Super Street Fighter IV (3DS/PS3/X360)

[Asura]

I think theory/practice will vary depending on the character; my Abel game jumped up several notches after an hour with Abel's frame data. That being said, I started my fighting game career with Virtua Fighter 1, and I started THAT with a Lau advanced combo guide, so I went into fighting games from day one trying to understand the underlying nature of how they work.

[donpeartree]

I find it hard to motivate myself to look at anything to do with the theory of the game. I generally try to play by instinct and now that I have a feel for the game I have a "sense" for things that will work or not. For instance, one of the guys I frequently play (Matt Lav) uses Boxer, and he used his ultra. I didn't actually know that I could hit him out of his ultra with EX Cannon Spike, but it felt like it would work, so I tried it, got the timing down perfectly and countered successfully.

But there's no doubt that doing a bit of research will help you. Maybe one of your moves has a use/property that you hadn't realised or didn't think to use. A certain move links into another move or super. Certain moves your opponents make are not safe on block, etc.

So yeah, bit of a ramble, but in conclusion, a good player needs to have a good balance of both.

[Dr Seedyman]

Since I stopped worrying about ant high end tech stuff and taking more time to feel out my opponents, identify their weakpoints instead.

This rings so true to me, I love really high tech stuff. I really get off on that shit.

However, It wins me very few matches, but messing it up or over complicating stuff looses me a lot of fights.

All that truely dark stuff comes after months or years of practise. Im in no rush to be the best, I just love the slow evolution of my game. Soaking up the fun of it.

I loose 90% of my fights against Dave! The ones I loose are always really good close fights, the ones I win make the 90 I loose well worth it.

It pays to fight those better than yourself.

[kensei]

"The answer lies... in the heart of battle."

[Revival]

...if you manage to find someone online who doesn't select Ryu.

[kensei]

...if you manage to find someone online who doesn't select Ryu.

Oi. Leave Ryu mainers out of it

Nothing beats experience, I think. The theory will help you out, suggest new directions to try, and for the really top, top players it will enable them to pull off some completely crazy stuff. But for the average player you just can't beat getting the feel for when an opponent who focus attacks fireballs regularly will be caught with an an EX, or at what distance you can safely attack something without leaving yourself hugely open, or having your bad habits punished so badly you stop doing them as a matter of course.

[Lyrical Donut]

Thanks again for the games Revival.. I don't know what came over me during that Rose vs Abel match. I pretty much had it sewn up in the third round then my mind just went blank

[stefcha]

I'm looking for an alternate main character to Cammy. Anybody got any idea who would compliment her playstyle? She seems to be quite a unique character in many respects.

I get on quite well with Ryu, he's my usual backup when I hit the wall with Cammy. I'm also quite partial to Fei Long, but I can't really do fuck all with him at the moment.

[Revival]

Thanks again for the games Revival.. I don't know what came over me during that Rose vs Abel match. I pretty much had it sewn up in the third round then my mind just went blank

I know that feeling!

To be honest you should have taken that with a canter as I was whiffing out the wrong moves and random ultras as I seem to do as a habit with Abel, with a sliver of health left I simply said bugger it and went on the total offense

Think I'll stick to Honda from now on though.

[Sabreman]

I wonder if anyone has a tip for me, maybe I'm just being dumb... I played against a Ken last night, and he used a tactic of continually focus attacking whenever he knocked me down, so I always got back up straight into it. I couldn't block, dash back, counterattack or use my own focus to cancel it, and just had to wait until he'd run out of energy, by which point I was pretty much done. Am I missing something I could have done to work against that? I play as Cammy.

I won the match by the way, but that particular round was very frustrating.

[Nate Dogg III]

I feel the need to discuss the concept of Theory Vs Practice in this thread.

Asura, no one on here understands the theory of the game like you. Some of you guys baffle me with talks of Meaty and frame data and shit. Its insane.

In a good way like.

On the opposite side of the coin, my main sparing partner Dave White will be the first to admit, he simply doesnt give any of that a thought to any real extent. Me either.

Dave also plays one of the best Guiles I have ever come up against.

I play purely by instinct, I know what beats what, I mostly know when Im safe and when Im not. Thats about it.

Dave will tell you, I play my best when Im not really thinking, Im just doing.

So, whats school of thought are you? Theory or Practise?

