Month: March 2017

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Filipino Champ Talks to Michael Martin about His New Sponsorship and Tournament Seeding

Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez is becoming sort of a vagabond in the fighting game community. Having spent the last year with Panda Global, he has now moved on to Splyce–a team linked with the NHL’s Boston Bruins.

When he sat down to talk to Michael Martin on the most recent episode of Conversations and Fireballs, he talked about the change, citing the fact that he was the only Street Fighter player on Panda Global as one of the reasons for his exit from the team. He also talks in great detail about his preference for mid-ranked seeding in tournaments. He states that being in the middle of the pack gives you a great advantage as a player, as you will theoretically know who you are playing well in advance.

Source: Yahoo Esports

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Echo Fox|ChocoBlanka Explains Why the USA is the Best Place for a Japanese Pro Gamer

In an editorial published on the Japanese Alienware Zone blog, Echo Fox | ChocoBlanka wrote in detail why she, as well as her husband Echo Fox | Momochi, continue to game overseas instead of in Japan. While most competitive gamers in the American fighting game community are aware that tournaments in Japan are not monetized, Choco explains that there are other factors that make competing in the United States the obvious choice for a Japanese player hoping to maintain their professional status.

In her article, Choco affirms that she did come up in a competitive gaming scene where the bottom line was “it is not about the money”, which generally was a positive attitude. She also point out how lack of monetary motivation is only one of many reasons why Japanese pro gamers flock to the US for success. She breaks down the issue into five main parts, which, written in her own words, are the following:

1. The Japanese Market does not have matured “e-sports” market. 

2. “E-sports” has low visibility in Japan.

3. The larger the “population” of the target audience, the better

4. Event Selection as Pro Gamer 

5. [She and Momochi] want to continue promoting professional gaming to a wide audience

The post is noted to be a “Part 1”, with Choco saying she will speak more extensively on the matter in a second part. There is still a lot of information in this first part; Choco elaborates thoroughly on each of her five point and shares her personal history with the arcade scene in Japan as well as her insight as a pro gamer.

You can read the full English article here.

Source: Alienware