A few weeks ago, I got an email from Capcom inviting me to some “underground” event called the Street Fighter Club. Each bit of correspondence I would receive regarding the shindig emphasized that it was a secret, and to keep everything on the down low. Now, I simply assumed that every New York gaming press person got the same exact email, but whenever I ran into a colleague at whatever event and asked him or her about, no one had a clue what I was talking about. At last Wednesday’s press visit from Capcom rolled around, I finally got the chance to ask questions, and discovered that only a select few were invited; I was one of 250 apparently, which naturally made me feel quite the special little boy. Though I was able to get my ace gaming correspondents, Dave (Mauro) and Joe (Salina) on the list for later that Friday night…
The destination was Brooklyn, Willamsburg to be exact, and first things first: it most definitely was NOT in Willamsburg. Not even close. It was actually on the outer fringes of Bushwick, which anyone that’s familiar with the city knows, is a pretty rough and tumble quadrant of the borough. Its also a total bitch to get to, and despite heading out super early to beat the line (despite having press privileges, which meant the ability to jump to the front, which I’m still never too proud to do), I still found myself running late thanks to the excellence that is the J train. Its one of the (shit) brown trains, and might actually be worse than the G train (which used to be known as the rape train back in the day, but things are much calmer in the city, plus Greenpoint is the new place to be… whereas the J, M, and Z has always been slow and its stations dank). I found myself stuck just one block away from my intended stop because who the hell knows what; trains kept going express, to a stop that I couldn’t even find on the map, with conductors telling people that has been waiting on the platform “The next train behind us will make all local stops” and one angry dude responding with “That’s what the last nine trains said! Someone of us want to go home you know!”
It was there that I ran into Dave, who had been waiting on the platform for an hour (yeesh), and together we decided to just hoof it, which in the end wasn’t very far thankfully. Despite the somewhat false advertising when it came to the location, the venue, which was a club called the Bodega, lived up to its name. We totally passed it by since it looked like any other run down deli in Brooklyn…
… We also totally didn’t notice the very long line of dudes waiting outside as well. I was somewhat afraid already that the stage was set for a gigantic mess; Joe had gotten there ahead of time and echoed the same sentiments on the phone. Once the three of us was at last together, I went straight to the front as instructed despite hate doing so, and it was thankfully no trouble at all getting myself and the guys in.
Once inside, things were pretty dark and somewhat musty, and that was before the place became packed with sweaty gamers. It was definitely another performance space in Brooklyn alright. I took a bunch of pictures that night, but most did not come out at all; without the flash, you can’t tell jack, but with it, the camera picked up all these dust particles… asbestos I would have to assume. Though this shot of the DJ came out just fine…
… All throughout the first floor was some pretty hawt graffiti-zed Street Fighters. Here’s the best I could do with Chun Li…
… Not pictured is the rest of her body, which somewhat confused Dave: “Chun Li wearing a NES controller around her neck?”
There were also two stations running Super Street Fighter Turbo HD Remix, which was most people’s chance to finally try out the full cast (which I got a taste of a few days prior). Also in the corner was this comically huge mountain pile of pizza boxes, which folks could dig through for a slice. I also found Seth Killian setting up a projector that displayed episodes of the Street Fighter anime on the ceiling…
Downstairs in the basement it was even darker and danker. Tons of Street Fighter 4 set-ups were found, though early on, there was a few technical difficulties. Way in the back were a bunch of EVO guys playing, some from the west coast I believe, and whom I wanted to at least ask a few questions, but they were all too busy demonstrating their leet skills for all to see. But every once in a while, all the power to the area would cut out due to the wonky wiring. Given the look of things, and keeping in mind the area, the wiring had to be 30, 40 years old. I believe the DJ and his massive set-up was hogging up all the juice, though a solution was found soon enough, with no further headaches the rest of the night.
