Fight Term. - Yomi

That's Yomi man, that's Yomi.

I’m a few steps behind the world here, but a key stone of fighting psychology is I something the Japanese call Yomi..

A term meaning "Knowing the mind of the opponent", and is essentially an intangible asset required in fighting games. It's the ability to know what your opponent is going to do, and act appropriately. Whether you achieve this by "conditioning" the opponent to act one way, and then acting in another way, or simply working your way into the head of your opponent, Yomi is just that: the ability to know what your opponent is going to do.

"I got owned by an insane Akuma rushdown. He kept hitting me with flip throws and flip kicks, so I decided to shut him up with a wake up Shoryuken. He parried it and punished with a Raging Demon! Talk about Yomi."

If you can condition your enemy to act in a certain way, you can then use his own instincts against him (a concept from Judo). Paramount in the design of competitive games is the guarantee to the player that if he knows what his enemy will do, there is some way to counter it.

So, I didn't pen this myself, but you get the gist right? The mentality behind it is pretty deep, applying to all kinds of games and sports. In terms of Tekken and Street Fighter the options are genially between 2 and three, making a rock, paper, scissors type situation. A correct guess on a wakeup usually has a huge impact on the hit points, but also the conditioning of your partner.

Food for thought .. But that's some next level shit yo!

Sanford Santhrax Kelly - Gamer Focus

Chewing through Street Fighter matches will inevitably bring you to this guy. A famed Cammy and Akuma player who recently changed up to Sagat..

Check a couple of these interviews by Fighters Fury last year. Insights, insights..

Sanford is the Royal Knight Commander of Empire Arcadia. For those of you that may not be aware, Empire Arcadia is one of the biggest & best gamer companies on the planet, ran by Isaiah “TriForce” Johnson.

For about a year now. Sanford has been know through out the Street Fighter IV community as a great Cammy / Akuma player and is well known for his rush downs & vicious mind games. Just recently, due to the frustration of Akuma’s low health and the randomness of certain matches. Sanford decided to play more with Sagat, thus causing a few fans to disapprove of his current selection. In the video interview, Sanford explains why he has done this and why he still plays with Cammy & Akuma.

As you can see during the video, we get much more in depth information on the inner workings of Sanford Kelly. Besides Justin Wong, we find out that Ricky Ortiz is a rival that Santhrax is striving to beat one day. We also discuss his growing pains within Evo’s Marvel vs Capcom 2′s International tournament, where last year he finally took the crown from his good friend and rival Justin Wong.

http://fightersfury.net/episode-6-sanford-santhrax-kelly/

DarkSydePhil - HDR

In a rare insightful video, DSP reviews the entire situation regarding Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and takes on the hot topic of why it's no longer played in a competitive setting. If you've ever played Super Turbo or HDR, check it out!




Pretty dope shit, I'm sure you'll agree. DSP is one of the old school masters, and 

‪http://www.thekingofhate.com 

‪http://www.youtube.com/dspgaming for game playthroughs Donate to darksydephil@hotmail.com thru paypal yo.

LingMassacre - Avoiding the Puddle

Trolling through podcasts on the net has been the best move so far. it's incredible the amount of quality (and not so great quality) information out there. In terms of Tekken know how, you have to wake up pretty early to beat 'Avoiding the Puddle".. Don't let the name fool you, this one is dope. Check this chunk of an interview with LingMassacre..

J. How do you feel about matchups in general in Tekken 6? Do you think it's a major issue, or do you thinks it's balanced enough that it's not a major issue?

L. It's balanced enough so that tier lists mean shit..

J. Erm, ok..

L. And I say that with the most amount of fuver that I can inject into it. Tier lists mean nothing..

J. Ok..

L. I wipe my butt with them.

J. Whoa ok..

L. So coming from 4, coming from DR, there were some terrible matchups in DR. There’s no getting around it, there no playing your optimum ability, seeking out a way.. No you are going to die... With this game it's freaking Disneyland, I can beat anyone with Xioling. The way that I beat a person is by getting in there head, essentially. I can watch somebody’s play, I can analysis it. And then more than that I can know what you're feeling. It requires a little bit of empathy between rounds.. You take a small look over, are they tensive, are they passive..

http://www.avoidingthepuddle.com/news/2011/3/31/avoiding-the-puddle-episode-18-featuring-lingmassacre.html

Some awesome stuff, and just to back it up, check out the man himself in action. WOnder why they call him the LingMassacre .. Lolz

Resource Ranking - The 7

With Tekken, Street Fighter 4, BlazBlue, Soul Calibur IV and Dead or Alive (jokes), the next step has been getting into the gaming community. Sure, move sets, insider techniques and hitbox references are  essential, but  how to train, mental preparation for competitions and what to expect in 2011-2012 is what I'm going for here.

