The Beast Speaks, Eloquently

There can no longer be much doubt that Daigo Umehara, The Beast, is one of, if not the, best Street Fighter player ever. This Euro Gamer interview offers a rare glimpse at the humble, unassuming man behind the legend and offers a stark contrast to many of America's brash top players, John Choi excepted.

The following excerpt really stuck out to me, reaffirming some of my fears from here. Daigo sez:

"I find Western tournaments way more fun than those held in Japan. The players have a sense of ownership of the scene and feel that the tournaments they attend are their event and that they have to take part to make them the best they can be. At least, that's how it appears to me.

"By contrast, corporations usually lay on Japanese tournaments. The Japanese players take no responsibility: whatever happens is up to the host or sponsor. Western gamers at tournaments are very enthusiastic and eager to make it a great event because they have ownership. Regardless of the size of the event, none of the Western tournaments I've participated in have disappointed or bored me. I must say that I love the US tournaments best of all: they keep the pride and fighting spirit alive."

Enough said. Let's never lose the hype.

Waiting for Updates

Ever since Blazblue came out, I was waiting for a sequel. I still haven't found a character to main. Street Fighter IV, I just didn't want to look deep enough into to learn well (though i didn't have a main there, either).
Now that updates are on the way for both, things are perhaps looking up. If the rumors are to be believed, one of my favorite Street Fighter characters is going to be reintroduced in SFIV (Makoto), which may finally give me cause to actually learn her.
As for Blazblue, the recent location tests reveal that the new character Tsubaki has at least some resemblance to Holy Order Sol, and she has a command throw. I don't know if I'll play her, but that's pretty good news to start out with.
Though, the recent location tests also reveal that Tager and Hakumen, characters I have some interest in already, have seemingly been buffed relatively substantially.

I guess we'll see what's really up in a number of months when the updates are finally released to arcades.

Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin

First, a story:
Early this year I visited some friends at my alma matter, and one of my great joys was getting to play Guilty Gear with them again. I made that game a staple of our group, and I was happy to see that it continued on in my absence. The only match I remember, though, was with someone I had never met. He said he had played before, so I didn't really exercise restraint. He grumbled when I scored a Dragon Isntall Sekkai as Order Sol. He didn't like being Potemkin Busted. But he threw up his hands and shouted "Fuck this!" halfway through the first match where I chose A.B.A.

I felt bad. I love playing A.B.A. She is one of my favorites in the entire genre. She's complicated, poses great risk to the opponent and herself. And her ability to RTSD is outstanding. So when I gathered he simply couldn't deal with that kind of relentless assault, I felt like a jerk.
But I was also kind of pissed off. One of the great joys of fighting games, to me, is that if you never give up it is entirely possible to emerge victorious.

But that's neither here nor there, I'm trying to respond to Denton's post.

I play the entire cast of Guilty Gear, and I often play on random. That is partially so that I won't feel guilty if fate hands me one of my better characters (A.B.A., Baiken, Potemkin, and to some degree a scrubby Eddie). If I'm picking characters, I try to use those four sparingly. Because I know it can't be too fun dealing with their shit.
On that same note, it is hard for me to play Denton's Nu for very long. I still can't fathom how she comes together, I'm never sure how I can move to avoid the swords everywhere. But it'd be far more terrible if he stopped playing her because of that.

Excessive νdity – 08.11.09

As expected, Blazblue has taken over my life. Hardly a day goes by without a visit to the 13th hierarchical kingdom of Kagutsuchi, whether for a half hour beat down courtesy of Pkadden or an extended training mode session to practice my abysmal execution. Hell, even story mode sees play. Say what you will about the throw mechanics, burst system, jump frames or lack of variation in character strategies, the game has captured my attention as few before.

The most common complaint leveled against BB is invariably its balance issues, which, while often overstated, are undeniably present. I barely understand Arakune and could not play him if my life depended on it, but even I get how terrible it must be for Tager to face down the Crimson Swarm. Ara, nu, Rachel and, to a slightly lesser extent, Jin rule the roost, if general opinion and SBO qualification counts are any indication. With this in mind, and with no small trepidation, I must admit playing nu.

