Behind the joystick at the Evo 2013 fighting games championship

A firsthand look at hyped-up crowds, thrown fight sticks, and Mexican candy donations.

Read the whole story

 

[jags]

Fighting games are easily my least liked genre, despite that I still enjoyed the article. Nice write up.

 

[WolfintheSheep]

Justin Wong's run in the final day of MVC3 was absolutely amazing to watch. I'm not really a huge fighting game fan, but it was impossible not to feel the hype watching that live.

 

[Beautiful Ninja]

WolfintheSheep[/url]":1ujtqajt]Justin Wong's run in the final day of MVC3 was absolutely amazing to watch. I'm not really a huge fighting game fan, but it was impossible not to feel the hype watching that live.

Chris G is what Justin Wong used to be, basically an unstoppable juggernaut in Marvel and in FG's in general, so watching the change in how the crowd reacted to him was pretty amazing, Yipes noted in on commentary about how everyone was cheering Justin when a few years ago he would have been booed in the same spot.

I watched most of EVO and it was pretty awesome as usual. King of Fighters 13 continues to be that good game that not many people play that provides amazing hype, though that's mostly because KoF13 has the worst netcode this side of Kaillera. Xian winning AE with Gen was also amazing, he's the only person in the world that makes that character work.

Now if we didn't have a dirty Zero player winning Marvel it would have been the best event ever .

 

[Aurich]

Dilbert[/url]":3efumixw]Last time I played a fighting game I think it was on a Commodore 64 and I was just a kid. Meh. FPS and CS tournaments are much more interesting. Those guys and girls have mad skills. And yeah, not athletes. Just good hand/eye coordination and talent for maneuvering around in the game world and anticipating opponents. Practice practice practice.

I'm struggling to figure out how what you just said doesn't also apply to fighting games. (I'd rather play pinball than any of those games, no dog in this fight.)

 

[WolfintheSheep]

Beautiful Ninja[/url]":16dx0gjw]Chris G is what Justin Wong used to be, basically an unstoppable juggernaut in Marvel and in FG's in general, so watching the change in how the crowd reacted to him was pretty amazing, Yipes noted in on commentary about how everyone was cheering Justin when a few years ago he would have been booed in the same spot.

Honestly, I think anyone would be cheered after coming back from 0-2 deficits so many times...not to mention that Akuma in Game 5 of the first set finals.

Hard to believe someone can be so clutch when they're that far behind.

 

[notoriousKTR]

An amazing EVO this year. Losers and grand finals of SF4 was amazing. KOF grand finals was amazing. Marvel grand finals was amazing. Heck, even SSB:M had an amazing grand finals.

 

[slymenstra hymen]

Beautiful Ninja[/url]":10s7mu8b]

WolfintheSheep[/url]":10s7mu8b]Justin Wong's run in the final day of MVC3 was absolutely amazing to watch. I'm not really a huge fighting game fan, but it was impossible not to feel the hype watching that live.

Chris G is what Justin Wong used to be, basically an unstoppable juggernaut in Marvel and in FG's in general, so watching the change in how the crowd reacted to him was pretty amazing, Yipes noted in on commentary about how everyone was cheering Justin when a few years ago he would have been booed in the same spot.

I watched most of EVO and it was pretty awesome as usual. King of Fighters 13 continues to be that good game that not many people play that provides amazing hype, though that's mostly because KoF13 has the worst netcode this side of Kaillera. Xian winning AE with Gen was also amazing, he's the only person in the world that makes that character work.

Now if we didn't have a dirty Zero player winning Marvel it would have been the best event ever .

Justin won Marvel 2 at Evo 7 times, got second twice and 4th once while ChrisGs best place in Marvel 3 is 3rd. Chris has been dominant for a year but the meta game is still developing, last year FChamp was unstoppable leading up to Evo and took it. All I'm saying is next year who knows who will be on top and with what new tech, I honestly doubt it'll be ChrisG.

Biggest shame for me was having Tekken finals on friday, Bronsan Tran came out of nowhere with a goofy team and made amazing reads. He was in peoples heads and looked unstoppable. It was an injustice that Injustice was on finals day as it was so incredibly dull.

 

[harteman]

Perhaps I will plan a vacation around this event next year...

My Street Fighter skills have defeated every challenger I have found worthy, across the entire country and beyond.

Ken is my most powerful character, but I can play Zangief like Hendrix played guitar.

 

[Shannara]

What is a " thrown fight sticks"? It seems to be missing from the article.

 

[Jakelshark]

Tyhudg[/url]":3p3g0n92]Correct me if I am wrong, but am I to call these people athletes now? It doesn't feel right....

I'm sure there will be people who debate they are. Living in the South, I constantly have arguments about if NASCAR drivers should be considered athletes in the traditional sense (and some of the same people who think NASCAR drivers are athletes will claim baseball isn't a real sport in a mocking rebuttal).