SRK.

Run by the awesome keits and Inkblot, Undoubtedly SRK is the Hub of the fighting game community. The whole shebang. The number one resource for everything from competition details and gamer interviews to the latest patching and releases. Always with the interviews, SRK dedicates itself to the fighting scene wholeheartedly. Having such a huge fan base, community member often post details way before SRK other sites.

shoryuken.com

SureYouCanFight

SYCF uses the podcast format to reach its demographic. A real comprehensive group of guys including special guests, chat, everything gaming. Generally seen as a Street Fighter based discussion, maybe heavy on the US scene but nevertheless plenty of essential information flying around.

sureyoucanfight.com

Morning radio podcasts

Basically a 3-hour piece on everything going on Japan side. Not strictly a gaming hub, but has an overwhelming bunch of info on current releases and console details

radio.morningproject.com/

Tekken Zaibatsu

Has the absolute of hub of info on game characters move sets, cheats, bios and back-stories. If you really care about your characters history and intricacies, this is the place to be. The zaibatsu community is generally pretty hardcore gamers and you'll be hard pushed to find anything not covered here. Most importantly a list of gaming spots around Japan and competitions on the horizon.

tekkenzaibatsu.com

Evo

Although SRK has the community links, Evo literally is the horse’s mouth. If it affects the community, Evo will have it first.. Roll on sf vs. Tekken.

evo2k.com

Avoiding the Puddle

Similar to SYCF on formatting, using the podcast to spread the word, ATP has interviews with experts in the competitive community. Going a little deeper into the intricacies of the tactical play and mind games. Most importantly the format seems to diverge each week, looking at the history of the game and key players..

The King of Hate

DarksydePhil is one of the oldschool, Trueschool Street fighter players. Dsp is an all round presenter and commentator on a whole host of gaming genres.. As a SF2 player, he commands respect and often goes back to his roots to give tutorials and tips on beat em ups in general. A whole slew of video tutorials and player "madness" does more than demonstrate techniques, but brings you into the world of competitive gaming. Check out this vid on his prep for competitions around the US..

thekingofhate.com

Tier Ranking - The Sucky 7

Picking a fighter can pretty spiritual thing for some people. That character will be stepping in the ring re team, just you. You get a feel for the way the character moves and reacts You want to know this character and sync with them.. Sometimes..

Note, this list ain't just playability and move sets, this is the whole package, including bios, fashion, and just general offensive concepts! Remember all those horrendous back stories that even as a kid made you think "gee, someone really was hitting the crack pipe when they coughed up this bullshit".

Dan Hibiki (before SF4)

Inevitably Dan had to make an appearance in a list like this. Sure he's a comedy character, and has come on leaps and bounds (so to speak) in SSF4, but there's no way to play down his all round shitty gameplay. Dan..

Jane (Fighting Vipers)

Virtual Fighter is always going to be Sega’s flagship fighting game, and for good reasons.. One of which was the lack of fighting games available on the Saturn back in 95. Fighting vipers wasn't the worst game ever, but, the back-stories Oh man..  The back-stories. Without a doubt the worst and most hash reasons to join a fighting tournament. This entire list could be dedicated to the FV characters but just check Jane to see what I'm talking about..
"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"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Vipers

Yoda (Soul Calibur 4)

If you are using an anti grab character now, just stop it.. No, no, no.. Just.. Stop it.. Stand up, go to the bathroom and flush your head in the toilet.. You are a douche.. Something is just inherently salty about fighting a character that can avoid high attacks or grabs. Footsies are part and parcel of most games, but seriously.. Really? Midget characters just gotto go.

Gon (Tekken 3)

For the exact same reasons as above! The wee arse! Tekken 3 lost a hell of a lot of support once this guy came into use..

Blanka (SF)

Blanka by is no means the worst of the worst, but it's his application that grinds my balls. Turtle ass Blanka.. Just sitting there.. Charging his ultra.. Waiting for you to come in.. Goddamit I hate that guy.

