Zune vs. iPod

I am one of possibly many who has both an iPod and a Zune. I picked a new iPod nano online, and had about two good months using that while I work out. The Zune I picked up from Woot.



Well, the new update from Zune came out yesterday, and boy, am I impressed. The Zune interface is a lot smoother, there is added wireless sync support, and the overall look and feel is a lot better. I honestly enjoy the zune better than the Ipod, since it also has a built-in RDS FM tuner (great for the gym).

I have no idea what's going on with the Ipod touch, but from what I hear it's a gimped version of the iPhone...

Street Fighter 4 is coming.

Yes, this post is a bit late. But I should post this, to show I still care somewhat.

I did make a post on SRK (but seems to be deleted) on how the some of the features online should work. There a lot of ideas out there by the community, so it's good to people still caring about a franchise long thought to be in limbo.

Tournament Traveling Tips

Again, Evo will be upon us in the next month. Here is an article that Tony Cannon and I co-wrote 6 years ago. This article was actually published in the now-defunct Tips & Tricks magazine! While it is dated, it still holds very true to those who travel to tournaments and conventions. Yes, there was going to be a part two, but it was never written. Maybe it's time to finish that...

Link: Tournament Traveling Tips

How to shave.

I received a shaving kit recently from my lovely wife for my birthday, and decided to browse for a bit on how to get an excellent shave.

So here are a few things I've learned:
1. Shaving gel/cream in a can is not the best.
2. The disposable razors/cartridges with 2 blades or more are not as good as you think.
3. Getting that excellent shave takes a bit of time.

Link: Mantic59's Shaving Blog

This guy also has some informative videos up on YouTube, be sure to check it out.

And no, this does not make you less of a man. This also probably doesn't apply to Derek, either.

So Virtua Fighter 5 is confirmed to be playable online...

Link: SEGA ANNOUNCES ONLINE MULTIPLAYER FUNCTIONALITY IN VIRTUA FIGHTER™ 5 FOR XBOX 360

So this IS good news. And I take back the bad, bad things I said about Sega. My nephew loves you, Sega for Sonic. And I love you Sega, for VF5 and online play.

One would think that Sega pretty much had to make this move due to the upcoming Capcom fighter, Tekken 5 being online soon, Soul Calibur 4 and Tekken 6 on the horizon. I can truly hear two camps at this moment of time: the one breathing a collective sigh of relief that the game will be online, and the other already whining about the inevitable lag issues that online play will bring.


Now how about that fighting stick...

So I'm playing poker.

Like viscant, I'm playing some online poker.

But let me tell you my story. One day in January 2004, when the Super Bowl came to Houston, I was letting a friend use the computer while we wait to hit downtown where the party was. He asked to install PartyPoker, so I let him do so. As we are waiting, I noticed that he was playing Texas Hold'em - for real money. So I observed for a bit since I didn't know how to exactly play. Being the quick learner that I am, I picked up the basic premise pretty quickly.

So I decided to not uninstall the program, and actually create an account to mess around with in play money. So I play for a bit, sometimes I'd go to a get-together, and they would have a home game going on. So I would play in those, and although I didn't win, I'd do pretty well.

In addition, I had a roommate for a while who played a lot of online poker, so I'd sit down for a bit and casually observe the games, and noticed that he played 2-6 tables at any given time.

So November 2006, I would go to Las Vegas for a week on vacation. Prior to my trip, I told myself that I would partake in a couple low buy-in tournaments when I was gambling. So I did the appropriate research, and decided to play in just two tournaments - a 9PM $45 a Fitzgeralds, and a 10AM tournament at the Hooter Casino for $25 w/rebuy.

I first went to Fitzgeralds. Went out with 18 players remaining, 30 max. Basically I just got blinded out, by playing too tightly. Strangely, to me, it felt a lot like a Street Fighter tournament, with some of the nervousness around. The next day, I decided to go to the Hooter's tournament. Around 30 people from what I gather. After taking in the rebuy as I ran low on chips, I wound up chopping a pot heads-up. $330 was my payday. I was very ecstatic.

