It was something many of us felt this year at Seattle’s Sakura Con; it was lacking the magic and charm of previous years. We’ll take a look at the problems, and how they can be addressed. Even you can make a difference, we’ll also talk about ways to make events fun for those around you.

In the past year or more, we have not seen many truly great series. The anime industry is rehashing a lot of genres, and running low on original ideas. Not only that, but studios have dropped the ball on many manga adaptations. Shows we were excited for have been a let down, while the underdogs slipped under the radar. How many of us watched the previews for A-Channel, Denpa, Blood-C, No.6, Deadman Wonderland (due to lack of S2), Persona 4, Fractale, and Hidan no Aria expecting more than what we ended up with? Either there was a lack of consistent story, the jokes fell flat, or they suffered disappointing endings. Not only that, but we had to face an onslaught of moeblobs (which is what we call excessively cute slice of life series.)

Proof of this was evident this year. There was an abundance of Adventure Time, MLP: FIM, and Homestuck cosplayers. Wait a minute. Two western cartoons and a web comic? I thought we were suppose to be celebrating anime here. Western animation is slowly taking back the reigns and producing some of the most popular cartoons since the 90s’ and early 20th century. Not only are we seeing headway in cartoons, but live action series as well. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Dexter, Doctor Who, Spartacus, Breaking Bad and so many more are topping the charts and building a huge fan base. A lot of that has to do with excellent writing and production. Anime will have to take a leaf from their books and step it up if they want to continue to be popular in the west.

The staff was on edge and space was not used wisely… speaking with people who attended the con, as well as our own experience, we were faced with a lot of threats without good reason. Asking a simple question, or unknowingly being in the wrong place could land you with an ear full about how you can and will be kicked out, or have your badge revoked. As I have never worked or volunteered for Sakura Con, I cannot explain why this happens. All I can do is plead that those in charge really evaluate who they are letting enforce the rules, and work on better ways to approach people. If you had a bad experience with a staff member, speak up, send an email explaining what happened.

Another thing we noticed, is that the space was used awkwardly. Artist’s alley had been moved in with the expo hall, which probably meant they had more people walking by, but it was confusing to try and figure out where the official booths started, and the artists ended. If you didn’t want to spend a lot of money you may have avoided this area completely. The area upstairs formerly used as the artist’s alley was now a big empty space with 1/4th of it dedicated to rhythm games. We saw a lot of big empty spaces, and some areas where everything was squished together. This gave the illusion that the con felt empty except for the expo hall. While being able to buy unique items at a convention is a perk, it shouldn’t be the bulk of the entertainment. We don’t spend $50 on a pass just so we can spend $200 on merchandise and $75 for three days of parking. Not only that, but finding figures or hand made items isn’t as hard as it use to be now that we have sites like ebay, amazon and etsy.

Now that we’ve talked about things we can’t really control, let’s talk about the ones we can.

First and foremost, anime conventions are by fans, for fans. This isn’t PAX, the entertainment and swag isn’t going to be provided for you. So what can you do to make a better experience for yourself and everyone else? The good news is there are a lot of things! So let’s break it down.

As a cosplayer…

Cosplay is suppose to be a fun way to bring life to a convention. It’s not very fun when it turns in to a huge popularity contest to see who can pull off the best outfit, or has the best body. While these things can make a more convincing outfit, it shouldn’t be the only element to dressing up.

1. Get in to character. As far as everyone else is concerned, you are who you’re dressed up as. If you enter a competition or panel, think about how your character would react if they were in that situation and act accordingly. We saw a cosplayer from the series Naruto do this during the foam sword battle. He fought using a mix of capoeria and his own style which was really fun to watch, and flowed quite well with his character. The audience really cheered him on!

2. We’re a community, and we should support each other. Not bring each other down. If you see someone and you like their outfit, say something! Compliment them or give them a high five. Ask if you can hug someone if that’s your forte. Hugs are fun, but not everyone wants one.

3. Don’t let it get you down if someone cosplays the same thing as you and you feel like they do it better. The way you portray your character and the personality you give it will speak volumes. Talk to them and ask how they made it or what materials they used if you sew your own outfits. We all start somewhere!

As a panelist…

People sometimes forget that panels are often run by normal attendees. If you’ve never run one, maybe it’s time to start! Think about your strengths. Are you really good at art? Can you color with copic markers? Do you know how to make a great web comic? Do you know how to sew? Do you know how to coordinate lolita outfits? Do you know a lot about a series? Do you really love visual novels? There are just about a million and one things you could talk about.

1. Supply materials. There’s a lack of free stuff at conventions and it’s kind of disappointing. Even providing simple things such as buttons or stickers would help draw people in to panels. If you’re doing an art based panel, provide some cheap newsprint sketchbooks and some pencils. It wouldn’t be very expensive and it would allow people to practice what they are learning. If you’re doing a panel about Japanese food, bring some candies for people to try. If you’re doing a panel about lolita, bring cut out pictures of jewelry and clothing so people can attach them to a board and make their own coordination ideas. The possibilities are endless and it will help keep your audience entertained. Having a bunch of hyped up people sit in a room and listen to someone talk can be difficult. You may have a very short time to grab someone’s attention, and if you can do it visually, that’s going to be your best bet.

2. Think about what you would like to learn, and what would be fun for others. I always see a lot of “101″ panels. This is alright, but a lot of people who go to conventions already know about these things or can research them on their own. Consider ways you can talk about your subject that will make it interesting for everyone, no matter what their skill level is. Otherwise you may appeal to only a select group of people. Looking through YouTube we found a great set of panels that talked about anime directors and their styles of animation. How one director may have a sketchy style full of motion where another had a very technical approach. This was supplemented by video examples of each. On a base level, they’re simply talking about different animes and what the best scenes look like, but they did it in a way that would be interesting.

