Author: Corey "Missing Person" Lanier

While the Modding Station at Evolution featured all the usual suspects who were quick with the soldering irons and Dremels, one name at the booth stood out above the rest.  Bryan Armitage, founder of Paradise Arcade Shop, was also there, modding alongside the likes of people already discussed in a previous article about the station, complete with his own wares to sell.

Armitage founded Paradise Arcade Shop alongside his wife, Susan, several years ago, when he started buying arcade parts in bulk, and decided to make his bulk ordering services available to the public as another option.  This couldn’t have come at a better time, filling the void of the now-defunct Lizard Lick Amusements in a scene that was still burgeoning due to the fighting game renaissance.  What started with humble origins in Hawaii, however, turned into a trailblazer within the tech community, as the Armitages began to experiment and create new products, even working with companies such as Brook to bring out products that not only excited the community but could meet every need imaginable.

While at Evolution, I was able to sit down with Armitage to discuss what makes Paradise truly that–a gamer’s paradise.

Missing Person: You actually come out here all the way from Hawaii every year.

Bryan Armitage: Actually we moved to Minnesota this year.

MP: So Paradise is no longer palm trees but snow.

BA: Yes, six months out of the year, we’re shoveling snow instead of sticking our feet in the sand. We decided to keep the name and keep part of the team because we had so much fun with it, and people know the name.

MP: Paradise is known for constantly coming out with new and innovate products for arcade enthusiasts.  What drives you to keep improving your products?

BA: For me, a lot of the fun is coming up with things that people enjoy. Nothing beats seeing someone sit down with the buttons you design, like the OBS-MX, and then come back to tell you, “I’m hitting combos that I’ve never hit. I love these, and I’m putting them in all my sticks.” We’ve come out with our LVT3 boards that people say are the easiest installs they’ve ever done and suddenly they have LED lighting in their sticks.  It’s that kind of feedback that keeps me going.

MP: What is your favourite product that you’ve put out so far?

BA: I have to say that it’s our OBS-MX buttons. The buttons are great but it’s fun to sit around and tweak them. I was able to toy around and find the difference between 1.2 millimetres of activation and 0.6 millimetres of activation; it really gets me into the biomechanics side of me that likes doing those type of things.

MP: And these are actually an alternative to the GamerFinger HBFS buttons. What are some things that you learned from their design that you implemented into your OBS-MX buttons?

BA: The GamerFinger buttons were a great design and a great way to bring MX buttons to the market. But we were getting a lot of feedback that they felt soft and that the caps on top of the plungers were falling off. So what we did was use the old style of caps that Sanwa uses, and we use clips that hold the caps down. The GamerFinger buttons allowed the MX switches to travel full length, but we restrict the movement, which takes 1 to 1.2 millimetres off the travel, and this does two things. First, it makes the buttons feel less soft, and second, it keeps the caps from ever popping off.

MP: And these are just as silent as the GamerFinger buttons, correct?

BA: We were playing around with the new silencing pads, and the interesting thing is that because of how we designed the buttons, the silencing pads that work with MX keyboards work with our buttons. So when we came out with these, I joked that it was like buying a Ferrari.  Because you don’t buy a Ferrari and ask if the radio is good. You buy a Ferrari because it drives fast and drives well. So I came out with these and made them the best performing buttons I could make, and didn’t worry about what they sounded like; I just worried about feel and performance, and we hit the mark.  And once we did that, we started to focus on the creature comforts.

MP: What drives you to come out to Evo every year?

BA: The thing we started to do this year, with us being at Combo Breaker and CEO this year, is we get our ideas from fans, from people who support the store and the community, and it’s great to just meet people, shake their hands, find out who they are, and put faces to the names of people who talk on Shoryuken.  It’s a lot of fun. When we went to Combo Breaker, a lot of people asked if we had straps for the TE2. We didn’t, but a few weeks later, we go to CEO, and we had straps for the TE2 custom made. We showed up to Evo with Evo branded TE2 straps. We keep pushing forward and a lot of it comes from the feedback and questions we get. The other thing we brought to Evo is we collaborated with Brook to bring out custom PS3/PS4 to Xbox 360 converters, and that came out of all the input we received from and pushing Brook, telling them, “You have to do this. You have to do this.” And they finally actually hand-carried them over from Taiwan.

