Like most I was first introduced to fighting games through Street Fighter 2, we had a local video rental shop that also had two stand-up arcade machines and it was probably a while before I could get through the crowds of older guys to have a go of it. Back then I was a Sega Master System owner and later Mega Drive so I never experienced a proper home version of it, probably being drawn more towards Mortal Kombat's blood and gore (c'mon, plenty of us fell for it at the time). After the initial excitement for the genre wore down they remained as something that I would play with friends but not really take that seriously. The release of SSF2T HD Remix and Street Fighter 4 however would be the perfect storm of nostalgia, experience and disposable income that finally made me take a serious interest again. I invested in a basic arcade stick for the 360 as neither the standard pad or analog stick really worked for me and finally mastered the dragon punch motion *cough* input shortcuts *cough*.
This was the first time that I really took a great interest in what goes on behind the scenes in fighting games too. I've always been the kind of person to go through the tutorials to try and learn a characters moves (not that it usually helps me) but I think a combination of working as a programmer at this point and HD Remix having an option to display hitboxes, it just sparked my interest in how you would go about making a fighting game as well. I gradually started reading stuff that probably used to be reserved for 'professional gamers' on frame data, which really made me appreciate that not all combos are pre-programmed chains that can only be executed one way. It made fighting games seem that much more creative that someone could work out combos that the creator might never have even expected down to careful timing of another move just as the animation of one finishes. Of course a lot of these 'linked' combos will be carefully planned out these days but the history of fighting games is full of accidental developments that have gone on to be staple features of any modern game you can think of.
It was probably a little earlier than SF4 that I started to become aware of the competitive fighting game scene as well, I imagine initially because of this legendary comeback video:
As well as being amazed by what actually happens in the fight, I was always struck by the response from the audience. Here was a room full of 'nerds' by anyone's standards but the cheers and celebrations after were equal to almost any sports event you could think of. Combined with the sheer amount of people there just to watch two guys play a video game, it's a great reveal as the camera pans back around to capture the scenes of hype.
Through the competitive scene I also finally changed my attitude toward 'cheapness' in fighting games. As discussed in Intermediate’s Guide by David Sirlin - simply put, I used to be a scrub. Back in the day everyone had their own ideas about what was cheap in fighting games; Throws (some truth to that), Cross ups, Special moves (any of them - my wife still sticks to this view) and certain characters just for starters. This article finally made me appreciate that although there may have been some unintended effects back in the day, most of the time what is in the game was specifically designed to be in the game and usually nothing is unbeatable. You wouldn't see someone complaining that "Rock is far too overpowered against Scissors" but so often in fighting games people will stick with 'Scissors' religiously and insist that people who constantly use 'Rock' are boring players, without going looking for the 'Paper' to counter them. This is still a difficult thing to fully accept when you're locked in a corner with someone throwing fireballs at you but hopefully I don't get as mad about it any more. Or if I do get mad then hopefully it will push me to learn some new tactics rather than make me feel like I never want to play the game again.
The internet has done a lot to keep me interested in fighting games this time, from the sheer wealth of information out there to help you level up, to the simple fact of being able to play against people who aren't right next to me. I would say there was a period where I had reasonable success online but I was still not able to perform most of the great combos I was reading about (as much as I like the idea of links in combos I think having 1/60th of a second window to perform them is too tight for mere mortals). I gradually started to get frustrated with my own failings, which is probably why I took a break from them in the middle of last year and caught up on some single player games that I had been missing out on. This wasn't a complete break from fighting games though as I continued to watch plenty of videos online - insane combo videos and the like and of course, The Excellent Adventures of gootecks and Mike Ross:
These guys have pretty much become the face of the fighting game community (whether the FGC wants them to be or not). I think the fact that they are pretty down to earth and funny really helps people to identify with them compared to the traditional view of a professional gamer. I see so much of myself in Mike Ross in terms of how frustrated he gets when he loses - that feeling that you should have won a match but got beaten by a gimmicky tactic is pretty universal I think. There are other big characters that are starting to make a name for themselves in fighting game videos, like Maximillian's series of comedic Marvel Vs. Capcom tutorials and FC Jago's Why We Hate You show that has a (probably exaggerated) rivalry with gootecks and Mike Ross.
I find it interesting that people are actually becoming the superstars of the fighting game world but that this may not be what some of the community wants. I read an article a while back called The Rise of the Armchair Street Fighter, which talked about the importance of making sure that primarily the fighting game community revolves around people who take part rather than just watch. While I agree that the focus should be driven by those who play the games I think there is a place for people who are primarily spectators and I would imagine that the rise in these numbers has done a great deal to expand fighting game events. After all, with the costs of holding tournaments starting to require sponsorship, why would a company want to sponsor an event or a player if no one gets exposure to it? The article also refers back to another post by Seth Killian where he asks why football is so popular as a spectator sport when most people have no real connection to it. I think that this misses out the fact that the biggest football fans probably did love to play football back in the day though and they now live their dreams vicariously through their teams progress. For all of us 20-30 something people who have no great interest in sport but grew up on Street Fighter, is it so bizarre that we find enjoyment in rooting for our favourite players just like a sports fan would? Yes in some respects these people aren't superstars that are totally removed from the public but for most of us we're so unlikely to meet them (well, I think Desk lives somewhere near me) that they might as well be celebrities to us. I just hope that the community continues to grow and improve, while still providing entertainment to folks like me.
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