Welcome again to Down Right Fierce. I want to start off by thanking everyone who read and left comments for the first DRF. Good to see so many fighting game fans still out there.
Now onto the contest.
Congrats CaptainApocalypse, A winner is YOU! Check your PM's.
Without further ado, part 2 of games that prepare you for fighters.
The Burnout series
Burnout is all about one thing: risk vs reward. The same dynamic is present in fighters. Drive in oncoming/attempt a jump-in cross-up? Or stay in my lane/throw a fireball to push 'em back?
Platformers: 2D and 3D
It's all why, when, and how to jump. There's jumps, small jumps, double jumps, triple jumps, flying, unfly mode, air dash, and dive kicks. Moves/special moves can alter your trajectory whether it's Mario's butt stomp or Akuma's dive kick. Here's a good reason to pay attention:
(Thanks Scary Womanizing Pig Mask)
Platformers go especially well with my next point
SHMUPs
I love shoot-em-ups. While they sharpen your reflexes, that's not the reason they're included here. I want to talk about bullet hell, and the concept of the hitbox.
The little white dot is the hitbox. If enemy fire hits it, its over.
This is practice mode, believe it or not!
In bullet hell, your ship has a specific part that is vulnerable. The key to racking up high scores is to allow enemy fire to barely graze this spot. Pixel perfect positioning. This applies to fighters too.
Knowing the hitbox is the key to striking shallow, deep, or crossing-up to mess up their blocking. Here are a couple of video examples:
(TURN DOWN YOUR SPEAKERS! crowd noise.)
Sorry about the quality. Just watch from the 39 second mark onwards.
A really extreme example of the hitbox.
Know the hitbox, and you know where to strike.
Guitar Hero, or Rock Band, or any rhythm based game.
Timing. After all, a special move or a combo is nothing more than a timed sequence of button presses, right? Rhythm games also provide a great sense of tension. Trying to nail 100% on Through the Fire and Flames is the same as a final round do-or-die situation. For example:
(TURN DOWN YOUR SPEAKERS! crowd noise.)
That's it for this edition. Be on the lookout for more fighting game goodness next week.
Also, Should Dtoid fighting game fans have their own night? "Sweep the Leg" Thursdays or something? Leave your feedback in the comments.
Repost because I don't know how C-Blogs work apparently. Lukich, I have you earlier entry
Hi, my name is casualweaponry (casual for short) and I want to introduce a new C-Blog.
In Down Right Fierce (DRF for short), I want to break news of new fighting games, show some strategies, and also some hardware stuff. I'm in the middle of building a fighting game stick for the PS3, so the pics and vids of that will come in the near future.
I know fighting games aren't that popular, mainly because people think that they're too complicated. But for the average non-fighting game fan, did you know you've been cultivating skills all along that will help? Betcha you didn't, and I'll show you some examples via some of today's most popular games:
World of Warcraft:
I can hear you now: WoW isn't even a game. Technically it's not (I kid), but Wow teaches you a lot about attack ranges. Kiting an enemy in WoW is the same a executing a fireball trap or staying out of a character's throw range in a fighting game. Watch this example as Chun Li tries to stay out of Hugo's throw range, while Hugo tries to avoid Li's low forward to kick super art:
Team Fortress 2
TF2 teaches a couple of things also. First up strategy . Always attacking the same way in TF2 is going to accomplish the same thing that attacking in SF2 will do: nothing. This leads to my next point: tiers/counter characters.
Too many spies infiltrating your base and sapping your dispensers/teleporters/sentries? Smoke 'em out with a pyro. Got a sentry hiding just around a corner, and can't hit it with your rockets? Switch to Demoman and bounce some grenades around the corner, or switch to spy and sap it. Playing with the same character constantly is a bad idea. Know thy enemy; try all the characters in order to know what to expect
The theory of balance and counters are the same.You get the idea.
Devil May Cry 3/ Devil May Cry 4
These games are billed as action/adventure games, but make no mistake; DMC 3 and 4 are really fighting games! You have launchers, juggles, and evasive moves. But you also have deeper moves, like jump cancels, resets, and the oh-so-important parry in the Royal Guard style. Time it right, and blow bosses away in a single hit. Check out these Royal Guard vids:
No damage taken, crazy parries.
Agni and Rudra battle. Look for hints that attacks give away, and be prepared to counter.
Fighters share the same sense of timing, technique, and move execution that DMC3/DMC4 have. If you have a firm grip on the techniques in these games, then fighting games shouldn't be a problem for you.
Ugh, I made a tl;dr post that 99% of Dtoid won't read*. But here's the good part:
CONTEST
For the inaugural DRF, I will be giving away ONE FIGHTING GAME depending on what system you want it for. Enter by commenting. Wii owners will get Brawl of course**. I haven't decided what PS2/PS3/360 owners will get. Maybe Virtua Fighter or something. We'll work something out. One contest stipulation: winners must have been a Dtoid member as of yesterday at least.That makes it fair. Good luck and thanks for reading the last part at least :)
**I actually cut this short, expect part two in the near future.
**A gift card for enough for Brawl. That way you won't have to wait.
To paraphrase: EA is going to dumb down Battlefield, add a bunch of advertising, and make people pay for incremental upgrades. Play balancing, who needs that?
