So I know I just made a post, but I ran across this, and I wanted to post it up and share it since I think it's so awesome. Let's get going.
So first up I was on EventHubs.com reading the latest posts, and there was an interview from this girl Tara, who interviewed Justin Wong, Daigo Umehara and Seth Killian. She was from the site/group called "AbleGamers", which is a group for videogamers with a handicap. She asked them if they had played any people with a handicap, and what they thought about them trying to compete. Needless to say they were all for it, and were very supportive. In the interview a couple of the big names mentioned were "The One Handed Terror", and "The Real NOM4D". The One Handed Terror is just what he sounds like. He was born with only a right hand. His left hand didn't fully develop, so he has a bit of a stump for a left hand. Somehow he figured out how to use a fightstick with it, and he's done pretty well competitively. Went out to Evo and got to play with the best players there. He's hung up the towel on the competitive scene, but honestly, I hope he goes back into it. It's such an inspiration to see him play. On a random note, I think I played him on XBL before. His name sounded really familiar. Anyways, here is a video of him introducing himself and giving a bit of his backstory:
Next up is "TheRealNOM4D". He was born paralyzed from the waist down. Sound impossible to play? Think again. He uses his face. Literally. He took an interest in video games, and he just "evolved" with each controller that came out, and figured out how to use it. Here's a video of a news spot he had on TV:
Quick little note. The NOM4D layout in COD4 was actually made specifically with him in mind. Kinda neat, actually. But all in all, I find it really inspiring to see people like these going strong, and being able to compete. It makes me want to push even harder to try and get better. Seeing these guys work with these two handicaps is just amazing, and again, I'm sure it's inspiring for a lot of people out there, myself included.
So that's about it. Nothing else to report, so I'm gonna go crash for the night. It's a new week, with the possibilities of new thrills, frustrating situations and just plain laugh-out-loud moments. This is Q, signing off. As usual, Robo-Ky says "Stay Cool."
So I got to hang out with Micaiah today, which was pretty cool. We decided to play Marvel Vs Capcom 2, since I brought my TE fight stick over. At first it was a bit boring, because all Micaiah was doing was complaining that I spam the same move with Sentinel. Which I do, since I don't know any combos with him for the moment, lol. I decided to switch it up and start picking random teams, obviously picking the better characters, but then I started mixing in some terrible characters for kicks and giggles. I ended up using Magneto/Juggernaut/Storm, which isn't too bad of a team, since Magneto and Storm are two "God" tiers in the game, but I don't know how to use 'em too much. That all changed today.
Micaiah went a few rounds, then decided to take a break and let the others play. They were just gluttons for punishment. I figured we'd play a few rounds each, then we'd move on to something else to do. Nope. After winning 55 straight rounds they finally quit, but we weren't without our battle scars. Timmy ended up getting a blister on his left thumb from using the D-Pad so much, and my left hand was just killing me from going crazy on the joystick. Using Magneto gets a bit rough after a while. Needless to say, I now have a basic idea of how Magneto should be played, after all this. Although it's not like I'll be going competitive with it any time soon.
Granted they aren't the best marvel players, but it was still fun, all in all. It's always fun chilling with friends and having fun. :) Anyways, that ought to do it for now, I guess.
So I just recently watched a documentary called "I Got Next". It's been out for a month or so now I think, and it's really good. Essentially it's a documentary on the fighting game scene. It primarily focuses on Street Fighter 4, and what it's single-handedly done to bring back Street Fighter competition, other than the two big tournaments in the USA. *Season's Beatings and Evolution* It was created by Ian Cofino, who originally started this as a school project, but the hype and the support from fans, friends and family grew and turned it into much more than just a simple documentary. You can check out the trailer below.
*Be sure to click the black "HD" button once the video starts! Helps increase the quality.*
I also recently competed in a small online tournament for Street Fighter 4. One of my buddies from a forum that I used to be on got ahold of me on PSN, and said he was holding a tournament with a bunch of the members that used to be competitive with SF4 on the forum. Winner got a brand new fightstick. I think the number of entrants were around 15 or so. Everybody in the tournament thought that I had been slacking off and not playing competitively, or just playing in general. They thought I had washed up. They were wrong. I came in and swept the competition. As for the fight stick I won, I was pretty excited after finding out which one I was getting. A Hori Real Arcade Pro 3, or an HRAP3 for short. It's the Special Edition, which means that it's all Sanwa parts instead of the terrible stock Hori parts. Meaning that I don't have to do any modding whatsoever, which is a plus.
Also I received my Tekken 5 Hori Stick in the mail a couple days ago. The circle button doesn't work, probably from a bad connection/bad soldering, from what I can see. I need to go pick up a soldering gun to get this taken care of, otherwise it's just an over-sized paperweight, or I got a nice Blazblue Stick, lol. *Since Blazblue only uses 4 buttons* Either way I really got to fix this, 'cause I also got that Hori EX2 stick coming in that's gonna need to be modded.
