Albert Art M Bison Munny custom vinyl toy

The Psycho Crusher is Real!

I'm taking part in a group art show here in Vancouver, (Dec.5th @ The Fall Gallery), where the theme of the exhibit is "Evil Toys."

Nothing too original, and kind of boring actually in terms of a theme, but instead of doing the usual bloody, demonic, homicidal maniacs, and belated Halloween figures expected in a show such as this, I wanted to do something a little different.

So, I started brainstorming. Searching a box of Munny accessories that I've accumulated over the last few years, I got some ideas that revolved around this hat accessory, but really there were only two designs that came to mind, and it was a toss up between Hitler, and M.Bison.

Both are very iconic figures in pop-culture, (one more so than the other), but rather than design a toy around one of the most evil individuals to ever walk this Earth, I decided to skip the touchiness of a Hitler subject, for the videogame inspired villain from Capcom's Street Fighter, instead.

Besides, I love Street Fighter!

M.Bison has a pretty cool design to begin with. The massive boots, shoulder pads, and hat are great details to start out with, but it was the characters white eyes, and facial expression that really sold me on the character.

The imposing character is often seen with a toothy grin in artwork for the Street Fighter series, which over the years hasn't changed much, even though the character become more steroidal with each new game.

To make the design work for such a small super deformed vinyl toy, like the Kidrobot Munny, required some planning. Minimal, and simplistic in approach to the face, and added details, or the toy wouldn't work.

And of course, I have to put my own style into the design, as I am a fan of the asymmetrical expression.

The cape was taken from an old umbrella cover, which I cut and wrinkled up to give it a posable ability. The fabric became quite rigid, and easy to work with after a while. As you can see, it looks like the cape is flapping in the wind, when in actuality, no wind, or wires were required.

The boots were made with Super Sculpey, which I boiled, then sprayed with metallic paint in chrome. They are attached by screws which connect to the vinyl base, drilled with a handy Dremel tool.

The shoulder pads which are also Super Sculpey, had to be the right size, or the head wouldn't be able to move. The degree of rotation is limited, because the pads are pretty delicate, and can break.

M.Bison is another addition to my gamer themed collection of customs. I hope this toy brings a smile to all fans of Street Fighter. It was fun to make! This is also my last vinyl toy of 2009! Expect more awesomeness in the new year!

If you're in Vancouver, and wanna see this toy up close, stop by the art show Dec.5th to check it out. More details below.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

More info...

www.thefalltattooing.com

http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=170944202265&ref=mf

Good Gaming in February

I love Street Fighter IV, but that theme song is shiiiiit! Poppy-boy-band-Jpop-styled rock music for an otherwise awesome fighting game. I think the 'Indestructible' song cheapens Street Fighter kinda like the songs from every Sonic Adventure game, sounding more like a Saturday Morning cartoon theme for middle-school kids, than an epic beat em' up. Is there anyway to turn off the vocals? I'd rather listen to instrumental.

Aside from that, I'm having an awesome time playing Street Fighter IV. I honestly haven't played this much Street Fighter, since back in the SNES days when Super Street Fighter came out. And though times are different from then and now, Street Fighter remains Street Fighter, good ol' 2d bashing but with a graphical update, and more options to beat your opponent.

I beat arcade mode the other day on medium, after slugging it out with Seth. That guy is a cheap mofo, but after 10 or 15 tries, I finished him off.

The game looks so good on my monitor that I just had to take some pics of the opening intro. I love the painterly art style.

I especially like the option to have challengers connect while playing arcade mode. Makes the game feel even more like an arcade experience from the comforts of home.

GTAIV The Lost and Damned.

I used to really despise GTA, but since playing through and finishing GTAIV, I've grown to enjoy the series with a renewed sense of appreciation for what the developers are trying to accomplish with their film-like sandbox crime series.

"The Lost and Damned" is more of the same but with a biker gang, new characters, a basic leveling-up feature, and familiar faces from Niko's adventures in Liberty City. The gritty film-grain look really adds a cool aesthetic to this biker story, making The Lost and Damned, seem like a new game in itself.

If you're like me, and avoided using the motorcycles in GTA IV due to frustration with the control, I was bummed to hear that this game would involve lots of bikes, and bike racing. Gladly though, there are improvements to the handling of the motorcycles, but there are instances where controlling the thing is just beyond your control. It's not as frustrating as before, so that is definitely a good thing.

Pictures from GTA's intro.

Life is good with these two games!

Looking back at Street Fighter IV on tour.

Street Fighter IV creeped up on me. I had completely forgot about the games release until jonguy mentioned it on his Twitter.

The week is finally upon us, Capcom's Street Fighter IV is here. Rejoice! When thinking about this momentous arrival for fans of Street Fighter, I felt the need to look back at two events that helped to build the anticipation for the game.

SDCC08

July 08: San Diego Comic-Con. Capcom had a pretty sweet setup featuring the arcade machines of Street Fighter IV, and consoles of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix in a nicely designed boxing ring where players would bash each other Capcom style.

The swag: everyone got a cool Street Fighter headband like the one Ryu wears, but with the Street Fighter IV logo on it.

The downer: lineups at this attraction were quite long. Come to think of it, almost everything at Comic-Con has a ridiculous lineup.

