super nohoho fighter ii x

The Red Cyclone of Ko-Hatsu

2012-01-23T17:27:00.002-05:00

In this post I've got a short interview with Gunze from the Tougeki program plus some of his tourney placings from the last couple years. State of the blog: please check back next week! Art by Keroman.

Looking back at the qualifier, how did it go?

Even though we got through with three OCVs, I could keenly feel the difference in team strength between 2on2s and 3on3s.

Any rival teams you're looking out for?

I'm personally watching Team Byakkotai [Taira, Sashishi, yaya] since they've got three cool masters. I see Gotoh as my rival. In studliness.*

Tell us a bit about your teammates.

Of course, my faith in the SBO '08 champs is absolute. With Otochun who can break through any situation and the mature tachimawari** of ARG you couldn't hope for better synergy. A guy like me was lucky to wind up with them. Whether or not I can show the appropriate strength to back up those two is the biggest question.

Any specific things to look out for?

In a single elimination tourney the mental game is relatively important. But with teams, particularly 3on or more, tactics based on counter picks become extremely important. Watching the matches with an eye for characters' strengths and weaknesses is fascinating.

Anything you'd like to say to the spectators?

In the past the early round games happen simultaneously, so there may be a lot of matches that can't be viewed from the stands. Still, those early rounds have many exciting games. Remember the excitement of the event and when the DVD comes out (it will, right?) see our way of life for yourself!

* "Gotoh is a stud," is an old 2ch ST player thread refrain.
** cf.

I made a list like this a couple years ago for Seki.

Gunze Zangief 2010-2011
1/31/10	Ko-Hatsu	First (w/ Kuro)
2/21	Ko-Hatsu	Second
3/22	Sega Avion	Second
10/31	Ko-Hatsu	First
11/14	A-cho	Second (w/ Kusumondo)
12/26	Ko-Hatsu	Second
4/24/11	A-cho	Second (w/ Yomiaido)
7/31	Ko-Hatsu	Second (w/ Teppei)
9/17	SBO	Second (w/ Otochun, ARG)
9/18	X-Mania 12 Dash	Second (w/ Komoda, Kusumondo)
12/18	Ko-Hatsu	Second

2012-01-19T10:23:00.001-05:00

Lilith and Jedah

2011-10-31T01:59:00.001-04:00

By Takase.

Kawachikko vs. Shanghai?

2011-10-17T19:13:00.005-04:00

Komoda vs. Shangai Rematch 043010

Komoda apparently had another showdown with the Shanghai ST players last year. Videos from that day (name starts with "30上海") over here. Thanks to Mixah for the nudge!

2008 photo from this article.

十字火焰 (Shizhi Huoyan, aka Crossfire) and 清水 (Qing Shui) went to SBO '08.

Kusumondo vs. Shanghai Oct 2009

Kusumondo also visited Shanghai the year before that. There are a bunch of videos here.

There's an interview from a visit this year here.
EDIT: Papasi kindly translated it into English link

Versus Casuals 092011

2011-10-13T18:07:00.003-04:00

On the Tuesday after SBO, Versus had the usual team battle. Earlier that evening Nuki and Muteki were playing a long set and we snuck in when Mute went to get change. I recorded all of Damdai's matches.

I have a bunch more footage I'd like to post plus maybe talk briefly about some players we met and trickery we learned. Please check back in a bit. Also: buy a shirt!

Okafei vs. Nakano Royal 100611

2011-10-06T15:55:00.001-04:00

Gachi-kumite with the SBO champ.

Versus Team Battle 100411

2011-10-05T08:14:00.001-04:00

XSPR! Looking good, brother! Also: Yoshio Hawk, Okafei visiting from Kansai

Chun-Li by Akiman

2011-09-30T13:25:00.001-04:00

Outstanding.

Ooop Awww!

2011-09-24T06:27:00.001-04:00

Today I… played more ST. Check out Jinbe's joint for Vampire results!

Here's a picture of the pre-DCC 5on winners:

Oboro, Kaji, Dara, Chikyu, Shimatsuya

X-Mania 12 Dash Results

2011-09-18T09:00:00.003-04:00

Taking advantage of the fact that people were visiting from out of town, Mattsun ran another 3on3 today. Not 100% sure about the 3rd place team.

25 teams
1st Mattsun (Ken), Kikai (Guile), KKY (Dhalsim)
2nd Komoda (Blanka), Kusumondo (E.Honda), Gunze (Zangief)
3rd Numa (Boxer), Muneo (O.Sagat), tomo (Ryu)
4th VIPER (T.Hawk), Toutanki (O.Hawk), Hiroyan (O.Hawk)

Bai Bai Baison!

