Clovercast Backlog Bonanza!

Alright, alright! A permanent solution has yet to be found for our audio posting needs, but I offer you something else in the meantime. I have compiled Clover's first 2 podcasts, when we were still calling ourselves MVC3, into a handy dandy rar file availble for download via mediafire. 

http://www.mediafire.com/?642r1w3notjqbn8

Enjoy our very dated ramblings from the oh so distant year of 2009.

MVC: MVC3 versus Chicago

by Paolo Cosejo

Author's Note:The event I'm writing occurred quite sometime ago. I am only finishing this weeks and weeks after I had actually started writing this damned thing as soon as I got home from said event. As I finish writing this, I am enjoying a cold Breckenridge Vanilla Porter in a chilled Lakefront Brewery glass. I suggest you do the same as you read this (not necessarily the same as Breckenridge Vanilla Porter isn't the easiest to come by, but I suggest you support small/local breweries).

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"Nothing amazing ever happens here. Everything is ordinary."

The huge tower that can be seen from our town, the Willis Tower, all the adults got pissed when the name changed. Like it was really a big thing. The skyline that can be seen from miles away, it looked to me like a maw that signified some kind of omen, a maw spreading out and covering everything.

Though I'm channeling Naota's feelings about his hometown of Mabase, I am referring to my hometown of Chicago. Nothing gaming ever happens here. Everything is ordinary. We are well away from E3 and PAX. We are well away from premiere events, meet-and-greets, and tourneys. We are slighted by the existence of PAX East. The Midwest at least had the consolation that the East coast was even further away from trade shows. Chicago is a void, caught in the middle of the gaming wasteland that is the Midwest. The arid lands of Texas are more relevant to gaming than the metropolis Chicago. The only notable games Chicago has to its name are a fighting franchise that prioritized violent flash over substance and the premiere Wii-exclusive first-person shooter that doesn't involve swordplay.

Capcom offered a glimmer of hope to Chicago. In a small warehouse on Hubbard, Capcom held Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds event. Since MVC3 was our outfit's original namesake, we at Clover naturally we had to go. Michelle, Nick, and Adil arrived early in order to get MVC3 swag, but the line devolved into a clusterfuck with people bum rushing the door. Bunch of savages in this town. Fortunately for me, I arrived later and didn't have to deal with the heartbreak of swag denied.

Our hopes left us and hunger took its place. We decided to go up the street to satiate our hunger, hoping the herd will have thinned out by the time we finished eating. We returned after filling our bellies at a taqueria down the street. I'd get into the deliciousness of the burritos, but this is a gaming blog and not Yelp. We returned and indeed the crowd did shrink. After a while more of waiting, we made our way in. The air was thick, wet, teeming with nerd sweat. The uncomfort to the skin and nose were a worthy exchange for the opportunity to play MVC3 before the unwashed masses. Capcom did Chicago right by offering free Ian's pizza inside. Unfortunately for us at Clover, the only Ian's left was the mess of empty boxes. Swag and pizza denied, but those were only trifles to the main prize: Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

There was one more barrier to the prize: the line. After scouting out all the machines, we settled on lines that seemed to be least cramped together. Michelle and I got in one line, Nick and Adil lined up for the machine next to ours. It was nice when people were only playing one match and leaving happily, but then some prick pair set the precedence of best out of three. That slowed the line down significantly, much to my chagrin as I was at the end of the line and I detest the E-Penis and the idea of having to try in a public setting. I wanted my one-and-done with MVC3, and these bastards were delaying my fun. The E-Penis matches weren't even fun to watch since the majority of them only used established characters from past Versus games.

Finally. Finally! The wait was over. Fortune smiled upon me, as I smiled as well. The line lead to a machine with sticks instead of controllers. Michelle wasn't too thrilled about the stick, but Adil and Nick were envious as the PS3 they lined up for used controllers with the button mapping being especially awkward. Dear reader, I hope you appreciate the form matching content. The minutia you sat through before actually getting to the gameplay is nothing compared to the hours that this evening took up.

Unfortunately, the available build wasn't what Capcom had at Tokyo Game Show 2010 and didn't allow me to use my "Girls Kick Ass" dream team of X-23, Trish, and Amaterasu. But that's just me being a spoiled brat. Devil May Cry 3 Dante was metrosexual and badass enough to be a stand-in for X-23. The game played like butter. It was smooth, it felt right. It keeps up the legacy of the Versus series. It's easy to pick up and have fun with, but it also has the depth if you choose to explore it. It's certainly a nice change of pace from the methodical Super Street Fighter IV, which half of Clover absolutely loves and the other half not giving two shits (me being in the latter).

With Devil May Cry being one of my favorite franchises and Okami being one of my favorite games, the effort that Capcom put into translating Dante's and Amaterasu's moves into a fighting game astounded me. Every weapon in Dante's arsenal from DMC3, which boasted the largest collection of Devil Arms and guns, have been translated into a special. Amaterasu's specials too are ripped straight from Okami. For her basic attacks, Amaterasu is even able to change between the three different weapon types from Okami. The hardest to figure out from my team was Trish. I love playing as trap characters like Testament from Guilty Gear and Rachel from BlazBlue, but they take time to figure out the nuances and one match certainly isn't enough time for that.

Unfortunately, my time with the game was brief as I was playing Michelle and I trounced her with little effort. I was hoping to have more time to check out my team's moves. I would've loved to dick around with Thor, Dormammu, and Super Skrull, but that one round satiated me enough and I couldn't wait to get home and off my feet after this long, yet rewarding, ordeal.