Theory - Mental Guard Break

One of the underlining weaknesses experienced by every fighter, veteran or newbie..

We've all had to sit through that situation, coming into a fight only to be overwhelmed or outclassed (we feel) in the first few minutes (or even seconds in some cases). Getting styled on by another player is the worst feeling; even a few goo combos’ can be enough for a player to mentally abandon the match.

Pretty much Mental Guard Break simply means a lack of focus.

A good example of the guard break is to be 'perfected'. The absolute worst outcome for any player, showing not only that you were beat good, but also you were unable even to inflict chip damage on your opponent. The hole your in just got deeper, and that stab of humiliation lingers.. Guard down.

Even the most veteran of fighters has a limit as to the amount of mental defeat they can accept. Once this limit is reached, the fighter will not only be making simple mistakes, but will lose the confidence in their own techniques, mess up inputs, begin to second guess their inputs, and generally dwindle into oblivion.

According to many MGB is perceived in the mind of the player receiving the damage. The one inflicting the damage has no idea or concern about the impact on your game; to them it's simply styling and taking the win.

Justin Wong vs. GamerBee in 2010 Evo is an excellent example of a guard broken, top class player taking a beating.

'The minute you think about giving up, you’re properly guard broken.'

Mental guard break is something any player will experience to some degree. Obviously some people have a higher threshold than others, but always there is a limit.

Check some of the experts advise via www.sureyoucanfight.com

"Don't fall into the trap of spamming buttons." Freaking out, especially in a game center, will tell your partner all they need to know. Hearing someone just mashing buttons will give you everything you need to know.

"It's important to stay focused."

"Don't dwell on (the last round). New rounds are new rounds... Even losing to a perfect means nothing. What matters is (who takes the match)."

To build this threshold many gamers agree it's simply down to experience (sorry, not short cuts!), you gotto go in and take the beating like a man..

Let us know what you think.

Tier Ranking - Worst Bio's

Back-stories. Who cares right? A Beat Em Up should be just that.. But sometimes its cool to see the characters you play day in and day out, interact with other characters in another way than just ball busting.

Ever think of Dan Hibiki and wonder just what the hell his motivation is for taking part in World fighting tournaments? How about 'Picky' from 'Fighting Vipers'? Or 'Roger Jr'? How about 'Gon'? Well here we’re going t look at some of the wuuurst backstories and half arsed attempts at plot development that the years subjected us to.

First for your consideration is Jane from 'Fighting Vipers' on the Saturn.

“Jane: a butch and muscled 18 year old part-time construction worker, Jane trained her whole life to join the Navy, but did not make it past training. She was discharged after repeatedly losing control of herself during fights and injuring fellow seamen. Jane now wants to test just how tough she is, hence entering the Fighting Vipers tournament. Due to all these flagrant traits, Jane is believed to be either a bisexual or a lesbian until further notice.”

I mean, seriously dude, holy shit. Pretty much any of the character descriptions from FV’s could have been up here, but I reckon Bisexual or lesbian, butch construction worker really does take some topping.. Urg

http://gaminghell.110mb.com/FightersMegamix.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Vipers

Tier Ranking - 7 Bang Up Broads

Possibly based on nothing other than infatuation, pre teen gaming and the fact that my own marriage is looming, it seemed right to look back and assess the competition and decide the top seven marriage material.

Note, these are arcade heroes! 

Don't get all frumpy if we miss Princess Toadstool, or Amy Rose (yeah, sure)

Chun Li

Kicking off of course with the beautiful Chun Li. Almost 20 years of spinning bird kicks and still as flexible as ever. Chun has got to be the most iconic female fighter in gaming, not just due to a great set of legs, trademark costume and all the flexibility of a circus contortionist, but because of having one of the most iconic back stories too, classically a tale of vengeance against the organization that killed her family. How could you not love this girl?

She proved over the years to be above all the brainwashing and shit, and just be a warm hearted, pure character.

Simply - Holding down a good job, but spending a lot of time away from home.

Honey (Fighting Vipers)

For anyone out there with a Saturn in 1995, this was as close to raunchy as the Sega would ever get.

Honey, the 16-year-old college student studying fashion by day and slapping ass by night would coming up to her 30th year. Perfect, she got out all that angry youthful aggression and is now looking to settle down with family. You don't want that kind of vicious streak following you around in your marriage, cos a few years down the line, honey ain't gonna be tastin too sweet son.

Simply - A snappy dresser and retired fighter.

Sarah Bryant

Sarah, Sarah, a total stunner, and a girl you could be pretty sure not to be playing away. The Bryant family had a kinda messed up family history, what with brainwashing and murders and whatnot, but sweet Sarah has been around since 93 in the fighting scene. Since then, no brutalities, fatalities or even babalities, showing her to be a stand up broad. Pretty much Sarah is exactly the kind of women you'd be able to trust in social situations, not to become and drunken scene and ttally ruin your evening.

Simply - Almost entirely over her brainwashing ordeal, but still could be convinced to make ham sandwiches just how you like them.

Cammy

Through an through, put a ring on it. Military babe, has no regard

Roll

Nina Williams

Really coming under the same umbrella as Sarah in terms of brainwashing and easy to convince about this and that. Nina has had a tormented life, not only die to being Irish, but the whole, assassin, son been extracted from her body while she was in a cryogenic state for several years, as well as having a bitch of a sister..

