Don’t be a Scrub Podcast Episode 17: IFC Yipes

Hi everybody! Spider Muttons Productions © 2010 is back with the second part of our EVO 2011 special. And our very special guest this episode is none other than Mr Mag-fucking-neto himself, IFC Yipes!

I know Igor was really excited to get to talk to him, and while I personally am not the most studied Marvel 2 fan, I definitely appreciate the incredible hype that the Marvel legend brings to the mic, as well as the pure viciousness of his rushdown.

Follow Yipes on twitter at @IFCYipeS and on Facebook.

Yipes is now officially part of Team Broken Tier, so if you want to buy Yipes apparel, click here.

Igor and I also decided to do a intro segment for this episode featuring Bugsimus and PyroZeroX.

Bugsimus is one of the pillars of the Melbourne community; simply put he’s our Spooky, our stream expert. He did the stream for the last two Shadowloo Showdowns and BAMs and he contributes so much to the scene.

Bugs rollin’ them dice

Pyro is the handsome chief programmer behind Shadowloo.com. He’s one of the founding members of Shadowloo, and can also be seen on the X Report and making rap apology videos. He’s also one of our top Boxer players.

Since all of them (well, except me) went to EVO, we talk a little bit about their EVO experience, and things like Alex Valle’s tranvestite spotting eye, and cheap American beer.

And right after that, we dive in Igor’s interview with Yipes at EVO 2011. As usual we have the audio version of the interview right below, and the text transcript of it if you prefer.

Big thanks to Yipes for sitting down with me, and a special thanks to Bosslogic for another sick banner!

That’s it, I hope you guys enjoy the interview!

For Direct Download, right click this link and “save as”

Direct Download 96 kp/s version

Don’t be a Scrub Podcast Episode 17: IFC Yipes

Spidercarnage: So this is EVO finals day on Sunday. And today we have a very, very special person who I’ve actually admired for quite a number of years. He’s one of the most prominent and well-known Marvel players- Marvel 2 and Marvel 3 players, and it’s Mr. IFC Yipes.

Yipes (Michael Mendoza): What’s going on man.

Welcome. I’m so glad, so glad that I could actually get to sit down and talk to you because I wanted to do this for such a long time.

My bad, my bad. Finally huh?

Yeah it took us a little while, but we finally got there in the end.

1-      How did you first get into fighting games?

Pretty much the background on that- I used to play FPSs hardcore. So, long story short, I used to play Unreal Tournament ’99. I was actually world champion for two years.

Oh really?

It was…it was like a small community back then on SRK. SRK’s bigger now, but [this was] back in the day- so.

This is for the GMC.  So shout outs to the GMC, if yall remember.

So yeah so one day my computer just fried up, it died.

So I was like, I need a new game.

And that’s how I started playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2. I mean, I always played fighting games, but more to beat up my brothers and cousins and stuff.

But I had that competitive drive…at the first person [shooter] scene. That’s where my competitive spirit was at. So.

So you never played Quake 3?

Uh, no.

How come, it’s faster and better!

Nah, I just never got into it. I started with Duke Nukem and I went to UT 99.

So I just started Marvel 2 at this local arcade. And that’s where I met Dieminion.

Ah okay, yep.

And Dieminion told me; yo man, you should come to Chinatown.

I was like, Chinatown?

What’s going on over there?

I was thinking it was like, just nice fast-food restaurants and stuff like that…

Yeah. (Laughs.)

I didn’t know there was an arcade deep in the heart of it, you know?

So I went there and I saw the competition and I was like man, this is serious, so.

This would have been around 2003? 2004?

…04. 2004, yeah.

Because you were in the second generation of Marvel vs. Capcom players as well.

Philip Gepty, http://www.bifuteki.com/ (Click image for link.)

Yeah.

I remember I actually spoke a little bit earlier to Viscant and he’s telling me about some of these old 2004 videos of Yipes; and he was terrible! But then that was really interesting because then the next year 2005, you actually came second at EVO! Right?

Yeah. That was crazy.

The one thing I actually noticed is that you’re best known for your rushdown style in Marvel 2. What is it that attracts you to that style of play?

Well, I mean I used to play Cable, Sentinel, and Commando. That was one of my first teams. I was just tired of running away dude, it wasn’t fun.

And I picked up Magneto, you know, Storm. Psylocke. And you know, at first I was playing the patient game but then when I saw the capabilities of the rushdown and the offense and the offensive barrage of things that they can do, that’s when I kind of flipped my style.

So I put myself in more danger, but at the same time I got defensive about putting myself in danger.

Y’know what I mean.

That’s how I got into rushdown.

The Yipes resets. You invented some of the insane resets ever in a Marvel game.

Yeah.

When you sit down and think about the game, how do you come up with these sorts of ideas?

Well I’m inspired by basketball. Street basketball.

