Week of February 24th to March 2nd, 2014.
Fighting Games Weekly is the weekly discussion thread for all things fighting games. News, events, streams, videos, players, drama, everything fighting game related.
Don't know what to watch right now? Check the FGCPros Twitch Group or Jaxel's Stream Viewer. If you want to watch multiple streams at once, you can use Jaxel's customizable multiviewer as well.
New to FGC-GAF is the FGC-GAF Index which lists the fighting games GAFers plays as a neat reference with some rough statistics to boot. To add yourself to the index, quote this post and use the survey link below. Please remember to save/bookmark the "Edit your response" link so you can edit your responses if/when you buy a game already on the list or a new game that releases in the future.
Last week's thread. An archive of previous FGW threads is available here.
Fighting Games Weekly is the weekly discussion thread for all things fighting games. News, events, streams, videos, players, drama, everything fighting game related.
Don't know what to watch right now? Check the FGCPros Twitch Group or Jaxel's Stream Viewer. If you want to watch multiple streams at once, you can use Jaxel's customizable multiviewer as well.
New to FGC-GAF is the FGC-GAF Index which lists the fighting games GAFers plays as a neat reference with some rough statistics to boot. To add yourself to the index, quote this post and use the survey link below. Please remember to save/bookmark the "Edit your response" link so you can edit your responses if/when you buy a game already on the list or a new game that releases in the future.
Last week's thread. An archive of previous FGW threads is available here.
International Video Game Cup [ Friday ] [ 11AM CET | 5AM EDT | 2AM PDT ]
- The secondary GWAK stage will be streamed by swga_maho.
- Cannes plays host to the IVGC, which also features a lengthy USF4 exhibition amongst other games.
- This event continues through Sunday.
- Location, schedule, rules and more information is available here.
- A secondary stream will be handled by Level|Up Live 2.
- SCR returns again, boasting one of the largest number tournaments of any event.
- This event continues through Sunday.
- Prizes, payout, location, rules, schedule and more information is available here.
Every week, FGW will spotlight one GAFer to get a better picture of their history with fighting games, their preferences, and much more. For this week's FGW Player Spotlight, we will be taking a closer look at Kumubou!
What fighting games do you currently play, what are your all time favourites and why?
My favorite fighting games mainly come from two rather disparate series: Virtua Fighter and Melty Blood. I'm not really even sure how that happened, heh. I've played VF since 2, but trying to play that game consistently is extremely difficult, between some long gaps in releases and a relatively small community (it's always been very hard to find local games if you didn't live in NYC or SoCal)... and then I managed to run into the exact same issue with Melty Blood. D:
As for games I'm currently playing... there isn't much, sadly. The local anime community is only really playing BBCP at this point and I can't get into the game, and I find trying to play fighting games online to be an exercise in frustration, due to how bad most of the online implementations are. I could see myself playing a couple of future games (like AH3:LM or UNIEL), but the likelihood of having either a solid local community or good games online seems rather slim.
What are your favorite mechanics from the current selection of fighting games and why? What are your least favorite and why?As for games I'm currently playing... there isn't much, sadly. The local anime community is only really playing BBCP at this point and I can't get into the game, and I find trying to play fighting games online to be an exercise in frustration, due to how bad most of the online implementations are. I could see myself playing a couple of future games (like AH3:LM or UNIEL), but the likelihood of having either a solid local community or good games online seems rather slim.
I'll be honest -- I don't really have a single favorite mechanic. I personally think that you need to judge something like that as a whole system. One game where something like RCs or alpha counters or bursts may make sense, but they would make no sense whatsoever in other games. As for least favorite mechanics, a couple come to mind: Mega Crash from TvC is a hilariously bad implementation of a burst, how rage was implemented in Tekken 6 and Revolution always irritated me (the damage boost would negate a lot of of the life differential, with no real recourse from the player leading), and FUC cancels (where you can cancel special moves into jumps, and then cancel the jump startup into another special) in Fate/Unlimited Codes get a special mention for nearly destroying my wrists.
What got you into fighting games? Are there any other genre of games you play?
