Geeking Out in NYC - Part 2

Now for the exciting part: one of the most impressive arcades is waiting for you in the belly of Chinatown.

Geeking Out in NYC - Part 1

Seeing Rockstar advertise Red Dead Redemption on one of the largest billboards in Times Square it became clear how much video games have integrated with modern culture. Most would think that video games would be last on one's mind in New York, surrounded by an incredible mix of culture, food, and spirits. Should that be the case, you might miss a couple of gaming gems hidden throughout the big apple.

Gaming Outdoors: The Rise of Arcade UFO

While I was in town for GDC, I had to go by Arcade UFO and pay homage to the shrine of my youth. This time, I brought some friends from town with me in a hope to stir up that little bit of nostalgia I myself experienced last time. Immediately, one new cabinet that really caught my eye was DJ Max Technika, a touch screen based rhythm game, which was as addicting as it was complex. It basically plays much like Elite Beat Agents, except the touch screen is left to right on top and right to left on bottom. So as the "notes" appear on one row as you are interacting with the other row and you continue to circle around the touch screen as JPOP/JRock jams out on the digital display above you. There were also a couple new white "candy" cabinets, featuring the highly competitive Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Daemon Bride. For more information you can check there website out http://www.arcadeufo.com and see if anything peaks your interests. Also, not more than a few weeks later, it was revealed that UFO won the on-line competition with Stride Gum to Save the Arcades. You can check out the report here; http://savethearcades.stridegum.com/. This is fantastic for the city of Austin, because not only does it help to keep the arcade culture alive, but it helps to "Keep Austin Weird". How many other cities can say they have an authentic Japanese arcade? I am sure that $25,000 is going to go a long way in paying for some of the new cabinets they had recently purchased. My friends and I had a great time, especially because we could make that the last stop of the evening (Sushi and Drinks came first).Walking out from the arcade around 1 am, I felt a calming satisfaction being back in Austin for the weekend. I am sure I will come back and the next time will be even better.

State of the Industry: You Killed It!

Oh Sega, remember way back when you used to make hardware and there came this little white hope that would usher you in a new generation of on-line home video game consoles? And then you killed it before it had a chance to blossom?!! Well, I have not forgotten and with the 10 year anniversary coming up for the Dreamcast (9/9/09), I felt it would be appropriate to pay homage to the under appreciated genius of it.




From its quirky logo and ridiculous controller cord, the Dreamcast had all the potential in the world of becoming the next big thing, until Sony stole its thunder and sent Sega running to the software industry like no tomorrow. Sure, you still make arcade games Sega, but the idea of a home console designed by you seems like a distant memory. Speaking of arcade games, that is why I fell in love with the Dreamcast in the first place, because of how many of Sega's best arcade titles were so easily ported. I could go into an endless list of fighting games that made the system great, but rather, have chosen to explore some of the other unique games which made the console great. This is not a list of the best games the system had to offer. Its more of a list of the games that I remember fondly. Enjoy!



Sonic Adventure - has to be the last Sonic game that I not only played all the way through, but enjoyed at the same time! Think about it, when was the last time anyone could say that about a Sonic game? The characters were fantastic and the 3D models really got me excited about the Dreamcast's potential. Despite a unique take on traditional platforming of the series, the sense of speed was still fantastic. Don't forget the portable memory mini-game involving the Chao, probably not Sega's greatest idea, but ambitious. Sadly, Sonic would only begin to age worse as time went on and until they go to a 2.5D High Definition Sonic game, I wish this mascot the long sleep he deserves. If only to keep them from making another Wii game...




Jet Grind Radio - looking into how games have changed over the past 10 years, cel-shading has become almost common place. There are even new designs types to the genre of cel-shading as Gearbox Studios tries to interpret it differently (Coined "Concept Art Style") or Mad World, who did it all black on white with a red motif. Though anyway you slice it, Jet Grind was the first to do it in my memory and it fit perfectly into the DJ/Raver generation in which it was released. Racing around the shopping district of Shibuya, tagging, picking fights with rival gangs and the police were the staple of Jet Grind. And Beat with his iconic goggles, gigantic headphones and personalized t-shirt earned him a place in Sega's history.

Seaman - where do I begin with this monstrosity. Seaman was like a bad acid trip where somebody took the business model of a tamagotchi, the face of a Japanese salary-man and the personality of Oscar the Grouch, then slapped all this on a fish. Finish by having Leonard Nemoy narrate, now you have one of the most interesting games to date. The objective of Seaman was raise this little guy from a tadpole like state to a full amphibian, legs and all. But the charm came from your interaction with Seaman, where through a microphone you could teach your seaman to talk, respond and eventually critique your personal flaws. Ignore the game long enough and you would be greeted by one pissed off fish. Tell him to "eat shit" and he would defecate on your TV. Like I said, charming...