You ever heard of the And1 series?

Yes of course.

Y’know, guys like Hot Sauce, Bone Collector, you know, Skip to my Lou.

I used to watch the mixtapes- I actually used to go to these games to watch it.

Oh really?

I kinda of implemented that style, the crossover into my game. So I kind of used that imagination for Marvel 2, yeah.

The boomerang = Mags reset?

That’s really interesting. Because I played basketball for about ten years.

Yeah, I was on my varsity team for high school, so.

Yeah and a lot of the knowledge and things I picked up from basketball, like breaking down matchups.

Like thinking about what are my team’s key strengths versus the other team…actually comes a lot across into fighting games as well. Especially when it comes to… definitely key matchups. Just the analysis of the game as well. When you should go on the offence, when you should go defence. The kind of defence do you wanna play, do you wanna play zone defence, or do you wanna do man on man…do you want to be like right in your face, or do you want to sort of zoning with your normals, do you want to zone about projectiles. I’ve been thinking a lot about these sorts of things.

2-      So outside of fighting games, do you have any other hobbies, besides watching And1 now?

I haven’t watched And1 since like ’08. So I don’t know how it’s going on. I don’t really have no [other] hobbies; I mean I’m a gamer. I play my games here and there.

When I was playing my video games I used to just take care of my nieces, man, my family. That’s about it.

Now I got a hobby- taking care of my girlfriend.

Ahh, okay, okay. (Laughs.)

That’s a big hobby, yo.

Yeah.

I love her to death, but…

Other than that man, nuh.

Just hanging out with my friends, the regular old stuff, y’know?

3-      I think it was the B5 tournament? There was huge hype about Japanese players coming down for Marvel.

For Marvel, yeah.

And they were going to show the Americans how to play. Whereas this year we’ve had similar hype with Tokido winning CEO. Yeah, so what are your thoughts on how the Japanese players performed at EVO this year?

This year, in general?

Yeah, in general.

Well obviously they’re really strong in Street Fighter.

Yes.

They’re very strong. So shout outs to Japan. I had a long talk with Tokido and all that, so.

He told me his training regimen and stuff like that these guys, I can understand that. They just have that much discipline, you know?

So I mean in Marvel 3, we’re surprised but you know, they did good with it. They made top 32, you know.

I could be responsible because I beat one of them Frieda. I beat him in pools, so.

Oh! Yes. Because on Friday, the Salty Suite, I was watching him versus Filipino Champ, and he blew up Champ 5-0.

Really?

Yeah.

I’m surprised, I didn’t know that.

And then they ran it back. He was 4 up, 4-0 up, and then Champ came back and beat him 4-5.

That was hype.

Yeah, but they’re really good, they’re really solid. And this game, anybody can win, really. There are favourites, obviously, but this game? Just the mechanics and how it’s built- it’s a really random game and high damage so it could work out for anybody.

Japan? They’re doing what they’re doing to win. You got Tokido, he picks Wolverine. Phoenix. He’s playing to win.

And I can understand that.

Throughout history Tokido’s always been a cheap player anyway. He plays Vega in ST. He plays Bob in Tekken 6, which all traditionally high tier characters anyway, so.

I got a lot of respect for him. He’s got a strong mix-up game no matter [what game] he plays.

Yeah, definitely.

I think he’s just naturally talented at fighting games.

4-       But anyway, how do you feel about Marvel 3 in general?

I mean, the game is good, but it’s just…horribly unbalanced. Like you know, Marvel 2 you had the same issue but it was four characters but after nine, ten years people learned how to accept it.

They was like; okay. You can’t just kill a character with one hit. Except if you’re playing Iron Man.

But…you can’t kill a character in one hit. Y’know what I’m saying.

Well you can- to a certain extent. If you reset and stuff but it’s not like you would have incinerated the character.

Yeah it’s not like Super Turbo with touch of death combos.

Yeah, yeah, so.

You gotta actually think about what you do and stuff…

But, the difference between Marvel 2 and Marvel 3 is the X- factor, obviously. In Marvel 2 I was very heavy into blockstrings and rushdown, you know?

Now you have X-factor, I have to be wary about the other opponent guard cancelling and stuff like that. So that’s the one thing that really switched from the other games.

A lot of the character nerfs…I mean the only one that didn’t get nerfed really is Magneto. He’s pretty much the same, plus more. They gave him more.

So.

Yeah man. It’s a good game, but at the same time it has its flaws.

I just learned how to accept it, y’know?

Okay. Have you had a chance to play Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3?

Yeah, I picked my team. Mags, Dante, Akuma.

They’re pretty much nerfed.

Magneto got some new tools; he got that gravity- that pulling thing. I can see that kinda work for those Mags Sent drones players.

So say somebody’s running away they can bring them back down. With de-suction.

It’s pretty cool.