Practise for sure. I have no idea about Ken's frame data or anything like that and while I understand what Asura says about it improving his Abel game I tend to try and just force the issue when I play online, be so aggressive that it's the other guy that has to worry about what moves of his will beat mine. If I try and turtle as I'm constantly forced to do against dogsout I lose more often than not and I think that's where frame data might come in handy, but I'm just not interested in breaking it down like that, it becomes a game of memory and mental arithmetic then and that sounds more like my job than a videogame. When Willei and Olly and that come in here and start talking about things being +4 on block or whatever my eyes just glaze over. No offense like as I know that once you get to a certain level you have no choice but to know that stuff; I'm happy just f.MK - cr.MK x FBing my way across the screen, crossing up like a mad cunt, and if someone's standing MP has a frame advantage over my cr.MK and they know that and use it and win then fair play.

I wonder if anyone has a tip for me, maybe I'm just being dumb... I played against a Ken last night, and he used a tactic of continually focus attacking whenever he knocked me down, so I always got back up straight into it. I couldn't block, dash back, counterattack or use my own focus to cancel it, and just had to wait until he'd run out of energy, by which point I was pretty much done. Am I missing something I could have done to work against that? I play as Cammy.

I won the match by the way, but that particular round was very frustrating.

Throw if he's right next to you, failing that any special move on wakeup counts as a reversal I think, and reversals break armor automatically.

Ideally just Ultra the cunt, he won't try it again.

[Revival]

Following up on an announcement made last week at the Street Fighter IV official blog, Capcom shared final details today on a major update for the fighter. Set for April 24, the fully free update adds new shared and console-specific features to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

Both versions will get the previously announced Championship Mode and Battle Replay Viewer.

Championship Mode allows players to take part in on-the-fly tournaments during network play. Following the update, a "Championship" toggle will be added to the network play area of the game. Check this, and you'll be placed in existing tournaments for upcoming network fights through arcade wait mode, quick match, or custom match.

Those who take part in Championship Mode battles earn Grade Points based off combat results. The game uses these Grade Points to match players. Collecting more points will raise your rank and put you in tournaments with tougher foes. Prior to the battle, you can see the level of tournament marked as "G3," for beginners, rising up to "G2," "G1," and "GS" levels.

The splash screen prior to a Championship Mode bout.

Championship Mode, showing players ranked G3-A, G3-B, and G3-C. The right shot shows a player rising in rank to G3-A. Both players earn Championship Points and Grade Points.

Battle Replay Viewer allows players to view replay footage of winning players from the Championship Mode. These replays are added to a replay ranking. Replays found in this ranking can be viewed at any time.

Console specific updates include Replay Download and Key Display functionality exclusively for the Xbox 360 and Replay Voting exclusively for the PS3.

The 360-exclusive functionality allows players to download replays from a replay list to their harddisk or memory card for viewing even when not connected online. The Key Display functionality allows players to display key press information, which can be combined with slow motion replay functionality to study the timing of top players.

The replay list and key viewer for the 360 version.

The PS3-exclusive functionality allows players to flag replays as "Interesting," "Skillful", and "Beautiful." These flags can be placed at any point during the course of the replay through quick button presses. The PS3 version's replay ranking is updated according to these votes.

[imp]

Interesting! Wonder why they decided to do console exclusive stuff though... TBH, the 360 stuff sounds more useful!

[Dave White]

whats this update today all about?

[Hoodedclaw]

is it not Championship mode thingy

[Nate Dogg III]

Wait, so you can only save replays from Championship mode? Not just normal ranked/player matches?

[Nate Dogg III]

More:

Championship Mode, in a nutshell, means hot tournament action and match replays that let you watch the best of the best. Championship Mode goes live for both PS3 and Xbox 360 on Friday, April 24, and it comes entirely FREE.

For anyone that wants more than will fit in a nutshell...

Tournaments:

The tournaments offer a new take on classic SFIV competition. They are broken out into 5 different levels, which means everyone can participate and find a good challenge without getting blown out of the water or bored. You score Grade Points (GP) for tournament wins, and as your GP total grows, you’ll become eligible to enter into more exclusive tournaments. Winning tournaments will also net you Championship Points (CP). The CP work basically like “prize money” up for grabs in the tournament. The higher the GP skill of the players in a particular tournament, the bigger the CP prize!

