Did anybody watch the Northeast Championships stream last night? FlashMetroid (VI) from empire Arcadia got knocked down to losers' by Justin Wong and then proceeded to purge the entire bracket of Sagat players, beating LI Joe and Sanford Kelly (That match was SICK; not even Sanford's Cammy could take down Flash's Viper) only to get creamed by Justin in winners' finals. I think we may have a new candidate for second best in the country...
@mintycrys is HOT for Bayonetta: Did Justin play Rufus? I fell asleep before the end. And I think the second best is Sanford Kelly. He can make even Dan scary.
@SwimOdin: Justin played Rufus, which is a crappy matchup for Viper. But yeah, Sanford Kelly got beaten handily by Flash, who used Sagat, then Ryu, then Cammy, and still couldn't win.
Viper's SJC low normal into Ultra is to be feared.
@snakepliskin: There's a reason they don't. Most of the 'top tier players' have expressed distaste for Blazblu. Some concerns about balancing and some general distaste for the mechanics (hell Sirlin wrote another typically huge rant about how much he hates throws in the game alone) Furthermore, admittedly being a top tier SF doesn't mean you'd be top tier in Blazblu.
@Marchosias35: I have no idea. In fairness, I think a couple of the big guys didn't like Guilty Gear much either. but I don't come down on any side of the issue, really.
Also yeah, what are you talking about? Daigo is not aggressive at all. He's known for having psychic Dragon punches. He's more defensive than anything. Hell, Wong's more of a rushdown than he is.
You think Blazblue is fun to watch? LOL. You do know that most of the best BB players think BB is garbage and only play it because it is new and shiny right? Most prefer GGAC.
I hope this year EVO goes back to doing their own DVD for all the match replays. This past year for EVO2k9 they let IGN.com handle it and they haven't done shit all with it. They made all these promises for all pool plays and exhibitions but they barely have semis up for SF4. Biggest rip-off and a gigantic letdown as I was really stoked to see all the fantastic pool play and pre-finals stuff.
@XForce: Yeah, since the EVO promise was a fucking joke, I had to wait until SBO to get some good video footage. thankfully, Devastation and Bar Fights were shortly afterward, but EVO would've been nice to have.
Also, I wish someone had uploaded the 3v3 tourney match from awhile back where Sanford Kelly (CA) went 3-0 with Daigo (RY), and Daigo complained that he wasn't used to console characters.
Super Street Fighter IV
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Marvel vs Capcom 2
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
Tekken 6
Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars
TvC throws a huge wrench into their "Entire lineup on the PS3 only" plans.
I can't wait for this. It'll be great to be on the Strip next year during Evo, although I'll have to fight the temptation to recreate some of the events from the Hangover.
Hopefully they will have Blazblue in the Tourney. I assume it will be Calamity Trigger since Continuum Shift probably won't be on consoles yet. Continuum Shift plays well and looks good as you can see in the footage I took at Arcade Infinity below ([www.youtube.com])
@Kapwan: man, Rachel is definitely gimped from before, which is unfortuante. But at least Tao is looking awesome :D except that they kinda screwed up her oki on BnB.. which is odd, but not too big a deal imo.
@Win Laik Pya: Yeah everyone plays a little different now. Some of my strategies for Arakune had to change because of the changes to the curse meter, and fact this his bugs are humongous now. I really want to try out Hazama though. I liked Axl in GG and they seem to play similar
@Kapwan: I never played much of GG, though i know abit about it. Axl was the guy with the chain right? (that would make sense).
I wonder how useful Rachel's new distortion is. Everyone is saying worthless, but i think i might try to fit it into my strategy somewhere, on the grounds that Rachel with the cat hood is just too cute.
The one change i really don't like is nitpicking as hell, but they changed Tao's hair color on her red costume. She has green hair on the red costume and she was blond before, so i would always play as "little red riding tao" which i found to be a barrel of monkeys.
ah well. Still trying to work on those taunt combos anyway. Screw arcade sticks, I'm using the 360 controller and going down with the ship.
Very exciting, I was on business travel during the Evo 2K9 and ended up sitting in my hotel with a 6-pack watching the stream and staying up way past my bedtime.
I'm wondering if Soul Calibur IV and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core will get replaced by Tekken 6 and BlazBlue (although more than likely it'll be Continuum Shift by then), respectively, considering their small presence at this year's Evo. Of course, Street Fighter IV will be replaced by Super, barring any critical issues with the game (which seems entirely unlikely).
I hope they keep HDR, though, as those were some of my favorite matches to watch from this year. It's cool to see something fresh, instead of just Super Turbo year after year.
Hopefully Blazblue. That game is a feast for the eyes.
Anyone else read that interview with Diago? Sounds like a nice guy, sure he's arrogant but for a damn good reason!
I particularly like how he said he has way more fun at American tournaments , not because the players are better, but because "The players have a sense of ownership of the scene and feel that the tournaments they attend are their event and that they have to take part to make them the best they can be."
@excel_excel: Most of the American-only tournaments I've been to and watched are filled with pretty disrespectful and arrogant players, so it probably depends on what you're looking for at the tournament. For instance I found Justin Wong's behavior against Daigo in the SF4 finale to be pretty horrid. He explained it as pumping up the crowd, but it just looked like petty show-boating to me.
@MrBounce: Ah well I've never been to any, I'm just saying how it was cool that even though American tournaments aren't near the skill level of the Japanese tournaments (according to Diago) its nice to see someone say its not just about skill
And before anyone with a chip on their shoulder flames me, I'm not saying one is better than the other, just saying its cool that its not always viewed as one is better then the other
I'll have to check up what Wong did, what did he do anyway?
@MrBounce: Justin Wong is a fat loser who should focus on actually winning instead of celebrating when he hasn't even won. It felt great to see Daigo kick his ass.
Btw. Has anyone here been to the Shoryuken community? Its one of, if not the least friendly gaming community out there. The people jump on you if you ask a mere simple question and act like they are better than you even though its a fucking game forum for god sake and don't get me started on their mods. Its communities that turn people away from fighting games. Thank god for Kotaku.
The ones I watched were off Youtube, but they've been taken down.
Some would take Justin's actions as just "showmanship" but when you get up during a match and prance around, some cultures would look at it as just being disrespectful to your opponent (esp. since the matches were pretty good).
Events like this are fun to go to though, lots of fighting game junkies all hanging out not only at the location the tournaments are being held, but restaurants and stuff around the area too.
@legendnthemaking: Well, he is the US champion for SF4, and he's won other tournaments before in various other games too so he has won a lot. I just find him personally annoying because he acts like a retard (my opinion) more often than not.
I've hung out at Shoryuken.com for years, do you really find people that bad? There is lot of flaming and talking down, but it doesn't seem like it's any worse than other forums I visit.
@legendnthemaking: shoryuken is a very polar community, either really helpful or really elitist. I'm a Chinatown Fair player and trust me, the pros there do not all get along so don't feel like you're being singled out. You'll find a good group of people depending on the topics and threads you're looking up.
@excel_excel: I think you have Daigo and Wong mixed up on the arrogance bit. Daigo's always quiet and polite. I've yet to read an interview in which he is openly rude/prideful. The thing is, his record speaks for itself. It's worth noting that Daigo doesn't use or acknowledge his well-known nickname, "The Beast".
@MrBounce: I met and played Justin Wong at a closed, after hours pro session at chinatown fair arcade last week. He's a nice guy. Him getting loud during a match is just emotion. I used to think it was obnoxious too for sure...and still do, but after meeting him I know that it was just him getting riled up and not personal. Also, it's stressful that most americans count on him to beat Daigo.
"Right now, there's nobody younger than me that I feel threatened by. I haven't met anyone that I felt possesses the skill to surpass me in the future. I'm not over-evaluating myself. I can analytically see their weakness, their ineptitudes."
It's a good read, and out of context the quote sounds pretty arrogant, but if you read the interview I think he's right.
@MrBounce: Exactly my point, I was thinking of that interview as well. It's not really bragging if you CAN DO IT.
Also keep in mind that translating a very polite and colloquial language such as Japanese into English, a tongue with very few honorifics, it's very easy to come off as aloof or brash, even though your intended tone was completely different.
@legendnthemaking: From the shoryuken side, with the release of SF4 has come a ton of people asking a ton of questions that have already been asked before. They can only answer so many times before their patience wears thin, especially when the answers can easily be found with a minute or two of searching. I've seen plenty of new members come along and become respected without being thrashed.
@excel_excel: Yeah he came off a little arrogant in that interview but its well deserved. Plus it isn't so much that it makes you want to punch the guy.
The interview as a whole was great. It really made me feel like Daigo was someone I would like to hang out with. I can't remember but there was another interview with him on some other site... Lol I can't remember. Eventhubs.com has both of them listed if you want to go through the archives. Both were pretty good.
@MrBounce: It is a little show-boaty but Daigo and Wong know each other on a personal level so I don't think any disrespect was intended. Daigo and Wong always have the kindest of words to say about each other.
@Trygle12 is a cool prinny!: Odd, I haven't had a lot of issues with lag in BlazBlue, at least not to the point I can't pull off complete Nu combo's (yah yah, I'm a Nu user...).
@Revival: Oh I'm sure they go way back from the days of EVO, including the infamous 2004 Ken vs Chunli counters.
I was just using Justin as an example of US players in tournaments held in the US vs other tournaments I've seen / been to in Japan. The mood / atmosphere is quite different, and I think it just depends on which you prefer. I have seen Justin live at an EVO before though, and I swear the guy was on drugs or something the way he was bouncing around. Was way too excessive (in my opinion of course).
