This Zangief-sized offering contains games, music, art, video… just about every medium you can think of, all dedicated to this classic series and its devoted fans. For $149.99 (on either Xbox 360 or PS3), you get:

Games

-Street Fighter X Tekken (including all character and Swap Costume DLC)

-Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (with all costume DLC)

-Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

-Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition

Video

-New documentary Blu-ray that highlights the lifelong love affair fans have had with Street Fighter, and how their dedication has affected the game.

-Street Fighter IV, Super SFIV anime movies

-All episodes of the Street Fighter animated series (DELICIOUS!)

-Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Light-up Ryu statue

-Brand new statue with light up base. Eight inches tall and frozen in mid Shoryuken.

11 disc soundtrack

-Game music from the past 25 years, including remixes and fan-created music.

64 page hardcover art book

-Containing pieces from fans all over the world.

Ryu’s belt

-Full size martial arts black belt for the aspiring World Warrior. Includes Ryu’s “Furinkazan” in kanji.

Certificate of Authenticity

-Like any good collector’s set, this comes with a lovely piece of paper telling you how limited and special it is. They’re all individually numbered, so get one before they disappear! Arrives on September 18.

It was something many of us felt this year at Seattle’s Sakura Con; it was lacking the magic and charm of previous years. We’ll take a look at the problems, and how they can be addressed. Even you can make a difference, we’ll also talk about ways to make events fun for those around you.

In the past year or more, we have not seen many truly great series. The anime industry is rehashing a lot of genres, and running low on original ideas. Not only that, but studios have dropped the ball on many manga adaptations. Shows we were excited for have been a let down, while the underdogs slipped under the radar. How many of us watched the previews for A-Channel, Denpa, Blood-C, No.6, Deadman Wonderland (due to lack of S2), Persona 4, Fractale, and Hidan no Aria expecting more than what we ended up with? Either there was a lack of consistent story, the jokes fell flat, or they suffered disappointing endings. Not only that, but we had to face an onslaught of moeblobs (which is what we call excessively cute slice of life series.)

Proof of this was evident this year. There was an abundance of Adventure Time, MLP: FIM, and Homestuck cosplayers. Wait a minute. Two western cartoons and a web comic? I thought we were suppose to be celebrating anime here. Western animation is slowly taking back the reigns and producing some of the most popular cartoons since the 90s’ and early 20th century. Not only are we seeing headway in cartoons, but live action series as well. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Dexter, Doctor Who, Spartacus, Breaking Bad and so many more are topping the charts and building a huge fan base. A lot of that has to do with excellent writing and production. Anime will have to take a leaf from their books and step it up if they want to continue to be popular in the west.

The staff was on edge and space was not used wisely… speaking with people who attended the con, as well as our own experience, we were faced with a lot of threats without good reason. Asking a simple question, or unknowingly being in the wrong place could land you with an ear full about how you can and will be kicked out, or have your badge revoked. As I have never worked or volunteered for Sakura Con, I cannot explain why this happens. All I can do is plead that those in charge really evaluate who they are letting enforce the rules, and work on better ways to approach people. If you had a bad experience with a staff member, speak up, send an email explaining what happened.

Another thing we noticed, is that the space was used awkwardly. Artist’s alley had been moved in with the expo hall, which probably meant they had more people walking by, but it was confusing to try and figure out where the official booths started, and the artists ended. If you didn’t want to spend a lot of money you may have avoided this area completely. The area upstairs formerly used as the artist’s alley was now a big empty space with 1/4th of it dedicated to rhythm games. We saw a lot of big empty spaces, and some areas where everything was squished together. This gave the illusion that the con felt empty except for the expo hall. While being able to buy unique items at a convention is a perk, it shouldn’t be the bulk of the entertainment. We don’t spend $50 on a pass just so we can spend $200 on merchandise and $75 for three days of parking. Not only that, but finding figures or hand made items isn’t as hard as it use to be now that we have sites like ebay, amazon and etsy.

Now that we’ve talked about things we can’t really control, let’s talk about the ones we can.

First and foremost, anime conventions are by fans, for fans. This isn’t PAX, the entertainment and swag isn’t going to be provided for you. So what can you do to make a better experience for yourself and everyone else? The good news is there are a lot of things! So let’s break it down.

As a cosplayer…

Cosplay is suppose to be a fun way to bring life to a convention. It’s not very fun when it turns in to a huge popularity contest to see who can pull off the best outfit, or has the best body. While these things can make a more convincing outfit, it shouldn’t be the only element to dressing up.

