My, what a wild week it was. Between Blizzard blowing up the internet with their Diablo 3 announcement, Capcom announcing Mega Man 9, and Konami showing off a new 3-D Castlevania fighting game. With E3 only a few weeks away the unveiling of new and shocking surprises should continue through the middle of July.

I must admit that I am a bit disappointed in the lack of any new Starcraft 2 news. I readily admit to scouring the usual sites on a daily basis for fresh Starcraft 2 tidbits, but I was really hoping for a much larger unveiling of information at WWI 2008. I should know better by now. After all, we are talking Blizzard and I’ll get my information when the product is done.

OK, take I gotta take a deep breath for this one; last week saw the release of the SSFT2THD Remix beta. Lucky Xbox 360 owners were duking it out with Ken and Ryu for the first time in glorious 1080p HD. Sadly, while I appreciate what they are doing with the graphical overhaul, I’m far more interested in the gameplay tweaks. The game is supposed to include an original unchanged, sans graphics, version of the game and a new Remixed mode that includes character changes to help balance them. Maybe this will allow longtime fans to play more of the roster competitively and see less of OG Sagat.

The Street Fighter 4 arcade game has been given a street date of July 18th in Japan. The more I read and see of this game, the more it has grown on me. It seems to take SSF2T and smash it together with SF3:3S, minus parries. But the absolute clincher for me was when I see this. The first lady of fighting has never looked better and I shall personally enjoy using her to send the endless droves of bland Ken, Ryu, and Akuma players to their great reward.

- Dover

Greetings from Beau’s Eight-Sided Cage of Pain . . .

I know . . . I know I said I was back last time, but since we last spoke I have taken my first step on the path to enlightenment. Don’t worry, I ain’t getting all Buddha or Dali Lama on your asses. I just want to share that I have decided to earn my Bachelor’s degree. I have been thinking about this for a long time, but each time I remember my first attempt at secondary education. I played a lot of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! and experienced a lot of contact highs . . . no, I did not inhale!

I am a little older now and have reached a place where I am focused on grabbing that next level of education. Not having a degree these days means hearing a lot of "You expect this company to pay you what?! Ha Ha Ha!" I’m pretty sure prospective employers laugh like that. Moving on, I am gainfully employed but in our current economy that can all change very quickly, and I would like to be prepared.

Anyway, I will make every effort to post on a more regular basis. I know how you readers crave my rants and babbling, as you should. The wisdom I pour into you is worth its weight in gold and I will gladly accept donations in large quantities; did I mention that college is expensive? The fact is that you should have been paying me along . . . you know I am right . . . BEAU IS ALWAYS RIGHT! So, check back often! Some of the other crew have interesting stuff to say as well, but we know who you want to hear from . . . DON’T WE?

- Beau