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Famitsu Translations : VF3 Discussion 

All information copyrighted by SEGA AM2 and 
Weekly Famitsu Special Edit (Jan 97)

Translation by Sitson Lee (eflower@engsoc.carleton.ca)
               Shuntaro Eguchi 


Thanks to Shuntaro Eguchi and his patience for translating the material.

The big Four
============

The follow is a summary of a script of the 3 past tetsujins,
BunBunMaru, Shinjinku Jacky, Kashiwa Jeffery and I think the Kage
player in the Wheel of Fortune VF2 series (Nagata Yasui).  Ikeburo
Sarah was invited but was busy and therefore absent.

The magazine editors got them together to discuss questions regarding
VF3 in general.  Here are the topics:


Lion's u/f+K (Infinite pounce)
============

This as you might know already was a bad bug in the initial release
of VF3 which they discuss ways to counter.  However those machines
are being eleminated so we don't have to worry.

Styles
======

The group mentioned about some very strong players who do NOT pounce
but try to annihilate the opponent by fighting them when they are
up.  There was no conclusion as if this is the style to follow and
not be labelled "chicken".

In general these four players play the traditional "in your face"
aggressive style so they get respected and not labelled "chicken".
Kashiwa noted that he always looks forward to end the opponent with
a big or fancy move.  However in tournaments it's tournament style
and just for the wins.

Manners
=======

They mentioned briefly about manners in playing games.  They dislike
people who bash the machine or shout when lost.  "Don't take it
that seriously as it's a game after all."


Enjoyment 
=========

The group agree that they their enjoyment of VF3 is winning by
"Yomi" (reading the opponent's behaviour and anticipating their
next moves).  Psychological games was stressed out by the Jo Shun
and the Toronto players back in VF2, but it's even more amplified
in VF3 with it's endless possiblities.

The group mentions they don't like playing players who have no Yomi
skills and just button mash canned combos.  They also mention that
they don't like players having a skewed view of their skills due
to privileges (like playing a beta version) and having win streaks
so that their skills develop at an expoential rate with MINIMAL
cost.  They rhetorically ask, "how did we get to this level in the
first place"  and the answer to that is, spending big $$$.

The suprising change near the end is they all come to agreement
that VF3 wasn't like VF2 days.  They say their not compelled to
master the game like for VF2.  They don't know why.  It's very
interesting too, as I have this feeling as well.  I don't dislike
the game, but the drive to play isn't there anymore. It's like
we're VFed out...

Character discussion
====================

Nagata has problems playing against Sarah, Pai and Jacky. Both
BunBun and Kashiwa have problems with Lau, Jacky and Lion.  Shinjinku
Jacky had no comment.. 8)

They detailed on Jacky being too strong due to his ablity to mix
up levels easily and lighting fast.  They say Taka is the least
used in and Lau (!).  The reason  Lau is least used is due to the
STRICT joystick inputs for him.  (I think they are refering to a
move like P, b+P)  But read on to find out what Daimon Lau does..

Most used characters as we all know are Jacky, Sarah, SHun, Pai,
Wolf and AKira.  All characters are stronger from VF2 to make the
game more balanced.

Nagata then askes a question.  "What 3 moves would you added to
your specialized character and what 3 would you take away."  (They're
lame.. really lame)

Shinjinku 
add: a strong throw (GiantSwing), Kage's b,b+KG and a surpise
exchange like throw
remove: HighBackFist, lighting kicks and Jacky's b+K

Kashiwa
add: Wolf's lowkick, Wolf's b,f+PK and Lau's UpKn,PPPd+K
remove: machinegun hellstabs, d/f,d/f+P and triple upper

BBM	 
add: f,d+K from Lau, Akira's SPOD and DLC
remove: f,SCR,b+P,P, PPP and P+K from Wolf


Game Play
=========

Nagato questions again, "what change would you make if VF3 was not
released"

BBM - the rigour time (?), as it's too long.  One can not do massive
air combos or roll your own combo thing.  (Hmm.. I hope he's not
hinting VF3 is like Tekken)

Kashiwa - redo the sound effects and BGM

Shinjinku - "backdash, reduce the back dashes so that they are like
a walk." This is to prevent machi type players and players who do
a lot of hit and run  (Man, do I ever I agree with that!) He also
didn't like throw escapes.. well Jacky is predictable with throws.

They discussed how they named the "double throw escape" (a normal
PG escape and another throw escape within the 10 frames after being
throw) It's called "hishiyakakunage" in Japanese and according to
Shuntaro, it's a name for a Japanese chess game.  Just thought you
might be interested..

The future of VF3
=================

Again Nagota asked another question.. "the future of VF3"

Shinjinku - IT's getting very narrow and the game is fading out.  

The group want's to fight people from other parts of the world and
turn VF3 international so he could represent his nation and check
out playing styles from other parts of the world.

BBM and Kashiwa said they were trashed by Daimon Lau and could not
beat him at all. the record is 60 - 0 for Daimon.  They said they
found a solution to beat him, but they really wanted to say is they
need more quality players like Daimon Lau to improve themselves.

The group also wanted "team battle" tournaments instead of the
individual in a tournament. I think that would be cool.. imagine
the BunBun clan!  Or the Shinjinku hair stylist group. But really
this would add more fun with friends fighting together instead of
against each other.  I guess the tetsujins want to form a friendship
group to keep their status.

Finally they simply just wanted MORE tournaments so they could
communicate with other players and discuss moves and strategy.
That's exactly what a lot of us are doing over the internet and
travelling to places for gatherings!

International Tournament
========================

They said they are looking forward to it.  8)  Unfortunately now
that the results are out, I think none of these guys advanced to
play in this tournament.



That's it..


Here's a few things to think about that I got from the Magazine.

-BunBunMaru fashion and co... (hmm...)

-A term called Video Game Junkies (I think I'm one of them)

-VF3 slang dictionary
 here a few quick picks by Shuntaro, we didn't go through all of
 them
 
 "Oh Yeah!"  this is what Lau says after his PPPK variants.  It's
 common in Japan when there is a big crowd watching a game and Lau
 connects this.  The crowd would shout in unison "Oh Yeah!"

 Lion was wearing AIRMAX shoes (I guess Nike rejected the idea but
 Lion does do some serious air in this b,f+PG throw)

 "The Narrators", these are guys who just talk about games in the
 crowd but can't play for real.  (yeah, I'm thinking of a few guys
 like that right now.)

 "ESPER" is a name for mind reading players with strong Yomi and
 spot on playing which you can't do crap about.  Reminds me of #4
 during MoaT 1 - the Borg.

 Jacky's wall throw is called "Jacky Rocket".  So shout "Jacky GO!"
 when he does it.