I got started in the same way I think a lot of other people my age did -- being a scrub playing SF2 in the arcade and at home. Didn't really have an idea of what I was doing until I found some resources online later on in the 90s and I started learning about things like frame advantage and option selects (like this old VF2 guide for Sarah -- remember, this was written back in 1995 or so). Even then, I didn't get to see what real competition was like until I went to college, where I ended up rooming with a bunch of old alt.games.sf2 guys, where I found out how much of a scrub I was -- and had the opportunity to travel to other regional events to see what was really good.
As for other genres of games, I'll play almost anything. Over the years, I've shown more of a preference for racing games, shumps and music-rhythm games... which I guess just reinforces that I grew up playing arcade games.
What is your favorite fighting game character and why?As for other genres of games, I'll play almost anything. Over the years, I've shown more of a preference for racing games, shumps and music-rhythm games... which I guess just reinforces that I grew up playing arcade games.
There's two that come to mind. The first is Cassandra from the Soul Calibur games, and I think that's more of an instance where the move set really flt into how I was playing the game, and I liked the character and it just all came together. I think this doubly sticks out because of how tight I got when she was dropped in SC5. The other is Aoi from VF. VF is generally a series that is very good at giving players a lot of flexibility to play characters the way they want, within the core structure of the game... and she's probably the most open-ended character in the game. I think this is mainly due to having a lot of tools but nothing super amazing, and a trait (the auto-parry stance) that causes everyone to completely change their approach. You watch 10 people play her, and you're going to see 10 very different styles.
Describe your style of play, and how do you play (local, online, etc.).
The term I would use is... passive-aggressive? Normally, in neutral situations I'm just trying not to overcommit to anything, while either waiting for my opponent to do something stupid or to bait my opponent into overextending themselves. This is the sort of play that works against bad players, but rarely against top players. This carries over to offense as well, where a lot of tactics I use (in terms of staggers, fakes, etc) is to get the opponent to push a button -- and then to look stupid for doing so. I think this arises partially from wanting to prove myself as the "smarter" player, and part of it comes from a lack of confidence to just go in, especially in neutral situations.
What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a player?
I've never thought of myself as having any real strengths as a player. My reactions are OK at best, my spacing is nothing amazing. Honestly, I think I get by mainly on experience (in both the game being played and from other games). I've been told that I can have good setplay when I bother to learn it... but the funny thing is, I hate that style of play.
My biggest weakness, by a mile, is my execution -- it's legendarily bad, to the point where it had become its own meme in certain communities. (May you never end up with kumuhands.) Which is sad in a way, since it's one of the easiest things to fix... and it's not really a nerves issue either. I'll drop game winning combos at about the same rate that I drop combos in casuals versus randoms. It's just that I don't really like drilling combos and setups in training mode, and it shows in my play. I also think I'm not very good at adjusting at tournament speed, especially to new situations (if I have to play a match-up I don't know, there's about a 0% chance I'll figure out anything in a best of three set, and I'll end up looking extra foolish).
Best and worst moments in the your fighting game career?My biggest weakness, by a mile, is my execution -- it's legendarily bad, to the point where it had become its own meme in certain communities. (May you never end up with kumuhands.) Which is sad in a way, since it's one of the easiest things to fix... and it's not really a nerves issue either. I'll drop game winning combos at about the same rate that I drop combos in casuals versus randoms. It's just that I don't really like drilling combos and setups in training mode, and it shows in my play. I also think I'm not very good at adjusting at tournament speed, especially to new situations (if I have to play a match-up I don't know, there's about a 0% chance I'll figure out anything in a best of three set, and I'll end up looking extra foolish).
It wasn't really a single moment, but what happened in the run-up from when Melty Blood: Actress Again came out on PS2 to Evolution 2010 was probably the most fun I ever had in the greater fighting game community.
I can certainly recall the worst game I ever played, though -- and it happened at Evolution 2010. I had a pretty damn easy draw, and two games away from top 8 when I was playing someone that, frankly, I felt like was a pretty free match-up. I've beaten him every time I played him in tournament before, and since... but not in this one specific instance.
I still remember how the final round ended, too. I had around ~30% life left and he was on fumes, I was on the ground and I saw him airdash forward after neutral air jumping, and I'm thinking to myself this fool is DEAD, he's going to get anti-aired free and this set is over. Let me post an image for reference; one of F-Ryougi's weaknesses is that she has no attacks that work air-to-ground, so she is anti-aired very easily (in a game where clean anti-airs are generally pretty damn hard). C-Nanaya 2C is a weird anti-air but it works against a lot of air attacks because they won't have trip guard during landing recovery... unless you manage to do it so damn early the deep part of the hitbox manages to hit your head. Ugh.
