My roommate and I played some World Heroes and Samurai Showdown IV today on my Neo-Geo emulator. It all started with a little SVC Chaos action on my new Xbox demo disc from the xbox mag. I was beat down by one of the Bogards and made a slight comeback with Ryu. Man, it looks great on the 36" TV. I was pining over all the Neo-Geo cabinets on eBay and other sites and thinking about building my own, but perhaps I'll just get a "shotgun" system which has the genuine arcade (MVS) hardware in a small box, or perhaps get an AES (home system) and get the Phantom converter (which allows you to play most arcade MVS carts). One big hurdle to doing this task is the amount of time and or money it takes to materialize any of these ideas. A play-ready Neo cabinet is approx $400 and up, costing almost as much in shipping. The other routes cost just about as much if you want the S-Video kit, a Japanese home system, or a Phantom adapter (each cost around $300-$500. I gotta hand it to them (Neo-Geo fans). They are truly dedicated! I remember first discovering Samurai Showdown at the arcade and being plain mesmerized by the intense graphics and cool moves. Ukyo was the man, and I suppose that still holds true today with the new SamSho V being released recently. As most people know, the Neo-Geo is primarily a platform for straight-up Street Fighter style fighting games. There are a few puzzle games, and the occasional "shooter" (read Gradius clone), but most people are in it for the fighters.
Fighting games have attempted to sally forth into the world of 3D and has had very mixed results. For instance, Killer Instinct Gold only looked annoying with cool 3D backgrounds and 2D fighters. It just made it more obvious that you either have to be consistent, or be a genius at mixing the two. Rumor has it, that there's a Samurai Showdown 3D, but it was a crap game. This is only heresay, cause I've never seen it! The problem with that opinion is that it could just be an obnoxious purist who can never be satisfied with any 3D fighter, or perhaps, just a crap game.
LOL
In any case, there is basically a unanimous approval of games like Soul Calibur & SC 1.5 (2 wasn't much of a sequel). The Soul Edge/Calibur series shows that there is definitely promise in the 3D world and can include amazing, fluid animations that rival that of our pixelated friends of past. A potentially promising title is the new KOF (King of Fighters) Maximum Impact. It is being distributed by Playmore (who acquired SNK) and since they put their seal of approval on it, I'd be quite interested to give it a go.
On the anime front, I'm downloading episode 50 of Full Metal Alchemist as well as the soundtrack for Samurai Champloo, which is a magnificent meld of Japanese and Hip-Hop influences. One of my favorite episodes of SamCham includes a beat-boxing sidekick who follows one of the more lame samurai. He's basically all show and no go. My friends and I always said it'd be fun to have a soundtrack played while you walk down the street (ala John Shaft), so this was a fun moment.
OMFG, Full Metal Alchemist 50 is bombshell after bombshell!!! Holy crap! I cannot wait for the movie! I've uploaded some old pics of my buddies and me...I guess it works. =)
Tony - Console Lamer!
