Stunfest 2009 – Rennes

Ahoy gamer friends! The tiny one came back from one of the most amazing gaming festivals hosted over in neighbouring France. Thanks to 3 Hit Combo along with N’tss N’tss, AH2R, Gnouz Corp and the most active French communities; a vast array of 50+ consoles and 25+ arcade cabinets catered for a wide range of tournaments and casuals, from fighting, rhythm, shoot-em-ups, puzzles, retro and more. Accompanying the event, and providing much satisfaction to my geeky soul, Stunfest had artists playing live chiptune throughout the night. Now my iPod welcomes Bubblyfish to go alongside Sabrepulse.

This definitely being my cup of tea, without hesitation I sprung my little legs onto the Eurostar and zipped straight on through the channel tunnel. People can recall my magical energy that got me through the 24 hour Burnout Paradise stint, so don’t be surprised to know that my eyes lit up when they saw the words ’48 hours of non-stop gaming in Rennes, France!’

Now picture the music video of Prodigy’s – No Good and you’ll have an idea of how underground this event was. A massive car parking space transformed into an arcade and console heaven, with sections dividing the casuals and the tournament spaces. Aside from the fighting games (my favourite genre), the display of import games like Dance Dance Revolution and Magical Drop added more fuel to my fire. I can’t say how many circles I walked across the venue to play each and every one of them more than several times. Gosh, to think of all the things I played, there were way more beyond the competitive games and the diversity even struck back to the likes of Puyo Pop to Duck Hunt!

Since my first attendance at a tournament back last year at Neo Empire’s Battle of Destiny; the revival of my fighting spirit had led me to follow up various tournaments in the UK. This was the first time I had attended a tournament overseas to witness the main features of Stunfest. Stunfest played host to the European Qualifiers for the major yearly fighting tournament Super Battle Opera (Tougeki) and Ichigeki ’09, a chance for European CVS2 champion, Yamazaki (France) to play against EVO champions Yoshida Ryo (Japan) and John Choi (USA). This which was to determine who is the best Capcom Vs SNK 2 player in the world!

Surrounded by many inspirational fighters; at the scene I caught up with an old acquaintance, Justin Wong (JWong/USA) and met other top players, Yoshida Ryo (D44 Bas/Japan), Campbell (Buktooth/USA), John Choi (USA), Nicholas Inabnit (NKI/USA) and Ryan Ahn (Laugh/South Korea). I was also delighted to see our UK players, Zak Bennet, Ryan Hart, Chunkis, Rakurai and other heads who came to represent. All of whom tackled our European competitors among the variety of titles bringing great gameplay; and even as rivals, everyone is more than happy to discuss, share and tip off other players on how to improve. Thanks to these guys my future in fighting grows fierce but also fun.

Meeting people is the best part of events like these and it’s pretty interesting to think that anyone can be a tournament player, perhaps the IT professional, SAP Business analyst, student, entrepreneurs, maybe even a writer from Ready Up. So sitting down with the players, I wanted to know more about what drives them on and their tales of experiences in the fighting world:

Shaz – So Justin, the last time we met was at Battle Of Destiny 08, clue me in, what have you been up to lately?

Justin – Well I’ve been up to a lot of Street Fighter IV.  I recently won the Gamestop national tournament and I’ve been working with the people I am affiliated with such as Empire Arcadia, Kapital, and Clgamer. I haven’t had a lot of time to play any video games besides fighting games but I do tend to pull out the DS a couple of times for a bit of Pokemon.

Shaz – How long have you guys been playing competitively and what made you turn to the tournament tables?

John – I’ve been playing competitively for about 18 years, ever since the original Street Fighter 2 came out. I love competition and still continue to do it except now I’m travelling world wide looking for competition and making lots of new friends along the way.

Zak -It might be coming up to three and a half years, compared to a lot of players that isn’t very long.  I started out like a lot of the players in the arcade; it took a lot of beatings, wasted pound coins and learning the hard way to get good.  The players are all nice, regular ranking battles and all the events in the UK that Neo Empire host made me want to get better and better.  From there, its only a matter of time before you start seeing good results, and I think anyone can do it, they just have to stay focused.

Ryan – It’s been about 8 years and I’ve attended about 15 large scale tournaments like Evo and SBO. My fascination with tournament level fighting games first sparked when I accidentally stumbled on Shoryuken and found a jackpot of high level match videos, tutorials, and discussions back in 2001.

Shaz – What’s your main game right now?

Nic – Super Street Fighter II Turbo.  It’s well balanced, fast-paced, offers a good variety of character design and has good aesthetics. I think ST is a fairly action-oriented game and also the damage is relatively high, the round is never over ’til it’s over – it’s possible to make some awesome comebacks.

Justin – My main game is SFIV because I follow where the competitive scene takes me and I’m in love with it because of the competition; I like the fact that so many people are playing it.

Ryan – Capcom vs SNK 2 (Street Fighter IV is my second main game) because asides from being a very deep game, CVS2 allows for all types of play-styles at highest levels (defensive/offensive, variety of grooves) and also because the game hardly allows for fluke random wins; It’s all skill.

Shaz – Zak, what’s this I hear of you scooping a Guinness World Record of most consecutive wins?

Zak – The record attempt happened on the day of the SFIV release; it was a great chance to promote the game and show what can be done with it.  The record was set at a fairly respectable 108 wins, sure to be broken if a heavyweight decides to try for it

Shaz – Ryan, there was a moment during the SFIV (5 versus 5) exhibition where it lay in your hands to carry Team World against Team France, yet you turned into a monster and defeated five players in a row! How does it feel to achieve victory?

Ryan – My five win streak comeback against Team France in the SF4 exhibition, I was more relieved rather than shocked actually (laughs). Because I knew Korea’s SFIV rep was solely resting on my shoulders, I think that pressure put me in battle mode and allowed me to beat the entire France team which was no easy task I must admit. I’m not very known for big comebacks, so I hope this one is the first of many to come in the future.

Shaz – So any tips for me on my road to fighting victory?

John – The game is fairly new so techniques and strategies are changing very often at this point. That means exposing yourself to current tactics is very crucial to stay on top of the game. Playing against lots of different players (perhaps online) and reading up on forums should help a lot. Also, watch videos of top players to get ideas.

Nic – I guess this is applicable to any fighting game (not just SFIV), pick a character that you like; there’s not much point in playing a game if you’re not enjoying it.  Learn the bread-and-butter combos (your most damaging combo for any given situation, like if the opponent whiffs a big move).  Beef up your knowledge and experience, play the game a lot.  If you don’t have a good local scene where you live, online play can really help boost your experience level.  Develop some good mind games; think about what the opponent is thinking, and make sure you don’t fight in a pattern.  If you get predictable, you’ll get punished.

Justin – Tighten up your combos to make sure if you hit someone, its going to leave a mark and also don’t get so nervous when you’re playing against someone up close.

France was a blast and it shows that a bit of passion mixed with commitment from communities can pull off great events like Stunfest. While I would definitely jump at the next occasion, there’s plenty of events here in the UK. There’s the next Ready Up gamer’s meet, Insert Coin 09, Super Versus Battle 09 and more on the calendar. While online play certainly keeps us in touch as gamers, there’s nothing that beats the atmosphere of a live gaming gathering and I truly hope to see your faces at the next events!