Japan Vs NA?

I have been thinking about Shou post regarding the state of VF in NA for a couple of days. I meant to post in that thread but since it's called "there's life left in VF5 yet" this would be pretty off topic.

I was thinking that in order to take Shou comment at face value, we should approach the question of why is Japan stronger at VF in a more logical way, avoiding tearful life stories.

Shou seems to suggest that the fault of NA not being competitive rests squarely on the players: NA players are simply not motivated enough, aside for a handful of players. So Shou had a look around, played in NA and Japan, and came up with this interpretation. Its just Shou interpretation of the situation, and can not be questioned properly because we need more informations to be able to weight this question objectively.

Maybe Shou believes it's a matter of agency: One player with iron determination could rise above the rest and beat the Japanese at their own game, inspiring others to do the same, and changing the whole NA scene in the process. But this interpretation would focus solely on agency, and not give us an insight on the context.

Let me make an example: I am Italian, so I could be critical of Japan result in the football word cup. I could post in a japanese footballing website the reason why I believe Japan couldn't win the word cup and probably never will. Reason 1: Japanese players are lazy! if only one Japanese player would really make an effort, he would change the rest of history!

Would this be a fair assesment of the situation? I believe a comment like this would not really help Japan getting better at internation football. It doesent take into consideration the historical and cultural background of these two countries, it's one sided, it does not give any insight into the real matter. In fact it could be a stereotype, along the line that x race is not good at x activity. Also, this would be just my opinion. It would need also to be compared to the experience of a japanese player playing in italy, in order for others to understand what makes Italy better at football.

I think the only thing that we can possibly get out of this Japan vs NA discussion is a better understanding of what it's like to play VF in Japan compared to NA or the rest of the word. Then of course, if we can somehow draw some conclusion and give some suggestions on how to improve the level of play in the west, that would be awesome.

 

They are better than us period. They have a heathier enviroment and they actually pay to play at local arcades for rank. With Money and rank on the line its no wonder they leveled up.

Winner stays - Loser pays.



BTW did i mention they're weaker player are Far superior than ours because they still understand the fundamentals a majority of the time.

 

I just think america needs more activity/competition its that simple. We don't even have arcades!
Of course I don't know if people would even go to arcades if we had them if they are expensive (if its like a dollar/50cents per play it adds up... I doubt i could afford it)
If they had a cheap arcade alternative I believe america could catch up to japan because an arcade would increase competition but I doubt that could happen...

 

The fault of NA not being competitive isn't the players fault, it's Sega's fault, enough said.

 

As the OP put it, why aren't the Japanese winning the World Cup? Why aren't the Japanese winning the CounterStrike tourneys? Why do they suck at learning English? Who is John Galt?

 

It's all about dedication and effort. The old FL crew Hydra is a testament to that. It was a troupe consisting of Blondie, Muffinman, Capo, and Stomp. (Well not Stomp, don't think I've ever seen Stomp pissed) They blew chunks but got so pissed at losing to me they literally played everyday, offline, and dissected the game. From what I hear that crew eventually whooped lots and LOTS of ass.

Needless to say their effort blew me out of the water. I just couldn't keep up with the work ethic. It appears they just disappeared off the map after that run. I've never seen such dedication to getting good at something that didn't result in a heap of cash or bitches.

I still remember their meetings now, eyes on the screen, face forward, hardly talking at all. If they said anything it was about VF.

It can be done, just think Japanese haha.

 

That was gold, Jen, simple gold. Love you for that kind of humor...

 

LOL I was expecting this kind of comments. Shows how much people know about Japan and Japanese people. (Japanese speak better english than Anglo-Americans speak Japanese, or pretty much any other language on average). English is everywere in Japan, to the point that it's unofficially a second language.

 

While they do deserve every bit of respect from us, they got crushed when they went to Korea to compete, ranking at the very bottom in the tourney. And it's not like there were LOTS of asses to kick in the US anyway. (That's the problem for top players, isn't it? Just not enough asses worth kicking.)

Let me make a more apt analogy than worldcup football (or soccer as we say here). When was the last time you heard about a good Japanese Halo player? I am sure there are some who play the game in Japan. But I very much doubt those Japanese players bitch/berate everyday about the the quality of Japanese Halo players, complain about the Japanese Halo scene or lack there of, worship the US for all the godly players here, or even really aspire to compete at the US level. If anyone actually did that, would any American Halo player give a damn anyway? See my drift? It is what it is.

 

Have you ever been to Japan? An average Japanese major in the US who learned a few years of college Japanese speak far better Japanese than English spoken by an average Japanese who learned English for ten years.

Sure, they may know more English than an average American knows about Japanese. But guess what, average Americans never learn Japanese, whereas most Japanese learn English for six to ten years if not longer. But they can rarely put a sentence together.

 

LOL what? The japanese people I know speak far better English than somebody who has a major in Japanese. I should know because I have a major in Japanese and my wife is Japanese. Her english is better than any of the students I ever met.

 

But then those are not obviously the average Japanese I speak of, including your wife. I stand by what I said, as for every Japanese who can put a sentence together in English there is a hundred who can't. But what were we talking about again?

 

SO you are wrong. The average English speaker is far worse at learning languages than the average Japanese.

The point is: learning anything (such as languages) cannot be done alone, on your own, without any context around you. The only way to learn is to have both motivation and enviroment. those Japanese players who are now beastly spent stupid amount of time in the arcades when they were younger. We dont even have arcades anymore in the west!

 

My point was is they were rumbling with the Elite US VF players and got some shit on their shoe. If they would have kept up their work ethic, I think they would have been a force to be reckoned with. My assumption is they burned out and went about life.

Keep in mind NYC VF has been playing for a long, long time.
Those guys? From what I understand of the FL arcade scene at
the time were just mall rats who didn't travel like that for
game competition at all before VF 4.

I could be wrong, I didn't know them. All I know is here say really. My point is that you don't need to be around seasoned players to get good. Now if everyone in the US leveled up like the Hydra crew did, tournaments would have much more contention which would result in more innovation.

I won't do it, but for those of you want to and can. DO IT! or stfu. I'd love to hear that the bar has been raised in the level of VF competition here. Just bring some sunblock once you decide to go outside again.

 

We are at some sort of agreement here, except that I believe an average English speaker living in England or Canada is a lot more likely to speak passable French than an average AMERICAN. This ties to your point about context and environment. The fact that an average Swede is a lot more likely to speak English (say, 100%) than a Japanese is also a matter of environment and context.

 

You have obviously never been to England. They can barely speak English as it is.

No offense to our English members but you probably see it just as much as I do. I know in Scotland there is a "Sort-of" English language being spoke by the majority.

 

I hope you are proud of yourself, making this thread.

 

ah've goat tae agree wi Seidon.If wi gabbed half oor pish in Scots oan here then naebdy wid unnerstaun whit we wur haverin aboot.
Mebbe wul want tae see hoo tae speak English furst afore wi tak oan Japanese.

Anyhoos aw ra best, c'mon the Picts!! and happy translating

 

:uts two fingers out towards your face::

Smell your mum!