Hey guys! Have you missed me? It’s been so freaking long since I last did a DCD, and for that I apologize. Research has been really busy as of late, but its all for good reason, since I’ve pretty much achieved a total synthesis of my target compound! (YAYAYAY!) Hopefully I’ll get to publish a paper on this fairly soon and I can start a new project. The more projects I complete in grad school, the better!

Also, I’m not going to lie….I’ve been spending ALL my free time engulfed by two games titled BlazBlue and Marvel vs Capcom 2. Thanks to Suff0cat, I have an arcade stick and can’t stop playing. Dexter345 even asked me if we will EVER play games together again, and I want to say that we will…but I’m not too sure :P

Which brings me to this week’s topic. FIGHTING GAMES!

Here is the prompt that I send out to our panel

Tactix

"Its the year of the fighting game....SFIIHD Remix, followed by SF4, BlazBlue, KoF12, MvC2, and Tekken 6. You could say that fighting games are making a comeback, and I personally think that’s awesome. Fighting games are my favorite type of videogames, so I definitely have tons to be excited for.

This week, I decided we could just talk about what we think of fighting games? Which are you the most excited to play? What do you like in a fighting game? If you are good at fighting games, what advice would you give to those just getting into it?"

This week’s panel consists of deBLOO, Detry, Zserv, and Nikmonroe. Read on to find out their thoughts!



deBLOO

I think a good fighting game depends solely on the player. After the revolution from Street Fighter 2, developers had the winning formula: responsive controls, great visuals and allowing players to face each other. If a fighting game had those present, a community and loyal following was almost always born. Another great thing about the genre is the player’s influence on a games direction. When Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo dropped a lot of game mechanics sprung from the players. Things like Kara canceling and Chain (Renda) canceling, never planned by devs, became a norm in the way you played. And obviously, the social aspect makes the genre shine. Nothing beats showing clear dominance over another player while they are standing right next to you in an arcade or at home on a console. I grew up in a richly diverse neighborhood full of so many cultures, but none of that mattered when the quarters were in, or the 2P pressed start, and the select fighter screen was on. Fighting games really gave me something to relate to with other people- people I normally wouldn't socialize with. I was able to create many relationships and experience many cultures that I have carried with me to this day as a result.

As for being "good" at fighting games...A lot of things can mean that. I consider myself a patient player. It gives me an advantage, I wait till my opponent makes a mistake then capitalize. Other Dtoiders like KD_Alpha are more technical about it and get a better understanding of the games we play to get an advantage; he also has a great reaction time. Cataract has the wonderful ability to read (download as the slang goes) the opponent and adapt on the fly. Senisan is an aggressive and relentless player, he doesn't give his opponent much time to react and implement strategy. I say identify where you excel and work on the things you don't. Also, you must be willing to spend A LOT of time learning the match ups. Playing with other people constantly will give you a fresh look on your game. I suggest visiting great websites like eventhubs.com and shoryuken.com that provide a lot of useful information like tips and strategies. Going to youtube and watching top players can help you on how to handle certain situations as well as how certain characters are played efficiently. Don't forget to practice either.

At the moment I'm trying to get my hands on BlazBlue and waiting on news of a fabled "Street Fighter IV Dash (Championship Edition)". I'm excited to play MvC 2 soon; it will be my first time playing that.

Nikmonroe

I've haven't really played enough fighting games to go as in depth as some of you guys but there have been a couple that I have enjoyed over the years. The first one I really got into was Tekken 3 on the PSOne. For some reason, something about that game really clicked with me and I ended up wasting hours on it with my friends trying to unlock everything in the game. Soul Caliber 2 on the Dreamcast was another one that took up a lot of my time. There was just so much to unlock and it was such a joy to play, both alone and with friends. For some reason though, I've never managed to get into the Street Fighter series, it's just always come across as too technical and competitive of a game for somebody who just wants to play casually.

Zserv

I just have grown to appreciate fighting games, simply because they're one of the most skill based game genre's out there. You have to be able to think and react instantly, come up with a strategy, and have the means to pull off aforementioned strategy. It's like super-chess, man.

Tactix

deBloo..I cant wait to play you so you can tell me what kind of player I am :D

Anyway, I've been a fighting game fan for as far back as I can remember. For me, I didn’t play much SFII in the arcades, but I devoured Super Street Fighter II Turbo on my Super Nintendo. I don’t know if that necessarily came first, but around the same time I was also so into Killer Instinct for the consoles, and even played lots of Primal Rage at the local pizza parlor. After those games you could say I was hooked on the genre and played almost every fighting game I could get my hands on :D


Yeeesssss! Primal Rage. One of the games that started it all.

