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.

This is a little better.

New color scheme, and logo. Needs more work, however.

What the? It's been two months.

So yeah, I've been lazy. I recently came from Vegas not too long ago, did pretty well in a NL Hold'em tournament.

I come back, get Gears of War and the Wii for my mom.

Wii is good stuff. It will make fat gamers a little bit less fat. Graphics are disappointing, although Zelda looks good.

Gears of War is insanely fun. Not because it's a shooter's rehash. The campaign mode is great, the online mode is even better. I don't need to go over the stuff, many people know already.

I still need to work on this blog. It's not pleasing to the eye.

This blog is ugly.

I'm going to have to change it. It's too plain, and it's hard to read. Hopefully in a week or two I can get this thing going.

I better make it quick, since I'll be in Vegas in two weeks.

Why You Shouldn't Buy Anything From EA

From Kotaku:

Battlefield 2142 With a Dash of SpyWare

Buggy software on consoles, and now this? If you are too lazy to click and read through, it's as simple as this. EA is installing spyware in conjunction with Battlefield 2142 that delivers in-game advertising based on web browsing habits.

It's already reached a firestorm before I even typed this. This is the last straw, EA. I want to buy a game, not a living advertising machine.

It's bad enough I'm having problems with Madden 07 for Xbox 360. Here are my problems with it.

1. The game crashes seemingly at random.
2. The game doesn't reward achievement levels correctly. I am at Madden gamer level 11, and I still don't have my level 10 achievement!
3. I have to update my rosters EVERY TIME I GET ONLINE.
4. When I do update, I find that the Denver Broncos are rated lower than the Houston Texans!
5. You expect us to pay for a "strategy guide" and for Alternate uniforms and old stadiums, when they were completely free last year?!?

Jeez. I shudder to think what Tiger Woods 07 and NBA Live 07 are like. Doesn't matter. I will not buy another EA game until they remove the spyware crap on BF 2142, and they put out a decent product for their consoles (that does not crash). Here's hoping that MS can get an in-house studio to make an NFL game...

Xbox 360 to Have 1080p Capabilities

Yes, you heard right. Announced at the Tokyo Game Show, Xbox 360s will have the ability to output both game AND movie content (for the HD-DVD add-on) at 1080p via a software update later this fall.

Quote from Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios:
"If it is running at 720p we will up-res it to 1080p, if it it's already 1080p then we can display it in 1080p," he said. " This is a great example of our console's ability and the great advantage of being a software company."

Of course, movie content in 1080p had to be inevitable with the HD-DVD addon. But with games, it's only a bonus. While it doesn't really mean a whole lot to the current crop of games (and maybe even the next generation), it does send a message to Sony: "Hey, we can do 1080p as well!"

"We believe 720p is the sweet-spot for high definition," says Kim. Keep that in mind, because there won't be a lot of options for 1080p in the foreseeable future.

EVIL has a name, and it's name is Elmo.

Yes. We all remember this from 10 years ago. Some of you may have even had one as a kid! Well, he's back. He's bad. And watch for fighting parents come Xmas time!

"Maddenoliday" is upon us!

Madden 07 is here. Hide your women and throw away the key!



I'm going to get my copy sometime after work, but many stores around the country were open at midnight in order to start selling all the various copies. My money this year is on the 360 version, as it should contain all the features that the other console versions should have, with the pretty graphics to boot. Even though my team sucks, I am going to play the Houston Texans. I'm a homer, but who cares? I should be easy to beat. (especially since I didn't really play at all last year)

New Sony SXRDs are here!

The well reviewed SXRD Rear Projection HDTVs from Sony are back, and are now available in this year's models.



Available in 50" ($2799) and 60" ($3699) models, these HDTVs improve on the initial SXRD design by eliminating the dumbo ear speaker eyesore and moving them to the bottom ala the A10 designs, accepting true 1080 inputs, and being a lot cheaper than what they were 1 year ago. Imagine. the 60" was $5000 1 year ago, which makes it about 25% cheaper this time around. Don't you love technology?

