The year's almost done. Though there were some disappointments, I think 2011 was an AWESOME year for foot fans in gaming, but the best is that there's even more to come in the near future for us lovers of barefoot babes!
BIGGEST HIT: Feet from the StreetThanks to modders, Ibuki and Makoto go from battlin' barefoot babes to battlin' barefoot bikini babes!To start off though, 2011 was definitely the year that we will remember when the Game Goddesses of Streetfighter FINALLY bared their feet to their fans and admirers. Thanks to the PC version of
Super Streetfighter IV Arcade Edition and an awesome modder named
Sloth86, we finally got a look at what was under the boots and shoes of the ladies of Capcom's flagship fighting game.
Surely all these years we've been wanting to get
Cammy to take off those big battle-version Doc Marten's of hers, or for
Chun-Li to fight sans her white Chinese fighting boots. Well, those dreams and MORE came true in 2011. Not only were we treated to the unique pleasures of seeing barefoot Cammy and Chun-Li, but also all the other babes in the game as well- or, in the case of the semi-barefoot
Juri and
Ibuki, what they would look fully-barefoot. The barefoot (and often sexy) mods made for SSFIVAE PC are good enough to look 'official', which makes it all worth the cost of getting a laptop or PC just for this game and it's babes. The sheer number of SSFIVAE PC Barefoot vids on my Youtube channel (still growing!) just shows how Streetfighter finally jumped from being a relative sausage-fest of male feet to a Must-Have female footfan fighter along with Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur IV.
Certainly though, the cartoony proportions of the SSFIV art style- with the ultra-detailed, oversized hands and feet- are not for everyone, and many viewers can't get past this. However, if you're like me, and you can accept that this is simply an art style and not something to be taken literally- SSFIVAE PC's barefoot babes are second to none when it comes to detailed and expressive toes and soles. Still looking forward to more barefoot mods and sexy outfits to come from Sloth86 and others!
BIGGEST MISS: Tagged and FraggedNot all was great in 2011. A much-anticipated game and semi-sequel,
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 turned out to be a bit of a lemon. Coming in from
Tekken 6, which is a barefoot babe mainstay and must-have, we all thought that TTT2 would continue the greatness and give us the hot Tekken babes' soles and toes to ogle once more, via Customizations. However, at least in the first initial months, this has not come to pass. So far, the release of customizations in the arcade version has been pretty random, haphazard and piecemeal, disappointing even hardcore Tekken fans. But even more so, so far NONE of the female fighters has been given any sort of barefoot customization (apart from Christie's default outfit, or Asuka and Jun's semi-barefoot hakama-and-instep guard costume parts), even if male fighters are getting it in droves. Is there an Anti-Barefoot Babe directive within the Tekken Team? We hope not, for the game's sake. For me, I love Tekken in any case and really want TTT2 to be the most fun it can be. To be fair, there's still tons of stuff missing from the Character Customization system, so perhaps all the so far MIA bits, including barefoot options for the babes, will arrive eventually- perhaps in the console version scheduled for a Holiday 2012 release. For now though, TTT2 is one big lemon that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Looking Forward: Barefoot Gaming in 2012Soul Calibur V, it's hot warrior babes and awesome Character Creation mode start off 2012!Soul Calibur VThe SOLES still burn... sizzling HOT! The first game to please footfans in the new year will be this long-awaited sequel.
Soul Calibur IV was an understated gem for barefoot babes- the Character Creation gave unprecedented freedom to be creative and make your ultimate warrior- but of course, the best thing about it was the ability to strip the game's many babes down to their underwear and bare feet. Sadly, the franchise seemed to die off after that release, and it was only after the huge outpouring from fans that Namco-Bandai finally reactivated the dormant
Project Soul and green-lighted a sequel for development.
After a year or so, we're gonna see a new SC game. The great news is that the game still has Character Creation, and the feature seems even better than it ever was. The game looks amazing (if a bit too flashy in terms of weapon effects) and I'm sure this will be a footfan favorite. I'm pretty sure the character models' feet still aren't as good as in Tekken 6, but I think they're at least improved a bit from SCIV (I'm just hoping the toes are smoother, and not blocky like before).
