SDTEKKEN.COM – TEKKEN News Resource!

Entry for the “SHOW US YOUR TEKKEN!” Contest! (Although I’m not really eligible to enter -_- ) Hi everyone this is MarkMan. I love the Tekken series of games. It’s really hard for me to express how much I appreciate the series, not to mention how big of a fan I am for Tekken. Now I’m not a super Tekken “fanboy,” I know the series isn’t perfect, and I know it’s many flaws, but I like it… That’s all there is to it. Even though I can’t enter this contest(I would have in a heartbeat), I still want to show my MY Tekken to the world…

First Contact

I remember it well, the first time I saw Tekken in the arcades way back when I was in middle school. I was at the local mall, at a Tilt arcade, while I was wasting my quarters away playing X-Men the arcade game… My cousin had another game taking his coins… That was when I first saw it. The original Tekken. Bruce Lee(Marshall Law), Ken (Paul) and Ryu (Kazuya) clones, and the crazy press 1P start button to change view perspectives… The influx of ‘whoa cool’ was just TOO much! Of course, I didn’t know how to play the game, so I just picked Law and mashed away at the simple 4 button setup(until now the only fighting game I was used to was Capcom’s 6 button Street Fighter II series)… So my weekly visit to the arcade went from X-Men the arcade game and Street Fighter II fests, into Super 3Dimensional Fortress of Tekken playing… From then on… I was hooked. So yea that paragraph doesn’t really show much of how much I love Tekken… LOL. But I’m sure the rest of this entry will.

My Addiction

So I was hooked on playing Tekken competitively… I learned about this fabled place called SHGL (Southern Hills Golf Land)… Which was known as THE place to play arcade fighters… So I went one day during my senior year of high school… and MAN… I didn’t win one game out of 30 so games that I played… It was a major reality check… I got destroyed, so did all of my friends… But from that beatdown, the fuel began to burn, and I started to really learn this wonderful game… I am thankful for all the Tekken forefathers that made competitive Tekken as popular as it is today… So special thanks to Castel, MrWizard, CaliPower, MIC, SuperT, The Chink, chinaman, tragic, shauno, RocKSteadY, tomhilfiger, koftekken, JOP, SPMAN, Duc Do, JoeKing and EVERYONE else… there are way too many of you to name…

Southern Hills Golfland. Where the REAL American Tekken scene was born…

Yea Tekken is rediculous. I spend way too much time, money, resources on this damn game. I wouldn’t call it sad, because in the end, I really do enjoy the experience and I’ve met a lot of great people during my Tekken addiction. Sadly I’m not as into it as I used to be… but I guess that’s how all things are? Anywho… Here are a few things(with pictures of course), that I think stand out about my TEKKEN:

I am the FEARLESS leader and one of the founders of SAN DIEGO TEKKEN !

SD TEKKEN circa 2002. Still active SDT members pictured here are: AlexMan, Ace R., WEIRDGONZO, USMCOgre, Raven, 2high, Pyrael, Empty H4nd, MarkMan, pinoy6i9, and PoiNtKiSMeT.

SD TEKKEN united at SDCC 2006… and that’s not even all of us!

I own two Tekken arcade games; Tekken Tag Tournament & Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection.

My Tekken Tag Tournament arcade machine which was formerly a dedicated Tekken 2 arcade cabinet.

Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection setup. Namco System 256 hooked up to a MAS Systems SuperNOVA supergun to enable play on TVs.

When Tekken 5 was first coming out, my friends (SD TEKKEN) and I put our money together to buy a Tekken 5 arcade board.

SD TEKKEN’s Tekken 5 arcade board: System 256 Arcade Board, JAMMA Adapter, PS1/PS2 Controller Ports, Tekken 5 DVD Game Disc and Boot Card.

Tekken got me into appreciating/collecting arcade sticks. I first started out with Asciiware arcade stick, then from then on, I haven’t looked back. I currently own just under 50 arcade sticks spanning various systems. But you know what I really use em’ for.

Some of my arcade stick collection. I couldn’t fit all of them into the picture. These are my boxed sticks plus some ones lying around my house.

I helped write the official Tekken 5 BradyGames strategy guide. A few people in SD TEKKEN actually helped author that book. Good times.

This is one of the better Tekken guides out there. I’m not just saying that because I was a part of the project… I really feel MrWizard did an excellent job of putting the project together, along with the rest of the Tekken community.

That’s me! This list is equivalent to the original and only American Basketball Dream Team!

I’ve ran over 200 Tekken tournaments in my city of San Diego, California.

I run an annual Tekken tournament/gaming room at San Diego Comic-Con International, the largest entertainment and media convention of it’s kind in the world.

Our first Tekken tournament for Tekken 4 way back in 2002. We had an amazing turnout and were invited to participate in Comic-Con gaming again the following year… The rest is history.

Our Tekken tournament in 2005. This one featured Tekken 5 for the PS2.

Fast forward to 2007… SD TEKKEN now holds an open gaming room where we run tournaments and have multiple game stations open for Comic-Con Attendees to participate in and enjoy the gaming goodness.

I’ve been an active member in the competitive Tekken community since before 2000. From Tekken Web Project, tekken.net, fighters.net, Electric Cancel, and of course Tekken Zaibatsu… and now SD TEKKEN.

I’ve had the honor of meeting & talking with members of the Tekken development team.

Tekken development team member Haruki Suzaki(right) and I at E3 2006 talking about the upcoming Tekken: Dark Resurrection for PSP.

In my high school yearbook… during senior year… In the senior section, I put a picture of my Tekken Tag Tournament arcade time attack record… lol.

I have traveled all over the place just to get my fix of Tekken…

I’ve been to Tekken Dark Resurrection Road, have you?

