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私の最終的な日本 VSAVコミュニティの印象とその理解。

日本のVSAVコミュニティーは、私が関わった格闘ゲームコミュニティの中で最も情熱的で心に満ち、その上すごく楽しい格闘ゲームコミュニティでした。日本では格闘アーケードがまだ生きていて、しかも一プレイが50セント/円なので決して安い趣味ではないでしょう。VSAVのアクティブなプレイヤーさん達は VSAVは高価な趣味であることを踏まえてなおかつお互いと競い合いそれと同時に私生活面でも自分を支えている事はこの強いVSAVコミュニティーに貢献してると思います。プレイヤーの皆さんはVSAVの腕を上げるためテクニックを学びそして成長しその過程を通して楽しんでいました。このコミュニティの幸せな雰囲気は上記すべてを最大限に生かした結果だと思います。VSAVは刺激的で高速性の高い格闘ゲームであり、私の格闘ゲーム暦で一番楽しいゲームだと思っています。誰もが強くなりながら楽しい時を過すために努力をしていたので私は楽しい時間をすごせました。

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

KEN_Gallon:貴方は私にとって日本でVSAVをプレイする最大のきっかけでした。 大会を主催してもらったり私の通訳をしてもらったりして本当にありがとうございました。大会中のすべての対戦や貴方のアドバイスには本当に感謝しています。日本での組み手は一生の思い出になるでしょう！シンシナティは永遠に貴方を応援します。=D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqS5LxjZfzw

KEN, EGO, DD, Sakamoto & Tetsu: 五人の皆さん のおかげでVSAVのコミュニティーは今でも生きているといっても過言ではないでしょう。それに加え皆さんが日本でのVSAVの対戦ビデオをアップロードし解説をしてるからこそアメリカでもVSAVがあるのです。今後も世界に“Rookies, Monthly, Devil’s Playground, Darkstalkers Combination Cup & Darkstalkers Carnival”を提供してください。

SHU: 貴方の集めたVSAVのフレームデータには驚きました。フレームデータのご提供ありがとうございました。その上貴方のビシャモンは最高でした。私も百年ぐらいはは練習しないと、、、。＝P
http://darkstalkers.moryou.com/

Paprika, Matsuokoa, Hunou, Oshi: 四月二十五日に高田馬場ミカド来てもらいありがとうございました。一緒にプレイするチャンスやVSAV関連の冗談できてとても楽しかったです。Legendary Chicken!

Olive-Oil: DPG2のポスターありがとうございました。とても素敵です ^_^。プレイヤーの皆さんとの思い出として最高のプレゼントでした。そのポスターを見るたびDPG2を思い出します。貴方とプレイヤーさんからサインを集めるときも面白かったです。 それにしても貴方の Jedah はとても強かったです! 一戦だけしかプレイできませんでしたが緊迫感あふれる試合でした。今度は一戦以上対戦したいです！＝D

Nakanishi & Sakamoto: 貴方達はDPG2で私を特別な人間だと感じさせてました。ありがとうございます。DPG2 での決勝進出おめでとうございます。 “Darkstalkers Are not Dead”（ダークストーカーは不死身です）

Matsuoka: マッフィンレディー! 貴方の優しさとマッフィンは最高でしたありがとうございます (^_^)貴方のレイレイのよかったです。結構多数のアメリカのプレイヤーさんも倒せそうな感じでした！

DD: もし私が日本に住んでいたら貴方とはかなり遊んでいたでしょう。最高でした！. 貴方のSasquatchはとても素早かったです. DPG2 エムブイピー！ゴーゴーゴー!　アメリカのSasquatchプレイヤーさんたちにも見習わせたいです。

Nishiken: 一緒にインド料理を食べたり、モリガン対モリガン戦も最高でした。色々モリガンのことについて教わりました。感謝しています。ツイッターに登録してください。

Buzz: 会えてうれしかったです! ゲームも楽しかったです。貴方のガロンは時にワイルドでしたが、あなた自身は温厚でしたね。 インド料理屋での雑談も盛り上がってよかったです。 XD

Kowappa: 新しいKowappaはサスカッチのお笑い芸人でした。 私が日本に住んでいたら結構一緒に遊んでいたでしょう. Yoga Fire!

General-Madulass: チームメイトとしても強く、その上英語も上手でしたね！居酒屋に出てきてくれて有難うございました. Good games.

Tsuchineko: 貴方はとっても強かったです! 二十歳超えれば生ビールが飲めるようになり格段と強くなるでしょう。^_^外食先での VSAVの会話 に参加できるようになるといいですね. Good Games!

Oouchi: ミスターセイバーマイスター! DPGの後の時間有難うございました。VSAV関連の会話も最高でした! DPG2 での功績、そして決勝進出おめでとうござす。英語も上手で助かりました ^_^ 感情表現豊かなお方でとても新鮮でした。


私は皆さんの西洋VSAVへの窓口になりこれからも日本のVSAVコミュニティーと一緒にバンパイアを推進していきたいと思います。

-Kyleより (Translation by: Ryuichi I)

This section below is the exact same content written in English.

My final impression & understanding of the the JP VSAV community. Japanese VSAV is the most passionate, heart-filled, fun-loving FGC I have had the pleasure of encountering. Because the arcades are still alive & each play is 50-cents/yen, there is no “poverty”. VSAV is an expensive hobby and the active players have the funds to compete and take care of themselves. Every player wants to learn, grow & have fun. This community is full of “try Hard” players, who put in time, money & heart into becoming stronger through a happy atmosphere. Vampire is exciting, super-fast and the most fun I’ve had with a competitive game, ever. I did not hear a single back-handed compliment or a sour loser, because nobody loses when everyone is striving to have fun while become strong.

