Killa Blog

UMVC3: Undead Frenzy: Nemesis T-Type Combos, Resets, Keepaway Video

2011-11-27T03:13:00.002-05:00

Nemesis resets make me so happy. ^_^

Thanks, OneWingedAngel.

Teach me, Teach me How to Viper [MvC3 C.Viper Technical]

2011-08-07T22:22:00.003-04:00

It's time to face the cold, hard truth about my MvC3 team: It's not working.

I have leveled down from 5th Lord to 5th Ranger, simply because I am diving into Ranked matches at every opportunity. I was doing relatively well, beating a lot of high level teams, but falling flat against a number of opponents who were within my skill range. I'm not plummeting by any means, and my technical skills feel stronger than ever.

Taskmaster and Tron do ninety percent of the work in a given match. I can't envision winning any matches without that duo. Aim of Hawkeye and Gustaff Fire assist allow me to deal huge damage on characters trying to get in. Once in close range, Tron's assist confirms into big Tasky combos. It's solid, and I feel confident playing Tasky/Tron against virtually any team that comes up. I've been tacking on Hulk or Dormammu as anchors to make those dramatic Level 3 X-Factor comebacks, but ideally I would be in fewer dire situations if my team didn't rely on the anchor so heavily.

The tragic flaw of my Tasky/Tron/(Hulk or Dormammu) team is that once Tasky falls, I can only do so much with Tron. Normally I just fish for hits and go for damage while trying to earn and save meter for the anchor. Tron dies, anchor comes in, hopefully avoids the initial mixup, and then uses level 3 X-Factor and the stored meter to wreck shop. Great, when it works. But when a team kills off Tasky and then lames out Tron, well, not so great. I end up with a team that has no potential to open up the opposition, and runs out of time or dies trying to get in.

Also, with the UMvC3 changes being a looming reality, I have to consider that: (1) the DHC glitch is non-existent, so the big damage Tron/Hulk combos I've displayed in this space before are worthless, and (2) aerial X-factor makes my Dormammu chip setup less viable. I first pondered a new anchor, but then began to look for a different team concept, one favoring a scenario that involves me winning.

After watching Evo 2011, I'm taking a page from the book of PR Balrog, and opting to go for two strong, synergistic point characters (Logan and Dante, in Rog's case) with a powerful defensive assist (Tron) in the anchor slot. Once the first character is defeated, the strategy changes very little, still using the remaining point character to engage, backed up by the Tron assist.

I am starting to learn C.Viper, and hope to have a competitive Viper/Tasky/Tron team at some point. Becoming proficient with Viper is a daunting task. I've started at page one in the SRK forum Viper thread and I feel like I'm beginning to grasp the mechanics behind her combos. Theoretically, this team has all the tools to win, and with more lab time my Tasky and Tron will definitely be where they need to be, but the variable is whether I can get my Viper up to snuff.

So there's the big announcement: my official declaration of my intent to learn Viper. What follows are some notes I've gleaned from the aforementioned thread, that I will keep handy on my blog for future reference.

First off, learn to rapid fire Seismos. It's simply Seismo, super jump cancelling into another Seismo. Duh.

f, d, df + Atk, [f, d, df, f, uf + Atk] x n

Next, learn the box dash loop. Similar in principle in that we're using a super jump motion to cancel out of the Seismo, but in this case allowing the super jump to come out, and immediately airdashing forward into H, S, land and link M, H, Seismo, repeat. How easy is this?

L Seismo, IADF j.H j.S, (land) M, H, L Seismo, IAFD j.M, j.S, ...

Third, learn this throw/air throw combo with Tasky assist from Chrisis. Gotta be able to get damage off a throw. Will have to learn to H Thunder Knuckle~Feint on Hit as an alternative to S launching. Okay.

Throw/air throw, L Seismo, IADF H, S, (land) M + Assist, H, M Knuckle (Task hits), H Knuckle~Feint, jc, j.M, j.M, j.S, dj, j.M, j.H, j.S, EX Burning Kick, (land) S, j.M, j.H, dj, j.M, j.H, j.S, (land) L Seismo xx Burst Time (DHC)

Finally, step up to Viper guru Gottnoskill's execution exhibition. Two H Thunder Knuckle~Feint loops and two box dash loops, with a relaunch. Nothing to it.

Tri-dash j.S, M, H, S (1st hit), H Knuckle~Feint, M, H, H Knuckle~Feint, M, H, L Seismo, IADF j.M j.S, (land) M, H, L Seismo, IAFD j.H, j.S, (land) M, H, S, j.M, j.M, j.H, dj, j.M, j.M, j.H, EX Burning Kick, (land) S, j.H, dj, j.H, j.S, (land) L Seismo xx Burst Time (DHC)

I'll be in the lab for awhile. Don't bother calling.

Oh yeah. Don't forget to learn the infinite.

And here is some gratuitous girl-on-girl (MarlinPie vs KBeast FT5 at Evo2k11).

Don't You Know Any Other Moves? [Taskmaster UMVC3 Charge Sting New Move]

2011-07-24T22:22:00.001-04:00

Looks like Tasky may have forgotten the events of Vanilla Marvel Vs Capcom 3, 'cause he just learned a new move!

Not sure if you can combo into Charge Sting, but reportedly and logically you can cancel Shield Skills into Charge Sting, allowing you to combo on hit, and catch opponents trying to punish Shield Skills on block. (You could do this with the arrow or counter special before, but hopefully CS will be safer.)

Also, allows a free Hyper arrows afterwards as well.

Here's hoping Taskmaster is buffed all around. He's by far best character in MvC3, and I'd love for my experience to give me a leg up if he happens to fall in God-tier in UMVC3.

SSF4 AE NCR HIGHLIGHTS

2011-06-20T00:38:00.000-04:00

Surge of the Intent to Put Lego on Blast Awakened in Killa [SSF4 AE Hype Evil Ryu]

2011-06-05T22:22:00.000-04:00

Not so long ago, not unlike the Treaty of Tordesillas, Legoman decided we needed to preemptively pick teams, as it were, amongst the four new roster additions of the incoming Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition downloadable content. With the same breath, Legoman called dibs on Oni. (beat)

While I naturally had a desire to investigate Oni's EX crossup, and was absolutely scintillated by the possibilities of the air Demon, I was resolved to abide. In doing so, I have begun to wrap my mind around Evil Ryu, or as our friends overseas would call him 'Satsui no Hadou ni Mezameta Ryu'. A more literal translation would be, the 'Surge of the Intent to Kill Awakened in Ryu'.

We'll stick with Evil Ryu for brevity.

First thing to note is that Evil Ryu has the same health and stamina as Akuma, so pretty goddamn bad, but not the worst. He does not have Akuma's air fireball or demon flip, but he does have the teleport and a command dive kick, but with a lower activation point than Akuma's. He also has both his normal Hadou and the Shakunetsu hadou (aka red fireball). He has a faster walk speed and a much better forward dash than regular Ryu, allowing for Focus Crumple, delayed cr.Short into dash under reset on most of the cast, allegedly. It is also widely reported that he can juggle short Tatsu to Sweep on only five members of the cast.

His crouching forward is more akin to Ryu's in 3s; it advances him, making [cr.Forward xx Hadou] combo from any distance, and making it an excellent block string. The most notable new inclusion is the standing axe kick aka Dragon Stomp (DS). You can combo into the forward version and then plink into low strong to continue the combo. The EX version hits overhead and gives an untechable knockdown. Roundhouse version gives the untechable, but can be blocked low.

Meterless staple combo should be something along the lines of [Dive Kick, cr.Jab, cl.Fierce xx forward DS, cr.Strong xx short Tatsu, Shoryu]. Three meters should allow [cr.Forward xx forward DS, cr.Strong xx EX Hadou FADC U2] for some flashy, high damage action.

More generally, I am also looking forward to God Tier Yun, Cody's three frame cr.Short, Akuma's [Fierce xx Teleport xx U2], and also the general buffs to formerly trash tier Makoto and Hakan.

Watch your back, Lego.

Dim Mak [Tron / Hulk / Akuma - Touch of Death DHC Trick MVC3]

2011-05-21T18:19:00.001-04:00

[j.H xx H Drill (mash) - M xx f+M - j.M - j.M - j.H - H - S - j.M - j.M - j.H - j.S - d+H + Tatsu Assist - H Beacon Bomb - j.H - j.S - L Beacon Bomb - King Servbot DHC* Gamma Quake - S - j.M - j.M - j.H - j.S - L Gamma Wave xx Gamma Crush]

Touch of Death on any character in the game. (1.3million+ damage)
Works midscreen (carries opponent to corner).
Requires 1 meter at start of combo. (Can kill off of a First Attack.)
Builds 2+ more meters, expends 3 total.

{Learning an extended combo like this is like learning to play a piece of music. Visualization, muscle memory, and audio cues all play a part.}

I am still trying to get the most out of the King Servbot-Gamma Quake DHC trick. I extended the initial Tron series to get as much damage as possible before the Delayed Hyper Combo resets the damage scaling and hitstun decay. This version can kill any character from the start of the round as it only requires one meter to start, yet builds enough to use three hypers. The Gamma Crush finisher is only necessary for the top tier of health characters; without it, the combo uses 2 meters to do 1.1 million damage. A large portion of the cast cannot survive the DHC trick, anyways. Obviously characters that can easily avoid Tron's j.H (i.e. Amaterasu) will need a different approach.

I still haven't gotten the hang of using Dormammu's Dark Hole to combo after Tron's OTG d+H, so I subbed in Akuma. Almost any lockdown assist should work here (Skrull Tenderizer, Chun Legs, Sent Drones, etc.) to setup the Beacon Bomb, but I have found the hitstun on Akuma's Tatsu to be the easiest with which to work. Some assists leave the opponent too low for H Beacon Bomb; L Beacon in it's place does not allow for the extra j.H before the final j.S, but again the damage difference is negligible. The groundbounce into the second Beacon Bomb is actually necessary, allowing time after Akuma's assist so that Hulk is available for the DHC.

I have a more practical version that is more reliable for online play, and I confirmed it works on both Zero and Shuma Gorath, notable for their small and wacky hitboxes, respectively. I consolidate the Tron segment from

[...Drill - M - f+M - j.M - j.M - j.H - H - S - j.M - j.M - j.H - j. S ...]

to

[...Drill - M - f+M - j.M - j.M - j.H - S - j.H - j.S ...]

but I only gained meter build, not substantive damage.

(Kinda proud of this one. Definitely puts the other combos I posted to shame.)

Ant-man is good people

2011-05-11T22:13:00.000-04:00

Trickery [Tron / Hulk / Skrull DHC Trick Touch of Death Combo]

2011-04-17T20:14:00.008-04:00

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[H Mixer, OTG cr.H + Skrull Tenderizer Assist xx Bandit Boulder, H Beacon Bomb, j.S, L Beacon Bomb, King Servbot DHC Gamma Quake, S, j.M, j.M, j.H, j.S, OTG L Gamma Wave XX Gamma Crush DHC Lunch Rush DHC He Loves You]

152 Hits
1.4+million damage
Burns 5 Meters (972k with only 2 Meters, 1.28mil with only 4)
No X-Factor

DHC from King Servbot to Gamma Quake before King Servbot hits, or else the opponent will flip out due to hitstun during Hulk's air combo, if you can even hit the launcher.

Stopping at Hulk's OTG Gamma Tsunami nets 972k damage for only 2 Meters. I think Lunch Rush kills Thor with four meters, so the fifth for He Loves You is just for kicks.

Adding the Beacon>King Servbot>Gamma Quake setup increases the damage potential of my Tron and Hulk immensely if Tasky is down.

The Shakedown [MvC3 Online Technical]

2011-04-13T22:22:00.001-04:00

Tasky/Tron/Hulk is back in the groove. A few days under the weather really cut into my practice, and my muscle memory all but went to shit. Things are improving now, with a couple of consecutive strong days behind me.

Notable highlight: Had two ranked matches against a Master Lord Zero/Ammy/Phoenix team that was boasting over 1700 wins. (I'm floating around 250 wins at this point, and the game has only been out for two months, so this should give some perspective on the dedication of this Phoenix player.)

In the first match, I came out of the gate strong with Tasky and the Gustaff Fire assist, putting a hurting on his Zero and Ammy. Ended up coming down to Hulk and Dark Phoenix battling it out, and I was edged out by the sheer madness of her black chaos.

Got the rematch a few minutes later, and it started similarly, with me coming out of the gate strong nearly wiping his first two characters. That's when he wisened up and snapped in my Hulk, caught me in a mixup, and sent Dr. Banner packing. Tasky, Zero, and Ammy got knocked out subsequently, and we were down to his Phoenix and my Tron. I got a few hits in, nearly triggering the transformation, and then backed off as I would have only had to play about 20 seconds of keepaway for the W. Not liking the prospect of getting beaten on a time over, his Phoenix used X-Factor and burned one meter to activate her healing shield, in an attempt to recover enough health to put the pressure back on my Tron. His Phoenix then tried to build back her fifth meter with some teleport and rushdown, however TRON WAS NOT HAVING THAT SHIT. Once I got a solid block in against his low series, I saw the opportunity and snatched it. I X-Factor cancelled out of my guard stun and activated Tron's Level 3 grab hyper Shakedown Mixer, which snagged his Jean and did more then enough damage to put her down for the count. Shakedown gave her the fifth meter back, but since the move is considered one hit (or something), the Dark Phoenix transformation didn't activate. Tron plopped back in Gustaff and had some post-K.O. chuckles: "Aahaahaa!"

I've seen a disproportionate number of people in the higher ranking echelons running Phoenix. This is actually quite fortuitous, as the more experience I can get against good Phoenix teams, the better. I am not confident in my ability to hit a proper snapback combo and then finish off Marvel Girl before she can hard tag back out. I usually prefer to focus on clobbering the first two foes, and then hopefully having enough left in the tank to confront Dark Phoenix. It is essential that I save my X-Factor, though, because Hulk (or Tron, in the above example) will need it.

Using X-Factor to cancel guard stun and then immediately activating a hyper is an underutilized tool in this game, at least, I think, in online competition. Often times if I end up one-on-one with my Hulk versus Sentinel, I will allow myself to be put into block stun in the corner, and wait for a big slow normal like frying pan so I can X-Factor cancel into Gamma Crush. Yesterday I also punished a Chun Li with my Taskmaster by X-Factor cancelling guard stun from Hyakuretsukyaku (Lightning Legs) into his Secret Move counter. A savvy player could save their Chun in this instance by X-Factor cancelling out of Legs, and then using anything that would beat the counter, but this requires quick reaction, and the willingness to use X-Factor to save Chun. Not quite as attractive as burning it to kill a character.

I am seriously considering dragging my team up to Xanadu in Baltimore to see how I measure up. I had said I wanted to tighten up a few things, specifically my Hulk OTG (sans Hyper), at which I have admittedly gotten better. My Tron and Tasky combos could use some tightening up as well, but I've been pretty scrappy lately, and I think I may be better off than I think. Guess I won't know till I go.

