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July
- Aug 2012 Feedback
Developing
a Thriving Gamer Community. . .
Hi
Frank,
My
name is Brad, and I am a big fan of your site hailing from
the tiniest part of the east coast - Rhode Island. As I just
mentioned, I am a huge fan of your website and have been
visiting regularly since the early/mid 2000's. While I never
seemed to have gotten to an expert level with my fighting
game acumen (my online Street Fighter stats are nothing to
write home about sadly!), I have a great passion for the
fighter genre and the community overall, and I've come to
your site on a weekly basis to keep up to date on the
evolving world of fighting games. Recently, with all of the
conventions out there and with the increasing popularity of
EVO, I've come to the realization that there is a growing
number of people all over the country who want a place to
experience the camaraderie and the fun competition of the
fighting game world with others that they might not have met
otherwise...but don't have a anywhere to do it!
Based on what I've come across, it seems on the west coast
the arcade scene is beginning to thrive again. We really
don't have any true-to-form arcades around here anymore, but
with the surge in the competitive gaming world, I feel that
it can be successful once again. The world of video gaming
has been a passion of mine my whole life, and I want to be
able to bring that competitive yet fun atmosphere to gamers
of all ages right here in my home state. I have done a lot
of research via the internet, but nothing is as valuable as
knowledge from those who know this world intimately. The
purpose of this email is to see if I might be able to pick
your brain (as an expert in gaming as a whole) as to where I
could go to get inside advice, or maybe even specific people
that would be willing to discuss the business. It has always
been a dream of mine to own a business where my hobbies and
the things that I love can be shared with others, and it
feels like there is no better time to dive in than right
now. With all your fans across the globe, I am aware that
it's just a shot in the dark you'll actually get to this
message...but if you have, I definitely appreciate your
taking the time to read this and any advice that could be
passed on is infinitely appreciated as well! I look forward
to the possibility of hearing back from you, and with some
hard work...and, let's face it, a little luck...I can report
back someday soon that I've been able to develop a thriving
gamer community with a place of my own right here in
southern New England. Thank you for your time.
Your
fan and supporter,
-Brad
Pari (Rhode Island, USA)
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Frank replies: Hey
Brad,
You're right about that.... The fighting game community is ever-growing,
especially with social networking making things so convenient these days.
There aren't any "quality" arcades in my area either, but there
are a variety of tournaments around here regularly at least (most of
which held at game stores). If your goal is to strengthen your local
scene, there are some steps you can take... I remember reading a few
articles about that very subject about year ago (and I wish I saved those
links so I could direct you to them. I actually managed to find one, but
the link ended up being broken). 
If I do come across any of those articles I'll send them your way.
Anyhow, my advice is: If you have the motivation and the type of
personality it takes to organize / co-organize events, then that's pretty
much all you need to start. (And having a few friends with similar
interests will definitely help a lot). The next step is advertising your
event and getting players to attend. I'd strongly recommend
announcing/advertising it on the main community sites like Shoryuken.com,
Tekken Ziabatsu, 8wayrun, Dustloop, etc. (Just make sure you're
advertising it at the right place, depending on the games you're
featuring)  It's
also a great way to meet other players... and it's exactly when I did in
the early 2000's to discover tournaments happening in my area.
I also have a quick story I can share with you on the subject - I took
part in developing a small scene at a local "LAN gaming center"
around 2003-2005ish. My friends and I checked the place out a few weeks
after it opened, and all they were playing were PC games... Starcraft,
Dota & Counterstrike mainly. 
However, they had two huge TVs in the front, one with a PS2, and one with
an Xbox hooked up. They charged a few bucks an hour to use the systems,
and we could bring our own games. So we started playing Soul Calibur 2,
Tekken 5, MVC2 there on occasion... and soon enough, people started
asking if they could play. Some would get owned and never come back (even
though we went easy on them), but others showed motivation to improve and
stuck around. Before we knew it, there was a solid group of people
interested in the fighting games we were playing, and years later we
helped bring a few tournaments to the place (with upwards of 20-30
players). Sadly, that place closed around 5 years ago. . . but it was fun
while it lasted. I even met a pretty cute girl there and ended up going
out on a few dates... so, you never know what can happen. 
If your ultimate goal is to actually open an "arcade"...
then you have your work cut out for you for sure. To be honest, I have my
own fantasy of opening an arcade in my area. I've got the location picked
out and everything, but I'm far too busy and dedicated to my other
occupation to think about doing it seriously (at least right now). I
don't know the business hands on when it comes to managing an arcade or
gaming center, but I do know a few people. The good news is: There are a
small handful of successful arcades left in America.... One I admire (and
one day hope to visit) is Galloping Ghost Arcade in Chicago. Their
official website: http://www.gallopingghostarcade.com/.
Those guys are making it work, so I'm sure they can be of some inspiration
to you. There are some other people I can direct you to as well, if you're
just looking to grow the scene in your area. If there's anything else I
can do to help, let me know. Stay in touch and good luck!
TFG Webmaster
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Page
for Real World Fighting Styles. . .
Hello Mr. Yagami!
I've been a huge fan of your site for a long time now (I
can't remember how long XD).
I remember you saying that you're a practitioner of a style
(forgot which), and in various character reviews you
sometimes comment on how accurate a character represents
their fighting style.
So have you considered including a page with a brief
history/description of various real world fighting styles
along with some of your thoughts on them? (may be a quick
list of examples of who uses said styles as well,
(accurately/badly/with super powers, etc.)
-Johnathan
(Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
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Frank replies: Hey
Johnathan,
That's actually a really good idea... I think it would compliment the site
very well, especially in this era of fighting games. I'll definitely
consider creating a page like that for the Features section in the future.
Thanks for enjoying the site all this time, and thanks for the idea! By
the way I teach Traditional "Combat" TaeKwonDo (not Olympic
style) and Hapkido. I've also trained in many other styles over the 20+
years I've been active involved in martial arts.
TFG Webmaster
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Hello
From Indonesia. . .
I've been a fan
of your site since i'm 5 years old (I'm 12 years old now).
I'm just asking
some few question, but please answer it
1.Do you like JRPG? if so please tell me what series that you like.(i
personally like FF and Tales Series)
2.What are your
most favorite fighting game series ?
3.And finally,
besides fighting genre, what are your most liked video game
genre?
I think that's
enough. Thanks if you can read it and answer it
P.S: Sorry if my
english broken, i'm from indonesia
-Rezarhb
(Jakarta, Indonesia)
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Frank replies: Wow,
you've been a fighting game fan since you were 5 years old? That's really
cool. I also became a fighting game fan when I was that young, although
back in the 80's there weren't many fighting games as we know them today.
To answer your questions:
1. Yeah. My all time favorite series is Final Fantasy. I love FF7, FF8,
FF9 & FF10. I never tried the Tales series myself.
2. Top 4 favorites: Tekken, Soul Calibur, Samurai Shodown, Street Fighter.
3. I like many other genres, but if I had to pick a favorite: RPG!
Your English is good! I'd like to travel to Indonesia some day. Thanks!
TFG Webmaster
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