Man... I was just on my way home on the bus, listening to my iPod, when the track went from Jay-Z to the song for the end credits in Crisis Core. For those that have played & completed that game, know that the ending is an emotional headspin! Well, it was for me at least. So much so that it kick started a mental brainstorm of all the games that oozed a similar fragrance into my spongy heart. Yes, I'm feeling rather poetic today. I recalled on all the games that have made me feel like crap after beating it. Interestingly, it turns out all the games that cast the spell on me, have something in common. "What is it?", you ask?

Keep reading and you will see. Oh, and if you see a game that you haven't completed yet in the list, take care when reading because they may contain slight spoilers. So get your hand ready to cover your monitor if need be! This list is in no particular order.

Sonic Adventure: E-102's Ending

Yeah, this one really got to me. I developed a soft spot for the metal machine. He had emotions, just like you and I have. A robot with a cute blue birdy as it's core, has to have feelings! Anyway, I remember vaguely that the last boss in his storyline was his brother E-105? (Im trying to remember without checking wikipedia or scribblenauts...) Upon defeating him, he gets in the cheapest among cheapshots on E-102! The nerve! Our friendly robo, slowly walks away from his exploding brother and I cant remember to clearly but all I know is his theme song starts to fade in, as he 'dies'. Even though he still lives on as the bird that follows Amy during the super sonic campaign, it was still pretty emotional. I sobbed.



Final Fantasy X

I had to Youtube this one to remind myself of the gory details. Good thing i did, because this ending was a kick in the nuts. Even watching Yuna having to send the Aeons to the farplane, got to me. Shaking her head like a child in disbelief as Tidus says he has to go. Khimari calling her name as she runs to try and stop Tidus from leaving, only to fade through his body and hug the hard floor. The remix of the FFX theme song was not making it any easier for me. Must I say anymore? I whimpered.



Kingdom Hearts

I took weeks to get over this one. No joke. It's not so much that the ending is sad, its more of the fact that I loved this game so much, that I completed it in about 2 weeks. All side quests done, Sephiroth defeated & everything else. Then when it came to an end, I felt so empty. Spending 2 weeks in the world of Kingdom Hearts and loving every second of it, then seeing it come to an end was really hard for me to get over. All I remember is Sora on one side, Kairi on the other. Their trying to reach for each other, hands stretched out like Dhalsim. At the peak of the suspense, Sora says; "I'll come back for you!" Kairi screams back; "I know you will!" Then their hands let go of each other and Utada Hikaru comes right on cue with the vocals! That darn theme song! Even the lyrics matched what was going on in the scene. For months and months I would hear that song and be reduced to a pile of pink jelly. If anyone wanted to beat me up, all you would have to do is play that song and your sorted! Kingdom Hearts... I bawled.



Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The ending for this didnt make me want to cry inside. Segments of it did, like when you pull the trigger when finishing off the boss. However, this games ending made me angry, like, i felt it for Snake. (or Big Boss) They put him through hell! All the things he went through in that game, only for him to find out it was all a set up for America to get him to kill The Boss? (I think thats what happened!) And then to top it all off, the president tried to shake Snakes hand!? I remember looking at the look at Snakes face while saluting and I thought "Dont shake his hand, dont shake his hand." Can't remember if he did or not, but that ending fulfilled its intention. I clenched my fist.



Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

No need to go into full detail for this one. As a game, I didnt even like it much. The gameplay really didnt do it for me, and the sidequests were the definition of rinse & repeat. But the ending!? All I can say is, Zack is the Man! Cloud is a whimp and Shinra cock blocked Aerith, big time! The song still makes my heart sink. As it plays, I remember all the events clearly in my mind.
I wonder if you can see the pattern forming? What these games have in common? Yes or no, in the end, I grieved.



There you have it. My short but sweet list of games that made me enter an internal recession. Im sure there is alot more I am forgetting, but, 5 is a good number to end with.
As you may have realised, the theme all these games have in common, is that they all used music to deliver the coup'de grace. Sure every game has a track playing during the ending, but the songs played here were really heart wrenching. The timing they came in and what was happening on screen during its track length, all got to me. I guess this further solidifies the fact that music is indeed a powerful tool. If these endings had nothing but dialogue, they would not hold the same effect at all.

I would like to know, if any, what games made you guys cry inside, or cry out loud even. It's okay to admit it. Heck, if i was anymore emotional than I am now, I would of cried at all of these games and probably would of went out to go and beat up a member of the government due to MGS3!

JS\DKCJSDLOCSJDVKFNKV... Sorry, I just had to wipe my keyboard with a cloth because of the drool that I dripped all over it after reading the leaked Sega document. I must say, if this is true, which i think it is, then this is Sega's big chance! Their Excalibur, or maybe, their Soul Calibur!? :O
I myself was raised a Sega kid. My older brother bought Sega's line of consoles as we were growing up. Megadrive, Saturn & Dreamcast were all in my household on each owns day of release. So you could imagine I contemplated doing a backflip off my balcony when we heard Sega was to stop all hardware development. However, I soon came to accepting their logical decision.

