Minnesota Post tournament comments from 1998

Hi,
I was cleaning out my PC when i ran across this little nugget. I saved a web page for HardcoreVF.com, i believe that was the name of the site. The site is no longer up, but i did save the web page with post tournament comments from 10 years ago. Over half are about the Minnesota tournament in the spring of 1998. Most of you probably wont know most of the players, but you will know at least a few players that are still playing today. as for the old schoolers, this should bring back some memories of VF3tb days. Either way you kinda of get a sense of the VF scene back then.

I believe that the top four spots were
1.Bryan
2.Jesse
3.Rodney
4.Boyd

This is where Rodney and I had one of the craziest matches. basically it was 5th rd I had about 80% health and Rodney was down to less then 10%, it was on Sahra's subway stage. We were on top of the stairs, Rodney was on the higher ground, Jacky was on the lower ground with his back was facing Jeffrey, and Rodney did the drop elbow to me, and no matter what i did the drop elbow put Jacky back in the position where he started from ( so Jacky's back was always facing Jeffrey). Rodney was smart he kept doing it and after i tried 5 different things to beat the drop elbow, it was over. heh I never understood why Japanese played on only 2 stages, until that day The cool part about that match is that it will be the most remembered match of that tournament. Win or lose it was a fun and entertaining match. The loser of the match got 4th place, so there was a need to win, especial for Rodney as he was the last non-Minnesotan left in the tourney, and i wanted to win because I thought it would be cool to have all Minnesotan in the top 3 spots. So i was disappointed, but it was still one of the best matches that i ever played. (Thanks Rodney)

also there is a guy named Shota who makes a comment after everyone's comment (called Shota's thoughts). He is Japanese who knew the game very well, He had some very good comments.

well anyways enjoy the long read.


Post tournament comments
updated May 22nd

Kageh: Minnesota tournament thoughts

Well... let me start out by saying that I had a great time. The road trip was a blast and I got to see a lot of familiar faces at the tournament. The tournament itself was very well organized. Wes did a good job of putting everything together and making sure everyone was happy with the arrangements. (They even tried to fix the buttons on the other VF3 machine.) The competition level was very high. Their were a lot of good new players at the tournament and I could definitely see improvement in many of the old ones. Rodney, Jason, and Troy all improved a great deal. I was very impressed with Troy's Akira. Jesse and Boyd's Jackys also improved a lot. I used to think they were all jump kicks, but they definitely improved the rest of their games. Boyd gave me first hand realization of this when he beat me during the tournament. The atmosphere of the tournament was definitely a mixed one. Their was a lot of support given between players, but at the same time their were a lot of hecklers too. I've heard Ed commonly refer to VF as "fighting chess." Do people scream out during chess matches? I wasn't really bothered by this, (I thought some of the comments made were hilarious.) but I feel it may have made the tournament less enjoyable for others. I know Bryan was taking a lot of heat during the final. All in all it was a great experience and I had a lot of fun. I hope I get a chance to go up against all these good players again.

Harold

Shota's thoughts: Regarding to those screams that were made during the tournament, I think it really depends on people. I could care less about those loud remarks as I was either too absorbed or nervous playing. But for example, I know Kevin from California was annoyed by the crowds. Personally I'd rather have that kind of heated atmosphere during the tournament.

It definitely adds to the excitement, I believe. But the remark also has to be non-personal one. Fortunately there were not that many of those personal remarks at the Minnesota tournament, but I still heard some. For those people, they have to imagine how they would be treated if they were somewhere else.

updated May 7th

Vulture670: Minnesota Tourney

(This is mostly related to tourney section comments)

Just like to throw a few more things out there. First off, I'm sorry if you didn't enjoy it Rodney John (how about RJ?), but I thought it was pretty fun. I know you were just annoyed and didn't really mean anything by your comments during the game. I wouldn't have exactly appreciated driving that far for a couple of boring matches either. Still, the fact that people (alas RJ, you were not the only one) would snarl in a tournament match because someone else's play was "boring" shows that perhaps you want to win a bit more than you let on.

---To everyone out there: Almost every single time I play, I'm playing for fun, but in a tournament, I'm playing to win. And, judging from the amount of crap I've taken for one day's playing, it would appear I'm not the only one who feels this way. If anyone out there truly believes that they had the winning strategy and/or ability, but lost to someone else in the tournament because they were trying to keep that player interested, I would urge that person to come forward. Note; simply losing AND being bored doesn't count. If you can't step forward, than I'd suggest you stop throwing stones (btw, RJ, I do not include your message in the "stone-chucking" pile). I appreciate those of you who did, indeed, send me constructive criticism, but am disappointed in those who believe you can hide anger behind such phrases as "Friendly advice."

On a slightly different note, I must say (and I will no doubt be corrected on this), that I thought you (to RJ now) played an incredibly similar game to mine; mostly some dashing around followed by throwing, and some mid-hitting hell stabs comparable to my elbows. You even used the ground pick-up to complement my ground breaks. I didn't really have anything that could go up against the TKoD (that really is painful, btw), except for possibly the elbow stagger, crouch-dash, charge throw combo. I appreciate your compliments about my potential, and would like to point out your own as well: I think that you too could benefit from some of the comments floating around out directed towards me. Anyway, sad to say, it's not a lack of experience that has landed me the "boredom" bug; I've been playing the series since the 1st came out. It could be the lack of varied competition, but although I've almost never played anyone out of state, the guys we have around here are most definitely among the best players in the country (perhaps the country really is the problem). Honest though, people, while even my normal game isn't as exciting as most, it's light years beyond what was at the tournament. I've been playing around for some time now with Lion now, and while I can't usually beat Sam at his own game, it is interesting to try. He even gives me a friendly reminder (usually a groan or roll of the head) when I start slipping back into my Aoi-type style ;> -Bryan ps: for those of you who did not have the good fortune to either see the tournament or the tape, my match with RJ could have just as easily gone the other way.

Shota's thoughts: Hey, Bryan, nice to hear from you again. I was wondering if you ever received my email (about the summer in Japan). In any case, when you find out where you're staying, let me know so that we can take the arcade tour in Tokyo. Also do you have the contacts for Jesse and Boyd?

OK...my comment about your comment.... I have to correct your point that Rodney played in the similar style as yours. Yes, during Rodney vs. Bryan match, Rodney was playing machi precisely because you were playing machi. Rodney knows that the effective play to beat machi is also to play machi himself. This is also why machi matches tend to become boring, in my opinion. Indeed, if you review the tournament tapes (Chicago and Minnesota), you will notice his tendency. For example, in Jesse vs. Rodney match, Rodney played very aggressive style, right? Frankly speaking, is Rodney REALLY wanted to enhance his chance of his winning, he should have played machi against Jesse's Jacky. But because Jesse also played in aggressive style, Rodney sort of returned the honor of playing aggressively as well. It's not that he did not care about winning. I am sure he'd rather win than lose. In the tournament, I think he tried his best to win the match, while trying to play aggressively as he could. I am not exactly sure Rodney's psychology here, so this is only my guess. Perhaps he can write to use again and give us more details.

