We got SCHOOLED!

Last night there was a Tekken gathering at my friend's house. This isn't the first time we gather to play T5, but last night was different. On top of the 4 usual players, we received two more who just so happen to be regulars at Tekkencanada.com. Those two are easily among the top 10 Tekken players in Montreal. Needless to say we got beat down pretty hard, but it was great fun. Last night allowed me to get an idea of how far behind my usual competition is compared to the tournament players, and we aren't so bad. Some of us managed to get some rather impressive wins, and we'd sometimes manage to give a good fight, even in defeat. I managed to force a final round against a tournament Bryan with Jack-5 and I'm proud of that. Nevertheless, MOST of the time, the action boiled down to the two tourney players fighting each other, then the winner would plow through the rest of us and they'd fight again. Seeing this showed me what is probably a golden rule in Tekken 5: When your character is the underdog on paper, AND you're unfamiliar with your opponent's character, AND the player is just plain better than you, you WILL lose a round Perfect.

Overall I'd say I showed the most promise with Marduk, and I have mixed feelings about that. King was my first real main character in Tekken, and I don't like the idea that I'd perform better with a character I started learning afew weeks ago. It's a good thing Marduk is fun as hell to play. I also realized that it's about time I stopped running away from Ling. I haven't played her since Tekken Tag, and I started getting rusty with her somewhere around the time that SoulCalibur 2 died down. Mix that in with the fact that I barely ever played T4, and she can seem really intimidating. I still have plenty of experience with her, so it's not as if knocking off the Ling-rust and integrating two games worth of new tools is more than I can handle... I might even get my Ling up to tournament-quality before anyone else, since she seems to require fewer gambles to win. Ganryu and Wang also look like potential characters I can pick up for casuals. I'll definitely say that last night added TONS of replay value to T5, and it didn't even need it.

The problem with the Hulk...

I was surfing on Gamespot yesterday when I stumbled upon an article about a Hulk game that's coming out later this year. Now the preview looks interesting and shows that the game has potential. However, something tells me that, despite the nifty tricks you'll be able to do in the game (things like flattening buses to use them as skateboards), it will still suck.



Now I have nothing against superhero games. Quite the contrary. I collected comic books in high school and remained a casual fan ever since. The fact is that making a game based on a superhero is HARD. You have years of tradition to consider if you want to please fans. Any superhero worth a damn has been around since the 60s and 70s.

Not only does a superhero game need to respect the setting, storyline, and overall attitude of the hero, but the game has to be fun. This is where the Hulk becomes a REAL problem. There are only so many things one can do with super-strength before it gets old. Superman can fly and shoot lasers. Spiderman has webbing, wall crawling, and his acrobatic skills. The Thing has 3 teammates with completely different powers. The Hulk... gets stronger when he's angrier. That's it. From a gameplay perspective, the boils down to smashing things (or people) up, and jumping real far.

What can you do when you want to make a Hulk game that doesn't get old fast? How do you keep a gamer's interest for more than two levels? You either shorten the game, or work your imagination to add variety. The "Sonic Boom Clap" was a nifty idea back in the 90s (the first game I played where Hulk could do that was the SNES game... which got old after two levels), but it's pretty much a standard today. Lets hope the people at Radical Entertainment are up to the challenge of finding other fun things to do.

Another factor is game balance. What enemies can you throw at the Hulk to make a fun game. He's THE HULK! Anyone who can survive one punch already ranks among the extraordinary. Someone who can take 5 hits and keep coming BETTER be at least a sub-boss. This issue contributes greatly towards repetitive gameplay. You can't throw boss after boss at the player, so you have to throw enough goons to give him a challenge, and hope he doesn't get bored.

This brings me to the conclusion that the Hulk just plain sucks as a main character for a beat 'em up / platformer game. He'd make a great boss, but playing AS him presents numerous challenges. This isn't the Hulk's fault. The approach just isn't that hot. He works great in fighting games, as the Marvel vs Capcom games can show. MvC-Hulk manages to be strong, yet beatable, all in a way that's fun for gamers, and acceptable to comic book fans. The same phenomenon exists for the X-Men. There was a trend not to long ago to try and make 3D fighting games with the X-Men, and the vast majority of them sucked. They work for 2D (thanks again, Capcom), but 3D X-Men fighting games just don't stay fun for more than 30 minutes. Next thing you know, X-Men Legends comes along and shows that you CAN make a good 3D X-Men game. As long as it isn't a fighter.