KEN_Gallon:You are the biggest influence I had when choosing to come for Japan’s Golden-Week of Vampire. I am very grateful for your aid in translating & hosting, your gracious invitations and I am eternally thankful for all the matches and advise you have given. Doing a Japanese Kumite is a memory I will always remember! Cincinnati will forever cheer for you. =D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqS5LxjZfzw

KEN, EGO, DD, Sakamoto & Tetsu: you (5) are the Tournament Organizers and a large reason why Japan still competes in VSAV today. It is directly because of your efforts with video uploading, commentary & hosting that USA has a VSAV scene. Please continue to show the world “Rookies, Monthly, Devil’s PlayGround, Darkstalkers Combination Cup & Darkstalkers Carnival”.

SHU: The work that you have completed for VSAV frame-data is amazing. Thank you for showing everyone these values. Your Bishamon is fantastic. I must train for 100 years to compete. =P

http://darkstalkers.moryou.com/

Paprika, Matsuokoa, Hunou, Oshi: Thank you for coming out on Thursday, April 25th to Mikdao. I really enjoyed the chance to play with all of you and laugh at some vampire. We had a good time. Legendary Chicken!

Olive-Oil: Thank you very much for the DPG2 poster. It’s beautiful. ^_^ I am very happy to have it as a memory of Japanese Vampire Savior players. I think of DPG2 every time I see the poster. I enjoyed running around with you and appreciate your aid with the autographs. Your Jedah is strong! We played (1) match and it was very intense. I would love to play you a long set, someday. =D

Nakanishi & Sakamoto: You two really made me feel special at DPG2. Thank you.USA players will become stronger, because of you and me. Congratz at your accomplishments at DPG2 & making the finals. “Darkstalkers Are not Dead”

Matsuoka: The Muffin Lady! You were very nice and the muffins were delicious. Thank You. (^_^) Good games, in Vampire. Your LeiLei is good, you could beat a lot of USA players.

DD: If I lived in Japan, we would be hanging out a lot.Your company was a great time. Your Sasquatch is FASTEST. DPG2 MVP, Go-Go-Go-Go! I will tell all USA Sasquatches your secrets.

Nishiken: I enjoyed having Indian food with you and I especially enjoyed playing you in lots of Morrigan vs Morrigan matches. I learned a lot about my character, I will always feel grateful. Get twitter!

Buzz: Glad to meet you! I enjoyed our games, your Gallon is wild but you are a reserved character. Hanging out at the Indian restaurant and talking about games/players was a lot of fun. XD

Kowappa: New Kowappa is the Sasquatch comedian. We would hang out alot, if I lived in Japan. Yoga Fire!

General-Madulass: you were a great teammate, your English is strong too! I am glad you came to Izakaya and we could talk. Good games.

Tsuchineko: You are a strong player! Once you become 20 years old and you can drink Nama- Beeru, you will become stronger. ^_^ Players talk VSAV at dinner and you are missing those conversations. Good Games!

Oouchi: Mr. Savior Meister! I was very glad to spend time with you after DPG. It was lots of fun talking about VSAV! Toasting to Jackie-Chan! Congratz at your accomplishments at DPG2 & making the finals. Your English is very strong and it was a large help for us. ^_^ You are a player who shows his emotions. It was exciting watching you become a winner and cheer out for VSAV.

I will be a foundation, an outlet for western VSAV. I will strive to play, educate & promote Vampire Savior in Japan’s honor. -Kyle

___________

Most of this info is not new to VSAV or strong character specialist. This is just new for me & I want to share some details I learned in Japan. =D


Zabel-
Emphasize how much control he has at ¾ screen. Bell’s ability to close the gap and use limb extension creates very efficient footsies outside of the opponents optimum offensive range.

Sasquatch-
Can short-hop over short crouchers & 1-frame ES-Big Brunch before the turn around w/ input of 6, 6321[4]PP.

Short-hop into hp-throw is a super effective way to punish tech-hits & jump outs w/o losing momentum on a st.mp.

When opponents manage to get above the rollercoaster-squatch, the go-to answer is always st.hp & a short-hop on the reset.

vs Qbee, corner OKI w/ j.hp~j.hk. Can easily land into a throw to cover all jump outs and put the bee on the ground.

Against short crouchers a short-hop j,hk is a fun cross-up (which most sas players know), but the new trick here is when the opponent actually stand blocks and Sas never crosses. This is an amazing throw setup. The opponent recovers just as Sas lands. I recommend a normal throw to OS the jump too.

When fighting a defensive Bishamon, your goal is to walk him to the corner to take away his zoning game. This takes patience & Time. Just Tech-Hit and advance.


Qbee-
9, 9~J.lp~J.lk as an input buffer for accuracy on close ranged IAD traps.

Japanese advice for beating Q-bee is to jump more than her and get above her.

*Fuck Kyubee Desu*


Gallon-
If Morrigan tries to setup a Finishing Shower from a cr.hk & does not command cancel the super, Gallon can wake-up neutral and ES-Beast Canon for a huge punish.

From the ES-GC he can combo: ES-BC_9~1, Land, ES-Climb Razer.

OKI w/ DF~Command Throw; the escape is to stand & block. Holding [4] will have the character stepping out of throw range and can than punish the cl.hk w/ a low.


Bulleta-
Late J.lp is the best way to punish TechHits. leads to cr.lp, RENDA st.lp …

Japanese Bulleta’s jump on wake-up more than qbee’s. Once you use grounded attacks to beat their Up+Backs, they use grandma. >_>


Aulbath-
poke w/ cr.lk because on hit you can LINK cr.lp into whatever & on block it is a great tick-throw or setup for IOH J.lk~J.2hk.