What do you want from future fighting games- The absolutely insane tournament that at NEC in 2009, which is recapped in this video, where the tournament got so loud it ended up causing problems for the SF4 tournament! This event was even streamed (at some real poverty quality), and the archives are on my old UStream account. (Warning: this commentary may kill large amounts of e-sports).
- The Player's Choice poll for Evo 2010, which involved getting the community (and several subcommunities) mobilized to vote the game into Evo that year. The thread was wiped from SRK a long time ago, but I (for some insane reason) saved a PDF of the thread. I also managed to find this random Photoshop I made during that thread.
- Endless amounts of local casuals. We had some really nutty crack sessions -- like this planned 200 game set (that UStream only saved the end of, and we only got up to game 170 or so before passing out). There was also a lot more support for the game at local and regional majors, which was really fun (I regret not going to Final Round that year, but I got hosed by work scheduling).
- Evolution 2010 itself was the single most fun I ever had at a fighting game tournament. Pretty much the entire community in America showed up (people were selling blood to make the money to get themselves out there, shit was serious). It was amazing.
I can certainly recall the worst game I ever played, though -- and it happened at Evolution 2010. I had a pretty damn easy draw, and two games away from top 8 when I was playing someone that, frankly, I felt like was a pretty free match-up. I've beaten him every time I played him in tournament before, and since... but not in this one specific instance.
I still remember how the final round ended, too. I had around ~30% life left and he was on fumes, I was on the ground and I saw him airdash forward after neutral air jumping, and I'm thinking to myself this fool is DEAD, he's going to get anti-aired free and this set is over. Let me post an image for reference; one of F-Ryougi's weaknesses is that she has no attacks that work air-to-ground, so she is anti-aired very easily (in a game where clean anti-airs are generally pretty damn hard). C-Nanaya 2C is a weird anti-air but it works against a lot of air attacks because they won't have trip guard during landing recovery... unless you manage to do it so damn early the deep part of the hitbox manages to hit your head. Ugh.
There's one practical thing and one that's more wishcasting. The practical issue is that the networking infrastructure needs to improve, and it needs to improve drastically. Seeing what gets added to games like DotA 2 makes me jealous. :<
On a less practical note, I feel like the entire industry is missing an opportunity here, with how popular competitive gaming is getting and how well fighting games as a genre work within it... and doing absolutely nothing with it. I think that the developers who would be willing to build a community and the tech required don't have the resources to do it, and the companies that have the developer experience and resources to even dream about doing it aren't interested.
Who should be on next week's GAF Player Spotlight?On a less practical note, I feel like the entire industry is missing an opportunity here, with how popular competitive gaming is getting and how well fighting games as a genre work within it... and doing absolutely nothing with it. I think that the developers who would be willing to build a community and the tech required don't have the resources to do it, and the companies that have the developer experience and resources to even dream about doing it aren't interested.
We really should get through all of the VF players. :V I'm going to pick alstein, since not only does he play VF, but he also has a love for the poorest of fighting games.
Super Desperation Radio [ 9:30PM EDT | 6:30 PDT ]
- Hellpockets and various other members of the KoF community discuss KoF and happenings in the FGC.
- Out of the ashes of Cross Counter Live rises a new discussion show from Gootecks and Mike Ross!
- Out of the ashes of The BOX Arena, comes the San Diego FGC's newest organized weekly for UMvC3.
- Weekly FGC show dedicated to match analysis, teaching, commentary, news, debates, and more! Hosted by UltraDavid and James Chen.
Kachitagari TV (JP) [ 9PM JST | 8AM EDT | 5AM PDT ]
- Bon-chan, Kazunoko and Fuudo's new show, focusing primarily on SSFIV AE ranked matches but is branching off into other games as well.
- NYC VF crew presents VF5:FS tournaments casuals out of The Next Level arcade in Brooklyn.
- New Jersey's largest weekly featuring UMvC3 and Injustice.
- JamessMK & DarKNaTaS host a raw and uncut weekly talk show discussing events in the FGC with various FGC personalities.
- Weekly FGC show dedicated to match analysis, teaching, commentary, news, debates, and more! Hosted by UltraDavid and James Chen.
