Linked List: Execution In Fighting Games

Master Sirlin, writing over at Sirlin.net:

The more a game is about the difficulty of making your character do what you want to do, the necessarily less it is about strategy (that is, making good decisions).

This is why it’s not a good idea to make special moves really hard to do.

I agree with him 100%. Special moves can have timing and movements that can give them away, but making them arbitarily difficult to do makes it a fighting game about dexerity rather than a fighting game about strategy. This is why I enjoy Sirlin’s game Yomi so much - there’s almost zero dexterity required (you need to be able to hold a deck of cards), so it’s all strategy.

Linked List: Into the Lion's Den

Ken Hannahs, writing over at Nightmare Mode:

Shoryukens and double jumps; tiger kicks and chicken blocks. It’s an impenetrable language, strung together like a well-executed combo, leaving the uninitiated’s head flailing through an expanse of void, unable to glean more than the occasional word. The message it sends is evident from the moment you sit down and talk with fighters: if you want into this scene, you have to be willing to put in the time to understand it, and beyond that, you have to love it.

Continuing the fighting game community links from two weeks ago, we have another one, sitting firmly in between the camps of “the community is open” and “the community is closed”. Another really great read.

Linked List: Back to Basics

Tom Cannon, reporting over at the Penny Arcade Report:

In the aftermath, some are saying that the fighting game scene is being unfairly characterized.  Others say that drama is just a new way of life in the age of the stream monster.  There’s a little truth to both of those, but here’s the important thing: this drama does not represent what the fighting game scene is or why it is so special.  But it’s a glimpse of what we could become if we don’t take this week’s lessons to heart.

Speaking of game journalism covering the fighting game community, here’s some awesome coverage care of the Penny Arcade Report, posted on the same day as Isaiah’s post. Interesting pair of articles to read in conjunction.

Linked List: The Freak & the Geek

Isaiah Taylor, writing over at ‘The Brog’:

However, I’m taking issue with why you’re visiting our “back alley.” I love the fact that you got a hot tip on this juicy story. I like that you felt just as uncomfortable as I did and are working hard to rid all communities of this kind of behavior. My question is, when will I see you again? EVO? Are you even interested in our culture besides one or two in-depth articles a year?

Interesting take on the big fighting-culture sexism dustup. Isaiah doesn’t support the sexism at all (+10 points), but is disappointed that this is really the only time game “journalism” bothers to cover the fighting community. I agree with him: I’d love to know more about the fighting game community outside of attempting to visit Shoryuken.com and forgetting whether “123” refers to the bottom or top of a joystick. Where’s Linsanity for Soul Calibur?

Reminded me of my own take on game “journalism“‘s coverage of Ludum Dare.