Super Smash Bros Brawl

[AarowSwift]

having a means to communicate with those you are playing with makes it much more enjoyable

Depends on what's being communicated. However, with Nintendo's friend code system in place, Nintendo's insistence on protecting your ears even from the people you are "friends" with is puzzling to say the least. It's amazing how a company can be so willing to risk giant leaps of innovation on one hand while mincing along with baby steps on the other. They have their reasons, I just can't fathom what they are.

[atmuh]

i have never once encountered someone on xbl that has pissed me off

truth

[Bigfoot]

i have never once encountered someone on xbl that has pissed me off

truth

You obviously need to play more CoD4. Well, I guess nobody really pisses me off, but sometimes they can annoy the hell out of you because of the way they talk.

[atmuh]

bigfoot play bomberman live or uno with me they are the best games ever and i am a lonely soul

[cobaltstarfire]

Playing brawl online generally means I get more exercize daily...mainly because I end up running back and forth between the TV room and my computer...It's kind of fun just cause exercise is invigorating, but I start to get tired after a while.

Gotta remember to install aim on my dads laptop...I'm sure he won't mind any.

[Jam Stunna]

Hey everyone, go read my article on allisbrawl.com!

http://www.allisbrawl.com/forum/topic.aspx?id=13464

[BardicKnowledge]

The article reads very well, Jam -- the likes and dislikes in Brawl were very interesting, as you said.

It seems that I'm not the only person who thinks some social gap exists between regular tourney-goers and people who play to win but don't (or can't) attend the big tournaments. I suppose one way to lower this polarization is to encourage more people like me to actively participate in the community discussions (which I'm going to make an effort to do after reading this).

Any other thoughts on the future of Brawl?

[defender!!]

real good article.

i was always one of the melee lurkers--a great player but never had the time, energy or drive to learn all of the necessary AT's to play it competitively. i was just content to play with a group of friends.

with brawl, though, it's different. i'm much, much better at brawl than i ever was at melee and it's not due to the lack of AT's, it's due to the slower fighting engine. i perform consistently better under slower conditions. hell, i typically play rhythm games without any speed mods.

i'm going to my first big tournament tomorrow in columbia. i'm also putting together a combo video with multiple characters (my best dedede, with diddy, mario, jiggly, lucas, etc.).

[Scufo]

My logic is not scary. I'm making a straight up comment on all the message board discussion prior to Brawl's release. If you have a memory longer than a gold fish's you should recall this stuff. Speculation ran high for online in Brawl. Many people, myself included, predicted that online would not work well due to the inherent variability in the connection speeds of different computers. Others simply talked about how cool it would be to play anyone across the world and technical shortcomings be damned. I am not making excuses for Brawl's poor online (and it's clunky for more reasons than just connection speed). I'm simply saying I'm not surprised it has lag problems and you shouldn't be either.

Whether or not the devs actually put the online in because of fan whining is really irrelevant and certainly unknown to me. I just made the statement out of pure cynicism.

Ultimately though it doesn't matter. I've found that personally, i don't enjoy playing online even when the connection is pretty smooth nearly as much as I enjoy playing Smash Bros with other people in the same room.

Okay. Then I agree. Your comment from before implied that Brawl's lackluster online play is actually the fault of the consumers for requesting the game have online play in the first place, and that Nintendo couldn't have done anything to make it any better. I didn't have particularly high expectations for online Brawl either, but I expected more than what we got. It should have been a lot better, and the sad part is the game still sold like hotcakes. So there's not much to persuade Nintendo to make improvements on any future Smash.

[Jam Stunna]

The article reads very well, Jam -- the likes and dislikes in Brawl were very interesting, as you said.

It seems that I'm not the only person who thinks some social gap exists between regular tourney-goers and people who play to win but don't (or can't) attend the big tournaments. I suppose one way to lower this polarization is to encourage more people like me to actively participate in the community discussions (which I'm going to make an effort to do after reading this).

Any other thoughts on the future of Brawl?

I know I've bitched and moaned about the game alot, but I did have a really good time at the tournament I just went to. The team matches I had against Vulcan and his partner were some of the most intense and exciting matches I've ever played in. The joy I get in playing Smash comes from two places: performing technically impressive moves and competing against others who want to win. As long as Brawl has some of the former and all of the latter, I can see myself playing this game. Nothing will ever change my belief that Melee is better, but I'm enjoying Brawl now and look forward to future tournaments.