Sony stumbles out of the gates...

Shortly after its release in Japan, there were reports of dead pixels littering the screens of the PSP. This is yet another reason for me to stick with the Nintendo DS as my choice for handheld gaming. Sony reports that dead pixels are frequent for all LCD screens. Also, this seems to be a relatively minor problem, since pixels that stay lit, or unlit will jump out mainly when the entire screen is the same color, which pretty much never happens in videogames, or any other medium.

This makes me curious as to what technology Nintendo uses to display its graphics. If dead pixels are as frequent as Sony implies, reports would've come in for the DS as well. This story will definitely influence the kind of surfing I do on my spare time during the next couple of weeks.

Final Fantasy X2

The Final Fantasy series is arguably the most popular role playing franchise in console history. One of the main characteristics of the series is that, even though some elements remain constant, each new installment introduces you to a completely new cast of characters, a totally new story, and often a different setting and combat system. Well almost 18 months ago, the good people at Square Enix released the first true sequel in the Final Fantasy series. I'm talking about this now because I finally finished the game on Friday. Final Fantasy X2 continues the story that was told in in Final Fantasy X.

Two years have gone by since the destruction of Sin, and we now follow Yuna on a new adventure. You'll also get to catch up on the rest of the FFX cast, as well as getting an idea of the impact that Sin's destruction has had on Spira for two years. Yuna has since joined a group of sphere hunters called the Gullwings. Two others will accompany Yuna on the field: Rikku, who was a party-member in FFX, and Paine, who is a new addition. These three are the only people that you will ever have in your party, which is a first in the FF series (It's true that you couldn't acquire more party members in FF1, but you COULD restart an adventure with different party members, that's not an option for FFX2).



Having only three party members can seem somewhat limiting for someone who's played through several FF games, but this is compensated by an interesting skill system somewhat similar to the Materia system in FF7. Scattered throughout the world are skill sets called "Dresspheres". Dresspheres are costumes that give a character some relevant skills (i.e. the White Mage dressphere lets the character cast healing magic, the Warrior dressphere boosts attack power, etc). They're kinda like costumes, and the party members can change between them very quickly. Dresspheres also affect the amount of HP and MP that a character will have. If, say, Yuna changes from the Warrior dressphere to the Black Mage, her hit points will go down significantly, and her magic points will skyrocket. Damage taken, and used MP will be scaled appropriately.

This resembles the Materia system of FF7 in the sense that, once the White Mage dressphere is found, all three of your characters can become White Mages in battle. The main difference is that skills must be learned on an individual basis, so even though everyone can become a white mage, not all white mages will be equal. Some will be able to cast Full Life while others can't even cure status ailments. Of course, not everyone will have access to all dresspheres in battle, so managing what options are available to what character adds an element of strategy between battles.

Speaking of battles, the combat in FFX2 has gone off in a bold new direction: REAL TIME. This is a big difference, and anyone who has played many FF games will have trouble adapting at first, but overall, the battle system is great. The game gives you the option of automatically pausing the action whenever you enter sub-menus, like choosing which item to use, or which spell to cast (this option is a must for any boss IMO. If you managed to beat the entire game without this option, you're a MUCH better player than I am). The skill system combined with the combat system are so much fun that this is effectively the first RPG I've ever played where I'd actually spend some time running around in circles just to build up levels. I used to tease some of my friends for doing this, as they seem unable to finish an RPG without all their characters being level 99.

The story in FFX2 does a great job of building on what was done in FFX. Without ruining any surprises of either game, let's just say that they find another valid reason to raise the stakes, and the story builds up from running around Spira collecting spheres to world salvation... again. The thing is that, since the main characters are all young women, there are several "girly girly" moments in the game. As a matter of fact, the opening cutscene is borderline cheesy, and many "WTF?"s were uttered in my brain while watching. Just to give you an idea, one of the available dresspheres is the Songstress (surprisingly useful once afew skills are learned), where the equipped character affects the status of her teammates/enemies by singing and dancing. This dressphere gets downright flaunted in the opening cutscene. What I loved about the story is the fact that you're free to explore it however you like. As opposed to FFX which was almost completely linear, FFX2 is built around side-quests. I once joked around with a friend of mine that FFX2 is one big giant side-quest.



