Skullgirls Fans Prefer Cute and Comedic Over Sexy

If you're a backer on Skullgirls Indiegogo fund, you probably saw the recent character popularity poll:

Out of the current character roster, which character is your favorite?
現在プレイ可能なキャラクターの中で、どのキャラクターが一番好きですか?

Filia / フィリア : 11.7%
Cerebella / セレベラ : 12.1%
Peacock / ピーコック : 19.2%
Parasoul / パラソール : 11.7%
Ms. Fortune / Ms. フォーチュン : 18.7%
Painwheel / ペインホイール : 6.9%
Valentine / ヴァレンタイン : 15.6%
Double / ダブル : 4.1%

(Source: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-skullgirls-growing)

It's expected that the ugly characters didn't see much love, but I am surprised to see Peacock at the top.  Not that Peacock is ugly, but she's not exactly a design that would be considered hot or sexy.

I'm also surprised to see Ms. Fortune beating Valentine and Parasoul.  Ms. Fortune's design is focused on being cute; as cute as a dismembered catgirl throwing her severed limbs around can be.  Her design is definitely closer to Peacock's in such that it's pretty wacky.

Actually, it makes perfect sense.  If I were in the demographic that wanted typical babes in a video games, I wouldn't be playing Skullgirls.  Could it be that the average otaku gamer is more attracted to cute and comedic designs over straight-up sexy?  Probably.  We're still into that moe stuff, right?

Sure enough, the poll itself confirms the Skullgirls audience:

In the next year, do you plan to attend an anime, comics or game convention?
今後1年間にアニメ・漫画／コミック・ゲームなどの会議・コンベンションに参加する予定はありますか？

Yes / はい : 69.5%
No / いいえ : 30.5%

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a special snowflake sydrome I need to cure by playing the most moe team of all: Painwheel/Double.

Careful with your Sanwa Restrictor Plate Inserts!

When swapping out your Sanwa 4-way restrictor gate insert, don't push the insert too hard when turning it.  I made this mistake and I heard a snapping sound.  I took a close look and noticed that one of the plate tabs had been cracked, about to split off with any further pressure:

Notice the tab on the left is slightly raised, compared to the tab on the right.  You can tell that the insert is off-balance based on the peg in the center; not being completely perpendicular to the plate.

The damage really isn't that terrible, but you'll never know if the 0.5mm difference in action is the reason why you dropped a game-winning one-frame link combo.  So with that, I will dropping the five bucks for a replacement restrictor plate!

If you need to know how to replace the insert, check out this video:

MadCatz TE-R2: Seimitsu LS-58 Stick Swap

Simple stick swap.  The stock mounting plate that comes with the Seimitsu LS-58-01 is rectangular-shaped, much like Sanwa's JLF stick.  Here's a comparison pic of their undersides:
(Seimitsu on the left, Sanwa on the right)

I unscrewed the Sanwa stick and you can see here that the Seimitsu LS-58-01 fits right on top without any issues:

I also swapped out the stock 4-way restrictor plate with a Seimitsu LS-56 octogonal plate (which works without issues on the LS-58):

I never learned how to play properly on a 4-way gate stick, so I have a problem of accidentally jumping when trying to block overheads.  This is obviously a problem in fighting games that don't have chicken blocking, such as Persona 4 Arena.  Online testimonies seem to lavish praise on the LS-58 octogonal stick, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Here's a picture of the MadCatz Round Two Tournament Edition Fightstick completely stock, before I did work on it:

And of course, here is the stick with the LS-58:

I removed the bezel in preparation of laying down a full-size replacement top panel for custom art.  I haven't decided on the art yet, but here's a peek at how flush the replacement panel is:

And with that, I encourage anyone to perform a Seimitsu stick swap on their own.  It's incredibly simple if you have a Tournament Edition stick.  You may need to purchase a different mounting plate if you buy a different Seimitsu stick, but we can see here that the LS-58 is cake.

All of the following were purchased for this mod:

http://www.focusattack.com/seimitsu-ls-58-01-joystick-pink/

http://www.focusattack.com/products/Seimitsu-LS-56-Octagonal-Restrictor-Plate.html

http://www.focusattack.com/madcatz-te-full-size-1-32-art-cover-replacement-top-panel/

PS3 HDMI Streaming - Issues w/ Audio for Commentary

It's been a long journey figuring out this streaming business and it ain't over yet! Finally managed to get PS3 stuff streaming on my PC and it's thanks to Jaxel's guide on 8WayRun and TheGunRun's guide on Shoryuken. And some dude on YouTube's video on how to bypass HDCP protection.

Here is my current setup:

Works nicely. However, I have problems when it's picking up live commentary. Since the mic goes directly into the PC, it's possible that it's processing audio feed without delay, while video takes time - causing a de-sync with audio and video.

I came up with this, a bit of a modification of Jaxel's article:

But then looking at this, won't this have the same problems? I've managed to control volumes for mics and game audio onto a separate mixer, but they still might process quicker than the video. So that's when I came up with this:

I believe this is the answer. Assuming that ShowBiz and XSplit aren't the culprits (which now that I think about it, they probably are).

I'll also be toying around with Virtual Audio Cable some more. If I can get it to play nicely with the incoming HDMI feed from the PS3, I won't even need to buy any more equipment - I'll be able to fool the computer into thinking that the HDMI and the input from my mic are traveling together.

Ougon Musou Kyoku A.K.A. Seacats Fighter

I've recently gotten into the Umineko craze. Yes, I know it's a 2010 sensation; but hey, at least the fighting game is sort of new-ish!



Aside from random YouTube videos, Beast Mode and Mizuumi are just about the only other English-based OMK resources I've found. They're pretty good though, check 'em out!

KoF13's Easiest Trials

KoF combos got you down? Hit up Maxima's trials and follow VesperArcade's tutorial along with it:



On my account with 154 trials completed, Maxima is the only character I've managed to full clear. It's easy! VesperArcade says it himself:

I'm tempted to say that Mature's trials are 2nd place for easiest, although I'm also playing on a HitBox in which QCF motions are incredibly easy.

Firebrand Technology

Listening to the first parts of SRK's latest podcast, I'm reminded to revisit Firebrand.  Here's the unblockable snapback setup they mentioned:


He needs Super Skrull's assist, but I actually enjoy playing him; so there's my 2nd character.  As I'm thinking about who to use for the 3rd slot, I'm looking at this video:


I don't really care for Amaterasu, but I really like the backward and forward tech punishes with Sentinel Drones starting @0:16.  Time to hit the lab!