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http://www.justin.tv/offcast/b/283672426 ClakeyD vs Viscant at 1hr47min - Clakey hits She Hulk XFC->Hyper Throw vs Phoenix; (misses w/ Tron)less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyKilla
killanthropy

Tron - Drillin' Like a Villain [Tron MvC3 Kill Combo]

2011-04-09T19:25:00.005-04:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

[Tasky alpha assist > M Beacon Bomb > H Drill xx King Servbot > H xx Lunch Rush XFC H Drill (mash) > H, S, j.H, j.S, cr.H + Hulk beta assist]

80 hits
1.3million+ (enough to kill any character in the game)
Builds 1.5 meters (not bad)
Burns XFC and 2 meters

It's a very easy execution combo off of Tasky's assist containing two H Drills and two Hypers with an OTG into Hulk. As you can hear, all the links are 100% mashable. Just mash it till it works.

Let Me See That Tron [MvC3 Combo Notes]

2011-03-04T22:22:00.004-05:00

Tron Extended	j.H, H Drill, M, Gustaff Fire, j.L, j.M, j.H, (land), j.M, j.M, j.S, (land), S, sj.M, sj.M, sj.H, sj.S, (land), A2, Beacon Bomb, Servbot Beatdown, H, Lunch Rush
Tasky Rushdown	cr.M, H, Spidey Swing, j.M, j.M, Spidey Swing, j.M, j.M, j.H, (land), Shield Skills, S, sj.M, sj.H, Vertical Hyper Arrows
Pool 2x Quick Work	L, M, H, H Quick Work, L, M, L Quick Work ~~(Cuttin' Time??)~~

As they say, no rest for wicked. Finally got my 100 ranked wins, but this only means it's time to stop punishing scrubs and to start getting down to the ol' nit'n'grit.

The team that earned me those hundred ranked wins (Hulk, Tasky, Pool) is being put on the back burner while I work on a more versatile, more powerful team. I've put Tasky on point and I'm retraining myself to execute his powerful rushdown in contrast to my lame keepaway methods of yore. Tron is in for her high HP, and her long combos. Deadpool is keeping his anchor spot for now, though I need to work out a few assist situations, and I may find I don't need him for his quick OTG.

The extended Tron combo is something akin to Clakey D's signature sequence. I've yet to master the rejump, but another round or two in training and I'll have it. It builds a lot of meter and does respectable damage. For the assist (A1) after the OTG (cr.H), I am hoping Tasky's Horizaontal Aim Master assist will function like Sent's Charge Drones in setting up the Beacon Bomb. If not, I will likely rework the end of the combo in to something akin to [(land), Pool OTG Assist, Beacon Bomb, H, Beatdown, H, Lunchtime]. Will probably need some fine tuning. [UPDATED: Yep. (land), OTG Assist, Beacon Bomb, Servbot Beatdown, H, Lunch Rush.] I didn't include it, but there's always the option to DHC Lunchtime, or XFC into another Lunchtime.

(Without Hulk on point, I don't need Tasky's Parabolic assist to accompany my Gamma Wave spam.)

For the Tasky rushdown, it's tough to reliably hit the [Shield Skills, S] against some characters, and it is vital to superjump vertically to stay with the opponent. Against a big hitbox like Sentinel, I can actually go into another Spidey Swing instead of the Shield Skills, and keep that sequence going a little longer, though hitstun decay haunts the end of that combo.

I was messing around with some Deadpool combos to give me more options up close. I found that double Quick Work combo to be pretty flashy, but I have yet to test if I can tag on a Cuttin' Time Hyper after the second QW. Here's hopin'. [UPDATED: Nope.] Also of note, Cuttin' Time DHC to Parabolic Hyper Arrows is stylin' sweet, though it's easy to mix yourself up and activate Tasky's Hyper Counter instead. (It doesn't look very pro...)

KILLA SMASH [MvC3 Progress]

2011-02-26T22:22:00.000-05:00

So, I know KB has been quiet lately. MvC3 is here. Connect the dots.

I am proudly reporting a 55-6 record in ranked matches at the moment. (I had started 10-0, went up to 19-2, and then had chalked up four more losses on my way to 37-6. Since then I've enjoyed an 18 game win streak.)

My ranked team is Hulk/Tasky/Deadpool. I commence nearly every match the same way: spamming H Gamme Waves and calling Tasky's Parabolic assist constantly, forcing most opposing teams to try to find a way in, and typically taking decent damage in the process. Eventually they resort to super jumping over my zoning, which prevents them from seeing Hulk's hyper-armored H intercepting their jump-in. From there, the games begin.

Catching an opponent in the aforementioned armored standing H gives a ground bounce, resulting in a combo along the lines of [H, cr.H, S, sj, M, M, H, S, Gamma Tsunami] and then DHC into Tasky and Pool's projectile Hypers if meter is available and the damage is necessary. If I am fortunate enough to have them in the corner following the super jump S, I OTG with Deadpool's Katana-rama assist, popping them up for Gamma Crush (which is significantly more damaging than Tsunami). I also use Hulk's [jump-in H, S] or the Anti-Air Gamma Charge bounce to start the sequence.

After Hulk has bullied one of them into nonexistence, I typically play a really lame keep away game with either Tasky or Deadpool, building meter and getting in as much free damage as possible. The opponent will often get desperate to get back in at this point, and, when they do, I usually bring Hulk back in to clean up at close range. Once I've trained an opponent to fear Hulk's armored normals, they're ripe for being command grabbed, which sets up Tsunami DHC into whatever else.

It is a cheap, lame, dickish way to play the game, but if there's one thing I know about the Marvel series, it's that a smart opponent will never hesitate to win through any cheap, ruthless, unsportsmanlike means possible. Dark Phoenix stall teams can be problematic, mostly due to my tendency to stay with my lame zoning too long into a match. The few teams that can outplay me in keep away (normally teams repping Arthur and/or Dormammu) likewise tend to be troublesome. I've run into a couple of solid rushdown teams, and in particular one of my last few losses was against a very capable Wesker/Dante combo. The vast majority of teams I face are really weaksauce rushdown (typically Wolvie/Dante/Akuma) and my above referenced strategy makes short work of them.

I had Super-Skrull in the line up because he is so cheap and easy. I received a number of messages from a displeased individual on the receiving end of these tactics, that repeatedly called me a "cheap pussy" for using Skrull, so I dropped him from the line up in favor of Deadpool. But, for the record, Skrull's teleport into 'He Loves You' (Inferno) is, like, braindead easy. I would still use him against a troublesome Sentinel, I think.

So far Legoman hasn't really gotten into the groove as I have, which I'm sure is due in no small part to my prior experience with the VS series, as well as the tremendous amount of time I've spent with the game since release. I am sure he'll find his niche given more time with the system. In our one foray back to SSF4 since MvC3's arrival, he dominated every match up except for Cody vs. Honda, which I came away with somehow.

Back to MvC3, I'd like to become proficient with more of the cast. I want to learn Phoenix so that I can understand how to counter the Dark Phoenix transformation, and can employ the strategy myself if necessary. I also would like to learn a rushdown character (probably Dante or Wesker) to diversify my team, as that could both speed up easy wins, and give me more options against lame stall/keepaway teams. I've been impressed by both Weskers and Dantes for their ability to teleport passed zoning defenses.

Stay tuned for more. Also, I'm K1774771K on PSN, if you're looking to get fucking smashed.

Odds and Ends: Year of the Rabbit Edition

2011-01-05T22:22:00.001-05:00

First off, My man HebeGB threw down some heat to cap off 2010 on Dirtbox Radio. You can grab the recording from the Dirtbox Radio archives or directly here.

Secondly, last I battled Legoman, the impending arrival of his blushing bride and some distractions arising from his distribution gig may have taken his eye off the ball. Leave it to Killa to make the most of the situation. We played only three matches: Dudley vs. DeeJay, Makoto vs. Dhalsim, and Cody vs. Honda. I won all three.

Step ya game up, Lego.

I feel like I can maintain optimal spacing in the Honda match better than before. Fake rock and roundhouse Ruffian keeps him guessing, and I've started to take more control on the ground from midscreen, readying Bingo to punish his Focus attacks, or using Crack Kick > EX Criminal to stuff most of his other advances.

Thirdly, Phoenix and Mike Haggar were revealed today for MvC3. Looks like the Lupinko list I inscribed here is dead on. If they're going to throw a curveball, it better be soon. I think the only surprises will be the DLC down the road. The Dark Phoenix mechanic, seen at about 0:50 in the clip, seems really cool. And, as I stated before, I would've taken Alex or Cody over Haggar.

Finally, as expected, I've picked up Caitlyn, the new sniper champ in League of Legends. (Not Legal Legends, ffs. Due to my poor pronunciation a couple of cohorts assumed I was playing a multiplayer online courtroom drama, to which I objected.) Took me a little while to wrap my head around the build. At this point, she is strong, but requires a high degree of discretion. I'm running armor penetration quints and marks, and mana regen per level seals and glyphs. Masteries are 9/0/21 for cooldown reduction and movement speed. Ghost and Cleanse as summoner skills for escapes.

I start her with Doran's Blade and one health potion. From there I buy the new CDR boots, then Brutalizer, then Phage. I then ditch the Doran's to make Black Cleaver, then upgrade Brutalizer to Ghostblade and Phage to Frozen Mallet. This set inflicts a lot of damage on enemy champs she can outrange, as every hit lowers their movement speed and armor. While this doesn't always set up a kill, it does disincline enemy champs from trying to take her on directly.

The concept artwork is by Eduardo Gonzales, who also did the Miss Fortune concept design I liked so much.

It's Not Over Yet [Best Videos of 2010 Street Fighter]

2010-12-31T23:22:00.003-05:00

The best videos in the Street Fighter world from the past year, for your enjoyment.

The Combonauts Zero Damage series of combo vids are very original. Credit to them for doing something no one else has done. This third one (embedded) has some really flashy stuff with double Seth, double Rose, and a great Ibuki-Juri scene. Hot.

Start this one at the 8:00 mark, there are a couple of moments in the last two matches, notably Warahk's reverse Super to Ultra, and Tatsu going taunt crazy in the final round. This may not be a big tournament final, but it's an extremely exciting and very competitive match.

Marn knocking Daigo out of Seasons Beatings Redemption. The most hype SF moment in quite some time, and it wasn't even Top 8.

Previously mentioned here on Killa Blog, Tokido's Top 8 match against Clakey D's Ibuki at SCR, including Tokido's godlike projector pose.

Happy New Year.

Better Early [Killa Blog GOTY GAME OF THE YEAR 2010]

2010-12-31T22:22:00.045-05:00

What's Killa Blog's Game of the Year? (It's pretty obvious when you look back, just like it was last year...)

(Please keep in mind all games involved with KB GotY are games that I've played and were released in calendar '10. League of Legends was released in 2009, making it ineligible, even though I didn't play it until 2010. Starcraft II should be a huge presence, but I didn't play it, so it's not up.)

GAME OF THE YEAR: Super Street Fighter IV

Well, if this isn't a weak knock off of last year's KB GotY's, I don't know what is. Vanilla Street Fighter IV dominated last year, and its Super upgrade keeps the industry's most uncoveted award on lock. SSFIV featured ten more fighters than its predecessor, (two of which were completely new), a new Ultra combo for every single character (and two for Gen), and the relatively unnoteworthy new locales and the return of bonus stages.

I'll have to take a look, but I've likely dumped even more hours into SSFIV than I did Vanilla, and my rivalry with Legoman has only intensified as our execution and overall gameplay has leveled up considerably. While we both still enjoy some Tekken or Soul Caliber when a guest suggests it, by default, the game we play is SSFIV. I don't know how things will change when Marvel 3 drops in February, but I have a feeling if the pendulum of playtime does swing away from Street Fighter, it'll swing back right around the time Arcade Edition DLC drops. (Smart Capcom.)

Super edged out some strong contenders including BioShock 2, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, and Final Fantasy XIII. I never played Mega Man 10 or Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker as I had intended, but that is emblematic of my gaming this year. BS2 and FFXIII were the only singleplayer games I chose. The rest of my gaming was devoted to competition, either LoL'ing with Big Sis Prinny or testing my Theory Fighter against Legoman and the trolls of PSN.

To review:

BEST NEW CHARCTER DESIGN: Juri (SSFIV)
BEST NEW ENEMY: Big Sister (BioShock 2)
BEST NEW LEVEL: Taejin's Tower (FFXIII)
BEST NEW GAMEPLAY MECHANIC: Baroque (TvC)

You're welcome for the early arrival. Figured I'd make amends. Thoughts?

Better Early [2010 GOTY BEST NEW GAMEPLAY MECHANIC]

2010-12-31T19:22:00.000-05:00

BEST NEW GAMEPLAY MECHANIC: Baroque (TvC)

To be honest, this was the toughest category by far, sadly only because none of the nominees really stood out. The Baroque from Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom narrowly edged out FFXIII's Paradigm Shift job-changing system which was slick, but ultimately not that much fun. BioShock 2's Protect Little Sister segments were a lot of fun, but ultimately not very original. SSFIV's Ultra Select has been quite a game changer, but when compared to SFIII's Super Art select, it's really not all that new.

The Baroque is not tremendously original either, borrowing heavily from Guilty Gear's Roman Cancel, better known these days as BlazBlue's Rapid Cancel. The SFIV series also has the EX Focus Attack. All of these expend meter to cancel an attack during its animation, normally to either extend a combo, or to cancel out of a blocked move to avoid punishment. The X-Factor in the upcoming Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 performs a similar cancelling function, bestows boosts based on when it is activated, and has been seen in early videos to allow characters to X-Factor cancel one Hyper into another, or the same Hyper. Double Magnetic Shockwave == "Welcome to Die".

The Baroque has a couple of interesting characteristics that differentiate it from the aforementioned. Instead of using meter, or a one time activation (ala X-Factor), Baroque sacrifices a character's recoverable red health to activate the cancel. Once activated, subsequent attacks in the combination recieve a damage bonus based on the amount of red health used to execute the Baroque. This all adds up to some intense comebacks, wherein the more badly beaten a character is, the greater the potential damage they can unleash.

In the VS series, traditionally, a character will slowly recover their red health while tagged out. The choice then becomes, swap characters so that the injured partner can come back strong later in the match, or throw caution to the wind and go for Baroque.

And, man, do I like comebacks.

This pic is actually from Marn vs. Keits at the 2010 Midwest Championships. To be clear, Marn does not use Baroque for comebacks in TvC, since he's never behind in TvC. Baroque is kind of broken on a rushdown character with extended combo's like Martin Phan's Zero because it can be used over and over again in a match.

Better Early [2010 GOTY BEST NEW LEVEL]

2010-12-31T17:22:00.000-05:00

BEST NEW LEVEL: Taejin's Tower (FFXIII)

SSFIV's Solar Eclipse and Crumbling Laboratory were fun, but I can't really give a KB GotY award to a background. Siren's Alley in BioShock 2 really stood out as well, using a relatively small space to convey a great deal of action and narrative, but it was not as impressive as the Tower.

Taejin's Tower was one of many visually stunning environments in Final Fantasy XIII, along with Orphan's Cradle, Oerba, and Gran Pulse in general, and it was one of the relatively few with bearing on gameplay. It is actually a little talked about series hallmark, joining the ranks of FFVII's Shinra Tower, FFVIII's Deep Sea Research Center, and FFX-2's Via Infinito, among others, as vertically oriented dungeons with enumerated levels.

While not labyrnthine, Taejin's Tower contains some of the more robust puzzle elements in all of FFXIII, which isn't really saying much.

(I really would have liked to have had LoL's Magma Chamber up for the award, but , *cough* riot *cough*.

