Went to A-town.

The Scene at A-town mall was electric. And hot. Mostly hot. There were newcomers, one grandfather (Hi, CJ!), and vets all gathered together for a tournament that could only be described as awwsome. I was walking around the arcade, getting a feel for the environment when I stumbled (literally, I'm clumsy) upon this conversation. Three people arguing about the upcoming Super Turbo matches.

Dude #1: You must be out yo goddamn mind! CJ Kyles is the greatest Soupra Turboer that ever lived. He was better than Skillzilla, he was better than MaceAho, and that new dude, what's his name, Smiles, looks like a bulldog, he was better than him too.

Dude #2: What about Halfro the Kid?

Dude #1: Oh there they go. There they go, every time I start talkin 'bout Soupra Turbraing, a white man got to pull Halfro the Kid out their ass. That's their one, that's their one. Halfro the Kid. Let me tell you something once and for all. Halfro the Kid was good, but compared to CJ Kyles, Halfro the Kid ain't shit."

Dude #3: He beat CJ Kyles' ass.

Dude #2: That's right, he did beat CJ Kyles' ass.

Dude #1: CJ Kyles was seventy five years old when they fought.

Dude #2: I don't know how old he was, but he got his ass whooped.

Dude #1: CJ Kyles had come out of retirement to fight Halfro the Kid and he was seventy six years old. CJ Kyles is always lying about his age. He lie about his age all the time. One time Alex Valle came in here and sat in this chair. I said Alex 'you hang out with CJ Kyles, just between me and you, how old is CJ Kyles? You know what Alex told me, he said 'hey, CJ Kyles is 137 years old.' 137 years old!

Dude #2: Oh Man you ain't never meet no Alex Valle.

Coming to A-town saw an excellent turnout, with Street Fighter 3: Third Strike (or 3s), boasting the most entrants at a surprising 28. In fact, 3s was most certainly the most interesting tournament. An out of stater we called Ghetto had a very nice Ken (and was a cool dude as well) Carlos (no nickname) defeated several of the states better players with a Dudley that was...unorthodox...to say the least. Smilez fought his way back from the Loser's bracket after a defeat at the might gloves to face Carlos in the grand finals where the Dudley player had no answer for Smilez' Ken. Smilez managed to win 6 straight matches and win the pot.

Perhaps the most “hyphy” moment of the tourney was the money match between Halfro and CJK. It was a first to 10 for 10 bucks (and bragging rights). Halfro managed to pull ahead a few games in the middle of the contest, but CJ's Gief was able to close the gap. In the end, Halfro ended up switching to Ryu and eked out the win in a down to the wire last match. The final tally was 10-9, Half.

In Guilty Gear: Accent core, several GG players showed some new skills. Tage*Proto won the tournament using Ky Kiske, beating out King Lowtier the top spot in the tournament. Halfro, GG player-come-lately, uppered his way to 3rd place.

It was a great tournament, and a special thanks from us at the EFL to those that managed to come out. The tournament was a lot of fun and to touch on all the tournaments and fun moments would take more typing than I'm willing to do. We've been uploading all of the vids we have capped, and you can find links.

AREEEEEEES!!

I played God of War: Chains of Olympus (title is so dope) for a couple of hours yesterday.

My verdict? Stunned is one word.

You know how sometimes you're playing a game that you thought was amazing when you first picked it up. Eventually, you get over the graphics unless you happen to pause to go get a drink, sit down and look at the screen and think to yourself, "This game is pretty." You then begin to play without really paying any attention to the graphics. This is especially true for a series. You expect Final Fantasy to look good, so it's no surprise when it does.

That's why, when I actually paused to pay attention to what was going in in GoW:CoO, I was so impressed. I'm playing a ps2 game on my psp. Seriously. I took for granted that I was playing this game on my psp because everything was represented almost as well as its ps2 counterpart. The music, the control, the feel of Cotton...err, Kratos...everything feels like it does on the ps2. Every little thing that makes GoW what it is is represented faitfully on the psp's beautiful screen. It's crazy, is what it is.

My one gripe is the QTE sequences that involve the analog nub. It's pretty difficult to get the same range of motion you get on a dual shock analog stick with the nub. I've gotten used to it, but not until I'd failed at some crucial times.

Speaking of QTEs, and this is coming from somebody that loves NG and owns DMC4, I don't get what all the bitching is about. It involves you in the sequences.

I'll take DMC4 for an example. Nero uses his devil arm to grab an opponent and dish out a devastating series of attacks. For the most part, you just watch and enjoy the dopeness. NG2 seems to have a similar feature with an opponent that has lost a limb. You press X (or Y or whatever) and Hayabusa destroys his opponent with a combo you watch for a second or two (or three or four).

In GoW, you're actually involved in these awesome sequences. There's the chance that you'll miss the timing of a button press, that you won't do it perfectly every time. That might not be the case (they're pretty easy to hit), but the chance is still there simply because of the fact that you have to interact with the scene. There's a sense of urgency involved because, if you miss, the enemy will be able to counter and you've missed a chance for precious health.

So, yeah...don't get the hate.

Anyway, it's great. I'll post more once I have beaten it. Apparently it's only like 5 hours or something like that. I said I'd do that with Lost Odyssey, but MS has seen fit to send me consoles that break...I'll get to that when I'm done with it.