Now, before punching me in the face, let it be known that my choice was made upon watching the first videos of her unlocking, before her placement on the “Cosmic T-Rex” tier was known. Something about her Zone of the Enders-inspired design and Dizzy-reminiscent gameplay style sealed the deal before I had a chance to protest. Really, corny as it sounds, she chose me.

This is not to say nu never gives me pause. She’s rarely my first choice, and often does not make an appearance at all, given her ability to make many opponents leave lobbies, rage-quit mid-match and punch walls (true story). This, despite the fact that I do not even play her remotely well; my poor reflexes and tendency to fall back on simple, predictable tactics when under pressure are particularly large obstacles to advancing. However, even my meager skill with the phantom swords is enough to overcome seemingly competent players online.

The internet, admittedly a place no sane person should ever go, tells me I should be ashamed for playing such a “cheap,” “over-powered,” character. Apparently, being “too easy to learn” is a cardinal sin and “scrubs” are ruining the game with her. (Then again, Jin, Hakumen, Noel and Arakune are supposedly doing the same thing, so at least she is in good company.) Random, anonymous strangers have deemed the damage output too high, her mobility too good and her zoning too impenetrable given her escape options. Questionable credentials aside, they are probably right.

I feel guilty playing nu. Even knowing that apologizing for character choice is unnecessary and counter-productive, it bothers me in a way that no amount of Playing To Win can alleviate. Being at such a serious disadvantage at 2/3 of a screen is a foreign concept to most players and I do not always push that strength for fear of driving them away (pun intended). No one likes feeling powerless and being safely zoned from so far is the fastest way to make that happen. Though characters like Dhalsim are also most comfortable in similar positions, they cannot pressure as effectively or punish a mistake for 40%+.

In the grand scheme of top-tier characters, there are certainly more dominating, arguably broken fighters that were still accepted by their communities: 3rd Strike Chun, #Reload Eddie, SFIV Sagat, MvC2 Magneto/Psylocke/Sentinel, etc. Yet in my endless quest to improve, there is a strong desire for legitimacy and the respect of my opponents. I do not want to receive messages saying “I lost to nu, not to you” or to leave a trail of ill will for my friend’s PSN account (who is kind enough to let me play).

Perhaps to compensate, my two sub characters are currently Hakumen and Tager, arguably the worst in the game. I greatly enjoy their simple combos and punishing range, surprising unsuspecting opponents with sudden bursts of activity. Yet, as much fun as hitting 360 grabs and super counters is, it feels like time that could be better spent with nu practicing throw-dash timing and Tiger Knee Crescent Sabers.

The inevitable, and greatly anticipated, patch/revision/sequel is sure to tone down my main squeeze, perhaps even to the point of respectability, or at least fewer snide remarks. Coupled with buffs for the less capable members of the cast and a smaller, more dedicated player base that comes with iterating a fighting game, this will probably alleviate my tier shame. Hopefully. However, I really just need to get over the guilt; it is just another obstacle to getting better. Whatever changes Arc System Works deem fit, I will keep playing nu, only maybe less frequently than I should.

Pros’ Woes – 06.29.09

Shortly after his big win at the SBO quals, Live On 3 took a few minutes to talk with Combofiend about the event. At one point, DJ Wheat referred to him as a pro fighting gamer, a description that Peter took issue with, clarifying that he is not paid to play. Street Fighter is his hobby, his passion, but it is not how he makes a living.

To hear some people talk, fighting games should look to more popular competitive endeavors for direction. First-person shooters tend to be a prime example, perhaps due to the shared “e-sport” designation. Counter-Strike, Quake and Halo tournaments are often large-scale events, complete with live coverage, professional players and corporate sponsors. The latter are particularly important as large monetary incentives ensure that the stakes are high and the tension is real; this forces more cut-throat competition and ostensibly better performances. Putting people’s livelihoods on the line is a surefire way to create hype.

Interest in fighters has dropped off severely since their heyday in the early to mid 90s and it is a safe bet that most fans would like to see some of that popularity recaptured. However, I have to question whether big money is really the best way to go about increasing attention. The only reason the genre survives to this day is love of the game; money matches and cash prizes are a large part of the scene, but they are not la raison d’être. Not to say that is the case with FPSes, but I feel as though the fighting game scene, though small, does a great job of sustaining itself on the dedication of the community. Evo is not a monetized event, it exists and thrives solely because people like Seth Killian, Joey Cuellar and the Cannon brothers work to create a place for enthusiasts can come together and geek out.

