The scene 07 April 2009

Truth be told, a lot of my time in Singapore was spent in dark, noisy places. Truth be told, I loved every minute of it. Like I said, I had quit the fighting game scene a long time ago but coming to Singapore and being witness to their 'scene' re-sparked the interest. To be able to go to Bugis at any time of the day and get matches says quite a bit about how Singaporeans feel about fighting games. Look at the amount of men that come in after 5 or 6 o'clock in their work attire and rack up a good amount of games. Look at the amount of spectators you'll see on a Friday or Saturday night, people simply watching Street Fighter 4 like the combatants were ancient gladiators.

Then, you take a longer look and you see the core group that makes the scene come to life. It's one thing to have casual players come in and out of the arcade but it's another to create a community and that's what Singapore has done on its small island. With every destination within arms reach, all the best players are able to come out on a regular basis and that sort of competition shows in their game sense and their passion for self-improvement.

I wanted to take a paragraph in this post to thank a few particular people I've met in the arcades at Bugis;

Firstly, Lang of SF4Singapore for being the catalyst of the Singapore scene. He acts as the host, organizer and work horse behind the major movements. He's in contact with the venues and the operators to make the tournaments as big and as best as possible, and that's no small feat. On a personal level, he's one of the most accommodating, genuine individuals I've met and he went out of his way to assimilate me into the scene, introducing me to the others and even having a dinner early on for me to get to know some of the other players. My trip would've been drastically different, perhaps worse, without his involvement.

Julius is another player that I got to know over the course of my trip. He, along with Lang, helped me learn Street Fighter 4 and showed me some of the smaller details that he's worked through. He's one of the best players in Singapore and in a lot of cases, a person like that would be unapproachable but he was friendly enough to take time out and make me feel welcome and help me improve.

Then there's Kenny, Mark, RChan, Ken and Cody who were some of the coolest guys to just sit around and shoot the shit with. Kenny is a savvy player but a hilarious guy over dinner. Add Mark -- the self-proclaimed Bugis gangster -- to that list as well. Probably the funniest guy I met in Singapore with the best fashion-sense, bar none. RChan is the ying to Julius' yang, a big ol' kid but game like you wouldn't believe. Ken recognized my EVO2006 shirt and from there, he was the first buddy I had in Singapore. He was easily the best XVSF match in Singapore (ie, a player that didn't take the fun out of the game) and along with Lang, helped me ease into the community. Cody was one of the first guys I met while in Singapore and he can be intimidating (in a friendly way, of course) but as you get to know him, he's a deeply-voiced, hilarious, teddy bear who can make the funniest mid-game remarks.

These guys all made a big part of the trip as good as it was. Getting to know them made everything that much more rich and that much more enjoyable. There are other people I met, of course, and you all played a part in creating a memorable experience for me and for that, I owe you all a thanks.