Author: Lance "Tarnot" Hood

The right kind of villain can add extra hype to any situation. In the case of the fighting game community, having an “evil” to rally against gives top players and audience members a common purpose. The scene has more than enough villains to go around, and in their newest video, Core-A Gaming discusses the positive impact these folks can have on competition.

It wouldn’t be a villain-related video without mention of Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, who makes more than one appearance in the footage. Core-A Gaming even goes so far as to highlight Champ’s devotion to his villainous ways, including a clip from his recent interview with The Daily Dot, wherein Champ says, “I really love the feedback and the energy I get from the fans when they boo me.”

The fans love it, too. At Evo 2014, Champ’s Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 match against Jan in top eight serves as a perfect example of the crowd fueling his fire. After eliminating Shuma-Gorath and Hulk, Champ spends over thirty Marvel seconds pushing Jan’s Haggar away with Magneto’s repulsion, refusing to put the Mayor out of his misery, and leaving plenty of time for the room to fill with a torrent of boos. With so much energy circulating, the crowd positively explodes when Jan manages to land a hit, even though the clock has only a couple of seconds to spare, leaving no chance for a comeback.

The set between the two players had enough excitement to stand on its own, but there’s no questioning the fact that Champ’s “villainy” enhanced the viewing experience.

You can check out Core-A Gaming’s video below. Did your favorite fighting game community nemesis make an appearance? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Core-A Gaming

Long-time fighting game enthusiast Patrick Miller recently started streaming on Twitch, and it’s no surprise he’s spent plenty of time discussing digital punching. Fighting game talk shows are nothing new, but if you’ve had a chance to read his book–and you should make that chance if you haven’t already–or have seen any of his previous work for Shoryuken, you’ll know that Pat’s approach to these games we all love extends well beyond tournament results or in-game strategies, and the video we’ve chosen to showcase in this post highlights just that. While it’s not the first of Pat’s videos, nor his most recent, it feels like the most appropriate place for newcomers to begin.

With Street Fighter V on the horizon and a (hopefully) massive influx of players to the fighting game community following soon thereafter, spreading the word about what makes fighting games fun may be the best way to ensure many would-be 16ers stick around to don their rose-colored glasses and look back on V’s release when VI eventually comes down the pipes. While the scene will certainly see some attrition after the initial hype fades, we can mitigate those losses and hold the interest of new players if we can successfully communicate to them why these games are worth sticking with.

Being told what makes something fun may not seem like the best way to, you know, enjoy whatever it is you’re being told how to enjoy. It’s sort of like having someone explain a joke you didn’t get. It’s either fun (or funny) or it’s not, right? Maybe not. When it comes to competitive gaming in particular, having the wrong approach–for instance, focusing entirely on taking home match victories without any emphasis on personal improvement along the way–can quickly become disheartening and land your copy of Street Fighter V, or any other fighting game, in the closet behind all those kites, model airplanes, and other hobby-related tidbits that never quite got off the ground.

In the video below, Pat discusses why fighting games appeal to so many people, and why he has largely stopped playing single player titles in favor of multiplayer titles with a emphasis on competition. He ties much of his enjoyment of such games back to personal improvement. Through discussing this, Pat touches on how new players can use this chance for personal growth to find fun in fighting games, presenting a four-step plan that will ensure they not only improve at the games, but (hopefully) keep playing them for many years.

If you liked this video, you can find loads more content on Pat’s YouTube channel. If you’d prefer to catch the action live, he streams two times per week, with interviews happening Mondays at 7 PM PST and lectures/gameplay streams taking place on Tuesdays or Wednesdays at the same time. Do note that the Tuesday/Wednesday stream will not be happening this week, but be sure to check it out in the future.

Source: Patrick Miller

Mirror matches in fighting games don’t inherently draw much attention. We’ve all seen (and participated in) plenty of them, no matter what game we’re playing, and we’ll certainly see many, many more before we finally shelf our fight sticks for the final time.

However, earlier this week, a good bit of footage surfaced showcasing one of the rarer sights in the fighting game universe: the Killer Instinct Aganos mirror. In the footage below, Leo Ferreis faces off against N1ghtSlash and LiFE0NMARSx, each in a best-of-three set. You’ll certainly notice that the matches take place at a much slower pace than your average round of Killer Instinct, and are perhaps good deal more intense for that reason.

To take a look at these matches, check out the drop-down boxes below.

Source: LeoFerreis via Keits

Fighting games have plenty of ways to generate hype, but it’s hard to top the levels of excitement surrounding a solid comeback. With so many tournaments spanning the 2015 season, the Capcom Pro Tour gave players loads of opportunities to show how well they function with their backs against the wall in Ultra Street Fighter IV.

Below, Capcom has compiled five of their favorite comebacks from this year’s Capcom Pro Tour.

If you caught NorCal Regionals last year, you’ll certainly recall bjUNCHAINED’s match against Red Bull’s Bonchan, and won’t be surprised to find that one round from the set did make the cut for this reel. Since that match was a personal favorite of mine, I’d like to encourage everyone to check out the full thing if you’ve not seen it yet or just want to revisit the excitement.

Did your favorites make the cut? Feel free to sound off in the comments.

Source: Capcom Fighters

If you’re already fiending for Street Fighter V frame data, the VFrames app may be just what you’re looking for.

The app currently includes basic stats–health and stun–as well as frame data for the entire cast, in addition to instructions on which inputs produce which special move. Obviously, the frame data is the star here, and those concerned with its accuracy need not worry, as the app has been updated up to beta 3.

In the future, the developers plan to include basic combos for each character and a note-taking feature, allowing users to jot down thoughts on characters and matchups that can be viewed and edited across multiple devices.

You can see the app in motion in the video below or check out some screenshots by following this link.

As of this posting, VFrames can be downloaded from Google Play, and the developers plan to have an iOS version ready to go in the near future.

Source: Anderson Garron