Tournaments Beyond the Arcade

in the December interview with 1-up the AM2 folks talked about the bad shape of the arcade seen in America and the popularity of VF series.

I think they may be underestimated the console-based tournament markets outside of Japan. Obviously a PS2/PS3 is cheaper than the aracde cabinets and they are far more portable.

this allows tournaments to be set up anywhere (houses, ranches, clubs, community centers, Universities, street corners, wherever)

Even if the arcade scene was huge in the US it couldn't compete with the potential of portable tournaments that can be held somewhere as small as a basement or some place as such as a high school football stadium.

I just was at a VF5 tournament that was held in a high school gym with 3 PS3s and 50 inch HDTVs. It was awesome. There were about 40 competitors.

Because of the portability of a PS2/PS3 the arcade is where ever the console is and that can be virtually anywhere. It opens up far more venues and possibilites than arcades ever could.

We all know that the arcade version of VF5 is Sega's bread & butter, but maybe if they rethink the business model a little there's more money to be made by beefing up the console vs play capabilities.

I'm biased because I'm in the States right now., but
perhaps the primary platform should be the console and the arcade
version should be second in command.

 

A HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT!?!?!?

3 PS3'S!?!?

....
(3) 50 inch LCD HDTV'S!??!

Where the hell do you live? We got one large HDTV for socal gatherings and the rest being LCD Moniters.

Also console is not going to be a center peice for Sega cause Sega doesn't even make money of consoles last I check. Wasn't it just a while back the Sammy part of Sega wanted to hack the console division cause it couldn't pull a profit anywhere?

And no offense but honestly, if Arcades were alive in the US I would take them in a heartbeat over console. Nothing sucks more than having to buy a new console/find a suitable stick/find a suitable venue/find parking and transportation etc.

I rarely play other games nowadays with a lot of stuff going on in my life. I don't care if one game seems expensive, it's little for the time being and doesn't require me to map out a financial plan to invest in console.

This doesn't mean I hate playing on console, I appreciate everything the SoCal crew has done for me, opening up their houses and letting me play on there PS3's, even Brian letting me have a profile and letting me slut up my Sarah in custom. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

Hosting console tournaments once in a blue moon is not going to make enough money to sustain operation.

Try to host an event next time and see how much money goes out of your pocket.

 

Actually Dojo chi-quanshu does host events.

What I'm about to tell you is absolutely true (take it or leave it)

1) all of our fighters are paid. (Some as much as $100 some as little as $25 to fight). dojo chi-quanshu always foots the prize money on top of the pay. The winner gets an extra $100.
2) no competitor pays to compete (ever!)
3) we charge admission to our fights ( like boxing)(competitors don't pay to get in) $5.50 to $8.50 to get in for special competions $10 a head.

4) we have our competitions at locations that can hold at least
250 people
5) we've hosted 5 public competitions we've sold out tickets to
every one of them. We hosted 1 private competition and also
sold out (yep private) 317 people in attendance.

6) We're planning our next competition at either the local Univerisity or one of the local Theaters that support HDTV.
7) We've made a small profit for each competition


We typically pit a dojo of 5 to 7 players against our dojo.

Yep, people pay to watch us fight. Most of the spectators are not people who play the game and they do pay to watch us fight.
(I wonder why?)

Maybe the folks where we're at are bored, or aren't to particular, but when dojo chi-quanshu puts on a competition, the word gets out, spectators show up and we get paid. And none of our fighters spend money instead everyone makes money to fight.

We are getting ready to sponsor a big event at our metroplex,even after all of our fighters are paid, and the metroplex and equipment are paid for we will make a nice piece of change.

Honestly this is the case.

We've really taken it in a different direction(I think for the better)

VF is a sport. And in other sports top athletes are paid. Although we're just starting out and the money is small we're headed in the right direction.

Another thing you guys can believe or not,
we're getting ready to do a pay per view VF competition,
so if you can get cable in the right area and you want to pay
$X.XX you'll be able to see the disciples, some of the masters and even perhaps the dojo master of chi-quanshu fight.

I know its probably hard to imagine something significant outside of the Japanese arcade scene. As I have said in several of my postings in various places, we've taken VF to a whole nuther level.

When we can sell out in an auditorium that seats 5000, then we'll take it on the road and you guys will be able to see us
then (maybe this year, maybe next) the PS3's graphics look good
on HDTV and the new fluidity of motion makes for good entertainment.

In the hands of fighters that understand the art in martial arts,
VF5 is entertaining to people who are not gamers. Its just that simple.

So., believe it or not I know precisely what I'm talking about.

 

Does masturpo remind anyone else of that kid in elementary school who used to tell stories about how his dad was a detective and his house had a secret passageway to an underground cave where they did experiments on monsters and . . .

 

Kod,
Actually my dad was monk as I am. and the secret passage way led to the temple, where he taught me:
Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Norther Shaolin, and Southern Shaolin

Outside that one little mistake the rest of your statement was to be expected.

