This event makes my second fight club attendance. I was unable to attend the fight club for AE 2012 edition, and a sister type of event called Fright Night in honor of the new upcoming Resident Evil releases. The event was held at a smaller club called The Mighty. Capcom-Unity announced a giveaway for the first 150 people in line, and I had a feeling we may have missed out on the opportunity. However, to my surprise there was barely 75 people in line when I arrived with a co-worker and Dakinggamer87. Compared to the launch party I attended for vanilla Marvel vs Capcom 3 (Vanilla means pure or first unchanged version in the fighting community
), this venue was a little over half the size of the Mezzanine. 
The venue was covered in posters of the event flyer and banners draped from the ceiling, dual sided to promote Street Fighter X Tekken and Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition 2012. I'm going to guess there were about 150 people there total throughout the evening. The layout was simple with 9 setups for SFxT and 2 for SFIV AE. On display were the first generation SFxT sticks bordered in bright red plastic, leaving two setups with ps3 pads. As I know people hate being underage and see it unfair to miss events like these, there is a relaxing vibe for me being able to get a cold drink from the bar and get in line to play.
For those of you who are new to fighting games or may not have heard of this title, SFxT brings the Tekken characters into the Street Fighter world complete with a six button layout. Tekken characters are given special tricks like wave dashes to make fireballs useless if executed correctly, so watch out Capcom fighting enthusiasts. I have a feeling that once the scene develops around this game, Tekken characters are going to become very dangerous! On first play, I stayed in my comfort zone of Sagat and Ryu, but quickly moved to Tekken characters that I possess little experience using. I would specify the game as slightly less technical than SFIV in terms of linking or frames, but it has a flair of Marvel. Cross Rush attacks can be executed by simply linking L - M - H - H to launch instead of S in Marvel, making combo exchanges possible. The game will feel familiar to anyone who has grown up on the Street Fighter or Marvel Series.
I want to touch on something very important above this game. The internet is buzzing about gems breaking the experience of the game. This is absolutely not the case! The better player will definitely still win every time, but there is a reason behind this feature. Newcomers keep a fighting game alive. Street Fighter IV was a perfect example of this. The game was not too hard to learn the basics but difficult to master. Street Fighter X Tekken works in the same style. I would consider gems almost like a very small character buff, but nothing close to breaking the roster. Ex. I gave speed gems to Sagat who is known for slow walk speed and normals, while I gave defense games to Ryu who is known for having low health. Gems are ONLY activated after a certain criteria has been met such as landing an amount of normal attacks or damage. If fighting games are going to continue succeeding, we need every newcomer we can get!
I believe the Sony Twisted Metal event stole part of the crown, but we still had a great time. We played the finished build that included gems for the first time. I like the game, and hopefully it gets the attention it needs to become a contender in future tournaments. Whether you want to play professional or casually with friends, the game brings a lot to the table. Make sure you remember not to sleep on the Tekken characters
-bradtemple87
(Side Review) Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 Vita Edition
I have been playing with our demo units at work for a couple days now, but Little Deviants is definitely not my style of game. This title felt like sweet relief. The frame rate is awesome! I have been away from Marvel 3 for a while, but the features and experience come intact for a handheld. I cannot play this game on the vita to save my life after using arcade sticks during the life of the series, but I'm sure with practice it would come to me. I would not suggest getting a Vita for this game unless you are a huge fan, but if there are other titles on your watch list, definitely consider giving this one a chance.
Giveaway of the night - Pandora Ryu/Kazuya
