I knew they were going to overhaul the fighting mechanics for Final Showdown but I didn’t expect this!

Praise be we have a use for the Wii! I’m sure if you own a Wii ,I know most of Upstate doesn’t, it has been sitting around not doing much. New Super Mario Bros. can only keep ones interest for so long. Now finally a good fighting game (Sorry Smash fans, Brawl is ass) has hit the Wii. So dig around for your old Gamecube Soul Calibur sticks and prepare to not know which way to block, it’s Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars!

First off, what is Tatsunoko vs. Capcom? Well it’s the continuation of the Vs. series which consists of the Marvel vs. Capcom games and the Street Fighter vs. X-men games. However, this does not include the Capcom vs. SNK games, why? I don’t know. It’s a game that features Capcom characters from fighting-games and various franchises and anime characters from Tatsunoko. WTF is Tatsunoko? Remember Samurai Pizza Cats? No? How about Neo Genisis Evangalion? No? Well they are the people that made Speed Racer and all of those animes, and a bunch of one’s you’ve never heard of. Ironically none of those series are represented in the game. So chances are no one from the Tatsunoko side will look familiar but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun to play as.

Second lets clear up the difference between Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars(TVC:UAS aka TVC 1.5) and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes. (TVC:CGoH aka TVC 1). The original TVC was released early last year on console and in Japanese arcades.

So this is usually the part where I have to type out this big long paragraph about how the game works and the game mechanics. But lucky me people already made video tutorials doing that for me. So take a couple of minutes to learn about TVC:UAS mechanics.

I came to Final Round XIII with a promise I made to PolishMafia. “Both of you better place.” he said. Kind of wasn’t a promise more of a “I’m lending you fucking $80 it better not be a waste” sort of thing. We both kind of did that. Justin got 7th in singles and my team got 3rd in Teams so I guess we did both place. (Dave your money is totally getting paid back on Saturday.) However, I do feel my accomplishments are diminished because I didn’t do it by myself. It was basically Trung who got us to 3rd place by beating the Koreans and Clint. So saying I took 3rd is kind of a backhanded compliment. I did OCV team SoVa which consisted of Blackula, Ryry, and SMP. That was good but not good enough to claim I deserved 3rd in teams. My singles performance contained my first real name win in a tournament. Filthy Rich, two-time EVO placer, was the man I was able to beat. It was a good win and one that made me feel like I really accomplished something. Filthy isn’t that great at Tekken 6 but he’s good enough to say, “Yeah, I beat THAT guy.” So that was good but I lost my next two games tying for 33rd. 33rd is a long way from placing. Luck wasn’t on my side either when I landed in the “Hell” portion of the “Bracket of Death”. My loss right after Filthy to Trung my partner is what eats me up. It was a close match and he was definitely a good player who adapted very fast but still I could’ve had that match. I just needed to be more aggressive. My Lil’Majin match I have no excuse for. I got beat clean. He got maybe one launcher on me. Didn’t matter though, he threw the crap out of me. 1+2 and GS mix up was so good I couldn’t predict which was which. A lot of rounds were close but I was unable to close it out. If I ever play him again I’m going to keep him honest with some hop kicks. I let him get in and throw me too easily. But really that’s just a starting point to what I would need to do to beat him. He was very solid all around.

Lingmassacre would tell you I think overall that he did well at this tournament. He took 7th in singles and was a pixel or two away from taking 5th. Justin beat down Gandido and out played FightingGM. He defeated Grimmy, Turk, and NeoX in money matches. Not too bad of a weekend. However Lingmassacre’s weekend was not all good. He lost many close matches which if he won could have changed everything. His loses to Clint and BloodHawk in regionals, and Knee and Pokchop in singles, noticeably were troubling to him. Justin shouldn’t beat himself up though. His improvement since NEC has been tremendous and he placed again at another major tournament. If he keeps training and keeps progressing there is no reason why he can’t beat any top player.

After that match I didn’t play at all for 6 hours until I finally was able to money match the man who beat Zzy at FRXII, Me_RED_ATL. I noticed immediately that he was not the same kind of King player as Majin. He relied a lot more on poking and defense but luckily I’m used to that style of King play. I defeated RED 3-0 for $10. It was my first successful money match ever. My previous money matches, Bronson and Brian H where done to entice players to come to Upstate or to test myself against high level competition. Money-matching RED was about 2 things, seeing if I could hang with a great player and showing up Zzy. A 3-0 was pretty damn decisive. RED may not be as great in this game as he was in DR but it doesn’t change the fact he OCV’ed people in the regional team tourney this year as well as did well in the singles tournament. I wanted to get more money matches in but Korean BBQ and Justin’s ‘I’m going to play 3 money matches now even though all the stations are full, ok let’s wait,’ made it so by the time I was done the stations were being taken down. NeoX, Turk, Sayco, Trung, and Big Boi, you guys got lucky, lol.

