As most of you are aware, this TST was my last one that I will be helping with organizing and competing in. I am doing this because I felt it was a good time to get out and see what others could do and I believe I’ve left in it in some good hands. So hopefully, the remaining staff members and the new ones for Games on Campus can make some really awesome events in the future.

In the 6 years that I have been helping with this scene, my goals for it changed along the way. When Matt and I had first started, I believe that I just wanted a place for people to hang out, have fun and play video games. UMGA was still in existence back then, but it wasn’t what we wanted. As time moved on and after going to the T-series tournaments in Toronto, my goals shifted over into the competitive parts of things. As SFIV brought a revival to the scene, the goals once again shifted, competitiveness changed up, people got hungry and wanted to see the end of the “Shane winning every tournament” Era. Now, I think with all these new games in place, it’s a hybrid of both what we initially wanted and the competitive edge remains.

I’ve told many people to remember what they’re doing is just playing a game. Our tournaments are for fun, not drama, hate, etc. I hope in the future I don’t read about people getting kicked out due to unruly behavior and uttering threats (although I’m sure people are smart enough not to do anything like this). Always have fun when you play your opponent and don’t think too hard when fighting your matches, or get too emotional. I find that getting angry or upset will only cloud judgement and will therefore affect how you play and make your decisions (That one’s for the new king of rage, Stuart).

To my fellow staff members (off campus) – I want to thank you for coming this far in the times we’ve had together. I always had a great time helping with you guys making this happen when we thought that the competitive fighting game scene was dying a long time ago. Matt, you supported my idea in the beginning and we did it. Karel, you’ve also been here in the beginning, not helping like you are now, but you also supported what I was doing since our times in high school, so I hope you continue to support the scene until you feel it’s time to leave as well. Duong, you helped with equipment and hosting gatherings at your place. Tyler, you brought in people and were able to advertise us at events that others didn’t get to go to. Jayse, you built the website and kept the media going. Shane, you came into the scene and gave us a reason to keep playing our best, and you also produce our videos, so we can’t thank you enough. I know you guys will keep doing what you do even after I’m gone, take good care of the scene.

I’d also like to thank many of the people we collaborated in the past 6 years: BaseLAN, Machine Interface, C4, PNP Games, PnT Games, Oskar Mike, SSA Staff, and anyone else we’ve missed. I hope that you continue to work with us and create some awesome events.

I’d also like to thank my girlfriend, Monerie. She has been a pretty important person in my life and has been pretty understanding as to how much this scene means to me. So I’m glad that she’s been there when I needed support and motivation to get better or to make things better in the scene.

With that said, I think that’s it. I’ve done all that I can do now. The sticks have been lent out, the VLX is packed/locked up/stored up with my games. I hope that everyone had fun at the events that me and the rest of Chip Damage have been putting on for the past 6 years. You guys have been a 2nd family to me and we’ve had some good and bad times, but we always made it through. I better stop typing before I start tearing up, HA!

See you guys later. It’s been fun,

James Kim aka Korea and/or Jim Kim

First game that has entered my mind is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. When I first popped this into my PS3, I wasn’t really expecting much as I had tried out the first one and was not too pleased with it. I read the instruction booklet that came with the game and found out that this was basically the video game adaptation of the Civil War story arch in the Marvel Universe. I have most of the comics that relate to this game, so the relationship between me and the game are somewhat good, or so I thought. Playing through the game, it was a beat-em-up RPG style of game. This unfortunately meant one thing, repetition. Now I’m not a big fan of most new generation beat em ups simply because they’re usually short, and they tend to be graphically unappealing, or they just make me lose interest. Now I know that all beat-em-ups are like that, but come on, Final Fight was a hard as hell game and was pretty damn long. Rarely would I make it past the Casino stage because I’d get my ass handed to me and have no lives. So getting back to Marvel Alliance 2, I felt like they had the power and stuff to make the game a little more longer and a bit more appealing. They barely incorporate all the characters that are available, I have the same team that consists of Wolverine, Spidey, Daredevil, and one extra from the start to where I’m currently am now in the game. I just wish that they’d make you change it up so that a boss can’t be beat with the same characters. I love Marvel, but I think they should just stick with making better storylines in their comics, rather than making Activision produce their licensed games.

