A while back I posted the following entry on the PS3 SFIV forum. Within days, the thread disappeared from the highly active board, and I thought my posting lost forever; however, I recently relocated it, archived on the GameFAQs site (I didn't know that what gets lost on GameSpot gets preserved on GameFAQs--I'm confused about how these two sites jive). Anyway, before I lost my favourite forum post again, I thought I'd post a copy of it here for posterity:

Dear everyone who posts on the gamespot/gamefaqs PS3 SFIV forum,

I've been checking this forum almost daily since I got SFIV a couple months ago. I'm sure many of you are aware of all the hate, negativity, and divisiveness going on here amidst the sincere attempts at knowledge transfer and social networking. A forum such as this is an opportunity to bring people with a like interest together, an opportunity for solidarity. So, why the hate?

I love Street Fighter IV (and you might expect that everyone on this forum would too, but the amount of bad-mouthing that goes on about every aspect of the game sometimes appears to belie that) and I love the community that has developed and is continuing to develop around the game-even those who spread negativity; the scene wouldn't be what it is without you, and your posts are often pretty funny. But, I feel more love and understanding is needed here. So, as a minor contribution to counter some of the negativity on this board, I'm devoting this thread to unconditional love, particularly to those who don't always receive it.

To Justin Wong: Much love.

To Darksydephil: Much love.

To the million references on this forum to "The answer lies... in the heart of battle": much love--although maybe the lols ran out a while ago.

To noobs and scrubs: Much love.

To turtles and spammers: Much love.

To elistists: Much love.

To Playing-to-win Sirlinites: Much love.

To DC-ers and hate-mailers: Much love.

To those undertaking the impossible task of listing DCers and hate-mailers: Much love.

To trophy- and BP/GP/CP-boosters: Much love.

To Handsombillbert and others accused of trolling: Much love.

To those trying to chat up Miss_Darkness and Locusta Vampa without making it look like they're trying to chat up Miss_Darkness and Locusta Vampa: Much love.

To Miss_Darkness and Locusta Vampa for weathering both the flirting and the accusations of provoking flirting: Much love.

To TE stick buyers who have never used stick before and are struggling with the square gate: Much love.

To those needing help unlocking Akuma and Gouken: Much love.

To those who lack the knowledge to counter a particular move and are sincerely looking for help or are just venting: Much love.

To those who main Sagat or a shoto or a lariat-spamming Gief: Much love.

To flowcharters: Much love.

To those who endlessly criticize Capcom: Much love.

To those who think there's a proper way and a wrong way to play Street Fighter IV: Much love.

To those who argue about the proper names of Bison/Balrog/Vega and Gouki/Akuma: Much love.

To those who have crushes on the game's characters: Much love.

To those who kick challengers from their lobbies: Much love.

To counter-pickers: Much love.

And, at last, to the haters: Much love.

Did I miss any shout outs?

(To CPU Seth and to those driven mad by how cheap CPU Seth is: Much love.)

The stick on my SFIV Tournament Edition Fightstick was getting loose, and my accuracy while playing SFIV was suffering. But now, thanks to a 95-cent LS-33 spring and a very helpful YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L67fUfH3S5o) I've performed my first mini-mod, bringing back both the springiness to the stick and the accuracy to my game. Awesome. Plus, a lot more satisfying and cost-effective than replacing the whole stick. Hadouken!

Earlier this year, I made a posting about how I was curious (read, concerned) about the effect my newborn son would have on my gaming. Well, now that my son's recently turned 5 months old, I've done a retrospective check, and I see that, somehow, I'm still finding plenty of time for games.

Somehow, in the past five months, I've managed to buy a PS3, play some Virtua Fighter 5, SoulCalibur IV, WipEout HD, and Prince of Persia, and still rack up over 65 hours of play in Street Fighter IV alone (with the help of a TE fightstick). I've also played Puzzle Quest through from start to finish, played enough Quake Live to rack up over 500 frags, and completed the Shivering Isles expansion to Elder Scrolls IV. I've also briefly revisited some old PC and PSP games, tried out some new PC, PSP, and PS3 demos, and taken PlayStation Home for a few spins. Additionally, I've spent many hours scouring the web for every last Street Fighter IV resource my resourcefulness could locate to try to improve, from gootecks.com to the Street Fighter Dojo, to the Dogface Show and Eventhubs and Bad Loser Wall of Shame and even the volatile Gamespot PS3 SFIV forum (try posting a thread and see how long it takes before people start verbally attacking you!). In short, my gaming habit is still alive and kicking!

So, it just goes to show, life doesn't end with children.

...

...

Insert counterarguments about gamers not having lives to begin with here.

I've accomplished something I never thought possible: I beat all of the Normal Trials on SFIV. That was definitely the hardest bronze trophy I've ever earned. Having the TE stick helped. Being able to control game rage so that I could spend over 30 minutes trying to do a single El Fuerte combo helped. Having played over 65 hours of SFIV to date also helped. I was well pleased with my accomplishment.

But now, I see that there are 125 more Hard Trials waiting for me. Crap.

By that, I mean, how much of your time is centred around video games when you're not actually playing them? How much time do you spend looking for the best gaming deals? How much time do you spend on game forums; searching for FAQs; reading strategy guides, reviews, or previews; planning your activities for your next gaming session; blogging about gaming; or talking to friends about games? How much of your life is consumed by video games? Is there ever a time when you're not thinking about games?

