All these fighting game posts makes me look like a fighting game fanatic. I'm not. Beyond the Street Fighter games the only other fighter I've spent any decent amount of time with is Soul Calibur (on the Dreamcast). I bought Soul Calibur 2 (for the GameCube) when it was selling for $20...but sold it after a few months.Fighting games are all about friendly competition and, unfortunately, gaming these days isn't the social experience it was for me during my school days (maybe I'm too old for games?).Anyways, it's just been revealed by 1up.com (the sister site to EGM magazine) that Soul Calibur 4 will feature both Darth Vader and Yoda. It's a smart marketing move (way smarter than having McFarlane's Spawn on Xbox's Soul Calibur 2). Star Wars is an international pop cultural staple. Lightsabers fit well with Soul Calibur's weapon based theme. Star Wars fans will FINALLY have a decent fighting game.But I'm a bit bummed at what the Star Wars franchise has become. Star Wars makes me feel like an old geezer because I'd like to remember the series as just Episodes 4-6 with a few Kenner toys. Nothing Star Wars since those films really amounts to anything exciting to me (although I really dug the Playskool toys...)...but it's truly amazing how the new movies (as bad as they may have been) have done an amazing job of keeping Star Wars relevant for new generations' of children.I taught a comic class to Jr. High kids in Whittier this past semester and I was AMAZED at how many 12-13 year olds were OBSESSED with Star Wars.Anyways, I'm not entirely sure that Darth and Yoda really fit in Soul Calibur...but I'm sure it'll sell like crack. It looks pretty decent...even if I'm sad to see that Yoda will probably have that ridiculous frog in a pinball machine fighting style he displayed in Episode 2. I've always imagined Yoda, a master of the Jedi arts, having a very economical fighting style. Something efficient and deadly...just like a Samurai...but that's just me griping again! :-)

As was revealed on the NeoGAF Blog (my favorite source of Videogame discussion), Japanese Magazine Famitsu revealed the first new character in Street Fighter IV: Crimson Viper. Supposedly she's described as 33 years-old and "Vega's Chief Concubine". Hot.If "Vega" is that Spanish effeminate masked dude with the wolverine claw (he is in the US version...not sure about the Japanese one)...I think it's pretty funny that his "concubine" sports a very masculine mohawk and suit. I wonder who's on top? ;-)Either way, she's hot. Like the attitude. Love the subtle touch with the cleavage covered by the tie. There are a lot of haters out there...but I think it's a pretty slick design.Yes, it doesn't feel 100% true to Street Fighter 2's original design...but it works (for me at least).

We finally unveiled the first 3 turnarounds from our Tcho! project. Here's a glimpse at Jubbei...the Samurai character from Bill and Gobi's Zblucops (as can be seen in my previous Tcho! post).Turnarounds for Ohm's Moko and his reinterpretation of Titeuf can both be seen at Vinyl Pulse.When designing figures, it's really important to consider the size of the final product. What looks great at a height of 12 inches will look hideous at 3 inches. When shrunken down, gorgeous details can look like shriveled testicles...(sorry for the image!)Ohm's work is turning out to be perfect for the scale we are going for. Details are just enough to embellish the character's form. In fact, it validates our initial instinct that WHEN we eventually do a series of smaller iterations of the Lucha Libre characters (like Tequila, El Panda, Red Demon, Dr. Destruction...) it would be very important to distill the elements that will work best on a smaller scale.Bill did some awesome illustration tests with this idea for the Luchadores5. They're best described as "Super Deformed". One of these days we'll have to make them!

I'm burning out on games these days. There's so much to play and so little time to play them...but my constant curiosity has me looking for overlooked gems. One such game is Odin Sphere for the PS2.Odin Sphere had a limited US release last year for the PS2. It's done by a small Japanese game developer called Vanillaware, the game developers responsible for the Japan-only Sega Saturn/PSP classic Princess Crown.Like Princess Crown, Odin Sphere is a nice mix of 2D side-scrolling action and RPG-inspired item management and experience accumulation. The spine of the game is an action game...but with so much EXP and item management it's easy to see why many reviewers prefer placing Odin Sphere into the RPG genre category.Thus far, I've played about 2.5 hours of the game and I like what I see. The 2D graphics are really nice. Sprites are huge and nicely designed. Animation is pretty weird but interesting. Everything is super clean...but the occasional awkward movements remind me of shadow puppets.The item and Exp manipulation is pretty complicated but fun. You can harvest souls for experience, grow fruit, create potions...all in a manner that balances experience point increases against energy replenishment. I'm usually not a big RPG guy. But the focus on a decent action-based gameplay mechanic allowed me to appreciate and tolerate the EXP and item stuff.Of course, I've played 3 hours of a 40 hour game. So, opinions and patience can change dramatically over that time. I'm not very optimistic that I'll be able to find the time to play through all 40 hours of the game. But I'm sure to pick it up when I have some free time to appreciate the artistry and passion that can be seen.

Beautiful song. Seeing this video is the first time I heard it... but it's from Kanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothing" Mixtape. I love how the haunting production complements Yorke's (of Radiohead) voice. This video was done by a fan named Va$htie. She dug the song and decided to do a music video for it with some friends. Obviously she has some directing experience because the video is clean and professional. Using child stand-ins was a brilliant way to skirt around the lack of musical artist involvement. The kids do a wonderful job and some of them nail the mannerisms of their personalities.Va$htie and co. are getting their well deserved attention. I discovered the video on K.West's Blog (which is finally back to form after months of M.I.A. due to Mr. West mother's tragic death). I'm glad to see Kanye West back in the blogosphere!

The really cool thing about doing something creative is you get to meet a variety of talented individuals...and every once in a while you meet someone with whom your fondness and admiration leads to exciting collaborations.Bill and Gobi have been a source of many such collaborations. Long before Bill and Gobi had anything to do with Lucha Libre, they were busy working on their own comic book series: Zblucops for the Tcho! Megazine Comic Anthology. Tcho! was France's eclectic answer to many of the successful Japanese comic anthologies. The variety of talented artists that worked on the Tcho! Anthology were bringing their global sense of influence to their respective comic series...and naturally, being a relatively young group of artists, much of that influence was coming from Japanese comic, video game, and character design.It was through Bill and Gobi that we had the fortune of being introduced to Camano (Tcho!'s Editor) and Ohm. Camano had found great success for discovering Zep and his comic sensation "Titeuf". Since "Titeuf"'s debut in 1992, "Titeuf" became one of the most successful French comics of all time. Using this success Camano developed the "Tcho! Megazine" a comic anthology that publishes "Titeuf" along with many other comic book series including Bill & Gobi's "Zblucops" and Ohm's "Bao Battle".Camano also happens to be a huge fan of the Designer Toy scene. He instantly fell in love with the Lucha Libre figurines Bill and Gobi developed with Muttpop. Upon our introduction to Camano, we began brainstorming and quickly agreed that it would a fun to do a series of mini-figures based on key characters from a few of the comic series in Tcho!But in order to do this right, we needed the perfect artist to translate the various characters into a style that could be understood by Designer Toy and Tcho! fans alike. That's where Ohm came in. Ohm's "Bao Battle" comic series has a deceptively clean line that translates nicely to a small scale 3D sculpture. It's a very cohesive art style that is vibrant and leads to very exciting reinterpretations.We're currently in the final stages of sculpting and the pieces look amazing.Below is a page from Bill & Gobi's "Zblucops" featuring Jubbei (the "Zblucop" character in the Mini-figure line) and a beautiful pin-up by Ohm with his Bao Battle characters.More on the Tcho! Line will be revealed soon.