Sometimes words hurt more than a perfectly executed Hadouken blast. Street Fighter High, an Internet parody video, makes this lesson very clear. Although fans have always lampooned Capcom's successful franchise, this parody injects a much-needed dose of creativity into the formula. The wigs might be cheap, and the dialogue sometimes sounds corny, but Street Fighter High shows a lot of love for Ryu and company. Check it out [via Koku Gamer]:
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If someone ever makes a video-game-developers history book, I'd expect the Infinity Ward/Activision drama to get its own chapter.
News Blips:
Recently resigned Infinity Ward staff flock to Respawn Entertainment. Now that the ex-heads of Infinity Ward Vince Zampella and Jason West have started their own new studio, G4TV reports that at least seven other senior-level employees have resigned from the Modern Warfare 2 developer to go work at Respawn. Come on, let's go join this new studio, too -- all the cool kids are doing it!
Editor's note: Thomas is a self-admitted hustler from the old arcade game scene, which gives him a unique perspective on what he'd like to see in the recently announced Marvel vs. Capcom 3. -Brett
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 paid half of my college tuition. As my friends worked part-time campus jobs, I trolled the shadiest arcades around Atlanta, Georgia, hustling unsuspecting players.
The real money was at competitive fighting tournaments. At those tournaments, I kept a low profile. My triumphs were never recorded with a shaky camcorder, and I never made ladies cry with joy like a professional Korean Starcraft player. I was absent of a gaming handle; my tournament persona resembled a shadowy creature that lurked in the competitive scene. If no one knows who you are, it’s easy to convince someone to play you for money -- lots of money.
Sadly, I won't be able to continue hustling ego-driven teenagers from arcades when Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes out. The arcade scene is dead, fighting game fans now hide behind TV screens and compete for digital points instead of physical money. Instead, I'll have to play the game for the simple joy of it.
To that end, here are three things I hope Marvel vs. Capcom 3 retains from Marvel vs. Capcom 2.
Read more >>If you want to break into the business, it's going to take some work. The Tutorial is a series of articles about video-game writing intended to better prepare you for what's ahead -- or help you figure out if it's even for you.
In the last article, we covered freelance work -- a great way to get your foot in the door, if not make a living, in game writing. The intern position is another way to start a career games journalism. Like freelancing, you're going to see a lot of work, and it's going to require a lot of passion. The lowest of the low, interns get paid the least, have zero job security, and the job's all about filling in the gaps that the higher ups can't get to.
If you're lucky, however, you'll be on a great team, get great experience, and have the chance to move on to another job.
In this edition of The Tutorial, I've interviewed Jay Frechette, current community manager with Visceral Games and former producer with Area 5 and EGM intern (not to mention Bitmob contributor). Then I spoke to Bitmob's Dan Hsu, the man who hired him while he was editor-in-chief at EGM. It's like a reverse-engineered job interview, so take notes -- you may end up on the other side of Hsu's desk asking for the same position. Or even Jay's desk, as he's made good on his EGM internship!
Read more >>The second episode of Bitmob X-Com is up. Check it out!
X-Com -- the last line of defense against the alien menace. You are the brave men and women who will fight the invaders and drive them from our planet. The organization will arm you with rifles, heavy cannons, and bad language so that your courage knows no bounds. Suit up -- we’re going to war!
After my disappointment with last week's XCOM announcement from 2K, I asked the fine individuals who are a part of the Bitmob community to sign up for a game of X-Com: UFO Defense. Many of you responded to my call-to-arms, and this post is the first in a series of our exploits on the battlefield. Follow the whole adventure with the Bitmob X-Com tag.
But now, on with the game!
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Editor's note: Liam looks at where games are trending toward nowadays, with some interesting observations (even referencing Dungeons & Dragons) and one pretty cool analogy that I really dug (paragraph six). -Shoe
You can find thousands of versions of this argument. With first-person shooters, it's Halo vs. Team Fortress. With role-playing games, it’s the single-class character vs. the multi-class party. What all of these boil down to is whether you want to do one thing very well but not do anything else...or do everything but none of it particularly well. I like to call the argument "specialism vs. generalism."
You can make numerous cases to be made for either side, from many areas of our culture. Since this is a gaming website, however, I’ll focus on how games deal with this debate.
Generalism is very prevalent in games -- most notably in mainstream shooters. Whether it’s Gears of War, Halo, or Call of Duty, you can pick up any gun around and start firing it with extreme prejudice. You are a one-man army, with 30 different guns strapped to your back, running around and blasting everything that moves.
Read more >>Editor's note: Matthew Hunter Mason comes to terms with his status as a gamer dad. Although, as a non-dad gamer, I'm still with Matthew in that I really like to finish a good game before I cue up the next. -Demian
Slap me with black armor and call me Ani -- I've gone to the Dark Side of gaming: I'm becoming something of a casual player.