And yeah I do remind me of that little kid

Good observation....

Will see yaz soon

 

I believe you. Now either it happens, or you are just making stuff up. Waiting to see it, you want me to make a news post about it so everyone on VFDC can look forward to it?

 

This is too funny. I'm just surprised masterpo is bored enough to type all this junk.

 

When we get close we will definitely post here on virtuafighter.com but it will probably post first when we finally launch our website. We're working out a lot of stuff
but.. it will be located at

http://www.chiquanshu.org

The site is under construction now. At some point it will go live. Its really just a different take on this VF sport.

ON that site we're really going to be focusing on the notion of virtual martial arts as implemented in game consoles. It just turns out that VF does it better than anyone else. We will specifically track how closely virtual martial arts map to the real thing. We're really focusing on the notion of computer
simulations of martial arts (especially 'kung fu' and its derivatives) Right now most of our stuff is VF specific, but
there are one or two implementations in Soul Caliber, DOA,
and Tekken that we might look at.

So when the PPV thing gets real and gets closer (There are still some money issues we are working through) we most definitely will make the vfdc folks aware, probably around the same time we're going to launch our web site as well.

Our web site is a non profit effort dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the virtual martial arts as captured by game consoles.

 

HEY GUYS! CHECK OUT THE GOLD MEDAL I GOT AT NAGANO FOR FREESTYLE SEXUAL INTERCOURSE!
NO SHIT! I GOT A FUCKING GOLD MEDAL!

 

Show me some proof of this actually going on and i will help you guys get off the ground in whatever way I can.

 

I like how he still hasn't given us a location. Maybe these things really take place in "Playstation Space"?

 

To the contrary. It not a secret part of our krew is in Youngstown Ohio in the US, part is in Sharon and Pittsburgh, in the US, Part is in Windsor Canada right across the bay from Detroit. And two members are in Antigua.

Folks there aren't any secrets that I'm trying to keep.
I'm also simply not interested in Bulshit.

I'm a part of a small krew. Dojo-chiquanshu. We are most interested in VF5 because it is such a high quality simulation that we use it as such. Really. In the same way that professional football players get a kick out of Madden for the playstation we get a kick out of VF so much so that we've made the simulation aspect of it a sport.

Obviously winning is important in competitions, but our focus is on how you win. Some of our competitions are based on our point system not on whose health meter runs out first.

that's probably odd and difficult to get your mind around in a game like VF. But look at it as you would a real martial arts competition. Obviously one of the competitors could give the other one the POD or a quick jab in the thorax, but that's against the rules.

In our competition certain advanced concepts are given higher scores than VF may actually give them. The fact that an opponent was able to pull off three or four triple throw escapes in a match but his health meter runs out first. He may still win the competition based on points.

We typically have one or two judges that score the competitions.
Things like triple throw escapes, certain evade attacks, wall attacks, certain reversals,sabakis and the most advanced moves fighters can make are rewarded with extra points and credit during a match.

This approach sucks for players whose objective is to win in any way possible (luck, tricks, yumi, whatever).

Our approach ends up being more entertainment for spectators because we tend to reward the most fantastic moves, counter moves etc. We also reward a player for faithfully representing the spirit of the fighting style that is being represented. e.g how close was your tiger to the real technique (to the extent that they can be compared).

So while our approach would get your ass kicked in a traditional VF tournament, It is very entertaining in the kinds of competitive exhibitions that we put on (where style is more important than simple reducing the life meter to zero)

That's why people pay to see us play. That's why we sold out several competitions. We do play tradition tournaments from time to time, but because of the way we normally do competitions are
fighters tend to have absolute mastery of a style. This means they are usually hard to beat even in traditional style tournaments. Again it takes VF to a whole nuther level.

That's also why we hope Sega will put individual profiles back in, and beef of the fight statistic reporting (i.e. high throws, low throws, evade escapes, double escpaes,etc).


Instead of you guys slammin us, you should realize that we're adding value to the whole VF scene. The more people playing it (whatever their wierd approach is) the better off we all are.


We have a long term committment to the game most of our fighters are between 28 years old and 50. Which is amazing in of itself..
We're part of the VF community you all should show some respect /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

 

The picture thing is more of an Internet privacy thing than anything else. We have males and females in our krew. Not everybody is comfortable with putting their pictures on the Internet. While there's no problem with VFDC in particular keep in mind the VFDC can be accessed by all kinds of weirdos not just the ones that are weird for playing VF /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Also this might seem odd, but the very fact that I'm taking time out to post and read posts and answer posts on VFDC demonstrates that I have tremendous respect for the whole VFDC effort.

Typically I don't have time for message boards, chat rooms, IM etc. Not that I'm somebody important, its just I'm finishing up a Masters degree, soon to start work on a P.hd and so my time is very limited. If I didn't have respect for this message board and its primary subject matter, I wouldn't waste my time, or the time of those who read and respond to my posts.