In true tournament tradition, character selection is double-blind. With the CP purse on the line, you won't be able to see who your opponent has picked until you've both made your choices, and the battle is set to begin.

The tournaments are run according to a standard type of single-elimination bracket, but your opponents are generated dynamically. This means the matching system will automatically match you with a player of your skill level participating in that tournament type, so you don’t have to wait around. Since the tournaments are already seeded by player strength, you’re assured quality opponents at your same skill level, as fast as possible. If you can advance through the rounds to take a top placing, you’ll score GP and CP. As your points increase, you’re eligible for tournaments with increasingly strong opponents.

--SG Championship (SUPER GRADE): 5 rounds long. The highest grade championship in which only top players can participate.

--G1 Championship (GRADE 1):５ rounds long, for advanced players

--G2 Championship (GRADE2 2): 4 rounds long, for intermediate players

--G3 Championship (GRADE3) 3 rounds long, for beginners

--FREE Championship (Free Grade): 4 rounds long, open to anyone regardless of their level.

The tournament system is set up to reward you for participating. At G3, you actually score a point even if you get knocked out in your very first match. At G2, you don’t gain points for a first-round loss, but don’t lose any either. Similarly, you never lose points by participating in the FREE rank tournaments. Only in the top G1 and SG tournaments is it possible to lose GP, and even then you only ever lose 5 points for a first-round loss.

One of the best things about the new mode is that can play in tournaments in just the same way you can use the “arcade request” feature, so you’re free to play in arcade mode while waiting for your next tournament challenger, who will be chosen automatically based on your rank.

Last, but most certainly not least, disconnecters, aka pullers, aka ragequitters, your days are numbered: If you disconnect during a match, the system will also dock you your progress in the tournament, so pullers will never be able to advance into the higher ranks of tournaments. What’s even more fun is that the system also happily displays your disconnect percentage, so if you've got a bad habit, it's right there for everyone to see.

Replays

Replays are generated straight from the Championship Mode tournaments. The top 5000 Championship Point leaders will be given the option to upload a replay, which are then available for anyone to watch. Everyone on both X360 and PS3 will have be able to watch any of the replays on their platform, but there are also some system-specific extra features on the replays:

On PS3, viewers can watch your replay and vote in real time according to characteristics like “beautiful” or “funny.” For the nerds, you can vote once every 30 frames (that’s 2x a second!), although there is a cap to avoid total vote spamming. Replays will be ranked according to the user-submitted reviews, making it easy to find the flavor of replays you want to see.

On X360, you can’t vote on the matches, but you can watch and then save a number of your favorites. While watching your saved matches, you’ll also have the option to turn on input commands (just like the Training Mode option), so you can see the gritty details of exactly what button and joystick inputs the top players are using to win.

And just for good meansure, the full press release is below:

Update to Street Fighter IV: Championship Mode comes free!

Capcom is bringing new options to Street Fighter IV with an eye towards serious players. Street Fighter IV’s Championship Mode update expands on the fighting fun by offering players the chance to compete in tournaments and to watch replays of the best tournament matches. Best of all: it comes to you at no cost! The Championship Mode update will be available for both PS3 and Xbox 360 owners on Friday, April 24 (times TBD).

Championship Mode offers you the chance to compete in 5 different grades of tournaments, creating the right challenge for players of every skill level. You’ll score Grade Points (GP) for tournament wins, and as your GP total grows, you’ll become eligible to enter into more exclusive tournaments. Winning tournaments will also net you Championship Points (CP). CP are like “prize money” up for grabs in the tournament. The higher the GP skill of the players in a particular tournament, the bigger the CP prize!

Replay Mode allows you to select and watch the best Championship Mode tournament matches.

On the PlayStation Network, you can rate matches while you watch according to characteristics such as “awesome” or “funny.” Replays are then ranked based on these vote ratings.

On Xbox Live, instead of rating the matches, you can choose to download and save your favorite replays to study the players’ techniques. You’ll also be able to turn on the input commands from both players to be able to review their button and joystick motions in precise detail.

[Nate Dogg III]

Right, so only the top 5000 Championship players can upload replays.

Doesn't say anything about being able to save your own replays of random games and upload them anywhere.

....

[The Count]

Well that really makes the 360 version the one to have. Seems to me like there must have been some limitation stopping them from implementing either the offline replays or key display on PS3, so they gave it a pointless exclusive feature to make up for it.

