The Awesomeness of Bruce Lee

If Bruce Lee was alive he would be 72 years old today.

Also, Bruce Lee is a Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac. And this year, is also the Year of the Dragon. And I think that just makes today so much more meaningful. If you haven't guessed it yet, it's his birthday today.

You know why I think Bruce Lee is so awesome? It's because he passed away 40 years ago, yet he is still known worldwide and is considered a cultural icon today.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
- Bruce Lee.

Many regard him as the founder of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). It is true to some extend, due to the fact that the martial art that he founded - Jeet Kune Do- consists of moves from various martial arts. While MMA has origins dated back till the Greco-Roman era, he isn't the founder, but more like the Father of MMA.

As Bruce Lee studies various martial arts, he realized that each style has their advantages and their weaknesses. To be the most versatile fighter, you need to have knowledge of all the styles, to be the jack of all trades, as adapting to a different martial art style while facing a different opponent will determine who wins or loses.

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless – like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
-Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee's is also notable for doing many awesome feats. He can punch and kick so fast that it's faster than the a 24 frames per second video recorder (the video recorder used to record his physical feats was this) could not even capture his punches and kicks in slow motion. Normally martial art films have to speed up the punches and kicks a bit to make it look intense. Bruce Lee's attacks have to be slowed down instead.

Oh, and Bruce Lee can kick Chuck Norris' ass. Don't believe me? Here's a video of it.

You might be thinking, 'Sun, this is a movie.' True, but this fight scene was real. Other than that scene, he defeated Chuck Norris three times.

Also, he can play ping pong/ table tennis with his trademark weapon, the nunchucks.

He can also do a 2 finger push-up. And snatch a dime off a person's open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind

"Don't think, feel....it is like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!"
- Bruce Lee.

So, yeah. Bruce Lee's pretty awesome. Which is why after his death, actors have been trying to get Bruce Lee clones, or people who look like Bruce Lee to act in films to cash in on his success.

Needless to say, Bruce Lee clones are everywhere. Some notable ones that I know (most of them are from anime/manga and video games) include:

• Mighty Guy and Rock Lee from Naruto
• Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star
• Fei Long from Street Fighter
• Marshall and Forrest Law from Tekken

There's also not so obvious examples of a Bruce Lee clone. Some that I know are:

• Maxi from Soul Calibur
• Jacky Bryant from Virtua Fighter
• Jann Lee from Dead or Alive
• Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop

"Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."
- Bruce Lee.

So, that it I guess. Bruce Lee is a legend and he'll always be one. Also, he has one awesome statue in Hong Kong.

Oh, one last quote to end this off, but this is not from Bruce Lee.

"There can never be another legend like the great one and his son."
- Fei Long in his ending in Super Street Fighter II

Had a strangely awesome dream. Too bad I woke up.

It's a dream about a video game I've played before, a game called 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors (999).

Not trying to be a hipster and all, but I'm pretty sure not many heard of this game before. It's one of the very few games for the Nintendo DS that is M-Rated, and it's sequel, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward for the 3DS and PS Vita is no different.

The game is divided into a visual novel section and a puzzle solving section. Also, the games have multiple endings in it, so for people who wanna get the whole story on everything would have to complete the game a few times.

999 is about you and eight other people getting stuck in what seems to be a really huge ship, and being forced to take part in the Nonary games. You'll have to team up with the others to entered a numbered door. Each person has a bracelet with a number attached to them (numbers ranging from 1-9), and to enter a numbered door, 3-5 people have to place their hands on the scanner, and the 'digital root' of the 3-5 people must match the numbered door.

What is a digital root? I think giving an example would be appropriate to explain this. So, if a person wants to enter door number 1, the person with bracelets number 1, 4, and 5 can enter together. It's because 1+4+5=10, and 1+0=1. In short, all the numbers are added until a single digit is obtained, and that is the digital root.

The objective of the game is to exit through the door that has the number '9' on it. And over the course of playing the game, you'll find that the other eight people on board are related somehow in some events in the past, and not all is what it seems.

This game is M-rated for some really good reasons. There's a lot of science fiction elements in some of the plot points in the game which will be hard to digest for younger gamers. Also, there's some sort of mind screw to the player when you reach the true ending.

Anyways, back to the dream I had.

So in this dream, I somehow participated, along with some of my friends and some other people, and game that is similar to the Nonary games in 999, but with a few differences. In 999, the characters in the Nonary games were gassed and kidnapped and began their journey stuck in a cabin. In my dream, we were each given a bracelet, and then we entered a door and began our game.