But, Dante, they really hit him hard. They hit him hard.

Oh okay. I’d say Wesker got hit pretty hard as well.

Yeah he got lower health. You can’t really throw them [any]where anymore and get an OTG. You have to be in the corner for that.

Ahh…

So yeah…

And I heard his teleports got slower as well.

That I didn’t notice. So. I always assumed it’s kinda slow but you know, I never really looked into it.

It seemed to have a lot of startup, but once it actually gets moving then…

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wesker reminds me kind of like a Bison.

Yes. Yes.

It’ll work for the Wesker players. Because I’m a Wesker player too, but I ain’t even complaining.

5-      So what did you do in preparation for EVO this year?

Well you know. Once I heard EVO was coming around, a month before I had sessions with the boys up in New York.

The Arc?

Naw, naw. Well, sometimes there yeah. But nobody really plays Marvel there so. I only go there when certain players go there. Like Mugetsu and stuff like that.

And Sanford, you know.

But we really didn’t play the game like that. Because Sanford was busy with Street Fighter. And one of the guys that’s on the team- he lives in Philly. So I was really like the only one playing because I was in training mode.

Speaking of Philly, how did the New York- Philadelphia rivalry come about? Because I know it was a very strong rivalry in Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

Yeah.

And how does that continue in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Well, I don’t know too much about the story. You guys should ask Big E, he knows a lot about what [happened].

When I came in, it was like the first tournament I went to; I just heard them just killing each other, just screaming at each other, cussing at each other, keeping it hype.

I didn’t know the origins of it. I can’t really say what is the origin, I really don’t know, but it’s just New York- Philly just try to cut each other’s throats every time in tournament.

Yeah! I noticed that. It gets really hype.

And I was speaking to Dieminion a little bit and he sort of shed a bit of light on that. He said something about New York is always like the bigger brother of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia always thinks like…it’s almost like a sibling rivalry.

Yeah.

Because Philadelphia has a little bit of a smaller scene and they always feel like they want to be better than New York.

Like you can tell when a player’s from Philadelphia. ‘Cause in Marvel 2 these guys used to play nothing but keepaway. Nothing but keepaway. It’s kinda like that [in] Street Fighter. So you can actually tell the style.

We was kind turtlish too- but then y’know, it’ll be like styles versus styles. Pretty much. New York kind of got that rushdown, kind of risky way to play.

While Philly has that defensive, wait for that perfect moment type thing, you know?

Because New York is known for its Magnetos right?

Not really. That started to change when I got on the scene. It was mostly Storm. We had our Magneto players. We had guys like Jason Hall.

Josh Wigfall.

Justin would play Magneto but he was a turtlish kind of Magneto. He would wait for his chance to strike. Stuff like that.

Because Justin predominantly played Santhrax right?

Storm…Sent, Cyclops.

But I came on the scene, and when I innovated the rushdown, that’s when it started changing up. A little bit, y’ know.

Couple of weeks ago I listened to “the history of Marvel vs. Capcom 2” on Alphaism radio with Viscant and Skisonic. And I listened to it as I was sort of thinking, you as a person, you have created so many Marvel 2 moments historically. You’ve created so much history in Marvel 2, I mean- the EVO 2007 moments.

Yeah.

 Even though you actually won, a lot of people actually just remember that moment.

You have the sayings; like where’s your curly mustache at, mag-freaking-neto. Those things were actually even added in Marvel 3; Deadpool actually says that in Marvel 3.

Did you actually think that you actually create so much history in a genre as a player and as a commentator?

Buy Yipes apparel from Broken Tier!

I mean, me coming in this, I was just a competitor, y’know. I never really thought about anything besides playing.

Commentating? I never I’d get to that point. For example I look at the NBA and how’s everything’s going on there. There’s colour commentators and stuff like that. I didn’t know it would get to that kind of level but now we got sponsors and stuff like that…

So I never thought about it like that way. So you know, I was just being myself and everything just connected. When I made those phrases I was at Season’s Beatings. I think it was 2. Yeah, 2. 2007.

I was just talking smack, y’know? And my boys was playing, one guy from West Coast- his name’s Potter. He’s one of the legends of Marvel 2.

And DemonHyo’s another legend. He’s from Philly.

Them dudes was just playing and of course- it’s West Coast [vs.] East Coast, imma go for the East Coast. That’s why you heard the East Coast Baybee- Philly, where you at?!

I was just hyping them up, I just had fun.

So then like two months later, someone was like, yo man you seen that video about your slogans? And I’m saying, what you mean, slogans?

And I look and a dude made a video- I don’t really know the guy’s name but I just saw it, so. Funnily enough, I check on that a year later, and it has like 800,000 views man.

Like a year or two later. I was like, wow, like it was that serious?

So I would start going to tournaments and people would know me for Marvel 2, but I would always get more recognition for that video and I was like ohh okay.

