Pick-Up Post: Jill and Shuma Gorath in Marvel vs Capcom 3

Though we’ve known about these characters for months (probably earlier than Capcom intended), Jill and Shuma Gorath are finally available as DLC on XBOX Live and PSN. At $5 each, they might be a bit pricey if you’re not interested in either character, but they’re available if you want them. I bought both of them mainly because I’ve been taking this game very seriously of late, and I’d like to get the full character experience out of it.

Having spent a bit of time with both characters in training mode and online, I thought it’d be cool to talk about my early impressions with them. I’m no expert at this game (and definitely not with these characters), but an amateur perspective may still be of value to you. If you’re considering picking these two up (or just want to read about the latest additions to the roster) check out the rest of this post.

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The Team Mechanics of Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Over the past few weeks, I have grown rather fond of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. While I still play Super Street Fighter IV with my coworkers when they are online, Marvel has (for now) taken over as my go-to fighting game of choice.

What I’m enjoying most about the game is the team element of the experience. In other vs. games, I would choose my team simply based on who I liked and/or who I was good with. Once in battle, I wouldn’t pay any mind in regards to who my opponent’s team was, either. I was just looking to beat people up for the win. But now that I’ve actually taken some time to learn this game, I’m realizing that there’s so much more to the team-based gameplay than that if you want to go far with the game.

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Top 5 In Third Person Posts: February 2011 Edition

 

I hope your month of love was a good one. Despite me having to dial down the daily content (and the time I spend gaming) due to real life, it’s still awesome to see so many people hit this site on a monthly basis. I’ll still keep writing as often as possible.

This month’s top 5 posts are an interesting mix of evergreen posts that never seem to go away and older posts finding new life due to current events. Click through to see what was the hotness in February.

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Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Learning How to Not Suck

Being good at fighting games is hard. Due to my recent success at Super Street Fighter IV, I’ve sort of taken that fact for granted. However, I got better at Street Fighter through hundreds of hours of practice, tournament experience and absorbing anything and everything I could online in regards to making myself a better player. Before I went through all of that, I spent dozens of hours playing the game online; losing almost every single one of those matches.

Though I was able to coast through the bottom tier of ranked Marvel vs. Capcom 3 matches, my winning percentage has taken a serious dip. I know enough about the game to recognize that I’m losing to people who suck at the game, but I don’t have the skills and know-how myself to beat them. Am I willing to put in the time and effort to not suck?

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Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Review

 

As much as I love the Street Fighter IV series, it has done little to open me up to other fighting games in the last few years. Granted, I’ve bought every major fighting game since, but none of them could ever stuck with me. I’d play them for a few hours and go back to Street Fighter without hesitation.

After a handful of matches in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I was concerned that this game would suffer the same fate. As with prior vs. Capcom games, the pacing, team mechanics and execution demands felt completely alien to me. But after a few hours, some training mode time, and some online wins (!) it got me thinking that maybe things will be different this time.

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Getting Hype For Marvel vs. Capcom 3

 

I was an epic fail at Marvel vs. Capcom 2. When that game first came out, i was in the midst of my 14-year fighting game moratorium. I did play it here and there at the arcade, but my primitive Street Fighter II skills did not translate well into a game involving teams, air dashes and crazy super moves. Of the few fighting games I did actually play during my moratorium, it was this one that made me say I had no reason to come back to the genre, because I’m way too behind the curve to catch up.

In 2009, the game came out on XBOX Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. I gave it a second chance, now that I was a little older and definitely wiser in regards to fighting games. Even with my Street Fighter IV experience, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was still rocket science to me and probably always will be.

With all that going against it, why then am I excited for its long-awaited sequel, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds?

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Pick Up Post: I Got The Magic Stick

After months of deliberation, I have finally decided to purchase an arcade joystick. With the release of Super Street Fighter IV happening in a few days (and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 having just been announced), I figured now would be the right time to finally give this arcade joystick thing a shot. As a long-time pad player who has always struggled with joysticks in the arcade, this is a bit of a risky investment. The market for joysticks varies wildly, as the prices can go as low as $30 and as high as $200 for products that do the exact same thing. All of the joysticks also vary wildly in features, build quality and the ability to fix/mod the joystick yourself.

As much as I would like to immediately jump to the top-of-the-line MadCatz TE stick, I’m not ready to invest $200 on a controller that I may never find as comfortable as a regular controller. With everything taken into consideration, I ended up putting down the money on this arcade joystick.

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