While survival is the key point in 999, my dream was more about fun and games. Also, there were more than nine participants in the dream I had, meaning more than 1 person have the same bracelet number. Another big difference was the numbered doors. In 999, no one can enter the numbered door once it's occupied. In my dream, the doors just served as a minor obstacle where we need to team up just to get the digital root to enter the next area.

In the dream, this game was a three day event. All the participants entered the briefing room, and all of them were around the same age as me. After briefing, we were given a bracelet with a number. The other door in the briefing room opened and we entered the door. Then we were greeted by two numbered doors.

Each of us discuss among ourselves to get the digital root of the door and took turns to enter it to reach the next area. In the next area, there were mini games to play and completing them reveals the exit (yeah, unlike 999, this was supposed to be fun). Then, all participants (from both numbered doors) meet up and we were greeted by two numbered doors again.

Doing the same thing as before, we reached the next area, completed more mini games and then the exit was revealed yet again. Like before, both participants meet up and we encountered the third set of two numbered doors. Repeating the steps earlier, all participants ended up together again, facing the final numbered door.

Then we take turns to get the digital root of the door, and exit the place. And that was the end of Day 1 of this dream version of the Nonary games.

In Day 2, I decided to go through all the doors that I didn't go through the previous day, and then Day 2 ended.

Finally it was Day 3. Before we entered the briefing room, there was an announcement saying that this would be an optional game. Since many did the same thing I did for the first two days (to play all the mini games from all the doors), a lot of people decided not to go for it the third time. I find it suspicious on why would they organize a final day event, so I joined to see what happens.

Before entering the briefing room, I met up with two other friends of mine. Then we entered the briefing room, that had very few people. If I remember my dream correctly, it had nine (yikes!) participants. After briefing, we entered the door, and I woke up, fuck! And now here I am trying to recall all the things that happened in this dream.

Well, I guess that's all I can remember. Other things that I can think of would be theories on what is going on in the final day.

Anyways, this is a rather random post I think. But tomorrow, I'll be posting something rather special.

Picking your main at a fighting game

So, whenever a person play a fighting game, there's gotta be a character in the game that would be considered his best character. The same goes to me. Whether it be Brawl or Street Fighter, there is a character that I prefer to use. A character that I think suits my playstyle and I enjoy playing that character, also known as my main.

So, who do I main in Street Fighter IV? That's a very good question. You see, I play SFIV/SSFIV on the PC and the arcades, and I have very different playstyles in both versions of the game. On the PC, I usually use the keyboard, so I use Ryu/Ken/Dan and other shotos and their clones more. But in the arcades (or whenever I'm using my PC joystick), I use grapplers like Zangief and T.Hawk more. It's just something about the arcade/analog stick that makes doing a command grab so much easier. Also, Zangief on the joystick is my best character. I could beat the game at hardest difficulty with him.

In 3rd Strike, I started using Ken at first. But once I switched to Ryu, I realised he suits my style more than Ken. I got better rank with him and my score is higher. And so, I try my best to train my Ryu. However, lately, I was bored. Not bored of using Ryu, just wanna try out other 3rd Strike characters (they deserve more love you know).

They were two characters that I planned to try (and as of this post, I have tried them a little). They were Dudley and Q. I tried playing Dudley in SSFIV and he was my main for a while. Then I just stopped using him. So I try to play him in 3rd Strike. He was fun to play, even though it kinda throws me back on the fact that his moves are half-circle instead of the quarter circle motion I'm used to (I've not played a mainly half-circle character for a long time), but he was good. Though I only lasted till Stage 4 and lost. 

Then we have Q, the first charge character that I try to use in 3rd Strike. While he was fun to play with, he isn't a really great character, as in low tier. I do not have a problem with low tier characters (I think I play Dan BETTER than most shotos in SSFIV), but his normals aren't good, and I haven't learn to properly do combos with him. And while he has a really neat command grab, I have yet to perfect the juggle timing. Also, sometimes I forgot to taunt, which is an important thing to do when playing him (it increases his health). 

While like Dudley, my best Q playthrough was till Stage 4, I think that Dudley is the better character among the two. Maybe it's because I managed to find more information on playing him than Q, and the fact that he has several target combos to use. Either way, I'll try my best to master them, or I'll try mastering other characters like Yun, Yang, and Alex.

My 5 Favourite Tracks From Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

I love video game music, some more than others.

I was never really a fan of fighting game music at first, really. When I was younger, I played Tekken 5 a lot. And the tracks were okay. The best song, along with the best stage in Tekken 5 was Moonlit Wilderness. It has the most epic tune ever. The Moonlit Wilderness in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 wasn't as good as the original.

But that's getting off topic.