Second game that has entered my bloodstream is DJ Hero. This game came out in October, it’s the middle of November, and I haven’t really talked about it that much. All I can say is that the mixes in this game are sick, I enjoy a majority of them (Minus Black Eyed Peas and Benny Benassi). It’s got something that I just can’t put my hand on when comparing it to other games I’ve played. When I’m spinning the turntable and listening to the songs I just feel like I’m having a good time. The controls are pretty simple, the controller it self is a one “vinyl” turntable, a cross fader, equalizer, a Euphoria button, and a PS3 control set at the top of the thing. It’s completely wireless and goes on with some batteries that need to be replaced from time to time. When I first popped this game in, I was doing a crossover between DJ Hero and Street Fighter IV due to our tournaments that we still had coming up. But after BaseLAN I was able to get my hands more dirty on this game and I’ve come to really enjoy it. Starting at Medium and working myself to Expert in some songs (I’m mostly playing on Hard), I’m pretty sure I can say that this is one of the most unique and best rhythm games that is easy to get into. At first it seems a little confusing, but you’ll learn over the course of playing the songs that the screen slows down and you’re able to just read everything that’s coming towards you. My only quarrel about this game is the controller itself, the crossfader REALLY pisses me off, especially when I have to do Fader Spikes in game.  Great job though to Activision and the Guitar Hero team for releasing this game.

Thirdly doesn’t come to a big surprise, Tekken 6. We all know that 3D fighters have never been my friend. They really have the tendency to make me rage because of some of the ways that people can clutch and come back. Tekken 6, while being my favorite 3D fighter series, is also one of my most disliked games in 3D fighters as well. I really love what Namco has done with the franchise, but god damn, when I saw the netcode and how it’s working. I really wondered what was going on in their heads. They also decided that custom character stuff would not be transferable and could not be used by both players if playing offline versus mode, this is garbage. It makes me wonder if they were really ready to release the game on console or if they just wanted to get it out there so that it can have a spot in the Christmas Catalogue/Flyers. I love how many fighting games are working on bringing in new players as well with simpler systems (Street Fighter IV has shortcuts and other little things to help out casuals and newbies at the game). Tekken 6 seems to offer a lot to offer to casual gamers as well as newbies, as their training mode is one of the best in the fighting game industry. My only issue with this is that it’s become quite apparent that most 3D fighters are very masher friendly and this has been an known issue to really grind my gears (check BaseLAN T6 Results). Working hard for my combos is really something I feel like I have worked hard for, but to get knocked out of a tournament over someone who looks like they’re seizuring on the pad does not bode well for me. But while there are these things that piss me off about T6, the game is fun, learning a new character has never felt more refreshing (I played Steve Fox in T5 and T5DR, now I’m moving onto Lei Wulong). Will you see this Korean in more future Tekken events? To answer your question Keith Bailey, yes, you will.

Well I think that’s about it, I’ve caught up with most things that I wanted to talk about. Street Fighter IV has definitely been put on the shelf at this time, but I won’t stop playing it completely. I’m around so I’ll probably just play it online with some of my GTASF (Greater Toronto Area Street Fighter) guys. Locally though, don’t be surprised if you see me busting out other characters like Gouken, Fei Long, or even Ryu. I hope to see you guys around in the new year and with SSFIV coming in next year, I’m hoping the hype will be just as big again next year. Having 6 tournaments this year really helped us with getting us back on the map and getting our scene to really get up there. Without you guys I’m sure we’d have gone our separate ways a long time ago. I want to thank you on behalf of the GoC (Games on Campus) and Chipdamage for coming out to our tournaments, having fun and hanging out with us. The fight will continue next year, with the downfall of Shane’s Legacy as number 1 in the city. Thanks again everyone for a great year. Peace!

James “Korea” Kim

Evolution 2k9 is going to be one of the best Evolutions since the time they were introduced, why? Because it’s finally a fresh start, out with some of the old, in with the new (somewhat). With so many new gamers coming down to see what the hype is all about, how can one not be thinking that Evo 2k9 will be the best one. Granted I’ve never been to one and I believe that going to this one is a great start for me to see how things will go.

This being said, I’m not really looking to place at Evo, after all, I can barely place here locally, what makes you think I can take on the world. But at least I can take out the trash aka Andrew, but then again, so can anyone else in the scene.

