It wasn't long ago that I got bitten by the Street Fighter Nostalgic bug. (brought on by Jasco Games' UFS card game) I hadn't really touched a single Fighting Game since probably the 90's, where I was forced to hangout at the local bowling alley, because my parents were in a bowling league. The only things saving me from immense BOREDOM was: cheese-fries, and 4 arcade cabinets... one of which was Street Fighter II.
Now, I'm a very PASSIONATE person, mentally, I go from very high-highs, to very low-lows. I can pick something up, and drop it just as quickly. I've gone through this several times already in my short time within the Fighting Game Community. (FGC) As such, I've been trying to examine exactly what it is I like about Fighting Games as a whole, as a genre. I've already outlined the nostalgic part for me, but what else is there?
For starters, I consider myself to be a Martial Artist. Not just someone who participates in the sport of Martial Arts, or a student of self defense, but rather someone who enjoys the struggle of combat. I gravitate towards it, not just out of a desire for violence, I'm not an overly violent person, but rather the competitive, primal struggle aspect of Martial Arts. It's you vs me: my skills, talents, judgement, and strategy, against your's. This all directly translates to fighting games: My skills, talents, judgements, and strategies, vs your's. There is actually a lot of timing and distance games that occur when sparring, called "footsies", (i'm trying to learn all the FGC lingo) which directly translates to fighting games. Misjudge you timing, or distance while sparring, throw a kick that whiffs, more than likely IRL if your opponent is paying attention with their own adequate timing/distance, then you can expect your mistake to get "punished" IRL just as it would in a Fighting Game. (Punish is another one of basic FGC lingos/concepts) There are just so many parallels between Martial Arts IRL and Fighting Games for me to explore! Now in my mid/late 30's, with a terribly injured spine due to daily sparring/fighting, FG's are now about the only way I get to safely experience this just Me vs You aspect.** Funny tangent, it's always fun to see something done in a video game and have been able to say: yeah, I've done that to someone IRL. I did also once time in a sparring match, after a particularly solid, well timed side-kick on an off-balanced opponent (see, timing/distance) I hit him with a little "hadouken" move right as he stumbled backward and fell over during our match. I though it was hilarious, but in hindsight it was pretty disrespectful and cost me a point.
Then there is the eSports and "Persona" aspect of choosing/playing a "main" (Main/Favorite Character) that is found in Fighting Games. Choosing main, can be very interesting, psychologically speaking. The process itself could probably warrant a full post/discussion in itself. (Maybe I'll do it one day, given enough interest) BUT, the point that I do want to make here, the part that ties into Sports/eSports/FG's is the idea of the "Persona". In short, for me, when I watch a tournament being played, I'm not just watching CMDRJesse (from BCF) play but I'm watching him AS Dhalsim fight. Often times, a win for CMDRJesse is also a win for Dhalsim, and the lines between IRL/Game start to blur. Fighters begin to personify some aspect of their payers, and vise versa. (in Jesse's case, I think the link is the beard!) It's not even just the big boys, the pros, that do this, but the little guys (like me) as well. It becomes almost like a partnership in a weird way, kinda like a pokemon. The Pokemon does all the work, has all the abilities that they can/cannot do, and the trainer is basically the coach, or the pilot. That may be an odd comparison, but to me, it works. This is especially interesting too, when a player remains completely loyal to their chosen fighter regardless of where they end up on a tier list, or get buffed/nerfed, those guys really start to personify their characters and applaud such loyalty!
When lines between reality/game and player/character start to blur like this, it's easy to see where some of the excitement from watching a tournament begins to build. This isn't just a movie playing, these are two people fighting and competing each other. Every kick is deliberate, a choice, every throw, every counter calculated, that when the fighters start to come alive. The line's blur, and all of sudden its not just a game anymore but a competition, a fight between Ryu & Akuma. There's story rivalries like I mentioned, but also real life rivalries as well, just like a traditional sport. There's as much drama taking place before your eyes as there would be at any WWE match or any live MMA fight or boxing match. It's all part of a bigger picture that is the FGC scene! If you're one of those people that enjoys watching that type of sport/competition play out, then it should be easy to see where the excitement of fighting games and watching fighting games comes from. YOU can step into the same ring in a fighting game as a pro player, regardless of ability, and walk out with the only injury being to your ego. (walking into a boxing ring IRL is a different story)
My final point brings me back to my initial one. No teams, its just you and me. This is one of those interesting genres where you can't fall back on the age old excuse of "my team was trash", because, clearly, Fighting Games put the I in TEAM. You cant really make excuses as to why you won/lost, either you made fewer mistakes in a match, or your opponent did, his/her timing was better, or your's was. It's actually pretty refreshing. Even 1v1 matches in any FPS title doesn't carry the same weight and prestige, as that can come down to who camps better, who has the best weapon, etc. To "get gud" you have to put in the work, some, like myself, require more work more than others. But that's another interesting aspect. I can get carried by my team in Halo, CoD, or even Shinobi Strikers... likewise, I can be let down by my team in them as well. Fighting Games, I've got no one to blame but myself when I lose, and no one I have to share the victory with IF I win!
So, there you have it! Just a couple fo reasons I've become universally addicted to the FGC and the Fighting Game Genre. Again, this more about the genre as a whole, and not one specific series or title. Fighting Game really is a bit of a catch all title in this regard. I can go into specifics of why I like one series over another, but for the sake of this post, I wanted just an outline of the whole thing. As with any other genre, each title will have its own pros and cons, and it's up to the individual to figure what exactly it is that they are looking for. Add that idea to an already growing list of potential future FGC-related posts bouncing around in my head!
Until then, catch ya next time!
-WuhSawBe-
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