Reverge Labs – Skullgirls

Over the past year i have developed an unhealthy obsession with fighting games. As a genre, it is painstakingly hard to become good, and most cod fags dismiss them for this sole reason. Well, fuck those guys.

Skullgirls is the newest 2d fighter on the scene and as it is only £10 on XBLA, its worth a buying for those new to the scene, but also a happy present for those who cba to go outside to purchase content. One thing i respect about the game (and one of the reasons i was willing to hand over the student finance skrilla) is the small, relatively unknown company who produces it. One of the key people behind the game is Mike “Mike Z” Zaimont – who i first encountered watching Blazblue tournaments. He seems like a pretty badass player and guy, and it seems hes fuelled the creation of a pretty awesome gamers.

As the name suggests, the cast is all female (at this point) the character design and moves of each character feels fresh, and the game looks great. The maps and soundtracks are also cool, with jazz tunes in the game lobbys. This is particularly good for me – if anyone has played Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom they will know how fucking tedious and painful the music is.

Skullgirls has lots of awesome little things that make it feel fresh, even with so many fighting games knocking around consoles these days. I like the fact that the numbers of characters is not set, you can choose either one super powerful character, or 2 or 3 less powerful. i also like the addition of extra moves, adding an extra kick and punch to the normal 4 buttons seen in most games. The modes featured are awesome – especially the tutorial mode, which actually teaches you useful things such as mix up and more complex tactics of fighting games which are never mentioned in other more popular games – and probably is what turns some people away. Ive gotta get in the training room and learn some combos before i get my ass kicked online, so i cant really tell you about that, but the matchmaking system seems fairly standard and functional – which is all you need really. i cant help feeling that the game may have been slightly rushed for the release date – id like to see combo tutorials for each character. however all this means is i have to go find some online which isn’t a huge problem.

All in all Skullgirls certainly feels like it has taken the existing elements of fighting games and made additions which make it stand out from more popular games. The fact that it is a game designed by gamers its very evident, and I cant wait for the new content and characters that will inevitably come around. I hope to fuck they aren’t dlc, but I wouldn’t be surprised considering the size of the company.

or maybe the bigger the company the more greedy they get?

who fucking knows

I’m out

PEACE

Ricky Gervais – Derek

After much scrutiny and a precipitated verdict of discontent from critics, both professional and otherwise, Ricky Gervais’ one off mockumentary was declared ‘the end of his television career.’

However, much to the delight of Gervais fans, Derek was no let down. No matter how incomparable to the giants of Extras and The Office, Derek has the potential to offer laughter and sorrow all within the space of thirty minutes and much to the delight of many, Karl Pilkington’s morose caretaker steals the show. Even though the show attempted to pull at the heartstrings a little too hard, and Gervais’ character was a little over the top, Derek shrugged off the critics, achieving a current rating of 7.3 on IMDB and expects a full commission from Channel 4 in the near future.

Ashra – New age of Earth

Choosing a focus for my introduction to the world of writing quickly became a quest just to find something I could write about that hadn’t already been used and exhausted numerous times over through out magazines and online articles.

However, someone very special to me recently enlightened me. Directing myself toward an album, or more importantly a song, that swiftly became both a joy and a misery to hear.
Ashra – a project created and fronted by Manuel Gottsching in 1976, progressing from the German Krautrock group Ash Ra Tempel. As Gottsching floated towards a calling for electronica and his previous music most notable for its psychedelic sound subsided – he managed to create an album that would shine through as a pinnacle and milestone for early electronica and audio production.
The initial song Sunrain will remain both a personal inspiration within my composition and production. As well as a constant niggle and realisation that even with the technology of today at my disposal I will never attain such a milestone in music. As my friend put it – “1976, let’s just quit now….”