Ai Shinozaki

Absolutely beautiful. 

<3

Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition ver.2012

It was 4 years ago when my friend introduced SF4 to me. I've known and seen older SFs in arcades but never once did I actually tried playing the game. I've always thought SF is a game in which you spam buttons and unleash ultimate moves as soon as possible to finish off your opponents. Boy, I've never been so wrong. I got trashed hard. It seems very difficult to execute a second hit successfully without the opponent blocking them after the first hit connects.

 

Back then, I did some research on the Internet and I've found that combos are very time (frame) restricted. This is where the difficulty lies. For every successful punch/kick, there a specific time frame in which you can continue with another punch/kick without the opponent being able to block. Practicing this took me a long time as I play with a Xbox 360 controller instead of a portable arcade stick.With the Xbox 360 controller, you will have to time every button pressed accurately in order to continue a specific combo. Failure to do so will result in the opponent blocking an attack with high recovery time. During this recovery time, your opponent will be able to "punish" you in return. As my friend uses an portable arcade stick to play, he showed me ways to be able to time the attacks by pressing the buttons in a patterned manner. Basically, after the first attack connects (first input), the player needs to input another attack (second input)  but this serves to time yourself so that the next attack (third input) will be within the specific time frame to allow for combo continuity. If executed properly, you will successfully attack your opponent with first input and third input. It is however difficult to do this using a Xbox 360 controller due to the bad default positioning of our fingers when we hold the controller.

Sako - a Japanese player with flawless combo execution.

Pulling off combos when punishing your opponent is crucial as you may not have another chance to do so. Reading your opponent's moves is also essential to predict his next move. Lastly, knowing how to block all attacks from each character is also a must. Although the gameplay mechanics are difficult to grasp , the process of learning them will be a very satisfying experience once you've managed to see improvements and executing flawless combos!

I've stopped playing SSF4:AE a year ago and missed it a lot. To date, there are still international tournaments held for SSF4:AE. It's great to still see some of the tournament players 4 years ago participating to decide who is truly the best STREET FIGHTER!

 

COOLEST MOVE EVER!

Current gen's sexiest fighting game.

Various collector edition for Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will be released with even sexier alternate costumes for the fighters. Looking for a fighting game with massive bouncy bewbs and sexy pre/post battles? This is the ultimate game for you. To date, there are four announced collector editions:

 Kasumi's 3D mousepad? Momoji's 3D mousepad? DO WANT.

So, are you excited?! I sure as hell am! This will be my first DOA game ever. I considered getting the first version of DOA5 but ended up saving to purchase Dragon's Dogma : Dark Arisen.  The only remaining doubt is, which collector edition to grab?

Picture is self-explanatory :)

More screenshots:

A Gamer and his prized Action games.

For the first entry, I've long decided that it will be about action games. From my point of view, action games can be categorized into three groups without taking into account of difficulty. This is because each gamer has his or her own approach in gaming. Some play video games to cool off themselves after a hard day's work/studies while some play video games to beat the game at the hardest difficulty as to achieve a sense of fulfillment. For this, I did not include the aspect of difficulty in breaking down the action game genre.

The first group has the following elements, namely stylish, responsive, fluid and fast-paced combat. Personally, my gaming soul belongs in this group. I would get very excited during battles and finishing an enemy in the most stylish manner possible is absolutely fulfilling. The responsiveness of the controls makes pulling off combos more enjoyable and fluid. With variety of weapons to be used, players can choreograph their combos and with practice, variety of combos can be seen pulled off by gamers as they fully take advantage of the mechanics of the game.

 Bayonetta

Devil May Cry 3 : SE

 Really enjoyed these two combo videos and I still watch them from time to time. Some other games in the same group includes Metal Gear Rising : Revengeance, Ninja Gaiden series. I'll leave the other two groups for future entries and I have a feeling that you guys already have some idea about the other groups of the action game genre.

Killer is Dead will be out during late August 2013. Judging from the trailers alone, this game has a lot of potential to be part of this group of action games. I personally feel that the game will instead play more like No More Heroes which I consider do not belong in this first group of action games.

A gamer and his introductory post!

My games and I, we go way back. I am a sucker for awesome gameplay mechanics and also the art direction that games take in portraying the vision of the developers. For this, I've made a blog with the intention of "recording" these awesome games and hope that gamers throughout the world who haven't tried or even heard of these games would give them a go.

On a random note, I've pre-ordered Dungeon & Dragons : Chronicles of Mystara for the Playstation 3. It is a port from Capcom's classic arcade beat-em-ups game. I'll be getting a physical copy in August 2013. Looking forward to play it with my other 3 friends locally! Furthermore, this game could serve as a good warmup before Dragon's Crown!

 

DAT BOXART!!!!

If any of you are Legend of Zelda fans, please tell me I am not the only who thinks that the Elf looks like a female Link!

First entry to this blog will be up soon!