Nina really needs a break, and as a.. However old she is gal, it's time to get out of the killing business..

Tier Ranking - 7 Epic Failtalitiez

We all love overkill, and who does it better than Mortal Kombat? But, lets face it .. some of them just blew monkey balls..

In no particular order, take a trip down memory lane and check some of the worst moments. Note, basically any fatality in Mortal Kombat 3 sucked, as did Heroic Brutality and just about any finishing move from MK Vs DC.

1. Quan Chi – Head and shoulders (MK 4)

Quan takes time off lording over the underworld to help out with a bit of reconstructive surgery. Seriously, were the developers that high they thought giraffe shit would go down?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PblwMmgGW0c

2. Motaro’s head yoink (MK 3)

So you worked your ass to unlock the huge ass sentor.. Your expecting something a little special, yes?.. Perhaps something to go with the huge ass laser tail?.. A little rodeo stomping?.. Yes?.. No.

3. Kano Dc – double knife (MK V DC)

Mortal Kombat Vs DC ..  People were expecting big here, and the gameplay itself was one of the best from any MK.. But as usual, hypocritical, bullshit DC didn't want to damage their intellectual property having superman Fatality Batman.  Kano’s Knife throw shows the upmost lack of creativity.. Literally any of the finishing moves from MK V DC could have filled this list.

4. Mk 2 Raidan's Uppercut (MK 2)

Ug. Really? Does this need any backup?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROhUY8UeISQ&feature=related

5. Jax foot stomp (MK 3)

Even as a 10-year-old kid, I can remember thinking, this shit blows.  What the Hell man? Jax.. with Cybernetic arms?  Really? A head stomp?

6. MK 3 Smokes, end of days

Yeah, yeah this doesn’t really come off as the worst of the worst, cmon.. destroys the planet? With no debris? He's Smoke for Pete's sake, at least show and explosion or something!

7. Syndel's Moth move
So love love them or hate them, Animalities were around for a while. Personally I'm just glad we're over it, but check out this totally random one via Sindel. WTF

(Hidden) Reiko Mk 4 Kick
And as a bonus extra

Gamer journal - So, sticks?

There is plenty to choose from out there. But after much thought and debating, decided to go for the Hori Pro V3-SA.

What sets it apart?

Firstly, quality. Hori represents champion level products, used by industry professionals. The stick lever and buttons contain parts made by Sanwa also, responsible for many of the arcade cabinets.

Price. Basically the Hori VX is a middle of the range price, in Japan you'll probably end up paying around 12,000 yen ($100), buy the durability and performance will soon quash that hurt.

Then we have the weight and size, which is perfect for just about everyone. Even the most rage induced street fight fans will have trouble getting this baby to jump. The feel is a balance between sturdy, but still lap friendly (4kg apx) and the overall size is enough to fill the arcade feel, but not half the room.

Finally, but probably most importantly performance. Above all other things, it has to feel right. If a standard Madkatz stick feels right, get it. You'll be spending lot of time on it, so it's gotto fit.

Gamer Journal - First Steps

Getting set up. Assuming you have a copy of the game, the next important step is to get the right equipment.

Arcade Sticks vs The Pads

The market is pretty much packed with options, but you gotto know what exactly you want to accomplish. Looking for online notoriety, competing at EVO or just local arcade tournaments? . Know the goals before kicking balls, so to speak.

Xbox360 and PlayStation users will of course be in favor the standard pads for online play, Which is cool, and for many much easier and accurate than fiddling with a stick.

But any player of any caliber will tell you that you're missing a whole world of gaming culture by not going stick. The pad kinda encourages sloppy gameplay, button mashing and all round noobism in fighting games, whereas the stick gives a feeling of accomplishment and harmony when you land that first fireball, or perform a combo flawlessly. Connecting stick and buttons movements will be a pain in the arse, but well worth it later down the road..

So you decided on a stick? Wonderful!

Next stop, game shop!

Yodabashi camera has a nice range, and while I wouldn't recommend buying from these places (unless you will stick around in Japan using a point card), it's a great place to physically get your hands on and check the weights, button feel, stick movements etc.

I am in no way an authority, but from listening to some of the best tournament fighters, one thing is clear.. Weight is key.

Trying to perform a technique whilst chasing the stick around the room isn't a pretty sight, and in the arcades you won't have such freedom. For these reasons it's highly recommended to get a weighty stick...

Gamer Journal - Tournament Fail?

A few weeks back I was invited as a filler for a tag team street fighter 4 tournament out here in Tokyo, not releasing my SF knowledge was somewhere between slim and none. Being a Tekken player myself, the natural progression seemed to be that coming from a 3D player realm to a 2D one would favor me... Fail número uno.

As a kid with a Megadrive, “Street Fighter” was out and “Streets of Rage” was in. Hours would be devoted to collecting rings or coins on platformers, smashing bots or smashing cars. Roll on 1995 and “Virtual Fighter” fever took over, followed a few years later by the “Tekken” era...

The tournament was over before it began. Our team outclassed and overwhelmed by the quality of play here. I'd like to think as a total scrub, I did pretty well .. But that would be horsecrap sir. (Check out the vid and see what you think).

Without a doubt I walked away with a mission. Chun Li would be back.. With none of this 3rd rate play bullony..

Game on..