I'm Good at Soul Calibur

Before I get to the post, I spent most of this past weekend at the Maryland Film Festival, and am obligated to recommend 'Make-Out with Violence'. It's a terrific movie, and it would be a tragedy if it doesn't get a widespread release. Check out the synopsis, trailer (the trailer is MUCH more reliant on the zombie element than the movie is, it's not really a zombie movie at all) and a couple free tracks from the killer soundtrack at makeoutwithviolence.com.




"I'm Good at Soul Calibur"

a.k.a.

"I'm Good at Smash Bros."

a.k.a.

"I'm Good at Halo"

If you are a casual gamer in your late teens / early 20's, chances are you've said at least one of these phrases at some point in your illustrious gaming career. And chances are, you're wrong.

Hell, I know I was.

Soul Calibur 2 was released in 2002, and it quickly gained massive popularity due to its weapon based combat, its strong visual style, and guest characters, not the least of which was Link from the Zelda series. My circle of gaming friends played the game frequently, and at that point I was arguably the best player in my circle. Obviously, I was 'pretty good' at Soul Calibur 2.

In the early to mid 2000's, I often spent my weekends, especially in the Summer, at my local arcade. (Arcade? What's that?) I'd step into that gaming paradise, chew some gum, smirk, and saunter my 'I'm Good at Soul Calibur' self over to the Calibur 2 machine.



And whenever I dropped my two quarters against the arcade vets like Steve Harrison, I got smashed. Embarrassed, even.



What separates the casual gamer from the hardcore gamer? The bad player from the good? The first two steps a casual must take to walk the path of a champion are those of knowledge and experience.

My knowledge of the game came from playing against people who had no idea what 'frame data' is or was, and neither did I. The piddly combos and setups my Talim could muster paled in comparison to the ones I'd see in the arcade on a Saturday night.

But even then, if I knew all of Talim's frame data and had wild combos and setups, I'd still be in bad shape without matchup experience. My character experience at home was effectively useless against players who were discussing the game in depth on Calibur Forums, or who already had a richer fighting game background. That's only something gained from playing the game against players equal to and better than you.

Suffice it to say, I didn't think I was good at Soul Calibur anymore. In fact, I had a light realization of this blog scrap. There was a time period between my arcade closing in mid 2000 and the first fighting game tournament (No longer Calibur 2, but 3) I attended where I wondered if I actually could compete with the best of Soul Calibur, or any game; if I could actually be - *gasp* - "good". The answer is yes, not just for me, but for anyone. It all starts with gaining the right knowledge and the right experience. At that first tournament, I was greeted by my old arcade terror, Steve Harrison. He was thrilled to see me and gave a big greeting, and once I saw him dispose of the Calibur 3 competition there, there was no leaving this hobby. Steve was, in fact, good at Soul Calibur; it was about time I was, too.

Note: Steve Harrison will be traveling to Japan this year, as he earned a berth in the illustrious Super Battle Opera tournament. Congrats to him.

Steve Harrison after qualifying for Evolution's Guilty Gear 3v3 Team Tournament all by himself

Hilarious example of Steve Harrison playing Soul Calibur

Tournament Play

I Got Next is going to be some good.

This past weekend, I was in Ashburn, Virginia for a tournament, C3 Revivial Night. The main event of the day was the Street Fighter 4 3v3 Team Tournament, which had some of the East Coast's top players. Our team finished 7th out of about 28 teams, largely thanks to some crazy good teammates. SF4 3v3 is a very interesting format; each team sends out one of their players to fight (at point), and the winner stays on the machine. The losing player's team gets to choose who to send out next; for instance, if our M. Bison just lost to their Balrog, we send in our Zangief, since Zangief has a favorable matchup against Balrog. Sending in Zangief, however, means that if we win, they're likely to bring in their Sagat, who's a bad match for Gief. Making teams that are able to handle a wide variety of the entire roster and figuring out team order is part of the fun, on top of cheering for your teammates. It's an absolute blast, and goes to show that 1v1 isn't the only way to make a competitive fighting game entertaining.

Games can really shine when the game extends past the ruleset and actually fuels player interaction / emotion; when something happens in the game that lives on far after the game has ended. In Fighting Games, the most infamous moment is likely the Evolution Daigo / Justin Wong Street Fighter 3 video. Street Fighter 4 just got its first. If you haven't seen this video, it's about time you have.

Kensou (C. Viper) vs. Liston (Sagat), Final Round Top 32