Soul Calibur - Fall in love with 3D fighters all over again. That is how this game came to the marketplace and sucked a couple hundred hours out of my life and and the lives of my friends. Sure, it is probably the easiest 3D fighter out there or at least the most approachable for the masses. But that only made it more entertaining, since anyone gun shy was immediately won over. The hardcore had to love it anyway, since it offered a ton of content ranging from a plethora of diverse characters, alternate costumes, unlockable art, multiple fight modes and lets face it, Ivy's breast. Stop looking at me like that... I mean, you played this game too, right? Nuff said.







Power Stone 2 - For round 2 on Capcom's 3D fighter, they added support for one of the best multiplayer functions to date, up to four challengers. This made the replay value on versus battle extremely high, packed with frantic multiplayer and some ridiculous brawling. Plus, adding new level designs, character models and weapons that dropped, helped to make the game feel fresh over its predecessor. I enjoyed this game much more than Smash Bros at the time, not only cause of the 3D environment, but I felt the graphics put Nintendo to shame. 10 years later Smash Bros has become Nintendo's competitive fighting game, while Power Stone is subjected to becoming a collection on UMD, for shame.

Play it NOW!: Shadow Complex

I am not going into the details on this one, its really a no brainer (despite the political controversy). Do you like the idea of a 2.5D Metroid, with fantastic level design, interesting game mechanics and golden guns; Hell, do you like the idea of getting the content of a disc based game for $15 from the convenience of your couch?! BUY IT NOW!!!

Screw Attack Wrap Up!

Ahh, that fresh convention odor, there really is nothing like it.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the ScrewAttack Gaming Convention in Dallas, TX. I had attended conventions like Akon or AllCon in the past, but this was to be a first for me and video game conventions. I was stoked. Getting there was easy, since it was only about 30 minutes from my house and I already knew the hotel since I attended a beer festival there last year. First thing I did once I got there was walk straight into the 7,000 square foot gaming room and played some Capcom Vs. SNK 2. It was perfect.Too bad I couldn't get a pic inside the room, my iPhone does not respond well to the dark. Anyway, scanning the room there were about 40 or so consoles out and most were rocking a cornucopia of fighting games, competitive FPS’, retro games and even some Beatmania (think Japanese DJ game). I was fairly impressed, but in retrospect, I had wished for too much.I was a little disappointed not to see more rare games; maybe a review copy of KOF12 or the FF13 demo. But there is probably a bunch of red tape for something like that. Although… they did have some Blaz Blue, which was nice. Also, spent a fair amount of time in the Gameworks sponsored arcade room. Gameworks has been on my shit list for years, having pulled almost every "classic" (featuring a joystick and buttons) arcade game out, and replacing it with generic racing games and rail shooters. But ScrewAttack did bring some nostalgia to the convention with a Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 cabinet, X-men the arcade game, Killer Instinct and even a Rainbow Edition of Street Fighter 2 just to name a few.




Of course conventions aren't all about playing games; they are a celebration of all things gaming. There were panels and discussions all throughout the weekend and I personally enjoyed the one hosted by Matthew White on “How to Get a job in Gaming, Without Being a Developer”.You should check out previous posts regarding the Jack Thompson Debate as well. Don’t forget a movie room showing all sorts of gaming in films, including some episodes of the old Mario Brothers TV show!! Man I loved that show... Then you had the Dealer’s Room, which was a bit of a disappointment, with only three major dealers, the ECA and some Japanese foodstuffs. I would have liked more venders to have come from the local gaming community, maybe some developers showing off what they are doing, selling some t-shirts, etc. There was a lot of Table Top gaming and many tournaments like the Iron Man of Gaming and numerous speedruns. All of which I am not competent enough in to be competitive. >_< OH! And let’s not forget those crazy cosplay kids, which really bring a lot of personality to conventions such as these. Here are just a few pics of the many cosplayers that attended.
.


All in all, weekend well spent! I really want to give huge praise to ScrewAttack and everyone that made this convention a success. Best wishes to all for a repeat next year, and with Austin GDC coming up in September, expect much more in the vein of conventions coming to TwoCanPlay blog

Thanks for reading!

Something I Picked Up the Other Day

Yeah... its real. Now when does Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 come out again? :-D

Gaming Outdoors: arcade ufo

My girlfriend and I went down to Austin this past weekend for a charity event and we decided to stop by a local arcade for a spin. Best idea ever! This Arcade is what cabinet gaming is all about. You enter into a small lobby which has your typical driving and shooting cabinets, with the bonus of their very own UFO crane machine, but it is to your left that you find the true gem that this arcade is. Two rows of sit down, Japanese style cabinets await you. Each containing some of the hottest games from the east, including the biggest reason to stop in, Street Fighter 4.

