This is probably the hardest list I've done for anything. Choosing which of my siblings I love more wasn't this hard. While I think 2013 was an overall mediocre year for games, number one for me has been a lock since June. While I've played a ton of games this year (and by that I mean every major release since January, including indie darlings like Gone Home), these are the ones that somehow managed to rise above mediocrity for, if not the duration, then in fits and starts.

10. Dead Space 3

Mired in scummy micro-transactions and host to a plethora of bugs and glitches, Dead Space 3 shouldn't have happened this way. At least, that's the general sentiment behind most of the discourse surrounding this game. If you can somehow stomach those problems (both real and exaggerated) what you'll find in Dead Space 3 is a good game with some great twists on the Dead Space formula. Crafting weapons is a pleasure in Dead Space 3, but where I think the game really shines is in the side missions. While truthfully they are just a means to gather more precious resources the side missions in Dead Space 3 offer a greater understanding on the universe post-Titan Station. As one of those weird people who finds the mythology behind Dead Space to be fascinating, more lore is always a good thing. There's also the little teeny tiny plot point of just what the Necromorphs are and a vague idea of how they came to be, but that is overshadowed by the kick ass Necromoon boss battle to finish both the overarching Dead Space narrative and Isaac Clarke's journey. If this game were to close the book on this franchise, I don't think I'd mind.

09. Batman: Arkham Origins

I loved Asylum, I loved City, and oh yeah! Origins is more of that! Fantastic voice performances with Roger Craig Smith (Ezio!) and Troy Baker (fucking everybody!) are backed up by a tightly paced plot that is both coherent and fun. Granular improvements to the gameplay may not seem like a big leap forward for the series (it isn't), but I don't think the Arkham formula is tired yet. I went into this with low expectations after hearing all of the Internet backlash and was pleasantly surprised that it is not the most awful game of forever, but instead a worthy entry into the Arkham canon.

08. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD

Castlevania is one of my earliest memories. Not just for video games, I mean earliest memories. The sight of Trevor Belmont kneeling before the cross in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse has been burned into my mind for as long as I can remember. Playing through Mirror of Fate HD reminded me how much I used to love Castlevania, and how much Mercurysteam understands what's appealing about those old games to begin with. While the game suffers from a weak middle chapter, both Simon and Trevor Belmont's acts make up for it with remixed classic monsters and fun boss battles. If anything, aside from Alucard's chapter, I think the biggest disservice to this game was leaning on the Metroidvania blueprint at all. Backtracking has never been fun for me and it definitely wasn't fun here.

07. WWE 2K14

It's the best wrestling game I've played since Here Comes the Pain. For fans of wrestling that are looking more for simulation instead of arcade brawling, you can't do better than this year's installment. Boasting the best roster in franchise history and a season pass that would make any wrestling fan salivate, it cannot be stated clearly enough; until Spike somehow manages to bring King of Colosseum to North America, this is the best wrestling experience you could hope for. The creation suite isn't too shabby, either.

06. Saints Row IV

I have never lost bladder control in my life. While playing the Zero Saints Thirty tutorial mission I laughed so hard I actually peed myself. That has never happened before and I doubt it will ever happen again. For as lifeless and uninteresting as the open world of Steelport is, it is greatly outweighed by the parodies, homages, and downright lunacy that is found in the main story and loyalty missions. For someone who thinks The Third didn't reach the same highs as Saints Row 2, Saints Row IV feels like the most shameless victory lap a game series could ever have. God bless those maniacs at Volition.

05. Grand Theft Auto Five

A lot can be said about GTA Five. A lot. Not all of it positive. The game I played on some levels seems radically different from the game others experienced. For me, GTA Five was a ball of exhuberant satire with exhilarating heists and three protagonists I thoroughly enjoyed for 40+ hours. While I didn't find every hidden package or buy every property, I took my time in Los Santos as a vacation from seriousness. I got behind the 80s action movie plot and didn't think too hard about what the game was trying to say. If anything, I think Rockstar was saying "stop being so goddamn serious and have some fun you wanker". In that case, I agree completely. GTA Five is a light-hearted affair that isn't interested in being a dramatic masterpiece. It isn't interested in making your cry or making you wax philosophical about the nature of man. It's a game. It's fun. Unbunch your panties and have some.