1. Get in to character. As far as everyone else is concerned, you are who you’re dressed up as. If you enter a competition or panel, think about how your character would react if they were in that situation and act accordingly. We saw a cosplayer from the series Naruto do this during the foam sword battle. He fought using a mix of capoeria and his own style which was really fun to watch, and flowed quite well with his character. The audience really cheered him on!

2. We’re a community, and we should support each other. Not bring each other down. If you see someone and you like their outfit, say something! Compliment them or give them a high five. Ask if you can hug someone if that’s your forte. Hugs are fun, but not everyone wants one.

3. Don’t let it get you down if someone cosplays the same thing as you and you feel like they do it better. The way you portray your character and the personality you give it will speak volumes. Talk to them and ask how they made it or what materials they used if you sew your own outfits. We all start somewhere!

As a panelist…

People sometimes forget that panels are often run by normal attendees. If you’ve never run one, maybe it’s time to start! Think about your strengths. Are you really good at art? Can you color with copic markers? Do you know how to make a great web comic? Do you know how to sew? Do you know how to coordinate lolita outfits? Do you know a lot about a series? Do you really love visual novels? There are just about a million and one things you could talk about.

1. Supply materials. There’s a lack of free stuff at conventions and it’s kind of disappointing. Even providing simple things such as buttons or stickers would help draw people in to panels. If you’re doing an art based panel, provide some cheap newsprint sketchbooks and some pencils. It wouldn’t be very expensive and it would allow people to practice what they are learning. If you’re doing a panel about Japanese food, bring some candies for people to try. If you’re doing a panel about lolita, bring cut out pictures of jewelry and clothing so people can attach them to a board and make their own coordination ideas. The possibilities are endless and it will help keep your audience entertained. Having a bunch of hyped up people sit in a room and listen to someone talk can be difficult. You may have a very short time to grab someone’s attention, and if you can do it visually, that’s going to be your best bet.

2. Think about what you would like to learn, and what would be fun for others. I always see a lot of “101″ panels. This is alright, but a lot of people who go to conventions already know about these things or can research them on their own. Consider ways you can talk about your subject that will make it interesting for everyone, no matter what their skill level is. Otherwise you may appeal to only a select group of people. Looking through YouTube we found a great set of panels that talked about anime directors and their styles of animation. How one director may have a sketchy style full of motion where another had a very technical approach. This was supplemented by video examples of each. On a base level, they’re simply talking about different animes and what the best scenes look like, but they did it in a way that would be interesting.

3. Talk about what you know. If you make a web comic, don’t just show people how to do it, or show off your work. Talk about your experiences, take questions, leave room for your audience to drive you in a direction, ask them what they want to know. If they are too shy to speak up, have a variety of things to go over. Always encourage participation.

4. Sometimes you don’t have to teach. It’s totally okay to devote a good chunk of time letting people do what they like as long as it’s related to your panel and you do have something you can provide. For example, I helped run a panel that ran 3hrs over how long we thought it would go because we put a visual novel on for people to experience and they got so in to it they actually finished the whole thing. Another great example was a photoshop tutorial that took place in a room full of art supplies and tables. We spent a lot of time just asking the instructor to show us how to do effects, line work, and coloring. It was really enjoyable.

 As staff…

You’re the one who calls the shots, your attitude effects everyone. How you act toward other people will come off as a representation on the views of the convention, even if you have nothing to do with that.

1. You don’t have to be angry. It’s inevitable that you’ll have to reprimand someone for something. However, you don’t have to get angry, use threats, be mean, or swear. Always approach people with an adult attitude. Your example means everything. If it’s okay for you to act out, that makes it okay for everyone else to do it as well.

2. Find ways to help bring people together. Keeping an agitated line occupied with beach balls to bop around, handing out something, or getting the group to sing a song is way better than shouting and making everyone unhappy or more prone to lash out.

3. Listen to people. Sometimes all someone needs to hear is “I’m sorry that happened to you, I totally get that.”

4. Keep in mind people may not be trying to cause trouble on purpose. For many people, they don’t know the rules of the con as well as they should. There are still a lot of first timers too. Start off with a very friendly reminder that does not point any fingers. If you have to get more serious and issue another warning it can be helpful to diffuse people’s frustration by saying things like “I totally agree with you, it’s a dumb rule! Unfortunately I didn’t make the rules, I just have to make sure people follow them. If you want to write a complaint you can go to x” This will likely keep them from starting an argument with you since they feel like you’re relating to them, and they probably won’t make the effort to actually file a complaint because they have more interesting things to do.