In Las Vegas, Nevada at AMOA 2004. Tekken 5 was still in beta form and we couldn’t resist playing it for 3 days straight before EVERYONE else… If you look closely there are a few big name Tekken community names in this pic…

I collect Tekken related merchandise. I got some cool stuff too. :)

My Tekken 5 guides… (I would take a picture of all my Tekken books I’ve collected throughout the years, but then your head would explode)…

The door to my room is adorned with this wonderful tapestry of Tekken art.

My Tekken 4 mini standee. I have full standees for Tekken 4 and Tekken 5 but I was too lazy to assmble them. :P

The Tekken Collectible Card Game… You may or may not have heard of it… but yea, there is one! I got a bunch of cards/decks and I don’t know why…

Some Tekken mini figures… Next to a hat that reps’ my hood…

12 Tekken figures!

My one of a kind, Tekken 5 debut banner dubbed “KILL KAZUYA VOL. 5” ! This banner coincided with the American debut of Tekken 5 at EVOLUTION 2004.

I, for some reason, have way too many copies of each Tekken game…

My Tekken games and Tekken related DVDs.

From left to right… Namco E3 2004 Press Kit featuring first ever footage of Tekken 5(3), Tenth Anniversary Tekken collectors cases (2), Nina Williams in Death by Degrees (1)…

From left to right… Top row: My original Tekken, sealed copies of Greatest Hits Tekken and regular CD case Tekken, Tekken 2, and Tekken 3(2). The DVDs pictured are Tougeki Damashi MAX: Tekken 5 DR Special Gunsou Cup DVD, EVO2004 DVD, EVO2003 DVD. Bottom row: Tekken 5 US (2) and Tekken 5 JPN (1). VERY LIMITED Tekken 5 Beta IC card holder only given out at Tokyo Game Show 2004. Tekken: Dark Resurrection USA (1) & JPN (1), along with the PSP D-Pad attchment bonus.

Top Row, left to right: EVO2006 DVD, Bleemcast Tekken 3 for the Dreamcast, Tekken Tag Tournament JPN(1), Tekken Tag Tournament USA(3), Tekken 4 JPN(3). Bottom Row: Sealed Tekken Tag Tournament USA(1), ULTRA RARE Tekken 5 KILL KAZUYA VOLUME 5 DVD featuring first ever gameplay footage from Tekken 5.

A bit hard to see, but it rounds up the rest of my Tekken collection… Tekken Advance JPN for the GameBoy Advance and my US Tekken 4 (2) copies.

… and of course, the new kid in town, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection ONLINE on my PS3.

I have just about every Tekken action figure, not all the 12 inch ones though :/

My favorite of the Tekken 3 figures is probably the True Ogre one… which I won for $4 shipped off an eBay auction, along with Devil Jin for $5 shipped! Amazing deal! I gave the Devil Jin to my good friend R.

More of the classic Tekken 3 figures…

More Tekken 3 figures… I didn’t get to take a picture of my Tekken Tag Tournament or Tekken 2 figures as they are in a closet somewhere in the house and to be honest I was so lazy to put this page together I did this all last minute lol.

I won the King of the Iron Fist Tournament, see my trophy?

Tekken King of the Iron Fist Tournament 3 trophy along with my iPhone with Tekken 6 theme.

I’m Senior Moderator of Tekken Zaibatsu, the #1 resource for Tekken on the web. I’m also part of the writing team.

I run SDTEKKEN.COM, nuff’ said!

I attend Tekken competitions regularly…

My very first Tekken tournament that I entered and definitely not the last… I was 16 years old at the time. This tournament was held at UCSD by zupit gaming. I got second place using Jin and Lei!

March 2001 – ELECTRIC CANCEL 2 tournament in Korea Town in downtown Los Angeles.

April 2004 – ELECTRIC CANCEL 5 tournament in Korea Town in downtown Los Angeles. SDT and other Socal players with Kim Bong Min (second from left), a Tekken Tag Tournament champion from Korea.

August 2003 – EVOLUTION 2003 at Cal Poly Pomona in Southern California. Tons of players from all over the world in this picture!

The aura was so awesome it blurred the picture. SD TEKKEN at Northern California Tekken 5 National Tournament Regionals. Ace R. qualifed for Nationals!

Back before my daughter was born, before I knew if she was going to be a boy or a girl, I was determined, if it was a boy, I would name him Jin.

The most important part of my life, my daughter and her alter ego behind her…

I’ve had the honor and privilege of playing against the world’s best Tekken players.

Amongst the best of the US players. Nina grand master Ace R. and EVOLUTION 2007 Champion Arario.

SD TEKKEN with MaDDoGJiN(Fourth from left). MDJ is currently serving his country in the Korean military. One of the most talented pioneers in Tekken history, MDJ is best known for his Tekken 4 accomplishments and winning the title of 2004 Korean National Champion. He’s mentioned that he will be back for Tekken 6! I sure hope so…

Me and qudans, quite possibly the player who had the most impact on Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection in the WORLD!

In high school I had a Tekken 3 sticker on my car. I never took it off, so what remains of it now is burnt/dried scraps of plastic on my rear window. :(

I’ve made a few Tekken videos and helped contribute to a few as well…

Tekken Zaibatsu’s King Combo Act by the main man, Castel. I helped contribute a few combos for this video (watch credits at end) :) !

With my good friends in SD TEKKEN, we put together this combo video for T5DR when the arcade version first came out…

Now making this video was good times. All I know is it may not have the most original content, but this video really was a labor of love(for me at least)…

Just Getting Started

Yea so… that’s not all. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Tekken. So expect more and more stuff like this in the future… Maybe someday there will be a Tekken fan contest somewhere else!

– MarkMan

<< Back to “SHOW US YOUR TEKKEN” Contest Page