« TORNADOFLAME.COM: INTERVIEW WITH HAUNTS »

TornadoFlame from SRK has his own site, TornadoFlame.com where he covers a lot of East Coast Street Fighter action and is also conducting interviews with people in the community. He asked me to be one of the first people to interview for his site and we talked about where iPlayWinner.com is going and my thoughts on Street Fighter IV. He also has an interview with Justin Wong as well that is worth checking out.

From the interview:

TornadoFlame: How do you think the community will change after the console release of Street Fighter IV?

Haunts: It will with out a doubt be expanded much more than we can probably even imagine and be filled with a ton of new faces. How long this growth will last is anyones guess, but that is part of the reason for me creating iPlayWinner. Hopefully people new to the scene can use it as a portal to get a handle on the new games out there like Street Fighter IV and slowly ease themselves into the community.

Some feedback I have gotten from new players is that the fighting game scene can sometimes be uninviting to those who are new to the community. I think with the release of SFIV people are going to have to be a lot more tolerant of new players if we want to see long term growth.

TornadoFlame: How do you think SFIV will compete and compare with the other fighting games that are out right now?

Haunts: I feel other fighting games that are out right now will continue to be niche (outside of maybe Tekken and Soul Calibur) while Street Fighter IV is the game everyone will want to be good at. I think whether someone is into FPS, RTS, JRPGS or whatever game, they will invest a little time into Street Fighter IV to be able to prove themselves if the opportunity arises. I dont see the other games that are out currently being able to attract that sort of dedication from players who aren’t hardcore into fighting games.

It’s not that the games that are out now or are coming out in the near future are bad, it’s just that Street Fighter IV is the most accessible fighting game to come out since Street Fighter II.

Keep an eye on TornadoFlame.com the 2nd and 3rd week of February for his coverage on the east coast SINSATION tournament. Lots of major battles going down at this one, so those of us who cant make it to the EC will have to live vicariously though him!