3. Talk about what you know. If you make a web comic, don’t just show people how to do it, or show off your work. Talk about your experiences, take questions, leave room for your audience to drive you in a direction, ask them what they want to know. If they are too shy to speak up, have a variety of things to go over. Always encourage participation.

4. Sometimes you don’t have to teach. It’s totally okay to devote a good chunk of time letting people do what they like as long as it’s related to your panel and you do have something you can provide. For example, I helped run a panel that ran 3hrs over how long we thought it would go because we put a visual novel on for people to experience and they got so in to it they actually finished the whole thing. Another great example was a photoshop tutorial that took place in a room full of art supplies and tables. We spent a lot of time just asking the instructor to show us how to do effects, line work, and coloring. It was really enjoyable.

 As staff…

You’re the one who calls the shots, your attitude effects everyone. How you act toward other people will come off as a representation on the views of the convention, even if you have nothing to do with that.

1. You don’t have to be angry. It’s inevitable that you’ll have to reprimand someone for something. However, you don’t have to get angry, use threats, be mean, or swear. Always approach people with an adult attitude. Your example means everything. If it’s okay for you to act out, that makes it okay for everyone else to do it as well.

2. Find ways to help bring people together. Keeping an agitated line occupied with beach balls to bop around, handing out something, or getting the group to sing a song is way better than shouting and making everyone unhappy or more prone to lash out.

3. Listen to people. Sometimes all someone needs to hear is “I’m sorry that happened to you, I totally get that.”

4. Keep in mind people may not be trying to cause trouble on purpose. For many people, they don’t know the rules of the con as well as they should. There are still a lot of first timers too. Start off with a very friendly reminder that does not point any fingers. If you have to get more serious and issue another warning it can be helpful to diffuse people’s frustration by saying things like “I totally agree with you, it’s a dumb rule! Unfortunately I didn’t make the rules, I just have to make sure people follow them. If you want to write a complaint you can go to x” This will likely keep them from starting an argument with you since they feel like you’re relating to them, and they probably won’t make the effort to actually file a complaint because they have more interesting things to do.

As a merchant…

1. Don’t be money hungry, we’re all hurting for money. The economy just isn’t as good as it was before, and here in Seattle that’s something we overlook a lot. That doesn’t mean you have to lower all your prices but if you generally sell things that are fairly expensive you may want to consider providing small, inexpensive things as well. Someone may be more likely to spend $5 on a small thing, than drop $50 on a print.

2. Display is everything. I saw so many booths that didn’t list prices for their items. The booth was crowded, the booth owner engaged in conversation, and I couldn’t get a look at anything because it was far away. It was easier to pass up an interesting item than try to snag someone’s attention and ask about it. I know this is to help prevent theft, but display cases can go a long way.

3. Be helpful but not too helpful. People can tell when you’re trying to convince them to buy something. It turns a lot of people off. Making yourself available in case someone has questions, observing body language, and being friendly but not overbearing will be pleasant for your customer. Some people are super indecisive and will just want to stare for a long time (like me.) There’s a little Asian lady who makes cat hats and we just love her. She’s always smiling and happy, she doesn’t try to convince us to buy anything but will inform us when we seem to have a question. I think at this point we may just buy her items because she’s so fun to be around. She even remembered us from last year!

So there you have it!  I hope this helps give some people great ideas for not only anime conventions but gaming conventions as well. We are a community, we are strong, smart, and talented. Let’s work at showing the world what we can do!

Yes, that is an arm attached to his head, and yes, that is his headless torso. Also going on: Demons are being shot.

In this third-person action shooter, players are in control of Bryce Boltzmann, a demon hunter who has been alive for over 500 years. This isn’t due to some kind of inheritance, or choice, but his immortality is actually the result of a curse brought upon him by a demon lord named Astaroth. See, he has a penchant for invading worlds (as all demon lords seem to) and the organization Bryce belongs to specializes in sending them back where they belong. After a failed contract that ended with the death of his wife, he’s become a bitter, disheveled man in the passing centuries, but still holds the same demon hunting job, now using his curse as a tactical advantage. When Astaroth surfaces again and nearly destroys a city, Bryce is contracted once again by his agency to take him down. There are some ties in the story with Astaroth murdering Bryce’s wife and how it led to him becoming this sort of anti-hero, but the bare-bones plot and bad dialogue full of cheesy one-liners by Bryce made it hard to care about. Even after the conclusion, it never feels more than a bare bones revenge plot with supernatural elements thrown in, and not a very well put together plot at that.

Immortality is an ability that may make for a lack of tension in a game like this, making it either a lukewarm experience, or one absent of any real challenge. In a wise move, the developers saw to it that his partner Arcadia is there to accompany you for the duration of your missions. This not only provides you with a partner for the game, but also turns her into a VIP because should she die, it’s game over. Though, don’t let that fool you into thinking the game is one large escort mission, because outside of providing the stereotypical blonde chick with a gun role in an action game, she can actually hold her own quite well during the games many action sequences, so worrying about her death never becomes a chore, and you can focus on yourself during conflicts. This leaves you to abuse the power to detach and re-attach your limbs at will, taking enemies out left and right in a variety of ways. Being undead, Bryce is pretty tough on his own, so even when you sustain heavy injuries, your body parts just fall around the area and can picked back up by simply rolling over them. While this may make the game seem overly easy, it’s important to remember that Bryce is only immortal so long as his head is still intact, and some enemies are designed to suck up Bryce’s head for an instant kill, making it less of a crutch than you’d think. When this situation happens, a QTE is initiated to save yourself from these critters. Guess what happens when you fail?