04. METRO: LAST LIGHT

I love post apocalyptic fiction. Whether it's A Boy and His Dog or The Road by Cormac McCarthy, post apocalyptic fiction is one of the most intriguing genres to me. It attempts to depict who we as people are without the safety and constraints of civilization around us. Games like Metro: Last Light follow diligently in those footsteps and attempts to ask the player what kind of person they would be in such a scenario. It posits queries like what is the difference between killing and murder? Is morality at all relevant in a world where subsistence only comes with great perseverance and difficulty? Last Light attempts to ask these questions of the player, and while the goals are laudable, it stumbles and falls along the way. Sometimes I wonder if maybe Metro would be better served as an adventure or purely stealth-based game. After all a shooter where the "good ending" is only achievable through non-violent means is a contradiction. Still, Metro tries, and that is a hell of a lot more than can be said for many other titles.

03. BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite isn't about a multiverse or string theory or quantum physics or time traveling or alternate realities or even about religion, racism, or genocide. BioShock Infinite is a story about regret; regret over broken relationships and mistakes made. It's about being haunted. It's about a man coming to terms with who he is and finding a way to forgive himself in order to let go of the past. The most ingenius thing about Infinite is its presentation. What starts off as a game with all the hallmarks of a AAA budget good-time shooter slowly but surely begins stripping away the layers of intrigue surrounding the side characters, the subplots, and the city of Columbia itself. It strips these layers away until ultimately you are left with the heart of the story; Booker DeWitt and his charge Elizabeth. It's a ballsy move, in my opinion, and while there are occasional misfires in terms of gameplay elements and puzzling design decisions (hiding most of your lore in audio logs is so 2007), the whole of Infinite is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

02. Splinter Cell: Blacklist

I am an avid Splinter Cell fanboy. I love the series and I am one of those assholes that believes Chaos Theory is the absolute peak of stealth game design. I went into Blacklist with low expectations and quite frankly, ready to hate-play it. Maybe I set myself up for this but I was blown away by how utterly fun Blacklist was. Ghosting my way through the story missions and tackling the side quests with a partner really brought me back to good old days of Sam Fisher. If you've ever liked Splinter Cell, there is absolutely no reason not to play this.

01. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Dragon's Dogma is without reservation the best game I have played this year. This past summer I played it for weeks on end. As of this writing I have completed it three times (that's one original file and two New Game +'s) this year alone. I am planning a fourth. Out of all the games I have played (and there were a lot), none of the others come close to matching the joy I found in the simple act of playing Dragon's Dogma. Everything from the aesthetic to the combat, from the delightful score to the pawn system combined to form of a Voltron of pure fucking awesome. As I thought about what my best experience was in gaming this year, I keep coming back to Dragon's Dogma.

... And that's my list. That's my Top Ten of Twenty-Thirteen. Not a great year, but not a bad year, either. Here's hoping for better in 2014 and, of course, a Dragon's Dogma 2.

Some people like to shotgun, some people like power weapons, and some people like the Retro Lancer charge. Me? I’m the guy who likes assists. I’m the guy who likes spotting. I’m the guy who gets on the mic and tells SmokeDawg420 that there’s an angry SOS Locust barrelling behind him looking for a kill.

Hi, my GT is Ol Dirty Bearon, and I’m your best friend in Gears of War 3.

You always hear about “That Guy” on the winning team. He’s at the top of the leaderboard, earning MVP ribbons hand over fist, but his stats say 3 kills to 5 deaths. Then, you notice he has 12 downs. Then, you notice he has 5 revives. Then some people think, “Wow, what a noob, why is he helping other people?”

But not you, not if you’re smart.

You see, a lot of people who play Gears multiplayer like to think, somehow, it’s all about the instagibs. It’s all about the three-on-one KABOOM ribbons with the SOS. They like to think that, if it was just them against me and my squad, they’d tear us to pieces. The problem with that thinking is that it’s all about “me,” it’s about what “I” want. Newsflash: Gears of War is a team game.

That’s what this blog is all about. I want to teach you how to be a Team Player, how to earn a crap-load of ribbons, and how to, above all, win the admiration and respect of your peers. See, it’s not just you that will turn the tide and win the day. It’s not just your buddy XxAssASSinatexX either. It’s all of you, working together.

Here are some basic tips and loadouts to get you on the path to not just winning the battle, but the war.

