America = Land of the Free
I don’t know about that one, Latif really held it down for America.
America also still has Marvel 
It’s just my preference that I want Japan to be the best. For me it’s tradition and I also felt they always earned it and deserve it as a culture. They have the best arcades, they make the games, they still play Super Turbo, they make those super indepth strategy guides. Japan always did a great job preserving the fighting game culture. When fighting games go out of style again in America, Japan will still be playing.
Top Japanese players for the most part are also more consistent. It’s always the same names who finish top. In America it’s always changing. This year you have Latif. Will it be the same next year? Each year top American players are different. I don’t know why that is. Is it because top American players aren’t as dedicated? Granted Japan has a more accomodating culture when it comes to fighting games then America but for me fighting games are in safer hands when Japan leads the way.
We still got marvel! what u guys didn’t catch on stream was tokido getting beat by some up and coming new player was pretty dope seeing that…
Yes Marvel will always be America’s game. I like Marvel players even though I don’t play Marvel. Actually I really don’t have an opinion about Mahvel gameplaywise. But I always liked the idea of comicbook characters fighting each other especially in a Capcom fighting game.
Man seeing Viscant winning was nice to see. It’s good to know that old school players are still the best. I remember seeing Viscant playing MVC2 in old Golfland all the time. Is Marvel right now dominated by So Cal? If it’s not it should be.
I really enjoyed what you typed there in the bold. To be fair, though, I’ll have to add that 3s is just the same in regards to creating mathematic equations to solve the problems at hand except that there is no such thing as a constant and any variable within the equation remain dynamic. There’s always a chance that they might change and that’s what kinda makes it a little different than regular math because it loses that concept of predictability but it still provides you with the familiar feeling of structure. It’s like explaining magic with logic and filling in the holes with your specialized explanation. Sometimes I think people forget that logic isn’t the only form of reasoning and that reason isn’t the only form of consciousness the mind has. It makes me sad when I think that.
Like a some dude using Robots that have magic powers to fight for him. Or a Pikachu that lost it’s ability to shoot electricity, yet still remembers how he used to it, and instead has fire, water and earth type attacks.
Yeah…something like that.
Lol. Thanks Lenin. I agree that 3S is complex even though it has structure. It is magical and technical at the same time lol. It’s a game where you can’t be predictable and do the same thing over again. It really depends on how good you are and how good the opponent is. For example say you face a guy who is good at parrying and parries a lot, what you do is just empty jump on him because he wants to parry your air attack but since there is no air attack because you empty jump then he’ll be caught off guard. But once he catches on he’ll probably try to anti air you and then you just parry. The thing about 3S is there if plan A doesn’t work, then there’s plan B, then plan C, then plan D, all the way to plan Z. That’s how complex it is.
Now I’ve been hard on the AE people and I agree with Suga Free that it is a good entry game but it also could be a good game especially for those who never played SF before and dedicated their lives to it. But for me, an older player who played ST and 3S, the game just doesn’t do it for me. From my perspective it’s a game that runs out of options fast. There’s only a plan A,B, and C and nothing beyond IMO. It can get redundant fast. One problem is that the execution in SF4 is so easy to do compared to ST and 3S. For me this means that on the average a lot of players are landing their combos all the time. In ST and 3S you have to be good to land your combos and since in SF4 since more players are landing combos easier there’s really no need to have a plan C or D. Also the FADC Ultra combos don’t help much in making this game complex.
Whereas 3S is complex and predictable ST is just crazy fast. It can be basic yes but you got to be freaking good to land your combos because the speed is so fast. SF4 you can take forever to do combos.
But as long as everyone is playing Street Fighter or Capcom games I’m fine with that. A lot of people say that SF4 helped bring back fighting games into the mainstream and now the player base is bigger. True but there’s also more scrub players. I myself liked it better in underground decade of 3S when only the hardcore played. Yes there were less players but the quality is better. Since SF4 is easy to get into and it’s easier to get into a group and play, there’s a lot of players out there who go half ass. They’ll just play for fun and after you beat them they quit.
So I like the old days better unlike today when everything is out in the open. Before there were secrets and you had to make your journey to a special place to play good comp. There was more of a mystery/secret society to it. And only the hardcore could get this secret information.
Fighting games as an industry and fighting games as a culture/community are two completely different things. Although Japan has a strong fighting game and arcade industry, America, at least, equals them in a community or cultural sense.
I agree with what you say Don, but eventually the industry does have to move forward.