Here we have “the boys from the fort”…
… And now might be a good time to let Dave say a few things (the main reason why I brought them along, like I’ve done in the recent past, is that they can play games really well, whereas I suck at anything other than Ms Pac Man and Rez… I also don’t mind watching plus am able to concentrate on observing and reporting the scene):
We got in early enough to beat the worst of the lines, but late enough that I only got in a couple rounds of SF4. Most of the setups had two Hori EX2 joysticks (or the equivalent joystick for the PS3), but unless you wanted to muscle your way in front of one of those you could go for the easier wait on one of the setups that just had the regular controllers attached. I did the latter and attempted fireballs and dragon punches with the horrible d-pad on the 360 controller and quickly had to move my thumb to the left analog stick, which suited me fine (modding the d-pad on this controller is terribly easy btw; google it). But since I?ve only played a total of about three matches of SF4 in Chinatown Fair, I was promptly beaten and went back to watching.
The game looks as great as you would expect if you?ve already been playing the arcade game. We didn?t get to check out any options or other play modes, but we did get to see some new stages that were at least as good as any of the stages I had already seen in the arcade. The distillery was my favorite with a large man in a kilt holding barrels of scotch whiskey (mmmm?) and looking sullen when the players? roughhousing caused the barrels to tumble out of the rack. There was another stage I somehow only managed to catch a glimpse of that featured a captivating sunset.
We also got to see Sakura in action although she was the only of the console exclusive characters available. She looked a bit awkward, but not anymore so than Ken and Ryu did the first time I saw their SF4 models. But like the rest of the characters, she may look silly at rest, but the animation is fantastic.”
Joe was up after Dave, who faired much better, thanks in part to how he doesn’t particularly the standard, as well as unmodified Xbox 360 controller…
… As Ken, Joe managed to go on a nine game winning streak! Which is like a billion times better than anything I could have done.
In addition to various folks at Capcom, like Seth, Tim Ng, and even Rey Jimenez (the producer of SSF2 Turbo HD Remix), as well as numerous other PR folks that work with Capcom (a few ended up busting my balls for not wanting to check out certain games on Wednesday all throughout the night, but it was all in good fun), you also had Zangeif and Ryu in the flesh!
It was around this point that myself, Dave and Joe needed some fresh air and something to drink; the place was getting packed with close to 250 already inside, with with many more bodies slowly trickling in (obviously the master plan was to have word leak out in the end). After promising Tim and Rey who had also stepped outside for a smoke that we’d be back, but puking our guts out (Tim wanted to see at least two of us baring, to “Cross the streams!”, the three of us went into a bar that was right next door called the Blue Monday. It was some hippy-dippy joint that only served beer, with a crap selection at that, no mixed drinks, and vegan baked goods. Okay… Needless to say, we were there for maybe three minutes. It was then suggested to simply go to a real bodega and brown bag it, but the first one we went to didn’t have any booze whatsoever, which we all found positively astounding, especially since it was right on Malcom X Boulevard. Though the one across the street had some stuff, and I ended up getting a bottle of Mackeson XXX, which was recommended by Joe as something that would get the job done but with just one bottle. Which it did.
So the three of us drank while walking around the neighborhood, which as previously noted is pretty seedy. At least we didn’t head straight into the projects, and simply walked around them… And thank God for strength in the numbers, otherwise it would have been a bad scene. Anyhow, as we made our way back, we noticed a laundromat around the corner, and Joe spotted a Fast the Furious machine inside. Hoping that it might be a Tokyo Drift machine, we all rushed inside, with the plan of playing some other game than the ones we were supposed to that evening. Alas, it wasn’t and simply the original, which isn’t horrible per say (its still a Eugene Jarvis game), just not Tokyo Drift. At least there was Bust A Move! Actually, “Buster Move”…
… Too bad it sucked up quarters with zero return. I ended up giving my last one to some gangsta girl who asked for one, and I obliged, simply because I was in a good mood. And that?s where it ended up. I went to the woman running the joint for change, and she claimed that she was out of quarters. Again, a woman working at a laudromat, out of quarters. Right. Dave was almost certain I was gonna get into a huge fight, but again, I was in too good a mood to really mind. Anyhow, here we have Joe trying his luck at a crane game…
