This has been a hard couple of days. New console, new games, no time.
My professional life has been thrust to the forefront, if only for a little while. I guess it deserves as much.
This change in focus is about to come to an abrupt an end tomorrow, as the chosen one arrives. That's right, Super Street Fighter IV will be safe in arms at approximately 4:43pm on Thursday, 29th April. Relationships will suffer. Bonds will be broken. Days, weeks, possibly months will blur into a passage of time ruled by 35 World Warriors.
After writng selection criteria I've rewarded myself with short bursts of Street Fighter IV on the PC. Honing my skills for my inevitable return to the online arena. The PC version looks pretty respectable on a mid level PC, and provided you have a gamepad, the experience is just as exhilarating as its console counterparts. I'm sure you may be thinking that I am engaging in Street Fighter overkill, but you sirs/dears must not have been embroiled in the heat of urban warfare.
I was trying to explain to my beloved Carly what the fuss is all about. She seems unconvinced. She prefers her fighters to be more forgiving, to allow for a little more button mashing. Your Tekkens, your Virtua Fighters. Now I don't for a minute think that a button masher could match the greatest Tekken player, but for someone like me, who knows a few combos, can play competently with a few (read: no more than 3) characters, button mashing can be used to defeat me regularly. That last admission was a little embarrasing. I'm hurting. However what I would argue is that it is much easier to attain victories mashing random buttons in Tekken and Virtua Fighter than it is in Street Fighter. Sure you can shower your opponents in hadoukens, but there are quite a few people I know who are unable to regularly work quarter circles (Sorry Sweetie), let alone double quarter cricles. Then you try and show someone (Sorry Carls) how to perform charge moves and they leap about the screen uncontrollably. Boot up Tekken, and she dances about the screen performing parries, spamming throws and puts that 20 plus years of gaming (normally in my favour) to shame.
The Street Fighter series, in its various installments have always been amongst my favourite games, fighting or otherwise.Street Fighter IV (at the moment) is the most effective distillation of all of the characters, mechanics and refinements introduced over the years and various installments. With SSFIV approaching, all the videogame critics of the world have promised that the best is mere hours away.
Will you be joining me on day one? ARE YOU INDESTRUCTIBLE!!!!!
At least your Missus gives it a go! :D
ReplyDeleteIn any case, it sounds like you're one of those diehard fans, and it's good to see one again. I must say, though, I've seen some very intense Virtua Fighter matches over here in the arcades and the fluidity some of these guys can string together combos with is mind-blowing.
I'm going to jump back into the fighting gig after many, many, many years in hiatus with...KoFXIII. I see a small crowd playing the woefully unfinished XII here, and after seeing some screenshots of XIII, it looks gorgeous and appealing. Might be the one for me, simply based on the art design.
The quality of character animation in KoFXII was pretty fantastic. I've been able to find it pretty cheap, but have never taken the plunge. I've heard a lot of bad things about it. KoFXIII should be a goer though.
ReplyDeleteI've seen some brilliant Virtua Fighter players absolutely throttle me online. Then again, the netcode for VF5 on 360 was just awful.
Cannot wait for 8th May gonna Ken your face off. If only Reme was in it (reminscing SFIII wins - then subsequent defeats by down and M Punch). But still gonna be a good day. Tekken has gotten worse over the years while I will say SF has just gotten better and better. F***ing Psycho CRUSHER!!
ReplyDeletePS I know many will disagree but SFIII was possibly the best, many good memories.
ReplyDeleteI've always seen SFIII as the most beautiful but technical of the Streetfighter series. Witnessed more Alpha 3 matches, but SFIII was so damn gorgeous! KoFXIII looks to be the visual spiritual successor.
ReplyDeleteNice to see Ibuki back for SSFIV.
Trits, not that you'd have time with all the Streetfightering you'd be doing, but maybe a super cheap copy of KoFXII wouldn't be a bad pick-up for research purposes.
Taz, I have considered it. Rest assured. Once I recover from the whole 360 purchase deal I will probably pick it up.
ReplyDeleteRubes, last time that I played against you, Matt and Sam I went undefeated. You better bring your A game. Shoryuken!
I do not remember this undefeated crap. Im sure I Ken'd your face off at least once. I need video evidence for this baseless claim of undefeatedness.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the undefeatedness that is being bandied about! I am also pretty sure that Matt may have won with a Blanka electricity blanket!
ReplyDeleteSFIII was so good. It was just an amazingly well rounded fighting game. No character was truly overpowered, all the character were easy to pick up, but very difficult to master. It actually relied on knowing the frame rates for everyone's moves to truly rape in that game.
I do hope KoFXIII has that beautiful SFIII animation going on...they age so well, those gorgeous sprite-based games.
ReplyDeleteThe closest Reuben came to beating me was a Double KO. If you remember correctly Rubes, in the following round Ryu destroyed Ken with a perfect!!!
ReplyDeleteSam you didn't register a win until Tekken was booted up. I will concede that you are the king of Tekken and 10 hit combos.
I didn't get to play much of SFIII admittedly. It did feature some beautiful animated sprites, but apart from that I can't remember much. I've bid on a few Dreamcasts on eBay complete w/ SF III: 3rd Strike but I never win :(
Wasn't SFIII released on PS2 in an anniversary edition?