Tsunami (Ballz)

Respectively, there are a few aspects that have remained constant through a lot of the fighter games; Ninja's, Samurai, Native Americans, animals.. But one thing that needs to be dropped is Sumo.. Tsunami from the genesis was a prime example of why Sumo wrestlers are excellent at sumo wrestling, but suck in brawls. How many Sumo have you used? That's right, they suck! (Couldn't even find a picture of this guy)


Meat (MK4)


"Meat was a horrible experiment created by Shang Tsung, who escaped the sorcerer's clutches before he could be completed.."  If anything this was a horrible experiment by midway to fill up the roster. Absolutely a meat head , having no originality, moves, or even clothes.. Meat.. Total Sheat..

Gamer Journal - Demoralizing

Taking a loss sucks.

Taking a second loss blows.

But taking your 10+ loss at a game center in Shibuya is more than pitiful, it's total shit.

I'm taking heavy losses in my SF but the Tekken is holding up pretty good. Walking away with a 60% win average (sucks, but hey, it's Japan!). Pretty simply you have to be able to adapt. One thing that is really becoming predominant, is that the longer you play the opponent the clearer your patterns become. Just like those Jackie Chan movies told us a thousand times: adapt to your opponents style, thus forcing the opponent to change his style, and so destroy themself..

Maybe that was Jet Li..

Anyway. Something that works a lot is to play freestyle in round 1, maybe even your first game. It takes the tension outta the gameplay, and  when you do come with your A game, the opponent will be forced to adapt. Basically you are controlling the tempo of the stage.

I heard the same applied to street fighter 4 recently. Fighting Abel; if you see him rolling in too much, mixing up your gameplay; just throw him. Roll in, throw, it works. Threaten with the throw. It's worth doing if nothing but to take the tempo of the game back.. It allows you to take control and dictate the game speed.

Nina has a whole bag if tricks, but for the remainder of the month I'm going to be working on Julia. She's proved in the first few hours of play to be pretty versatile, and a little more complex than Nina. having an A and B character will be essential when it comes to Tekken tag 2, so I'll be looking to expand the moveset 10 fold..

Tier Listings - Bullshit

I've never been one to buy into tier listings..  As a Tekken player, that kinda ranking is all up for debate.

Currently this is what Bloodline Rebellion is running with;

A+ = Steve Fox, Marshall Law, Bob

AAA = Bryan Fury, Paul Phoenix, Julia Chang, Lars, Emily

AA = Bruce, Baek, King, Jack-6, Eddy, Feng, Nina

A- = Roger Jr., Armor King, Heihachi, Kazuya, Devil Jin, Christie, Anna, Miguel, Leo, Lee, Alisa

B+ = Lei, Sergei, Marduk, Jin, Asuka, Ganryu

B = Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, Wang

B- = Yoshimitsu, Raven, Kuma, Panda

C+ = Mokujin, Zafina

Taken from http://www.smashboards.com/news/blogs/92287/2548/tekken-6-bloodline-rebellion-tier-listoctober-06-2009

Utter bullshit. I'd be inclined to say that Mokujin is one of the most popular characters out here in Tokyo.

Tier listing in games such as Street Fighter do apply, don’t get me wrong, tier listing do have a place.. Some characters have clear advantages over their opponent, fireball vs. charge ect .. Anti air and whatnot, but letting this kinda list influence your character choice is total noobism.

Tier listings ain't adding anything to the community; to be honest they take more than they give. If you find yourself influenced by these listings, you're basically setting yourself up for a beating. Many competitions now enforce the anti counter rules, using a character lock in competitions (one character through the whole tournament).

A good example of how the favoritism of tier listings works against the game is clear in SSF4 now.  Many tournaments recently have the Top 8 players invariably all using Yang. Yang Yang battles; Tactically it's an interesting battle, but I wouldn't wanna pay to watch that at Evo.. and there's no way this is going to open up the community..

Watch a few character combo videos.. If you're biting you’re knuckles saying 'Daaam!'.. That’s probably the guy for you.

Check em out.. Don't accept the ranking bullshit.

Nina Williams - Tactically

Tier lists are always under scrutiny, so let's skip the beef and just get down to Nina.