So I actually started commentating. It was one tournament at Battlefield Arcadia?

And Seb, who runs frameadvantage.com, that’s when I started seeing streams for the first time and stuff like that. I was like oh okay so. I saw he had a mic, so I just sat down and started having fun, the stream started liking it and I just kept doing it. It was pretty fun.

‘Cause one thing that I’ve noticed is that- the steam monsters love you.

Yeah, shout outs to the monsters on the stream.

The thing is, I’m a pretty big stream monster; I don’t post much in chat but…

I would be a stream monster but my connection’s a little weak. So I gotta step my internet connection up. That’s probably why I don’t play online either.

Because you’re the only person that the stream monsters always scream to have on the mic. If you’re in the building, it’s always; where is Yipes, why don’t we have Yipes on here.

How does that make you feel?

Because certain commentators when they’re on, they get a fair bit of hate. But from the stream monsters’ perspective you seem to be…

Well I mean…it kind of feels like a responsibility in a way, kinda. Because it’s like, aw man. I don’t want this show to be wack, y’know? So then I get on. I like showing love to the stream monsters.

Not only that, I got a lot of friends that watch too. They know me from back in the day, so they know how funny I can get, so.

But yeah, I mean…I kinda feel that it’s a duty now sometimes, y’know!

So. It’s fun, man.

(Laughs.) I think it’s great. Personally I love watching you on the streams. I think it’s fantastic. You’re very entertaining and it’s great.

6-      So what went through your head when Tokido

I was like… it wasn’t really necessarily Tokido… but it’s like…

So alright so Daigo made that big deal about you know, I hope your ten years of experience with that video, everyone’s seen that video.

It’s funny enough he didn’t make top 32 but whatever. Y’know.

Sorry I’m popping off just a slight bit here.

No that’s fine.

So I saw Tokido playing and I saw his team. At Final Round he had Wolverine, Sent, Akuma. Which is a good team still but then he switched it up to Phoenix and now he’s winning. So I’m like man…so obviously I want my boy Justin [to win] because I’ve been battling him for years and I know what type of player he is, you know what I’m saying?

So for him to fight some uberly cheap stuff, I can tell what type of things he’s thinking in his mind.

Like damn, I really gotta do this. I know the pressure’s on him. I know the pressure’s more on him than on Tokido, so.

Especially when you got Phoenix and Wolverine, that’s really ridiculous, y’know.

And Tokido, he’s a bright guy when it comes to [this kind of thing]. He’s got the fundamentals down pat, so.

I’m not gonna take the credit from him. Obviously I got salty because I was like; damn I don’t want USA to lose in this game.

Especially when he beat Justin in the final, you know what I’m saying?

That hit home really, really hard.

So I’m pretty sure everybody saw me on salty on the stream or whatever.

Oh no, yet another again you created another Marvel history moment.

Oh man. That was a salty moment dude.

I think everybody felt that though. I was watching and I was actually rooting for Justin to win.

Because…it’s something that Ono said. When you have a character like Phoenix, it’s like if people use them, it’s sort of like the good guys versus the bad guys. You have somebody to cheer for. I think it’s along that line. You’re either with A or you’re with B. And it makes a lot more hype.

And then when you also put in this- obviously the prospective of Japan versus the US. Which has been throughout…twenty years now.

Very long time.

It was the pinnacle of that moment.

But that’s one game dude that we was very strong in. You know, Marvel. So we’re trying to keep it that way.

In Marvel 2, I played all the best Japanese players and I beat them all y’know. But they’re pretty good too. They’re fairly good. But there was something about Marvel 2 that they just couldn’t fare at the same level as us.

Yeah, yeah. It’s not just Marvel- it seems that a lot of the versus games they just don’t fit the Japanese play style. Even X-men and Marvel Super Heroes…yeah most of the other…they just don’t seem to- it’s like the versus games don’t really fit their playstyle.

Yeah. I dunno.

I guess- I guess they can’t maul. So much.

I dunno. I think that’s something in their blood; they can’t really rushdown too much.

They’re too polite.

Probably, yeah.

Speaking of getting salty, what do you think that makes the Marvel series…

Like people get salty in Street Fighter. When somebody loses in Marvel, it seems like it’s a whole new level of salt that they get.

I‘ll give you a quick example. My interviewing partner- Mutton. By the way, shoutout to Mutton.

He only started playing Street Fighter with Street Fighter 4 right? He gets salty when he loses. Then he decided to pick up and start playing Marvel.

When he loses in Marvel, it’s a whole new dimension of salt.

7-       So what is it about Marvel that makes you so salty?

It’s like… for a lot players, for Marvel 3 for some reason, as soon as this game dropped there’s a lot of people with huge egos.

