Saturday, March 24, 2012

To The Fighting Game Community



Hey guys! ...and girls!(?) ...if there are any women subscribed to me... out of all 2300 of you, as of now. :) (which is awesome, ladies!)

I decided to post this small entry to talk about my appreciation for the Fighting Game Community, and the root of it. 

In 2008, I was in college. I was taking basic courses at Mountain View College in Dallas. I recall being completely lost in the notion of "finding a career or goal," to base the rest of my life in. I was 20 years old, on my second year of college, so the idea of picking a major was months past a general deadline. At the time, I was, and still am, in a relationship with the girl of my dreams. You know... the one girl that proves to be greater than what you expected a high school crush to be. I was, and still am, a very happy guy. BUT, I haven't always been whole. I always had that one "step" that I was never able to take. 

What kind of person would I become, being in college, learning about multiple topics and themes, never really focusing on one notion, let alone many ideals that would one day shape who I ended up being today. I was never able to decide what I wanted to become. 

I had a blessed life. My father, then and now, working 70+ hours a week, doing laboring jobs as a contractor, rarely basking on the luxuries that he was providing for my brothers and me. I learned to appreciate everything earned, for that is how he raised us. We never mention the "objects we purchased." We reflect all the things we have earned through hard work, and the ethics he and my mother taught us as we grew to become men. 

I have always admired my father for all of his hard work. I have never forgotten my mother's ethical views of the world, and I have not once forgotten the difference between right and wrong.

With all this being said, I bring you to the next "step." After community college, I decided to move on to a university that would force me to find that dreaded "Major." I did find it. It was Education. But what the hell can I do with an education degree in Texas? I was legally limited to what I could teach and immediately rejected the idea of teaching the youth about things I had no interests in taking part of. So I decided to Major in Spanish. I have always felt an appreciation towards my roots, just as I'm sure many minorities do. 

Bare with me, this all has a point to it.

I felt very strong about majoring in the language that I was raised in, and made it my goal to do everything possible with it. Sadly, teaching in Texas was out of the question, so what was the next best thing? I could think of nothing meaningful, so I arrived onto another rut. 

This is where fighting games came into the picture. 

At the time, I had been playing SF4, for a few months, and was becoming very addicted to it; so much so that I was dropping in grades and annoying the crap out of my girlfriend. Nothing, other than her, mattered to me as much as this game did. It felt wrong, as much as it felt right. I was going to school to make something out of myself because I felt I owed it to the hard work my father put into sending me there, but then again, I felt strongly about doing something meaningful with the degree I was aiming for. 

But why was I so firm about my SF4 videos. It felt completely silly. I felt embarrassed with myself for feeling the way I did. I mean, what kind of person focuses on a video game more than he focuses on his future, both financially, and according to plan? 

But then it hit me. It was my calling. It's that simple. My calling was to make videos about SF4. How stupid is that? I felt disgusted with my realization. I thought to myself, "That can't be it, can it?"

And no, it was not.

I repeatedly asked myself why I felt so strongly about this game. Until one day, it hit me. I had a subscriber who goes by the name of "Shadow Assault 007." He made a video in which he mentioned me and how much a simple set of SF4 matches meant to him. I felt honored by how highly he spoke about me and Kool-aid, and almost out of nothing, my calling appeared in front of my eyes. I wasn't doing meaningless videos. I was contributing to a group of followers. A small one, at that. But the majority of them came from websites like Shoryuken.com, eventhubs.com, and iplaywinner.com. It then became apparent, how significant the people of this community were/are. 

Peers is what you all are. Peers who share in a common interest to mine. Peers who enjoy the addicting nature that is this community, be it the drama, or the admirable skills top players excel to. Peers who stand together and fight towards a common cause. Peers who understand each other the way brothers do. 

I do not make combo videos because I want subscribers. I do combo videos because I like to give back to this community. A community that has shaped who I am.

When you take a step back and think about how you would explain the feeling most of you (hopefully) have towards this community, you probably feel like the people around you would not understand. I, to this day, still feel funny telling friends and family about my youtube videos. It seems as if they think it's a silly thing I will one day outgrow. It feels as if they do not take me seriously. 

It makes me laugh quietly to myself. I feel very proud to be a part of this community, regardless of the ups and downs it faces. 

Now, you may be wondering, "How does this tie in to that gibber jabber you ranted about at the beginning of this entry?" 

And I'll tell you. You know that inexplicable appreciation I felt for my father's hard work, and the meaning behind how he and my mother raised my brothers and me? The lost feeling I had about my future, and how the FGC affected it? Take that. Take all of it, and place it in the context of how much this community means to me. I love it. 

I am now working on getting this job. A job that is simply a job. Not a career. Not a source of both income and life changing challenges. A job that assures me the ability to effect this community as greatly as it has affected me. I have found my calling. The calling is you. The peer who takes part in this fighting game community. The person who is interested in being a part of something greater than just a member to society. The peer who searches to fit in with the same people I now have grown to adore like a family member. 

Not just that, but this job aims to both help me fund a certain promising future for this community, as little or as big as it one day becomes, and it helps me secure a life for my parents once my father retires.

Now, the job is of no importance to this entry (I have hopes that this community will lead me to a better career idea in the end). The importance is, that I appreciate everything you all have meant to me, and I hope to return the favor by helping this community grow little by little, as I have been attempting to, with this youtube channel. 

I don't believe in that I am a big factor in the FGC, but that doesn't matter. I will do what I can, just like tournament organizers do, or other fellow combo video makers, or other contributors. Just know, that I plan to be a dedicated member of this community, the way every veteran member has been, and a lot of you hopefully will, too. 

Thank you for getting this far into this entry, and I hope I didn't seem like that big of a softie. I just very much love this community, as "staged" as it may be, or at times, as broken as SFxT is.

- Ian Talamantes - Snoooootch 



PS: I'd like to thank Jonathon at twitch.tv/pandaxgaming for being a great influence in my participation at local gatherings. He's part of the reason why I decided to write this up. I feel he's headed in the same direction as I am, and I find it very admirable, being that he has a full, busy life. 

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