The odd damage and companionship woes are small complaints on their own, but what really makes the game a chore to play through is Rebellion’s insistence on tedious repetition at every turn. Each of the game’s action scenes (and there are many) boil down to walking into an area, watching as the exits get barred, and fighting through waves of enemies until the barriers lift. Occasionally, they try to mix things up with the odd puzzle, some requiring the use of a body part (one of the game’s more creative ideas I wish they would’ve used more), but it’s basically the same “Clear the demons until the exits open, rinse, repeat until boss” formula for large portion of the game. This degree of tedium is exacerbated later on in the game when previously defeated bosses later show up as regular enemies. I couldn’t tell if the developers were trying to be cool by doing this, but it just came off as lazy.

Is this screenshot boring? Blame the game.

This feeling of laziness translates to the games visuals as well. Environments are bland, empty and rarely branch out from the traditional “Lonely Alleyway”, “Subway”, and “Abandoned Factory” archtypes for most of the game. Cutscenes are all done in game and do look well enough to appease the eye as Bryce and company are decently animated, but it’s during the action sequences where the game hiccups. The camera is an unfortunate pain as well, getting stuck on objects or simply not giving a wide enough view of the action. These small annoyances pile on over time and are a pain in a game so reliant on fast paced action, especially when environments are littered with things that can explode with a simple touch. This means, as a player, expect to be sent flying constantly and unfairly, which leads into losing limbs often, leading to more slowdown.

It’s then you realize that it’s unfortunate that the game is so centralized on his dismemberment, because when this happens, the limb loss animation is pretty stale and generic, and more painful to watch repeatedly than what I’m sure being dismembered feels like.

I thought that with all the other types of fail on display, the weapons would have some redeemable quality, but they are just as bland from start to finish. I did enjoy the fact that you can wield a sword and slicing through enemies does have a fun and addictive feel, but even that leaves a sour taste after a while. The gunplay consists of the standard handgun, assault rifle, sub-machine gun, shotgun and grenade launcher fare most shooters are known for. There are hidden versions of these particular guns as well as secret swords that can provide more damage to the enemies, but they come across as very weak amongst the many enemy types regardless of how powerful they appear to be. Once you find the main Grenade Launcher though, there is little reason to go and utilize any other weapon since it does the most damage and hits a bigger radius in its explosion.

Surprisingly, there is multiplayer to be found here, but unsurprisingly, even it falls short of applause, being lazily picked from other, better games. You have Onslaught which is essentially this game’s Horde mode, Fragile Alliance which is a checkpoint based race through enemies, Search And Rescue (glorified escort mission), and finally an Egg Hunt mode which has you looking for civilians to save or treasures respectively. All are made virtually unplayable due to lack of a mini-map, the environments being maze-like and it being all too easy to get lost while playing. Fun!

I really wanted to like this game, and judging by the trailers, I thought it had the potential to give me another unique experience similar to Shadows of the Damned. It’s a shame too, as its off kilter premise and bland, yet endearing characters could have provided an otherwise enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, even the main selling point of the game becomes an overused mini-game by the end, and by then you’ve likelly already realized the game has a throw away story, bland visuals and repetitive gameplay. It’s workable as a rental game, but save your cash for something better.

Rating: 4.0

The Tekken series in particular seemed to have dodged this curse with no such lapse in quality, and has actually enjoyed it’s brief stint in portable form, having waited until the Sony’s PSP to really put forth a version that could stand tall with it’s arcade counterpart. With the release of Tekken 3D: Prime Edition for the Nintendo 3DS, memories of Nintendo’s last brush with portable Tekken are already starting to creep back up:

But thankfully, this is not Tekken Advance. It’s in fact much better, with the most recent version of Tekken 6 making up the main game in the true third dimension, and a bonus 3D movie included on the cart to boot. While it seems to be lacking many of the modes that made its other versions a hit, I’m certain series creator Katsuhiro Harada was confident in the core fighting and entertainment value of the movie to carry it. Did the gamble work?

Well..it’s Tekken, it’s quite solid, but Prime,it is not.

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition
For: Nintendo 3DS
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: $39.99
Release: 2/14/2011 (North America)

Feeling like a shrunken down version of Tekken Hybrid (mostly due to the inclusion of the Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D movie as a bonus) Tekken 3D: Prime Edition is the latest version of the popular franchise, which is to say 6 in a portable form, packing an impressive 3D pedigree and cramming all 40 characters and even new stages into the 3DS’ tiny frame. It’s once again an impressive feat and a testament to how talented Namco’s teams are that they can continue to keep putting out near arcade-perfect versions of their high fidelity arcade titles, but while much of this version does well in preserving the arcade-like core fighting experience, it seems to be all that’s on offer here, affecting the quality of the title in the areas that count.