As a merchant…

1. Don’t be money hungry, we’re all hurting for money. The economy just isn’t as good as it was before, and here in Seattle that’s something we overlook a lot. That doesn’t mean you have to lower all your prices but if you generally sell things that are fairly expensive you may want to consider providing small, inexpensive things as well. Someone may be more likely to spend $5 on a small thing, than drop $50 on a print.

2. Display is everything. I saw so many booths that didn’t list prices for their items. The booth was crowded, the booth owner engaged in conversation, and I couldn’t get a look at anything because it was far away. It was easier to pass up an interesting item than try to snag someone’s attention and ask about it. I know this is to help prevent theft, but display cases can go a long way.

3. Be helpful but not too helpful. People can tell when you’re trying to convince them to buy something. It turns a lot of people off. Making yourself available in case someone has questions, observing body language, and being friendly but not overbearing will be pleasant for your customer. Some people are super indecisive and will just want to stare for a long time (like me.) There’s a little Asian lady who makes cat hats and we just love her. She’s always smiling and happy, she doesn’t try to convince us to buy anything but will inform us when we seem to have a question. I think at this point we may just buy her items because she’s so fun to be around. She even remembered us from last year!

So there you have it!  I hope this helps give some people great ideas for not only anime conventions but gaming conventions as well. We are a community, we are strong, smart, and talented. Let’s work at showing the world what we can do!

Here are the five worst characters to have on your tail as a video game villain. NO THE GODDAMNED BATMAN IS NOT ON THIS LIST, HE IS A COMIC BOOK CHARACTER WITH A VIDEO GAME.

5) Sonic the Hedgehog/Link

At number 5 it’s a tie between Sonic and Link. Sonic is a hedgehog with super speed that can destroy most object by simplify JUMPING OR ROLLING into them. You build this amazing robot death machine only to have a blue hedgehog jump and roll it to death. To make matters even worse he can become a super hedgehog capable of destroying things just by touching them and he can breathe in space. They only thing that could stop this hedgehog is not having any rings (which the world seems to have an abundant supply of), drowning him (but you’d have to make sure there’s no cracks so air can leak or or have a completely underwater fortress and risk drowning yourself if Sonic does come through and beats the snot of out of your base),trying to crush him or trying to get him to fall into a pit(both of which are completely random). And no matter what you’re planning to do Sonic will always find out and show up pissed about it.

Link is equally annoying. Think about this you have this amazing power from the Triforce, you’re immortal and you are overall bad ass. Then all of a sudden a kid in a green tunic shows up and ruins everything. The most screwed up part about it? It’s a different kid almost every time. So you’re immortal and doomed to having a kid in a green tunic just tear you up all because it’s a tradition to give every kid a green tunic at a certain time. Why don’t you just kill off all the children in every village? Then you won’t have anyone to rule over. Catch 22.

4) Ryu

So you are holding a fighting tournament to try and find a new body for yourself? You’re an inter-dimensional being that just happened to be threatening two worlds at once? Are you the most brutal Muay Thai fighter ever and have no challengers? Well it sucks to be you because Ryu is probably going to show up and punch you in the face. Even if you’re just a regular fighter he’s still just going to punch you in the face. The man wanders the world LOOKING FOR FIGHTS barefoot no less. He has fought everything from aliens and giant robots to super heroes and demons. What makes it even worse is that in the chance you actually may be winning, he’ll tap into some hidden energy reserves and go evil making him even more dangerous. His moves are always so basic but they are insanely strong. Now that he has the Soul-Glo in Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 this makes him that much more powerful.

3) Megaman

He doesn’t look like much. He looks like he’d be at home in a toy chest.If you are a robot that’s gone evil or renegade, then he’s the worse thing ever. Not only does he keep coming back if you defeat him. He has probably killed your allies and took their abilities to use on you or he is going to kill you and use your ability to kill your allies. What makes him creepy is that he always shows up without saying a word and just stares and blinks at you,later in the series he talks but for a few years he was a silent killer. And to think all this started because two old guys had problems with each other.

