4/30/2007 - Evo moment #37

Anybody who has played a Street Fighter game for a lengthy period of time (and if you're in the same demographic as I am, then that means pretty much your entire adolescence), you've had to have experienced some amazing comeback in an intense match. Either you had a glorious victory after being down a match, or you let your guard down and blew a significant lead. In any case, I can tell you right now that you have never had a comeback like this one.

A little background... in the Street Fighter games, if you are on the other end of a special move (such as a fireball), your health will be depleted even if you block. There is one exception in Street Fighter III: when you "parry" a special move, you effectively block that move while not taking damage. A parry also allows you to immediately counterattack the opponent. The exception to this is a Super move that can produce multiple hits (or a Super Combo). In order to parry a Super Combo, you would have to anticipate how many hits that combo would produce and parry them all consecutively. Also, a parry in Street Fighter III is sort of a non-intuitive defensive move. You have to tap the control stick FORWARD into an attack to effectively parry. This goes against the natural instinct of blocking an attack by holding the control stick BACK.

And now to the video... you can see that Daigo has only a sliver of health left. All Justin has to do then is launch Chun-Li's Super Combo (one that normally produces 16-hits), and Daigo should be down for the count, right? Wrong...



All I could do after watching that was let out an expletive. Two more things that make this all the more amazing: first, you have to "air-parry" the last hit of Chun-Li's combo, and second, this was part of a national tournament. And now you know why the crowd goes wild.

4/29/2007 - Gamespot's Alex Navarro reviews Big Rigs

Sometimes there are games so bad, that words can't describe it. This is one of those games:



A few things the video doesn't mention:
1) The computer-controlled opponent does absolutely nothing.
2) When you cross the finish line, it says "You're Winner."
3) That is the actual in-game music.

4/28/2007 - WiigoBot: The Perfect Game

My favorite game on the Wii is still Wii Bowling. It's so simple, and yet it mimics the real game so well. I really feel that every minuscule angle change or velocity modulation I make with my swing makes a difference in the outcome of the bowl. I know I'll never bowl as well in real life bowling, but I believe that Wii Bowling is good practice anyway. It's all about getting that precise swinging control ingrained into your muscle memory so you can get a strike every time.

So when I saw this video on YouTube, I just had to laugh. Of course when you have a robot bowling for you, a perfect game is automatic. The problem is that it defeats the whole purpose of someone playing it as a bowling simulator! Still, I have to admire the work that must have gone into programming the robot. You'd have to get the Mii to move off-center, hold the B trigger, swing back then forward with a slight tilt to get some spin, release the B trigger, then press the A button to start the next throw. All that with Lego Mindstorms... amazing.

4/27/2007 - Freakiest Simpsons Intro Sequence yet?

I haven't really watched the Simpsons after maybe their sixth season. I don't know why... it's still pretty funny, I guess. Homer Simpson is still one of the greatest characters on TV (it's weird that he wasn't that dumb in the first season, though). I think I just miss the old Conan O'Brien written episodes. Those were some classics.

Still, they do manage to come up with creative openings. Take this one for example:



I once read a one-shot comic book where this was the main premise of the story. It was in reverse, though. The protagonist somehow shrunk himself to subatomic size and discovered that he was in another world... an "Earth" the size of an atom. It introduced to me the concept of a microcosm, the possibility that another universe can exist within particles we can't even see. There's also the possibility that our own universe is just another atomic particle out of a larger universe. It really freaked me out... and so does this Simpsons intro.

Past Favorite - nintendo superfan

I've always wanted to be in a next-gen console launch line. It's not really about getting a game system before anybody else or playing the latest games before anybody else. It's all about the atmosphere... the group of people you'll encounter. I liken it to the midnight openings of Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. Fanboys of any genre are people unlike any other, and fan obsession extends itself pretty well to the video game world. It doesn't matter that these guys pre-ordered their sytems months in advance, they still show up.

I think I can imagine what goes on in some of these launch lines... talking about the upcoming games, talking about some classic games, talking about past launch lines, playing handheld games, playing card games, singing songs. Okay, maybe not exactly singing songs, but if you're going to be in a line for over two days, some crazy stuff will probably happen. I always think I know what kind of characters might be at the front of the line, and this YouTube video pretty much confirmed my suspicions:



At first sight, you might think that this guy makes gamers look bad. He's been up for five days, he has that classic nerd lisp, and he looks like a bum. Even his "friends" are laughing at him. But if you parse his words, he's not one of those overly zealous fanboys who thinks his favorite game system is superior above all others. He's quite diplomatic towards other systems and towards other gamers who aren't early adopters like him. Despite his disheveled appearance, he's quite rational and would probably be fun to hang around with. Laugh at him if you want, but at least he has his 15 minutes of fame.

4/26/2007 - Haloid

What happens when the protagonists of two of the most popular first-person shooters have a duel? Until the makers of Halo and Metroid Prime get together to develop such a game, we're left with this next video. It is, quite simply, the best non-commercial use of CG I have ever seen. It may borrow too much from The Matrix, and the ending is nothing more than an unnecessary display of fan service to satisfy some Sapphic fantasy. However, its technical prowess must be seen to be believed.