ReplyDeleteBut that cute little Dreamcast...you can't go wrong, and personally, SFIII sort of belongs on it. As well as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Actually, what other 2D fighters were on it? Not counting Tech Romancer or...that other one that was horrible. Something sword. A Capcom mis-step if I remember correctly.
Still think this undefeated is BS but I cant remember so I'll give you the win. Taz SF III never made to ps2 in aus, only xbox. I know this cause i had it on xbox :( not a great system for SF games but none the less provided awesome times. The only way i'll be playing a KoF game is through Capcom vs SNK 3, loved the second one.
ReplyDeleteCapcom VS SNK 2 = 2nd greatest fighting game of all time.
ReplyDeleteJet Set Radio was the best game on the Dreamcast. I think the only Capcom in my Dreamcast software collection was Marvel VS Capcom 2. If you can't tell, fighting games = my favourite genre :)
Really? mines RPG's love those suckers. But Tris how can that be your fav? you are only good at SF and thats against average players lol
ReplyDeleteThat was Harsh, well you are the king of us average players, I'll give you that.
ReplyDeleteSorry bout the comment hogging but i retract my previous statement, we are above average SF'ers, you are the king of above average players. Thats better.
ReplyDeleteCheers for the heads-up, Reubes. I can't remember if any arcade sticks were released for the Xbox...surely some cheap, third-party adapters would have made the Namco arcade sticks available for the big, black box.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for the underdog, so looking forward to getting my hands on KoFXIII. It's the art-freak in me.
You don't have to be skilled, to like a certain genre of games. Fighting games have provided some of my favourite moments:
ReplyDelete*Street Fighter II (we would have spent 3 years at least playing that game). Do you remember when we were playing during that storm on the old (old) TV Dad got from Cole and then it shorted because lightning hit the house? Ah, how we screamed like little girls.
*Street Fighter EX Plus a
*Tekken 2
*Rival Schools: United By Fate (Plus awesome minigames)
*Tekken 3
*X-Men VS Street Fighter
*Street Fighter Alpha 3
*Marvel VS Capcom 2 (Cable, Iron Man, War Machine)
*Dead or Alive 2
*Tekken Tag Tournament
*Capcom VS SNK 2
*Tekken 4
*Super Smash Brothers: Melee
*Dead or Alive 4
*Street Fighter IV
Plus, no offence taken. I got my ass handed to me repeatedly last night when I played Super Street Fighter IV online.
ReplyDeleteTrue, I love all those games. It is definately my favourite local multiplayer genre. looking forward to the 8th.
ReplyDeleteYeah, fighting games are the tits when playing locally, they kind of struggle online though, as any amount of lag makes it unplayable. Football games are still my fav, Pro Evo 2 is still my favourite game of all time. It was so revolutionary, I spent so many hours playing that game. I love my RPGs and FPS, I should probably get my hands on Borderlands, because it looks pretty fun.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot about rival schools! That game was so good. Even Trent loved that game, and he sucks the fat one at video games.
And yes, I do love me some Tekken, but with no one to really play against anymore, I don't see that point in me buying it.
Dude borderlands is good but only locally, unless you know who you are playing with online and you can talk with them otherwise its fing painful, and single player is crap house boring.
ReplyDeleteAnd even then, Borderlands local co-op is kind of janky, especially in terms of the menu screens. It's a good first step for Gearbox, but I think the sequel will be where that game gets itself sorted out. I want a lot more in the way of NPCs wandering around - with actual voice work - as well as better vehicle controls. I mean, Gearbox were the guys who ported Halo to the PC...you think they would have learned a little from the Warthog.
ReplyDeleteBorderlands sucked the big one. It was easily the most over-hyped game of 2009 and utterly forgettable. I don't understand how so many gaming publications gave it so much kudos.
ReplyDeleteAs you will all read fairly soon, Super Street Fighter IV online has thus far not suffered from any noticable lag. A healthy contingent of Australian players made for an intense night of fighting.
Looking forward to the report, Trits.
ReplyDeleteBorderlands was fun with mates, thats it. And Taz the final missions of Halo in 1 2 and 3 all used that horrible controlled warthog, Bungie made 3 horrible games, they are the only game that has fun multiplayer and nothing else. Stupid Halo shit, looking forward to playing soon Tris lol
ReplyDeleteNothing better than a contradiction hey Rubes? I do agree with you though, the heavily scripted warthog escape sequences are a tired cliche for the Halo series. I do love Phantom of the Opera though.
ReplyDeleteyeah that was funny. the contradiction was done on purpose, stupid text doesnt pervey who i was speaking.
ReplyDeleteHalo had bad vehicle controls?! I wish every shooter had those bad vehicle controls, then. If we're talking Operation Flashpoint-level realism, then I'll agree the squirrely, side-sliding warthog is a bit off. But, I dunno, I really like the bouncy nature within the Halo context.
ReplyDeleteTo each their own, hell i liked the Mako in Mass effect so i cant really talk
ReplyDeleteEach to their own indeed...my opinions on Far Cry 2 differ very greatly from those of Trits!
ReplyDeleteand most likely mine, i hated that game lol. could never find anything, i loved fallout 3 but hated oblivion (technically the same but different ip). Im good to just traverse the galaxy in the normandy and forget about everything else.
ReplyDeleteMako = worst in game vehicle ever!!!
ReplyDeleteUm... Oblivion was great. I didn't do anything quite as nefarious with my Nord as you claim to have Sambo. I guess your choice of species really does change up the experience :p
ReplyDelete