Street Fighter IV

So effi'n stoked for this game. I've been a Street Fighter junkie since day one. i still remember going to the bowling alley when i was a kid, walking straight to the arcade and throwing myself into the Street Fighter arcade game. not SFII mind you, the ORIGINAL street fighter. aMAZing. it's pretty crap awful in retrospect, but it began my love with all things SF. then, one teenage afternoon, i remember heading to The Mine Shaft (R.I.P.) and seeing this new arcade cabinet.

Street Fighter II. OH. MY. GOD. was this the same game from all those years ago? it couldn't be! this was too new, too juicy, too beautiful! Dhalsim was the first character i ever chose, and i remember choosing Ryu, and then Chun-Li in the following battles. this was even before the days of placing your quarter on the screen ledge to call 'next'. what a glorious afternoon that was. i was ADDICTED to this game. riding my bike many a weekend with a pocket full of ones, up to the Game Room at Birdcage Walk. those were the days man. those were the days.

i was sure to visit my new best friend at least 1 weekend a month. i remember the joy i felt when i discovered Ryu's special moves were the same as the first game. i quickly applied the moveset to additional characters, and in that moment there really was no turning back. i've jumped headlong into any fighting experience Capcom can throw at me, and for the most part they've done me right. sure, there are a few stinkers, but the hits more that make up for the misses.

February 18th. Be Ready.

big red

i'm not really sure why, but the 'Big Red' song has been plowing through my head for the last 48 hours. i'm starting to get irritated, but at the same time, i just want to know WHY this song is in my head.

dag.

man, i lag TERRIBLY don't i? i have no cause to wonder to myself why my visitors are infrequent. i don't keep them entertained. or informed. which is a shame.

however, i DID play and finish Prince of Persia for the 360, and i dug it. a lot. some have chided it as being to easy, bot for me it was nice to have an experience where the character on screen was actually doing JUST what you wanted him to do. there are multiple paths through the stages which are a blast to run through. there is an option to teleport to areas you've already visited, but i found myself running back and forth just for the sheer thrill.

it's a gorgeous game as well. i'm a big fan of concept art, and to see it in motion was amazing. by the time i finished with the game i was quite satisfied. it didn't leave me feeling incomplete like some games can at the ending. speaking of, the ending really surprised me, and i'm really excited for what they think of next for the new prince. there are a few extras to 'unlock' basically just new costumes, but it's a nice addition. something different to look at the second time through.

i actually found myself wanting to play through assassin's creed just because of the altair skin.

Dead Space DLC

i awoke today to find an ad on my XBOX360, promoting downloadable content for Dead Space. i'm all for DLC, but at least make it worth my while for foot's sake. different color costumes and guns? that's BS. give me a new mode or level, don't just re-texture some shit and think that's enough.

then again, this IS an EA game, and they're known for bullshit like this so i shouldn't be surprised. i'm more disappointed really. i had a lot of fun in this game, and would LOVE to find another reason to spend MORE time, but new outfits aren't gonna do that for me.

Mirror's Edge

i started mirror's edge the other day and i must say it is one beautiful game. taking place in a gleaming white city with sparse patches of bold primary colors. it's quite intense, and nice to see when most other games just end up looking brown. (heres looking at you gears)

the training level seems on par with the demo which is good, but i've noticed as i progress through the game the quality of gameplay starts to slip. faith (your character) does primarily what you want her to do but i'm noticing that when i try to do the same thing repeatedly (as i often am doing) the results are different. same button, same order, same timing, same location: different result.

it's become quite frustrating. not so much that i want to stop playing, but enough that i do need to take breaks due to said frustration. i still feel compelled to play though. i'm hoping the story will pan out and become fully realized. there seems to be a bit of stalling, no doubt to extend the gameplay. it's not a new tactic, and this IS EA we're talking about. granted they've put out some damn good games in the last year or so.

back to the game. while i'm sure getting through the game without firing a gun is possible, i'll leave that to my second run through. most enemies can be run past, which is good considering this is a parkour (free-running) game. it's mostly the times when you're FORCED to fight that i feel the game starts to fall apart. disarms are possible, but the timing is odd, and the window of opportunity you have is a bit small. needless to say this is when i decided shooting enemies was going to have to happen. which is too bad.

so on to some good, yes?
the camera has never been an issue for me in this game and that's HUGE. also as i stated earlier, the controls are spot on a good majority of the time. i really though running and jumping in first person (to this extent) might be a bit weird, but i've played Metroid enough to get used to it quickly. (thanks retro!)
you can generally tell where you should be heading which is a good thing when speed is the name of the game. there are a lot of rooftops to run around on but not as many possible paths as you'd hope. yet it's still possible to lose your way from time to time. and in those times, a simple tap of the 'b' (or 'O') button points you to your goal.

i'd say overall it's worth renting. i've finished the game today and can say with full confidence i will not pick it up again. i don't miss the experience which is a shame. the first half of the game was fantastic, but the later levels drove me up the wall.
i give this game a C, maybe a C+.

a special treat

i'm going to post this to the sideboard, so it can be forever viewable.

votation

if you are of age and a citizen, you damn well better register to vote.  and then be sure to vote come november.  that's pretty much all i've got for now.  there is some cool tech news i wanna talk about, but that has no place in this post. (except for that bit there, and this bit here)