 

[slymenstra hymen]

Bala, one of the best players at KoF13 couldn't come to Evo because he couldn't get a Visa. If he was classed as an athlete it'd be much easier to explain why he's coming from Mexico to Vegas to play fighting video games with people from all over the world. That's my only dog in this fight, if they're classed as athletes it's a lot less hassle to come to events.

Shannara[/url]":1jr20sgy]What is a " thrown fight sticks"? It seems to be missing from the article.

By the time I got to the venue, King of Fighters XIII had just made it into the Grand Finals, where crowd favorite Reynald came up from the loser's bracket to take on Hee San Woo. Reynald won six straight games to take the title, inciting Hee San Woo to throw his arcade stick on the ground in disgust.

Dude got angry an threw his controller basically.

 

[Semi-Evolved]

No love for Persona 4 Arena?

 

[Nitestorm]

slymenstra hymen[/url]":2wupiiaf]Bala, one of the best players at KoF13 couldn't come to Evo because he couldn't get a Visa. If he was classed as an athlete it'd be much easier to explain why he's coming from Mexico to Vegas to play fighting video games with people from all over the world. That's my only dog in this fight, if they're classed as athletes it's a lot less hassle to come to events.

Shannara[/url]":2wupiiaf]What is a " thrown fight sticks"? It seems to be missing from the article.

By the time I got to the venue, King of Fighters XIII had just made it into the Grand Finals, where crowd favorite Reynald came up from the loser's bracket to take on Hee San Woo. Reynald won six straight games to take the title, inciting Hee San Woo to throw his arcade stick on the ground in disgust.

Dude got angry an threw his controller basically.

Didn't League of Legends players just get classified at athletes for visa purposes?

 

[Stilgar]

As a devoted competitive StarCraft player I've always seen Quake and Street Fighter players as my closest gamers. I don't have the time to really follow the scene but I try to catch up once in a while and really enjoy the games and seeing the scene grow. For me people playing these three competitive games are the elite of gamers and I literally consider everyone else a casual gamer. Keep fighting, guys (and gals)!

 

[the cleptoid]

quality article thanks.

 

[immanuel_aj]

Stilgar[/url]":zkdxhel2]As a devoted competitive StarCraft player I've always seen Quake and Street Fighter players as my closest gamers. I don't have the time to really follow the scene but I try to catch up once in a while and really enjoy the games and seeing the scene grow. For me people playing these three competitive games are the elite of gamers and I literally consider everyone else inferior gamer. Keep fighting, guys (and gals)!

Might I suggest you reword the second last sentence of your post? I don't think it came out the same way as you thought it did.

 

[Stilgar]

immanuel_aj[/url]":39rifgii]

Stilgar[/url]":39rifgii]As a devoted competitive StarCraft player I've always seen Quake and Street Fighter players as my closest gamers. I don't have the time to really follow the scene but I try to catch up once in a while and really enjoy the games and seeing the scene grow. For me people playing these three competitive games are the elite of gamers and I literally consider everyone else inferior gamer. Keep fighting, guys (and gals)!

Might I suggest you reword the second last sentence of your post? I don't think it came out the same way as you thought it did.

I did intend it to be mildly offensive to non-competitive players
How about now?

 

[infusednz]

It's funny. I have a mame box with all the street fighters on it. I remember playing as a very young kid at the take away stores. Has stuck with me for life. Long live SF

<3 Akuma

 

[hornetfig]

Nitestorm[/url]":33lo8szl]Didn't League of Legends players just get classified at athletes for visa purposes?

Indeed they did. Professional athletes. Riot went to a lot of effort to make it so.

However I'd suggest that the LoL pro-circuit, and indeed StarCraft and increasingly DoTA 2 are a on a different order of scale and professionalism to FGC. And fragmentation between the various fighting games makes it pretty difficult to develop the needed critical mass to go further (notwithstanding that together they are as large as one of the MOBA and RTS staples, and that many of the same teams, management and sponsors are behind them).

 

[LimpBagel]

I enjoyed this article way more than I thought I would. Bravo.

 

[polerin]

As an athlete, nah I don't think that they qualify.... but as a gamer I have to say there is something close. The hours of dedication and practice I put into Descent as a kid felt to me then much like what I put into Derby now, and what I put into CS:S a few years ago felt like a version of what I put into TKD. There is a single-mindedness to perfecting a head to head, reaction and predictive based, competitive activity that is required.

I donnoh. Athletes, prolly no, but damn good at what they do? Hell yes. This write up of Evo feels much like my experience watching the WFTDA champs last year. Also makes me want to buy a fight stick.

 

[the12black]

It was an honor to be in the presence of such great atheletes. #Ishmael

 

[Ironicending]

Well there certainly were a lot of guys in attendance.

 

[emag]

It's unfortunate that the execution barrier to fighting games leads casuals/non-gamers to miss out on the tremendous depth, strategy and mind games that only that genre can offer.