I always look into things in both a fan environment and also a business environment. If it was kept the same way with a ton of secrets and underground society that no one can be in, then eventually business will start to fail hard. Capcom has to make money to Don, no reason to be selfish and keep it all to yourself 
The complexity of Third Strike and the speed of Super Turbo or whatever other difficult game you can think of keeps people out and companies could lose out on money because of this. Pretty much by making shit as casual as possible, while still keeping in line with the regular fan base, they will make some of their money back. I like to point out as an example: Shark Week. There aren’t that many people that I know who watch Discovery Channel on a day to day basis but Shark Week comes around and all of a sudden the Madden loving, chicken wing eating, bro college dudes start to watch Discovery because Shark Week is marketed differently from your average Discovery Channel show. Does this make me not like? No because sharks are awesome but at the same time, shows do get a little dumb down and instead focus the destructive power of these sharks instead of the “boring” biological information about them.
Great point. I understand it’s a business and the way SF4 was made and marketed is necessary so that it could thrive and flourish. Capcom exploits this very well.
But like an old schmo I prefer the old days and the old games. I mean it’s cool now but back then it seemed more serious and more about the games and the players. Now everything is marketed with shirts and documentaries and what not. Right now it’s the "Star Wars"ing of Street Fighter and the fighting game community. I’m sorry that Balrog movie was dumb. That’s film is a symbol of this era. When I think of Balrog I think of someone gritty and tragic like Tyson. I hated it because everything is like a joke now. Everything is ironic. There’s no real feeling there’s no real emotion. Everything is a cartoon. I guess SF4 is made for this more light hearted era. I mean there’s nothing wrong with being happy and I like how everyone gets along. And that easier for me because I like hosting. But as a player it doesn’t activate the competitive juices because it can’t be taken seriously. It’s not personal anymore. But that’s fine because I don’t really play I just host:)
Remember SF2 was popular during the era of the LA Riots, Dre, Snoop, and Nirvana. An era of tension and real anger. 3S during the hysteria of Y2K and fight club. Now everyone in the world gets along in the SF4 era which is fine because the world is a better place (And I mean that:))
I don’t think there is anything wrong to prefer the “good ol’ days”. If anything it is a good thing to hold onto because without the old school players, there wouldn’t be a FGC to begin with. Plus, you keeping the dream alive at your place Don 
From what I saw in that Balrog video, it didn’t seem like it was too funny though and more so a tragic film. I wasn’t paying attention to it too much, but it seemed as though the character as a kid was picked on, decided to take up boxing and became a champion. He started to get more aggressive in the ring and then he killed someone leading to him being disqualified and later joining with Shadowloo because of money troubles. I don’t quite see the joke here.
But just in case I misinterpreted the movie then disregard everything that I said about the film:coffee:
Oh 3S also came out during the time of Eminem, Marylin Manson, and the Columbine Shootings. “The Age of Well Thought Out Destruction”.
Ya The Balrog was ironically tragic. I mean can you really take his trauma as a kid seriously when they joke about his haircut he started having as a kid after being bullied. It’s a cartoon. The same way Tarintino films are cartoons but masquerade as serious i.e. Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Bastards.
But I understand “The Scorsese” or “Spike Lee” version of The Balrog story is not appropriate for the EVO atmosphere. The filmmakers are doing what they’re suppose to do. They are suppose to do and that is to have fun and entertain. Not depress lol.
Growing up my idea of Ryu, Chun Li, Balrog Boxer, and Guile was always serious and tragic. The same way Batman The Animated series was sad and tragic.
I didn’t think of ways in an Ironic way until Tarantino came along. Nobody did. That’s what separates Tarintino from Scorsese is the irony.
SF4 is a game made meant for people to get along. Ono wanted to make a game where Grandfather and Grandchildren can play and enjoy together. Meant for your console in your living room. Not meant for a liquor store in the early 90’s where a gangster pulls out a gun or a knife after you perfected him:p
Playing SF back then was really threatening back then. Your life sometimes and your money always was on the line. Now everything is just so comfortable.
It’s just preference. I like reading Shakespeare and reading books and watching movies about royalty. When it comes to SF, this idea of Japanese players having a “Divine Right” to being the best in Street Fighter is an indulgence that is appealing to me. It’s like they’re royalty, a royaly family. Yes the idea of Japanese players having a “Divine Right to Street Fighter” is a romantic view but so far it confirms itself in reality. Yes this idea is ridiculous and doesn’t sit well with modern American thinking but I think it’s cool. I mean there was always a certain belief without good reason in the fighting game community that Japanese players are the best at fighting games simply because they are Japanese. And when I was a kid there was this fantasy about going to Japan and playing Street Fighter against the best players in the world.
I mean look at Seth Killian. He treats them like royalty. When EVO comes around he acts like ambassador to the Royal family. That’s actually his job lol.
Killian speak Japanese?
Yes EVO gave me a lot to think about lol.
On one hand you have this idea of “Royalty” with the Japanese players and on the other hand you have this trend of everything being co-opted and marketed and democratized with the shirts, the films, and appealing in the lowest common denominator just to sell things. Ono and the other game developers playing the masses with their new schemes and ideas. EVO’s great.
Best part of EVO was hanging around in my $5,000 suite at the Cosmopolitan.
Whatever
I want to go next year.
Somehow, I am going.