Zombiebrian interviews Dawgtanian, Capcom Europe's Street Fighter X Tekken community manager

Q1) What was your first fighting game?

It would have to be Street Fighter II in the arcade. After playing it for the first time, it would always be my goal to go on a rampage throughout any arcade I'd come across until I found it. It's safe to say I've been playing fighting games ever since I can remember.

Q2) What was the first fighter you took in a competitive way?

I took pretty much every fighting game I ever played seriously, even Battle Arena Toshinden haha, but I guess the true competitive aspect came about when I got into Street Fighter III Third Strike. I joined the arcade scene quite late, so I had a lot of catching up to do. Needless to say I received an ass whooping on a weekly basis from the best in London, so I learnt very quickly what it was like to play the game at high level.

This taste of high level game play lead me to a hunger for more, but I wanted to start at the same point as everyone else, a chance to be the best from the very beginning. So when Street Fighter IV was announced, I couldn't believe my luck. I knew this was going to be my chance to make a name for myself and I would say it was at this point I took fighting games to a truly competitive level.

Q3) Where is your local stomping ground?

London! Although I travel quite a lot, so some people seem to think I'm French, or even from the US!

Q4) You are just about to take up a position with Capcom as a PR rep for Street Fighter X Tekken, tell me about what that involves?

The official title is Street Fighter X Tekken Community Manager. I'll be the voice of the company when talking to the community, and I'm also the voice of the community when talking to the company. Think of me as the two-way link between Capcom and their fans with regards to Street Fighter X Tekken. I'll be running the Fight Club events throughout the UK, in fact Edinburgh was my first Fight Club event. Coming from the community, and still being a very active member, I'm planning some cool video features that are focused on the more hardcore player, as well as some for those who are considering joining the community.

Q5) You recently attended the Capcom Fight Club in Edinburgh Scotland. How did you think the event went and are there anything you would do differently?

It was my first Fight Club event, and overall I was really pleased with how it went. I purposely made sure each setup had ample room to sit comfortably, with enough space to walk around and spectate freely. In future I would like to have a big setup on a projector with some exhibition matches taking place so everyone can see and cheer for their favourites.

I'll also make sure to have on some other games, we made the decision to make it all SFxT purely on the basis we thought you guys wouldn't be interested in playing games you all have at home! Just don't complain when I jump on SSFIV and pick El Fuerte ;)

Q6) Having met some of the guys from Versus Scotland, Twitch Edinburgh and Giant Attack Dundee what are your impressions of the scene up here?

I actually want to come and spend some more time with your respective scenes as I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to talk to everyone properly and find out where they all came from. The one thing I gathered was that you were all extremely friendly and welcoming, a very pleasant crowd indeed.

Q7) Will Street Fighter X Tekken be back in Scotland prior to release in another location like Glasgow or Dundee we'd all love a crack at a later build?

There won't be one before release as we don't have very long to go before the game comes out, but I will be releasing some new videos over the next few weeks before hand, so if there is anything you guys want to see in particular, send me those requests via my twitter @CapcomDawg

Q8) Of the Street Fighter X Tekken characters announced, who are you most looking forward to?

Xiaoyu is my favourite Tekken character, and always has been since Tekken 3! She's a very interesting character, has multiple stances, and a lot of moves! I know Xiaoyu from having played her a lot in Tekken and I will say I am very pleased with her SFxT incarnation! As to who to pick along side her? Hmmm I'll wait before I make that decision!

I will also say that characters like Balrog and Vega who might have been some what limited with regards to their combo potential in previous games get a chance to play a more creative game this time around. I won't spoil the fun, you'll have to wait and see what these guys can do!

Q9) Of the game mechanics we have seen what are you loving and what are you not so keen on?

I really like Pandora mode, in my opinion it's the perfect mechanic for inserting a sudden blast of hype into a match without cheapening the game. When someone wins with Pandora there's a high chance they did something truly clever, and the surprise on your opponents face when they realise you were 3 steps ahead of them is priceless! I'm really looking forward to the things players come up with using this mechanic.

I'm also really happy with the tag system, being able to create stylish combos with both characters is precisely what I wanted. If you've watched the trailers and thought those combos were impressive, just wait till you see what is really possible!

Initially I wasn't so keen on the Cross Rush combo system, I thought it was a little too easy, but then after playing for a while I realised that there are still more complex/advanced combos performed by using links just like in Street Fighter IV. The more difficult to perform combos do more damage and have greater, longer lasting combo-ability. So although the Cross Rush system will allow new players to get into the game, there's definitely a lot of tricky and rewarding combo's for the more advanced player to get their teeth sunk into.

Q10) What was your first reaction to the gems system and has your opinion changed as more information has been announced?

Initially I was surprised, in a good way. I've never seen anything like this in a fighting game before. As the system became clearer, I started to think of the sort of combinations and styles players can create, and that's where it get's really interesting. I love the idea that although you're picking the same character, the gem system can allow you to make your version of the character totally unique.

For example, if you take a character who typically has low health compared to the rest of the cast, and give them gems that boost their defense, they're not going to feel as vulnerable when fighting against a high damage output character. In some aspect, this might even up match-ups where there was once an obvious disadvantage to one character in a given match-up. It will be really interesting to see what sort of gem combinations players assign to their favourite characters.

Personally I really like the Cross Gauge gems, I build meter real fast with my first character, and then reduce the amount of meter I spend with my second character. This allows me to perform even longer, stylish combos which suits my style perfectly.

Q11) You were very complementary of Big Fool who you played at the Capcom Fight Club, would you like to talk about that?

Yes, he surprised me with how quickly he picked up the game at what I would call an intermediate/advanced level. He was one of the only players I'd seen completely forget about the Cross Rush and he was performing links with Cammy that were possible in SSFIV.

Q12) In those matches I saw a lot of tag combos that weren't the standard Cross Rush > L, M > special. Do you think that's the key to breaking the game down?

Totally, the Cross Rush combo is there to help beginners get into the game, however the real damage and fun comes from using your meter to tag during specials. This is what he had grasped and he was making good use of the flexible combo system to make the most of each switch cancel.

Q13) When and where is the next Capcom Fight Club?

It is in Norwich on the 11th February!

Q14) We have a small scene here as someone who has visited the North American scene, is there anything you would like to bring over to the UK?

Our scene is pretty big actually, we get a healthy number of players to our weekly tournaments here in London that rival the weekly tournaments in the US. What I'd like to see is more UK players traveling around to the UK tournaments. If we strengthen our own community, we'll get better as a whole.

Q15) Do you think the UK scene is on the right tracks? Or would you want to see some changes?

Absolutely, the number of UK tournaments are still increasing and with some of the highest quality streams in the world coming from our very own EX Dragon Project and Winner Stays On/Armshouse, we're certainly on the right track. We have some amazing world class players already in the UK, and I think it's important we continue to recognise and grow our own talent. I hope to see the UK communities coming together to be the best at Street Fighter X Tekken this year!

For Eventhubs, Versus Scotland, Twitch in Edinburgh and my own Scene Giant Attack Dundee thanks for answering these questions.