If not anything else though, you won’t find too many people complaining about the graphics. Much has been said about the highly publicized fact that this version of Tekken runs at 60 frames per second (even with the 3D on!) and it delivers with flying colors. As a benchmark no game on the system has achieved thus far, the game does achieve this effect consistently and without falter, but it comes at a bit of a visual expense as some cutbacks were clearly made to achieve this. The stages suffer the most from this penalty, with a few exceptional looking ones on display that play up the 3D well, but the majority of them are missing background objects present in other versions and suffer an overall lack of life. This makes some fights look at worst like they’re taking place in barren wastelends, and the fact that some made it through without even so much as a tumbleweed to liven things up is a bit of a rub. Character models are also very sharp and detailed, and frame for frame on par with their arcade counteparts, but feature a strange lighting about them that occasionally makes them stand out harshly against the backgrounds. It’s not a bad looking game, as you can see in the photo below. It’s a smooth visual package that looks great in motion, but When the cutbacks to keep the framerate smooth are noticeable at the times they’re noticeable.

If it sounds like a bit of a bare-bones package….it’s because it is, and the game is seemingly unapologetically unashamed of being so. It signifies a disturbing trend in recent Fighting Game releases, where players are receiving packages that appeal solely to the hardcore gamer. Weren’t they they once were the trailblazers of stuffing their fighters to the gills with content? Recently they haven’t been living up to that, been releasing packages that have the bare minimum of extra content included because their core audience is solely set on pushing the engine to its limits and burying themselves neck deep in frame data. For a more casual user, one desiring perhaps a challenge, but actual content NOT involved solely in refining skill like story or extra play modes, there’s nothing for them.

The other half of this package is yet again Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D, Namco’s second attempt at forcing this movie down our throat with a barebones port attached (okay, I’ll stop). The 3D is nicely done, with some mild depth and rare instances of popping, and the CG itself is about on par with their game efforts with a stylized realism, albeit this time in the 3rd dimension. But there was a movie to be watched underneath all that gloss, and I’ll begin by saying this: I have absolutely no investment in Tekken’s storyline. That having been said, I was hoping a movie serving to bridge the events between Tekken 5 and Tekken 6 would give the story new light in my eyes, and finally rope me in with a stylized blend of..oh whatever.

Seriously.

Truly, it boggles the mind as to why the best parts of the single-player experience were omitted for this version. If this was to preserve the 3D and make room for that ridiculous movie, then I’m even more disappointed, because, as entertaining as it was, I can’t say I would’ve sat in front of my 3DS for that long watching a movie had it not been for review purposes. It would’ve been more practical to just cut that thing out if it meant me getting the Force Mode or customization items back, which would’ve worked perfectly with the system’s social features. They could’ve omitted that indecipherable mess if it meant the arcade ladder returning, with is cheesy and occasionally larger-than-life bosses making a welcome 3D return. No sticking Goku hair on my character, no fighting an inexplicable mech, no beating up slews of faceless thugs for moneybags. Instead, I have the option to either versus, train, or turn my brain off for a little over an hour.

Prime edition?

prime/prīm/
Adjective:
Of first importance; main.
Noun:
A state or time of greatest strength, vigor, or success in a person’s life.
Verb:
Make (something) ready for use or action, in particular.

Oh Namco. You jest.

Rating:6.5

Role Optional Alerts and the Team Buff

Two of the exciting features we’re rolling out for Game Update 9 are Role Optional Alerts and the Team Buff. We have metrics that show us who is queuing for what, how long they’re waiting, and a number of other really useful things. As I’m sure you know when you queue for a Duo, you tend to get in and are able to start playing right away. Alerts are a different story, especially for those of you queuing for the damage role.

It has nothing to do with Duos only requiring two people. It’s that they require any two people. As is common in a lot of MMOs, there is a population disparity between the different roles. There are as many players queuing for Damage as there are all the other roles combined. Healers are the least common, followed by Tanks, and finally Controllers. So the end result is Healers don’t wait long at all, but Damage tends to wait much longer.

All Alerts are now role optional. Generally it shouldn’t take much more than a few minutes for an Alert queue to pop regardless of your role, assuming there are enough people willing to play that Alert. When the matchmaking system tries to form a group out of the pool of queued players it tries to form a balanced group first. As minutes pass, the system becomes increasingly less picky about finding a specific role for a given group slot.

The Role Optional Alert feature is made possible by the Team Buff. Any time three or more players are grouped together, within range, and in line of sight of one another, they gain a bonus to compensate for roles missing from their group.

If your group is missing a Tank, every group member gains additional damage mitigation.
If you’re missing a Healer, group members gain a small amount of Health regeneration when they begin to take damage and gain a further health regeneration boost while holding the block button when health is at critical levels.
If your group is missing a Controller you will gain a small amount of additional power regeneration when your power begins dipping low.

The buffs are by no means a replacement for having the actual role in your group. But with some self reliance, it will provide you with enough of a boost to allow you to complete the Alert successfully. The Team Buff is not applied in PvP arenas, during Legends matches, nor will it function during Duels.

The end result of this is that wait times to get into an Alert should be dramatically decreased. Provided players are queued, you should be able to get into an instance in a matter of minutes, no matter your role.

Novice Raids

In an effort to let more players experience more of the game, we’re launching Novice Raid modes for Game Update 9. Novice Raids are far less demanding than the Expert Raids. They are intended to allow more casual players and random pickup groups a chance to experience some of our best content they might not otherwise be able to experience.

The combat rating requirement is just a little bit lower for Novice Raids so you can hit them a little sooner than you can the Expert version. The content, play flow, and boss fights are identical but the fights themselves are much more forgiving. That’s not to say they will be a complete cake walk! You’ll still need to learn and execute properly on the mechanics of the boss fights if you want to succeed. Some may find Novice Raids are a great way to get some practice in while they are gearing up for the Expert versions.

Novice Raids do drop loot, however the loot will be of a lower item level. They also award the same badges, but you earn fewer of them. Novice Raids share the same lockout timer as Expert Raids, so you can’t earn loot and badges in both during the same week.

