(Note: Due to some unfortunate technical difficulties, I only have a transcription of the interview rather than a MP3…)
Long: Hi and thanks for taking the time for an interview with us! I also thank you on behalf of our site!
BurnYourBra (Burn): Thanks!
Long: Fighting games, what got you into them?
Burn: When I was younger, my mother had bought us consoles to keep us off the street. It was around the time my mother had bought an SNES that I had played Street Fighter II. You could say my mother influenced me for getting into Street Fighter II.
Long: I take it that Street Fighter II was your first game, then?
Burn: Yeah, Chun Li being my first character as I was able to play her the best
Long: As far as the discussion of “Stick vs Pad”, what brought you to the arcade stick?
Burn: I would say that with playing more on the arcade I ended up moving on to the arcade stick because it was more comfortable. I would say that the arcade stick is the way to go if you plan to play in the arcades often. I wouldn’t even touch a fighting game without a stick after playing on one for so long.
Long: What stick do you use? Are there any modifications to it?
Burn: I use an Xbox Mad Catz TE (Tournament Edition) stick that isn’t modded and I actually play on Xbox Live. I have a PS3 TE stick which I used for Evolution 2010 since the PS3 was the official platform for the tournament. I used to play on a Hori with (I think) Semitsu buttons. It took me awhile to adapt to the TE because at first the Sanwa buttons were too sensitive for me.
Long: Let’s talk briefly about Evolution 2010, what brought you to the tourney?
Burn: I had attended last year and also I was interested in the Female Invitational. I was really more in for the casual play as well as play other players that I have met online in person without the excuses (lag, input delay, etc).
Long: How did you feel about the separate Female Invitational? Some felt that there was no need to make a spectacle of female competitors by spotlighting things with a Female Invitational.
Burn: I looked at it as a chance to play and get more female players into fighting games really. The scene in the America isn’t quite like the scene in Europe or Japan. The thing is guys (in America) want to see girls play, but they don’t want to be beaten by a girl… That’s nothing new however. I don’t see it as a spectacle, honestly. Hopefully, the community will move forward. People are taking it too seriously! If you [girls] suck, get better! I just want to focus on playing than shit talking.
Long: I have read some blogs as well as seen some of the coverage of the grand finale match on the Female Invitational match with Kayane… A good number of folks thought it was odd for you to have used Rose rather than staying your main picks of Gouken or Ken for your matches. You did use Ken in the second match up, however… Was there a reason for mixing it up?
Burn: It wasn’t really about that… What people don’t realize is that Gouken isn’t my main. The thing is… My friend asked me to promise to play Gouken on the big screen. I just had played around with Gouken for a little bit really. I don’t know much about him and I’m not going to pretend that I do. Ken has been my main since vanilla (Street Fighter IV). I know that there were people before that match going “Oh Ken’s her main!” and all and I wasn’t going to counter-pick against her for that. In after-thought picking Rose wasn’t the best idea… When I was playing her, it probably looked bad. I had not played Rose for almost a week. With Chun [Li], she is all about anti-air and pokes and zoning. Ken is about dominating the ground, but with Ken you have to get in to do the most damage. Rose, I just like to play with on occasion for fun.
Long: Other than Super Street Fighter IV, are there any other fighting games that you’re into?
Burn: I was into Tekken. I played up until Tekken 3 and dropped around Tekken Tag. I like the series as a whole but I am not as into it as I used to be. Mortal Kombat was the same story as Tekken. I am looking forward to the new one that is eventually coming out. I also liked and played the Versus (VS) series from Children of the Atom up to Marvel vs Capcom 1. I wasn’t a big fan of Marvel vs Capcom 2 but I’m hoping to get back into the VS games with Marvel vs Capcom 3 coming out next year.
Long: With fighting games having a revival and coming back… Do you have any words of advice to new players getting into fighting games?
Burn: If you really, really, really like a game… Go into it and play! With online play… We all talk crap, humans talk crap. However, be respectful to other gamers. Take a loss as nothing more and learn from your mistakes. I will say get used to online and offline play. They both have their differences. Obviously with online, you have to factor things like lag, input delay, etc. Offline play you don’t have those things to worry about and it’s much like a true arcade experience.
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[Evolution photos used with permission from Michael “Slash5150″ Yu at their SmugMug page. Arcade stick photo provided by BurnYourBra.]
