Prepare Yourself for Battle!

So, it has been another dive into the world of fighting games for lil' ol' me for the past weeks. The 25th anniversary of Street Fighter official Capcom sponsored tournament series kicked off on the 27^th which I did attend but did not compete. Super big names in the FG community would have slaughtered me in ways I have only ever paid good money on the internet to see done to other people...but probably with severely less latex involved. The event was in Austin, TX so I spent most of my time with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. But I didn't forget to visit Arcade UFO while I was in town. I did quite well on the SSF4AE cabinets, but it was more due to the lack of good competition there rather than my own personal skill. If I was better at third strike I would have challenged my friend Yuuki “theAdonis” Spencer. He took part and got 5^th place in the event, it may not sound impressive, but he got to walk away with 200 bones and a swag-ass T-shirt (swag as in 'stuff we all get') for a free-to-enter tournament. It was a good start to a fighting game based week.

What Awaits Us?

Do you guys see the article last week on FFXIII-V? The rumor mill was churning out copious amounts of NO for the future release of Final Fantasy XIII Versus. This was concerning to me to say the least since I sat through that unrelenting shitstorm that was FFXIII and it's sequel with open arms in anticipation for this follow up title. It was first revealed as a sister title to the original FFXIII. So you can imagine the surprise I had when I was told it was canceled. I mean I can understand that there might be some money issues when we look at the smashing success of FFXIV. God that game was a piece of shit. Well worry not, the rumors were just that as it were. 

 

The EVO of years past

Remember back in 2004 when Daigo did the full parry on Justin's Chun Li super art 2 for the match win?  It was super hyped because of how clutch it was during such a tense match. 

Since then EVO has never disappointed in delivering quality matches between the best players around the world.  This year's EVO looks to be ridiculous.  $25K for SSF4AE 2012, $23K for MK9, $15K for Umvc3 and Virtua Fighter 5, $11K for KOFXIII, the money at stake at this event is ridiculous, and it is sure to draw a crowd.
 

Post E3 Roundup: What did you take away?

E3 is over, and what do we have to show for it?  We ooh'd and ahh'd at the shiny new toys santa is going to bring us, and we opened our hearts to the cold and desolate disappointments from some of our fondest loves.  But after all that, we are stuck waiting and wanting. E3 has succeeded once again in ruining the palate for us, now all we can do is hope that these games don't disappoint us when they come out. 


So what are you looking forward to the most?  It's no secret that I'm a fighting game fanatic, my love for control of a combo is rivaled only by my insatiable taste for competition.  But E3 didn't have too much to offer a guy like me.  I mean we already had games like P4: arena, DOA5, and Tekken Tag 2 coming out.  And most of us are still shaking off the new game feel of SFxTK.  But that isn't to say we were left in the dark.  We had just recently been given a look into the new Sony All-Stars battle game.  As shameless of a rip on SSB it is, that doesn't mean that it's going to be a bad game by any stretch.  And speaking of SSB, Nintendo has just dropped the bomb on us that Bandai/Namco is the party involved in the development for the next Super Smash Bros. title.  Considering they are the same company behind Goliath fighting franchises like Tekken and Soul Calibur, we might finally get another competitive worthy fighting game to rear it's head on a Nintendo system since Tatsunoko vs. Capcom back in '08.

Microsoft E3 Press Conference Recap

Okay, they're... they're showing Halo 4. The demos keep showing sequels...Uh, I think they're...they're talking about a browser or something. I-I don't know, I wasn't listening... Nothing's happening. Nothing's happening. Usher's dancing. Nothing's happening. It's over. A lot of people in the audience look pissed.

Nintendo Conference Recap: Love is Over

 Nintendo.  What have you done, my old decrepit friend?

I really don't know what to say about Nintendo right now.  I'm sure that the Wii U is going to sell millions, but I feel like it's going to end up being the exact same thing the Wii was: a great hardware install base, but an overall software pick up rate of about 20%.  Trashy.  The touch pad controller looks nifty but I'm waiting to see a game that will use it in a way that isn't a total gimmick.  ZombiU looks like it might be that one, but I won't be sure until I've seen more of it.  Scribblenauts is a game I play on the bus.  Those far-too-beautiful looking people in their demo did not convince me it's a big screen TV type of game.  I wish I were more optimistic about this.

Some Fast Talk on E3

E3 Today was nifty. From what I can remember and from looking at my notes...

Things I liked:
Matt and Trey Parker
South Park: The Game
Ascend: New Gods
Halo 4
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
SimCity 5
Assassin's Creed 3
Watch Dogs <--BEST IN SHOW
The Last of Us
Beyond
Playstation All-Stars
God of War 4

Things that mite b cool:
FarCry 3

Things I hated:
Tomb Raider

Things that will probably suck or be irrelevant:
Everything else




I'll be going into greater detail on most of this once the conference is over, but, Sony and Ubisoft both had a great showing today. PS1 Classics coming to the Vita is a great thing for my vita and a terrible thing for my wallet. Watch Dogs was absolutely amazing. Beyond looks pretty nifty. The Last of Us looks just as incredible as I figured it would be.  The boat action of Assassin's Creed 3 had me reeling.  Just awesome.

Check back later this week/early next week for a full slew of my thoughts on this years showings!