When fighting enthusiasts were introduced to online gaming (sup Xband), everyone was amazed by this new milestone which for the first time ever, expanded the competitive userbase beyond your friends around the block. And with the advent of high-speed connections (DSL, Cable, T1), one would think that latency would be a thing of the past, right? If only that were true. Lag is one of the number one reasons that allegedly has been a major turn-off for most diehard players.

This has prompted the launch of GGPO.net, (created by co-SRK founder Tony Cannon), which every single fighting fan not only should seriously pay close attention to its development. Do you dream of a world where you can finally enjoy lag-free online battles? Than you need to support GGPO.

GGPO.net’s primary objective is to present a new approach to fighting games. Tony explains:

Traditional networking algorithms used to compensate for network latency result in either slower than normal gameplay or an excessive amount of delay (or lag) tacked onto the beginning of each move. GGPO.net uses a novel way to hide latency which lets the game run at full speed without adding any delay to any of your moves. So your timing doesn’t change and combos come out like butter. It’s almost like playing head-to-head in your living room!

I know what you’re thinking: “Whoo, that means I can enjoy all my CPS2 and CPS3 favorites online, right?” Well, ideally - yes. We contacted a member of the GGPO team and they’ve revealed that basically [any emulation title] will work with the application. For the moment, Alpha 2 is the only title that’s currently being supported.

Currently the project is in its alpha phase - meaning users can expect to encounter a few bugs (i.e. crashes, resets, etc) during the matchmaking process. As a longtime SRK supporter, it’s great to see the fighting community stepping up to address something that corporate developers should have started LONG ago. I am told the code is “very good” so I am definitely looking forward to getting a test-run first hand once the beta stage is up and running.

[Via GGPO.net]

Pioneering machinima series Red vs. Blue will be ending its four year, 100 episode run when the 15 minute series finale goes live Wednesday night. While this is the end of the ongoing storyline, Rooster Teeth still plans to create one-off specials, so I'd say you can expect some Red vs. Blue shorts to help promote the release of Halo 3. I have to confess that while I watched the first few episodes and thought they were pretty funny, I never kept up with the series. Now that it's over I may have to sit down and watch them beginning to end. At five minutes a piece it shouldn't take too long…my abacus says roughly 500 minutes. [via Wired]

Capcom Digital has received quite the range of responses to last week’s release of Guile artwork. It’s a clear indication that the fans are certainly excited and basically want to see the new “fan mod” done right. Well the develoment team is definitely listening are taking the feedback under consideration.

It’s important however that Street Fighter fans recognize fact: regardless how much the game is tweaked, there’s going to be a percentage of people who will find something to complain about. You just can’t please everyone. Rey addressed a few critical observations that justified Guile’s new design in addition to some other key concerns such as why they chose not to work on Street Fighter III.

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It’s not everyday that we would devote a post for blatant plugging, but in this case, an exception has to be made. By now, most anime enthusiasts are well aware that Otaku USA recently hit newstands. It’s the first first true cross-media hybrid publication which made its debut earlier this month on June 6, 2007.

Inside, you’ll find the mag is loaded with tons of coverage including a spread on Gunpla, anime releases, a look at some cool toys in Japan, and more. The gaming section was primarily covered by our very own Joseph and *surprise* yours truly. Compared to Joseph, he delivered a LOT more content — which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that knows him; he’s is a TRUE otaku!!!

So far, the first issue has received plenty of positive feedback and some valued suggestions to help shape the success of the mag. A letters section is said to be in the works, but for the time being, you can add your two cents by registering at the official community forums.

Oh, and most importantly — please show your support by heading down to your local bookstore (Barnes & Nobles, Borders, etc.)

Get it here, and be a better person for it.

See! Odin Sphere get an average review score!

Thrill! As The Red Star gets a whopping two page review!

Travel! To Japan, for the Squeenix Party 2007!

LOL! @ PS3! It's a good issue, you should check it out.