Ever since I switched from playing Tekken to Street Fighter (as in SSFIV) a year ago, I realize that the soundtrack is really good. It was catchy, in a good way, and it is just plain awesome to listen to. Then I tried looking for older Street Fighter games to play. And I found Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

SFIII:3S has one of the coolest soundtracks for a fighting game ever. I like the jazz and hip-hop feel in the soundtrack. Despite having the steepest learning curve of all the Street Fighter games, I like the game due to the soundtrack, and that made like that game a lot.

This post is about my 5 favourite tracks from the game. It could be an arranged track or the arcade track, doesn't matter, as long as it is part of the 3rd Strike soundtrack it's in this list. Also, this is a favourite list, so opinions may differ.

5. Gill's theme - Psyched Out.

This theme just sounds so cool. Also, if you hear carefully, you can hear a bit of his theme from 2nd Impact. In my opinion, it also has some sort of 'the final boss is really tough and godlike' vibe, and that it's gonna be tough to fight him. And Gill really is tough. High health, fast and safe attacks, a resurrecting super, and a full-screen super that can't be parried that deals 90-100% if not blocked. This theme does suit the Emperor of the Illuminati.

4. Yun & Yang's theme - Crowded Street (Third Edit)

Another cool theme (well, most of the 3rd Strike themes sound cool to me). I prefer the arcade version over the arranged version of this track. I sounds cooler and has a more 'James Bond' feel. The arranged one is good too, but I just prefer this one more. 

I think this theme suits the twins really well. Yun's Gen'ei Jin and Yang's Sei'ei Enbu Super Art enable them to do some really sick juggling combos, and that's cool, just like their theme.

3. Theme of Q

Q, the mysterious masked person in a trench coat. A person who can only be fought in the arcade mode after Stage 7 if you get 2 SP points, not lose a round, get rank D or higher, and get a number of Super Art Finishes. Meeting the requirements, he appears and fights you, and his theme starts to play.
Again, this theme suits Q well. It gives the impression that Q is a mysterious person. Who Q is and what are his motives remain a mystery even till now. Whether we know who Q is or not, or whether he's a good guy or a bad guy, there's no denying that he has an awesome track.

2. The Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Main Theme (Or Main Menu Theme)

Like I said, if it's part of the soundtrack, it can be part of this list. This theme, also known as the intro theme, main menu theme or main theme is sang by Canadian rapper Infinite. All I can say is that is he did a really good job. The song is catchy, cool, and as an intro theme, it sounds awesome as hell. The character selection theme is also nice, but I think this track is really well done.
There's nothing else to say about this track, other than the fact that it is a way better track than the 3S:OE's 'Knock You Out' main theme.

1. Alex & Ken's Stage - Jazzy NYC'99

My favourite track of them all - the theme for Alex and Ken's stage. Another cool as hell theme. If I'm correct, this theme is also the most listened to theme of all compared to the other 3rd Strike themes, and it's all because of EVO Moment #37.
It's too bad that the 3S:OE version of this song is way inferior to the original track. But the Tatsunoko Vs Capcom's version of Alex's theme wasn't too bad, just not as nice as this one, solely for the fact that the saxophone part of the track wasn't extended (that part was one of the best parts of the song).


And that concludes my list.

I might to a list for the Street Fighter IV soundtrack next time.

Street Fighter should have a dream match game.

A dream match game would be a game coming from a franchise that has a few games and this game would include every character to have existed in the game in this one game. This mostly applies to fighting games. While most major fighting game franchise have at least one dream match game, Street Fighter is one of the very few that does not have such title.

I like many others do feel that the Street Fighter series has great potential to be a really good dream match game. And like many, I do have ideas on how this game should be. And this post is about how I think a dream match title would be like for the Street Fighter series.

1. Roster:
Every character from SF, the SFII series, the Alpha series, the SFIII series and the SFIV series, including Poison who is a playable character in SFXT (though I think putting Ingrid is optional). How about those characters from the EX series? I dunno. Maybe those could too, but I'm not so sure cuz I'm not really attached to the EX series.
I feel like some of the characters from the original SF and 3rd Strike were not recognizable by many even though I personally think they look awesome as hell like Retsu, the monk from Japan in the first Street Fighter, and Q, the mysterious person wearing a trench coat in 3rd Strike.
Characters from the first SF who didn't make any further appearance in any games could be given a new moveset, and therefore making old characters new again. Also, a must to put in the arcade mode would be prologue and epilogue for every character.
An optional but awesome thing is to maybe just add some new characters. Even if it's two characters it's fine by me.