But even though I won’t place I’d like to see myself do somewhat fairly decent, and this my friends, is why for the next month, Thurs and Fridays will be my practice time with everyone here in SFIV, and some people in 3S…that also means I have to reconstruct my stick from Finkle. Better do that soon too. Along with Steffan, and Tyler sometimes, we expect to see many people who can’t make it to the usual Ranbats on Friday on the Thursday gatherings, even though they don’t count for anything, it’s better than sitting at home doing diddly squat. So I’m expecting you guys to show up. It’s summer time too so that gives no excuse to some people!

Anyways, hope to see you guys out THIS Thursday and/or Friday.

Road to Evolution 2009 Trainee,

James “Korea” Kim

Now, we all have “Ugh” moments, it really just shows up in many competitive gamers. You really can’t stop yourself from going into an “Ugh” Moment. It’s just one of those things you have to let out so that you can cool down otherwise you’re just going to blow a gasket. You see for some of us, our “Ugh” Moments are inevitable, simply telling us to calm down does dick all. I will calm down when I feel it’s necessary to calm down, aka before I hurt or destory someone or something. If I’m angry at something or I’m in my “Ugh” Moment, it’s best to just sit down, and leave me alone. It’s not like I won’t calm down, so just kinda let it be.

Now there really isn’t that much point to this blog other than to show you that competitive gaming CAN lead to emotional explosions. And even if a person doesn’t show it, they’re mostly hiding it or they are a robot with a missing emotions chip.

I want get some examples rolling about “Ugh” Moments in gaming. I would also appreciate if you guys could comment on certain moments in any sort of gaming where you’d just say “Ugh!!” and then rant on and on.

So here is a few of my ugh moments:

1. Quake Live – This game gives me many ugh moments simply because I KNOW I have the cross hair on the fucker with my Shotgun, and yet he somehow manages to kill me with a fucking rocket launcher. I’m not jumping or moving too linear (or so I think). It’s really annoying sometimes to have that happen, especially when you know the guy is almost dead.

2. Street Fighter IV – You’d think that this game really makes me have more “Ugh” Moments than Quake Live, but in all honesty, no it doesn’t. My ugh moments usually happen when I flubbed something or I miscalculate something. For example, I thought for sure that EX Psycho Crusher would trade or eat EX Rolling Crystal Flash clean. But instead I got beaten out clean and eventually lost the match because that miscalculation threw me off completely.

3. RPGs – Grinding, enough said.

Those are pretty much the top 3 three UGH things I have in the video game world. Please share some of yours.

See you guys this Sat at BaseLAN, peace.

James “Korea” Kim aka The Ugh Moment Master

And so it begins, a new mode that was implemented last week. Yes, the one, the only, Championship Mode. Many are having mixed feelings on it. I am a 50/50 person because I don’t really hate it, but I don’t really like it. To me, it’s just another mode where everyone is grinding to get to the “better” players. I quoted better players because we all know that there are many players who grind their asses off to get to the highest ranking and then wait. But then again, this mode doesn’t allow those who are in different sections to face off against lower sections. Meaning that a G1 or G2 cannot face off against a G3, so I guess in a way it filters the bad from the good.

So here are the good things that make Championship Mode fun. For starters, it is a different mode of playing, the incorperation of mini tournaments to get points is great. I enjoy playing against different people rather than just see Boxers, Ryus, and Kens. Although apparently Blanka is the new Ken now. I’ve only seen like 5 or so Blankas and I’ve lost to about 3 of them. Second thing about Championship Mode is the ability to upload replays if you gain points that reach the Top 5000 Players (although there is something I will complain about afterwards). Thirdly, the scrubs are pretty much gone, and even if you run into one, you can easily just look at their Disconnect % to see if they are really just trying to grind their way up or not. Considering I’m in G2, I rarely see any percentages over 3%. Championship mode is a filter in someways, seperating the good players from the casual players and the whiny ones. I find that it’s a great way to meet new people to play on Player Matches as well.

With goods there are always bads, it’s just the way things go in life. There are just as many bads as there are goods about Championship Mode, especially on the PS3 currently. As you may all be aware by a thread on SRK about the GP rollbacks. If you’re not, well let me give you a sample of it. You work your butt off to get to G2, and you’re at about, let’s say, 2100 GP. What this bug does is give you a message after shutting off your PS3 or just letting it sit there for a couple of hours. The message goes something like this “The previous tournament has not been completed, something something something lose points.” and then it gives you one option to hit OK, once you do it rolls you back at a random number. So it can either keep you in G2 with like 2050 GP, or even knock you down back to G3-A with like 1983 GP. Big concern and Capcom has been notified about this bug. The second thing I hate about CE mode is the fact that Replays don’t work, and if they do it’s only ONE replay that works and then the others start becoming “corrupt and cannot be played” or I’ve also gotten the “UPLOAD ERROR” message after trying to upload a Replay. I can only hope that Capcom comes out with a fix for this very soon.

