Well, I got my Tourney Edition Stick from the local NC Gamestop... It's a work of art. I still have to get used to it over my old Hori EX2. The buttons being so QUICK to press has thrown off my timing some, as I'm used to applying more pressure, so I'm actually doing some moves TOO early, and mashing other moves a LOT easier.

NOW I JUST NEED SFIV! Gah. Having never gotten a chance to play it in arcades, the wait is pretty bad. I wonder how easy it'll be to pick up Viper, Dhalsim, and Cammy? Will I like Goken as much as I think I will? Wil Abel turn into a suprise fav, or will I ignore him for the glory of Fat-fu with Rufus? XD Who will end up replacing my SSFIITHDR Dee Jay? What if it's ROSE?!?

GAH, so many choices! And then getting used to FADC, and backdashing, and Focus attacks in GENERAL...

I'm just ready to start this already! I have a Japanese friend who has been playing for the past 2 days or so over LIVE, and it makes the wait even harder.

SFIV is almost upon us!

Setting the Stage

Lets get one thing straight: I'm not a HUGE Batman fan. I like him, sure, but generally, I'd rather watch something involving Ironman before Batman. I love the dark, noir feel of Batman, and I love what it lended to Big O, but BAtman just doesn't STICK with me.

USUALLY.

But I REALLY REALLY enjoyed Gotham Knight!

A 6 legged Chair

For those who do not know, Gotham Knight is a collection of 6 short stories, that are all connected. They tell one semi-coherent story, that basically shows us events that forged Bruce Wayne, also know as Batman, into the person and crimefighter he is today.

I'm going to give you my thoughts on each one, now!

--I HAVE A STORY FOR YOU

This one sets the stage for the movie, being the first. It shows us various tales that are being told by children, about their suprise run-ins with Batman. These tales are all "Larger than Life", as each child tints Batman with how THEY saw him. Hence, Batman transforms into entities ranging from a living shadow, to a man in a human-sized Mecha outfit.

Little do the kids know, that their tales are connected! They figure it out as they speak them to each other, and then, suddenly, as if draw to them like they where a beacon, they get a first-hand meeting with Batman, together...

I like this segment a lot. I find the children's views of Batman to be a fun story telling device. The story is as fluid and shaky as this segments animation style. I've heard many people say they dislike this part, but I think if you take it for what it is, and accept the rather original style, that it is a great entrypoint.

--CROSSFIRE

Two detectives are given the assignment of taking a criminal to Arkham. This criminial was dropped off in commissioner Gordon's office by Batman himself.  The police are new to Batman at this point, and there are some people in the force who don't know what to make of him yet. These feeling will have to be faced when the detectives run into trouble on their way back from their simple dropoff...

The last story felt childish, and Batman's portrayal was all over the place. This story presents a great contranst, because this segment hit me as a mature, strong version of Batman and his world. Batman's portrayal instantly became "Man, that's cool!" when he finally showed up here. He really is portrayed as a serious, nearly inhuman threat to the likes of evil. In the 80s/90s "Batman: The animated Series", I remember him saying "I, am VENGENCE! I am THE NIGHT! I... AM... BATMAN!" It never felt truer than here. At the end of this segment, my little brother and I felt we just saw the quintessential Batman.

--FIELD TEST

Lucius Fox is Bruce Wayne's techie. Apparently, he makes hardware for Wayne industries, as well as gear for Batman, on the side....

When a special invention is created that will allow Batman to be impervious to small arms weapon fire, will Batman we willing to accept the risk brought about by such technology?

When this skit started, I laughed and pointed "Gah! That's not Bruce Wayne, that's Deathnote's Light Yagami!" Bruce is shown as a prettyboy here, which first the extravagant lifestyle we get to see him lead in this segment. Super-weapons made in his basment, invites to charity functions in his private life, this man is at the cuff of technology and social standing.

Some people call this big "boring", but I think it went a long way into extablishing Batmans complex morality, and it helps us balance the uber-batman we just witnesses in the last segment. It helps show us that there is a real man beneath that stoic form.

--WHERE DARKNEST DWELLS

Batman trudges through the sewers, on the path of Killer Croc. Somehow, this also brings him into contact with Scarecrow, who happens to be in the middle of something like an execution of a holyman...

This segment is fast paces, has "to-the-point" action, and features 2 recognizeable characters from Batmans Rogue gallery. This is also the skit that emphasizes gritty detective work, as well as how much self control it takes to be Batman. In the middle of everything, Batman is infected with a fear toxin, that makes the victim succumb to their fears, seeing frightning imagery created from even the simpliest situations. Yet this doesn't stop the Dark Knight. He manages to make it through the gist of his fights unvexxed, but even Gothams Knight has his breaking point...

--WORKING THROUGH THE PAIN

Ahhhh, this excellent piece arrives! Bats has finally started to lose his fight with the fear toxin, and this allows him to be critically wounded by a gunshot from some vagrant. Losing blood at every step, he starts to dream back to the teachings that gave him his resistence to pain in the first place, hopeing the memories will sustain him long enough for his butler Alfred to retrieve him...

The Flashback segments show us yet another form of Bruce Wayne, this time a young medical volunteer in what appears to be a warzone. While here, Bruce has looked up the teachings of the local cult leaders. They apparently are known for mastering how to work with ones pain.

However, this main sect refuses to take Bruce, for various reasons, but a local outcast decides to take them under their wing...

