Week of July 20th to the 26th, 2015.
Fighting Games Weekly is a place for all things fighting games. News, game discussion, events, streams, videos, players, drama, everything fighting game related. Here are some quick links:
Fighting Games Weekly is a place for all things fighting games. News, game discussion, events, streams, videos, players, drama, everything fighting game related. Here are some quick links:
- FGCPros Twitch Group and Jaxel's Stream Viewer for what to watch right now
- FGC Event Calendar made by our own Malice215
- Jaxel's customizable multiviewer to watch multiple streams simultaneously
- FGW Archive which contains a listing of old FGWs, game OTs, weeklies, other fighting game communities, and more.
- FGC-GAF Index (Statistics) is a spreadsheet made from surveys of FGC-GAFers. To add yourself, quote this post and use the survey link at the end of this bullet point in EMAIL tags. 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.
Street Fighter V Beta Begins [ Thread ] [ Thursday ] [ 9PM EDT | 6PM PDT ]
- Needs no further description: the Street Fighter series welcomes it's first of 3 planned betas, strictly intended to test netcode.
- This event continues through Wednesday.
- 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 Malice215!
What fighting games do you currently play, what is your all time favourite and why?
I play Soulcalibur V on and off since I’m not actively competing. I also play VF5FS and SC2 on the side.
Favorite fighting game of all time starts with Street Fighter 2 because of the impact the game had on the fighting game genre, in pop culture, and on my life. You couldn’t go anywhere back in the day without running into a SF2 cabinet. When the home version dropped on the SNES, it was all I played for an entire year until I was able to throw a fireball. Played the crap out of each home version since including ST on the 3DO, which I still have.
Next favorite is Soul Blade. Soul Blade is the game that really converted me over to 3D fighting games, which is what I mainly play now. Everything about the game was amazing for it’s time back in the 90’s, especially the opening movie and single player content.
3rd Strike also holds a special place in my heart. I’m garbage at the game and the balance is cheeks, but I love everything else about it from the artwork, to the animations, to the game music. We wouldn’t have EVO Moment #37 without it. Every week, I watch the Game Versus streams before I go to work. It’s beautiful that people still keeping the game going.
What are your favorite mechanics from the current selection of fighting games and why? What are your least favorite and why?Favorite fighting game of all time starts with Street Fighter 2 because of the impact the game had on the fighting game genre, in pop culture, and on my life. You couldn’t go anywhere back in the day without running into a SF2 cabinet. When the home version dropped on the SNES, it was all I played for an entire year until I was able to throw a fireball. Played the crap out of each home version since including ST on the 3DO, which I still have.
Next favorite is Soul Blade. Soul Blade is the game that really converted me over to 3D fighting games, which is what I mainly play now. Everything about the game was amazing for it’s time back in the 90’s, especially the opening movie and single player content.
3rd Strike also holds a special place in my heart. I’m garbage at the game and the balance is cheeks, but I love everything else about it from the artwork, to the animations, to the game music. We wouldn’t have EVO Moment #37 without it. Every week, I watch the Game Versus streams before I go to work. It’s beautiful that people still keeping the game going.
The most favorite has to be X-factor as it can make for some hype moments. The least favorite also has to be X-factor. I’m glad that I don’t compete in Marvel 3 because I would have beaten someone with a console at some of the ridiculous stuff I’ve seen over the years, but that’s part of what makes Marvel 3 so entertaining to watch despite how the meta has shifted.
Another favorite is the ring out. There’s not many games that have it, but I enjoy it as a way of rewarding movement and positioning, unless you happened to play SC4 early on.
What got you into fighting games? Are there any other genre of games you play?Another favorite is the ring out. There’s not many games that have it, but I enjoy it as a way of rewarding movement and positioning, unless you happened to play SC4 early on.