During Bubble traps against characters w/ armor (Sas & Bish). Be prepared to punish their DarkForce w/ dashing ES-Command Throw. The Punch version.

cr.mk at max range is GC safe

st.lp works against crouching Sasquatch

Anti-Finishing Shower trick is to Dark Force & go to the top of the screen, than command hop off the stingray and use the drill to spend time off screen as the missiles disappear.


Felicia-
Midscreen DarkForce BnB can be extended with short-hop J.mk, LINK cr.lk (helper hits) than back to the typical repeat BnB. [cr.lk, RENDA cr.lk, (helper hits), walk forward.]x2

Best corner OKI is to 44J.mk, cr.mp XX ES-Buckler; for the cross-up overhead or the landing low. This is ideal b/c it always ends in a cornered opponent. Compare this to a quick left/right walk-thru and Felicia’s mixup has a chance to leave the corner.


Bishamon-
Has a terrible time against Bulleta. Even tho he can UB, he still gets circles ran around him up close.

Against opponents w/ high/low OKI, it’s ideal to back roll and wake-up w/ a Hp-iri giri


LeiLei-
Post pursuit whiff 50/50 is from st.mp. Here you can go into cr.mk xx TNRH or just st.mp xx TNRH. This also covers jumpouts and gives her the opportunity to react and confirm the resets into ideal scenarios.

66~cr.lk blows up TechHIt attempts. Can link into another cr.lk and confirm a big combo.


Demitri-
Nothing new, Sorry.


Lilith-
Tiger Knee Soul Flash than react to the opponents movement. You can lure them into jumping at your soul flash by backdashing, than react to their 9-jump w/ a d.hp for the grounded UB.

If you do a higher TK & confirm the opponent 9-jumps, Lilith should Super Jump full air chain into a grounded UB. SJ.lp, j.lk, j.mp, j.mk, j.hp, j.hk, Land, and UB w/ st.hp or d.mk or s.lp.

When spaced correctly cr.lp, cr.lk & cr.mk are GC/DP safe. Use this to mount offense on a cornered character w/ a dp.

If a d.mk resets opponents in the corner, Lilith still has time to do a cornber walk-thru mixup.

D.lp x Throw OS is sooooooo strong. Seriously, the centerpiece of Kaji’s advancing mixup game. learn to ABUSE this trick. Video coming soon!


Morrigan-
At neutral state she is best used as a reactive character. Wh0iff st.lp is a good opportunity to make the opponent twitch & react to their movement.

cr.hk & cr.mk can be GC/Dp saf.

When opponents grab escape all of Morrigan’s normal throws, they do not take reduced damage. This allows Morrigan to go for the throw-kill sooner.


Jedah-
Claw x Wheel glitch is caused by Tech-Hitting the wheel standing and getting hit by the UB-Claw at the same time. Sooo cool.

From a reset a 6~[6] LATE j.hk is a weird cross-up in which the opponent CANNOT techhit & forces them to crouch, but than Jedah can Autocorrect j.mp.

After Jedah throws an ES-Wheel and confirms the air block, usually he goes for the UB-claw, However, most characters have an ability to stall their air mobility and avoid the claw after blocking the wheel. Shimatsuya was confirming their air block and then jumping into a full airchain to punish their movement options. Very effective at high lvl play.

Oouchi says d.hp infinite is “EASY!”. lol. just hold 6[6] and double-strum the J.hp. Saw him do 13-repetitions on SHUU Bishamon. We were all cheering.

Jedah’s DarkForce is a serious threat, it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card and when he is in the state all JP”s completely respected him and ran away.

The frame-trap mixup post Jedah’s airdash is to chain to J.hp. He can also delay the j.hp by a few frames in efforts to punish a chicken block. Regardless this usually setups a grounded UB or st.lp or cr.mk depending ondistance.

Doing IOH J.hk at a correct height to confirm a ground combo is critical. Input 6~[6] than hit j.hk as soon as possible. I recommend double strumming it.

Ground combo’s on hit always ended in st.mk for the +1 frame. Unless it was for the kill, than they would chain to cr.hk or cr.hp depending on spacing. Takes an experienced player to recognize where cr.hk would whiff & cr.hp is prefered.

Corner throw OKI w/ a low wheel than d.j.mp is really strong.

To input the pit super as a low-profile you buffer the inputs during cr.mk. contrasted to inputting 2, 5, 2+PPP and forcing jedah to stand up during the execution.

Against fireball characters, Jedah’s abuse advancing w/ 44~6[6] j.hp to confirm fireball punishes or stopping and staying at neutral.

High lvl play has opponents trying to force 3-hit jumps-in against tall characters such as Jedah. however, the first attack needs to be very high. Jedah can recognize this, step toward than whiff cr.mk to force a low-profile and change the opponents spaceing. they will typically land BEHIND Jedah and he gets a free throw from this situation. Shimatsuya ABUSED this against Kaji & I.

Victor-
Nothing new, Sorry.


