Instructional Match Commentary

[DrDogg]

I was watching the Evo online tournament that happened over the weekend and it made me think of MK commentators at Evo. More specifically, the importance of having someone knowledgeable about the game commentating when MK is on the stream. This led me to think of general player education since so many MK fans don't really understand high level play.

Since you won't have a lot of knowledgeable players at first, I thought it would be a good idea to have someone record matches (preferably online if it's good enough) and then have one or two people commentate on the recorded match and upload the video to Youtube.

Now, the reason I say it should be done online is because then you'd get one skilled player facing a mountain of casual players with a few good players here and there. This would allow the commentators to point out the mistakes the casual players are making, as well as point out what works online/offline and start to point out the differences. You'd also be able to show the difference between a casual match and a match between two skilled players.

Not only would this be educational to competitive players (character knowledge will be lacking when the game first hits), but casual players will hopefully start to understand the difference between casual play and high level play.

I'm thinking select 4-8 matches a week and upload them every Friday or something like that. It not only gives people match videos to watch, but it's educational and maybe it gets more people out to tournaments (you can highlight upcoming tournaments during the commentary).

tl;dr

1. Record online matches.
2. Commentate on the recorded matches.
3. Uploaded match videos.
4. Link on various MK sites to educate players.
5. ???
6. Profit!

 

[EGP Wonder_Chef]

I would love to do match commentary. If not at Evo then at other tournaments.

 

[RoGE]

Agreed, maybe Check, Brady or someone that will be very knowledgeable about the game can give some ideas on what they are thinking when they play and what they should have done in this situation etc.

Edit- and this is hoping the net code for this game is good unlike MKvsDC

 

[Krayzie]

Not a bad idea.

If MK9's netcode is decent enough, it can be done with online matches.

 

[Juggs]

I've been wanting to do this for awhile with other games. I just need the recording hardware/software.

 

[STORMS]

Agreed, maybe Check, Brady or someone that will be very knowledgeable about the game can give some ideas on what they are thinking when they play and what they should have done in this situation etc.

Edit- and this is hoping the net code for this game is good unlike MKvsDC

Shock is a must along with others.

 

[9.95]

Shock is a must along with others.

As long as the game is good, I'm positive he'll be down for that.

 

[DrDogg]

It can be done with offline matches as well, it's just that you wouldn't get the novice factor in there, and that's really the point of this. The high level players can look at tournament match vids and won't really need anyone breaking the game down for them. It's the novice players that need to undrestand high level concepts, as well as the difference between online and offline play.

Of course, if the net code is bad, then it'd have to be done offline.

 

[Juggs]

Yeah this is exactly what I have been wanting to do, I just don't have the means to do so. I will probably have what I need by the time MK9 is out though. I will also make some for UMK3.

 

[Momotaro]

Will these online matches be on Live or PSN?

I think in the future there definitely should be a Friday Night Fatalities or a Mortal Monday Matches kind of thing online. Each room would have one or two top MK players (say Shock and AC1984 for example) and players new to competitive MK. It would serve as a training and a Q&A session where people unfamiliar with the games mechanics, match-ups, etc can ask questions while at the same time learn the game as they play. Like DrDogg said, it can also be used to promote tournaments and encourage people to go.

UMK, TYM, and CMK could host these sessions. Of course it all depends on the game's netcode and whether or not people like the game enough to do this, but I just wanted to add onto DrDogg's idea. The fighting game community in general does not understand high-level MK. Commentary is a great idea but hands-on experience would be even better.

 

[MKF30]

I like this idea dude, I'll consider this for sure. I tend to record matches here and there via VCR or TV digital options and then re-watch what I recorded and tape it via cam that way. This way I could not only comment and say who's who, but discuss the match, tactics etc

Nice idea man. Like you said though I'm sure at first with MK9 even most of us won't know much about the characters until few weeks-months down the line with safe, online/offline advantages etc