Brendan's Progress, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, and Sonic Generations Music

Brendan's Progress (aka the NaNoWriMo part)

So as of time of this post, I've got 9297 words complete.

It's still a bit slow, as I don't exactly have this story where I want it yet, and I think between a combination of actually attempting some kind of character development and overall bullshitting, there's a legit explanation of why I'm not wholly excited over what I'm currently writing.

That just means that I'm not being over the top enough. Which makes sense. Other than a few bits here and there, this has been a rather ho-hum experience.

But what's keeping me going, maybe more so than the desire to actually hit the 50,000 word mark by the end of the month, is the knowledge of exactly where this novel is going. There are certain events of this story that I've gone over a ridiculous number of times in my head, especially while I'm at work, and the more I think about it, the more ridiculous I make it, and... well, it's going to be ridiculous. That's all I can say. Like, there's going to be this huge turning point in the story that makes no sense before we get to yet another turning point in the story that makes no sense, but it'll all tie together somehow because I think that I actually have a goal for the character that is Brendan. I've made him into something, and I think I may be trying a little too hard to establish to the reader what I've made him as, and throughout the course of the book, he's going to do some amazing things....

I just wish the beginning of this didn't suck so bad. But I just gotta press on. I can edit shit to be better or out completely when it's all said and done, but for now... just keep on pressing.

This is definitely a masterpiece in the making.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

You know how you get bored one day and you decide to try something new?
Or, better for this particular piece of the blog, you get bored and you try to explore something that you dabbled in for a bit but finally decided, with nothing else to, to actually try to immerse yourself into a new experience with that dabbling?
Even better for this part... ever had access to a video game and played it for a bit, but set it to the side, and then randomly decided to give it a deeper, truer shot?

This is what happened with X-Men vs. Street Fighter. This game was on my computer, mostly to watch some epic battles between top players on GGPO. Randomly, however, I decided that I wanted to play it and actually try to get good at it (or at least as good at it as I am in Marvel vs. Capcom 1).

And man, this game is really fucking intense.
And man, this game is much better than Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Like, I'm playing this game, right? And I'm currently getting an interesting feel for Cyclops. And his combos are pretty cool, but require some interesting timing. And then combined with the rules within the system of the game, PLUS SIX ATTACK BUTTONS (that's 2.5 more attack buttons than MvC3 has), you can actually show some kind of creativity in your combo. And that creativity can lead to mad mix-ups. And those mad mix-ups can lead to you losing 100% of your life for free before you even know what happened. No X-Factor needed.

And I think that's what's really satisfying about this game... being able to pull off combos that do a shit turd of damage with your own hands, not some bullshit embedded in the game. X-Men vs. Street Fighter has rules in its game system that try to keep infinite combos out, but all it does is add to your creativity, figuring out what moves have what properties, and using those properties to either get around the rules or break them entirely.

And being able to learn this stuff is a wonderful, intense experience. Much more satisfying than any silly ass combo I ever learned in MvC3, especially when they're the only real combos that make more sense to use.

Sonic Generations Music...

...is so fucking amazing.

As it stands right now...
Here's my Top 5

5) Crisis City

4) Toxic Caves

3) Stardust Speedway

2) Vs. Shadow

1) Open Your Heart remix

I can sit here and tell you that I haven't even heard everything, so this list is subject to change.

But I doubt it.

Wait a Second... What About Apex?

Yeah..... still haven't gotten around to practicing any type of Smash at all. Between work, and now NaNoWriMo and the desire to play Sonic Generations over anything, plus WWE '12 coming soon... I'm clearly going to lose every possible set if I don't go MetaKnight...

I might have to summon my inner douche and actually play MetaKnight to get a win, too.

Also, Apex 2012 now has Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition (with that new patch) and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on deck. Now... hmm, I don't think I made that post about SSF4:AE and how I had been playing the game on the low and how I don't think the game is that bad except that it's simply not SSF2:Turbo and thus I find it really slow these days, but yeah. That's kinda the reason why I'm not entering that.

But Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3... well, I may actually play that game a bit more regularly than I did its vanilla counterpart...
It solely depends on how Captain America feels when I play him. I read some of his changes... between getting his double jump back and getting his Shield Slash to OTG again, he just might feel like good ol' CapUSA from the MvC1 days.

And that's where the fun begins... Cap, Zero, Strider, anyone?

I may throw Vergil in there somewhere though... or Dormammu... I've been fucking with his firestorm shit... it's too funny to see 36 random hits come from changing the color of my hands.

All of those characters would have much more fun gameplay if they were in XvSF's system...

Hello.

This blog has been sitting in the warehouse for mad long now. I guess I might as well just post it before I leave for work... *silence* @ work.


Amy Winehouse and Mega Man


So Amy Winehouse passed away recently... I might come off as an insensitive bastard for this, but honestly, I feel more pain in the idea that Capcom might not be making anymore Mega Man games due to his creator, Kenji Inafune, leaving Capcom on terms that aren't in fact the greatest than Amy Winehouse's death. Why?

1. Amy Winehouse had it coming. She didn't even wanna go to rehab. And then had the nerve to make a song about it. (You could argue that Mega Man, as Inafune's creation, had it coming as well, as he was doing some questionable things over there at Capcom...)
2. Mega Man has contributed much more to my life than Amy Winehouse. There's Mega Man 1-4 (never beat 4, actually), 7 and 8, Mega Man X 1-7 (never played 8... what the hell), and Mega Man Xtreme on the Game Boy Color. Not to mention his showings in the Marvel vs. Capcom games.
3. The death of celebrities just don't shock me anymore... my father passed in 07, my grandmother in 09, and my aunt in 2010. I've had friends deal with family deaths in similar impacts, and you can feel them struggling to maintain and trying to keep their heads up with that initial absence. So yeah... could hardly care. I haven't even heard any one of her songs. I only know of the rehab song via facebook statuses...

Work is Killer, Man.

These assholes... they fire someone without the proper manpower to replace him, so let's shuffle the fuck out of everyone's schedule. My schedule keeps me from doing any SCW shows (at the moment... maybe it'll change? I don't even know), and I worked a ridiculous 6 consecutive days since last Thursday, and only had yesterday off since. The fact that I'm still here is nothing short of a win in my book.

And yeah, that's why I hardly blog as much as I used to... it's getting ridiculous. I really need to mark a plan to get the fuck outta there. Interestingly enough and partially unrelated, I see a number of friends in interesting predicaments that have them making interesting decisions... it will be interesting to see how our futures' play out. 

Did I mention that I openly talk to myself with no remorse? Yup. Totally lost my sanity.

Did the Overall Quality of Entertainment go Down Drastically?

So about a week or so ago, I was randomly talking to my brother about how terrible the TV show "House of Payne" is and how the only character that's worth anything is Curtis Payne and how if you remove Curtis Payne, you have nothing. My brother responds on some dumb shit like you only need one good character... like, why would you need more than one funny character? So then I break down how sitcoms like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Cosby Show had more than one really good character, and how even if you remove the main character, you could easily write a funny show involving the rest of the cast that would obviously still be lacking, but still be watchable than House of Payne. And he's like, that's not good, cause then you're expected to laugh all the time... and I'm like, is that not the point of a sitcom?

So then he says some shit like, "what if the WWE had more than one John Cena?" 

Once upon a time, they did. Undertaker, Steve Austin, Rock, HHH, etc... what happens when you have more than one John Cena? You get a bit of unpredictability, where anyone of those good wrestlers can take the title, duh.

And that's when I think to myself... has the overall quality of entertainment gone down? And have people learned to appreciate this terrible quality of entertainment?

Which brings me to my next point...

I Think the Movie Industry is Out of Ideas...

