YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tournament

This might be a known thing to some, but I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I realised youTube user osmium3033 posted some footage coming from MOAT, the famous tournament that took place in December 1995 in Toronto, if I'm not mistaken.

Here's the search

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=moat+vf2&search_type=

There are quite a few videos of the legendary player Akira "Taiwan #4" Yeh. Although he is really good (and was the winner of the tournament) I think the whole hype was a bit exaggerated. He doesn't seem to me to be better than some of the top Japanese Akira players:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SxYSw2of8s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr31mDzug84

Anyhow, enjoy!

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

Akira (No.4's real name) was certainly a player to behold back in 1995. The way the story goes is that No.4's best friend, another Taiwanese Akira player, was as good as No.4 and had actually placed 2nd to Kyasao in the Japanese VF2 Maximum Battle. So, it was assumed that No.4 was of a similar calibre to the top Japanese players.

As VF2 progressed, Robertson learned a lot from No.4 and became ridiculously good, really taking Akira to another level, imo.

If only we had YouTube back in 1995.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

They hype was not at all exaggerated. you need to understand that #4 brought with him a ton of techniques with him that hadn't been seen previously. Hell, when the "taiwan backbreaker" hit the Gamest Mook we'd (toronto) had been doing it for some time thanks to #4. #4 had a deeper bag of tricks than any of us had ever seen and the dexterity and yomi to make them work. He raised the level of play in Toronto and in the players who traveled to Toronto.

That said, you're taking 30 second clips - of tournament play and at the finals, mind you - and using that as your basis for judging his skill level. Not really fair.

sigh. We have the full tapes of MoaT but as they are in the hands of a notorious procrastinator I don't think they'll ever get capped. Too bad, while the playing is really very dated it was still exciting and certainly the house full of people were very vocal and animated.

GE

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

Hi level VF2 in a nutshell according to JP players: /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

Also, that Akira play from the Canadian tournament doesn't even come close to the JP level play in the two videos posted. There isn't even a comparison.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We have the full tapes of MoaT but as they are in the hands of a notorious procrastinator I don't think they'll ever get capped. </div></div>

Hey!!! >.<

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

See, it's as GodEater put it, the clips are 30sec segments that are certainly not representative of No.4's skill. That being said, when I watch those clips, you can really see the nuances of the matches as they are between two people who know each other well and have played each other countless times prior to the MoAT tourney.

Either way, at the time, it's not an overhyped statement to say that No.4 was amongst the top VF2 players in the world.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

I finally get to see footage from this legendary event /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
If you guys do get around to capping the whole thing that would be most excellent!

lol at people commenting on like wise old vf sages over 30 sec clips.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

Hey!!! >.<

</div></div>

YOU HAVE THE TAPES TOO?

I was refering to Boba Shroud.

GE

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

Yay, Rich is the man. Now upload more FOO.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

the ones he uploaded were from the archive and were capped and uploaded when 30 seconds was "pretty cool!". Until we get the actual tapes capped there is very little worth uploading.

so sad!

GE

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

I apologise if I came across as if I wanted to bash #4 and/or diminish the historical value of MOAT. It is true that tournament play isn't always a good gauge of many skills, as one will tend to go for safer options over flashy but risky to pull off things.
Also, there aren't many clips of #4 either and those other two videos of Ohsu and Homestay playing VF2 are from 1996 (i.e. time had passed, new things had been found etc.)

However, I remember reading things like Taiwan #1 (also an Akira player) being able to reverse anything you'd throw at him. Now, that seems a bit sci-fi.
Similarly, I read reports regarding Akira Kid being able to simply hop and attack you (rather than just block low) whenever you'd throw a low move to him or to have absolutely 100% consistency for SPoD. These claims regarded a specific tournament (VF3 Maximum Battle, International Tournament) and, after seeing the relevant footage, I also found those to be absolute exaggerations.

Again, no direspect meant to anybody, I'm sure the guys I mentioned have been among the top 10 Akira players in the World for a very good while, but they are not the perfect, clarvoyant, ultimate players some people (quite probably in good faith) tried to depict as. As usual, it's good to check things with your own eyes.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

That tournament changed my life-

I'm excited to rejoin the community and see people still that into VF, and i'm proud that the MoAT is still regarded as one of the great gatherings in Virtua Fighter history. I've played a few old friends from those days and that magic is still there.

There's no doubt #4 was the best. Even though i had some tricks just for him, he always had my number and I never beat him in tournament play. When he showed up the techniques he brought changed how the game was played. We all felt pretty damn special to learn those moves and to incorporate them into our characters. The best part was making up names for everything.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvDhktl387c&feature=related

man the cheering in that team battle was insane, I would love to hear more vf5 vids with the cheers. It reminded me of hearing yun genkai combo cheers in 3rd Strike.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

yeah baby! I was writing another response but was hoping you'd jump in.

I really do think it was a "you had to be there" kind of thing.

GE

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

Hehe not to be an ass, since I am an ass to a non VF
hardcore enthusiast. This looks like shit. I don't remember
looking this bad graphic wise. Geez times have changed.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

No offence, but you are SO wrong. That game was developed in nineteen-fucking-ninetyfour and was running at 60 fps second solid as tank and 384 lines of progressively scanned resolution. It had animations that still look as good as they get and I believe that the collision between characters were better than what we have in VF5.
Just try and think where other games and other developers were at when VF2 came out. Nowhere close.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

I agree that we weren't very good at that time. As that was the first gathering of many for the Hardcore VF players, most of us were actually kinda nub back then. As it was still relatively early in games release nobody who attended had much tournament experience. You really can't compare the North American Akira players until MoAT 2.1, hell- even I played Akira then! That's when the super crouch dashing, low punching, senbon, meat plow okizeme madness was in full effect.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/df.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/df.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/b.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif

mmmmmm. Meat plow. rawr.

 

Re: YouTube footage on legendary MOAT VF2 tourname

I swear some of those animations are still in the game from VF2.