Hasbro and Capcom Need to Talk...

So I was thinking. What if Hasbro and Capcom got together to make Street Fighter Mighty Muggs? A google search later led me to these incredibly adorable yet equally badass looking Mugg designs of the World Warriors proposed by professional illustator Rocky Davies (BTW Hasbro, hire this guy wouldya?).

Seriously though, if the parties envolved ever did wise up to actually making these things they would sell out as soon as they hit the geek market. It's hard enough finding a Boba Fett Mugg. Imagine trying to get your hands on an M. Bison one?

Every other hot nerd property is getting in on the Mighty Mugg money. Why not Street Fighter?

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Dan's The MAN!

I think I can speak on behave of Blast Heroes and our affiliates when I say that Dan Hibiki is, hands down, the best character in Street Fighter 4.

Gamesradar.com has posted an incredibly well-researched history of Street Fighter's lovable oaf that Dan fans should definitely check out.

I had no idea that Dan's father was the one who busted out Sagat's eye. Also, is Dan really Akuma's brother? Such a deep character.

Gadou-ken!

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Happy Street Fighter IV Day!!!

Holy Crap! I can hardly believe that the day has finally come. Here in just a matter of hours, the Blast Heroes will have both 360 and PS3 copies of Street Fighter IV. Hopefully you have a copy waiting for you as well!

To mark this special day, Adam and I will be doing some live blogging between our matches, with our impressions and comments. Be sure to check back starting today at 5:00pm (Central Time) to see what we are thinking, as we are thinking it.

Today is a great day.

Chris here:

I was delayed quite a bit in getting my copy of Street Fighter IV by bad traffic and some (ugh) grown-folk responsibilities. Anyhow, I have my copy now and have been playing some seriously heated matches with my brother Ryan. It's really hard for me to get my thoughts together on the game, partially because I am so damn hyped and partially because the game is quite a bit different than I expected.

It's definitely beefy. Not quite SFII beefy but heavy none the less. I played my first round with Zangief; man, he is huge! His presence on screen is unreal, so menacing. 360 throws are super-easy to execute, so I was able to pull off a lot of spinning pile drivers and powerbombs which feel so powerful and massive. Really all the special moves have a long window for input time so just about everything is easy to pull off.

The graphics are just what I had hoped, though some character art on the select screen looks a little off (I am pretty sure they just drew over snapshots of the 3D models and sometimes it doesn't quite work). Also, some backgrounds seem less thought out than others.

That's all for now, I need to get back to the fight!!!

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This is Adam:

Just came off a 6 hour binge. I'm taking a break to download the game to my 360's hard-drive. Wow, this game is like crack!

Lemme try to sum up my experiences so far. Like Chris said, the game is beefy, which will take a while for you to adjust to if you've been playing tons of Third Strike or HDRemix recently, like I have. I'm a bit disappointed that all the command inputs aren't easier to do. I still cant do any of Vega's supers, and can only get Guile's out every once in a while. With all this talk off Capcom wanting to hook the casual crowd with this game, I'm surprised that they didn't make some of the more complicated moves just a tad easier for all the characters (Zangief excluded, he's an F'n BEAST!)

I'd like to say a few things about the focus-attack system. It's absolutely brilliant, and adds layer of depth to an already deep game. My brother James, who literally hasn't touched Street Fighter in over a decade, really held his own with some trusty sweeps and Focus-Attacks. It's super fun to use them they feel amazingly satisfying when they connect. It really pushed the whole "risk/reward" aspect of Street Fighter that's defined the franchise for so many years.

We'll that's all for now. Me and Chris are about to hook up for some matches!

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Chris's closing thoughts for the night:

This live blog thing didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped.

That's only because pulling myself away from Street Fighter IV proved more and more difficult the longer I played. Once I started to get comfortable with the play mechanics, things really opened up. The more you know the more powerful you feel and in turn, the more enjoyable the game becomes. Street Fighter games (or a least the great ones) have always grown better with time and experience.

It's strangely fresh to feel like a beginner again, I am enjoying every moment.

Getting back to the game itself:

Focus attacks are where it is at! Any old school Street Fighter EX players will remember them right off the bat, as they are basically the same as EX's "guard breaks". The opening for follow up attacks after a successful focus move is huge, so linking into big combos, ultra attacks or 360 throws is really easy to get the hang of.

Because of the massive damage possible from an effective focus combo, matches can turn around very quickly. There was plenty of times where I thought I had a round, only to lose to a huge come back in a matter of seconds. The ability to inflict such tide-tuning damage, so quickly, keeps things exciting; no "throw away" matches.

After about 8 hours of play, Street Fighter IV has started to reveal itself as a blend of all the previous games; taking elements from the games before and building on them or in some cases, simplifying them, to create something that feels both new and familiar. I am please to see that even though the game is not as technical and deep as Third Strike, it's definitely not overly-simple.

The game is beautiful and the character models are probably the best I have ever seen. Between the design, movement, attacks and facial animations, Street Fighter IV's models stand strong against their best 2D sprite representations. Like I touched on earlier, things aren't quite 100% consistent visually, but there will be revisions for that (Street Fighter IV: Maximum Edition perhaps?)