Transformers

Green Lantern

Captain America

Chipmunks

Smurfs

Spiderman (again)

There's more... I just don't feel like going through it all.

Now I know, there are original movies. And I'm willing to bet that when I was young, there were remakes and such... but am I wrong for believing that new ideas are just running on fumes these days?

MvC3 > 10 months > UMvC3

So I was gonna do a blog about how this is stupid, about how Capcom did this with Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter 3 and how it's different from doing this with Street Fighter 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 because of the technology available and stuff... and then I stopped caring. 

10 months, however, isn't unprecedented, however. The gap between SF2: Championship Edition and SF2: Hyper Fighting is something along the lines of 8 months. The gap between SF3: New Generations and SF3: 2nd Impact is something along the lines of 9 months. Of course, the big difference is being in an arcade vs. being on consoles that are damn near computers and shit.

But like I said... I stopped caring. At least they'll be making the game "better" unlike what they did with SSF4: AE... SSF4 was arguably the most balanced SF game since Street Fighter Alpha 2, and they just destroyed it. How exactly is beyond me because I don't play the game enough. Some say is because they nerfed the fuck out of everyone that isn't Makoto and Fei Long. Some say is because the twins are just too good. Personally, I don't give a fuck.

MvC3 needed an update. (Personally, I think MvC needs to hit 4, already, but I digress) The game was getting stale, the X-Factor was too powerful, and outside of X-Factor, strategies were leveling out to exactly the same shit to the point where the beginning of matches in the same set were starting to look exactly the same. UMvC3 looks to add more new moves and shit, nerf that with which was considered stupid shit (like Sentinel and Phoenix), and ultimately, provide the illusion that this will be something awesome.

And I'm still backing the shit out of SFxT. Yet, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets a new edition in a year or so. That's the Capcom way... I remember when SF4 was first announced that I said it would have at least 3 versions. With SSF4, I thought I'd be wrong, but... you know.

I promise you that I have, like 10 blog ideas...

... just waiting to be written. But... you know... work and shit... maybe someday.

Even more about work...


so I've decided I'm not putting out a 100% effort until they make things right. Nothing works, and I'm out here busting my ass, but if I put in less effort, I get the same amount of money anyway, so there.

I swear, there's a beautiful relationship waiting to happen here, but I got no chance in hell to make moves because when I'm not working, they're working and when they're not working, I'm working. Awesome turn of events.

This blog in and of itself....


Has been written in like, 3 different parts, differing from three different days. The reason why I'm actually about to post this is because I'm totally lacking the fuck out of posts right now. I'm also noticing that if I make blogs about video games, they tend to get hits.

But then again...


My DBZ post got the most hits ever... and I definitely have at least one more DBZ related post to put up. You can thank a friend named Kyle for that.

And now I'm just rambling off...


but you know what? I am one sexy muther fucker. Even if I don't have the look of a waiter.

Yeah, like at my job... and I'm willing to bet that this is in most places... you can't really be a cashier or stuff like that if 1) you lack a vagina and 2) you don't have the "look." Oh, you're a dude looking for a job? Oh, you look like that? Here, take this labor bullshit.

I am not a laborer. I am a thinker, a creator. I am also a damn hard worker, and that strength is weakness... I get abused... BUT NO MOAR!

I see a lot of people at my job have, like, another job. Apparently, this one on its own doesn't cut it. Crazy... people have become slaves to the dollar. Even my schedule has attempted to make me a slave to the dollar. For the two days off that I have, they are started by a late night which usually results in my waking up late and followed by an early morning which would require me to sleep early. Meaning my actual day off is cut off.

Cash Rules Everything Around Me.

Fuck that. I'm dethroning this muther fucker. I REFUSE to allow my life to get ruined by this job... at least for the summer. When it gets cold and there's no interest in being out there in 40 degree weather, then it's whatever. But now? Naaaaah... it's too hot outside to be "relaxing" on days off. Naaaah... I gotta be out doing shit.

