I”ve always enjoyed reading thoughtful writing about the competitive gaming scene, and Iplaywinner has put up quite a few gems in the past, several which I’ve highlighted on this site as well.
This article is no different, written by Trevor “Scan” Scanlon of GLHF.tv, and offers great insight into other competitive gaming scenes as he details his journey into fighting games.
I personally feel that I have a very narrow-minded scope when it comes to competitive gaming; I only really care about fighting games, and know next to nothing about other scenes like Starcraft and FPS games. So it’s refreshing to read something by someone who has experience with other games as well as the fighting games that I love.
I think by comparison the fighting scene is really small compared to juggernauts like Starcraft, so I think we probably have a lot to learn from the other games in terms of expanding our scene, changing perceptions about it, making tournaments/sponsorships/leagues commercially viable and most importantly- to make sure our scene doesn’t ebb away again like it did in the early noughties-late nineties.
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“While my casting passion certainly lies with Starcraft 2, my gameplay passion lies with fighting games. Super Street Fighter 4 is one of my favorite, if not my overall favorite, fighting games of all time. Every chance I would get I would be watching a stream by iPlayWinner or LevelUp, and would cancel all of my plans the weekend of Evo or Devastation. The fighting game scene was just so drastically different than what I was used to with games like Starcraft 2; both have their own tempos, their own energies that compliment each other but at the same time have different pacing. Fighting games are games of the moment, where things happen at fast speeds and a game can be decided with the timing of a single button press. Starcraft 2 is more like spectating a hockey or soccer match; there will be small skirmishes throughout, but the deciding plays only come after calculated moments that take a deal of preparation, but turn out no less exciting and energy driven.
I found both of these energies addicting in their own ways. After being a spectator to these fighting matches for so long, I received word in January of 2011 that I would be moving away from my east coast home.
To Los Angeles. To the last great stronghold of fighting games.”
If you like what you read, please go to Iplaywinner to read the whole thing. And I hope more people start writing about their experiences in the fighting game scene as well. I enjoy reading everything.
On a side note, in remembrance of one of the finest April Fool’s Day shenanigan in history:
edit: I almost forgot this awesome article by Combovid.com.
Go check it out:
Being a Scrub 