Monthly Archives: July 2010

Theory Fighter

Being part of the fighting game community and having internet access, it happens to all of us from time to time. We all get sucked into heated forum arguments about which character is superior in head-to-head battle.

Instead of playing the matchup in real time for twenty minutes, we sit around debating every possible move and its flowchart of counters for hours. This bizarre turn-based text RPG version of Street Fighter is such a common activity that we’ve coined a name for it: Theory Fighter.

The whole idea behind it is that breaking down the risks and rewards of each action helps both sides understand the matchup better. Furthermore, it highlights a character’s problem areas and directs the community’s attention toward finding new solutions. Lastly, it helps us develop a more nuanced and sophisticated tier structure.

However, the curse of theory fighter is that it almost always devolves into trite internet arguments. Both sides quickly forget they share a collective goal, common courtesy goes out the window, and everyone tries to win at all costs.

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Etc Spotlight: 83 Til – Your Commute

Well, i definitely wasn’t planning on doing this with every video they release, but it’s been so long since their last one that it’s practically breaking news again.

I’m sure you all recognize 83 Til for providing every SSF4 Month-One soundtrack and serving up the beats in style exhibition v.one – four of them to be exact. Here’s their long-awaited, much-requested, second official video.

83 Til – Your Commute

This was originally meant to be a quick follow-up release with basic editing, but it evolved into something much more elaborate. Was it worth the wait? I think so. I guess this is one of the benefits of having a dj/producer who happens to be a graphic designer by trade.

“While you still got curcumin on the brush of your broom … stick.”

Weekly Screenshot: Up and Atom!

Whoever comes up with the best title for this week’s screenshot gets to choose the next featured SF4 Biweekly TACV character after Chun Li and Balrog’s installment! As always, the rules are one entry per person and i’ll choose my favorite on Monday.

xmcota-wolverine-juggernaut-01

COTA Wolverine’s Berserker Barrage has enough startup invincibility to beat CPU Juggernaut’s Juggernaut Headcrush cleanly, but it must be initiated slightly later than shown here.

Community Combo Development

When i got on stage at Evo, jchensor asked how i have time to write weekly strategy articles, manage Strategy Corner features on SRK, and still find enough material for combo videos. My answer was, “It’s not just me.” I’d like to explain that briefly.

I always tell people that i would rather explore any decent game with massive community support, over a game i absolutely love which nobody plays. There’s a simple reason for that: Everything i can find on my own in two years, a dedicated community like Shoryuken.com could find within three months.

The later stages of a fighting game’s evolution are what fascinate me, personally. I’ve never been a big fan of the surface-level week-one stuff. Obviously someone has to do it, but it’s not a particularly sophisticated phase when all is said and done.

In fact, i waited fifteen months after SF4 was released to begin working on combos for that game. By then all the basics were well-established, giving me the opportunity to dive right into the deep end of the pool. It would’ve taken three years to reach that point on my own.

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CV Spotlight: jchensor’s GGXXAC Johnny Combovid

As i’m sure Guilty Gear fans have noticed, style exhibition v.one features two GGXXAC Johnny combos courtesy of jchensor. As it happens, both clips were originally part of a much larger batch, now compiled into a new video.

“Go Johnny Go!” – A GGXX Accent Core Johnny Combo Video

If you take a look at the dates listed at the end, there’s a three-year gap between the initial recording date and when these clips finally saw the light of day. The story behind that is they were given to an editor three years ago, but he kind of disappeared.

With the deadline for Evo2k10 looming, i asked jchensor if we could use a couple of these combos in our project. He agreed, so we picked out two of the more stylistically-oriented ones and they fit perfectly. Since everyone seemed to like them at Evo, he’s released the full set. Even after all this time, i think they still stand up well – and the music is a perfect match.