Attendance more than doubled this week. If we can keep that kind of momentum going, we’ll take the fighting game world by storm in no time. Match vids are posted below: take the time to check them out.

The other poor fools at GrandLan had no idea what to make of us this week, folks. The level of excitement (and volume) was well over the proverbial eleven, and the Grapsf.com scene completely took the place over. At the height of the evening, there were three Street Fighter 4 set ups running alongside one set each of BlazBlue and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. With that level of digital violence being committed over and over, it’s no wonder we attracted a crowd of curious spectators.

Match highlights include Slappy putting the hurt on anything that got within striking distance of his brutal and Godless Zangief, Hapyutone showing off an impressive Sagat with his custom built arcade stick stand/TV dinner tray hybrid, and a mysterious gentleman known only as “the Professor” emerging from New York’s Chinatown Fair to rape everyone in sight at Marvel vs. Capcom 2, including yours truly. Not even my super team of “Phoenix Sun Akuma, Banana Ken and the “Michigan Wolverine” Iron Man”, to quote Chauncy Talon, could make an impact . Hopefully we’ll see more of the Professor, if only because he’s the only guy who can consistently beat Chauncy “Banana Ken” Talon at his own game. It’s Mahvel, Bay-bee. No autographs, please.

MrBaggs showed the rest of us up at BlazBlue, using Ragna and the occasional Jin (with Ice Car in tow), losing only to my Arakune’s secret “mash buttons until you pass out” technique. My Taokaka simply wasn’t up to the task: she’s apparently allergic to ridiculously sized magical swords. This is unfortunate, since that’s what MrBaggs had to offer her. No catnip, no rubber mice. Only pain.

At one point I looked up to see no less than four people playing Sagat at once, which is exactly like a recurring nightmare I have.

The best thing about these meet ups isn’t just playing the games we love face to face with other people: it’s the sense of community and learning that comes along with it. For example, I learned that playing the darkly mysterious Professor in MvC2 inevitably leads to serious rape. That’s an important thing to know. Something else I learned though, is how to trigger individual supers and specials in that game, because after he’d pounded me for the forty fifth time, the Professor took time out of playing to help me learn to play it better. That’s something that a real community does for it’s members, and I for one am grateful to be a member of just such a community.

The next meeting is September 12th at the fortress of  Grapsf.com overlord Slappy who has graciously opened his home to us. Bring something to share, bring your A game, and bring your hype.

Our first public gathering took place on August 15th, 2009, at GrandLan in downtown Grand Rapids, and was a success by anyone’s measure. Matches were played, rivalries were formed, and Dan Hibiki signed more autographs in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 that this author is personally comfortable with… especially considering that my Magneto didn’t actually want one, let alone ten. Thanks Chauncy, but remember in the future: no means no, even for eight by ten glossies.

The assembled crew included Slappy, Chauncy Talon, MrBaggs, Singe, G-Boobie (that’s me), and even a few casual players drawn in by the sound of pure, uncut hype. Street Fighter IV was the game of the day, but Singe laid down the law in King of Fighters XII, Chauncy signed autographs and beat people up in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and MrBaggs showed us how to play Blazblue. In Street Fighter, Slappy showed me the terrible power of a Zangief in the hands of someone who knows how to use him, while Chauncy’s Sagat learned the power of the wild courtesy of my Blanka. And Singe? Singe proved that he is, indeed, the proto shoto by picking one in every game he touched… Even Marvel.

The best part of the day was putting a stick in the hands of someone who showed up to play WoW, but was compelled to play Marvel with us, presumably based on the difference between our relative volume levels. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. Chauncy, Singe, and MrBaggs did an excellent job showing our new friend the ropes, and hopefully we’ll see him at future events as a result. That’s true passion for the game, and I salute you guys for it.

Our next event is scheduled for one PM on August 29th, at GrandLan in downtown GR. Bring your stick, bring your hype, and most importantly, bring your friends. We want this community to flourish. Games are all on 360 at GrandLan, so if you need to borrow a stick, we can work something out.  Games on the 2D menu include Street Fighter IV, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, King of Fighters XII, and Blazblue, but let us not forget our friend the third dimension: there will be Virtua Fighter 5 and Soul Calibur 4 to satisfy participants with a desire for eight way run. It’s fun, it’s free (I’ll be handling the hourly rate for anyone who can’t cover it this week), and it’s only getting bigger.