Anakaris-
The Anak glitch w/ grounded UB not working is under this condition:

Anakaris uses a curse or a coffin than once he lands, he does not return to a neutral standing position. so first frame dash or crouch into an attack is All-Guard enabled.
___________________

Japanese competitive play:
- Very patient at neutral
- Qbee, Bishamon & Jedah do more Guard-Cancels than any other character. The GC-OS is legit and should be abused.
- Tech-Hit w/ a staggered (2)-Finger Slide.
- Cannot 1-frame DarkForce on wake-up. Can only DarkForce on frame-2.
- Players actually use kara-pursuits for meter gain
- Their defense is very strong

Specific things I will be working on to improve my Morrigan:
- More stand blocking
- Less Reversal-ShadowBlade
- Use cr.lk, st.mk xx Demon instead of cr.lk, cr.mp, st.mk xx Demon
- Faster confirms on Tech-Hits. Tech-hit than move/approach/counterpoke/dash etc.
- More tricky throw/low mix-ups. J.mk is not going to be reliable in competitive play

Arcades I visited:
- Mikado @Baba.
- Amusement-Ace
- Club Sega @Akihabara
- Club Sega @Shinjuku
- Teitou Station @Akihabara

players I’ve met: I got to do matches w/ 31 of these 36 players XD
KEN_Gallon
Kaji_Lilith
Sakamoto_Qbee
Kosho_Bulleta
Komemaru_Zabel
EGO_LeiLei
DD_Sas
Oouchi_Jedah
Shimatsuya_Jedah
Uminoko_Aulbath
General-Madulass_LeiLei
SHUU_Bishamon
Oshi_Felicia
Paprika_Demitri
Fuunio_Qbee
Buzz_Gallon
Nishiken_Morrigan
Nakanishi_Bishamon
Sasunii_Sasquatch
Kowappa_Sasquatch
Sasazuka_LeiLei/Morrigan
OliveOil_Jedah
Seri_Morrigan
Guratan_Felicia
Ran-T_Bishamon
Chikyuu_Anakaris
Hisachi_LeiLei
Okekebei_Sasquatch
STO_LeiLei
To-Ho_Bulleta
ShigShig_Bulleta
MAB_Gallon
Tsuchineko_Qbee
Matsuoka_LeiLei
Yamamoto_Lilith
OraOra-Q_Qbee
NEO_Bishamon
TKO_Sasquatch
_______________________

The Japanese VSAV scene informally meets up four to six days a week. Tuesday thru Sunday, they all arrive at intended arcades (game centers) from 5pm - 11pm. These locations differ per day and are located all around Tokyo. (This rotation helps support all arcades in Tokyo, not just their favorites.) Every scheduled arcade I was able to visit, has at least (4) head-to-head VSAV setups. Mikado @Baba events had (7). Players stand in a horizontal line behind all the cabinets and wait their turn to spend 50-Yen. All plays are one-match. You lose once, you get off the machine, stand in line and chat w/ friends about VSAV. (1) match is quick, like a samurai. Super effective for exhausted Tournament Organizers.

The Japanese VSAV community has three distinct player bases. The initial wave of players from 1997 when the title released in the arcades. This includes their most experienced bunch, players like BUZZ_Gallon, KEN_Gallon, Oouchi_Jedah & EGO_LeiLei have been around since the first day. A few years into the life of VSAV, Tougeki-2004 hosted the title and brought in a new, slightly younger player base. I believe this is players like Futana_Jedah, Kaji_Lilith, Hisacchi_LeiLei, To-Ho_Bulleta. Finally, ~2010 a new wave of rookies joined the vsav scene, KEN_Gallon & EGO_LeiLei started an event to bring in newer players by hosting rookie-only tournaments. This invited their latest wave of players, OliveOil_Jedah, Oshi_Felicia, RYNE_Felicia, Matsuoka_LeiLei, SERI_Morrigan, etc. Good luck to Jay-Duck (formerly 2KNL8) as he recently joins the JP rookie scene, coming from Cincy, Ohio!

Initial release: http://www.youtube.com/user/ukio987
Second Wave- http://darkstalkers.wordpress.com/category/tougekisbo/
Third Wave- http://www.youtube.com/user/Celimorrigan

Japanese transportation is vastly different from their international competitors. The train system is so efficient, effective & cheap that cars are not the dominating transportation method. Similar to New York, even if you choose to drive, good-luck finding a parking spot. Trains start at 5am and leave, on-time, flawlessly, until “last-train” around midnight. If you happen to miss the last-train, or choose to leave the last train because you have to pee that bad, you’ll have to get a cab or a hotel.

Coupling the reliability of the trains with Japan’s lack of “Public Intoxication” laws, drinking is an important pastime. Just like the FGC here in the states, players enjoy going out, chatting matches, dissecting strategies, eating good food and having beers with great company. When we able to meet up with their players, most would leave the arcades about 10pm and head out to dinner. Restaurants or Izakaya, Nama-Beeru was guaranteed!

While I was growing in Guilty Gear (~2007), our community in middle-Kentucky learned that dinner talks were just as advantageous as the match-grind. I was completely humbled and happy to see that JP VSAV players have been doing this since 1997. I too, learned equal VSAV details while Big-Brunching than grinding matches.

After playing long sets with JP’s, I believe the quality that far supersedes USA’s VSAV play is tenacious defense. Japanese players can block, very well, for a long periods. These players can TechHit the first attack, read empty cross-up’s, landing lows and DarkForce out of psychic throws. This quality is probably the biggest reason why we see so few successful Low tier characters in Japan. Players like Kaji_Lilith, Oouchi_Jedah, Kame_Victor, Shimatsuya_Jedah, Oboro_Victor, Chikyuu_Anakaris & Dara_Demitri are inspirational to the eastern VSAV scene as much as the western community. Kaji’s mind is like a computer.

Just a regular match, no big event. Notice how many times the players have confrontations and how few times actual damage is dealt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC2846Zpl1g

__________________________
Guest
Image courtesy of HAKASE TATSURO

USA's Largest VSAV event

REGISTRATION
Darkstalkers: Death & Rebirth registration will be in-person only. An online tally will be kept on facebook

-Weekend Pass-
$30, which includes automatic entry into tournaments as listed below. You also receive unlimited access to games at Arcade Legacy for the entire weekend.