Finally, I don't know if I gave you my part of criticism (or suggestion) about your Aoi. For now, I think you (Bryan) should work more on the knowledge part. Bryan, you've got incredible reflex and command input (also for SFIII), and knowing more will help you a great deal, I think. For example, when you escape from Jacky's d/f,d/f+P+G throw, your side-throw is guaranteed. On the contrary, you may want to refrain from using Aoi's d/b+P+G too much, because when it's escaped, opponent's side-throw is guaranteed. You might also want to use Aoi's 2-part multi-throws (HCB+P+G, b,u+P+G or f,u+P+G), as it does decent 65 points of damage (and chop). I don't know if you ever practice those complex throw escape techniques, such as Attack-TE or Guard-TE. The list goes on and on. You don't want to depend too much on the knowledge, but with a correct execution, it clearly helps. The worst you can do, however, is to know all those things but be unable to implement them...(Is this me??).

updated May 5th

Rodney, aka "Omaha Jeffry": Thoughts on Minnesota Tournament

Let me start off by saying this is going to be a long one. I wanted to make some comments on the last tournament, but I do not have a computer, so I never got around to doing it. But this time I had to reply. Someone made a comment about me that really offended me, but I will get into that later. First let me start off by telling you all what my name is. My name

Rodney John(yes I have two first names as a full name), not Omaha Jeffrey. The Virtua Fighter name that I carry goes back to my last night in New York City before moving to Omaha. I promised my VF friends that I would get so good with Jeffrey that I would be known as Omaha Jeffrey and not as "that guy over there is really good with Jeffrey." They said I couldn't do it, but so far it seems that I am on the right track.

O.K. enough about making myself sound like I am the greatest VF player in North America because I am not. I do not even care to be the best VF player in America. What I do care about is playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Bryan congratulations on winning the tournament. You won fair and square, with no cheating. The reason I say you didn't cheat is because their really is no cheating in Virtua Fighter. Your machi style is not cheap, it's just boring. I don't know if you remember, but a couple of times I snarled at you and said a couple of unfriendly things during our battle in the finals. I was not complaining that your style of play is cheap, it's just very boring. I did not get into a car for six hours to play a guy that just runs away. Sure winning the tournament would have been nice for me if I had beaten you. But loosing a good fight would have been just as satisfying. To know that you are giving your all and hanging in their round for round is such a good feeling for me. As long as I get that, I don't care if I win or loose. This is why I loved the matches between Boyd and Jesse Howard so much. They really made me work for a win. I managed to get Boyd, but Jesse took me out the second time around. Great job you guys. They are the reasons why I play VF. Not for winning tournaments, I just enter them for the satisfaction of knowing that I can compete with the best. When ever I decide to stop playing VF, I want to know that I went up against many great players, and as difficult as it was for me to beat them, it was just as difficult for them to beat me. Bryan and everyone who reads this should think about that for a second. Bryan with your great defending skills and speed, think about how strong you could be with an equal offense. To me it's a scary thought. I guess the reason you play the way you do is because you lack VF experience. I used to play similar to how you play, but I was very luck when I started learning how to play VF. I learned from not one, but four Japanese players. So the moment I started to run away they would just look at me with sadness. After a while I realized why they looked at me that way. I quickly befriended one of them and he molded me into the player I am today. Even till this day when ever I encounter a situation I can not over come, I would call him in N.Y.C and explain to him what the situation was and he would give me a solution(he always has a solution).

As a matter of fact I told him how I lost to Bryan and he told me I should have used the dashing elbow(ff-p) technique that I used to do. Bryan this technique I came up with is not much, but it would have stop your constant ducking up and down, and running in and out. I really wish I had remembered it.

Since I am talking about techniques. It reminded me of the comment someone made about me. Who ever made this comment, do not take what I have to say to heart. If you do, oh well. First this person started off by saying I am "the North American Jeff tetsujin."(thanks if youreally think so) Then you said "aside from all the textbook stuff;" Let me tell you something about VF or any VS. game. Advance techniques only work EFFECTIVELY against advanced players. If you were a true VF player you would know that and would not have made such a comment. For your information I know many advance techniques. But why use them if you know that they are not going to work. For example, I was fighting against a Lau player(I think his name was Jeff). While fighting against him I wanted to dodge(yes I know dodging is not an advance technique, but try not to miss my point) but I didn't try to dodge because I knew I would just get hit by his random punches. He was not using punches t set something up like I was doing. He was just punching for the hell of it, because he knows Lau is fast and he can just peck you to death. That is why I went with what worked, which was LK counter throw. I knew my LK's would hit as a counter almost all the time. So I guess that's why my Jeffrey looked so basic. But as basic as you think it is I promise you in a 2 out of 3 head to head, toe to toe match I will win. The biggest problem with most VF players is that they don't take the time to analyze and appreciate the game. They just play it like it's Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, just go with what works. Wrong, in this game the more unpredictable you are the stronger you are. One person from the Minnesota group that showed that was Sam(Lion). I am really glad I did not go up against him in the actual tournament. Sam you are on the right track, just don't peck at a person feet so much it will turn into a weakness. I could go on an on, but I am going to wrap it up. Chicago players sorry we didn't have time to play afterwards, playing with you guys will always be a pleasure. Travis where were you! Harold I guess I only beat you because you were out of practice, I won't count that as a loss for you. But you know what, it still felt good kicking your ass. Shota, you seemed really disturbed, sorry. Thanks for the videos it is greatly appreciated. I have something for you, it is not much but I would like you to have it. I hope you and the rest can make it to the Omaha tournament so I can give it to you in person, but if you don't make it I will send it in the mail. I know the address. Minnesota, thanks for having the tournament. Jesse I want a rematch, Boyd I still reminisce on the round where I use the back throw and beat you over the head like a step child. It was not nice, but I had to win. It's come back rounds like that, that keeps me playing and makes VF so exciting. Thanks Boyd!. Bryan great job but you are capable of so much more. Think about it! Oh, Jesse told me you are going to Japan. If you are, I would seriously think about changing your style of play, because from what my nihongjin friend tells me about Japanese players. You are going to get beat up for playing that way.