The locations are all colorful and full of life, true to the atmosphere of FFX. Revisiting them is a true pleasure. I can't compare the visuals to FFX, since I haven't played it in a while. The characters are colorful as well and the new additions have just as much personality as the existing cast members. I was quite pleased to find out that my favorite character from FFX got together with the in-game sex symbol and had a baby with her.

All in all, I'd say that FFX2 is one of my favorite FF games to date. Definitely my favorite FF game for the PS2. Another neat feature is that once you finish the game, you get to start it over again while keeping all of your dresspheres, items, and acquired skills. I might end up finishing this one more than once.

RE4: Take two

Yes folks, it's just as fun as I thought it would be. I started my second run-through in Resident Evil 4 the day after my last post, and I'm having a ball. I want to see what every weapon will look like once it's fully upgraded. Of course, this will probably take afew more run-throughs, but I'm not in any hurry. I already got to see two mini-cutscenes I hadn't seen the first time I played the game, since I'm exploring more. Even though I haven't done it yet, I love the idea that whenever I meet an enemy, I can fire afew rounds off my semi-automatic magnum. I tried fiddling around with the other mini-games, but it's quite a challenge. At least I figured out how to get a semi-decent score in "Mercenaries".

Edit: I just re-rescued Ashley, and now there's no doubt in my mind that she was conceived as an in-game sex symbol. I never thought that she'd have an alternate costume too. Her standard costume was designed to give Japanese teenagers a hard on, and her alternate costume was designed to give American teenagers a hard on.

Resident Evil 4

I finished Resident Evil 4 last night. Overall I found it was a great game, but I can't say if it's the best in the series or not. The only other RE game I played was the remake of the original game for the GameCube. I prefer the "action-horror" feel that RE4 has. As much as I enjoyed playing through the original, I'm too big of a wuss to really enjoy the nonstop suspense. The zombies in the original were quite scary, but even scarier was the constant threat of bumping into one. That wasn't a problem at all in RE4 because of the emphasis on action.



Capcom did a good job of filling RE4 with a cast of memorable characters. It's too bad that one of the coolest bosses in the game was among the first to go. The supporting cast was nice as well. I didn't quite buy Luis. He felt like his attitude was 100% manufactured (a bit like Dante from Devil May Cry. I never bought his act), but the character played its role in the story well enough to be likeable. One thing I noticed about Ashley is that she has many of the stereotypical "Japanese turn-ons": young, blonde, big breasts, dressed like a schoolgirl. Somehow I doubt it's a coincidence.



After I finished the game, I was astounded by the goodies they put in. This the first game in a long time that has tempted me to play through it again. The idea of plowing through the game with all of my items/weapons/money intact is too enticing, and some of the boss battles in RE4 were among the most memorable in recent history. There are also two mini-games that are unlocked after you finish the game. One of them can potentially give more background information both on the setting itself, and on one of the supporting characters. All in all, RE4 was a great buy, and it's good to see Capcom come up with a survival-horror game that wusses like me can enjoy.

Speak up! You know you wanna!

Fighting games (Part 1)

Re-published in reverse order so part 1 appears above part 2

Way back in 1992 a little game called "Street Fighter II" was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like pretty much the rest of the planet, I enjoyed playing that game and could find competition pretty easily. In fact I enjoyed the game so much I didn't even mind getting my ass handed to me over and over and over again. I was basically a Fierce Punch/Roundhouse Kick/Special move whore, and to anyone who has a basic understanding of how the game actually works, I didn't put up much of a fight.

Fast forward a decade and a couple years and along came a game called "Soulcalibur II". Now I had played plenty of fighting games between SF2 and SC2. I was blown away by the 3D revolution and had played Virtua Fighter 2 to hell and back, but it was really Soulcalibur II that got me interested in fighting games again.



In fact, SC2 was the first fighter that really got me curious as to how the actual fighting system within the game works. SC2 made me realize that character movelists alone gives you an insignificant morsel of the information you need to truly become proficient at a game. SC2 is the game that made me start using the internet as a tool towards improvement by discussing strategy on forums and whatnot. SC2 is the game that turned me from a guy who plays fighting games into a REAL fighting gamer. Considering this, it's kinda ironic that SC2 probably has the worst fighting game engine in the history of 3D fighters. That's right folks. 3D fighters in which you couldn't sidestep at all got it better than SC2.

