Sadly, my xbox 360 has been affected by the orange light of death. Even with an Intercooler on the back with several extra fans my xbox managed to overheat and die. I’m sure that I have a Best Buy warranty somewhere, but until I find that and get it repaired I won’t be playing any xbox 360 games. That’s ok because I have a PS3, which is better made by the way. Too it doesn’t have as many games as the 360.

I’d say my favorite fighting game is still Marvel vs. Capcom. I didn’t like the second one so much, but the first one is awesome. Word to the wise: don’t drop a bunch of cash on Marvel vs. Capcom 2 by buying it on eBay *cough stinks cough*. But, the original still rules and deserves mention.

I play it on my arcade machine. I built it on Mame and the PC2JAMMA project. It runs ArcadeOS, which you can get at the PC2JAMMA site. The benefits of doing it that way are that I get to use an actual arcade monitor, and wire directly into the JAMMA harness of the machine. The disadvantage is that you have to use DOS, gah! I’m not sure I’d do it that way if I had to again. But I sure as hell like the monitor better than what was available at the time. It looks more authentic. And big!

This is an old photo of my machine, which I’m currently trying to dig out of our garage. The screen is a little blurry because the image is in motion. Once I get that thing out of the back of the garage I’m going to do some more work on it and take some more pictures. Big plans I have, yes.

Since then, I’ve redone the CPO (control panel overlay) and the bezel and marquee. The bezel is the piece that surrounds the screen, and the marquee is the graphic at the top of the machine. I did some custom graphics for it. It’s now the “Champion Edition” arcade machine.

Here’s a look at the new CPO:

If you want, you can get the side art and marquee from http://www.mamemarquees.com/ and make your own. Here’s the sideart and the marquee.

There has been quite a bit of buzz concerning the upcoming release of Street Fighter IV. Here are some things that we know right now:

1. It’s going to be a 3D rendered game, with a two-dimensional plane of movement. I’m quite sure that they did this because they want to easily incorporate the old Shoryukens, Vipers, and Sonic Booms. Imagine trying to unleash distance energy attacks while your opponent is running all around in a 3D plane of movement.
2. The original SF2 World Warrior cast will be included. That means Ryu, Ken, Dhalsim, Blanka, Guile, Chun-Li, E-Honda, and Zangief will be in the game. Sagat and Balrog are going to be in the game as well.
3. Two new characters, Abel and Crimson Viper will be included. We have no idea how many other new characters will be in it. We can only hope that they will include Sheng Long.
4. The release date for the game is 06/15/2008. So it looks like it’s going to be a summer title.
5. Many of the levels that you will fight in will be based loosely on levels from SF2. When I say levels I mean “scenery”. Here are a few that are mentioned: North America: Drive-In at Night, South Asia: Beautiful Bay, and South America: Inland Jungle. You can see many of these in varying degrees of clarity at 1up.com.

That is all that we know so far! If you have anything to add to this please comment on this article and tell us about it. Give us a URL to look at and confirm as well if you can.

Yesterday I picked up a copy of Virtua Fighter 5 for Xbox 360, Sega’s new masterpiece. Let me tell you I am impressed. This game won best fighter at E3 this year, but I’d like to contest that this is actually the best fighting game of all time. At least in this millennium.

Okay, I’m sure you’re thinking. This is a just a Sega flog, or that I’m just crazy. Well, let me assure you that I am crazy. But that’s besides the point. Virtua Fighter 5 brings out the best of what playing in an arcade used to be about. Finding like minded fellows in a comfortable setting and thoroughly beating them senseless.

There is an arcade mode, sure. But where this game shines is in Quest mode, where you pit yourself against players of similar rank. You can choose which “Virtual” arcade that you want to go to and that determines the type of people that you’re going to run into.

The fun thing about that is that Quest mode is also the place where you win prize money and special items to upgrade and customize your character. Adding an element of RPG to it as well, (no you don’t have to fight any dragons that I’m aware of.)

All in all it’s a great game and I thoroughly recommend buying it with the lunch money that you’ve been saving up. Take all of your copies of DOA and trade them in for 75 cents apiece, because that’s what they’re going to be worth compared to this gem of a game.

Street Fighter IV has been announced! To say that it has been long awaited would be an understatement. The last incarnation of Street Fighter happened ten years ago. Basically all we can see so far is a video of Ryu and Ken fighting it out. But, even a teaser is welcomed at this point. I was wondering why Capcom makes crappy games like Lost Planet and Dead Rising when they have solid franchise titles like Street Fighter that have been in limbo for ages.

