Gamer Focus - Mike Ross

“My name is Mike Ross. I’m 26 years old and I’m from Los Angeles, California. Some of my hobbies consist of playing the guitar I like to hang out with my friends and stuff. I’m also a competitive Street fighter 4 player.”

Previewing soon will be Focus; a new feature length film from director Steve Hwang follows the exploits of college graduate Mike Ross, an amateur wedding videographer and professional Street Fighter 4 player. The film is a portrait of Mikes Summer 2010, as he travels around the country competing in events in order to prepare for the biggest tournament of his life – Evolution 2010 held in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Ross himself is one hell of a nice guy. Always humble and having no trouble signing autographs or greeting fans, he admits himself that he doesn't always win, but his personality wins over crowds. A general stigma that surrounds a lot of the gaming community is around player’s inability to operate in social environments. Ever seen an interview with Daigo? Nice guy.. but not an interviewers dream.. How about J. Wong? How often do you hear good shit about that guy? One thing that is really going to keep this documentary from pitfalls is going to be following a likable guy through tough times.

With the release here in Japan unannounced, and possibly a long way down the road, lets hand over to Mark Marquez of ‘Nerd Reactor’ for a glimpse of the documentary through the eyes of a competitive Street Fighter player.

“Ultimately, the film’s focus is about Mike’s resolve to becoming a top Street Fighter IV player. Focus offers a glimpse at just how brutal the competitive scene of Street Fighter is. The life of a street fighter is not all fun and games. It is not a lucrative career path nor is it something widely accepted yet. With each match, Mike must mentally prepare himself for the worst. There are several poignant moments sprinkled across the film that felt very inspiring. Even though followers will probably remember Mike’s result of the tournaments, FOCUS takes a deeper look at Mike about how he copes with the pressure and struggles to continue his choice of a demanding and brutal profession. Much like other spectator sports, players like Mike must strive to be recognized. Followers of the scene will recognize many notable players’ cameo appearances, such as Martin “Marn” Phan, Peter “ComboFiend Rosa, Justin “Jwong” Wong, Alex “calipower” Valle, Eric “Juicebox Abel” Albino, and Daigo “The Beast” Umehara to name a few. It’s almost as if they were little Easter eggs for fans to pick out.”

http://nerdreactor.com/2011/02/15/focus-a-documentary-review-through-the-eyes-of-a-street-fighter-player/

Just to wet your appetite, check out a few of the preview trailers for what should be an excellent documenrty of the competeative level now.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGsO4aCuYxg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKQ5tccL2Z4&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzsdvsTMsz0&NR=1

And the official site

www.focusdocumentary.com/

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Summer

With all the attention turning to the next evolution in the realm of Street Fighter (Street Fighter X Tekken, incase you’ve been hiding out in a cave for the last few months), you might be wondering why Tekken is holding back on their plans for Tekken X Street Fighter.

Get ready for Tekken Tag 2.

Katsuhiro Harada creator of the Tekken franchise hinted at the game been dropped slap bang between the releases of these two highly anticipated pieces, which means Summer in Japan, just got a shit lot hotter.

Looking at the plot subjectively here might not be the best thing to do, currently unannounced it's anyone’s guess, and don’t be told otherwise. Speculation points towards events happening outside the current Tekken universe, as you’d expect, over the past 17 years almost all characters have attempted to assasinate, murder or obliterate one another, so teamwork is pretty much a no no right.

But who the hell’s keeping up with the story? Time to bust some spleens!  

There’s plenty here to be getting excited about, fresh faces and a few old faces too. Boasting 44 (currently) playable characters makes it the biggest lineup in Tekken history, surpassed only by 'Marvel Vs Capcom' 2’s 58-character roster as the largest player selection for a video game in the world, this is going to be one hell of competitive game.

With the return of 'Jun' confirmed a few months back (due to popular demand and 4000 tweets according to Harada), 'True Ogre', 'Devil' (as part of 'Kazuya'), the question on everyone’s lips is ‘Who is Jaycee?’. Theories have gone through the roof as to her true identity, with fans generally agreeing that 'Julia Chang' would be the most likely candidate. 3 main reasons, they wear the same pendant, 'Jaycee' is phonetically 'J.C.' or 'Julia Chang', and along with her move set and facial structure, wearing feathers in her outfit has really nailed the case closed... Check mate.