Now I had been aware of the step-guard fiasco for several months before I stopped playing (for the non-gamers who happen to be still reading, step-guard is one of the many, MANY bugs in SC2 that basically makes it possible for you to block while sidestepping, benefiting from the advantages of both, and suffering almost no drawbacks at all). When you ignore step-guard, SC2 is actually a pretty deep and moderately balanced game. Unfortunately, step-guard breaks the game in half and eventually, in a context where everyone abuses step-guard, it discourages innovation. That is a cardinal sin in MY book, but I ignored the problem because I was fortunate enough to have competition that didn't know what step-guard was, so I could continue to play this watered down, more fun version of SC2 in which the "features" were never an issue.

All of that changed the day I bought Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. After several years, I finally got the chance to take my "educated gamer" mindset back to the VF series that got me into 3D fighters to begin with, and what I found was a masterpiece.



VF4:Evo showed me what a 3D fighter is SUPPOSED to be like. After months of pretending to play a game at its highest level and thinking "I sure hope these guys don't find out about this bug, or that bug", I could finally sink my teeth into a system that actually gets BETTER the more you learn about it. The change was so extreme and sudden that it gave me a genuine disdain for SC2 and for Namco as well. If they didn't know about step-guard before the game was released, they need to fire and replace their entire testing staff, and to knowingly release a game with such a blatant, game-breaking bug in it shows so much disrespect for Namco's fans that it almost turns my stomach. I remind you that step-guard is only ONE of SC2's problems.

VF4:Evo is not without problems of its own, however. The character design is much more down to earth when compared to the Tekken series, for example (you won't find any comparisons between VF4:Evo and SC2 here. That's like comparing Virtua Tennis 2 with Pong, so I will use SC2's older sister instead). Also the oki/wakeup game is quite different in VF4:Evo. Moves that look like they should hit grounded will simply whiff over a grounded opponent, making it less intuitive.

Speaking of intuitiveness reminds me of another problem. VF4:Evo has a RIDICULOUSLY steep learning curve. Actually, that's more of a would-be problem, because it also comes with a ridiculously complete training mode that teaches you how to play the game. You'll learn techniques that you won't need for a long, long time in that training mode, and I've felt like throwing my controller at the television more than once.

However, I would still say that, all in all, VF4:Evo is easily the best overall 3D fighting game on the market today. The wakeup game is quite enjoyable and deep once you get used to the tech-rolling guessing game. And Shun, the drunken boxer, is extravagant enough for every other character in the roster. Where VF4:Evo REALLY shines as a wonderfully orchestrated project is in its gameplay. Thing is, it's also the most masher-UNfriendly game I've seen so far, so the first time you play it, unless you've seen other people play, and know your character's movelist, you won't get much further than punch-punch-punch, kick-kick, and throws.

In Part 2, Rock Joe takes his educated gamer, VF4:Evo-spoiled mentality back into the 2D realm...

Fighting games (Part 2)

Re-published in reverse order so part 2 appears under part 1.

In part one I covered how SC2 got me interested in fighting games again after having spent a number of years spending all my arcade tokens on driving games and shooters. Afterwards I discovered Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. It showed me what a fighting game is like when you can search for all the information you want, and you'll never learn about anything that'll ruin the fun of the game if you don't ignore it. It showed me what a fighter is like when it ALWAYS gets better, the more you learn about it.

Unfortunately, the only arcade in town that had a VF4:Evo machine went bankrupt, and I had a lot of difficulty pushing this game onto my friends (well, the new friends who had never played a VF game before), so I was stuck in a bind. I wasn't gonna play SC2 regularly anymore, so I had to come up with some other fighting game we could play. That's when I remembered this really obscure game I used to play with my best friend called Marvel vs Capcom 2.



Now me and my buddy had spent LOTS of time playing that game back when his Dreamcast worked. Of course, he had never stopped playing fighters, so I'd have my damage bar set at maximum with his at minimum. The matches were pretty close and fun for everyone. I decided to buy a used PS2 version and actually learn how the game worked. The experiment was a complete success. I caught onto the combo system and FINALLY ended up learning that special moves are something you have to setup, rather than throwing them out all the time and hoping it works.

