Street Fighter 4 mania
Evolution 2009, the premiere fighting game tournament in the U.S., kicked off yesterday in Las Vegas, and I’ve been eagerly following the Street Fighter 4 event via online streaming. Over 1,000 people are participating in SF4, which makes it the largest live fighting game tournament in U.S. history. I am a very amateur SF4 player so half of the time I’m in disbelief watching these guys play. Their skill and watertight execution are so slick. Even more impressive is the adaptation. The pros might be caught off guard for a round by unorthodox play, but they’ll quickly learn the habits of their opponent, settle into the flow of the match, and powerfully turn it around in their favor.
Other than a few mishaps, the live stream has been great with running commentary and picture-in-picture so that we can see the players’ faces and reactions. Even if you only have a passing interest in fighting games, I’d recommend checking out the live stream on Sunday night. SF4 finals will be hot!
While on the topic, I want to share some SF4 goodies I’ve acquired over the past couple weeks. Triumvir, a SoCal-based clothing label, partnered with Capcom a while back to create the official SF4 T-shirts. They were produced in very limited quantities and sold out quick, but an even more limited second run was produced in May. I managed to place my order for the second run and got a nice stack of T-shirts.
Front of Akuma shirt…
…and the back.
Front of Shadaloo Syndicate shirt. There are several colorways of this shirt, including a black-on-black color scheme that I probably should have ordered instead of this white one.
Back of Shadaloo Syndicate shirt.
After months of waiting, I finally received my SF4 Tournament Edition stick from Capcom’s online store. Never again will I order from them. Not only were they dead last in receiving shipments of the sticks, but they also don’t accept returns or refunds. Awful customer service as well.
Also picked up SF4 for PC. Even though I have the game for Xbox 360 already, I don’t bring my consoles to school and figured the PC version would be worth the $40. My LIVE gamertag is “Protocol Snow”. Feel free to add me if you want to play some friendly matches!
