Popular gaming league selected to officially endorse clothing lineup.

Empire Arcadia, a gaming league composed of exceptional diehard players, recently joined forces with clothing line Jinx to represent its latest clothing lifestyle. Viewers who tuned in to G4TV were treated to a 30-second clip showcasing the spirit of what Empire Arcadia, featuring its founder, “Triforce” and Justin Wong, who currently holds the title as all-time fighting game champion in North America!

The commercial contains a variety of clips derived from recent documentaries on Empire Arcadia including brief glimpses of the league in action, training at its home headquarters while of course, featuring the players sporting Jinx’s apparel consisting of contemporary tee-shirts, hoodies, and other unique selections. The clip ends with the founder’s firm mantra: “We get into it… how do YOU get into it?”

Speaking as a longtime, avid gamer, I am thrilled to see companies extending sponsorships to gaming leagues like Empire Arcadia.  The organization is literally growing by leaps and bounds as it continues to  focus on building teamwork, core values and supporting/hosting community events that impact the lives of gamers of all ages.

Check out the commercial in its entirety below…

Bridging the gap between game god and guitar god.

Titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are not just fun games to play. For many people, rocking out on a plastic axe with giant colored buttons stirs up old dreams of being up on stage tearing through an impossible solo before an arena full of adoring groupies. But as many rock fans quickly learn, reaching that level of proficiency takes a lot of often tedious practice.

For years now, Optek Music Systems has tried to bring guitar mastery to the legions of aspiring jukebox heroes. This weekend, the company announced the release of the Fretlight Video Player for PC, with an upcoming Mac release in early 2009. The technology allows you to watch video of an instructor while the notes he plays light up on a special Fretlight guitar in your hands. The best part is that it is an actual guitar that has been specially augmented with Optek’s technology, so you are not fooling around with a toy or other poor substitute. Once you are done with your lessons, you can go on to use the same guitar to play in a real band.

A chord on the Fretlight guitar

Fretlight guitar with a lit chord

With this system, you learn finger placement on a real, quality musical instrument. When the teacher shows you an E chord on the video, that same chord lights up on the guitar in your hand. When he plays a more advanced piece, the same note progression dances across your fretboard. The video allows you to repeat or slow down the instruction as needed. When you aren’t using the software, the fretboard looks and functions just like any other.

You can learn more about the Fretlight Video Player by going to the official site. There is also a wide selection of music available that takes advantage of the Fretlight technology so you can play along and learn your favorite tracks quickly and efficiently. If you are a Guitar Hero addict thinking about teaching yourself the real deal, this might be just the thing for you.

Now with prices (and slightly updated)!

Amazon released prices and pictures of the SFIV peripherals on their site for pre-orders! Some changes were made since we’ve last seen them, but they all seem to be good ones (except the price). The FightPads has ditched the Neo Geo-esque “click sticks” in favor of a more traditional d-pad. While I think the click stick would have been a lot more interesting, more people are likely to be happier with this change; especially with the d-pad being made to be close to the awesome Sega Saturn controller. The FightPads will retail for $40 with (currently) 5 different character editions (Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Chun-Li, Blanka). Expect the other characters to be represented later down the line, too. (more…)

We’re talking about joysticks and controllers of course.

When it was first announced that Capcom hired Madcatz to make their new line of Street Fighter 4 accessories, I (like many others) expected it to turn out to be a huge piece of crap. They didn’t have a good record for 3rd party accessories and I didn’t see it changing any time soon. Enter Markman: Fighting game fan and arcade stick extraordinaire. When I heard that he was part of the project, I became a little more at ease (but still cautious) because this was a man that knows his arcade sticks. Although you don’t have to take my word for it, just have a look at his stick collection!

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The bad news is no North American release.

Microsoft has confirmed through Eurogamer that there’s a new 360 controller on the way that finally fixes the horribly broken d-pad.  While specifically designed for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Street Fighter IV, it will work with pretty much anything that needs the d-pad, such as Pac-Man Championship Edition.  Not only does the pad move more easily, it’s calibrated for 32 directions instead of the traditional 8, making for smoother transitions between direction changes.  On paper this sounds like the perfect fix for the one glaring issue with the 360’s controller.

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