Now we stand at this next turning point, with Sega about to sink their blue teeth into the PS3 with the possibility of Dreamcast games being released on the beast. Does this mean they can do what they see fit with the whole Dreamcast library? Or only the games they developed? I is not sure. What I do believe however, is that this is a chance for them to really blow the dolphins out of the sea. A thought crossed my mind: If they was to bundle Shenmue 1 & 2, onto one BlueRay Disc, (it wouldnt even need to be double layered) and released it for the ps3? Oh but wait, i just remembered it's going to be digital Dreamcast titles, so that means they will be releasing them via PSN? Still possible. BAM! Shenmue 1 on PSN, a month or two later, BAM! Shenmue 2 on PSN. Then, people who missed the legend of a game that is Shenmue, will be able to play and enjoy it. Can anyone guess the next step?



Yes-sir-ree , I reckon they could then start developing on a Shenmue 3, since one of their main reasons for not making a 3rd installment, was because not enough people played it and they would basically not profit financially from a 3rd game. However, I know this is still hoping high for this to happen. Realistically, Yakuza in my eyes is the spiritual successor to Shenmue, and thats already up to its 4th game coming soon. It sucks, but it always feels that the chance of a Shenmue 3 is just not going to occur. With this leaked press release though, those dreams of mine were stirred once more.
Well if we dont get to see Ryo Hazuki, ask around if anyone has seen a black car, then at least we'll get to play some of our old favourites again, possibly even in high definition.

aodcndjsdflmf;dsx... sorry, I drooled again when the thought of playing Tech Romancer crossed my mind. Playing that game over PSN at full volume, with the anime like soundtrack pulsing out of my speakers would be all i need for my University work to remain incomplete!

The word "Fair", is a common one, used in a variety of sentences. "My my, what a fair day it is today". "Daddy, can we go to the funfair!?". "I'm sorry sir, you don't have a valid ticket. Now you must pay the... fare...".. Okay, maybe "Fair" Isn't used in that many sentences. I bet the one line we have all heard in all places in all the years of our lives however, is:

"That's Not Fair!" ><"

Many times have we softly muttered this under our breath, or horribly screamed it to the top of our neck whilst throwing the pad at the wall nearest to the television. A friend of mine has burned through 9 PlayStation 2 pads just from throwing them in pure anger. Lets hope for the sake of him and his family, that joy-pads are never crafted out of sharp metal. It is no secret that games love to TEEF us sometimes (Teef being British/Jamaican slang for stealing) most of the time, it is the computer AI, or the single player mode, the last boss, the first boss, heck, even the games environment can Teef us when it wants to. Can anyone spell, lack of collision detection in the wall in an FPS? However, in light of all of these subjects, the most that me and "That's not Fair" has had a rendezvous, is with Fighting Games.



I always say to people, "no use complaining if you aint out to make the change." or "Just jump over the damn fireball if it's annoying?" Here I will try and teach fellow fighters how to embrace these "faults" since we are not the developers. It's either complain and waste oxygen, or play the game. Which ever camp you stand in, you are welcome to read on!

First of all, it would be good to head over to this post over on http://shoryuken.com/?p=1145 about the word - Fair. It's pretty cool and interesting how many different opinions there are about a balanced game. My posts are under the name 'Grimtail' (My FFXI character name :D) Lets pick a game. Eenie, meenie, miny, mo - Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. For those who follow tiers, we know that Chun-Li and Yun are basically the most perfect characters in the game. No, this doesn't mean they were born from a virgin mother like Jesus was, this just means they have the most advantages when compared to the rest of the supporting cast. It doesn't mean they are unbeatable. The way I like to describe tiers is to imagine that if fighting games were played by the Borg, then Chun-Li vs Sean would end in our favorite Chinese beauty as the winner. Robots run on a program. There is no stopping it unless you unplug it or tell it to find a key-gen from yahoo during the match. The Borg player would utilize all of Chun-Li's strengths and the other would utilize all of Seans, boiling down to a simple equation: Chun-Li > Sean. We as humans however, have many other factors that take effect during our gameplay. We make mistakes, we panic, we sweat (well i do) we sometimes try to show off, we press the wrong button, do the wrong move, choose the wrong super, and many other inconsistencies. So, a human could very easily change that equation to: Sean > Chun-Li. It just depends how much of a beast you are.



