Anime Castle Tournament

I went to Anime Castle in Flushing to compete in my first Super Street Fighter IV tournament. Didn't do well. I felt there were some things that I should have done differently.

My mistakes:

1: Assuming my opponent play will they the rest of you competition does

While waiting for my match I was watching the other matches play through. I saw some not-so-spectacular players. When it was time for me to play I automatically thought my oppenent would be easy to be. Actually he played a better Zangief that I gave him credit for. Caught me off guard.


2: Not switching my character when I should have

During when I lost my first fight Zangief I stuck with Sakura, only to get knocked into losers. I think I could have saved myself by picking somebody with more tools against Zangief.

3: Not playing with my own arcade stick, or one like it.

The tournament was on a PlayStation 3, a system I don't have (I play on Xbpx 360). I played my matches on a loaner stick, a Hori Real Arcade Pro 3. In my second match against Juri I played pretty well on the first fight. Just when I was about to win it...accidental pause on my side. That took away my win and killed my well-needed momentum. I still fought hard to the end but my tournament life ended early.

The stick I use is the TE FightStick from Mad Catz. The Mad Catz sticks have their Start and Back buttons on the front side where the wire comes out while the HARPs have their Start and Back buttons on the face with the other buttons. I should have asked to borrow a Mad Catz stick. I highly doubt the pause would have happened if I played on one.

I have certainly learned from the errors I have made in Flushing tournament. Next tournament I will certainly come in more focused and better prepared.

Ryu Tutorial Vids

Several Months ago I saw a Ryu Tutorial posted by player Mickey D in SRK Forums. It was pretty much straightforward. He demonstrated Ryu's bread and butter combos and explained the Ryu mindset one must have compared to that of Ken or Akuma. Later on Mickey D would continue with more useful information for any aspiring Ryu.

Part 2 shows some more Ryu combos and verbally explains more of what one should be thinking as a Ryu player. It's pretty much an extension of part 1.

Part 3 dwells into Ryu's Focus Attack and why it is important implement in your gameplan in both defense and offense. Catching projectile, setting up your opponent for a combo, lots of stuff.

Part 4 is my most favorite part of Mickey D's tutorial, followed by part 3. You get to see what makes Ryu shine above most characters: his zoning strategy revolved around his Hadouken. He divides the stage into zones and tells us what attakcks work where and why. If you only watch one of the four videos please watch part 4.

If you like Mickey D's work on these video you can view his blog or PM him on SRK.

Not so good

The last few days just had not gone my way at all. Not to sound to misirable but they were quite bad.

For starters my phone died. It was washed with the laundry. I pretty much NEED my cell phone so it was quite a frustration to loose it.

Also, my arcade stick for Street Fighter IV went broke. A wire snapped when I was changing the screws. I managed to salvage the Sanwa parts but I can't get any good practice at home. So I'm have to settle for whatever outside practice I can get.

I supposed all this bad momentum was what did me in in Battlefield Arcadia 3. I played Ken and lost to two straight boxers. My trademark jittery reflexes left me open to too much in both matches.

On top of doing bad in the tournament, I played lousy in my exhibition match against fellow Empire member Noel. When I lost a game and changed my character, Noel changed his. Winner players changing characters for the next game was not something I agreed upon. I knew he was screwin' with me. I managed to win one game but I lost in game 4. Triforce told me I though I was gonna bring it to a fith match at the end. I pretty much agreed.

The results of the tournament can be found on http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=206522. Some of the matches will be on youtube as well. Will link to that a bit later when some more gets posted.

I'm pretty much taking a break from SF4 until I can get a replacement arcade stick. Might take me a while though, but I think I can take the losses and correct my play to do better next time around and hopefully I will be in a better mood.

Figher Mania!

The last few days have been been quite hectic when it comes to fighting games, Street Fighter IV to be more specific. And the following days will only add on to the pandemonium.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Justin Wong won the GameStop Nationals this past Saturday. On that same day he had won exhibition matches against Pungko and Iyo but lost to his rival Daigo Umehara.

A few days ago WCG Ultimate Gamer contestant Ciji "StarSlay3r" Thorton announced in her blog that she would retiring from her specialty of rythim games to focus more on Street Fighter IV. She even became the newest apprentice of Bar Fights founder Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez. best of luck.

Today, both Justin Wong and Gootecks will speak to Slasher on Live On Three tonight at 7:00. Go to DJWheat.tv to tune in.

And of course, this weekend is gonna be big for NYC fighting game scene. WCG is hosting an event called Fighter Club at Samsung Experience. I would say a bit more but why when I can sow you this:



And yes, I will be competing in all four games.

SFIV National Championship

This weekend GameStop held the finals for their Final for the Street Fighter IV National Championships. The winner: (surprise, surprise) Justin Wong. His skillfully played Rufus overcame a field of 16 regional champions.

But it does not stop there! After Justin won the national title he fought in a round robin with special guests Poongko, Iyo, and Daigo (yes, that Daigo). Justin and Daigo both have the best record for the round robin and would fight for the world title.

Justin tried hard to put down his rival but Daigo managed to taked down the Rufus that gave everybody a hard time.

