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Otenami Haiken AC Details

Sega has finally revealed details about the upcoming Otenami Haiken AC tournament, which begins next week starting on the 15th. Unlike previous Sega run tournaments, this is dubbed an "area championship", meaning that there is no actual national champion. Instead, there will be local qualifying tournaments like before and then a final area championship tournament to determine the champion of that area. There will be nine champions when everything is said and done. Why Sega has decided to go this route is anyone's guess. Even more puzzling is that there seems to be no upgrade revision on the horizon like with previous tournaments.

Otenami Haiken AC Announced

While I was on vacation up in the northern part of Japan, I noticed that the Sega Joyland I went to had a poster announcing the next (I assume) Otenami Haiken national tournament. There isn't any other information about the tournament, but I assume that it will surface within the next 30 days, so keep an eye out for it.

Happy New Year 2011!

Wishing all at VFDC, their friends and families, a very happy new year for 2011! May all your evades be succesful, your throw escapes be on point, your attacks guaranteed, your subaki in easy, and not let the dilemma of realism detract from what you enjoy the most -- kicking ass -- for another year.

Will you be making a New Year's resolution for 2011? Why not share it below!

Merry Christmas VFDC!

For Fun
Christmas is a time for.... (complete the sentence in your reply below!)

For Real
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that much joy is brought to you, your friends and families during this festive season.

Note: from now on, replies to news posts are re-enabled!

Gamerbee Rewind to VF4!
Some old school video of Gamerbee playing VF4 in what appears to be some exhibition event on Taiwanese TV. Although the exact date is unknown, this footage has to be around the 10 year old mark!

Thanks to Dennis0201 for the link, who also adds, "Gamerbee was playing Pai/Akira against another high level player Sarah (personal record was 742 in a row in VF2, 254 in VF3, and 135 in VF4)"

» Gamerbee VF4 video (on youku)
» Discussion

Gamerbee Interview at Shadowloo Showdown
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'">"It's a game without luck"</span>

Profile interview with Street Fighter pro player Gamerbee. A friendly, Intelligent and interesting guy, we talked about his gaming background and views on fighting game communities, and gained insights into his main game Virtua Fighter, and his transition to Street Fighter.

After winning the 85+ player Super Street Fighter 4 tournament, including defeating not only Australia's best players, but two of Japan's very best, Tokido and Mago, Gamerbee also competed in Virtua Fighter 5, showing amazing skill despite not having played since VF4.

Thanks to Gamerbee for his time and Shadowloo for bringing him out to Australia for a very memorable tournament weekend.

Special thanks to the Melbourne VFers -- Berzerk, AlexMD and El_Twelve -- for the interview

» Gamerbee Interview at Shadowloo Showdown Video
» Gamerbee at Shadowloo Showdown Impressions Discussion

Shenmue Anniversary Celebration
From 1up.com

Technically, it's not Shenmue's 10th anniversary. That was about a month ago in the U.S., and a year before that in Japan. But thanks to a new mobile game overseas, and a long-in-the-works Yu Suzuki interview coming together from former 1UP editor in chief/current Q Entertainment producer/guest 1UP interviewer James Mielke, we figured it was close enough. So for this week, we fudged the dates to celebrate the kind-of anniversary of one of Sega's most ambitious games, as well as the career of creator Yu Suzuki, who's been out of the spotlight since Shenmue II shipped.

1up.com:
» Shenmue Cover Story
» Shenmue World Preview
» The Disappearance of Yu Suzuki - Part 1
» The Disappearance of Yu Suzuki - Part 2
» The Yu Suzuki Resume
» Win Signed Games

» Discussion

VF5 Now Available On Demand in XBOX Marketplace

Virtua Fighter 5 is now available under Games under Demand in the XBOX Marketplace. Its retailing at a super low $19.99 USD. If you're the type (like me) who never takes their VF5 disc out of their console (ever), then this is a great convenience!

Check your local XBOX Marketplace as availability and prices may vary.

» Discuss VF5 On Demand

Three New Star Players!
The third season of Battle Auditions is currently underway in Japan, and Sega has announced a trio of new star players, joining the 13 that are already part of the staff.

The three new Star Players are Morimoto Leotard (Vanessa), Drum's Ko (Akira) and Joseph (Akira), all of whom won their respective Battle Audition tournaments to earn their star player status. In future Kumite events, these players may show up as representatives of Sega, so be on the look out for them!

Final Showdown Revision 1 Out Now
The first update to Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown is now available across Japan.

...Yeah, that's it!

For a full list of specific character changes, check the ongoing discussion thread on our forums.

» Final Showdown Revision 1 Changes