Overall, Capcom definitely brought Street Fighter to the fans with all their exposure, and willingness to talk about the game, doing lots of Q&A's on the floor, and in the halls with the game producers.

Producer signings.

Q&A with animated segment of Chun-Li unveiling from the 'Making of' panel at Comic-Con.

TGS08

October 08: Tokyo Game Show. Capcom had a massive presence at Tokyo Game Show, though the booth was more focused on Resident Evil as the main attraction, Street Fighter had a pretty good setup, which was centered on the console versions of Street Fighter IV, pitting players against each other in competition. Players who beat 5 or more opponents got a Street Fighter IV baseball cap, while all other participants (especially the losing ones), got Street Fighter IV pins. I managed to collect quite a few pins from losing, so I hawked that shit on ebay. Ahah!

The swag: Street Fighter IV Chun-li and Ryu pins, baseball caps, and other handouts.

The downer: Competition was competitive. Hardcore Street Fighter players really showed off their skills.

Overall Capcom's Street Fighter TGS presence was awesome. Their booth was themed after Chun-li's stage in the game, which I think was better than Comic-Con's boxing ring, plus their official booth babe/cosplayers were awesome too, and pretty spot on. Just being at TGS was amazing!

With both these events in mind, the buildup to Street Fighter IV's release has been huge thanks to a well-oiled marketing machine at major events. Now gamers like me just want to own it, ASAP! I gotta dust off my 360 Hori stick. I'm a huge Virtua Fighter fan, but I loves me some Street Fighter too.

Better use your Focus Attack, biawwwwwtch!

Wednesday release for Canada. Blarg. Should I just drive to Seattle to get a copy? Yup, forgot to preorder. Oops.

Comic-Con 08 - Playing Street Fighter IV Capcom, delivering the goods at Comic-Con 08

On the last day at Comic-Con I finally managed to get around to playing the much anticipated Street Fighter IV at the Capcom booth. After a 30 minute lineup, that stretched around the booth (a boxing ring housing the arcade machines), CDN and I duked it out. It was definitely worth the wait to play Street Fighter II HD, and Street Fighter IV for however brief a time it was.

Producer Yoshinoro Ono signed posters, and posed for pictures while associate producer David Crislip, helped to translate and promote at the booth. All players were given a sweet Ryu head tie, just for playing the game.

With the insane lineup, I didn't have enough time to replay the game and give it a full testing, but from what I tried, it definitely played like the Street Fighter most gamers are familiar with, and it looked absolutely amazing up close. Street Fighter II HD on the other hand was different from what I expected, improved graphically, but the animation seemed to stick out oddly, like some sort of a cheap 'flash' version of the game, with missing frames which made the animation appear to pop.

In the mood for getting more Capcom, and realizing I hadn't spent much money on Con stuff, I picked up a copy of Street Fighter Tribute, a small Chun Li figurine, an Okami art book, and managed to get them signed by producer Yoshinoro Ono.

Related: making of Street Fighter IV

Comic-Con 08 - Making of Street fighter IV

 

3:00 - After a long trip from LA, I'm finally at Comic-Con, after missing the mornings events, I rushed to what was next on the agenda. Street Fighter IV, and no doubt the lineup was ridiculous, wrapping around the hall, I thought I wouldn't be able to get in.

 

 

3:28 - Finally inside, we were treated to a powerpoint featuring animation for Street Fighter IV, as well as new ingame video.The animation was created by Studio 4C, known for the Animatrix. "Collaborating with Capcom is a dream come true" says Jiro Kania of Studio 4 who was not in attendence, but was quoted in various slides.

 

After a brief Q&A we were treated to a never before seen video, animated segment featuring Chun Li.,

WonderCon '08: Street Fighter IV, and Bionic Commando

Saturday @ WonderCon Pt.1

Going to WonderCon was definitely a last minute thing for me. I knew it was going down pretty much after GDC, but I didn't think I would actually get around to attending. As if going through a crazy convention like GDC wasn't enough of a 'geek' experience, WonderCon was like the icing on the cake.

I registered on site at Mascone SouthHall, and took a quick look at the schedule to figure out what the heck I was gonna do. It was just my luck that I hadn't missed Capcom's 2008 Video Games presentation featuring Bionic Commando, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Okami Wii, but most notably Street Fighter IV. Though before actually getting to footage of the latest Street Fighter, we were treated to various trailers of upcoming Capcom games, and even a Bionic Commando competition to see who can traverse a level using the grapple arm the fastest. A self-proclaimed Bionic Commando 'EXPERT' from Gamespot was up against various audience participants. The funny thing is, he barely made it past the first 2 hooks in the challenge level and being totally humiliated he was given the boot. The audience members in the competition were able to get the games mechanics quickly, making it pretty far within the level.

Bionic Commando, and Bionic Commando Rearmed look like some awesome fun! The co-op feature looks great, and with the addition of the automatic split-screen option depending on the distance between both players, this game looks like it's coming along rather well. Check out the video I took from the WonderCon presentation!

Bionic Commando definitely got the crowd ready for what was to come next. Two older trailers for Street Fighter IV were played for us, and after that we were treated to a third video, which we were told, has never been revealed to the public until then. Here's the video I took below:

Returning favorites always seem to get the thumbs up from fans! Despite the 'new' look of this Street Fighter, the gameplay looks totally intact.