Mexico excels in the realm of SNK games (KOF being the cherry on the cake). On the other hand, aside from MvC 2, you will be hard-pressed to find distinguished TS or CvS 2 players, mostly because, for some odd reason, Capcom did not distribute TS or CvS2 properly when they came out. Hell, starting from SFA 3, it became more and more rare to see new Capcom machines around that weren’t Versus games. In my city (which is the 5th biggest city in Mexico) there are NO SFA 3, TS, or CvS2 machines. Nothing. Nada. All the Capcom fighting games you’ll find are Marvel games, and that’s it.
I haven’t heard about any tournaments either…not even from Mexico City. The tournaments here are only promoted on a “regional” level…which means it will only cover the city where it’s hosted, not a state or part of the country. Prizes aren’t mad crazy, either (just a certain money fee and that’s it).
As for states of the arcades…it really depends. If you go to those random stands outside supermarkets or within grocery stores, you are bound to find those broken cabinets because the owners don’t give a shit about maintenance…as long as they keep giving money, they won’t care. Then you have “downtown arcades” which are the most busy, have TONS of machines, and are usually kept in good shape, because you know players will complain. Then you have the big arcade conglomerates (Moy, Recorcholis, Playtime), which are snazzy arcades for the whole family…but mostly suck in the fighting game department (one of them still has MK 4).
As for players…they’re not too talkative, which is good. They mind their own business, won’t usually talk to you, and never complain about being hit by cheap stuff. Even those who come with a bunch of friends are not that noisy…except between rounds, where the jokes/comments will be made about their playing, not yours. Seriously, I have found few assholes, and curiously made several friends just by arcade playing antics. Weird…
So, that’s the Mexican scene for ya…