So when you got a good player, an excellent player, player A versus amateur player B. And the good player’s doing so great, right? And all of a sudden they lose. Because of the mechanics of the game. And the first thing they go in their mind and it’s like damn. But I’m better than this guy.

And then the reality sets in that it doesn’t matter- the game is just like that, deal with it. Ya know what I mean?

You can’t get away with what you usually get away with.

That kicks in. That’s when the salt comes out, the sodium levels rise.

(Laughs.)

Me, it’s like, I used to get salty at first but then when I saw during the game’s release and how things were changing and how cheap it was getting?

Once I saw that DHC glitch I was man oh man. This is getting ridiculous.

So I mean I get salty yeah, to a certain extent.

But I just walk shaking it off, brushing it off. There’s nothing that I could do.

Ya know what I mean.

So what about Marvel 2 salt levels? Because Marvel 2…

Marvel 2 it was more like… Okay, let me give you an example. So you how I lost to Christian in 2008? That whole year…this was after I won Evo. And then I won Season’s Beatings. And then I took a long hiatus in 2008.

I was playing nothing but COD4. You know, Call of Duty?

Mmhm.Yep.

You know Fugee came down…yo Schmidt wanna play you. Well actually no, it wasn’t even like that.

Yeah so Chris Schmidt came and I came too, you know Fugee and Chris did help me down with my tickets and everything.

So I get there and this is my first to ten with Justin. I lost to Justin, it was 10-5. But I blame myself because that whole year I didn’t play Marvel.

Then I go into the tournament, I’m hype because I lost, I was alright. You know what, I gotta step it up.

So I make it to the grand finals with Schmidt. And I haven’t seen this guy play in a long time. Last time I played him literally was EV0 2005. I actually played him in top 8. And that was the last time I ever played him, so.

Play him in 2008 and I lost, I’m like what the hell happened?

And what made it worst was like he kinda implemented my style into his gameplay.

Oh really?

So like he was doing stuff that I would do. Like resets and stuff.

And like…I can’t block my own stuff you know what I mean?

Oh really?

Yeah my stuff is too op so.

Then that’s when the salt kicked in. Like man, I’m better than this guy. Like, really? Know what I mean? That’s when the ego comes in. I have a big ego in Marvel 2.

Not anymore, because I’m not really that good at the game anymore.

I really lost it.

I mean, I can get it back in a month…but.

Yeah so it’s stuff like that. If you feel like you’re the better player and you lose, you get salty. Or a big mistake you made that cost you the match, you know?

Who would you say is your greatest rival in Marvel 2 and Marvel 3?

I don’t have one in Marvel 3 yet.

Okay. Still too early.

I can say Marlin Pie. Because I beat him in a couple of tournaments. He hasn’t beat me yet but I’ve had sessions with this guy and he’s ridiculous. So I love playing that guy in Marvel 3.

Marvel 2…has to be…because I mean I had a lot of rivals. It would always evolve, you know?

I would go through one rival and then I’ll get the next one y’ know.

So like for example, Josh Wigfall was my first one.

Desmond ‘X” Pinkney The Xecutioner.

They were one of my biggest rivals you know. I had to go through them to deal with Justin and Sanford.

Sanford and Yipes in their element

Because every tournament I would go like, I‘m about to play Sanford but before I get to Sanford I had to play Desmond and Josh and I would lose to these guys.

So um… After I was done with them, then it was Sanford, y’know. Then when I got through Sanford that’s when I started playing Justin in finals and stuff.

I mean overall my biggest…when I say rivalries like…when Chris Schmidt beat me dude I didn’t see this guy for two years. So I literally went to the next Season’s Beatings ’09 and I didn’t enter because he wasn’t in it.

Yeah it gotta be Chris Schmidt man. For Marvel 2, yeah.

So how did it feel to beat him at Season’s Beatings?

It felt great. It felt like I conquered a demon. I was like, man. And this was the last Marvel 2 tournament. So you could say I kinda died like a champion in Marvel 2, y’know?

Well, speaking to Ghaleon, he said there might be something special this year…

We’ll see. He was telling me man; he gotta let me know early though so I can get my practice on. But I’m not gonna get too much into that so it’ll be a surprise.

Like I said, I recently rewatched that. I mean I watched it live, but because of the time difference the finals were at 9’o’clock in the morning and I was on my way to work and I’m watching on the train. And I’m just screaming. On the train. People were just looking at me. I got my laptop, I got my 3G plugged in, I’m screaming just watching you play.

That entire top 8 was just insane.

Yeah.

That’s when I really learned an appreciation for Marvel 2. Because…

Also watching Megaman Steve and Fanatiq.

Fanatiq uhuh, shout outs to Steve man.

That match was magic.

But no, that finals I mean I got to work, I sat down, I was looking at it. Everybody else around me was just looking, staring at me because I work in an open office.

Dude that match was so intense I couldn’t hear the crowd. That’s how bad- how intense…I couldn’t hear nothing.

