The Great Pumpkin Debate [Taokaka Jack-o-Lantern Controversy]

You know, Keif is not a big KB reader, but she did briefly see the Taokaka Jack-o-Lantern post from a little while ago. She said it looked weird, and possibly a Photoshot, but I assured her they also had a pre-lit image of the painted pumpkin. As you can see it is painted, and the only etched, as opposed to carved, area is the eyes, which give this Taokaka's eyes their glow.

Since this is the second post on the subject, I would like to thank Flickr account holder spera for the fodder.

BlazOrange[BlazBlue Taokaka Jack-o-Lantern]

Via Kotaku.


Damn, that's dedication.

Fighting Data

Street Fighter IV
First Contest		SHW	LGO
	Ken	0	2	Sagat
	Akuma	0	2	Sakura
Second Contest		KIL	LGO
	Zangief	2	0	Ryu
	Rufus	2	1	Sagat
Third Contest		SHW	KIL
	Dhalsim	0	2	Zangief
	Ryu	1	2	Abel
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
First Contest		KIL	LGO
	Ken	0	2	Sagat
	Blanka	2	0	Ryu
	Guile	0	2	Chun-Li
Second Contest		SHW	LGO
	Ken	0	2	Chun-Li
	Ryu	0	2	Sagat
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
First Contest		KIL	SHW
	Dragnuov	0	3	Hwoarang
	Armor King	1	3	Lei
Second Contest		LGO	SHW
	Baek	1	3	Hwoarang
	Eddy	3	0	Lei
	Law	1	3	Mokujin

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
			LGO		SHW		KIL
First Free-for-All		+1	Ike	-2	Sonic	+1	Snake
Second Free-for-All		+3	Lucas	-2	Captain Falcon	-1	King Dedede
Third Free-for-All		+2	Pikachu	-1	Ice Climbers	-1	Zelda
Final One-on-One		+1	Donkey Kong			-1	Meta Knight

Soul Calibur IV
First Contest		SHW	LGO
	Kilik	3	2	Astaroth
	Maxi	1	3	Kilik
	Mitsurugi	3	0	Siegfried
Second Contest		SHW	KIL
	Mitsurugi	3	0	Cassandra
	Maxi	3	2	Cervantes
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
First Contest		SHW	LGO
	Jin	2	0	Taokaka
	Litchi	1	2	Jin
	Ragna	2	0	Bang
Second Contest		SHW	KIL
	Jin	2	0	Ragna
	Ragna	0	2	Noel
	Bang	0	2	Rachel
Third Contest		LGO	KIL
	Jin	1	2	Ragna
	Taokaka	1	2	Tager
Street Fighter Alpha 3
First Contest		LGO	SHW
	Chun-Li V	2	0	Ken V
	Sagat A	1	2	Ryu A
	Ryu A	2	0	Akuma A
Second Contest		KIL	LGO
	Charlie A	0	2	Chun-Li A
	Akuma A	0	2	Ryu A

World's Strongest [Fighting Game Tournament Recap]

Lego takes another one.

Left my official scorecard at home, but I'll run through the highlights with y'all here. Our second Jcasa Fighting Game Competetion has concluded, with Legoman again winning the tiebreak in Street Fighter Alpha 3. What a guy.

Some changes this time around: the inclusion of Shwa as the third participant. Our fourth fell through, though he's expected to participate in the upcoming Tekken 6 release competition. Obviously a round-robin had to be adopted for this, and I changed the event lineup significantly. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (one of Lego's worst), Street Figher III: Third Strike, and Guilty Gear XX ^Core were all removed. BlazBlue was added, lowering the total count to six events, with a seventh event tiebreaker. Also, we imposed a forced character change rule; players had to select a different character for each match in a contest.

Lego took Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Smash Brawl. I, as expected, dominated Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue. Shwa evened everything with strong showings in Tekken 5: DR, and Soul Calibur IV. (SCIV would've given the tourney to Lego had Shwa not come away with the W). Lego then handily defeated us both in SFA3. Fucker.

I thought I had the competition highlight reel on lock during my second SFIV match with Lego. We played the ye olde Sagat(LGO)-Rufus(KIL) match (after a two and out beat by my Gief over his Ryu). I managed to steal the final round with the EX Messiah -> High -> FADC -> Ultra. I have never connected that setup in a competitive match, and somehow I saw the opening and brought the pain, and even correctly Focus Attack Back Dash cancelled since he was in the corner. Pretty sweet.

Thought that was hot shit till Lego and Shwa's match in BlazBlue. Both are pretty unfamiliar, and wisely checked Command Lists to gain as much knowledge as possible. Shwa apparently is a quick study, as he won his final match with a huge comeback catching Lego in Ragna's Devoured by Darkness Distortion Drive (only available while in Blood Kain Distortion!!) which delivers a 70+ hit autocombo (with 1:1 Soul Eater health steal).


"Distortion Finish? Is that bad? Did I break it?"

Summer Vacay Vs. the Backlog

So, how's the battle panning out? Don't know if y'all ever check any of the links over there on the right but that Killa's Backloggery is a record of all the games I need to finish, in addition to providing a reference to what games I have beaten, if anyone ever needs to pick my brain about MGS3, for instance. I've updated it with what I have and have yet to accomplish.

Well, Prototype is done. Wham, bam, thank you Radical Entertainment.

Don't really know if I'm going to try to get back into GTAIV this week, but it's unlikely.

Didn't add Vanguard Princess to the list, but I have checked it out a bit more since the initial download. Really cool for a free game, but I've gotten a lot on my fighting plate as it is, though it would be a good excuse to try and use one of my sticks with the desktop.