I’ve been a gamer since birth and used to competing against friends and family in games like Tecmo Bowl and Ring King where you’d try to knock someone out the ring, so fighting games came to me naturally once SF2 blew up. When I saw Samurai Shodown for the first time in the arcade, that’s when I knew that fighting games were for me. Any chance I could, I was at the arcade or the Chinese store playing against whoever. I would travel around to the arcades in Philly until only one was left, which was where Big E was working at before he started running his own events.
As for other genres, I just play whatever game that is good regardless of genre. Now that I am old and have limited time, I just stick to a few fighting, shooting and racing games. I’m also pretty good at Hearthstone, but don’t have hours a day to play it like other people. I also started playing Tetris to get some use out of my arcade stick, which I have been neglecting.
What is your favorite fighting game character and why?As for other genres, I just play whatever game that is good regardless of genre. Now that I am old and have limited time, I just stick to a few fighting, shooting and racing games. I’m also pretty good at Hearthstone, but don’t have hours a day to play it like other people. I also started playing Tetris to get some use out of my arcade stick, which I have been neglecting.
My favorite fighting game character is Sophitia because she’s strong, sexy, and does a grip of damage. Another favorite is Setsuka because of her character design and how she plays. I also love Christie from DOA because of her fighting style and because of how damn fine she is as well.
Describe your style of play, and how do you play (local, online, etc.).
I like to play high risk/high reward which you want to be careful of in high level play as players typically trying to play as lame as possible to limit risk. The character that I use revolves around block/whiff punishment, so I also play a spacing game to make my opponent whiff or punish them when they do an unsafe move.
Growing up I either played in the arcade, or people would come to my house to play. After I joined the military, I was out of fighting games for a while until a friend of mine introduced me to where the arcades were on Okinawa, which were a long way away from where I worked. On the weekends, I would hop on the bus, then walk to the arcades where I would play some Zero 3’, KOF 2002, and SC2. Once I was done with college and had a steady job, I got back into fighting games with DOA4, T5DR and VF5. When SC4 dropped, I was playing online, but the online play was so frustrating to the point where it made me seek out offline competition and help start a local scene and being involved in the community.
What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a player?Growing up I either played in the arcade, or people would come to my house to play. After I joined the military, I was out of fighting games for a while until a friend of mine introduced me to where the arcades were on Okinawa, which were a long way away from where I worked. On the weekends, I would hop on the bus, then walk to the arcades where I would play some Zero 3’, KOF 2002, and SC2. Once I was done with college and had a steady job, I got back into fighting games with DOA4, T5DR and VF5. When SC4 dropped, I was playing online, but the online play was so frustrating to the point where it made me seek out offline competition and help start a local scene and being involved in the community.
My biggest strength is composure. You can’t let what goes on within the game break your concentration and take you out of your gameplan. You also don’t want to get too excited before the match has completed. Nobody likes a premature pop off.
Weaknesses are that I fall into some bad habits and patterns. I also don’t spend enough time learning a game like I should. Some people are just nerds and know everything about a game, combos, frame data, etc. I wish I had the time like I did when I was young with no responsibilities to spend hours a day on a game, so I am just out here trying to have some fun and press some buttons.
Best and worst moments in the your fighting game career?Weaknesses are that I fall into some bad habits and patterns. I also don’t spend enough time learning a game like I should. Some people are just nerds and know everything about a game, combos, frame data, etc. I wish I had the time like I did when I was young with no responsibilities to spend hours a day on a game, so I am just out here trying to have some fun and press some buttons.
Every moment that I have been able to spend in the community has been great. I have been able to meet so many different people throughout the years in various communities, or people would come up wanting to meet me because of what I said on commentary, or through Twitch/Twitter. I love meeting people and learning more about them. At my first tournament, I met someone who served in the same unit as I did in the Marines.
I was able to go to my first EVO in 2012 and meet so many different people, act a damn fool, and see others creepin, which makes me sad to miss it this year. There’s so much that goes on that you need to be there in person for if you haven’t been to one yet.
