Week of March 24th to the 30th, 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.
There are no special events currently scheduled for next week. Check back later to see if this changes!
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 our local vampire saviour, Rotanibor!
What fighting games do you currently play, what are your all time favourites and why?
What I've been playing competitively lately has been Vampire Savior, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Melty Blood, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Three of those are at Rebel Up and one of them is at Geriatric Warfare, and all of them at Super Arcade in SoCal. Casually I'll play a bunch of different stuff, mostly on GGPO in my spare time. The past month or two I've played some Ninja Master's Haoh Ninpou Chou, Vampire Savior 2, Savage Reign, Vampire(the first one), Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, Waku Waku7(barf) and Galaxy Fight(barf). Some of these I play for fun, some just to learn them.
My all-time favorite fighting game is Vampire Savior, which I think is legitimately one of the best fighting games. No other game can match its pacing and speed while retaining that level of spacing and footsies. In addition, the match is never really over despite how bad it may look. If you play hard enough you can come back from some of the worst situations.
My second favorite is Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. Game feels incredibly smooth and has a good spacing/footsie game for a versus fighter. It is also where I got my competitive start in fighting games.
What are your favorite mechanics from the current selection of fighting games and why? What are your least favorite and why?My all-time favorite fighting game is Vampire Savior, which I think is legitimately one of the best fighting games. No other game can match its pacing and speed while retaining that level of spacing and footsies. In addition, the match is never really over despite how bad it may look. If you play hard enough you can come back from some of the worst situations.
My second favorite is Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. Game feels incredibly smooth and has a good spacing/footsie game for a versus fighter. It is also where I got my competitive start in fighting games.
One of my favorite mechanics is baroque from Tatsunoko vs Capcom. It is really an ingenious use of red life. The free cancel is fun and the fact you get bigger damage from burning a large amount of red life really makes you think how you want to use that resource. Another mechanic is one that a lot of other games try to copy but in my opinion never get it quite right is all of the stands from JoJos Bizarre Adventure: Heritage from the Future. There are actually several different types of stands types, and all of them are handled really well.
I could probably list off a bunch of mechanics I do not think to highly of, but Ill just focus on one for right now: extended combo systems. I am honestly sick to death of long combos. Being taken out of the game to hit someone for 30 seconds or to be hit for 30 seconds or longer is incredibly unappealing to me. I am much more impressed by displays of execution in the neutral game, on offense or defense, which is something youll see a lot of in Savior. I really dont see fighting games as being about showing how long you can hit your opponent for (with a few exceptions).
What got you into fighting games? Are there any other genre of games you play?I could probably list off a bunch of mechanics I do not think to highly of, but Ill just focus on one for right now: extended combo systems. I am honestly sick to death of long combos. Being taken out of the game to hit someone for 30 seconds or to be hit for 30 seconds or longer is incredibly unappealing to me. I am much more impressed by displays of execution in the neutral game, on offense or defense, which is something youll see a lot of in Savior. I really dont see fighting games as being about showing how long you can hit your opponent for (with a few exceptions).
When I was younger the idea of being at strong at fighting games really appealed to me, but I wasn't in the position to go to an arcade then and didn't have many friends that played. When Street Fighter 4 originally came out I saw it as my chance to finally make good on that dream, and played online for a while. I did well enough online against other scrubs but it was pretty obvious to me that I didn't really get what was going on when I played anybody decent. My motivation was starting to drain but then Tatsunoko vs Capcom UAS released. Honestly its a considerably easier game than SF4, and was a good fit for me at the time. It clicked and I played competitively up until the release of MvC3 which ended up killing the SoCal scene despite how strong it was before that. Thinking about it, the SoCal TvC scene itself is probably one of the biggest reasons I stuck with it, as I was able to approach them easier at the time than most of the Street Fighter players. At this point I consider them some of my best friends.
A lot of my focus these days ends sticking to fighting games while I have been neglected other genres, which mostly due to my community organizing efforts in addition to playing simply being too involving. When I set aside time for other games, I usually play whatever Nintendo has released lately, sometimes RPGs, sometimes random indie games I downloaded from steam.
What is your favorite fighting game character and why?A lot of my focus these days ends sticking to fighting games while I have been neglected other genres, which mostly due to my community organizing efforts in addition to playing simply being too involving. When I set aside time for other games, I usually play whatever Nintendo has released lately, sometimes RPGs, sometimes random indie games I downloaded from steam.
