Retro Bar Baking

I had a random start to my night of fun last Saturday. It began with a few calls from some friends about a quirky and cool sounding night at a bar in Central London organised by Hand Baked Arcade – the event of sorts comprised of a bar, DJs playing Drum & Bass and Dub Step, and the deal maker - RETRO GAMES ON FREEPLAY!!! So, it’s safe to say I was interested in going.

Upon my approach I would be lying if the scary image of a sweaty room filled to the brim with hygienically challenged men wearing HMV Retro games T-Shirts to “make a statement” did not come to mind, but to my (relief) delight the place resembled a chic London bar with artificial beams of pixels and fun looking people around the place – #Win.

Upon finding familiar faces the first thing I clocked onto was Street Fighter 2 Turbo running on the SNES projected onto a wall screen – done deal, I made my way over. After over 7 years of not playing this game I felt back at home with that (now competitively) tiny pad and began dragon punching people. I remembered how walking up to a random stranger playing Street Fighter in the arcade and challenging them with your 30>50p to try and kill their winning streak felt. Awesome.

Within minutes of looking around an overwhelming surge of nostalgia filled my mind. It wasn’t just that there were retro games there – no, I have almost every console made and too many games to even attempt playing. Thinking back, I think it was because of the genuine ambiance of the place – nice gamer people who were sociable and a venue that had a relaxed lock in feel to it (possibly helped by the random TV screens and consoles lying around).

It reminded me of being back at uni and ending a session at the student union with some gaming until today became tomorrow; I remembered being 15 and mastering Street Fighter again; I even remembered having to blow into cart to get them to work sometimes, and how I would happily pay full price for Street Fighter 2.1.1.1.1.1.1 Gamma edition; I remembered why I loved and still love games so much even though I no longer have the time to play them (bad times)! Oh and I like drinking too so the bar was nice.

Given that gaming (however much “mainstream” has changed it over the years) has become a bigger industry than film and music how about PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo made friendly and open up a bar somewhere together? A day time “Family zone” filled with Wiis and a bar with two rooms separated by riot doors to stop Xbox/PS fanboys from pulling each other’s hair with some dub step, DnB and Hip-Hop to chill to – be cool I think! How events such as these are niche (or otherwise non-existent) is beyond me! C’mon, even if you aren’t into games that much, admit it – when you see a retro arcade machine in a bar around Old Street or along Brighton beach, you know you turn your head and smile… even just a little… right?

So here is my hat tip to the boys and girls at Hand Baked Arcade for organising such a great night! More to follow right…? They had better make it a regular or I, quite frankly, may cry. You won’t like me when I cry.

Gaming and advertising OnLive

A few days ago I read about the unveiling of an innovation that combined two of my core passions; games and advertising communications. OnLive is a platform allowing for users to play full games via internet streaming through an OnLive box. It is truly a technological innovation that I believe will converge interactive entertainment (games) and interactive media communications (advertising and branding).

OnLive will potentially bring mass gaming to a new level of accessibility. No longer will we need to have a particular console or a beefed up PC that can calculate a weekend trip to the moon, no longer (hopefully) will we see endless “fan boy” banter trying to macho one another based upon 360 vs. PS3 vs. BMW... hopefully. Provided broadband technology can progress in time for the mass launch of OnLive, we may soon experience the epoch of connected, live and viable mass gaming free from hardware restrictions.

Technology has seeped into our lifestyles, and the internet has evolved from being perceived as a geeky niche to a core part of our daily lives. Sony successfully made computer games cool and socially acceptable building upon established innovations pioneered by Nintendo and Sega with the PlayStation brand; Mario and Sonic had gained guest list status towering that of Hollywood since. Similarly, Apple created the iPod that successfully provided the image conscious consumer with a product and brand that allows them to proudly carry a gadget without going covert and leading to wanting that PowerBook. Most recently, Sony PlayStation HOME brought a virtual social world to the mass casual, hardcore and web 2.0 gamer. HOME is a virtual world that was accessible by every PlayStation 3 owner, had more social credibility thanks to the Sony PlayStation brand than Fifth-Life, and allowed for brands such as Diesel to virtually peddle their branded wares. Could OnLive be what brings online gaming to the masses? It looks promising indeed.