Anyway I don’t know if I progressed or stayed the same. I mean I beat a couple of good players this time out but I still feel like my loses to Knee, GM, Trung, and Majin were proof of me not progressing. I need to continue to improve. We shall see what the future holds but I know one thing, I’ve got to concentrate on for EVO coming up in three months. Come EVO-time it’s all in, I’m either going to win big or go out bad. So let’s go already, I want to play some more.

Strida Jin,

“Yo man, I know we only met at NEC, but I just want you to know that it takes a real man to go and fight for your country. I wish you nothing but the best throughout your journey. Thanks for sending us videos from Japan when Tekken 6 first came out. The US needs as much help as possible so we can all one day step up and take down top players from Korea and Japan. May God bless you in the Middle East. Keep your head up and come back soon. “

-Spero Gin, Long Island, NY

“I remember him playing FightingGM at the last Rumble in the Tundra, and WOW was it an amazing match!  Right down to the last pixel, and he was the only person who even came close to beating GM all tournament. It was really impressive.  Best of luck Brandon, I know Upstate will miss you.”

-Joey Fury, Buffalo, NY

“Good luck and thanks for everything you’re doing.  See you at the Welcome Back Stridajin tournament”

-Sean Paul Wall-Street Fighter Two For Tuesdays With Morrie Povich, Cortland, NY

“Thanks for whooping my butt in Tekken at the arcade and tournament,  hopefully I can do a little better when you get back, be safe.”

- Wicked Cake, Oswego, NY

“Well I been asked to write something for Brandon aka Stridajin, I could go down the most basic route  and stay I will miss you and good playing with you. I could say that but it be the shortest thing ever haha. But truth be told your a chicken eating koolade drinking Asian women loving big lipped person, who bought something new to upstate. I thank  you for all the good times and training. And the jokes.. No way in hell we can replace wut u bought to us.. And I won’t even try.The stories and tales you told us about your overseas tekken  and evo trips where good. Your skill in the game helped us improved ours. I thank you for everything you to help us.. Shit thank you for helping me with my game. I wish you
luck and I know you will be fine. Good luck brother man. Much love”

- Damus, Syracuse, NY

“Alas, we say our fond send-offs to Brandon. It has been incredibly nice to talk shop with someone who has been in the touranment scene even longer than I have. And to my chagrin, knowing that we’ve been to some of the same tournaments without ever meeting. Thank you Brandon for your tourney ferrying, character practice, and support of upstate. *hearts* ^^ no homo.”

-Lingmassacre, Ithaca, NY

“Strida, good luck in Afghanistan.  You are a true American hero.  Thanks for always sharing your knowledge when you are around and you a straight up good guy.  Welcome home tournament when you come back!”

-Jhonda, Fayetteville, NY

“Even though I didn’t know you that well- was always fun playing SF4 casuals with… I learned a lot about how to be wily with Zangief b/c of you lol. I wish you good fortune out there overseas and may you return safely ”

- Tainted Eternity, Syracuse, NY

“Brandon you’ve been a nice touch to the community of Upstate NY since you’ve arrived and you’ve repped us well at all tournaments outta state. I wish you the best in all you travels.”

- Phunnykidd, Ithaca, NY

“When I first saw Brandon I had no idea who he was. I honestly thought, alright, some Julia scrub I can beast on. He then proceeded to whoop me after not playing DR in god knows how long. Afterwards I found out who he actually was, for some reason I was expecting Stridajin to be a little asian dude (stereotypes ftw). All in all, Brandon has continued to deliver whoopins to me tourney after tourney, without me ever even earning the right to get whooped by Bruce. Brandon is a solid Tekken player, and a really cool guy. I want to thank him for becoming a part of our scene, and I hope he succeeds in all of his future endeavors. Stay safe man, and if shit gets hairy, just friggen hopkick!”

- Ofdp?, Buffalo, NY

“Good luck, stay safe, and don’t tech ”

- Bloodhawk, NYC

“Best Regards and good luck over there Brandon!”

