ExMachina
Chuck me.
So yeah, who else plays fighting games? It's probably my favorite multiplayer genre hands down - there is nothing quite as exciting as going 1v1 with a human opponent and matching up to see whose manual dexterity, ability to adapt, character mastery, and knowledge of the game mechanics will prove superior.
It's also really easy to set up gatherings - just get one console + TV and pass the controllers (or arcade sticks, as it were) around - compared to doing a LAN session or whatever.
Street Fighter IV kicked off the FG revival and is still going strong - as evidenced by a 1000+ man showing (and even bigger spectator crowd) for the SF4 tournament at Evolution 2k9 this past month.
Finals (between #1 American player Justin Wong and Daigo "The Beast" Umehara) were pretty hype:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1840331/highlight/9492
The other current "hotness" is Blazblue - the latest fighter from the creators of Guilty Gear. It has a similar sort of anime-inspired art style and crazy character designs, but a much easier to pick up system. Plus, it's in full HD goodness.
Here's an example of high-level play between one of the top Japanese Jin players (Nise-Pachi) and an expert Noel (Nagi).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=789_p0PaQP8
Yeah, it's very combo heavy - but the timing is really lenient so you'll be learning to chain out hits on the fly (depending on character distance, what they're doing, etc.) as you become more acclimated to the game. The best part of playing an ArcSys fighter has always been understanding your character so well that you can improvise combos.
.....
Anyhoo, I'm always willing to play some games online provided we get a decent connection. Add me on PSN (exmakina) if you'd like to throw down sometime.
(I also play SoulCalibur 4, which is actually my main fighting game series, but the netcode there is so bad I only play offline >.>)
It's also really easy to set up gatherings - just get one console + TV and pass the controllers (or arcade sticks, as it were) around - compared to doing a LAN session or whatever.
Street Fighter IV kicked off the FG revival and is still going strong - as evidenced by a 1000+ man showing (and even bigger spectator crowd) for the SF4 tournament at Evolution 2k9 this past month.
Finals (between #1 American player Justin Wong and Daigo "The Beast" Umehara) were pretty hype:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1840331/highlight/9492
The other current "hotness" is Blazblue - the latest fighter from the creators of Guilty Gear. It has a similar sort of anime-inspired art style and crazy character designs, but a much easier to pick up system. Plus, it's in full HD goodness.
Here's an example of high-level play between one of the top Japanese Jin players (Nise-Pachi) and an expert Noel (Nagi).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=789_p0PaQP8
Yeah, it's very combo heavy - but the timing is really lenient so you'll be learning to chain out hits on the fly (depending on character distance, what they're doing, etc.) as you become more acclimated to the game. The best part of playing an ArcSys fighter has always been understanding your character so well that you can improvise combos.
.....
Anyhoo, I'm always willing to play some games online provided we get a decent connection. Add me on PSN (exmakina) if you'd like to throw down sometime.
(I also play SoulCalibur 4, which is actually my main fighting game series, but the netcode there is so bad I only play offline >.>)
In all seriousness, I can see why people like Fight Night and UFC games and the like, but they don't register as fighting games to me (fighters are played in an arcade!). More like sports/sims or whatever.
I kinda miss it, but not enough to buy it for XBL, since I have the PS2 version.