That's right! I have finally played it and was in love after the first hadouken. The graphics are astounding, game play nostalgic, and fighting system is a welcome edition after the variations seen in the Alphas' and Third Strike. In 4, they use a new "parry" system called a focus attack, which lets you counter one hit when in focus stance (hold mp+mk). The longer you hold the focus stance before you are hit, the harder the counterattack, which can stun your opponent, leaving room for you to finish them off with a super or ultra combo. You can also use the focus stance to stop mid-combo to save you combo meter and then you can dash in or out of focus. Did you get all that? Well, just think how confused your opponents will be after you can pull all this off. In any case, it was a treat and not the only new game I got to play. Besides the Cave shmups (my girlfriend and I played a little Death Smiles), I also tried some blazblu, capcom vs tatsunoko, and revisited arcana hearts 2. All very good and all exactly what I am missing. There were more games there, but not enough time and we had a future engagement. Please, if you're ever in Austin, make a stop at this location and drop a couple of dollars. Wouldn't want to see something like this fade away. Also stop by their website for details on upcoming tournaments, who knows, with SF 4 coming out in 2 days, I might be training for the next one. Here is the website.

http://www.arcadeufo.com/

STREET FIGHTER IV VIDEO APP

Ever wonder what you would look like in Street Fighter 4? Now you don't have to wonder, thanks to Capcom, you can find out yourself just by uploading a picture. Enjoy this short clip of me kicking Crimson Viper's ASS!

And you can do it yourself at this website http://www.streetfighter.com/myfistyourface/

DFW Gaming Convention Incoming

*

ScrewAttack, an online community for gamers which boasts original entertainment and news, has posted the early pre-registration on their website for the gaming convention being held in DFW this year. SGC will take place July 3-5th, 2009 at the Westin Dallas/Fort Worth Airport- only 3 minutes from DFW Airport. Prices are as follows:

Early Pre-Registration (through February 28): $30
Pre-Registration (March 1 - June 19th): $40
On Site Registration: $50 for the entire event or $20 per day

It should be a blast if we can get everyone in the metroplex out for 72 hours of gaming, and with a host of guests being anounced, there is sure to be something for everyone. Hell, just to get my picture taken in front of Ecto-1 is worth the badge. You can check out information about ScrewAttack and their convention through the following websites. Hope to see you there.

http://www.sgconvention.com/

http://www.screwattack.com/

*All images are courtesy of http://www.sgconvention.com/

Recommended Reading

For those calm sunday afternoons, when it feels good to get away from all the hustle and bustle of our weekdays, sometimes you need a good book. Being in grad school right now, I am kind of strapped for time. I can't imagine reading some Tolkien, while trying to cram a Consumer Behavior textbook into my brain, but I refuse to stop reading for pleasure. Information is like food for me, although if all I keep eating is these meaty textbooks, botulism will surely ensue. So, I picked up a new book from one of my favorite editors at Kotaku, Brian Ashcraft, who decided to explore the arcade ulture that has held the country of Japan captive for the past 25 years or so. Behold, Arcade Mania!

*

To me this book was more than just an "average" book for two reasons: first, I grew up on these cabinets. I can remember being in a bowling league when I was like 8, and in between frames I would run over and watch all the teenagers tearing up Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2. And then when I was in High School I worked at a go-kart park, occassionaly spending a night working the arcade, adding free credits to Killer Instinct and Virtua Fighter cabinets to feed my fighting game hunger. Second, I just got back from Japan in May, and I went to alot of arcades while I was there, so much so, that I would stop mid-chapter sometimes exclaiming "Oh! I have been there!" and continue reading as I walked down memory lane, wishing I was at a Street Fighter IV cabinet in a smokey basement in Akihabara.

For anyone living in the U.S. now, they know the sad state of our Arcades, considering anything mom & pop was pushed out of the market by these Gameworks and Dave & Busters years ago and who inevitabley has done a great disservice to the industry, by filling the floors with dedicated cabinets at $2 per play, while removing all the long standing fighting, adventure, and retro-games that we all know and loved. But this is not the case worldwide, because for all the rhythmically charged, robot flying, card based games existing in Japan now, there is still a calling for all types of games. From shooters to Majhong, in Japan, the arcades have evolved with the people and not only does this book feature historical aspects of the multiple genres that inhabit Japan's arcades, but it also explores the people who have helped create, inspire and prolong this cultural phenomenom. My favorite had to be player 4 "the beast", as I recall gathering around a friends computer back in 2004 to witness Justin Long beating the crap out of this guy ("the beast") only to have his super combo parried 15 times and die taking Shinryuken to the face.

Another great part about this book, was to see how much I had missed. I only spent about 5 days in Tokyo, so there are thousands of Arcades left for me to visit, and if I can see half of them, I will die fulfilled. All in all, this book has been a treat and already has me planning out my next arcade fix, half way around the world.

Thanks for reading.

You can purchase this book at Amazon.com here.

*Images provided by http://www.bornrich.org/images/brianashcraft_2_12.jpg and http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QM+RRfyiL._SS500_.jpg