Street Fighter IV

[Big Gulp]

SO true.  I mean really, what hobby CAN'T you spend lots of money on that someone else doesn't go "you're nuts!" when you do?

Okay, very true points.  It's just that I can't see how fighting games can keep anyone's attention for all that long.  I like them well enough, but in limited doses.  The thought of blowing a good chunk of change on them boggles me.  I don't begrudge anyone their fun, I just don't get it.

[Valmorian]

Okay, very true points.  It's just that I can't see how fighting games can keep anyone's attention for all that long.  I like them well enough, but in limited doses.  The thought of blowing a good chunk of change on them boggles me.  I don't begrudge anyone their fun, I just don't get it.

Just how I can't see how racing or sports games can keep anyone's attention for all that long, or how some of my friends think the same way about my obsession with euro board games.  There's nothing special about Fighting games that makes this form of criticism more applicable to them.

[Hindenburg]

It's just that I can't see how fighting games can keep anyone's attention for all that long.

Most likely because you never really learned to play one of the good ones. Doesn't even have to be ridiculously complex shit like Guilty Gear.

[Velorath]

Haven't gone online yet, since I'm only a casual player of fighting games and I figure I'll just get my ass beat.  So for now I've just been trying to unlock all the characters, and messed around with the challenge mode.  Beat the game on Normal pretty easily with Ken, Ryu, and Sakura.  Even beat it fairly easily with Abel, which was unexpected since he's a new character and I didn't really know how to use him at first (picked it up pretty quickily though).  Then I tried to beat it with Chun Li, who I probably used the most back in the old days of SFII, and it took me for-fucking-ever.

Maybe someone here who plays these games at a higher level can shine some light on the subject, but is Chun Li just shit in this game or something?  I can do all her moves (although the Super/Ultra can be hard to pull off sometimes since I'm still just using a standard 360 controller), but she just doesn't seem to be on the same level as the other characters I've tried so far.

[Rendakor]

I got this as well, and I'm loving it. I'm not an arcade-stick-using pro, but I do love me some Street Fighter. If anyone wants to go a round on Xbox Live, I'm game (XBL Zarix).

Fake Edit: How do you invite your friends to a match? Selecting them on my friends list the "Invite to Game" option is greyed out.

[Big Gulp]

Most likely because you never really learned to play one of the good ones. Doesn't even have to be ridiculously complex shit like Guilty Gear.

Dude, I'm 34 years old.  Trust me when I say that a good two years of my teenage life were sunk into Street Fighter and I got quite good playing with my buddies.  Now?  My buddies live in different states and are all married and have kids.  The days of me endlessly playing fighting games are over.  They're a nice diversion, but not the obsession they once were.

ETA:  Maybe another big part of my aversion to the game is that it isn't in the arcade.  Street Fighter always seemed most fun to me hanging out at Pinball Pete's, smoking underage, and calling your buddies out on their cheapass tactics.  Sitting on the couch?  Where's the ambiance?

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Gulp: Holy crap...I really am more surprised how difficult it seems for you to accept that people actually like to play fighting games. Also on the stick thing, you can use the arcade sticks for other fighting games and all your arcade style xbla/psn games. It is a good investment if you like those style of games.

I play in my living room quite often with my friends and sometimes we have a get together and we throw down some matches. After this long it really is like playing chess with a good pal.

Last, I don't know what is all the hate for Guilty Gear. Different strokes man. Yes the game is execution heavy, but that game is fucking unbelievably good. If it is not for you, that is fine, but that does not make the game not good. In my opinion, it is is easily one the most well balanced, innovative and well constructed fighting game franchise ever made.

PS we should start posting strats and crap. And all the people playing this game here need to play online together. I am currently using Balrog (boxer) and ryu. I am dabbling with Dhalsim as well. So far I really like the game. The control feels good, the combos are not too hard to pull off and the focus system is really well done.

If there is anything people are having problems with, or if they don't understand how something works, I would be more than happy to share everything I have gathered so far.

On that note, crap with ryu...

