It’s 7 p.m., and though Ackerman Union lies dim and deserted for the most part, an unexpectedly large crowd has gathered in Game On! with dozens of people already congregated inside and more trickling in as the evening wears on.
The atmosphere is abuzz with excitement, probably not what most would imagine a small gaming center to be like on a Thursday night, but this is no ordinary Thursday night ““ this is the highly-anticipated “Super Street Fighter 4″ Tournament. According to Pablo Isais, a third-year psychology student and employee of Game On!, the venue holds tournaments about twice a week, but “Super Street Fighter 4″ originally wasn’t one of the slated tournaments. The “Street Fighter” tournament was created after the game received an overwhelming number of customer requests. The venue tournament coordinators complied.
“The purpose of Game On! is to provide a service to the students … it’s really just for students to relax from stressing out,” Isais said.
At the tournament, brackets are drawn on a board, featuring all the gamertags of tonight’s contestants: “Galbi,” “Vicious,” and “Vivifortunia,” to name a few. Before the games officially start, players are already engaging in practice matches with the same gravity of athletes warming up, letting their favorite character throw a few punches.
The Wii menu lights up the far wall, under which a collection of Rock Band guitars and a drum set lie in a pile. To the side, a few scattered people uninvolved in the tournament sit at their own computers, wearing bulky gaming headsets to block out noise and with mics to communicate with other players online, entirely focused on their own games of Left 4 Dead 2 or World of Warcraft. As the intensity of the tournament grows, curious spectators walking by Taco Bell or Carl’s Jr. pause to peek in through the window at the ongoing fights.
It’s certainly eye-opening to see the loyal fanbase the “Street Fighter” franchise has maintained; the tournament has drawn them out by the droves. There’s a great range of people within the crowd, including Albert Avila, a first-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, along with second-year economics student Oscar Medina. They came to simply watch, but are experienced gamers themselves, having won second place in a previous “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” tournament.
“We come maybe twice a week for two hours,” Avila said, nodding toward his friend. “I’ll just call him up and say, “˜Hey, let’s go play.'”
Then there’s 24-year-old Taimur Khan, gamertag “Blackadder” as a tribute to the British sitcom. In his last year of studying for a master’s degree in law, Khan said he spent a good amount of money and time at Game On! ““ about $250 this year.
The players themselves can appreciate the diversity in competition.
“That’s what’s great about “˜Street Fighter,'” said Paolo Aquino, nicknamed “UberPaopao,” a second-year computer science student. “The people who play it aren’t always who you’d expect.”
Aquino’s friends, who include “Vicious” and “Joe Dubbs,” already play weekly at an arcade in Torrance, but Aquino said he has hopes of forming a more cohesive “Street Fighter” community among the students at UCLA who can play casually during the week.
Casual, perhaps, but “Street Fighter” still requires a little extra equipment to be played seriously. Many of the competing players have brought their own FightSticks, portable joystick controllers adorned with art from the titular game.
“The (board) cost $60, and the parts were another $60,” said Eric Robinson, a second-year physics student, as he held up his own controller.
Though it might sound like a lot, it appears to be a sum none too hefty for the more competitive players who claim it’s an indispensable item that provides a quality of gameplay the normal pads can’t. After all, this is still a competition, as captivating as any other type to be found.
Dispense with the notions of “Street Fighter” as just another dated game relegated to pizza parlors and arcades. It now includes new playable characters and updated graphics ““ the game’s iconic “hadouken” is now a gorgeously-rendered version of its former self. Yet “Super Street Fighter 4″ manages to prevent its makeover from undercutting the basic premise of testing one’s raw skill and reaction time.
Tides are quick to change in the game; an underdog with only a sliver of health left on his bar can suddenly knock out his adversary in the time it takes for a special combo to go off.
“So close,” said Aquino disappointedly as his match ended.
He and his opponent exchanged a handshake; sportsmanship is still a given here, as in any other competitive activity. That’s what you might call a good game.