« IPW SPECIAL FEATURE: THE BOX ARENA INTERVIEW WITH VISCANT »

Continuing our special feature with The Box Arena, we have an interview with old school player Viscant where he talks about his history in the scene and gives his thoughts on Marvel vs Capcom 3. Not only has he been around for quite sometime playing competitively, year after year he's written some great articles about fighting games and now helps commentate for the Box Arena live streams. I also have found out through first hand experience he plays a mean Blanka in Super Street Fighter 4 as well!

Thanks to Viscant and DJ FrankFresh for putting this together -- next up in the series is Yeb! Stay tuned!

INTERVIEW: VISCANT

I started playing fighting games competitively in 1997 with Alpha 2 but really began competing at the top level in 1998 when Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and Alpha 3 came out.  I won the first major tournament I ever competed in for MvC1, USFGC in Las Vegas in what would be one of the early forerunners to Evo.  The fighting game community has taken me to tournaments all over the United States from Southern California, to Northern California, to Arizona, to Jersey for ECC, to Chicago for Midwest Championships and of course to Vegas for Evo series events.  The main highlights of my career have been finishing top 10 in a major for Alpha 3, MvC1, MvC2, CvS1, CvS2, 3s and ST.

What are you expecting of MVC3? 

For MvC3, I'm honestly expecting a step back.  I think MvC2's longevity was due more to good fortune than to good design.  At so many points along that game's development if things were slightly different the game would have broke down completely.  If Spiral's knives came out just a tiny bit faster or a tiny bit shorter.  If Cable's grenades were just a little bit better.  If Iron Man's airdash was just that much faster.  Small touches like that were the difference between MvC2 lasting for 10 years or being discarded after 1.  MvC3 will be a different kind of animal and I imagine it will be more like Guilty Gear or Tatsu vs. Capcom.  Hopefully it'll be well done, but I doubt it'll be as well loved as MvC2; so few games in fighting game history ever have been.

How do you feel about doing commentary and its overall impact on the community? 

I enjoy doing commentary and I think it's a good way to get people thinking about what's going on.  I try to talk about WHY things are happening as much as just describing what's going on; it's not radio and everyone's looking at the screen so I don't think doing play-by-play is as important.  If people walk away from a stream or from an event that I'm commentating on and they feel like they actually learned something about the game or about one of the players' motivations, then I feel like I've had a positive impact on the community.

 What happened to your Vest? 

Haha, the vest is still around.  It's been a good luck charm for 15 years now, so I only bring it out in big situations where I think I need just that little extra edge to get the win.  I hadn't been expecting the best results for awhile now, but with Super SF4 coming out...well, let's just say I got the vest all drycleaned and ready to return to action!

What changes have you noticed (good & bad) within the fighting game scene since you first started back with MVC1? 

Things have definitely changed in the scene since I came in.  I think overall there's a much more collegial atmosphere.  People want to share what they're doing and they genuinely want to help out as many people as they can.  When I first started, the big saying was STSFN which stood for Save That Stuff For Nationals.  People would discover something or find some trick in a particular matchup and they'd just keep it to themselves until they could win a big match.  These days I think top players feel like they have more of an obligation to help out everyone in the community and make everyone better instead of just saving something to help out only themselves.  Prize money for tournaments is bigger, there's a bigger platform to promote yourself and make a name for yourself now, but people are more unselfish and more giving than ever before. 

What is it that motivates you to come out to Box Arena events and be their #1 commentator? 

Well, primarily I come out to the Box Arena events to win!  That's my main motivation for going anywhere.  No matter who else is going to be there, I always believe that I can win in the end!  But I come to commentate because I want everyone else to have as much fun with the games as I do.  I genuinely love the games and I hope that I can help other people not only understand the games better, but love them just as much as I do.