Back on August 31st of 2013, Fresh From Birth setup a tent at the Elizabeth Avenue Block Party near the central campus of CPCC in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was a great event setup by the folks over at AKA Creative. The block party started at 5pm, and went on into the night, ending around 11pm. We got there early to setup and stayed till the end. We had a lot of fun chatting with friends, meeting new people as they came into our tent, and watching the performances on stage.
Did you grow up playing Street Fighter when you were a kid? I KNOW I DID! I was a huge fan, and loved hitting up the arcades at the mall to both watch and play. Not only was it a hit at arcades, but even local video game retailers were throwing a couple open tournaments for people to enter their store and battle one another on-screen…and I’m sure the extra business was a nice plus.
Street Fighter is but a game to some, but a life and it’s own sub-culture for others. Capcom delves deep into the cultural phenomenon to expose both the intricacies of the game dynamics, interviews with game developers, and first-account stories and memories of fans and even top ranked world players. Have you heard of the Evo Championship Series? Seriously, the tourney is gigantic, beyond any other tournament, and brings back the drive, lust, and power of the game to fans and spectators as they both cheer and jeer the best players in the world.
I’ll admit, each recollection of player’s memories made me remember my own experiences with the game. Evolving from button mashing to mastering a couple exclusive combos and specials. It really is a journey. Only the best make it to the top – and no joke, their understanding of the game is beyond most of us. Frame counting just makes it silly; understanding how long a move takes in order to avoid, block, or counter. I can’t imagine the training that they do, nor can I imagine the feeling of being on stage to compete, but this video does help to suggest a palpable, maybe distant understanding of what it would be like.
Until you watch this, you really don’t understand how much of an impact Street Fighter actually had and continues to have in both video game, and the overall culture of our generation. Check it out already!!