SATURDAY (DEATH)
Dante’s Inferno Single Elimination Qualifiers – Automatic Entry
Rookies’ Tournament – Selected Entry
Veterans’ Team Tournament (3-Man) – Selected Entry

SUNDAY (REBIRTH)
Vampire Hunter – Automatic Entry
Vampire Savior – Automatic Entry

EXHIBITIONS
Character Specialist 8v8
High Stakes Exhibition
Grudge Matches

https://www.facebook.com/events/386848238073620/

https://twitter.com/Osirun

https://twitter.com/VMP_KyleW
Guest

Guilty Gear Xrd Sign Announced!

By Guest, in Home,

Just now, announced at the ArcRevo tournament in Japan, a NEW Guilty Gear was announced along with a trailer to go with it. No further details have been released and the game looks like it's still in early development, but the game is confirmed to use 3D models instead of sprites. Have no fear though, it looks impressive! See for yourself:



EDIT: And now some high-res images have been shown, thanks Kosmos Badgirl for finding these!:

http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-Guilty-Gear-Xrd-SIGN-Announced-PV&p=1500598&viewfull=1#post1500598
Guest

ECT5 (2013): Vampire Savior Results

By Guest, in Home,

Matches start @03:35:00
http://www.twitch.tv/deadly_bison/b/405552594

Results:
1. Baco (Bulleta)
2. MGV Apollo (Zabel)
3. More4YourBuck (Q-Bee)
4. EG|fLoE (Sasquatch, Victor)
5. Bonclyde (Demitri)
5. Hard Bread (Gallon)
7. Filthy Casual (Zabel)
7. Sketch (Q-Bee)

Grand Finals
Baco (Bulleta) vs. MGV Apollo (Zabel) – 3-2

Losers Finals
More4YourBuck (Q-Bee) vs. MGV Apollo (Zabel) – 0-3

Winners Finals
Baco (Bulleta) vs. More4YourBuck (Q-Bee) – 3-0

Losers Semi-finals
MGV Apollo (Zabel) vs. EG|fLoE (Sasquatch, Victor) – 2-1

Top 8 Winners
More4YourBuck (Q-Bee) vs. Hard Bread (Gallon) – 2-1


Results courtesy of Gbursine, Thanks.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/197383233629950/578599898841613/?notif_t=group_comment_reply
Guest
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2411[/ATTACH]


This weekend, May 18-19 sees the return of East Coast Throwdown V to New Jersey. Tournament directors Joe "iloveu" Ciaramelli and John "Sweet Johnny Cage" Gallagher return to bring the hype to the Tri-State area. Last Year's event was no slouch and they look to repeat this year as well. Hit the jump for all the info! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]


Venue:
Hyatt Morristown at Headquarters Plaza
3 Speedwell Ave
Morristown, NJ 07960

ECT V Official Trailer:






Tournament Line-up:

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (PS3)
Dead or Alive 5 (360)
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus (PS3)
Injustice: Gods Among Us – $1000 bonus provided by One Frame Link
The King of Fighters XIII (PS3) – $500 bonus provided by ATLUS
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (MAME)
Mortal Kombat (PS3)
Persona 4 Arena (PS3) – $500 bonus provided ATLUS
Skullgirls (PS3)
SoulCalibur V (PS3)
Street Fighter x Tekken ver. 2013 (360)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (ARC)
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition (PS3)
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012 (360) – $2000 bonus provided by One Frame Link
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (PS3)
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (360) – $2000 bonus provided by One Frame Link
Vampire Savior – $200 bonus provided by PowerUp


One Frame Link will be providing another $1000 bonus to the next game with highest number of entries (excluding AE 2012, UMvC3 and Injustice)

Persona 4 Arena Pools can be found here:
P4A pools.

Stream duties will be handled by:
teamsp00ky (main stream)
Deadly Bison Entertainment (secondary)
bibiquadium (GGXX, BBEX, P4A to Top 4)

Schedule: A detailed schedule for all games can be found here.

Saturday, May 18

8:00am
-Doors Open
-Emergency Registration Begins
-Casuals Begin

9:00am
-Emergency Registration Continues

10:00am
-Emergency Registration Ends

11:00am
-Casuals continue

12:00pm
-Casuals End
-Persona 4 Arena Pools 1-2 Begin
-BlazBlue Tournament Begins*
-Guilty Gear Tournament Begins*

1:00pm
-Persona 4 Arena Pools 1-2 Continue

2:00pm
-Persona 4 Arena Pools 3-4 Start

3:00pm
-Persona 4 Arena Pools 3-4 Continue
Guest

ArcFes Schedule and Stream Info

By Guest, in Home,

Arc Revo is upon us... let's get ready to rock! In addition to Arc Revo, there's also a last chance qualifier spot up for grabs that will also be streamed the day before the big day for even more tournament action.

Below is the schedule and links to streams. Brackets are located after the jump.

Let's enjoy a great showtime!


ArcFes Schedule (In JST) *Not everything will be streamed Start time | Stage program
11:00 | Doors Open
12:00 | Opening
12:10 | Arc Revolution Cup brackets start for "BLAZBLUE CHRONOPHANTASMA", "GUILTY GEAR XX ΛCORE PLUS R", and "Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena"
13:40 | ARC SYSTEM WORKS MUSIC LIVE
14:30 | Break (25 minutes)
14:55 | Arc Revolution Cup "Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena" the quarter-finals to final
15:50 | Arc Revolution Cup "GUILTY GEAR XX ΛCORE PLUS R" the quarter-finals to final
16:45 | Arc Revolution Cup "BLAZBLUE CHRONOPHANTASMA" the quarter-finals to final
17:40 | Arc Revolution Cup Awards Ceremony
18:00 | Break (30 minutes)
18:30 | Web radio public recording "Buri Raji H (Hyper)! Special public recording!!
20:00 | Ending



