Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 14

 

This series started with me declaring how much I loved basketball. I was never any good at playing it, or any sport really, but I liked writing about it, and I really loved drawing fictional streetball characters. I’m still a huge fan of the game, and still get inspired when I see basketball art from various illustrators. I also talked about how Michael Lau came along at the end of the '90s, and turned me into a fan of urban vinyl art. I collected many of Lau's mini gardener figures before the trend took off. Many of my other favorite toys were streetball vinyl players. The Super-X line of fictional players inspired by actual NBA legends meant a lot to me. That collection from Dragon Models out of Hong Kong, and the Upper Deck All Star vinyl figures from the US were among my prized non-Lau figures.

NBA Street debuted in 2001, not long after the urban vinyl trend was started. Developed by EA BIG it brought together stylized character designs, streetball which had looser rules than pro basketball, and arcade game play. There hadn't been anything that had captured the frenetic pace of the game since NBA Jam from a decade earlier. There were several reasons why NBA Street really stood out to me. Of all the sports it was the one the closest to the playground experience. It was created on a farm in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, but in less than 50 years it would become the most important game of the inner-city. It would be embraced by black, and brown kids faster than any other sport had ever done in the history of the US. Even though the NBA didn't integrate Black players until 1950, it was nonetheless following on the heels of Major League Baseball which started integrating in 1947.

There were many Black pioneers in the ‘50s, but it wouldn’t be until the late ‘60s, and ‘70s that Black culture really started showing up with the players. The Civil Rights era turned athletes into cultural touchstones. This meant that the music, the language, the fashion, and even the hairstyles of the street also became part of basketball culture. This made it easy to identify with the sport while growing up in the city. Unlike baseball, or football, the game of basketball didn’t really need a huge field, just a basketball, and a hoop could do the trick. It didn’t matter if it was a hoop on a garage, or a milk crate tied to a telephone pole. The game was easy to pick up, and impossible to master. Every time you played you could learn something new. The athletes that played the game, the culture lent itself easily to urban vinyl art. The best figures in my opinion reflected the world. They weren’t trying to sell a name, or brand.

While growing up the toy companies told my brothers, and I season, after season what we were going to play with. The cartoon shows they produced were nothing more than extended television commercials. By Christmas time their goal seemed to get us to dump all our old toys, and beg our parents for some new ones. These manufacturers reminded us that there weren’t any alternates, they controlled the toys, they controlled the games. Even Legos which were the standard for letting kids use their imagination soon started licensing movies, and comic book franchises. Countless generations were stuck following the same trends. All of that changed when urban vinyl figures made their debut at the end of the ‘90s. These toys were not selling any product, or label necessarily. They were instead a celebration of us. There were men, women, boys, and girls that looked like us, our family, our friends, and heroes. They highlighted our culture, our music, and fashion. More than that these figures just looked cool. This understanding started changing the way that characters would be designed for video games.

JC Entertainment out of South Korea started creating streetball games in 2004, and continued pushing the genre forward over the next 20 years. In the earliest days they presented traditional street-styled basketball players, with jerseys, shorts, and sneakers. Over time their ball players would become more stylized, and dress in all sorts of outfits. They played in business suits, track pants, surf gear, astronaut helmets, pajamas, and much more. By the time they released 3on3 Freestyle in 2016 the studio had fully embraced vinyl character design. I enjoyed the look of many of the characters that went into their franchise. Joey was the star player, and had received a radical makeover called “Intensive Joey” for a special update. Of course it was absurd that anyone would try playing in boots, neon purple, and green punk rave gear. It nonetheless was a hard look. The fact that he was pictured with a black spiked basketball brought the entire fit together. It made me wish that JC Ent. made collectable figures, and not just virtual characters. It also got me thinking of what was it that I really enjoyed in those designs, in basketball, and vinyl figures.

I talked a little about it previously on this blog series. As much as I liked the game of basketball, and as much as I admired the superstars, I just wasn’t invested in getting highly detailed 12” figures of those players for my collection. The more stylized they were, like the All Star Vinyl line from Upper Deck, the more likely I was to collect them. But there was a different motivation to which figures I sought out. I liked characters that represented an era, a genre, and entire league even more than an individual player. In my opinion the greatest gardener figure designed by Michael Lau was Jordon. He was more than just a clone of Michael Jordan.

