The last few have been tremendous for gamers. It seemed like we were getting top-tier releases all year long. This year, I feel like I haven’t played much of anything. I went many months without buying any games, or seeing anything on release lists that piqued my interest. Sure, there have been a few marquee releases already, such as Mass Effect 3 and Diablo III, but the 2012 release line-up to date has seemed pretty underwhelming to me.
Not too long ago, I played Ninja Gaiden II on the XBOX 360. Though I had a number of problems with it, I would never criticize it for not being “western” enough. Apparently, Team Ninja didn’t feel the same way. They tried to infuse their franchise with elements considered to be western, which proved to be a failure for Ninja Gaiden III.
In an interview with Gamasutra, Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi explained what happened.
“It seems like we made a Japanese hamburger for the west…Maybe as a Japanese developer, we need to make good Japanese food … and that’s what people are wanting from a Japanese developer.”
For about a year now, I’ve had Spiderman, Wolverine, Ryu and Akuma figures sitting on my desk. I’ve always arranged them as if they were ready to duke it out in a Marvel vs. Capcom battle. I always though it’d be cool to have one more Marvel figure and one more Capcom figure to ‘complete’ a 3v3 team.
Not too long ago, I was able to do just that, when I coincidentally found a stash of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Mini Mates figures at an out-of-town comic book store.
Get hype!
The Evolution Championship Series is just a few weeks away. To get you ready for all of the action, I’ve put together a viewer’s guide to EVO, which you can now check out at Splitkick. This covers where to watch it, what games will be played, as well as some of the big story lines and players to look out for. If you have any interest in watching the event, definitely check out the guide for some additional context.
Also, why would you choose that game? Would you want to be recognized as the best because you have the world’s highest score? The world’s fastest speed run? Would you want to be unbeatable in competition? Or would you want to be considered the best for some other reason? Let’s discuss in the comments!
When I went and saw Indie Game: The Movie awhile back, I did not envision this as the outcome. The review I did for Splitkick is currently featured in the Press section of the Indie Game: The Movie official website alongside a nice pull-quote. Is it too much to ask to also get featured on the DVD/Blu Ray box? Just kidding. This is awesome! Thank you to the team at Indie Game: The Movie for the recognition!
(Me [right] vs. Rikir [left] on the Toryuken main stage and live stream of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3)
The ability to excel in a high-pressure situation does not come naturally to most. I, for one, have found this to be the case with everything I do in life – especially in my foray into competitive gaming. I’ve suffered from a seemingly unshakable case of tournament nerves, which has plagued my ability to play to my full potential. It’s hard not to let the nerves get to you when playing for your tournament life in front of a large crowd that is judging your every action.
The cure for shaking nerves? Practice. If you put yourself in a high-pressure situation enough times, you body and mind should get accustomed to the situation. Going into Toryuken – my third tournament to date – I was hoping that this would be the tournament where I could shake off my tournament nerves once and for all.
Truth be told, you should be listening to Splitkick.com‘s Fall Damage podcast every week. Scratch that. You should be listening to both of Splitkick’s podcasts – Fall Damage and Rocket Jump – every week. And no, I’m not saying this because they’re my video game writing BFFs.
Granted, there may be one or two of you that will say, “But Jett, we haven’t listened to the Fall Damage podcast because you’re not on it.” In that case, I’ve got good news for you! The Fall Damage team was nice enough to invite me on as a guest on Level 127 of their podcast.
Click here to listen to Level 127!
Not too long ago, I got a chance to see an advanced screening of Indie Game: The Movie as part of the Hot Docs film festival. It was a very cool event that included a special Q&A with the creators of the film and Phil Fish. If you have any interest in checking out this movie, head over to Splitkick.com to check out my review!
If you were to watch me play Trials Evolution, the last thing you would expect me to be having is fun. Oftentimes, I appear with a look of defeat; cursing at my TV as I screw up the same jump for the 30th time in a row. Over the course of a few weeks, I must have hit restart thousands of times, hoping that success was just around the corner. If I did not love this game so much, I would not put myself through the type of physical and psychological punishment that Trials Evolution puts me through. Despite the amount of fun I’m having (especially when I succeed after dozens of failures), most people would probably view this behaviour as masochistic.
It’s not very often that I’ll put myself through this type of suffering as part of the enjoyment of a game, but it happens if it’s the right game at the right time. Are there any games you’ve played that hurt so good? Let’s discuss in the comments!
One more thing of note. Trials Evolution review coming soon!
In Third Person 