Now onto something new, the scene. We’ve developed quite the scene in the city, usually bringing roughly 24+ people out on Friday gatherings and up to 12 people on the weekday gatherings or weekend gatherings. I’m quite happy with the way things are. We now have competition and it’s great to see that the game has revived it yet again. With it being a new game, people actually want to stick around. Not like 3S or Super Turbo.

This brings me to one thing though. While we’re a scene and we like hanging out with eachother, we don’t really enjoy negative attitudes. Wait negative attitudes isn’t the right word, more like the “I give up” attitude or the “I suck at this game” attitude. When you’re in the scene with us, we all strive to become better, some of us can learn the game faster than others. So if you feel that you’re not doing well, or you want to give up, I’m just going to say this. Get rid of that attitude, because when you played other games that you dominated in, the same shit probably happened there, too. So why is it now that a new game comes out, that you’re suddenly trying to pull that same shit again. This goes to everyone who’s been giving that attitude at Ranbats and gatherings. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing FPSes, 3D Fighters, niche games. You took the time to get good at those and sometimes at a competitive level, why can’t you do the same with SFIV?

Now I’m not saying I’m perfect and that I don’t ever get that feeling sometimes. But I know when I have to shut up, sit down and rethink my tactics. That’s why asking questions is very key to getting better. No one will hold secrets to how they play, and if they do, ask someone else. Douchebags like that are not what we’re about. We’ll give insight as to how people play as well, when you don’t talk or ask questions, then you won’t really get better. You can say “Oh, but James, I’m only there because I’m sick of playing against CPU and online matches and it’s just for fun.” but you know what? We have fun and keep the competition going as well, at the same time. If you can’t do the same, then why are you out? We like the numbers, but show a little more “umph” while you’re at it.

One thing I’d also like to touch up on is the decision for us to go with Single Elim for ranbats instead of Double. Kyle pointed out that he did not like the fact that he had to bus it to the Uni, play potentially one round and then sit around doing diddly squat (That changed however the past week after he made it into the top 8). This decision was made only because we have run into time issues in the past where we’d get kicked out by the Chinese Lady at 11PM and we’re only at the semis, or we don’t get enough time for casuals. When we do single elim, it makes a couple things happen. First, it makes you stay at the top of your game, because one loss and you can be out. Secondly, it makes the tournament go by quicker giving us more time for casual play on more TVs. It’s the way we ran things for 3rd Strike, that’s the way we’ll run it now for SFIV. Thirdly, making this single elim also means that the REAL double elim tournaments will have you play at a higher level because you’ve been playing so much single elim. Just don’t slack off and you’ll do fine in one.

That being said, Ranbats are going by smoothly and in about 2 weeks we will be having our first MAJOR SFIV tournament at BaseLAN at the Earl Gray Community Centre. Remember that it’s on the SATURDAY at 4PM. It will cost you 15 dollars for the CONSOLE PASS. Hope to see you all there and bringing in your A-Game.

Okay, I think that’s pretty much all I wanted to say. Keep up the good work guys. See you this Friday.

James “Korea” Kim

There are things about the game that we all love and then there are just the things that we hate. For instance, the fact that most characters don’t have really good setups for their Ultras is a big let down for me (Especially since I use a character who can’t setup unless a person is jumping in on Bison). I say that it’s a let down because when you see Balrog’s (Boxer) headbutt into Ultra set up or Ryu’s Shoryuken into Ultra setup (I’ll get more onto this one later) for the umpteenth time, you start to wonder “WHY CAPCOM!?!? WHY!?!” and continue to get more and more frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say it’s cheap, I mean it’s my fault that I allowed myself to get hit by a crouching light punch and then have it go into a 12 hit combo with an Ultra finisher. I’d just like to see a few more simplistic setups like Boxer, Rufus, and Ryu’s for other characters.