It would be a real shame to lose that sense of community by introducing threats to players’ living wages. There is enough pressure to represent yourself and your character as it is, why add the stress of fulfilling an endorsement? Money introduces a greater incentive to hide information and strategies, stifling growth of the general knowledge base and further scaring off new players. Friendly rivalries would turn bitter. Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria.

I understand the draw of expanding the genre to the point where professionals can exist; hell, at times it sounds like a dream job. Keeping the games we love healthy obviously requires funding on top of all the commitment. I just hope that this current fighter resurgence and push to make them more mainstream does not sacrifice some of the things that make the scene so great.

Polynesian Warrior - 07.22.09

My family chooses the worst times to take vacations, insofar as there is a bad time to spend two weeks in Hawaii. I really should not complain, but this is a fighting game blog, so let's get on with it.

Our flight departed two days after the greatly anticipated release of Blazblue and between shipping delays and a full day of work/travel, I had only a couple of hours to play it with Pkadden before leaving for the islands. That brief taste made the ensuing wait even more difficult than the past few months have been; even while relaxing on idyllic beaches I could not help but pine for Arakune's gooey embrace. STSD has been rather Street Fighter centric thus far, but Guilty Gear X2 was my first love and Arc System Works' follow-up had induced a fair amount of frothing demand. Expect to see more about BB soon, if I can tear myself away from it long enough to post. Only two days back and the game has already consumed most of my free time.

Compounding the withdrawal was my lack of access to Evo coverage. I was ready to lose an entire weekend watching the stream, but for some reason never bothered to check the actual tournament dates, assuming it to be sometime in August. Consequently, I spent most of the 17th - 19th draining my phone's battery constantly refreshing the site brackets that never updated. Our hotel's crappy connection, coupled with the strain of several thousand other viewers, meant that I only got to watch slideshows of two SFIV matches. In some cruel twist of fate, the live chat worked fine, simultaneously lowering the IQ of all involved and giving no useful information about the event. While not representative of the community as a whole, it was a sad display nonetheless.

The little information that came through felt disjointed, as when semi-final brackets were posted and many of the big names I expected were nowhere to be found. Somehow I ended up on Twitter of all places, as the players' and official Evo feeds were the most consistent source of news to be found, especially towards the end. A forum may have yielded more updates but venturing into SRK for something like this was not terribly appealing.

Miraculously, my flight home landed in time to catch the great Daigo vs Justin grand finals, a much better fight than their contest at GameStop tournament. Is it just me or has Daigo improved considerably of late? I have not been following much Japanese SFIV since the game was released on console, but his Ryu seemed even more impressive than memory tells. The way he moved was simply incredible; it was like watching Poongko wreck some poor fool, but less predictably aggressive and one-sided. Frequent focuses, sloppy but unpunished footsies and, of course, psychic dragon punches made for a veritable whirling dervish of Shoto beat down. That Justin drew out the set as long as he did is quite a feat, but even with the all the whiffed low forwards and narrow comebacks, it was clear the Beast was going to win.

Despite the somewhat foregone conclusion, it was difficult deciding who to root for. On one hand I like the idea of Daigo as this completely dominating, though not unbeatable, figure that everyone is gunning for, it makes for great drama. On the other, America has really stepped up its level of play and deserves recognition and respect. Beating the Japanese would do a lot for the genre's hype and popularity, so here's hoping for a great SBO showing.

combos are confusing

I've never really been good at comboing. The timing in older capcom and SNK fighters is so strict I could never do the more complex combos, nor try to create my own. capcom's Vs. series is too friggin' crazy for me to deal with.
But I played so much Guilty Gear that I got a pretty good handle on its combo system, and over the years was able to develop combos that worked (enough for me, anyway).

In contrast, one of my good friends is always thinking about combos when he plays fighters. He's always trying to link something new together, testing what will work. I pick stuff up as I play, but this guy is really into it.

I was trying to figure out how to better play Ragna today, and I tried a variation of a combo I had been doing. To my delight, it worked! A quick scan of Dustloop showed me that of course what I did worked, but I was doing it the stupid way for idiots with more hits but less actual damage.

