Hit Confirmation

Despite the fact that I haven't been able to play any SSF4 lately, I still make time to browse replay videos online and enjoy studying up on it.

Recently, I just figured out what HIT CONFIRMATION is.

Due to my background in old-school Street Fighter 2, I have an inclination to prefer "meaty" combos like Ryu's jump-in fierce, crouching fierce cancel into hadoken/shoryuken, or Guile's classic 4 fierce backfist combo.

These all work in SSF4 well enough, but if you spend some time watching higher level play, it is quickly apparent that nobody really uses them.

The reason is that "meaty" combos, aka combos that are made up of mostly stronger attacks and fewer attacks, are very hard to hit confirm, hence very hard to train yourself to stop doing them when you've realized that your opponent is blocking, or is countering.

One of the most damaging combos Balrog has is a simple crouching strong cancel into headbutt. I think the damage is like 280, really nice. But after I found this combo, I quickly realized I almost never saw other Balrogs use it, because executing this combo is too fast, too "meaty". You have to go into the headbutt motion right after you hit the strong punch, giving you next to no time to see if your opponent has been hit by the strong punch or not.

Most high level Balrogs stick to combos that start with one or two crouching jabs, link into a crouching short, and then cancel into a headbutt. This combo is done slower, and since you are going through a longer button sequence, you can "see" the combo and have the option to stop if your opponent starts to block half-way through, saving yourself from a final headbutt that will be blocked, and a free opening for your opponent.

Although "meaty" combos are still higher slightly in damage, the more you use them, the riskier they become. While hit confirmable combos may be a little less damaging, but they are much less likely to give your opponent the opening to retaliate and turn the tide.

PAX East 2010

This past weekend was PAX East 2010, the Penny Arcade eXpo 2010, held for the first time on the east coast in Boston. Laure and I went and did our best to enjoy ourselves. According to source who count heads, there were over 52 thousand people in attendance, and it was a great time. I think if you have taken the time to read anything about PAX online, you will know that word-of-mouth for this thing is overwhelmingly positive, so I won't go into detail about that, but instead, I will just try and paint a picture of what it was like for three days at the Hynes Convention Center.

The Hynes is a pretty big place, but it wasn't big enough for PAX. Most of time Lauren and I had to contend with walking slowly through crowds, and the best giveaways, swag bags, etc... usually cost a long wait. One of the first things we noticed was that one entire side of the convention center was lined with SUMO lounge bean bags. These things are NICE, seriously comfy and very easy to stay in. We were surprised SUMO wasn't on site to promote themselves, but in a way, having their product pretty much flooding several halls of the event was probably advertising enough. We are still looking for a cheap discount to these things which retail at $150, but kinda, totally, worth it.

The people of PAX are in a word, gamers. Though I had to miss Wil Wheaton's keynote, his talk really sums up the kind of friendly, fun-oriented attitude that is on display at PAX. As long as I was asking about games, nobody was awkward or unfriendly when I spoke to them. Everyone seemed sincerely friendly, and almost everyone was fat and overweight, and there were just as many "young" looking people as there were "older" looking people. Hmm, what am I getting at here, I'm not sure, except maybe that gamers don't care much about age or physical attractiveness.



But there were exceptions, especially the cos-players at PAX. These guys looked really nice with their bright colors and accurate portrayal of Chrono Trigger, but there were many others too, ones that were just plain weird, and of course girls in skimpy outfits. Oddly, I did not see any Lara Crofts, Bayonetta was really the popular female gaming sex symbol of the weekend, I think I saw like 4 Bayonettas.

Aside from the interesting people, there was a giant, two-sectioned exhibition hall where a lot of companies set up to show off their interesting wares. Some big booths I remember, MS, Nintendo, Ubisoft, EA, Disney, Sega (their booth was on the small end though)... I have to admit, I had some high hopes for the exhibition floor, I was hoping to play a XBLA game being developed call Limbo, but sadly, I found out later that it was not on the floor and was only shown to the press. Honestly, the show floor was lame because the coolest looking games always had the longest lines. But I really like all the t-shirts you could find there, and there were some very cool tabletop gaming related items that were also there for people to try/buy, like handmade game boards and such.