I just heard the Marvel. So.

Wow. That’s…

That was a great feeling man. Especially when I won a tournament with Sanford and Justin in it and they didn’t even get top 5, ya know what I mean?

I had to play a lot of killers. My favourite match there was between me and Desmond.

Because I…like I never played that fast with Storm, ever. His manoeuvring and damage, input with his characters Sentinel and Commando. He’s so good with counterhits so I had to literally evade everything that he did. Because he was just on fire. So I had to really had to slow him down and his momentum. So that was one of my best matches ever.

So you did your preparation for that tournament it was just you and Desmond practicing together?

Yeah, just me and him, yeah.

It was funny because we would practice and I would own him, y’know? So when I saw in tournament he was a different person.

Oh wow.

Like I never played this guy before, that kinda thing yeah. So.

He definitely stepped it up.

8-      So out of the last ten years of Marvel history, what is your most memorable moment and why?

Marvel history…Well first time me and Justin [played] at EVO. That was one of them.

Sorry which year was that?

That was 2005.

2005?

Yeah, so.

When I beat them I was like wow, I can actually take this tournament. But you know, Duc Do put me in my place. It was more of an experience thing because I never played that team ever.

That was the chip Infinite-

Spiral, yeah yeah. So I never played that ever in my life. And to play the guy that invented that was even worse.

Another thing was…I’m not going to blame the EVO staff or nothing but… they made the finals 2 out 3.

I won the first set, and the second set he won. So.

Overall I had the [better] score, but he won the tournament overall. So y’know.

Mm mm.

9-      How do you feel about AE and the changes it’s brought to the table?

Well, to be honest I haven’t really looked in-depth into the game, y’know?

But from I see it’s more of a rushdown game than a turtle [one]. I mean you still got your turtle aspect of the game when you have a lead and stuff like that.

But when you watch a damage off, I see a lot of rushdown nowadays. That’s pretty much what I see from this, there’s more rushdown.

The ARSS (Igor’s note: This is a slang term that Yipes uses for AE) Edition.

Yeah, the ARRS edition. Because I mean, I’m not a Street Fighter player, was never Street Fighter bred… I mean, obviously when I was a little kid I played Street Fighter.

But I actually played Street Fighter IV and people consider me a Street Fighter player.

I’m not a Street Fighter player that’s all, I just fight, I just compete, y’know?

10-   Interesting. So what attracted you to Bison then?

He just looks cool man. He’s evil. He reminds me of Magneto.

I was gonna say…

I always liked Bison so. I like his style. Stays on you, y’know?

Seems like you like to pick characters with the colour purple is there any specific reason for that?

Well, not really purple. I always have a blue colour. Bison I pick the blue one, Abel I pick the blue one.

Ah I dunno. Maybe…I’ll tell the story of Magneto from Marvel 2. I always pick the blue Magneto, so.

And it’s one of my favourite colours. I got blue on me right now so. It’s one of my favourite colours.

If there’s one thing that you could change about the New York fighting game scene, what would it be?

More unity.

I mean, we’re there, we support each other in tournaments. We’re not taking that from nobody but uh…everybody got to cut their egos, cut their beef down to a minimum.

You know, swallow that pride and just…let’s learn how to play these games, man.

Because it’s like…you know I go to EVO after long sessions with New York. For example like last year when I played Street Fighter. I didn’t have a mixed variety of matchups. It was just guys that picked their best characters and just tried to beat the living crap out of me.

Which is cool, I understand that you’re hungry. But at the same time, I’m trying to learn, you understand?

For example, I was playing Marvel vs.Capcom 3. This ain’t got nothing to do with New York, this is just an example. I was UMVC3. So I wanted to play- try the characters. I wanted to try them out. And guys just going in, trying to beat and stuff.

I was like, ah this ain’t fun.

I don’t blame them for being hungry, don’t get me wrong.  But it’s not fun for me after a while.

Do you think that could be the Yipes factor? I mean, you’re so well-known.

Maybe, maybe. Probably got something to prove. It’s whatever. You know, so.

But New York man, it’s not really that in the Marvel scene. Well kinda now for Marvel 3, it wasn’t like that for Marvel 2.

We had big sessions with other players. Guys like Josh 360, Arthur, Nelson remix. Guys like that. We started going to sessions and that’s how we got better, you know? So.

Yeah ‘cause…going back to Marvel 2 history. Because it seems like the West Coast were the dominant coast in the first generation. Because Justin was so strong…because the three year streak or something? Nobody could beat him, 2002 to almost 2005 in a major?

It was something like…Sanford beat the streak. Everyone was like it’s Justin. Nobody can beat me blah blah blah. And Marvel sort of started dying off.

But then the second gen, it seemed that the East Coast really stepped up a lot more. Like Seattle, New York, Philly, they all sort of came through.