Being a Bison (Dictator) player, I can say that nothing makes me more frustrated than hearing “You’ve gotta stop fucking that Ultra set up” from people all around. It’s not like I don’t know how to do it, and yes, I’m fully aware of the fact that it’s an easy motion to do. But stop and think about it just a wee bit, put all feelings and egos aside, and look at it from a player’s POV. You all know that Bison’s teleport is a DP motion, you all know that DP Shortcuts are in the game. You all should also be aware that just because you can do something in “Training Mode” several times, without even looking, does not mean dick all when you have pressure on you with one hit left and you’re starting to panic and hold on to that clutch. So if you see a Bison player teleport instead of ultra after a j.mp x 2 set up, don’t turn to them and say “Oh come on, stop fucking that shit up”. Don’t be one of those people and don’t try to say “I’m only trying to point the mistake out”, because we already know where the mistake is.

Yes, this seems more of rant than anything, where I complain about certain things about when I lose. It looks like I’m just crying that I can’t win, blah blah blah. “Lose and forget about it” , “Hide the frustration”, “Don’t look so serious”. I’m sorry, but if I lose to the same shit over and over again and for some reason it’s NOT clicking in my head? I’m going to get frustrated, I’m gonna NOT forget about it, and when you’re in a tournament, losing to some shit, you can’t just laugh it off. That’s not to say you can only have fun when you’re winning, but that’s how most people will see it.

The game is fun, and somewhat challenging. Certain things we can really love, such as the balance of the game. It’s not so spread apart like 3S and not as complicated, it’s a great game to play with friends and family (well if you have siblings that are around your age and give you a challenge). Gameplay wise, I guess there are certain things to love, cross ups can be god like, Focus Attacks make the game interesting. Stuff like that. This game brings back the memories of the arcade scene, where people would gather and line up to play. I guess that feeling is something to love about the game. Brings back nostalgia.

Should I really hate on a game that brings out the worst in me? Somewhat.

But what do I mean by that? I mean that this game brings out my biggest frustration/anger than in any game I’ve played (Yes, Tyler, even more than Arcana or Guilty Gear). Multiple losses to the same shit makes me want to hurl my stick out the window. Maybe it’s just my personality, maybe I have anger issues. But you’ve all gone through it, whether it’s not executing the right thing, or miscalculating your counter attacks to eat a huge combo that kills you, or just playing against Sagat.

Do I hate this game? No, but I’d definitely love to see some improvements on it. It’s almost 4 am, I’m gonna head off to sleep now. Happy Easter everyone…

James “Korea” Kim

P.S. I’m also fully aware of the fact that I put very little effort into the “love” part of the game, so if you could just refrain from pointing out that I just made a gigantic rant about SFIV, it’d be greatly appreciated.

Everyone should come out today for some Ranking Battle Action! Starts at 7 PM in the Science Lounge at the University of Manitoba.  It will pretty much go on til we get kicked out at 11 PM. Good times and good games will be there! So show up and get ready for some beat downs.

The following people are getting grudge matches from me if they come tomorrow:

- Kiet Quach
- Tyler Sanderson
- Rain
- Both Ed’s
- Andrew

That is all, if your name is not on the list, be careful, for it can take one simple thing to get put on the Grudge Match list.

This is all I’m writing for today, it’s short but blunt. BE THERE TOMORROW!

Okay, so my first impressions of the game can be seen in the video podcast, and after playing it for about 2 weeks now. My impressions are still the same, a good game overall. It does deserve all those scores/grades that you see on the side.

This game has delayed me from writing a decent blog for a while. I’m trying not to slack off, but it’s really hard when you’ve got your PS3 calling your name, or a buddy on MSN/IRC going “You up for a match?”. You just can’t deny them, especially when you know you have a blog to write.

So what CAN I write about?

The game? No, we’ve got a lot of reviews to take care of that. Just know that it’s freaking good and it has lots of great potential to bringing the fighting game scene back to where it once was.

So I’ll talk about the other game I bought….Killzone 2. Wow, what a fucking amazing game. It’s got the graphics, it’s got decent controls/gameplay, and it’s multiplayer is just too fun. With many ways to play the game it beats Resistance 2 right out of the water. I only played for an hour or so, but it was super fun, testing out Campaign and trying some multiplayer maps. I can’t really say what kind of engine it uses since I know nothing about the game and it’s background. But it’s comparable to Call of Duty 4, with a touch of Gears 2/Team Fortress 2. Let me touch a bit on Campaign.

