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The Road to Evolution 2002 - A SF Community History Primer from 1995 (according to Javi)

By Javier Moreno
July, 31 2002 |
The road to Evolution is getting shorter by the day, and it has the potential to be the greatest thing in the Street Fighter scene since, well, B5. Yet the majority of users on shoryuken.com do not know much of the rich history of the SF scene. There are other people who started way before I did, like the Cannons, Derek Daniels, or Seth Killian, but this is my version (not theirs!).

1995 - alt.games.sf2, and the birth of the community's IRC roots

It all started from humble beginnings. Around 1992 (Seth said it could have been in late 1991), alt.games.sf2 was born, spun off from rec.games.video.arcade. alt.games.sf2 was a Usenet newsgroup, which is a primitive bulletin board that allowed people with access to post SF Strategy and other assorted topics. However, Usenet was not widely available at that particular time to the public. It was mainly accessible from assorted colleges and universities from around the US, and a from a few workplaces. It was virtually a new way to talk about your favorite things with other people from around the country, and the world. This was also the first time that people would post not just strategy, but about other aspects of SF as well. There were topics ranging from psychology, to player habits, to betting on matches, etc. Everything was fair game in alt.games.sf2.
The newsgroup was also a notorious hotbed for flames. Anyone who was remotely familiar with Usenet and alt.games.sf2 will remember such recurring flames as Seth vs. Stiltman. This is one argument that has persisted, even into the present. There are many other flame wars worth mentioning, and one can find a vast archive of the newsgroup at http://groups.google.com/
Relevant link: AGSF2 Trivia
In late 1995, Allen Hackley (LordVoid) founded the channel #sf2. There were even less people at the time who had access to IRC than to Usenet and email. The original members were LordVoid, inkblot, Ponder, Ben Cureton (tragic), Bob Painter (Kuroyume), marwan, and Derek Daniels (omni).

1996 - B3 and the SFA2 Strategy Guide

1996 would prove to be a defining year in the SF community. This was the year that Street Fighter Alpha 2 came out. Justin Ratcliff and Chris Finnie originally planned an event on July 20, 1996, so that the agsf2 personalities would finally meet, settle grudges, and talk SF.

"I hope this thing works out - It's probably the last chance many of us would ever get to meet/play each other." - Chris Finnie, about B3

The gathering was eventually modified into a tournament, and was being held on July 18-21, 1996. It was finally called Battle By the Bay, or B3, held in Sunnyvale, CA. 64 people from different parts of the country (and even different countries) came to this event in order to compete in SFA2 and in Super Turbo. This event was a huge success in the SF community. The North/South California rivalry was renewed, and people finally got to meet each other for the first time. Southern California's Alex Valle won against North Cali's John Choi in an exciting and dramatic SFA2 finals match, and served as the beginning of many finals between those two rivals.
Relevant link: B3 Results

"Super Turbo is two versions old. Get over it. It's a meaningless game, since most arcades don't even have it anymore and the competition has moved on. It's great for nostalgia, but IMHO that's about it." - Tom Cannon on B3 Afterthoughts

#sf2 on EFNet was then changed to #sf3, in anticipation of the impending release of Street Fighter III. John Choi (Yang), Alex Valle (Calipower), and myself finally find our way to IRC shortly thereafter.
At the end of 1996, the SFA2 Strategy guide by Versus Books had been released, as a guide to the Playstation and Sega Saturn versions of the game. It was a very comprehensive guide, having every single move, damage lists, and even combos (real combos- not Gamepro "combos"). The last pages of the guide also had a nice article covering the B3 tournament, with pictures included. This strategy guide remains a collector's item among those in the SF community to this day.

1997 - B2, Midwest Championships takes center stage

February 22, 1997 would mark the East Coast's first major, the Boston Brawl (B2- and yes, B2 occurs after B3). A total of 49 people participated in this event, to compete in SFA2. John Choi goes to the losers bracket early, fighting his way through many Chun Lis to make it to the finals against David Sirlin, who took the high road to the winners. Choi was able to defeat Sirlin in a dramatic finals series.

"Maybe some day Capcom will pay for everyone's trip to one central location for someone to finally prove that they are the best. :) But that is just a dream.... or is it??? :)" - John Choi, B2 afterthoughts

June 27-29, 1997 would mark the prominence of the Midwest Championships, with the first one beginning in March of 1994. The first game held in that year was Super Street Fighter II, with Mike Watson beating Jesse Howard in the finals. In 1995, Eddie Ferrier won the Alpha 1 tournament. In 1996, there was an Alpha 2 tournament right before B3, where Paul Anderstofferson, Graham Wolfe, and Jason Wilson took the top 3 places. Held at Super Just Games in Northbrook, IL, this was the first national tournament for the recently released Street Fighter III. More than 70 people came to Chicago to compete in this event. John Choi was able to take out Alex Valle for the win. Other games included SFA2, X-Men vs. Streetfighter, Super Turbo, and Puzzle Fighter.
Revelant Link: 1997 Midwest Championship Results Thread
SF3: 2nd Impact arrived in arcades in the 2nd half of 1997. At this time, the majority of people were still using agsf2 as their main form of communication with other people, with IRC being more of a general discussion room, with some SF strategy stuck in there at times.
The end of 1997 would end with a bang, with Ben Cureton (tragic) holding a gathering of players at his house. This event would be known as Tragic: The Gathering. Players from all over the nation would come right before New Year's Day and have a chance to settle scores, play the games they love, and make new friends. Each of these TTGs (as they were called) would play host to over 60 people. People slept near garbage cans, playing SF at 5:30 am, and getting drunk. This would serve as a precursor of other gatherings of the future.