2) Snake

This includes the original Snake the one that the current Snake is cloned from. This man is a combination of spy, special operations soldier and mercenary commando from a black operations and espionage unit. He is tasked with disarming and destroying the latest incarnation of Metal Gear which is usually a bipedal nuclear weapon-armed mecha which is another word for giant robot. Usually Snake has to deal with people with ridiculous powers or armed with incredible skills to do so. You know he’s out there. You’re doing something that ridiculous you know that he’s going to be there and he’s not coming to negotiate anything with you, ever. While you’re trying to get your plan to completion, he’s either killing your allies or hes tranquilizing them and taking pictures of them in compromising positions, who knows what else he’s doing to them. You know what that’s going to be your fate too. This man has taken down so many organizations, robots, people in robots, ninja robots, vampires, ghosts, etc. that anything you can come up with he’s ready for. How do you stop a man like that? You don’t, you just pray that he kills you.

1) Belmonts

At the top of this list sits one family, the Belmonts. If you’re a citizen of the night this name strikes terror into your heart. If you’re a vampire and have a castle it’s even worse. These asshoels will show up at your front door, destroy everything in your house, steal your treasure and money, kill your tenants, find you in your panic room, beat the hell out of you and then sink your castle or destroy it. They ALWAYS show up and they more than likely will bring a friend or two. There’s really no way to get rid of them and they will always lecture you on morals and why what you’re doing is wrong. What if you’re not a creature of the night but have a castle? All it would take is one rumor from the towns folk and you’ll have them sniffing around in no time. I don’t think they even ask questions they just whip the hell out of everything and leave. And to top it all off they WILL be prettier than you with better hair and look cooler (in some cases) than you ever will.

What’s your top 5 ? I’d love to hear it tweet it to me or post on the Facebook!

Aksys Games will sponsor the winning team of the BlazBlue Revolution US Finals by providing full airfare and hotel accommodations to Japan, along with the pride of representing the United States in the BlazBlue Revolution Japan Finals. Not only that, but if the US Team is able to take the top spot in the Japanese Finals, an extra bonus prize will be awarded to the US Team! Now’s the time to grab two of your most trusted comrades and prepare for the revolution of a lifetime!

BlazBlue Revolution US Event Details:

Finals Date: 2/25/2012

Location: Southern California, venue TBA

Format: 3v3 Double Elimination, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND console version

Prize: Winning team will win full hotel and airfare to Japan and a spot in the Japan Finals

Restriction: Winners MUST have their US passport or equivalent document by 2/25. NO EXCEPTIONS.

BlazBlue Revolution Japan Event Details:

Final Date: 3/24/2012

Location: Japan, venue TBA

Format: 3v3 Format Final Rules TBA, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (V1.05) Arcade Version

Prize: TBA + Special US Team Prize*

*The US Team prize is a monetary award that will be given if the US Team is able to take the gold at the BlazBlue Revolution Japan Finals.

Full rules and event details will be announced on 12/17/2011 here. Until then, stay tuned for more information on BlazBlue Revolution at www.aksysgames.com.

In light of keeping the series fresh through it’s countless number of sequels and reboots, Spike holds a number of unique treats that would put a smile on the face of the most devoted fans of the series. Opening theme song “Cha La (Head Cha La)”, from the original Japanese anime, was chosen for the opening sequence of the game and if that wasn’t cool enough, is accompanied by probably the best opening animation sequences ever done in the series featuring modern style visuals fans have been clamoring for since the announcement of Dragon Ball Z: Kai. Your treated to battles scenes of some familiar face such as Goku, Vejita, Krillin, Trunks, Gotenks as they do battle with iconic villains Freiza, Kid Buu, Omega Shenron and even movie character Hirudegarn makes an appearance. The most noticeable aspect of this cinematic is the first time introduction of characters “Saiyan Hero” & “Saiyan Elite” from Dragon Ball Heroes, a Japanese only arcade game.

A main storyline is also included in addition to Hero mode, here you will play through the normal story of DBZ and spans into the GT saga as well this time around. The newest and best feature here are the epic boss battles to be had along the way, in style of Naruo Ninja Storm 2, players are treated to large scale battles against the staple villains and movie villains in a variety of speedy chase sequences, button mashing power struggles and QuickTime events that takes the feel of Toriyama’s world closer to home like never before. This is easily the best part about the game as a whole, it’s fresh, new and very well executed.

Sadly this is where the good news ends for U. Tenkaichi. The new battle system incorporated can barely be considered anything battle-esque, the fun of combo’s and melee have been heavily toned down in favor of a 50/50, or rock paper scissors, system that cuts any combo off after 4 consecutive melee button presses for a 2 option guessing game that gives the opponent a chance to break away. This system, all the well very cool in cinematic, will run tired since it is done every single time a string of attacks are made. There are only 2 options, strings these attacks into the guessing system, or use a heavy attack which auto breaks any guard only so you can go back to using the first option yet again. There are so many breaks in the action in favor of cinematic, after a while it doesn’t feel like your really doing anything when only one button press will determine the next 12 or so hits.