@SG79: I could be wrong, but I think his forte is the MvC2 type fighting game style as I recall him being in the top 3 a lot for past tournaments. I could be wrong though. Guess that cockiness carried over.
@MrBounce: Yeah I bet the atmosphere here in the states feels a little bit like a frat party. However, I don't think Japan can really compare to the tensity in the air for the final rounds. Even watching through live stream I could feel it. Which is probably what Daigo is talking about in those interviews. There is nothing like the sound of hundreds of people cheering after Daigo parrys Wong's super :).
Unfortunately Wong adds to the tension and gives a great match. So while I agree he is show boaty he also gives great entertainment. So its kind of hard for me to give the guy too much crap.
@MrBounce: Of course you don't have a lot of problems with lag.
You are a Nu user. You don't have too many strict timing Combo's. Yeah, some of the other character's are unplayable in lag.
@excel_excel: I seriously hope they have a better BB turnout than they did last time with the live stream. All we did was see some guy scrub with Noel. Nothing special.
Las Vegas has hosted the Rat Pack, Tyson v Holyfield, George Clooney, Don Cheadle, and Brad Pitt (at the same time), and THIS is the event that will bring the prostitution market in Vegas to its knees.
@kahoona: They need to find announcers that know how to announce AND understand the games. It always seems to be one or the other at these tournaments.
I'd be highly surprised if Seth isn't there this year though and as you say his commentary was spot on, but I don't think the other commentators were really that bad for the most part. It's not like they get paid to do this for a living.
@kahoona: Being a good commentator takes a lot of practice. If you look at the StarCraft community like SC2GG.com and look up CholeraSC and diggitySC on YouTube, both of them will tell you that their first few StarCraft commentaries were very rough because of their inexperience.
The position also requires people to be fairly talkative which can be very hard on people who understand the game but hardly ever give speeches.
I think the Blazblue Tournament will be interesting. I'd be highly shocked if Daigo loses the Street Fighter IV tournament.
I'd be very interested in seeing Daigo or Justin play a match of Blazblue or Tatsunoko vs Capcom though. Just to see how there skills translate. I kinda wish Kof XII was there as well to to make the entire library of fighting games in 2009 available.
But I expect people like the guy in this vid to be there than anything else.
@[ZTF]NSF Operative: Same here, I find it a bit disappointing that many American players seem to have the "let Japan figure out a viable way to use (insert move here)" mentality.
On a lighter note, I have a feeling that Carl and Litchi will be more popular in America than they are in Japan.
@Xmas in July:I hope not. Carl dosn't interest me at all, and Litchi is frustrating enough without alot of people playing her and finding some broken mechanic. What I want to see is something akin to Sol's old dust loop.
@BubbleF**kingBuddy: Tournament or no tournament, exploits like that ruin the point of fighting games. I knew Sol's dust loop, but I never used it...because it's not fun to win that way.
@Mister Jack Wants Blazblue Challengers: If that were to happen, you could consider my Haagen Dazs scooped, my mustache curled, my Sentinel mangoed, and the Knicks fucked.
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Viper's SJC low normal into Ultra is to be feared.
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:V I mean, a game without DASHING can't possible be BETTER RITE GAIS :V
12/07/09
Also yeah, what are you talking about? Daigo is not aggressive at all. He's known for having psychic Dragon punches. He's more defensive than anything. Hell, Wong's more of a rushdown than he is.
12/08/09
You think Blazblue is fun to watch? LOL. You do know that most of the best BB players think BB is garbage and only play it because it is new and shiny right? Most prefer GGAC.
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Also, I wish someone had uploaded the 3v3 tourney match from awhile back where Sanford Kelly (CA) went 3-0 with Daigo (RY), and Daigo complained that he wasn't used to console characters.
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Super Street Fighter IV
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Marvel vs Capcom 2
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
Tekken 6
Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars
TvC throws a huge wrench into their "Entire lineup on the PS3 only" plans.
12/07/09
I heard they were also doing Tekken 6 and Blaz Blue on the 360, since large minority actually bought both for the system
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I wanna dual mod my EX-SE, but then I'd feel like a bastard for taking a tool that isn't a screwdriver to such a beautiful piece of hardware.
12/07/09
Hopefully they will have Blazblue in the Tourney. I assume it will be Calamity Trigger since Continuum Shift probably won't be on consoles yet. Continuum Shift plays well and looks good as you can see in the footage I took at Arcade Infinity below ([www.youtube.com])
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Tsubaki looks really fun.
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I wonder how useful Rachel's new distortion is. Everyone is saying worthless, but i think i might try to fit it into my strategy somewhere, on the grounds that Rachel with the cat hood is just too cute.
