Month: April 2017

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Offering another potential way to play Super Smash Bros., Alt Lab Controllers show off the Smash Stick

While a battle has been raging between the Smash Box and the B0XX to be the true next evolution in controllers for competitive Smash, a third controller has quietly slipped into view. Choosing to eschew the HitBox-esque buttons for controlling a character’s movement, this new controller uses a traditional arcade-stick to move characters about in a way more players understand at a glance.

Aptly named the Smash Stick, this prototype controller looks more like a traditional fight stick, with a joystick and five button ‘homerow’ to move your character around. Unlike the Smash Box or the B0XX, the joystick is completely analog, with buttons for X, Z and the C-Stick being placed outside of the homerow. There is a toggle on the back of the stick to switch the C-Stick buttons to the D-Pad and vice versa.

While the stick may not offer the surgical precision that the Smash Box or the B0XX provide, it is an ergonomic design with a button layout which requires minimal flexion or extension of the fingers while playing. From first glance, it seems to sidestep many of the problems that has plagued both the Smash Box and B0XX in terms of giving players a distant advantage in game, while also being a suitable ergonomic alternative to the traditional GameCube controller.

The Smash Stick is still in active development so expect aspects of its button layout and overall design to change as more people test this extra control alternative.

Source: TheBlackHombre

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– Rend Devs Give Insight into Primary & Secondary Classes

The Rend site has been published that reveals the four character classes coming with the game: Assassin, Soldier, Survivalist and Mystic. What makes Rend different than other ARPGs / survival games is that class isn’t chosen at creation, but comes at level two. In addition, players will be able to choose one of the remaining three classes as a secondary. Each point applied in a path, unlocks different tiers of abilities.

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Jmcrofts lists 5 things he loves and 5 things he hates about Street Fighter IV

Recently, jmcrofts has been doing a series of videos chronicling both some of the things he loves, as well as some of the things he loves about particular games. Last month, he even provided us with his list of the top 10 worst characters [in terms of tiers and competitive viability] in Street Fighter history.

This time, however, he takes a look at five things he hates, followed by five things he loves about the Street Fighter IV series, in order to provide viewers with a balanced perspective and to show both sides of the coin.

SFIV was the title that reestablished the fighting game genre back into mainstream culture, and brought our community to unprecedented heights that many thought we would never reach. With the largest character roster in the history of the series, with a massive 44 fighters, along with new mechanics, such as Ultras and  Focus Attacks, there was quite a lot to learn about the game at and all levels of play. Combine these with Crouch Teching, Option Selects, a pletheora of Divekick and Vortex characters and some of the most celebrated balance in the franchise’s history by the time Ultra’s final patch rolled around and you’ll quickly find that there is certainly a lot of elements that could prove divisive amongst the title’s massive fanbase.

Towards the end of the video, jmcrofts provides a message to viewers about considering both sides of the argument before casting final judgment on any product.

I think it’s important for all of us that you kind of don’t think about things in purely black and white. It seems like for a lot of people they either completely love something and they can’t accept any criticism of it, or they completely hate it and they get upset when people say good things about it. So I think it’s important to kind of be able to acknowledge good and bad things in everything. No game is perfect, and no game is 100% bad with no redeeming qualities.

 Do you agree or disagree with his list? Are there other things you would’ve put in your own? Check out the full video below and let us know how you feel in the comments section!

Jmcrofts has also made “5 Things I Love and Hate” lists about Street Fighter V and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 as well, that you can check out here and here.

Source: jmcrofts