Tenuously made metaphors aside, I'm using the term casual in the sense that I play games in spurts these days rather than the ass-numbing, hours-on-end marathons of my youth. Actually, to dissolve any misnomers that the term has for both myself and you, the reader, I'm officially changing my title to gaming buff. I may not get the play time that keeps me up to speed with the "blink and you'll forget about it" culture we have these days, but I more than hold my own when it comes to staying abreast on the latest news and trendy topics. I like to think that keeps me on some kind of even keel.
This isn't anything new on my end. I've already regaled you with how gaming affects your budget as well as how having a family changes the amount of it you do, but now I've found a new way in which to make myself feel markedly older -- I like to call it gaming monogamy.
Read more >>The word "bizarre" doesn't come close to describing the land of Hyrule. The presence of several awkward, maladjusted, and otherwise insane characters leads me to believe that Shigeru Miyamoto had a twisted upbringing. In the spirit of celebrating these oddities, Austin Hargrave -- better known as the "PeanutButterGamer" -- threw together a list of Hyrule's most peculiar residents.
While I'm upset that the Carpet Merchant, a personal idol of mine, received so much hate, this list definitely puts the well-loved Nintendo franchise into perspective. Upon close scrutiny, the Japanese folklore which inspired The Legend of Zelda seems alarmingly foreign. But Hyrule isn't alone in this respect. Have you ever really thought about Super Mario? Between the Tanooki suit and psychotropic mushrooms, I don't really need to make my case.
If you're new to Austin's video series, check out his YouTube channel here!
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Editor's note: Mike's favorite underrated games certainly deserve the title -- I haven't heard of half of his choices, let alone played them. What would you add to his list? -Brett
Usually, I reserve my blog posts to discuss how gaming can interact with life and effect people's belief structures. I try to elicit a strong response from gamers and dive deeper into the hobby.
This is not that type of blog post.
With the recent re-release of Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber -- one of my personal favorites -- on the Wii's Virtual Console, I got to thinking about good games that aren't well represented in mainstream gaming. The "hidden gems," if you will.
So I decided to draw up a list of my favorite underrated games. I'm going to try to keep it relatively recent, as the more retro we get, the more likely the availability of the games is limited and you won't be able to play them!
What games are on your personal list of hidden gems?
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber (N64/Wii)
Ogre Battle 64 is a classic strategy RPG that allows gamers to develop an army based on their own personal tastes. It's incredibly deep and often devious -- you can actually play through and finish the entire game the "wrong" way. Tons of secret characters, side quests, and a story that makes you question the validity of your own goals make Ogre Battle 64 a game to keep.
The Bitmob Featured Community Writer is a new series where we focus on you, the Bitmob community member. We'll dust off your old articles and give you your just reward: more eyeballs on your writing. We're featuring some of your favorites, some you may have overlooked, and maybe even you!
Our last Featured Community Writer was a hit as Patrick Bonk's fans came out in support and he made a few new ones. Knowing the Bitmob community, I'm not surprised. I now present our next featured community writer: Daniel Feit.
If you read Bitmob, you're probably familiar with Mr. Feit, or at least his articles. He's no stranger to the front page and his Mobfeed posts always get a good response. He's one of our favorite writers because he's on-point, he's relevant, and he's an excellent writer. If you were looking for a Bitmob role-model, Daniel Feit is a prime candidate.
Daniel has a unique perspective here at Bitmob, as he is one a few contributors currently living in Japan. His articles have an "American living abroad" feel to them, so I will always click on something he's written. His subject matter is very diverse, ranging from commentary on specific games to much larger, industry-wide issues.
Aside from posting on Bitmob, he's a freelance writer for Wired's Gamelife blog and runs his own website at feitclub.com. My favorite place to find him, however, is his Twitter account, where he posts hilarious observations on Japanese media and its interpretation of American culture.
Let's take a look at some of his work....
Read more >>Editor's note: I'm right there with Alex: I've never played sports games -- unless you count Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and NBA Jam. But I'm not sure there is a thing on the planet that could get me to play a game like Gran Turismo. Everything I would want taken out and added in would basically make it Grand Theft Auto -- and then it would no longer be a racing sim. -James
I am a pretty eclectic gamer. The question to ask me is not "what have you played?" but "what haven't you played?" Despite this, I do not love all games equally. Some genres elude my interest even though they contain some good titles.
For some reason -- like many in the enthusiast crowd -- I rarely ever play sports titles. To add to that, I have started to realize that I just don't enjoy Japanese role-playing games like I used to. Either the games themselves have changed, or I have.
This is hardly uncommon. People dislike certain types of games, or they fall out of love with the kinds that they used to gravitate toward. The question that interests me is what would people would do to change the genres that they either don't enjoy or no longer care for.
Read more >>I really want to thank everyone who sent in submissions for this contest. I had a blast looking at each entry, and it didn't exactly hurt my ego to see people draw a character that I created...even if I did bribe them with prizes.
Following is every submission I received, from the earliest to the latest (that'll show you slackers). Now, you may see some Bitmob staffers and at least one family member of mine among the names, but rest assured that they weren't actually eligible for the prizes. I'll post the names of the winners afterward, but if you did indeed win, you should have gotten an e-mail from me.
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