For starters he didn’t look anything like Mike. He was much taller, with a large afro, earring, and eyebrow piercing. He represented the entire game of basketball. He was a snapshot of the late ‘80s / ‘90s era of the professional league. This would be during the formative years of Michael Lau, when the street influence was inescapable. We're talking a period of time when all the classic Nike commercials from "Just Do It," and "Be Like Mike," all the way to "It's gotta be the shoes" directed by Spike Lee (as Mars Blackmon) had taken place. This marked a time when Hip Hop, and pro basketball started going hand-in-hand. 

These street-centric campaigns were an affront to the loud protests of the team owners. They wanted basketball players to be seen as clean-cut college kids gone pro, and not street kids hitting it big. By the late '90s, and early 2000's Hong Kong was the only place on Earth that understood how to tie all of those cultural touchstones together into a new 3D format. They had a culture that was quick to spot trends, remix them by pulling elements from music, fashion, and street culture while creating their stylized vinyl figures. Their ability to remix culture at an absurdly rapid pace would end up changing the way studios the world over would approach their own character art. This sort of stylized representation was what I thought made Stretch Monroe from the NBA Street franchise so important. Although he was modeled on the ‘70s era Dr. J, he represented much more than that. 

Stretch was a fictional legend from the same post-Civil Rights era. He was like many of the pioneers of the rival ABA that were pushed out of the league when the NBA captured the market. He just couldn’t fit in because he was too ahead of his time. Stretch never got a chance to compete in the pro ranks. This didn’t stop him from destroying all challengers on the playground over the following 30 years. When NBA Street 2 came out, and EA Big started putting retro characters in the game, like a young Julius Erving then it made the inclusion of Stretch feel redundant. The fictional spirit of basketball was the aesthetic that I loved more than anything. I wondered if there was anything that a new generation of creators could do to make me rethink my approach to collectables, and specifically their basketball character designs. Could I ever love a design for a real world player as much as I loved the fictional Stretch? What about his fictional contemporaries? All9Fun had the answer for me when they released Basketrio.

In case you weren’t familiar with the current generation of pros, the ones featured in the picture above were based respectively on Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo, James “Fear the Beard” Harden, LeBron “King” James, and Joel “The Process” Embiid. All9Fun allowed you to create your own avatar, build stats, earn prizes, and unlock pro players. These were things that gamers had already seen for years. However the pro players, or rather look-alike pros were not licensed from actual NBA, FIBA, or other leagues. Despite being eerily similar to real people the studio changed just enough features on them to skirt IP laws. The case of public opinion was something else entirely. It was similar to how they released players based on Street Fighter designs. I highlighted them in the previous blog. The team at All9Fun were building virtual characters using all the same tricks that Fools Paradise did when creating the Three Kings, and TwentyFour statues I had also talked about. The thing was that the statues from Fools Paradise, and the virtual characters from Basketrio were extremely desirable to fans. They managed to capture the personality of some of the greatest players to have ever existed, but in a highly-stylized fashion. 

As a fan of the vinyl aesthetic there was no doubt that the design worked in video games. Basketrio featured a version of the NBA elites in a format that I had always wanted to see. It was as if the studio was able to pull equal parts of the animated look of the Upper Deck All Star Vinyl figures, the street fashion sense of Michael Lau’s gardeners, and the Hong Kong style of the Super-X athletes. The remix of the various elements was sublime character design. The knockoff pros featured in Basketrio were a master class in storytelling, and streetball design. First off the team understood the scale of the individual players. The largest of which was “Shark” who was based on Shaquille O’Neal who in real life was over seven-feet tall. The smallest of which was “The Answer” who was based on Allen Iverson, who was barely six-feet tall. 

Everyone in between had a cartoonish scale applied to them. Their frames, muscles, shoulders, torsos, hands, and feet were just a bit exaggerated. This helped the characters stand out from the rest of the cast. As with fighting game characters, the bigger hands, and feet were easier to read when moving across the screen. They allowed animators more leeway when creating movements for crossovers, backing down opponents, and of course flashy slam dunks. These proportions also made it easier to read dribbles, or passes, making defending against them more balanced for gamers. From head to toe their costumes were absolute works of art. There was more to the fit than would be typically seen on a streetball player. They were all essentially wearing high fashion streetwear, however the choice of colors, logos, patterns, also reinforced the personalities they were portraying. NBA fans could identify who these characters were based on just by looking at their faces, however the studio could get away with it because they never named one of the characters after an actual person.

