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Fighting Games News Update - 02/16/09
Despite being the center of controversy (and success) during the 90s with games like NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat, Midway has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Word of this downfall had been swirling for a while now, but it’s still sad to see the once proud company go down. Are we to assume that Ed Boon and crew won’t be making another Mortal Kombat ever again?
If you had a lot of fun playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Nintendo Wii, then you just may need to pay some extra attention to TMNT: Smash Up. It’s a fighting game developed by the same people who made Smash Bros. except it features guys like Leonardo and Raphael. I wonder if the Casey, the Rat King, and Bebop make the cut too?
In anticipation of Street Fighter IV coming out this week on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 1Up has put together a series of videos that document the evolution of some of the fighting game franchise’s best-known characters. Look at how much they’ve changed in the last 20 years! Check out the videos of Ryu, Sagat, Ken, M. Bison (Vega in Japan), and Chun-Li.
Speaking of Street Fighter IV, Capcom sold 86,000 copies on the first day in Japan. Expect similar popularity around these parts. There’s also a very cheap way to unlock all the characters as soon as you buy the game this week. In the meantime, you can put yourself in the game and drool over the Mad Catz FightStick.
Check out the crazy version of Guile rendered above. This was created using the Unreal engine. You can go to the forum thread to see a few more renders of other Street Fighter characters too.
Oh, and still the cheapest place to pre-order Street Fighter IV (for Canadians) is on Amazon. The PlayStation 3
Jumping to the Tekken end of things, we’ve got the latest trailer for Tekken 6 and, well, it looks very, very hot.
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe: Every Fatality Video
When I first heard about Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, I thought it would be fun to decapitate Batman. Then, I learned that the fighting game mashup would only get a T for Teen rating, so the fatalities would be significantly toned down. As you can see from the video collection above, the fatalities may appear to be quite brutal, but they are nowhere near as gory as previous Mortal Kombat games.
Because Superman and other DC good guys aren’t supposed to around killing people, they don’t even get fatalities. Instead, they perform “heroic brutalities” and I think this is possibly the lamest thing ever. It’s just not in touch with what Mortal Kombat fans want. Ed Boon thinks that the DC mashup moves the franchise into new and exciting territory, but the resulting Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, for me, is remarkably disappointing. Sigh.
Fighting News Update: 11/19/08
Not surprisingly, Street Fighter news is dominating the airwaves these days. Watching Sheng Long against Akuma in Street Fighter IV is pretty sweet, you have to admit. It’ll be sweeter when you actually get to control them.
In the world of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, we’ve got some good news and some better news. First, we hear that the fighting game update will be available on Xbox Live Arcade next week (November 26). Yes, next week. Strangely, price has not been announced. PlayStation 3 owners get the game one day earlier on Tuesday, November 25. If you want to get another look at the game before its release, watch this trailer inspired by Karate Kid and then this follow-up video. Presumably, a third video will be released shortly to complete the tournament.
Going back to Street Fighter IV, the news is more of a mixed bag. Shown above is the supposedly leaked full character roster for Street Fighter IV. As you can see, there appear to be 25 playable characters in all (top to bottom, left to right): Fei Long, Cammy, Akuma/Gouki, Sheng Long/Gouken, Dhalsim, Blanka, Chun-Li, Ryu, E. Honda, Zangief, Guile, Ken, Seth, Random, M. Bison, Sagat, Vega, Balrog, Abel, Crimson Viper, Rufus, El Fuerte, Sakura, Rose, Dan, and Gen. The first two and last four characters are exclusive to the console version of the game.
Unfortunately, it has been said that Street Fighter IV is not officially being released in American arcades. The cabinets are already there unofficially, but Capcom will not be formally releasing the arcade game here. The good news, sort of, is that the console version will be ready for release on February 17. I guess that’s what they meant by “winter” and not “Q4 2008″.
In non-Street Fighter news, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has been launched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and the reviews have been mixed. As cool as I think the concept could have been, the T for Teen rating (and the resulting lack of gore) kind of kills the deal for me.
