF4 came out I became aware of the tournament scene and since finding it I have followed every major tournament that happened this year and loved every moment. I’ve stayed up until 5am for some and had to stop myself from yelling and cheering. SF4 is more entertaining than any sport has ever been for me. If someone pulls off something clutch I GET HYPE and yell and scream about it for days. I love it. My last day of summer was spent staying up will 3am watching a SF4 tournament and while watching it I thought to myself, is this really what I want to me doing right now? Shouldn’t I be out getting drunk or something dumb? No, this is where I want to be I don’t want to be anywhere else, was my answer. I still believe that.

So to wrap this wall of text up. Last year I could not for the life of me pick a Game of the Year, not that they were shitty none of them screamed game of the year to me. This year was easy, Street Fighter 4 all the way baby. Nothing compares to the experience I have had with it and honestly I don’t think anything ever will...except maybe Super Street Fighter 4.

Get Hype.

Let's take a stroll outside the box.

 Videogames, interactive entertainment, is about consequence. What happens if I do this? For me, videogames are a place where i can flirt with reality. In a world which has been designed to be experienced by a player, every exploratory poke is a reward. I want to know what happens next. It's about asking questions and getting answers.
 

Mattbodega confused the hell out of me

 by rambling about illusions of reality within videogames. I understood the point that was being made, I just didn't see why it was important. I came away with some conclusions that are probably completely unrelated: As long as the illusion of freedom is being maintained, players are free to continue with their linear adventure unconcerned. Whilst the potential for exploration exists, the player need not worry about physically experiencing it. It's almost like... peace of mind. It's not wanting to reveal how linear a game is because that would shatter the illusion of freedom when you find out that it is inevitably a lot smaller than the games designers would have you perceive. This is why modelers are employed to create entire cities that serve only as a backdrop to a disproportionate chunk of gameplay. The implications that a world exists are enough to convince a player that he or she does not need to explore it, though many would probably leap at the opportunity. This desire to explore is another driving force that spurs a player to... well... keep playing?
 
A while back my housemate bought Grand Theft Auto 4 on PC, played a few levels and then got distracted by something else. I don't think there was any particular reason why, or if there was then he didn't tell me. He's on the same university course as me, he seems more interested in technical prowess than a gripping storyline - he's also the kind of cynical bastard that, if handed a working PC game, will spend the next 3 hours trying to break it. I guess Liberty City didn't have apparent rewards that justified it's exploration. He saw me playing Ballad Of Gay Tony in the living room the other day and sat there watching for a few minutes. Totally unimpressed by the gimmicky dancing minigames and crappy sex animations. However after cruising through a typical run-drive-shoot mission I was dumped back onto the street with a complete lack of wanted level. It was one of those weird moments in GTA4 where you have just finished a mission and aren't sure what to do next, so you idly start picking of pedestrians with an AK just to pass the time. Anyways, I wandered over to an ATM to check my balance - my housemate freaked. He didn't know the game had working ATM's. The illusion of freedom had suddenly and randomly been reconstructed. He wanted to know what else was possible, and immediately rushed off to experiment. Last time I saw him he was skimming through the dozens of Krapea web-pages on the fake GTA internet. 
 
When something does what it is supposed to in a videogame, it's comforting. When it goes beyond that, offering new and exciting results - in my opinion that's what makes a great game. It makes me want to explore and find out what else is possible. It gives a world depth. It doesn't even have to be complicated. It can be as simple as a few lines of dialogue or a scenic backdrop - a world crafted to give the illusion of being much bigger than the sum of it's parts. It can be as mundane as different death animations depending on where you shoot your enemy. Look at Street Fighter 4; The street fighter world has been expertly fleshed out, but you only ever get to experience a microscopic 2D chunk. Your impact on the world is seen by the reactions of the characters in the background, the effects of your attacks on the environments, and the bizarre cut-scenes that break up your arcade adventure. The importance here is that you still think of it as a world, not just a stage.
 
