StarSlay3r's Gaming Blog

Well guys, I had a meeting with Coffin Case today and we're going to start kicking promotions into high gear! First step, we want you guys to spread the word about Coffin Case on twitter! What's the reward? Well I'm going to track all of you guys who tweet about Coffin Case (don't forget to @reply me so I know who you are!) and I'm going to pick one of you at random to give one of these awesome Guitar Hero Coffin Case bags to and someone will also get a Coffin Case shirt! 2 winners this week and more to come! Basically I want to see how many people we can get to follow Coffin Case in just 3 days! So come on... a simple @CoffinCase and a link to CoffinCase.com can win you a FREE Coffin Case shirt or bag... what more can you ask for? :D



Think of this like a raffle, you can get more than one chance at this if you tweet every day through Saturday but you get only one point per day (max 4 points total) so if you remember to tweet every day about Coffin Case telling your friends to follow them as well is going to increase your chance of winning! Note: The Coffin Case shirt is a size small (just letting you know in advance) The Coffin Case bag fits both Guitar Hero and Rock Band Guitars.

The Coffin Case gig bag for Rock Band and Guitar Hero guitars. It features a heavy nylon exterior with a red satin interior. Also featured is the licensed images of KISS, Ozzy, Motley Crue, and The Adicts.
Ask for these at your local music store.

I will also be giving away a bag at each of my upcoming events to the person who does the best against me in a Guitar Hero: Metallica challenge so stay tuned for more details on that!

As you guys may or may not have known, I've been competitively gaming for about 10 years now. In the past ten years I've watched the gaming industry get larger and larger and watched the rise and fall of many gaming leagues and have noticed many things, some that are good and some that are bad. I've decided to write a blog dedicated to bringing some issues to your attention and write about how things could be improved.

Internet Hate:

For the past 10 years there's always been trash talk... I don't think that's anything new. It seems like more and more however, as the gaming industry gets larger and professional gaming and gamers get more attention the spotlight becomes a target and the jealousy of other gamers often turns into hate. 10 years ago trash talk was pretty limited to some online forums or chat rooms/ lobbies on servers for particular games. Now the fact that pro gamers are so easily accessible through youtube, myspace, blog sites like this, xbox live, email, aim and other online gaming communities it makes it much easier for people to express their disliking anonymously online to a bigger crowd. Unfortunately it's things like this that can ruin peoples reputation since rumors and hearsay are repeated as truth and people assume "if I read it online it MUST be true" rather then talk to the person themselves.

I've asked many pro gamers how they deal with the internet hate and most say the same thing. "I just ignore it. They're usually some 13/14 year old kid ranting because they can hide behind the computer screen." While this is mostly true, it's evolved into much more then that now when elitists that are on teams will create blogs dedicating to their disliking for players or will chat in irc or forums about their disliking of a player potentially ruining their reputation. In instances like this it all comes down to who has the most fans as to who will be the good guy and who will be the bad guy in these situations. (Just look at Mike Watson vs gootecks in the SF4 community for example)

Unfortunatelydue to more and more companies realizing how big the gaming industry is, more and more gamers are gaining fame and are therefore gaining haters. When gamers are featured on Dr.Pepper bottles, in commercials and on TV shows, the jealousy comes out and the hate rages on. It's things like this that are driving up and coming pro gamers away from gaming communities and promoting more underground environments since players feel more safe competing in those situations.



Teams:

Before there didn't use to be so many teams, and the teams that were around were more underground with a small few that stood out and gained attention due to sponsorship. Now with sponsors helping out teams big AND small more and more teams exist such as the PMS Clan, VvV, MoB, and all of the CGS teams that are all pretty much done for now. While there were some teams that were considered more "elite" than others due to the number of professional gamers and top place players they had on the team, it always seemed as though the members on the teams would have the mentality that they are better than other teams. Unfortunately not every gamer can be a paid team member as most teams like the PMS/H2O clans have HUNDREDS of members and only up to about 5 sponsors covering just a few people to go to events. The fact that clans like PMS make promises to send team members to events and also have rules that you have to let other teams belittle you and not say anything is something that really turned me off to the idea of joining a team.


