Let’s discuss Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (FINALE).

So I played some more Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and I’m not 100% sure why.

Let’s discuss Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Part 3).

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.

All right, we can get through this.  It’ll be fine.

Let’s talk about Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and its story mode -- because there’s a lot to UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH I DON’T WANNA DO THIS.

Okay, let’s do this.  (For the third time, I guess.)

Let’s discuss Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Part 2).

I feel like I can start and end this post with a picture of Chun-Li’s face.

Okay, sure, I know that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite released a patch on day one that saved her and others from looking the way they did during their E3 debut.  But the damage has been done.  For starters, it’s not hard to find images that show how they used to look -- what Capcom was willing to think of as acceptable to put on store shelves, if not for a maelstrom of complaints.  More importantly?  Not everybody is entrenched in fighting game news, which means that plenty of people probably never heard or saw that Chun got some emergency repairs.  So the assumption, then, is likely that Infinite was and still is an ugly game.

I said a long time ago that I’m mostly all right with the aesthetic of the game.  I’d like a more stylish and colorful look, but I assumed that it was a creative choice to have Infinite look the way it does.  I supported it, on the condition that Capcom tweaked and polished it.  The condition has not been met.  Chun and Dante look better than they did, sure, but neither of them are what I’d call good-looking.  And as a friendly reminder: I’m a guy that doesn’t care about sheer graphical power.  One of my favorite gaming peripherals ever is the original DS, and at best it was only a step or two above the N64.  But the DS compensated not only with strong gameplay, but also fine-tuned art direction and style.  There are ways to get around a lack of power, which helps explain how and why it trounced the PSP.

To be clear: Infinite has other problems besides visuals.  But we have to start somewhere (again), so we might as well focus on that.

Let’s discuss Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite (Part 1).

*stares at box art*

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

…

…Short answer: yeah, it’s good.

Less short answer: yeah, it’s good, but.

RE: Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

Hey, welcome back to Cross-Up.  Glad you’re here.  I’ve been putting some more time into the latest version of BlazBlue, and I’m dying to talk about my findings.  Even if that franchise’s future is up in the air, I’ll gladly admit that --

Wait, hold on a second.  Isn’t there another fighting game coming out this week?

*checks release schedule*

*sighs heavily*

All right.  I guess I’d better get ahead of this.

I feel really bad for Capcom right now.

*sigh*

You know what, though?  I feel like I’ve got no one to blame but myself.

Are Video Game Characters Just Functions?

Real talk: I saw this header (sans my edits) on Destructoid a few days ago, and I thought to myself, “AHAHAHAHA!  Oh God, I HAVE to use this in a post somehow!”  I’m so glad I was able to -- although I lament not being able to work in some birds for scale.  In any case?  Peter “Combofiend” Rosas?  If you and/or the rest of the Capcom crew are reading this, then bless your hearts.

So I might as well start this post off right.  It looks like it’s that time again, everyone: now I get to talk about improbably buxom fictional women.

Shower Thoughts with Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

I should probably start this post by saying that I wasn’t very good at Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  Presumably I’m still not good at it -- unless I snorted up some magic dust from the Fighting Game Fairy -- but it’s been literal years since the last time I touched the game, and I’m at peace with that.  I’m at peace with my skill level, more or less; that is, I’ve accepted that I’m nowhere near tournament-ready, and I’m shivering at the thought of even testing my abilities (citation needed) online.

But hope springs eternal, I guess.  Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite is on the way, which means I’ll have the chance to redeem myself.  Now I can finally do the “gitting gud” so breathlessly spoken of in the prophecies of old.  New characters, new systems, new strategies -- the groundwork is all there.  Truly, the next chapter in the franchise -- the glorious union of one of the biggest names in comics and the legendary video game developer -- is something that we should all be celebrating, right?

Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffft.  No, of course not.  Because that’s not how we do things.

The Wolverine: Come On, Bub!

Let me be perfectly upfront: I don’t care for Wolverine.

I don’t necessarily hate him, but I don’t think he’s the coolest member of the X-Men.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Beast and, to some extent, Cyclops.  Yeah, I know, real shocker -- Voltech doesn’t like the surly, ultra-popular badass anti-hero!  How very unprecedented!  That is, assuming that you’ve read anything I’ve written in the past year here or elsewhere.  Among other myriad topics.  What can I say?  I love my soapbox and megaphone.

Whatever the case, even though I try my best to be impartial, you and I both know that’s impossible.  Opinions and preferences are going to bleed into anything that anyone writes when it comes to trying to offer a judgment.  GameInformer will take shots at JRPGs in previews.  Destructoid’s Jim Sterling will bring in allusions (justified allusions) to problems with the game industry if the game he’s reviewing makes a related faux pas.  MovieBob + JJ Abrams = not a good idea.  Now, I’m confident that all those people and more can set aside their preferences and offer up a clear-minded analysis.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t be trustworthy.  And if I’m going to be trustworthy in kind, I have to do the same if I decide to review something. 

…It’s a good thing this isn’t a review, then.

Spoilers -- some, but not a lot -- inbound.  So if you’re eager to see the movie, you might want to Berserker Slash your way out of here.  I’m about to Fatal Claw the rest of this post with potential threats to your viewing experience, so don’t get too crazy with your Machine Gun Claw.

…SWISS CHEESE!

Manly Songs: Theme of Jin

You know, I’ve always found iTunes to be a little redundant.

Admittedly, this is coming from someone who’s always at least two years behind on the latest tech trends (ask me about my cell phone!), but I have to say I don’t see the point behind some of these music services.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating pirating music; I’m just saying that if you’re out for good songs, you won’t be left wanting -- and you don’t have to spend a cent.  I’ve made a couple of full CDs out of songs from Newgrounds composers, and gotten some great satisfaction out of them.  OverClocked Remix is absolutely packed to the brim with high-quality, high-impact tunes, and can applea to your sensibilities whether you know the game songs each remix handles or not (pro tip: go download EVERYTHING by Sixto Sounds).  Artists will occasionally offer entire soundtracks online for free, whether they’re by game composers or not.  And that’s ignoring the existence of YouTube.

The tradeoff for this is that I’m severely limited in my knowledge of current music stars and trends; IIRC when asked about what the difference was between the music of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, my response was “Maybe they’re isn’t one, and they’re both robots out to conquer the world with audio-based brainwashing for their villainous overlords.”  I don’t know what a Nicki Minaj is supposed to be, but it sounds unpleasant.  Even meme-tastic songs like “Gangam Style” and “Call Me Maybe” (I think that’s what it’s called) are lost on me.  Then again, the tradeoff for that is an intimate connection with video game music -- and when that music is firing on all cylinders, man oh man is it something else.

Which brings me to today’s post -- and the Repository’s first video game-themed song.