Their was one other Jeffrey player at the tournament, I think his name was Kevin(I hope I am right). Well if it is Kevin, your Jeff is not that bad. I actually learned a lot of things from him. What I think you should do is work on constantly knocking your opponent down and picking him back up to intimidate him so you can get a throw. When ever someone gets throw by Jeffrey they usually do not want it to happen again, so they tend to make mistakes which would lead to another throw. Thanks for the Jeff button. Well that's it, I hope I did not bore everyone and I hope you all can make it to the Omaha tournament. If you guys don't make I hate to say it, but our tournament is going to be a bust. We really need you guys to make. If none of the outsiders don't make it, I will not even sign up. One last thing; To all American VF players, try and take the time out to learn how to play the game the right way. Winning rounds is not everything! If we keep playing VF like this, we are just going to prove the theory that Americans players are stupid and can't play. That is one of the reasons why Sega will never have a all state U.S. tournament. So please lets show them otherwise, lets show them we can play the game right, and we do deserved a U.S. tournament.

Omaha Jeffrey

Shota's thoughts: Wow, I was not expecting a response from Rodney, but here I am happy to post this as Rodney contributes to yet another point on our discussion of VF playing style. Indeed, I think Rodney very strongly expressed his thoughts. Well, what do I think of his opinion? I wholeheartedly agree with his point on advanced techniques. Rodney says that certain techniques only work against the players beyond the certain level, and I understand his sentiment. Last year, I learned to do the Guard-Throw escape and Dodge-Guard-TE. These are almost indispensable if you want to play decent matches in Japan. After my return from Japan, I realized that they are not as useful in the states.

It's not that American players suck, but they simply play different from how Japanese guys play. For a while, I was frustrated that none of these "advanced" techniques works in the states. I actually did blame the level of competition being mediocre (how cocky I had been...). Well, I was wrong for making such a hasty statement. Rather, my incapability to adapt to the different style was what really deserved the blame. Really...I don't think Japanese players are that much superior than us. Any decent American player can go to the arcade in Shinjuku and have some 10+ winning streak, I am sure. Again this is not to say that I am now completely satisfied with the American way of playing VF. I have only met players from Midwest, thus I cannot speak for the entire America as a whole. However, I am more than confident to say that the Japanese players are more creative than us. It is just not that the flashy or "cool" playing style, but they are creative in many aspects of the game. And I, as one VF player, would rather play creative than play only to win. I "personally" believe it is definitely more fun to be creative. Because of this, I give a lot of credits to the Omaha group. I don't know exactly whose influence it is, but Omaha group is more creative than any other people I've seen in the states, including myself and the Chicago group. Ask Rodney, Jason or Troy to send in their favorite float combos, and I am sure that their combo list would be much more colorful and interesting.

Again I am digressing (this seems to be my recent habit), and I should stop here. Just as Rodney stated above, I would also like to enjoy playing the VF3 as much as I can while the game exists. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the May tournament in Omaha, I am always interested in meeting and playing against fellow VFers. Oh...one last word about how Jesse and Boyd may have to change their styles in Japan. I don't know if either of them is reading this, but they don't really have to worry about it much. Their Jackys are fair and square, and even those picky Japanese players cannot pick on them, I am certain. However, they may want to refrain from using the jumpkick too much. I don't know if Jesse and Boyd know, but the jumpkick is considered one of the most insulting moves in VF. Basically you use jumpkick if you want to send "I don't like you" signal to your opponent. Fighting Vipers, for example, suffered from this. When jumpkick turned out to be very useful in that game, people simply stopped playing the game! This may sound very strange if you actually think about it. But in any case, Japanese players just do not like jumpkicks....

updated May 4th

Chris: Minnesota tournament thoughts

First of all, sorry it took me so long to respond about the tournament. What has it been, a week or two? Anyway, the tournament. I thought that the losers bracket was an ingenious idea, and I think if we had had it in the Chicago tournament, the results may have been quite different. However, I did not like the fact that we were only playing one match games up until the playoffs. I really think I would have gotten farther, past the first round , had I been able to play some of those guys for a second time. I thought most people were paying really well, like Alexi or Rodney. That Brian guy really knew how to play his style, I don't think I've ever seen anyone play such a focused machi game in my life. He stuck to his strategy to the end, regardless of what his opponents tried on him and ended up winning. I was surprised that the Chicago group did as good as we did, considering we had lost our machine several weeks back, and did not have any practice. The whole thing was pretty much a learning experience for me. I felt a lot more comfortable playing this time, but it still seems to me that tournament play is much too fast. It seems to cut down on the strategy and thinking involved when two players are charging straight towards each other (or in some cases dashing away), concentrating on their own game rather than concentrating on both theirs and their opponent's. Maybe it's just me. I was impressed with Jeff's Lau, and particularly liked his p,p,p,elbow rush. I tried it myself when I got back to Chicago, exchanging the elbow with the sweep once in a while and it worked very well. All in all it was pretty fun. I was wondering if we are ever going to have another tournament here in Chicago, and if so where? Would that Enchanted Castle let us have one there? Would we be able to have a loser's bracket but retain the three match games?

Shota's thoughts: Well, now I think that everyone from Chicago sent in their comments on the MN tournament, except for Ed and I who run this HG site.

Anyway, Chris, it's good to know that participating in the tournament gave you new insight and inspiration on your game. Really...it is important because no one from Chicago area uses Lau, and it could be difficult to develop the effective playing style all on your own. I mean...you can look at the way I play and know how pathetic one can be at using Lau. A while ago, Ed made a shocking comment. I asked him who his least favorite character is, and he said that Lau is more boring to look at than any other characters. I don't know what he was saying, but I have to disagree. Lau, I think, requires more careful thinking in constructing his attack rushes.

And having mastered his rushes, Lau's attacks look smooth and actually "cool." Then, of course, Lau's got many float combos that leave much room for one to be creative. Well, one does not have to be that creative, but many of his more "basic" float combos are still impressive, I think. I've seen Lau's K+G > b,b+P, d+PPP, d+K countless times, but I still do think it is one of the better looking combos. Anyway, I know I am just babbling here, so I should stop. But really, I really cannot answer the question of who my least favorite character is. I honestly do think that every character has got a potential to be "cool," provided that one has the thorough understanding of his/her moves. And this is one of more difficult steps for me to pass. As much as I want it to be otherwise, people still find my "double-lowkick" Jacky cheap and dirty...

updated April 28th

Jason Clontz Tournament Comments and Thanks...

Sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to you. I've been really busy with work and playing Starcraft. First, I'll tackle the tournament and then give a little plug for ours along with some news.

-- Begin Commentary --

Well, I think I speak for all 3 of us when I say that the tournament was not what we expected. Though it truly showed which of us was adaptable, the amount of machi playing style present was a real damper on the tournament, I'd say. Rodney was even a bit down on it at first, then decided he would have to show that an offensive style would work just as well. Common consensus later was that I should have played Sarah, but that's neither here nor there.