Zserv

Honestly, I didn't get into fighters until very recently; Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. I'm very new to the genre, so I'm still getting my knowledge on the different series etc. Without a doubt, if 2007 was the year of the shooter, 2009 is the year of the fighter. Why? Street Fighter IV, man. We've had a steady release of new fighting games for years; but with SSFIITHDR, you had to know it would bring in both old and new players. Then, you bring in Street Fighter IV, that surge alone drastically changed how many people you'd see at competitions. If you've seen "I Got Next”, they even talk about how a competition with normally 50 or so people had well over 300. With the ability to just buy an arcade stick, and play your fighters at home, now the east coast (which was predominantly the weaker coast for fighters) has just as much chance at getting good as the west. Now, if you KNOW a games going to be big, like Street Fighter IV, you're gonna try to release soon after it. Why? People just bought an 80 or 150-dollar arcade stick dude. You think they want it for just one game? If you release a game that can be used with it near the same time, the consumer doesn't think "Oh, great, another fighting game." They think "more chance to use my fightstick!" The producer still gets their dough, and we get great games. :)

Tactix

When it comes to fighting games...what kind of fighter would you say you are? Are you the type of fighter that likes to choose the fast characters, or do you like to play as the big heavy hitters? Personally I like to play as the characters that people hardly play as (for instance, El Fuerte, Amingo, or Carl Clover from SF4, MvC2 and BlazBlue respectively). Sometimes this gives me an edge on people who have hardly played against these characters :D. I've received tons of compliments on my abilities to play these characters well, and that makes me feel good :D

Also, did you guys get the chance to watch any of the EVO coverage? If so, what did you think of the way it was handled and what did you think about the caliber of gameplay?

ZServ

I play weird. On SFIITHDR, I started with Ryu, and about 3 matches in switched to Chun-Li. She's now my main for HD Remix. SFIV, however, I play Sakura and Balrog. MVC2 it goes Sakura, Cable, and Iron Man. Sometimes Mega Man.

(I suck with Sakura on SFIV, fyi)

On EVO? I loved what I saw of it; the caliber of gameplay was at a level I can only hope to ever come close to. It actually inspired me to buy my TE stick.

Detry

My gameplay varies on my mood and how drunk I am. It also depends on how YOU play. I tend to not play 'cheap', but if I feel you are being cheap then ILL CHEAP YOUR MOTHERFUCKING ASS RIGHT BACK. HOW YOU LIKE IT?! HOW YOU LIKE IT NOW?! YEA MOTHERFUCKER DIDN'T FEEL SO GOOD DID IT?!

DICK.

But I want to see your best game. Sometimes I'll even show mercy just to try and get your best game. Good sportsmanship is a virtue. I don't mind losing because I learn something from it. I also don't want to totally dominate you because then I learn nothing; I want to be able to take something constructive away from each match I play.

deBLOO

I'm always attracted to the fast, damaging characters. Ever since I first started playing SF, Ken was just always my main. But Akuma has become my main in SF:IV. He's a bit hard to play with (since he has very low health and a very hard ultra and super to work with) but he is a powerhouse with a lot of tools to generate offense and bring the pain. On MvC2 I have yet to find my "definitive team" but I'm having the most success with Cyclops/Ken/Venom at the moment. Of course I trade Ken's spot for Akuma to mix things up once in a while.

EVO was amazing this year. The level of play was amazing as always. Street Fighter IV, being the most popular game these days (BlazBlue is looking like it will top it), brought ALOT of new people. And that really broke the mold of seeing the same people in top 8. The 5 on 5 SF:IV Regional brought, the first for the time ever, a Wildcard team to pass the first round. They went on to the final match losing to East Coast. The only thing negative I see from this year was how SNK was nowhere to be found. I don't really like SNK fighter all that much, but I know lots of Dtoiders that do and since EVO is the place to compete I was really hoping to see some top level play. Hopefully with the release of KoFXII on consoles next year will have this.

Zserv

I hate to become topic master here, but what are everyone’s stances on 'playing cheap'? Does it exist? To me, being beaten isn’t a matter of the other person having more skill or being better; but rather them having better execution. If a Ryu who did nothing but Hadouken and Shoryuken me kills me, does it mean he beat me cheaply? No, because I had every chance to dodge those moves elsewhere. A fault in execution on my part gave him room to work with, allowing him to execute. I LET him beat me, by failing to meet the standards he set for me.

What's your guys' take on it?


Playing cheap does exist....its Cable

Nikmonroe

Well, I hate it when people play cheap. It reminds me of playing with a child who's found the one move they know and spam it over and over until they win, then they won't shut up about it. I had a friend that always played as Nightmare and would always do a move where he would just swing his sword side to side knocking me to the ground making it hard for me to get a shot in to retaliate. If I'm going to lose when I'm playing a fighting game I'd rather lose against somebody who is playing properly than somebody smacking buttons and repeating move over and over.

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Thats all for this week! Hope you enjoyed it, and if you want to get your ass handed to you by Carl or Iron Tager in BlazBlue or by Amingo, BBHood, and Tron Bonne in MvC2, send me a game invite (GT: Tactixpimp)

I will be playing. :D