Archive for: July, 2008

Dream match-ups don’t get better than this.  Yes, that is Afro Samurai vs. Go Go Yubari.  Thank you Project Soul for making Soul Calibur IV so fuckin’ awesome.

GAF is even suggesting that Star Calibur be made.  Don’t stop with just Darth Vader, Yoda, and Starkiller (check out those combos!)  Let’s see the whole damn Jedi Order!  We may even let you Force Choke us with microtransactions.

I hope this infatuation settles down soon, but somehow I doubt it.  Until then, I anticipate quite a few more playin-’til-3-AM nights.

The latest addition to the Meat Bun family, Bombshell, is now available. Yes, that’s Cammy fulfilling her patriotic duty, supporting you supporting 1942. It’s fitting considering Yoshiki Okamoto created both 1942 and Street Fighter!

What’s better than collecting a Yashichi powerup in your P-38 Lightning, then proceeding to take out the Japanese Mother Bomber Ayako? We really have to find an original 1942 arcade cabinet in good condition for the Meat Bun arcade. Until then, there’s 1942: Joint Strike.

Bombshell is now available in gold, olive and light blue.

Dave and I have done some stupid things together in the 17 years we have known each other, but we were both wondering if this crossed the line.  Blindly following the GPS, we found ourselves driving out past Skid Row in LA, at dusk, behind some random warehouse.

We were heading to Capcom’s own real-life version of Fight Club.  Dave was joining me because this was going to be his first chance to play Street Fighter IV.  SF II Turbo was the game of choice during high school, and into college.  Many a night was spent at Grand Prix in Massachusetts owning noobs even before the term existed.  Dave’s Ryu was close to unbeatable.

The scene was great.  Run down warehouse, door men with tasers, caged off areas with pristine Street Fighter IV arcade machines straight from Japan.  They still even had the 100 yen stickers near the coin slots.

(1st and 2nd photo by Jared Rea)

SF IV played smooth and fluid.  I know this because if it didn’t, Dave would have been livid.  Years of training would have been wasted if the fighting formula had been tampered with.  The matches played out like all good fighting game matches should: the cream rose to the top.  The order of the the night was dethroning some expertly played Ken and Zangief.

Dave was good, but it seemed other Street Fighter fans had been practicing on the off season.  Dave would win a couple matches here or there, but the years off showed.  I think it stemmed from the sporadic Geek Night attendance, and something to do with being married with newborn twins.  Dave wasn’t able to run the 10-15 win streaks he could do in high school, but he still looked semi-pro on a game he had technically never played before in his life.

That rocked.  Capcom knocked it out of the park with Street Fighter IV.  Looks-wise the game was stunning. Playability was solid and balanced.  And this promo event made me feel like destroying something beautiful.

Kotaku had their annual pre-E3 party at the Golden Gopher last night in beautiful downtown LA.  While attendance more than doubled this year, the bar staff shrank to a single tender.  If not for Leigh Alexander’s womanly assets charm, the Kotaku inner circle would have been left dry and sober.  But alas, 7 & 7′s were flowing like Cresente’s beautiful mane.

Thanks for the drinks, guys!  Now on to some hungover liveblogging of Microsoft’s E3 2008 Press Conference.

Back around the time the original Super Monkey Ball came out, a few of us were goofing off at work, dreaming up the perfect phone. I can’t recall the entire list of features we wanted, but I do remember we wanted full Internet, excellent gaming, and a stun gun. I am happy to announce we are there, folks.

Okay, the iPhone does not have a stun gun, but it appears tasers are pretty useless in real life.

It does have Motion X Poker, Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster, Critter Crunch, and freakin’ Super Monkey Ball! Check out The Ultimate Guide to iPhone Games over at Kotaku and get yo’ ass an iPhone already!

“There’s Mimi, and Baby… MONKEY BALL!”

Consider this opportunity missed. I’m about as interested in hanging out with the anime obsessive set as I am visiting another convention center. Don’t get me wrong, I was raised on Robotech and Tranzor Z — aka The Super Dimension Fortress Macross + Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross + Genesis Climber Mospeada and Mazinger Z — and the Los Angeles Convention Center cafeteria is one of LA’s gastronomic delights, but my anime interests pretty much start and stop with giant robots. That said, I’m currently kicking myself for not making the trip for this weekend’s Anime Expo, pretty much because the above needed to be photographed far more than once. And seriously, where else but LA do you have access to ripped cosplayers? Nowhere is your answer.