So the game is pretty much an amalgamation of Halo, Gears 2, and Call of Duty 4. It has the planetary stuff of Halo, a group of four guys split up like Gears 2, and the game feels like a CoD game. The cinematics are great in 720p and very detailed, the destruction of the environment when you shoot is pretty damn cool. Just these little details make my skin have goosebumps. I say this because FPS’s have come a far way since I picked up one, even Doom 3 is nothing compared to this game. The game is still a two weapon based game, so that means I can’t have a rocket launcher, machine gun, and my pistol all at the same time. The knife and grenades thing is kinda weird, I do like whacking people in the head with my guns though. The sensitivity of the analog sticks are kinda annoying, but it can be adjusted. I haven’t gottten far in the game, but I’ll say it’s cool to see so much action going on in the screen without slowdown and without lowering graphics and stuff. A lot of Helghasts show up on the screen and you have to usually just shoot them all, ammo is plentiful and there isn’t anything that’s killing me in one hit (Unlike Resistance 2, which also made that enemy INVISIBLE until 2 cms away from you). Overall, the game looks and feels good, I can honestly say that I picked this game up and said, “YES, this is AWESOME!” instead of saying “Oh man, this is just another HALO RIPOFF!”.

Multiplayer (Deathmatch) is interesting, as I didn’t get to play too much of it, but it does something unique that I haven’t seen in an FPS game. It allows you to play different styles of games (DM, CTF, Kill the Prez) all in one match and one map. So there is no stopping in the middle of the game when the match is over, it’ll just go to the next style. Like the one I had was DM, CTF, Assassination, then Territory. There are others like defending a base or planting bombs and stuff, so I feel like I’m playing different games in one. With the classes added in the game, it makes it feel more like TFII, which I really like, probably one of my favorite FPSes.

Storyline wise, I really could care less because all I want to do is shoot things that are on the screen, eventually if I kill them something big will happen. The FMVs are really nice too because of all the textures and stuff…just wow.

So other than that, I guess there really isn’t much else to say, get Killzone 2 and get Street Fighter IV. Come out and join us when we gather to practice up. You can find us on the forums in “The Gathering Thread” or the “Weekly Friday Sci Lounge Thread” Later guys.

By the way, Jayse, if you read this, my CPU can’t handle the movie cuz I think it’s in HD, and my PS3 doesn’t support the flash player apparently, so if you could find a different method. It would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve seen a few things in the couple weeks that I haven’t been writing. First of all was the Smash Tournament held last Saturday on the 7th. It was a good showing by the Smash scene and two of the top BC players (one of which is the best in Canada). It was fun and I’m glad that everyone was able to show up. Props to nYo and Blunted_Object10 for setting it up, and props to Russell Racca for housing both BO10 and his bro Noobking.

We all remember Screwattack, right? We also remember the challenge that Soulja Boi sent out to anyone about kicking people’s asses on Live. Then we all remember Screwattack accepting the challenge. Well word on the street was that Soulja Boi caught wind of the video challenge that was released to the internet. 

A good parody of a crappy song. So Soulja Boi decided to accept their challenge, only it was HE who challenged anyone out there. Which is why Screwattack is asking him to come out to SGC (Screwattack Gaming Con) to face each of them at a certain game. So I say Soulja Boi step up, or screw off! The gaming industry does not need you to back down from something you started.

One thing that happened to me really ticked me off.

I went to EB to pay off my Standard Edition Fight Stick and SFIV Collectors Edition, and I found out that EB had risen the price on the Fightstick to 99.99! I was blown away by it. I paid $172 dollars for a stick and a game! And what’s even more dumb is this EB location is gonna be a bunch of jerks and not have the game on the shelves and crap on opening day. We’ll have to wait for the shipping truck and crap and who knows when they’ll get the fucking game into the system. So I will probably be pretty pissed off when I get my game later than some other people. Honestly, you’d think that they’d have more courtesy at these types of establishments. Guess they’re not trained for that shit. They just like to make that mad dough, then again who doesn’t.

So now that I’ve paid a bitch of an amount for SFIV, I’m thinking if anyone is going to be using the Standard Edition stick for any tournaments, I’m thinking of actually charging a little money for it’s use. I’m just asking probably gonna ask for 2 bucks a pop. Probably not this tournament, but I do want to get 20 dollars back at least. That was a bitch move by EB and Capcom.