Support Gunner

Lancer

Gnasher

Frag Grenades

Gorgon Pistol

SPECIAL: Mulcher

Classes don’t exist in Gears 3, and they shouldn’t. Everyone customizes their starting loadout for their own style of play. This particular loadout is designed to make you a walking tank—so long as you hide behind a couple squad mates and know what you’re doing.

Tips: Spot your enemies. I mean it. The first instinct of a Support Gunner should never be to try and get the kill. These are the fearless warriors who would rather spot an enemy incursion and try to down an enemy before looking for the glory kill. They spend a lot of time behind cover, and they always, always stick close to a friend. If your friend moves one way, you move behind. You’re a follower in this role, not a leader. Your gunfire is meant to suppress and contain the threat, and reviving your squad takes priority over your precious KDR.

All of the Support Gunner’s weapons are designed to do two things; one is to suppress the enemy, the other is to down the enemy. The Lancer and Gorgon Pistol are great weapons to do this with, as with focused fire from two or more squad mates it brings any opponent to their knees. Even the Scouts. You know, the flippy assholes who like to dodge like they have Parkinsons.

Assassin

Retro Lancer

Sawed-Off Shotgun

Smoke Grenade

Boltok Pistol

SPECIAL: OneShot

Tips: Are you the kind of player who loves to Roadie Run? Who loves to sneak behind the enemy team and blow as many of them away as you can with a single SOS round? Yeah, we know who you are, and we don’t like you—unless you’re working for us. The Assassin is a master of the scenic route. They will never actively engage an enemy entourage coming straight toward them. Their first instinct is to run as far away as possible, as they know a single Retro burst or SOS round will not save their lives.

Assassins also love to employ the use of Smoke Grenades. They know it doesn’t down, they know it doesn’t kill, but they also know that a well placed Bag n’ Tag smoke bomb will do a hell of a lot more to disrupt the enemy team than attacking up the middle. The Assassin is also patient, willing to wait thirty seconds for a power weapon spawn to return, and when they see the enemy coming toward it blissfully unaware, the Assassin rolls into them, and lets a hearty blast explode from both barrels. The beauty of the Assassin is that, for some reason, they frustrate enemy players. A lot. That’s why they’re a healthy asset to any team. Can you think of something more demoralizing than getting one-shotted with two friends by a single SOS round?

And remember, a good Assassin is always letting his team know where the enemy is.

Grenadier

Torque Bow

Boomshot/Digger

Boltok Pistol

Frag Grenades

SPECIAL: Mortar

Tips: The Grenadier loves to make things go Boom. They’re the ones on Xbox Live party chat doing their best impression of the Boomer. They’re the ones who save your life from a 3-on-1 with a well placed Boomshot. They’re the ones who know just which walls to tag with a frag. In short, when you see a Grenadier coming, get the hell out of the way. Then again, the best Grenadiers are the ones who you never see coming.

If you’re going to play as a Grenadier, remember that while you have the heaviest artillery, the hardest hitting firepower, you’re not invulnerable. You’re not Superman. Always stick close to a buddy. A Support Gunner, if you can. While they spot and lay down suppressing fire, it gives you time to charge up a Torque Bow shot, throw a well placed frag, or unload with your Boomshot. Grenadiers love their Support Gunners, and Support Gunners all too happy to help.

General Philosophies

These are general tips designed to get you playing more like a Team Player. You’ll notice after following these philosophies, you will not only rank up a lot faster, but you will also reap the spoils of warfare in Gears 3 unlocks, modes, ribbons, and precious, precious medals.

REMEMBER: 15 SPAWNS PER TEAM, NOT 15 SPAWNS FOR YOU This is the most obvious one I’ve seen. Too often people treat their spawn pool as a plaything to be disregarded. At worst, they think it’s a score card. It is neither of these things. The spawn pool is there to let you know that you are not just beholden to yourself and your own safety, but to your teammates as well. If 15 drops to 14, that isn’t just the fault of the person who died, it’s your fault as well. You could’ve been there to protect them, you could’ve been on the mic telling them about the two-man team coming up behind him. Remember; you’re not playing just for yourself, you’re playing for your squad.

GHOST CAMERA: YOU’RE NOT USELESS IF YOU’RE DEAD

A big thing I’ve noticed is that when the chips are down and there’s one man against five, the entire team will often go silent while they wait for their brother in arms to die a painful, gibby death. It doesn’t have to work that way. If you find yourself to be out of the game, waiting for the next round, get to work. Ghost Camera is there for a reason, and it can help your remaining players turn the tide and bring victory back from the jaws of death. Don’t be afraid to speak, to inform your team where the enemy is moving. Guide them, tell them where to go and what to do. Just because you’re dead, doesn’t mean you can’t help.