I gotta say, when I came in the scene I kinda changed the game a little bit. With the rushdown, you know?

So.

We just got more offensive and got more comfortable with the way we was playing. So.

The West Coast- they were good, they had their killers. They had Su Mighty.

Yes and Duc Do was still around. This is before the Dark Prince saga as well.

Yeah um.

Heheh. I should have done this as video because the expression on your face there was just priceless.

(Chuckles.) But Su Mighty, guys like Reset, Chunksta. He’s part of the second gen.

Clockwork as well.

Clockwork’s always a legend. He’s a legend. So.

Mm mm.

Keits and Yipes

11-   So where does the name IFC Yipes come from?

Oh that goes back to my first person shooter days. That was the clan I was in, it was IFC Yipes.

IFC, yeah. Those letters so.

After my computer fried, and I found out about the SRK forums and I started playing Marvel and stuff and that was how I was learning how to play? I had registered as IFC Yipes.

So like nobody knew my real name like that. Like IFC Yipes. Sanford started calling me that in tournaments when he started getting hyped the way I played.

So he’d be like IFC Yipes! So then I look at the tournament results, what I won or I got top three. And [it] said IFC Yipes and I was like- oh snap. Yeah.

People…I had the names Yipes since I was three years old. So.

Mm hm. So I actually googled the name Yipes. And according to Wikipedia it’s a Pop-o-matic board game simulator.

In which players compete in to be the first player- it’s like a board game simulator.

I never heard of a game called Yipes. Wow. That’s sweet.

It’s about like a monster and…Yeah it’s a really weird thing. It’s a pop-a-matic simulator.

Yeah.

I remember Yipes the Zebra. It was like a bubblegum thing. Everybody thought I got my name from him.

It was called Yipes and it was a stick of gum. Yeah so.

Naw, my brother gave me that name when I was three.

I kinda remember that. I used to watch Looney Tunes a little.

Oh yeah, I love Looney Tunes.

So you remember that big ferret furry red monster that used to chase Bugs Bunny and the cast?

Yes.

So he bumped into Bugs Bunny one time and Bugs Bunny put this sign up and it said “Yipe.”

Yes! So that’s…

Yeah, yeah and my brother started calling me…because my brother’s name is Yase. Its spelled Y-A-S-E.

And then I was known as Yipes in my neighbourhood, y’know what I’m saying. So I just took that into the games.

Cool, cool. That’s really awesome.

Yeah, nobody knows that.

I actually remember that- it’s like when the Dr. Frankenstein one. He resurrects the monster and…

Yeah he was in the castle and that’s how I got my name.

Ah, that’s awesome.

12-   So what do you think about the international competition?

It’s great. I’ll be honest, that was one thing that I was very curious when I was in America. Because like, obviously I know Americans played- but I was just… In the back of my head; alright, the world gotta be playing this game.

That’s when we started…I started dang…I wish I had online and whatever whatever. Then I started realising about connections and stuff. Because I didn’t know too much about the internet and computers and stuff like that. I wasn’t raised with that.

So I always wondered how Australia was in Marvel, how UK was in Marvel. But apparently US was just a dominant force in that game. So. For my knowledge, I had all the competition I needed, you know?

But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to play anyone outside of the US, you know what I mean?

So I always wondered that.

So when I started seeing other competition, when I started seeing people coming out…guys like Ryan Hart. I already know about the Japanese, it’s a funny thing ‘cause- my neighbourhood, you know, is really Dominican heavy. So.

They always make this joke like man, these Chinos; they’re too good in these video games.

And I never knew what they meant.

(Laughs.)

And I actually starting seeing these guys, you know [the] Japanese. And I was like, damn, these guys are good. Like, really?

So I got to that mindset- we can’t beat these guys? What’s the difference? Know what I mean?

So I had my first fights with the Japanese players in Marvel 2. I dominated in that game. What’s the big deal, y’know?

So that was the one thing I was always curious about.

So now when Street Fighter IV came out, that’s when I started seeing everybody come out of nowhere.

Guys like Alioune, he’s one of my favourite players…

Yeah.

Favourite players to watch- he’s real technical, you know.

So I’ve seen all these different personalities, Starnab, Evans.

I don’t know too many Australian players, pardon me.

Our top two players are Toxy and Humanbomb.

Oh okay, I know them! I didn’t know they were Australian! Oh okay.

Austrollian.

Yeah Toxy and Humanbomb and Tom from Queensland.

‘Scuse me. Is that not how you say this, is it not Australian or how do you call yourselves…

Well when Gootecks and Mike Ross came down we trolled them so much they called us Austrollia.

Ohhh. Okay okay. So part of me…

The Australians actually hate that.

Really? Excuse me, sorry about that! I did not, so school me because I don’t to feel like I’m disrespecting somebody you know.

It’s all good, it’s all good.

