Issue : People : Sodium

Evo, the premiere fighting game tournament of the world, is underway, and yeah, that is happening. This what it's all been building up to, question mark. The qualifiers, the smack talk, the runbacks, the stream monsters and footsies, beam cannons and whatnot.

If you are an old timer and like me and decide to get all voyeuristic this year, don't be surprised if the fighting game world has changed, because it has. You may only recognize Alex Valle and Ryu.

Not so much has changed though, it's cut from the same wrestling cloth. The high drama is there, the funny acronyms in front of the funnier names are there, the lingering doubt that any of the hits are on purpose are there, but don't worry, they are. Take comfort in the fact that if you drove your x-box live skills up there and plugged your controller in, you would get mopped.

Street fighter 4, Soul Cal, and KOF happened yesterday, and today, Marvel vs. Capcom. I suggest you take a peek, because these days a Las Vegas ballroom in summer is as close as it gets to the arcade environment of old.

The Protoculture Mixtape v.98 Issue : Games : Pringles 

Issue : People : The Walking Particles

Telltale games should be proud of where they went with with the walking dead. The game feels like a true extension of the comic series, the tension is palpable, the characters relate-able, the situations forcing  players blood pressure up and keeping it there. Where the hell did this game come from? And how dare it be so off the meatrack without a press push that makes people tired of it by the time it releases?

Robert Kirkman should also be proud. The game itself smells of characterization residue built from the simple broth of Invincible, and made gourmet by plating it in a way that makes you give a damn about what the survivors go through. What happened to that kind of stuff?

AMC should be embarrassed. All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't cobble together a show better than a comic book and a five part video game point and click adventure. So there are two smug worthy bastards for the week. Mr. Kirkman, and Proffesor Higgs. Last week a crackpot theory, this week handshakes and apologies. That has gotta feel good. Also, creative heads jobs are in.

The Protoculture Mixtape .v 97 Issue : Games : Time Zombie

Issue : Games : 4xA

Triple A has been hanging around the gaming-sphere forever as the jargon of choice when referring to video games of a certain stature, but I am just going to come out and say I have no idea what it  means in this life right now.

I have known it to be different things at different times. At one time I thought it to be a game that is universally enjoyed, then I thought it to be a game that was guaranteed to make money, then I thought it to be a game that cost a certain amount of money to make.

Today I believe it to be a thing developers call their game in order to make people believe it to be on a certain tier of gaming, when that tier doesn't actually exist anymore, or is crumbling beneath them. I get it, sell up, and all of that. I ain't mad at'cha. But what of games that continue in replay value for 10 plus years, spawn their own economies and jobs in and out of gaming, and enter the mainstream zeitgeist. Is there a name for that? Quadruple A? 

Gaming tier systems are broken, no, maybe evolving. Cheap games make more money than expensive games, mods can bring games back to life, and simply presenting a title to be of a certain tier does not seem to make people believe it's important anymore, if numbers are to be any indication of success or failure. And I am starting to think that's a good thing.

The Protoculture Mixtape v.96 Issue: People: La Parka