In no way am I an authority on Tekken, but the amount of time spent in game centers here might apply to some of what I'm saying.

Some benefits playing Nina

First and foremost she's easy on the eyes. You really wanna spend hours in your bedroom playing with a half naked, greased up wrestler?

Secondly Female characters have the speed advantage. They can escape with relative ease, using a cartwheel motion if shit gets hairy. Imagine the opponent is setting off on a combo.. Usually the first two moves are predictable, but third and fourth are generally 50/50 between high and low attacks. A male character would have to do some quick guessing, perhaps get pinned in the process. Female characters always have the quick retreat option..

Nina's instant reversals are excellent.. Opponent kicking or punching too much? Reversal the shit outa them. Against characters such as Jin and Steve (punchers) the reversals are tight, but Bob (bodyweight push) matchups..

Nina can be totally defensive or offensive depending on player’s preference. She's got the whole bag of tricks

Nina has no taunts. Usually taunts are a pro, but in terms of input mistakes; there is really no opportunity for mistakes in Tekken. An accidental taunt will have you knocked out in 10 seconds.

For now I'll be working on improving Nina as my A character.. But ill be getting to grips with everyone real soon. After all Tekken Tag is just round the corner..

Gamer Journal - Loses

A few weeks back I got an invite to join a Street Fighter team at Taito game center in Shinjuku. Our team lost.. abysmally.. And somehow I felt mildly responsible..

As a kid I was all about the platformers, and while my love of beat em ups stayed with me since the days of Primal Rage and Eternal Champions.. I never had the patience, the disposition or mental capacity to look at the beat em ups in anything other than a one-dimensional perspective. Really didn't handle the loses well, as countless smashed GameGears and Gameboys will tell you.

Ain’t going to be studying frame rates here, and I'm not expecting miracles at Evo.. But the next year will be largely dedicated to the gaming scene, specifically, soul caliber, Tekken and Street fighter. Sure I'll be playing a few games in between, but I'll be taking a few competitions away with me too..

Basically How far can an average gamer guy go in the fight scene?

Let's see..

Nina Williams - Some History

Nina Williams (born July 24, 1964) is a character from the Tekken game series. She is a cold-blooded assassin who made her first appearance in the original Tekken and has appeared in every Tekken since. She is one of only four Tekken characters to appear in each game and the only female character to have appeared in every installment. She has a notable love/hate relationship with her younger sister, Anna Williams.

Nina has a lethal fighting style, consisting of many throws, elaborate kick combos, grapples, holds, and chain-throws (something that only a few Tekken series characters have). In 2005, Nina Williams starred in her own spin-off game, Death by Degrees.

Personality

Nina is generally portrayed as emotionless, stoic, and focused. Nina is somewhat antisocial, and also appears to be in great psychological turbulence, most noticeably since Tekken 3. This is presumably due to the traumatic events of her life such as witnessing the death of her beloved father (before the events of Tekken) as a young child, the results of her "cryosleep", which resulted Nina suffering amnesia. Two more events that may have contributed to Nina's cool demeanour are the discovery that she has a son, Steve Fox, who was created by in-vitro fertilization without Nina's knowledge during her "cryosleep" and the deep-seated enmity between Anna and herself.

When it comes to clients, Nina isn't picky about them, however Nina somehow developed a closer relationship with her boss, Jin , when Jin sacrificed himself, Nina told to Lars to not judge Jin for his actions, since he was trying to save the world from Azazel. She is willing to take their contracts without hesitation. In Tekken 6, when she was hired by Jin, she knew of his plans and even contemplated his selfless act when Jin took out Azazel in Campaign Scenario mode.

Another notable thing for Nina is that her missions, (Death by Degrees and Tekken 6 Campaign Scenario mode) are inclined for the good of the world, something that Nina is aware of but keeps quiet about. Anna, however, sides with the "evil" characters (G-corporation's Kazuya Mishima, whose goal is to take over the world after defeating Jin) just to get close to Nina to settle their rivalry.

Fighting Style

Ever since her debut, Nina instantly became a fan favorite, due to her speed, lethal moves, and chain throws. Her strength is on par with most characters, and she can even evade and counterattack. Her combos are something to watch out too, as they are elaborate, strong, and even lethal. However, her chain throws are difficult to perform that it requires precision and patience.

