Reverse Viral Marketing Shuryuken!

I am constantly amazed at just how susceptible I am to word-of-mouth advertising. Having never grown up playing Street Fighter, I barely gave notice when the game's latest iteration released last week. But with Adam cooing over every hi-res hadoken, I find myself lusting after it. It's like McDonalds: you know you'll be in pain after that double cheeseburger, but you can't help but want it anyway.

To be fair, Street Figher IV is a game I should enjoy. I've lost days playing Mortal Kombat and Soul Calibur, and Street Fighter IV contains a surface game that I can really see myself sinking my teeth into. But as I found with Disgaea DS, there is a such thing as a game that is too deep, and I fear the beasts and creatures that lurk below the surface game. Street Fighter is an amazingly layered game, and while it is possible to play - and enjoy - its topmost epidermis, those who plunge into the game's core emerge a transcended being. I fear that to be competitive online will involve my inevitable journey to the center of Street Fighter IV, and it is a journey I hesitate to embark on. Yet, I doubt I will be content playing the game without at least attempting this odyssey.

Still, I've managed to stay competitive in both Halo 3 and Call of Duty: World at War, two titles notoriously difficult to get into as a novice. Perhaps there is hope for me in Street Fighter IV...

Damn you, viral marketing.

-- Mike