Ken Hell: Choreographer... Street Dancer

Not really. But he's the triple threat people, and who can resist a Breakin' reference. Hell's foray into acting via the latest ad campaign for Riva coffee. Gettin that TV money. CLICK THE PIC for the first webisode.

Killa! Jada! The Apollo! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

Kiss brings out Killa Cameron Giles @ The Apollo. Dude is back.

'The Combination' and their marketing choices

I saw the poster for this movie at Hoyts the other day. My first thought was "OMG! They finally got funding to make a Lebanese-Australian version of Kickboxer!". I did however just read this little piece of news, and learned that the movie is actually set in 2005 and based on the racially charged riots between white Australians and Lebanese in Sydney.

The synopsis of the film seems to borrow heavily from American History X (ex-con brother turns new leaf when released and fights to prevent younger brother from following his path of gangs and crime) and whether intentional or not, it's a striking similarity to a hugely acclaimed film which also focused on gangs, racism and hate crimes.

Returning to my initial reaction to the film's marketing, I can't help but feel they've misstepped here. The imagery in the poster screams 'dumb fight film' and looks like it's gonna be a Bloodsport meets Kickboxer affair. The name of the film sounds like a fight film when coupled with the imagery. The films slogan - and this is the clencher - 'No Second Chance', is definitely a slogan for an existing fight film. I mean, it has to be. I don't have patience to search but I'm sure that No Retreat, No Surrender 2 or Best of The Best 7 or something Lungdren/Van Damme/Stallone/Norris/Dudikoff MUST have used this. If not them, a B-Movie they turned down which never saw theatrical release. You know that period in the late 80s when there were hundreds of bad movies about ninjas or martial arts (See Dudikoff).

How many people will be turned off by this type of marketing? I'm actually interested in this movie now I have half a clue what it's about, but it was looking like Trojan Warrior revisited for a minute (or it's International release with the awesome name) and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

It's such a lovely day, we'll take our gaming outside

A man looking to collect on a debt broke into the house of 60-year-old woman in Brazil's Federal District, holding her hostage for ten hours on the business end of a Sega Light Phaser. Fortunately, the man released his hostage, unharmed, after negotiating with police. Wow!! Now you can use the Sega Light Gun rob the bank!!

Stolen from LikeCool who stole it from Elsewhere.

This guy's a winner.

Spotted over at Likecool. He's a bit American Pie lookin actually. This is a legitimate product. WAY TO SELL ME ON IT!!! As worn by jason biggs look-alike douchebag.

CHANGE.... Into a Truck.

Not the first Shepard/Obama art parody. I appreciate it though. This dude did it. You can buy it in poster form.

Street Fighter 4! XBOX 360! ZOMG!

Obligatory (albeit late) SFIV console release post. Having had a week or so with the game, I can say without a doubt that IV is indeed worthy of the numerals that adorn it, as there have been so many games (Alpha, Ex) and revisions of games (Alpha Sequels x2, Ex Sequels x 2, SFIII 'Sequels' x2) that have been outside of the main storyline and lacked that recognition.

As for the console version, I'm not reviewing it, but here are my pros and cons in short.

PRO:

- Arcade perfect port. Flawless by all accounts. We've finally reached that point and it feels great.

- Bonus Characters. Playable Gouken is a great add. I'm not a huge fan of the characters added mostly, as I'm more about the original 8, but it still adds heaps when one considers playing 9 other opponents, even if you still still to your Ryu.

- Trial Mode (similar to EX console ports to PS1) is insane. It alone is forcing me to get an arcade stick (not to mention netplay).

- Survival & Time Attack modes good for 1 player replay value.

- Online play. It CAN be amazing and has amazing potental. The concept of playing the latest incarnation of SF from your loungeroom against randoms the world over is so boss.

CONS:

- Online play. It CAN be awful and laggy. I guess even the best netcode can have issues, with the intensity of the graphics and the need for good responsiveness in SF games. Australia internet aint great, but I should have laggy games against aussies. Hope it improves. At this stage SFIIST HD Remix is more playable online.

- No Spectating or Winner-Stays-on style lobbies online. They will fix this I assume.

- Paying for alt costumes. With all the things you have to clear in challenge mode, they could have resisted the urge to cash-in, and given the alt colours as rewards instead of the 4-billion 'titles' you earn. The titles concept is a lil weak to me.

- Character balance. Guile could have used a make over by now. Vega is USELESS. Sagat is too strong and unbeatable in the right hands... again. Such is life though, you expect this by now.

OVERALL:

This shit is amazing. Must have for SF fans, and in a time when fighting games have all but disappeared from consoles, and arcades themselves are disappearing, this title can still appeal to joe avarage and hopefully will bring the genre back just a little.

PS. My Gamertag is in the sidebar. Holler for a game.