Commentators

Sabre0001

Commentating is a difficult thing to do...especially when it comes to games - gamers will rage about anything and pick up on tiny mistakes. Those commentating on games usually maintain an online presence and as such would be more aware of any hate mail coming their way.

In spite of this, there are always people stepping up to take the abuse. And fair play to them! Of course, we have our favourites and our....not-so-favourites. So who are yours and why?


I also notice that it is being talked about to have commentating of Inferno tourneys. To those stepping up to the plate; who are you hoping to emulate? What bad habits are you trying to avoid? What style of commentary will you have? Will you be talking to players during / between rounds or making in-jokes that a handful of people get? etc. etc. etc.


I enjoyed the team that were at EVO doing commentary (though I missed later rounds), S-Kill (good insight into the game naturally), Arturo (fairly amusing but knows his stuff) and a couple more who I forget.

Not a massive fan of Chris Hu (though he seems to be a love-him-or-hate-him commentary character). Too much swearing (unoriginal), talks over commentary team (even if he asked them a question)...I dunno, just not my thing.

Doctor DooM

I don't do sport but I used to like wrestling and as far as I can see you kinda look to the same way they commentate.

One for colour, one for play by play.


So one guy'd be all "LOOK AT COG THE BOUNTY HUNTER f%$K HIM UP!!!" and the other guy'd be "nice fadc ultra there from Cobelcog, 1 framer that is..."

Alternatively, I reckon I could listen to farz and Ry bicker all day on a set of mikes

animaX

Doctor DooM wrote: »

One for colour, one for play by play.

Ryan and dreddy would be perfect for that :cool:

As for commentators in the american scene, i really like seb. His voice is just so easy to listen to. This is him with chris hu

Ken B

I recommend that we get someone with a Dutch accent to commentate.

They'd say things like 'Jesus Goshh! he jusht kickshed him in the fushkinng faysh!!'



I was on an endless battle with a Dutch guy who wqas giving a running commentary and it was absholutely prishelessh!!

Yreval

Ken B wrote: »

I recommend that we get someone with a Dutch accent to commentate.

They'd say things like 'Jesus Goshh! he jusht kickshed him in the fushkinng faysh!!'



I was on an endless battle with a Dutch guy who wqas giving a running commentary and it was absholutely prishelessh!!

http://bergkamp.ytmnd.com/

Just imagine it: "JUSTIN WONG JUSTIN WONG JUSTIN WONG OOOUUUUAAAAAHHH"

Owwmykneecap

I'd quite fancy it. gotta keep it natural and flowing.

srk was quite good apart from contactual obligation g4tv man.

Sairus

I'm not familiar with most commentators' names, but the two that were on for a large portion of the Evo SSF4 stream were probably the best I've heard in a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvigCN9hhTo

Seth Killian really bugs me as a commentator, but I'm not really sure why. He gives good, clear explainations of what's going on and has in depth knowledge of the subject, but I cant stand listening to him. I think it has somthing to do with him repeating phrases a lot. "Putting him on notice" "Putting him on point" are frequent offenders.

Orim

Sairus wrote: »

I'm not familiar with most commentators' names, but the two that were on for a large portion of the Evo SSF4 stream were probably the best I've heard in a while.

Seth Killian really bugs me as a commentator, but I'm not really sure why. He gives good, clear explainations of what's going on and has in depth knowledge of the subject, but I cant stand listening to him. I think it has somthing to do with him repeating phrases a lot. "Putting him on notice" "Putting him on point" are frequent offenders.

Keits and Skisonic are the two you're thinking. Defo two of the best right there.

Shoutouts to repeating phrases, putting Sairus on blast!

Ramza

You want commentary that's laid back, personal and accessible but at the same time no less serious about the goal in mind (commentating the match!)

I'm not a fan of a lot of commentators today, but I'm maybe biased in the fact that I don't watch too many SFIV videos. Although, back from when I used to watch a lot of pre SFIV era matches (3s, st, alpha. pretty much anything), my all time favorite was Rockefeller. Not just because the guy is hilariously funny and makes jokes with the guys playing, just because his commentary is very accessible. Also, being a very good 3s player himself, he in no way is a slouch in knowing the game mechanics. That's a well rounded example. There are loads of other commentators I like but I won't list them at this time

As far as commentating goes, for Inferno, you obviously need people who know what they're talking about, and I don't mean every single aspect of the game. Core knowledge to at least talk through the aesthetics of a match. Many people like different styles of commentary. In relation to your questions, my own style/liked style would be how I described Rockefeller earlier ; hilarious guy, knows how to work a crowd, but at the same time knows his ****.

As far as trying to avoid stuff goes, when people continuously get things wrong or are just a bore to listen to, don't really do the job, so to speak, that's annoying to me. If I was a commentator myself, I'd do like I said previous, commentate the game, but at the same time keep it on one level, a level everyone understands. And yes, making jokes between rounds or even mid fight is all good, but a good commentator knows that you can overkill that one and just ruin a good run

chris mcmahon

seth killian #1, ultradavid, the 2 guys fro the arcade infinity ranbat vids, james chen, evil rashaan (funny guy), mike ross is a good commentator too.