Better Early [2010 GOTY BEST NEW ENEMY]

2010-12-31T10:22:00.004-05:00

BEST NEW ENEMY: Big Sister (BioShock 2)

The outstanding opponent this time around is the incredibly strong Big Sister of the sequel to BioShock. If you thought Rapture threw some tough baddies your way the first time around, you were in for a surprise in BioShock 2. A far deadlier and more agile boss than the Big Daddies of the predecessor, these encounters (at least earlier in the game) necessitated a greater degree of caution and planning than their lumbering counterparts.

By the end of my second run through the original BioShock, Big Daddies were no longer very frightening, as I had learned to beat them to death with a pipe wrench, which denotes a degree of comfort. Bigger, stronger Big Daddies with more hit points wouldn't have been a game changer in BS2, which lead to the inclusion of their nimbler cousins. In the original, Big Daddies would be seen in the wild, making their rounds, escorting Little Sisters, ignoring the player, which enabled the player to observe and learn the route and plan accordingly.

Encounters with Big Sister followed a different pattern. After taking care of enough Little Sisters (one way or the other), Big Sister would come find you, wherever you were, to initiate the fight. She would then proceed to blast you with plasmids, drain your EVE with a giant needle, go fucking Maximum Spider on your ass, as well as generate telekinetic debris storms to deter you. Overall a much more harrowing experience.

This official final sketch by Colin Fix.

A runner up nod goes to the recurring boss Barthandelus from FFXIII.

Better Early [2010 GOTY BEST NEW CHARACTER DESIGN]

2010-12-30T22:22:00.001-05:00

Time for the Killa Blog Game of the Year Awards again. I am sure everyone is thrilled.

I'll break up what was once an extremely long post in an effort to not frighten y'all. I'll do one category each post culminating in the Game of the Year award. As if it wasn't painfully obvious.

BEST NEW CHARCTER DESIGN: Juri (SSFIV)

There was a lot of controversy internally about last year's Best New Character Design winner, with a lot of dissent in favor of Rufus. I don't suppose this makes up for the snub, but Juri really stands out amongst her peers in the category.

Her Super counterpart Hakan is also a very fresh look for SF characters, but Juri far and away has the superior and more appealing design. FFXIII's gruff protagonist Lightning, BioShock 2's Subject Delta, and LoL's Miss Fortune were all candidates, but not quite up to snuff.

Juri Han is a malevolent bloodthirsty Korean girl with a ki boosing implant in her eye, which she uses to amp up her "Taekwondo". She has a ton of interesting normal attacks, a teleport counter, a focus-breaking dive kick, a custom combo ultra and, uh, oh yeah, she throws fireballs with her fucking feet.

This pic is from Boss Logic's Street Fighter X Tron series on Deviant Art.

Anti-Honda | Part 2: Sumo's Revenge [SSFIV Casuals]

2010-12-06T22:22:00.002-05:00

Funga!, foiled again.

Narrowly lost the Honda-Cody showdown yesterday. I was able to run the first match 2-0, but Lego came back in a big way in the second match. He was able to get in and stay in, which results in many, many, many hands slapping me consecutively.

Third match came down to the last round, and while we were both at about half health, I was able to slide my way out of the corner, and then counter-poked him with sweep for the knockdown. Heeding the sage advice I posted to myself a few days back, I walked up and threw out some normals before his wakeup, and was able to bait the Ultra headbutt, which I blocked, and then... flubbed the Last Dread Dust input. That Ultra 2 punish would have either killed Lego's Honda, or left him low enough to be chipped out by EX Criminal Upper. But, again, LDD didn't come out, Honda pushed out of the corner, and was able to get close enough to poke me out of the match.

Normally, I'm pretty sore about losing... (Last night's 11 deaths with Jungle Irelia in LoL being a prime example.) But I came away from this loss to Lego relatively buoyant. Though my technical skills failed me, my theory fighter was top notch, and I was absolutely right in the strategy I asserted last time around. (Case in point: once I have revenge meter for LDD, and just as I escape the corner, this is the time to pressure Honda, and bait a bad headbutt, as every version is punishable in the corner with LDD, when properly executed, anyways.)

Next time, Lego.

In other SF casual news, this was the first time we battled it out on the Evo monitor I recently procured, the Asus VH236H. Lego seemed to like it much as I have, and he was hitting combos with Dhalsim that I typically don't see connect. Also, I was able to keep it classy for a win in the Dudley-DeeJay matchup, and I stole the Makoto-Dhalsim pairing with a nasty Tsurugi > Seichusen Godanzuki combo.

Anti-Honda [SSFIV Casuals]

2010-12-03T17:55:00.003-05:00

Just took two matches from Lego's Honda with Cody.

Respect.

It's probably been weeks since I beat his Honda with Cody; I've only occassionally stolen the odd match from him with Abel or Rufus. Maybe once with Makoto. This is certainly the first time in months I have scored a proper two-out-of-three on his Honda.

I'd been focusing on Rufus as a counterpick, using jump back roundhouse and Ultra 2 to deal damage while moving away from Honda. This has been somewhat fortuitous, but ultimately not very consistent.

In today's wins using Cody, I was careful to maintain wide spacing. Using b+MP to antiair, and rocks to preserve distance, I kept him out, which really prevents him from doing big damage with HHS or Oichio. Once backed into a corner, I relied on cr.MK to crossunder, and then backed off, employing back jumps with roundhouse on reaction to long headbutts.

Once Cody has Ultra, Last Dread Dust allows him to punish any blocked headbutt when Honda is in the corner, and Fierce and U1 headbutts anywhere on the screen. I'm still not positive on the vulnerabilities of jab and EX. The threat of this punish is enough (at this point anyways) to throw Lego off his game, allowing me to get a little more creative with safe jump set ups, crossups, and tick throws.

To stay ahead I'll have to work on the consistency of the anti-airs. Once I can train him to walk forward I can try to use cr.LK option select MK Ruffian Kick to knock him back out. Also, though I have felt Cody's pressure game has been too risky to spam on Honda, I believe the pressure strings will pay higher dividends just as I escape the corner, as long as I have revenge meter to punish bad reversal headbutts.

But seriously, Legoman's Honda is no joke, yo. This original post was drafted weeks ago (11/15 to be precise) and discussed the pros and cons of the different counterpicks I had been trying versus Honda. And I was literal when I said I hadn't taken a two-out-of-three from his Honda in months, which really means: since his Honda got godlike.

W00t. Nice work, Kil.

Best One Yet: Round 2 [MvC3 Leaked Roster List]

2010-11-15T22:22:00.003-05:00

From lupinko on NeoGaf, bold used to indicate unconfirmed characters:

Galactus (Boss)
Taskmaster (unlock)
Shuma-Gorath (DLC)
She-Hulk
Deadpool
Captain America
X-23
Magneto
Modok
Hulk
Spider-Man
Dr. Doom
Sentinel
Storm
Phoenix/Dark Phoenix
Super Skrull
Dormammu
Wolverine
Iron Man
{Thor}

Amaterasu
Ryu
Rad Spencer
Chun Li
C. Viper
Hsien-ko
Jill (DLC)
Chris
Wesker
Dante
Trish
Arthur
Felicia
Morrigan
Viewtiful Joe
Tron Bonne
Mike Haggar
Akuma (unlock)
Zero

Thor was not listed, but lupinko disclaimed that he thought he was missing one, though he knew the roster was 38. As long as Galactus is non-playable, that makes for the 19-19.

Discrepancies: No Mega Man, which is unexpected. Hsien-ko was thought deconfirmed along with any Darkstalkers characters beyond Felicia and Morrigan. And Akuma was thought to have been discluded when S-Kill suggested there were no more shotos.

I was still expecting Storm and Sentinel, so I'm glad to see that. Hsien-ko and C.Viper I believe are excellent inclusions. I would rather Alex over Haggar if the need was a grappler, or Cody over Haggar for a Final Fight character, but c'est la vie.

Taskmaster is an interesting prospect. Could be the mind-melting style or whatever to which S-kill alluded.

Epic Pose FTW [Tokido SoCalRegionals Victory Pose SSFIV]

2010-11-12T22:22:00.000-05:00

At the end of a tremendous top 8 match between little known Ibuki ClakeyD and Tokido, Japan's top-notch mixup Akuma. Tokido sealed the deal with a pose mimicking Akuma's onscreen stance at the end of the Wrath of the Raging Demon, and stood blocking the image, so that the reverse Heaven character was projected onto his back.

That's style.

Call Me Will Smith [Moby-Dick Wiki Vandalism]

2010-10-17T22:22:00.000-04:00

So, I'm reading the Wikipedia entry regarding Herman Melville's Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. Talk about a twist ending:

"Only Ishmael survives, clinging to Queequeg’s coffin-turned-life buoy for an entire day and night before the Rachel rescues him, then goes on to become the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

There's No Business Like

2010-10-11T22:22:00.006-04:00

Although it is rare for me to peer out from my dreary doldrom, when people drone on and on about their work, it makes me a bit cheerier, as my line of work, at the very least, is not boring.

This first shot is comedian Aziz Ansari over at the Warner Theatre. Pretty early on in the show he had an outspoken gentleman espousing the superiority of the white race. Mr. Ansari promptly told the man to sit the fuck down. And so he did.

I very rarely take in shows, and even more rarely do I see them in other venues, but the promoter was kind enough to afford me suite seats, and I jumped at the chance. I had, of course, hoped to use the comedy show as a non-threatening date setting, but unfortunately this young lady was a little too tired for a 7:30 PM show. (...) I can take a hint. Her loss, it was hyster.

Here is a shot from a high profile gig here at my house. In the lift is a rigger (known only as 'The Crab') focusing some lights over the main video screen. The spinning flag graphics became mesmerizing after the first day or two. Our favorite game was to see how quickly you could find Mozambique while it was still in motion. (And if anyone asks, yes, the outriggers were in.)

And I actually used a slice of the long weekend to do some outside work over at the Vicodin Center. A lot of Pink Floyd fans with whom I spoke thought they'd never get the chance to see The Wall live. I suppose it's a shame I have no appreciation for it, though. In all fairness, it really was an awesome show.

Yes, that would be the eponymous wall. It had to be completely built first so that the array of projectors could be focused, and then taken down, and then completely rebuilt during the first act, until only one block was missing, through which you could still see Mr. Waters singing.

So Yeah... [MvC3 MODOK Magneto Arthur Rad Spencer Announce Gameplay]

2010-10-08T22:22:00.001-04:00

CONFIRMED: Guile's Theme Goes with Pumpkin Latte [Guile's Theme Goes with Everything - Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Latte]

2010-09-24T07:48:00.006-04:00

Yep, tested it this morning. Guile's Theme, in this case the Combat and Service (Guile Stage) track from Overclocked Remix's Blood on the Asphault compilation, absolutely does go with pumpkin latte, in this case a Dunkin Donuts large, hot pumpkin latte.

I think I kept the track on repeat until I finished the bev. I suppose I should have had the 'Combat and Service HD (Guile Stage: Heavy Damage)' track queued up for the last couple of sips...

Further evidence that Guile's Theme does indeed go with everything.

Wriggle's Motherfucking Lantern and MF=Doom [LoL Miss Fortune Impressions/Build]

2010-09-16T22:22:00.003-04:00

I unlocked League of Legends' newest champ last week, the haughty pirate wench/bounty hunter Miss Fortune. I had been working on my Twisted Fate, as a physical damage counterpart to my Malzahar, and I had been having mixed results. The sheer concentration to effectively use Pick-A-Card was draining, as was being so flippin' squish. (Destiny ganks are a lot of fun, though.)

I'm always looking for a new champ to grab my attention, and MF not only caught my eye, she has the best abbreviation. Early on in a character's career in LoL, avid players approach building the character (in terms of Rune sets, Masteries, equipment, and skill development)in many different ways. I watched an early leaked video of Miss F. wherein she had been beset with one pair of Boots of Swiftness, and five Phantom Dancers. While the huge boosts to attack speed, critical, and dodge chance were awesome, in my experience there was a severe lack of attack damage.

I had bought Sword of the Divine with Twisted Fate to increase the overall damage per second I was dealing. (Sword of the Divine does an additional amount of magic damage on every fourth attack, which meshes well with TF's Stacked Deck passive ability which deals additional damage on every fourth attack.) MF's Impure Shots passive stacks increasing magic damage on every consecutive attack, and I originally focused on this ability so that my Fortune could deal the same sort of hybrid damage. Turns out Impure Shots passive is really not all that, and certainly not her most important ability.

Double Up (Q skill) is her most important ability. Double Up hits a target within range for a large amount of physical damage, and then another target behind the first for even more damage. This is a great skill in the laning phase, as it allows you to damage enemy champs through their back line of minions, while keeping MF relatively safe. To try and keep up with the mana cost of DU in relation to MF's small starting mana pool, I started building the newest item in LoL, Manamune. Manamune has the unique Tear of the Goddess effect of building max MP by using abilities but also slightly increases max MP by attacking, as well as having a passive increase to attack damage equal to 2% of max mana, and some base attack damage, mana and mana regen. This acts as a mini-snowball item, improving MF's attack damage and MP as the game progresses, though it caps relatively early. It does however help one to use Double Up more often. But, no, this isn't the essential item.

Big Sis Prinny had been trolling the Penny Arcade forums LoL thread to claim that Miss Fortune was a rip off of Keira Knightley, and stumbled upon the closely guarded Penny Arcade forum LoL thread secret: Wriggle's Lantern.

Wriggle's Lantern is another relatively recently added item recipe. Vampiric Scepter and Madred's Razors deliver a relatively cheap item that provides attack damage, armor, lifesteal, the Madred's effect (20% chance on hit to deal 500 damage to a minion), and a free sight ward every three minutes. After she relayed this information to Killa HQ, it took me some time to digest it. Why Wriggle's Lantern?!

I deduced fairly quickly the advantage of rushing the Lantern first thing in the build. Double Up triggers on hit effects, in this case the Madred's effect. Once the item is built, MF is notably stronger and can begin to really shine as an early game farmer. But if you recall the "shooting-through-the-back-row-minion" trick, you'll see the true power of the Lantern in Miss F's hands. If the Madred's effect triggers on a Double Up, then the minion is disintegrated by the 500 + Attack Damage hit, which restores a healthy amount of HP. But if you line this up to second hit the enemy champ behind, they will be dealt a remarkable 600+ damage, which restores another nice slice of HP pie to MF. Being able to deal so much damage to an enemy champ by level 5 is huge, and being able to do so from relative safety (and without losing the innate Strut movement speed bonus) makes her extremely potent.

My shopping list now starts with Vampiric Scepter, made as quickly as possible into Wriggle's Lantern. After that I pick up Boots, usually of Swiftness, but, depending on the team, Merc Treads or Ninja Tabi may be favorable. I then build Manamune, so I can get a lot more attempts at the DU big damage setup. If I've farmed up a lot of gold, I may buy BF Sword before Manamune, but I haven't been comfortable dropping the mana from the build yet. I build the BF Sword into Infinity Edge when the gold is available.

After |Wriggle's Lantern, Boots of Swiftness, Manamune, Infinity Edge| I look to Youmuu's Ghostblade and then for Frozen Mallet to effectively make a chaser character, who has a multitude of ways to accelerate oneself and slow the opponent, while doing huge damage whenever in range. And chasing multiple enemy champs is great, since you can Double Up one in the back while blasting through to the other.