- iPlaywinner hosts a weekly talk show featuring alpha stream monsters Harrison and Honzo Gonzo.
Game Spot Versus KoF Casuals (JP) [ 7PM JST | 6AM EDT | 3AM PDT ]
- KoF 1998UM, KoF 2002UM and KoF XIII C action from Japan.
- Description needed.
- NYC's biggest weekly at The Next Level Arcade in Brooklyn featuring SSFIV AE, UMvC3 and TTT2. If the Teamsp00ky link is not working, it is likely on the backup stream on Arturo's channel.
- Often, WonderChef will stream Injustice pools up until Top 4.
- SoCal's biggest weekly at Super Arcade in Walnut, featuring Injustice and SSFIV AE. Season details are available here.
Melee It On Me [ 9PM EDT | 6PM PDT ]
- A bi-weekly Smash podcast discussing recent events, news and issues in the Smash community, hosted by Scar, Prog, Cactuar and Sheridan.
- Galloping Ghost Arcade presents an Injustice weekly out of Chicago.
- A weekly FGC talk show hosted by iPlaywinner, featuring a varying, ensemble cast of prominent members of the fighting game community.
- Aris' new weekly show, discussing whatever he wants to! The format resembles old ATP podcasts.
- The UMvC3 and KoF XIII branch of Wednesday Night Fights also hosted at Super Arcade in Walnut, California. P4:A is usually streamed on CounterAssaultTV until Top 3.
The Smash Break Bi-Weekly [ 6PM EDT | 3PM PDT ]
- The Break hosts a new Melee bi-weekly to replace Rokunaya Bi-Weeklies which are ending.
- For those who know how to use Nico Live, also join the GODSGARDEN community page on Nico to know when Ura KaoTV! goes live.
- A weekly Skullgirls event hosted by members of the Skullgirls development team, often featuring preview builds of the game.
None at the moment.
GGPO VanBats [ 4PM EDT | 1PM PDT ]
- Weekly GGPO Vampire Savior ranbats streamed by GAFer Rotanibor.
- Level|Up and Team OXY partner up to create a new weekly for the SoCal Melee community, featuring doubles and singles.
On GAF we have various members that stream fighting games from time to time too. If you would like to add your channel to this thread, send me a PM.
Additionally, if you want to really get involved, you may want to check out the various OTs for specific games:
Additionally, if you want to really get involved, you may want to check out the various OTs for specific games:
- BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
- Chaos Code
- Darkstalkers: Resurrection
- Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and Core Fighters
- Divekick
- Gundam Extreme VS Full Boost
- Injustice: Gods Among Us
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
- Killer Instinct
- The King of Fighters XIII
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins
- Mortal Kombat
- Persona 4: Arena
- PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
- Project M 3.0
- Skullgirls
- Soul Calibur V
- Street Fighter X Tekken v.2013
- Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition v.2012
- Tekken
- Tekken Revolution
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
- Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown
- 8WayRun - Soul Calibur franchise community
- DOACentral - Dead or Alive franchise community
- Dream Cancel - King of Fighters franchise community and resource, more US-centric
- Dustloop - Forums/community for Arc System Works-developed games
- Eventhubs - Frequently updated news blog, resource and forums for all things fighting games
- FreeStepDodge - Dead or Alive franchise community
- Homing Cancel - Arcana Heart community
- iPlaywinner - Large fighting game news site and resource, and the home to Teamsp00ky and iPlaywinner
- Jet Upper - UK-centric news source and community
- Mayonaka Midnight - Persona 4 Arena community and resource
- Melty Bread - Melty Blood community
- Mizuumi - A resource for various "poverty" games
- Orochinagi - King of Fighters franchise community and resource, more EU-centric
- Reddit Fighters t- Reddit's own fighting game community subreddit
- Shoryuken - Mainly 2D, Capcom game centric hub, and probably one of, if not the largest FG community on the internet
- Skullheart - fan Skullgirls community and resource made official
- TekkenZaibatsu - Tekken franchise community
- Test Your Might - Mortal Kombat and Injustice community and resource
- UKFGC - UK-centric news source and community
- Smash Boards - The largest Smash Bros. Community
- VFDC - Virtua Fighter franchise community site
- - -
If you have any suggestions for the OP, please do not hesitate to post in this thread or PM me to let me know.