I HATE..........

KEITS, sounds like he doesnt give a **** at the same time as knowing everything, appears to not be too informed either.

GRAN CALC, smart arse prick who utters stupid phrases like "thats what i would have done", or "yeah, i knew he was going to do that", when somebody does something good. he also sounds like he is in fast forward and slow motion at the same time. hes a walt.

skisonic, hyper active ball bag, unparalleled annoyance

ogiekeaney

i love chris hu's commentary.cracks me up.

Monkeyto

Dogface, Skisonic, S-kill or Sabin (****s so free yo!). Any combination of these is good for me.

Kiets is such a dork.

**** Chris Hu

bush

Sf4 answers dude, best commentator. Big bang symphony :pac:

Sisko

I also notice that it is being talked about to have commentating of Inferno tourneys. To those stepping up to the plate; who are you hoping to emulate? What bad habits are you trying to avoid? What style of commentary will you have? Will you be talking to players during / between rounds or making in-jokes that a handful of people get? etc. etc. etc.

I'm pushing for this yeah but its not gonna be something big and heavy , it'll be pretty laid back and casual. Introducing the match, bit of banter, reactions to the players bla bla bla.

I'd like to have 3 guys commentating just to get a flow going. A nice mix of people who build hype and people who can comment on deep gameplay elements.

The main issue is I'd really like to avoid the players themselves being able to hear them.

I know I find myself listening to people around me talking about my match and find it hard to keep in the zone. I'd also find it hard to comment on peoples games if I'm near by them , worried I'd put them off.

Thus we need a set up where the commentators are a good bit away from the players but can still see the fight.

A pub event is perfect to test all this. The new venue might be great but I'd be worried about doing something like this for the 1st time at an inferno.

XGC is not suitable for this at all.


Also again this is all pretty casual and laid back, any device that can record audio decently will do, I can edit it into the matches later. So even a tape recorder held by the lads commentating will probably do.

roy nelson

i like the in game commentator best always has fresh things to say,

"which of these 2 warriors will come out on top"

Owwmykneecap

Yeah the players absolutley must not hear the commentary

chopperbyrne

Owwmykneecap wrote: »

Yeah the players absolutley must not hear the commentary

I don't think it makes a difference. If you can't win because people are talking about the match in the background, then you probably wouldn't win anyway.

The WGC commentator was awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r29B-yr1Kl8

K.O.Kiki

chopperbyrne wrote:

The WGC commentator was awesome:

Sarcasm? :pac:

chopperbyrne

No, he was awesome.

Sisko

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I don't think it makes a difference. If you can't win because people are talking about the match in the background, then you probably wouldn't win anyway.

Its not as straight forward as that though. The commentators may feel reserved in saying certain things if they know the players are listening to them.

Commentators may notice some game play tactics one player is using and talk about it, inadvertently giving clues to the other player...thus changing the coarse of the match. And so on and so forth.

At the end of the day its the match thats important and I don't want to do anything that will mess that up.

Ry

Yeh the Cannes guy "Ken Bogard" I believe he goes by was excellent for the people who understood him. He was fast and knew exactly what was going on and was able to relay it to the crowd as fast as they executed it which was really impressive while also throwing in his own insights and feelings of shock or disappointment or whatever into the mix while staying on topic. Really good at what he did if only for the fact he was extremely loud and right in the players faces lol.

animaX

Sisko wrote: »

The main issue is I'd really like to avoid the players themselves being able to hear them.

Yeah a projector setup would be perfect for this. The commentators could be at the other end of the room altogether.

bush

Wow people actually like that french dude? I found him really annoying in the vids, he doesnt even pause for a breath.

Doctor DooM

Bush80 wrote: »

Wow people actually like that french dude? I found him really annoying in the vids, he doesnt even pause for a breath.

It's a "you had to be there, man" thing.

Ken B

Ah....the old Vietnam defence.

animaX

Ken B wrote: »

Ah....the old Vietnam defence.

Ry

In fairness it's true though. I can see how in the video's he is just annoying but even to us who don't speak french, while there, he really made it hype because you could hear and pretty much understand just from his reactions and from what was going on on screen.

Orim

Ry wrote: »

In fairness it's true though. I can see how in the video's he is just annoying but even to us who don't speak french, while there, he really made it hype because you could hear and pretty much understand just from his reactions and from what was going on on screen.

"French waffle, french blah, option select, french waffle"

Sisko

Bush80 wrote: »

Wow people actually like that french dude? I found him really annoying in the vids, he doesnt even pause for a breath.

Yeah he sounded like a horse racing commentator. The crowd may of liked him but the players sure didn't.

From what I heard anyway.