For coverage of the event including pictures and videos you can go to http://www.kineda.com/justin-wong-wins-sfiv-national-tournament-and-daigo-wins-international-title/. I'm sure you will find out more info about what happened on Capcom Unity.

RLW Blogs Update (March 8, 2009)

The last few day have been interesting on a few point. Did a few thing. Found out about a few things.

I'm have been playing Gears of War 2 for a month now. I'm not claiming to be an expert but I do think I have improved fairly considering my experience. When somebody asked why didn't my rank have yet to improve. Personally I don't really believe in online ranking systems but whatever.

I went to Brooklyn for to play Street Fighter IV and Soul Calibur IV. I spent some time in training more to practice Ryu's Shoryuken then EX Focus Dash into Ultra Combo. I keep trying it but my left hand keeps on messing up on the fireball motions. I kept on doing Dragon Punch -> EX Focus Dash Cancel -> EX Fireball... Dragon Punch -> EX Focus Dash Cancel -> EX Dragon Punch... The closest I got was a finish with a Super Combo, something that can't be done in a real SF4 game because the EX focus cancel empties two stock of super. I just wish I had a good arcade stick at home so I can practice.

I have posted a Capcom-Unity blog about people who jack up the prices of arcade sticks on ebay. It got a comment from Sven the mod and stated that new shipments of Mad Catz FightSticks will be coming soon. At least somebody listened to me.

I found out that the WCG US team will be holding online qualifiers staring April. I really want to qualify for Virtua Fighter 5 but I still don't have the arcade stick I need. I hope I can find one decently made decently price stick by next month.

They have put up the bio's and audition videos for all the contestants in WCG Ultimate Gamer, including Prod1gy X and on of the newest VOA Mrs Violence. Prod1gy mentioned Empire Arcadia in his audition video. Good job in representing in the show and the show hadn't even started yet. I signed up at the Ultimate Gamer forum at SciFi.com hopefully more people will give the show the push it needs.

I went to Chinatown to play Street Fighter IV. I first started out with Ryu but then I gave Balrog a try. I hadn't really played with Balrog but I think I can do good with him. I think I will pick him up.

I have a few things I need to attend to this coming week so we'll see how those go.

- Lance

GameStop Tournament: Wolfen Gets Put Down

Saturday after last I qualified in a Street Fighter IV tournament at GameStop and was invited to go to Valley Stream for the next round.

I went there, only to play badly. Got eliminated early.

I must admit that I haven't been playing my best. I wasn't connecting my supers and Ultras like I was in the first round. And I was failed to block many attacks I should have blocked easliy. I must admit that although I have been playing Street Fighter all my life, I'm still green in competitive Street Fighter.

Now I'm officially done with the GameStop tournament, I can take care of some personal matters and shop for the proper arcade stick I need to compete. I may attend round 3 as a spectator but that's it.

I feel like I disappointed EMP in not qualifying for the third round. But I'm a quick learner and the Wolf will emerge from this only bettter.

May Gaming Progress: Feb. 25, 2009

I started playing ranked matches in Street Fighter IV today despite having no arcade controller. Gotta say it's a different ballpark then player (unranked) matches. You actually have to put effort to get in your wins.

I'm learning the patience I need to help me in the higher level play. I still wind up blowing it when the opponent is at little help. Not having the right joystick is part of it but waiting for an opening is still an important skill in SF.

Will all the time playing Street Fighter I have had not so much time for Soul Calibur IV and Virtua Fighter 5. I haven't forgotten about them completely. One I get some personal affairs in order I'll balance out my session between the three for sure. I wanna at least be considered good in all three. I know I have a long way to go but that won't deter me.

Yes! I made it!

Yesterday I qualified for the in one of the two GameStop tournaments in Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn, New York. I'm up to play Round 2 in Valley Steam. Wish me luck.

Just some thoughts

There will be a series of tournaments in Philadelphia called Winter Brawl the 28th. I plan on going to play Street Fighter IV and Soul Calibur IV. I might also enter the Dead Or Alive 4 and Virtua Fighter 5 just to pass the time. Either way, it's good experience before I go to something even bigger. I just need to figure out how to get to the place...

It looks like GameStop is selling video game clothing. I kinda expected them to start doing that. There haven't been too many national reatailers who sell video game apparel. I have seen some of these items sold locally and I'm glad the whole country will get to buy them.

Today I read about a family who lost their house in a fire and lost their pets and their enitire Nintendo collection which included over five hundred games and even a Game Boy Light, which is a rare model. The son told their story to Nintendo and and Nintendo offered to replace the damaged Wii and Gameboy SP. What happened to the family was awful but I'm glad Nintendo was willing to help them out.

EVO 2009 games announced. And I want to go.

Yesterday the games for Evo 2009 were revealed. The games for this year are Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter III Third Strike, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core, and Soul Calibur IV. Evo '09 will be in the Rio in Vegas.

I really want to go to Evo for a change for SC4, SF4, and HD Remix. This would be my very first Evo if I do manage to go. I have accomplished a good deal in video games but Evo would be my biggest challenge to date. I would be kidding if said I'm doing to prove myself to others. It would be nice to be a little something more than just the Wii guy.