Hell, it only served to remind me that I used to do Baiken's dustloop beginning with a 2k. When I was practicing the night before a tournamet, I finally figured out the 2K I thought was totally awesome was actually prorating massively and cutting the damage roughly in half.

I still don't think I'm that good with combos.

Who is your main?

Years ago in the back of Playstation Magazine, the secrets section described how to unlock Testament, Baiken, and Justice in the original Guilty Gear. They went on to describe Baiken as being possibly the first handicapped character in a fighting game, as she is one-eyed and one-armed.
I myself lack vision in one eye, and I felt that at some point in time I would have to learn Baiken.
We'll guesstimate heavily and say maybe 5 years later I started playing Guilty Gear X2. Baiken was the first character I used. I had to. We had an eyeless bond.
And together with Baiken I learned how to guard-cancel. I learned how to combo. I learned how to dustloop.

And springing from that (particularly from learning how to combo, which I didn't really understand back when I used to play Street Fighter II with my brother), I learned the basics of the rest of the cast. And then I branched out into other fighting games.
But if the blame has to go somewhere, it is Baiken.

Blazblue came out recently, and I feel lost. Three of my good friends are playing it as well, but the big difference between us at this point is that they all have mains. jcdenton is going to play Nu, and he's going to be crazy-good at it. Twinkiebomb (perhaps of note to SFIV players) took to Noel so quickly I'm already afraid for the next time we play together. And a guy I know who never got into Guilty Gear seems pretty determined to learn Taokaka.
And I'm floating, confused.

Fighting monogamy, indeed.

Further Misadventures In Recruiting: “They still make Street Fighter?” – 06.24.09

“Do you have Street Fighter?” The conversation floated into my room from yet another group of people I did not know. For once, the revolving door of strangers appeared to be yielding fighting game dividends. A few more name-drops of the franchise later, one of my roommates called me in to partake. “He’ll kick your ass,” he said, pointing to me.

Silently I hung my head in dismay; this was possibly the worst thing he could have said. Presumably this new challenger was not that great, but assessing his skill would be a lot harder if he got scared off and did not even attempt to play. However, this turned out not to be an issue, as he was looking to play a drinking game (one shot per game lost) and decided on SF because “It goes quickly.”

With this in mind, I bowed out and let the rest of the party go on button mashing their way to inebriation. Amusingly, a fair number of the matches resembled this Portuguese TV show, flailing Blankas and all. Fights dragged on, especially once I told them how to perform the perennial scrub favorite electricity. After about 20 minutes, I was challenged and barely eked out a victory on a Dualshock 3; the combination of erratic opponents and pad execution made matches closer than they probably should have been. My roommate ended up being my easiest match, interestingly enough; even though he had no trouble beating everyone else, he knows just enough about the game to be predictable and intimidated.

Shortly thereafter it was clear that interest and sobriety were waning. Smash came out, only to be replaced by Tiger Woods PGA 2007, then Wii Sports, arguably following the deterioration of motor skills. The highlight of the evening occurred when one person noticed the “arcade setup” under the TV and gave me an un-ironic high five; I hoped his amazement and compliments were signs that he too enjoyed fight sticks, but alas, this was not the case. Once again, an evening that began with such possibility ended in disappointment, though it was naïve to believe it would turn out otherwise. Back to the laggy online jungle for me.

Fighting Monogamy – 06.15.09

Listening to top players talk about how they became so good can become somewhat repetitive: practice, then practice some more, then continue practicing. From the sound of it, champions know their games inside and out, to the point where execution and technical knowledge become nearly irrelevant. Instead, matches are battles of wills, nerves and minds, each coming down to a few key moments where one player finds/forces an opening and deals massive damage. Case in point: Kokujin is clearly no slouch, yet guessing incorrectly against Makoto is a fatal mistake.

However, this level of ability comes at a price. Pyrolee is a great SFIII player, but on the first Denjin Video podcast he mentions that he has no interest in other fighting games, or even versions of the game not played on a physical CPS3 board. He has honed his skill to the point of inflexibility; playing anything other than 3S under ideal arcade conditions is a non-starter. Mike can engage opponents incredibly well on his terms, but even small deviations will greatly affect the quality of play.