I still remember playing WipEout 2097 on the PlayStation back in 1997 and noticing what I think is the first ever in game advertising of a real world brand in the game. Red Bull banners adorned tracks and I felt connected to the real world as I sped about in a blisteringly fast and unrealistic craft without wings. Good times. Since then, advertisers and brands have wised up to the potential of in game advertising, a favourite example of mine being in Ka (aka Mr. Mosquito in the western world) on the PlayStation 2, with household anti mosquito brands galore and more recently with Red Bull launching their own Red Bull Air Race PlayStation HOME space. Metal Gear Solid 4 saw our very own Solid Snake carrying around an in-game iPod to jam to as he sneaks about the place (the sticks work well to emulate iPod controls... take note Apple!).

My only concern is the likelihood of the gaming giants to support such an open channel, sacrificing what is quite obviously a viable business model of investing in a controllable market. I am of course referring to their own consoles. The PlayStation X, Nintendo Yuu/Mii/Wii, Xbox 1080p, all allow for control over market segments within the fastest growing entertainment market the world has ever seen. I hope that all can reach an agreeable meeting point that does not involve the loss of diverse choice to the consumers or the mass laying off of talented geniuses. Just think of the possibilities; Sony bringing their technological innovations in entertainment, Microsoft broadening their online LIVE services, and Nintendo contributing their blue-sky creativity. OnLive could also allow for Sony PlayStation HOME to reach a broader audience, in turn allowing brands with virtual presence such as Diesel to reach more gamers, via a socially accepted virtual space. Let's hope everyone can find a common ground to move this kind of technology forward.

The future is soon, and I believe in it.

Here comes a new challenger

October 2007, out of nowhere, a beautiful anime style video appears on YouTube. An epoch for fans of Street Fighter all over the world had transpired. After over a decade, the long anticipated Street Fighter IV had been announced. It wouldn’t be long before the words “Here comes a new challenger” would disrupt many an epic gladiatorial match against an opponent.

The main question on people’s minds - after all this time, could it make the same impact and evoke the same levels of emotion and passion with its old fan base, and moreover gain the interest of the new casual gamer used to FPS games and air guitars? I think yes, and here is why. The first time I tired Street Fighter IV, I remember sitting down on that arcade cabinet and laying my hands on the joystick set up for the first time in over five years; it felt familiar, comfortable, right – a “welcome home” moment after a long break away.

Thinking back to the days of Street Fighter II The World Warrior, Championship Edition, Hyper/Turbo, Super, Super Hyper Turbo edition, LED Sheep edition (think for a moment, that didn’t happen, but Imagine the possibilities. Super mutton combo anyone?), Street Fighter was such a phenomenon that we would buy each update as though it were an actual new game. In today’s era of download content (DLC), the franchise was so loved that we did not care! We wanted those four bosses playable, or to play it faster and we would pay another £50 for the privilege, yeah! Like Haribo, kids and adults love it so, like a Kellogg’s Crunchy Nutter, it was all worth it for the excitement of playing just ANOTHER game.

“Hadouken!” would soon resonate as fireballs were hurled, sunbursts erupt as a opponent is defeated with a Super Move, and many a male ego destined to be dented as “experts” would be defeated by challengers. This was what Street Fighter was about: a virtual competitive sport where guys could compete with each other without kicking a ball or arguing over who was off-side. Street Fighter IV to me is a clear progression of the series and genre; faithful to its 2D roots, harnessing new technology to complement, not replace a system en route to perfection. Without ‘selling out’ or alienating loyal fans, Street Fighter IV is familiar, yet boldly progressive enough to pull in new gamers. Well done Capcom, you have succeeded against the odds of many critics that believed 2D fighting games were dead. This was the rebirth of a return to innocence, the feeling of excitement unparalled by “next gen” games with groundbreaking graphical wizardry; true arcade gaming was back.

Street Fighter IV successfully delivered that moment of satisfaction as you connected that chain combo and defeated an opponent with an Ultra Combo (it will always be a Super to me) finish. Ten years now feels worth the wait to experience that momentary return to feeling the excitement I did as a fifteen year old boy enthralled by the complex technical simplicity that is Street Fighter. Long live Gouki /Akuma and his raging demons.