So Toxy and Humanbomb, they’re our two top Street Fighter players. And Tom from Queensland, he made top 32 and lost to Chris G. He is our top Marvel player.

He was in Clockwork’s pool, and he went [1-2] with Clockwork, and he went fairly well…

Oh okay.

We were talking about a couple of hours ago. Tom is actually the highest placed Australian player throughout EVO’s history. He made top 32. Tied for 25^th.

Okay. That’s a good look, that’s a good start.

Yeah, in Marvel, of all games.

Yeah, it’s a good start.

No, but Tom is also a very, very OG Marvel 2 player.

Oh alright, sweet.

He’s been following the US scene for almost as long as I have.

I seen this one interview of these guys from Germany and Switzerland, Marvel players. And I’m like, wow, these guys still play?

And I wish at the time when the game was really on fire I wish everybody would’ve came out. That would’ve been great. Kind of like an Olympics things, y’know?

It was always us versus Japan,’ know what I’m saying.

That wasn’t much of a competition though, in Marvel 2. But in Marvel 3, it seems like it’s going to be a lot more interesting.

13-   So what do you see the future of Marvel 3? With Ultimate coming out and possibly…

This is what I always say about all the games. It all depends on the community, you know.

I mean, obviously the mechanics of the game is broken, y’know. But I’ve learned to accept it.  Just for the greater cause of the community, know what I’m saying?

So.

It’s whatever. But it’s really all up to the community. Like for example, I’m gonna give you an example.

Blazblue.

I dunno how good the game is or bad it is, but I don’t see a strong community with it.

Without a strong community it can’t push the game that’s how it is.

That’s why you don’t see Blazblue at a lot of tournaments. You don’t see it hype. You don’t see people getting hype over the game so.

The community lacks that hype over their game, so. Once that changes then you’ll see it in a different light. But it’s pretty much up to the community, man, In all honesty.

I suppose that’s another thing. Because Street Fighter was such a dominant force in the 90s when they decided to release Street Fighter 4, it brought back everyone and now we have…

What I heard was Capcom was in a slump. And I guess they used that as their final…try. And it worked out for them, y’know.

Actually I heard rumours that when Ono first pitched it in ’08, Capcom said no. They didn’t want to make another Street Fighter game.

But then Ono apparently begged and pleaded with them and they finally said why not.

He did everybody a favour. Doing that.

And now he’s a master troll. It’s kinda scary.

Do you want a nerf? Hit me up on Twitter.

When I seen that, I was like whaaaa dude are you serious?

(Laughs.) That actually made me saltier.

That’s a troll, definitely.

I think that’s you know, grandmaster troll level.

14-   I think that’s just about going to do it, do you have any shoutouts?

Shoutouts to my family. My parents, my mom, my dad. They really supported me. I mean it took them a while because they really didn’t think like gaming would be that serious. Like to this level, so.

Those were the first guys that sent me to Vegas. Those were my true sponsors, know what I mean? So.

Now I care of myself, you know, but shout outs to Broken Tier. They’re helping me out a lot, you know. They gave me an opportunity.

I pitched them a idea, to Paul, he liked it. And it’s been blooming ever since, you know?

Shoutouts to Empire.

Cabeza de fuego. (Flame Head is the translation he is talking about Dormammu). I love it when you said that on the stream.

Yeah. Shoutouts to Empire, really levelled my game and my boys, you know. My homies. So.

The whole world, for supporting your boy for this long. Because I never really thought I would get fans. Like me saying the thing about fans, I never really expected to get to that level, so I really appreciate every single person.

And life form.

So it could be an alien and I’d appreciate it. Ya know what I mean?

Yeah man, just everybody dog.

New York scene. California. Everyone man.

For really making me see how this competitive thing is, y’know?

So I really appreciate it.

And I really appreciate you sitting down and doing this interview with me.

Yeah, shout outs to you, shout outs to Australia, of course. You know.

One day I might pay a visit out there. Who knows. I wouldn’t mind doing a Shadowloo Showdown commentating, man. That looks fun.

Thank you very much.

No doubt man.

Edit: Check out the EVO theme song, with the second verse done by Yipes:

Credits
Zaid “Redrapper” Tabani– Lyrics[Chorus, 1st verse, end of 2nd verse, 3rd verse], Vocals, Mixing
Michael Yipes Mendoza– Lyrics[2nd Verse], Vocals
Shizza– Lyrics[2nd Verse], Vocals
Mike Ross- Lead Guitar w/Distortion– 2nd and 3rd verse(and small little solo at the end)
Henry “Choisauce” Choi– Rythem Guitar(acoustic) — 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Verse as well as chorus.
Kanami “Kana” Shimanuki- Vocals(chorus, and ambiance through the first verse)
Dillon Hulse- Base instrumental, arrangement, composition, mixing, and percussion.