Some existing feats can be completed in either the Novice or Expert version of a Raid. However others such as the speed feats can only be completed in Expert mode. Finally we’ve also added new feats for completing the Expert version of a raid.

New Soder Colas plans available!

Plans for Soder Cola Prime and Soder Cola Max are now available for purchase from Research and Development vendors. These recover more Health and Power than a Soder Cola Extreme but provide no additional buff effect and require no Exobytes to make.

“The Bandwagon Effect is a well documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with “the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have already done so”.As more people come to believe in something, others also “hop on the bandwagon” regardless of the underlying evidence. The tendency to follow the actions or beliefs of others can occur because individuals directly prefer to conform, or because individuals derive information from others. Both explanations have been used for evidence of conformity in psychological experiments. For example, social pressure has been used to explain Asch’s conformity experiments, and information has been used to explain Sherif’s autokinetic experiment.

When individuals make rational choices based on the information they receive from others, economists have proposed that information cascades can quickly form in which people decide to ignore their personal information signals and follow the behavior of others. Cascades explain why behavior is fragile—people understand that they are based on very limited information. As a result, fads form easily but are also easily dislodged. Such informational effects have been used to explain political bandwagons.”

Thanks Wikipedia <3

Note the first sign.

We’ve all seen this in action so many times before. When a team catches a hot streak at the right time everyone suddenly a fan of said team. Stadiums are full and once cheap tickets are now super expensive. If you want to see it in everyday life look at all the ‘new’ Yankees or Giants fans (sorry, I’ve never been a big football guy, but I did like the Chargers in the Junior Seau days) that pop up whenever the team is competing for the c’hip (or championship). For the purposes of this article, I’ll use three really good examples: The Miami Heat once they signed Chris Bosh and Lebron, The L.A. Clippers once they got Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups and the Golden State Warriors when they made that incredible play off run that produced highlights such as this.

After that dunk, Warriors tickets became the new thing for everyone. The Clippers are currently going through the same thing. This phenomenon is not just limited to sports, or politics, it also extends into the gaming world. Allow me to give you some background before I rage the hell out.

In fighting games picking a character is a much like picking a tool box. There are different tools in each of them for different situations, but they all serve the purpose of winning the match for your character. In most competitive games (especially fighters) people tend to pick their characters, teams, weapons, etc in usually one of three ways.

The first type of player picks by character loyalty. This means they simply like the character design so much that they play as that fighter/race/whatever for that reason alone. These people will usually use the same character over the course of multiple installments of a game. It’s like those die hard sports fans who like their team even if they’re horrible or someone who likes a band that everyone thinks is terrible. The second type of people pick their character based on whether the character-in-question’s play style fits in with their current skill level. For example, in my early Street Fighter IV days, starting off with a complex character like C.Viper wasn’t a good idea because at the time I didn’t have the execution required to play her effectively. This skill-based approach to choosing also leads them to experiment with other characters after they get to a certain level of proficiency with their main character. The third and final type are the people who pick characters because they are easier to win with, or ‘high tier’ ones, meaning they have attributes that outrank a considerable number of characters in the roster. While this may seem shameless, it is in fact a valid strategy. In the end, the game is about winning, so you pick whoever gives you the best chance of winning.

Teaching them early, huh pal?

With that said, you’d think things would be pretty cut and dry, right? No, they aren’t. In fact, there is a fourth shadow group no one wants to admit they are a part of. The assholes are called the bandwagoners. These are the people who I despise the most. “But Phire”, you ask, “Why all the hate towards the bandwagon?” Simply put, for the fact that these are the same people who, to use a fighter as an example, will talk about how bad your character is, how weak/low-tier they are and how you need to switch them. However, if something changes or new tech is found, they’ll jump on that character too and talk about how good they are with everyone else. Of course, if you confront them, they will deny they ever said anything negative about them and claim that they had “played them before”. Come on. It’s like they just saw the ugly girl from High School hit her stride, become hot and they’re the first in line, claiming they always had a crush on her.

No one was there for these days in Vanilla 4 or Super Turbo.

Why am I bringing this up now? Well since I started playing the SFIV series I’ve watched my Cammy develop from an ’0-2 and out’ champion to something actually kind of dangerous. With the new 2012 patch, Cammy is no longer nerfed to hell. I remember in the original Arcade Edition when they took her dive kick I was about to commit seppuku and find a new main (had my mind set on Yun at the time) but I decided to stick it out with her, and my patience paid off becuase now, I like the way she plays. But now I’m seeing Cammy players popping up EVERYWHERE claiming to have a good one, which 90% of the time they really don’t. They lose to characters that they should be beating, and when fighting against Cammy they lose horribly. Playing online, I tend to win the mirror matches because 80% of the time I know what I’m looking for, what to watch out for, I’m not doing anything stupid, because I know how she works. This is the main problem with bandwagoners, because they really don’t understand the character they’re choosing. They will see videos, or watch some matches and say “Oh man that’s so cheap, I want to do that too!”. So they practice that set of moves, go out to try, then lose to high level players who know their bandwagon character is fraudulent or they lose via being counter-picked because they have NO match up experience.

Even he wasn't safe from Bandwagon fans after death.

