Button Mashers Beget Button Mashers

(Editor’s Note: A�Apologies again for our silence this week. A�I’ve been dealing with end of semester stuff. A�Hopefully I can maintain the schedule of posting twice over the next two weeks. A�If not, I’ll definitely be back when finals are over.)

My family took me to a local arcade (yes, they still exist!) for my birthday this year. A�It might be more accurate if I sayA�the local arcade since I believe it is the only one close enough to be called local. A�We do have a Chuck E. Cheese, but the arcade there is secondary. A�You mostly go there for the mediocre (really, terrible) pizza. A�Wait, why does anyone go there? A�A question for another time, perhaps.

The trip took me back to the years of my youth misspent in arcades from Erie, Pennsylvania to Silver Springs, Maryland. A�I got 2 hours to play Tetris, Dig, Dug, Rampage, NBA Jam, The Simpsons, Centipede, any many others. A�Sadly, no Q*Bert or Pac-Man and the Mrs. Pac-Man machine was out of order. A�Also no Mario Brothers and the only Neo Geo games were Bubble Bobble and Bust a Move. A�Aside from the more modern games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, those were the old school games that I played in the arcade and at home. A�Still, I had so much fun and it is one of the best birthday presents ever.

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Button mashers in training

During one of my breaks to watch TMNT (They showed it on the big screen, but with no sound. A�That’s my only complaint, even if understandable.) and eat free fries (part of a Groupon deal), I noticed Liam and Aiden playing together on a machine and having a ton of fun. A�I went over to see what brought them such joy. A�It was one of those Street Fighter clones, but one that I’d never played nor even seen. A�This is noteworthy because I thought that I’d played them all. A�At the least, I was sure that I’d played the ones that featured Ryu as a character. A� I noticed he was on the roster during one of their character selections.

Now, it is bugging me again that I never knew the game existed and I forgot to write down the name of the game. A�I need to figure this out. A�Bear with me. A�Enjoy the musical stylings of Nick Winters while you wait.

Okay, I’m back! A�Google is a wonderful thing. A�Whether you need to find the name of a never before seen 2D fighter or directions to the Rhode Island Convention Center for an underwhelming trip to wach the SCG Open event, Google has you covered. A�Sure, they’ll catalog your search results, sell your personal information and data, and then use that money to lobby Washington DC for less strict anti-trust laws. A�That’s all a small price to pay for all that convenience.

Once they finished playing and it was time to go, I asked the natural question, hoping for a particular response. A�They looked like they had fun, but I wanted to be sure. A�”Did you like it?” A�I asked. A�They both said, “Yes, it was fun!”

Woo hoo!

It started with board games, branched out into Heroclix, Pokemon, and Magic, and now extended into 2D fighting games. A�My kids share many of my gaming interests and I’m thrilled by the prospects. A�In fact, they enjoyed the game so much that they didn’t want to leave. A�While I’m not entirely sure how they kept track, we only had technically two hours to play and our time was over. A�No tears were shed, but they definitely expressed their disappointment.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the game they were playing:

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Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

I remembered that Chris gave me a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. A�This led me to download the second game on XBox Live. A�I mentioned to the boys that I owned a similar game to soften the blow. A�Naturally, my intent was to play the game with them. A�However, as happens (and happened too often this winter), the gameA�got lost in the shuffle and forgotten for several months.

I don’t remember exactly how or why the game came up in conversation again. A�I think that it was just luck. A�We were sitting in the living room, Aiden had finished playing some ‘Splosion Man, and was getting ready to turn off the XBox. A�I grabbed the other controller to load up Marvel vs. Capcom 2. A�He got so excited when he heard the music and saw all the characters that were available. A�Neither he nor I understood the intricacies of the game, so we were on mostly level ground in that regard. A�I did have the advantage of knowing some of the special moves. A�That advantage disappeared quickly, though.

I’m not sure that he knew the exact moves. A�Then again, I’m not sure that he didn’t, either. A�He pulled them off with such frequency and skill that he might have stumbled onto something by mistake. A�Either way, he beat me legitimately more than once. A�I’m not proud of it, but it did happen. A�As someone who pretends to be a reporter on the internets, it is my duty to report news when it happens.

Breaking!A� 8-year old beats his father! A�Click hereA�for the rest of the story.

Hey, maybe I’m not just pretending to be a reporter. A�I seem to have learned the basics of web journalism already. A�I can generate click bait. A�What do you mean journalistic integrity? A�See, I’m a natural!

We moved on to Marvel vs. Capcom 3. A�Excited by the fact that, even though it takes them a while, Capcom can count to three, I assumed that meant that they also improved their games with each successive sequel. A�Sure, I knew that they often didn’t necessarily improve when they released the in between expansions for each game, but they had to make the sequels better, right? A�I excitedly told Aiden that they made the graphics better and added new characters. A�Sadly, only one of those was true. A�There were actually less characters and they didn’t even necessarily pick the good ones to include in the game.

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Marvel vs. Capcom 2
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Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Of course, the game featured all of the familiar faces from both Capcom and Marvel. A�Ryu, Sagat, Ken, Spidey, and Hulk all made the cut. A�So did some secondary characters like Dormammu, Moon Knight, the Darkstalkers girls, and the guy from Ghosts and Goblins. A�Deadpool and X-23 were added with a few others, but Zangief is gone. A�Probably the most egregious omission is the mummy guy from Darkstalkers. A�I accidentally discovered this move that turns the oppponent into this tiny zombie looking robot thing. A�Aiden and I laughed hysterically any time that I managed to land the attack. A�That’s what games are all about. A�Finding a move in a fighting game that makes both you and your 8-year old son giggle in the same way and spam it to no end.

Another strike against the third game is that Christine found the case. A�She asked, “Is this appropriate for them to play?” A�I asked what she meant and that I played it with Aiden and saw no problems. A�She replied, “It’s rated T.” A�I rolled my eyes. A�”Probably for cartoon violence or something.” A�To be honest, I never checked the ratings and felt a bit embarrassed by that. A�When I checked, I was flabbergasted. A�Partial nudity and sexual themes? A�WTF? A�I’m not sure that I played that game. A�I did a little research and I guess that it is due to the Darkstalkers ladies and Deadpool says a few potentially offensive things. A�I think that they were a bit heavy handed with the rating, but I can see their point. A�Some parents and children might be more sensitive to these issues.

All things considered, the second game seems like the obvious choice. A�No Deadpool and there are the ridiculously sexist costumes for some characters mentioned above, but they are overshadowed by the sheer number of other characters and easily avoided. A�I would give the game a try yourself first to see if that is something that you don’t find too offensive. A�If you find that it is okay for you and your kids, then get your kids to fight with each other and not worry about the destruction of property as a result.

…in a fighting game. Continue reading

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