I’m gonna end this one here, it’s short, but it’s an update.

See you in like 3 days. 

Just letting you know, that I will be at the University in the Science Lounge on the 18th trying to unlock all characters and try to get some people to come to the launch tournament on Saturday. Depending when I get the game, I will probably there til 6 PM or so. So drop by if you want, you know, to test the game out!

James “Korea” Kim

A Little About My Background….

I was not always considered a “good player”, I consider myself one now; and I believe others see me as a good player as well. Although I still have things to tweak to make myself better, I am skilled in certain areas of a game. When I say a game, I really mean Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike because I’m not that good at some of the other Capcom games, and don’t get me started on things made by other companies. I’m not one to always stick to a game though, as many will tell you that I’ve had my share of games that I’ve dropped because I “lost hope” that I could not learn the game.

When I started playing fighting games seriously back in 2005, I wasn’t the greatest and I lost to everyone because I had just begun learning more than j.rh, c.rh, fp hadouken. I learned Street Fighter 3 after finding that I wasn’t so hot at MvC2 or Street Fighter 2 or the KoF series. It was definitely the start of a hard road there becuase the only time I got to play it was at UMGA meetings against people like Steffan and Matt. I’m glad they came out and faced me because it showed me where I stood in terms of fighting games, I was at the lowest totem of the totem pole. Gradually, I was able to get more and more competition through other people who were just like me. Facing more people boosts a person skill like no tomorrow, even if it means losing; you just don’t give up.

I’ve been through many tournaments that I’ve organized and each place I’ve obtained was a milestone of how I was doing. If I were above last place, I was doing fairly well. If I wasn’t I was obviously doing something wrong and people had gotten used to the gimmicks I used in a prior tournament. I’ve also gone to 2 T-Tournaments in Toronto, getting last in the first one and then 25th in the second one. All these little things helped me on my road to be a good solid player. Fast foward to now and you’ll see that I’m a lot better at certain things and I’m able to reach 2nd place in a tournament!

If you want an example of how I was a long time ago, and compare it to now, I do have a couple of videos I can show you.

The first one is me against Keith about 2 years ago. I had just got my stick and I was just learning to play Dudley on stick. I was knowledgable to a certain point, but you can see that I was careless, doing stupid things, and just playing like the game was new to me. I lost, but I didn’t let that loss get to me. I made it my goal to get better with Dudley on stick. Fast foward 2 years and the second video shows me face off against Keith at Fight For The Future 2. If you watch, you can definitely see that I’ve changed how I played back then.

It’s a big thing to make sure you don’t just give up, and we all know the learning process doesn’t take just a couple of hours or a day or two. Depending on the person’s ability to adapt and learn will determine how long it takes. I know that people are usually deterred by this because they don’t want to focus so much on a game. But let me tell you, putting some time in and being able to play at a certain level against others is a great way to socialize and meet new people. It strengthens the scene/community and builds a good friendship, unless you start drama, in which case it sucks. Don’t let good players discourage you and never let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough to play. Good players/pro players will always give a lending hand, which is very important when it comes to learning the game.

There Is Always a Master and an Apprentice….

It’s always good to have friends help you out when learning these types of games. A big thing is that your friend actually teaches you something from playing him. It’s not smart to play against a friend who brags too much or says he has a “friend who is really good at Street Fighter”. No offense, but rarely at these times do you get good. You end up either getting discouraged by playing either of them or they teach you something that’s not actually a decent combo/tactic.

Not that I’m stating your friends are dicks, but chances are they might not teach you something useful (Unless it’s someone from the SSGA Staff). The people that you will face are probably the best teachers you will have, befriending one is the best idea you will have. Having a mentor will help you in the long run because they teach you a lot. Some are hard teachers (like myself) and others are a bit more soft, but whomever you have, they’re there to teach you the basics and then intermediate, and eventually advanced tactics. When you feel like you’ve done well, it’s best to test your skills against the master. When you’re able to beat them, you’ve reached a milestone in your fighting game career.

I can state that having a teacher/mentor in a game has really stepped up my game. Like I said before, when I first started I had Matt, Steffan, and Nathan Lee as my mentors in fighting games. Matt was always able to beat me, and it made me get so pumped to get better in the game so that one day, I could beat him. Steffan was the mentor, teaching me things and showing me vids and where to go. Nathan would give me philosophy and stuff to make me train my mind games and stuff. But as I grew more and more skilled, I branched off and started asking other people around the world to get a more broader view. I got to know many top players in 3rd Strike because of it. They all taught me match ups and random things to do to throw off your opponents.

