Playing VF in Japan - A night in Shinjuku

I really don't have much to do right now because of jet lag; it's 3:20 AM and I'm done sleeping, so I guess I'll make a post. I'm in Japan right now in a tour group going all around Honshu. I know a few people in Japan, but no one I could contact for VF-related things, so I just figured that I probably wouldn't have time for any matches. Thankfully, I was wrong, and I found a few arcades only a few blocks from the hotel in Shinjuku. The first one I checked seemed to be mainly for fighting games, they had that new Gundam fighting game, 3S, Alpha 3, MotW, Tekken, that new 3D Samurai Shodown game, and more to the point, VF5 rev D version 1. I know some Japanese, but I couldn't really figure out the name of the place-- the sign said "Battle Arena," and it had Sega World doormats at the top of the stairs leading to the basement, so I assume it was Sega World of some kind. The first time I went was at 6:30 or so, and not too many people were playing on the cabinets, so I took a quick look at the other arcades in the area, including the main "Sega World," which seemed to have more of a racing game/music game/UFO catcher arcade type feel, and a place called Game Frontier, that I think only had two head-to-head cabinets. The first place I found was definitely the best of the lot with 10-12 head-to-head cabinets, and a few monitors at the end of the row showing two of the matches currently going on. This was just a place I found while walking around on the way to the hotel, so if anyone here lives in Tokyo, or has been around with any Japanese VF players and knows where the most popular arcades are, post it up in the thread about the Japan trip.

Anyway, I went back after dinner and found a better group of people playing. A couple were salarymen who'd just gone there after work to play and chain smoke, and more were students. I played one salaryman who used Shun, and wasn't really that good with him, and beat him handily for several matches with my Pai. I was feeling pretty good about my scrubby self, when he switches to Pai, and proceeds to beat me for 3 or 4 in a row. Since it was a head-to-head cabinet, I couldn't really see his expression, but he seemed to say, "Look kid, anyone can do that shit, I'm learning Shun, okay?" This guy wasn't a good player either; it struck me that VF was just something he did after work to relax and kill time. He didn't seem to have learned any combos, no crouch dashing/fuzzy, or crazy setups... but what he did have was consistency. He just had an intuitive knowledge of what safe moves he could punish me with, and did them every single time. Any time I went into Bokutai, from whatever setup, he hit me with /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/db_.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif . I started doing a little better when I realized he didn't really have the same thinking as someone who plays VF a lot and has a more orthodox style, and I could bully him into making mistakes, or creating throw setups. Still, he was beating me with nothing but the bare basics, and I think there's a good lesson there.

I also played a couple younger guys, maybe high school/college age, and they were much more of what I was expecting. A Jacky who struck me as pretty good player; his offensive techniques and combo quality were on par with the guys from NY I've played, probably a little better, but his defense was a lot worse. He ended up falling for more Bokutai setups than the previous guy, but still, I had to play at my absolute best to take a round (or else throw out some completely Random-ass Pai tm). The 8-way restrictor plate (I think that's what it's called) threw it off a little bit, because the distance to /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/u.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/b.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif were shorter than /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/ub.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/uf.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/db.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/df.gif . A lot of my /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d_.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif came out as /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/uf.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif, which ended up actually hitting more often than not, but made me look like an idiot. I also found that /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/df.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/db.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/b.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif + /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/g.gif was almost impossible for me to do, because the 8-way would tend to only register the last /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/db.gif. As a result, I'm not in love with the feel of Sanwa parts, but I'm sure they're a lot more reliable than my EX2's parts. I saw a PS3 HRAP at a store earlier, so if I see one later, I might pick it up and mod it for the 360. Anyway, there was also a good El Blaze that impressed me. I really wanted to play a Kage and Wolf that were going at it on one of the other cabinets, but they didn't show any signs of stopping, and I was out of time. I feel like I could spend days here for VF, but sadly, the tour moves on. The bad part about the tour is that I can't move at my own pace, but the upshot is that the whole thing was really cheap in terms of flight/hotel/food. Just something to consider for the 2009 trip.

If anyone here plays or has played in Japan, post your thoughts?

Edit: I'm leaving Tokyo today, and probably spending some time in Osaka if you guys know anything about the scene there. I may be back in Tokyo in another week, so hopefully I can get some more game time in then based on people's recommendations.

 

Taiko no Tatsujin is the best_arcade_ever. Once you go Tarako you can never go back, baby /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif ! I heartily recommend.

(Takio's Sohran is a blast, too).

...well, on topic of VF, I was actually surprised how few people actually played. There were times when all the cabinets were empty - and it was the Club Sega in Shibuya we're talking about (for those interested - turn left from Hachiko's square and keep walking straight, a bit past the statue of a girl holding a fruit. Can't miss it), not some obscure tiny arcade salon. Granted, these were weekdays, but the neighbouring Tekken machines were constantly populated by lots of your copy-and-paste seemingly undernourished gloomy nii-chan demolishing sticks with their lightning 70%lifealwaysperfectcombohands...
It would be a bit better on weekdays, but still I didn't have a chance to get a game. Not that I could do much on a stick anyway... Khem. Anyway, it ended up that I fed VF machine only a mere 300 yen and went to play Taiko Master in a smaller arcade nearby... They had better sound and charged less /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif.