Typically what I'd describe as my 'favorite fighting game character' would essentially be which character I find the most fun or satisfying to play. My favorite character from Vampire Savior is Zabel, landing his unblockable is extremely satisfying, he has tons of different movement options, and using all of his 30(yes, 30) different normals is incredibly fun as they all have different uses. I really like Ippatsuman in TvC, as he is an incredibly dynamic character with strong normals and fun air to air game. I also kind of find it amusing when people are pushing buttons at bad ranges against SFA2 Ryu only to see them burst into flames because they punch a red fireball, so you can add him to the list.
Describe your style of play, and how do you play (local, online, etc.).
My style of play can greatly vary dependent on the type of game and I try to mix it up a bit to keep myself evolving as a player. I guess I could say what I go for usually is trying to play a strong neutral game until I get that one opening and then press the advantage... though really that just kind of sounds like how you're supposed to play fighting games to me, haha. One specific style I have ignored is the pure grappler archetype. For some reason its never really appealed to me.
Most all of my playing is either at Super Arcade, playing with some friends at my house, or on GGPO. Most of that time being spent on GGPO and after that playing at Super Arcade. I used to hit up Family Fun Arcade(did a ton of TvC and Vampire tournaments here) and Japan Arcade(briefly) before they both closed.
What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a player?Most all of my playing is either at Super Arcade, playing with some friends at my house, or on GGPO. Most of that time being spent on GGPO and after that playing at Super Arcade. I used to hit up Family Fun Arcade(did a ton of TvC and Vampire tournaments here) and Japan Arcade(briefly) before they both closed.
I consider myself a relatively strong player. I think I am strong in core areas such as reactions, anticipation, spacing, and execution. My main weaknesses I believe are that I can have trouble adapting on the fly, sometimes getting nervous in a tournament match, and having a poor endurance.
Best and worst moments in the your fighting game career?
A victory I had as a player about 4 months into my competitive career was getting 9th place at EVO2k10 in Tatsunoko vs Capcom when it was a main game. I'm proud of that placement, but it is slightly bittersweet in regards to being so close yet so far from top 8, because nobody ever knows who top 12 are. (It was me, RyRy, FrankieG, and TrueGamer tied for 9th if I recall correctly... Just so you know who top 12 was, haha)
As a fan the biggest moment for me was probably at the first SoCal Regionals. I wasnt really too into Vampire Savior at the time, but I was a big enough fan to bring my PS2 release with me with a copy of Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection in hopes that I could get Sako to sit down and play a few games with me. Sako did show up, and the dude played Vampire Savior with me and a couple others for 2 hours, maybe even longer. It was a pretty amazing experience, and I probably would not be nearly as active with fighting games otherwise as he showed me the true greatness of Vampire Savior in that time.
This is more of a general thing, but as community organizer my best moments are when people tell me they really enjoy the events or tournaments I put on. The feeling of being appreciated means a lot to me. Every year I tell myself I dont want to host the Vampire Savior tournament at EVO again next year. But someone always tells me how much they loved the tournament and thanks me that I cant resist doing it again. I even had someone from out of the country tell me that the Vampire Savior Tournament was their favorite part of EVO, which was really incredible for me to hear.
What do you want from future fighting games?As a fan the biggest moment for me was probably at the first SoCal Regionals. I wasnt really too into Vampire Savior at the time, but I was a big enough fan to bring my PS2 release with me with a copy of Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection in hopes that I could get Sako to sit down and play a few games with me. Sako did show up, and the dude played Vampire Savior with me and a couple others for 2 hours, maybe even longer. It was a pretty amazing experience, and I probably would not be nearly as active with fighting games otherwise as he showed me the true greatness of Vampire Savior in that time.
This is more of a general thing, but as community organizer my best moments are when people tell me they really enjoy the events or tournaments I put on. The feeling of being appreciated means a lot to me. Every year I tell myself I dont want to host the Vampire Savior tournament at EVO again next year. But someone always tells me how much they loved the tournament and thanks me that I cant resist doing it again. I even had someone from out of the country tell me that the Vampire Savior Tournament was their favorite part of EVO, which was really incredible for me to hear.
I'm not too confident at the future of fighting games in terms of releases. 2014 looks to be a big year release wise, but the majority of games coming out doesnt really appeal to me. What I want from the future of fighting games is for focus on the past of fighting games to emerge. There are a TON of fighters that didnt even get the attention they deserved back in the day, and for most people playing these would essentially be a brand new fighting game. I think there are certain things you can only find in old fighters at this point, and they dont seem to be coming back.
Who should be on next week's GAF Player Spotlight?
Ill go with Tizoc, from what I've seen he likes a lot of cool games and I want to hear more about them. Gotta push that old game agenda!
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.