Komoda, Gunze and Kusumondo fighting the triple Hawk team.

AFO win pose!

Shogatsu vs. Gian casual game.

Next weekend: Vampire Savior!

SBO Results and New Ranks

2011-09-17T10:32:00.006-04:00

32 teams
1st Okafei (Fei-Long), Seki (DeeJay), ShootingD (Ryu)
2nd ARG (Claw), Otochun (Chun-Li), Gunze (Zangief)
3rd YuuVega (Dictator), Yoshimura (Dhalsim), Keishin (Chun-Li)
3rd KKY (Dhalsim), Kikai (Guile), Mattsun (Ken)

I didn't take many pictures at the tourney but we happened to run into the winners waiting for the train.

EDIT: more pics

Masashi Sawatari and Riz

Before this match...
ARG: [his rival/student MAO lost so he wants to represent that Chubu Claw]
Mattsun: Your student? I just took him out a minute ago.

Cracking finals.

Guide Book Character Ranking

Per Gian and T.Akiba the list from the Tougeki program.

1) Dhalsim, Claw, Boxer, O.Sagat
2) Chun-Li, DeeJay, Ryu
3) Guile, O.Hawk, Dictator, Honda, Ken, Sagat, Fei-Long
4) T.Hawk, Blanka, Cammy, Zangief

2011-09-16T19:32:00.000-04:00

Odds and Ends Friday Plus Royal Video

2011-09-16T11:44:00.008-04:00

An old woman with dementia stopped me on the street to tell me about her dead husband. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that I was a foreigner. It's a little hard to put into words, but the experience was profound. Something out of Twilight Zone.

Here are a few random pictures:

Riz at Hey when we just got to town.

Chun-Li slot machine at Super Potato. I scooped up some old Gamest back issues with WW, CE and ST coverage there. *nudges Crayfish*

Shibuya Kaikan used to be an ST hotspot but I wasn't able to find a machine.

Xiaohai best KoF98 player in the world.

Three-fifths of the women's team at the SSF4AE 5on.

I recorded a whole bunch of footage at Mikado tonight featuring Mattsun, Damdai, Shiro, Kusumondo, Riz, Immortal, Murasaki, Pony and other SBO guys. If you like this blog please donate or buy a shirt!

Nakano Royal 091511

Photos below.

Senbon (TH), Toukon (CH), Kita (CH), Nakano Guile, Combat Echizen (RY), YuuVega (DI), Cafe au Lait (KE), Bai (BX), Naoki (BX), Keishin (CH), Suzuki (ZA), San (RY), Oji (RY), MOR (GU), ImmortalBMW (CL), Riz0ne (DI), Damdai (OTH), PECO (OK), Chojin (KE), Takahashi (RY), Kikai (GU), Pyonkichi (ZA), Kawamata (RY), Nakamura (CA), Ootsun (CH), Mayumura (OR), Isaji (CA), ARG (CL)

Tomorrow: SBO Saturday!

Royal Thursday and Versus Videos

2011-09-15T12:03:00.008-04:00

At Game Royal in Nakano there's "free play" on Thursdays where 800 yen lets you play all night plus they have a small tourney. Tonight there were 28 people. EDIT: one more pic below

1st YuuVega (Dictator)
2nd Kikai (Guile)
3rd Toukon (Chun-Li) and ARG (Claw)

Takekawa and your humble blog editor just chatted instead of entering.

Shirts (O.Dhalsim) vs. YuuVega (Dictator)

Kurose MC

Takekawa and Toukon

Nishinippori Versus 091311

Check out the photos below. CCL visiting from Belgium. Atomiwa Boy is Aoki Cyclone using Toutanki's color.

Tomorrow: odds and ends Friday!

Mikado Wednesday

2011-09-14T11:39:00.009-04:00

On Wednesdays Takadanobaba Mikado has "free play" where 500 yen lets you play all night. There were about 30 players there today.

[Damdai asks Mattsun if they can get a long set in some time. Mattsun says sure maybe on Friday or Sunday before the 3on]

NH2 (to Damdai): You should talk smack, like, "I'm going to crush you."

Mattsun (to NH2): Who won X-Mania this year?

If you like this blog please donate or buy a shirt! Thank you very much to the eight people so far!

Yoshimura, Nuki, Yuu

Kenpachi, Yamazaki93, Ken Bogard, Damdai, Mattsun, Riz0ne

Check back tomorrow for Royal Thursday!

Versus Tuesday

2011-09-13T11:06:00.008-04:00

I'm wicked tired I might flesh this post out later. If you like this blog please donate or buy a shirt!