BE KEVIN COSTNER, BE THE BODYGUARD

The blue guy beside you isn’t just a random bot, it’s a person. It’s a person who enjoys the game just like you. For this battle, for this war, they’re your brother, so treat them like one. Pick them up when they’re down. Share ammo when you find it. And always, always, stick together. One man covers forward, the other looks back every so often. Get into the ritual of sharing and caring, and you’ll find that when you’re down and need help, your brother will be right beside you, ready to chainsaw every Locust prick in his path to get you back into the fight.

THE WIN IS WHAT MATTERS, NOT YOUR KDR

Everyone has a bad game. Hell, last night I had a game where I went 1 and 10 after three hours of excellence. If you find yourself having a bad game, don’t worry about it, and work for the team. If you can’t catch a kill one game to save your life, focus on spotting, focus on finding the enemy placements and camping zones. Don’t be afraid to take a bullet for your brother. And, hell, if all else fails, equip a frag grenade and run into a group of enemies. Get downed, and pull that R-trigger as fast as you can. It works for the terrorists, it’ll work for you.

And that’s all I got for now. Those are my tips from going to a .5 KDR with 20 wins and 50 losses, to a 2.3 KDR with 200 wins and 94 losses. Like I said, the spoils of war come with team work, and no other way. If you find yourself falling into bad habits, just remember that the win bonus will taste all the sweeter once you realize that it wasn’t just your friend who made it all happen, it was you.

It was all of you.

With careful poise, shield at the ready, Matthew Rorie stepped forward onto the crumbling bridge. It was a beautiful vista, an enchanting land devoid of explanation. I sat and wondered to myself, “what is this place, what is its purpose?” only to have that question answered in the next fifteen seconds.

As if ripping a hole into this fictional hell world, fire lit the screen. Rorie’s avatar flailed around the bridge, trying desperately to escape, but it was of no use. His avatar crumbled, dead, on the ancient stone bridge. It was only when the familiar Japanese text, “YOU ARE DEAD”, perhaps stating the obvious, that we finally saw the culprit. A gigantic, red, spiky dragon as if ripped from the nightmares of a young boy.

Matthew Rorie and his friends laughed, poking fun at the sudden death. Beneath that laughter, that joyful expression and digs at how “THIS is Demon’s Souls”, there was an uneasy tension. While it was fun and games, Matthew Rorie knew he’d have to reach that same spot and reclaim his lost Souls, and his Humanity. It was a tension filled trek back to the bridge, stabbing monsters and only engaging enemies when he had to. Matthew Rorie soon found himself on the bridge, and stopped strategize.

Bows only seemed to piss the dragon off. Running forward and back only seemed to reset the dragon as soon as it disappeared off-screen. The tension only mounted as Rorie strategized, while Brad and Vinny watched quietly to see if Rorie would succeed.

What followed was harrowing. Slowly but surely, Rorie figured out the pattern. He fell ghouls, out-witted the monster’s fire, and found himself on the precipice of the under pass. This is when I found myself actually wanting to buy Dark Souls. A game I was convinced by the Internet was a hard, unfair, grief-a-thon from the developer, From Software.

What draws me to this game? It isn’t the combat, which looks methodical and plodding. It isn’t the hardcore nature of the game, or the eerie monster designs. What draws me to this game is its world. It’s the ambiguous nature of it and the vague messages contained within. The tired, beaten down voice work I had only experienced in titles like Silent Hill 2 was back and in full force. For what few moments of respite there were, they were all too brief. Soon Rorie would be on the move again, walking slowly, shield in hand, waiting to conquer the next challenge that awaited his spear.

It soon struck me, between the ducking and weaving, the throaty bellows of “oh my God”, the awkward cheering from Vinny and Brad, that this was a game not often seen in today’s playing field. Played alone, I can only imagine how terrifying an experience it must be. It was all too easy to romanticize stumbling upon a black knight that was not only too strong for your level, but hunted you for as long as it could, before leashing back to its spawning ground.

Then Rorie found an armoured boar.

