Week of January 20th to the 26th, 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.
The results for NeoGAF's 10th Annual Game of the Year Awards are here. Below are what GAFers felt were the best fighting games of 2013. You can read the entire list of awards here.
- Injustice: Gods Among Us [ 51 points | 5 honourable mentions]
- Killer Instinct [ 34 points | 6 honourable mentions ]
- Divekick [ 21 points | 1 honourable mention ]
- Skullgirls [ 16 points ]
- BlazBlue: Chronophantasma [ 9 points ]
Kumite in Tennessee 14 [ Friday ] [ 4PM CST | 5PM EDT | 2PM PDT ]
- The main stream linked above will feature Tekken, Soul Calibur and Persona.
- Dead or Alive, Killer Instinct and UMvC3 will be streamed by Sixfortyfive.
- Street Fighter and Injustice will be streamed by PandaxGaming.
- Project M and Melee will be streamed by Smash Studios.
- Nashville plays host to the 14th KiT, featuring multiple fighting game tournaments including Smash, as well as GAF's own Sixfortyfive helming one of the streams!
- This event continues through Sunday.
- Format, location, platforms, fees, rules, prizes, payout, schedule and much 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 everyone's favourite stick man, MarkMan!
What fighting games do you currently play, what are your all time favourites and why?
Currently, I play TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 during my free time around the office and Killer Instinct when Im killing time at home. Work is a bit slow this time of year so Ive been spending my time at home playing fighting games, watching streams and working on my side projects like SDTECHIN. As for my all-time favorite fighting games? Thats really tough. I would have to go with the original Tekken Tag Tournament and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Tekken 3 and eventually TTT1 were what really got me into competitive fighting games. I used to ditch high school on Fridays to go with some friends and drive up to Southern Hills Golfland (SHGL; RIP) and get our asses handed to us and learn how to play from some of the best.
What are your favorite mechanics from the current selection of fighting games and why? What are your least favorite and why?
Out of current fighting games? Honestly there isnt really anything new that I am in love with. There are some things that I like
that I feel give players more control on how they live or die, such as the mind game you get into when a combo is being flowed out in Killer Instinct. It becomes a true mind gave for both the person doing the combo and the one getting hit. Id have to say the weirdest one to me is Injustices wager system. It kind of kills the flow for me and although it has some redeeming qualities for making good decisions, I dont like how its presented. But thats just an aesthetic thing for me. As far as my favorite mechanics/systems overall, you may know Im a big Tekken fan
I really love the system for Tekken. Anyone that can really learn/play that game is a damned scientist in my opinion.
What got you into fighting games? Are there any other genre of games you play?
I really started taking notice of fighting games when Street Fighter II: World Warrior hit the arcades. Growing up as a kid, Id always play the latest Street Fighter, SNK and Mortal Kombat games whenever I had the chance. Luckily there were always arcades in San Diego when I was younger. I love video games in general so I play stuff when I can. Work has been extremely demanding over the past few years so I dont get to play or practice fighting games or enjoy games in general. When I do have time though, I try to play through my backlog (which will never be defeated lol) or play/stream my favorite old games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Contra, Resident Evil, Chrono Trigger or some random game from yesteryear.
What is your favorite fighting game character and why?
My favorite fighting game character of all time is probably Chun-Li. For TEKKEN games, its King the masked wrassler! Working with Mad Catz, one of the first pet projects I did was make the Chun-Li TE stick, because of a dream I had the night before. The next day I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote specs down with my team, pitched it to Capcom and the rest is history.
Describe your style of play, and how do you play (local, online, etc.).
I like to study and find out things on my own before cross referencing online. I usually grind it out in practice mode and practice against my co-workers/friends. I cant stand online play for fighting games so I rarely play.
What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a player?
I think knowledge and problem solving skills are my biggest strength as a player. I have terrible spacing and reflexes though, so it doesnt really help me overall.
Best and worst moments in the your fighting game career?