Streams Last Chance Qualifier
Time: 5/18 (Saturday) 12:30~18:00 JST [Fri 11:30pm - 7:00am EST]
Stream URL: http://ja.twitch.tv/godsgarden or http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv137256236

ArcFes
Time: 5/19 (Sunday) 13:00~18:00 JST [sun 12:00am - 5:00am EST]
Stream URL: http://www.twitch.tv/arcfes_official001 or http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv137255395

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]


Arc Revolution Cup Brackets

BLAZBLUE CHRONOPHANTASMA

Small | Large

GUILTY GEAR XX ΛCORE PLUS R

Small | Large

Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena

Small | Large



Source: http://www.arcsystemworks.jp/official/event/fesinfo.html
Guest
[ATTACH]2400[/ATTACH]


On Playstyles and Useful Terminology

Based on the number of threads about the topic, the character select screen seems to represent the bulk of the challenge and angst people face when playing Guilty Gear. In the community in general, we talk a lot about character playstyles, but people mostly seem to be talking through each other. For example, I'm aware everyone seems to have a vague sense of what a "rushdown" character is, but I’d argue that this term, which manages to describe just about every character depending on who you ask, is fuzzy to the point of being useless.

This is a problem with our terminology in general: The words people use to talk about complex concepts like the flow of a match or the playstyle of a character are themselves defined in pretty loose, semantically ambiguous ways, and so we end up spending a lot of effort talking about nothing, trying to convey concepts that we’ve gotten a vague sense of in our heads that probably differ a lot from person to person, rather than talking about fighting games in any useful way.

So I'm going to make an effort right now to nail down some actual metrics we can use to talk about this stuff, because it's more productive than finding every “character playstyle” or “how do I character select screen” topic vaguely annoying every time they pop up.

Fighting Game Arithmetic: Advantage and Disadvantage

You often hear fighting games discussed in terms like "frame advantage" or "+/- x on block". There's a section in the frame data that's called static difference (or SD). This concept is more obvious in 3D fighters and old-school-style 2D fighters (IE not airdashers) than it is in Guilty Gear and the like, because new-school 2D fighters tend to have mechanics like chaining normals and dynamic movement options that make matches seem less like “taking turns.” Because of this, you hear intermediate airdasher players talking about it (and in my opinion understanding it) less than intermediate Street Fighter players.

Make no mistake, this is a major problem in the American airdasher scene. Advantage and Disadvantage is exactly as important a concept to understand in Guilty Gear as it is in Virtua Fighter. The same kind of exchanges are taking place, but faster and often with different kinds of variables. Since things are happening quickly, it’s hard to stop and think about why something didn’t work, and so inexperienced players conclude that they were simply not fast enough, or worse, that they lost because their opponent was merely better somehow. Either of these things may be entirely true, but they’re also entirely meaningless in and of themselves.

Being "at frame advantage" means, at its simplest, being able to act in fewer frames than the opponent. In frame data this is applied to how many frames of stun a move puts the other player in if blocked compared to how many recovery frames it has. Everyone knows this. But the broader concept of being "at advantage" has a few more variables. Being atmore or less frame advantage will determine if you’re punishable or not. Range matters. Your character’s tools matter. In Guilty Gear, you have 0-frame throws. If you're in throw range, the opponent being at even -1 after you block a move means you get to punish them. If you’re not, -1 is barely anything, and the situation can probably be considered effectively neutral.

This is a big chunk of what is referred to as “fundamentals” when talking about fighting games. It is also the most quantifiable and arguably the most important part of what makes a character play the way they do in Guilty Gear, and I think all our playstyle terms can and should be defined from aspects and implications of the concept of advantage.

Static Difference is a great term for talking about the specific situation of advantage or disadvantage after a specific move is blocked. But in a broader sense, situational advantage - the ability to act more freely than the opponent - isn't static, nor is it monotonically deterministic. Games between good players don't always end with one player getting frame advantage and then keeping it and winning. A lot of the interplay of fighting games comes from people playing from disadvantage, or changing the situation by maneuvering.

Having a faster attack than the opponent has puts you at advantage from neutral, all else being equal. Having a faster attack at the range at which you're currently fighting puts you at advantage, all else being equal. It's hard to quantify everything, but with this powerful concept, we can actually do math and figure out who is at an advantage at any given point in a match, if we wanted to. If we paused the match at a given point and looked at all the frame data and checked some hitboxes and did some calculations, we could figure out, at that point, who is at advantage at any given time. After a hit, or at “neutral”. At any range. Obviously you're not going to do this for every match, but it's an interesting and informative way to watch one if you have some time on your hands.

Being at disadvantage doesn’t mean you can’t attack, but it does mean you have to predict or option-select through what the opponent is doing to attack. Knowledge of the enemy and knowledge of your own tools allows you to fight from disadvantage, or at least force the game back to neutral. Similarly, being at situational advantage doesn’t mean you should always attack. It just means you can act more freely than your opponent, and that attacking is less risky.

If you're playing fighting games and don't know this concept, you're doing it wrong. If you do know it, you probably don't think about it enough when you're playing. I know I probably don't. It's very important.

The Flow of Fighting Games is about Situational Advantage

Once you've got a solid idea of what advantage and disadvantage are, then we can start to really talk about situations that arise in fighting games. I'm going to argue that there are only two meaningful kinds of situations, and the rest are just specific cases of them. There are neutral situations, and there are non-neutral situations. There's a lot of variety in how these situations work and how they can play out, but they come down to the same fundamental two games. This sounds like an oversimplification, but it's a very useful simplification. I'll rattle off some examples so you believe me, and to establish context for some other terms people use.

