New to the anime fighting scene? Here are some useful articles/links to help make the transition easier!

Entering a new fighting game scene can be hard, there are a lot of questions that a new player or even a veteran of a different genre will want to ask but will have some trouble finding from time to time. When I entered the scene a couple of years ago I was clueless, I didn't know where to turn or who to ask for what. Information is out there, however finding the useful information in a sea of forum posts and combo videos is an exhausting and sometimes moot effort. To make a newer player's life a bit easier I have compiled some of what I consider the most useful information pertaining to the anime scene or fighters in general.

As a prelude to everything I will link here, I want to post what I personally think should be read by any player interested in getting into the competitive scene or any player who seriously wants to up their game. Seth Killian and Ponder's Domination 101 articles on Shoryuken.com. These will show you how to have a competitive mindset.

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Onwards to more tangible sources of reference, this may have been shown in a previous dustloop article but I think it deserves more time on the front page considering Guilty Gear Accent Core will be hitting PSN/XBLA sometime later this year. This is the complete tutorial and system guide for Guilty Gear Accent Core. While some more advanced tactics are missing, namely impossible dust and jump install, the guide gives a very thorough primer on the basic and advanced mechanics of guilty gear as well as the more basic mind games behind it.

In regards to Blazblue, the game can seem very daunting and confusing at first, however James Xie breaks it down in a webseries called Beginner Mode. The episodes break down fundamental game play mechanics in an easy to understand format.

If you want a quicker reference to how BB's system works or you never read this, I highly suggest you read Dustloop's Blazblue System Guide, it not only explains the numpad notation commonly used in the anime fighter community but also explains the more in depth mechanics that some players may not know about that can help your game tremendously. Terms such as "attack level" and "advanced input" are explained here.

Replay videos can be the best way to learn new technology or how to play certain matchups, certain youtube channels specifically play BB match vids, they are: Jourdal - mainly BB/also P4U matches. pktazn1213 - also does bb/p4u. American tournament footage can usually be found on the front page of dustloop.com

Often times on dustloop.com you may see a video linked to http://www.nicovideo.jp and the video will not load unless you sign up for an account on http://www.nicovideo.jp . You have two choices, you can sign up for an account on nicovideo.jp or you can use the Nicovideo Redirector. The nicovideo redirector will allow you to watch videos on nicovideo.jp without an account.

These all are under the assumption that you have played a fighting game before, however if you have never ever touched a fighting game I would suggesting watching David Sirlin's beginner's guide to SF2 part one, part two and part three. The terms are a tad dated and the game is SF2, but the videos provide a good background for how a fighter works and the most basic mechanics.