To be fair, he could still annihilate me blindfolded, with one arm tied behind his back, on a Dreamcast pad. On the other hand, I think the necessity for this level of devotion is somewhat detrimental.

Unless you’re Alex Valle or Justin Wong, playing a fighting game well is a monogamous affair. Its vaunted depth is as much a liability as it is an asset; the sheer number of systems and variables to learn in any given fighter demand years of undivided attention. That the classics hold up so well under such scrutiny is amazing, but it makes the skill divide rather steep. To compete in tournaments means, at the very least, knowing locations of invisible boxes, the durations of various stun states, inscrutable priority values, movement arcs, spacing, recovery and a million other things that govern gameplay. Without an intimate understanding of your character and how they stack up against the rest of the cast, you do not stand much of a chance.

Part of the problem is that fighting games, while strategy intensive, are not like Chess; you cannot explain the rules to a new player and reasonably expect them to read the board. Understanding how to counter an opponent in Guilty Gear requires far more than merely extrapolating from piece positions in front of you. The actual backbone of Street Fighter is largely invisible; images of two brawlers interacting rarely represent the framework of colliding rectangles and number crunching that rule the true game.

In the end, there is probably too much information at work for sprites or models to convey without severe over-stimulation. Knowledge of these values and behaviors is only gleaned from countless hours spent with the game. When one sixtieth of a second can spell the difference between victory and defeat, determined players will always train themselves to react perfectly to every possible situation; only then is it possible to match wits at a tournament level. It is simply unfortunate that it takes so much effort to and creates so specific a skill set.

I am sure many people are willing to tell me that spending time is the point, that the drive to improve is what separates “casual” from “serious” players. This argument has merit, but at some point it must be worth picking up a new game rather than practicing even more for increasingly diminished returns. If people were willing to branch out more instead of dedicating themselves to absolute perfection in one area, I think the genre would be in a better place today: more players crossing between communities, sharing play-styles and strategies to give worn-out titles new life, increasing sales and lowering the entry barrier due to weaker, but more general, skills.

However, this mentality will never take hold. The desire to be number one is especially ingrained these games and their fans; as long as someone can gain an edge by slowly chipping away at the frame data, they will. Ultimately, without the passion and dedication of hardcore players though the arcade death spiral, it is doubtful the genre would be even a shadow of what it is today.

Misadventures in Recruiting - 06.08.09

Having company over can be annoying, especially when you don’t know them and they take up video gaming space to watch some crappy late-night TV. Imagine my pleasant surprise then, upon walking into the room, arcade stick in hand, to have some stranger ask “Is that Street Fighter?”

After relating a promising anecdote about staying up all night to play SF with his roommates, he accepted my challenge. While setting up 3rd Strike, my would-be opponent decided to leave for a bit and one of the girls present volunteered to step in. I explained the very basics, set her up with Ryu and started a match. As she threw out punches, I ran into the hits as seemed appropriate and occasionally pitched a fireball or two. She seemed to be enjoying herself, once even accidentally forward-grabbing my Akuma and getting a big kick out of it. Then, as my health meter was nearing bottom: “Even though you play so much, you aren’t very good.”

In retrospect, I probably should not have reacted so harshly; the plan was to let her win anyway, what did it matter what she said? Instead, I annihilated the 80% of her life remaining, going so far as finishing with a jumping Super Art 1, just for that extra humiliation.

What is it about fighting games that brings out this constant desire to assert dominance? Is it the same with all competitive endeavors? Apparently I could not even suppress the killer instinct long enough to keep her playing more than one round. Maybe it was too boring, not engaging my opponent on the mental battlefield and the provocation seemed like a chance for some entertainment. Perhaps her biting feminine wit cut to the heart of my male hunter/gatherer/fighter insecurities, baiting an over-compensatory response. Damn you, AP Lit. More likely, I lose so badly so often that it felt good to finally return the favor…by taking it out on some helpless non-gamer. Yeah, awesome. Whatever the cause, I utterly failed to maintain her interest in fighting games.

Unfortunately, this was not the last of the night’s disappointments. The guy came back shortly afterward and said that his experience was entirely with the SNES version of SFII: World Warrior. Anniversary Edition being as versatile as it is, I tried to accommodate this as much as possible.

