Capcom's Street Fighter IV PR machine just keeps rolling along with their release today of the Gouken boss battle trailer. Brother to fellow boss Akuma, Gouken is the tough old man of the Street Fighter series, and sensei to hot shots Ken and Ryu. Appropriately the trailer below shows the burly old master totally wiping the floor with both Ken and Ryu's pretty boy faces, as well as taking no pity on my girl in blue Chun-Li. The game releases next February on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC platforms. Enjoy.

--Hobson's Choice

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Okay, well maybe it is more like off Broadway and not quite raining like Cats, but DDR has indeed made it to the Great White Way.

Something along the lines of a futuristic Footloose, meets Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with a sprinkling of Tommy thrown in for good measure, the stage version of Dance Dance Revolution is loosely based on the popular Konami game franchise and is set in a futuristic society where dancing is illegal. What, no dancing? Who would put up with that, certainly not the scantily clad young street toughs who populate this world and chafe at the lack of outlets for their terpsichorean tendencies. But they need a leader. Right on cue the mysterious dance prophet 'Moonbeam Funk' hits the stage, mat, platform, etc. A whole lot a Moonbeam Dance offs, spandex, and musical happenings ensue, and oh yes, Revolution.

Presented by the New York-based Les Freres Corbusier repretory theater, unfortunately this production is currently limited to NYC. I've been threatening to take up theater going in my old age, no, really. If this production, or some of the others under Les Freres' banner--see some of the totally off-the-wall productions they've done at their site--ever goes out on the road I might just be tempted to follow through on that threat. Also, gaming is such a follow the leader/dollar industry that I wonder what could be next: God of War 4: The Opera? Gears of War Dinner Theater?

--Hobson's Choice

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A true throwback to the early days of gaming that pretty much everyone assumed were gone forever, Mega Man 9 is a reminder of what gaming was, and still can be all about: you, your controller and a challenge.

The ninth installment in Capcom's Mega Man series, which dates back to 1986, Mega Man 9 is an all new 2D platforming adventure designed to look, play and sound just like classic 8-bit games from the NES and upright arcade era. As the game opens it is revealed that a brief peace has been shattered by rampaging robots, and the question of who is behind it is raised? It could be the usual suspect Dr. Wily, but it could also be Mega Man ally Dr. Light. The one certainty is that you will be the one to take on the eight robot masters in themed 2D scrolling action to save the day. In defeating each you will gain a weapon that is crucial in defeating one of the others. It's up to you to figure out which is which and take the battle to them bots.

Just as in all 8-bit games, Mega Man 9's controls and gameplay are simple and straight forward. Mega Man can run, jump and
shoot, that's it. There is no ducking, no tricks and definitely no auto
saves. So, when you die, you are right back at the beginning of the level, hopefully mustering enough compulsive gaming tendencies to give
it another shot and power on through. Truth be told, I can't remember a time in the recent past when I've
struggled so hard to clear a level, or gained as much satisfaction when
I finally did. That's right, listen up all you hardcore Next-Geners out there. When you can whip through these levels as easy as you do on the shooter of the hour, then you'll be hardcore. I'd say MM9 was worth the ish download cost just for the initial go of it, and I assure you I've got more than a few levels to go. So, whether you are looking to inject a little nostalgia into your game, or are just in search of a challenge, this is definitely a cheap way to get either.


Mega Man 9 is available for download and play on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network and the Wii Shopping Channel. Although game features included and exact cost via each of these may vary slightly, here is what you can expect from the Xbox LIVE Arcade version that was sampled for this review. See the other versions on their respective platforms for particulars those:

• Players supported: 1
• Cost: 800 Microsoft points
• Leaderboard support: Yes
• LIVE Achievements: 12
• Additional downloadable content: Themes, Extra modes, attacks, gamer pics
• 50 built-in challenges that can be completed on different levels

--Hobson's Choice

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Sure, the presidential election is over. Soon enough the memories of the hours of news and infotainment compulsively consumption over the last few months will fade away and the countdown to Democratic responsibility for the changes that need to happen in this country and the world will begin. But before those things happen, I have to give a shoutout to all the flash game developers on the Net who jumped on the political bandwagon in '08 and cranked out some quality and/or amusing stuff. Maybe I was not paying attention during previous elections and similarly infectious little bits of code were floating around then as well, but I gotta say, if they were I did not notice.

Check out and play a few of the gems that popped up during this year's presidential campaign.

AirMILF
Thanks for the memories Governor. Whether '08 ends up being the beginning or ending of Sarah Palin's career in national politics, the nation and a good chunk of the world has got a pack full of images stuck in our heads for ever more; only one of which is of Alaska's Caribou Barbie rather unsportingly raining lead down on canis lupus and family for fun and profit.

Campaign: General Election Edition
Who are the real Americans and where do they live? Who knows, who cares. The country is up for grabs and to the winner will go the spoils. A turn-based strategy game where players choose their candidate and support staff members--each with different strengths, weaknesses and special moves--all joking aside, this is actually a pretty fun game in a red/blue/grey state kind of way. Singleplayer and multiplayer option available.

Joe The Plumber: Layin' Pipe
This
year's Republican populist rhetoric has it that there a little bit of
'Joe the Plumber' in all of us. God, I hope not. If so, who is gonna
deal with the next septic situation? The quizzical Mr. Wurzelbacherust
may some day yet attain the license that has alluded him, but in the
meantime use your brainteasing abilities to beat the flush in
this escalating series of puzzles that are reminiscent of the hacking
mini-games of BioShock.

Super Obama World
We all hope that president Obama's platform is as well rounded as it sounded during the campaign. We will have to wait until after inauguration day to get the details on that, but in the meantime players can run and jump through this 2D sidescroller modeled after the various Super Mario franchises. Approach the lipsticked pigs and mavericks gone rogue at your peril.

Below The Beltway   
Whether during the debates or on the stump, the gloves came off in a big way during this year's campaign. Relive every jab, hook, haymaker and body blow both on at the presidential level and on the under ticket in this boxing game that uh, pulls no punches.


--Hobson's Choice

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Street Fighter fans all over the world are ruing their lack of Japanese--well, except those fans in Japan that is--with the release of the Japanese Boss trailer Street Fighter IV below which gives a peek at tough guy Seth. I had seen screens of Seth several months back, but I thought that he was an all new Boss to the franchise. Then I saw a few references on the Web that seemed to indicate, if unclearly, that he had made an appearance in a few of the earlier arcade versions, though I don't recall that. Regardless, he looks like he'll be a kick ass villain in SF IV.

In the trailer below he looks to be able to work his chi into explosive and propulsive bursts and transport himself through space. Regardless, he puts some serious hurt on M. Bison and totally destroys Guile. I'm feeling pretty down with this, so I had better start saving my spare change now...The game comes out in February '09 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Expect more info as release date creeps closer and if anyone knows what other SF games Seth may have appeared in, clue me in.

--Hobson's Choice

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