Usually an opposing team cannot withstand the build(/my team) beyond the Ghostblade. I think depending on the situation, I would drop Ghostblade+Frozen Mallet for either Bloodrazors+Bloodthirster against a tank heavy team, or Banshee's Veil+Guardian Angel for survivability. As always, staying flexible and building to counter your opponents is paramount. In a gg last night I built Guardian Angel and then Frozen Mallet (mostly for the health) since we kept taking it on the chin in teamfights.

As a carry, however, Miss Fortune is very reliant on her ability to amass money. Her attack speed and AoE skill Make It Rain help a lot with last hitting. Overall, though, she is a glass cannon in the vein of Ashe or Tristana in that she can dish it out, but she cannot take it. I am no stranger to being squishy as my previous main champ Malzahar is quite so, but the use of his silence and stun give him many more escape options, and I am usually less inclined to use Ghost to chase down an enemy champ with Malz, so it is more often available as an escape option.

My Malz is infamous for running Mejai's Soulstealer, a snowball item that increases Ability Power as you accrue kills and assists, though the boosts are siginificantly lowered on death. While it's a great item for getting early kills and staying OP the rest of the game, Miss Fortune has to commit to combat, and I've decided to avoid items that would penalize her for dying.

Also to note: Her Impure Shots active has the Ignite effect on hit of halving healing and regeneration (that Gangplank and Katarina can also induce). Make sure you have it activated before engaging another lifestealer, particularly Warwick or Vladimir, or even a big tank that relies on regen, like Mundo or Sion.

If anyone finds any piece of information remotely as valuable as Wriggle's Lanten, send it in or leave a comment.

Thanks Option-Select

2010-08-30T17:15:00.001-04:00

Trouble in Paradise [Parcel Debacle]

2010-08-13T11:35:00.008-04:00

LAUREL, MD, US 08/13/2010 1:36 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
08/13/2010 12:52 A.M. DESTINATION SCAN
08/13/2010 12:27 A.M. DESTINATION SCAN
LAUREL, MD, US 08/12/2010 7:23 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON, PA, US 08/12/2010 3:07 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
LAUREL, MD, US 08/12/2010 12:23 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
LAUREL, MD, US 08/11/2010 8:31 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON, PA, US 08/11/2010 3:56 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
08/11/2010 1:23 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
HODGKINS, IL, US 08/10/2010 3:50 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
08/10/2010 2:26 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
08/10/2010 2:54 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

I hate to say it, but this rigamarole is really putting a strain on my relationship with Legoman. Our Dhalsim-Makoto matches were seething with an unsettling resentment. (Might have been because he got dizzied.)

But really, what fucking sense does this make? How did the package go from being scanned as 'Out for Delivery' from Laurel to being scanned for 'Departure' again from New Stanton? I mean, come the fuck on.

UPDATED:

LAUREL, MD, US

08/13/2010 10:55 A.M.

DELIVERY

[BioShock Infinite Announce]

2010-08-12T19:02:00.006-04:00

Well that's cool.

We Gon' Find You [Autotune the News VS Antoine Dodson]

2010-08-08T19:30:00.002-04:00

Fight! Fight! Fight! [Upcoming Fighting Games]

2010-07-29T22:22:00.006-04:00

It's like a late Aughties fighting renaissance.

Super Street Fighter IV

The game du jour as it were. Even with Lego's new work schedule, we still manage to get in some ferosh matches here and there. His freetime at night has allowed him to refine his skills online, particularly his Honda and Dhalsim. His Honda is better in every aspect, and a real threat. I'd say definitely his best now, and it is worth noting that his advancement started before Mike Ross's Top 8 Evo finish and Honda's top tier status on the new JPN rankings. Likewise, as a solid alternate, his Dhalsim is crafty, and he's moving the Yoga master around the screen much more smoothly.

I've been trying to smooth out my new additions when I have time, though right now I think most of my focus should be on Cody and Bison. I thoroughly enjoy using Cody, and I know I am only scratching the surface of his potential. While I'm connecting bigger combos, and countering more approaches, I've yet to tap into the strength of his pressure strings and frame traps. I had been of the opinion even a month ago that my Guile and Rufus were my strongest overall chars, but the reality of my inability to reliably execute certain elements (notably Guile's Flash Kick FADC Sonic Hurricane and Ruffie's Short-Fierce link) has led me to think I may have more luck in competition with the mighty Bison, as my technical insufficiencies are much less damning.

I keep entertaining the idea of making an appearance at Baltimore's Xanadu Wednesday night Xanbats, or Fairfax's CyberGround Tuesday night Ranbats, and my relaxed work schedule looks like it will accomodate this. Though, of course, I can't take Lego as my wingman... Wah wah.

Allegedly at least two new characters will be revealed in September, and hopefully made available as DLC soon after. Sounds like Alex (3s) and Rolento (FF/Alpha) are the strongest candidates, with Elena (3s) and R.Mika (Alpha) close behind. I would be sated with Alex's addition, but, for 900th time, I'd really like to see Charlie.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3

Hypewise, MvC3 is dominating the digital blog waves. Super Skrull's moveset looks flippin' tight, Dante's movelist if f'n Riddick Bowe, and Silver Surfer is now rumored to be in. And, you know how rumors work, Silver Surfer is in, so that must mean Galactus is the final boss, which must mean Dormammu is playable, and so on, and so on. Still, should be the next big thing on Killa Blog for the next 18 months or so... (Just to warn ya.)

And for the record, since last time we spoke, DMC's Trish, Okami's Amateratsu, SF's Chun Li, Marvel's Thor, Super Skrull, and Doctor Doom have been shown. Amateratsu doesn't gel with the Best One Yet list I relayed here, so I guess we don't really know who's in and who's out. Still no sign of any Mega Man or Spiderman chars... And I am still hoping Dictator makes it in as the third Street Fighter, if not Charlie.

Arcana Heart 3

You know I've never delved in Arcana Heart, another obscure fighting game that has a passionate following stateside. Apparently the third iteration is also coming to XBL and PSN which will mean an unprecedented amount of exposure for the series. Don't know about price point, but this could potentially be very far reaching.

Third Strike Online Edition

And speaking of downloadable fighters, I think if 3sOE can even move half the digital units that MvC2 has, it will have been a smart choice on Capcom's part, regardless of how long it takes to release. It's catering to the 3s die-cores, which is a very wise choice since they (and the MvC2 crowd) are the ones that kept the fighting game scene alive during the MvC2-SF4 drought.

Street Fighter x Tekken :: Tekken x Street Fighter

A fun announcement and everything, but these are so far off in the distance it has barely bleeped my radar. I hope TxSF doesn't preclude Namco from working on Tekken 7...

Cat-G Tune [Lost Planet 2 Impressions]

2010-07-28T22:22:00.001-04:00

Though it hasn't popped up on Killa Blog Featured Products, I have been playing Lost Planet 2. Whilst the housemates Keif and Lego had recently acquired L4D2 for the 360, and I do enjoy a good Versus splitscreen session, I have had about 290 hours of experience in the game, so I reckoned I could use a new shooter to keep my trigger finger in shape.

I'm on the penultimate episode of LP2 now, and I've been mostly happy with the game. I'm very rarely surprised by a game I purchase, as I am a well-informed gaming consumer, and as you can see here I'm no stranger to doing my homework (and everyone else's). LP2 had mixed review scores, most citing strong action and multiplayer, but a technically frustrating campaign. Delving deeper, it seemed that this was mostly due to the saving structure, and to the worthlessness of the AI bots that can accompany you in singleplayer.

I can't really find fault with the gameplay partitioning, as I've played my share of Megaman games and can appreciate Capcom's use of spacing save points. It is a confusing system that involves a pool of Thermal Energy your whole team shares for healing, respawning, and opening certain chests. Additional thermal energy (T-ENG) is acquired through felling foes and activating data posts which serve as respawn points. A big chunk of the game is: Find the next data post, activate it, repeat. So get used to it.

And, yeah, those AI bots are dumb as hell. I can see why it is such a widespread complaint. I've made it up this far on normal difficulty with three AI bots, so it's no dealbreaker, but I'm looking forward to playing through again with Keif watching my 6.

As I haven't completed the campaign yet, expect more impressions later on. So far, though, I've felt a little let down by the Category G Akrid battles. A little. At this point LP2 is not going on the featured list, but at $40, it's not a bad buy.

Let this be a lesson, though. Nothing goes on the Killa Blog Featured Products list unless I personally guarantee it to be a fun, quality title.

Here Comes (Two) New Challengers [SSF4 Japanese Arcade Release New Characters DLC]

2010-07-22T22:22:00.001-04:00

Gootecks relayed this Twit Pic from @marika_j. The Japanese SSF4 arcade release indicates two new fighters are inbound. The common held expectation is that they will be DLC not too far in the future for us on Team NAH.

Gootecks predicts one to be an Alpha fighter, and also that Urien will not be included.

I am rooting for Charlie (from Alpha), as I have mentioned repeatedly in this space. Guile is so revamped now, I think a clone version would be warranted. My pick for the other slot is Alex (from SF3). There are already, you know, plenty of grapplers, but, like Abel, he has a diverse arsenal. Although, and I'm speaking without any specific knowledge, I don't know how the SF4 engine would handle his back-turned shenanigans.

Otherwise, my guesses would include Rainbow Mika, Yun, and possibly another Final Fight character, even possibly one that has never appeared in a SF game... namely Mayor Mike Haggar, who is rumored to be in MvC3. You know, Poison would be cool too, actually.

Registered Trademark Aperture Science [Portal 2 New Gameplay Mechanics Vid]

2010-07-14T17:20:00.002-04:00

Part 1 and 2 are worth checking out as well, but this one shows the coolest of the new twists.

Marn-Ma-Geddon [Evo2k10 Marn Ed Ma SSF4]

2010-07-13T15:21:00.002-04:00

2010-07-11T08:28:00.001-04:00

ZOMG! JWong eliminated?!!

Viewing Enjoyment [SSF4 Option-Select Godsgarden 4th Strike Vids]

2010-07-02T16:48:00.008-04:00

Flash Metriod demonstrates high level Makoto in this Option-Select.com video.

In case you don't know 3rd Strike very well, most of the things in this video were not possible or are completely new moves. It's a source edit apparently, likely on a CPS3 emulator. Click through to see the other characters.

Probably the bext Godsgarden Online match I've seen.

Hot Damn [Killa Blog Gets Around]

2010-06-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

Apparently y'all like all this MvC3 hype. These show the highest visit rates since Killa Blog's birth have been in the last week. Guess I better keep it coming!

Forever Young [Turritopsis Nutricula Jellyfish Life Cycle Revert]

2010-06-20T22:22:00.001-04:00

This article on Mother Nature Network makes mention of the rather unique ability of the turritopsis nutricula to revert back to its polyp stage after reaching maturity, which presumably allows the organism to escape the confines of a normal life span.

I wish it was so easy for the rest of us to start all over again.

Best One Yet [MVC3 Leaked Roster?]

2010-06-19T22:23:00.006-04:00

Of all the leaked lists floating around, this is the one I find most likely.

ryu
chun
bison
volnutt (Mega Man Legends)
roll
zero
chris
wesker
dante
trish (also Devil May Cry)
morrigan
felicia
joe (,Viewtiful)
frank (West from Dead Rising)
frankalt_chuck (Dead Rising 2)
mike (Haggar from Final Fight)
arthur (from Ghosts n' Goblins presumably)
wolverine
storm
cyclops
magneto
spider
venom
hulk
iron
ironalt_war
america
thor
doom
skrull (called it)
strange (,Doctor)
dormammu
deadpool
marvel (,Miss presumably)

This list just makes a lot of sense. Both sides have seventeen (or really sixteen plus a clone) making the just above 30 number Capcom has tossed around.

The more I think about SF's Seth being in, let's say that's actually Dr. Strange... or Dormammu...

Mystery [Thor MvC3 Ryota Niitsuma Destructoid E3 Interview]

2010-06-19T22:22:00.000-04:00

Nice t-shirt you have there, producer and director of Marvel Vs Capcom 3.

And here is a link to the interview video queued to the last request to see the Ryota Niitsuma's Thor t-shirt.

Thor makes a lot of sense for inclusion in MvC3 as Marvel Studios will start pushing him pretty hard for his own film and The Avengers. This would be his debut as a playable character in the series, as he was only an assist character in Marvel Vs. Capcom 1.

I think we can put our differences behind us... for science...you monster. [E3 2010 Videos MGS:R MvC3 Portal 2]

2010-06-14T22:22:00.005-04:00

Metal Gear Solid: Rising Xbox 360 Trailer - E3 2010 Trailer

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Xbox 360 Gameplay - Don't Mess With Chris

So Excite [Deadpool MvC3]

2010-06-13T01:06:00.002-04:00

^A still from the new trailer.

Funk DeVille [League of Legends Malzahar]

2010-06-06T22:22:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I think I've got the hang of Malzahar.

Funk D'Void [League of Legends New Champion Malzahar Review]

2010-06-05T22:22:00.002-04:00

I'm up to Level 19 now in LoL and have continued to enjoy the experience completely free of charge. My first champion purchase was Ryze for 1500 Influence Points, and he has carried me pretty damn far. I did dabble with Warwick during his rotation as a freely available hero, but I was still searching for my next focus, as I steadily rebuilt my supply of IP. And, lo and behold, Riot Games announced a brand new champion, Malzahar. I spent nearly all of my saved points on a character I had never even seen in action; 6300 (the price for top shelf champs) well spent if you ask me. Now that I've got a handle on his skills, he's easily as dangerous as my Ryze.

Malzahar is a magic user, like Ryze, which means that much of my rune loadout remains the same (Magic Penetration, Cooldown Reduction, Ability Power). The biggest difference I find between the two is that Mal can act as a strong farmer, easily able to carry the middle lane, something I wasn't very comfortable doing before. Malefic Visions (his E Skill) is a sort of contagious damage-over-time spell that spreads from one target to the next if it is in effect when the target falls. This can make mowing through a squad of creeps and potentially warding off an enemy Champ pretty damn easy. Oh, and each foe farmed by Malefic Visions restores mana to Malzahar, so, yeah, pretty awesome alternative to Ryze's Spell Flux if you ask me.

On top of that, (Q) is an AOE that inflicts silence and (W) is a damage-over-time AOE. His (R) Ultimate is a stun plus damage-over-time and his best offensive weapon. His passive causes a Voidling to spawn after every five spell casts. It's a relatively weak creature that grows over time, attacks your target, and dies when either not engaged for a short period or takes a moderate amount of damage. Very handy for pushing lanes, but unfortunately the Voidling will sometimes chase an enemy champ past an unfriendly turret, causing the turret to target Mal. Not a huge deal, but something you need to be aware of.

I stick with a lot of the gear I use for Ryze, though I find Mejai's Soulstealer more useful, and I normally grab that on my first trip back, after starting with Doran's Ring. Sorcerer's Shoes and the Deathfire Grasp usually, then I focus on bigger ability power or magic penetration items. With Deathfire Grasp and all four abilities ready, Mal can unleash a ton of damage against a single target, but try to avoid multiple enemy champs, or play it safe retreating and silencing with (Q) Call of the Void. I'm still not sure how much I like Tear of the Goddess for Mal... It encourages me to cast spells constantly to build Max MP in addition to producing more Voidlings, but it seems overall Ability Power and Cooldown Reduction are better areas to improve.