As always, it was a blast playing the guys from Chicago, and whipping Bustino is always good for relieving some stress. I have to admit, I was REALLY impressed with how far Chris had come from the Chicago tournament. You could tell that everyone (on the whole) was suffering from losing their VF3 machine, and things just weren't clicking all the time like they were in Chicago for them. The guys from Minnesota again reminded me that there is always another way to look at the game. Granted, I found it frustrating, but their style of play can be very effective, and instead of concentrating on adapting, I just lost my cool. Hence, my early departure from tournament competition. I just found it a bit repetitive, and on the whole, boring to play some of the machi that was present. There were flashes of real pressure every now and then, showing that if they wanted to, they really could play with some great style, but then it was back to backdashing and P(G), elbow. I noticed also that almost all of the players from Minnesota used 2 of the 3 punch masters.(Jacky, Lau) Not having a consistent professional here with either of those characters kind of hurt, as far as my playing experience went. Watching Jesse and Boyd play was very entertaining, though, and I was pretty impressed with the 3 big jacky players (Jesse, Boyd, and for some reason, Shota) I guess that about wraps up my commentary on the tournament. I would like to apologize to the guys in Minnesota for our not calling the next day. We woke up about 30 minutes before check out, and Troy wasn't feeling to well, so we decided to just head back to Omaha. I hope we didn't piss anyone off there, because we really would have like to play some SF with you guys.

-- End Commentary --

Well, Shota, I must say thank you from the bottom of my VF-loving heart for the videos. Troy and I have been watching them religiously, and my Sarah has improved by leaps and bounds. I had my first REAL win streak against Rodney and Troy and few other guys that are starting to play now. 32 wins. Rodney stopped playing when I got to 22, and got something to eat. Troy was just shaking his head. Apparently the addition of backflips, moonsaults, and the PP flowchart was just about all I was mis sing. Oh and the fighting with my back turned. Rodney joked that I looked like Chibita playing Sarah, turning around over a down opponent and then getting the short moonsault over the rising attack. You can get the rolling face crasher (u/f P+G) and the dragon smash cannon (d/b+K) quite a bit out of those, and the combos have gotten downright sick Troy is getting a lot better at adding K(G) to his repertoire of moves and is really annoying with it. I'll be scared when he gets a reliable SPoD.

Rodney loves his KS with Jeffrey and gets to be a bit cocky occasionally with it He's thinking about picking up Lau seriously, since we got the tapes, and Troy wants to play Pai now as well. He was really impressed with how well clouding can work. I have considered picking up Lion as my next, and Troy agrees. With my Akira as a decent second and my Sarah definitely as my best, he thinks Lion will round out my play styles pretty well.

Well, I had better wrap this up. I hope you get to feeling better soon, and if you can make it, we'd be glad to have you for the Tournament this May. If you could post the following I would appreciate it. Anyone from out of town who wants to play in the tournament, should e-mail me at jclontz@usa.capgemini.com, I'll reserve their slot. I can also give directions to the arcade as well as suggest nearby hotels to stay in. Troy and I might be able to put a couple people up in our apartments, but not many. Thanks again, and I hope that we can work on all getting together this summer and playing, for fun or tournament it doesn't matter, because when Chicago clashes with Omaha in VF, it's always fun anyway.

Take care,
Jason, Net Liason for the Omaha VF Wrecking Crew
(Omaha Jeffry - Rodney, Nutlog - Jason, Sausage Man - Troy)

Shota's thoughts: Jason from Omaha definitely did his homework of writing in his comments on the Minnesota tournament. Well, guess who has not done the work yet, me.... I guess I excuse myself as I am super-busy in just about everything.

Indeed I remember how unhappy you guys were when playing against Minnesota's generally machi style (save a few exceptions, better players tended to be more offensive). I more or less agree with you too. Again in the tournament, I can put up with any style. But I wish they would have been cooperative in sharing the fun, especially in the outside tournament matchup. Jesse and Boyd were definitely both great players. I was more impressed with Jesse though, as he connected Jacky's PP-elbow-heelkick combo more than anyone else. I am also glad that you found my Jacky better than average, but why am I in the list "for some reason"? Or...you are hesitant to call my Jacky good as I played extremely "dirty" on that day, *grin*. As for the tournament in May, why don't you send us more detailed description (prizes, people, location, etc.) of the tourney? We can post it so that people who are interested can contact you. Also...if you want to have some friendly competition of Starcraft, contact Ed. Ed keeps tempting me to play some of those on-line PC games. I cannot accept it, however, as I know I will throw out everything when I start playing those....

updated April 23rd

Andy creighton

Hey Ed, andy here. just figured id share my thoughts. il like how the tournament was set up, how there was a losers bracket, so that in case you were matched up against a super player, you had a chance to come back. however...i was appalled to find that the top 2 were both minnesotians. granted, i guess we were never really expected to rock, due to our situation (no machine!). so i think its time to crack down on our playing. my proposition? simple. we all dress in black, drive to enchanted castle at about 2am some weekday, and, let by the great ninja Shota, stage a coup and claim the castle ours. Ive got it all planned out. ill take my louisville slugger, harold comes armed with a butterfly [knife], Chris will wield something small and heavy, everyone will come armed and ready. We'll beat down the 75 year old security guard, , just enough to knock him unconscious, sneak in, strap the vf machine to (ugh) my back, help me out the door, grab Khris out of the ball pit, and were outtie. I just hope Faustino's Toyota can support Taka-Arashi and all of his little buddies. Then, we drive to my house, carry the puppy to my room, and all go home. it is necessary also that no one came to my house and play the game for several weeks...to avoid...any possible...accusations...yeah... Ok, thats one plan, the other is to go to Enchanted Castle as often as possible, perhaps every other weekend at least, and practice our hearts out. This second plan is feasible i suppose, but the former sounds much more interesting. Anywho, those are my 2 plans and my 2 cents.

-Andy

Awoooooooooooooooooooooooo.............

Shota's thoughts: So far from the Chicago group, some did their homework of writing in their thoughts about the Minnesota tournament. At this point, I think Chris Lau and Allen Shun are the ones who have not done the homework, or do they have an access to the net? Yes, Andy, I also liked the idea of double elimination. I know it is especially true for you because, at the Chicago tournament, you had to face fellow Chicagoan Harold in the 1st round. You also had quite a few interesting matches for us to see. The matchup between you and Ed was most unfortunate, but it was one of the exciting matches too. Your another match with Hideki (Akira) was simply the best too. No personal comment about Andy nor Hideki, but the match was truly exhilarating one (OK...I used thesaurus of "exciting"...).

As for the future of VF3 scene in Chicago, what can we say.... The machine at Enchanted Castle is decent (I still do bitch about their joysticks though...), but it is just too far for us to go there on the regular basis. Besides there are millions of kids there, and I was sometimes annoyed by their announcement of "parents looking for their children...." As for me, I am COMPLETELY broke at this point, and I don't have the time either. Damn...I just cannot let Ed's Taka dominate. His domination ends as soon as I go and clear him out. Simple as that....*grin*

updated April 16th

Minnesota After Thoughts

~Khris "The KiD" After Tourney Thoughts...

