Thirty-six months ago*, I discovered a group of proud warriors intent on ridding the world of what they called " the worst video game of all-time".
They are the Shaq-Fu Liberation Front and their mission is two-fold: to either destroy every copy of the Shaq-Fu video game or drive the price of the remaining copies so high the average person could never afford to experience the sheer un-awesomeness of Shaq-Fu: The Video Game.
To see how the Liberation Movement was going 36 months* later, I sent an email to one of the websites webmasters. After establishing contact and conducting a brief interview, I found out that although their website is more popular today than at any time in their eight year history, all is not well with the Shaq-Fu Liberation Front. Besides the fact that the members have been forced to scatter across America, they have recently been met with furious opposition. A group describing themselves as the saviors of Shaq-Fu has emerged to challenge the front.
These believers in Shaq-Fu have dedicated themselves to creating new homes for Shaq-Fu cartridges and saving them from what they claim is the wicked unabashed evilness of the Shaq-Fu Liberation Front. They have sent out a request for people to send them copies of Shaq-Fu so they may find them a safe and loving home.
Shaq-Fu Liberation Front however is not scared of this new opposition. According to the Liberation Front member I spoke to, by amassing all the Shaq-Fus in one happy, joyous home, the pro-Shaq-Fu fans are indirectly limiting the Liberation Front's mission of reducing the availability of the game.
As I mentioned 36 months ago* I was not a big fan of Shaq-Fu. I played it once or twice and found it a lame rip-off of games like Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. During our conversation, I found myself agreeing with the Liberation Front member's theory that the Shaq-Fu video game was originally a scraped idea that was dusted off when Electronic Arts paired with Shaquille O'Neal with the intent of capitalizing on Shaq's growing popularity.
(By the way, 36 months like the 36 Chambers of Shaolin. I'll admit, that is a cool coincidence.)
So who will win this epic battle for the heart and soul of a video game few cared about when it was first released? Currently, Shaq-Fu games are priced between 1.00 and 43.94 on Ebay. Will the Liberation Front get their hands on these copies and destroy them, erasing Shaq-Fu from our collective consciousness? Or will the Save Shaq-Fu Society gathers them in their loving embrace and be able to spread the gospel of their favorite martial arts video game?