MP: So you guys are definitely driving the community forward technologically.

BA: We’re one of the players doing so, and I think that’s the neat thing about this community. There’s a couple of people that really dig in and help each other out, trying to take the technology forward.  We see each other as competition but also as friends. So we come up with something, then show it off to each other to brag about, then immediately get working on the next innovation.

MP: So do you feel that this competition is great for the community?

BA: It’s great. The competition helps drive people forward.  There’s a lot of room in the community, and as long as everybody remembers that and plays nice, it’s great.

(Special thanks to Armitage for providing all pictures for this article.)

Deep in the thick of the Evolution vendor booths, there are always a bunch of guys quietly whittling away. Every year they congregate at Evo and various other majors, with circuit boards, joysticks, and soldering irons.  While most other vendors are selling their wares of parts, shirts, and art prints, these unsung heroes are selling their time, fixing joysticks or making joysticks work on more systems than they do out of the box.

These are the unsung heroes of events.  These modders, a group of people that congregate around the Tech Talk forum here at Shoryuken.com, but meet up at nearly every major to take care of players’ needs before, during, and at times even after the event.  They charge a pretty penny for parts and labor, but ultimately, are the guys to go to for the every man who either don’t know how to mod or don’t have the time and resources to do it themselves.

This year, when I arrived into the venue, these men were already busy, with stacks of arcade sticks waist high behind them, ready to mod.  And they were all engrossed in their work, exchanging jokes amongst each other to keep the atmosphere lively as they worked.  And they all seemed to enjoy the job.

While they are there to make money, it is often the community and being able to enjoy that aspect that continues to bring them out to events, where they could easily only take commissions online to save on overhead. John “DaRabidDuckie” Wade, a well known modder from Wisconsin, stated, “I wasn’t even going to show up to Evo, because it was getting harder for me to afford going to tournaments. I couldn’t even afford the flight to come out here. But then people were contacting me and saying they would pay me up front for work I would do for them at Evo, so the community literally paid for my flight ticket, my transportation, and half the hotel room. I have a lot of work I have to do to catch up to that, but it’s because of the community that I’m here.”

Victor “Vicko” Ramirez, a Las Vegas native who has been at most of the majors throughout the year, added, “I get to make a lot of friends here, I like traveling, resting on the plane. It’s fun and it’s an overall pleasant experience.”

However, for some, it’s for fun that can’t be found where they’re from.  Matthew Gummo, when asked about why he comes to Evo to mod, stated, “There’s a slot machine here in Vegas called Goldfish, and every year, I find another revision to the game.  The first year, it was Goldfish. Then there was a Goldfish 2, and then a third game. Then last year, I found Paradise Fishing, which was the exact opposite of Goldfish. I’m just modding sticks so I have money to play the slots.”

While all of them enjoy the community, and have fun doing these events in various ways, one of the biggest sacrifices they make is not being able to take part in the fun that we all take for granted–actually competing in the events.  “I did start going to tournaments to mod while trying to also play in the events,” stated Gummo. “But it got to the point where the further I went into the tournament, the less time I had to mod, which makes it less beneficial to me.  So, if I ever play, it’s usually just a side tournament.”

“I think it was two years ago that I decided I was finished with competing,” added Ramirez. “That whole last year I spent competing, I only entered Evo. For me, that was just a waste of time and money, and I’m definitely a lot more productive modding.”

With these types of events come some difficulties in doing their work, with time restraints being one of the biggest issues that exist.  “I would say (one of the biggest issues is) the lack of sleep and just the overall pressure of making sure everyone is satisfied before I leave,” stated Ramirez, “because I could have an angry customer show up just before a tournament’s over when one of us needs to get on a plane. I try to cut it really close, so I don’t have to stay overnight on the last night of an event. I’ve missed a couple of flights due to this, so that’s a common problem that I have.”

Gummo, who is well known for his unique modifications, such as an arcade stick with an Ouya built into the casing, or a V-Tech Smile joystick modified to work on PlayStation 3, added, “When I’m at a tournament, I prefer standard modifications.  I’m not scared of doing unique mods, but I like money, and I’m trying to get as many sticks modded as possible while I’m here.”