This is where the game falls short of actually being true to the spirit of Dragon Ball. Too much of a heavy focus on cinematic has cut the actual hands on fighting experience to a minimum, make this game more of a movie than something that’s playable. All super attacks are auto aimed, leaving no real sense of accomplishment outside of guessing correct for the landing, or out mashing your opponent if they choose the intercept with an attack of their own. The roster also suffers from a major chunk of serious holes that can be noticed by even novice fans. The saga reaches up to GT, yet are missing major key playable characters from the era such as Pan, Kid Goku, Super 17, Bebi, Bebi Vejita and both SSJ4 forms of Goku and Vejita. What’s so confusing is the inclusion of SSJ4 Gojita and Omega Shenron being recognized and playable. The list from the Z arc and those missing is massive so I won’t even bother with the details to avoid further tears.

Visuals: 9 Absolutely amazing job done by Spike. Everything about this game is simply visually stunning and vibrant. Never before has a Dragon Ball game come so close to life until now.

Sound: 8 All the original Japanese and even DBZ Kai voice actors have assisted in keeping their roles alive. The soundtrack is the best to date and the ability to select different arcs of music during VS play is a plus. Melee clashes and Ki blasts sound crisp and appropriate where needed.

Gameplay: 5 The fighting was left out of this “fighter” in exchange for a more cinematic experience, making it difficult to appreciate the story in-between the larger battles. The lack of balance makes the appeal of the game short lived and straight robotic in longer sessions. The mechanics leave online play almost completely non-responsive when it comes to reversals, which wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t forced on you so much.

Replay: 5 Once your done, there is very little chance you’ll want to revisit anything outside of the boss battles.

Some serious potential has been shown here by Spike. Not exactly the worst way to leave an impression, but due to lack of actual fighting when that’s what Dragon Ball is truly about, it remains that much further from being anywhere near the best.

Rating: 6.5

You can find all the details about the tour here.

Thats right, everyone’s favorite assassin (except for his many victims) Ezio Auditore has joined the cast of Soul Calibur V. This is a pretty cool choice if I do say so compared to the other various guests Namco has thrown into the mix *cough* (Yoda/Spawn/Heihachi ect). He just seems like a perfect fit for a 3d weapons based fighter and not to mention he comes standard with a badass attire and attitude. His use will be on both platforms so don’t worry this time around about any console specific favoritism or having to shell out some cash for DLC a couple months after release. This news along with the previous mention of “super” moves being added to the gameplay is enough to give this title a good glance. Hopefully this means the need for meter management or even ex moves for each characters specials. HEY or maybe they have gotten rid of those terrible finishing moves from IV which were performed under non practical requirements. Well, before I get ahead of myself lets just see Soul swords are bringing to the table this go around.

Speaking with some of the booth staff I brought up my issue with tournament play (especially at EVO) and the roster. They are thinking of including downloadable content (DLC) characters as this game goes along. My main question was during major tournaments, since this game is being built to be played at a high level, DLC is not allowed as every console does not have connection to the internet and everyone plays the most updated version of the game and that’s it would there be a disc version of this game for those purposes. For reference many of the Mortal Kombat 9 characters that were released were not allowed at EVO, neither was Jill or Shuma Gorath in MVC3. Their answer was they had to think about it, maybe they’d include an unlock code or something. They would include characters as long as they were paid to pretty much.

Of the new characters I got to play, I played Ms. Fortune who can remove limbs and do all sorts of gross stuff to attack. One attack allows her to take off her head and you can control it as it moves along the floor. For the serious fighting game player we all know that being able to attack high and low would create a situation where you have an ‘unblockable’ attack. When I asked about this situation i was assured that there are no unblockable attacks but ‘almost’ un-blockables where the game gives you a chance (a small one) to react properly to what is being thrown at you. It seems that they agree with unblockable set ups being so cheap, they plague Marvel Vs Capcom 3 sadly

Realistically Skull Girls probably will not main event at EVO or any major due to some logistic issues. But I still think it will be a game that is featured at all of them. It’s funny, I played it once at PAX and I believed in it and kept telling people about how good it is. No one wanted to believe me ever, now that people are actually playing it and had sometime to really see it go everyone loves it, mmhmm. I just can’t wait till I have an option for a fighting game that is not Capcom.