All9Fun skirted the line without ever crossing it. For example Shaq was called Shark, Kobe Bryant was called Mamba, after his nickname the Black Mamba. The outfits they wore had similar colors to their actual team uniforms, of course nobody could copyright a color combination, nor could they copyright the name of a city, initials, nicknames, or even numbers. Even if each of these things happened to be pulled from actual players, and teams. This allowed the staff at All9Fun to dress the characters appropriately, without getting in legal hot water. The outfits of each, and every player was more than really fashionable street wear. They were the streetball equivalent of superhero uniforms. Fans of every sport tended to make icons out of their favorite athletes. Even race car drivers, and their autos enjoyed a certain level of hero worship. Fans of NASCAR could tell you how important the colors of their favorite cars were. Just as red, and blue were matched to Superman, or red, and yellow were matched to the Flash every character in Basketrio got similar nods. 

The Lakers royal purple, and gold were matched to Kobe, and Lebron’s outfits, without either of them wearing anything remotely alike. The Milwaukee Bucks forest green, and white dressed on Giannis. The Maverick’s navy blue, silver, and black were placed on Luka Dončić. Even if you had no idea which teams, or players they were based on, each of the outfits was inspired. The standout was Dennis Rodman, the long-retired former Bulls player had multicolored hair, was shirtless with a feather boa, and dressed in white pants with the words THE WORM printed on the leg. A nod to his over-the-top personality, and outspoken fashion sense. While I could never justify spending hundreds on realistic NBA figures, if any studio were to ever release 12” collectables in the vein of the Basketrio characters then I wouldn’t hesitate to get them all. 

I was extremely happy with my Super-X team, and the Vinyl All Stars. They sung to all of my interests in a way that no other creator except for Michael Lau was able to reach. I never thought that anything better would come along. All of that changed fairly recently. A figure designer learned the tricks that the artists working on the FreeStyle Street Basketball series were using. Not only that his work predated the look of the Basketrio icons. I will talk about this designer in the next, and final blog in this series. What do you think of video games using the likenesses of real people, or teams without licensing them? Would you be willing to look the other way if they spoke to your interests? Do you think there is a difference behind art, and IP theft? Where do you draw the line? I’d like to hear your thoughts on the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs, podcasts, or buy a future streetball figure!

A preview of Buena Vista Street - A 1UP classic from June 13, 2012

Hello friends, in anticipation of the big expansion set to debut at Disney California Adventure (DCA) this weekend I decided to give you a preview of what to look forward to. For those that don't know, DCA is the park opposite of Disneyland in Anaheim. Reviews for the park were lackluster and the attractions were not up to the classic Disney standards. As attendance dropped so did park profitability. The studio needed to turn things around and they did so by changing leadership. Michael Eisner was out and Bob Iger was in. He changed around the organizational structure and switched around the roles of some key management people. Principal among these was making John Lasseter, the Chief Creative Officer at Pixar, into the Creative Consultant for Disney Imagineering. Lasseter and the Imagineers set about trying to put the "heart" back into DCA. It would be a multi-year, multi-billion dollar proposition that didn't sit too well with all of the shareholders. However as Walt had demonstrated years earlier, some things simply could not be compromised because it would not be "cost effective." This expansion was necessary and long overdue for a park that seemed vastly inferior to Disneyland.

I joined my mom, wife and daughter on a preview day this weekend. It was a benefit for members of D23 the official Disney fan club, and the proceeds were used to help the Children's Hospital of Orange County. We were able to walk down Buena Vista Street, the new entranceway to the park and see everything that had been added for guests. Many of these details were presented at the D23 convention last year. However no presentation or model could capture our surprise when we actually got to walk through the park. The new entrance to DCA is actually a sort of reflection of Disneyland. Main Street on Disneyland USA features turn-of-the-20th-century architecture, sights, smells and sounds that might have been around when Walt Disney was growing up in Marceline Missouri. The street actually guides patrons towards a destination, in the distance there is a castle marking the beginning of Fantasyland. The narrative is amazing, from humble beginnings and small-town origins the world becomes a fantastic playground.