2. Graphics and Music:
While some say graphics should be 2D, I think that having the characters in 3D while fighting on a 2D plane (like how SFIV is) is perfectly fine. Though, I think that some characters should have their muscles toned down a little to make them look better instead of making them look like steroids were injected into them.
As for the music, I think that each stage should have their own music, like in SFIV, but each character should also have a theme of their own too.
Also, unlockables should be added into the game, like artwork of characters, and soundtracks of previous games. These should be something to be unlocked by a point system which will be explained later in the extra content section.

3. Gameplay:
This is the toughest section as each SF brings something unique to the table. So why not put all of them in the dream match game? Five different styles should be added in the game:
A.The basic style of SF and SFII
B.The style of SSFII Turbo that has an added super gauge
C.The custom combo system of Alpha
D.Super Art selection and Parry system of 3rd Strike, and
E.The Focus Attack and Ultra combo mechanic of SFIV
Each style will have their pros and cons.
Style A is the most basic of styles that suits beginners. Special moves like the hadouken does the most damage than other styles, but this style lacks mobility and options.
Style B is slightly more advance than A, having a Super gauge, but like A it lacks mobility and options and it's special moves deal less damage than A.
Style C is a style similar to Alpha 2. It is considered a style for advanced players as skills are needed to make custom combo. While this style excels in pressuring damage potential it lacks mobility and it has a guard meter, which means it can guard break and get punished.
Style D is another advance style. Giving players 3 choice of Super Arts, a Parry system and EX moves (and even taunts that help the game). With plenty of options, Style D has a steep learning curve that might be to tough for some players.
Finally Style E, a medium difficulty style. It gives players 2 options for an Ultra, a super gauge, EX moves, and Focus Attacks. Not as many options as D, but it has a good learning curve that isn't too steep for players to grasp.
Gameplaywise, it should be a one-on-one, but maybe other game modes like two-on-two would be nice.
Also, more options for training (like parry training), and some training missions and training guide should be in the game to make players understand the game more.

4.Boss characters:
In my opinion, there should be 5 boss characters, and they should retain their cheapness from their old games.
First of is Sagat from the first SF. Next is Akuma (or Shin Akuma) from SSFII Turbo. Why not M.Bison? Cuz M.Bison from SF Alpha should be boss No.3. The next one is Gill from 3rd Strike. And finally Seth from SFIV.
How to fight the characters? The boss you battle depends on the style you use. But an option to randomize the boss would be nice. They should also make the boss unlockable (not a tournament legal version, but a cheap, playable version just for lulz), but not make it easy. If they wanna make it unlockable or DLC it's fine by me.

5.Mini Games:
Have it or not it doesn't really matter to me, though adding it would be nice.

6.Online mode:
While it's a must to have smooth online, I think that they should have an interface similar to Soul Calibur 5, with group chat an all. Oh, and an online training mode would be nice.

7.Extra content:
During gameplay, points should be given out similarly to the console version of Marvel Vs Capcom 2. These points can be used to unlock stuff like character art (or any sort of art), music tracks from older games, or even the five boss characters. Alternate costumes would be nice, but I think that they should have 1 or 2 as unlockables while the others can be DLC. Also, I think characters from the EX series could be added as DLC/unlockables depending on how popular they are.

I think that about sums up my idea what Capcom should do should they make a Street Fighter Dream Match game.

That's all for now.

Nicknaming your Pokemon, and my Pokemon Black 2 Journey

So, my exams just ended and I'm spending my time playing video games at the moment. There's two games that I'm currently playing. One is Pokemon Black 2, and the other is 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, which is an 'M' rated science fiction visual novel style game with some puzzle solving elements for the DS. Yeah, the word "'M' rated" and 'DS' being put together sounds interesting enough but that's not the main point of this post. 

In every Pokemon game, there's always give you the option of naming your character and your Pokemon (and also your rival in some cases). While some players don't name their Pokemon, I'm one of the people who actually do that. Why? Because it's fun. Also, it's a must to nickname your Pokemon when playing the Nuzlocke challenge. 

So, what how do I nickname my Pokemon you ask? I have a few methods of naming my Pokemon, but I do have one rule, and that is I do not nickname my Legendary Pokemon (Because their original names are good enough for me). One method was to spell the Pokemon's name backwards and that will become the nickname. Sometimes I get something awesome (like 'Moolerb' for Breloom), but most of the times they were horrible. Plus, this method never works on Ho-oh, Eevee, Girafarig and Alomomola.

Another method I have is to see what the Pokemon remind me of. I nicknamed my male Drilbur 'Simon' because it's a mole, with drills. Gurren Lagann anyone? Also, I had an Emboar nicknamed 'Cho Hakkai', nicknamed after the pig monster Cho Hakkai in the epic 'Journey to the West'. 