However, as the nagging voice in my head suspected, he was not skilled. Trying to learn from the failed experiment a few minutes before, I spent most matches blocking, only punishing bad mistakes and giving advice on how to use some of the characters. At the end of the day though, as the life bars dropped, it was difficult to resist the temptation to super through a poorly spaced fireball (I switched to ST versions after a couple matches). He understandably stopped playing after five fights; no one likes being humiliated or competing with someone so far beyond their skill level that they cannot learn anything from the time invested.

Seems I am not yet comfortable enough with my meager skills to simply sit back and let an opponent have their way. The drive to fight and improve is present the instant my hands touch a controller. Being too hungry to be an effective teacher is a poor excuse, but it is all I can offer at the moment.

In my experience, the best way to play, learn and have fun is to have a sparring partner near or just above your skill level, which explains how he could go for hours with his roommate but less than 10 minutes with me. That way, both fighters can wholeheartedly battle it out over significant periods of time and still enjoy themselves, noticing the nuances of the game and devising ever-evolving strategies to counter each other. However, even in this era of internet forums and ranked online battles, the problem remains finding that person.

To be honest, I am not sure how to use this for recruiting. In my experience, non genre-fans tend not to buy 2D fighters and spread them amongst their equally unskilled friends, unless the game has the marketing push and nostalgic draw of SFIV. Even then, there is no guarantee that the people in question will really grasp, or care, about the depth offered, spend time to improve, or try similar games.

The question of expanding the audience for their games is undoubtedly one that developers and marketers struggle with all the time. In all likelihood, the answer lies in the heart of battle, er, in the hype and excitement generated by awesome events like the streamed Denjin SBO qualifiers. But that is a topic for another post, the ramble is long enough as it is. Obviously I was not expecting these two strangers to actually get into fighting games based on their brief play session, but the mistakes I made with them will hopefully lead to future success with more promising candidates.

SBO Qualifiers at Denjin Arcade – 06.07.09

What makes a scrub a scrub? Cause #1: Poor decision making. Doing dumb things like watching the Denjin Super Battle Opera qualifiers for eight straight hours instead of attending your own house-warming party or going to sleep before 5 AM EST.

Don’t get me wrong, it was completely awesome and I in no way regret my admittedly bad choice, but willfully indulging in such behavior probably demonstrates a fatal lack of self-control. Or maybe it just makes me sound like a drug addict.

But enough navel-gazing, let’s talk Street Fighter. First, I would like to mention it was a shame the 3rdStrike tournament did not get any airtime. Obviously there were a lot of technical constraints facing the production crew and they did an admirable job with the few resources they had, but I hope JR Rodriguez uploads his footage soon. 3S might be, as James Chen suggests, dead gameplay-wise, but damn if there isn’t still a ton of hype. Three on three matches hopefully helped prevent endless strings of Yun/Chun fights, and, in spite of its arguably overpowered, boring techniques, it is still a lot of fun to watch seasoned masters play. Despite being 10 years old, that game is not going anywhere.

Standing in stark contrast to that old work-horse is, of course, Street Fighter IV. Holy crap you guys, there was some amazing stuff last night. Skill levels are increasing at such a rapid pace that match videos from a couple months ago are nearly out-dated relics. Everyone is improving their game so much; Evo is shaping up to be one hell of a showdown.

Where to start? East coast deserves mad props for their showing, clawing their way through the losers bracket with nothing but skill, grit and hunger, to take third place. Taking out Momuchdamage was so clutch, I was on the edge of my seat the whole set. Arturo’s Dhalsim was particularly impressive, especially towards the end against Paul’s Sagat and Valle’s Ryu. In spite of all the trash-talk, they really just cut through all the East vs. West bull and played incredibly well; I was rooting for them the whole time and only went to bed after they were knocked out. Not winning is tough, especially after flying cross-country to compete in Simi Valley, but EC can be proud of what they accomplished.