The back-and-forth from flashback to current time is beautifully done. And the flashbacks themselves tell a story that truly makes Batman into a tragic figure. Within his strengths, we can see his weaknesses. This story "humanized" Batman more than any of the other tales, to me. I was suprised at how "weak" they allowed him to show himself at the very end of this part, because he's normally shown as such a perfected, peak-performance being. At this point, I truly knew this whole experimental work was something special.

--DEADSHOT

Ahhh, the final piece! It takes this experience out with a Bang!

Deadshot is a SUPER Sniper. He's a showboat, too; He enjoys his murderous work, and even signs his kills with a prominently placed empty shell casing. After pulling off a high-profile assassination, he learns that his next target in Gotham city is Batman himself!

The plan he concocts to draw out the Bat works like a charm, and he gets his chance to take down our Hero (which you know isn't going to work!) This results in ending fight scene, atop a speeding train. It's like we're looking at this battle with all the knowledge we recieved from the other segments: Batman is facing a villan that embodies every worry and fear we've seen out of Bruce. Every motion he makes here can be seen as having a deeper meaning; when he is wounded, you wonder to yourself "how would the bullet deflection technology from Field Test have helped him here?" As he shrugs off the pain of the wound, and fights on, you notice the strength he was reflecting on having gained in the flashbacks of Working Through Pain. It's the little points like this that make this whole movie, this experience worth taking.

When you reach the final punch, and the final lines of story, if you've been paying attention, you probably appreciate how well the entire tale was written together. The Cohersion of the story is much greater than the differences of the animators styles, and the fact that each style was used to strengthen the emotions within their stories, makes the movie seem much like a well concieved art project.

Final Thoughts

Even if some of the animation in some of the shorts look like they could have benefited from a BIT more frames of animation, the style of characters and backgrounds here make up for any techical weaknesses in art.

The Music felt like it belonged in an Epic motion picture. It fit the scenery, and felt like a bold reference to the early 90s animations tunes. I had not problems here.

In the end, as if you can't tell, or don't remember the opening lines, I really enjoyed this! Thought I simply rented it from the XBL Marketplace, this is an animated tale I wouldn't mind owning.

My Score: 5 outta 5! It exceeded my expectations!

I just wanna present an idea that came to mind, while looking over internet comments about Megaman 9.

How often do we get games from "Pros" lately, that are made by very small teams? I'd be very willing to get some "classic" looking games, if it means I could bet more games that where made by smaller, focused groups.

A game made by 2 ~ 20 people should have a lot less chances for bugs. It should technically be a much more passionately created product. The vision of each individual member should be at it's purest.

The game should have a LOT lower chance at having useless filler. No silly "collect 300 flags/agility orbs!" junk.

The features we get should be all the important ones. Short, fulfilling games >>>> Long "epics" with minor impact, and forgettable gameplay!

I was reading this article on Kotaku: Click here!

The article they linked to thinks the answer is "Teen boys love lacking color!" "It represents maturity!"

.....Eh? Ok. I think that's one of those sad, easy answers...

Look at something like Castle Crashers. It's got good, “arcadey” colors, and I don't think anyone would look at it, and think it's a kids game.

Look at Capcom's own new Bionic Commando games ("Next Gen" and Re-armed). They have colors that call back to their 8 bit origins, while still looking mature when need be.

I think the real enemy isn't so much the target audience in this case, I think it's a lack of creativity and imagination from the creators. This push towards casual appeal really is poisoning gaming, to me. I understand why it's being done, but I don't like some of the side effects.

Let me share an example with you. I don't particularly like sports games, yet, I have the SNK classics collection, which comes with Super Sidekicks 3, among other sports titles. I went into it, thinking I'd just play it... and I came out of it smiling ear to ear, remarking to myself about how AWESOME the game was! The sound effects where strong. The variety of victory celebrations was nice. It took me quite a few goals to see them repeat. The controls where simple, yet had satisfying variety. Overall, it was a game that made me happy to play it, even if I don't care for the subject or even genre that much.

This is an aspect I don't see much in games now-a-days. I try out just about every demo that pops onto the XBL marketplace, and it's very rare that a First-Person shooter, racing, or sports game, really makes me feel the URGE to play them.

Art and Sound teams are so busy trying to mimic realism, that they forget how "larger than life" experiences are what got many of us into games in the first place. Who wants to fight in "The War in Iraq" in a game? (I find it kinda disrespectful to make a current real life war into a game, personally, btw.) I want to fight enemies that are far beyond what I can find on the news every night. When I hear the sounds of my enemies, I want it to strike some fear into my game playing. It's great that an M16 sounds like a real one, but for a game, I'd rather the sounds and music be more grandiose.

This is a good reason why I don't like most EA games. Surely, they are great games for many people, but almost everything they strive to bring into games, are exactly the things games DIDN'T have in the past, that made gaming so great. But I'll save going into THAT for next time...

So tell me, dear readers, what do YOU think we have to blame for a lack of color in games, and what do you think has created this trend?

Some of you around here know me, others... lets get to know each other! XD

You can call me SAB-CA, or just CA. A gamer who loves the classic Genres, an anime-influenced artist who loves classic anime styles... I've been in a "classics" mood alot lately. Oh yeah, I also do pixel art! See, that whole "classics" thing again...

my main 3 sites of interest, to learn more about me:

SABFAN: My personal shop!

SABworks!

My Deviantart Gallery