Thanks For Reading 
Love Sweep

 
 
So me and SpecialBuddy did some super casual matches a few days ago (some of the matches recorded are a straight up joke haha). But there's some good combos and matches sprinkled through out, so I recommend watching them all :).  I defiantly play better in these videos than I did against JJOR64 SO CHECK IT SON
 
  
 
   http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D93E5191986CD02A
 
 
  I tried to embedded the playlist but I cant get it to work :(

My TV has a bit of an attitude problem. It doesn't like cooperating and has been especially finicky the last few days. I've found myself mentioning it in conversation a lot lately so I figured I'd post a lovely image of what it looks like to play when it's in a really bad mood. The image splits so that the blue is seperate from the red and green, so a double image appears on the screen and gives the whole screen a blue tint (its not that I shook the camera while taking that picture, it seriously looks that blurry.. cept for the characters, they were mid-animation so they are a bit clearer than that)
 
 
  
It can get even worse than this with all of the colors being replaced by pink and making it completely impossible to see the image. It will also stay like that for a good 15 seconds after turning the power off. Hehe always fun going halfway through a SF match just fine then suddenly it goes haywire. Very painful on the eyes as there's a perpetual double-image that makes it impossible to focus your view.
 
It's not always that bad though. There are different levels of bad.. starting with a double image that doesn't bleed blue and its still relatively easy to focus, followed by bleeding blue but still clear enough to play, followed by a light rain of pink lines, and then the full out blur + tons of pink links like in the SF, and finally the totally pink screen with lines and you can't see anything period.
 
Here's an example of "level 3" -- bleeding blue with some pink lines, but you can still read menus and text but the contrast is shot, so a snow-covered level such as this one is impossible to navigate. The camera doesn't capture the double image so well, but it's definitely noticable when playing, as if you're viewing a 3d movie without wearing 3d glasses.
 
 

Anyhow, just felt like posting about my misery! If I ever say I need to stop after a SF match to reset my TV, this is why ;P

I recently went to two Dallas Ranbats called FIGHT CLUB!. Thrawn told me about it so shout out to him for giving me the heads up. The first time I went I played like shit. I mean I was clearly not playing as I usually do if you had played me before. I didn't notice it while I was playing but when I saw the footage I was kind of disappointed in myself. I had lost to Balrog, which isn't my worst match up, in the top eight. This in turn knocked me out of the tournament. I wasn't in losers cause they run the tournament Swiss style.
 
If you are not sure what a Swiss style tournament is, it is a type of tournament were everyone plays 4 games. Based on your record of wins and loses you are paired with people with similar records. This goes on until everyone had played 4 games, then the top 8 people with the best records make it to the quarter finals and onward. These matches are played in a single elimination best of 3 games even for the grand finals.
 
The first time I went I lost in my 2nd fight in top 8. This is the match in question were I was completely mind fucked for some reason. I wasn't nervous so that wasn't it. (I know the quality sucks but the next videos look way better)
 
 
  
 
Thrawn though had a great match against Rufus that I feel needs to be posted.  He is Honda.
 
 
  
Last Friday I went to the Ranbat knowing what I was doing wrong and knew what I had to be doing to not look like a fool. I won all my matches except against a guy who was playing Chun Li. Now if I have played with you more than once it is more than likely I have told you I have no fucking idea what to do against her. Its mainly because there isn't really any info on it on the web and I haven't fought very many Chun Li's.
 
Here are the matches I fought in order of when they happened. 
 
Me vs Rufus (same one that fought Thrawn)
 
 
  
Me vs Bison and Balrog
 
 
  
 
Grand Finals vs Geif and Chun Li (good shit dude. That last combo was sweet)
 
 
 
 
 
 
On another note, I finally got my stick modded the way I wanted it. With only the straight buttons and with custom artwork. Shout out to foodchaiNN for making the art for me. I'm really happy with it.
 

Myself and JJOR64 played some matches last night, and I must say I didn't do very well. My play was off the whole time so I really only included the matches that were actually close. Out of the 20 or so matches I only won 1 . I defiantly need to find some answers for a turtle E.honda because as you will see I pretty much just give him the win alot of the time. Oh well, enjoy!
 
 
   

Seriously, it's not.  I will make my thoughts on the game short and brief, then move on. 
 
