I don't know much about the ins and outs of high level Melee play, but I think that Jigglypuff was considered a borderline joke character until it was discovered that her Rest move, if used under exacting circumstances, was basically an instant kill. It takes the kind of player who would compete in a competition like…

Holy cow, fighting games seem scarier every year. I can see why Super Smash Bros. 4 is implementing the "for fun/for glory" choice in its online matches, since I'd be frightened out of my wits to go up against one of those Fox only/no items/Final Destination purists. I just wanted to see if Pac Man could beat up…

Extra Credits recently did a really great episode on the phenomenon you're describing and how it locks out new players. Most fighters which are designed with high level competition in mind tend to have an inaccessibly high skill floor, and an even higher skill ceiling, so that instead of hitting that gaming sweet spot…

If there was ever a game that was better than it needed to be to an almost surreal degree, it would be Def Jam: Fight for NY. My friends and I picked that up originally because we liked the idea of seeing if WC could beat Xzibit in a fight, but we stuck with it for months because the gameplay was surprisingly deep and…

Haha, damn, that's pretty cool about going to school with Wheels. It's a shame about… well, you know…

Bless your heart you saint.

Yeah, I was coming here to say Scott Pilgrim, and also with the caveat "mostly the comics but the movie too as well I guess." The film had a lot of ground to cover plotwise so it couldn't spend as much time just wallowing in Canadiana like the comics tended to. Sure we got plenty of references to Second Cup, Pizza…

Oh by the way my friends, I've put a minor non-article update up to Game Theory. It's basically a link back to my article here, a re-launch of my Twitter, and launching a Game Theory Facebook page and Patreon page. So hey, if for some reason you're really hyped to follow a new Twitter account or give your money away,…

I almost think Tetsuya Nomura must have gotten his start in advertising or something, because say what you will about his overstuffed character designs, but the dood knows how to brand a title. Kingdom Hearts has loads of simple and pleasing recurring design elements which are sometimes used as stand-ins for the…

My crown! I'm the King of Burgers!

Cheers there buddy!

Argh, I forgot to mention Trance. Again, I have a great big crush on FFIX and would never say a word against it, but Trance is a system that basically just does not work. I would say at least half of the times I got a Trance it was right at the end of a battle or in the middle of an ordinary random encounter where it…

I'm of the opinion that it holds up, but I've loved it with all my tiny heart since I was 13, and it's hard to turn against the things you loved when you were 13. I also feel the opposite way from you in terms of sci-fi vs. fantasy, being a much bigger fan of the fantasy genre than of science fiction (nerd movie…

It's my favourite main Final Fantasy title, and I'm of the opinion that it still definitely holds up. I've heard a lot of more mature and critical views on it now, but because I first got to it when I was young and impressionable and uncritical, even the stuff I know has aged badly doesn't bother me viscerally. Like,…

WAYPTW already, eh? Well, we had a four day Canada Day Weekend last weekend, I guess it's only fair you get some extra time off too.

Been waiting actual, literal years for this. I think he laid the wacky comedy bits on a little thick this time around, but his overall points were as insightful and creative as they've ever been. If nothing else, I admire his willingness to publicly criticize the Zelda series in such lacerating terms- he even says in…

Nick, you've done it again.

This is basically exactly how I feel about the show, and internet commenters like myself almost ruin it for me as well. Doctor Who is a solid, fun, consistently good children's adventure show. Oh, it disappointed a bunch of frighteningly obsessed adult fans? Oh fucking no.

Anyone for chess?

Doctor Who does tend to attract the kind of anti-fans who clearly hate the thing they claim to love (see also: Sonic the Hedgehog fans, Star Wars fans, etc.) A lot of people seem to get into something really hard, and then when that thing changes- maybe just a little bit, maybe a lot- they continue to engage with it…