Virtua Fighter Perth (Escape Portal/PIKA)

Hi everyone, Elson here!

I want to use this opportunity to share a brief and recent story of how I decided to take initiative to start a Virtua Fighter chapter in the city of Perth.

Quick intro about me: I've been playing FGs at home during my childhood where I bonded with my brother and shared great memories. Virtua Fighter always had a special place in those memories but at one point I stopped and focused on other endeavors.

Fast forward to 2022, I decided to play my first online FG which happened to be Virtua Fighter: Ultimate Showdown. I knew nothing about online nor offline gaming in the FGC scene but quickly learned the ropes when I joined the VFA (Virtua Fighter Australia) Discord playing weekly online matches with Mike, Jihoon and Eddie. I also made an effort to get to know other VF players globally (mainly from the USA) through interactions on Twitter & Twitch.

Now it's been over two years and I'm grateful to Mike who has consistently been able to find time to play online VF with me on a fortnightly/monthly basis. I'm getting better but I'm still 10 years too early compared to super strong players. Having said that two key OG players & TOs for VF in the East Coast of Australia: Luke and Toto have given me encouragement to start a local scene in my area.

And so here we are today: Elson was inspired with one mission - 'to promote VF in Perth, Western Australia'.

It started with the first week back in 16th Feb 2024 - where the Perth local FGC spot (Escape Portal – Esports Lounge) was holding a special three day tournament run by PIKA, and I decided to drop in to get a feel for what I'm about to embark on: the FGC offline environment.

It was a packed crowd, starting with Mortal Kombat 1 as their tournament game for day one. It was no surprise that the Tekken 8 hype was very present. Despite the noise and excitement I made it a priority to get to know key people in the local spot - the folks who run Escape Portal, the general rules and operations and a quick history with the FGC community. I was fortunate to run into one of the shift managers of 3 years, Jayde, who gave me the rundown with a warm and welcoming smile.

Now that I'm equipped with some handy knowledge of the place, I needed to know more about PIKA and the TOs that run it. That is where I caught up with Stuart, who happens to play Virtua Fighter (he's an all-rounder FG player, VF3:TB was his most recent jam). Stuart was kind and patient to explain the basics of running tournaments, managing the FGC crowd in Perth and how they collab with Escape Portal. Key tip: it's important to ask lots of questions and learn about your hobby at large - playing fighting games is one thing, but it's all about the people, the connections, the planning and effort that make things happen by the very people who are passionate about the FGs you like and play. Very insightful stuff.

The tweet below is a summary of the evening:



The key take-away (and it's worth repeating) is that the offline FGC are very friendly, welcoming, & passionate folks who will do what they can to make sure you have a good time. Thankfully I have yet to encounter any badly behaving or salty players (and yes they do exist, be mindful). The very cool thing is, well make that two cool things, is that one: I managed to learn how to set up a booth and get games going which resulted in getting several people to play Virtua Fighter on the very first week! That to me is good progress, better than I had anticipated. The second cool thing: I caught up with a professional FG player named Taj (KOF main) and during discussion he asked whether I knew Luke, Toto and Mike whom he had regular tournaments with them over in the East for VF - I happily said: "Yes! Of course I do!". What a small world we live in. All in a all, it was a very awesome Friday evening.

Then we move on to week two...!

 

Week 2 at Friday Night Fights

23rd February 2024:
3 x Virtua Fighter Booths for the first time! ​

This was an incredible evening.

Never have I expected to make something unprecedented happen at my local FGC scene, but it did. This situation wouldn't have been made possible without the initial encouragement from Toto and Luke (OG TOs of VF East Coast Australia), the help of Stuart (PIKA TO) guiding me on the rules & process of local setups, and Mike who continues to whoop me into a stronger and more knowledgeable Virtua Fighter player.

Let's begin this week's story with some prep work.

The Plan:

Prior to attending Friday Night Fights (FNFs) - a weekly FGC game night with a setup of at least +20 booths, games ranging from Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, KOF, Soul Calibur, and of course Tekken, running from 6pm to past midnight, with a very affordable $10 AUD entry cost held at Portal Escape - I decided on an ambitious plan: to setup two VF booths where 2 players on one booth can do long sets (welcoming both newbies, who are testing out their newfound knowledge of the game, and veterans, who want to get some matches in to flex their existing skills and experience) while the other booth was utilised as an opportunity for anyone new to VF to learn the basics of the game with me in training mode.

However after joining the local FGC Discord and getting some feedback from a regular about my plan, I decided to listen to the feedback, adjust to setting up one booth and play it by ear on the evening. It's a matter of respecting the room, something that needs to acknowledged when you are starting anything new in other people's spaces.


Creating some Promo Materials (The Quick Guide' booklet and Promo Poster):

I thought to myself that if I want to properly get people's attention and make it as accessible as possible in person why don't I create some items that will help sell the appeal to the curious player?

So I got to work and created a nifty 'Quick Guide' booklet so that people can skim through & understand what the game is all about and an A3 sized laminated poster with a powerful visual to get more eye-balls to the booth.

I stayed up all night through to the late afternoon to get the job done. Here are the results!




Rock & Rolling for VF at Friday Night Fights!:

After printing the beautiful VF promo items, I quickly head back home to catch a much needed 2 hour power nap (as mentioned in the above video, I didn't sleep for 22 hours!) before making it to Portal Escape at 7:30pm.

I arrived on the scene with my duffle-bag containing my PS4 & PS5 (just in case a second booth can be created!) and customised Qanba Drone 2 joystick, and was pleasantly greeted with a familar face - it was Jayde the shift manager from last week! Had a quick chat, paid my $10 entry fee and made my way to the upper section of the building to see how everything is going for the event.

