How Def Jam Vendetta Became An Accidental Icon

[@INikeAir]

Man, I will never forget Fight for NY, that game was so much fun, so many good memories. Game still holds up and speaks on that era in gaming

[@alfieh24]

Wholeheartedly agree, fight for New York and FIFA street were literally the only games that I played on PSP back in the day

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Still being played today.

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

R.i.p. DMX,baby chris, an Prodigy.😢

[@joelhuwae]

Me and my still bring it up from time to time

[@All_Hail_Chael]

The ability to KO Shaun Paul or even better, KO your nates WITH Shaun Paul will never be topped. One of the GOAT 4 player fighting games, still mad they never made it backwards compatible. I imagine it is a nightmare in the rights department. Also... Outkast - Bust is still a banger.

[@rookless4121]

Man, I would love to see a new version of this with the new generation of rappers. I have a feeling it would be sick!

[@demondb804]

The only problem I would have is that today’s rappers personalities are too similar feel like it would hurt it

[@50ksavagegoodsavage4]

Let's see, Lil Yachty, Lil Punk, Lil Xan, Megan Thee Lying Male-Horse, Lil Gay X. I'm happily to use these lames as dummy practices

[@moderateswag69]

Nah the roster on def jam is weak af

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Remember on a KZbin video Some guy said he was gonna break Into the defjam ffny disc an turn Stuff around. He even said he was gonna have a Guy do it for him. Not sure if he succeded.

[@sp123]

It'd be hard to make because artists charge a lot more for their intellectual property. Joe Budden said he was paid little and would charge a lot more to be in a sequel

[@channingchills]

One of my favorite games of the PS2 era regardless of genre. I remember it taking me like a week to beat David Banner on story mode.

[@Breezahh]

Damn nah it took me a week plus back then to beat fat joe

[@Reecekeyz]

@@Breezahh somehow I beat fat Joe on my first go

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Remember someone making a Fanmade short of a new defjam game. It was about this guy an his kid. An he went to this warehouse to Fight this light skinned bald dude. He almost lost but turned into A game character an his opponent Too an he won the fight while The crooked people behind it yeeted out of there. His son saw the whole thing. Check the video out.

[@JayBirdowski21]

Ice t used to piss me off

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

@@JayBirdowski21 DMX was a pain tho. R.i.p.

[@trojans7]

Would be awesome if they remastered Vendetta & Fight for NY. I LOVED these games!

[@truthbetold9092]

The first game was sick, i loved it. But the second one, i couldnt tell you how many times i beat that story with different types of created characters

[@kcadventures1454]

Licensing issues aside, if they could just re-release these games in a modern collection it would sell like hotcakes!!

[@EliteEasyE]

Add a Create a Fighter too

[@ElDraco5]

Vendetta and Fight for NY are masterpieces

[@someguy6062]

@@CSM100MK2 So why did you?

[@YTmadeMeChangeMySensibleName]

Truly Timeless. Life changing for some. They just didn’t know it at the time. I’m they

[@Snip3r2Hyp3]

and for them to develop this game and think it was gonna be terrible is really nuts. SMFH

[@aDubOneLove]

What isn’t mentioned in this video is that in many cases, members of the hip hop community were also members of the wrestling community. Growing up, my friends and I watched WWE and played WWE games religiously

[@EliteEasyE]

There were also and still are a lot of steakheads who won't play this great game because of their dislike of rap.

[@karithema9ician657]

That’s true 🤷🏾‍♂️ wrestling had me in a choke hold. That’s was early 2000’s every kid in the hood wanted to be Stone cold , Kane, Undertaker , or the Rock. I liked Edged, Rey Mysterio, and Jeff Hardy. All of them had a hip hop element to them in some way imo

[@JetWindTV]

Hip Hop and Wrestling had a close relationship and, in many ways, still do. You certainly are right about that.

[@bloodedge1528]

This game was what inspired people like me to put rappers in WWE games.

[@byronkennedy7203]

I loved the Def Jam games....at least the first two.

[@uchihabomber1296]

Bro they gotta do this again especially with so many new artists they can make some crazy money with it

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Defjam icon 2 almost happened but Got cancelled. The beta has t.i. an this guy Fighting in a garage.

