Keeping with the theme of my monthly blogging, this month I'm covering MLG Providence. This year has been a big learning experience for me. As I've said many times, I don't play FPS games. I'm not sure if its the crazy movement giving me motion sickness, or maybe I'm getting old, but I can't keep up with the gameplay to find it enjoyable. Fighting games are more my style. Well that and certain PC games. I've had lots of friends tell me about DOTA and League of Legends, but I never really paid that much attention to them. Mainly because I was too busy to sit down and play those kind of games. The last time I even touched an MMORPG was Maplestory. After this MLG season, its pretty clear that they want to expand into the PC realm, and I think thats a good move. There are more competitively played games, more sponsors, and much more of a player base to get involved once you start talking about PC games. Look at Starcraft 2. It was kind of like a "Let's try this and see" game last season. This year it eclipsed MLG's favored Halo for most popular.

Next season MLG would really like to have another fighting game. Obviously, the number one game that everybody would love to see on the roster is Street Fighter. But just in case it doesn't make it, there are a number of alternatives that may provide an exciting viewer base that could pick up steam, ala SC2 last year and LoL this year. First up is Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, now if they can't get SF, maybe Capcom would be willing to work with their other big fighting game title. The Marvel fighting game scene is already a huge community in its own right, and could easily bring the hype that SF could. Next I would say is Soul Calibur 5. SC2 was one of the original games on the MLG circuit years ago, and this might be the perfect opportunity to bring it back. Besides, if that means we get to see more of Kayane, thats a win for everybody. In late March, Street Fighter X Tekken comes out, and just in time for next season. It could be a match made in heaven with Tekken and SF crowds. Finally for an off the wall pick is BlazBlue. It flies under the radar a bit under the big boys, but so did its predecessor Guilty Gear. With a market hungry company like Aksys begging for exposure, they just may be the most willing partner to really push a fighting game in MLG.

So now the NFL season is into week 4. Now you find out if your top 3 picks were busts or not, and your random waiver wire pickups became gems. I'm currently in 2 fantasy football leagues, one with my company and one with some old friends. It looks like I'm in good position to win both matchups this week(knock on wood). But that also brings up some thoughts. With all the time and research I spent preparing for the draft in my company league, my team will be at .500 with a win this week. Meanwhile, my other league that was straight auto-picked(didn't set anything so I could have ended up with the dreaded combo of Chris Johnson and Peyton Manning) is sitting on a perfect 4-0 win a win this week.

My thoughts are, is it really that important to sit there and research your picks? Could Molly in accounting really win with picking players from teams with "cat" based names? Thought you got a real steal by getting Jamaal Charles in the 2nd or 3rd round as your #2 back, only to watch in horror as he was carted off with a season ending knee injury? Its pretty crazy how addictive and serious people take Fantasy sports now. I'm relatively new to the genre myself, I started with Fantasy Basketball and Baseball in 2003. But that was for bragging rights and pizza. Now I hear companies have pools setup 14-16 deep. Hearing 2 office ladies in an elevator talking about whether they should be starting Jeremy Maclin vs the 49'ers or Sidney Rice vs the Cowboys was pretty interesting. Definitely wasn't something you would hear 5 or 10 years ago. Now if only that would translate to Street Fighter...

Another month another post, lol! Anyhow, we're like literally days away from one of the biggest gaming weekends in history! Tokyo Game Show is playing host to the Tokyo Jamma Show, and Tougeki's Super Battle Opera. Not only is it the largest gaming expo in the world, but now its added the largest Arcade industry event and the largest arcade fighting game tournament in the world. I have a couple of sources headed there for the festivities since I can't make it, and hopefully they'll be able to dig up some goodies for me to write about.

This past week I actually came out of a semi retirement to play in a couple of tournaments. Planet Zero's SSF4AE weeklies and a PS3 Tetris tournament at Insomnia in North Houston. Scrubbed out a couple wins in SSF4AE, but yeah, I don't really play it at all. Tetris was interesting, I love playing it, but not used to playing it on a controller, especially not on PS3. Took me a few games to get semi used to it, but in the end it came back to bite me in critical moments. No shame in 3rd place, lost to both the champ and runner up. Maybe next time, especially since its like right by my parents house. For those up north that wanted to find anime toys, games, and goodies, but were forced to travel to Planet Anime, or Bedrock comics, Insomia is a nice little place carrying some of the latest toys and figures from Kotobukiya, Kid Robot and other big name brands off 1960 and Mighty Oak in the same shopping center as the eternal Feng Ling restaurant.

This coming weekend, PZ is also holding their monthly Cosplay event. So for fans of cosplay and those who love to cosplay, this is the perfect weekend to break out the outfits ya'll are planning to unveil at Oni-Con next month, or just to dust off the old ones that need to breathe!

Trying to finish up cleaning up my new place before the weekend. Planet Zero is hosting an SBO qualifier for Super Street Fighter 4 AE and BlazBlue CS2. Going to host a post bday/house warming party of sorts afterwards. Hopefully it doesn't get too messy. Last time I threw a house party, cops were involved, and a lot of people redecorated my front yard.

This year MLG seems to have problems with their lineup. Trying to find a good balance between all the games and match the popularity of Starcraft 2. Even Halo Reach is having trouble matching the hype from Blizzard's big creation. After introducing Mortal Kombat 9 into the mix 2 events ago, now comes League of Legends. To be honest, I know nothing about the game. I had to ask some friends what it was. But they seem to be excited about it, and so must all the hardcore LoL players as well. Hopefully it takes off and becomes a full fledged tournament game like SC2.

The NFL season is almost upon us, and that means Fantasy Football time. I'm in 2 leagues currently, one with SRK friends, and one with co-workers. So naturally, we end up watching camp news, latest injuries, and so forth in preparation for our drafts. But why watch pre-season football? I mean, sitting at home is one thing, theres nothing else really on, but actually buying a ticket and going to watch it? I hope the tix were discounted cause I really can't imagine doing that at full price. The starters are out there for all of 1 quarter, if they suit up at all! Watching 3 quarters of bumbling 4th string kick return backups trying to figure out which side of the ball their on is not my idea of premium NFL action. But then again, I guess if you're really starved for football, its better than watching some random school get their butt kicked by some powerhouse school.

So this month is the month where everything in my world is being shifted and moved all over Houston. Over the past week we've been moving everything from my old office to a new(er) one next to Sharpstown Mall. Its strange how ghetto an area can get after just one block. We're on the 19th floor, and I'm not great with heights. Upside is it has a big parking garage, which I ended up using to film a video with Lana. Lord knows when I'll ever have time to finish editing it.

Next weekend Planet Zero is hosting their SBO qualifiers for BlazBlue CS2 and SSF4AE. Should be interesting to see who takes it. The weekend after that is probably one of the busiest in the competitive gaming universe, Evo2k11 and MLG Anaheim are literally happening a state apart at the same time. Players from all over the world are coming for both events, and where will I be? Stuck in Houston working...

Oh well, I finally got into Google +


Music: TVXQ - Keep Your Head Down