Besides, it's time that the Melee holdouts get over themselves. Brawl is the future. The tournament I went to a few weeks ago was dominated by new people, and they more than made up for the old Smashers that refused to come. Unless some catastrophe happens (like tripping deciding the outcome of a national tournament), the Melee community will continue to isolate itself and grow smaller, because at this point it consists of people who are "Melee-only". It's a stupid approach to take, but that's their prerogative.

[atmuh]

real good article.

i was always one of the melee lurkers--a great player but never had the time, energy or drive to learn all of the necessary AT's to play it competitively. i was just content to play with a group of friends.

with brawl, though, it's different. i'm much, much better at brawl than i ever was at melee and it's not due to the lack of AT's, it's due to the slower fighting engine. i perform consistently better under slower conditions. hell, i typically play rhythm games without any speed mods.

i'm going to my first big tournament tomorrow in columbia. i'm also putting together a combo video with multiple characters (my best dedede, with diddy, mario, jiggly, lucas, etc.).

if youre in the city then go to the weekly at web2zone

then youll know how good you really are

[defender!!]

well, i went to this tournament.

i'm really depressed.

in doubles, my partner and i came in 9th out of 32. not bad.

in singles, i got destroyed, first by a dedede ditto that would infinite me off the edge--chain to the edge, then infinite off. not much i could've done after he got me once. i got him in it once, but he did it more. i tried countering with a few people but got overzealous and lost...okay, fine. losers bracket for me.

second series i faced an infinite chaining ice climbers. i literally couldn't do anything--this guy would grab me once, chain me across the stage, then spike me with nana.

i'm so disenfranchised with the game now--melee had a few characters that had genuine advantages, but i thought brawl was more balanced than that. maybe i was just fooling myself, but i'm generally saddened that my real, technical skill doesn't matter when matched with someone that can fuck me up with a simple chain of commands

[atmuh]

well, i went to this tournament.

i'm really depressed.

in doubles, my partner and i came in 9th out of 32. not bad.

in singles, i got destroyed, first by a dedede ditto that would infinite me off the edge--chain to the edge, then infinite off. not much i could've done after he got me once. i got him in it once, but he did it more. i tried countering with a few people but got overzealous and lost...okay, fine. losers bracket for me.

second series i faced an infinite chaining ice climbers. i literally couldn't do anything--this guy would grab me once, chain me across the stage, then spike me with nana.

i'm so disenfranchised with the game now--melee had a few characters that had genuine advantages, but i thought brawl was more balanced than that. maybe i was just fooling myself, but i'm generally saddened that my real, technical skill doesn't matter when matched with someone that can fuck me up with a simple chain of commands

thats why you go to the weekly in web2zone since the ic infinite is banned

also that ddd crap is so easily countered you suck

plus it was today so none of them were there at wherever you were so you didnt face even close to the best

[defender!!]

it's easy to get out of an infinite with dedede against dedede off a ledge? it's a chaingrab that leads to the edge, and on the edge you can literally just repeatedly grab--there's not much one can do beyond that.

also, this tourney had chu dat, husband, azen, some really good people...i lost to kaiser first due to some terrible character choices and shiku second just because he was ice climbers

who the hell goes to this web2zone thing anyway? you presumptuous jerk?

[atmuh]

it's easy to get out of an infinite with dedede against dedede off a ledge? it's a chaingrab that leads to the edge, and on the edge you can literally just repeatedly grab--there's not much one can do beyond that.

also, this tourney had chu dat, husband, azen, some really good people...i lost to kaiser first due to some terrible character choices and shiku second just because he was ice climbers

who the hell goes to this web2zone thing anyway? you presumptuous jerk?

pc chris, cort, bum, and many others

unless they decided to forget about it for today

and yes its not too difficult to get out of the chaingrab or if you really hate it pick olimar it doesnt work on him

[defender!!]

i picked a few different people so he wouldn't do it to me, that wasn't the problem. in fact, i beat him in the round that he did the grab, i just switched it around so i wouldn't be left open to it. i made some bad choices and that was it. i'm sure it's not too difficult to get out of with most people, but d3 on d3 makes it kinda tough.

like i said, my problem wasn't with the dedede match, it was the ic's. it's maddening that just one grab can lead to CERTAIN DOOM.

and i live in MD too, so i won't be going to any NY shindigs.

