(Originally posted on splitkick.com. Thanks to the Splitkick team for the edits!)
“I will kill myself if I don’t finish this game,” proclaims Phil Fish, when asked about next steps if he fails to complete Fez, the game he’s been creating for over 4 years. People generally don’t mean it when they use that expression, but there’s an undeniable air of sincerity that accompanies Phil’s words. Why would a man be ready to kill himself over a game? Within minutes of watching Indie Game: The Movie, the answer becomes readily apparent.
Kingston was a long way from home, but the road trip was certainly worth it! By the end of the tournament, I was crowned the victor, earning a sweet Street Fighter V gi, a free movie pass and a spot in the Canadian finals at the end of the month!
Heading into this tournament, I was really nervous. So much so, that the waiters at the restaurant Steff and I were at just before the tournament asked me if I was okay due to how visibly shaken I was. Though I’ve never won a tournament before, I really wanted to do well at this one. We came from too far away for me to just lay an egg.
The theatre setup was awesome. Six slick gaming booths along with a commentator’s booth lined the front. It was surreal to see Street Fighter V on the big screen, though I spent most of my time playing the game on an Asus monitor below.
Despite the extended warm-up period we got, my jitters carried into my first match. It was a scatterbrained match where I couldn’t get a feel for my opponent. Luckily for me, I was able to win the set 2-0.
Didn’t really feel comfortable until the grand finals match. Facing off against a solid Vega player, I got into a comfortable zone and did what my Rashid does best. When the smoke cleared, I came away with the title!
From here, the next step is to compete with 31 other Street Fighter V competitors from across the country at the end of the month. The road hasn’t been easy and it’s only going to get tougher. For now though, I’m going to relish this first tournament victory before prepping for the biggest tourney of my life to-date!
In just a few days, Steff and I will be taking a weekend trip to Kingston, Ontario. Roughly a two-hour drive from Toronto, it’ll be host to one of the Street Fighter V regional finals tournaments taking place across Canada. Having earned my spot to compete at this event, I’m excited for the opportunity to throw down with the best that the city has to offer. Continue reading →
World Gaming is currently running a Canada-wide Street Fighter V tournament. Starting with online qualifiers and ending with the grand finale in Toronto, players are facing off for a slice of the $25,000 (!) prize pool. As far as Canadian fighting game tournaments go, this is unprecedented.
Of course, I participated. While the road was bumpy, I managed to win my bracket and earn my spot in a regional final!
Anyone that has ever played a fighting game has been in this kid’s shoes before. Finding himself pit against a particular tactic that he doesn’t have the answer to, he just gets pummeled into submission, wondering what the heck just happened. While it’s easy to feel bad for the kid or vilify Justin Wong for being “cheap”, the kid has no one to blame but himself for getting beat like that. Not only did he fail to counter Justin’s projectile tactics, he just sat there and whined about it in hopes of shaming Justin.
In this edition of the Universal Fighting Game Guide, let’s talk about countering your opponent’s tactics. Whether it’s projectile spam, tick throws, resets, or whatever other gimmicks they have, you’re going to be ready with the perfect counter attack.
Alex Valle’s roots in competitive Street Fighter go all the way back to the first ever Street Fighter world championships where he squared off against Daigo Umehara in the grand finals. While I was certainly starstruck when we fought, I wasn’t going to let him steamroll me off the strength of his legacy. Watch the video to see how I fared against the legend himself!
It’s been a few years since I went to a tournament. However, with the new game out, now’s a great time to test my skills against Toronto’s finest at the Canada East Championships! Hosted by the good folks at Toronto Top Tiers, I’m pretty sure this is the first big Street Fighter V tournament in the city. Taking place tomorrow at the Yorkdale Holiday Inn, my game face will be ready to throw down one more time before Steff and I’s wedding (!). Wish me luck!
Over year has passed and way too much money has left my wallet for Amiibo figures. Though they don’t spend much time being scanned into my Wii U, they make for amazing collectibles on my gaming desk. Looking at my desk, I feel like I got every character I’d want – and a handful I probably didn’t need.
With Nintendo not slowing down on their Amiibo releases, what more could they have in store? I kind have at least one of everyone I want. In some cases, more than one of each character I want. Is this the year where my Amiibo spending finally goes down?
With Street Fighter V just days old, no shortage of players will be jumping to conclusions about which characters are top tier and which ones suck. While it’s fun to have the discussion, it’s probably too early to draw any sort of conclusions. Quite frankly, where characters stand on some general hierarchy means little to me, as I’m far more concerned with the characters I use and the particulars I need to know to beat everyone else.
What I present to you is not a ranking of whose the best. This is my personal rankings based on hype levels. Who am most excited to play as? Who do I not want to touch with a 10-foot pole?
The launch of Street Fighter V has been a disaster. On day one, the servers didn’t work, making the game largely unplayable. Since then, the server issues have continued to improve, though the issues with the game’s paltry feature set still exist. In particular, casual players got hit hardest, as the lack of single player content is maddening. Due to this slight, the user scores for this game have been horrendous, even though the actual gameplay is better than its ever been.
As a hardcore player, it can be easy to be dismissive of the casual gamer’s point of view. For me, it has online play, training mode and 8-player lobbies will be arriving in a few days. I’m good. But for the overall well-being of the game, I should be worried.
In Third Person 