… Despite coming really close, he was not able to procure the stuffed giraffe he had his eye on. Anyway, afterwards it was back to the shindig, which at this point was packed to the gills. While Dave and Joe watched, and tried to get their hands on, SSF2 Turbo HD Remix, I went back downstairs to see how things were shaking, though not surprisingly, it was so crowded below that one had to wait for folks to come up and trade places since fire codes were on the verge of being broken. Once finally at the scene, it was way to packed (and smelly… like a dirty fish tank or something) to make ones way through to all the stations, so I simply stood to the side and chatted it up with fellow game writing pals, plus that’s where the booze was at. A case of Colt 45s had arrived, which mixed real nicely with that Mackeson from earlier. As for the other guys, once again, a few words from Dave:
I?ll be honest and say that I wasn?t looking forward to playing SF2HD after playing the XBOX Live demo, and because of the huge crowd around the two setups, I didn?t even get the chance. But after being disappointed by Ryu and Ken in the demo, I was happy to see that all of the other characters looked pretty good, as did the backgrounds. The problem with this game?s art assets is that the original game looks ridiculous. The blocky sprites help hide how bad it is, but when you redraw them so faithfully, the truth is more evident. Udon Studios has rendered the character select portraits with their particular brand of anime, so if you?re not a fan of Udon, you?re not going to like the portraits. But you certainly can?t hold these complaints against Capcom because this is exactly what it is supposed to be, a faithful reproduction of Street Fighter II Turbo that has been rebalanced (with the original mode still available) and redrawn in high definition. If you were hoping even for an ever so slight reimagining of the sprites from the original game, you aren?t going to get it. But if you?re a die-hard fan of the original and simply want a facelift, this is a sure bet. Capcom actually used the original code from Street Fighter II Turbo to make this game, and simply altered it to display their new high-resolution art assets.
I may not be terribly excited about SF2HD, but I?m definitely going to be buying it on XBOX Live when it?s released because I have plenty of friends that will want to play. And besides, the new Blanka sprites seem to have benefitted the most from the high resolution update, and he always was my favorite in Street Fighter II.
At the very least, Joe finally got the chance to try his hand at the loli-raep game from the iPhone. And I’m sorry to say Hilary, if you’re reading this, your record has been beaten (again, its a tiny bit NSFW).
Soon it was time to go, but here’s a shot of me in front of some wall with another fine piece of Street Fighter street art, this one a bit easier to make out, with another Capcom guy…
… Who wouldn’t let me leave. It’s funny, I often forget that people actually pay attention to what I write. The dude simply wouldn’t let me leave unless I gave HD Remix a spin… perhaps because I’ve written some not so nice things about it in the past. Granted, I had a recent change of heart, as noted in my previous entry, in which I gave it a respect up for sticking to the original code, but I was simply not interested in giving it another shot that night. I did play against Seth on Wednesday, and was throughly trounced, but that guy is like the best of the best, so it was determined that I had to give it another go. So the dude led me to the head of the line, told one of the players to step aside. Its not like I tried to keep it short, the other player simply killed me with zero effort. Again I flat out suck at Street Fighter (Virtua is more up my alley, though that’s not to say I’m some expert with that either). At the very least I got to play as Blanka, which again is pretty sweet in ultra high res, plus I also got the chance to take a pic of the prototype sticks that they had on hand, which was present on Wednesday as well, but I didn’t have a camera handy…
Just as Dave noted after the affair, for a large corporation, Capcom certainly pulled off “underground” pretty damn well. Again, it’s nice to see a large game company acknowledge and “get” their core fan base.
Moving on, I had planned on checking out the latest Pulsewave, which was a special pre-Blip Fest show, mostly for the CMJ crowd, especially because the idea of seeing everyone do covers sounded too good to miss (I’m quite familiar with Nullsleep’s take on Depeche Mode classics, and was looking forward to hearing them again, though I mostly intrigued with the very idea of Bit Shifter doing Misfits). Yet in the end, I did miss it, because the weather was total shit, as the trains have been for some time, especially on the weekends, plus I had been out late most of the week already and just needed a break. Instead I just stayed home and played a bunch of games, including more Rock Band 2 with Katie, of course, Portal: Still Alive, those Art Styles (Bit Generations) WiiWare titles, and…. Celebrity Sports Showdown. Yes, that game that pits Avirl Lavigne vs LeAnn Rimes in actives such as dodge ball and curling. And yes, a review is on the way!