The new Buena Vista Street at DCA is a bookend to Main Street USA. The entrance to Disneyland celebrates the influences of a young Walt while DCA highlights his move to LA and the creation of his studio. The sights, sounds and smells of the new entrance all capture the classic Hollywood feel. Right away there is a service station featuring a familiar icon. Oswald has finally returned home and is the mascot for the store. My wife and I wore our rabbit ears from the E3 as we walked the streets. We were asked by visitors and employees about them. The ears weren't on sale yet in the parks and were pending the official opening of the resort. Most everyone there could not wait to get their own rabbit ears. I have a feeling that Mickey will remain the star of Disneyland but Oswald is going to own DCA.

Everywhere we went we were reminded of how Los Angeles looked back in the day. The architecture and signage was spot-on, a mix of Art Deco and the tail end of Art Nouveau. Just like Main Street the area was impeccable and absolutely pristine. Plenty of shade from local trees and benches surrounded the buildings, offering comfort to visitors not used to the hot Southern California summers.

Main Street has several modes of transportation to get visitors from one end to the other, several vintage-looking cars, busses and a horse-drawn trolley. However the entrance to DCA is not nearly wide enough to support that much traffic. That didn't stop the Imagineers from installing a brand new draw. The Pacific Electric Red Car was a staple of Los Angeles during the 20's and 30's. The various Red Car lines ran all over the city from as far east as Redlands to as far north as San Fernando and as far south as Newport Beach, all-in-all around 450 Square Miles were covered by the service. The cars were fondly remembered by those that got a chance to enjoy them just before the 1960's. For those that came after this would be a rare instance to recapture the magic on a reproduction LA street. The cars were not refurbished trolleys either. Just like every vehicle in the park they are built from scratch and only look period correct. These vehicles have to bear tremendous loads, accommodate wheelchairs, service dogs and people with disabilities. They have to be able to run for 16-hour days and be highly reliable. For the Red Cars they wanted to make them electric as well.

The Imagineers went above and beyond the call and created cool, comfortable and wide Red Cars that are electric and offer the smoothest possible ride on rails. The tracks were welded together and grinded down to be perfectly seamless, even the wheel technology uses shock absorbers to dampen the sound and vibrations from the road. The engineers used inductive power transfer (aka wireless charging) to get the cars up and running. The cables suspended above the streets are actually decorative, that way there is no chance of getting hurt should a cable snap. The cars charge themselves at each stop. It's a tremendous feat of engineering to make something that looks so simple be state-of-the-art.

The rest of Buena Vista Street is just as magical as Main Street USA. Every sign and detail tells a story. Some of the names are chosen from actual LA landmarks and streets, while others are based on classic cartoon characters. The signage matches the era as well, helping to reinforce Walt's studios when he was set up at the old Hyperion address. Even the monorail bridge that runs through the middle of the street has been redone to look like the classic Hyperion-Glendale Bridge that was featured in several movies.

Of course what good are all the businesses on Buena Vista Street unless people can do a little shopping inside? Lasseter made sure that there would be merchandise not only exclusive to DCA, but to some of the shops themselves. One of the things that used to make Disneyland merchandise so desirable in the early days was the exclusivity of it. Clothing, art and toys used to be specific for each shop and area of the park. When Eisner took over the company (and after the death of Frank Wells) the focus became more profit driven. Every corner of the park became saturated with mall kiosks selling trinkets. More and more of the shops had begun carrying identical items, turning the stores into very generic outlets. Recently the parks have been going in the opposite direction and are starting to give customers more boutique options. Downtown Disney, an outdoor mall complex has several shops selling exclusive items and now both Disneyland and DCA are starting to get in on the trend as well.

Visitors to DCA can now look forward to exclusive collectables in several shops as well. This exclusivity should help restore some of the Disney name and keep collectors coming back.

The details and themes placed on every building facade applies to the interior of each shop as well. The color selection, flooring, tiles and furnishings all reinforce the turn-of-the-century theme. Even the music piped through the shops is right out of the roaring' 20's. Visitors can't help but imagine that they've stepped back through time.

