Third Rock from the Sun: VF in Hong Kong

Back in the VF3tb era, there simply wasn't that much of a scene in Hong Kong. The top three players were quite good, but you had the sense that they weren't up to date on the latest tactics in Japan, and the talent drops off sharply after.

Fast forward to present day, and what a major difference VF4 has done. There are half a dozen arcades that have Evo and VF.net, and one "West Shinjuku Sportsland" equivalent in the Prince Edward arcade. Twenty to thirty players keep three VF.net, Versus City machines full at all times, even on weekday nights!

One reason cited for the renewed popularity is the "faster" gameplay, with fewer guaranteed counters, that VF4 offers. Another major reason given is the VF.net system, and it is oh-so-easy to see what kind of impact VF.net has had on the scene.

Unlike Singapore, VF players in Hong Kong have really embraced the card system. Many players register their cards on Sega's website, earn points to buy items through online games. To make the cards "live" with items, colors, and win poses, all that has to be done is to insert the card once in a VF.net connected machine and the card would update the latest modifications. A few Hong Kong players regularly making trips to Japan, bringing stacks of cards on behalf of other Hong Kong players to update. Here in Hong Kong, "NO-NAME" is the exception, rather than the rule--playing here really feels like playing in Japan, with unique names, different colors, and a myriad of items. What a scene!

And what about the competition? Well, I will say that ranking up here is sooo much easier to do than in Sportsland or Akhibara. I have never seen so many 10-dans in one place before--to think I went through so much mental anguish when I lost my 9-dan Kage card! Ranking up is so easy, in fact, that ranking is often not a good indication of how good your opponent is (except those with ranks above 10-dan, who had to get to their rank playing in Japan--one can progress beyond 10-dan only when playing on a VF.net connected machine). The talent, however, is well balanced with a reasonable base of beginners, a large number of solid players (40-50% win rates), quite a few good players (50-70%), and a handful of elite players (70%+).

The distribution of characters is also impressive. There seems to be at least one or two 70%+ cards for every single character (even Brad!). The most popular characters, based on what I've seen, would be Akira, Jacky, Lei Fei, Pai, Jeffry (!), and Lion. With the exception of Jeffry, and perhaps Akira, all characters that can poke well.

The two players often cited as being Hong Kong's strongest would be "Captain" with his Akira (leader of the "3-Year B-Team"), and Ian "Shi Yu" with his Jacky. The Captain's Akira is a Mongzi (I think, two ranks above 10-dan) with an 81% win rate, while Ian's Jacky is a 10-dan with a 78% win rate.

Personally, I had the most trouble against Captain's Pai, a Wangzi (three ranks above 10-dan!) with a 74% win rate. I couldn't beat him with my Kage after a half-dozen tries, and had to resort to Vanessa to win, fortunately on the first try. After the Captain's Pai, it would be Ian's Jacky, who has super reflexes and unnerving reverse nitaku. Alucard, you should go to Hong Kong and check out these two guys! There are many strong players other than these two guys, and I am not doing the Hong Kong scene justice by not mentioning them.

(An aside: Captain's main characters were originally Akira, Kage, and Pai. However, after playing Pai intensely, he came to the conclusion that Pai is simply a better character than Kage, and now Kage is out of the rotation. Does he and Kyasao know something the majority of U.S. VF players don't? I think so.)

I didn't play all that well in my first few sessions in Hong Kong, missing simple combos I don't usually miss, not moving smoothly, and not being able to do the fastest Giant Swing. I don't know if I was just being rusty, not having played for several weeks before that first session, but the shaft of sticks in the Prince Edward arcade seem to be longer than those in Singapore, Tokyo, and the various console sticks! Basically, the ball of the stick, instead of resting in the upper part of the palm, is more at the edge of the hand. Hananokeiji, a Macau player who visited Hong Kong, mentioned feeling the same. Thankfully, I got used to it after the first few sessions, and it basically became a non-issue.

My first Kage card had a 70% win rate, which I used for 99% of my matches. My second card has a 75% win rate, but I was more selective in when I used the card. Basically, I don't use it when I feel I need to "learn" a pattern/flowchart that I am unfamilar with, and that the opponent is abusing. My Jeffry card--like my two Kage cards, started in Hong Kong--has a 68% win rate.

Playing against so many players and styles has been really good for me. I've discovered that I'm weak against Jacky, losing matches to average Jackys that I shouldn't have lost. My Kage has a lot of trouble against Pai; is it just me, or does Kage have a hard time against Pai. She has so many moves that go under Kage's attacks! I've also realized that playing against SG-Lion in Singapore too much has spoiled my Kage into patterns that don't work against other Lions--it took me quite a few losses to Lions to uncondition some of those bad habits. My Kage has definitely improved in terms of being able to deal with a wider variety of characters and styles.

One other benefit with having so much competition is that one also learns how to play "competitively" right away. In Singapore and the U.S., it's relatively easy to play whenever you want to, or to re-challenge after losing the first match. Nowhere is this exemplifed more than in the PS2 trend to play the best of 3 matches. Needing one whole match to get warmed up is not a good habit!! A busy VF scene forces you to reach your competitive level quickly, in the first round if possible. This is one area that I have greatly improved on in the past month of play here.

Overall, I have to say that I am impressed with Hong Kong's VF scene. The scene has enough critical mass for players with average talent to become "really good" (i.e., higher than 10-dan in Japan) by practicing against local competition. For players in Asia who are unable to make the trip to Japan or Korea, the first two rocks from the Sun, Hong Kong is a nice third alternative.

 

P.S. Started playing Aoi for real today. Yep, my Aoi is still competitive!

P.P.S. In addition to my Kage card, I also lost my 2-dan, 69% Shun card! /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif That one hurt, I had quite a few matches on that card.

 

intresting stuff man. An enjoyable read.

My only question, you mentioned that jeff is one of the most popular there...but then didnt mention anything on it after that. How do they play jeff in hong kong? Why is he more popular there then anywhere else? Just curious, cause jeff is the heavy underdog.

 

haa haa haaa... can't be help Ice9... in Singapore, I think I the only ONE (ahem, ahem, quoting Matrix) that specialised in/stucked with Lion, therefore causing not much exposure to other playing style as in HK or Japan.. even I have the urged to go to other places to improve my Lion... as you said, your Kage is conditioned to kill my Lion... /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Sg-Lion

 

[ QUOTE ]
My only question, you mentioned that jeff is one of the most popular there...but then didnt mention anything on it after that. How do they play jeff in hong kong? Why is he more popular there then anywhere else? Just curious, cause jeff is the heavy underdog.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't mention anything more because, quite frankly, I didn't want to give a gameplay synopsis for each character!! As for Jeffry...just the usual basic stuff: punch, knee, sidekick, etc. Calvin's Jeffry, at 70%, is the strongest Jeffry that I saw. His Jeffry has really good defense, makes use of threat stance P-throw, +, + at the appropriate places, etc.

Actually, people have told me that my Jeffry is quite different from other Jeffrys in Hong Kong.

 

Ken, one thing I noticed is that a lot of the good Lions here like to poke with + instead of . So instead of -> throw/elbow, they'll do + -> canned/throw/elbow/ instead.

Doesn't Lion have this one back turned attack (with ) that hits mid? Lions here like to go for that.

Also, Bryan, the strongest Lion I saw, uses , reaaally well...I'm not sure how exactly, but he uses in a manner that beats out some of my attacks (probably while in disadvantage situations, I'm guessing).