Quote from the NYT article:
“The existing Battlefield games are fairly deep; you have to be pretty good or you’ll die pretty quick,” Mr. Florin said Friday in a telephone interview from Geneva. “Now we’ve toned down the difficulty, shortened each game session to 10 or 15 minutes and made the visual style more cartoony.”
Its like Team Fortress 2, if TF2 had no strategy and its hand constantly in your wallet.
My favorite quote:
"Perhaps the prime candidate would be the company’s flagship Madden series, for which sales have slowed. Traditional versions of Madden are extremely complicated, but a simplified downloadable version would be expected to appeal to millions of more casual players."
I mentioned it in Destructoid's Rock Band review, but I'll repeat it (and expand on it) here:
I went to Virgin Megastore in Times Square because I was looking for UT3 Collector's edtion for the PC. I didn't have any intention of buying Rock Band HOWEVER,
They have a crapload of Xbox 360 Rock Band kits, as well as the standalone game of course.
At least 11 at last count. I guess they have PS3 ones, but I didn't notice, so sorry about that. So if you didn't preorder like me, but still want it,hit up the Megastore before they run out. Which I guess will be before this Friday.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I do not work for Virgin in any way shape or form, nor do I gain anything from anyone buying Rock Band there. I'm just sayin'
Reserve the game, and get a unlock code for a character skin (laym) and Unreal Tournament Anthology game for free (awesome).
So I walk up to the counter and let them know I want to reserve it, but they have no idea what I'm talking about.
I tell them its on their website, and they still give me a deer in the headlights look.
Why are 99.99% of Gamestop/Ebgames employess totally clueless?
Luckily, I only put down 5 bucks, because if I don't get my Unreal Anthology, I'll take my business elsewhere.
6:40 PM. I've been here for about an hour. I'm directly behind the scrabble guys. There's a guy in a Halo costume, and a red flag.
Sessler is here, as well as the Gamehead dude.
They are demoing the halo zune for the crowd.
6:48 one of the Jets football players is working the crowd.
Adam and Morgan get a huge pop from the crowd.
6:53 halo players only know 4 letter
Words.
Halo zune gets dissed lol
6:57 I just declared my undying love for Adam Sessler.
Halo gamefuel tastes like watered down robotissin
They are giving arm massages. No mention of happy endings :(
Guys, if you have any questions, hit me at casualweaponry@Gmail.com
I'm Blogging from my blackberry and cannot see any thread responses.
7:04 NOBODY wants any more halo gamefuel. Stop pushing it on us!
Got some sweet swag. A shirt, a hat, and mini poster.
7:10 I just did an audio interview. I dissed gamefuel in it. It was real subtle though.
7:15 Fuck, why are there so much best buy employees clogging up everything? Nerds aren't going to riot lol.
7:19 I've sold out. I'm wearing a gamefuel shirt.
Gamefuel is fucking terrible. They can't give this stuff away to the crowd.
Kotaku is in the house apparently.
7:27 just read the thread responses:
@blehman. I don't have to be out here, but it looks like fun.
Remember email me instead of dropping responses in the thread. I'll post the whole thing here.
7:31 dude from the new York times is here. And so is the king from Burger King. WTF? Why do these celebrities get to play before gamers?
7:39 drinking gamefuel. Nope still horrible. I'm hoping Adam and Morgan will work the crowd.
The next game with fame has started. The King, a retired Giants player, and a pregnant woman. The suckage is incredible.
7:43 gamehead is working the crowd. Geoff Keighly. Hope I spelled it right.
7:49 just declared my love for Sessler again. I think he's scared.
7:52 the Halo themed Pontiac Solstice is HOT!
Getting hungry... Not good
Whoa, they just debuted the new commercial. Is it new? This one takes place on a battlefield, with an old guy walking is through it.
7:54 Bungie is in the house. Got more swag.
Cnet is in the house. Also, I'm drinking gamefuel out of pity for the people slinging it. Declared love for Sessler again. Better give Webb some props next time.
8:05 fast hands net me a burger king gift card. Only worth 5 bucks but sweet anyway.
I'm getting hoarse from screaming for swag
8:15 just heckled the King with chants of big Mac, and I'm loving it. I think he have is the finger.
Bestbuy corporate is here, and frankly they're being a bunch of dicks. Not to the peeps in line but to employees. Suck it corporate, from a dude who used to work retail.
8:24 bb is making people put away their chairs and tables. The reason: because its getting close to Halo time. WTF? We still got like 3.5 hours until launch.
8:34 things have slowed down; not much going on now. All of the press have moved inside. Just BB employees and the Halo faithful remain outside.
8:38 a little perspective...