You can combo the ultra after the shoryuken. if you have the meter for ultra, end your combos with the shoryuken. I was doing

jump in roundhouse/cross up forward, standing fierce -> shoryuken ->focus attack dash cancel -> ultra.

if they block the whole combo up to the SRK you can focus dash cancel into a forward dash -> throw or focus dash cancel backwards and srk their counter.

additionally you can combo a standing/crouching jab after the gut punch(forward + fierce) and you can still combo crouching short/forward/roundhouse after the collar bone breaker (forward + strong)

You can also focus attack dash cancel right after a hadoken to chase behind it.
 

[Hindenburg]

Last, I don't know what is all the hate for Guilty Gear. Different strokes man. Yes the game is execution heavy, but that game is fucking unbelievably good. If it is not for you, that is fine, but that does not make the game not good. In my opinion, it is is easily one the most well balanced, innovative and well constructed fighting game franchise ever made.

What hate? GG is fucking awesome. It's complexity is also ridiculous. Venom stuff, FRC's. That shit, it's crazy. It's the perfect poopsocker's fighting game. Part of the reason it's so damn well balanced is because they've been working on it since GGX.

[Velorath]

You can combo the ultra after the shoryuken. if you have the meter for ultra, end your combos with the shoryuken. I was doing

jump in roundhouse/cross up forward, standing fierce -> shoryuken ->focus attack dash cancel -> ultra.

if they block the whole combo up to the SRK you can focus dash cancel into a forward dash -> throw or focus dash cancel backwards and srk their counter.

additionally you can combo a standing/crouching jab after the gut punch(forward + fierce) and you can still combo crouching short/forward/roundhouse after the collar bone breaker (forward + strong)

You can also focus attack dash cancel right after a hadoken to chase behind it.
 

And this is why I won't be playing against you guys online.  As soon as I read that focus attack cancel shit in the instruction manual I thought "fuck, this is why I usually don't pick up these games".

[LK]

The damn Tournament Sticks are sold out and won't be available until April. Ugh.

[Hindenburg]

And this is why I won't be playing against you guys online.  As soon as I read that focus attack cancel shit in the instruction manual I thought "fuck, this is why I usually don't pick up these games".

If you sit around a bit in training mode practicing it, it's surprisingly easy to pull it off, provided you're not using the standard controller.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

velorath: have some matches with me and I will show you all this stuff. it is easy. It just sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

[Velorath]

Don't know if my connection sucks and thus the game is trying to match me with other people who have shit connections, but I tried some online play today and it didn't work out too well.  I won three out of four matches, but it took me forever to get into each game.  Going to quick match (in ranked play) shows three names all with bad connections.  Selecting any of them would invariably give me a "unable to join, this game is full" message, or just an "unable to play" message.  Going to custom match you can select connection as the main priority for a search.  Doing that, it would take a minute for the search to run, and then I'd see maybe one or two people with good connections, but their games would already be full by the time I selected them, and then rather than allowing you to try one of the other names on the list, it sends you back to the search options, where you have to do another search.  Made my own game, waited for a few minutes and nobody jumped in.

Out of two of the occassions I got into a game, the other player seemed to lose connection partway through, so their characters just stood there while I beat them.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

velo: im online right now. Napkinschematic

if you want to have a few matches.

[Velorath]

velo: im online right now. Napkinschematic

if you want to have a few matches.

Appreciate the offer, but I probably won't go online again until after I've tracked down a stick (Hori's EX 2 is the only thing I see for the 360 in the price range I'm looking for, and like all the sticks it's sold out right now).

[Rendakor]

I've found the easiest way to get matches online is to just turn on Arcade Request and play arcade mode. I usually get at least one Online match per computer I fight.

[Cylus]

Fuck Zangief.

That aside, I find it fairly odd/intriguing that people are so willing to embrace SF4's difficulty and sing it's praises when those same folks would piss on games like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry.  Arguably, they aren't the same genre but the level of difficulty isn't that much different, at least in my eyes.  Granted, I haven't played an SF game regularly since my arcade stints in the early 90s but SF4, assuming it's not just me, isn't "easy" when it comes to the first player mode? 

I'll agree that it's always going to be more fun when playing with your roommates.  On the other hand, fucking Zangief would throw my Sagat's ass any damn time he even got within reach.   Guess I should learn to keep out of his reach? Heh.

[LK]

Netcode is amazing.

I find the fastest way to get matches is to host a lobby.

