Maybe you’ve heard of “that 14 year old kid that kicks everyone’s ass at Street Fighter”, but you’ve never known what his name is… well it’s Joshua Spoon and this “kid” is a Street Fighter prodigy that has been taking the fighting community by storm lately. After starting to play SF4 on a serious level only 9 months ago, he is already placing top 8 in tournaments, giving the top players a run for their money and is definitely a player that everyone should keep a close eye on! Here’s a video of Josh “RagingravenSRK” Spoon in action at the Lake Erie Summer Slam SSF4 tournament from a couple months ago.



Name: Joshua Spoon

Gamer Tag: RagingravenSRK

Age: 14

Location: Knoxville, TN.

Preferred Console: Xbox 360

Did you always have a passion for gaming (grew up gaming), or was that something that developed later in life?: I’ve had a passion for gaming since I first picked up a controller! I was around 3-4 when I first played a video game, it was Super Mario Brothers on the NES, since then I’ve owned a ton of consoles and have been addicted for a long time.

When did you decide that you were ready to compete in tournaments?: It wasn’t necessarily a matter of thinking I was good enough to compete, it just sounded fun to do, I went to my first tournament sometime around December of 2009 and just had a lot of fun, so I’ve continued to compete.



When did you start playing SF4?: I got Street Fighter IV the same month that it came out, I was really bad and didn’t really know anything about what was going on, about 3-4 months later my friend introduced me to the competitive scene (I never entered anything, but I was always reading about Daigo and Justin), so I was interested in it and started learning the game on what was still a casual level, I suppose I only started taking the game seriously around November or December of last year.

What character do you play as in SSF4 and why did you choose him/her?: I use Rufus! He is really the only character that fits my style 100%, he is a complete rushdown character! Well, not entirely, but he is the closest thing to it

What are you currently playing?: Outside of SSF4 of course, I have been working on completing Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2. (these games are AWESOME!)

How many hours a week do you spend gaming?: Entirely too much, on average about 20, but if I’m preparing for a tournament I play around 40, it can really turn into a full time job if you want to be at a high level.

How often do you compete?: As often as possible, here over the past few months I have been attending at least 1 tournament a month.



What do you enjoy most about competing?: The competition, it’s just fun to always be against good players, I am always learning something new at tournaments, which helps me to improve.

What was your hardest competition to date and why?: Final Round 13 in Atlanta, this was my second tournament and it just so happened to be a tournament with 200+ people, it was definitely a wake up call, at this point I just wasn’t prepared, I didn’t even have a character that was my main, I ended up placing 129th which was really upsetting, since then I’ve prepared myself for tournaments a lot more.

Where would you like to see yourself go in the Video games industry? Do you want to have more involvement such as creating games or do you just want to play them as a profession?: Well, I would like to become one of the top players in the U.S in SSF4, but it’s going to take a long time, I doubt I will ever really choose gaming as a career path, just a hobby.

Being so awesome at SF at such a young age is a HUGE advantage. Do you think you’ll follow in Justin Wong’s footsteps to be the next consistent top fighter in the US?: I hope so, I’m going to try hard to get to where he is, it’s not an easy thing to do though!



Since you’re still in school, do your parents ever give you a hard time about playing video games a lot, or do they support you?: My parents are really supportive of it, I’m always approached by people telling me “Your parents are awesome for taking you to these events!” I suppose I just recently realized how awesome it is, my parents are AWESOME!

Do you think that being high level at such a young age is an advantage or disadvantage, and why?: It’s both an advantage and a disadvantage, it’s an advantage because at such a young age I still have a long time to learn and improve, it is a disadvantage because it makes it much more difficult to travel.

Do you currently have any sponsors?: Nope, not planning on having any either!

What event can we watch you beat down the competition at next?: Aside from some local tournaments, I will be at Seasons Beatings 5 in Ohio! That’s going to be in October.

Do you have any social networking sites that people can go to if they want to contact you?: http://www.facebook.com/RagingravenSRK or you can contact me on XBL which is RagingravenSRK

Thank you for your time Josh! I look forward to seeing you dominate EVO next year! Good luck in your endeavors! Justin Wong… watch out! ^_~

STOMP
Verb

Infinitive
to stomp

Third person singular
stomps

Simple past
stomped

Past participle
stomped

Future participle
immastomponchu

1. (transitive) To trample heavily on something or someone.
2. (transitive, slang) To severely beat someone physically or figuratively.

Hey, at least she made that her gamer tag so that she could give you fair warning before your match! Like most of you, I heard the buzz around this amazing gamer because of EVO and I just had to try to get a chance to talk to her and find out more about the one known simply as “Bison girl”. Since I couldn’t meet up with her in person I did a short written interview.

Name: stephanie tran

Gamertag: immastomponchu (psn)

Location: norcal, CA

Occupation: college student/dictator (full-time)

Interests: scissor kicking people in the FACE and stomping on people’s HEAD

System of choice: playstation 3

Favorite game: tough to say.. i guess it depends on genre.

Favorite gaming related websites: kotaku.com, shoryuken.com

Hours spent gaming per week: less than 10 hrs

When did you start gaming?: around when i was 7-8 yrs old

When did you start competitively gaming?: september 2009 for sfiv

What’s your biggest accomplishment in gaming?: i don’t really have one yet.. altho i hope to achieve one someday!

