Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the Evolution World 2007 recap in Pro Gam3r #2. I know it could have and should have been more robust, but given the conditions, it was really the best we could have gotten before press time.
Basically, I wasn't even staff a week before press time. Abe Zarran and Jarod Reisin came to me the Tuesday before print (which was to be that Friday), telling me they needed a really fast Evo results piece. I had been out of the loop for nearly a year because of work and school, had not attended Evo, and had no idea what had happened there, but I agreed to bang it out as a pure research piece with the help of Kayin Wolf (my only available source that day). The four-page feature you saw in issue #2 was the result after seven hours of research and discussion. I am now the fighting writer for Pro Gam3r Magazine.
I have since gotten my Evolution 2007 DVDs, and it put a lot of things in perspective. If I had it to do all over again, I would have certainly put a lot of emphasis on Tokido's Vega (WOW!), Mike Wakefield's Makoto, and Myke's Kage, among so many other great performances at the event. Next year's piece will be done right, I promise.
As an aside, it was absolutely surreal watching the 3rd Strike finals. Mike Wakefield's Makoto, which I just mentioned, made it really hard for me to digest the fact that 3S is simply something I'm not a part of anymore. I've had those matches with Alex Valle myself (my Makoto vs whatever Valle felt like throwing at me), so I really got into that series in particular. Respect to Wakefield for the great performance there, really made me miss this game.
On to issue #3...
Just this morning, I submitted the final draft of "Fighting 101: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Original eSport" to Jarod after getting Myke's blessing on some of the more technical aspects of the feature. I really feel strongly about this one - it's specifically aimed at the Halo/CounterStrike/Starcraft/Guitar Hero/etc crowd, and for many of them, could be the first exposure they ever get to fighting games. I handled it with the proper amount of care in that light, and the whole thing ended up taking me nearly a month to turn out! By the time it was over, I considered giving Folgers a mention in the special thanks at the end of the article!
Fighting 101 will include a Cliff's Notes on the history of competitive fighting games (Evo in particular), brief details on ten of the current competitive titles, a look at four upcoming games, a section on basic strategy/psychology that I feel really strongly about for newcomers, hardware advice (sticks), and of course community links to places like VFDC and SRK. I treated this article as if it were the most important fighting piece to ever reach print, and I hope it really ends up being exactly that. I don't know what kind of layout we're dealing with yet, because I haven't seen what the artist has in mind, but this has 16-page extravaganza written all over it. I hope you guys enjoy it.
I will also do a write-up on NEC8, which is going on as I type this, but I've yet to decide on an exact way of covering it in light of how much they actually get done at this event. I mean, I've already broken 10000 words once for issue #3, and it took a lot of caffeine to make it happen! I'll be a slave to the bean in no time! :)
It feels strange being this excited for articles that won't even be published until after New Year's, but I can't help it. I firmly believe in this magazine and everything we're doing with it, and I really can't wait until you guys see #3 for yourselves.
See you in the arena,
Patrick aka Neobeast
Basically, I wasn't even staff a week before press time. Abe Zarran and Jarod Reisin came to me the Tuesday before print (which was to be that Friday), telling me they needed a really fast Evo results piece. I had been out of the loop for nearly a year because of work and school, had not attended Evo, and had no idea what had happened there, but I agreed to bang it out as a pure research piece with the help of Kayin Wolf (my only available source that day). The four-page feature you saw in issue #2 was the result after seven hours of research and discussion. I am now the fighting writer for Pro Gam3r Magazine.
I have since gotten my Evolution 2007 DVDs, and it put a lot of things in perspective. If I had it to do all over again, I would have certainly put a lot of emphasis on Tokido's Vega (WOW!), Mike Wakefield's Makoto, and Myke's Kage, among so many other great performances at the event. Next year's piece will be done right, I promise.
As an aside, it was absolutely surreal watching the 3rd Strike finals. Mike Wakefield's Makoto, which I just mentioned, made it really hard for me to digest the fact that 3S is simply something I'm not a part of anymore. I've had those matches with Alex Valle myself (my Makoto vs whatever Valle felt like throwing at me), so I really got into that series in particular. Respect to Wakefield for the great performance there, really made me miss this game.
On to issue #3...
Just this morning, I submitted the final draft of "Fighting 101: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Original eSport" to Jarod after getting Myke's blessing on some of the more technical aspects of the feature. I really feel strongly about this one - it's specifically aimed at the Halo/CounterStrike/Starcraft/Guitar Hero/etc crowd, and for many of them, could be the first exposure they ever get to fighting games. I handled it with the proper amount of care in that light, and the whole thing ended up taking me nearly a month to turn out! By the time it was over, I considered giving Folgers a mention in the special thanks at the end of the article!
Fighting 101 will include a Cliff's Notes on the history of competitive fighting games (Evo in particular), brief details on ten of the current competitive titles, a look at four upcoming games, a section on basic strategy/psychology that I feel really strongly about for newcomers, hardware advice (sticks), and of course community links to places like VFDC and SRK. I treated this article as if it were the most important fighting piece to ever reach print, and I hope it really ends up being exactly that. I don't know what kind of layout we're dealing with yet, because I haven't seen what the artist has in mind, but this has 16-page extravaganza written all over it. I hope you guys enjoy it.
I will also do a write-up on NEC8, which is going on as I type this, but I've yet to decide on an exact way of covering it in light of how much they actually get done at this event. I mean, I've already broken 10000 words once for issue #3, and it took a lot of caffeine to make it happen! I'll be a slave to the bean in no time! :)
It feels strange being this excited for articles that won't even be published until after New Year's, but I can't help it. I firmly believe in this magazine and everything we're doing with it, and I really can't wait until you guys see #3 for yourselves.
See you in the arena,
Patrick aka Neobeast
1 comment:
Heh, I've been reading the evolution of Fighting 101 as you'd been writing it. I'd say that you've definately found your spot.
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