One of the things that helps separate the Disney parks from the others is the attention to detail. Most parks might have a theme on the outside of a building but few carry it indoors. Disney does that in spades. The walls and windows on Buena Vista Street are covered in vintage or reproduction items. The employees or "cast members" are wearing period correct costumes as well and have some knowledge on the area they represent. No detail is too big or too small for the Imagineers. For example in the candy store there is a refurbished nickel candy machine. The candy bars in the window look authentic but on closer inspection they too carry some inside knowledge of the company and the classic cartoon legacy.

Of course what Disney park is complete without some mascots? Mickey Mouse and Pluto look very dapper, if a little green in their costumes. Don't worry Mickey, I'm sure you'll be a hit!

Buena Vista Street does point visitors in a specific direction but at the end of the street there isn't a castle. Instead visitors can see a reproduction of the classic Carthay Circle theater. This was the same theater that Walt Disney premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt gambled big on that movie, most people thought that animation could not hold the interest of people, especially children for a full feature. They couldn't have been more wrong as the movie became a global success. The new Carthay Circle is actually a restaurant. Hidden inside is a lounge called 1901. It is exclusively for Club 33 members.

The theater looks great in the day as well as at night. Like the castle it is very regal and inviting. Disney certainly has done well with the expansion, yet the best is yet to come! Come back tomorrow for a review of Cars Land!

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Aircraft graffiti has never looked better - A 1UP classic from February 15, 2010

Happy President's Day amigos! How was your weekend? What did you get up to? Did you enjoy Valentines Day? What about the Lunar New Year? Happy Year of the Tiger to my friends! The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics was pretty classy. Too bad that there was a problem with the indoor cauldron but that was nothing compared to the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili on the luge track. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

My weekend is still going on. I am enjoying the time spent with my gals. We went to the Japanese bookstore and Korean market. There's always something good to be had at both places.

I picked up a real gem at the bookstore. Writer / artist Nobuo "Nob" Shimoda has published a few books with Kojinsha. Nob's Aircraft Graffiti are volumes of illustrations and notes on the various aircraft through history. The majority in the books are military planes but there are great pieces on service planes, helicopters, ultralights and various other craft.You don't have to be a fan of aircraft to get caught up in Nob's illustrations. Each plane is presented in a cartoon, almost "super deformed" format. Similar to the great Dave Deal and in particular his plane cartoon art.

Nob is only far more prolific in his work as he has amassed hundreds of illustrations in the books. In fact I have to order the third book in the series now that I think about it. Each of these books is a treasure trove for cartoonists and artists looking to expand their repertoire. Nob is very subtle with his proportions, the aircraft are very detailed and still very recognizable despite their shortened proportions.

Animators, like those that worked on TaleSpin could have learned so much by studying Nob's work and game designers like those that worked on the Snoopy vs Red Baron games would have had an easier time making their planes cartoonish if they had seen what a master artist had already done with vintage aircraft. Heck, the applications for this type of art can be used just about anywhere. Even in toy design Nob's proportions could have inspired Rohby's Bomber Zero.

Now if you will excuse me, I have games to play and laundry to get taken care of. Have a great Monday and I'll see you soon. Also you artists out there, try to track down a copy of Nob's books. You wont be disappointed.

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

A Street Fighter 6 detail that was bugging me until now...

Believe it or not I finally have closure on a Street Fighter 6 detail that's been bugging me for years. It goes back to 2022 when I did a writeup on Manon (then called Mimi). Her design had been leaked for the Street Fighter 6 roster, and I talked about it as a chance to redo the character of Abel. I mentioned that her hair was very stylish, as she was presented as a fashion model, and fighter. One of my blog visitors named sparrowhawk made a comment about her hair being based on a Skinbird. The type of hair that girl skinheads sometimes wear. They shave all of their hair except for their bangs.  

Sparrowhawk also made another great observation. He said that Manon was similar to the character Sawada Keizaburo from the manga, and anime series Kengan Ashura. The series written by Yabako Sandrovich, and illustrated by Daromeon was published from 2012-2018. The story was in the vein of Baki the Grappler in that the characters represented the pinnacle of their particular fighting styles. Also that they were hyper muscular, and violent combatants. Aside from the muscular frame, and long bangs there was little that I could see of Manon in the look of Sawada. 

