Week of March 16th to the 22nd, 2015.
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. If you are looking to see what events are coming up past this week, check out the FGC Event Calendar that our own Malice215 put together.
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. If you are looking to see what events are coming up past this week, check out the FGC Event Calendar that our own Malice215 put together.
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.
Last year, GAFer Shouta helped organize donations from various FGC-GAF members to send fellow member QisTopTier to EVO. Q suffers from Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy, but has always wanted to go to EVO and we're looking to double up this year and send him to EVO again!
If you want to help out, you can check out the details and pledge on this spreadsheet.
Final Round XVIII [ Additional streams: Capcom Fighters, FunkyP, SixFortyFive, Kombat Network ] [ Schedule ] [ http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1013761 ] [ Friday ]
- Final Round, one of the biggest tournaments of the year, returns again boasting one of the most impressive rosters of international players in history.
- Capcom Pro Tour Premier Event
- This event continues through Sunday.
- 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 our resident Deadpool unitard owner, shaowebb!
What fighting games do you currently play, what is your all time favourite and why?
Currently I dont' play much. I'm slowly working on my own fighter , and between it and my job I game less and make assets more. When I do play I tend to play either Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All Stars, King of Fighters XIII, or Blaz Blue Chronophantasma.
My all time favorite has to be Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All Stars. At the time it had been closing in on a decade since the last Capcom vs title I had came out (MVC2) and nothing had ever been close to that experience since. Then TvC came out and it had a roster that was almost entirely new movesets! Usually you get a bunch of Capcom dudes you know then some new folks, but this...all new. Even the Capcom side was vastly different than the MVC roster. Dudes like Batsu, Alex, Megaman Volnutt, Saki, Kaijin no Soki...just a ton of fresh faces out there! I dont' think a roster has ever felt so fresh to me while still having so many faces I knew of in it. This, plus the fact it was the first game I grew to take seriously due to streaming of guys like Marn, Kbeast, and Keits made it a deep part of me.
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 has to be Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All Stars. At the time it had been closing in on a decade since the last Capcom vs title I had came out (MVC2) and nothing had ever been close to that experience since. Then TvC came out and it had a roster that was almost entirely new movesets! Usually you get a bunch of Capcom dudes you know then some new folks, but this...all new. Even the Capcom side was vastly different than the MVC roster. Dudes like Batsu, Alex, Megaman Volnutt, Saki, Kaijin no Soki...just a ton of fresh faces out there! I dont' think a roster has ever felt so fresh to me while still having so many faces I knew of in it. This, plus the fact it was the first game I grew to take seriously due to streaming of guys like Marn, Kbeast, and Keits made it a deep part of me.
Favorite mechanic is a tie between the HD gauge in KoF XIII and Baroque in TvC UAS. The HD gauge is the backbone of team building and tactics in KoF XIII. Fills slow...spend half and can cancel special into special. Fill it all the way up and you can cancel for a period of time till it drains as many of those as you want into each other. You have to decide to blow it or save it for your anchor's comeback chances. You also base team structure on not only battery in front stuff but on who can net you the best outta HD gauge stuff in the back slots. Such a hype thing to pop it, and go crazy with a combo. Baroque was simple...spend red health and get more damage based on the amount.+ an xfactor cancel+ link some stuff you couldn't before in combos. Risk was you drop the combo you lose the health and can't recover it. Mechanic was pure gold.
Worst was X-factor. Its not balanced, it over rewards, and in general I think Touch of death is ass in fighting games and it not only leads to it, but promotes it. I see it as less of a comeback factor and more of a lazy factor.
What got you into fighting games? Are there any other genre of games you play?Worst was X-factor. Its not balanced, it over rewards, and in general I think Touch of death is ass in fighting games and it not only leads to it, but promotes it. I see it as less of a comeback factor and more of a lazy factor.
Street Fighter 2 Special Championship edition as a kid was the first fighter I had seen in a magazine and I had played some at an arcade cabinet in a store. I obsessed on it till I got it for my birthday. I played it religiously till I could beat it on max difficulty with each character without losing rounds...hard as shit to do that but what else was there to do at that age in the 90s? Hell I didn't even know the term crossup, but was doin them and callin em "super deep kicks" lol. Game taught me a lot.
What is your favorite fighting game character and why?
People are betting I'll say Iron Fist. Nope...he was my longstanding Marvel underdog I loved and wanted. Not even close to my favorite...you've played him you know why.
