Hi guys, this is Muttons from the Melbourne (Australia) FGC. I’ve been working on a video series for a independent gaming site called Dusty Cartridge, and I thought I’d share the series here with you guys as well. This was also meant to be pre-event marketing for our Melbourne major BAM6: https://www.facebook.com/events/683528228336404/?fref=ts
Blurb:
A community consists of so many different kinds of people. Intellectuals, staunch regulars, streamers, tournament organisers, anime lovers, commentators, retro game enthusiasts and those dudes that go 0-2 and just keep coming back (example, me). Everybody is an equally important part of our community and without these guys there wouldn’t be a community to exist in the first place.
I wanted to shine some spotlight on these less heralded people, and to also let the greater public know about all the different personalities and great people we have in our local fighting game community (FGC). Generally in FGC media you see the top players get most of the camera time, but in my eyes, a community is not simply made up of top players.
The idea was to do a series of 5-10 minute player profiles as pre-BAM media and the first guy I wanted to shoot was Mike The TV because he’s a game academic, a commentator and has a unique perspective on the scene- having a bit of an e-sports background. In every episode we’ll ask the interviewee who they are, where they come from, who and what they play, and what is it about fighting games and the FGC that keeps them around. With Mike we delve into a few meaty subjects such as his journey into and the difficulties of fighting game commentary, what he thinks the community needs to do to become more inviting to new players, and the tricky question that is the FGC vs e-sports.
Our second episode features Dan “DisasterFX” Richards. Formerly a Smash Bros. player, Dan has since become the champion of “unpopular” games in the Melbourne scene such as Street Fighter x Tekken and Injustice. Dan’s passionate and helpful to newcomers to those games, and what I admire about him is that he’s just not empty words like so many other “minority game” enthusiasts – he puts actions to his words and helps run, organise and commentate tournaments for these games that he loves. In this episode we explore Dan’s FGC history and his passions, motivations and even his musical ambitions.
The third episode of Community features Michael “Cactus” Ashmore. A long time mainstay in the Melbourne FGC, the Golden Child is mild-mannered in demeanour but packs a nasty far standing fierce. He’s a strangely modest individual, scratching his beard when he beats your ass with his Dhalsim and giggling good-humouredly when you hit him with something stupid. We learn more about how he got into the scene, why he loves travelling for interstate FGC events and arcade tournaments, and how he’d knock you out with a right old left!
Today, we take a break from our usual programming to bring you a very special episode- Daichi Dissects!
Daichi Akahoshi, hailing from Japan, is Melbourne’s resident Magneto master and Vergil abuser. He possesses a keen and incredibly scientific mind for the game of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In this episode he sits down with us to analyse the games and play-styles of various Marvel players in Australia. From young up and comers, students of the game, and even how Ali isn’t actually random, he breaks it all down for us in his own unique and humorous way. The players covered in this episode are:
Ali “X” Abdo
Bun Chhim
Sam “The Ham” Baxter
Stef “Solid Stef” Materazzo
I was just up in Queensland in March for their annual major- Buttonsmash and managed to film a few episodes there. The first Buttonsmash special features the man behind the entire event and the main Brisbane tournament organiser, Aaron “Tulf” Costello. Aaron entered the scene about two years ago, being mainly an Injustice player.
At the time, the scene in Brisbane needed a boost with long-time organisers like Slapper Joe and JBHewitt wanting to move onto other things. Aaron and his Keep ‘Et Classy organisation stepped to fill the void, and he’s a great example of how you don’t have to be an FGC veteran to have a huge impact on your scene, all you need is the passion for growing the scene, and Aaron has that in spades.
Thanks to all the Buttonsmash staff for a great major, I had a great time, and hope you guys enjoy this episode.
he second episode filmed at the Queensland fighting game major Buttonsmash features the man with a million names, each one more nonsensical and meme-tastic than the last. Also known as CoolzInferno, CoolzHAMYOLO, 2DSatan, Soji-killah- the wacky Weng from Western Australia is a tournament organiser in Perth and a very frequent flier in the Australian tournament circuit.
He’s known for mercilessly popping off on his hapless roommates (me) and his unique Taylor Swift-lovin’ Tinder-reviewin’ absurdly hilarious personality. We discuss his time at Buttonsmash, the WA scene, and what life lessons you could learn from the FGC. Hope you guys like it!
Community: The Australian FGC Episode 07 – Dejan Stantic
The third episode filmed at the Queensland major ButtonSmash features Dejan Stantic, an organiser from the beautiful Gold Coast and the founder of the fighting game group Gold Coast Fighters.
Here in Australia we have a small population spread over such a large land mass, so you see a lot of small regional communities pop up run by passionate dudes like Dejan. Props to every regional community organiser out there for their hard work, I hope to see everybody get together at the yearly majors and that we can work together to make our national scene even bigger.
