Everyday Gamer

I went to my local barbershop recently and saw an old Street Fighter 2 arcade machine that was just put in. Being the Ol’ Skool Gamer that I am, I just had to put it through its paces. Putting in that quarter brought back a lot of memories of me beating up the competition back in the local arcade.

Before I continue, I should explain a couple of things. Back in 1988, arcades were going the way of the dinosaur. Thousands were closing left and right leaving only a few to give hardcore gamers their fix. Add to that, the Nintendo era and you can see why arcades had a tough time. Then along came Street Fighter which caused a minor stir but 3 years later in March, Street Fighter 2 would come along and single-handedly revive the arcade business.

Imagine my surprise, going into my local arcade in ‘91 and seeing people lined up to see how to throw Ryu’s fireball (Haddoken) or Ken’s cyclone kick. Playing that game soon became a religion as I strove to unlock Zangief’s spinning pile driver and Dhalsim’s yoga flame. After playing every fighter in the game, I would eventually settle on Ken Masters who would soon take me through many local championships and lead me to victory. Never before had a fighting game truly captured the art of fighting. The various combinations of punches, kicks and various special moves would serve to bring out the “Bruce Lee” in all of us. Besides, where else could you go and beat your opponent to a bloody pulp and not go to jail. It would become the standard to which all future fighting games would aspire to. And let’s not forget Chun-Li, whose whirlwind kick would get a lot of use from young, pre-pubescent boys. I wonder how many people she helped get through that awkward stage.

Fast forward to 2008 and here I am again blazing through the Street Fighter tourney with Ken leading me to M. Bison. The other patrons go wild as I take Bison down for the count. “And to think, the ol’ man’s still got it.” I say to myself as I turn around to face the cabinet. The younger crowd looks on with awe as they ask me how I can do that. “Do what?” you ask. In the final round with M. Bison, I pulled a stunt that I haven’t done in almost 15 years. I played the round with my hands on the controller behind my back. Where else can you get an education like that except…the ol’ skool. And as always, good luck and good gaming.