Hey again, Khris back in one-piece from the "interesting and educational" trip to and from the Minnesota tourney in Minnetonka,

Well, a second VF3 tourney has come and gone for the Chicago group, and talk about a third in Omaha is already in the making. And if we plan to go to it, I'll be damned if I get into another car and drive there (have I got a story to tell my grandkids about getting to the Minn. tourney...). Ok, the finals for the Jan. 11 Chicago tourney was between Harold and Shota, both from Chicago. The final match-up from the Minn. tourney was Jessie and the Aoi guy (sorry, I forget his name), both from Minnesota. Could "home arcade advantage" have been a factor? Hmm, maybe, but that's for each person to decide on their own. The way "I" see it (and a lot of others may agree with me) is that Chicago was at a slight disadvantage than the competition. Now, first I wanna say is that no, we here aren't sore about our performance (well, there is me, but I won't get into that now...) or saying it was unfair. That's quite the opposite. Despite not having a VF3 machine in a relatively close area for practicing/playing on a normal basis, we did pretty damn good. Getting together every two or so weeks at Enchanted Castle isn't gonna cut it...not by a long shot. Anyway getting back to what I said about doing good w/o a machine, during the course of the tourney, I observed people playing better/different from they did in the Chi-town tourney. Like Andy and his Wolf. I was so surprised to see how better he played. Of course he didn't run into Harold 1st round to put him to a halt like last time, but...there was an upgrade in his game. As for the "Grand Poobah of Virtua Fighter 3" Harold himself (hey, Allen made up the name), he got his TFT combos off!! About time too... =) Allen actually stayed for the entire tourney this time and had his impressive Shun skillz on. Shota's and Jay's Jacky's along with Ed's and my Sarah's were plotted against the Minnesota group's choice of Byrants and those matches were interesting and many came to _very_ close calls. Faustino's Taka was earth- shattering (I know that was a bad pun... I don't care... I'm writing this in the wee hours of the morning), and Chris' Lau... umm, well, I didn't see much of it, but I know it had to be awesome. But my point (yeah, I do have one) is that each of us knew our characters well enough to do what we could to get as far as we did. We played accordingly and used the knowledge and style we were accustomed to. Could we have done better if we played on a normal basis? Yeah, most likely. Are we complaining about the way we played? Not really. Of course a "I should have done..." or "I can't believe I didn't do..." will pop up all of a sudden, but we aren't sitting around complaining and plotting on how to retaliate and destroy the opposition for next time. Wait, I could be wrong about that... I'll have to ask Ed. =) Ok, I've said too much yet again. I better end it here before I slip and say something that I may get a beatdown for later. That's my $.03 (Inflation, ya know) on everything. Until next time. Laterz!!

~Khris "The KiD"

Tourney outlook by Faustion

Well, this Minnesota tourney was really interesting. I really got to notice the true differences of playing style of each region. This is more of an analysis of how each crew that came to the tourney played: for those of you who couldn't make it.

It seems that the Omaha guys are really, straight-up in your face constantly with no holds barred. Rodney likes to use great senbon punches to set up throws and attacks. I really was impressed this time by him because of his ability to adapt to every style of play. Troy and

Jason like to be in your face to float you with their cheap DLC's and SPOD's (;p). I really am always impressed by this klan. I hope they were impressed by my akira that sucks balls. They play with the mentality that your best defense is your offense. And they have a great 'defense' since they are more into the 'japanese' style of play. The Chicago guys seem to be involved more heavily in their okizeme, and trying to use dodges more effectively. We all probably developed this from playing shota for so long. He comes to us with a japanese style of play. And getting our asses kicked with great okizeme and korean stepping, we slowly learned to play a more of his style of play. And the Minnesota guys are very much into the defensive mode. I think this is because of boyd and jesse. The only people who's style stood out amongst the minny crew was of course the latter 2, hideki, sam, alexi, jason L and this big guy (sorry I don't know your name) with glasses who used lau. I did notice a great difference in boyd and jesse's style of play compared to the chicago tourney. They used a bit more of his effective attacks, a bit more dodge, were definitely a bit more on the ground and really almost never backed off. It seemed as if they saw hours and hours of japanese style of fighting. I was impressed by their change. Hideki was an in your face style of akira, who appreciated anything new he saw from the omaha kids. Sam had a relentless lion, with good yomi. Alexei's Sarah was even gooder than before and he did not stop bragging and shouting about it. I mention jason L, because he did play his jacky differently than in the chicago tourney. Seemed to be a bit more well rounded. The lau guy really had his combo's down packed. All he needs to add okizeme and dodge instead of back dash and he will be very strong. As far as the rest, it seems as though the latter group causes them to back away a bit more than usually seen anywhere. I think they took us out of our game because of this. Though we should-a-bin prepared, but we never played or seen this style. But all together I had a good time playing everyone. I do wish the arcade stayed open later.

But that's o.k. , hope to play you guys again. Actually, I think one of us may, next week.

updated March 30th

Zero Hour Tournament

Robert Sisselman: Zero Hour and WoMan

It was a near zero degree morning with the wind snapping back umbrellas like Shun Di's f+K+E snaps the head of a dodging jacky. As the wind howled around Times Square and tourists squelled in mock horror at the force of the rain I realized that this Zero Hour was to be for hardcoregaming.com kind of warriors only. I spied two empty VF3 dream machines and bolted to put in my tokens and get a little practice before the 11:10 show of " Mr. Nice Guy", my plan was to return right after the movie and kick-but. The cpu randomly selected Lau. He was quickly dispatched with my newly learned throw combo. The Lockheed-Martin AI then selected Aoi and she wasted little time in slapping and throwing me twice in the first round. The second round may have been 10 seconds old when Aoi went into a furious combo that left my virtua warrior face down in the stream. After recovering somewhat Aoi did a multi-throw that resulted in multiple broken bones for my hapless fighter. Whew, the VF3's here were well groomed in shattering stupid rookie moves. As I reached in my pocket for another token a sweet voice asked," May I join you?" I turned to look at a total fox with a halter top similar to Sarah's. I tried not to stare at the abodonza cleavage and very pretty legs but they were a total package, the kind guaranteed to make your heart beat a little faster. After this Miro look alike kicked my but with reversals and combos the likes of which I have never seen I began to slink away in dejected misery. When this most pleasant voice asked if I would enjoy a cup of coffee(?!?). We went around the block to a HOJO's and talked for about an hour. We then made our way back to the arcade and just as we were about to enter She asked shyly if I would like to go back to her hotel room for a while. Zero Hour was about to begin I explained and while she frowned at my hesitation she said she would wait for my call in about an hour. I spent the next hour watching some of the most aewsome VF3 I have ever seen. Andy and the NYCrew did a fabulious job of gathering the best of the best in The Big Apple. Thx for posting ZH on your sight and thx agn for all your shared cerebral cerebrations. More about The Babe later...

