Do Overs!

Hey. Let's try this again:

Hi! My name is Aidan. I play video games. I have a girlfriend. Her name's KS. We've been dating for 4 years. She likes nutrition information. I like Halo. She likes running. I like pulling off headshots on zombies.
CONUNDRUM!

So to keep our relationship strong we share our interests. She cooks a healthy meal, I eat it. We sign up for a half marathon, and we train for it. We play a demo of a co-op game, she likes it and we buy it. ...then we play the first level and she changes her mind. That's unfortunate. But, hey, I wanted to get rid of that $60 anyway. I think there was a tear in one of the twenties.

We do play games though. We've played through Resident Evil 5, Army of Two, all the Rock Band games, and various XBLA games. But there's a process to finding fun games that both of you can enjoy... together. This process caused me a lot of pain and woe and money on hats (after tearing my hair out in frustration. ...just kidding. ...haha). So help me feel better about my struggles by helping you avoid them. First step is determining what kind of lady you're spending time with. Does she want to have a good time or does she have a competitive streak in her?

ENOUGH WITH THIS INTRO! It's too long and even I'm bored now. And I'm trying to sell you this blog. If it wasn't free, I'd suggest you leave already. ...but please don't. Here are guidelines, you make judgement calls based on your special lady friend.

Every Friday we're going to start off the weekend with a competitive co-op or multiplayer game to get some blood flowing. Sometimes if pulses rise the "Game Over" screen can lead to a happy ending.

Let's Get It On!:
Soul Calibur IV
This fighting game sports great visuals and fast, intense weapons based fighting. There are over 30 fighters, each with their own weapons, fighting styles and personalities. You can play as a disciplined samurai, a lizard beast, an anime character, a Mary Poppins character, a ghost pirate, even Yoda! If that wasn't enough you can create your own characters. The fighting is newbie friendly because button mashing is a successful strategy. I love playing games and get ahold of them pretty quickly. Still, I find myself cursing often enough at my fighter after a humiliating defeat by KS when she asks me where the B button is as I'm going over the 18 part combo I just pulled off in my head. That's the beauty of it. You can invest as much or as little time in it as you want and still come off a winner. Several rounds in, when I find KS and myself really getting into the competition, launching insults at each other I can't print here, and decide maybe it's time to quit, I'll hear "One more round" as KS quickly hits "Rematch." ...Yeah. It's on. And when she's tired of the numerous stages, characters and fun, there's plenty of single player action to enjoy. One word of caution, however. As fighting games are prone to have, there are several femal fighters who are more than equiped to fight but in their haste to get to the arena apparently forgot proper armor. ...or a helmet. ...or a shirt. or pants. or anything. Several of the women are all but naked. It's laughable; KS and I find the miraculous physics engine behind the bouncing breasts gut busting, but feminists beware.

Here's a compilation of three fighters and three arenas to get a feel for the combat. Unfortunately, the low-res videos on YouTube do NOT showcase the graphics engine very well.



You can purchase this gem on Amazon.com for $23 or at NewEgg.com for $20.

I'm off. Assassin's Creed II comes today. My 360's blogging about our lead in a tournament for Gamerscore. I couldn't care less.