Having beaten several ‘Cammy’ players far worse than I should have, in situations that wouldn’t have happened (like misjudging her drill distance) if these people actually knew her well enough to call their play style ‘unique’(which most bandwagoners do by default) we wouldn’t have this problem. I personally feel that people should just pick either what they like, or what they are most comfortable with and just play the game. I think it would make for a better game overall because we’d have more diversity rather than cookie cutter clones of a particular character and play style. Newsflash: This ultimately serves you and the community no purpose, because you aren’t choosing a character you’re invested in, you’re just trending. However, this may be part of a larger problem as a whole with players who aren’t willing to do any work to win popping up in large numbers. I’ll examine that next time.

In January of 2012 I found a game on Steam called Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon by Vicious Cycle Software. One of my friends previously owned the game on console and was raving about it nonstop, so I thought I would give it a try. Well, after trying it out for myself, let me say that I am both surprised and disappointed. What surprised me the most was how good the combat actually was. Honestly, I was really expecting nothing more than another rehashed modern day arcade shooter. Instead, what I received was a 3rd-person shooter that allowed me the unexpected freedom to navigate and shoot in a limited open-world environment. Another great thing about the game is the way the story was presented. In terms of atmosphere, one of the best things about this game was the fact that It made me feel like I was in the middle of a Science Fiction B-movie from the 60′s.

Another thing I definitely I liked about the game was the fact that it wasn’t a hallway shooter filled with 5 minutes of game play broken up by cutscenes after each objective. Each level in EDF:IA is huge, fully destructible, and open ended enough that I was able to change and go through different routes to accomplish the same goal. These three factors add more to the game in terms of tactics than any other modern shooter, making this game more than just a ‘simple’ arcade shooter.Customization with each of the classes was another thing I enjoyed. There are 4 classes to choose from: Jet Armor, Tactical Armor, Trooper Armor, and Battle Armor. Each class has their own upgrade system and weapons that can be used, with a ton of weapons for each that you can unlock by two methods: Playing the game and leveling up, or by earning credits that can be spent to unlock more weapons. Like any game with classes, each has pros and cons, so choosing the right weapon for the job is not only crucial, but the differences between them adds replay value. That plus the endless amount of color pallets and weapon combinations add so much variety that each time you play through the game, you can without looking the same way twice.

But, for each good thing the game does, there are a few equally bad things that take away from it.

As much as I enjoyed it, one thing I found disappointing was the overall length of the game. At 3 chapters long, I was done with the entire game in 5 hours and it left me wanting more, especially since the game is a bit light on the story. To the average player, 5 hours might not seem long enough, but one play through of a level takes about 10-20 minutes depending on how good you are at the game and the difficulty chosen. These missions have no checkpoints to speak of and rely on your lives, so as long as at least one partner is alive you can revive each other endlessly. If all team members are dead, that is Game Over and you have to start from the beginning of the mission. On top of that, reload times tend to take a bit longer (even with the fast reload option) so if a weapon you are using has only 5 shots, then you need to make sure you can find some cover or dodge long enough to reload and start firing again.

Some people may consider the AI of the enemies to be too easy, but it’s the sheer amount of them (numbering in hundreds) that makes them a daunting enemy. Another disappointment from the game is the online play, and while you can read what ExpertPenguin thought about the console version, I am not sure how populated it is at this moment. I do know that right now, it is difficult to find a game online, and with some games having cross platform play, it makes you wonder why the creators didn’t consider it an option. Starting a co-op game from scratch, I was able to make it through the entire first chapter without running into anyone else. Perhaps having the option to search for other players on the 360/PS3 can make its way into the sequel?

All in all, Earth Defense Force : Insect Armageddon is a fun fast paced 3rd person shooter that brings a bunch of new ideas to the table in the shooter genre. It has a ton of action, high replay value, and is one of those games you can play with several friends in local or online multiplayer, as long as you have a spare pad laying around, or were lucky enough to bump into a few soldiers online. Happy gaming!

Rating: 7.0

I played the first EDF and I lamented at how weak the mulitplayer was in that version. It supported no online play of any kind, but as a local split-screen game, it was just the type of simple, arcade fun that you would need between days of grinding out combos in Street Fighter, or just from dealing with any other similarly complex titles. My first look at this game was during PAX East and I was instantly excited for its release. I instantly fell in love with the new Heavy armor class, as large machine guns and explosives are a fast way to win my undying love, and the new online multiplayer, supporting not just two, but up to four players at the same time Most of the details about the game have been covered in the previous review, so with no further ado we’ll jump right into my thoughts on the multiplayer experience!

Seeing how I received this game pretty late in its cycle, a couple of my CL teammates already had the game and were up for blasting some bugs with me. This is great, as the game seems to come alive when you’re not dealing with some AI drones. When you can instead coordinate attacks and focus your combined firepower on the same target things become a million times easier. The only thing I don’t like is having multiple players use the same suit in battle. I feel having two battle suits walking around detracts a little bit from the overall experience because the armors share a similar control scheme, but have different play styles that can be useful on their own. It creates a situation where you’ll have two players playing the same way, with the same weapons, and with no real new techniques being shown off. The weapon balance is spread between the classes like this on purpose to encourage variety, and sharing the same weaknesses makes some stages a bit harder to complete than others. If there’s any problem I really had with this system, it’s like Geekboi mentioned earlier, that the checkpointing system is a bit unforgiving. Most of these levels take 20-30 minutes to finish, and if all players are dead, it requires a start to the very beginning of the stage. If anyone on your team is ill equipped, it can make the levels feel tedious at best and an endless grind at worst.