Yo Ed, Sup. Zero Hour was an amazing several hours of some intense battles among the best of the best in the New York area. My e-mail to you this A.M. was signed Siss@somethingorother.com because my board is being replaced. Rest assured that you would have gotten a thrill out of battling at Zero Hour. As a rookie I can only say that it was a great get together. Several expert players were available to demonstrate essential technique to beginners and intermediate players alike. Most of what I was shown went right over my head. The generous instruction has inspired me to practice and experiment more often with VF3. And I did meet a total Babe...

Rgds,

abarbato@POBoxes.com

Andrew So: Zero Hour

Hey Guys, thought i'd send you a quick message before I leave, Zero Hour turned out to be okay, a few faces from the NY area showed up that I haven't seen before, also it was great seeing Omar, I think from Washington, come up as well. Some people might have been confused on whether or not it was supposed to be on friday, considering we had a ton of people playing then. The tekken players had a blast about 20 players crowded the machines in playland and got to play one another, spectacular matches came out. Funny thing, just to mess around Donald and Tobias showed me a few basics with Paul, and they showed me how to CD and dodge in tekken, I beat the both of them messing around and playing VF Style...CD, Lunging Punch ORAAA!!!! . It was pretty cool. Now i'm wondering about the Minnesota Tournament, are you Chicago guys all guranteed in going to MN, also is housing avavilable...also Rodney do you read this page???? if so email me! thanks,

Email me at:animenet@liii.com

Andy (CrewNYC)
VF3 Supersite

http://www.liii.com/~animenet/main.htm

updated March 16th

Shang Yang: The UMASS Tournament

Actually the whole thing wasn't as bad as Joe made seem. I think the organization was excellent. The fact we had a video crew, a big standup board for tournament stats. and a good 20 to 30 people watching and playing was wonderful. There were at least two cameras running through out the whole event, which was really captures the excitements. If there was one thing I really wanted to see in those Japanese tapes it would be the players and the viewers reactions.

Now the bads, about the buttons, I believe the only person complained about the 2p defense was Jason Cha. The button died completely on the next day, but I don't think the controls was a big issue on that day. Honestly in my opinion, I think what made this event a downer is that people really don't care about Virtua Fighter events. As Joe mentioned, there are people who came late, people who came and didn't want to play, and people who left early. I don't understand why the VF hardcores complain about how the VF scene sucks in the states when they themselves dont' really give a damn about it in the first place. Without the support of the people a gather like this will end up disappointing no matter how well the organization is. If some VF newbies who know they have no chance of winning still tries, why can some of us who live on VF give it shot? To the end, no one thanked Joe for organizing the whole thing. I personally know Joe spend a lots of time emailing people, asking people, posting on Newsgroups and putting up signs for it, and who gives? Last( of my bitching), if you have nothing good to say about something like this, don't say anything at all. Some of the detail.... There was some very exciting matches. Few things came to mind were, Taka(Bob) does 3 d/f+k pounce on Lau(Tarik) in a roll.

This was on Akira's stage and Lau was some how trapped against the wall. Of course Lau(Joe) doing D/F+p, d/f+pk, d/f,D/F+p,d/f+pk combos, and u/f+p,bb+p,d+p,ppd+k stuff. Akira(Shang) against Pai(Derrick) when, Akira had no life, Akira does takeoff kick(miss), landingkick(MC),p,DLC. Pai gets up freezed, Akira runs across the screen does b,f+pg, Pai KOs. And the most exciting moment during the last match of the final, Jacky(Shang) vs. Lau(Joe), third round, both players won one round each, no one has any life left, Lau does, D+k,delay,D+k,delay,D+k,more delay, d+kg, Jacky blocks all 4 lowkicks, finished Lau off with elbow heel pounce. If the editing of the UMASS station is good, the tape should be pretty cool.

updated Feb 5th

Frank: Surgon Generals Warning on TB

Warning the surgeon general has stated that too much Team Battle has been proven to seirously cripple your VF3 game ; )

Hi guys It's Frank from the Motor City Let me first say that It was truly a pleasure to meet so many people interested in VF Also the tourny was well put together and if Ed and Travis hadn't been so vocal about the problems with managment at Time Out, we the contestants, probably never would have known about the little snags but then again honesty is the best policy. Great job guys. Very professional. Much praise to the HG staff. Shota it was a pleasure to meet you and thanks for the very nice write up You are truly a scholar and a gentelman And like every one else who saw him play I must give props to "Omaha-Jeffery" A veritable nightmare of versatility with the added pressure of a rarely missed TkoD when you are low on energy and having to rush in to attack! If you K stepped effectively in combat you would be a demon possessed Jeff. Dear God I'm just glad you don't do a whole lot of Low kick MC throw! You don't need it!! Pretty soon you'll be touring over in Japan as the first ever african-american tetsujin ; ) You are the man Now I am ( like several other people I'm sure) dissapointed in my performance but after several months of playing watered down versions of Kage, Jacky, and Lau, with No more Low kick mc throw my Pai was lazy ( you tend to forget how hard you have to play to get a win with mid tier characters after TB) No excuses though, because if I would have thought about it I could have gone to one of the other arcades that don't have the TB upgrade And of course if I played a top tier character as my main character, going back to 3 from TB would have been a blessing (wait you mean I can low kick MC and get a free throw WOW and If Akira blocks my double low kicks i won't get slaughtered by a double palm WOW) All in all everyone there was very good and I enjoyed the wakeup call Just be forewarned that I won't make the TB mistake again ( I hope ) So I lookforward to our next bout and I'll be there, ready for all the insanley overpowered and incredibly broken moves that make VF3 so fun to play

Till we meet again in the virtual ring of combat

Frank William Allie

"We are samurai... and the rest of the people out there without any idea of what's going on are the cattle..."