So I'll relax this once... this last once... and then from here on in? Bugging out on my days off for the rest of the summer. My job is just going to have to put up with bullshit performances... bullshit performances is better than no performance, no? I mean, I don't think they can afford to fire me. They're already low on dish washing man power as it is. Like yesterday... if I didn't show up (which I was thinking about doing due to our new attendance policy and how the 1st of each month provides a god-like loophole type maneuver), they would have been fucked. In the ass. No lube. Except the blood.

Evo was/is this weekend.


I followed it more than I originally thought I would. Well, then again... I'm lying... I only watched it practically all of Sunday. Saw the MK9 finals, Tekken 6 finals, MvC3 Top 8 and SSF4AE Top 8. Congrats to the winners. Lol @ 3-4 Phoenix teams in top 8 in Marvel. Lol @ 2 Yuns, 1 FeiLong, 3 Vipers, an Akuma, and a Seth in Top 8 in AE. MvC3 obviously had more "variety" than Marvel 2 last year, but I'm gonna have to see what exactly happened with last year's SSF4. If I remember correctly, there was the Ryu, a Honda, an Adon, maybe two Akumas, a Zangief, and two other characters. But yeah Capcom. Good job fucking up the balance. Viper did surprise me though, only cause I hadn't been following the game, but Viper definitely fits in well with the new AE metagame.

And that's a wrap.


I think that it all that I've had on my mind over the past era... well, all that I had on my mind that I would want to put this blog and wouldn't get me killed or something like that. Hopefully August will be better for this blog, but with my work schedule... I don't even know.

I did notice that blogs with pictures get more hits than blogs without pictures... so I'll look into that in the future. This blog suffered with post numbers, but still got an interesting number of hits...

Random Talk about Capcom

Mega Man Legends 3 was cancelled.

The following might get a lot of heat. Good. I love the heat. (really though, summer is my favorite season.)

I'm glad that Mega Man Legends 3 got cancelled. I never liked Mega Man Legends. I didn't like the look and I didn't like that it was an RPG. Still, I eventually tried it. Still, didn't actually like it.

I didn't like Mega Man Ballnutz. I was overly upset when he made the TvC roster. Sure, I have no problem trying new things, but what the fuck. Shit was terrible.

Seriously, when it comes to Mega Man, they really only need Classic and X. MMZero is okay, but that shit just got overly ridiculous after a while. Fuck NT Warrior. Fuck Ballnutz. Classic and X. That's all you need.



Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is coming.
It's supposed to have 12 new characters.

But it's still going to have X-Factor, and that's where the game fails for me. X-Factor is such a flawed system... maybe if they nerf it then I'll have less of an issue with it, but then the game's button format is clearly still going to bug the shit out of me. And let me not dare mention the "lol random presses = super" execution requirements.

So yeah. I think it'll be another 3 days of hype, and that's about it. I guess I can see why people still play the game, as it has kinda leveled itself out, but X-Factor is still too very stupid, literally allowing players to make comebacks that they shouldn't have made otherwise. I'm really surprised how all the MvC3 players can sit there and love that game to death, but then have the nerve... the gall... the audacity to call Smash a party game... muthafucka, what you think MvC3 is?



I honestly haven't played much Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. Still too busy playing Tetris Attack, actually. What I am hearing, though, is that the game is relatively balanced without the use of Yun and Yang, and that the only reason Fei Long and Makoto are part of the top 4 is because they do significantly well against Yang and Yun. I don't know how true any of that is, but whatever. They nerfed the shit out of Rose like Rose was goddess-like or something.



I'm still waiting for some Street Fighter X Tekken though. I haven't seen too much of it, but I do like what I'm seeing so far. And I'm definitely gonna attempt to rock the team of Bob Sagat. Like, how can you not play that team at least once?