 

[QuattroV]

WolfintheSheep[/url]":39qnsaso]Justin Wong's run in the final day of MVC3 was absolutely amazing to watch. I'm not really a huge fighting game fan, but it was impossible not to feel the hype watching that live.

I know, right? I was bored that Friday night and caught the P4 Arena stream, and got suckered in to watching the other games with all the energy there. I just plain enjoy games, and the whole thing made me pretty happy (and tuned me in to Skullgirls and Divekick, the latter of which was a real hoot).

 

[sonolumi]

For those interested, the Pink controller (which can be customised, as it's normally black) is a MadCatz Arcade FightStick...

Although I loathe fighting games I imagine it would probably be good for a number of MAME arcade games too. You can also add your own artwork to the top plate and there are plenty of fan made covers on places like DeviantArt here.

I've been looking to get a FightStick for myself, just depends how many of my Birthday cards contain money later this month.

 

[CorranShield]

This was my first time watching EVO, which is odd considering I used to be a competitive Smash Melee player. The experience was great. I watched the Melee semi-finals on Saturday with friends for a few hours, and watched the finals on Sunday morning at home, vegging out on pizza and other foods that are requisite for a day of lounging. I forgot how fun it is watching competitive gaming. Even KoF, a game I've never seen before, proved to have a really exciting finals match as well.

 

[IntergalacticWalrus]

The first day at Evo closed out with tournament finals for two of the smaller games (Mortal Kombat 9 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2).

AHEM. Three games. There was Persona 4 Arena too. DId you exclude it on purpose?? Please correct the article.

 

[Tech Learner]

These people aren't athletes but they sure are just as fierce competitors that are very rewarding to watch.

There is something about fighting games as a group that puts a focus on practice and improvement more than any other type of video game.

When video games are at their best you feel as close as possible that you are actually doing the amazing things you see on the screen. The amount of work it takes to accomplish amazing things in a fighting game is very satisfying, especially when you match up your abilities to another person.

 

[muchtolearnyoustillhave]

By no stretch of the imagination am I a competitive SF player, but I used to play it quite a bit in my younger years, and I can say I was reasonably competitive when playing against others at the arcade.

This article brought back memories of a brief visit I made to a local GameStop which had a demo unit dedicated to SF4 upon its release. I had not played SF in a very long time, but it's one of those skills that you don't really forget. Anyway, there were some teenagers in there playing against each other with all kinds of trash talk flying back and forth. I decided to try my hand at a few rounds against them...

They thought they were indulging an 'old guy', until I mopped the floor with them. I had to keep from smiling too much, and heck, I even surprised myself at how much better I played than these young kids.

Needless to say, I had a huge grin on my face when I walked out of the store

 

[randomletters1]

muchtolearnyoustillhave[/url]":2m9u3nyc]By no stretch of the imagination am I a competitive SF player, but I used to play it quite a bit in my younger years, and I can say I was reasonably competitive when playing against others at the arcade.

This article brought back memories of a brief visit I made to a local GameStop which had a demo unit dedicated to SF4 upon its release. I had not played SF in a very long time, but it's one of those skills that you don't really forget. Anyway, there were some teenagers in there playing against each other with all kinds of trash talk flying back and forth. I decided to try my hand at a few rounds against them...

They thought they were indulging an 'old guy', until I mopped the floor with them. I had to keep from smiling too much, and heck, I even surprised myself at how much better I played than these young kids.

Needless to say, I had a huge grin on my face when I walked out of the store

As a fellow old guy who regularly schools my nephews at fighting and racing games, I salute you

 

[Eleveneleven]

"Oh, you're going to Evo. Hey, how about that Infiltration, right? Could you believe he beat Daigo?"

Who would say this if they actually watched EVO? Daigo hasn't been the beast for years. Lots of people beat him now.

 

[Nitestorm]

Eleveneleven[/url]":3hlb60eb]"Oh, you're going to Evo. Hey, how about that Infiltration, right? Could you believe he beat Daigo?"

Who would say this if they actually watched EVO? Daigo hasn't been the beast for years. Lots of people beat him now.

Lots of people have been beating him since forever - he's by far one of the most consistent players though. Top 8 at the SF4 series 5 years in a row now.

 

[thepasswordispassword]

It was kind of sad at the end of UMvC how everyone was expecting a Cinderella tale from Justin and he couldn't pull it off. Flock got a bit of the cold shoulder despite winning.

 

[PeteTheBohemian]

Long time reader, first time commenter. I've been a huge fan of fighting games my whole life, and this year is the 2nd year my friends and I have flown out to EVO all the way from Guam. Had to comment and say that the author of this article "gets" it and I hope to see more awesome FGC content like this on Ars!

 

[Midnitte]

Great article, I really enjoyed the matches of your's I managed to watch. My favorite by far was definitely SSB:M, just to see how they manage to battle it out underneath the map, very entertaining.