The net code seems solid for the job as well. As my team and I ran through the campaign, we weren’t thrown off by any slow down, and there were no hiccups to speak of. Survival mode is where we started to encounter problems though, and with 3 players in the room, things became a little bit dicey as the screen filled with enemies. we experienced some slowdown as things got hectic, but other than that? They hammered themselves out just fine.I also experienced a strange bug regarding how the game saves itself. I have backed out to the loadout screen from the pause menu more than only to have all my progress lost. It happened even when I quit to the main menu as well. I don’t know if this was a glitch they’re planning to patch or what, but going solo through 5 levels in this game tough enough. To lose it and start all over again is needlessly frustrating.

Overall, I give this game an 8 out of 10. The save hiccups were annoying and there were some slowdown issues, but it wasn’t enough to make the game unplayable, or any less fun. This is definitely worth a playthrough.

Rating:8.0

With Darksiders II almost here there’s some pretty impressive swag being released. SOTA Toys has released a Samuel statue which is pretty bad ass.

While I am a fan of collectables this bad boy given away during a Twitter contest takes the cake.

I would wear that out on dates.

Playing In EVO 2k11

Sexy photo of me talking

This was pretty awesome because I got to hang out with the super big wigs of the Fighting Game Community (FGC), talk shit and press some buttons. As for how I did? I did okay and want to do better next year. It was amazing to have so many people who are passionate about the same sort of things in one area, and as a competitor I really enjoyed putting my skills against them. In the end, it was bitter sweet because when I got back to the city, I lost my best friend and long time companion Sheena (Greatest Dog Ever). Luckily I had some really amazing people around me during this time and I got to make it through.

Playing In Japan

Apprujack

What a difference a year makes! I didn’t go to japan In 2010 and instead spent the year working and grinding out stuff stateside. So when I finally traveled to Japan and had a chance to take my Cammy to the arcades I was super excited. Surprisingly, I fared way better than I ever thought I would and the experience gave me more confidence going into EVO. As the late Josh “SK” Colon put it when viewing my skills, I built some momentum and I should try to sustain that. After all, I still have my arcade card and I’m ready to hit 10k BP in Japan with Cammy. Overall, It was a great experience to be in another part of Japan, and Osaka is a great city to visit.

PAX East

Took the team up to Boston! This was earlier in the year so my skills weren’t really up to snuff, but looking back at it, I realize I grew a lot as player in a short amount of time. The matches I lost, I probably would have won if the Phire I am now were sent back in time to play. Also, I was able to meet everyone from the industry that I know and it was a pretty awesome experience seeing them again and then some. Not to mention, it was a birthday gift for Sol Lekz as well so he was excited the whole weekend. This is probably my favorite trade show of the year, mainly because it doesn’t feel like a trade show.

Eric the Intern’s Beard

It is so soft and conditioned. It is probably the best beard we will ever have on staff. As it currently stands it is the only beard we have that’s on staff. I’m trying to convince Eric to grow it out more and put action figures in it like baby birds hiding in a nest or some sort of death mountain playset. Will he ever do it? Who knows?

2012 patch in Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

Cammy players are usually in this position when it comes to the nerf hammer

This has been the first version of the the Street Fighter IV series where Cammy didn’t lose anything but actually got something back. I was so sad when she lost her instant dive kick from Super to Arcade Edition that I think I’ve called the waambulence a few times but ultimately, I ended up sticking it out and I’m happy with the results. I may pick up an alternate characterin the future, but right now I’m happy.

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 being better and more polished than the vanilla version

Not only do I actually like the game a bit more now, but I am making an honest effort to learn how to play it too. The 12 new characters were a welcome refresher from what originally was offered up and they fixed some game systems I felt really needed work in the original. Some stuff still needs to be patched yes but for the most part it’s a better experience.

Actually getting two episodes done!

We were trying to get 4 out but life happens so we’ll try out best to get the 3rd out before the end of the world. But I definetly see that we can improve and our starting point isn’t too shabby

You.

Yes you reading this. None of this is possible without you reading, watching and generally not ignoring our existence. Yeah we’re not perfect, but we’re pretty damn cool nonetheless ;P . But seriously, sometimes it feels like no one is reading but when I check the site stats, I find you guys are. Thank you and I appreciate each and everyone of you

That’s been my 2011..So how was yours? tweet me yo!

Here are the five worst characters to have on your tail as a video game villain. NO THE GODDAMNED BATMAN IS NOT ON THIS LIST, HE IS A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER WITH A VIDEO GAME.

5) Sonic the Hedgehog/Link

At number 5 it’s a tie between Sonic and Link. Sonic is a hedgehog with super speed that can destroy most object by simplify JUMPING OR ROLLING into them. You build this amazing robot death machine only to have a blue hedgehog jump and roll it to death. To make matters even worse he can become a super hedgehog capable of destroying things just by touching them and he can breathe in space. They only thing that could stop this hedgehog is not having any rings (which the world seems to have an abundant supply of), drowning him (but you’d have to make sure there’s no cracks so air can leak or or have a completely underwater fortress and risk drowning yourself if Sonic does come through and beats the snot of out of your base),trying to crush him or trying to get him to fall into a pit(both of which are completely random). And no matter what you’re planning to do Sonic will always find out and show up pissed about it.

Link is equally annoying. Think about this you have this amazing power from the Triforce, you’re immortal and you are overall bad ass. Then all of a sudden a kid in a green tunic shows up and ruins everything. The most screwed up part about it? It’s a different kid almost every time. So you’re immortal and doomed to having a kid in a green tunic just tear you up all because it’s a tradition to give every kid a green tunic at a certain time. Why don’t you just kill off all the children in every village? Then you won’t have anyone to rule over. Catch 22.