PS if anyone is itching to see TB that badly you are more than welcome to come visit the friendly city of Detroit. Super Doug and myself would be happy to hang out. Friendly competition is always welcome. Just get ahold of us with some advanced notice so we can set up our scheduels for some VFtb combat. (and you guys in chicago have no excuse with only a four hour drive)

VF thoughts: Frank is was a pleasure meeting you...and the unfortunate thing is I didn't get a chance to play against you, as well as several other people from out of state....Like Shota said, I wouldn't be to concenered with your overall performance, watching you play, and seeing the moves you were doing...I could tell you do know the game... It just sorta baffled me why you were losing, but definitely must be a huge difference between the 2 TB and regular VF3......Hmmm, I'm a little weary of VF3 TB...seeing how Sarah's stomp is almost non-existant.....geeez, can they make life harder on the beeeaaach...but I do want to see Taka's stomp...heheheeh.... Anyway, we definitely need to setup another meeting...and we'll see whether that'll be in Chicago or visit them damn Pistons in Detroit for some TB action.....

updated Jan 30th

Faustino

ED, TRAVIS & SHOTA SAN; THE TOURNAMENT WAS A LOT OF FUN. I THOUGHT YOU GUYS HAD IT WELL ORGANIZED FOR IT BEING YOUR FIRST. I & OTHERS I'M SURE WISH THE DAY WENT BY A LITTLE SLOWER SO THAT WE CAN HAVE MORE TIME PLAYING, BUT IT WAS STILL A LOT OF FUN.

CONGRATULATIONS TO HAROLD WHO WAS IN A GROOVE JUST LIKE JORDAN. I KNEW THAT IF HE GOT HOT HE WAS GOING TO DO REALLY GOOD, AND EVIDENTLY HE WAS. EVERYONE IN CHICAGO HAS FELT HAROLD'S FURIOUS ONSLAUGHT BEFORE DURING OUR GET TOGETHERS. I'M GLAD HE DID WIN. I WONDER IF HE TOLD HIS FAMILY HE WON A VIRTUA FIGHTER TOURNAMENT?

I THINK THE PERSON WHO IMPRESSED ME MOST NOT JUST BY TALKING TO HIM A LITTLE, BUT BY SEEING HIS GAME PLAY & GETTING MY BUTT KICKED GHETTO STYLE, IS RODNEY FROM OMAHA. YOUR JEFFREY IS AWESOME. YOU REALLY MADE MY BIG FAT BOY LOOK AS WEAK AS ED(JOKING). I REALLY HAVE NEVER SEEN OR WAS EVEN PREPARED FOR A JEFFERY OF HIS STYLE. USUALLY I JUST GET SCRUBS & WANT-A-BE GOOD JEFFERY'S LIKE ED & SHOTA ( KIDDING!!!). IT SEEMED AS THOUGH HE WAS PREPARED FOR THE MAJORITY OF MY ATTACKS. I REALLY HOPE I GET A CHANCE TO PLAY HIS JEFFERY AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME WITH A LITTLE MORE OF A CHALLENGE FROM ME.

ED YOU REALLY PLAYED YOUR BUTT OFF & SO DID SHOTA, TRAVIS (WHO PLAYED EXCEPTIONALLY WELL COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS NIGHT) & CHICAGO CO. I GUESS I REALLY WASN'T IMPRESSED BY YOU GUYS BECAUSE I'M USED TO SEEING YOUR UBIQUITOUS GREATNESS PRACTICALLY EVERY WEEKEND. I REALLY WISHED MY GORGEOUS & STRONG MAN ERIC FRANKLIN, WHO IS ORGINALLY FROM CHICAGO BUT IS NOW IN SAN FRANSICO, WAS THERE TO SUPPORT & ENCOURAGE ME PERSONALLY, BUT I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO GO BEAT HIS BUTT OVER THERE, ONE DAY.

WELL, I'LL REITERATE THE FACT THAT THE TOURNAMENT WAS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE FOR ME. I HAVEN'T FELT NERVOUS LIKE THAT FOR A LONG TIME BUT IT WAS A LOT OF FUN. I'M GLAD EVERYONE WHO WAS THERE CAME. HOPEFULLY ONE OF YOU OTHER GUYS PLAN A TOURNY, SO THAT US CHICAGO PEOPLE CAN GO CONQUER & RULE THE WORLD!!!!! (SHUT UP !!)

FAUSTINO OR AS ED CALLS ME UNSTOPPABLE 'BUSTINO'

P.S. I'M CURIOUS, MY FAMILY THINKS THAT I'M KIND OF LOONEY ALONG WITH YOU GUYS FOR GETTING EXCITED & WILLING TO GET TOGETHER WITH OTHERS FOR VIRTUA FIGHTER. HOW ABOUT ANY OF YOU GUYS THAT CAME TO CHICAGO FROM OUT OF TOWN, HOW DO SOME OF YOUR FELLOW LOVED ONES FEEL ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS TOWARDS VIRTUA? (FAMILY/GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND/DOG/ANYBODY)

Shota's thoughts: I don't really understand why Faustino had to write the entire message in upper-case letters. Before the tournament, both Ed and I were wondering which character Faustino was going to use. We were aware that he had both good Taka and Aoi. I guess he decided to be the only Taka player in the tournament. In fact Faustino did very decent, though he sometimes forgot to do certain moves of Taka. After each match, Ed said to him, "Hey, Faustino, I think you have to use more of Taka's push (b, f+P)." Then Faustino went, "......OH...I for got about that." I also agree that Rodney's Jeffry was deadly. I think I leaned a few tricks from him, so that I can apply to my Jeffry for more improvement. About the VF and family...I don't know how others are, but my parents think that I am totally insane. I once took my 16 yrs old sister to one of the Japanese arcades and made her sit and wait for more than 2 hours. Then my sister reported it to my parents....

Lonnie

Sorry I'm so late with my reply but I've got college aps. And I'm actually supposed to be meeting with my college counselor right now but I'll say a few quick things. Even though I got my ass spanked the tournament was completely awesome!!! And even though I'm sure it took a tremendous effort I really hope to see another one in the near future (though I doubt that).

Anyways, it was well planned and kudos to each and every person in charge of organizing it (Ed, Shota, Travis, and anyone else I missed). Oh and Congratulations Harold!!!

Thanx again,
Lonnie Hubbard

Shota's thoughts: I'm very glad that you had fun at the tournament. Also...where do you usually play VF3? I mean...Ed and I are usually at the Timeout almost every single weekend, but I've only seen you once or twice before the tournament. Some of the obscure Pai combos you showed us were very impressive. I hope you can join us more often when you're done with those applications (I know they take forever...).

udpated Jan 28th

Andy creighton

Ed. I wanna rematch! losing out to the champion in the first round didnt give me much of a chance. so i would definitely go to another tournament held by Hardcore Gaming. Jessie told me of a possible tournament being held in Minnesota in about 2 months. but if we could have it here in chicago again, that be cool. i think you guys did a great job, especially considering the fact that you had only 2 weeks to coordinate it all. if we do it again, ill be sure to have my camera in working order for a change. and i found a way to hook my cameraup to at least one TV, in case we dont get approval. the ironman match was the only thing i wasnt crazy about. i understand that, under the restrictions of time and vf machines, that the only option was to separate the original 32 into 4 groups. i just really wanted to play everyone else. when Jessie told me of the possible tournament there, he said it would span over 2 or 3 days. Perhaps the next one here could do something similar to that. in that senario, i suppose it would be possible to have ironman matches for 2 whole days and then all tournament on the last. that way we would even have time for a 'losers' bracket. im just thinking out loud here. anyway, i think you did a great job coordinating everything along with Travis. It was awesome seeing Travis at his laptop punching in the immediate updates as you spoke on your cell phone, covering your other ear from all the noise, and a video camera sitting on top of a tripod. it all looked pretty damn professional. i hope that we can do this once again! oh yeah, and congradulations to everyone who played. even Harold, who whooped me in the first round.