Giving gamers a chance:

This kind of relates to the teams subject... but something I've noticed is that more and more now gamers that are called "the best" at a particular game seem to be under the most pressure to stay on top. While gamers like Fatal1ty find this feat to be easy, some gamers are dealing with criticism if they ever lose a match for any reason. I have witnessed the #2 player in the nation go 0-2 in a match before due to equipment failure and no one says squat about that, but yet if the player that does something like this is one that's in a spotlight, then all of a sudden if they lose a match they've lost their game and they are torn apart by the community, and no, not by 14 year olds, but other pro gamers.

It's a shame to see that this is how pro gamers are treating other pro gamers right now. I remember watching pro gamer Stermy go from being one of the bottom Fifa players (yeah he specialized in FPS games and is one of the top in that genre) to being given a chance by Kat to turn his game around and then became of the top Fifa players in the nation and a part of the 2nd place team in the World. It's things like this that can help the gaming community. Just because a gamer specializes in one genre doesn't mean that they don't have talent elseware, and if gaming communities like CGS should arise in the future I think they'll keep finding the nations best players by giving them a chance to prove that dedication and hard work can lead to a player accomplishing anything they set their mind to.



Ensuring the integrity of E-sports:

I've noticed a couple people in the community that claim they are doing things a certain way for the "betterment of e-sports" but I wonder if they even know what the heck they're talking about. I am all for protecting the integrity of e-sports... but I've noticed that top players are calling out the players asking referees and people running tournaments to modify brackets to do match ups that would appeal to the crowd or boost someones ego. I'm sorry, but last time I checked randomized brackets are how things are done and asking to manipulate brackets for ones own benefit doesn't seem like keeping the integrity of a game or e-sports in general. There were instances of this that happened at Devastation for multiple games and this caused a huge dilemna that was not necessary especially with SF4.

Esports in general:

While I see gamers talking about how they care about helping e-sports and want to contribute, the only person I've really seen doing anything that matters is Fatal1ty. He's started a gaming school where people can come from all over the nation to his Fatality "camp" and learn how to play FPS games professional as well as giving tips on how to be a successful gamer. While I have not talked to anyone who has attended these classes personally I think the idea is a great one that will encourage gamers to pursue their goals to go pro in a safe environment where there are no negative thoughts affecting the player.


Cheating:

Back when I played Quake 1 I remember there were always hackers that would somehow modify their character to do things like shoot rockets out of their ass. If you were ever wondering why someone was just annihilating the competition and it WASN'T Fatal1ty, it was usually some hacker praying on innocent victims that just wanted to up their game or have fun playing.

Now thanks to Microsoft Xbox and other companies there are programs in place to help prevent cheating. Mods are often detected and prevented from being used or accounts suspended to prevent that player from playing online against other players. The new thing to come up is that companies are taking pride in developing products with software that is undetectable by systems and that promote cheating. One of these companies is Evil Controllers. Here's their quote


"Throughout the video game history, there has always been one constant error, HUMANS. Evil Controller LLC develops controllers that finally eliminate the human error in video games. These controllers help you be the best video gamer possible. From a hand gun that shoots like a machine gun or an automatic reload in Gears of War, Evil can provide you with the controller that best fits these video games.Some people believe that these controllers take the spirit away from these games. At Evil we think that increases the fun and excitement in these games. Once you pick up a rapid fire controller for Call of Duty 4, you will NEVER be able to play the game in its normal speed. We are constantly pushing the gaming limits; imagine perfect swings in Tiger Woods or a dual rapid fire in Call of Duty. The lists go on and on from controllers that are specified for Lefties and n awesome Guitar Hero mod. As the industry evolves we are determined to evolve just as fast. "


So basically... do you suck at shooting in COD or Halo 3? Do you want to make it so that all you need to do is get your aim right and you can kill someone with a pistol? Seriously, rapid fire was banned for a reason... do we really want to see these controllers showing up in MLG tournaments? Evil Controllers isn't taking away human error, they're taking away talent so that anyone that can aim at a guy can kill them with one push of a trigger button. Reading further they are talking about some "awesome guitar hero mod" which is probably one of the things I'm most strongly against. I've seen computer programs that are combined with a small unit that can fit discretely inside of a guitar hero guitar to automatically hit all of the notes in a song for the player. What the hell is the point of this? Can we not PLAY games anymore? It's sad that big name gamers are jumping on board to promote a company that prides itself on cheating.