A pressure game is a non-neutral game where one character is at advantage and the other character is in blockstun. For the player at advantage, pressure games consist of keeping that advantage, using ambiguity to keep the opponent from recognizing or at least capitalizing on the situation when the player loses advantage ("a pressure reset"), and trying to break the opponent's defense and get their damage ("mixup").

Zoning is a neutral game where players use the threat of the attacks they can do at a given range to keep the opponent from attacking. Zoning can also involve characters moving around trying to get into a position where they're at advantage, or trying to bait the opponent into attacking at a bad time or predictably, and then throwing out something that will stuff their attack (“footsies”). In a game with chains and good movement options, zoning games are fast and dynamic, sometimes happening in the blink of an eye. This does not mean they aren't an important part of how those games work.

Okizeme is a non-neutral game where one player is at disadvantage because they're knocked down, giving the other player somewhere around 30-40 frames to set up an attack. This is a huge disadvantage for the downed player, even if they have good reversals.

A clash is a neutral game where hitboxes collide and both players have equal opportunity to use any attack from the clash. Note that the game is neutral because neither player is at frame advantage. Depending on the matchup and the distance at which it happened, one player may still have situational advantage.

A combo is a non-neutral game where one player has landed a hit and is doing "guaranteed" damage to an opponent (You know, unless they have a burst). Getting around or baiting bursts, baiting out techs, attempting combo resets, and choosing between knockdown, pressure, and damage are important considerations in combos, and involve interplay between opponents.

You get the idea. I think this is a useful way to think about fighting games. It's especially useful for defining play styles in ways that are meaningful instead of vague and stupid.

Character Playstyles are about Dealing With These Situations:

There are only two fundamental kinds of situation in fighting games, but there are three kinds of situations a character can be in. At advantage, at disadvantage, and at neutral. Almost any fighting game that's any good has characters dealing with these situations all the time. Guilty Gear in particular has a lot of situational fluidity, with tools like the different blocks, bursts, fast throws, and DAAs to change up the situation at unexpected times.

People like to talk about “zoning characters” or “rushdown characters,” but most characters don't neatly fit into these buckets. In reality everyone plays pressure games, everyone blocks, everyone plays okizeme, everyone plays wakeup, everyone zones. Being bad at any of these things will hurt you no matter what character you're playing. To get an idea of how a character plays, the main thing to talk about is when they are in these situations, which they are good at being in, and which they are in most of the time.

It’s also important that these assessments are compared to other characters in the game. The mere fact that someone can play a pressure game or zone or force the game to neutral is unsurprising. I can’t think of a character that can’t. This tells you nothing. The ability to do it significantly better than other characters tells you something about the character.

For example:

A character with an invincible move is usually better at fighting from disadvantage than a character without one. They have a tool that can more easily be used to exploit a small gap between at an unpredictable time. It doesn't mean they should always try to reversal, but it does mean that they have that option.

A character with fast, chainable, jump-cancellable normals and gap closers tends to be good at keeping an advantage. Note that in most airdashers, this describes a lot if not all of the characters. It’s only significant if they’re able to do it better than most characters. Guilty Gear specifically rewards keeping up a long pressure game into a good hit confirm. Doing this tends to net you extra damage, because of the guard bar. The fact that a character can do this makes them a character in Guilty Gear, and says nothing specifically about them.

A character with fast, visually-ambiguous mixup tends to be good at fighting from an advantage. Millia isn't great at keeping up pressure for a long time compared to a lot of characters, but when she has advantage, she is very hard to read

A character with good hitboxes from different ranges, or with fast moves, or with pseudo-invulnerable moves like a good 6P are good at winning neutral games. Faust has a lot of big, disjointed hitboxes, weird invulnerability, and basically ways to beat things he's predicted or has time to react to.

Let’s try talking about characters using useful terms. These analyses may be dead wrong, but hopefully I’ve used the terms I’ve already mentioned in concise ways, so that we can argue meaningfully about why:

Jam is a very solid character. While her mixup isn't super-ambiguous compared to E.G. Millia, she has a lot of ways to keep her pressure up or hide the points where she is no longer at advantage. Her neutral game is also very solid compared to similarly low-range characters, because she can keep people scared of her attacks, stopping their approach with moves like 2S, FB puffball, and her 6P. She's not terrible at fighting from disadvantage either, with tools like a parry, a decent (not great) DP, and sometimes FB puffball again. These give her some options to beat other moves she’s predicted. She's not as dangerous in any of these situations as some characters. Her DP isn’t as long-range and invulnerable as Sol’s, and she can’t keep up pressure as reliably as ABA, and she can’t win neutral games as well as Faust, but she has ways to do each of them more effectively than a lot of characters who don’t specialize in those games. In terms of situational advantage, Jam is a jack of all trades.

Venom is a very appropriate model for what Melty Blood players call a morphing character, meaning a character who needs to set up to transition into fighting from advantage well. Actually most characters in Guilty Gear fit the criteria for that term, so at least in the context of Guilty Gear, the term is probably not a significant difference in playstyle from other characters, but Venom is an unusually stark example of the described archetype. Venom will often play defensively and fish for neutral hits until he can win a neutral game, get some balls set up, and then he will stick to the opponent and keep up pressure. In other words, moreso than E.G. Jam or Millia, Venom needs to win a few exchanges to get to the point where he's good at fighting from advantage, but once he gets going his pressure game is difficult and risky to break out of. Venom is a morphing character among morphing characters.

Baiken doesn't so much fight from disadvantage as change what it means for her to be at disadvantage. Many of her moves are available instantly from blockstun, and their startup happens in hitpause, meaning that in many situations she is actually fighting at advantage after blocking. As such, Baiken doesn’t really deal with pressure games as often as other characters. Her zoning game is above-average too, because she has tools like tatami, claw, j.H, and j.S, which have large, disjointed hitboxes. This makes it hard to approach her from neutral, but the amount and power of the tools she can do this with make her want to play this game less of the time than, say, Ky, who has a larger amount of good neutral tools that operate effectively from more ranges. Baiken is kind of her own animal.