4/25/2007 - Fun Stuff

Yes, indeed I became addicted to YouTube mainly due to the videos of James Rolfe, AKA the Angry Video Game Nerd. He struck a chord with retro gamers everywhere with his video reviews of horrible old games. Sure, his "nerd" character is a created persona, and he's not an expert gamer, but his complaints about these games are almost always deserved. His videos are slickly produced (he's a Mac user) and they're some of the most hilarious creations you'll ever see in any medium.

A couple of weeks ago, some group of idiots massively flooded YouTube with complaints about his videos, and they started to pull them. In response, James started posting his Cinemassacre videos. You see, James is an aspiring director of genre movies and the AVGN movies were somewhat of a hobby. It's surprising that Hollywood hasn't found James yet, because his work is just brilliant. I can only imagine what he can do with a big budget and 100% of his concentration.

For example, this video was just him goofing around with a camera effect:



James, don't forget your roots, man.

4/24/2007 - Video Games Live - Classic game themes Orchestrated

I've always thought there should be a special category in the music stores for video game music. If they can have soundtracks to movies and even TV shows for wide distribution, surely they can sell game soundtracks. I know you can get them online, but that's about it. To me, nothing beats good video game music. Think about it, this is usually music that is very simple and loops constantly. If it isn't any good, you'll like the game less and it would certainly diminish its replay value.

Good video game soundtracks, on the other hand, take on an almost mythic status. I mean, everybody knows the theme to Super Mario Bros., right? This sort of mass recognition is what makes this kind of concert possible:



Look at how the crowd gets into it. It's just pure joy at hearing some classic tunes and knowing that they are appreciated by others. Sure, it's a nostalgia trip, but it's damn good music too. Now where can I get the CD?

4/23/2007 - Hare Hare Yukai (1/2 Speed Mirrored Special TV Size Version)

From my Past Favorites, you can see that I'm (weirdly) obsessed with this Hare Hare Yukai dance. Well, I'm apparently not the only one. If you search for Hare Hare Yukai in YouTube, you'll see a lot of cosplayers attempting this dance. While I would never go that far, I can see why some would. It looks fun, encourages camaraderie amongst fellow cosplayers, and has to be rewarding when done correctly. To assist all the would-be dancers out there, some enterprising fellow put up this video:



As you can see, the video is horizontally flipped so you don't have to mirror your moves. But what makes it priceless is that it's played at half-speed, including the song. Just try to play the video without laughing.

Past Favorites - Hare Hare Yukai (2 Videos)

Yeah, I remember the good old days when American cartoons didn't suck. Anime has taken over the States and with good reason. With few exceptions, their animators are top-notch, dedicated, and show consistent quality. Take this next video, for example. This is the ending of an episode of Suzumiya Haruhi. The song (and now the dance) is called Hare Hare Yukai:



You just don't get such choreography in American animation. The fact that this was storyboarded and not rotoscoped makes it all the more amazing. The video has become quite the hit on the YouTube stage and has led to a couple of great parodies (actually, they're more like dedications). Here we have Mega Man (Rockman) doing the Hare Hare Yukai:



Now isn't that just awesome? It just astounds me the way they were able to manipulate the Mega Man sprites to match the actions of the anime characters. It doesn't look unnatural at all. I also like the way they incorporated an 8-bit musical rendition into it. Nice touch!

4/22/2007 - Baby laughing at the Wii

If you have small children, start exposing them to videogames as soon as possible! This next video shows you the hilarity that can ensue if your baby joins in your game of Wii golf:



Well, I'm not sure what so funny about the dad swinging one-handed, pretending he's like DK in the Gamecube golf game. You gotta love that laugh, though. I'd be scared for any comedian that has to perform for a grown-up version of that baby.

4/21/2007 - Fix My NES

Anybody who owns one of the classic NES consoles will see the next video and sympathize:



Trust me, we've all done it. It's a ritual. It's like the Konami Code. Or 007 373 5963. Is it because the NES itself is flimsy? No, mine still works and it was bought in 1985. Is it an inherent trait of a cartridge-based system? No, because the SNES didn't have this problem, and I've never seen anyone do this to any Gameboy system. My theory? We all just played the hell out of our NES's.

P.S.: I'm just glad installing RAM isn't this difficult.

4/20/2007 - Mortal Kombat 3: A Fatality Funny BUG

Rated R for animated violence

Ah, Mortal Kombat... the game that put excessive video game violence into the mainstream. The first Mortal Kombat wasn't really that great, but it definitely rode on the phenomenal success of Street Fighter 2. What made it stood out, of course, were the fatalities. Yes, I still remember my first decapitation as Sub-Zero.