My Favorite is Brad Wong from Dead or Alive. I used to be a pro wrestler with a drunken boxing gimmick and even later learned kung fu and one of the systems for this form. When DOA3 came out and I played Brad Wong he was the ONLY accurate depiction of that system I had ever encountered in a fighting game. I bought a console for that guy and ran sets with my friends for a year. I was pretty troll with that dude. Anyone who can throw you from the angles he could and just fall over to whif your stuff is a bro in my book.
Describe your style of play, and how do you play (local, online, etc.).My Favorite is Brad Wong from Dead or Alive. I used to be a pro wrestler with a drunken boxing gimmick and even later learned kung fu and one of the systems for this form. When DOA3 came out and I played Brad Wong he was the ONLY accurate depiction of that system I had ever encountered in a fighting game. I bought a console for that guy and ran sets with my friends for a year. I was pretty troll with that dude. Anyone who can throw you from the angles he could and just fall over to whif your stuff is a bro in my book.
I'm a fundamentalist...guess its from the SF2:SCE days of play. I love footsie characters and do a lot of patient whif punishing, baiting folks, high low mixups, crossups, and in and out pressure. I do well with either grapplers or dudes with decent mobility and speed who can rush it down. I also love jump cancel combos and will fall in love with characters who have them. To me a character is fun if their combos have rhythm. Chun Li in UMVC3 was actually one of the funnest characters for me. Her crossups, rushdown, and combo stuff that buffered into SBK after her stomp OTG just had such a great rhythm to it. Loved that version of her.
What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a player?
Biggest strength? Fundamentals and player analysis. I can read players and developing game meta pretty decent. I play the person more than the matchup and low tier hero a lot on pure footsie characters. It helps me a lot since I'm tied up in trying to to setup a game's meta and core fundamentals of movement, meter, offense and defense. Which brings me to my weakness.
Execution is my weakness. When I got into serious play I was finishing several college degrees and working. Now that I finished those I work in an industrial field professionally, and animate/code/all the rest of the shit required to slowly piece together my own fighter. I don't get a lot of time to lab out execution and I drop the soap. This is why I hooked up with Q. He plays everything and studies everything and is a big meta game and tool analysis guy like me. Thing is he has the execution and upper level skills to max out tools to balance them while I just play simple footsie fundamentals. He's my combat lead designer and reference point and I'm on the creative side with assets, animation, and general stuff. We work great for ideas and building stuff together. Without him a lot of what I'm working on would just be unbalanced.
Best and worst moments in the your fighting game career?Execution is my weakness. When I got into serious play I was finishing several college degrees and working. Now that I finished those I work in an industrial field professionally, and animate/code/all the rest of the shit required to slowly piece together my own fighter. I don't get a lot of time to lab out execution and I drop the soap. This is why I hooked up with Q. He plays everything and studies everything and is a big meta game and tool analysis guy like me. Thing is he has the execution and upper level skills to max out tools to balance them while I just play simple footsie fundamentals. He's my combat lead designer and reference point and I'm on the creative side with assets, animation, and general stuff. We work great for ideas and building stuff together. Without him a lot of what I'm working on would just be unbalanced.
Best moment? Easy...I was at Tsubasacon in WV before TvC UAS came out in the states. They had a big screen setup and an import copy with Hori Sticks setup and the room was PACKED. Folks were playing the whole roster because they were all so exciting and new and if you won you stayed up. I got up won a few and stayed up as Megaman Volnutt/Tekkaman. I was playing pure fundamental stuff as none of us knew cast yet. I had won about 6 and this guy comes up looking serious and goes immediately to Morrigan/Chun...two of the only non-new faces in the game.
I knew then and there he was goin for blood and wasn't there to mess around...he wanted the seat. We played and sure enough both my guys were below half health fast. Then I put in Volnutt, stance switched and slowly ran it back on both. It was pretty heated and the room was on fire when I went down to just Tekkaman vs both his characters. Got rid of Chun but was at magic pixel and by GOD I wasn't goin' out that way. I fought till he was near death and he got pissed and jumped away and did Morrigan's missile super to just chip me the hell out. In that moment things slowed down and I went for Tekkaman's Super Spinning Tek Lancer which was a shoryu motion on a stick and I was new to sticks. I hit it and sure enough above Morrigan the lance flew and opened up hell upon her a second before the missiles hit me and I won. Whole room exploded at the runback and I popped off huge. I turned over the chair after that anyways. I wasn't going to beat that moment...its the moment that made me get serious about fighters.