So far, Malzahar has been a blast. Oh, and I'm Kil Initial on LoL if you ever want to team up. Word.

Seth Versus Super Skrull [MvC3 Roster Speculation]

2010-05-11T22:22:00.001-04:00

Let's take a look at the MvC3 silhouette image, shall we?

Not labelled in the foreground are the trailer characters (Morrigan, Chris Redfield, Iron Man, Hulk, Wolvie, Ryu). I have written the names of the four additional confirmed characters next to their (very) likely outline (Cap, Felicia, Deadpool, Dante).

Doctor Doom and Chun Li are guesses, but both are extremely strong candidates for inclusion, and the silhouettes are quite telling. In the same parenthetical manner, I have labelled the far right image as Frank West, though I really hope he is not included in this game. I didn't like him in TvC, I've never played Dead Rising, and I don't really like the zombie-summoning, bat-wielding shtick. Similarly, after some personal debate, I marked Iron Fist. That mysterious fin (outlined in red) methinks is the popped collar of Iron Fist's costume. Not too sure on that one, though...

Anyways, the remaining two are the focus of this post. A lot of people are calling Super Skrull for that second-from-the-left. I am inclined to agree, and I think it very wise to use Super Skrull instead of using four roster slots for Mr. Fantastic and company. SS has their abilities, so it's a nice trade off between inclusion, and spreading the character love around to as many different properties as possible.

Over on the right is a character I originally had thought may be Mr. Sinister; the aforementioned fin played no small part in this, but upon further review of Sinister's character artwork, his wacky slatted cape doesn't really match. Though, as far as X-Men villains go, I believe Mag-Fuckin'-Neto will be included, but I just didn't think the image matched him either...

Some of you out there in the wild world of teh netz have suggested it is SFIV's last guy Seth. This makes more sense in terms of pose, and in Marvel/Capcom balance (8:8), but something occurred to me today: If Super Skrull is being used for popular abilities at the lowest expense of roster slots, Seth would be a good choice for the same reason. Seth is notorious for copying and using moves of others, so instead of including Dhalsim, they've got Seth using his teleport and extended punches, plus Zangief's SPD, Charlie's Sonic Boom, and Akuma's dive kick, so you can scratch those three of the inclusion list, too.

So, what do you think?!

Odds and Ends: Killa Blog Is Not For You Edition

2010-05-10T22:22:00.000-04:00

Ryze has gotten me pretty damn far in LoL... Been sticking with a pretty reliable Ability Power build, and going for champion kills early. I'm up to Summoner Level 13 thanks in no small part to his Rune Prison. Just recently switched to using Ignite (instead of Ghost). My normal abmbush goes something along the lines of: Desperate Power > (Lich Bane)Attack > Rune Prison > (Lich Bane)Attack > Ignite > Overload > (Lich Bane)Attack = Kil Initial is on a Rampage.

This week's upcoming available champion rotation includes a couple of champs I am looking at maining next, including Karthus, but most notably werewolf Warwick the Blood Hunter. Apparently, he's best as a "jungler", soloing buff mobs and pulling off egregious ganks. Seems like a natural fit, seeing as I'm a junglist myself, partially lycanthropic, and prone to fits of ganking.

MvC3's roster is slowly being revealed... Marvel's Deadpool and Captain America, Devil May Cry's Dante, and Darkstalkers' Felicia join the fray officially now. I hope Deadpool's inclusion doesn't disclude the possibilty of a slot for Cable. It really shouldn't be either/or; they work so well together! I expect Mag-fuckin'-Neto and Chun Li to be in the next batch of revelations. Anybody think there's a chance for any newer Street Fighter characters to make it? (Say Rufus? Maybe Alex?)

Lego's DeeJay has been pissing me off royally. His time with Honda has taught him the charge inputs well... too well. EX Jacknife Maximum, or whatever the fuck his 'Upkicks' are called, owns a lot of my Rufus pressure. Beginning to think Abel may be a better matchup, as his crossup is a lot safer. Also may try to use Guile more, as I had a really solid set versus Lego's Sagat last night. (Man, is that charge fast now!)

Lost is almost over... This week's episode "Across the Sea" will allegedly reveal Flocke's purpose finally, "What They Died For" will air on May 18th, and five days later (Sunday 5/23) they'll show the 150 minute series finale. Can't wait. I'm pretty sure Jack Shepherd will replace Jacob, though I keep wondering what role Desmond Hume will play in the conclusion of the standard timeline, and also in the alternate scenario.

Give Us Us Free [Free PC Games]

2010-04-24T22:22:00.001-04:00

Oh Dijimon Hounsou, you talk so, so bad.

Anyways, recent feedback suggests that the number one most popular aspect of Killa Blog is that it is free. In keeping with that spirit, I'ma point y'all to a couple of really well made and enjoyable games that don't cost a muthafuckin' thing.

Vanguard Princess has been mentioned in this space before, and it is still a free PC fighting game! (You may recall futuristic gunslinger Luna Himeki won KB's GOTY award for Best New Character Design, though, admittedly, I second guess this decision everytime I play as SFIV's Rufus.) Suge9's baby is still receiving updates, and there is unofficial netplay support via Lunaport.

I've more recently dabbled into League of Legends, an online multiplayer action RPG-RTS hybrid based off of the 'Defense of the Ancients: Allstars' Warcraft III mod. It's a real joy to play and highly addictive. Highly addictive, like meth addictive. This may sound ludicrous ("On Killa Blog?! No!"), but it plays kind of like a mishmash of Diablo, Team Fortress 2, and Warcraft (the RTS, not the MMO). It's a great free game, and you can earn anything in it through time and energy, though you can always burn some scratch and unlock anything else you fancy.

Riot Games has a really nice microtransaction system in place for LoL; The game is free to download and play, and all of the Champions/playable characters (as well as many other add-ons, like palette swaps) can be unlocked either via Influence Points earned through playing the game, or through Riot Points that must be purchased in real life. Certain sets of Champions are rotated through terms of temporary availability so that new players without points can use them, and current players can try them out before purchasing.

So yeah, if you're not like me, someone who doesn't really mind plunking down cash on every (BioShock 2) new (Final Fantasy XIII) game (Super Street Fighter IV) that comes out, give these two a shot. It'll be worth your while, yo.

Angry Scar FTW [SSFIV Sagat New Abilities]

2010-04-16T18:18:00.001-04:00

The More Indomitable the Will... [FFXIII Hunting Update]

2010-04-15T19:01:00.004-04:00

Five-starred Gigantuar with a lucky Random:Instant Chain. I would recommend not attempting this until you have three characters over 10,000 HP, for obvious reasons. Daze, as you may know, is the key to this fight.

Also five-starred the two Raktavijas. I found the key to the latter was to invest in upgrading six Witch's Bracelets to level 10, which gave all three of my party members about 43% magic resistance, which made the difference, and therefore was worth the resources. Genji Glove - Got!

Attacus the Soulless is next on my list.

Sātīn [Final Fantasy XIII Review]

2010-04-04T22:22:00.005-04:00

or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Ragnarok

Square Enix loves juxtaposing futuristic and fantastical elements in their Final Fantasy games. Whether its suits of mechanical armor infused with magic, or power plants siphoning the planet's spiritual energy, or a sorceress imprisoned in outer space, they're pretty much all about it. XIII presents this dichotomy by introducing the floating world of Cocoon, a futuristic human paradise, that hovers like a low-hanging moon over the primitive, savage world of Gran Pulse. Your party is comprised of denizens of both Cocoon and Pulse, with each side an alien in the midst of the others. So, instead of a new world to explore, you get two new worlds to explore.

I liked the linear nature of much of the game. One nice way to alleviate the impression that this is an on-rails RPG is to turn off the mini-map. Now stop staring at your destination icon and gaze upon the environments. That's better. Once you reach the surface of Gran Pulse, the world opens up a bit, and allows exploration, akin to arrival at the Calm Lands in X, one of many similarities between the two installments. Only then can you ride Chocobos, chase Cactuars, and settle Everyone's Grudge with the butcher.

Killa Advice: Once on the Archelytte Steppe, be aware that the pace of the game has changed. You will spend a fair amount of time on the Steppe, so make yourself at home. When you first enter the area, hug the left wall, follow it to another narrow pass that leads to a red Cieth stone and an impassable barrier. I believe this is Hunt 12. Completing 12, and soon after 14, will allow you to ride Chocobos and access previously inaccessable areas. Not only is this a nice diversion, but you can traverse the Steppe in a fraction of the time.

The battle system combines a lot of elements of previous iterations' systems that I've liked: X-2's frenetic pace, chain bonus mechanics, and job changing on the fly, as well as the strategic element of XII's party management. The Paradigm Shift is fun and well implemented, but occasionally I desired the ability to open up a Gambit screen and alter, say, Saboteur's priority list so that [Curse]>[Slow] was at the top of the order, but c'est la vie.

I also liked, much like in X, that the central protagonist's outstanding attribute was speed. With the correct load-out, Lightning is your fastest characterr, and combined with her unique Ravager ability Army of One, she can drive up chain bonus like whoa. Assigning party leadership allows you to choose that character's specific abilities in battle, call that character's eidolon, and use that character's unique ability. (For this last reason, expect to see Vanille flailing her arms about on the world screen quite a bit in the postgame.)

Yeah, that's right. I beat it.

Killa Advice: When you get to the boss of the game, go ahead and beat him. Don't worry about backtracking to do every hunt in the game first, as many of those hunts are far more difficult than the last storyline encounter. This will unlock the final expansion of the Crystarium, XIII's take on X's Sphere Grid, or, more simply, a visual reprentation of leveling up. This stage will allow you to obtain the fourth accessory slot, and also the really juicy HP increases.

I believe I have six hunts left: Gigantuar, the two Raktavijas, Atticus the Souless (the ultimate encounter in Titan's Faultwarrens), and three yet to be discovered marks. (Killa Deflation: You do not get to fight Titan. T_T) I plan to work on these foes, which I'm sure will involve a great deal of Adamantortoise poaching for the rare drop Trapezohedrons necessary to concoct the ultimate weapons.

In comparison to XII, I feel Thirteen comes off as a smaller, more limited affair, but much more focused, and with a more distinctive identity. The player party in XII seemed for much of the game to be bouncing from location to location, bystanders to the political events taking place in the larger storyline. (Two of the playable charcters were only tangentially connected to the storyline, and two others were mere hangers on.) The main characters of XIII feel much more developed, each one with a personality, and each going through a dynamic change (poignantly signified by their Eidolon battle). At the end of the game, it feels as if they are all fighting for something they believe in, and Square Enix made it clear that this game was about an internal battle within the characters as much as a struggle against a suicidal Fal'Cie.

I've talked a lot in the past about player motivation, antagonists as player guides, and how this influences game design. (Dormin in Shadow of the Colossus, Big Boss in Metal Gear, and Glados in Portal all come to mind.) In the world of XIII, Fal'Cie (demigods for lack of a more original term) bestow powers and purpose upon humans to do their bidding. Early on your group is branded by the Fal'Cie Anima, and this propels them along their collision course with the end of the game. The characters bicker over the merit and nature of their ultimate goal, but they must ultimately continue on. The illusion of choice is written into the game's story, and is central to the characters' development, and their rebellion against their world, their focus, and the Fal'Cie.

(This is perfectly acceptable and to be expected for a game that is trying to tell a tale. Just pointing out that in the wake of games like, say, BioShock 2, wherein your decisions and the way you choose to play determine the ultimate outcome, it feels a little uninvolved.)

I liked the use of Eidolons quite a bit. Though Gestalt mode may have seemed corny in the run up to release, the implementation in battle is worthwhile, and the way the Eidolons are shown in cutscenes adds a lot to the flair of the game. The scene following your departure from Oerba is definitely the visual high point of the game. It's also interesting to identify which returning Summons/Guardians/Espers/Totemas/Eidolons were reincarnated as Fal'Cie (Anima, Carbuncle, Phoenix, Titan) and which were your party's Eidolons (Bahamut, Alexander, Odin, Shiva).

Death of towns - I often write simple subject lines like this farther down in a post so I don't forget to mention it. Heh. No towns, and to be honest, I don't really miss them. I do most of my shopping irl online anyways, so being asked to buy Phoenix Downs and Dark Matter from the game's e-commerce sites is not so strange. The real casualty are sidequests, which, with the exception of the hunts, are non-existent. Not a dealbreaker by any means, as I obviously played it, but the defense of Fort Condor in VII, and the card battle game in VIII, hell, even Blitzball could be fun now and then. Being sidequests, they do not detract from the overall experience, as a player uninterested need not seek them out. But, if you can't get enough of a game, and want to do every single thing, you may feel a little let down. There's the storyline, the sixty-four hunts, and the arbitrary perfection of your characters. On to the Next One.

To sum things up, XIII is an excellent game, a strong showing for the franchise, and a visual spectacle. There are areas and scenes in this game like nothing you've ever seen before. I don't often have the opportunity to say that. If you enjoy turn-based battles, then you should thoroughly enjoy this logical progression towards a more exciting format. If you've speedran VII or completed Via Infinito in X-2, or took a day off to beat Yazmat in XII, then you may feel a little snubbed by the concise nature of this tale. Worth it all the same. Enjoy.

Next-Gen Tonberry [FFXIII Hunt 34]

2010-04-02T10:59:00.002-04:00

62 hours in, Hunt 34, first next-gen Tonberry found.

Lzozliseiz!

2010-03-21T02:33:00.003-04:00

Fwd: Lzozliseiz! [...] Buikd me buttercup

Why Isn't Toth Dancing? [Personal Reflections on the Final Fantasy series]

2010-03-12T19:59:00.005-05:00

So, at this point in my ingestion of a game, I'm normally erupting out of all orifices with thoughts, comparisons, criticisms, and inane observations. If you are craving that kind of Killa blogging for Final Fantasy XIII, (not that anyone is) you'll have to wait awhile.

I took a personal day (ftw) on Tuesday to obtain and subsequently play the fuck out of the game. Big Sis Prinny was unfortunately stuck working, and preparing for a business trip. Oh how jealous she was.

Fast forward to today. Wherein I'm here at my venue, sweet, venue for a scant thirteen hours, whilst she took a "floating holiday" (a tongue-in-cheek reference to Cocoon, no doubt) to stay home and kick off a long weekend of Final Fantasy XIII. Both Tuesday and today, we've traded texts back and forth: general impressions, franchise comparisons, even a few tips and tricks.

Why does any of that matter?

Well, did any of you ever have something really fun you always did with your family growing up? Like, your dad always took you fishing with him, or your big brother would take you to the batting cages with him, or you would help your mother make cupcakes? Or some other dumb bullshit like that?

Ya see, for Killa, burning through summer vacations by slogging through Final Fantasies is something from which I derive a great number of fond memories. And, yo, I'm talking way back. Like 1990. Like dope slap bracelets. Like fold-out-world-map-reverse-side-complete-bestiary old school.

Skip ahead a few years and we were calling each other spoony bards, and then Vanish-Doom'ing every obstacle in our path. Fast forward to the polygonal era and you would catch us kicking it twelve hours a day burning through VII, breeding a stable of chocobos every color of the rainbow and foolishly challenging Ruby Weapon.

Hell, if you're still confused about the plot of FFX, ask our mother, 'cause she watched us play that game like it was the motherfucking moon landing.