However, with all these sacrifices come a service that fills a huge void in a community that needs their gear properly tuned for events, assuring that nothing will go wrong during the course of a tournament.  Gummo believes that having modders at events like Evo makes the tournament run a lot more smoothly, stating, “There aren’t a bunch of people begging to borrow sticks, and it makes life easier for the customer because they only have to carry around one stick while they’re here.”

“There have been circumstances where tournament organizers have needed us for something, such as an emergency repair, and having us there made a bad situation a lot easier to deal with,” added Wade. “Could Evo run without us?  Yes, absolutely. But it’s one of those cases where when we’re around, it’s nice to have us there.”

But one issue that was found to be a problem this year was the change in venue for the finals, forcing them and other vendors to shut down a day earlier than expected.  When asked about this, Wade stated, “I’m not going to lie, it hurts us a lot. We’re not able to talk to customers on Sunday, and we have to haul everything up to the hotel room to finish. We already have a hard time finishing up everyone’s sticks because there are so many people that want work done, which is a good problem to have. Last year, we were here two to three days after the event, either in a hotel room or at Vicko’s house to finish the workload.  We’re likely to do that again this year.”

But when asked if they enjoyed doing this, they all agreed that it was worth the time and effort, and Ramirez even offered advice for the next generation of modders who may be brave enough to join them at their booth next time.

“Practice on something that’s yours. Don’t practice on a customer’s stick if you are not comfortable. You could take apart old electronics, controllers, radios, something you may not need anymore. Just get your soldering iron hot, get comfortable with it, find out your preferred heat range, and get rid of a lot of bad habits before you try to make a profession or a second job out of it.”

So the next time you see a group of guys at a major huddled around joysticks with soldering irons in hand, be sure to stop buy, shake their hands, and offer them tips or drinks to help keep them going.  Without these guys, a lot of people would be stuck on outdated or broken hardware.

For many iterations of Street Fighter past, Zangief has always been known as slow with low mobility.  This made him very difficult to play, given the fact that he has to stay at close range in order to win, and required him to burn through a lot of his health to get to that range.

However, this time around, things may change.  GiefKid recently uploaded a discovered mechanic called IASA, or “Interruptability As Soon As.”  This is a mechanic originally from Super Smash Brothers Melee, but has found its way into Street Fighter V, where whiffed normals can be interrupted on certain frames by changing the state Zangief is in.  Thus, if the move is crouching, Zangief can interrupt the move’s recovery by standing up, making him able to move faster after performing the move.  Also shown in the video was Zangief doing rapid hops using IASA, thus making him cover more ground using the move.

While this certainly won’t make Zangief top tier any time soon, this mechanic will certainly aid Zangief be able to move much quicker into his preferred range.

(Source: GiefKid)

With the new mechanics of Street Fighter V requiring you to use a Critical Art in order to secure a chip victory, sometimes the thing standing in the way of a win is being able to find a means to make sure that chip damage connects. While most people have typically tried to incorporate the Critical Art into a blockstring, they usually see their efforts frustrated by a well-timed V-Reversal.

Recently, Laugh sat down with Core-A Gaming to show a technique to ensure chip deaths in situations that warrant it. In the video, he explains how to properly time your Critical Art in order to make inescapable situations for your opponent. He also offers advice for Guile to compensate for his charge timing.

A very short, but succinct video, Laugh shows himself ever the mastermind behind understanding of game mechanics, and passes his wealth of information along to other players to allow the community to grow. This is definitely worth a watch.

Source: Core-A Gaming

With the competitive fighting game craze reaching peaks first thought impossible, it now seems that the entire world is looking to cash in.

Fusion Fight Gear, a Canadian-based company whose mission statement includes offering, “best in class officially licensed grappling gear with kickass designs that will help take your BJJ and MMA game to new heights,” has now begun offering officially licensed Street Fighter training gear. These products are adorned with various characters from the Street Fighter franchise, and include a Chun-Li themed pair of tights specifically for female practitioners. They also have a full gi themed after Ryu, complete with the hadoken motion on the front to show your opponents the full power of your shotokan love.

While this gear does not promise you the ability to throw fireballs or become the world’s strongest woman on the mat, it does guarantee that you will show your love for digital fighting in the physical arena, whether you are a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rookie or veteran. No word on a Laura-themed rashguard yet, or whether said rashguard will protect you from high voltage.

Source: Capcom Unity

 

“Since when did everyone become so knowledgeable about input lag?”