That did not mean that the design didn't rub off on Yusuke Hashimoto the designer for Street Fighter 6. The hair alone would be ported over to A.K.I.  Mr. Hashimoto was known for his fashion-forward designs. He produced Bayonetta, and directed Bayonetta 2. As I stated previously; his sense of color, and costuming worked well for the SF cast, and could appeal to international audiences. There was one thing that I simply could not figure out with the design of Manon. That would be her bangs. When I looked at Marisa it was obvious that her haircut was designed to look like a Roman helmet. I could tell that the cropped hair of Manon was feathered to look like a bird. But the bangs were too thin, and too long to be wings.

If Manon were a principal artist then she would always be ready to perform. I would argue that she carried the character of Odette, the Swan Princess off of the stage, and into the arena. The part that bugged me was why would her bangs would be like this, then I realized that they weren't bird wings, but styled after her arms. The length, and cut of her bangs represented the bras bas in ballet, this was how the dancers held their arms before the first position. I think this was the best reason why Mr. Hashimoto went with that haircut. I know it was a dumb theory but it made sense to me. I wish I could ask him if I guessed correctly. Were there any details in Street Fighter or any fighting game that bugged you, but you couldn't guess why? I'd like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 13

Earlier in this series I talked about changing the conversation. Most of us in the west would always associate China with counterfeit products, even though they also produced most of the authentic goods the world consumed. It was a heck of a thing to have praise for the product, but disdain for the country producing it. Michael Lau was raised in Hong Kong, a nation with one foot in the East, and West. Because of this distinction he absorbed, and remixed western culture in a new, and exciting format; the vinyl figure. When his contemporaries followed suit I didn’t have much respect for what they were doing because they were retreading the same idea. But I took a step back, and acknowledged that they were not all cash grabs, many of these creators were also celebrating the new art form.

In the early days artists followed along with what Lau was doing, essentially making street fashion character toys, whether they were stylized 12-inch figures or squat 6-inch collectables. They were almost all universally variations on a skater kid, or a Hip Hop kid. Then other studios like Brothersfree demonstrated that figures could be made out of industrial workers, robbers, or even clowns. The doors had been blown open. The best designers like Jei Tseng Studio were able to remix cartoon stars, video game characters, mythological heroes, basketball players, and even superheroes into something new, and unique. Comic book fans would be able to identify right away who some of the Street Mask series figures were just by looking at them. The four characters Ken, Ray, Derek, and Gino were inspired by the DC Justice League characters Superman, Flash, Batman, and the Green Lantern respectively. 

Yet these figures weren’t licensed from DC, nor were any of their fashion accessories licensed from similar manufacturers. The red crossbody bag on Ken was based on the SUPREME bag, but the matching font said SUPER instead. The studio was able to create something unique by layering multiple levels of detail, and meaning on their figures. This was whether they were using genuine branding, or a remixed logo. JT Studio understood the assignment. This trend had been happening for generations, not just in figure art, but all of the creative arts. In the 20th century millions of musicians jumped on the rock, punk, new wave, and Hip Hop sound after they first heard the music. We wouldn’t have had the Bauhaus, Modern Classical, Art Nouveau, or Art Deco movements unless it the form had also been embraced by millions of creators. Yes there were some derivative artists, but there were many fresh voices that helped propel the various formats forward.

The creators from Hong Kong, and China were remixing culture in real time. They were mashing together fashion, movies, music, cartoons, comics, and toys. Taking the elements that worked from different formats, and seeing how it would look in a figure, or game, or model. It was something that they had been accelerating at all through the ‘90s. In fact they were remixing, a remix before it even got a chance to catch on. This allowed the designs of urban vinyl figures to influence game character designs, and vice versa. I had talked about many of the biggest streetball MMO’s in previous entries of the series. JC Entertainment released FreeStyle Street Basketball, Freestyle2 Street Basketball, and 3on3 Freestyle Basketball. Beijing Halcyon Network Technology Co., LDT released Dunk Nation 3x3. All9Fun released Basketrio: Allstar Streetball. 

The designs in each basketball MMO were fairly well done. They pulled heavily from the stylized proportions of urban vinyl figures. Billy for example, the character pictured above looked like a vinyl figure I would have collected. The proportions of the 3D model, the style of his hair, gold jewelry, and designer sneakers certainly told a story. Streetball players in the real world all had their own distinct personalities. Some were flashy, some were powerful, some were tricksters. Their look, and their style of play reflected those personalities. The games from JC Ent. made sure that the library of characters they created represented a broad cross section of society. It was something that JC did better than a lot of other studios.