VF thoughts(Shota): Hello, this is Shota here, the guy who rarely talks but only writes. Seriously, though, I don't really feel comfortable speaking in loud arcade. Not only that I have to shout, my accent also becomes ever more conspicuous....

Anyway, answering to your reply, I am very glad that those who participated in the tournament were actually satisfied with the way the tournament went. Frankly speaking, we did not have any concrete picture of the tournament until the week before. And Ed also had to negotiate with dumb arcade manager from the Timeout. Travis was the one who set up all those invitations and stuffs. I really did not do much compared to those two, except for throwing suggestions here and there. As you mentioned, I also wanted to play against many others at the tournament. Only if we had more than one machine....well that's only a wishful thinking. Next time when we have the tournament...yeah 2 days idea sounds good. We can have even more people from other places. As for meeting your friend Harold in the 1st round, I don't know what to say. Almost everyone(including myself in the final) got destroyed by him. Unlike E* or T*avis who choked, I think you have a rather legitimate excuse. Oh well, I'll probably see you in one of these Saturdays. This time, I'll be talking to people other than Ed and Travis.

VF thoughts (ED): I think the one thing I want to add is that, the ironman match didn't solve the problem of fighting other individuals....At this time I can't think of anything to resolve that problem...except doing the complete ironman as it was intended to be but, without a doubt the tournament would have to be a 2 day event at the very least... By the time the tournament ended I wasn't in a mood to play anyone else, I was glad it was over, I was glad everyone had fun, but yet at the same time, I was infact exhausted............vf

Jason Clontz

Hmm, overall, we all had a blast. Troy has finally admitted that he has found a new game to love, and will be practicing religiously. (He got his first "under 5-second ring out" with Akira today) Thank God, because Rodney can be really frustrating sometimes with his Jeffrey. Acting on some advice from some of the guys at the tournament, I've been working on my Sarah, and Rodney has now said that's it's probably just as frustrating for him with my Sarah as his Jeff is for me. We would definitely be interested in another tournament and would be a sure bet to attend. The concensus between the three of us was that it was very fun playing with all of you, even though Ed didn't show Sunday for a little post-tournament competition. I definitely learned some new things with Sarah from watching both you and Travis, and Shota wowwed us consistently with his stepping with Lion. I'm now determined to get my Akira up to par with my Sarah and have started to toy with Lau as well. Honestly, though, Ed, I would have to give best match up to you vs. Rodney. Talk about a nail-biter. Well, I guess I had better wrap this up. Gotta get some sleep so that I can go practice well tomorrow. Take it easy and hopefully we can all do this again soon.

Jason -- speaking for Rodney and Troy as well.

VF thoughts(Shota): First of all, I am very glad that all of you could make it to the tournament. I was getting worried as you guys told me that you would contact me on Friday for lodging but never did. As for the level of play, none of you failed to impress us with your skill. It's funny that all three of you use Akira for your sub-characters. I guess a few missed DLC would be OK...we can all attribute to the bad joystick in North America. I also have to agree with you that the match between Rodney and Ed was the ultimate "nail-biter." As a fellow Chicago VF player, I was trying to back up Ed at that moment. But, really, I think both of them showed us what's worth. It is definitely the first match I am going to see from the tournament video. As for the next tournament, perhaps we should hold the tourney during the summer, so that the driving won't be as bad. I may also spend the summer in Japan. Is any one of you interested?

VF thougths (Ed): It was definitely fun, and dinner afterwards at that cheap restuarant....man, good food for that amount of money...you'd think for a couple of extra bucks we could have gotten a table dance.... man... Anyway, I've retired my Sarah for the time being...and have started to work on Taka.....

Jon Leung

VF3 Tournament...

First off, I just want to thank HG (Shota, Travis, and Ed) for making this tournament possible at North Pier... and everybody else for making the tournament a success. This was my first tournament- and it's been a while since I've had this much fun. There were lots of close, intense games in the playoffs (especially the one w/ Ed and Rodney). Sorry I couldn't stay til the end... though congrats to the Chicago Group for making it to the finals... and congrats to Harold for winning the Tournament.

As for the tournament, I came in at 10:00 to start practicing. To my surprise, I saw Ed and his cousin already there... While I waited for that guy to open the door (he took 15 mins!) Ed gave me some tips for okizeme... which helped, except for the one where you use f+KK with Aoi to hop over the opponent. I completely screwed up the timing for that during practice and the tournament =P ... (I think there was even an instance where I mistimed the f+KK so badly that somebody rolled to the side and got back up and back threw me)

I decided to use Aoi in the tournament (I was glad there were some other Aoi players out there... ). I think I was put into one of the tougher groups and this did make me a bit nervous... But I felt better after winning the first (and only) match against Troy's? Akira... But after losing to Ed's Sarah, Rodney's? Jeffry (he just wasted me w/ those power bombs...), I think I started to play too much of a defensive game... I lost the next 3 matches in a row to Harold (Kage), Allen (Shun), and Bustino? (Taka) then I got eliminated first round by someone's (sorry I don't know your name) Jacky...

Btw, I got a question about reversals... can you reverse someone's TT punch/kick w/ Aoi?

I was impressed by the number of people that played Akira well (I got my first taste of the SPoD in practice from Rodney I think... hehe) ... it's a nightmare to play such a light character (Aoi) against someone that can float... and then DLC...

I also was pretty surprised by the way Lonnie played... he was good competition in practice- his game has improved with Pai... he had some pretty nice float combos. Too bad we didn't get to play each

 

Wow there's a blast from the past. excellent find! It is really too bad there isn't video from the event, that would have been awesome to see.

totally forgot that Rod played Jeff. I still remember Chicago TB battles fondly.

I also remember Ed from hardcore gaming forgetting he was supposed to be leading us to our hotel in Chicago and Just driving himself home while we followed unaware. haha.

 

Wow talk about blast from the past. Thanks for posting this Boyd it brings back great memories. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I definitely will. I agree with GE also. It would be awesome to have footage to go along with this.

hehehe Omaha Jeffrey! It's funny to me because although my display name has been Omaha Jeffry, Konjou and now Rodnutz... my login username is and always will be omaha jeffry. Yeah I didn't spell Jeffrey right when I signed up. You know brothers can't spell.