PAX also offered up a smorgasboard of intelligent and educational panels all throughout the weekend. Ranging from talks being given by professionals in the gaming industry, to a private showing of documentary films about the history of interactive fiction, I really liked a lot of the stuff I saw in my thick program. But that was just it, I only got as far as reading about them in my program, the reality was there were so many people at PAX, the conference rooms at the Hynes were just not big enough to accomodate all the people who wanted to participate. Lauren and I ended up only being able to see that one about interactive fiction because we soon learned that to get into any of the panels, we'd have to line up a good 90 minutes before the panel's starting time.

But we were not without shit to keep us busy. We entered tournaments, and Lauren brought home a medal.



On the back it's engraved with "Third place Tetris DS Tournament". If I haven't mentioned it already, Lauren is a monster Tetris fan, and she is FAST. But there were two freaks at PAX even faster!?! One of them called himself, "Triforce"!?!?

Anyway... PAX is about games, and there were organized tournaments ALL DAY LONG. I thought the biggest draws were easily the Magic: The Gathering people. They had all to themselves, 2.5, maybe 3 full conference rooms and had tournaments after tournaments after tournaments in various formats. Draft, standard, extended, maybe even classic format were listed in their program, and several of the events had $1,000 prizes. I even saw Big Greg there, he was working as a judge and tipped to me that an upcoming standard format was not going to be tough to win, and the prize was a XBOX 360.

In addition to all the MTG, there were tabletop gaming tournaments being held all day in one area, console game tournaments in another (Street Fighter 4!), PC tournaments in another huge hall, and the smallest area was for handheld tournaments, like the one for Mario Kart DS we played in.



I also went to my first SF4 tournament and it was quite educational. I learned that I don't play nearly as well as I do at home, presumably because of the pressure, that a lot players who are in tournaments aren't THAT good, and that I am currently one of them.

I also learned that Justin Wong is pretty friendly and looks chubbier in person.


Though we had planned to get our Dominion on on the last day of PAX East, we missed the start of the tournament and were thwarted. I ended up playing in a small 8 man draft for free on MTGO, and took 3rd place and got some free boosters. The real final event of PAX was the conclusion of the Omegathon, which is totally awesome and I would totally try to get in on that next time. Every PAX has had an Omegathon, which is a tournament consisting of 3-4 rounds and usually of games from very varied disciplines so that nobody can really practice for it, you just have to be an "overall" skilled gamer to do well at it. The prize package for the Omegathon has always been pretty massive. One year was a car, another was a tricked out entertainment center, this year was a trip to Germany plus $2500 cash. And the entrants are all picked at random on Friday, the start of PAX. And as per tradition, the PAX closing ceremony is always the final round of the Omegathon, and what the event will actually be is always shrouded in secrecy. We actually watched the first round of the Omegathon earlier on Friday, when they played Mario Kart: Double Dash and learned that teams and teamwork were to be the themes for this year's PAX East. So the closing ceremony had two teams of 2 facing off in a relay challenge of 4 games; NES Super Mario Bros., Ridge Racer, Tetris, and finally Contra NES. The teams had to play by relay the first three games before coming together to play the last game, Contra NES, cooperatively and make it to the boss, not the gate, but the moving eye thing.

Each team's progress was projected onto separate giant screens and it was really surprisingly exciting to watch. It may have been the giant screens, but I think it was also because the players, aka Omeganauts seemed like really normal folk, they were all kinda fat and some were even balding, and yet here they were, on stage, under the spotlight, and I totally enjoyed their performance.

Jerry and Mike, the guys who make up Penny Arcade, closed the event saying that PAX East was the "real PAX" now, and that next year, they would be at a bigger venue. In fact, they have already announced that they will probably move to the Boston harbor area to the Convention Center there, which reputedly is as long as the Empire State Building is tall.

I will close for now with 2 vids of my beating a DP spamming Ken, and one of me making stupid mistakes and losing to Chun.