I worked on afew nice teams and was getting pretty good with certain characters. Then I read an article on David Sirlin's website on game balance where he featured Guilty Gear XX as an example. I was immediately fascinated and bought myself a copy on eBay (The PS2 version is discontinued, and I'm not buying an Xbox for one game).



Now that I'm proficient enough with the game to get afew wins, I can definitely say that GGXX is the Cadillac of 2D fighting games. It has a ton of nifty gameplay features that make MvC2 feel a little annoying. I've been spoiled by knowing that my character can always double-jump, almost always air-dash, and can block chipping damage if I have a bit of energy in the super-meter.

The makers of this game obviously put ALOT of imagination into the character design. You have your standard fireball-spitting cool-guy fighters, and if you feel like adding a little extra spice, you can play as a rocker-witch, a grim-reaper wannabe, or a possessed man who literally fights bent-over backwards.

Of course, now that Tekken 5 is out, I'm spending most of my fighting-game-time in the arcades checking out the new system (which isn't a lot of time since I don't really like arcades as much as I used to, and I don't have any competition for my console fighters), but I now have a much better understanding of 2D fighters. I can also appreciate them much more and I understand how a 2D fighter can be released in this day and age and sell well.

The drugs are wearing off!

I've had the chance to play Tekken 5 against some knowledgeable players recently, and I'm glad to see myself enjoying the game, yet not getting addicted enough to play for unreasonable hours. I remember back when I was into SoulCalibur 2 it would be EASY for me to play with my friends until 2 or 3am. And that was on work days! I used to do the same thing with Tekken Tag Tournament. That was different, however, since the TTT gatherings we used to have were indeed special occasions, and they warranted some heavy late night play.

The gathering I participated in was on Tuesday night, and it lasted until around 1:30am. I had a blast and got to try out some strats. I've spent the next few days un-learning the bad habits that the computer AI gave me. Last night, I was offered to play afew games with a friend of mine and refused. There was no way I could ever turn down SC2 back when I liked the game. I really like this middleground I find myself in. Maybe I'm more mature. Maybe I'm just getting old.

The Aftermath

I saw the 60 minutes report last night on the GTA murder. Overall I'd say they did a good job of presenting a global perspective on the issue. There's one thing in the report that really bugged me. It's OBVIOUS that the people debating the issues never touched a videogame before. I'll agree that you kill ALOT of cops in the GTA series, but it's unfair to describe it as a cop-killing game. They were using terms like "specifically targets cops" and whatnot. And the problem is that it's EASY to convince some old guy who doesn't play videogames that this is the truth. All you need are the right screenshots and it's over.

Cops are NOT the primary target of violence in GTA. You play a criminal, so it's obvious that cops will tend to get in the way. The report made direct reference to the "No Escape?" mission in Vice City where you break a safecracker out of jail. This mission is the perfect example of how perception can influence you. Yes, to break someone out of jail in a GTA game, you're going to kill ALOT of policemen, but they are never the mission objective. I don't think I've ever seen a mission briefing with the words "kill as many cops as possible". Also, within the grand scheme of GTA, cops will make a rather small percentage of your body count. The person in this screenshot is NOT a cop, and there are PLENTY of missions where your target is another criminal, or a civilian.



Of course, everything I'm saying is already obvious to someone who's PLAYED THE GAME. This brings up another point: alot of today's parents aren't gamers, and have never been gamers. I'll agree that keeping violent videogames out of children's hands will always be important, but I think the problem will diminish greatly once the kids who are toddlers today grow up. It's hard to be level-headed about a new medium that you've never familiarized yourself with. You're either going to ignore it (ie. parents using their kids' PS2 as a babysitter), or fear it (ie. parents believing everything they hear on the news about videogames).

Videogames started flourishing when I was still a kid. I've seen the evolution from 4-color CGA graphics all the way to 3D polygonal meshes with self-shadowing and realistic textures. I guess it was pretty safe to just let me play games without any supervision when I was a kid, but such is not the case today. Once we start seeing more parents who spent endless hours playing the games available today, the problem should diminish. I wouldn't even play GTA in front of my nieces and nephews when they were younger. And I was amazed when some of them said they'd already played.

I KNOW you have something on your mind. Say so!

Deja-vu all over again...