It's Been Awhile...

I'll be making a post soon, promise.

Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD - May, 2006

Since we all know about Microsoft's HD-DVD option and Sony's Blu-Ray on PS3, it's time for a perspective at this point.

HD-DVD: Already out, $499 entry price by Toshiba. Backed by a $200-$300 option by Microsoft's Xbox 360. Does 720p/1080i upconversion on existing DVD media through HDMI. Certain movie studios backing this.

Blu-Ray: Comes out later this year. Standalone players expected to debut at $999. 1080p is possible through HDMI. PS3 will natively carry this at $499/$599. Certain movie studios backing this.

I thought E3 would help me decide in which format to support. It really hasn't done squat. I think if the PS3's high price point would have been at $399, then Blu-Ray would win hands down. We'll have to see what's going on as time gets closer to the Blu-Ray launch in order to determine the DVD format of the future.

Post E3 Impressions: Hardware

Obviously, there is always a plethora of news coming on the heels of E3. I'll simply discuss hardware here.

Nintendo Wii: The inital price point seems to be set at $249. A 3 hour wait at E3 just to play the thing. My past experiences at E3 usually indicate that Nintendo always has good stuff happening, and this is no different. Virtual console seems a bit promising, but personally I've moved beyond simplistic play (except Super-Punch Out, I'll never get tired of that). Turbographx 16 games? Intriguing. Controller mechanics seem interesting, but may end up being gimmicky. The $249 price point is particularly interesting. It would seem that it would provide as a viable and affordable alternative to Xbox360 and PS3. I'm still a bit peeved about no official HDTV support (so far) and no HDMI output.

Playstation 3: $499 and $599 price points? The lesser version has NO HDMI, no wifi, and only a 20GB hard drive. The better version HAS HDMI, wifi, and a 60GB hard drive. Potentially crippling. The price points are actually more than the Xbox 360, which is kind of hard to believe. GT4 demo was unimpressive, MGS4 is well, Metal Gear Solid. Popular opinion of E3 indicates that Sony fubared this pretty badly.

Xbox 360: The system is already out, so I'll just comment on the HD-DVD drive and Xbox Live. $200-$300 seems fair for the add-on. It gives gamers an option to buy HD-DVD if they so choose for a cheaper price point (that is, until the prices on the players drop). Not impressed with regular progressive DVD capabilities on the 360 as it is, so I remain unmoved. Xbox Live did a great thing with releasing lots of trailers and demos for the masses to see.

Opinions: The PS3 prices are a bit much. People will still buy them once it comes out in November, but supply will again be an issue. That will put Microsoft in a great position to convert would-be PS3 buyers into 360 buyers since it will be logical that way more 360s will be available. (360s are still selling like hotcakes around here). That, and the lack of options on the PS3 is a bad, bad idea. Wii is in a great position with it's smaller pricepoint - it still feels like a Pug fighting against a Pitbull and a Mastiff, but they have Zelda, Mario, Metroid, all those classic franchises to back up on. I do forsee issues with the controllers, however.

Next-Gen DVD Cripple Option?!?

You should read this first. In short, the article is about content providers having the ability to "cripple" the component outputs on HD-DVD players like below.


Toshiba's first model for HD-DVD. Retails for $500 at Crutchfield.

A bit shocking, isn't it? To give content providers (like movie studios) the option to downconvert the component outputs to 960x540. While I can see why they would allow this to happen (for older, non-HDTVs), it is an utterly absurd solution. One additonal reason is to help the public with the transition from standard 480i/p content into eventual HD content. Yet, an underlying, hidden reason to do this is to help circumvent piracy. But copy-protection schemes have been broken in the past.

A better solution is to allow the players to do their job, which is to display in 720p/1080i, with the ability to downconvert to 480i/p. This option should be set by the consumer at the player's settings menu, and default to a specific setting.

In any case, this could be a hot topic concerning the next generation DVD war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. And this option will only set to confuse less knowledgable consumers in the short run.