Through trial and error, careful plotting, and two bags of puppies for luck, Rorie somehow defeated the beast, and found himself hunted by arrows and skeletons with shields. It was an intense chase, from seemingly one end of the map to the other, Rorie was hunted, chased, hounded by these unholy creatures. Desperately seeking safe haven, there were nail-biting near deaths, pitfalls, and false finishes. And yet somehow, some way, Rorie found himself at the next Bonfire. It was a resting place that offered brief sanctuary. Somewhere the hellish beasts could not follow. It was then that they decided to end the engaging “quick look” of Dark Souls, and I found myself awestruck by the possibilities of the world.

The world itself is something mysterious, ambiguous, and all together enthralling. I want to wade deep into the world to see its nooks and crannies, to experience the terror of encountering an enemy too strong for you, to attempt to flee and find safe haven before the monsters hunted you down and slaughtered you. It always bothered me to think of the “Souls” games as action, or adventure, or even RPG. Those titles didn’t fit quite right. Now, though, I know why. Dark Souls is a survival horror game, in the truest sense of the genre.

The allusions to Silent Hill may not seem apt. After all, one is about a twisted town that takes your inner most fear and twists it into a psychological skull-fucking, and the other is about being dumped into a world that hates and wants to kill you. There is no reason. There is no moralising. There is only you, your arms and shield, and a hundred thousand monsters standing between you and sanctuary. Yet I can’t help but feel the same, intangible pull toward Dark Souls that I felt when I played Silent Hill 2 for the first time.

I knew nothing of that game when I bought it, only that a friend had recommended it for being a “scary game”. I find myself in much the same situation here, looking at Dark Souls. I know more about this game than I did Silent Hill, but I still feel as if I don’t know anything. I find myself unable to wait. The thought of fumbling through the dark. Shield in hand, wondering where the next danger might pull me. In short, I’m looking forward to being scared. It’s been a long time since a game scared me.

And perhaps that’s where From Software is coming from. Perhaps that’s why they chose to disable party chat, voice chat, and any kind of chat. After seeing the game in action, and gaining an understanding of what it is, I can’t help but feel this is a game tailor made to scare the bejeesus out of anyone who plays it. A kind of ambiguous horror that only grows more terrifying with more understanding. As it stands, my pre-order is ready, and I can’t wait to shit my pants on October 4.

 I am a narrative-driven gamer. What I mean by that is I am in the game first and foremost for the narrative experience. The world, the characters that inhabit it, and the story that those two things weave together are often more important to me than the actual gameplay. It sounds odd, but it's just how I happen to enjoy the games I play.

It should count as no surprise then that Borderlands - the sleeper hit of 2009 from Gearbox Software - ranks highly amongst my favourite games this generation. 

For the uninitiated, Borderlands is a fantastic game full of personality and wit, and the sort of awe inspiring nerd-dom that'd make even a Trekkie blush. It is, to not put too fine a point on it, a geeked out adventure across a backwater shit-hole of a planet.

With an introduction like that, it is safe to assume that I loved the game. And I did. I still do, in fact. Having recently downloaded and played "Claptrap's New Robot Revolution" to completion, this game is still amazing, witty, and full of fun, satisfying Roleplaying Shooter goodness.

There is a problem, however.

From the beginning, when Gearbox first announced the classes and characters you would play as and meet in Borderlands, I was drawn to one specific character in particular. While Brick, Lilith, and Mordecai had their own personalities and quirks, I couldn't help but be drawn to the Soldier character, Roland.

We are almost 24 hours removed from the unveiling of Irrational Games's new piece of software. It is titled "BioShock Infinite", and it looks pretty damn good. 
 
There's a problem, though. 
 
I'm not sure why, but in the previous month I have been discussing theories with many Irrational fans over what direction their next title could take. We discussed sequel possibilities, new ground they could cover in narrative, or even genres. Of all the things we discussed, of all the game possibilities that crossed our mind, a sequel to BioShock was never once on the table. 
 
When I turned on my PC yesterday afternoon, I went to Giant Bomb to see what the new game from Irrational could be. I then read the headline "Irrational's new game BioShock Infinite". My heart sank a little, and my mouth kind of did this twitchy thing. 
 
Of all the possibilities my friends and I had theorized, of all the caveats we fathomed, we hadn't expected something so... predictable. 
 
Irrational Games makes very good games. In 2007 they released BioShock, which became a champion of sorts for the Games as Art discussion. With how final the last chapter seemed in BioShock, I was honestly taken aback by how out of left field the sequel's announcement felt. 
 