[Jam Stunna]

ICs aren't as bad as I've said they are, but you still have a pretty good chance against them. It's a cliche, but DON'T GET GRABBED. Just pick someone who out-spaces their grab range (which is pretty poor).

[Bleck]

infinites are for gays period

[Jam Stunna]

I love infinites.

[defender!!]

it is cliche, dude. it's incredibly difficult to prepare a proper offense when i'm forced to stay away from my opponent at all times. it means i can't play as dedede because my grab game is fucked (nana can knock me off) and that's fine, it's an advantage of the character. i SHOULD be punished for trying to grab the ice climbers. however, i find it difficult to believe i should lose a stock for being within grabbing range of my opponent.

i understand that it won't be banned until it's proven to break tourneys. fine. i'm just not going to singles tourneys anymore, is all. i know i was better than the other player, we had played doubles and i beat both him and his partner in a truly gut-wrenching 2v1 situation. that's probably the most irritating thing and probably my main gripe--i will readily lose to an ike or an olimar that outplays me. i can't stand losing to ice climbers that turn one mistake into an immediate loss of stock.

it's just frustrating that i'm missing the boat on a competitive community, is all. i'm certainly not risking big money on whether or not my opponent can grab me. but i'm against all infinites in brawl, so what do i know.

[atmuh]

i know i was better than the other player

ololololololol

[Jam Stunna]

If you don't win, then you weren't the better player in that match. It's as simple as that. It doesn't matter if you're 50-0 in tournament, if you lose a round or a match, for the duration of that match your opponent was better than you.

Dedede should have no problem at all against the ICs. His grab range is better, his chainthrow is better, his projectiles are better, his aerials are better, his smashes are better, his recovery is better. Everything about D3 is better than the ICs. Your problem probably stems from the fact that you have very little experience against ICs, especially chain-throwing ICs. Get them off the stage, gimp Nana in mid-air (which should be a piece of cake as D3), and you win. That's really all it takes. If the IC shield camps you to try and get a grab, grab them first. D3's grab is so much faster than the ICs, and you should have thrown Popo away by the time Nana can even react thanks to the desync lag.

[Silent Mike]

Defender, where in MD do you live? I'm around germantown, and I need more exposure to some decent players.

[defender!!]

yeah, you're probably right.

honestly, i think it's a mix of multiple things. i guess i phrased myself wrong, what i meant was in a pure match of 1v1 without infinites on his or my part, i doubt i would've lost--i believe i was the better "pure" player, for whatever that's worth, but it's not a "pure" environment in any sense of the word, the game wouldn't have the depth or community it does if it were "pure" in that sense. it really was a lack of exposure to ic's (chaingrabbing ones, at that) and an inability to adapt my style, i guess. i'd ftilt to keep him away, throw waddles, bair, dsmash, inhale (terrible, terrible idea), everything to keep him at bay...and i'd just mess up one single time and lose a stock for it. more than anything, i suppose i have to realize that the ice climbers are the ultimate punishment character.

about shield grabbing, i really couldn't grab them back--every time i would, nana would knock me off. i would somehow continually hit nana, i even scored a gordo and it barely brushed by popo and knocked her out. i managed to separate the two often and killed nana a few times, the bottom line is it's just aggravating that against the ice climbers one mistake leads to a 60 - 80% punishment. add to the fact that him and i played that 2v1 earlier (shiku's fox and lobos' toon link v. my dedede) and i beat him. i understand it's the nature of the game, i'm just not comfortable with spending upwards of $20 in that situation.

i guess i'm approaching this in the same way someone would approach mario strikers. i don't know if anyone has played that, but i'm extremely competitive in that game and while some of the tricks are just downright nasty and simple, they're not entirely game-breaking. there certainly are ways around it if you know how...all in all, i guess i didn't know how. the difference, though, is that in strikers it'll put you back one or two points...but not an entire stock, match or set. unless someone spams it, obviously, which is what he did. because i didn't know how to stop him.

and it really was my first "real" tourney, so i didn't make the realization that some characters would've been good in that situation. namely, an ice climbers ditto. correct me if i'm wrong, but i'd think my nana would prevent his popo from hornswoggling me.

mike, i live in severn...we'd talked about playing a few games before, i really wish you could've made it to the tourney we had before. we get together regularly if you'd like to join

[Bigfoot]

Here's some videos of my friends and I playing.

Ike almost killed my Ness in 3 hits, rofl.