Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a pretty fun fighting game to play with friends, right?

WRONG. It's actually an unbalanced mess. At least, that's what a group of Smash Boards members seems to believe, seemingly with more conviction than we've ever had for pretty much anything. It's important enough that they decided to patch the game's code to change specific gameplay elements. "Balanced Brawl" has three goals, as stated by the coders: first, to remove "infinites" and "inescapable lockdowns" (simple, unblockable combos that add more than 50% damage), increase overall character balance, and increase stage viability.

You can see examples of the kind of minute tweaking done to the characters in the chart above, and you can read way, way more about each change in the Smash Boards thread. It's a pretty impressive testament to just how much time has been spent thinking about Brawl.

Remember that costume CLAMP designed for Tekken 6? Well, feast your eyes on the gallery below, which shows Jin Kazama sporting the ridiculously ornate get-up and putting the screws to his daddy, Kazuya Mishima. We won't keep you from the eye candy, so feel free to check out the screens below while we daydream about how fun Tekken Bowling was.

If the world of professional Street Fighter-ing is a nebulous mystery to you, it may be time to get a clue from an excellent piece of research material -- indie graphic designer/filmmaker Ian Cofino's recently completed documentary, I Got Next. The feature-length film went live on UFragTV last night, and is expected to be widely released via torrent in the near future. For a bite-sized sampling, check out the trailer above.

For a still-harangued-by-student-loans amateur filmmaker, it's a really nice production -- one that gives us insight into the minds of a quarter-circle-punch obsessed populous we've never really bothered to study. Oh, also, it contains the music of The Go! Team, which is scientifically proven to make anything it touches a million times better.

With Midway reportedly looking to sell off its Mortal Kombat assets, one concerned party hopes to peer underneath the tent the beleaguered publisher has pitched inside the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and settle the sticky issue of intellectual property ownership. Film producer Lawrence Kasanoff and his company, Threshold Entertainment, have filed a suit in the hopes of eliciting judgment "declaring the existence and scope of its licenses, interests and intellectual property rights in Mortal Kombat-related intellectual property." In other words: "Hey, isn't that some of my stuff in this garage sale?"

It is the suit's assertion that the Mortal Kombat franchise is "far more a creation of Threshold and Kasanoff than of Midway," with Threshold's film adaptations and TV shows allegedly signifying more creative input than that of Midway, which was "almost entirely limited to the videogames." That's right! Bet you didn't know that Mortal Kombat was a "videogame" before it became an award-winning film franchise!

Threshold backs up its claims by pointing out the "minimal back-story and mythology" provided by the games, as well as the "flat, cookie-cutter characters" it had to use as a basis for its derivative works. Indeed, anybody who's seen "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" is sure to agree that the 78 characters in that rich, compelling film -- including the cyborg and the lizard guy -- were so much more fleshed out right until they all died or something.

[Via GamePolitics]

Source -- Complaint (warning: PDF)

Alright, so your money's as good as in Namco's pockets already, what with the HORI Tekken 6 Wireless Fight Stick Bundle and the GameStop-only Cardboard Tube Samurai character. You've already made that decision. Glancing over your checking account statement every month, from now until the game's released, your brain will automatically deduct the $149.99 (+ applicable state sales tax).

So the real question is: How long will you have to keep this mental math up for? Namco sends word that the Xbox 360 and PS3 releases of Tekken 6 will be tekken up retail space October 27 in North America, "with the Europe, Japan and Asia release to follow shortly thereafter." As for that PSP version, it'll be available "this fall" but we can't offer you anything more definitive than that. 127 days and counting ...

One major issue with marketing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom in North America is that nobody but old-school otaku knows who the hell half of the characters are. It took a few months of watching matches on YouTube to realize that all the Tatsunoko characters looked really fun in gameplay, but the name recognition wasn't there for us like it is in Japan, where Tatsunoko Production anime is an institution.

Seemingly in an attempt to combat that handicap, at least among the hardcore blog-reading audience, Capcom Unity has started a series of posts introducing the characters. The first, "Dragon vs. Eagle," provides a fairly detailed bio of Gatchaman's Ken the Eagle, with background about the character and the Gatchaman show, and supplementary video clips. There's also a bio of Ryu, but everyone knows Ryu: torn sleeves, headband, likes fighting.

Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny, the latest in SNK's long-lived weapons-based fighting game series, feels totally different from its predecessors. The K2-developed fighter doesn't just add 3D graphics to the series more successfully than the version on the short-lived Hyper Neo Geo 64 system -- it adds some 3D movement as well, in the form of a dodge move.

During our quick match, Ignition's Shane Bettenhausen described it as "Samurai Shodown meets Soul Calibur meets Bushido Blade," a classification that aptly encapsulates some of the changes in the game.

While we were off doing whatever, Nintendo announced a new Pokémon game for WiiWare in Japan. Melee! Pokémon Scramble is developed by the same company (Ambrella) as My Pokémon Ranch, but is combat-based instead of standing-around-based. In fact, it may be the most actiony Pokémon game yet!

The player controls a remote-controlled robot Pokémon, building strength by fighting Pokémon in the wild, in anticipation of a big tournament. Gameplay is real-time, like a Zelda or Ys-type action RPG. And, of course, four players can face off in the game's Battle Royale arena mode.

Melee! Pokémon Scramble will be out in Japan on June 16. No release dates have been announced outside of Japan, but Nintendo won't deprive the rest of the world of its biggest brand.

[Via Nintendo Life]

The second title that High Voltage showed off behind closed doors at this year's E3 was none other than Gladiator A.D., its aptly titled gladiatorial combat game. We were able to witness several battles take place across two different stages. The High Voltage rep that demoed the game for us said the company was really going for that stylized 300 look and feel. While we can't comment on the latter, we will say the former was pretty evident.

While checking out Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, we were anxious to check out our main man Kratos kicking ass against the best Namco had to offer. Namco couldn't deliver, however, and we were forced to play the title sans ash-covered god.

Update: Capcom sent out a release the following day, redacting the mention of online play and five new characters. Did someone at Capcom jump the gun?

The release of Tatsunoko vs Capcom in North America will change a bit from its Japanese counterpart, Capcom has announced. The North American release eliminates one character from the Tatsunoko side of the roster and adds five new fighters not found in the original game. Not only that, but the North American version of the game will also have online play, a feature the original Japanese release cannot boast.

[Thanks, WiiNinja!]

Those of you who aren't lucky enough to attend E3, this is not the post for you. For the remainder of you, however, we would like to let you know that Namco Bandai would like to test your Tekken 6 mettle at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo through an open tournament.

The company will host a two-day "Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion arcade tournament" at its booth on Wednesday, June 3, and Thursday, June 4, with the company opening sign-ups on Tuesday, June 2, to anyone passing through Namco's area on the show floor. Namco Bandai mentions a "grand prize," though the details of what this undoubtedly spectacular prize will be were not given. We have a feeling the only thing people participating in this tournament will win is less time with the other great games at the show.

It's just simply not enough to listen to the Street Fighter IV soundtrack while owning fools online -- you've also got it take it with you everywhere you go. To do that, you'll want to check out the 2-disc soundtrack that's available now over at Sumthing Digital.

The set contains over 50 tracks from the game and it'll only set you back $10. Individual songs are also available for download for about $1 each; however, getting the entire collection sounds like a much better deal. That, and El Fuerte will sit on your face if you don't.

Also, there's more Capcom stuff over at Sumthing Digital -- check out that 3-Disc Resident Evil 5 OST for starters.

[Via Capcom-Unity]

Having already established itself as a leading developer of mature Wii games about guys shooting stuff with The Conduit, High Voltage Software has revealed its latest Wii project using the Quantum3 engine: a game about guys swording stuff. Gladiator A.D. is a bloody fighting game that puts players in the role of (obviously) a Roman gladiator.

The 300-inspired fighter allows players to choose from a selection of gladiators from different backgrounds, each with his or her own story and rival characters. The fighting takes place from an over-the-shoulder perspective, with each Wii controller representing one of the fighter's hands. Optional MotionPlus compatibility allows players to control the angle at which their swords cut into their opponents.

Gladiator A.D. is currently slated for a Q1 2010 release. High Voltage told IGN that it would also announce another title before E3.

[Thanks, KEENMACHINE]