And if you happened to frequent the Diabolos server circa 2004 you would've seen a brash young Thief (sub-Monk) brandishing a magnificent firearm, vainly seeking the Emperor's Hairpin, and also getting to know his future brother-in-law.

And then there were lonelier times, like me, alone save for the Public Relations FAQ, spending an atrocious amount of time to never attain a perfect ending...

There was also the experimental Final Fantasy XII by Committee effort that stretched on for nigh a year. It may have been a somewhat awkward, drawn out way to play a role-playing game, but sometimes you need to make the effort, you know? (Oh Vine!)

So, yeah, if you can wrap your mind around the sentimental attachment people have to decorating a Christmas tree, or tossing a baseball back and forth, or learning to fly a kite, then you may just be on the verge of knowing why Killa Blog does not address Final Fantasy XIII in the same way it does a game like BlazBlue.

(Bonus points if you can identify that "brash Thief's maginificent firearm"!)

Personal Day FTW

2010-03-09T10:36:00.003-05:00

Coffee.....brewed.
Morning Joe.....watched.
Best Buy arrival.....09:59.
Asian cashier.....still cute.
Final Fantasy XIII.....got.
Hurt Locker BluRay.....got.
Eggs Benedict from Nautilus.....got.

It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiney motherfucking day.

To Tick Throw or Not to Tick Throw [Jamie Madigan - Social Dilemma's in Games]

2010-03-08T10:22:00.000-05:00

Jamie Madigan has a good read over on his Psychology of Games blog about glitches and social dilemmas in online multiplayer games.

I chimed in with a comment about his description of tick-throws as another glitch, which is really more of a case (that I and fellow commenter eldruz mentioned) of an advanced technique that is unfair to use on an unsuspecting amateur, but would be absolutely vital to a Zangief at the tournament level.

I also mentioned how I'd counter it.

That's a Bold Statement [God of War III X Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater Boss Comparison]

2010-03-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

From Stephen Totilo's review of God of War III on Kotaku:

I've not battled and bulldozed a more interesting set of bosses since I cleared Metal Gear Solid 3.

As I consider the Cobra Unit to be the greatest collection of bosses ever, I take such a statement very seriously.

Get Equipped with Hype [Mega Man 10 Release Hype]

2010-03-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Oh snap! Totally spaced that Mega Man 10 comes out next Thursday (for PSN, anyways). Ooooh... Classic Mega Man action gives me a heart-on.

One Timer

2010-02-28T17:17:00.003-05:00

Hey! They're playing One More Time at the USA vs Canada gold medal game. Fucking love that song!!

BlogoShock 2: You Can't See Me, Bitch! [BioShock 2 Second Playthrough Observations]

2010-02-25T22:22:00.001-05:00

I'm wrapping up my Good Daddy second playthrough of BioShock 2. I've obtained the three elusive trophies for which I was gunning: Master Protector [Got through a Gather with no damage and no one getting to the Little Sister], Master Researcher [Completed all research on every subject in Rapture], and Saviour [Saved every Little Sister and spared Grace, Stanley and Gil]. There is one more (singleplayer) trophy to obtain, which is the hidden trophy 9-Irony. (Had to look that one up. I'll need to burn through the first level of a new game to get it...)

I'm not really a trophy guy, but since I was playing the shit out of the game anyways, I reckoned I'd try to catch 'em all. There is a sequence of trophies dedicated to the Multiplayer Rank, so I'll have to dedicate myself to the online if I want to achieve my first "Unlock All Trophies" trophy.

So, I thought I was crazy, but it turns out there is a glitch involving the use of the Natural Camouflage gene tonic in Fontaine Futuristics. The glitch being that it don't work. You don't turn invisible. Could have made for an awkwardly ineffective sneak attack, so, now you know.

Anyways, my final Gene Tonic loadout is noteworthy. Let's see if I can recall all eighteen:

Damage Research	EVE Expert	Sportboost
Drill Power	EVE Saver	Natural Camouflage
Drill Power 2	EVE Saver 2	Arms Race
Drill Lurker	Armored Shell 2	Cure All
Drill Vampire	Electric Flesh	Fountain of Youth
Headhunter	Walking Inferno	Medical Expert

Not too shabby, huh? Some real nice combos in there. Haven't seen any formulas like I relayed for wrench damage in BioShock (1), but my Drill Dash on an unaware and shocked opponent has got to be maximum damage.

They are not needed at this point in my game, but I did make use of Keen Observer, Keen Observer 2, and Extended Reel to complete my research in a timely manner. I believe after I maxxed out Alpha Series research, I only reemployed these when Big Sister was coming for me. I also obtained Proud Parent and Demanding Father, gifts from rescued Little Sisters that grant you 50% more ADAM from gathering and accelerate the duration of said process, respectively.

After the big three plasmids, as promised, I added Scout and Decoy, and when available Scout 2 and Decoy 3. Scouting ahead and placing a Decoy works great. By the time your return to your body and enter the room, it's like the party started without you.

I experimented some with Winter Blast 2, though I reloaded my game and opted against it. Winter Blast, Security Command, and Cyclone Trap were not appreciably missed this time around. I always have found Cyclone Trap a little awkward to use. (Although Geyser Trap in Multiplayer is kind of fun, especially when seeking the Death From Above Trial.) I have considered a Neutral run, to obtain the third ending, but I'd have to emphasize Winter Blast, Security Command, and Cyclone Trap to make the playthrough appreciably different, which isn't enticing me currently.

So, the good news is, if you don't care about BioShock 2, I have pretty much exhausted my thoughts on the subject... on the singleplayer experience, anyways. If I continue in the Multiplayer track, I inevitably will have more to relay, but for now, you're off the Spider Splicer's hook.

Tatsunically Obscure Reference [Tatsunoko vs Capcom Joe the Condor X Haunting Ground Ending]

2010-02-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hey, remember when we talked about Haunting Ground?

Well, Joe the Condor's arcade ending in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom totally has him intervening in the events of Haunting Ground. Wild, huh? Doesn't get much more obscure than that.

BlogoShock 2: Hacking/Plasmids/Weapons/Research/Enemies/Multiplayer [BioShock 2 Review 2: The Return]

2010-02-17T22:22:00.003-05:00

Now that you've had time to digest my thoughts on the narrative and gameplay of BioShock 2, please indulge my thoroughness. I have a lot to say about specific aspects and systems of the game as well, particularly in comparison to the original.

The gameplay-halting tile-swapping minigame used for hacking technology is supplanted by a realtime needle-stopping diversion that I feel is a better fit. It keeps the excitement high, and provides some options when it may be better to avoid an alarm entirely, or when the free first aid kit might be worth the risk of a more difficult needle stop. Also, the ability to hack remotely is a godsend. (I can't tell you how much EVE I used in the original to stun turrets with Electro Bolt or distract them with Decoy.)

Speaking of Plasmids, only one major new addition was included: Scout, a sort of astral projection plasmid for looking ahead. (Remind anyone else of the Gamecube game Geist?) Enrage and Hypnotize Big Daddy were consolidated into one, and the elemental powers have all been elaborated and differentiated at different levels of advancement. (Oh, there is another new Plasmid, but I really shouldn't mention it.)

Weapons likewise stuck pretty close to what worked in the original, and improved everything else. (Thankfully, the Chemical Thrower was thrown out.) Rivet Gun : Revolver :: Drill : Wrench. Rocket Spears, Phosphorous Buck, Solid Slug, and Trap Rivets all stand out as brilliant additions. The Drill and its limited supply of fuel make for a well balanced weapon; the Drill may be fucking nasty, but you can't just Drill Dash through every obstacle.

Like the less obtrusive hacking, the Research Camera is reinvented in a video format, awarding more research points for film of the subject assaulted in creative, non-repetitive ways. It flows much better with the action, methinks. But for God's sake, don't forget to research the Big Sister every chance you get. You'll thank me.

Enemies are expanded very nicely. Nitro Splcers were combined into Leadheads, which makes for a tougher foe, and a more treacherous force when combined with Thuggish hordes. Massive gorilla-like Brute Splicers, primitive Alpha Series Daddies, the new Rumbler Big Daddy, and, of course, the sleek and deadly Big Sister round out the competition. It doesn't take too long to learn the different tactics these types employ, but once you've got a Brute and an Alpha closing in while a couple of Houdinis flit about, the battle gets pretty fucking frenetic.

I've but dabbled yet into the prequel Multiplayer. I played a few rounds of Survival of the Fittest (aka Deathmatch) and found the action to be frantic and jarring. Part of this, of course, is my unfamiliarity with the levels, as well as my character's lowly status. I did win my first match earlier today, thanks in no small part to grabbing the Big Daddy Suit twice. Gameplay in the single player mode stops while you open the weapon or plasmid selection wheels, so engaging in combat in realtime suffers from a bit of a disconnect. I'm going to keep on this mode for awhile, though; I'd really like to see how the Multiplayer-exclusive Aero Dash and Houdini Plasmid play.

I'm on my second playthrough now, rescuing Little Sisters this time instead of harvesting them. My conservative habits that left me extremely wealthy and well supplied by the conclusion of runthrough one have kept me in luxurious comfort so far. I've only had to buy the odd EVE Hypo here and there to keep moving. I have an urge to focus on the Plasmids I neglected last time, like Winter Blast, but with the lower ADAM expected, I can't be too liberal with my purchases. Decoy and Scout are likely to be my first purchased plasmids now that I'm in Siren's Alley. I'm focusing on the Rivet Gun and Shotgun as far as upgrades, as they each provide a chance for EVE-free elemental damage with their final improvement. I've also got Keen Observer equipped, so that I can knock out all of my research ASAP.

Well, that's about it. I'm sure I'll have some more tidbits from the second playthrough, and I'll share my thoughts on the complete Multiplayer package once I've levelled up a bit more and have tried all the modes. In the meantime, if you're playing this great game feel free to drop me a line, you know, in case you're stuck, or just want some splicing advice.

Remember, "A Man Chooses."

Three Strikes and They're In [SSFIV Roster Third Strike Additions - Ibuki, Makoto, Dudley]

2010-02-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

As reported on Kotaku, based on alleged scans from the new Famitsu, as expected, Dudley, Makoto, and Ibuki are confirmed to be in Super Street Fighter IV.

Not a shocker, but just to keep up on it, ja, that's they. This is still in line with the supposed roster screen I've already relayed. Hakan should be next, likely to be announced or some images leaked in late March, I'd guess.

Let's see if I can get all this FPS out of my system before the end of April, 'cause I'll have some fighting to do.

BlogoShock 2: Bigger and Daddier [BioShock 2 Review]

2010-02-16T22:22:00.006-05:00

Also, More Morally Choicier

Oh, the ways you can kill people in this fucking game. It doesn't take long to pick up the One-Two: shock an enemy, then clock 'em with your drill. Pretty soon you'll be igniting squads of Splicers and electrocuting them when they try to douse themselves in a nearby pool. And then, later on, yes, you will subdue a room of Splicers with Rocket Spears and Insect Swarm, pick up one of the infested corpses with Telekinesis, fling it at an unsuspecting Brute, as the insects burst out and swarm, unload a headshot of Solid Slug on the poor sap, triggering the shotgun's Tesla shock, at which point he is a sitting duck for a fatal Drill Dash.

And that's a relatively ordinary enemy encounter.

I obv have a hard on for BioShock 2. So, what wasn't as good as the first BioShock?

The story, for one. It just doesn't quite have the punch, although the sequel wisely avoided following too closely in the mold of the first. In some aspects, it was a more focused and cohesive story; while many elements are initially unclear, they all ultimately follow a path to a singular point. **SPOILER WARNING** It lacks the dramatic mid-game twist of the first, though that would have been too predictable this time through. You do slowly uncover information about your protagonist's true identity in this game, but it is not a central plot device. Also, after the Big Boss-esque betrayal by your guide in the first game, having a shady, all-too-charismatic ally who eventually redeems himself (instead of stabbing you in the back) is a welcome change. **SPOILERS OVER** It may not have been quite as forceful a tale, but it is the right story for this game, and the writing continued the unfaltering quality of the first.

The other thing, that has been widely reported, is that the awe of the undersea distopia Rapture is deadened by the first game's exposure. Sure, you're seeing new parts of the aquatic metropolis, and you are seeing much of it in a new way, but it doesn't quite have the jaw drop effect. This is to be expected, and cannot rightfully be considered a shortcoming. There is discussion about whether or not Rapture would hold up for a third installment. Highly debatable, though a return would not be a dealbreaker by any means (for this reviewer, anyways.)

While there are a number of improvements, the implementation of moral choice by the player is more comprehensive and more impactful. The method by which these choices affect the gameplay is not so different, but the consequences of the player's decisions are far more profound. In BioShock, you could either rescue or harvest the Little Sisters, resulting in the Good or Evil ending, or you could resuce at least one and harvest at least one, resulting in a Less Evil ending. This time, though, the resultant fate of the Sisters is modified by how you dealt with some of the survivors with whom you interacted, and this plays out in a much more meaningful way than just, 'Hey, you spared my life, here's an EVE Hypo,' or 'Hey, you killed all the Little Sisters, what gives?'

The length of the game was just about perfect; long enough to have felt substantial, but tight enough to make me hunger for a second, immediate playthrough. They've kept the bar high for level design, and have really expanded the activities one can partake in. Besides clearing an area, hacking all security, and exploring for items, audio diaries, and your current objective, you then have to find time to kill the Big Daddies and take their Sisters. But once you've done that, have your new Lil Sis show you where the angels are, so you can defend her against a Splicer assault while she gathers ADAM. Once you've decided the fate of enough Little Sisters, Big Sis drops in for a ferocious encounter.

What's really fucking cool is that all of these activities can take place in the same area. If you know an area well, and you think you'll have an advantage, then do as much as you can in that area. The trade off being that you can deplete the resources of an area (and your own) if you dwell there too long; There are only so many explosive cannisters, turrets only have so much health, and scrounged EVE Hypos and First Aid Kits only last so long. As you play, you'll learn the pacing, and 2K Marin has really put in a lot of effort to ensure you that you can accomplish all of these things while you are progressing the storyline in an area.

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention, I've got a lot more specific reaction to plasmids, weapons, hacking, enemies, and research. I'll post that tomorrow. Don't want to overload you.

BlogoShock 2: Proclamation [BioShock 2 Done]

2010-02-15T01:42:00.003-05:00

BioShock 2: Harvested.

BlogoShock 2: Daddy's Home [Blogging BioShock 2]

2010-02-09T12:44:00.004-05:00

So, despite what some of you had predicted, I am in possession of my PS3 copy of Bioshock 2. Also despite the weather, which proved not to be too obstacular to me nor to Best Buy's supply line, nor to their cute Asian cashier (who has to work till 4!)

So, I'm home now. I've finished the first segment of the game, the introduction if you will. I've got the drill, the rivet gun, and electro bolt. They've already begun to open your (the player's) eyes to the flipside of the Big Daddy-Little Sister relationship. (The flipside being that of the insider, making the entire thing much less grotesque.) So far the action is tightly wound and very focused, and 2K Marin is consistently throwing fresh, bold imagery at you.

On the Singleplayer Option menu, the only change I made was to disable Vita Chambers. There is a Framerate lock feature (sacrificing detail for smoothness) that I may opt for later. I kind of want to disable the directional arrow, too, as it seems really unnecessary at this point in the game's progression.