Determination is Key….

The above statement could not be more important to new players and one-game players (You 3S-only players!). You should be determined to win all the time, even when you think you’re just gonna lose; you should just keep your positive thoughts up. You will be surprised at the results. Setting goals for yourself is also a good way to keep up your determination. The reason why I say this because if you have a goal of “I want to beat so and so” or “I’m gonna master this combo”, it’ll keep your mind on the game and you won’t stop until you’re able to do said goal.

There is always one thing you should be determined to do when you get into a game, especially one that is as hype as SFIV, and that is to get even better no matter what. By doing this, there is always going to be the main goal in the center (Getting Better) and then you can branch off to other things when you feel like you’ve achieved the said goal. For an example I will take David Liu. He started off a while back playing Makoto and he stank. Like he wasn’t that good; he’d get beaten down so hard by so many people. He just got frustrated, but he never gave up. He actually didn’t play for a bit with us because I think we had scared him off. But in reality the guy was training, determined to be as good as Tim Ho, if not BETTER than Tim.

Months later, he finally did that. Dave Liu actually faced off and beat Tim Ho in a tournament (granted that Tim Ho had since dropped the game for a while). Actually now that I think about it, Dave Liu IS the perfect example for why determination is the key to getting better and staying in the game. Granted Dave Liu is sometimes a bit cocky, but it comes with winning tournaments I guess. Don’t always put yourself out to be a prick, but don’t hold it in!

Losing Isn’t a Bad Thing…

Losing will happen, and it will teach you to do many things. Rethink your strategy, analyze your opponent, show you where you stand against players. Many tend to quit after losing a severe match because it just frustrates them. But don’t follow in their footsteps; remember you’re here to get better, not walk away.

Rethinking your strategy is a big key to becoming a serious player in any scene. You’ve got to quit using the scrub tactics that you use and see what your character’s real arsenal really is. If your opponent is able to KO you constantly with the same ol’ tactic, you might want to rethink what you’re doing wrong.

Are you guarding/blocking too much?

Are you whiffing throws/moves?

Is your execution not really as good as you think it is?

These are a few questions that I had asked myself when I started playing a lot of fighting games. Granted, I’ve quit games like Tekken, MvC2, CvS2, Arcana Heart, KoF because I was not rethinking my strategy and just walking away. I’m sure if I played these games again, I’d try to incorporate what I’ve learned in the past year. Writing down what you did wrong in a match is a good way to start the road to becoming a better player and sticking around in the scene. I say this because by writing something down you’re able to remember it far more than if you just tried remembering by memory (at least for me it works). This leads to you dropping the bad habits that you picked up while playing against your friends or the CPU or whatever.

If you’re new to a game’s system or mechanics, you’ll not be good at the game on the first or second try. You’re going to have to accept this fact of sucking. If you’re a fighting gamer enthusiast and you’re learning the new game, you must also accept the fact that you’re going to suck for a while. But, you will be able to incorporate what you’ve learned in other games to catch onto certain aspects. Either way, you should not give up so easily. I mean if you’re coming from other games, didn’t you put in a lot of time to get good at those games? I’m sure you could do the same with a fighting game, especially one like Street Fighter IV where they have a great challenge/training mode for you to learn the combos. When you come to face the big guys in your local scene, don’t be intimidated. They can sense the fear in you and will use it against you. If you lose, make sure that you ask questions and to keep notes on what not to do. Look for patterns that he is doing and stuff, for example, if he jumps, what does he normally do? Find out what you can do to stuff it.

These things will help you understand how to become a better fighting game competitor and even keep you in the scene longer than you think. Following these few steps will make you realize that you are actually good, but it takes time, patience, and acceptance to get there. I hope that this somewhat helps you in your journey to becoming a better player in the Winnipeg scene and I hope it also shows you that it doesn’t take every day training to get to the pro level (well intermediate-pro). Stay around in the scene, you will meet a lot of new people, have fun with a new game, and maybe even learn a few tricks that you thought you’d never learn. Hope you enjoyed reading. I’m going to be on hiatus with writing as these two articles took a lot out of me.

James “Korea” Kim