If anyone is having trouble picking a character, understanding how to read situational advantage, reading frame data, watching matches, and best of all, actually trying a few characters out against good players, will tell you actual information, if you have the patience to actually figure it out. Fuzzy words like "rushdown character" will not. But we like talking about fighting games, and an explanation is much easier to get than experience, so maybe we can make words be more useful.

Operational Definitions for Fighting Game Terms

So let’s get to the point. The way people talk about characters in airdash fighters has a lot of problems. We have a lot of terms people use because they’ve heard them before and they sound vaguely right. This vagueness means that the same arguments get played out a lot, produce no meaningful information, and worse, train people to think about the games in fuzzy, non-useful ways.

If we want to convey meaningful information, we should use concise terms that mean a specific thing. An operational definition is an attempt to tie a word to something measurable, agreed on by people in a field for the purpose of having meaningful discourse. If there are disagreements, an operational definition can be used to argue with math, observable, falsifiable facts, or at least some kind of pseudo-objective measure, rather than just saying words at each other that mean different things to different people.

Basically, I'm proposing a way to talk about fighting games and characters therein that's clear and uses operational definitions that everyone can agree on. I’d like the community to weigh in on this, and I’d like us to agree on concise terminology we can use to have meaningful discourse about fighting games.

For example:

I’ve talked a lot of shit about the term rushdown. I think the way people use it, it’s pretty much meaningless, referring to anything from running forward to playing pressure games to having an aggressive mentality in some ethereal, purely mental way. We can make the term rushdown useful by making it mean a specific thing. I propose that we use it to talk about a specific kind of transition, from a neutral game to a pressure game. In other words, you are “rushing down” if you are, in a neutral game, just trying to make your opponent block something, rather than, for example, fishing for a hit by trying to beat their move.

I like the term beat as used in theater. Since I’m going mad with power here and just making up operational definitions for words, I’m going to propose that we co-opt the word beat to mean any time a non-neutral game transitions into a neutral game in a fighting game context. This could happen as a pressure reset (Where pressure game stops briefly and the characters are technically at neutral), or a situation where two characters whiff while trying to zone each other, or a clash, or after a successful burst, or at the end of a combo that doesn’t knock down or get reset. In high-level play in an airdasher, a beat usually comes and goes in the course of a fraction of a second. Looking out for them is a very useful tool, allowing people to learn to recognize when you’re in neutral and when you’re not, and act appropriately, rather than just swinging at random times and dying like a scrub, which is why I think we should have a specific word to describe that class of situations.

EDIT: I made a thread for discussion of operational terms we can use. Please contribute if you have an opinion at all. I think this will make Dustloop a better source of information if we do it right.
Guest
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2397[/ATTACH]

This weekend will see the return of Devil's Playground, Japan's premier Vampire Savior tournament, and will take place at CLUB SEGA Shinjuku Nishiguchi. Hit the Jump to see more info![PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Players from around Japan's kanto region have been battling for spots in the finals throughout various qualifying tournaments. There will be a last chance qualifier the day of the tournament for the final 2 open spots, and will be streamed by Sakamoto on Twitch.tv.

Finals Info:
CLUB SEGA Shinjuku Nishiguchi (Same-day qualifier [2 spots] & Finals tournament)

Same-day Qualifier (2 spots)
Date: May 4 (Sat)
Time: ~3 PM JST (UTC +9), 2 AM EDT, 11 PM (Friday) PDT
Format: Single-game, double-elimination
Finals Tournament
Time: ~5 PM JST, 4 AM EDT, 1 AM PDT
Format: Best-of-3-games, double-elimination (Grand finals Best-of-5)
Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/sakamoto7691

You can check out more info about the event, as well as tournament footage from the qualifiers at the VS event wiki.


Also, in spirit of this event, Arcade Legacy's Kyle Wattula is currently in Japan and held a kumite with various top VS players at Tokyo's Takadanobaba Mikado. This is a rare chance to see Kyle's Morrigan go up against some of Japan's best, so be sure to check out the footage below!

Japanese player Sasazuka (Lei-Lei) had this to say about Kyle's play after the event...



Players that appear in the video (in order of appearance): Sasunii (Sasquatch), Tsuchineko (Q-Bee), Sebone (Gallon), SigSig (Bulleta), MAB (Gallon), Nishiken (Morrigan), Ego (Lei-Lei), Okekebi (Sasquatch), Funou (Q-Bee), Toho (Bulleta), STO (Lei-Lei), Sasazuka (Lei-Lei), Kowappa (Sasquatch), Ora Q (Q-Bee), KEN (Gallon), Buzz (Gallon), Sakamoto (Q-Bee), Hisashi (Lei-Lei), Uminoko (Aulbath), DD (Sasquatch), Komemaru (Zabel), Kaji (Lilith), Kosho (Bulleta).

Devil's Playground illustration by: Olive Oil (Jedah).
Tournament info from: VS event wiki.
Guest

BBCP JP Console Preorders are up!

By Guest, in Home,

Preorders are starting to open up for BLAZBLUE CHRONO PHANTASMA. If you want to import the title you better be fast before preorders start to run out! For more details on what the Limited Edition contains check out the article here. We will update this article as more sites open up preorders.

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Playasia:
Regular Edition
Limited Edition

Amiami:
Regular Edition
Limited Edition

YesAsia:
Regular Edition
Limited Edition

Nin-Nin Game:
Limited Edition

Amazon.JP:
Regular Edition
Limited Edition
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