Response from DailyRadar.com

--Pasted text from mail received today--

Jason,

Thanks for the recent email to Dailyradar. You should not be surprised
to
learn that yours was not the only letter blasting the Virtua Fight 3
review. In all honesty, there wasn't much debate here in the office
about
the "miss" review because almost everyone at the games mags (NextGen,
PC
Gamer, PC Accelerator, and DailyRadar) think Soul Calibur is a better
game
and that VF3 just shows its age too much. But we didn't know the extent
to
which VF3 had such a passionate following in the states.

I am really interested in some of these "Informal national gatherings
have
happened fairly often." that you mentioned in your email. Do such
gatherings still take place? Do they do so in the Bay Area, like San
Francisco or San Jose? DailyRadar would be interested in doing a story
about these matchups, and maybe even letting a reader put together a
piece
explaining why Virtua Fighter 3 is the deepest game out there.

If you know where I could find more information about these gathering
of
VF3 gods, let me know. And thanks again for the input.

-Jim
Jim Preston
Editor, PC Games
DailyRadar.com
Imagine Media

-- End of Text --


Ok, guys. So what are we gonna do about it? In my mail I sent them word of the last 2 large gatherings (Chicago and NYC/Boston), along with a play list of the mini-gathering shaping up for Omaha in a couple of weeks. Any suggestions? I'm planning on at least getting some tape bits from each of the mini-gathering attendants, along with some footage of their skills, and putting together a tape to send off to them.

Has anyone heard from Clopin and the guys out west as to whether they'd be up for highlighting a Bay Area Brawl? I've already got Clopin down as the US Aoi master, so if the guys at IGN show enough interest, perhaps something of a tournament/gathering could be done for the west coast players. (one where they wouldn't have to travel 3000 miles to participate)

Let me know what you guys think...


Nutlog

 

man, am i the only one amused by a lot of the talk of "aoi master" or whatever? i'm sure i've contributed to it, but having actually played almost every one of these so-called masters, you'll be surprised at how many of them just consider themselves decent players, learning how to play the game, and not particularily good or great. i mean hans, clopin to those of you who don't know him personally, has a fine aoi, and he's a lot of fun to play (esp that time when i couldnt even TOUCH his aoi ALL NIGHT. i'm talking excellent every match!) but its not like he'd say he's an aoi master. i dont think he's an aoi master. he's just a fine player who likes and knows how to play aoi, but its not like he'd be able to hold a machine 3 matches in a row at kani-spo on a friday night.

same thing with sumeragi. don't get me wrong, mike's a far better player than i am, and his lau is definately very good, but to call him a lau master? again, he wouldnt claim this title himself, and that isnt just an act of psuedo-humility, its a realization that he is far from the potential at which lau could be played.

it just seems that there's this gap between those who know what's really out there and possible, and those who are unaware and hype and hype. i know i'm very guilty of the latter, if anyone remembers my posts on playing joji and rich for the first time two years back.

so what's the point of even calling people "masters?" well maybe to at least designate people who are good players. but then why such an elevated term? i mean if you want masters in terms of people to learn from, there are plenty of technically minded people who are here to answer your questions... whether or not that helps you learn the game, well that's something rich and i were just discussing this weekend, to which he said it cant really be taught.

then again, i remember distinctly learning a shitload when i first got to boston, such as how to use crouch dash from joji.... so who knows about that last point....

-jason

 

I agree with Jason to a considerable degree. The Chicago and New York Gathering convinced me that there were indeed great players in the U.S., but I'm still not sure any one of us could be considered a true "master".

For those who have played Hiro, he has been widely regarded as possibly America's best VF player. Yet, he only considers himself merely "above average" in Japan.

This is part of the reason why I much prefer to use the term "specialists" in the character sections; it seems to me a lot less exaggerated. Certainly, many of us know a lot, but our ceiling of knowledge is limited by what we've seen or heard, and that, I'm afraid, isn't much considering our location.

As for Nutlog's e-mail to Daily Radar, I think it's a great opportunity--FINALLY--for some sort of exposure to the game that we've been fascinated with so long. Whatever we decide to do, I say we do it with a lot of flair.

This is possibly our last chance to convince the mainstream that VF3 is a game worth putting time into--let's not waste it!!!

ice-9 | Sennin

 

Maybe, I rushed into labels on this one, and I'm apologizing now, in order to head off flames in the future. I've played Mike and Hans, as well. (And lost both too ) As far as "best in the world" masters...no I don't think either are, nor have I ever touted them as such. As far as "best in the U.S.A." for their specialized characters, I would go ahead and say that yes, they both have their props, barring Hiro's annoying tendency to spank me with any character he ever picked .

I applied the notion to the fact that, if I ever had a question to ask about Lau, I would consider Mike to be the foremost US player to ask, just as Hans is for Aoi in my book and Shota is for Jacky (I might ask Jesse or Boyd too, since they specialize in the non-standard "Air" Jacky). I know they don't know it all, but largely because of language and time barriers, I cannot converse with "Muscles" Sarah or AstroJacky or any others on the other side of the big pond, so they're definitely the point of contact for more advanced advice for certain characters.

Nutlog.

 

Re: I wish I had read these before posting the other

Jason, you are right, none of us(those I've played against, myself included), I would contest, can hold more than 5 matches at Kani-Spo on Friday night. Whereas the likes of Chibita, Se-Girl, or Hijitesu can sometimes hold 30+, we all know who is better.

Having said that, I would go with Nutlog's definition of so called "master", as "master" is someonw whom you can ask questions about the specific character.

Sigh...I feel somewhat ironic that we have to go through defining "what is a master". Perhaps the VF.COM should take an organized trip to Japan (as I hear VF is dead elsewhere in Asia). No other option will exceed in terms of our VF3 learning. The ticket to Japan is now cheap...somewhere around $600 round trip.

 

What?!

Shota, where can I get a ticket to Japan for $600?!?!??!?

ice-9 | Sennin

 

Re: Nihon ni ikimashou!

I am going to be there from approximately December 19-28. I just need to get a decently priced ticket!

We have definitely GOT together if we can.

ice-9 | Sennin