Got back into Crysis. In case anyone sees my Gchat status change to "Killin' Koreans", this is the reason, though I think I'm about to hit the meat of the game, and may have to start killing more proportionate numbers of aliens and Koreans. (Never have gotten the graphics tweaked as well I thought they ought to be, in case anyone was still wondering.)

Some nice SFIV play earlier in the week. I'm up over 8500 GP now, though Legoman is still giving me a hard time. (Haven't really Blaz'd Blue at all this week...)

And, y'know, I didn't publicly update this either, but I played Digital Devil Saga for a couple hours the other night.

Ai'ight. Back to Crysis.

Oh That Kaqn

Kaqn is the blonde/white Ragna. He is the de riguer Ragna to watch.

Pay special attention to the first round of the second match, versus Noel. The comeback is sickness.

I Think BlazBlue Is a Really Good Game Because... [BlazBlue Impressions]

Forgiveness please for the writing assignment title.

There are a number of unabashedly enjoyable things in Guilty Gear's spiritual successor.

Noel's ground string (forward B > forward C > down C > down forward C > down, down C > dash in, forward C > neutral Drive) was learned within a few attempts, though the timing on the last three hits is pretty tight. This leads to her Chain Revolver combo for nice damage or into an air combo (j.A, j.B, jump, j.B, j.C, Revolver Blast or Air Distortion). Revolver Blast alone is a stylish special attack to note, as it builds Heat gauge while completing the aerial rave. As a character, Noel is hard to compare. A little baby Cable, I'd say, and her Chain Revolver easy combo seems familiar, though only the forward special of the Fire Emblem characters in Smash rings a bell.

Abandoning Guilty Gear's suave gentleman vampire Slayer, Blazblue introduces Rachel Alucard, a young vampire princess with de riguer bat and cat familiars. She plays a zoning game planting electrifying bat rods, and uses wind gusts to manipulate the positions of her opponent, herself, and her projectiles. Then she can wind dash in on a shocked opponent with a rushdown style reminiscent of Dizzy. Her simplest damage dealing move is her wind dash spin (forward, forward D, forward C) which mutates a short range command attack into a visceral screen-crossing assault.

The Red Devil of Sector Seven, Iron Tager stands in for Potemkin as the game's archetypal grappler, though his Drive ability to magnetize an opponent and attract them into grabs significantly alters the traditional tactics of closing in.

The complexities of the cast as a whole are a confirmation of the intricacies of character design and gameplay. Even the most familiar characters (Ragna ala Sol and Jin ala Ky) are given a new dimension by their Drives. And hell, don't get me started on Arakune... It's like Testament and Venom (Marvel) had an abortion.

All in all, a really fresh, engaging take on 2D fighting in the same furious, technical vein as GG and MvC2. As much as I like the classic, clean mechanics of SFIV, there is definitely an appetite for this kind of advanced, hyperactive direction.

I'm hoping I can cajole some interest out of Legoman. Don't know why he's so stuck on Bang Shishigami...

Pop Songs Rewritten for Fighting Game Relevance

In Miley Cyrus' single The Climb, in my own mind, I would hear the line

"Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose"

as

"Hitting dives like I'm Kindevu"

whenever I've been having a run of good fortune with Rufus in SFIV. His dives (aka Vulture Kicks) are a key component of his game, and the pinnacle of mastery is definitely Japan's Kindevu, the top ranked Rufus in the world, and the only fatty that has given Daigo's Ryu a run for his yen.

This alone really didn't merit a post, until I started hearing Gaga's Love Game reimagined to be about Blazblue's Ragna and his Distortion Drive Blood Kain.

"Doin' the Blood Kain."

My Noel Notes

Sorry guys, this is here for my reference. Still trying to get the hang of BlazBlue. This is not for public consumption.

Type IX: Muzzle Flitter
- A hop command grab that can also be used for combos.
- Leaves them knocked down and can be followed up with an OTG attack.
- Drive 6C and back throw combo into it. Great damage.

Drive: Chain Revolver
- Begins with an attack which activates and leaves her in Drive.
- Can be canceled out of with specials after any Drive attack.
- Will reload with recovery if it is not canceled into anything.
- Can continue into 4 continuing Drive attacks which leave her in Drive.
- Cannot be canceled into the same Drive attack twice in a row.
- Can finish into Drive ending attacks unless canceled by a special or allowed to reload.

Starters:
Neutral D - High invincible, can beat out overheads. Used in both air and ground combos.
Forward D - Moves forward and hits low. Doesn't knock down, hits them up.
Back D - Attack that moves her back, can be used to make attackers whiff.
Down D - Two-hit hop that hits high. Low invincible.
j.D - Air attack that hits directly below her in the air. Can be used to guard crush or potential use as a fake cross up because it moves her quite a bit before it comes out in the air.

Continuing attacks:
Neutral A - Quick attack, used to chain drive attacks together.
Forward A - Another quick attack in which she steps forward before hitting, also used to chain drive attacks together.
Neutral B - Kicks that move forward, fair amount of push back.
Forward B - Quick overhead 1 hit attack.
Neutral C - Shot that she moves up to do. Has a fair amount of push back.
Forward C - 9 hit revolving attack that moves them away. Combos into 214A
Neutral D, Forward D, Back D, Down D - Same as starter

Ending attacks:
QCF D - Type III: Bloom Trigger: Finishing attack that moves forward and hits. Good to end with after Drive 6B. Supposedly doesn't put her at disadvantage on block.
QCB D - Type V: Assault Through: Moves forward a lot and attacks from behind. Dangerous if read.
Down, Up D - Type VI: Spring Raid: Launching attack that allows aerial followup depending on spacing. Will get punished on block.