...only insofar as I am now able to complete everyone's Normal Trial Level 3 in Challenge Mode. Slowly, I am closing in on the remaining trophies of SFIV. There are still a few that make me sweat just thinking about them, like winning 10 ranked matches in a row, collecting all titles and icons, and getting gold on all challenge mode challenges, but I'm going for it nonetheless. Not only would I be well-pleased with my first platinum trophy in what is currently my favourite game (but WHY is it my favourite game when I have so many issues with it?!), but also if it's true that you unlock a Gouken "Mu" shirt when you get all trophies, then that's definitely the kind of fashion I want my Home avatar to be sporting.

(Edit: And now I feel like I'm back where I started again with Normal Trial Level 4. Freakin' combos! I can't even begin to think about what's in store with the Hard Trials...)

So, I attended my first virtual event, the Playstation Home Street Fighter IV Fight Night last Saturday. It was all right, but a few things made it a bit underwhelming. First, there wasn't really a dedicated space for the event. We met in the middle of the Home Mall, which is just an open area. There was no stage, no place to sit, no decorations, nothing in particular to mark the event. Just a Mall lobby. Second, there didn't appear to be many people there. I think that's because when you game launch, your avatar disappears from Home. So, since everyone is actually playing Street Fighter, there are no avatars in the Home Mall to make it look like a happening social function. Third, this is the first time I've tried really conversing with anyone in Home, and with the PS3 controller, and sometimes the TE fightstick, it is SLOW and PAINFUL to send even the briefest of messages. Fourth, the time it takes to launch the game, and then return to Home afterwards is seriously slow, and when you return to Home, you don't resume from the place you left off, you get sent back to the Mall entrance. Fifth, SFIV game launching allows you to launch the game with only one other person. You get placed in a lobby together and have player matches. It would be nice to be able to launch the game with multiple people and do round robins or tournaments or something. I'm used to playing ranked matches, where I play new people after each match. I wasn't used to playing the same person ten matches in a row, and I was getting a bit antsy to move on to the next challenger.

Now, I know it's easy to criticize and easy to make suggestions, while it is much harder to put those suggestions into practice, but here is what I envision to be an ideal Home-based Street Fighter IV Fight Night: 1) a dedicated space for the event made to look like an arcade; 2) instead of people's avatars disappearing when they launch a game, they could be facing an arcade cabinet (like the ones in the Home Bowling Alley); 3) I've got to get a keyboard or headset to talk to others; 4) find a way to reduce load times going in and out of Home to make the transition more seamless-is the PS3 powerful enough to have both programs running at once?; 5) multi-person (i.e. 8-player) game launching to allow round robins and tournaments; 6) find a way to broadcast matches on a screen in the Home space, or allow for spectators somehow, like in the Home Theatre.

I think the SFIV Fight Nights are a great idea in theory, but I find it a shame that I have more fun when I'm just playing ranked matches through SFIV, without Home game launching.

The US PSN Portable ID has some catching up to do, I think. Compare the content and design of the US Portable ID:

to that of the UK Portable ID:

I think the US Portable ID needs to add trophy information and have a design beyond a chunky box with too much wasted space.

Update: The US Portable ID has been updated. It's an improvement, but still chunky, still with wasted space.

Because I love Dhalsim:

D: The village is in trouble again! Although it goes against my peaceful principles, once more I will fight in the World Warrior Tournament and bring back the prize money.

V: Oh, Dhalsim, you needn't go against your vow of non-violence. Let us find some other means by which to save our village.

D: No. There is no time. I am afraid it is the only way.

V: But, Dhalsim, yoga has become very popular in the West. Why not offer yoga seminars? Surely, Westerners would flock to learn from such a disciplined master as yourself, and they could afford to pay handsomely too.

D: Ah, no. To accept money for instruction in yoga would debase my practice. I could not do that. Sadly, fighting, awful as it is, is the only way...

V: But, Dhalsim, organic and fair-trade goods are all the rage now. Why not organize our citizens to produce textiles and foodstuffs that we could sell to other nations at a fair price through one of many charitable organizations? Here are some informational brochures. They offer very generous start-up packages and assist with business infrastructure. Look...

D: Again, no. That would rob us of our innocence, make us into profit-seekers, when really we are just simple folk. Much better if I took this matter upon myself, grave as it is, to fight, fight, fight in the tournament...

V: But, Dhalsim, why not consider other options before ...

D: No! If there were a better solution than fighting, than deplorable, wretched, hateful, bloody, bare-fisted fighting, do you not think that I, Dhalsim, yogic master and confirmed pacifist, would already have thought of it? Now, enough! I must go and...

V: But, Dhalsim...

D: STFU! YOGA FLAME!

[Dhalsim hightails it out of the village and first-classes to Brazil, yearning to rain vengeful noogies down upon the jungle freak who electrocuted him last year.]

I am adjusting to the TE stick. I won my first matches a few nights ago! Last night was one of my best nights ever: for the first time, I won as many matches as I lost! (Although my post-game analysis revealed that it wasn't really because I'm playing any better. All of my wins, except one, were against players under 500BP.) Still, I am able to throw fireballs with much greater reliability now. Thanks to the shortcut input, I can do uppercuts quite solidly. My Supers and Ultras are improving, including linking into these. And now that I am free of the PS3 controller, I can more easily execute throws and focus attacks in the same match, and I can use all three punches and kicks buttons equally because none of them have to be demoted to the awkward shoulder buttons. Awesome. I feel I made a wise choice picking up the stick. Gouken and I are going places!

Speaking of Gouken, I've reached level 27 on GameSpot, and it's very fitting that the title should be Sheng Long!