In part one we discussed how to modify the Hori Xbox 360 Arcade Stick by using a Sanwa bat top. Here I’ll show you how to fix the looseness of the controller by using a Sanwa GT-Y Octagonal Restrictor Plate. I like the octagonal restrictor because the 8 different vectors click into place. It makes it easier to do combination moves.Here’s what you’ll need:

1. A Sanwa GT-Y Octagonal Restrictor Plate. You can get one here.
2. Four 4-40x 1″ machine screws. From a hardware store.
3. Four 4-40 hex nuts. Also from a hardware store.
4. A drill, and a Phillips head screwdriver.
5. Silicon grease lubricant, or Vaseline.

Just so you know. Sanwa parts DO fit Hori arcade sticks. But, they are not exactly the same as Hori parts. Hori has their own specifications. So this restrictor plate isn’t going to just snap into place. You’re going to have to drill a few holes, and use some screws and bolts.

Disclaimer: I cannot accept any responsibility for any injury or damage that you may cause to yourself, others, or property when following any advice given on this site.

Here’s a shot of what the Sanwa eight way octagonal plate looks like in comparison to the Hori four way plate:

Step 1. Turn the controller upside down onto a pillow, or hold it in your lap. Unscrew the metal plate on the underside of the controller so that you can remove it. Once that is done, remove the metal plate.

Step 2. Unscrew the four screws that are holding the four way restrictor plate, then loosen the plastic tabs that are holding it in place and remove the four way restrictor plate.

This is what it should look like after that’s done. There are four standard arcade switches below the four way plate. Make a mental note of where each one goes (or write it down.) Then move each of them so that you can get at the plastic piece below.

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Most people have few complaints about the Hori Arcade Stick for the Xbox 360. Hori makes several versions, each of which has a different CPO (sticker graphic.) The few complaints that they do have center around the Japanese parts that are used. Most people are used to American style arcade sticks, with “tighter action” and a bat top instead of a ball top.

We’ll get to the “tightness” aspect of the controller later. First let’s address the ball top. It’s actually the easiest thing to change, as it should be. What you’re going to want to get is an LB-30-N Joystick Bat Top. You can get one of these at Lizard Lick Amusements. They have good prices, fast shipping, and take Paypal. And no, I don’t work for them. How rude of you.

IMPORTANT: You must get a Sanwa Joystick Adapter! Lizard Lick sells these as well. It’s basically just a screw within a screw. I’m sure there’s a funny analogy for that but I can’t think of any right now.

Step 1. Use a pair of vise grips, and a something soft like cloth or rubber to grip the metal stick like so. Unscrew the green ball top with the other hand.

Step 2. Put the Sanwa Joystick adapter onto the stick and screw it down. It doesn’t have to be super tight, but make sure its all the way on there.

Step 3. Use the vise grips again (and the cloth/rubber) to grip the metal stick, and screw the bat top down with your other hand.

Again, it only needs to be tight enough to securely hold. I wouldn’t recommend getting a second pair of vise grips and trying to force the thing into submission. That’s unnecessary, and illegal in some states.

Step 4. You’re done! Give yourself a pat on the back and tell your loved ones what an amazing thing you have accomplished! No really I mean it.

In part two I’ll show you how to replace the restrictor plate and fix the sloppy handling or “tightness” of the joystick.

Addendum: You may also open the case by unscrewing the metal plate from the bottom of the controller, then use a flathead screwdriver at the base of the shaft to screw the ball/bat top on or off. The joystick was designed to be adjusted this way. Also, you can add a JLF-CD Shaft Cover & Disk to make it look more professional. These can be found at Lizard Lick as well. But, you’ll need to use a dremel or other fine cutting tool to trim about 3/4″ off of the bottom of the shaft cover.

This is what it looks like with the shaft cover and disk.

Being the Ken fanatic that I am, I tracked down this file that has the majority of special moves and combos for Ken in SSF2T: SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2 TURBO KEN MASTERS FAQ

The introduction says this “Given the lack of SSF2T FAQs on the Net, I thought I’d make a little one for my favorite character, Ken. This is oriented toward beginners, so experts will probably want to stick to the Shotokan strategies they’ve already picked up.”

Since a lot of special moves for Super Turbo are quite a bit different than previous versions of Street Fighter II you should still find some interesting moves in this FAQ. Also, bear in mind that the new HD Remix for Xbox Live is going to be the Super Turbo version.

Have you ever built a computer on top of a piece of wood? It’s actually kind of fun, but strictly for grown ups. Kids don’t try this at home!

Click on the image to see a larger picture. You can ogle at all of the fancy wires and stuff. This is an early picture of the guts of my Mame Fighter Champion Edition machine. I buit the control panel and the computer from scratch. It runs Mame under DOS, and uses an actual arcade monitor. Not one of those crappy throw away VGA monitors. The real thing baby!