The only cons I can see are that several of the past babes will not be returning- but perhaps they can be recreated in the CAS? In any case, the game's existing crop of hotties (including SCIV's red-haired warrior princess Hilde) both returning and all-new should please. And if they don't, just use CAS to create your perfect sole goddess! Sole- er, Soul Calibur V is due out at the end of January 2012 for PS3 and Xbox360.
Streetfighter X TekkenOne of the mash-up fighters coming from this unholy (but awesome) kinda-alliance between Capcom and Namco-Bandai, Streetfighter X Tekken looks like loads of fun. The art style is similar to SSFIV, but slightly redone, and of course has the Tekken fighters added in. Sadly, there's no default Character Customization in the vein of Tekken 6 or Soul Calibur: The only options so far are for Color Edits, and there will be some crazy-looking alternate costumes.
However, by default there are a few barefoot babes for us to watch: The lovely barefoot kunoichi
Ibuki is in the roster for starters.
Juri Han has been hinted at, though not yet 100 percent confirmed.
Asuka is in and hopefully will sport her hakamas outfit as an alternate costume. There are still many unknowns for this title, but I'm being optimistic for it. Best reason for that? A PC version is in the works, so conceivably barefoot mods for this game may be done in the future! This is due out in March 2012.
Virtua Fighter 5 Final ShowdownIf there's one single game I am dreaming of in 2012, it's this one. Virtua Fighter 5 has always been a fighting fave of mine, but it reached divine status when the arcade version, VF5R, gave all of the available characters barefoot customization- and man, are the soles and toes of Virtual Hotties Pai, Sarah, Aoi, Vanessa and Eileen so kissable and lovely indeed! Sadly, you could only access this game if you're an arcade player in Japan- everyone else could only watch whatever vids were posted online. Well, that all should change in 2012, when Sega releases the latest and GREATEST VF5 Upgrade-
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown as a DLC Standalone game. Why is it the greatest? Well, aside from the many new KO animations and added moves, one word- BIKINIS.
Though we've heard little from this since the initial announcement trailer, this should arrive hopefully on time in Summer 2012 for both PSN and Xbox Live (yeah, I'll probably be getting both versions).
SkullgirlsThis 2D title, which was originally supposed to come out in late 2011, is now set for sometime in early 2012. It's a bit of a dark horse, really... I love the cartoony art style and sexy designs. I'm even okay with the creepy-and-gore factor with the babes: I mean, one barefoot babe is a semi-undead Cat Girl who can dismember herself at will, while the other is a genetically-altered schoolgirl-turned-masked mutant who looks like the little sister of Bane from Batman, but with a giant propeller sticking out of her back. This may turn out to be a surprise hit, albeit I know it's quite an acquired taste. Something to look at and check out in any case, when it comes out as a download on both PSN and Xbox Live.
Dead or Alive 5There is little known about the return of Tecmo's fighter; DOA has been left behind so much by the genre, in everything from fighting mechanics to customizations. All I know is that, well, it looks quite pretty. We don't know if it will be updated with a customization feature, or if it will continue to go with just multiple costumes. Well, all I can say is that if
Hitomi at least gets her Karate Gi back (which was detestably removed from DOA4), I will be interested in this at least. Still, it's very early in development- will it even make a release in 2012? We'll see. But this holds great potential- hoping that Team Ninja still realizes hotness and fan service still have their place in the game.
Tekken Tag Tournament 2It's recently been announced that the console version of TTT2 will arrive in late, holiday season 2012. Should we even care? Well, yes, actually- there's still some barefoot and semi-barefoot hotness available by default from Christie, Asuka and Jun. Perhaps by console release time they'll have added the missing barefoot customizations we want. A big Perhaps, but well, hope springs eternal. If not, well, we've got SCV and VF5FS to go to. And maybe
Tekken X Streetfighter?
2011 was an awesome year for barefoot babe games- particularly fighting games. 2012 looks to be even more awesome. Rest assured, I'll continue to blog about these, as well as other games that please our foot-loving hearts and minds. Stay tuned, readers! There's more soleful goodness to come.