• 19Feb 12

  Wish I Had a Portal Gun (Aperture Science Rap)

  Having a Portal gun would make everything easier...

  • Posted Feb 19, 2012 10:43 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 1Nov 11

  Fight Cancer! Grow a moustache! Support GameSpot AU's Movember team.

  Okay GameSpotters, here's the deal.

  I rock a beard all year round. While previously I have shaved it off, only to grow it back in support of the excellent cause that is Movember, this year we're going to do things a little differently. YOU'RE going to decide how the beard comes off!

  Over the next four weeks I will wear four distinctively different beard and/or moustache combinations of your choosing. All you need to do is express your thoughts on what you want to see, and I'll go with the majority vote. My dignity and the comfort of the wider public is on the line, but all I ask in return for making me a facial hair monstrosity is a donation towards our GameSpot AU team total (as much as you can comfortably give to charity) which you can do by clicking here.

  I know it's going to be tempting to throw me straight into a crazy looking design in week one, but think long-term. I won't be re-growing anything that gets shaved off, only re-styling what remains. Since this is Movember, I'd also strongly suggest the inclusion of a moustache as part of the ensemble.

  Looking for inspiration? Check out Jon Dyer's Quest For Every Beard Type blog.

  I'll do my first shave at the end of this week and update with photos. Which look do you want to see me wearing first?

  

  WEEK 1:
  
  

  

  WEEK 2: The Hollywoodian

  

  WEEK 3: The Lemmy

  

  WEEK 4: The Handlebar
  

  • Posted Nov 1, 2011 6:21 pm GMT
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• 24Jan 11

  Who's Your Main - Dan Chiappini

  

  Super Street Fighter IV | Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Arcade 2010 | Akuma

  Super Street Fighter IV divided the fighter crowd. Plenty of casual pugilists thumbed their noses at the idea of having to stump up for a tweaked expansion of the game they had bought the year before. But, while it would be easy to get indignant about Capcom's perceived money-grab, players with an affinity for the series know this isn't exactly new for the franchise, and SSFIV certainly doesn't represent dud value.

  This discount-priced franchise compendium threw classic series characters back into the Streeties mix alongside new faces, and provided the opportunity to fall in love all over again. After briefly flirting with casual use of Cody, Juri, and Gouken (the latter's frequent punish on missed hurricane kicks was the deal breaker) I settled back into old grooves with Akuma. His comparatively weak frame makes him brittle against the harder hitters, but his teleport and keep-away air fireballs mean you can control the pace of the match. His Raging Demon ultra continues to eat opponent's health bars.

  Mortal Kombat | Super Nintendo 1993 | Scorpion

  Undoubtedly one of my most memorable arcade experiences, growing up in my area you were either a Mortal Kombat supporter, or a Street Fighter guy. Both offered very different experiences, and I could never understand the line in the sand. While I'd be lying if I said I spent equal amounts of time and money with the two (there was a Street Fighter II Champion Edition machine right near my house), the two were both contenders in my mind. After pumping God-only-knows how many coins into an original MK cabinet at my local pool hall I yearned for the same bloodletting fisticuffs at home. Picking up a copy for my Super Nintendo gave me the chance to really explore the intricacies of each character without having to dig into my pocket each time. While the game's character roster is light by today's standards, it offered seemingly endless fun at the time.

  I was immediately drawn to Raiden and Sub-Zero's aptitudes to harness the raw powers of the elements, but over time I realised I had a soft spot for Scorpion's ability to stab a man in the throat from across the screen before snapping their head back with a brutal uppercut. My interest in the game only began to wane once I had literally shredded the skin off my fingers performing the Test Your Might button mashing minigames by rocking my knuckles across the controller.

  Marvel vs Capcom 2 | Dreamcast 2000 | Ryu, Iron Man, and Cable

  There were (and still are) a lot of good reasons to own a Dreamcast... just look at the excellent fishing simulation experience of Sega Bass Fishing! Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was about as good as it got for fighter fans on the device and moved the goal posts away from mano-e-mano battles towards providing a crossover of two amazing universes primed for punching. No longer was it simply about picking a single character who resonated with you and your play style and sticking with them. Instead it provided a complex and enjoyable evaluation of each character's strengths and weaknesses, how they performed out of combat becoming just as important as their role in the fray, and the need to build strategies around countering your opponent.

  My teams regularly comprised Ryu, Iron Man and Cable and their ranged attack approach. Juggernaut's rush knockdown, B.B. Hood's mine dropping play, and Jill's zombie summoning powers were never far away. Let's not forget the whacky looks and abilities of Amingo. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was a favourite in my circle of friends and after spending some time with Marvel vs. Capcom 3, while the roster is certainly smaller, it absolutely retains the sense of exploration and evaluation I loved so much about the first two games.

  --Dishonorable Mention--

  Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe | Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 2008 | The Joker

  It's hard to know where to start with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It really ended up feeling like a stripped down version of the game I grew up playing. Where was the gore? What was the deal with the exploitable characters? And who thought it was a good idea to throw a falling/rushing button pressing pseudo quicktime event into a (mostly) 2D brawler?

  The game's roster was an odd mish-mash of DC and MK – and while they hit a lot of the classic character notes, it's always fun to play the new faces. For this reason after a few laps of experimentation with the DC crew I immediately gravitated towards The Joker as my main. I use the term main here loosely since you could count on one hand the number of hours I put into the game, but his appeal was a mixture of ranged and melee attacks, spring-loaded punching gloves, deadly throwing cards, and a disappearing act that kept your adversary guessing whether you were going to unleash a sliding move, gift them a bomb, or jump on their face. Batman not wanting to get lethal on Joker? Expected. Joker and Scorpion not being able to rip off Superman's head? LAME.

  • Posted Jan 24, 2011 4:25 pm GMT
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