Tekken 1

Nina was born and raised in Ireland, as was her sister, Anna Williams. From a young age, both were taught various forms of martial arts. A sibling rivalry boiled between the two. Both girls adored their father, Richard Williams, and they often battled for his attention. Nina was trained in assassination martial arts and borrows concepts from Aikido and bone martial arts, which was ideal for her job, as she quickly became a world-renowned assassin. Nina then entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament when she was hired to assassinate Heihachi Mishima.

Ending: Anna accuses Nina of stealing one of her shoes. Nina then slaps Anna across the face. While Anna is crying, Nina shows the camera that she actually did steal Anna's shoe.

Tekken 2

Before Tekken 2, tragedy struck when Richard was murdered. Both Nina and Anna blame each other for the murder, but the exact nature of Richard's death has never been disclosed. Since the murder, their rivalry has slowly become more of a bitter hatred. In Tekken 2, she was contracted to kill Kazuya Mishima, but conflict with her sister prevented her from fulfilling the assignment. She was captured by Mishima after failing to assassinate him and was used as a test subject in the "cold sleep" project (cryogenic sleep). Anna volunteered and also was put in cryogenic sleep.

Ending: Nina is at her father, Richard Williams's grave. The camera then turns away for a few seconds as Anna is walking behind her. Nina looks angry at first, but Anna soothes her down by showing flowers in her hands, indicating that she is putting them there for Richard. The two finally walk away from each other, with the camera catching a smile on NIna's face as she leaves.

Tekken 3

The experiments went on for 19 years. Nina and her sister remained young thanks to the effects of the cryogenic sleep. Another consequence of this cryogenic project was total memory loss, a fate of which Anna was spared. During Tekken 3, she was controlled by Ogre and manipulated to try and kill Jin Kazama, but she failed. Anna tried to bring Nina's memories back, but Nina instead left without telling her sister.

Ending: Nina is in a cryongenic chamber in sleep mode, with Anna watching. The screen then shows something saying "Work was underway to restore Nina's memories, but...". A few seconds later, Anna and Nina are shown entering a cemetery. Anna is ready to place more flowers on Richard Williams's grave, but then a flash occurs in which after Nina falls down. Anna tries to help Nina up, but then Nina slaps Anna, and then Anna falls to the ground. It is unknown what she is saying after its done, but then she leaves Anna on the floor, with Anna smiling.

Tekken 4

In Tekken 4, she returned to life as an assassin, as it was the only thing that she recalled from her previous life. Her next contract came from a mafia syndicate asking her to kill a British boxer, Steve Fox. As the tournament progressed, she gained knowledge that she was in fact Steve's mother. Despite this, she felt nothing towards him and attempted to carry out her hit regardless. However, after Lei Wulong brought down the mafia, Nina no longer had a reason to pursue her target.

Ending: Nina looks up a computer program, and then realizes that Steve is her son. She is then ready to assasinate him, but she lets go of the trigger, thinking she can't kill her only son. Suddenly, Lei bursts through the door, yellling "Freeze!", however Nina manages to escape and hold her ground. As she tries to attack Steve, Lei once again orders Nina to freeze, although this time, Steve jumps on Lei, blocking him. Nina then escapes again, saying "thanks" to her son.

Tekken 5

Taking a break from working as an assassin, Nina decided that it was time she rediscovered her lost memories. She came to the conclusion that the only person who could help her was Anna. Anna (who was absent in Tekken 4) and Nina met up. However, at first sight, Nina's memories and hatred instinctively returned, and they engaged in a gun battle, as shown in the Tekken 5 opening. The gun battle went on for days and the area ended up like a warzone with no side giving in. Finally, they decided to meet at the next tournament and finish their battle once and for all.

Tekken 6

Nina was hired to stop anyone from getting in Jin Kazama's way in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6. Shortly after her mission was complete, Jin Kazama recruited Nina to be his bodyguard and assist his Tekken Force in taking over the world. After she was done with the tournament, she went to a congratulations party where she is seen doing her make-up in the ladies room but is nearly attacked by Anna who fly kicks the mirror and tries to attack Nina. Shortly after, Nina is seen leaving the ladies room with Anna on the floor with lipstick marks on her face.

This ending is the alternate to Anna's where they get along.

In the Scenario Campaign after Jin kills Azazel she explains Lars that you would have to be a saint to judge Jin for his actions.