Commentary is very important within a fighting game community especially within Major’s and stream sessions. But how does one go above and beyond in commentary; it is obviously not something that anyone can do professionally. Be it sports, live events, or otherwise commentary can be applied just about anything. So how can one go about comparing sports terminology and fighting game terminology; each one is very similar to one another because you have to know the aspects, in and outs of that particular event.
How do I go about being a commentator?
practice makes perfect, this motto can be applied to everything but you can start by reviewing commentator work from people such as keits,skisonic, and a host of others during tournaments,sessions, and randbats. you need to be able to communicate and be a social person; this is a must. No one wants to hear someone who mutters or drones on about something that is off topic when in the heat of a match. Learn terminology and how it applies to the specific game you are presenting. Cancels,tech rolls, recovery, fadc, kfc(bleh), etc. are just a few common terms you need to familiarize yourself with when speaking. Knowing when to say them at that very moment will get your audience pumped and into the action.
**what happens if I freeze-up during the match?
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tension and nervousness are apart of being a commentator; its important to stay focused and apply real world experience “have you ever made a public speech in school and/or somewhere else before?” what was your demeanor(how you carried yourself or acted) then? another way is to read a page in a book and record yourself on how your tone of voice where and go from there. try to think positive more than likely if you are commentating with someone they will help you out until you recover.
ive heard some bad commentary before, but yet the event was still a sucess
well that event has been established but you can count on a low stream rate if the person commentates may do a poor job, personally I do not like when commentators leave without a good reason. some will just get up and walk off without saying anything to the audience. Do not be afraid to tell some jokes every now and then but this is an advanced step so we can just past this for now.
I always say: Have a couple drinks, takes the edge off. Don’t look at the stream, those people don’t like anything.
Also, if you’re not a comedian don’t make too many jokes…I love jokes on stream, but sometimes (and I’ve been guilty of this too) too many one liners falling flat makes people want to hit the mute button and your fellow casters wanna get you off the mic.
How do you guys feel about explaining the “whys” of what’s going on in a match when the players can hear you? For example, if player A is using some gimmick that keeps working on player B, is it fair to the players for commentators to explain the gimmick? On one hand, it’s great to help the crowd understand what is going on, but on the other, it feels slightly unfair to explain a trick that player B might not have caught on to unless he heard your commentary, thus potentially altering the outcome of the match. In an ideal world, players are made to be unable to hear the match commentary, but this isn’t always feasible.
I think every sacrifice needs to be made so players can’t hear commentary, including sacrificing commentary altogether if necessary. That’s just tacky to me if the players can hear the commentary. If the people playing in the tournament are less of a priority than the people watching it then you have a problem.
yup, here in the UK we always have prioritized the tournament over and above any broadcasting. I wouldnt even play in an event if I could here commentary while playing, personally.
I’ve been on the mic a few times and any times this situation has come up, I explain what happened AFTER the match or, if the situation can’t really come up anymore. Otherwise I’ll be a bit vague as to what has to be done.
But honestly someone said it well enough awhile back when they said you need 2 commentators to make it best. Otherwise I am literally saying what is happening as it happens, but when someone jumped on with me we had ACTUAL commentary going.
Those are just my 2c. I’m trying pretty hard to be a good commentator for texas tournaments down here.
I respect James Chen and his insight, as well as everything he has done for community, and in fact “Ode to the 2-hit Combo” is one of my favorite videos ever. He is a very intelligent and knowledgeable commentator, and is also very congenial for the most part.
With that said, please James Chen FOR THE LOVE OF GOD stop screaming into the microphone like a 12-year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.
There are ways announcers can raise their voice and convey a high emotion without emitting a eardrum-shattering scream.
A good example in our very own community is Seth Killian in the Justin Wong-Daigo parry video. Seth is able to let the rising emotion build on its own and then commentate with an elevated voice without assaulting the eardrums or sounding like a pre-teen girl having her first orgasm.
explaining “why” this worked and “why” that worked during the match is ok, just try to keep it short and not distract from the fight example: makoto’s c.lk has such and such frames on it allowing a brief window of input for her ultra to connect, similar to Adon’s 3 c.lk’s into rising jaguar.
I see no problem with explaining the gimmick but if you are not familiar with it but talk around it you should be good
I am not sure how loud the commentators are but from the events ive been I have not noticed them speaking loud enough to hear anything
