Leveling Down

Between Starcraft II and Super Street Fighter IV, the winner is no surprise.

A couple months back I had talked about how excited I was for playing Super Street Fighter IV and Starcraft II – two of the most hardcore competitive games that hit this year. During May and June, I had my hands full with both the Starcraft II beta and the retail release of Super Street Fighter IV. While I juggled my time back then playing both games, as the summer went on I found myself drifting more and more away from Super Street Fighter IV. Now that Starcraft II is out, the relationship I have with Super Street Fighter IV is definitely over – even though I think we can still be friends.

The Beginning and the End
Back in May, a lot of things were going well for me when I first started playing Super Street Fighter IV. I enjoyed the original Street Fighter IV game, and this time around I found a new character that I wanted to learn (Cody), the new game had team battles, I had friends who were into it and were going to help me get better, etc. There was some good indication that I would be able to get into the game and actually be competitive.

However, even with all of positive support that would get me into the game, there were negatives. Input was definitely one of the major issues. For 3D games, I’ve been comfortable using my Hori Arcade sticks, and they’ve worked fine since the input isn’t too complicated due to just movement around a 3D plane. But with 2D fighters such as Super Street Fighter IV, it became a problem. These Hori sticks could not handle the more intricate joystick motions that Street Fighter required, so I couldn’t seem to do things as easily such as dragon punch motions when facing left. Certain special moves only had a 25% execution rate for me. I couldn’t even bring out Ultra Combos when I wanted them. Would this have been different if I picked up a MadCatz Tournament Edition stick? Who knows.

The second issue was generally the entire scope of how much I needed to take in to get good at the game. As someone who has always played fighting games “just for fun” and never really played them hardcore like FPS games or RTS games, trying to just get into Super Street Fighter IV was not working for me. It’s almost like my brain could not think in the ways that would not only make me a good Super Street Fighter IV player, but a good fighting game player in general. I think that anyone that has gotten very competitive with at least one fighting game in their life can easily pick up any other, because while the characters and movesets may be different from game to game, the mentality behind playing fighting games probably have some level of similarity. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never gotten to that level of being able to play a fighting game competitively, and based on my 20% win record or whatever in playing Super Street Fighter IV online, I was not exactly on my way to being an accomplished fighter without some serious time, effort, and the right mindset. Part of me wonders if the Starcraft II beta (and Starcraft II’s recent retail release) played a factor in my not wanting to dedicate myself to Super Street Fighter IV. I would hazard it to be a strong yes – because I would always ask myself, “Why don’t you just play the game you enjoy playing more” And of course, that game was Starcraft II.

The Shame
Like anything else in life, once I realized that I was going to disappoint my Street Fighter friends with the admission that I could no longer handle Super Street Fighter IV, I tried to avoid it. I stopped talking about the game, and I know this sounds pretty silly, but I actually started playing my PS3 more because I felt bad getting on the 360 to play another game. If those of you that still play Super Street Fighter IV saw me playing something like Red Dead Redemption or Alan Wake, it would demonstrate that I just no longer cared for Super Street FIghter IV. I didn’t want to let you guys down, so I hid – behind the PS3, the PSP, and the PC. Even today, I am still not as inclined anymore to fire up the 360 just because I’ve been psychologically trying to avoid the shame of disappointing those of you that did support me and hoped that I would be able to join your ranks on the fighting game battlefield.

I knew that one day I would have to make a post about this, just for there to be closure on the issue. Yet, who likes to be the one to share disappointing news? I’ve avoided confronting the issue for too long but now with Starcraft II out and in my hands, I think this is the best time to say it. Super Street Fighter IV, we were just casually having fun, but my heart really belongs to Starcraft II. Please don’t call me again, and have a good life. Ok maybe that’s a little dramatic…but you guys get my point.

Still a Fan
I still enjoy Street Fighter IV. Watching videos of the best players are entertaining for me. I understand the basics of the game to appreciate it. But the input issues I have along with the amount of talent and dedication needed to be great at the game were just too much for me. In a way, Street Fighter for me has now become more of a spectator sport – just like how some people may love watching football yet they don’t actually play it or play it well. In my case, I’ll watch and enjoy others playing Street Fighter (especially those I know!), but I know that at this point in my life, I just don’t have the time or dedication to rewire myself to want to become awesome at any fighting game. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but at least it’s out on the table now and I can admit to the world that even though I consider myself a hardcore gamer, I am just no good at fighting games.

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