Hrm. I havent thought about my competitive fighting game career in a long time. There are a few moments that stick out, however! During NorCal Strong Style 4 (one of the biggest Tekken tournament series in North America), I entered with team SDTEKKEN in the 3V3 team tournament. In our 2nd round we had to go up against the Korean team. Korean Tekken players, as many may know, are generally considered the best in the world. So with two world class players in both Rain & Tongbal LOVE, we had our hands full. Luckily my teammate Brahma ended up beating both 200yen and Rain handily with his Jack play. Then he lost to their anchor, Tongbal LOVE. I was 2nd up for our team and ended up going against Koreas best Devil Jin player at the time. Now, I was feeling really good going into this match because I play against Devil Jin a LOT, thanks to my brother. I was able to win and our team ended up getting 2nd place that weekend
Which was a good feeling and probably the last time I played/practiced Tekken competitively. Video here if you wanna see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA7l6afir4U
One of the worst moments was me getting 9th place at the Mortal Kombat PDP National Tournament. I was so close to getting in the top 8 money, and it would have been hilarious to have PDP award money to the Mad Catz guy. I never told anyone the full story online but here it is I qualified out of my pool in losers bracket and had a character crisis. I was using both Kung Lao and Smoke, but only using Kung Lao due to his top tier-ness. After I lost with Kung Lao in pool play I switched to Smoke, who was the character I practiced with the most and ended up going on an amazing stream to qualify out of pools and top 32 to get to the final qualifying match for top 8. Now a lot of people may remember that in this tournament, using the PDP Mortal Kombat stick was mandatory. At one point late in the tournament, Justin Wong was battling against LI Joe and the block button started activating randomly and ended up getting stuck on him during his match. At that point they had to stop the tournament match and replace the stick with another unit. Just prior to that, in the qualifying matches, I was playing on the same stick that Justin was using. In my match I kept getting random EX moves such as EX teleport (doing a move + block button), which was obviously caused by the random block inputs. So losing meter + getting unintended moves. I ended up losing in a nail biter (even though I had the second match)! Im good at holding my composure but in all honesty I was salty as shit! No point in bringing up the issue now as it would have been a bad look to blame the hardware being used, but it was a good experience overall lol.
One last thing for competitive moments, owning Jebailey and making him my bitch in the ring at CEO 2013. Heres a vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA3mFkW9jz4
Overall just my experience with the fighting game community and being able to make arcade sticks has been an amazing accident to me. I will continue to support this community no matter where I am. Thank you everyone!
What do you want from future fighting gamesOne of the worst moments was me getting 9th place at the Mortal Kombat PDP National Tournament. I was so close to getting in the top 8 money, and it would have been hilarious to have PDP award money to the Mad Catz guy. I never told anyone the full story online but here it is I qualified out of my pool in losers bracket and had a character crisis. I was using both Kung Lao and Smoke, but only using Kung Lao due to his top tier-ness. After I lost with Kung Lao in pool play I switched to Smoke, who was the character I practiced with the most and ended up going on an amazing stream to qualify out of pools and top 32 to get to the final qualifying match for top 8. Now a lot of people may remember that in this tournament, using the PDP Mortal Kombat stick was mandatory. At one point late in the tournament, Justin Wong was battling against LI Joe and the block button started activating randomly and ended up getting stuck on him during his match. At that point they had to stop the tournament match and replace the stick with another unit. Just prior to that, in the qualifying matches, I was playing on the same stick that Justin was using. In my match I kept getting random EX moves such as EX teleport (doing a move + block button), which was obviously caused by the random block inputs. So losing meter + getting unintended moves. I ended up losing in a nail biter (even though I had the second match)! Im good at holding my composure but in all honesty I was salty as shit! No point in bringing up the issue now as it would have been a bad look to blame the hardware being used, but it was a good experience overall lol.
One last thing for competitive moments, owning Jebailey and making him my bitch in the ring at CEO 2013. Heres a vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA3mFkW9jz4
Overall just my experience with the fighting game community and being able to make arcade sticks has been an amazing accident to me. I will continue to support this community no matter where I am. Thank you everyone!
Like a lot of other people, I want it to become bigger and better for everyone involved. I am working on some things that will help change the future, hopefully for the better. I have a lot of personal projects that take up my time lately. Dont let my Instagram or twitter fool you, its not all about hot chicks and food. There are great people out there that want to make things happen and Im glad to be on their side.
Who should be on next week's GAF Player Spotlight?
Originally I wanted to pick Kadey, because she is old school and does a lot for the community, not just here on NeoGAF. I think people should know more about her and how she lost that bet to me. 
BUT!! Since she did it recently... I'll go with Sixfortyfive!
One last thing. The community is running a donation drive for our fallen friend, Patrick 'IL0VEY0URM0M' Collins. It ends on Jan. 24th! Donations are welcome, but at the very least we'd love it if you could read his story and help spread the word. More info can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/tekkenfgc
BUT!! Since she did it recently... I'll go with Sixfortyfive!One last thing. The community is running a donation drive for our fallen friend, Patrick 'IL0VEY0URM0M' Collins. It ends on Jan. 24th! Donations are welcome, but at the very least we'd love it if you could read his story and help spread the word. More info can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/tekkenfgc
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 - 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.