Worst moments are missing out on events. Watching from home is definitely not the same. It’s been a long time since my last tournament, either because of financial reasons or taking care of real life stuff which come before video games. I missed out on EVO this year because of a car accident. I missed NEC last year because a friend of my mom’s was in the hospital and had no family to help her out. Then there are moments from the late 90’s to early 2000s that I wish I were around for instead of waiting to go to war somewhere on the other side of the world. I’m just fortunate that I have been able to be a part of some cool ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOHmoiiJVOE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-mln-T0GGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjKIzI_GLjk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS-DpeFdPWY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ut580Ecg9c
What do you want from future fighting games?I was able to go to my first EVO in 2012 and meet so many different people, act a damn fool, and see others creepin, which makes me sad to miss it this year. There’s so much that goes on that you need to be there in person for if you haven’t been to one yet.
Worst moments are missing out on events. Watching from home is definitely not the same. It’s been a long time since my last tournament, either because of financial reasons or taking care of real life stuff which come before video games. I missed out on EVO this year because of a car accident. I missed NEC last year because a friend of my mom’s was in the hospital and had no family to help her out. Then there are moments from the late 90’s to early 2000s that I wish I were around for instead of waiting to go to war somewhere on the other side of the world. I’m just fortunate that I have been able to be a part of some cool ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOHmoiiJVOE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-mln-T0GGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjKIzI_GLjk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS-DpeFdPWY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ut580Ecg9c
We’re almost into 2016 and still dealing with games with bugs and ass netkode, so hopefully that improves. I also want to see more games take advantage of what the new consoles have to offer in terms of power and features. Games also need to be mindful of features from older games that get overlooked such as having a button check at the character select screen or being able to switch controller sides before a match starts.
Who should be on next week's GAF Player Spotlight?
Whoever wants to volunteer for it.
Since Dahbomb strongly encourages pre-orders, what games do you plan to buy that have been officially announced?
I typically buy every fighting game that comes out because I like to play everything and come to my own conclusions. Usually people like to tell you that ___ game is ass without even playing it.
Haven’t been able to buy a new console yet since family comes first, but I’ll put a preorder in for SFV once they add a character that I am interested in playing. Whenever Tekken 7 drops, I’ll cop it and play Leo and Paul since I love playing characters with a deathfist. And whenever Namco decides to stop playing and show love to a new Soulcalibur, I’ll be on that too and back to competing.
Haven’t been able to buy a new console yet since family comes first, but I’ll put a preorder in for SFV once they add a character that I am interested in playing. Whenever Tekken 7 drops, I’ll cop it and play Leo and Paul since I love playing characters with a deathfist. And whenever Namco decides to stop playing and show love to a new Soulcalibur, I’ll be on that too and back to competing.
Code:
WINTER Rivals of Aether
MARCH Street Fighter V
TBD Beast's Fury
TBD BlazBlue: Central Fiction
TBD JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
TBD Next The King Of Fighters Title (tentative)
TBD Pokken Tournament
TBD Rising Thunder
TBD Tekken 7
TBD Tekken X Street Fighter
TBD Yatagarasu: Legend of Raven
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.
Often, some fighting games can seem intimidating to players new and old. Below are a bunch of resources that may be of aid to new players, or handy as references.
- Learn How To Play Fighting Games Free eBook from Shoryuken is a fantastic primer for new players to the genre.
- Footsies Handbook is a guide to the potentially elusive, but integral part of doing well in any fighting game.
- NeoGAF's Arcade Stick Thread is the place to go for questions about anything arcade stick-related.
- Step Up Your Game is an editorial series by Justin Wong that covers a multitude of topics, notably focusing on strengthening your mental game and playing smarter instead of harder.
- Tips for first time competitors will help you straighten out those nerves and expectations when you head out to your first tournament.
- Domination 101 is almost a cult classic article in the FGC, which has Seth Killian telling us how he really feels about the idea of "cheapness" in fighting games.
- Team-building Guide by our very own Karsticles, which helps make it easier to approach team-building in MvC games, and games with similar synergistic elements.
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If you have any suggestions for the OP, please do not hesitate to post in this thread or (preferably) PM me to let me know.