I plan on witting more tomorrow and onward, as long as I keep discovering new things about the game.

Oh and Seth is a Bitch by the way

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Adam's Last Word

Oh goodness...Did really just play Street Fighter 4 for 13 hours? What a day, what a day.

I'm exhausted, so I'll keep this short...

So far, I'm extremely well pleased this game, and it's totally lived up to my own personally generated hype.

The graphics are so good that it's actually gives me a headache: I've never seen characters in a video game with this much personality. The gameplay feels exceptionally balanced, and the extra weight added is welcomed. I'm really starting to get my head around the new characters, and find that, overall, they are a welcome edition to the Street Fighter cast. Seth, as Chris mentioned above, is a total asshole, but I wouldn't change him for the world. Street Fighter bosses are supposed to be evil, cheating bastards.

That's all for now. There really isn't much more for me to say about the greatest of Street Fighter 4, other than it's back. With a vengeance.

Nighty night.

P.S. Just thinking about unlocking Gouken and Akuma makes me want to cry :'(

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On the Subject of Game Music

Please peep:

This is the intro for the Japanese version of SF4. It's pretty obvious that a huge amount of TLC went into this game. Right down to the awesome and incredibly catchy theme song. It's been a slow build up for me, starting at a relietively low point when the game was anounced as being 3D. Now, however, Capcom has re-instilled in me the excitement that a new Street Fighter deserves. I am so insanely pumped to get this damn game!

Way to go dudes!

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Christmas in February: Ready Your Wallets

For those of you who still haven’t put your Christmas tree away yet, put the box back in the attic.

February is shaping up to be a legendary month for game nerds.

Here’s the lowdown on this months glut of gaming goodness...

Loco Roco 2: PlayStation Portable (February 10th)

Got the winter blues? Loco Roco 2 is good for what ails you. Sony’s follow-up to the 2006 original looks to spread more sunshine on the world with its sherbet visuals, peewee soundtrack, and addictive roly-poly gameplay.


House of the Dead: Overkill: Nintendo Wii (February 10th)

OVERKILL is the first game in the House of the Dead series to completely bypass the arcade (remember those?) and is also the first entry developed outside of Sega. Although coin-op fanboys may cringes at these milestones, based on what has been shown so far, OVERKILL looks to deliver.

The arcade was the grindhouse of the videogame world. House of the Dead: OVERKILL’s sleazy B movie-inspired aesthetics fit the series like a glove.


flower: Playstation 3/PSN (February 12th)

Thatgamecompany's flower is a tough sell—it’s a game were you literally play as a breath of fresh air. Poetry in motion indeed.

It’s doubtful that this game will set the sales charts on fire, but it is almost certain that you wont experience anything else like it this year.


Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned: XBOX 360 (February 17th)

Motorcycles gangs, brass knuckles and sawed-off shotguns—sounds like the ingredients to a killer video game.

It will be interesting to see how well Rockstar North incorporate episodic content into the sprawling world of GTA4. Liberty City is so dense and intricately detailed that it could be used as a digital back lot for many games to come.

Here’s hoping that somewhere down the road, Liberty City gets a taste of the zombie apocalypse. That, or giant monsters. Why not both?


Street Fighter 4: Playstation 3/XBOX 360 (February 17th)

There really isn’t much to say here. In February 2009, a new Street Fighter will be released. Hell has indeed frozen over.

Capcom has whipped their fan base into frenzy over Street Fighter 4 while simultaneously exciting the casual crowded who hasn’t touched a SF title since 1994.

Fighting games are making a big comeback in 2009. Hopefully gamers will put the shooters down to play a few matches.


Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?: PlayStation Portable (February 17th)

Never mind the fact that this is a spinoff of a 100+hour tactical JRPG nerd-fest. Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero is a 2D action side-scroller that wears it’s heart on it’s sleeve (or should I say flipper?).

What other game this year lets you play as a swashbuckling, pegged-leg penguin whose slash attack has more RPMs than an F1 car? Something tells me that Prinny CAN be the hero.


Noby Noby Boy: Playstation 3/PSN (February 19th)

Noby Noby Boy creator describes his upcoming budget PSN title as “the perfect break after winding down from a game of Killzone 2 and before starting up God of War 3." I think what he really meant to say was “give your eyes a rest from all that blood and brown by playing my game.”

If Soulja Boy thinks that Braid “aint got no point to it”, I cant wait to see his review of Noby Noby Boy.


Killzone 2: Playstation 3 (February 27th)

No month jammed-packed with a ridiculous lineup of promising looking games would be complete without a AAA FPS set in a doom-and-gloom future. Enter Killzone 2; Guerilla Games follow up to the series 2004 PS2 debut.

Sony shot themselves in the foot back in 05 when they unveiled K2 with a pre-rendered “in-game” video. It’s amazing that 4 years later, recent real footage of Killzone 2 not only matches the pre-rendered footage in graphic fidelity, but also maybe even surpasses it in terms of overall atmosphere.

Here’s hoping that Sony’s “Halo-killer” (remember that?) lives up to it’s unprecedented hype.

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