Universal Fighting Game Guide: How to Improve Through Losing

The fighting game genre is defined by the process of at least two competing parties fighting each other to determine a winner and loser. As someone who has been playing fighting games seriously for the past few years, I’ve lost thousands of matches in virtually every way imaginable. I almost beat Arturo Sanchez in AE 2012 until I choked at the very end of the final round. I’ve been destroyed by Marlinpie at Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in a tournament. Most recently, I lost a match in Street Fighter X Tekken to an opponent who beat me by pressing only one button. Regardless of the circumstances around any given loss, the feeling that came with losing sucked every time.

In this installment of the Universal Fighting Game Guide, we’re going to focus on the least desirable outcome of any given match. Though the act of losing always spawns some level of anger, sadness and frustration (or in fighting game community terms, ‘salt’), it doesn’t have to end there. Losses today can be leveraged to help you gain wins tomorrow. Instead of simply getting mad, let’s talk about how to use losing as a means of getting better.

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How Capcom Can Fix Street Fighter X Tekken

Street Fighter X Tekken is in trouble. The game has gone through PR hell over the controversial gem system and the on-disc DLC debacle. The game is off to a slow start in terms of sales. The game isn’t very popular in tournaments, as it routinely draws in less competitors and less viewers than Street Fighter IV or Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Maybe the most damning strike against it is the harsh criticism and feedback the game gets from disappointed fighting game players. Personally, I’ve had a hard time taking this game seriously since Capcom introduced the ridiculously overpowered assist gems and the game-breaking Rolento glitch.

The game is losing steam fast on all fronts. While Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3 have maintained a loyal and steady player base over the last few years, Street Fighter X Tekken is in danger of falling off the map completely in a matter of months. Even though I like the core of the Street Fighter X Tekken experience, I’m on the brink of letting this game go to play other games. What can Capcom do to save this game from oblivion? Here’s a few of my suggestions.

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My Review for Indie Game: The Movie is Now Featured on the Movie’s Official Website

When I went and saw Indie Game: The Movie awhile back, I did not envision this as the outcome. The review I did for Splitkick is currently featured in the Press section of the Indie Game: The Movie official website alongside a nice pull-quote.  Is it too much to ask to also get featured on the DVD/Blu Ray box? Just kidding. This is awesome! Thank you to the team at Indie Game: The Movie for the recognition!

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Check Out My Editorial Piece “May The Lesser Man Win” Now on Splitkick.com

Up now on Splitkick is my first editorial piece for them entitled “May the Lesser Man Win: Parallels Between Boxing’s Latest Debacle and Modern-Day Fighting Game Design“. The idea for the piece has been floating around in my head for awhile, but the recent bout between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley ultimately was the catalyst for me pulling those ideas into a fully-formed piece. If an op-ed piece about the role of field-leveling mechanics in fighting games is something of interest to you, definitely head over to Splitkick to check it out!

This is also my first piece as a Staff Writer, which Splitkick announced officially in their one-year anniversary celebration post. Thanks to everyone on the Splitkick team for embracing me as one of their own. It’s been a pleasure working with Splitkick and I’m looking forward our future endeavours!

How to Plug Headphones Into Your TV

Recently, my PlayStation 3D TV died an unfortunate (yet apparently common) death. To remedy the problem, I decided to buy a new TV. Unfortunately, the new TV was missing something that the PlayStation 3D TV had: a headphone jack. The vast majority of televisions do not come with headphone jacks, which would have been problematic in Steff and I’s shared living space.

I could have bought wireless headphones, which are built to support televisions. Or, I could have done a Google search for a cheaper alternate solution. In this post, I’ll run you through the process of plugging in any set of headphones into your TV!

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Out Now: Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown

Historically, I haven’t been one to get to get much out of the 3D fighting game genre. As early as the original Virtua Fighter, it didn’t feel like my style of fighter, and I moved on. However, as I’ve grown more interested in the genre as a whole, I’ve gotten a bit more interested in giving 3D fighters a bit more of an honest try.

I’m currently eying an on sale copy and Soulcalibur V and Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, the latter of which is out now as a $15 downloadable game on XBOX Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

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Let’s Talk About E3 2012

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for gaming news, as the Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us. I can’t wait to watch all of the conferences from the major platform holders, read everything that comes up on my reader and listen to all of the podcasts that come from the show. Personally, I’m really curious to learn more about the Wii U, but I’m also keeping my eyes open for some out-of-nowhere shockers that will get me excited for the future of gaming.

Are you excited for the biggest gaming show on the planet? What are you looking forward to seeing or learning more about? Who do you think is going to win E3? Let’s talk about it in the comments!

Check Out My Review for Joy Ride Turbo on Splitkick.com


Hot off the heels of Kinect Joy Ride is Joy Ride Turbo; the sequel to a motion-controlled game that ditches motion controls completely. On one hand, it’s a curious move to eschew the original’s key selling point. On the other hand, the key selling point in practice wasn’t very good.

If you’re curious about how well it turned out, head over to Splitkick.com to check out my review!

Qanba Q4 RAF Review

Over the last few years, Mad Catz and Hori have done an excellent job of creating high-quality fightsticks. However, as officially licensed peripheral makers, neither company can provide a fightstick that supports all major platforms out of the box. It sucks to be in a situation where you’ve spent a large chunk of change on an XBOX 360 fightstick and your friends bought the latest fighting game on PlayStation 3. Or when you want to play in an XBOX 360 tournament when you only have a PlayStation 3 fightstick. To get around this, you can try your hand at modding your fightstick. Or you can try your out a sketchy adapter which could be obsolete with the next console patch. Or you could do what I’ve done to date, which is buy a high-quality fightstick for each system I play fighting games on. Regardless of the route you choose, the answer usually isn’t cheap or technically stable.

Aiming to address this need, the Qanba Q4 RAF is built to work on the XBOX 360, PlayStation 3 and PC right out of the box. For avid tournament goers or gamers who often play on different systems, having one fightstick that supports all platforms is truly a blessing. But does it work as advertised? And does the rest of this fightstick from an unknown manufacturer stack up with the best from Mad Catz and Hori?

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My Sony PlayStation 3D Display Has Died From the Blinking Red Light of Death

So much for that positive review. I’ll have to go back and edit that now.

Sat down at my gaming desk last night and attempted to turn on my Sony PlayStation 3D Display. Instead, no picture appeared, and a red light flashed under the screen. Turns out, there are a lot of complaints about this all over the internet. Though I wasn’t able to track down the cause, I’ve read that when this happens, the TV is toast.

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