When I got home, I installed Pokerstars, and made my first deposit of $25 and started playing 2NL. A month later, I went back to Vegas for a couple of days, and decided to play in some ring games as well. I played at the Venetian, where I was up about $30 playing 200NL, and down $9 at Caesar's Palace playing the same. This was also the first time at Vegas where my slot play was very minimal.

In addition, I found a place where I can play for free to help me deal with live play and live situations (since gambling in Texas is illegal), and ease the nervousness that once affected me. The same place had a Royal Flush jackpot, which I hit, and bought drinks for everyone at the table. I still play on occasion here to enjoy a beer and have a few laughs.

So my goal this year is such (small goals first, for me): Try to move up to 25NL with the proper bankroll, play live poker when I can when I go to a casino, and of course fix my leaks in my game.

So here I am today, an aspiring poker player. I've moved up in limits at Pokerstars, I'm an overall winning player (live and online), and enjoying it as my new hobby to replace SF tournaments. I do not get to play as much as I'd like, but I am getting better, and realizing at the same time how similar the game can be to playing Street Fighter.

Fighting games and Online Play

Amongst the Fighting Game Hardcore stems a heated argument about online play.
There is a clear line - those who like it and those who hate it.

Those are against it repeatably state a glaring flaw - the latency in fighting games. While I do agree that execution can be critical in high-level matches, some critics go as far as saying that it completely changes the game.



While I am not going to argue with those two critical points, I do believe that all fighting games from here on out should have online play. If you are in the United States or Canada, you'll notice that arcades are far and few between these days. Even if there is an arcade around, there is no guarantee that the local arcade will even get the newest game just for the sake of a few people. By the way, a 4 cabinet setup in an arcade will cost them $70k! SEVENTY THOUSAND! Wow. Just wow...

So what else is there? Consoles and online play. Like it or not, online play is here to stay. We've come a long way, and service keeps improving. Not enough for some of the critics around. Online play allows one to play games in the comfort of their own home. For those who don't like it? Don't play online. Have a getogether. Go find an arcade that does have it. But don't spoil it for others who simply want to play other people.

Anyhoos, this geared more towards Sega. HAVE ONLINE PLAY! Namco is coming out with an online version of Tekken 5; Soul Calibur 4 will have it, SF Turbo HD Remix will have it... Why do you hate us, Sega?!?!?!?

Lots of topics, so little time...

So lately there are a bunch of topics that I'd like to blog about, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of time for me lately. I need to make time.

So here's a quick rundown:

ST HD Remix for Xbox Live Arcade - great that they will update the graphics, but what about the sound?

The Houston/Planet Zero/Showdown debacle - I call it a debacle because it has received a lot of negativity in the Fighting Game community. Plus, it hits home for obvious reasons.

Virtua Fighter 5 and it not being online on Xbox 360 - That's a can of worms that needs to be opened. People from both sides of the argument are debating whether a game should be available online, even it could detract on the original gaming experience that the developer wishes to convey.

The fighting game scene's path - It's pretty obvious that we're at a critical junction in the community. What needs to happen?

My path as a poker player - I've moved up in limits recently - does that make me good?

Lots of good stuff to blog about. Stay tuned!!!

Playing poker

So yeah. I'm playing poker online now.

It's funny as I see many similarities from SF land to the land of poker.

Turtle = Tight Play
Rushing down = Loose, Aggressive play
Scrubfests = LOL donkaments

In SF, you have a character to play, with that character having a set of strengths and weaknesses, to best the other character. In poker, you are the character, trying to disguise your strength, and hide your weaknesses while trying to exploit your opponents.

Only thing is, is that poker has tournaments that occur all the time. I wish some company would step up and perform the same. There are a whole lot of us SF, Tekken, whatever fans that would love the same thing. One can argue about the integrity of the game online vs. offline, but when you're alone? Give me lag any day, because in the end all I want to do is beat people and have some fun.

Changed yet again...

Yeah, so it's fixed again. Going to update again in the future.