Ok I can admit it, I'm a computer geek. I would prefer to spend hours looking up photoshop brushes and new fonts to download than watch TV. I would rather search through a gazillion freeware applications just to find a program that will type my name out for me in 2 keystrokes. Heck I would even spend hours searching the web for the perfect emulator port of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 than eat or sleep(dreamcast emulator is a boo). Which brings me to my geekiest of all obsessions...STREET FIGHTER!
Bypassing collecting original comic book sketches, old wrestling tapes, and ebay bidding wars for dvd recordings of VH1's I ♥ the 80's(part 1, 2, and 3) and I ♥ the 90's to become top dog in my geek book is no easy feat. But I will admit that this obsession began long ago thanks to the two loving people I like to call mom and dad. You see back in the early 90's my parents owned a donut shop. And as custom with all laundromats, 7-11's, and yes, donut shops of the time, arcade machines were a must. So when my parents purchased their latest donut shop something beautiful happened. Inside the shop were 3 arcade machines. My life as I knew it, would never be the same.
Of the 3 games2 of them would rock my ten year old world to the core. That's right Street Fighter 2(duh) and Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition(yah this was early in the Street Fighter series where massively long titled installments were just beginning). Don't get me started on SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2 TURBO HYPER X send a midget to clean your house for you FIGHTING EDITION (WTF?!?!).
Anyways, upon first glance I was hooked. I mean besides the obvious fact that boys + video games = $$$ I was entranced by the fact that there were drawings on the screen that I could actually move(yes I was a sad child). My mom took notice of this and did something I will never forget. She paid a kid playing one of the arcades(with two quarters of course) to teach me how to play. And man did I SUCK. But over time I learned more. I watched regular kids playing like a hawk while in my mind scoffing at their mistakes. I was learning new techniques, combos, and how NOT to act when losing(hint: screaming at the machine while customers are just walking in - not so good for business). When no one was playing I would sit aimlessly watching the intro animation for hours learning how to better myself as an artist and an animator ;P I would draw hundreds of pictures of Blanka, Ryu, and oh yes, Chun Li. Yes Street Fighter ruled my world. I got good(real good) but never entered any tournaments or anything too drastic. My dad never really helped with this problem as he was always bribing me to do more work just for a chance to play. "You want a quarter? Then go clean the icing trays!!!" But as with all good things it had to end. The machines weren't bringing in as much money as they used to and they had to go. I was sad. I still remember the day the game guy came, packed the arcade onto his truck, and took off. I think I even hugged the machine before it went.
So now with that lovely back story in place you understand my compulsion to Street Fighter. It sparked a side of me I didn't even know I had...the gamer side. While it would be years later until my then girlfriend(now wife) would ever get me my first real game console(PS2 Baby) I was a hardcore - fighting game - arcade freak. Now that I'm older game consoles and games don't seem to interest me as much(my favorite gaming system is M.A.M.E. for god's sakes). Arcade cabinets are going the way of the dinosaur it seems and sometimes you just have to let go.
But not yet!!! Capcom has just announced that they will be releasing Street Fighter 4. It's been almost 10 years since a Street Fighter game has come out since SF3 and now THIS. Velvet ropes have parred and champagne has poured from the sky. With this new trailer posted below you can bet I'm amped. And while yes arcades are very scarce to come by now, and 2-D fighting games have lost a lot of their popularity, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be one of the first ones in line to play when this baby comes into the world(I married a labor and delivery nurse, could you tell?). So long live Street Fighter, Capcom, and the fighting game genre. You give good memories and hope to us old school/old fart gamers. And I'm only 25 for Christ's sake.
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