Sometimes I really don't know what to name it, and so I'll actually check Bulbapedia for the original Pokemon's name origin and try to come out with a creative name. One Pokemon I'll always have in my team if I could obtain the Pokemon is a male Gardevoir (and no, I'm one of those people who have weird Pokemon fetishes). The reason it's a male Gardevoir is that whenever I catch a Ralts to add into my team, it's always a male Ralts. Even in Platinum, where the male Ralts had better nature for Special Attack. Originally, in Emerald, I give my Gardevoir a dumb nickname called 'I'm A Boy' due to it looking more like a female than a male. In my later games, I call it Gardner, a name I came up by reading Bulbapedia.

One more method I have is a gender specific method. Whenever I catch a Pokemon, I'll give it a male/female name depending on the gender I got. For example, if I have a male Crobat I'll call it Bruce (for obvious reasons), and if it's a female it's Tabitha. 

My final method is just giving it a very generic name (which I did when I was younger, but not now). Like Raichu would be 'Bolt', Vaporeon would be 'Aqua', etc. 

So, with the first topic out of the way, on to the second one. I continued my Black 2 from where I left off. Before I continued playing it on Thursday, I was at Nimbasa City with 3 badges and 5 Pokemon. I have not explored anything near the city yet, or even the Desert Resort. My team was

Dewott named 'Kenshi' (After the samurai from the anime Ruroni Kenshin) 

Rossi the Flaffy (It'll be a male Ampharos. I took the 'Ros' and made Rossi out of it)

Missile the Growlithe (Named after the Pomeranian 'Missile' from the DS title Ghost Trick)

Golbat named Tabitha (Tab is 'Bat' backwards, bit is the past tense of 'bite', and my Golbat is a female)

and Psynx the Espeon (Psychic + Lynx = Psynx)

I have my team all planned out. My final Pokemon was gonna be N's Zorua which will be given to me at Driftveil City. 

A few hours of playing later, I've got 6 badges, and now at Lacunosa Town. All the members of my team are fully evolved and they're pretty good in my opinion. The problem with my team I think is that it lacks a tank, but I don't consider that a huge problem. 

Another problem with my team is that it's underleveled. Not a big problem, I just need to either grind more, or use some good strategy when facing the Gym Leaders ahead. 

Anyways, that's about all for today. 

Exams over, and I went for a game of laser tag!

Yeah, my last paper is today. Finally, the first semester of my university life is over.

So, what did I do today you ask? I played laser tag with my friends.

This is the first time I played laser tag, but I've heard about it before, mostly thanks to the show 'How I Met Your Mother' as one of the characters in the show, Barney Stinson loves to play laser tag.

There were 8 of us. And the goal was to score the highest points to win. The person in charged asked us whether we would like to play individually or in groups of 2. We chose to play solo since if you play as a group, friendly fire will deduct marks. Plus, shooting everything you can see is better right?

It wasn't peak hour in the laser tag center, so it was just 8 of us. So we went to another room to get the laser tag suit thingy. Each of them has a codename on it. It's just to look cool and to keep track of our scores when the game ends. I was trying to find one with the codename 'Sun' or anything fire related but I ended up taking 'Stealth' instead.

When the game started, I was getting shot left and right by people. And since the place was rather dark, I couldn't see who shot me or where they are. So I was like freaking hopeless in the beginning, just trying to find a place to hide before my suit reactivate itself and I get shot again.

Eventually, I picked up some momentum and started shooting people rather than being shot at. And this laser tag game has a feature where if you get three kills in a row, your laser gun will level up with rapid fire enabled to make you even more godlike than before. The rapid fire lasts until you get hit, and then you start from scratch.

It was pretty fun, I enjoyed it a lot. The gun wasn't that heavy and has to be held by both hands with slight similarity to holding a shotgun. I don't really have any problems in holding guns like this because I play Time Crisis a lot in the arcade and I usually hold the Guncon in that manner.

When time was out, we took a group photo in the end, and exit to check out the score on the TV. I was pretty surprised on how well I did. I got second, which is not bad at all considering I'm not an athletic person like some of my friends. Maybe I did well thanks to video games and all those hours spent on Time Crisis 2, 3 and 4 at the arcade, yeah, that's it!

Other than that, I went home, and spend all of my time watching Youtube videos that I wanted to watch but couldn't due to exams. And that's how it is.

Before I end this, I knew from the beginning that Romney will not beat Obama during the presidential election. So when I heard the news about Obama's victory after exam, I was like 'just as expected'.

That's all for now.