New Age of Culture

I never really had video games growing up aside from my Gameboy Color (which came in handy when I grew up during the height of the Pokemon craze in the early 2000's) and would generally just play when i was with friends who did. Fast foward ten years where I would purchase an Xbox of my own. I think the first night I spent on Xbox Live with 8 of my friends from school playing custom matches in Halo 3 was the most fun i've had playing games. All things aside, the mainstream idea of video games is rather negative. Call of Duty comes out every year and makes more money every time. Black Ops II made over half a billion dollars in less than a day. I don't enjoy Call of Duty simply because the games themselves are stale as far as gameplay and story. On top of that one comes out every year with minimal improvements that doesn't set it apart from its predecessor. The whole virtual citizen soldier ordeal is another can of worms. The spot that shines the most as a subculture are fighting games. Game company Capcom is largely responsible for the genre with their release of Street Fighter II in 1991. Due to a programmer's oversight, a player could input a command while executing another in what is now known as a "combo". The game exploded in popularity, leading to several enhanced re-releases and numerous merchandise. Seth Killian attended school as a philosophy major, but also had a job at a local arcade. Aside from his regular wage, he would hold tournaments amongst the regulars. Due to his skill he was able to win the money from the entry fees and helped pay his way through college. Years later he would be one of the key figures of the Evolution 2K series, the biggest fighting game tournament in the world. Capcom would expand their fighting game offerings with classics such as Darkstalkers (which features supernatural monsters as the basis of the characters such as a Werewolf and a Mummy) and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Superheroes. Marvel vs. Capcom was a joint venture between Marvel Comics and Capcom and was a big success. What really caught on was the competitive culture around it. Terms that are commonly used in matches include "salty" (when someone is visibly upset that they are losing/they lost), "crispy" (when someone is winning to the point where they could just eat the other guy like a Gorton's fishstick), and "pringles". Honestly I can't seem to remember what pringles means, but I would suggest seeing the documentary "I Got Next" for the full details. I'll end this with a clip of Daigo Umehara's comeback victory in Street Fighter III: Third Strike from Evolution 2004, which is one of the most viewed gaming clips on the internet (Seth Killian from above is commentating).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7cW2nMf1gk