Today I was browsing on GameSpot and saw news about how video game violence is making its way back to the spotlight. Laws are being proposed, and a 60 minutes segment should be airing on TV soon featuring good ol' Jack Thompson. I was aware of the "GTA triple murder" for a little while now (for those of you who don't want to search, 18-year-old gets caught in a stolen car, brought to the station, kills 3 cops and escapes in a cop car before getting caught for GOOD), and I'll agree that the nature of this crime is OBVIOUSLY similar to the kind of things you do in any Grand Theft Auto game.

The problem is that Jack Thompson is going WAY overboard filing lawsuits left and right. He's suing the company that made the game (obvious), the store that sold the game to the boy (kinda pushing it, but understandable), and Sony also managed to get on the list for making the boy's PS2 (WTF?!?). I wonder why Jack isn't as interested in finding out what kind of family environment (or lack thereof) the boy grew up in. Considering the GTA series' popularity, I'd think that cases like the GTA triple murder would be more frequent, no? I guess it COULD be the kid that's just messed up.

Instead of focusing on that, Jack instead sues SONY?!? Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If I get fat by drinking milkshakes, can I sue the cows? I think ALOT more focus should be put on the kid's parents. I'm 100% in favor of giving parents all of the tools necessary to do their job properly. I'm 100% against having some 3rd party do the parents' job for them. If you don't think that the ESRB rating system is effective enough for keeping violent games out of kids hands (an understantable position), come up with other tools. Don't go around insulting people's intelligence by implying that Sony is somehow responsible for the death of 3 policemen in Alabama. The boy might have been 18 when he shot those 3 cops, but this happened in 2003, and GTA3 was released in May 2002.

To sum it up, this whole situation blows, and I REALLY hope that Jack Thompson's blatant attempt to get "the big verdict" no matter what the cost doesn't succeed.

...if only OpenSource was profitable...

I was chatting on MSN today with a friend of mine who's a big Tekken fan too. He started talking about what he wished would happen for Namco's next fighting game. The details aren't important, but during our conversation I shot out the joke that "considering Namco's recent track record with fighting games, such a game would be so full of bugs and glitches that it would be unplayable". He then responded by saying "Namco should OpenSource that shit". That comment got me thinking so much I just had to rant about it (thanks again, HNIC).

Recently, Namco's earned itself the reputation of being "lazy" and half-assing the fighting games they develop. I'll be the first to admit that, even though they deserve a fair portion of the heat they're getting, another good portion comes from whining crybabies that don't really know what they're talking about. An educated opinion is still an educated opinion, however. "Step-guard never should've happened" is an ignorant way to express an educated opinion. It's true that in SoulCalibur 2, allowing a defense mechanic that lets you move AND block is just wrong. Thing is, correcting that "feature" would probably have demanded a huge overhaul of the entire fighting engine, which is the most likely reason Namco never fixed it. Opensourcing SC2 would fix the problem though. I'm sure there are some SC2 fans who just happen to be coders and who are hardcore enough to invest time and energy in taking step-guard out. Too bad OpenSource isn't profitable...

Tekken 4 is another game that would've benefited greatly from Opensourcing. So many things were wrong with that game I don't even know where to begin. Of course, these things have more to do with personal preference than the actual fighting engine. It would still have been pretty cool to change all those STUPID character models. Heihachi's diaper is the worst costume-design decision in the history of Tekken (although he doesn't look that much better in a bikini, at least it makes sense in context). Of course, I myself couldn't possibly change a character model without replacing it with a bunch of spheres and cylinders. That doesn't mean that nobody else could. Too bad OpenSource isn't profitable...

The beauty with Namco's fighters it that they attract a large group of fans. These fans have a wide variety of skills (I'm talking about the skills that don't relate to fighting games). Could you imagine how great things would be if Tekken and SoulCalibur games were OpenSource? The very community that helps discover bugs and glitches would have the resources to FIX them and Namco wouldn't have to lift a finger! The big controversy that arose when Steve's infinite was discovered in Tekken 5 would've been a total non-issue. Too bad OpenSource isn't profitable...

The only major drawback is that the tournament scene would become much more complicated. I don't think the community as a whole could ever agree on one "tournament build", and how would we choose which build(s) to use? I don't think this would be an insurmountable problem, however. The Tekken community (I'm using Tekken because it's the most recent game) might have its fair share of whining crybabies, but I strongly believe that it has enough valid opinions to have "collective common sense". It's REALLY too bad that OpenSource isn't profitable...

Was this article complete garbage, or was it awe-inspiring? Either way, SPEAK UP.