Its all good. We should all just be happy that we such an excellent fighter to enjoy. and if somebody has found some novel way to use it, the more the merrier.

Maddy lives in Columbus, you live in Cleveland. Columbus is a bout a 2 1/2 hour drive from where we typically have our tournaments (YSU, Jillians, Metroplex) soon the new Chevrolet center. Cleveland is about a 70 minutes away if you take the turnpike.

So the next time we do something that is public you and Maddy and your crews will be invited (no doubt).

Right now our crew is working on integrating the new evade game, OM possibilities, the new wall game, the expanded move sets into our show (yeah its part fun, and part show) because we charge folks to get in.

Also not everyone has purchased their PS3 in fact only half us have purchased it. We are really hoping to put something public together by the summer. The good news is that event will be free to the public but we will still give prize money and no fighter will have to pay to be involved. The event will most likely be held at Jillians in Boardman OH (if we can work the HDTV thing out)

The format for that particular event will be dojo style.
We take 6 or 7 of our members against some other krew with 6 or 7 members. We send out our weakest fighter first (which might be me this time around) and the first dojo to run out of fighters win. That dojo is presented with prize money (probably $100-$150) and a wushu tiger trophy.

Matches are always best 3 of 5. We have 60 second clock 5 rounds. Single elimination. If our weakest fighter is able to sit down the other krew thats how it goes.

Our dojo master has not had to compete in one of these tournaments for a long time (really).

Jillians has a nice restaurant section to it. With a bunch of big screens. So we tend to either get their first and have a good meal or eat after the tournament (after is rare because the tornaments tend to last until about 11:00 p.m. and start at about 7:00 p.m) Our tournaments bring business and we get the advantage of nice big screens,seating,food etc. Win/win situation.

When we don't have tournaments there, we do them at Youngstown State University or Kent State, or Akron U (it just depends on who has open conference rooms or auditoriums) There is nothing secret about any of this.

Its just some of the members on this board believe that if they aren't doing it, or haven't seen it, or don't know about it then its not real. (That's unfortunate).

When we charge for events we do them at the metro plex or we rent a hall (its just that simple) But in Youngstown we've got a new convention center (The chevrolet center) It is our hope to start having tournaments there. We are at the drawing board with a trifeca of Fighting game tournaments, anime, and card games that will be our first event.

So folks that's all the detail that I can say right now, because we don't have anything lined up for sure. Last year I spoke too soon and let maddy down (we did have a tournament) but it was much later than what I originally thought (I told him spring/summer) it ended up in October. So this time, I'll wait until the flyers are printed and the website is up and then post to VFDC.

As far as your playing being up to par, its not about that, its about really enjoying the VF experience, mastering the simulation and ultimately putting on a good show. Some of our fighter are really really good. But there is always someone who is better than you are and we all know that. For all we know you might come and sit our entire krew down (in which case b.t.w) that would make you the new master! However it turns out we all have a lot of fun. There are not big egoes involved so whether we won or lost there wouldnt be a lot trash talkin. Everybody just goes back to practice and brings it to higher level next time.

We have promoters than promote the matches based on ring names, fighting styles, and dojo affiliations.

When you see an advertisement with Last Monk in it then you'll know that I'm one of the competitors as is Sugi Pai, Darth Kage,
The Alchemist, Master Yin, ShoNoMercy,DeathAngel, 5fingersOfDeath.

Each of these fighters has a small local reputation as fighters in chiquanshu. That reputation is slowly growing (for cripes sake its a video game right). But eventually when a match is promoted between our dojo and any other one on the planet, there will be enough people who want to see it that both dojos will get paid regardless of winner or loser.

Right now if we were to challenge some of the more prominent VF players in Japan we could create a international frenzy. Especially if we made the mistake of saying that our fighters
would silence the fighters in Japan alla Jet Li's Fearless.

Our promoter could make such a thing happen and everyone would get paid.

We are not there yet. But its not totally out of the question.

Sega would probably sponsor such an event. It would be good for their arcades, good for the franchise, good for the community.

Just remember dojo chiquanshu. Soon the website:

http://www.chiquanshu.org

will go live, and our to program will be there for everyone to
see, critize, appreciate, flame, or join.

We're also working on having some live exhibition matches as opening for our dojo competition.

Without a doubt you will be and maddy and his crew will be invited and invited in a timely manner. Its all about the VF sport.

 

ROFL. Even with command display turned on, this would scroll by too quickly to determine how many throw escapes were entered during the window.

 

is he talking about the wannafight.us vids on youtube?
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=wannafightus
i=total noob, but aren't those guys in japan?.us

 

I did say we have judges,

and we dvr our matches in case of discrepancy. Although slomo has been taken out., Dvd recorders allow you to slow it enough.

Also if you've played enough matches you know a triple throw escape when you see one