The Death of 1 vs. 100 on XBOX Live

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Nine months after 1 vs. 100 launched on XBOX Live, Microsoft announced earlier this week that the game would not return for a third season. While I did not play the game that often myself (which sort of makes me part of the problem), I thought that the game was very forward-thinking in its execution and quite fun to play. I’m sad to see it go.

Why did this happen? I don’t have any insider information on the situation, so anything I’m about to say is strictly speculation. But based on the information that’s publicly available and my understanding of games and business, I’m going to try and write my way through what I think happened.

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My iPhone/iPad Pile of Shame

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My video game hoarding ways have recently transcended the console space and into my iPhone/iPad life. Over the last few weeks, I’ve picked up a number of games at discounted prices mainly because they were cheap. Some of the games I have written about of late are the games I’ve put at least some time into. However, the following pile of games are currently taking up space on my iDevices and I’m not exactly sure when I’m going to get around to them.
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Street Fighter Concepts That Made Me a Better Basketball Player – Part 1: Spacing

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For many years, I’ve been an avid basketball player. I’ve played in a few leagues, on a few school teams and participated in a few basketball camps. I am by no means the next LeBron James, but I had the skills to make some noise on almost any given local court. Over the last few years though, finding the time to hit the court has been extremely difficult. During my basketball downtime though, I got really into Street Fighter IV on a serious level. I began to really pay attention to the concepts behind the game and how to use them to my advantage.

This year, my life has really settled down and I now regularly play basketball again. While I’ve had to work hard to get back into game shape (I lost 20 lbs and counting since I started playing again in April), and I’ll never have the raw physical talent that I did in my prime, I do have something now that I didn’t have before: Street Fighter knowledge.

Oddly, I’ve been able to apply much of the thinking involved in playing Street Fighter into my thinking of basketball. Has it made me a better player? I think it has. I’m not saying that Kobe Bryant should dust off his E. Honda to get better, but having that parallel helps me see basketball in a different way, allowing me to play the game smarter. For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to apply these concepts in a one-on-one basketball situation, because adding in more players will make this more difficult to explain than it should be. I have at least four parts to this series ready to go, with more possibly in the future.

I don’t need to set this up any more. Here is part one of Street Fighter concepts that made me a better basketball player.
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Backbreaker for iPhone and iPad Isn’t What You Think

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The console versions of Backbreaker have not fared well. Having spent many years in development, the final product came off more as a proof-of-concept rather than a polished football game. While it featured arguably the most advanced physics system in gaming development, the lack of real NFL teams and poor implementation of its key gameplay mechanics made it a stinker.

Going into the universal iPhone/iPad app version of Backbreaker, I was expecting a scaled-down version of the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 game. However, what Natural Motion gave gamers instead is a game that almost isn’t football at all. Surprisingly, this $0.99 offering may actually be more fun, too.
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Impressions on Blades of Fury for the iPhone

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However you perceive their creative business practices, Gameloft have built their entire business around creating mobile knock-offs of the games you love. To be fair, they do make a few great original games, but their bread is mainly buttered on based on popular console games.

This game falls into the latter category. Blades of Fury might as well be Soulcalibur on the iPhone.

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iPhone Games: I’ll Buy That For a Dollar

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Historically, we haven’t been able to get very much for a dollar when it comes to video games. Games on physical media sold for $1 at a store are likely not worth the materials they’re made from. At the arcade, a dollar in this economy will get you one play on most games, which will likely last you no more than two minutes.

Over the past few weeks, the majority of my gaming purchases have cost me only a dollar on the iTunes store. If you’ve got an iDevice, a dollar can go a long way.

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How Rambo Ruined My Childhood*

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*The post title may be exaggerating, a bit.

Rambo on the original Nintendo is a game I fondly remember for all the wrong reasons. Back when I was no more than 8 years old, I rented this at my local video store. It was the worst video game I’ve ever rented.

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NFL 2010 HD Review: An NFL Game Not Made By EA? What?

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A number of years ago, EA locked up exclusive rights to make NFL video games. Because of that, I was very confused as to how Gameloft could release their own NFL football game on the iPad. Apparently, EA didn’t lock up mobile games, which allowed for this release to happen.

I haven’t played a football video game since 1996 with Madden 64. However, the release of Backbreaker has whet my interest in something meatier and there aren’t any other NFL licensed football games on the iPad on sale for $0.99. With all of that going for it, I decided to give NFL 2010 HD a shot.
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Review: Pix N’ Love Rush

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Do you remember a time before Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System? An era where games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong ruled the scene? Pix N’ Love Rush feels like a game heavily inspired by games of that era. For gamers that fondly remember that era, you’ll feel right at home here with it’s modernized pixelated look, chip-tune music and simple play mechanics. For everyone else, there’s still a fun iPhone game worth your $0.99.
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Get Hype! EVO 2010 Starts Today!

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Last year was a monumental one for everyone involved in the Evolution fighting game tournament. Besides it being the debut of the massively-popular Street Fighter IV, it broke records for participants, attendance and for the first time ever, it was all viewable live to anyone with an Internet connection. EVO was no longer just the one YouTube clip of Daigo parrying all of Justin Wong’s super combo hits. Hundreds of thousands of people tuned in throughout the weekend to watch Daigo and company play out the fighting game magic. I was glued to my computer that entire weekend; watching arguably the best fighting game action I’d ever seen in my life. That tournament even went as far as inspiring me to level up my own skills.
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