Alright, so that just about sums this blog up. This is Q, signing off.
What's up people? Q here, and guess what? Decided to get a blog. Figured it'd be a good way to rant and rave for the things that I enjoy, or the things I disagree with, and to just post my daily drama that I sometimes have to go through. Plus it's a good way for me to practice web design, I guess. Go me. Anyways, let's cut to the chase and get on with a massive first blog entry containing all sorts of stuff that you guys probably couldn't give 2 cents about.
So I got my Tournament Edition Fight Stick today. Hooray. Bad rhymes, I know. *I swear, it wasn't intentional. Seriously.* I got it for free, actually. Back when Street Fighter 4 came out in February this year, I got a message from some guy that was on the forums I was on, wanting some tutoring help. I went along with it, and helped him out for a few weeks. He had a tournament in his area that he was going to compete in, and he ended up taking top 3. For appreciation, he said he was going to send me a fight stick since he knew I wanted one. Awesome, right? Nope. He ended up getting kicked out of his apartment with his wife and kid, so I told him not to worry about it, and just send it when he could. Well, that was back in March/April, but then I got a message from him a week or so ago, saying he was back on his feet and moved into a new apartment/condo. He said that he got my Xbox Live message to all my friends, stating that I had traded in my Xbox 360 for a PS3. He had bought a Tournament Edition Fight Stick for the PS3 to send me, and he was sending it out. Totally cool with me.
So it finally gets here today. I open it up, and plug it in, all ready to test it out. Well, being that I live in "John's World", *fancy name for the "Twilight Zone", basically. Where nothing EVER goes as planned* I had a feeling it wouldn't go right. Of course it didn't. The guy had tried out some arcade parts he bought on the stick, and re-installed the joystick improperly. So out comes the toolbox to take this sucker apart. Re-positioned the joystick, but was only able to fasten 2 screws instead of the 4 required, because the mounting plate for the joystick wasn't meant to be put in the position it's in. But hey, it works, and it's solidly mounted, so it's not going anywhere. Time to test the buttons. Yep, you guessed it. He re-wired the buttons incorrectly. Away to the forums we went looking for the original wiring setup. Found it, and yet again, you guessed it. He re-wired it differently from the default wire setup. So after a few hours of trial-and-error, I finally got the right wires to the right buttons, and all was well. We did have a casualty, though. My hand accidentally slipped, and one of the quick disconnects came off the wire, so now I have to re-crimp the wire. I just swiped a same-color wire from the Xbox 360 fight stick I already have to make sure this works. Gotta head to the hardware store to try and replace it, or else it's a dead duck.
So that's taken care of. Now I got a Hori EX2 Fight Stick coming in for the Xbox 360 that I'm going to try and mod, just to see what I can do with it, and to try and learn how to solder, possibly. Who knows. Also got another message from the guy above, and he said he's sending some extra arcade parts for the trouble I had. Awesome. Good thing I kept my laptop box. That's right, I'm going to try and turn my laptop box into a fight stick, since I know for sure it's possible. If people can use shoeboxes and tupperware containers, why not a laptop box? Even has a convenient carrying handle.
In other news, picked up a Fallout 3 GOTY Edition Strategy Guide at Gamestop today. Over 800 pages big. It's like a bible, seriously. Everything you could possibly imagine is covered. Also, I had heard rumors of Super Street Fighter 4 being able to be reserved, so I asked the store associate. I was happy to be informed that they WERE taking reserves. I reached in my wallet and slapped down $5 faster than you can say "It's MAHVEL BAYBEE!" *inside joke, you probably won't get it* Turns out that store employees get first dibs, so other than the manager reserving his copy, I'm the first person to reserve it. Looks like their nickname of "The Street Fighter Kid" for me is living up and going strong.
Speaking of Super Street Fighter 4, we do have some quote-on-quote "Unofficial" character portraits of the new characters:
Dee Jay
T. Hawk
Dee Jay and T. Hawk were requested to be in Street Fighter 4, but never made the cut. Due to the demand for another Street Fighter game, and several petitions and hundreds of thousands of e-mails requesting that they be released as Street Fighter 4 DLC, they were a no-brainer to include in the cast for Super Street Fighter 4. Now for the new girl:
Juri
She seems to be an interesting looking character. Judging by the trailer, which you can see below, she seems to have the same "Psycho Drive" that M. Bison *AKA Dictator for you hard-core fans out there* has. Plus she's all kicks, so she'll be an interesting character to use, to say the least. Couple of things to point out from the trailer below:
At 1:47 she seems to have an attack that's similar to Dudley's "Cross Counter" from 3rd Strike. Interesting. That Ultra Combo she does at 1:52 looks pretty nasty, as well.
Here's the trailer showcasing all 3 characters:
So that should wrap it up. If you've managed to last this long and have read all of this, I applaud you. So in closing, I have 2 words:
