The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

By: Drew "Duo" Misemer (Myz-mer)

While I loathe Smashing Pumpkins, its a kind of unfortunate thing to say that this is so adequate. Nothing bothers me more than thinking that I've blown not one, but two chances to actually make a living at writing, when some don't get a chance at all to even let their voices get heard.

It's been a dissappointing weekend so far, despite my football teams winning, I still think Brett Farve should have won that game on sheer will alone. It breaks my heart to see the old generation falling down, after fighting to the bitter end, just to have a mistake ruin his chances. Like Farve, whom I respected through out his entire career, even the bumpy parts, I still feel I need to get up and continue working down the field, despite the endless poundings and emotional abuse I receive on a near daily basis.

However, THIS is my blog, and since this is mine, I can finally do what I have always wanted. I've named this the High Score after my old podcast on my newspaper. It was probably the best time I ever had when I was working there, and I hope to actually get back to casting again. I'll probably get some friends in on it, so we can have ourselves a real show. I might put the PG-13 label on it and keep myself from letting my mouth go.

Time for the news however. Without a doubt, these next couple months are going to be rocky. Games like Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Super Street Fighter 4, and all the millions of sequels in video game land, seem to have set the date for attacking the first fiscal quarter of this business year. I think i lay the blame squarely on Modern Warfare 2, which for better or worse has dominated every sales chart in the country. My only quip for this game comes as follows.

Modern Warfare 2 is a good game, with a great story and single player, but the multiplayer is not the god saving grace that everyone I know expected me to think it was. Though argued as perfection by a few of the true diehards, putting perks into a game so that great players stay great, and new players die horribly is not what I consider fair. There is no human way to fire two shotguns and be combat effective, I do not care how many times Infinity Ward watched The Rundown with Dwayne Johnson, it just doesn't work like that. There's a multitude of comparisons, with people saying it's Counter Strike for the console. To clear something of this up, counter strike only lets you use 1 shotgun, be it the Auto-Shotty (Noob-Tube) or pump action, not 2 and you're not unkillable because of a random perk you picked up.

Modern Warfare 2, like the rest of these new updates suffer from the fact that in these days, guns are not meant to just kill a single person, they're meant to kill multiple people and in a very short amount of time. I will not belittle the game or its fanbase by saying that it's a console FPS and by all points and standards they'll never be good enough to compete with Counter Strike players who never, ever stop playing, even when the Source version came out. No, there are people who will play Modern Warfare till the x-box melts and continue doing controller exercises until they get another chance.

This does not save the game from me saying that its an over hyped multiplayer experience I wouldn't dare sit through. Its learning curve being a straight cliff is also another problem. It's not fun when you can't win, no matter how many grenades or bullets you throw at them.

As for the news, Mass Effect 2 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom come out tomorrow. One game will sell out completely, the other will have people still wondering how you pronounce the title. I will not be picking up Mass Effect 2 due to sheer worriment thanks to Dragon Age: Origins which seemed half assed, though I blame Edge of Reality games for it. I do find myself twiddling my thumbs however, as I grow more anxious for Tatsunoko.

For pretty much all of us out there, Tatsunoko is unheard of, unless you remember Speed Racer or Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets, G-Force). It's funny because when I was growing up I thought Speed Racer sucked and I loved G-Force to death. Now I'm more in love with Speed Racer's subtle hints of a broken family coping and the irony of the death they're broken over, while Battle of the Planets (G-Force) seems to be getting more and more annoying for me. I didn't know the show had a fan base a mile long, nor that there's more people who will debate the entire thing till they die.

Anyone interested in knowing something about Tatsunoko, please visit this link, http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/jewwario/mp/16302--what-is-tatsunoko

Either way, tatsunoko vs. Capcom is the first versus game since Marvel vs. Capcom 2 which debuted on the Dreamcast in 2001. That's right, it's been nearly 10 years since we've had a major crossover game show up on these shores. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was considered the greatest fighting game of the decade, with people paying upwards of 80 to 100 bucks just for a used copy of the game. I actually picked it up for 20 bucks at Best Buy on a weird buying run for some other game. Despite this, I actually played MvC2 more than any other fighting game, simply because I was wowed by these insane specials and probably because I was still kind of into Dragon Ball Z at the time. Shut up, I don't want to hear it.

Tatsunoko seems to be that fighting game that will tide me over till Super Street Fighter 4, as I'll probably pick that up at its 40 dollar price and do a little dance because I waited instead of buying SF4 at 60. From the game videos alone, and the small demos I've played at the conventions I went to over the summer, this Game looks to take a spot in being one of the best fighters for this decade, much like its previous cousins. I still think Capcom vs. SNK 2 was a great 3vs3 fighting game like MvC2 and to be honest, I thought the characters were cooler. Unfortunately, finding MvC2 for the PS2 is impossible, but now you can download it for 20 bucks on X-Box Live or the PSN.

Now, I'd like to give a shout out to anyone who's actually taken the time to read my long winded crap. If anyone skipped the beginning, cool, I respect people who don't pity others because of a minor set back in life. I just like to get things off my chest so that I don't bottle them up and go postal on someone. It's funny to think that I see people keep everything wrong with their lives private, then wind up on the seven o' clock news.

On a side note: This just happened. Kotaku just announced that Uncharted 2 got game of the year. Link provided. http://kotaku.com/5455099/kotakus-2009-game-of-the-year

This is one of the best news sites on the web concerning videogame news and such. I'll probably regurgitate most of their stuff for anyone who reads, but I'll be sure to make it a bit more beefy. I'll also make sure to keep this updated, as it's my only outlet now to keep writing anything I have, as well as keep you all in the know.

Special shout outs to my editors, who all gave me a chance in the first place, wouldn't do this without you. THE artist, who illustrated all my reviews this season, and worked endless to make sure each piece of art was as good as it could be. Finally, I'd like to say thank you to everyone in my graduating class, without you guys, I wouldn't be working in videogames and probably would have settled on a stock broker job and been cast out of this country in less than a week.

Also, thank you to Doug Walker a.k.a. That Guy with the Glasses. he friended me on Twitter, I suggest you check it out and James Rolfe a.k.a. the Angry Videogame Nerd for making reviewers have to work that much harder to entertain people with words, something you seem to do so easily.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER - twitter.com/dmisemer

UPDATED
Also, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle and MAG (Massive Action Game) are comin gout for the Wii and PS3 respectively. No More Heroes is rated M for Mature and should never be sold to children. EVER.