Yeah, and I'm playing on Hard, natch. (It did say, 'Played A Lot of Shooters.')

Looks great; OMG ESPECIALLY WATER FALLING ON YOUR HELMET. The first time you move yourself to get a clearer look at one of the colorful dramatic pictures they have composed, you will begin to appreciate the effort it takes to make an atmospheric game of this depth. (Get it, depth?)

Audio is still on the brink of stealing the show. Is excellent. The music playing during the install really got me in the mood, too.

Stay tuned.

HypoShock 2 [BioShock 2 Hype]

2010-02-06T22:22:00.001-05:00

IGN has their BioShock 2 review up now. Absolutely tantalizing. Here's a snippet:

Your Insect Swarm plasmid will initially daze and injure enemies. Upgrade it all the way and anyone killed by the bugs will turn into a kind of living bomb, spewing out more stingers at any enemies that pass by the corpse.

Motherfucking Tuesday, son.

X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2 [New Marvel Versus Capcom Game Roster Speculation]

2010-02-04T22:22:00.006-05:00

(This is the height of fanboy-ism, I know.)

So, Capcom has said that the response to the North American release of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom could merit the production of a new Versus game. I personally would love to see another Marvel crossover, but in lieu of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, I think an X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2 would be a nice intermediary step. Sticking to only SF and X-Men properties obviously discludes a lot of favorites, but I think it would be wise to focus on a smaller roster while bringing tag battles up to date.

Marvel Vs. Capcom (1) had an interesting implementation to consolidate the roster. Ken and Akuma weren't included, but Ryu could spend a super bar to change his style (and palette) to something akin to his shoto-clones. I'd really like to see all three in a new crossover game, as differentiated as possible.

Another interesting quirk of X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (1) was that the characters from each side were generally paired up based on similarities. Ryu and Cyclops, Magneto and Dictator, Zangief and Juggernaut, etc. So, I says to myself, I says, "Self, if I were to pick a trilogism of X-Men to align against Ryu, Ken, and Akuma, who would I pick?

The Summers Brothers, natch. Cyclops is a match for Ryu's familiar stoic template, Havok shares the brash, reckless traits of Ken Masters, and Vulcan brings the same dark, mysterious elements to the table as Akuma. This would entail completely new designs for Havok and Vulcan, as they have never appeared in a Capcom fighter, which is a lot of work, but something I think would payout huge dividends with fans and fanboys alike.

That's a good start for a roster, but to expand on this...

Magneto		Dictator
Juggernaut		Zangief
Storm		Chun-Li
Psylocke		Cammy

These eight all have a history in the Crossover games, so they're a pretty solid way to flesh out the sides. And with the exception of Chun-li/Storm, it's in keeping with established pairings. Obviously the Marvel characters would need to be completely modeled, and animated, but their earlier incarnations should provide a framework for revision.

Gambit		C.Viper
Spiral		Dhalsim
Wolverine		Rufus
Sentinel		Sagat
Cable		Charlie

This next batch provides some fun pairings, and would include Rufus and C.Viper in a VS. series installment for the first time. Of the new SFIV characters, I find Ruf and Viper to be the best fit for the high-flying frenetic style of the crossovers. El Fuerte definitely has an exciting fighting stlye, but his reliance on wakeup mixups would not translate too well, I don't think. It would also mark Sagat's first outing against the Marvel universe, which would necessitate some retooling, especially if he is Sentinel's counterpart. Cable (along with Magneto, Storm, and Sentinel) is included due to his popularity and superiority in MvC2 and I've paired him with Charlie just for the hell of it.

Deadpool		Ibuki
Jubilee		Sakura
Polaris		Juri

And then here are some fun characters that aren't exactly necessary for a full game, but would always make great secret or DLC additions. Deadpool is included, of course, due to his immense popularity, and he's across from Ibuki, the best match for him in the SF world. And just as Deadpool rides in on Cable's coattails, Polaris does likewise slipping in with Havok, though I thought her and Juri shared some interesting elements. Jubilee and Sakura aren't characters I'd like to see per se, but they make for a natural pairing.

So yeah, a ton of glaring ommissions, I know. If you need Rogue in there for some reason, swap out Polaris. (It'd be less work that way anyways.) Sabretooth likewise didn't make it, though if you could part with Juggernaut or Sentinel, he makes for another big Marvel character. (Oddly, Sabretooth was paired with Dhalsim in XMvsSF, but for teleportory reasons, I feel Spiral is stronger.) If I felt the urge to include Omega Red, I'd probably make the case that Birdie (with his Murderer's Chain standing in for Red's Carbonadium Coils) should also be included.

And yes, again, this is just rampant fanboy speculation, and I haven't seen data yet on how fast Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is moving. It may be a moot point, but I know I'm not the only one with a jonesing for a modern Marvel crossover.

Audiology [OMG Your Ears!]

2010-01-31T22:32:00.005-05:00

A common complaint about Killa Blog is the lack of auditory stimulation, so in your travels around the internet today, be sure to swing by:

Gootecks.com. They've converted Justin Wong's Q&A into a podcast. It's an hour and six minutes of relaxed banter, answering tons of SFIV and fighting scene questions, and making me feel a little bit better about my own struggles with Rufus' short, Fierce link.

Dirtbox Radio, a more rhythmic arena, delivers another HeBeGB live set in the Dirtbox Archives. Haven't had enough commute time to listen to the whole hour and a half, but it sounds pretty flippin' tight. You can download it from Dirtbox here.

Team Teamwork for their Vinyl Fantasy 7, an album's worth of hot lyrical tracks mashed with the classic themes of Final Fantasy VII. Just caught this on Kotaku this morning, so I haven't delved in too deeply, but it seems forrealistic. Jay-Z's Lucifer crossed with the Mako Reactor BGM? Fuck yes.

Could this be the framework for a future Killa Blog Podcast?

... God, I hope not.

Go for Baroque [Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Impressions]

2010-01-31T22:22:00.002-05:00

I reckon I owe KB more than that last text post...

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is (1) a blast, (2) the first VS. Series game in seven years, (3) chock full of fun, colorful characters, and (4) only the third respectable fighting game for the Wii.

Wtf is a Tatsunoko? Learn to Google. (Though, please, do not confuse with Tsuchinoko, the reptillian cryptid and crown jewel of Snake Eater zoological die hards.) Anyways, now you know Tatsunoko is a Japanese animation studio responsible for many of the nation's iconic characters like Speed Racer, Samurai Pizza Cats, and Gatchaman. They reached a deal with Capcom for a VS fighting game intended only for the domestic market, but the huge North American fanbase eventually tempted Tatsunoko and Capcom, and after a ridonk number of licensing issues were resolved, it has been localized for these United States, and is available on an extremely prolific console.

Besides Smash Brawl, the only other significant source of fighting action on the Wii is Guilty Gear XX ^Core (and GGXX^C+, but who's counting?). I've bought my share of Guilty Gear releases, and it's not for everyone. Even with the foreign characters, I think people will be immediately more inclined to delve into Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Controls are somewhat of a challenge, though not a dealbreaker. I did not (for once) go out and buy the associated fight stick. I'm sticking it out with the Gamecube controller; the only problem being the joystick and directional pad being woefully inadequate for some of the more technical inputs, like dashes (especially instant air dashes). I've resolved this to some degree by assigning L+M+H to the right trigger simplifying the use of Advancing Guards and Air Dashes. I've got left trigger assigned as L+M+H+P allowing quick use of the Mega Crash (think Guilty Gear's Burst).

The choice of a 2v2 format (instead of MvC2's 3v3) is a better fit for the size of the roster (a respectable 26) and a good place to start for anyone not intimately familiar with tag team fighters. However, if you do know MvC2, you should be able to dive in head first. All you need to pick up are the Baroque cancel, the Variable Aerial Rave, and Mega Crash, and you're up to speed.

So far I've been sticking mostly with Capcom characters, especially Zero and Alex. Jun the Swan, Tekkaman Blade, and Yatterman No.1 have all stood out to me as highlights from Tatsunoko side.

I've unlocked all characters as of Yatterman No.2 last night, and I'll be spending more time in Training and Online before I make another formal post about the merit of this title. But if you ever have or think you may ever pull of an Air Rave, than this is probably a safe buy for you. I know a lot of you out there have Wiis, so seriously consider picking of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom if you have the feeling for the flavor of a fighter. (Oh, and hey, buy it through Killa Blog!)

And I think I heard Shwa got this bad boy... I'll have to hit him up.

The Crossover Glossover [Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All Stars Very, Very Initial Impressions]

2010-01-26T18:07:00.002-05:00

Used Friender in a combo vs. Legoman. Tatsunoko vs Capcom is pretty cool.

Better Late [Killa Blog GOTY]

2010-01-19T22:22:00.005-05:00

What's Killa Blog's Game of the Year? (Pretty obv, when you look back.)

(Please keep in mind these are games I've played and were released in calendar '09. Bioshock and Resistance 2, for example, are not eligible.)

GAME OF THE YEAR: Street Fighter IV

Huge game especially for fighting fans, really rejuvenating the tournament scene in a big way. I personally spent hundreds of hours playing, and am eagerly awaiting the Super update this spring. Why so popular? People love a good Street Fighter, and Capcom went the right direction, bringing in everything great from Super Turbo, learning from the mistakes of III, all while combining graphics and an art style that updated the franchise.

Compared to MGS4, the game that ultimately trumped Fallout 3 for 2008 KB GOTY, '09 proved to be more of a competitive year. Fighters dominated my playing time, and therefore, Killa Blog.

BEST NEW CHARCTER DESIGN: Luna Himeki (VanPri)

Vanguard Princess's provocative, futuristic gunslinger takes the cake. Stiff competition from the likes of SFIV's Rufus, BlazBlue's Ragna the Bloodedge, Tekken 6's Alisa and L4D2's Coach, but a true gem shines through. Terminal Emission Libery Art FTW.

BEST NEW ENEMY: Freakin' Chainsaw Guy (RE5)

Ah, the Freakin' Chainsaw Guy from Resident Evil 5 got a lot of chatter on KB earlier this year. I don't think any enemy presented such a monument to mechanized equipment and close-quarters terror.

BEST NEW LEVEL: Dead Center - Atrium (L4D2)

Oooh yeah. The opening campaign of Left 4 Dead 2, while primarily indoor, is a great contrast from the original L4D that showcases the more colorful and open environments, the clever use of vertical space, and the realistic, often humorous attention to detail.

The final stage is the Scavenge segment, tasking players with collecting gas cans to fuel a stock car on display in order to make an exciting escape. The Atrium is so well designed that it plays great after dozens of rounds and is eagerly anticipated by survivors and special infected players alike. Total classic.

BEST NEW GAMEPLAY MECHANIC: Saving Attack (SFIV)

AKA the Focus Attack in North America, pressing medium punch and kick simultaneously will execute this technique that significantly consolidated the landscape of Street Fighter. Why 'consolidated'? The Alpha series' Alpha Counters, SFIII's parries, Guilty Gear's Roman Cancels, and Namco's unblockables all rolled into one. Yes, the Focus Attack is a revelation.

Street Fighter IV is so playable because of its take on its own fighter heritage. Eliminating air blocking could have returned the SF world to a jump-punishing dark age, but the Focus system accomodates more modern styles of ground fighting, particularly zoning and poking, allowing walking speed and backdash attributes to flourish as character strengths.

Sorry for the late arrival. Figured now or never. Thoughts?

HypoShock [BioShock 2 Hype]

2010-01-13T22:22:00.001-05:00

So hey, did I mention I'm all jazzed up for Bioshock 2?

Assassin's Creed II is resting in peace, and I'm tearing through the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned currently in Borderlands. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom should provide a proper fighting diversion at the end of the month, while the process of stealing, cracking, and playing Melty Blood (Act Cadenza Ver. B) has kept me occupied as well. But, oooh, the media blitz is on. Let the 2K Games PR machine spiral out of control!

There ain't no stopping Subject Delta! It's alive!

Get Equipped with.. Curbstomp [That AHX Tiger Handheld GIF]

2010-01-11T15:02:00.004-05:00

Killer Bee Assault WANT [SSFIV Ultra Combos]

2010-01-06T18:54:00.007-05:00

So, as you can see in this video, characters in Super Street Fighter IV will have access to two Ultra combos, which isn't new news, but illustrated for the first time for the general public. As enticing as Gief's Air Ultra grab may be, the more pressing speculation is...

Will Cammy get the Killer Bee Assault?!

...Or are we gonna get the [Reverse] Shaft [Breaker]?

UPDATE: What the fuck random giraffe torso? Just kidding. Go check out the hippos in the new Afrika stage.

Valley of the Shadow [SSFIV Secret Character]

2010-01-03T14:16:00.004-05:00

Could the yet-to-be-named secret character in Super Street Fighter IV be Shadow from Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter?

Things are looking that way. A lot of scan buzz and such is floating around. The name Shadow has been decoded from Famitsu allegedly, and it is deduced he can throw a Sonic Boom (though it has been pointed out that Seth, one of a number of clones, can also).

I'm pretty damn sure he'll be in. Gouken was created for SFIV to the elation of SF fans. Charlie/Nash/Shadow is the next big ticket item on the fan wishlist and he fits the thought-dead master mold, so I think he's a lock.

Assassin's Credits [Assassin's Creed II Review]

2010-01-02T00:53:00.009-05:00

What the fuck its over?

I really like Assassin's Creed II. Thanks so much BSP for the Saturnalia present. I maybe liked it too much, 'cause I really burned through it. Received it and began playing Xmas eve, I finished it one week later, New Year's Eve at 5:30 AM after a marathon session of about fourteen hours.

My complaints about the repetitiveness of the first installment have been quelled, as reported by the mainstream media outlets. I never at any point felt like I was grinding my way through AC2 like I did the original, which is great. But unfortunately, it was over far quicker than I would have liked.

How did they fix they repetition? Oh let me count the ways. Searching for glyphs on famous landmarks and then deciphering their subsequent puzzles, renovating your villa, the Prince of Persia-esque Assassin's Tomb sequences and chasing down pickpockets all jump to the top of the list, nicely complementing the carryover feather collection, viewpoint synchronization, freerunning races and treasure hunting. Assassination contracts, non-lethal assault requests and courier missions fill in for the rest of the types of local diversions. Possibly the slickest addition are the notoriety reduction objectives that populate your map once the heat is on. Bribing heralds, tearing down wanted posters, and terminating officials all achieve this to varying degrees.

So yeah, thanks Jade, we all appreciate you listening.

After delving into Venice (by far the best chunk of the game) I began to refer to the game as Grand Theft Gondola, as it was a very useful way to cross town when rooftop archers abounded. Horses return as the best long distance mode of transportation, though cartographers provide a much smoother fast travel system this time. There are two other one off sequences that have you racing the touge in a horse drawn carriage and then later piloting Da Vinci's flying machine.

So the variety is there. The realistic vast cities are there. The disinteresting countryside is consolidated (into Tuscany). The character development was improved. The new weapons and contraptions are a blast. And, probably most importantly, the primary assassination sequences were better executed than the first iteration of the series.

All in all, a great game. I plan to go back to my game and try to collect and solve the rest of the glyphs and their passcodes. A second playhthrough is doubtful, but I may indulge in the upcoming DLC expansions which are said to include two new memory sequences, sixteen new missions, a new jump technique and another mission with Da Vinci's flying machine. Indulgence, of course, contingent on my preoccupation with other games.