[@FLOODEDxOUT]

Wow, this is crazy to me. I was watching this video because I love the culture of the game and Hip-Hop in general. I couldn’t help but notice but at 5:55 you used a small clip from my DMX fight with Spider. Thanks Nerdstalgic I really appreciate it being apart of your content, especially because it’s Def Jam

[@paprikafinesser]

Bruh I'm still playing Def Jam Fight For NY to this day ! Discovered it on Ps2 in the mid 2000s,it was my favorite game of all time and still is. The details in the character creation with all the different fighting styles combination is insane for a game thats almost 20 years old. Thank God there is still PC emulation to enjoy this masterpiece. I've been hoping for years that a company brings this game back to life, but from what I've seen the originators Aki Corporation completely changed route by working on Mobile games 😕 If I was a billionaire I would 100% found a reboot of Def Jam Fight For NY😂

[@FrankyRivera]

We need a remastered version of this and Fight for NY for new consoles

[@Eastsid3]

Vendetta and FFNY were played so much in high school. I would love a compilation of both games re-release or a new one

[@DarkEliteEric]

AKI's Director on the game (As well as the director on their classic N64 games and supervisor on FFNY and the Ultimate Muscle games) Hideyuki Iwashita aka Geta-san is working on AEW Fight Forever. The game will be the closest thing we have to No Mercy and Def Jam since!

[@cookingwitchefzayy8830]

They need a new version of this classic right here

[@Asherog7096]

fr!

[@Xenmas021]

This game slapped, always used to play it at my friend's house

[@MaliceTheCommentator]

Fight for NY was my shit. I could replay it several times easily. If they make a new one, they should have as many of the old cast as they can and add new ones too

[@BizzleENT4ME]

THANK YOU! CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT VIDEO! EA probably would never touched this type of game. EVER AGAIN! BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT!

[@NoirNameless]

I’ve been thinking about these games so much recently. I had no idea how much the rappers were involved in the creation process of their stages, finishing moves, etc until like last week lol. Games like these can never happen again. Because during this time, risks could be taken, ideas were valued, and fun mattered more than realism.

[@sp123]

EA was making so much money back then that they were throwing money at anyone with an idea. They stopped doing that after the 2007 rescission

[@EliteEasyE]

As someone who was following Def Jam Vendetta since it was WCW Mayhem 2, I knew AKI was going to kill it. The key to the Def Jam series being so good is the gameplay and whatever reboots won't work without them.

[@mentallyaktive916]

I Legit Just Recently Got Icon Only Because I Remember How Much I Loves The First Two in The Series.

[@Reecekeyz]

I’m sorry you made that mistake

[@mentallyaktive916]

@@Reecekeyz its Fine ....its Way Better Then Rapstar °

[@traviswashington1990]

@@Reecekeyz hey I bought that game when it came out, I thought it was okay when I played it. But yea ffny is the best out the three 😅

[@chillbruh9958]

fight for NY was the iconic one for me. But this one was ok too

[@TonyG718]

Def Jam Fight for NY was my favorite fighting game for a good 5 years. Great graphics, gameplay and difficulty balancing

[@bankylaw3745]

I never played DJV but I did play the sequel fight for New York. I'm not a big fighting game fan. FFNY was such a good game with a compelling story I was hooked the way you get sucked into a sprawling epic RPG game. For my money Def Jam FFNY is THE best fighting game of ALL time.

[@loganford3921]

Fight For New York is highly additive and fun as hell back in the day. It felt like a 3D version of Pit Fighter but a hell of a lot better and more brutal over the top hard hitting moves. Didn't bother with ICON as it didn't look fun and looked to realistic.

[@treflippa2]

The Realistic look of ICON was the best thing it had going for it. Outside of that it couldn't hold a candle to Vendetta or Fight for NY. Had they just updated the visuals like they did but kept the fighting mechanics like they had in fight for NY. ICON would've done so well. I actually enjoyed the story too (not as much as the first 2 of course). I wouldn't mind seeing the series get another crack at it though especially with todays gaming landscape.

[@prestonmccoy7097]

Dude, this game was such a huge part of my childhood! I was SO excited when this got announced! I played the hell out of this!! I even knew most of the rappers combos, especially DMX’s! Then Fight for NY took to another level with the gameplay. Snoop was so slick and cool! Loved his fighting style. Those were good ass times bro. I might have to re-buy them seeing as I have a PS2 just nostalgic occasions like this.

