I’m sure I suck NOW, but I remember the rule back in 1998 was “Golden Guns only, you’re Oddjob.”
I WANTED my opponent to be Oddjob. I turned auto-aim off, and let them keep it on. I did everything possible to give my opponent the advantage. There was still a long run where nobody could beat me. Like 2 years.
And now I’m sad that my biggest flex in life is so meaningless and happened when I was 14. Other then some random VHS tapes that I don’t know where they are, there’s not even any proof that this happened.
Part of me wishes it was the 90s again, because fuck the 2020s. But another part of me wishes it was the 90s again because I want to beat some punk ass kids at goldeneye again!
Back in 2016 I went to a barcade and these college aged kids were playing. They were acting all macho about video games. It was very weird. I was PLASTERED. So I joined in on the 3rd game I saw them play. After 2 games playing, they were like “Ok, lets call a truce, and do 3 on 1 until he’s eliminated.” Still won. They accused me of cheating. We were using original hardware, with OEM controllers, and nothing in the rumble pack slot (yes, it WAS a mockery of the hardware not having a rumble pak). How the fuck COULD I cheat??? That’s just called having skills, son! Get on my LEVEL!!!
Sometime around 2010, a coworker was telling me that he had brought his old N64 back from his mom’s house, we geeked out and started talking about how great we were back in the day. So, sure enough, I end up at his place to settle it once and for all.
He couldn’t touch me and I have to admit it felt pretty damn good.
Obviously! Why even specify? This should just go unsaid. Only a psychopath would invite you to play Goldeneye, and then pull out the Wii. Like you would think weird if you showed up to a friends house, and he was like “Hey, thanks for showing up! I got beer in the fridge. My wife isn’t tied up naked in the bedroom. We’ll throw the burgers on the grill at sunset.”
I mean. Why would your friend say something so odd? OBVIOUSLY you wait until sunset to throw those burgers on the grill! That’s prime grilling hours! Everybody knows that!
I didn’t even notice the sunset thing, I was hung up on why he mentioned beer in the fridge. Why wouldn’t there be? Did he get shitty beer? Very suspicious.
I already attend local tournaments for Skullgirls, Street Fighter 6, and Guilty Gear Strive. If you’re looking to improve in fighting games, you’ll never get better faster than by going to locals.
What’s your nearest major city? Work with the TOs of the most similar game’s local and make it a side bracket with a small pot bonus or something, and see who shows up. Otherwise, there are majors like Combo Breaker and, this year, East Coast Throwdown running the game as an official tournament.
The nearest local that runs Skullgirls is juicy in Orlando/Oviedo and it’s not every week. I’ve been talking to the people who run the closest local about it but there’s not much interest. Everyone just wants strive and Tekken
You could probably make that work with Strive. Just make sure you’re helping them out and pulling your own weight. I know CEOtaku runs Skullgirls, and I know there are some SG players in the state, but I can’t speak for how much of a hike they are from Orlando. I think there’s hope for you yet. Otherwise, you can approximate the experience with online tournaments, as there’s one almost every night of the week.
If there was going to be a game I’d show up for it’d be Forza Horizon, I’ve got the most hours in that and kinda do ok when I occasionally play online against randoms. Haven’t been playing much recently though, so the former statement probably still applies.
But that game was my thing back in the eighties. And I wad good at it. Maybe not national best tier, and definitely not world tier, but it was not unusual for me to keep high scores on it that never got beat. The one actual arcade in town, I was never bumped off at all, nobody in town came close. I can’t recall the gap but it was enough higher that there was an extra digit between me and the next highest.
The arcade over in the nearest city, the gap was nowhere near as big, but it was there.
Even when I visited my cousin in Charlotte one summer, I took top spot on the machine there, though it did get beat later on. But I never went below third, at least at the time my cousin stopped going there.
There wasn’t much I was good at that was showy back then. I wrecked shit in spelling bees, and was a decent beatbox (though only decent). Nobody gave a shit about those. I’d play pacman and have a crowd watching. It was fucking awesome for my confidence at the time.
Wasn’t too bad at centipede either, but I would hover up and down in top ten at the two arcades I could visit regular, which isn’t that impressive if you know the game.
So, yeah, I’d go and watch pacman players if the event was close enough. I’d even try my hand at it if I didn’t have to go up against kids with their rassafrassin better reflexes lol.
My idea was to possibly have a tournament season of around 8 events, one every few weeks, with different games at each event and players separated into different age groups like <12, 12-20, 21-30, 30+ Make T-shirts for each event as “trophies” and a few special ones for season point winners. That way a game like pacman could be one week, while an fps could be another, etc.
I just won a five-man local bracket for I play a lot of Riichi Mahjong at the local club as well, but haven't been able to make it out to a proper tournament yet.
I also play Skullgirls and Them's Fightin' Herds online, and have been to a few tournaments in the past, but they don't have local scenes around here anymore. One trip a year traveling out to Combo Breaker is the extent of my offline play for those games.
As a viewer or as a player? As a player, I’d be interested interested in joining for Dota, and maybe CS2. As a viewer, Dota, CS2, or maybe some of the classics that are easier to understand on a surface level like Age of Empires or Smash Melee. That said, it’d obviously depend on specifics; as much as I love any excuse to play more Dota, for example, I only have one consistent teammate and tend to rely on randoms for other lanes.
To… participate or watch? Because these days I can’t say I’m competitive enough in any game to bother. Not that I’m all that interested in competing either, anymore. Ten years ago me and my then Dota-friends were toying with the idea of signing up for something for a period there when we were playing a lot and doing well
To watch, well… I’m not sure. I don’t really play any esports type games currently. It’s a cop-out, but it would depend on the organisers. After mainlining the Olympics for a month I think I could probably get into anything - provided the commentators are good.
Titanfall is likely the only competitive game I’ll ever dabble in going forward. I’m not even particularly good, I just love the moment to moment gameplay, the meta, the artstyle, everything. If i saw a local tournament, I’d definitely show up just for fun
In person? None. I ain’t about to spend all that money on gas to drive to some place where I for sure am about to get my controller handed back to me in pieces. Definitely not when I would probably need a respirator due to attendees reputation for less than ideal hygiene.
Online? Name the game. Dead By Daylight? Pyramid Head main reporting for duty. Halo? Any of the Bungie games, any map. Smash? Melee or Brawl only, Final Destination no items. Forza? I can handle any of them but prefer Motorsport 7 with no assists enabled. Heck, I’m even down to do score competition in Silent Hill The Arcade via Teknoparrot.
Most of the time I play for fun. I don’t try to be good or win or whatever. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to, and if I get a challenge I ain’t declining out of fear of losing. I might decline if I can’t be online at the desired time or for long enough to complete the match though.