Favorite moment in your gaming career: just meeting alot of chill ppl, whom have become my very good friends!! i love how we can chill and not talk about sf all the time, lololol.

Do you have a most embarrassing moment?: not really, lol.



What’s your thoughts on girl gamers in the fighting game scene? Do you think they get the respect they deserve?: i think its cool to see other girls playing! whether they’re good or bad, its great just to see them out and even trying to play. i feel like the only way we can get respect from the community is only by showing our skills and a positive attitude. without those two components, i feel like we won’t get taken seriously in the community.



You recently attended EVO 2010. How did you do in the open tournament and the female invitational tournament?: in the main tournament, i did 2-2, lost to awesomejones (dh) and yungB (gu). altho both were a fairly tough match-ups for me, the two dudes were hella chill. gah, turtles can be a real pain, but its an effective way to play. as for the women’s, i tied for 5th place with my very good friend, lexy (ch). it was fun playing and meeting new girls, i felt like i learned alot from those matches like to be more patient or to adapt faster to their patterns. i’m sure next year i’ll do better, since you can always learn and get better.

What are your thoughts on the female tournament at EVO this year?: i thought it was awesome to see girls from different backgrounds to come together to show what they got. the skills ranged all over the place, and i could tell all the girls were determined to do well. i made alot of friends with the girls, so its cool to help them out with practicing and strats. i’m sure next year we’ll see the same girls again, and perhaps even more will come!

Outside of gaming, what do you like to do?: tennis, drawing, cooking, shopping, magic the gathering, dominion, web surfing, cosplay, going out~



Do you have any social networking sites you’d like to link to? (twitter, facebook, etc): I have a facebook account

I think many people have heard of you mostly because of your street fighter skills. Who do you main and what drew you that character?: i main bison. why? who wouldn’t want to play with a character who has crazy psycho powers AND a hat AND a cape? lol, well i chose bison because i really liked his character and play style. he’s able to rushdown and turtle, its such a great mix. plus, most of his match-ups are pretty even (except for like gu, ho, dh) he was like mid tier in vanilla, so its great how he’s gotten up there now. i know match up info can mean nothing in comparison to skill because everyone plays different, but its still good to know your options.



I noticed that you had an amazing cosplay of M. Bison going on at EVO. Do you cosplay as any other characters?: haha, i have but it’s kinda embarrassing to show, but i also have a taokaka cosplay too… but i’m really proud of my bison outfit, just because i like his character and playing with him. i mean, how good can it get when you dress up as your favorite character while using him against your opponents? very gdlk.



Any recommendations for females who are considering playing SSF4 competitively?: just go out there and show your stuff. even if you’re not good, just keep playing, cuz that’s the only way you can get better. the more exposure you get to ssfiv, the better. anyone can get good as long as they work at it!

Will we be seeing you at future SSF4 events?: perhaps, nothing big tho. mostly cuz i have a lot of other responsibilities i have to take care of at the moment like family issues and school. but, you’ll see me at evo2k11 tho!

What is the next event you plan on attending?: hmmm, i guess sbo quals in san mateo,ca. i won’t be competing cuz its vanilla, but i’d like to go to support norcal and all my friends!!

Well it was great chatting with you! Thank you so much for your time Stephanie, and I look forward to seeing you at more events!

Please make sure to add her on facebook to see what she’s up to and hit her up on SRK with any Street Fighter related questions. I’m also looking forward to some videos of her being released on youtube from the woman’s invitational. Until then… GAME ON!



EVO photos from Slash5150. Check out more here.

bit·ter·sweet (btr-swt)
adj.
1. Bitter and sweet at the same time: bittersweet chocolate.
2. Producing or expressing a mixture of pain and pleasure: a movie with a bittersweet ending.

n.
1. A woody vine of the genus Celastrus, especially the North American species C. scandens and the eastern Asian species C. orbiculata, having small, round, yellow-orange fruits that open at maturity to expose red seeds. Also called staff tree.
2. See bittersweet nightshade.
3. The name of the girl that’s fragging your ass on Halo. See BiiTTERSWEET


BEHIND THE TAG: BiiTTERSWEET

Name: Celeste Anderson
Age: 20
Gamer Tag: BiiTTERSWEET (XBL)
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
System of Choice: XBox 360
Game of Choice: Halo 3
Unique talent: She can solve a rubik’s cube in under 25 seconds!
Favorite Gaming Quote: “Spartans never die, Jorge. They’re just Missing in Action.” – Halo Reach
Twitter: @BiiTTERSWEET
Youtube: MissCeleste’s Channel

I had a chance to catch up with BiiTTERSWEET at the Tritton booth where she was one of the pros to beat in the “Beat-A-Pro” challenge for Galaxy4Gamers.com and do a short interview. BiiTTERSWEET is considered one of Canada’s top female gamers in many games. BiiTTERSWEET traveled across Canada on the first ever National Video Game Tour (AMP Your Game), and has also worked with Axe, Rogers, Toshiba, Gameology and MLGCanada/AMP for gaming content, appearances, writing reviews and blogs. This girl has some game, and I hope that we see more of her at events here in the US!