Modern Warfare 2 feels like an expansion pack for CoD4.  That's not to say it's bad, but it's not the second coming of Christ.  It's just a good game, plain and simple.  Was it overhyped?  Fucking duh.  Did it deserve at least some hype?  Yeah, it's Call of Duty.  Am I happy about the PC version?  Nope.  Do people care?  Nope.  Nonetheless, I'm playing on 360.  I'm up to rank 40 and I don't see any end in sight at the moment.  Hopefully, it doesn't consume me like CoD4 did. 
 
Moving on from the popular (and overtalked topic) of Modern Warfare 2: 
 
2009 is almost over, which means we're going to start seeing some GOTY talk coming up.  This is always an exciting time of year for me in gaming, as I get to see what other people thought were killer games that deserve the highest of all praise possible.  Unfortunately, one of the issues I've always had is that many people forget about everything that came out before September.  While last year didn't necessarily see that same thing happen (at least, not at Giant Bomb), I feel like that statement might change for this year.  With games like Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands, New Super Mario Bros, etc. being released this month alone...as well as returns from Assassin's Creed and other big franchises, it seems like the playing field for the first half of the year has long been forgotten.
 
Seriously, can you remember any memorable games from early in the year?  I can, but can you?  Here's a small list: 

• Street Fighter IV - It's a terrific game, but given that it's a fighting game, does that mean it will really be considered a contender for GOTY material?
• Prototype - Fantastic game with some stiff difficulty and massive carnage, but the "competition" (namely Infamous) seemed to get more attention and better reviews
• Red Faction Guerrilla - Badass game with some of the best multiplayer of the year, but it's not MW2 or ODST, so will people consider it?
• The Maw/'Splosion Man - I'm sure these might get SOME form of recognition, but with Shadow Complex being the "cool" game, will Twisted Pixel get ignored?
• Killzone 2 - Lot of people loved the game, but how much do you hear people talking about it NOW?
• Dawn of War 2 - This game offered a unique take on the RTS genre, but will people remember it?
• Punch-Out! - Remember when the only thing people could talk about was Punch-Out!?  That didn't last very long.  Does it mean it's not GOTY material?

 
Until next time, piece.

Character Unlocked: Someone You Should Have Had 8 Hours Ago

by Randy Marr
 
Because my boyfriend and I are creatures of a random nature, we picked Street Fighter IV off the shelf for the first time since April and had ourselves a few matches. Aside from the fact that the game's mechanics continue to be impenetrable, I began to question why half the game's roster was locked away. "Why can't we just play as the characters out of the gate?" I thought. "What are the upsides to them being secret characters?" I still can't find an answer for that question.
 
The first thing anyone does in a game like this is try to unlock all the characters as fast as possible. I did it for Smash Bros. Brawl on the night I got it... when really my friends and me just wanted to hang out and play some regular Smash Bros., not go through the story mode. I appreciate that there wasn't a need to spend 20 combined hours playing to unlock a character like there was in Melee, but the fact remains: Why aren't these characters unlocked from the beginning?
 
Sure it's fun to unlock little goodies or extra costumes or what not, that's fine. Progressive stage unlocking in a Mario game or finding secret weapons in Fable II, that sort of stuff. But in a fighting game, or in Mario Kart, what's the point? If you have a secret character who is clearly overpowered, than why even have his game-breaking self in there? And if said character is just as balanced, what is the point of locking him away? Why should somebody have to play the games as characters they don't like to get to the character they want? What's the reward?
 
In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for Multiplayer, all of the stages are unlocked so you have free reign to play what you want. Don't forget that you can play through Story Mode with multiple players, and the stages aren't unlocked there, this is just for the specific coin battle mode. To me this seems like the right idea if you just want to goof around with some Mario games with friends if you're focusing on the single player for yourself.
 
So what about you, dear readers? Are there any games you wish had all playable characters or levels unlocked from the beginning? Or do you get a thrill from having to rush through the game as fast as possible to get all that big content? What games do you think would be better this way, but also what games do you think are made better by having hidden characters or stages? Love to hear the feedback.
 
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