Very succinctly, Katsuhiro Harada stated his point. The long time director of the Tekken series has never been one to shy away from speaking on controversial issues within the fighting game community. When people complained about Josie Rizal, Shaheen, and Lucky Chloe’s designs in Tekken 7, Harada responded with his own brand of rhetoric aimed to silence his critics. And when Capcom, a company whose Street Fighter franchise Harada has credited as being inspiration for Tekken, came under attack for the 8 frames of input lag inherent with Street Fighter V, the man came to their defense.

In an interview with GameSpot, Harada argues that most players and critics were completely unaware of the amount of lag past titles in various fighting game franchises had. He later adds, “I have a feeling people are just prone to being swayed by popular catchwords.” He also stated that he believes, when based on the correlation of the design and the inherent lag, “the actual mechanism is different depending on the game.”

He was also quick to defend his own series, Tekken, from any possible accusations of input lag, stating, “Tekken 7 is the first arcade fighting game to have online play between arcades around the country. It costs roughly $1 per play. Do you really think it would be this successful and well received if everyone was complaining about input lag?”

When later asked about incoming characters for Tekken 7 after the release of Dark Resurrection, he stated that the roster shown at E3 is “not the full one at this time,” but later declined to comment on who might later be included and whether or not they would be released as later DLC.

Source: GameSpot

Sanford Kelly has been known for a while as a drifter in the community as far as teams go.  Having been a member of Empire Arcadia and The Steam Co., the New York-based fighting game veteran has added yet another team to his journeyman status.

It was announced yesterday that Kelly has joined Mutiny, a professional eSports team known primarily for First Person Shooter teams, as their first Street Fighter V player.  As such, he will be competing under their banner just in time for Evolution.

We're excited to announce our first #SFV Player @SanfordKelly who will be attending @EVO.
Welcome to the#MutinyFAM pic.twitter.com/SIEkWa3lih

— Mutiny™ (@MutinyGG) July 5, 2016

Congratulations to Sanford in this new chapter of his career, and we wish him and Mutiny the best of luck with his sponsorship.

Source: Mutiny

As was reported last year, Bishop “Shatterstar” Wagner, famous within the FGC for his “Negro Install” line of apparel, is battling cancer. Over the course of 2015, Shatta was able to see the cancer go into remission. The community began to rejoice.

Fast forward to March 2016, and we were told more grim news on his condition via DarkGeneral on the SRK forums. The cancer was back with a vengeance, was not responding to chemotherapy, and doctors predicted at that time that he had 6 months left to live. But Shatta is still a fighter. He hasn’t given up. Nor has the community.

Jeffrey “RagingStormX” Hill of Team ArcadeStream, known for his heartless Vega play, and Peter “Aikawa” Baek also of Team ArcadeStream, banded together to help out a fellow brother in arms. And as such, a charity drive at ArcadeStream will be held on Saturday July 9th starting at 2PM KST (1AM EDT), with all proceeds going directly to Shatterstar himself. Tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Street Fighter V will be held during the charity event, with food and drink orders also going toward Wagner’s recovery. There will also be raffle prizes, and a chance to donate from the stream to help out our brother.

If you want to tune in to either lend moral support or give to this cause, please point your web browsers and smartphones to ArcadeStream’s Twitch channel. In the meantime, you can also donate to help Shatterstar at his CrowdRise page.

 

 

After Season 3 included Rash from Battletoads and Arbiter from the Halo franchise, it goes without saying that Microsoft is keen to use its Intellectual Property rights to further bring in players to its Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive fighter, Killer Instinct. So, when Microsoft released a new survey to help developers at Iron Galaxy Studios craft the next season’s roster, it comes as no shock that some familiar faces would end up making the cut.

While Eyedol, who was the final boss in the original Killer Instinct, fits the mold, a few of these don’t quite fit the Killer Instinct universe. As evidenced in the above picture, characters such as Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark, Agent from Crackdown, and Brute from Halo all are on the list, hinting that a few of these characters might make it into the game at some point.

Even further, they also gave the possibility of reimagined characters, such as Shadow Orchid, or a rushdown variant of Glacius known as Kelvin, making the cut.

What do you think of this direction in Killer Instinct? Do any of these characters strike you as interesting enough to play the game? Let us know in the comment section.

Source: Ultra-Combo via Eurogamer