Perhaps as a way to ward off the Jack Thompson's of the world, Mortal Kombat 2 included Friendships and Babalities along with it's more elaborate Fatalities. That was fine and dandy as it gave the game a little more variety (it probably squeezed more money out of the gamers too, as they experimented more and more with the finishing moves). But I think they took it a little too far in Mortal Kombat 3 with its Animalities. Compared to the Fatalities they weren't really memorable. And sometimes, just sometimes, you'd have bugs like this:



This is a time when the phrase "WTF" is appropriate.

Past Favorite - Ken Jennings on Jeopardy

Ken Jennings is simply a Jeopardy god. Sure he didn't win the Tournament of Champions, but we all have our bad days, I guess. He won 74 straight games of Jeopardy and pocketed $2,520,700. I always wonder why he didn't go on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and win a cool million for one day's work. I think most of these contestants on the other game shows besides Jeopardy are chosen for their personality instead of their intelligence or knowledge of trivia.

Just watch a typical Jeopardy game and you'll see how much more "bland" their contestants are. They're just more serious-minded than the contestants from other game shows. It's an intense game and there's no time for jumping up and down to the sight of a large spinning wheel.

So when there is such a rare occasion that a laugh-out-loud moment occurs on Jeopardy, it's good YouTube material:



Just classic. Only the format of the Jeopardy game would allow for such a moment. What's priceless about it was the way Ken just instantly answered the question (or is it questioned the answer?) in such a matter-of-fact manner. It took Trebek a little while to process what Ken had said and by that time Ken knew what he said as well, sheepishly sinking his head in embarassment. But really, what was wrong with Ken's response?

4/19/2007 - Numa Numa Misheard Lyrics (2 videos)

I gotta admit, if it weren't for the Numa Numa kid, I wouldn't have caught onto the music track (actually titled "Dragostea din tei", by the way). To me, Gary Brolsma's video is mildly entertaining for the aspect of being an enthusiastic lip sync to a foreign-language song. That alone does not qualify as a Favorite video in my book, however.

But these videos do. I'm guessing the Romanian language is wildly different than English, because these videos have wildly different interpretations of the lyrics -- and yet when you watch them both, they weirdly make sense.

Past Favorite - Mega Man 2 Dr. Wily's Stage 1 Theme on Mario Paint

This is perhaps my favorite music track of any video game and many agree as to its awesomeness (look at how many remixes there are on YouTube and VGMusic). One of the Retronauts on 1up.com even pointed out that it was in his iTunes library.

Anyway, I saw that TomBob was doing these remixes of video game music using Mario Paint. So I requested this track and he actually obliged and composed it in less than a day! I've never played with Mario Paint myself, but I can imagine the amount of work it takes to input each little note and then experimenting with the instruments to make it sound good. Thanks, TomBob, it ROCKS!

Past Favorite - Pretty Intense Bowling Experience

Multiple choice answer as to why I chose this video as my Daily Favorite:

A) The sheer rarity of having an all-American girl being completely fluent in Japanese.
B) The insults in Japanese to her friends after their failure in bowling.
C) The "Evolution of a Gamer" T-Shirt on "CJ".
D) "CJ" falling on his ass.
E) The evil laugh.

The answer is... all of the above. Well, mostly E), because I laugh every time at the end. But I just thought that this was one of those rare unscripted videos where everything worked. Compare this to a typical lonelygirl15 video which IS scripted and you'll see what I mean. Kudos, applemilk1988!

Past Favorite - Super Mario 64 Classic NES Edition (Updated)

So we know by now the main gimmick of Super Paper Mario... take the 2-D world of the NES Mario games and add the 3rd dimension as a gameplay element. It's one of those "why didn't I think of that before" innovations, and it looks like we have another million-seller for Nintendo.

Well, how about taking that concept, but switch it around? Mario 64 was the first true 3-D Mario game and EVERYBODY who had a Nintendo 64 has played this game. Even though it was in 3-D, it had all the classic Mario game features... Goombas to stomp, shells to push, and Bowser to defeat. Well, some clever game modders decided to make it even more "classic" and replaced the polygon textures with the original 2-D sprites of the first Super Mario Bros. game! They even re-colored Mario's overalls to match his 8-bit counterpart's!

4/18/2007 - EHS Winter Percussion, NES

If you are still a disbeliever of the retro trend, take a look at this video. It's a high-school percussion band playing the themes of some of the classics: Legend of Zelda, Double Dragon, and Super Mario Bros.

Sure, LoZ and SMB have had their remakes and emulations on the Wii and the GBA, but Double Dragon was perhaps in the second or third tier of those old NES games. If you want to play the NES version, you'd actually have to dust off the old system, or use an emulator.

It's debut was around 1988, around the time when these high-schoolers were still infants. So it's doubtful that they "grew up" playing Double Dragon. And yet, here it is, a central part of their presentation -- and the crowd recognizes it. How did they come about integrating the music of a good-but-not-great game in their collective minds? It's something that you'll hear me say again and again: RETRO IS IN!

Anyway, the kids here did a good job. Not just in their music interpretations, but their entire presentation. The costumes look really authentic and the enlarged covers of the 8-bit games are the icing on the cake!