Super Street Fighter 4 AE & Duke Nukem [It took] Forever

So I finally managed to play these games today... I'll start with SSF4:AE

The universal consensus is that SSF4:AE was a lazy move to make money around my way. It's got 4 new characters, apparently all different types of tweaks for other characters (did Adon's grab range shrink? is Sagat better here than in SSF4?), but ultimately, it feels like the same game right out the box... obviously if you're really into it, you'd find little nuances that indicate difference... but from what I hear, this game is also considerably less balanced than SSF4, so that's when you ask yourself... what's the point?

Fav character of the new 4? Prolly Evil Ryu, but they all still feel real funny to me. Sagat felt like he's supposed to, though, but like I said... this wasn't an in depth play though, just a few rounds.

Overall... I mean, I can't really give this game a fair rating. I played a few rounds or whatever, but ultimately, it still feels the same. You're only going to have to relearn it if you cared that much. Otherwise, I think it's whatever for the most part. Still, $15 for 4 characters probably isn't all that worth it, but it's up to you to decide. I'd prolly get it if I had a PS3, and if you're that deep enough of an SF fan, you probably should get it.

Edit: Here's some more info from my friend, Alejandro:

AE basically gives characters who dont have projectiles a better chance of winning. Case in point: Makoto was low tier but now she can fuck up any body online. As for the characters, evil ryu is strong but low health, Oni is very strong but a little learning curve for him, Yang is balanced to me, and yun is so fucking fast you would think hes broken.

Duke Nukem Forever.... man... I mean, the intro is cute and all, but in the end, it's also a waste of time. Get to the fucking game. It doesn't necessarily take forever to get to it, but I got bored after a while with all the filler. For a FPS, however, I will say that the game is unique (compared to all the bullshit FPS's out there) and I think it's slightly easier than the older Duke Nukem games that I simply just couldn't get into like that. I didn't get to mess with multiplayer though, but for some reason, I think it would be a more fun experience than CoD or whatever else everyone is playing.

I did find the idea that the President in this game wasn't black kinda upsetting. I know it's been 12 years, but fuck you, Obama was elected in '08 and entered office in '09. This is '11. Step up.

So it's probably not a perfect game, but my guess is that it will be a fun experience, littered with "12 years" [of] jokes that are probably going to get "old" quick. This is yet another game I can't necessarily outright recommend, but you could try it and see if it's for you.

The Things That Touched Me Today...

Sony's out here violating the rights of privacy. Long story short, a hacker named George Hotz wanted to reimplement a PS3 feature that Sony had removed, and he's getting sued for it because even though he has said that he doesn't support piracy, his hack to the PS3 apparently allowed the gateway for piracy to occur. Now, Sony has been given the right to view all the IP addresses of people who have visited his website.

lol really? I dunno... it gets harder and harder to support the video game industry with dick moves like that. Maybe that's why the ways played out in my life the way they did...

Japan got hit with another earthquake at a magnitude of 7.4. Apparently that blue light in the beginning of the above video is a nuclear reactor going off. Another tsunami is coming as well. Things are just not looking well for Japan. It's especially crazy because you have people that are still there, living amongst the chaos. I wish them all well.

So apparently, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition is coming out... as Downloadable Content. Instead of buying a brand new game at the store, you get to download all of the changes made from Super Street Fighter 4 to the Arcade Editions, including 4 new characters: Yang, Yun, Evil Ryu, and Oni.

I just wanna know why Evil Ryu has a big ass hole in his chest. I also heard that they're not as broken as they look like they should be. Only modern Capcom could do that... make characters that should obviously be broken not be broken... or maybe they got that Seth syndrome...

Sonic Generations!
The world is calling it that because apparently Sega registered website domains that have the words "Sonic" and "Generations" in it. 20th Anniversary of Sonic is coming up. We got Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic running side by side. Let's just hope Silver has nothing to do with this.......

And that's pretty much all I got for the day. I'll be off the interwebs until tomorrow or something.