As for Sunday, the weather was MUCH nicer thankfully, hence why the Tompkins Square Halloween Freak Fest went off without a hitch. Cuz there’s nicer than spending a wonderful day in the park on a lazy, Sunday afternoon, with the sun in your eye, the fall breeze against your cheek, and listening to a band that’s part death metal, part Gwar…
… The band is called Deth Race, and they were absolutely awesome, from horn to tail. And the complete package! Hell, they even had their figures for sale…
… For more info on the band, simply check out there site. Anyhow, Deth Race weren’t the only ones dressed for the occasion (though regardless of the time of year, that’s their get-up). Here we have Joe (Simko) with Richie, of Beer Drinking Fools fame, as well current Skum City front man…
Speaking of, they were up a bit later in the day…
… Here’s a fun fact that I bet no one remembers: I was once the lead singer of Skum City for a grand total of about eight hours! Though in the end, Richie is simply the best man for the job. Cast in point, I simply don’t have the voice for the Misfits covers like he has. Immediately afterwards was Black Out Shoppers. And yes, that’s Moosehead on guitar again, wearing a different shirt and a hat…
June joined Joe and I by this point, and three of us were starving. We all left in search of food right as some band advertising themselves as Giuliani’s worst nightmare hit the stage. I know… It’s 2008 for Christ’s sake. Anyhow, we went to this Japanese place near St. Mark’s Place (yes, I know there’s like a million of them in that area, such as Kenka for example) and it was revolting. I ordered what I always get, which is a chicken cutlet covered with egg and served on rice. But instead of a slice of breaded chicken breast, like how it normally is, I instead got random bits of broiled chicken chunks, mostly fatty tissue and tendons. It was as gross as it sounds. Service in general was also pretty abysmal; the waitress totally messed up Joe’s order, which meant them making what he actually wanted in a rushed, half-assed manner, plus she was pissed at us for the rest of our stay. At the very least the kimchee was excellent. Then it was back to the Freak Fest, to catch the closing act, which was also the main reason why I showed up: GLOB, or The Gorgeous Ladies Of Bloodwrestling!
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the hype. For starters, instead of a wide and colorful cast of characters, as most wrestling feds general have, there was only two female grapplers present (for the most part): Our Lady of Perpetual PMS, which I believe was the champ (instead of a belt, there’s a crown, like a tiara… made of tampons) versus Bloody Mary. So they engaged in a best two of three falls contest. There was the kiddie pool filled with blood as I’ve been told, but just a smidgen; I was expecting it be filled to the top. Anyhow, the action was semi-decent at first…
There were lots and LOTS of PMS jokes. Here’s a little girl up front with her fingers in her ears, which she was instructed to do by her mom…
… She had all these brothers and sisters were too, and I have no idea why the mom insisted on exposing her kids to such stuff, one of whom almost most got hit in the eye with an errand prop bloody tampon.
Once the score was 1 and 1, Lady of PPMS, playing the heel, claimed that her ovaries were really sore and needed a stand-in. Cue Chlo? the Craigslist Roommate From Hell. You know, “she knows that no smoking allowed in the apartment, yet she thinks it okay if you blow the smoke out a window.” If there was one definite highlight, it was the pretty funny at times announcing…
As sloppy as the first two girls were, this new one really had no idea what she was doing, though it didn’t matter too much since he was beaten pretty quickly…
… I figured that was it, but Lady of PPMS wanted one last shot, and thus the final battle ensued…
… In the end, there was a new GLOB champ! Here we have the crown of bloody tampons being passed on…
It was alright I guess. The action was entertaining in the beginning, but kinda sorta nowhere fast. Not to be some wrestling comedy snob, but the novelty of two random women tussling in fake red goo accompanied with a steady stream of bloody pussy jokes gets old rather quick. You still need somewhat distinguishable characters, and storylines. But, given that there were only a small handful of the usual cast were on-hand, and how the setting has to make things even more awkward (in the middle of a park, during the fall season… I can’t even imagine how cold that fake blood must have felt), I’ll give them a pass and would like to see more, perhaps a “proper” performance. But as is, it’s no KPOWW or Piledriver from the grand old UCB days, that’s for certain.
The original plan afterwards was for Joe and June to head over to my place and check out Rock Band 2 (here’s a fun fact: I’ve easily spent more money on downloaded tracks for the game this past month than on actual music this entire year), but I wasn’t feeling so hot due to the aforementioned crappola Japanese food. Not to reveal too much information, but I damn near crapped my pants on the train-ride home…