Worst moment? UMVC3 when around month 2 I realize how busted it was after waiting all those years for Iron Fist to be in it. This version was supposed to make stuff better than vanilla with OTG's, new cast, a few new moves, and balance changes. Seeing that they didn't balance the title at all but only made it worse (aside from the OTG , Wolverine changes, and Phoenix nerf) was crushing.
What do you want from future fighting games?I knew then and there he was goin for blood and wasn't there to mess around...he wanted the seat. We played and sure enough both my guys were below half health fast. Then I put in Volnutt, stance switched and slowly ran it back on both. It was pretty heated and the room was on fire when I went down to just Tekkaman vs both his characters. Got rid of Chun but was at magic pixel and by GOD I wasn't goin' out that way. I fought till he was near death and he got pissed and jumped away and did Morrigan's missile super to just chip me the hell out. In that moment things slowed down and I went for Tekkaman's Super Spinning Tek Lancer which was a shoryu motion on a stick and I was new to sticks. I hit it and sure enough above Morrigan the lance flew and opened up hell upon her a second before the missiles hit me and I won. Whole room exploded at the runback and I popped off huge. I turned over the chair after that anyways. I wasn't going to beat that moment...its the moment that made me get serious about fighters.
Worst moment? UMVC3 when around month 2 I realize how busted it was after waiting all those years for Iron Fist to be in it. This version was supposed to make stuff better than vanilla with OTG's, new cast, a few new moves, and balance changes. Seeing that they didn't balance the title at all but only made it worse (aside from the OTG , Wolverine changes, and Phoenix nerf) was crushing.
For me and Q to finish our game together, make a splash, and get ahold of some licensed properties to work on between sequels! Gonna wait till this puppy is nearly ready and try to find a publisher with licenses I covet to publish it. Looks like Disney or WB will be the first stops then...hell I'd hit up Namco in hopes of snatching up some Toei Kamen Rider goodness if I thought it'd work. If there is a license out there its likely at some point I wrote up a roster for it and a partial design bible/cast moveset lol. Its a hobby I can't break and its lead to some really fun stuff I'm trying to put into our game.
Who should be on next week's GAF Player Spotlight?
ShinMaruku. That guy is a bro from the Musou community and I like his style 
Since Dahbomb strongly encourages pre-orders, what games do you plan to buy that have been officially announced?
MKX. Test Your Might would lynch me if I didn't own a game I helped moderate boards for lol. Aside from that Splatoon...game looks like it will be amazing. Also any musou that gets announced
Code:
04/15 Mortal Kombat X
SUMMER BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Extend
2015 Rivals of Aether
2015 Skullgirls Encore
TBD Beast's Fury
TBD JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven
TBD Next The King Of Fighters Title (tentative)
TBD Rise of Incarnates
TBD Street Fighter V
TBD Tekken 7
TBD Tekken X Street Fighter
TBD Yatagarasu: Attack on Cataclysm
TBD Yatagarasu: Legend of Raven
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 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.
- Logan Sama, organiser of the old WSO weeklys in London, invites some of London's finest to Capcom UK HQ for first to 5 sets in USF4.
- 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.
- A weekly show featuring Mago, Tokido, and Momochi. They go over the tournaments they will participate and have participated in overseas and in Japan, as well as the general news in SF. For long periods of the year, there is a student-teacher session involving one of the 3 Topanga members taking a player under their wing and teaching them how to play SF. The show features rank matches (sometimes random char. matches) and ends with a 8 man online tournament featuring players around 4.5kpp such as Poongko, Inco, and more.
- 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.
HBTB Live [ 8PM EDT | 5PM PDT ]
- Hold Back To Block hosts a weekly roundtable discussion of various happenings in the FGC.
- 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.
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.
- Arturo streams a BlazBlue and Guilty Gear bi-weekly out of Next Level arcade in Brooklyn.
- 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 bi-weekly Skullgirls event hosted by members of the Skullgirls development team, often featuring preview builds of the game.
Rebel Up [ 7PM EDT | 4PM PDT ]
- Super Arcade's anime bi-weekly, featuring GG, BB, P4A, SG, Gundam and older anime games as well.
GGPO VanBats [ 4PM EDT | 1PM PDT ]
- Weekly GGPO Vampire Savior ranbats streamed by GAFer Rotanibor.
- SuperDojo 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.
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.
