[Leno] Did you see this? Did you hear about this?[/Leno]
Hori, Japanese crafters of many fine peripherals, is finally bringing their Real Arcade Pro line to the Xbox 360. When it comes to retail sticks, you can’t do better than Hori and this is about as top of the line as it gets. This is especially exciting for Xbox 360 users as they missed out on their first next-gen run with the Virtua High Grade sticks being for PlayStation 3 only. I have a few gripes about this new stick (the headset jack is in an odd spot and the button arc is on the extreme side) but that won’t prevent me from slapping down a pre-order as soon as Play-Asia gives the thumbs up.
I’ve already said enough regarding how amazing this year is shaping up for fighters, but knowing that I’ll be able to step up from my Fighting Stick EX 2 has me even more hyped. Next you’re going to tell me that the Asia version of Battle Fantasia is NTSC compatible, to which a change of pants may be necessary.
When I think of Korean gaming, my thoughts immediately turn to the obvious. Starcraft, Audition, World of Warcraft … the online juggernauts. But Street Fighter II: Champion Edition? I want to believe.
My favorite source for all things fighting, NewChallenger, updated with a link to the YouTube account for South Korea’s official SF2:CE scene, which is not only active but still hosting tournaments as well. Even better, their most recent footage seems completely devoid of M.Bison bicycle loop shenanigans! Do check it out if you’re a fan of careful spacing and mind games.
Now that I’ve been afflicted with all this free time, I can go back and tackle a few games from a genre I’ve long since abandoned. No, I won’t be playing any highly advanced submarine simulations, but some Japanese RPG’s. You see, there was a time when I gobbled up every turn-based grind that came over from the great island nation, but I was also in middle school and my social life solely consisted of going to the bowling alley to play some Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. Since the release of Final Fantasy IX (loved it), I’ve only seriously played two JRPG’s: Dragon Quest VIII and Pokemon. I didn’t even come close to completing Dragon Quest and the only time I became a Pokemon master, Mew was considered an impossible dream.
I’m either past my grinding prime or I have the attention span of a chickpea. Either way, I’m looking to ease my way back into these infernal time leeches and I’m doing it with Eternal Sonata — Tri-Cescendo’s ode to Tales for the Xbox 360. In most Japanese RPG’s, your party consists of mostly blue-haired, anime heroes who talk with their hands on their hips all the time. Eternal Sonata, thankfully, kicks this trend to the curb.
It instead features blue-haired, anime heroes who absolutely refuse to lower their arms.
I hope you weren’t as shocked as I was, because I totally thought I was going to Vegas that morning! I’d like to thank everyone for their kindness this week. We had an amazing team in our little office and at the very least, it’s nice to know that everyone was rooting for us.
So what’s next? Well, I don’t want to become a stay-at-home mom for our pets, so I’m hoping to get back on my feet as soon as possible. Will that mean freelancing? I’m not sure, but my ol’ boss and good friend, Chris Grant, did me a favor and [edited: lol nevermind].
I’m going to try and take it easy for the next few days, clear my head and figure out where to go from here. I have some personal stuff I can catch up on and I’ll try not to spend my days achievement whoring or pick up a new MMORPG. I love what I do for a living and I intend to keep on keepin’ on. Again, thanks to everyone for their support.
The corpse of E3 clawed its way out of the ground this week and paraded about the streets of San Francisco, handing out asset discs and giving live presentations to press members who placed RSVP’s under their pillows at night. Something like that, I suppose. Its been a week full of events and embargoes and all that other good stuff that makes me realize how excited I am for this year in games.
At this point, there isn’t anything jumping out and screaming for the game of the year attention (in my wacky opinion, of course), but there are a lot of things I can’t wait to experience.
In my pursuit to make the blogging a regular bit, allow me to share with you some of those wonderful things.