What do I want to see happening?:

Basically I want to see less of these random teams that are all over the place making promises to help gamers go pro but not delivering and more teams that are serious about competing and want teammates that are both talented at their game but also personable. We don't need anymore arrogant elitists in the industry... really, there are plenty to go around. Having teams promotes more companies to team up and sponsor them therefore increasing money flow to the gaming industry.

I would like to see more events like WCG, WSVG, CPL, and such. These leagues and events help to grow the gaming industry and increase money flow into the industry as well as increase the number of people involved of gaming by giving the no name players a chance to show what they've got and be picked up by teams.

WWFOG disappear and ECA gaining more attention. Lets not give gamers any MORE false hopes or make promises that will be broken. If you want to help the gaming community join ECA and make your voice heard.

I recently talked to a kid that was writing a paper on adding a "pro gaming class" to high schools and collages. Basically something along the lines of Fatal1ty's boot camp but more accessible and something that would be a part of the regular persons schedule in school. This is probably one of the best ideas I've ever heard and something I hope will be seriously considered in the near future. By making pro gaming a part of everyone's daily schedule it will become more common and acceptable and will be considered as a "normal job" one day. They take this kind of thing seriously in Korea, why can't they do it here in America?

*I am open to hear what you guys have to say. Is there something I missed? Something that you would like to add? You disagree on something? Post a comment. :D Thanks!

Well I get a ton of "WHO DO YOU USE?" questions for all the games I play so I thought I'd break it down for you. (Still adding characters as the day goes on)

BlazBlue
Noel Vermillion





















Guitar Hero Series:
Judy Nails (or custom character "Star")















Soul Calibur 2:
Kilik (in SC4 I use a custom female that has Kilik's moves)















TEKKEN 5 & 6:
Christie Montero





















STREET FIGHTER 4:
Sagat











Virtua Fighter 5:
Pai Chan


















Burnout Revenge:
Nixon Special

Well guys, it's been a while since I've done game reviews. As some of you know I used to be a game reviewer for ConsoleHeroes.com and then I worked for GamePlay HD doing game reviews as well. I was the rhythm game specialist for both companies and now I'm back writing game reviews but going solo this time. :D

I received an email asking to review a new game that's coming out this Thursday. The game: Suguri. It's a game straight from Tokyo, Japan. It's hard for me to really say much about the game right now since all that I've read is in Japanese text and little gameplay.

From what I gather this has both single player and multiplayer abilities. Single player mode looks like it functions kind of like BlazBlue as far as health/barrier are concerned but you fly through levels able to move full screen as if you are a ship destroying other ships/ characters.



The Multiplayer function looks almost exactly like BlazBlue as far as health meter/ barrier/ heat goes but with the exception of having the ability to move around the entire screen in any direction since you are flying in the sky and the fact that you, again, are more like a ship that can spew out lasers, missiles, bombs, etc. Some matches I've seen are VERY confusing and I noticed your counter is determined by health damage not combos like other games. This game is VERY fast passed. I hope it's easy to learn!


I'll be attending the Rockin Android "Suguri" release party this Thursday to see the game first hand and give it a review. I will also be video taping and taking pics at the event to post. :D I'm pretty excited to see how this game works first hand! Stay tuned for more info!

Oh my gosh. So you guys have been noticing that basically since Mike bought me BlazBlue it hasn't really come out of my xbox right? Well I'm totally OBSESSING over this game. After being told "BlazBlue is stupid, don't waste your time or money" and "Street Fighter is WAY better don't get BlazBlue" and so on I decided I'd just get it anyways. After a few days of putting it off Mike came over and said "I have a surprise for you!" He showed me what it was... and it was BlazBlue for the 360. Pronounced "BLAZE BLUE" this game is a 2D Anime style fighting game with a GREAT story line, a combo based fighting system and great characters... the game is absolutely beautiful to look at and amazing and fun to play.
I really suck at describing this game... nothing I can say will do it justice so I'll just include a video to show you a bit of the game so you can see what I'm talking about before I start my rant on the game and why you should be playing it.