Here’s some a screen shot gallery for you to enjoy also:

The first thing I have learned is that you are as good as the people and where you play. Meaning if you are an online warrior and you’re hunting people that are less skilled than you, you’re probably going to lose using online tactics offline. Also if you play within your circle of friends and you’re the best among them you are big fish in a small pond. My pools had no players from NYC in it but it was people from Canada,Seattle and other places so I was learning about the rest of North America. And I was doing pretty well. I am not a top player in NYC by any means but I was beating people who were the best or pretty good in their regions. I lost to the best ‘Sim player in Canada last game last round and was lack of match up experience that did me in. I also lost to a good Canadian Rufus after mind-fucking myself.

Exactly what my losses felt like

Which brings me to my second point, New York City is tough. NYC because of the sheer amount of people living in the the area has a higher amount of players than most states. The transportation allows these players to travel all over the city to play each other in tournaments often and congregate for sessions to just get better (8-bit dojo is an example of this). Going to a random local tournament you’d have to deal with guys like Dieminon, Arturo, Sanford Kelly, etc. It would be different living in another state where you’d maybe only see one or no big names there. The best example of this is in a non video game sense is take a look at the NBA, there was a point where the Western Conference was stacked. The teams were just so good, Lakers, Spurs, Jazz, Nuggets, Suns, Blazers ,etc. That teams that weren’t bad at all (and maybe be a mid to high seed in the Eastern Conference) still were very low seeds in the playoffs. New York is that tough for no reason Western Conference.

I owned the Eastern Confrence free.

A game play thing that I’ve noticed at EVO is that no one blocks.Not they they are always attacking but everything works at EVO. Part of it I theorize is because everyone’s so hyped up they want to put their stamp on the tournament ,provide hype or just dominate the match. Also there’s a level of familiarity that is lost when you play total strangers. All your set ups will work because no one has seen them before, so people fall for almost anything (I.E. Phoenix inferno at the start of a match) at least once or twice in your 2 out of 3 set. If you know what a character does,how a team operates, common set-ups and strategies before you get to EVO or any tournament for that matter you are going to do well for yourself.

A key thing is that you have to play with confidence and swagger. You have to have the confidence in yourself make those big plays, great reads and get stops when you need them. The people who beat me were pretty much pushed to the brink and they steam rolled the person that was waiting for them in the finals. The person in the finals talked a lot of garbage about how he had his pool in the bag and it was free. However the look in his eyes said other wise. After my first match against the same guy asked me for my gt (gamer tag) and said I looked familiar, some confidence eh? He looked concerned that he’d have to play me at some point. I would have liked to beat him but I guess that’s for another day.

Keep doing you

The last thing I picked up is that the community for the most part is full of good people. Maybe it was just my experience but as a player who sucked horrifically in Street Fighter IV to someone who is pretty decent in Arcade Edition, I can tell you that part of my growth basically came from the community. Other players like Justin, Arturo, Jago, etc were always beating me up but giving me knowledge. Playing at tournaments people have always been willing to talk and share stuff with me helping me understand their character in relation to my own. Evo was no different people were willing to share info, the ‘sim player that beat me told me that the match up depends on if I can get in or not and that me personally I should take more risks to do so because ‘sim cannot really punish too hard. I had theories about this but now that just confirmed it.

During Evo I got some pretty bad news first that our trailer/pilot was denied (boo) which was understandable because we definitely had some technical issues. The news that really got me was about my dog. I’ve had this dog for 16 years. She was/is like one of my best friends ever. This video sums up everything how I feel and went through in the two days I was back from Vegas:

The day she passed I was wreck and I really wasn’t up to full power, (I don’t feel that I am still but that’s another story) it definitely affected my thought process and how much I functioned for a bit. After while things sorta got back to normal I played in a few tournaments and did some events. At the first Guard Crush post Evo I did alright finished in the top 30 out of 55 which isn’t too great but I also took top 8 in the Japanese style tournament they had.

Here are some matches from that:

The Samsung Experience in NYC had a SF tourney that i attended with the weird gimmick of having to win a certain amount of matches before you can even play in the tournament. Basically I finished top 16 and got scrubbed out. I deserved it because I wasn’t ready mentally. I took my loss like a champion and I headed home.

However I learned that friendship is magic because on Sunday the guys at the 8-bit dojo chipped in and got me this incredible Cammy shirt along with a picture and a thank you for putting stuff together. The all knew that I was down and they did so to cheer me up and it did. I was able to get off my sorry butt and get back in the saddle with this writing gig. So it’s back to buisness and that’s buisness as usual.

So yeah that’s what I learned after EVO.