In the end though, Combofiend could not be denied. Much like his character’s feet, Peter was on fire, ripping fools apart with his relentless rushdown. Full disclosure: I have not yet seen the grand finals, so I won’t comment on the last fight with Ed – I, but no one seemed equipped to handle C. Viper played at that level. Ed Ma managed to knock Combo into losers briefly but it obviously was not enough to clinch the SBO spot. CV’s damage output and cross-ups are crazy good and it is great to see that start to show up in America. Not to discredit his performance, it was damn impressive, but I am sure that at least part of Peter’s success was due to general unfamiliarity with the character. It will be very interesting to see how he fares in Japan, with Joe and FZ on the scene. Perhaps this is just my lack of experience talking, but I think Combofiend is going to have to rein it in a bit if he is going to stand a chance at Tougeki; as we saw when Poongko faced Daigo and IYO, reckless offense does not always fly against the Japanese.

Speaking of rushdown, while I have the greatest respect for Valle, I am not sure if he deserved to win last night. Don’t get me wrong, he had some nice stuff, but it felt like he was largely playing Super Turbo. His general skill was really high, but ultras, both missing his own and getting hit by everyone else’s, held him back; in a game where one end-of-round mistake can easily cost you 50%, Alex was not playing safe enough to succeed, especially in Japan. Though I suppose the same could be said of supers in ST, there is something about having so many ways to setup an ultra that makes them even more dangerous. Calipower will probably step up, but his teammate carried the night.

Edit: So after actually doing some research on the grand finals, it seems like that old Valle magic came back with an impressive showing at the end of the tournament. I’ll leave in the above paragraph as a testament to my stupidity, writing about an event without knowing everything that transpired, and make some half-assed comment about standing by the opinions: consistency is important too, you cannot always count on clutch.

Speaking of which, what was up with Mike Ross? The heart-attack inducing swings between sloppy and psychic yielded some of the best moments of the night; baited fireball into ultra was obviously beautiful, but more than anything else his performance highlighted the importance of mindset. You could see how unhappy Mike was with his play, which in turn seemed to make him worse, and the vicious cycle went from there. However, after some pep talk from gootecks and the rest of SoCal, the confidence in Honda’s movements was almost tangible. Once he was on, it did not matter how much damage he took, no one was going to stop him. If I remember correctly, even Combofiend had trouble facing down the sumo might. UFragTV saw fit to train some of their few cameras off the monitors and I am glad they did; seeing the drama in the combatant shots and crowd reactions really made the stream come alive.

This brings me to the production, more specifically the commentary, which seemed to get a lot of unwarranted hate from admittedly flame-prone chat participants. A revolving door of interviews and guest commentators kept things interesting despite the lulls and gootecks and Slasher did admirably toughing out endless hours of broadcast. The latter in particular drew a lot of ire for his unfamiliarity with the scene and perceived douchebaggery, but, honestly, he gave a much-needed outsider’s perspective to the proceedings. On top of which, if I understood correctly, without him we would not have had the privilege of watching a stream at all. So shut yer yaps, ya ungrateful welps!

Offer absolutely everything, absolutely everytime

I bought Guilty Gear X2 as a freshman in college. I had only previously played a few fighting games (Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Primal Rage). At the end of my Freshman year, I was made president of the gaming club on campus (a title I held for some time). And so, Guilty Gear became a part of the club's weekly routine. Every week we would play video games, and every week we would have a TV with Halo 2 (and later, Halo 3), a TV with DDR (later Guitar Hero, even later Rock Band) and a TV with Guilty Gear X2 (later Accent core). As President, I was constantly introducing myself to students who would walk in. I would show them around our club room, invite them to play any games or choose one we weren't currently playing, and then always (ALWAYS) invite them to play Guilty Gear. Oftentimes they would refuse, stating "I'm no good at fighting games."

And I would always immediately respond that I, too, was terrible at fighting games, I just knew the basics pretty decently. Not a one of us had any great skill in the fighting game genre. Everyone thought I was good, and my constant response is that I only appeared to be any good because I played the game a lot more than anyone else. I had a better grasp of basic strategies because I went into training mode and spent time with every character. But I never really went anywhere extraordinary, and neither did any of the rest of us in the club.

I never thought of being a top player, or anything. I just wanted to play Guilty Gear with dudes. I friggin' loved Guilty Gear XX. A whole lot. I asked anyone who came to visit the club office for a match. Anyone coming to a club event. Even people doing other club activities. And I knew, even before asking, that my enthusiasm for the game would shine through and win people over. I convinced several of my friends (and the club itself, besides) to buy copies of Guity Gear in one incarnation or another. I actually convinced people who played a few matches to go into training and mess around more, and sometimes they even listened to me. Various friends eventually found a character (sometimes two!) and learned some basic combos or at least special moves that they liked to use. It never got very complex, and I didn't expect anyone to really stick with it. If they bothered to play at all, it was a huge victory.