Upon arrival I can hear the excitement of the crowd - it was a Tekken 8 local tournament that was coinciding with the other booths available for casual play (side note: my eye was immediately caught by a peculiar retro cube monitor, sitting in the very corner, that looked like it came straight out of a DOS era computer from the 90's, the size of a larger toaster - and it had Street Fighter 3rd Strike on it!). Among the crowd I saw the friendly James (another TO I've met from last week, he's been with PIKA for 2 years and currently mains Ryu for SF6), who without hesitation approached and greeted me with warmth. I told him about the plan and was very supportive, further given me encouragement and a confidence boost to make things happen for the evening.

I then caught up with Stuart who was quintessential in assisting with my ambition: bring awareness of Virtua Fighter to the locals! We quickly set up the first booth. Immediately a player, by the name of Gigahands (from a Tekken background), passed by and asked what this game was. Without hesitation I welcomed him in and proudly said: "This is Virtua Fighter, want to play?" and used the booklet to show him the basics.

Gigahands was keen and willing to give it a go. Awesome. You ever get that 'feel-good' feeling from doing something that feels right? That's one of those moments. It's amazing how quick Virtua Fighter can give off such a good impression the moment two fighters are moving on screen - as Mike would say: "The allure of VF is strong".

Gigahands asked for a recommendation on who he should choose for a character. I asked some questions, listened and made a suggestion from his feedback. It was Jeffry McWild no doubt.

Here was the exchange where I taught Gigahands and Stuart on how to execute Jeffry's infamous Toe Kick to Splash Mountain attack (2K_special timing of input_236 P+G)!



After some excellent attempts, Stuart and Gigahands finally understood the special timing of the throw input.
As they continued to practice playing with a Jeffry mirror match two more Tekken players (Morgan and Jayden, pro wrestlers btw!) dropped by to check out what was happening. The VF Poster definitely helped!



I gotta make mention of this: Stuart, prior to having VF setup on his PS5, had this amusing idea of changing the cosmetics of the health bars to 'Tekken style'. He even had the Craig Murduk costume on for Jeffry which is why you see Morgan's reaction in the above video - a little confused and pleasantly surprised. Throughout the night others were also pointing out how they were wondering why Tekken 8 looked very different. Ha ha!

Anyways this next part was really awesome.

Check out that crowd!!



Killian (SF6, Guilty Gear: Strive and Undernight player) with the wicked bun decided to drop in to play some Virtua Fighter too! I did catch him last week when he told me that he's had some experience with VF from way back and liked to play as Shun. At the same time I didn't realise that a mate of his named Patrick (Vampire Saviour player), the guy with the hat, saw our booth and brought his PS3 to set up Virtua Fighter: Final Showdown!

It caught me by surprised because you have to understand, I've never played VF: FS in my lifetime. And this was the go-to for competitive VF in the East Coast of Australia and globally for donkey's years - I missed out on an entire era of VF. Put yourself in my shoes - to witness an old gem suddenly turned up right next door to Stuart's VF: Ultimate Showdown booth, it was surreal to me. I enjoyed the moment and decided to take more photos and footage.



The unprecedented moment at Escape Portal: 3 x VF Booths!!:

At this point in the evening, with three hours before closing, I was already elated to have successfully promoted VF to a strong crowd at FNFs. Many folks who visited were complimenting my passion and efforts - they really dig the VF 'Quick Guide' booklets! Tekken 8 tournament near the entrance of the upper floor was still active and energised as ever, there were other booths that had a good number of SF6s going on and a few empties. While Killian (SHUN) and Patrick (SARAH) were going at it with Final Showdown, I was welcoming Tri (Tekken player) for an introduction/training session - he did come by earlier evening and told me that he'd come back after a few games of Tekken and give VF a try. After spending a good amount of time recommending him to use PAI (his Tekken main is Asuka), teaching him some basics and key combos I took a quick break to see where Stuart was.

Yet another surprise was waiting for me.

Stuart (BRAD) had already set up the third booth opposite of us, and he was already challenging Jayden (AKIRA) - Morgan's former tag partner in wrestling, the strong kiwi boys that you saw on an earlier video who come from a Tekken background - to a brilliant long sets match! It was unreal. I couldn't help but smile.



Teaching the Pai 'Bread and Butter' combo:

I had to record this little victory. This was personal because I love Pai in VF and to be able to quickly assess and recommend this character to Tri, it was very satisfying. So I spent more time making sure that he got some combos in for guaranteed damage in future matches. Thankfully the VF Quick Guide booklet has a QR code that will take you straight to VFDC's combo's section via the latest version of VF5 - very handy! When Tri gained confidence I had to teach him what I considered one of Pai's 'Bread and Butter' combo - kick starting it with her Enbikyaku (3K+G).

Watch the video below to see what I mean by the 'victory'.



It wasn't my victory, far from it. It's our shared victory. Tri and I. Beginner and teacher achieving one goal at a time - getting better at Virtua Fighter.

It's the little things in life that you got to enjoy and never take for granted.

And that's it for the second evening for FNFs! I hope you enjoyed this report, and perhaps inspire you to make a start at your local FGC scene! Small steps goes a long way.

Shoutout to everyone I've met along the way during this two week journey! You have all been awesome and are the embers that flame my passion to bring awareness of Virtua Fighter to my local area!

I shall keep ya'll posted for more stories in future visits to Escape Portal. Thanks for reading!

Oh and... Play Virtua Fighter everyone!