Wii Fit Olympics

I am sudden remembering that after I finished my 2 month-long Wii Fit experiment, I never did get around to a final thoughts write-up. So here it is. I think Wii Fit ultimately is not able to replace going to the gym or active participation in a demanding sport, ie not golf. However, I must admit that I was able to get noticeable muscle gain by way of a high-protein diet and using ONLY Wii Fit. Although Wii Fit felt inadequate for training my arms and chest, it was always a great work-out for my legs and cardio. Having it conveniently at home also really helped with my motivation and ease of keeping to a set training routine. For approximately $80, I think Wii Fit is a pretty nice investment towards a practical and active lifestyle.

It's a lot of fun too, actually.

Which brings me to...


Held this past Sunday, the world was fixed upon a humble apartment in downtown Kagoshima, where Lauren "The Jumper" Goodman and Yuchao "Believe in meat only!" Wu came together in an event for the history books.

The participants were tested in six categories, Hoola-hooping, Ski Jump, Bubble River, Downhill Ski, Forearm Stand, and Fish-eating in a Penguin Suit.

Out of the gate Yuchao was able to take the Hoola-hooping event, but Lauren surprised many during her performance on Bubble River. Though she has historically sucked bad at this event, she was able to narrowly beat Yuchao by a mere 5 meters.

The Ski Jump event was also a nail-biter as Lauren's first attempts were plagued by technical difficulties and tiny, flying remotes. But she was able to regain her composure and set a new record of 365 meters.

Although Yuchao was not able to shine at the Headbutting event which he has been reputed for, he was inspirational during the Forearm Stand segment, maintaining his steady form and balance for the duration of the event and scoring a record 85.

The last event, consisting of eating fish in a penguin suit was not a familiar place for Yuchao. Scoring a 62, he was beaten by Lauren who waddled, wobbled, and slid her way to eating several large red herrings and scored a hefty 91 points.

Lauren "The Jumper" Goodman has proven her Wii Fit mettle this week in front of all the world as the winner of the first Wii Fit Olympics.

Tune in next week when we will be live to report on the long-awaited Wii Sports Open.

Eating in Taiwan

So good it will make your shit float.

What Goes Around...

I waited over half a year for the release of Metroid Prime 3 here in Japan. Barely a couple hours into the game and I find out that the Japanese version cannot communicate online with versions of the game from other regions.

Screw you, Nintendo. Seriously, get with the program.

I sell back my Japanese copy for a good wad of cash because it is still a NEW game here, and with the help of the new Wii Freeloader, I am now about to destroy my first phazon seed on the planet Bryyon.

Hotness.

What I found even more interesting however, is the fact that there are some subtle differences between the Japanese and North American versions of the game. In the NA version, when you start a game, you are simply given the choice to play on NORMAL or VETERAN difficulty. But in the Japanese version, the game asked me if I had played any of the previous Primes, AND if I had finished them. Two affirmatives resulted in what I guess would be the Japanese version of VETERAN difficulty.

But that wasn't the only thing.

In the Japanese version, reptilian natives of Bryyon would attack with a very cool energy boomerang sort of thing, and if Samus had her ice missiles, she could freeze them after they had thrown one, and have the returning boomerang demolish the thrower. The game even has a name for this, Reptilicide.

In the NA version though, this move is much harder to do. The reptiles do not freeze when hit with ice missiles, they just turn gray and slow down. Only if they are near-death and hit with one will they freeze, which is after about 4 missiles.

I remember the days when games were commonly made easier or dumbed down for western players but NEVER for Asia. Is this really how far gaming has come? Has Japan, the age-old mecca of gaming now become just a fossil? Just a fading image of its former glory?

Etrian Odyssey

I just recently finished Etrian Odyssey 2 in Japanese, it probably sucked a good 30-40 hours out of my life.

This franchise is relatively new, made by Atlus, purveyor of all things old-school and odd. The game is a classic Dungeons and Dragons type game, you form a guild by creating people of various professions, warrior, paladin, dark hunter, medic, ranger, shaman, samurai, gunner, alchemist, curse maker, or even a bard, equip and supply up, then head into a multi-floored dungeon to see how long you can last and how much loot/experience you can get away with without wiping out.