The one change i really don't like is nitpicking as hell, but they changed Tao's hair color on her red costume. She has green hair on the red costume and she was blond before, so i would always play as "little red riding tao" which i found to be a barrel of monkeys.
ah well. Still trying to work on those taunt combos anyway. Screw arcade sticks, I'm using the 360 controller and going down with the ship.
12/07/09
Good times.
12/07/09
I hope they keep HDR, though, as those were some of my favorite matches to watch from this year. It's cool to see something fresh, instead of just Super Turbo year after year.
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Anyone else read that interview with Diago? Sounds like a nice guy, sure he's arrogant but for a damn good reason!
I particularly like how he said he has way more fun at American tournaments , not because the players are better, but because "The players have a sense of ownership of the scene and feel that the tournaments they attend are their event and that they have to take part to make them the best they can be."
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And before anyone with a chip on their shoulder flames me, I'm not saying one is better than the other, just saying its cool that its not always viewed as one is better then the other
I'll have to check up what Wong did, what did he do anyway?
12/07/09
Btw. Has anyone here been to the Shoryuken community? Its one of, if not the least friendly gaming community out there. The people jump on you if you ask a mere simple question and act like they are better than you even though its a fucking game forum for god sake and don't get me started on their mods. Its communities that turn people away from fighting games. Thank god for Kotaku.
12/07/09
[www.kineda.com]
The ones I watched were off Youtube, but they've been taken down.
Some would take Justin's actions as just "showmanship" but when you get up during a match and prance around, some cultures would look at it as just being disrespectful to your opponent (esp. since the matches were pretty good).
Events like this are fun to go to though, lots of fighting game junkies all hanging out not only at the location the tournaments are being held, but restaurants and stuff around the area too.
12/07/09
I've hung out at Shoryuken.com for years, do you really find people that bad? There is lot of flaming and talking down, but it doesn't seem like it's any worse than other forums I visit.
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[www.capcom-unity.com]
"Right now, there's nobody younger than me that I feel threatened by. I haven't met anyone that I felt possesses the skill to surpass me in the future. I'm not over-evaluating myself. I can analytically see their weakness, their ineptitudes."
It's a good read, and out of context the quote sounds pretty arrogant, but if you read the interview I think he's right.
12/07/09
Also keep in mind that translating a very polite and colloquial language such as Japanese into English, a tongue with very few honorifics, it's very easy to come off as aloof or brash, even though your intended tone was completely different.
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Japan's scene is better because it's much more dense population wise. You can find an arcade really easily over in the cities.
I have to drive for an hour to fight someone that can do Arakune's C-loop :P
Don't you dare suggest online, because that lag just makes me one sad prinny:[
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The interview as a whole was great. It really made me feel like Daigo was someone I would like to hang out with. I can't remember but there was another interview with him on some other site... Lol I can't remember. Eventhubs.com has both of them listed if you want to go through the archives. Both were pretty good.
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I've never met the guy, but since I'm from the Tekken side, I've heard he's pretty mediocre at the game despite having a large ego.
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I was just using Justin as an example of US players in tournaments held in the US vs other tournaments I've seen / been to in Japan. The mood / atmosphere is quite different, and I think it just depends on which you prefer. I have seen Justin live at an EVO before though, and I swear the guy was on drugs or something the way he was bouncing around. Was way too excessive (in my opinion of course).
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Unfortunately Wong adds to the tension and gives a great match. So while I agree he is show boaty he also gives great entertainment. So its kind of hard for me to give the guy too much crap.
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You are a Nu user. You don't have too many strict timing Combo's. Yeah, some of the other character's are unplayable in lag.
It's also why I stuck to Rachel.:P
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My mistake with the wording, I meant he's mediocre at Tekken but he still has an ego while playing it.
#speakup
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I'd be highly surprised if Seth isn't there this year though and as you say his commentary was spot on, but I don't think the other commentators were really that bad for the most part. It's not like they get paid to do this for a living.
12/07/09
The position also requires people to be fairly talkative which can be very hard on people who understand the game but hardly ever give speeches.
07/15/09
I'd be very interested in seeing Daigo or Justin play a match of Blazblue or Tatsunoko vs Capcom though. Just to see how there skills translate. I kinda wish Kof XII was there as well to to make the entire library of fighting games in 2009 available.
But I expect people like the guy in this vid to be there than anything else.
07/14/09
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On a lighter note, I have a feeling that Carl and Litchi will be more popular in America than they are in Japan.
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@Xmas: Yeah, I'm rather disapointed in the lack of skilled Ragna and Jin players.
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Pray tell then, what is a "fun way" to win?
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:(
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that being said, i am looking forward to this EVO. always up for another fighting game tourney - the "bar fights" can tide me over for only so long :/
07/14/09
WHERE YO CURLEH MUSTACHE AT!?
07/14/09