[@joseortega7815]

I played FFNY so much. I had all the trophies, the gear, the bling. My grandma was wondering why my grades were slipping. Lol

[@ngelwings]

i bought a PS2 some months ago & i was so stoked when the local retro store had FFNY i had bought it instantly 😭, i love the gameplay so much

[@deondraemcknight232]

I still remember when I got home from school after taking exams and my mom had def jam vendetta on top of my PS2 games I was so hyped that and fight for NY need a remake remaster or something

[@apocalipsdoebermen8376]

The fact I never hear anyone talking about Def Jam Icon is weird af to me... dopest hame I've played in a while

[@YungEZ1]

I would love another Def Jam game as long as it has customization and a good story it does matter if it’s a throwback or new school

[@RomnysGonzalez]

It's a shame we would never get another game like this because the damn copyright law that makes something like is a complete licensing nightmare nobody can go through

[@NottyGurlStyle]

My husband and I use to play Fight for New York all the time when we were dating. An amazing game!!! It was so much fun.. I loved playing with my favorite rappers, mod out my own character and just enjoyed the graphics. Damn good game for its time. I will have to watch your SSX Tricky video but SSX 3 was my game!! You have no idea how I still long for another game to be made like it…It’s a shame they day will never come

[@kylejones412]

Def jam vendetta and Def jam fight for New York are so fun 😩🔥💿

[@kimfalleiro]

vendetta and fight for ny are soo good a new game similar to those would be cool

[@12thMandalorian]

The Podcast IGN Unfiltered has an interview with Josh Holmes (Episode 2) and he goes into depth about how Def Jam became what it did, really good listen!

[@00ghostcobra]

Absolutely legendary game..

[@karithema9ician657]

I love FFNY… But Vendetta just gave me that nostalgic vibe I loved from the early 2000’s late 90’s hiphop 🔥🔥🔥

[@FloydFloyd91]

After the first two it went terrible! The first two were straight classics!

[@Itznkb]

Icon was terrible compared to first two, but looking back, that game was kinda ahead it’s time too (in my opinion, Atleast)

[@FloydFloyd91]

@@Itznkb it was ahead of its time but the arcade style of the first two was greatness!

[@DovaDive]

the girlfriend picture modes were gold for 12 year old me

[@lukeluke333lukeluke]

Would love this series to return. Games where great. Imagine what it could be if they made a new game.

[@Dredizzle]

Def Jam FFNY is one of the most underrated fighting gamer ever imo

[@pir8prod]

RIP DMX 💉

[@jbzhummerh2gamer]

Def Jam Vendetta - A great game Def Jam Vendetta II Fight 4 NY - An even better game Def Jam ICON - Needs to die in a fire The next Def Jam Vendetta game - Has some big shoes to fill.

[@TheMMObro]

Fight for ny is so fucking good lol. The customization was sick.. it used to look like me and my friends were fighting each other in a game bc we'd also match our outfits in game to what we were wearing

[@KIDTV-qe2dm]

It was originally going to be WCW Mayhem 2. But when WWE bought WCW, they canceled the plans.

[@elijahashman9716]

🔥🔥 Childhood Memories

[@JetWindTV]

Well, it is widely rumored the engine Aki was using was created for WCW before they went out of business.

[@eddiemoise8079]

This game is my Jam bruh! All I needed was this, super street fighter 2, Mortal kombat trilogy, controllers that didn't have buttons that stick, and at least 4 friends😂now it's a party

[@Demsky83]

Figbt for NY elevated the concept and is the perennial sequel.

[@Miguel_Pratz]

EA - PLEASE bring back Def Jam and NBA Street! 😭😭😭😭

[@Anuvadaysince]

Would be good seeing the series make a return. Snoop’s an active executive creative consultant at Def Jam. It’s a reach but sure if the idea was voiced at him then he could run that 🤞🏾

[@Claasic]

Those games are soo badass

[@ComicBooksandVideoGameNerd96]

Fun fact this was originally supposed to be a WCW Game WWF'S rival company at the time that eventually went out of business so when WWF have brought the WCW Tape Library Logo Trademarks and other Assets obviously WWF had no interest in the game because it was a WCW game

[@anthonymetoyer4783]

Still one of my favorite games ever

[@BIGwillTHEGAME]

I still play Vendetta and Fight for NY on my PlayStation 2 . I haven’t played The Takeover in awhile and I haven’t played Icon in years.

[@goldstarchoice]

This was my shit, I can't lie.

[@NoMorePodDes]

Fight for my characters in the thumbnail 😂

[@Chandasouk]

I used to fuck people up with DMX in this. AKI was great. Fight For NY is definitely my favorite from the series though.

[@Shoryuken25]

Need another game I NEED IT

[@crushthecrusher7134]

I love def jam vendetta and I very love def jam fight for new York is perfect for me I love wrestling and I love rap music I miss play it

[@SICresinwrks]

Still wishing fight for NY would get a remaster

[@mohdkhairul9701]

D Mob is voiced by Chris Judge, Kratos himself.