The main draw for this series, I think, is the map-drawing mechanic that is used for the touchscreen. As you explore new areas, you get to (have to) draw a map, mark walls, doors, harvesting points, places where bad-ass enemies are prowling, or holes in the floor. It's quite amazing how much this kind of thing compelled me, compelled the very anal aspect of my being, the very obsessive aspect. I found it intoxicating at times to be able to plot out every little square floor and wall, every doorway, and suspicious points of interest. Many reviewers are already calling this series a sleeper hit, destined to be on those "great games you never played" lists.

Character growth is done in the form of skill points, like in Diablo. You gain points as you gain levels, and spend those points to learn new skills or makes them more powerful. Up to 4 pieces of equipment can be worn, a weapon, a piece of body armor, and two extra slots for anything that's NOT a weapon or piece of body armor. Though I'm sure it's there for balance reasons, I really would have enjoyed more than 4 slots for equipment.

The battle system uses damage types extensively, six of them, fire, ice, thunder, and edged, blunt, and ranged. You will find enemies that look like plants are weak to fire, things that look hot are weak to ice, and many hard-looking things, rock-like enemies or metallic enemies are usually weak to thunder. Edge damage comes from swords and the like, blunt damage from staves, axes, even claws I think (not sure why), and ranged damage from bows/guns. Generally, I was able to kill anything and everything once I found one type of damage that it was weak to.

Which brings me to the one one complaint I have about playing thru this 30 floored World Tree. The battle system was not as challenging and deep as I had hoped for. Most of the time, a boss' weaknesses were pretty easy to find. Beyond the damage type system, there are various negative status effects that may be inflicted upon you, like poison, terror, bind, blindness, etc... however, all of these except for petrification heal on their own usually in 3 turns, which means that they simply slow you down, but rarely do they lose you the fight. As long as I could keep using my healer, status ailments were easy to shrug off.

I did enjoy the game very much, but I also feel like it could have been so much more. There could have been a REAL trap system, and not just random instances of luck where you either got some HP back or lost some. The dungeon could have been more confusing and challenging, only a couple of floors toward the endgame start using warps to make things more difficult, most of the floors are actually quite straightforward to plow and plot through.

The English version, Etrian Odyssey 2 will release stateside, shortly. The first one, Etrian Odyssey for DS is already something of a rare item. If you are hankering for some old school dungeon crawling, this is a great game to have on a long flight, or even a trip to the DMV.

Project Update 2: Fit Get!?

I'm slipping back into my work routine now that Spring break is over. I had to take nearly a week off from my Wii Fit experiment because of a cramped neck that gave me some kind of super-migraine. I blame the desk job. As much as I know that I do indeed voluntarily spend a lot of time in front of a computer or screen of some sort when I'm relaxing, at work, I find myself doing it because there is nothing else to do, and because it is the easiest way for me to "look like" I'm working. LOL.

In any case, I had to go to two doctors because the first one was too lazy to HEAR ME SAY that I hadn't actually puked, and insisted that I had some kind of gastrointestinal virus. Sold me stomach meds which I should feed to the ducks, because that would be pretty interesting...

Had to wait till the next day to get a second opinion and some muscle relaxants from an English-speaking doctor, etc... just let me story remind you to take care of your own necks.

My Wii Fit workout up till now:
Day 1: jogging 15 min
push-up and balance 2 sets of 20 reps
jackknives 3 sets of 30 reps
boxing 15 min
Day 2: jogging 15 min
jackknives 3 sets of 30 reps
squats/lunges 3 sets of 20 reps
boxing 15 min
Day 3: rest
Day 4: repeat Day 1
Day 5: repeat Day 2
Day 6: rest
Day 7: rest

I have been pretty good about cutting my carbs and eating lots of meat/protein. I feel like on average I replace about 60% of my carbs with protein, sometimes maybe even up to 70-75%. The odd thing is my weight has not changed much, however, I have noticed muscle gain.

3 weeks left and I plan to alter my workouts a bit by increasing the cardio to try and decrease more body fat. If it does not affect a noticeable change in my weight, hopefully it will at least make my muscle gains more visible.

Mario Kart Wii is out in Japan, 4/27 for North America.