Here it is:

In all honesty after reading the first Gears of War novel, part way through the second and now watching this I convinced that Marcus Fenix and friends could use some hand to hand combat to make Epic’s “intimate violence” even more intimate. As cool it is stomping on heads and beating down locust, I wouldnt mind a good knife in the jugular or even a good bare hands rush attack if I run out of ammo during multiplayer.

I also don’t think a little moral ambiguity would be bad. In the Pendulum Wars novel we see humans being the monsters before E-day and we also get hints that Marcus Fenix’s father isn’t exactly a saint either. I guess what I am trying to say is that the Gears universe is so cool and so varied that I want to see more of the society and the history behind this universe. Oh yeah, I also want to see how Marcus got that hideous scar.

‘Sploding wall to wall
Try and try again, Fuck me
Passed game, now Co-op

Verdict: Buy this game
Platform: Xbox Live Arcade

1) Broken off highways
2) Vast vistas of nothingness and death
3) Monsters of some kind be they Mutants, Zombies, Cannibals, Giant Bugs, Mutated Animals etc.
4) Factions of every messed up kind
5) A dog
6) Hope of Salvation
7) Lovable yet horrifying creatures
8 ) Makeshift technology that is held together by duct tape
9) Brutal weapons/Disease and Sickness
10) A loner bad ass

Movies have tried their hand at Wasteland Culture many times with films like Mad Max and Escape from New York. It is not an easy thing to pull off Wasteland Culture – if you don’t believe me, go and watch Doomsday. Wasteland Culture needs a fine balance of despair and hope, practical and impractical, humor and horrifying. For instance, being in a wasteland sucks, but there is always some artifact or fertile piece of land that will save humanity. People in a wasteland don’t have many materials to use in their day-to-day lives so they scavenge, but they also wear ridiculous outfits to make themselves look scarier and crazier than the person next to them. Finally, when living in a wasteland you see horrifying images of brutality, but oh lord, when somebody steps on your lunchbox mine and gets random debris stuck in them,now that is funny.

To me, Fallout 3 has set a new standard for Wasteland Culture with its fascinating world that is full of personality while at the same time is so bare you really see no point in living.

Let us see some examples of Wasteland Culture

Mad Max was one of the first wasteland movies I remember seeing and it seems that Fallout 3 takes a good amount of influence from it.

Vampire Hunter D also captures a good sense of the WTF atmosphere. We see our half vampire/half human standing beside his lovable cybernetic horse as giant desert manta rays burst out of the ground and fly through the air…….yeah, I know it is awesome.

Last but not least is the new film with Denzel Washington, Book of Eli. Here is the trailer:

Pretty cool if you ask me, even the font of the title of the film looks like Fallout 3’s font.

A Kotaku reader went through the trouble of laying out some similar shots. Let us take a look:

So the question is, what makes all this a “Culture”? Well, if you live in Russia you would know..

Full list of the pictures can be found here

We dedicate today’s session to all things Mario, so please enjoy this fine collection game art collected from all around the world.

Note: If you know any of the artist names please post in the comments section and I will update it accordingly

First a nice video to get you in the mood:

King Hippo Mario

Pixel water from all those damn water levels

Pixel Hook nose Mario

I am on acid Mario

YMCA Mario

Plant Bondage Mario

Betrayed Mario

Grown man in a raccoon suit Mario

Mass grave Mario

Film Noir Mario

Salvador Dali Mario

Spidey Sense Mario

All man Mario

Mod Squad Mario

Prehistoric Bowser

Doom Patrol Mario

Lord of the Rings Mario

Real Mario

The Real Super Mario Bros.

Here is how it all played out:

Are you hyped yet?

At this point I am shaking with excitement.

The world stands still for the Clash of the Titans…

And with that, Daigo is your Champion of Street Fighter IV for Evo 2009.

I just want to say thanks to Evo for streaming this to everybody, it was truly a grand and epic tournament that I will never forget. Also outstanding commentary by Seth Killian and the other members of the panel, they really professionalized this tournament with insightful and wonderful commentary guiding everybody through all the excitement that is Evo. I also want to note how the players of these competitions carry themselves with class. Justin Wong and Daigo are both such great competitors that when it is all said and done, I feel like I am the winner of all of it.

Thanks to ProtocolSnowMD for the videos on Youtube as well as Kineda of the photos.

While learning about players like Gootecks, Daigo and Alex Valle I stumbled a great mini documentary on the fight scene of Street Fighter IV. What is most amazing about the movie is the sheer passion you feel when watching these tournaments. There is no denying the amount of enjoyment these guys feel when fighting each other. However, one of the most interesting themes you will see is the rivalry for supremacy between East Coast and West Coast.  Even if you are not into the whole fighting scene, you will undoubtedly get suckered into routing for either side.

Also please check out http://www.igotnextmovie.com/ because without Director Ian Cofino this movie would never be possible

Anyway enough of me yapping here it is:

Now you may be thinking “PFFFT! Who gives a shit about fighting tournaments?”. Well my friend if you miss Evo you miss this:

And this..

Do I have your attention now? Good. So now you are probably asking ” Where can I see the tournament?”, well you are in luck there are live streams on the Evo website here, as well as the Capcom website here.

Now that you have Street Fighter on the brain here are a bunch of links to get into the fighting spirit. You can play Street Fighter II Champions Edition in your browser right here. Also check out the wonderful cross gender fighting that the PC community has offered us with Street Fighter IV.

As you can see here, the PC community has swapped the moves sets and skins creating evil that one can never unsee. It is horrible, frighting………..here are two more.

Anyway enough of my blabbing, just click it to see it full size.