Street Fighter 4. I hear this game is pretty popular. Check those costumes out, I call safari Blanka. He's just so lovable.

First ars technica now this, Joystiq has cleaned up with a new layout. Little easier on the eyes, though I'm already a sucker for orange. The top border looks kinda janky I suppose. They also merged the console specific sites into it, no more separate fanboy pages. And... that's about it. Anyone have any classy anti Joystiq quips?

In preparation for Skate 2 on Wednesday, I've compiled the top 9 most viewed Xbox 360 clips from skate.reel into a handy youtube clip because the site for viewing them is quite awful. Hopefully the new one is better (although I wish they'd just bit the bullet and went with youtube uploading ala Spore).



Mind the choppy encoding, I got lazy.

Link, link 43mb!

Copy pasta:

"Yes, we’ll get to writing about games eventually. I promise. For now though, we have another hour and a half of us talking about them, in the second episode of the #1 podcast in the world (sure, it was brief, but I’ll throw out hyperbole whilst I can) Rebel FM.

Show description:

“Episode two finds us feelin’ fine, as special guests Shane Bettenhausen (who tells us where the hell he’s headed to work next) and Andrew “Skip” Pfister (King of All ‘Casts) join us to reminisce about our best/worst 1UP/EGM memories, and chat about our favorite games of last year. Infinite thanks for all the support.”

So there you have it. Shane tells us where he’s headed, I tell a story about clogging up a toilet, and Andrew gets so high on cat allergies that he mistakes an instruction manual for a reader letter. Good times, I tell ya."

OP: Rebel FM — Episode 2 — 01/13/09 (UPDATED)

Also, incase you don't check up on the site: "Thanks to you astoundingly generous people, we have received over $11,000 in donations — enough to buy new, awesome podcasting equipment, pay for hosting fees, and help us on our way to putting out the highest quality content we can in our post-1UP lives."

Does anyone else feel like a dick for not donating?

In lieu of a rambling blog on bigger picture topics, I thought I'd show off this trinket. Found from a video on Digg of some games from Phoenix Games, this game is really something else. I don't quite get how a publisher could take pride in calling themselves "The Only European Super Budget Publisher". At least it shows.

update:

RebelFM 01/07/09 (direct link - 75mb)

Ah, those 1UP folk are a resilient bunch, already coming back together for a podcast. I've been watching Suttner's twitter like a hawk waiting for this one. Not much left for me to weigh in on with that hasn't already been said, though the announcement post on UGO continues to provide lulz. I'm not quite on the same hate train that most other people are on, I just wish they'd stop trying to cover their tracks in such an evil corporate sounding way.

"But what many gamers have reacted to is an apparent loss of 1UP’s key podcasts, shows such as 1UP Yours and the 1UP Show. “I think you will continue to see video-casts and podcasts,” Moses said. “It may not be on the exact same schedule that it was. It may not be the exact same people. But it will continue being a part of 1UP.”"
-J Moses, CEO of UGO (mtv multiplayer)

I don't think he has a clue why people listen to podcasts, especially 1UP's (hint: tina and alice, nom nom nom). Hopefully RebelFM is a sign of better things to come, clearly we haven't seen the last of any of the laid off crew.

Now some music to soothe the soul:

1UP Show Themes