First video: The characters of BlazBlue


I play as NOEL. Here's a vid showing why I love to use her!


Ok now that you've seen a bit of the game now I'll start my rant of why I love this game. Here's some of the many great features.

- If you love anime you'll love this! Anime style characters and storyline FTW!

- If you like Street Fighter you'll love that this is another 2D game. No sidestepping here!

- If you are a combo whore you'll love this game... While combos aren't necessary they definitely are a big factor in this game

- Player matches are set up like a virtual arcade. You can do a private match with a friend or join a room in progress and watch matches while waiting your turn in a virtual line... wait your turn to face the ranking champion... can you stop their win streak by learning from others mistakes?

- RUB IT IN! Yeah once you beat someone you get a few extra seconds to unleash hell on their dead ass... I mean come on... I got an achievement for doing a 20 hit combo after the guy was dead... they encourage it, it's not mean!

- Ranked matches can be sorted to local area or all areas making it so that if you put "LOCAL" you have a higher chance to play against your friends or that guy that whooped your ass at the arcade the other day. Can you say revenge?

- User friendly buttons. There's only 4, A, B, C, and D. The moves are all pretty basic and go from Forward A to Fireball motions and A, B, C etc. The Distortion Drive moves are basically two Street Fighter Fireball motions and the D button for many characters. No move is incredibly hard... but using the right combination is Key!

- BARRIERS! YES! Not only can you block by holding back, but you have a Barrier to help protect you in the air and from devastating combos, although be careful.... it DOES run out! The best thing about the barrier is that it can be Burst so if you're getting beat down you can hit all 4 buttons, do a barrier burst and push your opponent to the other side of the screen giving you time to strategize and make a comeback.

- All ranked and player matches have the option to save the match after. This helps to learn from your mistakes, gives you an idea of how the top players use their character (since their top matches are automatically saved and viewable from the leaderboards) and it makes for better quality uploads to youtube so you don't hear all the button mashing and screaming "JUST DIE ALREADY!" in the background. :D

- Amazing Distortion Drive Finishes. Basically these moves are much like Ultras in SF4. Some characters DD finishes are much like Zangiefs and can take off over 2/5's of your opponents life, leveling the playing field or potentially saving your ass from death. Basically you use it if it's the 3rd round and your opponent has less than 20% health to assure your victory. They look AMAZING! Here's some vids of Astral Heat Finishes.


Well... I think I've pled my case enough. Basically in just a few days of having the game I've been so addicted I've played over 50 matches and am a level 17 with over 500k points. Think you can take me? Come bring it! You can find me online every night leveling up my Noel and learning how all the characters work. If you want a player match I will do first to 5 or first to 10 matches. :D I may be a noob to this game... but I am no scrub! :D I am willing to help anyone who wants to learn the Noel match up vs your character. I use her pretty well and will give you tips on how to beat her if you ask nicely. :D And YES, if I beat you badly and you want to take it out on me in Street Fighter 4 then I will play a few matches if it makes you feel better. :D
END STATEMENT.... BUY BLAZBLUE!

As you read in my blog a while back I ended LOSF's Street Fighter 4 tournament in 4th place.I made quite a few crucial mistakes that left me open for hits from her Bison making me lose on rounds when I was far ahead at first.



This was my second Street Fighter tournament ever, and while I normally wait 1 year after playing a game to enter any tournaments for the game I decided to start competing after only a couple months of play time.

As most of you know I'm new to Street Fighter in general so Street Fighter 4 is my first SF game and I'm trying hard to learn this game. There's a lot of aspects to this game I haven't even touched base on yet but I'm still happy with my performance in LOSF overall. I'm still happy with this match since Stacy is a long time Street Fighter player and is at the arcade practicing every day and she used Bison which is one of the characters I've been having problems with lately since no one really uses that character so I don't get to practice the match up much.

I'm not going to youtube anymore to read messages on this video since I now have access to the video through my blog, so any comments pertaining to tips to help me with this match up should be sent to @StarSlay3rGames on twitter. Thank you for those who sent me tips on helping with this match as well as general Street Fighter tips... I appreciate the help.