Interview: Talking video games and game journalism with HipHopGamer
I can vividly recall the first time that I met HipHopGamer; actually, the first time that I saw him. I was at an Activision party watching some skinny-pantsed hipsters spin the virtual wax, when I saw a dude bop into the room with a god damned wrestling belt strapped over his shoulder. I thought that this was either the ballsiest mofo around, or the most outrageous – - and it turns out he is both.
HipHopGamer has rocketed to popularity thanks to his self-titled website (HipHopGamerShow) where he hosts weekly video articles (or vidicles, as the man’s coined the series of clips). After listening to HipHopGamer give his enthusiastic insights on his own show, exchanging messages about gaming with him via e-mail, meeting at a Sony event, and listening to him on Torrence Davis’ WarZone over at The Bitbag, I knew it was time for an interview. Check it out.
The crux of the HipHopGamerShow revolves around your patented weekly vidicles. Why did you decide to go the video route instead of writing traditional articles?
When you write people don’t get the full understanding and full emotion of what your message is. With video you can see my facial expressions, and hear my tone of voice when I say certain things [for emphasis]. Also, no one else is doing it. See, it’s one thing to make a video talking about games, but I treat my videos as articles. I provide bullet points, so it’s like a story, so to speak. When I present these vidicles people can understand after the first view as opposed to reading something three or four times to try and understand what a journalist is saying. Also, I love being in front of the camera anyway [laughs].
Interview: Robby Zinchak, Associate Producer, Final Fight: Double Impact
Filed under: Beat Em Ups, Compilation, Interviews
If you’ve thought it was a Capcom lovefest around these parts thanks to the ongoing discussions regarding Jetpack Attack, Mega Man 10, and Cody’s inclusion in Super Street Fighter IV, prepare for one more round of the warm fuzzies. As promised, our interview with Robby Zinchak, Associate Producer, Final Fight: Double Impact, who kindly filled us in on the upcoming title and the franchise as a whole.
Final Fight is considered by many, myself included, to be the face of beat’ em ups along with Double Dragon and River City Ransom. What’s allowed this game, and franchise, to be continually beloved after all of these years?
I think Final Fight has endured through the years because it features simple gameplay that’s a lot of fun. You can put a quarter in the arcade and immediately know how to play, no instructions required. Playing through the game with a buddy is a great co-op experience. Final Fight’s nostalgic gameplay still holds up, even today.
Double Dragon Returns With “Revenge of the Wounded Dragon”?
UPDATE: It looks like the answer, sadly, is no. Revenge of the Wounded Dragon appears to be a new title that’s set to debut on PSN “soon.” A feature list, courtesy of the PlayStation Blog:
- Single player and local multi-player modes
- 4 beautiful environments with immersive levels, totalling 24 areas all of them packed with enemies
- 10 mini-games: Play them in single player or against your friends
- Finishing moves to defeat your enemies
- Dragon rage, your special power
- Co-op moves to use with your friends in multi-player mode
- Cool animated comic storytelling between levels
- 12 PS3 Trophies
- Leaderboards
- The ability to create your own soundtrack and relive your game by taking screens through the XMB!
My original jump-the-gun post after the break.
Review: Dynamite Cop (Dreamcast)
Traditionally, beat ‘em ups have represented the most basic of video game storytelling and gameplay mechanics. Three of the most beloved and respected games in the genre – - Double Dragon, Final Fight, and River City Ransom – - feature protagonists on vengeful missions to rescue their kidnapped girlfriend from goons. It’s hardly the most original premise; it’s basically the “save the princess” idea transplanted into gang-infested urban environments. The action elements are typically cliched; they mainly consist of a player spamming the attack buttons as fast as possible as she guides a brawler through wave after wave of street vermin in a linear and, oftentimes, repetitive fashion.
SEGA’s criminally-overlooked Dynamite Cop takes those segments of the beat ‘em up genre and presents them with a refreshing spin that, although not genre-redefining, is a much need and welcome change to the beat ‘em up class.
Everybody Was Kung Fu Fightin’: The Top 6 Beat ‘Em Ups of All Time
Two weeks ago, I turned an accusing eye toward Beat ‘Em Ups, but let it be known that I’m still a devoted fan of the genre, despite its repetitive nature and numerous flaws. Although there are plenty of gameplay tweaks that can be done to breathe new life into the category, I’m going to foucs on the positive by highlighting my six favorite BEUs of all time. This will encompass a mix of hall of fame-worthy BEUs, more obscure titles, and at least one game that’s regarded as a turd by many a gamer. So grab your baseball bat and brass knucks, kids, ’cause we’re takin’ it to the streets.
River City Ransom (NES)
Otaku, purists, and a wide variety of nitpickers may, in retrospect, hold disdain for Technos’ localization of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, but I will proclaim to the day that I meet the big NES in the sky, that the greaser look that the company’s American division gave the sprites is way more bad ass than the Japanese schoolboy uniforms of the original. It’s the closest thing to an 8-bit brawler version of The Outsiders, but without scenes like this.
The story is typical beat ‘em up fare: a fair maiden is kidnapped by a shady character (in this case, Slick) who rules the mean streets with a squat, miniature iron fist, and it’s up to our plucky protagonists, Alex and Ryan, to dish out hardcore street justice. Why did it rock my socks? River City Ransom utilized a unique RPG system for powering up your pint-size brawler, which let gamers buy all manner of skills (with money lifted from the pockets of fallen foes) that heightened your fist-smashing-face skills. Plus, you could block attacks (a rare, but awesome gem in the genre), that few other of its contemporaries allowed. After all, if someone wanted to bash me in the head with a 2 x 4, I think I’d no more than act as a rest stop for it.
Beat Em Ups: How to Properly Resurrect the Genre
A few weeks ago, my friend Gabriel stopped by to take in a couple of rounds of Hokuto no Ken for the PlayStation 2, as he’s a huge fan of the American Fist of the Northstar movie, hilariously bad Streamline dub and all. After several minutes of being dazzled by the sexy visuals and fun gameplay, he said in a very matter of fact manner, “This would kick ass as a side scrolling brawler.”
My brain hung on those words as he continued to slice his way through Roah using Rei, and I pondered why there aren’t any visually stunning, hyper-animated, 2D beat ‘em ups. After realizing that the answer to that query was one I did not want to hear (BEUs are a genre on the verge of extinction) I shed a mighty, floor-shattering man-tear worthy of one that Kenshiro would drop (after Gabe left the premises, of course).
As a child of the ’80s, my videogame resume is filled with the likes of Double Dragon, Final Fight, River City Ransom, and Streets of Rage. Mowing down wave after wave of urban vermin made up the majority of my gaming time, and possibly prepped me for a rather excellent career as a vigilante or rogue cop should this writing thing not pan out. As such, I support the genre in all of its forms, even digital abortions like Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance, but I’ve become increasingly fed with an industry that seemingly has forgotten why BEUs were a gaming mainstay in the ’80s and ’90s. So what the fuh went wrong?
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