Volume 2 Issue 6 December 2006 Sony ... - Hardcore Gamer

EXPRESS YOURSELF THE WAY NATURE INTENDED.
WITH YOUR FACE.
THE NEXT GENERATION IS SEEING FRIENDS FROM MILES AWAY. The
future of gaming is here, and it looks like your buddy Keith. Video chat with
family. Personalize your gamer picture. Practice your smirks. With the
Xbox Live TM Vision Camera, those closest to you get even closer. xbox.com
That’s where the whole “warehousing”
concept comes into play. Let’s say one guy
slaps together a great project. Finally, he
gets to see Mario and Simon Belmont punch
their way through the dark Hyrulian forests.
It’s a dream come true. So he shares it with
his pal, who loves it every bit as much as
its creator. Unable to resist the temptation,
that pal sends it to someone else, until
eventually the le has found its way around
the Internet and has even been
archived (or “warehoused”)
on numerous sites that collect
such things. Then Nintendo inks
a deal with Konami to throw
such a thing together in its next
Smash Bros. game, only no one
cares; they’ve already played it.
Do you see the problem, here?
Even if you don’t, you can rest
assured that companies like
Nintendo and Capcom and SNK
have. That’s why M.U.G.E.N.
won’t ever enjoy mainstream
success. Right now, it’s mostly
good only for your private
enjoyment, or possibly for
the development of cool little video clips
you can throw up on YouTube (for a real
hoot, check out some of those that others
have created). That’s probably as far as
things will ever go, but it’s far enough
that M.U.G.E.N. is worth a look right now.
You can nd out plenty of information by
starting with a simple Google search or
M.U.G.E.N.’s Wikipedia page. Where you
take it from there is up to you.
M.U.G.E.N. Without Limits
One of the possible interpretations of the name “M.U.G.E.N.” is
“Without Limits,” in Japanese. Based on some of the modications
available for the engine, it seems like a stark understatement. Just
to give you an idea, we’ve come up with some examples.
A notable mod to check out is the Super Mario Bros. Stage,
created by Bane84. Featuring a fully functional SMB 1-1 stage for
any character to run through, it also features coins, mushrooms,
stomp-able Goombas, and fully destructible blocks. You can even
destroy the castle if you wish.
You can visit http://www.mugenguild.net/~bane84/ to check out
some of his other work, including the rst stage of Contra and a
fully playable remake of Lethal Enforcers.
Feature by Arlieth
While there are plenty of re-made characters from existing
games, there are some creations which have never been playable.
Marvel TM super-hero Thor, whose only appearance (delivering a
single attack) was in Marvel vs. Capcom, has been turned into a
character with a full-edged move list. Also, there are plenty of
custom-made characters made by fans, such as Homer Simpson,
Captain Caveman and... Fat Albert, with all of his friends. If you
can think of it, it’s probably been done... or can be done. This is
why M.U.G.E.N. will never quite go away, unless a bigger, badder
program that does the same thing comes out.
© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
36_FEATURE_M.U.G.E.N.
HARDCORE GAMER MAGAZINE_VOLUME 2_ISSUE 6_ELECTRIC PEEN