[Velorath]

Fuck Zangief.

That aside, I find it fairly odd/intriguing that people are so willing to embrace SF4's difficulty and sing it's praises when those same folks would piss on games like Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry.  Arguably, they aren't the same genre but the level of difficulty isn't that much different, at least in my eyes.  Granted, I haven't played an SF game regularly since my arcade stints in the early 90s but SF4, assuming it's not just me, isn't "easy" when it comes to the first player mode? 

I'll agree that it's always going to be more fun when playing with your roommates.  On the other hand, fucking Zangief would throw my Sagat's ass any damn time he even got within reach.   Guess I should learn to keep out of his reach? Heh.

The boss fight against Seth is the only part of the game I'd classify as being hard.  Well, depending on the character I'm using anyway.  When I was trying to unlock all the characters (which ultimately requires beating the game with everyone to unlock Seth), there were some characters that either I sucked at, or just weren't very good that got me more frustrated than any video game has made me since I was a kid (urge to throw the controller and all that).  I eventually bitched up and set the game to easiest and 1 round, just to beat the game with all the characters I hated.  I can breeze through Hard for the most part using Ken, but then constantly get my ass kicked when I get to Seth. 

I piss on DMC 3 and 4 because it's got a bunch of time wasting filler in between boss fights that you have to go back through when the bosses kill you.  Didn't get to play Ninja Gaiden much because I didn't own an Xbox.  Ninja Gaiden 2 doesn't seem particuarly hard, and at least when you die at a boss, it restarts you at that boss.  The most annoying part of dying in that game is the load time.

Had a little bit more luck getting matches tonight.  Still don't want to get into online play too much without a stick, but they're pretty much sold out everywhere until god knows when (lot of sites don't seem to be predicting shipments until April), so I messed around with it a bit more.  For whatever reason, I've noticed that when I'm hosing matches, I seem to end up fighting more skilled players. 

As far as lag goes, some matches have been better than others for me.  Sometimes it seems like the less noticable the lag is, the harder it can be for me to pull off some moves.  Maybe the game is just more forgiving when the connection isn't all that great?  There have been a couple matches with no noticable lag where I couldn't pull off a dragon punch to save my life, but maybe it's just me.  In a lot of the laggier games I've been in, I've still been able to pull off super and ultra combos with little problem.

[Cylus]

The boss fight against Seth is the only part of the game I'd classify as being hard.  Well, depending on the character I'm using anyway. 

I suppose a better question is whether you remember'd and, if so, were able to complete previously known moves?

What's the barrier of entry for someone that's never played a Street Fighter game before?  Do you assume that they've played some sort of fighter before and, as such, know "down-quarter-forward" or whatever the fuck it's called?

Suppose I've forgotten the reason behind all of the quarters that I lost years back in the arcade when playing SF.  Teach me interactively, please?  The addition of a training room is great but they completely missed the opportunity to do it within the actual arcade section.

[Velorath]

The boss fight against Seth is the only part of the game I'd classify as being hard.  Well, depending on the character I'm using anyway. 

I suppose a better question is whether you remember'd and, if so, were able to complete previously known moves?

What's the barrier of entry for someone that's never played a Street Fighter game before?  Do you assume that they've played some sort of fighter before and, as such, know "down-quarter-forward" or whatever the fuck it's called?

Suppose I've forgotten the reason behind all of the quarters that I lost years back in the arcade when playing SF.  Teach me interactively, please?  The addition of a training room is great but they completely missed the opportunity to do it within the actual arcade section.

In addition to the training room, you might want to check out the challenges also (not the time or survival trials but the challenges they have for each character).  They could hold players' hands a bit more I agree, but I don't think the barrier of entry is any higher than it was for most of us when we first tried SF2.

I remember most of the characters moves from SF2, although most of my experience was with the SNES game, so Pre-Championship Edition (can't play any of the SF 2 bosses all that well), Pre-Turbo (before Chun Li had a fireball), and Pre-Super (Fei Long is the only one of those four characters I've ever really messed around with).  I tend to stick with Ken and Ryu mostly because it's easier for me to do moves that involve quarter circles on the 360 controller than it is for me to do any sort of charge moves.  As I mentioned before, I was also able to figure out the new character Abel with a minimum of effort and beat normal difficulty with him with relative ease.

