Event Overview for Owens CC Gaming Club

Tuesday, Oct. 12 allowed a number of Owens students to throw down on the digital streets as the college’s Gamers United club hosted its first competition of the school year with Capcom’s one-on-one fighting game Super Street Fighter IV.

Featuring two Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles running the game, the free tournament saw 10 students enter for a chance to win gift cards to the campus’ bookstore. With a qualifying pool and an eight-person elimination bracket, psychology student Carl White stormed through nine different matchups undefeated to have his hand raised in victory after the dust settled. Utilizing a handful of the game’s various characters, White noted he has been competing on Street Fighter IV since the game’s initial release in 2008.

“At that point, there was nothing else to play,” White explained. “People stopped playing Dead or Alive [the fourth installment of Tecmo’s one-on-one fighting franchised released on the Xbox 360 back in 2005] and at that time, that was my game.”

Before picking up on either of the aforementioned titles, White said he actively played a number of fighting game titles that are now staples of the annual Evolution 2K tournament, the United States’ largest competitive fighting game event, such as Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Capcom Vs. SNK 2 and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. White attended this year’s “EVO” tournament, along with various other competitions throughout the past couple of years and was enthusiastic about the fighting video game circuit.

“The people around Toledo haven’t been too exposed,” he said, making note to the fact that larger competitions are primarily found in larger cities such as Columbus and Detroit. “Playing here, though, I can see everyone really has potential. Overall, competitions are getting really big. This year, EVO had 2,000 people in just one event, but, still even local events can pull in about 50, with regionals reaching 500.”

The Street Fighter series, crafted by Japanese company Capcom back in 1987, has mostly depicted renowned martial artists Ryu and Ken as they interact with other fighters in worldwide fighting tournaments. Because of the focus on vivid and unique characters, the company has enjoyed revenue stemming from comics, books, movies and other merchandising opportunities featuring the Street Fighter name throughout the years. Since the initial release, nearly every Street Fighter game sees two players (or one player fighting a computer-controlled character) pitted against each other in one-on-one hand-to-hand combat, utilizing a joystick (or controller pad) and six attack buttons.

According to software sales tracker VGChartz, the original entry of Street Fighter IV has accumulated sales of more than 3 million copies worldwide, banking off its popularity stemming from the fact Street Fighter II caused arcades and the fighting game genre to explode in the early ‘90s. The “Super” version of the title, released late in April this year, added a new selection of fighting characters, moves, modes and more to create a budget update release for those who couldn’t get enough of the game. The life of the franchise, as Capcom reported at the end of its fiscal year 2008-2009, has enjoyed more than 29 million units sold worldwide, placing it among the top 50 best-selling video game franchises of all time on many sales sources.

“Fighting games as we know them today essentially began with Street Fighter II back in 1991,” said Gamers United club advisor Chris Zasada about the series. “It featured a refinement and complexity that had never been seen in a video game before and its contributions to gaming are immeasurable, securing the Street Fighter name in pop culture legend. Street Fighter IV represents the first numbered sequel of the primary franchise in eleven years and, while the graphics have greatly improved and the game is more refined, fans and newcomers alike flock to the game because the competitive spirit and fun of a Street Fighter game hasn't changed a bit.”

Although the Street Fighter competition is finished for 2010, Gamers United certainly isn’t done for the year. On Tuesday, Oct. 26, a Left 4 Dead 2 competition will spark a Halloween theme for the club and on Tuesday, Nov. 9, Gamers United will host more shooting action with a Halo: Reach competition. Both events will start at 5:30 p.m. in AVCC 125 and interested players can get more info at www.occgamersunited.info.