Games, Street Fighter, and no part 2

In fear that I'll get reprimanded some more and offend more people, I'll just leave out part 2. I will say this, however. Part 2 was supposed to be about what defines us as Asians. You hear some people go around saying, "That's so Asian", or "You're so Asian" and I ask them what that really means. Whoever reads this damn thing, I'll write about it, if so desired.

This past weekend was the West Coast Super Battle Opera 2009 Qualifiers for Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike. Every year since I got into the fighting game scene, which was around the time the Justin Wong/Daigo parry video came out, I would check the forums all the big tournament results, exciting videos and matches. This year was particularly interesting because it was (as far as I can remember) the first time the fighting game community actually did something to broadcast a major tournament live. Not just the matches, but as the overall feeling of the tournament and the atmosphere.

Here's the video of the Grand Finals of the qualifier.

It is exciting to watch this for many reasons. With what little resources these people had, they managed to get this thing off the ground and on the internet, despite the stream crashing multiple times. The limit on views was about 1000, but thousands more were probably watching this stream from the beginning (which was around 12 in Cali, to 2 AM)

Watching this helps convey what the fighting game community is all about. There's just alot of hype goin around and that's what makes it so special. It goes beyond just pressing buttons and watching the characters hit each other until someone wins.

Watching the quals shows that games have come a long way in general. From its simple roots to its complicated development of today, games evolved immensely in the past near 30 years. No one would've imagined that it would grow beyond a hobby thing for kids. Is this where it stops though. Is this where games peak? One can only imagine. Microsoft got that crazy project Natal thing going on. Sony finally delivers with some decent projects. Nintendo is (maybe) trying to do some new things. Only time will get.

I will leave you with this.