Irrational Games's next game was not supposed to be BioShock. It wasn't supposed to be SWAT 5 or System Shock 3, it was supposed to be something new, something daring, and something worthy of the mantle that Irrational Games has taken up since BioShock's release. While BioShock Infinite looks promising, it does not generate the excitement I felt when I played BioShock for the very first time, nor does it seem to have the same flare that made Rapture come alive. This leaves me wondering "why?" 
  
Irrational seems like a very talented studio. It is because of this--as well as seeing and hearing the imagination of the group--that I am struck dumb by this. Why is it a First Person Shooter with Light RPG Elements? Is this all Irrational can do? Or how about, why is it called BioShock Infinite? What is infinite about BioShock, or the narrative? Does it deal with infinity in some way? Probably most maddening of all, is what the hell is Icarus? 
 
These questions are moot, I suppose, since BioShock Infinite is not seeing a release until the year of 2012. At this point then--as a fan of BioShock and Irrational Games--I am left sitting here with no feeling one way or the other about BioShock Infinite. There's no anger or feeling of betrayal, no excitement or even feverish fanboy squeals. It's just... confusion with a slight shrug of the shoulder. 
 
I honestly expected Irrational's next title to blow me away. Turns out it couldn't even blow a balloon for me.

 Why the hell do I go to Kotaku?

It's a question I've been struggling with recently, but perhaps some back story in is in order?

Over the past month or so, I've been mostly reviewing my Internet-viewing habits. Internet shows I watch, forums I frequent, and even websites I visit have fallen under the dutiful eye of scrutiny. The more I've thought about what I do online, the more I've realized that about eighty percent of the sites I visit, the shows I watch, and the people I interact with are just pointless.

However, this particular post is about Special K. Kotaku. The Gamer's Guide. You know the place that has more typos than an ESL classroom's first lesson?

Or how about the one place where a creepy gaijin gets paid to write about schoolgirls in their underwear?

Yeah, you get the point.

Kotaku used to be a good website, I thought. Whenever I had found myself taking inventory of my news sources, I found myself putting Kotaku almost always to the top of the "keep" list. I'm not sure why, now that I think about it. It could have been the staff, although I don't like any of the writers. Or perhaps it had to do with the quality journalism, although most of Kotaku's posts seem to be two lines of text followed by a republished article, and a misleading headline or two.

Really, looking back, I have absolutely no idea why I've been going to Kotaku all this time.

I don't think it's for the community, though. The people over there, I've found, are not only rude and obnoxious, but they also slavingly pander to the staff of Kotaku as if the "journalists" were gods perched atop Olympus itself. The community at Kotaku also tend to treat comments as their own personal sounding board to bitch about anything. Just today there was a short post about Machinarium being on sale for $5.00. What's the first user comment?

Why of course, it's decrying people who pirate media as soulless, unfeeling monsters.

What bugs me about this is not that it is two-faced and hypocritical, but that the balls on the users of Kotaku are so big that they threaten to crush what little integrity the site has left. Seriously, whoever put it in the minds of the Kotaku faithful that piracy was anywhere near the same level as murder, rape, or even theft needs to have the concept of piracy explained to them. 

Of course, try arguing that with the Kotakuites and see how far it gets you.

Honestly, I think I'm done with that place. Giant Bomb's community may act like a bunch of "cool story bro" dicks sometimes, but the truth is that I'd take the fun and loose atmosphere of this site over that pseudo-intellectual wankfest that masturbates to pictures of Crecente's hair while discussing how intelligent they are.

So I guess, uh, long live the Bomb.    

This blog is about Super Street Fighter 4. Sort of.
 
Full Disclosure: I am a complete and utter Street Fighter fanboy. I have been playing Street Fighter games since first seeing (and playing) the first Street Fighter II cabinet in a seedy Chinese restaurant in 1991. Keep that in mind if you think this blog veers off into pure-gushing. It might. I don't think about these things or edit them. I'm lazy and my thumbs are sore. 
 
And with that out of the way... 
 
It's three o'clock on a Friday afternoon. Winter is finally over here in Central Ontario, and while the beautiful green vista that greets me for my morning coffee on my front porch is shining particularly bright this day, the only thing I can think of is the shrink-wrapped, yellow-and-gold box with the slightest tint of lime green. In my hands is something I never thought I would've seen not a few years ago. I was holding Super Street Fighter IV, and I was ready to throw down.