1998 - Vegas, Daigo beats everyone down, the IRC/Usenet balance starts to shift

In early 1998, there was a tournament in Austin, Texas, featuring 2nd Impact. It was the first tournament in a while that got a large group of players to travel to another city to compete outside the West and East coasts, and Chicago.
July 11-12 marked the date of the USFGC (United States Fighting Game Championships) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The marquee tournament this time around was 2nd Impact. Every other game was also important, since they all counted towards a $1000 grand prize. The games included were the aforementioned 2nd Impact, SFA2, Super Turbo, Hyper Fighting, Marvel vs. Capcom, Tekken 3, Puzzle Fighter, and Virtua Fighter 3.
Like last year's Chicago event, this was no longer an event for just two tournaments. The Vegas tournament was an ambitious one, aiming for a full 11 tournaments throughout the weekend. It was also a sign of things to come for the future of competitive SF: It was the first event featuring a non-SF Capcom tournament - Marvel vs. Capcom. It was also the first event where Texas players came out of nowhere to reach the finals in both Super Turbo and 2nd Impact. Additionally, people had to deal with incredible heat, 12-14 hour days in tournaments, growing dissatisfaction with sticks and buttons, body odor, and plane itineraries- truly a precursor to the major tournaments of today. Alex Valle emerged victorious in 2nd Impact, SFA2, Tekken 3, and in Virtua Fighter 3. John was able to take Super Turbo. Jay Synder (Viscant) was able to use his famous "Triple Option" Zangief to make his mark and win Marvel vs. Capcom.

"Oh, I get it now! Jeff Schaeffer is Jason Nelson's dad!
Jason: Dad, teach me how to play Street Fighter!
Jeff: Not right now son, I'm learning to be the best in the world at Super Turbo!
Jason: But dad, I want to be the best too!
Jeff: Son, go play Alpha 2. That game sux and it is for scrubs, even though my Akuma is God and can never be beaten by mortals.
Jason then learns to play Alpha 2.....
(A short time later)
Jason: Dad, I went this tournament, and I got beat by some skinny scrub with long hair named Jason Wilson. I couldn't believe it! The guy was such a scrub! I even told my buddies how scrubby he was after I lost!
Jeff: Don't worry son, I will find this Jason Wilson and challenge him. If I win, it will boost both of our egos, and you can feel better about yourself again. I won't let him beat us California players like that! He won't touch the world's best Akuma! Even if he beats me, he is still a scrub, and we are better than him, so don't worry about it son." - Geoff Arnold, making fun of the Jason Wilson vs. Jason Nelson flamewar after the Vegas tourney

Relevant link: USFGC Results
The Vegas tournament was a hotbed for flames on agsf2. Despite Apoc's best efforts, the event failed in some regards, acting as a bitter reality check for ambitious organizers. There is no footage available from the event, there was the mysterious omission of Hyper Fighting from the tournament, and the arcade didn't come through as advertised, among other things. The tournament also increased hostilities between some players. The most controversial thing that came out of the tournament was the decision to ban Akuma from 2nd Impact, voted on by the players themselves at the event.

"You should handle your "stick" correctly, and then you won't have to worry about it." - Javier Moreno, on comments to Wilson's retort to his accusers of whining

Concurrently, #sf3 had changed to #capcom, to better reflect that the channel's interest in all Capcom fighting games. Shortly after the Vegas event, new people were starting to appear on the channel. Conversations were becoming more frequent, and the majority of the users were from agsf2. Unfortunately, even #capcom was not without drama. There were many instances of heated arguments, with personal issues increasingly involved. Everything that was in the SF community was now made public.
In November 7-8, 1998, there was a Street Fighter Alpha 3 national tournament. Earlier in August, people in Japan had tournaments to determine who the best player in Japan was. That man proved to be Daigo Umehera. Daigo was flown out by Capcom Japan in order to face the winner of Capcom USA's tournament. Alex Valle wound up winning the event, and with it the right to face Daigo in the Grand Championship. There was also an exhibition where some of Cali's greatest players played against Daigo. Daigo had A-Guy and A-Gen (which had never really been seen before in the States), and made quick work of Cali's best. The only person to beat Daigo was Graham Wolfe, who squeezed out a victory playing A-Dhalsim. There was an amazing uproar in both agsf2 and #capcom about this event.

"10,000 people competed for the Japanese Alpha 3 title. 62 people competed for the US title. That's a pathetic ratio. It would be fantastic to see US SF get even a fraction of the attention that it gets in Japan." - Tom Cannon, on his thoughts about the difference between USA and Japan

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