I love fighters. One of the things I adore about them the most is how, you can look at two good players go head to head, and if you know your stuff, to you, the match is so amazing because of how technical it is, but to any old bypasser, its just any old game. To become the dogs bullocks at anything, you gotta put in practice. Hours and days and weeks and months and yes, YEARS, of practice. So you want to walk into Evo or any local tournament and win the tourney with Dan? My advice to you, young Skywalker, is to learn him inside out and back in again. Even go on the internet and research his back-story! Find out his favorite color, what his hobbies are. Maybe he's single? Any rivalries? Any children? You need to know everything! Next, you must know thy enemy. This step takes very long, especially if your playing a game like Marvel vs Capcom 2, one of the most broken (but oh so fun!) fighting games Ive ever played. But, believe it or not, there are people out there who religiously play as the Ryu, Ken, Akuma trio or the Servebot, Megaman & Roll tag team, even though the top dogs of that game are basically the Marvel/Disney characters.... *cries*... They do it, to see how far they can go and also because it makes it even more fun. My brother once told me that games are supposed to be fun, did you know that? You as a little Zergling, must go up against the whole roster, taking notes to remember certain details. Maybe watch a few youtube videos. Get stuck into some forums, but equip your forum umbrella because alot of people talk alot of s*** on those things, so take care!

Whenever you feel comfortable with your character, test him/her/it out with some friends. Don't be a data-player or better yet, don't try to pretend you are a Borg. You need to have the approach of experimenting the things you have encountered. Are Iori's fireball recovery frames faster than Ryu's? Well, they definitely aren't now, after KOFXII... But still, you get the idea? You think Abel's reset works on everyone in SFIV? Maybe it doesnt? Maybe you can dash under Sagats high tiger fireball? Experimentation, is the key here. Another thing you dont want to do, is get attached to playing the CPU. They basically play like an on rail shooter and do the same thing over and over, so you gotta bring some friends over and get cracking at this! Which eases me into my next point of advice, which I am very passionate about.

GTFO of your house, and play in the arcades! Do NOT get too attached to playing online! Please! I say this because of many reasons, but in this context, i say it for the sake of bad habits. For one, no matter what game you are playing online, whether its BlazBlue and its amazing netcode or KOFXII and its no so amazing netcode, there is always a chance of lag, and as humans, we tend to adapt to the playing field. If you play online too much, the timing of your dragon punch will be quirky. The judgment of your start up frames could be wrong. The input speed of your combo might be way off. This all leads to bad habits, and then the one time you think your the dogs bullocks and go trotting off to your local arcade tourney full of beastly arcade only beasts, then your going to get your anus, anally beasted with a side helping of Beast and someone will probably be dressed up as Beast from X-men, just to make it that much worse. Do you want this? No you don't! Unless you have a strong heart & ego and can come back from such a terrible experience tenfold, then do so, but just to give you a heads up, playing in the arcade makes you a better player, in my honest opinion. Hide behind your Gamertags or PSN ID's all you want, but it is only by going into the heart of the community and playing with the best and those on-route to be one of the best, can you really achieve big things.



I'll tell you this: I have lost matches in the arcade because of how intimidating my opponent was, not because he was actually better than me, but because i feared him as a player. I had heard stories he was amazing and i had seen him play. Live up to the myths? Yes he did. He didn't blink while he played, his iron grip around the arcade analog was as firm as a shaolin monk. He was bald. The way he pressed the buttons was basically finger Tai-Chi. He had his own custom made fight stick, probably made out of dragon wood, and his nickname was Jafar. - For me, that was fear. Here comes the last nail in the coffin: He wasn't even that much better than me. I was Makoto and he was Yun. (SFIII) Out of my fear, I messed up so many grab opportunities, I failed to punish him when he made a mistake, I was afraid to get out the corner when he had me there and I even forgot one of the tactics I usually do with Makoto. Needless to say, I got owned. But not because of the character he was, but because of who he was as a player and as a man. If it was a game of manhood fighter, I would of died!



My point is pointing to this - Theres a lot more to fighters than characters, statistics, fireballs, etc. Fighting games involve mind games, trickery, baiting people out, controling the flow of the match, shaolin monks, fear, personality, and a wad of alot more. Not to say that, me being afraid of Jafar, means that it happens to everyone. Im sure there might be some players who wont let that effect them, but it doesnt change the fact that fear is a human emotion, as is with all other emotions. Some of these emotions can be toyed with in an arcade/tournament fighting experience.
Imbalanced characters in a fighter will always be around. Either because there will be humans that always take certain characters to levels that the developers didn't even know was possible, or because more and more games are just badly made. Whichever the reason, don't be a sheep and follow the heard of Chun-Li's, Magnetos, Storms and all the other over powered (or maybe, more explored) characters. If you wish to take your Bridget from Guilty Gear or your Dan from Street Fighter, to the top. It can be done. You just need to work on more than just the game. Work on yourself as a human being. Hows that for wisdom?!

What other experiences have you had with imbalanced characters? What is the most amazing thing you have seen a person using a typically under explored character do? Have any of you had similar intimidating experiences in an arcade setting? I'd love to hear the stories. :D
I hope you enjoyed my 1st ever blog post on Dtoid, and if you'll excuse me, I need to work on my finger press ups, for that Iron Grip!