But damn... I was just getting fired up...

Fightathon Generation Results [For Real This Time]

2010-01-01T21:20:00.017-05:00

For all six events, first place was awarded two points and second place one point. This, of course, means Lego won with 11 points, and I landed second with 5. As such the secret tiebreaker game was not needed, but we played a few rounds of Virtua Fighter 5 anyways.

The character switch rule was in effect, so that one could not pick the same character during any contest. SFIV and SFA3 were best two of three matches each best of three rounds. SCIV and Tekken 6 were played best two of three matches each best of five rounds. MvC2 was best two of three rounds 3v3.

For Smash, two free-for-all time limit matches were played on random stages, one six minutes and one four minutes. At the end of each, the lowest score was dropped. The final was played as best two out of three four minute matches on Final Destination. As indicated, Lego's Olimar won in Sudden Death against my Snake to end the Smash final.

The [?] before Shwa's Sagat in SFIV indicates that it was randomly selected. For MvC2, I also differentiated between Lego's and Rah's Wolverine (Adamantium and bone claws respectively). Bold and underlined text indicates victory in most instances, and the italicized A in the Alpha character selection indicates A-ism (though only A-ism was selected.)

Street Fighter IV [PS3]
Semifinal 1		KIL	LGO
	Rufus	0	2	Sagat
	Zangief	1	2	Ryu
Semifinal 2		SHW	RAH
	Ken	2	1	Ken
	Fei Long	2	0	Sakura
Final		SHW	LGO
	Ryu	0	2	Sagat
	[?]Sagat	0	2	Ryu

Street Fighter Alpha 3 [MAME]
Semifinal 1		KIL	RAH
	Charlie A	2	0	Ken A
	Birdie A	2	0	Claw A
Semifinal 2		LGO	SHW
	Chun-li A	2	0	Ryu A
	Ryu A	2	0	Dictator A
Final		KIL	LGO
	Birdie A	1	2	Ryu A
	Charlie A	1	2	Chun-Li A

Tekken 6 [PS3]
Semifinal 1		RAH	SHW
	Christie	3	1	Lei
	Eddy	3	2	Hwoarang
Semifinal 2		LGO	KIL
	Bob	3	0	Dragunov
	Baek	3	2	Alisa
Final		LGO	RAH
	Bob	3	1	Christie
	Ganry	0	3	Eddy
	Baek	3	1	Nina

Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Wii]

	KIL	SHW	LGO	RAH
6min	Zelda +3	Luigi -3	Lucas +4	Pikachu -5
4min	Wolf +3	Meta -3	Ike 0	---

Final	KIL		LGO
	Dedede -1		DK +1
	Snake 0		Olimar 0	SuddenDeath

Soul Calibur IV [PS3]
Semifinal 1		SHW	KIL
	Kilik	1	3	Cervantes
	Mitsurugi	1	3	Cassandra
Semifinal 2		RAH	LGO
	Seong Mina	0	3	Astaroth
	Hilde	0	3	Maxi
Final		KIL	LGO
	Cassandra	2	3	Astaroth
	Cervantes	3	0	Maxi
	Xianghua	1	3	Kilik

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 [PS2]

Semi 1		SHW	KIL
		Ryu/Hulk/Ken	Spiral/Sentinel/Ken
		Akuma/Jugg/Shuma	Charlie/Venom/Jugg
Semi 2		LGO	RAH
	Adamantium	Wolvie/Akuma/America	Rogue/Iceman/Wolvie	Bone
		Ryu/Cable/Venom	Psy/Akuma/Blackheart
		Iron/Gambit/Col	Storm/Strider/Magneto
Final		LGO	KIL
		Colossus/Venom/Ryu	Spiral/Sentinel/Cammy
		Iceman/Cable/Cyclops	Cable/Akuma/Charlie

Overall, a disappointing but successful tournament. I had been pretty hot lately, but as usual Lego brought it on game day. Tekken and SCIV's results were unexepected. I really would have liked to have won SFIV, but c'est la vie.

I feel this format didn't really try to assess merit after first place, though. Without a loser's bracket or a round robin style, there is really no determination of who is second best.

I'm looking ahead to the end of January and the release of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. Don't really know the direction to take, but I'm thinking about it. Perhaps fewer events with a more comprehensive format. Right now I've got TvC, Tekken 6, Super Turbo, and Smash in mind.

Oh, and my New Year's Resolution?

To get revenge on Legoman.

Fightathon Generation Results

2009-12-27T18:22:00.004-05:00

Lego crushes it like a coke can winning five out of six events. Final point tally:

Lego	11
Killa	5
Shwa	1
Rah	1

He knocked me out early in SFIV, walloped me in the SFA3 final, owned Tekken 6, withstood the competition in SCIV, and edged me out of Brawl. And he came in second in his worst game MvC2.

Fighting data to follow as soon as I gather my objective sportsmanship.

Fightathon Generation [Fighting Game Tournament]

2009-12-26T18:00:00.002-05:00

The next big fightathon is on for tomorrow! AKA the Tekken 6 release tournament, we've had to put this off for a number of reasons, not the least of which was bringing the MAME cabinet back online for Street Fighter Alpha 3. Anyways, we can see clearly now; there are no obstacles in our way.

Lego, Shwa, Rah and I will partake in a vicious sextathlon (sounds dirtier than it is). Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter IV, Tekken 6, Soul Calibur IV, Smash Bros. Brawl, and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 are on the agenda, with a secret tiebreak seventh game held back in case of a tie. Overall it is agreed this is a more well rounded tournament than the original two man challenge or the three man endeavor last time.

Looking forward to anyone dethroning Lego, who has been pretty cocky around Jcasa since the last tournament. (Yes, for the last four months...) I reckon it's gonna have to be me. Place your bets. Results to follow.

Oh, and due to popular demand, we will not be live blogging the event!

2009-12-23T20:40:00.003-05:00

Kotaku links to a video of Robin Williams making a Wii joke on a recent HBO special.

Snow Daze [Cabin Fever]

2009-12-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

The snow days this weekend have trapped the J-Team and their mammalian companions within the confines of JCasa. After enough time with Killa, even the most eager of our cadre grew tired with the endless rematches of Tekken 6.

[SSFIV Super Street Fighter IV Character Select Screen Shot]

2009-12-20T00:10:00.003-05:00

Thanks Shoryuken.com! Me love you long time.

Scraped [Chris Henry Ghost Riding Speculation]

2009-12-17T22:22:00.002-05:00

Was Chris Henry's death part of a ghost-riding stunt or a domestic dispute? Initial reports from the blogosphere purport the latter, but for Killa Blog's purposes, it was 100% most definitely an example of lamboasting turned deadly.

Because Fuck You is Why [Demon's Souls Review]

2009-12-16T23:44:00.006-05:00

Man, have you read this review of Demon's Souls? I had about zilch interest in this game before reading it.

Why would they make this game so hard?

[Assassin's Creed II X Andy Richter]

2009-12-16T23:36:00.002-05:00

Get Even [Tekken 6 Online]

2009-12-15T12:32:00.003-05:00

So yeah, 262 matches later, I've finally gotten even with Dragunov. As you may recall, I started off with a miserable losing streak, and have just now dug myself out of the hole. (Actually I broke even at 126W-126L, but I didn't have my phone handy.) What will the future hold? Probably proportionate wins and losses, considering my performance thus far...

What's Hot [Thermostatic Capitulation]

2009-12-14T22:38:00.003-05:00

That song Arsonist.

Baby, It's Cold Inside [Thermostatic Resistance]

2009-12-12T22:22:00.002-05:00

JCasa has still not turned on the heat. Yeah, that's dedication, we know. Between the space heater, a couple of heated blankets, leeching heat from our neighbors, and thinking warm thoughts we've been able to make it by. Now it's starting to become a bit of a contest, to see who will be the first to break down and fire it up.

Thankfully my spirit guide, Frost Walrus from Mega Man X4, has agreed to help me illustrate the levels of cold one may experience whilst at JCasa. Right now, it's Extremely Cold. Mornings, typically it dips down to Cold as Balls. I think we may capitulate and turn the heat once it stays at Cold as Fuck for a day or more.

The World Fucking Ends with This Shit [Final Fantasy XIII Famitsu Score]

2009-12-09T22:22:00.001-05:00

To: Killa
From: Big Sis Prinny
Sent: Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Subject: Are you kidding me?

Famitsu rated FFXIII lower than Bayonetta? What is the world fucking coming to?

Insert Witty Title Here [Tekken 6 Online]

2009-12-09T09:39:00.006-05:00

My big three are Sergei, Alisa, and Lars.

Big Drag is something like 71-75 now, hovering around 48%. I still need to work my ass off for decent results, but overall the practice is making me quite the ferocious DRA. I'm probably more like 60% on stages with walls; makes a huge difference when your big damage is in the corner. I've been within a couple of wins of hitting 50% but keep running into road blocks.

Alisa Bosconovitch is sitting around 60%. Lego and I traded off in a player match room the other day, and at his suggestion I switched to Alisa when I jumped back in and ran the next four matches. Nice damage and speed, but if I can't catch them with uf+4,4, I have a hard time of building momentum.

Lars is coming along nicely. I spent some time with his move list, learning the flow of Silent Entry and Dynamic Entry, before heading online. I went 7-0 until I ran into a mean Zafina, and then two matches against a 93% Marduk. My 7-4 currently is less impressive, but I've only just begun to use his arsenal. Love using uf+3,WR+2,1(B!),d+3+4,f,2 on the unintiated. Tons of ways to get out of the last hit, but to anyone who doesn't know better, it hits backrollers like whoa. Oh, and Lars' 1P Costume FTW; the cape really disguises SE and DE progressions.

Laws, though. Why so many damn Laws?

Back in the Cab'net [MAME Cabinet Revitalization]

2009-12-06T10:22:00.002-05:00

The Software Engineer, who as we have already established could use a better Killa Blog pseudonym, was kind enough to swing by Jcasa after TKD to reright the Mame cabinet's computational conundrum. A little trickiness later, it is back in operation.

It may be a little sensitive in its new home, but it performed like a champ last night. Some Puzzloop, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Puyo Puyo, Marvel Vs. Capcom, and a full playthrough of X-Men later, I'm pretty goddamn confident in it. If you've been combating an unhuman thirst for Joust, now is the time to hit us up.

This also clears one of the roadblocks for the next Fightathon. Still toying with different formats... Expect a post shortly with some ideas.

Palinetta [Bayonetta Hype]

2009-12-05T22:22:00.001-05:00

To: Big Sis Prinny
From: Killa
Sent: Sat, Dec 5, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Subject: Palinetta

Yo,

Have you played the Bayonetta demo?

Even after the Famitsu scores we discussed previously, I still had kind of written off Bayonetta. I may just not have had the appetite for a single player action game, but I did play the demo, and, man, this shit is cool. You should check it out. Plus, you've got a 360; the PS3 version is relatively teh suck, appar.

Later.

-Killa (from Wasilla)

4 Life [Blood Gang Sign]

2009-12-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

Killa Mob member teh GRza showing her dual allegiance between Killa Mob and another well known urban gang.

You know, it's so rare these days I get to use the Gang Signs tag for posts. It's really a goddamn shame

This was outside RFD last night. So, where the fuck was everybody else?

Get Rich [What is Killa Blog Featured Products]

2009-12-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

Hey there, loyal Killa Blog follower. You ever see that list of games in the right sidebar? These are games I've been focusing on, either playing or tracking before release. For quick reference, they're all hot linked to Amazon where you can buy or pre-order them.

And, hey! A percentage of anything you buy at Amazon after your initial click-through from Killa Blog goes to support Killa Blog! So, if you're gonna order a bunch of shit anyways, why not make it count? The only thing is to make sure you click-through, place your items in your cart and checkout in one session (without logging out and back in to Amazon). Kind of a pain, I know, as I usually like to dick around with cart configurations and wishlists for extended periods of time. But once you've decided, just stop here first and then knock it out in one fell swoop over at Amazon.

Overall I find this method of revenue generation far less obtrusive than the Google ads between posts, so I think I'm gonna stick with this, unless I hear otherwise.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and for your continued support. This is the best way to keep me providing you with all the things you probably didn't need to know.

Dang ol' Jimmy Gibbs, man [L4D2 Impressions]

2009-11-28T16:50:00.002-05:00

Cool. Found my way out of the mall.

KLAK! [Tekken 6 Technical, Online]

2009-11-26T22:22:00.000-05:00

Got the Shanksshivving patch installed. This has smoothed out Tekken 6's online quite a bit. It's always nice to see a company being responsive and effective in this sort of situation. Parameters for Ranked Matches can now be adjusted, allowing one to prioritize by connection quality or rank. It's best to fight opponents of a similar rank to rank up, but you can get a lot more 4 (green) and 5 (aqua) connection matches with the connection quality option.

I knocked out Scenario Campaign yesterday, which ended up being a little cooler than I thought. I kind of wish I had gone through with Lars, so that I could have avoided the peculiarity that is playing as one character and appearing in cutscenes as another. At least I got a ton of items for Sergei and Alisa, and five or six million dollars to boot. The Comic Effect items are unlocked by finishing this mode, which adds the 'Bam!' or 'Klak!' bubbles to spark animations. I had been wondering wtf that was.

I've been working my ass of to try and keep Sergei competitive against Legoman. I'm getting really good at piling on damage once I ground an opponent or run them into a wall. Right now the set up du jour is the 4,1 Karnov kickspin which on hit or block sets up the f,f+1+2 Blizzard Rush grab, after which I've been connecting like 95% of the time with the 3,1,2 string either as a pickup/okizeme or catching the opponent back-turned.

Lars is intriguing me, but my initial dabbling has not gone well. Fought a Yoshimitsu online. I had heard that Yoshimitsu had been tweaked into an expert only character; don't know if this individual was an expert or not, but he sure as fuck beat me like one...

Plus Four [SSFIV Roster Reveal]

2009-11-26T21:27:00.003-05:00

Scans of the new Famitsu confirm four new challengers in SSFIV. Adon, Cody, and Guy are all shown, and the third image shows Guy blocking a Kunai, Ibuki's projectile.

In my last post on the subject, I was pretty dead on in following popular predictions. I'm glad to see Ibuki, and pretty meh for the Alpha trio. Right now the roster additions look like: T. Hawk, Dee Jay, Juri, Cody, Guy, Adon, Ibuki, and most likely Hakan.

Still no sightings of Hakan, but it looks like this'll be what we're getting. Still the possibility of some extra new characters, DLC characters, and a new secret boss.

Stay tuned as uzh.

LAUREL, MD, US	08/13/2010 1:36 A.M.	OUT FOR DELIVERY
	08/13/2010 12:52 A.M.	DESTINATION SCAN
	08/13/2010 12:27 A.M.	DESTINATION SCAN
LAUREL, MD, US	08/12/2010 7:23 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON, PA, US	08/12/2010 3:07 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
LAUREL, MD, US	08/12/2010 12:23 A.M.	OUT FOR DELIVERY
LAUREL, MD, US	08/11/2010 8:31 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON, PA, US	08/11/2010 3:56 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	08/11/2010 1:23 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
HODGKINS, IL, US	08/10/2010 3:50 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	08/10/2010 2:26 P.M.	ORIGIN SCAN
	08/10/2010 2:54 P.M.	BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED