Sho-ryu-ken!! Fatality!! These were the virtual battle cries of the true fighting game champion. Fighting games…a genre unto itself that seems to be slowly disappearing from the gaming landscape. The fighting game itself was started by none other than my personal favorite gaming company CAPCOM. The concept was to stretch the side scrolling brawler (Final Fight) into something beyond just button mashing. Enter 1991, Street Fighter II was introduced in the local arcades and so the madness and obsession began. Never before had the arcades been so popular and packed. The game, at the time was revolutionary with very fluid pixel driven animations. Eight characters of somewhat different fighting styles and the introduction of special moves all in a fixed arena. Continue Reading

I was 10 years old, before there was a GameStop or E3 convention, my wood grain top Atari 2600 was collecting dust because my hip new NES was getting all the love…I can still remember all those hand mangling calluses from the notoriously un-ergonomic rectangle controller. My mother and I were just returning from a shopping trip, I bolted upstairs with a crinkly plastic bag flailing behind me. Wasting no time I hastily ripped my new swag out of the flimsy Kaufman’s sack. Eyeing the gold Nintendo “Seal of Quality” I knew I was in for a grand experience. I popped the cartridge into the console and hit the power button…nothing…Pulling out the cartridge I knew just what was needed, a steady stream of hot 10 year old breath, that would surely bring this new game to life. Continue Reading