Thanks for your bulletin, have fun on your stay and please keep us updated!

 

Spanky: For Osaka, go to Monte 50 (http://www.monte50.com/)

Jighro: No one plays at Club Sega Shibuya... most players play in Shibuya Hi-Tech Land if they're in that area.

 

Thanks for the info! By the way, any reason why it's being like that? I was starting to get worried about the state of Japanese VF scene, especially compared with the constantly crowded T6 cabinets, good to hear that's not the case (off-topic, I don't really like Tekken but I must admit Fallen Colony stage rocks! Looks like the series finally abandoned all pretences to reality and is turning GG-esque... Which could be a good thing!).

 

Jigohro: Thanks for the heads up, I'm sure it'll come in handy. I'm actually going to be in Tokyo again in a few days, so I'll try to check out Shibuya and Akiba, which I missed the first time /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

Reno: Thanks, I just arrived in Osaka and I'm looking up where to find Monte50. It looks like it might be close to the hotel, but I think I'm too exhausted to try and look for it tonight. I guess I'll miss Saturday night, but hopefully people show up on weekdays, too.

 

Hey Spanky, that was a pretty cool write up. How much does one of those vfnet accounts cost? Maybe you could get one if it's not expensive, and can save some replays at some point so we can get a visual on the types of styles you guys were using?

 

Yeah, I wish I'd gotten a card in retrospect, they're only $5 or so (each play is $1). I should have saved all the matches, but I just didn't think to. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif I'll pick up a card at the next arcade I see and save things. Does anyone know how you view the matches later? Does it require being at a VF.net arcade machine? Also, I read that it costs $1 to save replays, but that's not a huge deal.

 

If you purchase a VF.net premium account (which really doesn't cost that much at all) you can save replays for free. You can access your VF.net account through the internet using your own PC, there you can manage and download your replays, as well as purchasing items and fix customisation.

If you don't know japanese you're probably going to need help to set all this up though.

 

I know some Japanese, but whether it's enough to manage this arcane process remains to be seen /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

So I just created a VF.net account using the same fake data that most people used to make a Japanese XBL account. Much to my embarrassment, I just now did a search and found the tutorial.

It seems really lame that you can save only one match per day per arcade with a max of 3 matches total. If that's true, I'm not going to bother with a premium account-- I'm not going to be here long enough to make it worthwhile. It just doesn't make sense to me... presumably the data is all saved locally, then sent out over the network nightly or something, so even if every one saved tons of matches, that's a couple megs at most?

 

Spanky missin his scoops inputs!? Not cool...


I'm so jealous..haha

Hope you're having a blast out there man

 

spanky!

come back to VA and bless us with knowledge please! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

JEALOUS I AM AS WELL...

 

As an update, I got to play a bit at the hotel near Lake Biwa. I was starting to catch a cold from someone on the tour group, so that put a damper on things. But there was a sort of mini mall next to the hotel that had some movie theaters, restaurants, a bookstore, and an arcade! I knew I wasn't going to spend all night there, but I at least wanted to use the VF.NET card and account I got while I was in Tokyo. There was a Vanessa there ranked about 4th or 5th dan that I had no problems beating, I lost one to him, then beat him for the rest of the time before he left. That fool got nothin on Chefboy /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif I took the time to customize my Pai's ring name and quote to indicate I was from the US and VFDC on the off chance that someone would know, and challenged the Lau that was there. I got freaking worked for what was left of my $20. I lost 5 or 6, then found a staff member to ask him how I save matches. I figured holding PKG would do it, but I didn't want to screw it up and end up with nothing. The staff member just sort of looked at me blankly, then went over to ask the Lau player how to do it. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif He helped me out, then I got 10 or 15 more matches with the guy, and I think I won one, but didn't want to save it because it was definitely not representative of the way things were going. I got my sidestep rhythm down, and even started to escape his favorite throw, but he kept mixing it up once he knew I learned. Also, I didn't know if I wanted to sidestep to Lau's front or back, and I kept guessing wrong. I made a lot fewer input mistakes, but these matches showed me how strong Lau can really be. I saved some replays, but I'm not in Japan at the moment, just on dialup, so I'll see if I can get them out later. It seemed weird in Japan to just start up a conversation with your opponent, but I stopped by on my way out to thank him and that I learned a lot. He laughed and was pretty friendly, I'm sure the guys that bother with VF.NET accounts and are ranked pretty high are the ones that really love VF, rather than the guys who are just blowing off stress and want to be left alone.

Can't wait to get back to VA and play some more VF /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif I'm really missing it now, I need to get my VF5 and R6 fix.

I'm looking at getting a new stick, too, let me know if you guys have any suggestions. I saw an HRAP for PS3 for about $75-80 in Japan, but didn't have the space to pick it up at the time /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif I need someone 360 that I can mod to Sanwa or something Sanwa I can mod to 360. I'll see what I can scrounge up on my next time in Tokyo.