The games they had been developing since 2004 did feature a number of traditional looking male, and female basketball players. We’re talking about matching jerseys, knee gaskets, sneakers, etc. However they also had characters wearing regular street clothes, and people from all walks of life. Working professionals, inventors, mechanics, gang members, robots, and the wealthy elite. This with the case of Billy, and his rich mentors Robert, and Grace. Just because they came from wealth didn’t mean they knew nothing about the game of basketball. They were every bit as dangerous on the court as they were on the boardroom.

There was a tremendous amount of storytelling in Freestyle2, 3on3 Freestyle Basketball, and the other games. This came through in seasonal events, and even through the designs of the characters. When Billy made his debut so too did Team Black Lightning. The street kids were ready to take the game right to the one-percenters, and you were free to choose a side. While audiences became familiar with Saru, Jack, and Joey over the years there were technically no heroes, or villains in the universe, just different clashing personalities. The majority of the cast represented a particular subculture. Over time new teams would pop out of the woodwork. If there was something cool out there in the universe it would eventually end up in the game. For example people on both sides of the Pacific thought wuxia heroes were cool. What if there was a modern team that pulled elements from the ancient kung-fu masters? That was essentially the inspiration behind the Ace of Wulin team. 

The Wulin team's special moves on offense, and defense were inspired by their martial training. The name wulin was derived from “martial forest;” the secret society of wuxia heroes from fiction. Rich people, goths, and kung-fu masters, were just some of the teams that broke up the classic pro, or even Hip Hop designs going back to NBA Street from 2001. The studios weren’t afraid of coming up with designs that might work in a stand-alone science fiction adventure. Some characters like the cyberpunk mascot named Zero could transform into his armored alter ego with boosted stats. This sci-fi monster had no connection to basketball. I’d be lying if I said that the design didn’t go hard, and wasn’t someone that fans were eager to try.

Not every entry had some level of forethought. Sometimes the studios would just fit pop culture characters, or celeb look-alikes into the game. Not that it made sense to just give the Jared Leto version of the Joker from the Zack Snyder DC universe movies a basketball. Or say give the enigmatic guitarist Buckethead a basketball. Yet those characters, or rather ballers inspired by those characters ended up in Dunk Nation 3x3. Fans of pop culture that understood the reference appreciated these weird designs getting inserted into their favorite game. It was certainly an easy way to fill out a roster of recognizable faces without paying for a license. Speaking of putting in non-traditional, high-profile characters in a streetball game… what if the developers put fighting game icons into their titles? The designers at All9Fun placed several characters that were heavily inspired by Capcom, and SNK’s biggest stars in Basketrio. Of course they got away with it by changing the names, and details just enough so they wouldn’t get a cease and desist letter.

These were examples of the remix culture that I was talking about. After adding all sorts of traditional basketball, and streetball archetypes, the studios then started populating their worlds with unique figures. When they couldn’t think up new designs they instead starting asking “what if?” and found ways to incorporate musicians, actors, comic book characters, sci-fi, or fantasy heroes. The designers at all of the studios didn’t bother to ask for permission to use a character, or likeness in their game. They just went ahead and did it. Like the old saying goes “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness, than to ask for permission.” I didn’t think it was a good look to poach the designs of Street Fighter, or King of Fighters characters. I appreciated the hustle, but at least JC Entertainment bothered to create an original wuxia team without just copying from a Japanese developer.

Of all the remix figures that I enjoyed, at least for this genre, were the ones based on actual basketball players. After all they made more sense than comic book superheroes in a streetball game. The way these icons were remixed was what amazed me as an artist. I’d like to explore it a little bit more in the next blog. Until then I’d like to know if there was a character in an MMO that you thought looked cool enough to be featured in a stand alone game. Or if you knew of a character that was such a blatant rip off that you couldn’t believe the publisher wasn’t sued. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

An infographic for your enjoyment - A 1UP classic from January 3, 2013

Hello friends, work is busy but here was something that I put together for the heck of it. It's been a while since I created an infographic and I hope this one might come in handy the next time you see skateboarding on TV.

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!