In this episode Dejan talks about; the Gold Coast scene, how the different communities in Australia influence each other, Buttonsmash 2014, and the correlation between fighting game players and musicianship. Hope you guys like it!
Community: The Australian FGC Episode 08 – Adric “Falco” Middleton & Sam Baxter
The fourth episode filmed at the Queensland major Buttonsmash is a double special featuring Adric “Falco” Middleton from South Australia and Sam “The Ham” Baxter from Queensland. Both of them are young and relatively new to the scene, but are widely considered to be two of the best players in Australia.
Falco is known for his amazing Zangief in Street Fighter IV and for winning tournaments without even owning the game on console! He has taken his multi-game ability to another level by winning the KOFXIII tournament at Buttonsmash, breaking Colonov’s long and uninterrupted streak of Australian KOF titles.
Sam Baxter is only 19 years old, and is already an international-class Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 player, claiming fourth place at SEAM2013 in Singapore as well as multiple top 3 placings in Australia. In this episode the duo go on to talk about their love for fighting games, community and competition, their local scenes and how new and hungry players can get on their level. Hope you guys enjoy this episode!
Community: The Australian FGC Episode 09 – Colin “Colonov” Tan + BAM6 this weekend!
The last episode filmed from the Queensland major Buttonsmash features Australia’s best King of Fighters XIII player – Colin “Colonov” Tan. A long-time top player in Queensland in multiple games, Colonov had an unbroken streak of KOFXIII titles in local majors for almost eighteen months – until Adelaide’s Falco broke his streak at Buttonsmash. Colin has done so much for the Australian KOF scene and has brought up so many new KOF top players, such as Sam Baxter from Brisbane who got 2nd place in KOF at Buttonsmash.
Colin owns the House of Ham, a gamerhouse which is the training and social hub of the Queensland top player circle, and is also a proficient streamer, streaming his show Beyond the Hype and local matches/sets. In this episode we talk about growing the Queensland scene, Colin’s history with KOF and fighting games, the top player mentality, the social side of fighting games, relationship advice and much more. Hope you guys like the episode, and I hope to see you all this weekend at BAM6 in Melbourne!
-Special Guests: Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz – Udon Comics (Street Fighter artist) and Mick Gordon- Killer Instinct Sound Designer/Composer
-The New Challengers: A Free Tournament for New Players: In keeping with our aims to be welcoming and inclusive to new players, BAM6 will have a FREE SFIV tournament exclusively for any players who has never before won a game in a major event. Spectator pass holders can join in- make your tournament debut or play for fun and win a Razer Atrox stick with custom art by Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz
Episode 10 Part 1 (OHN12 Special): Youssef “FaYd” Faddoul and David “Kyokugen” Lee
Dusty Cartridge has shut down, RIP DC! But the show must go on…
This episode filmed at Sydney major OHN12 features two pillars of the Sydney FGC. You have Youssef “FaYd” Faddoul, a huge community driver of Tekken and a former SBO competitor, and David “Kyokugen” Lee who is pushing the Sydney KOF and ST scene forward. Both guys are key organisers of the Sydney monthly YSB and put in huge amounts of work at events like OHN12.
Youssef and Kyo are two sides of a coin personality wise. David is the more reserved and shy one, whereas Youssef is the opinionated, loud-mouthed bundle of energy - yet they’re both just as lovable in their own way and represent the exact same heart and passion when it comes to supporting our community. In Part 1 of this episode we discuss their origins, OHN, Melbourne vs Sydney and an intimate encounter with a certain Mr. Umehara.
Hope you guys enjoy the episode and come to our next major: Southern Cross Championship at Adelaide, December 6-7!
Episode 10 Part 2 (OHN12 Special): Youssef “FaYd” Faddoul and David “Kyokugen” Lee
In Part 2 of our OHN special our two guests discuss the history of Ozhadou and OHN, ST in Sydney, attracting new players to our scene, what keeps them in community, EVO2014 and who they would bring to a desert island.
Hope you guys enjoy the episode and see you guys/watch the stream tomorrow at SXC our Adelaide major!
Community: The Australian FGC Ep11: Anthony “A1Major” Majarian - BAM special!
Just in time for BAM7, here is a new episode of Community: The Australian FGC featuring Anthony Majarian
He tells us about his history in the SA arcade scene, what he loves about arcades, life+fighting game philosophy and why he keeps coming back to Battle Arena Melbourne (BAM).
This was filmed last year at BAM6 and offers a no-holds barred glimpse into the raucous fun that goes on at BAM, and all the colourful characters and hype moments that happen. Hope to see you guys next week at BAM7 May 22-24
