CULTURE

Sakurai Said Mai Shiranui Is Too Sexy for Smash Bros. He's Kinda Right.

Mai Shiranui may be a top tier anime girl, but that doesn't mean she fits in Smash.

SNK

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game director Masahiro Sakurai loves SNK with a burning passion.

Sakurai made his passion crystal clear throughout his 48-minute Nintendo Direct breakdown of Smash's newest guest DLC character, Terry Bogard from SNK's Fatal Fury and King of Fighters, which almost plays out like a history lesson on SNK as a whole.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – Mr. Sakurai Presents "Terry Bogard"www.youtube.com

But after extensively demoing all of Terry's special moves and unique gameplay mechanics and revealing 26 SNK cameo characters and a whopping 50 new SNK music tracks, one glaringly obvious hole seemed to be missing from the SNK Smash collab.

Mai King of FightersSNK


"You may have noticed that a very important character from the Fatal furies series was not included," says Sakurai. "Yes, Mai Shiranui. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is for good boys and girls of many different ages, so we decided not to feature her. Please forgive us."

Indeed, Mai Shiranui, SNK's next-level busty kunoichi and most popular recurring female character, will not be appearing in Smash because, as Sakurai suggested, she's simply too sexy for an all-ages game.

And yes, Smash features Bayonetta who wears skin-tight leather while she open-leg flip kicks. But here's Mai Shiranui's default outfit:

Mai ShiranuiSNK/Koei Tecmo

And this is how she moves:


Mai Shiranui GIFSNK

Look, I'm not saying Mai Shiranui shouldn't have made a cameo in Smash. I'm just saying that Sakurai made a conscious decision not to show big bouncing anime boobs to 10-year-olds, and that maybe he made the right call.

CULTURE

"Death Stranding" Is a Parable to Teach Antisocial Gamers About Responsibility

Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding places gamers into the role of a working single father.

Game Director Hideo Kojima, Brighton

Photo by Richard Ecclestone/Future/Shutterstock

With Death Stranding's PS4 release drawing closer, details on the game's plot are still surprisingly scarce–until now.

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CULTURE

E3 2019 Sunday Roundup: Microsoft, Bethesda, and KEANU REEVES

All the E3 2019 Sunday trailers are here, from Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 to Elden Scrolls, Halo Infinite, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.

E3 2019 is finally here, and that means loads of new trailers and game announcements.

Sunday featured Microsoft pulling out all the stops with the best cameo appearance in E3 history (hint: it's KEANU REEVES) and Bethesda desperately trying to save their failing Fallout 76. Check out all of Sunday's trailers right here in one spot:

Microsoft

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077's presentation easily stole the show on day one. Could there possibly be a better way to end a gorgeous cinematic trailer than by introducing VIDEO GAME KEANU REEVES as a character? Well, yes actually, but that would require getting...They did it. Those absolute mad men. They got the REAL KEANU REEVES to come onstage. This game announcement is a work of art. One might even call it "breathtaking."

Xbox Project Scarlett

Xbox Project Scarlett Console Announcement | Microsoft Xbox E3 2019www.youtube.com

Microsoft's next-gen console, Xbox Project Scarlett, is said to be four times as powerful as the Xbox One. So maybe they should have just called it the Xbox Four?

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite - "Discover Hope" Cinematic Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

Could Xbox Project Scarlett's biggest launch title be anything other than a new Halo? The Halo games have always been some of the best shooters on the market, and they're probably the only Microsoft exclusive games worth buying an Xbox for.

Elden Ring

Elden Ring - Announcement Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

The rumors were true! Elden Ring is indeed a collaboration between Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. We look forward to the spooky arm lady killing us over and over again.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot - E3 2019 Trailer | PS4www.youtube.com

Formerly Dragon Ball Project Z, the upcoming DBZ RPG is now titled Kakarot. The cinematics look great so far, and it'll be interesting to see what RPG elements are incorporated into the gameplay.

Gears 5

Gears 5 - Official Escape Announcement Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

Gears 5 doesn't look that different from the previous four Gears of War games, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If it's not broke, why fix it?

Dying Light 2

Dying Light 2 - Reveal Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

More parkour. More zombie killing. More choices. The first Dying Light was one of 2015's best new IPs, and the sequel already looks promising.

Tales of Arise

Tales of Arise - E3 Announcement Trailer | PS4, X1, PCwww.youtube.com

Tales of games have always been about living your best anime life, and Arise has plenty of anime. There's anime boy with white hair and a fire sword and anime girl with a magic light gun and stilettos. It might be anime trash, but so are we.

Blair Witch

Blair Witch - Official Reveal Trailer | E3 2019www.youtube.com

TheBlair Witch Project is a horror game now. It actually looks pretty spooky.

Crossfire X

CrossfireX - E3 2019 - Announce Trailerwww.youtube.com

Crossfire is a free-to-play FPS that's incredibly popular in Asia. Now it's coming overseas as Crossfire X. Will it take off in the States? Considering the popularity of FTP shooters: probably.

Minecraft Dungeons

Minecraft Dungeons Gameplay Trailer - E3 2019www.youtube.com

Procedurally generated dungeon running games are awesome. Minecraft skins are ugly. So basically, this is just a very ugly dungeon running game. Leave Minecraft skins in Minecraft.

Bethesda

Ghostwire: Tokyo

GhostWire: Tokyo – Official E3 Teaserwww.youtube.com

A new horror game from the devs of The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo's initial trailer looks intensely unsettling. The realistic design of Tokyo looks great, too.

Deathloop

DEATHLOOP – Official E3 World Premierewww.youtube.com

From the studio behind Dishonored, Deathloop appears to feature an action-based Groundhog Day type premise.

Doom Eternal

DOOM Eternal – Official E3 Story Trailerwww.youtube.com

The Doom franchise has always been about shredding demons to pieces. Doom Eternal seems to deliver on that front.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Wolfenstein: Youngblood – Official E3 2019 Trailerwww.youtube.com

It's always nice to kill Nazis. A new Wolfenstein means more Nazi killing. Nice.

Commander Keen

Commander Keen — Official E3 Announce Trailerwww.youtube.com

Probably Sunday's weirdest reveal, the '80s PC game Commander Keen is being revived as a free-to-play mobile game. Just...why?

Fallout 76 Wastelanders

Fallout 76 Wastelanders Official Reveal Trailer - E3 2019www.youtube.com

The newest expansion for the disastrous Fallout 76 MMO brings...NPCs? Yes, seriously, the characters populating the world—a core element of every other MMO in history—are just now being added over six months after launch. There's also going to be a battle royale mode, because of course there is.