SSF4: JWong and Daigo (and other assorted players) on blast.

Welcome to another Perch of StaticFalconar, this is the only time of year I have to blog about gaming in 2010.

            Ever since Street Fighter ever had a tournament scene, there was the legend of Daigo. Daigo may not be the best in Japan, but whenever he went to American soil, he seemed invincible. As good as the child prodigy of Justin Wong was, even though he seemed unbeatable and the best player in the US, he never could conquer his white whale, Daigo. And so it went like Cain and Abel, the Daigo-Justin rivalry went on and Street Fighter 4 was just the continuation of this long feud.

            Out of this eternal battle it seems, America had always seemed to play second fiddle to Japan. After all, if America’s best cannot even beat someone that isn’t the best in Japan, what chance does the rest of America have against Japan? Well, this year the impossible had happened twice. Justin is no longer the undisputed best in America and Daigo is discovered to be human.

            For Justin, it all started at Evo courtesy of two people: Vangief and GamerBee. Justin for some reason just broke down and started playing unlike himself, making him not even be in top 8 of what is arguably the biggest competition in America. Even though Daigo won Evo that year, Daigo showed that he was human when he toured America for more then one tournament later in the year. Seasons beatings featured Daigo being a Pot monster not even making top 32. Sure GamerBee seemed unstoppable then, but come Socal regionals, GemerBee was put in place as once again (not even top 8) and finally, someone beat Daigo; twice and convincingly. Yes it was F. Champ.

            I could name more names of who beat who, but the overall point is, Daigo is human. As much faith as we put in Justin Wong, it wasn’t him that knocked Daigo out but a bunch of other players instead. Am I putting them all on blast, laughing at them saying suck it? No. The events that unfolded this year has made the tournaments that much more entertaining to watch since it is no longer the JWong and Daigo show, when it comes to whos the best. Before you start to name off “the better players Japan has to offer”, they all got beat either by Daigo, GamerBee, and others as well this year making them good, but not undisputed best.

            So, who is the undisputed best? No one as the game has evolved to the point that on any given tournament anyone can lose or win fame for that weekend. It is that unpredictability that makes the streams so much more fun to watch. 

Alright, enough about fighting games. Tomorrow will be a very different game, one that has played to role of 5 dollar adventure games on the PC for years, but now the good old adventure game makes another grand entrance. Heavy Rain. 

SSF4: JWong and Daigo (and other assorted players) on blast.

Welcome to another Perch of StaticFalconar, this is the only time of year I have to blog about gaming in 2010.

            Ever since Street Fighter ever had a tournament scene, there was the legend of Daigo. Daigo may not be the best in Japan, but whenever he went to American soil, he seemed invincible. As good as the child prodigy of Justin Wong was, even though he seemed unbeatable and the best player in the US, he never could conquer his white whale, Daigo. And so it went like Cain and Abel, the Daigo-Justin rivalry went on and Street Fighter 4 was just the continuation of this long feud.

            Out of this eternal battle it seems, America had always seemed to play second fiddle to Japan. After all, if America’s best cannot even beat someone that isn’t the best in Japan, what chance does the rest of America have against Japan? Well, this year the impossible had happened twice. Justin is no longer the undisputed best in America and Daigo is discovered to be human.

            For Justin, it all started at Evo courtesy of two people: Vangief and GamerBee. Justin for some reason just broke down and started playing unlike himself, making him not even be in top 8 of what is arguably the biggest competition in America. Even though Daigo won Evo that year, Daigo showed that he was human when he toured America for more then one tournament later in the year. Seasons beatings featured Daigo being a Pot monster not even making top 32. Sure GamerBee seemed unstoppable then, but come Socal regionals, GemerBee was put in place as once again (not even top 8) and finally, someone beat Daigo; twice and convincingly. Yes it was F. Champ.

            I could name more names of who beat who, but the overall point is, Daigo is human. As much faith as we put in Justin Wong, it wasn’t him that knocked Daigo out but a bunch of other players instead. Am I putting them all on blast, laughing at them saying suck it? No. The events that unfolded this year has made the tournaments that much more entertaining to watch since it is no longer the JWong and Daigo show, when it comes to whos the best. Before you start to name off “the better players Japan has to offer”, they all got beat either by Daigo, GamerBee, and others as well this year making them good, but not undisputed best.

            So, who is the undisputed best? No one as the game has evolved to the point that on any given tournament anyone can lose or win fame for that weekend. It is that unpredictability that makes the streams so much more fun to watch. 

Alright, enough about fighting games. Tomorrow will be a very different game, one that has played to role of 5 dollar adventure games on the PC for years, but now the good old adventure game makes another grand entrance. Heavy Rain. 

I agree, the fact that there is no undisputed champ atm is a good thing, makes for good watching. Nice post.

as much as i like daigo, i kind of got sick of seeing him win everything. 
 
the fact that theres a bunch of people coming out of nowhere winning things means we may stop seeing Ryu vs Rufus in every god damn final.

" @Necrotrophic: If arcade edition hits consoles soonish as free DLC and then EVO goes ahead and supports it fully, get ready to see Yun, Yang, and Balrog in every final... "

" @lordofultima: Because Balrog is a really tough match-up for Yun and Yang. Also compared to others Balrog's nerfs aren't terrible, MP got nerfed, but now you can special cancel and his LP and Buffalo Head got nerfed.   Playing with him at the Arcade Infinity he doesn't feel that neutered compared to some others. Also 20-30 dollars is a little extreme, even for Capcom for what the Arcade Edition really is. I would say the tweaks would be free and the 4 characters would be like 10 dollars, 20 at the most. Why would capcom segregate people on the consoles from each other? "

AE should have just been super with no changes. 
 
Its really lame that we have been playing different versions of the game in different countries. 
 
International tournaments are going to essentially mean less because different groups of people are playing different games. until ae comes out as dlc its just gonna be weird

Everyone loves comebacks, new champs, champs on blast, and big combos.... no lie

" AE should have just been super with no changes.  Its really lame that we have been playing different versions of the game in different countries.  International tournaments are going to essentially mean less because different groups of people are playing different games. until ae comes out as dlc its just gonna be weird "

" I agree, the fact that there is no undisputed champ atm is a good thing, makes for good watching. Nice post. "

I hope AE never comes to consoles cause then where gonna have arcade cabnits at evo and that will be awesome!

What's with the surge in popularity of the phrase 'on blast' all of a sudden? Is Slim Shady popular again?