The Art of Button-Mashing
 

A game of Soul Caliber was underway a few nights ago and I, much to the dismay of my opponent, won three times as many matches as he. His frustration grew as I kept winning, until he threw the unsuspecting controller across the room and shouted, "IT'S NOT FAIR, YOU'RE JUST A BUTTON-MASHER!"

Yes...yes I am.

With that in mind, let me introduce you to the true plane of light, my friends: Let me introduce you to the theory behind button-mashing, or as we like to call it, move-diversification. The idea is, being unfamiliar with a game means that everything we do will be totally and utterly random. When we press that fabled "X" button, we have no idea what will happen. But we know that if we keep pressing that fabled "X" button, we will become predictable, and a more experienced player will be able to best us easily. The idea, then, is to hit all the buttons at once. This gives us a chance, because as soon as the opposing Nightmare tries to complete a horizontal attack, my Raphael has (accidently) sidestepped and dropped down to kick the joint straight out of Nightmare's knee. He had no idea that was coming. Neither did I. In this way the game approaches something akin to Chaos Theory.

So before you hotly contest the effectiveness of move-diversification, come play against me. Unless we're playing Streetfighter II for the SNES. Man, you just could not button mash in that game.

As for discussion on the topic, I would like to know if A) you think it is possible to play those games WITHOUT button-mashing, or B) you would like to call schenanigans on choice A, believing that such things are not possible.

I don't like button-mashing, and I admit I usually yell at my friends when they do (hey, when that controller breaks, they're not gonna pay for it; I will :( ). I refrain from it because it does this:
1) breaks equipment
2) can sometimes be embarrassing
3) not good for your reputation at times

However, I'm talking about outofcontrolyoucan'tstopmeyoujerkcuzIwinhahahaha button mashing. However, I find "controlled button-mashing" (when you don't pound on all the joysticks/buttons at once, just tap buttons randomly).

I hate button-mashing Raphaels in SoulCalibur2. Most of the time, they just hold forward and mash on that B button (you know what I mean, where he taps you on the head 3-5 times in a row). Being a Nightmare player myself, I like to keep them far away (swordswordBIGsworditysword).

I'll relate my dislike to an event that happened yesterday. Me and three friends were playing foozball (let's call my friends Nick, Steve, and Fred). Me and Nick won against Steve and Fred by spinning our guys mindlessly, without thinking. This took any strategy out of the game (it was still fun, because we found it amusing). That's like what button-mashing does...

I hate button mashing because it takes the fun out of the game. It comes down to who hits the most buttons the fastest. Where's the fun in that? That's why I stopped playing fighting games. It doesn't require any skill anymore.

i cant agree more mr. viewtiful. one game i found that truly requires skill is super smash bros. melee (gaycube). My friends have one, i dont. Being the video game god that i am, i always win cuz of sheer skillage. Sometimes we'll have a group of peeps over and tey have no clue wtf the're doing. so i just release my mad roy skillz and they get totally owned.

One time, my brother rented Clayfighters for SNES, and beat the whole game using Bad Mr. Frosty (name?) and only kicking.

Same button the whole time.

My brothers and I don't button mash. We play on the ice level and try our hardest to make the other one fall off. It's fun watching as my brother slides off of the level when he tries to do a slide kick at me.

And this, my friends, is why fighting games with more than three or four special moves per character suck.

Tips for/against button mashers:

Maxi is THE ultimate button masher.

If playing as Nightmare, use ->->K + B + B. Fast short range combo

Raphael, use Use B + K/A+K auto-dodges to avoid button mashing

Ivy, <--A+B (Held) painful | Spiral Embrace Stance, ->B+K at close range, throws enemy a LONG distance and hits him again coming down.

Yunsung, ->->K K (Up/Down) K K, circumvents B and Guard

Sophitia, master the various arieal dances

Kilik/Seung Mina, ->A+B is very versatile.

Talim (Lower foward) A, A, A, A, A is fast, furious, and painful

i don't see a whole lot of button mashing at the arcades for.... any game.. but then again, i find it funny when people do. button mashing in SCII is the most stupid thing you could possibly do, considering as some people will walk to the edge, sidestep, get hit on purpose to roll into you, and then throw you off. this happens almost EVERYTIME a moron starts pounding on the buttons.

also, button mashers get realllly easy to use advancing guards on, which means there are good times for skillful players to be had.
makes for good laughs.

games that have moves that have delay periods before and after them usually lend themselves to non-button-mash strategies. especially in mvc2, or any samuri shodown, considering you can get caught in an infinite the moment you miss an attack.

button mashers = easy targets

oxymoron.

I wouldn't call myself a moron for button-mashing...I'm just not good at fighting games. I find, however, friends of mine who have developed some admirable skills at Soul Caliber and the like have a very hard time playing against button-mashers. So I win. I like winning. Couldn't agree more. Now if my opponents could only grasp this concept...

I may be a button-masher when it comes to fighting games, but I am still the reigning champion of Halo death match tournaments. So its justified.