3rd Strike Online Arrives Tomorrow on XBLA

One of the most common questions I receive nowadays being primarily a SF4 player, is whether or not I'm going to play 3SO. The answer is without a doubt, I am. I've always been interested in the game, I have two emulators that can play it already. The problem of course being that I can't proficiently practice this way. Not any longer. Be sure to look out for me online, scrubbing it up with the rest of the '09 class and uploading crappy youtube videos. Huzzahs all around, I'm sure.

Whenever I've played in the past, I've picked Denjin Ryu (lol unblockable fireball) and Ibuki, but I think I'm going to try my hand at either Ken or Chun-Li. I'll update the blog with my progress in the coming days and weeks.

Platinum the Trinity and CS2 Available Now! (For Xbox Users)

Good news to for Blazblue and loli fans this morning. Completing the triumvirate of DLC characters, Platinum the Trinity has arrived for 560 MS Points. She brings along with her the Continuum Shift 2 arcade update that has been long anticipated by console users allowing them to try out the new gameplay tweaks and character rebalances that have been available in Japanese arcades and the PSP for weeks. With PSN still being on the fritz until the end of the month, Platinum will have to wait a little longer to make her debut on PS3s. Owners of the embattled system can still grab the update patch though.

Although the Blazblue series is all but dead in this state, yours truly has regrettably signed up for this game for UFGT in Chicago in two weeks. I'm going to go practice and see what this loli can do.

Justin Wong Accused of Throwing Match - Disciplined by Evo

Big news went down yesterday, as Tom Cannon, one of the organizers of Evo, announced a ruling against Justin Wong regarding his dubious performance in the losers finals of the MvC3 Singles tournament at PowerUp this past weekend. He is being accused of intentionally underperforming in order to help his opponent and good friend, Noel Brown, place higher.

"In our judgment, by not making a good-faith effort to win, Justin intentionally underperformed. As a result, he forfeits the prize associated with the EVO 2011 Tournament Series portion of this event: his placement points. "

Justin was also issued a yellow card for this violation, meaning any further rule violations during the Evo tournament series this year will result in a full disqualification from the Evolution World Championships in July.

"Since we do not have any clear evidence of collaboration between players, we can only penalize the player whose performance reflects intentional underperformance. Noel Brown will still receive points for fighting his way into the Loser's Final match, as matches up to that point do not reflect evidence of any collusion or intentional under-performance. We feel the recorded evidence is clear, and internal action on this matter began immediately following the match."

On one hand, this decision is good for the spirit of competition. It shows that Evo will not tolerate this sort of action from anyone including top players like Justin. It sets a solid precedent for future occurrences.

On the whole however, I do not like this decision. They have no real proof besides the video of the match, which in my viewpoint is not enough to conclude that Justin was doing anything more than screwing around. Evo's case comes down to the strategy Justin chose to employ for the first match by putting Phoenix first and not even knowing how to properly combo with Skrull. However, Justin actually won the first match of the set with this moronic strategy. If anything at this point, Noel should be investigated for throwing this first game in order to make their match look closer than it should have been.

Without clear proof that Justin wanted to intentionally lose, how can you possibly fault a player for their actions in game? If Noel and Justin both wanted to pick Random for their entire set, what then? Where do you draw the line? Justin had been picking Adon throughout the SSF4 tournament at PowerUp, even during top 3. He clearly would have had a better chance with his other characters, but he chose to stick with Adon. In my estimation, Justin was not trying his hardest to win here, he was simply testing his Adon in a tournament situation. If Justin had not been playing Noel in the losers finals, I believe his actions would not be an issue. The closeness of their set should also be taken into consideration. If Justin was trying to lose on purpose, I find it hard to believe he could make it look so close.

Evolution 2011 Games Announced

The Evolution Championship Series is the Super Bowl for fighting games. Just moments ago, this year's lineup for the annual event was announced by Mr. Wizard, during the live Wakeup Shoryuken podcast. For the first time ever, Evo will only be officially hosting tournaments for five titles: Super Street Fighter 4, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Tekken 6, Blazblue: Continuum Shift, and Mortal Kombat 9. Note that there will not be a sixth game added as a vote-in title like last year. Sorry, Arcana Heart 3 fans, maybe next year. Mr. Wizard did go on to say however that side events held by the players may receive some on-stage love unlike years passed because of the less strenuous schedule of having only five games. Also of interest, there are special exhibitions planned to add to the Evo hype. What those are is up in the air, although there was mention of a very cool sounding sponsored team only kind of event where players from Empire Arcadia, BLG, DMG, EG, among others could face off against each other.

I would love to go this year just for the experience of being there. Also, Iowa's representation last year was contained to only one Melty Blood player, pbj_mixxa. This year, Iowa has already started to make plans to go. I hope I can make it out with them.

Arcana Heart 3 Released to Consoles in Japan Today

It's been a long time coming for fans of Arcana Heart games to get a decent or even playable home port of the series for a quite some time since Arcana Heart 2 suffered from hideous lag and slowdown issues. Released to PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan today, Arcana Heart 3 makes its splash on today's modern consoles. With Arc System Works (responsible for Guilty Gear and Blazblue) handling the console release this time around should ease any fan's worry of history repeating itself.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Arcana Heart is a fighting game series that features a roster full of girls. What further separates itself from other fighters is after the player makes a character choice, the player then chooses from an extensive list of unique "Arcanas" that give the character different abilities. The series had a brief stint of popularity in the U.S. because of the lack of new fighters being released at the time, and players like Arturo Sanchez driving the scene.

I wouldn't be writing about the game if I wasn't interested. This is another series that has passed me by because of the fact I didn't own a PS2 for a really long time. I've always wanted to give it a try, but never had a real chance. And unlike many of those that populate the fighting game community, I don't discriminate against games like these just because of its roster choices. I wish I had a PS3 so I can play it. A stateside release is somewhat unlikely even though the previous games in the series were brought over.