Speculation aside, the real-time, in game footage looks fantastic, and if it’s got anything on the original Tekken Tag we’re laughin. Check out some of what’s been dropped recently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WseZfBPNgE0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aZbCU7S4Mo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=810eNQ9dIP4

Confirmed Characters

Alisa Boskonovitch

Anna Williams

Armor King II

Asuka Kazama

Baek Doo San

Bruce Irvin

Bryan Fury

Craig Marduk

Christie Monteiro

Devil Jin

Eddy Gordo

Emilie "Lili" De Rochefort

Feng Wei

Ganryu

Heihachi Mishima

Hwoarang

Jack-6

JayCee

Jin Kazama

Jinpachi Mishima

Julia Chang

Jun Kazama

Kazuya Mishima

King II

Kuma II

Lars Alexandersson

Lee Chaolan

Lei Wulong

Leo Kliesen

Ling Xiaoyu

Marshall Law

Miguel Caballero Rojo

Mokujin

Nina Williams

Panda

Paul Phoenix

Raven

Robert "Bob" Richards

Roger Jr.

Sergei Dragunov

Steve Fox

True Ogre

Wang Jinrei

Yoshimitsu

Zafina

Unconfirmed / Non-Playable Characters

Alex

Angel (Harada is considering her return).. Awesome!

Combot

Devil Ganryu (Harada wants him as a possible final boss, but his team does not agree to this)

Dr. Boskonovitch (Harada is considering his return)

Forrest Law

Gun Jack

Jack-2

Kunimitsu (Harada is considering her return).. Lame!

Michelle Chang

Miharu Hirano

Ogre

Prototype Jack

Roger

Plenty of shit still TBC, but one thing is clear, they've taken their time on this one. Good things this way coming. Just can't wait to get Nina and Anna on bitch slap duties!

Retrospective - Mortal Kombat

What with the March release of ‘Mortal Kombat’ reboot for Xbox and PS3 hittin all the right buttons, and the awesome online drama ‘Mortal Kombat: Legacy’ kicking off last month, lets take a look back at 15 years of uppercuts, fatalities and ball busting.

Way back in the early 90’s the arcade fighter was really beginning to take flight. Street Fighter II was opening up the competition scene and in 1992 Fatal Fury secured the position of fighting games as the biggest genre of the time.

It was also during this time that the game developer Midway was looking to expand into the original games market. Development of MK as we knew it came from 2 guys; artist John Tobias, known for his work on like Smash T.V. Total Carnage and Programmer Ed Boon, Funhouse, Black Knight 2000, High Impact Football series.

“This would be one of the major selling points when Boon and Tobias began planning their first attempt at a fighter. While Atari’s Pit Fighter had already pulled off the idea successfully, Midway was working in the post-Street Fighter II era, and the rules had changed overnight. Mortal Kombat adopted many of the conventions popularized by Street Fighter, including blocking, projectiles, and special moves executed with controller motions.”

But it was style that set Mortal Kombat apart. Pulling elements from kung fu movies, '80s action flicks, and the over-the-top violence of the '70s exploitation era, the fighter was as dark as it got. It wasn't the most violent game ever -- Exidy's Chiller may still hold that title to this day -- but the pairing of lives actors and gallons of blood made people take notice. In fact, the studio did much to make the violence a selling point, adding "Fatality" moves that added nothing to the game play, but let you act out gory deaths on your defenseless, incapacitated foe.

That cold-blooded brutality was precisely what made the title resonate when it was finally released in arcades. While many games don't achieve real notoriety until they reach consoles, the success of Mortal Kombat was simply too great to ignore. It seemed like every teenage boy in the country was playing the game -- much to the dismay of the media.

“Unlike DOOM, which came under fire as a result of the Columbine massacre, there really was no tragedy to bolster the claims that Mortal Kombat had some kind of negative impact on the youth, but the story, like the game itself, was sensational enough to sell. There was something unsettling about such a game being left out in the open of arcades, available to anyone that had a quarter to play. How could parents protect their children from this perverse pastime? 

Konsole Kontroversy 

The controversy in the media served only to fuel the game's popularity in arcades, and by the time the game was set to launch on the SEGA Genesis and Super Nintendo, it had reached critical mass. Even though the game was virtually ubiquitous in arcades across the country, parents were calling for the home versions to be censored. Attempts to censor the game in arcades had resulted in sharply decreased profits, however. The public demanded blood.
”

The launch of MK on ‘Mortal Monday’ Sept 13th 1993 was backed up in America with a 10 million dollar advertising campaign, Unprecedented at the time, the gamble paid off. Acclaimed stocked 2 million copies of Genesis games in stores across the country, which all but sold out in the first few weeks. Kids wanted the blood and gore, and lets not forget, controversy! MK had them all by the bucket load.

The game was a hit, more so than anyone, even Ed Boon and.. Had expected. The fans were demanding a sequel

“According to Ed Boon, their goal for the sequel was to double everything they had done in the first game. That meant they were under tremendous pressure to create a massive amount of content.”