There are about 250 peeps in line. There were more in line for the PS3 and Wii I suppose. But there are tons of people inside BB, and random peeps just milling about on the street.
8:47 another Giants player is in the house. If they would have blown that game yesterday, this would be REALLY awkward.
9:00 starting to feel a little tired. May need a gamefuel IV.
9:10 gonna sign off for a bit. Wait a second...Sessler is working the crowd. Adam, what's about me!?!
10:10 gonna sign off now. Pretty dead out here, save the occassional T-shirt giveaway.
10:47 holy shit, Grand Theft Auto is in the house! They're giving away tees and sweet ass posters.
Haha, the best buy people are pissed! Totally cockblocking the GTA dudes.
11:07 Shane Kim is speaking inside the store. Dude looks cereal for real.
11:17 scored some GTA4 stuff. Sniper Niko poster is awesome
11:33 I'm snagging swag out the sky! Too slow bitches!
11:40 oh shit! Marines on mongooses in the street for real!
And a Halo H3 hummer. Troops deliver the boxes. Master chief invites the 2 front people inside. Master Chief gives them their copies personally.
That mongoose shit was incredible!
A nice little ceremony inside the store. Ludacris poses with the marines and Master Chief.
11:52 the countdown clock starts
The crowd has been awesome! Its good to have conversations with real gamers.
Haha riding brokeback. That's what the host said anyway.
12:00 we're going in!
Holy shit. Inside of BB is insane! They're treating is like we saved the president or something! Lots of pats on the back, and a free burger king gift card.
12:10 got my copy and some pics of the vehicles. I'm heading home. G'night.
Seriously, I was gonna do a big write-up on Spyro, blah blah yadda yadda. Most likely the first of many Spyro games, from the way they whore out these sequels.
Look, I drink. I mean I sell stuff on Amazon so I can say "look, I drink".
So while checking the prices on some stuff that I was thinking of selling, I hit on this little nugget. Apparently the price jump happened in the past month or so.
Damn, is Final Fantasy 7 rare now? Didn't the entire world already play through this game like 10 years ago?
Before any of you pull the trigger on these crazy ass prices, keep in mind that Japan churns out plenty of spiky-haired, androgynous rpg heroes every minute. Kinda like Mega Man games.
ESRB to re-rate ALL video games; Super Mario Brothers series given an AO for being a "Turtle Murder Simulator"
The ESRB has been on a tear lately. First they slapped an AO (adults only) rating on Manhunt 2. This gives a possibly mediocre game that would have came and left with little fanfare the notoriety it doesn't deserve. But now The ESRB is setting its sights higher; by re-rating every game in existence. I interview Lance Buttwhipple (pronounced butt-we-play, but-what-evers) outside ESRB headquarters.
"The ESRB is committed to bringing family fun back to gaming" states Buttwhipple, CHC of the ESRB. Curious of his official title, I asked to explain what The CHC does.
Buttwhipple elucidates:
"As you know, the members of the ESRB don't actually play the games that we rate. So in order for us to be in the proper mood to rate, the CHC was created. Chief Head of Concessions ensures that the popcorn is properly popped, coffee orders are correct, and that those inflatable hemmoroid rings are at their maximum PSI. Its not an easy job, but I take popcorn and butt comfort very seriously."
When asked to expand on some of the new ratings, Asswhipple had this reply:
"Super Mario Brothers had some of the most violent turtle torture I've ever seen. First you stomp them, then kick them into a bottomless pit. Also, the damage that can be inflicted with Kuribo's Shoe still keeps me up at night."
"We took a look at Custer's Revenge for the Atari 2600, and the sexual content was not even recognizable. But then we took a look at Custer's penis. After hours of study we discovered that it is 11 pixels long, instead of the 10 pixel penis limit in the regulations. That had to be re-rated as AO."
Buttwhipple was most happy with the ESRB's efforts at cleaning up the internet. "The ESRB is going to accomplish what the government and conservative groups could not, and that is the removal of filth from the internet."
I raise an eyebrow in disbelief, and ButtWhipple continues:
"Our initial efforts have started with a character named "Bridget" from the game "Guilty Gear". A sassy lass dressed as a nun of all things, we find that she is a little too scantily clad for a game. We have been collecting terabytes of her images in various compromising positions for research."
I raise my hand to clarify just who Bridget is, and at this point Buttwhipple's car arrives. Buttwhipple puts a hairy, calloused hand in my upraised hand, and bids me adieu.
He lowers the car window, waving his other hand, a slim manicured one. "We're keeping you safe" Buttwhipple yells as he rides off.
I ride off also. To find a vat of hand sanitizer.
I beat 3D Worldrunner bitches.
Top that.
Seriously though, I like games.
I have all 3 systems and a mid-range PC.
My favorite genre: fighting games, followed by FPS's
Live Gamertag: casualweaponry
PSN name: casualweaponry
Friend code: ?????
Feel free to add me to any/all of your gaming lists!