4) Ryu

So you are holding a fighting tournament to try and find a new body for yourself? You’re an inter-dimensional being that just happened to be threatening two worlds at once? Are you the most brutal Muay Thai fighter ever and have no challengers? Well it sucks to be you because Ryu is probably going to show up and punch you in the face. Even if you’re just a regular fighter he’s still just going to punch you in the face. The man wanders the world LOOKING FOR FIGHTS barefoot no less. He has fought everything from aliens and giant robots to super heroes and demons. What makes it even worse is that in the chance you actually may be winning, he’ll tap into some hidden energy reserves and go evil making him even more dangerous. His moves are always so basic but they are insanely strong. Now that he has the Soul-Glo in Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 this makes him that much more powerful.

3) Megaman

He doesn’t look like much. He looks like he’d be at home in a toy chest.If you are a robot that’s gone evil or renegade, then he’s the worse thing ever. Not only does he keep coming back if you defeat him. He has probably killed your allies and took their abilities to use on you or he is going to kill you and use your ability to kill your allies. What makes him creepy is that he always shows up without saying a word and just stares and blinks at you,later in the series he talks but for a few years he was a silent killer. And to think all this started because two old guys had problems with each other.

2) Snake

This includes the original Snake the one that the current Snake is cloned from. This man is a combination of spy, special operations soldier and mercenary commando from a black operations and espionage unit. He is tasked with disarming and destroying the latest incarnation of Metal Gear which is usually a bipedal nuclear weapon-armed mecha which is another word for giant robot. Usually Snake has to deal with people with ridiculous powers or armed with incredible skills to do so. You know he’s out there. You’re doing something that ridiculous you know that he’s going to be there and he’s not coming to negotiate anything with you, ever. While you’re trying to get your plan to completion, he’s either killing your allies or hes tranquilizing them and taking pictures of them in compromising positions, who knows what else he’s doing to them. You know what that’s going to be your fate too. This man has taken down so many organizations, robots, people in robots, ninja robots, vampires, ghosts, etc. that anything you can come up with he’s ready for. How do you stop a man like that? You don’t, you just pray that he kills you.

1) Belmonts

At the top of this list sits one family, the Belmonts. If you’re a citizen of the night this name strikes terror into your heart. If you’re a vampire and have a castle it’s even worse. These asshoels will show up at your front door, destroy everything in your house, steal your treasure and money, kill your tenants, find you in your panic room, beat the hell out of you and then sink your castle or destroy it. They ALWAYS show up and they more than likely will bring a friend or two. There’s really no way to get rid of them and they will always lecture you on morals and why what you’re doing is wrong. What if you’re not a creature of the night but have a castle? All it would take is one rumor from the towns folk and you’ll have them sniffing around in no time. I don’t think they even ask questions they just whip the hell out of everything and leave. And to top it all off they WILL be prettier than you with better hair and look cooler (in some cases) than you ever will.

What’s your top 5 ? I’d love to hear it tweet it to me or post on the Facebook!

I got 9th place out of 27 people. It’s not bad considering I just started playing this game a bit more serious. Some of the things I’ve noticed is that I tend to drop combos. Talking to Megaman Steve he told me that I should practice combos in different situations such as training dummy crouching and jumping since the hit scaling is different from the standing states. I’ve been doing vs crouching opponents in AE but not Marvel. I feel that Marvel while combos are easier there’s way more memorization and muscle memory involved because things can drastically in a combo all based on what you do to start off the combo. In the tournament I was sent to losers by an 8-bit Dojo regular, Baydo. I did ok in losers but I dropped crucial combos with every member of my team at different points. Eventually I would have had to fight Baydo again in losers if I wasn’t such a scrub.
I think he probably would have beat me again seeing the fact as if he looked like a man possessed when he took third place.

In AE there were 32 fighters and I took 4th. Not bad for my first time out of the dojo in a while. There was obviously some rust and some combos dropped abut I did my best and played solid. I didn’t do too much crazy stuff but I did do unsafe things. I fought bad match ups all day such as Guile, E.Honda and Balrog. I had to be moved away from Sol Lekz in the second round though. I ended up playing a pad Blanka with a throw macro, while not illegal it’s sort of silly and generally frowned upon because it removes some of the actual skill involved, and lost (later the dojo told me what I needed to do to win against this). I fought well in losers and I avenged my PAX demon by defeating a Chun Li when I need to. I did pretty well till I ran into Chad Viper, who defeated me with his alternate character Ryu. To be fair Ryu is a 50/50 match up due to the fact that he’s so balanced you’re going to have to out play him to win. I should have won that match up because Ryu is the most common character you see online, so at this point I should know what the situation was. The match between us is going to be available sometime on the net.

Looking back at the match I could have done so many things differently. Part of that I’m sure was tournament nerves, the other part of my loss was execution. I had Sol Lekz in my corner coaching me not so much on the game but to keep my focused at the task at hand and not let me get too wild with the things I do. He even gave me a shout out on his facebook.

“As we progress, I continue to realize that Phire is no where near the “old man” status that he claims. He has the ability to absorb knowledge as well as execute. Coaching him is fun because as a player, although not as experienced in fighters but has coached a lot in FPS, knows what needs to be done but lacks the execution to do so. As to where Phire simply forgets at times but when you stay on top of him, he stays on top of the game as a whole.”

What’s next I’m going to try my hand at Savage Saturday this weekend and then Apex next month. I have to get ready for EVO 2k12 and do better than I did. I also have to run more 8-bit tournaments because I know you miss us.

Want to spar or tell me how free I am tweet it and expose me as a fraud.