But one of my friends ran with the hobby. I knew I had reeled him in good when he bought a Tekken 5 arcade stick (which he is now far better at using than I am). And now here we are, writing a blog about how great this genre is.

The Opening Demo: An Introduction - 06.04.09

While practicing 3S execution last night, my new roommate, let’s call him Ryan, walked in and asked “What’s up? Is that Street Fighter?”

“Yeah, SFIII. 3rd Strike.” I replied, distracted as CPU Alex finished the round with yet another Boomerang Raid. “Huh. What system is this for?” As I considered how to answer his question without coming across like even more of a nerd, sitting on the floor with a Tekken 5 stick and a CPS3 emulator, it occurred to me that perhaps my grand designs for transforming my housemates into sparring partners were doomed from the start. Despite the polite inquiry, he was clearly not looking to learn how to play.

I decided to go the console route: “It was an arcade game ported to the Dreamcast, but I also have it for PS2.” “No way, this is a PS2 game? I’m surprised because it looks so crappy.” My heart sank, even if he was accidentally correct. “You know, 2D,” he continued, “I thought it would have been 32 or 64-bit.”

My first thought was to take umbrage at the mid-90s Sony-executive mentality that inexplicably regards the third dimension as inherently superior, but that would have been counter-productive. I then considered pointing out the gorgeous animation and mentioning how the art style overcomes the technical limitations of the board, but it did not seem worth the effort. If he wasn’t struck by the game’s aesthetics, no amount of explaining why he should appreciate sprite-work was going to change his opinion. Instead, I shrugged and kept playing.

“Nice,” he complimented, as Akuma’s low fierce finished the next round and I accepted the praise without clarifying it was supposed to have been a Dragon Punch. “I wish I was good at video games,” he lamented.

This last remark struck me, because, as you probably gathered from the blog name, I am in no way a good player. However, that innocuous, offhand comment really speaks to the issues facing the genre and community today. Fighting games have grown dramatically more complex since the heyday of SFII, but even back then, relatively small differences in ability resulted in severely unbalanced matches. Depth is necessary for a fighter’s longevity, but it can easily discourage new players from trying to learn. The number of times I have invited someone to play Street Fighter, Guilty Gear or Virtua Fighter, only to be declined with some variation of “I suck at these kinds of games,” is rather disheartening. You can’t get better if you don’t try. I can’t get better if you don’t try…

I am a scrub, a n00b, a fighting game neophyte and almost resigned to staying one. Don’t get me wrong, there is no shortage of enthusiasm; I play frequently, lurk on SRK and Dustloop, read character guides, follow gootecks’ podcasts and the Dogface Show, study frame data and watch entirely too many match videos. All that is lacking is the most important element: superior opponents, preferably in the form of an accessible arcade scene. Recently discovering GGPO and 2DF has been an incredible boon, but as any tournament veteran worth their salt will tell you, there is no substitute for live, lag-less competition.

For such a crappy player, why blog about the area of my in-expertise? Mostly, I hope to give a different perspective on the scene. In my experience, new players are often insulted or ignored, which only serves to shrink and weaken the community in the long term. Granted, some of the scorn is deserved and not everyone helps themselves as they much as they can, but I want to show that not everyone who makes stupid, beginner mistakes is hopeless. Or maybe not; after all, I am just a scrub.

As for Ryan, it was wrong to dismiss him outright, without even asking if he wanted to play; this is exactly the kind of exclusionary, elitist attitude that needs to change. How can we expect to keep the games we love healthy without a steady stream of novices to bring new thinking, styles and commercial success? Of course most of them will not stick around for long; fighting games are an inherently niche hobby that require a dedication anathematic to anything mainstream. But maybe, just maybe, if a greater effort was made to reach out to new players, we could make more converts and really revitalize the genre, instead of just using them as short-lived punching bags.

I certainly would not be as engaged as I am today if not for the enthusiasm and determination of another friend…