Sadly, I saw some character strategy videos for various characters up on the Live marketplace for 80 points each (or 400 for all 7), so part of the reason they don't have an in-depth in-game tutorial for each character might be because they're trying to monetize it.  They've already got a costume pack on sale for 320 points also.

[Cylus]

Sadly, I saw some character strategy videos for various characters up on the Live marketplace for 80 points each (or 400 for all 7), so part of the reason they don't have an in-depth in-game tutorial for each character might be because they're trying to monetize it.  They've already got a costume pack on sale for 320 points also.

Willing to admit that I'm just out of practice but that's the first that I've heard about the marketplace vids :(

[Hindenburg]

On Seth:

Several characters have moves that you can spam as soon as Seth gets up, and he'll eat them nearly every single time. A good example is C.Viper's qcb+LP, another is Rufus' qcf+HP, and with shoto you can dragon punch your way to victory.
Should you decide to play a character that doesn't have a move that Seth eats every single time, like Dan  , you can just crouch and turtle until he does that standing kick that chains into 17 kicks, at which point you can combo HP+anything.

So, y'know, cheese.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Zangief can be tough in the right hands, but you shouldn't have too much of a hard fight if you are playing Sagat. Remember that you want to fight defferent opponents with different strats. With gief you just gotta keep him out. Throw lots of tiger shots and sweep when he tries to lariat through them and tiger knee/uppercut if he green hands through them. Don't play the inside game with him. stay at your distance and when he messes up and throws out the hand and you have meter/ultra, counter with the tiger knee, focus attack dashcancel-> toward + roundhouse -> ultra. That combo is the bees knees.

Keep gief out.

[Velorath]

Zangief can be tough in the right hands, but you shouldn't have too much of a hard fight if you are playing Sagat.

The Prima guide apparently named Sagat as the top tier character

[NiX]

This all confuses me. I'd play more, but the 360 controller is trash and I can't afford a stick.

[LK]

What's the barrier of entry for someone that's never played a Street Fighter game before?  Do you assume that they've played some sort of fighter before and, as such, know "down-quarter-forward" or whatever the fuck it's called?

My roommate hasn't much fighting game experience and got extremely frustrated that he couldn't even do an Ultra motion. He just needs practice but sucking at these games when you know you're a good gamer can be discouraging.

[schild]

Ok. I'm loving this. But what the fuck Abel. WHAT THE FUCK.

[Hindenburg]

Yeah, his grapple is a bit overpowered 

[schild]

A bit?!

Also, gief is sort of a monster.

[Hindenburg]

That's what happens when you don't learn anything (or just decide to ignore the design decisions completely) from KoF grapplers 

[HAMMER FRENZY]

That's what happens when you don't learn anything (or just decide to ignore the design decisions completely) from KoF grapplers 

Explain yourself.

[Hindenburg]

Try to grapple someone just as they get up. (kof98-2k2)

[bhodi]

Seth crushed my balls in on hard. I don't understand why he's so much more difficult than any of the fights leading up to him. I can understand making him a BIT harder, but to breeze through to the very end boss and just get curb-stomped pisses me off. I think I got to the second round, ONCE, and then I find out he actually speeds up. He can already throw me out of jumps and use his ultra in between my moves, it's kind of unfun.

I end up having to bug out the AI to even get that far. I found that you can jump over him, he'll uppercut, miss, and you can land and uppercut him yourself, jump over him again, etc.

(I beat him fine on medium and medium-hard)

[schild]

Seth crushed my balls in on hard. I don't understand why he's so much more difficult than any of the fights leading up to him. I can understand making him a BIT harder, but to breeze through to the very end boss and just get curb-stomped pisses me off.

(I beat him fine on medium and medium-hard)

Seth was a nonissue the first time around, it took me 26 continues to beat Sagat though. I don't know why. I do know that I'm out of practice though.

Having unlocked Sakura (to get to Dan), I find myself infatuated with the way the Sakura plays in IV, so she may end up being my main. I really like her flow in combat despite that fact she looks like a mix between Chun-Li and someone ugly.

Edit: Anyone want to mix it up on the PS3 version today/this weekend/whenever? I'm gonna suck for a while, so get your kicks in now.