Real shame the replays are only for viewing tournament winners matches. Most people would get more benefit from viewing their own matches.

As for threory Vs practice, I spent years as a tournament player in Soul Calibur and Tekken (since SC1/TTT), and knowing the theory and frame data was an invaluable way of improving and studying my own play. But whilst playing in an actual serious match, it's all about instinct and playing your offensive game on auto pilot, so that your focus is completely on reacting to your opponent's actions and choices with what feels right, rather than thinking about any theory or data.

[Nate Dogg III]

Really disappointed with this. There's not much you'll see from the Championship replays that you couldn't have watched on youtube at any point over the last six months or more.

I wanted replays of our league games, dammit. Not good enough, this.

Nothing about being able to set up your own tournaments within player matches either, thought that might be a workaround for the lack of lobbies, but I guess not.

What a shame.

[Sir DangerM]

It does sound a bit of a wasted opportunity, but it's probably down to them having to limit the amount of videos they can allow due to limited storage capacity / money.

[FurryGreenMonster]

Really disappointed with this. There's not much you'll see from the Championship replays that you couldn't have watched on youtube at any point over the last six months or more.

Dunno about that, the input data is gonna come in very handy for me.

I'm quite excited about this. I'm sure an option to create your own tournies will be added down the line but I'd rather have this update now and have to wait for that than have to wait longer for the whole thing.

Double blind selection is great and it sounds like tourny mode is going to be a lot better a way to match you up with similarly skilled opponents than the crappy, exploitable BP system. Especially as pullers don't progress and you can se their RATE OF PHAIL1

[Sir DangerM]

Hopefully tournament mode will actualy give me some good opponents.

I'm pretty fucking bored of ranked matches against ken/akuma/ryu where they just run scared from Gief. Jump back>HADOKEN, Jump back>HADOKEN, Jump back>HADOKEN, Jump back>HADOKEN, shit i'm getting trapped!, Jump forward>HK!!! / Teleport!!!!!!! I still beat them it's just so fucking boring.

[FurryGreenMonster]

Hopefully tournament mode will actualy give me some good opponents.

I'm pretty fucking bored of ranked matches against ken/akuma/ryu where they just run scared from Gief. Jump back>HADOKEN, Jump back>HADOKEN, Jump back>HADOKEN, Jump back>HADOKEN, shit i'm getting trapped!, Jump forward>HK!!! / Teleport!!!!!!! I still beat them it's just so fucking boring.

That's pretty much how you fight Gief with a shoto though.

I just try and stay as far away as I can, spam FBs and hit on the jump-in or sweep on the lariat. It's either that or get raeped for half a bar by one green hand, SPD.

[kloid]

I knew I was being naive in hoping the PS3 version would have (the console's pretty standard) download to HDD -> upload to YouTube capability. Oh well, so it goes.

Tournies sound like an interesting enough distraction from ranked thrashings.

[pancho]

It does sound a bit of a wasted opportunity, but it's probably down to them having to limit the amount of videos they can allow due to limited storage capacity / money.

I'm sure it's due to them holding back features for Street Fighter IV: Pt2.

Remember how it went following Street Fighter III's release on Dreamcast? Capcom know bretter than most how to drip their features out over multiple iterations for maximum profit.

[A nice cup of tea]

It's either that or get raeped for half a bar by one green hand, SPD.

Green hand is punishable by throws on hit and block. It's the whiffed hand you've got to watch for.

[Tomdominer]

It does sound a bit of a wasted opportunity, but it's probably down to them having to limit the amount of videos they can allow due to limited storage capacity / money.

This is right on the money. On 360 games can only have a maximum of 1gb 'gameclip' storage (on the PS3 it's only 100mb!) that you can upload to the microsoft leaderboard servers, so essentially you have to limit the number of replays you can upload.

The only fair way is to limit it to the best players.

[NecroMorrius]

The anouncement was, whilst you were whining like punk about how much you hated the online on this and it made you cry, we all had one lol each at this atempt at white hot wit.

Its like months old son.

Can't blame a man for wanting to provide a cheap laugh for his fellow Mukkers. Even if it was tied up by a poor sequel in a Western setting. I used to be so on the money* but since my recent holiday I flatout suck.

*probably not

[Asura]

Still no multi-person lobbies then. <sigh>.

I know we were never promised them, but it's still a massive oversight.