- Devin OH!, Auburn, NY

“Brandon, i want to wish you the best out there! I definitely respect you representing and protecting our country for everything it stands for. Good luck man!”

- Blackheart, Syracuse, NY

“My best wishes are with you  for your safe return”

- Jinmaster,  Detroit, MI

“Get home safe brah!”

- The Game, NYC

“A big regret of minr as a CNY Tekken player is not having gotten to know Brandon. Really cool guy, he puts up with Team Cortland shenanigans, which isn’t easy.  Thanks for you service, stay safe brother.”

- Ben111, Cortland, NY

“Brandon is a real cool dude.  I’m glad I had the chance to get to know him and wish him well in the army. Much respect.”

- gl0ry, New Hartford, NY

“Good luck and keep playing fighting games!  There’s more than Modern Warefare 2 out there!”

- dsro,  Fulton, NY

” I remember the first time I met Brandon, Tony (ZTS) was busting out sterotypes and I was amazed that people still got together to play fighting games in CNY.  I watched him own face in SF4 and seamlessly transition into Tekken 6 and go on a 7 game tear.  It was amazing to me that someone could be at that level in multiple platforms.  He came over to my house a few times on game nights and crashed there hammering on Damus in T6 until 4am while everyone else was asleep.  That kind of dedication to the hobby/scene is impressive, and I know he is going to display that kind of dedication abroad fighting for our country,  thanks Brandon.

- NickPSI, Syracuse, NY

“I remember the first time I ever heard of Ja’Barndon aka StridaJin. Tekken 6 had just come out in Japan and there was some lucky Marine stationed in Okinawa and living the sweet life uploading videos of Tekken 6. I knew he was black because the way he talked,  I could only imagine what this guy was like, and my imagination as many of you know is pretty crazy. I never thought I would ever get to meet this guy but life is weird like that. Somehow someway he ended up getting stationed at Fort Drum and then became part of the community. Honestly I didn’t think he’d show up that much when I heard he was around Upstate. There he was though, one day he showed up at some random Cyberstation tournament with a freakin old ass Namco PS1 stick, you know the nasty gray one with yellow buttons. I remember that tournament well because it was the only tournament where I only played King. Man that has been like a year exactly hasn’t it because Kyle was getting ready for his money match with Red. Well I bodied that fool Ja’Brandon with King and proceeded to get ass raped by Joey Fury. I noticed something though when I was Gaint Swinging Ja’Brandon all around Cyberstation. This was a pretty cool dude. He was nothing like I imagined and unbelievably chill. He wasn’t too black, wasn’t too white, he’s just right.(PolishMafia Quote) You could joke with him, have an in depth discussion with him, or just shoot the shit. He is one of the funnest guys to play against too. Never has a player watching match known what you SHOULD have done like Ja’Brandon too. Classic quotes like “I told you!”, “Yessss!”, and “No. Not like that!” will live on in Upstate infamy. Ja’Brandon has always been around too ever since he showed up in Upstate. He goes to all the tournaments he can and has been nothing but a positive to the community. I can’t believe it’s only been a year. It is also hard to believee that this one year may be the only time I ever get to see him. Ja’Brandon I’m gonna miss you in a totally non-gay platonic way. So as the cakes said, Farewell, Only Fight at Night, and Don’t Die Brandon.

PS: I know you only repair shit you pussy. Come back for EVO.”

- Zero the Shadow, Syracuse, NY

Brandon I want to thank you personally,  for enriching my life, as well as the others around you.  I’m very great-full to you for teaching me how to play Blazeblue,  then Street Fighter 4,  and then Tekken 6.  Your knowledge is impressive to say the least, but your application of that is what truly amazes. More than all that you’ve been a good friend, which in my book is most important.  So thanks for the jokes,  the combos,  and all the random tournaments, and know you have absolutely influenced  my life.  Please take that with you as you fight for our country,  be brave, be safe, and most importantly come back in one piece.   Always know you have a home in Upstate.

To my good friend,

Brandon Lloyd

P.S.  you owe me a signed copy of twin galaxy record book!

-Zzy, Kyle Sheridan, Ithaca, NY

Wonder what has changed since 3rd Strike with Dudley, Makoto, and Ibuki, or how the hell you can combo their Ultras? These videos should answer a lot of your questions. Much thanks to Gametrailers.com for these videos.