[@rossmcfarlane5772]

You need to do a vid on the Celebrity Death Match game now 🤣🥊

[@MrGutsTheBerserk]

One of my gaming regrets is getting to choose one game at a store and picking Fight Club, even when the clerk recommended I get Def Jam instead. How right they were, but i was too blinded by young teen love for the Fight Club movie 😅

[@billbandoh5818]

Wu Tang Shaolin Style came out in 2000! Thats the first Hip-Hop video game

[@oftenspanx]

Def jam fight for new york man, I spent hours and hours playing that game with my friends.

[@DonMaximus98]

Bro that game was missin one person bro and idc what anybody says but 50 Cent should’ve been featured in the game it would’ve made it even more Iconic don’t lie 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@ty_sylicus]

Never played Vendetta but, Fight for New York was super fun. I wasn't even into hip-hop.

[@famousjaywage]

Mannn we need another Def Jam I still play Fight For Ny Till this Day ✅🔥🔥 ONE OF MY FAVORITE GAMES EASY

[@warlord1873]

Anything to do with yukes or aki back in the day was an icon

[@PhriekshoTV]

Absolutely the best in the franchise. You can't use people as pogo sticks in the others.

[@emanuelespinoza9325]

You can unlock the Pogo Stick move in one of the bonus tournaments in the second game.

[@PhriekshoTV]

@@emanuelespinoza9325 weren't the next two games more like fighting games than wrestling ones? Been a while

[@emanuelespinoza9325]

@@PhriekshoTV There was only Icon, which was more like a fighting game. There was also "Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover" for the PSP, which is supposedly a prequel to Vendetta (story-wise) but it used a lot of things from the console versions. Then you had "Def Jam Rapstar," which was like "Karaoke Revolution."

[@iraford5788]

Nostalgic game.

[@southsidetherealest2860]

8 mos to make vs now you get incomplete games to make sure you never own it

[@avace917]

I never played Fight For NY. I loved Vendetta though. I'd owned several AKI games for the N64. 4 of them actually. 2 being WCW games and the other 2 WWF(E). Def Jam Vendetta was great.

[@Emjaytoodope]

dope vid

[@pansnemesis]

Should've made mention to the Wu Tang game that came out prior

[@Clean_Shirt]

Def jam fight for ny was my favourite ps2 game of all time. They need remakes

[@AGZisMe]

Def Jam Vendetta was also supposed to be WCW Mayhem 2 but it got canceled lol

[@thenefariouspyro809]

I still play icon now that I'm older and I understand the fight system I have fun with it mostly using the haymakers tho

[@usmansubhani7482]

I loved this game, but I realise how Def Jam wouldn’t work online because there aren’t enough counter elements. Tekken has sidestepping, punishment to strikes, whiff punishment, and many different combos. Compared to that Def Jam is was too simple. It won’t make money with the way the controller layout is like.

[@Demsky83]

Aki made the best wrestling games of the era.

[@Itznkb]

RIP AKI 😭

[@6sk8wit6demons6]

Bro I had ssx tricky great game

[@AfroV]

Only played fight for NY . Is the first one worth trying then?

[@marksprinkle]

I just sold this game for 42 bucks on Ebay!

[@ckconcon72]

If you were ps2 kid, you or your friend had vendetta or fight for ny but nobody had both

[@liphoenixli]

Def jam fight for NY is still to this day is my favorite fighter.

[@jxy2590]

def jam is 🐐

[@Drew_D]

I still have my copy. 😁

[@ezrolly898]

I was never into wrestling or wrestling games but i out hours and hours intto Vendetta. DMX and Joe Budden were my picks

[@Nero__Morte]

Thumbnail is certainly FFNY 😂

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Some say nobody could get pass DMX To this very day.😂

[@jjp_nyc]

My guy glossed over FFNY like it wasn’t top tier. WTF?!?

[@EliteEasyE]

Wrestling games are so stale nowadays. The 2K games don't know if they want to the arcade, simulation, or a fighting game. They're just dull ass hell and not fun to play. But hey people get their photorealistic graphics.

[@ChrisJamesWasTaken]

Def jam vendetta and ffny was the only 2 that was good

[@gdude87]

Aside from what @i_used_adblock_to_watch_this pointed out (thankfully), in the video you also refer to Def Jam Icon and Def Jam Rapstar as "sequels and spin-offs" to which neither game was. Sure, Def Jam Icon was a fighting title published by EA, but it's in a universe of it's own. It was never advertised, mentioned, nor does the game make any references that imply being related to the previous 2 Def Jam branded entries. To write off Rapstar as a sequel or spin-off just because of the brand attached to it is just insulting. None of the previous game developers or publishers had any involvement in that game, it's not even in the same genre. It clearly didn't need any mention whatsoever.

[@81stCommander]

I hate wresting games, but Def Jam Vendetta was awesome, and Fight for NY was even better. Icon was so bad it killed off the series though.