When I think of crossover games, I think of Marvel vs Capcom. This game was pretty awesome. The cartoon-ness of the characters and the insanity of special moves worked really well together. When Capcom and SNK did games, damn they were sweet. Again, the King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown, Darkstalkers and Streetfighter worlds blended perfectly. In these were a great balance of good guys and bad guys.

When I heard of the next MK game coming out I was a little less than excited. The last time it was revealed that they would add new styles of fighting, they took out fatalities and replaced it with the kreate a fatality system. With Mortal Kombat 8, I don’t know what to think. Oh actually, pure disgust pretty much sums it up. Crossing over franchises can be a great thing if done well. Crossing over the harpoon wielding, flaming skull-having, vengence machine from hell, Scorpion with say The Dark Knight, is NOT a good crossover. DC is not a good match for MK. I will admit I have never read a lot of comics and always preferred cartoons, after all if a picture tells 1000 words, then 25 frames per second must tell 25000 words. In the cartoons and movies, Batman does kick ass, but relies on cars, building edges and bat-branded tools to win. Scorpion relies on pure violence. The fact that DC actually convinced Midway to take out the fatalities so no one can dismember or bloody up Batman or…. ech, “Aquaman”, just tells me that their characters weren’t made to deal with the MK brand of aggression. So, they are essentially making a 3d fighter, with random characters, that isn’t Mortal Kombat. *slow clap*

Midway staff are mentioning a ‘whole new fighting system’. Looking back, hey have changed it every game since MK2, and even then, there were subtle changes for example, crouching punches, air throws and adding more fatalities. MK3 played the same, added a run button and a pile of other finishing moves. MK4 was essentially a 2D fighter in a 3D world, kinda like that Streetfighter game. MK5 was the big change up adding styles, weapons and really bringing 3D into it. 6 and Armageddon, well they arent too far apart. The funny thing is, Armageddon’s main appeal was to be able to play 60+ characters and the Fatality system(which flopped badly). Instead of learning from their mistakes Midway are throwing in a bunch of other “famous” characters and taking out the only thing that set it apart from other games of its time.

Midway, harden the fuck up.

I have run through the Burnout Paradise demo a few times now. Which is surprising because the tutorial mode is really annoying. Tonight I played the full version for a few races, and I had fun. It may have been the beer, but I love getting back to unrealistic driving games. Ever since Gran Turismo came out I have had an extremely jaded view of car games. I don’t play car games for realism. Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. If I want to drive realistically, I will get in my car and drive. There is a better soundtrack in my car and the controls are very responsive. Playing driving simulators just isn’t for me. Burnout on the other hand, I’ve always had a soft spot in my fighting/action gaming heart for this franchise.

The game looks great on a decent tv, and the turbo effects are still adrenaline-inducing. The cars sound like beasts and within around an hour my mates and I unlocked around 4 cars, had knocked off races, and were starting to get the hang of it. I was enjoying the thrill, the takedowns, I was even willing to negate the fact that there were only 3 tracks I would really listen to on the radio. Then we unlocked the next licence. Like a harbinger of doom, the voice over guy told me that the next 15 races weren’t going to be as easy, and this was only a small part of Paradise City. This made me think, oh crap, this is a sandbox game. (more…)

Okay, here’s something that’s been pissing me off a lot right. Whenever I post a video on youTube, there is occasionally a little asshole that says ‘I can get higher than ultimate fatality’, or ‘I can get 14 hits’. This video is calling you a liar. You CANNOT get more than an ultimate. It says in the instructions. When you hit 11 hits it will finish your fatality without anything else. If you don’t do a finishing move on the 11th hit, it wont count. Ultimate is the highest fatality you can get. No more than 11 counted hits. If someone says they can do more, you can tell them they’re assholes.

In addition, I have added another 4 fatalities to the guide.

• Nitara
• Smoke
• Sindel
• Stryker

Enjoy!

Okay, I have just uploaded another 6 Ultimate Fatalities, have a look here:

• Daegon Ultimate Fatality
• Jax Ultimate Fatality
• Rain Ultimate Fatality
• Reiko Ultimate Fatality
• Shinnok Ultimate Fatality
• Taven Ultimate Fatality

I will keep posting now and then. The count of Ultimate Fatality videos is 42 characters completed, 21 remaining.