Trickery by Noguchi -- Claw vs. Boxer
When Boxer grabs you:
a) If you guess that he'll walk under tick, hold down-towards during the grab. If he does a medium attack, you'll just barely have a terror charged.

b) If you aren't sure which side he'll go for try to reversal throw.

Wooden markers showing danisen ranks.

Bit creepy on the outside.

NH2: "Hey guys, come take a picture with the boss."
Nikaiten: "I'm not the boss; Nuki is."

Yuu and Riz

NH2 and Nakamu

In the foreground maybe Hiroyan vs. Muteki casuals. Not 100% sure.

Sashishi vs. Shiro. Nuki reeling in pain (Sashishi had a great night.) Gian MC. Nikaiten running things.

Check back tomorrow for Mikado Wednesday!

Favorite Search Queries

2011-09-08T01:35:00.004-04:00

These are internet searches that led people to this blog. Note that this isn't necessarily a top site for any given term — who knows how many pages people look through.

Got It?

09 Jun, Sat, 15:04:03 Google: ikebukuro uchujin
08 Sep, Sat, 08:44:11 Google: winningest chun li
01 Oct, Mon, 12:56:07 Google: tougekiyosen_toname10.zip
15 Nov, Thu, 13:17:51 Google: takekawa st HONDA
25 Mar, Tue, 21:16:17 Google: pony 120207
01 May, Thu, 22:33:03 Google: "You're on Notice, Randall!"
23 May, Fri, 10:27:08 Google Images: gary busey bad wednesday
21 Aug, Thu, 19:04:45 Google: Taira's Dictator vs some Zangief
23 Oct, Sat, 02:49:07 Google: youtube "his belly jiggle"
02 Dec, Thu, 15:31:38 Google: misspelling of iron
20 Aug, Sat, 18:40:06 Google Images: FuNki-X-MaNia
07 Sep, Wed, 07:00:49 Google: KetsuBat Taikai
08 Sep, Wed, 06:48:13 Yahoo: 110809 yoshimura
19 Apr, Sat, 00:57:10 Google: ken picking up vega's claw

Don't Got It

22 Mar, Thu, 06:08:26 Google: SPDS GraphiCS 4 crack
02 Apr, Mon, 16:23:31 Google: x - little fighters 2
09 May, Wed, 15:38:32 Google: Picture of Tama Gachi
24 Jun, Sun, 12:43:57 Google: incantation danmaku
01 Jul, Sun, 00:55:34 Google: Tsukumo Gou Box
08 Aug, Wed, 12:45:56 Google: fantasias de vegas locomotive
12 Aug, Sun, 08:54:00 Google: 85 Opera Super price
31 Aug, Fri, 06:00:21 Google: Pony League Japan 2006 SUZUKI
02 Sep, Sun, 00:19:21 Google: "SILHOUETTE" "LATIN MAN"
03 Sep, Mon, 01:48:27 Google: Li 2 lilith giger
06 Sep, Thu, 09:31:08 Google: sol badguy is so manly
19 Sep, Wed, 08:28:54 Google: kinnikuman tier list
05 Oct, Fri, 11:48:57 Google: parabolic fighting game
07 Oct, Sun, 13:36:29 Google Images: guilty gear that man
21 Nov, Wed, 06:47:44 Yahoo: yogagu ranking
07 Dec, Fri, 12:31:16 Google Images: UFO Illustrations
10 Dec, Mon, 14:23:42 Google: a basic story on the battle
05 Jan, Sat, 10:00:18 Google: flutter of birds II AVI
06 Jun, Fri, 01:58:51 Google: plus alpha surfboards youtube
29 Aug, Sat, 07:37:42 Google: give me the picture or video of the war in baselan
02 Nov, Mon, 10:06:16 Google Images: pie graph on HAI
13 Sep, Mon, 23:39:05 Google: Attackers x lilith! super ninja link MF
02 May, Mon, 04:38:43 Google Images: tier 4 ups schematics

Killing Arts

09 Jul, Mon, 14:20:38 Google: yoga vanishing
10 Aug, Fri, 17:15:03 Google: kara cancel boxer
20 Dec, Thu, 22:16:44 Google: bump fighters
15 Mar, Sat, 23:45:39 Google: head exploding from fierce punch
26 Aug, Wed, 10:25:30 Google: nun puncher guile
18 Dec, Tue, 23:44:29 Google: yoga crystal magic
29 May, Thu, 03:49:03 Google: womb pump
03 Nov, Sat, 15:21:55 Google: little fighter 2 auto kill moves
08 Feb, Fri, 11:42:32 Google: fighter who tries to throw someone to the ground without hitting them
11 Aug, Mon, 06:41:00 Google: grandmaster kills tiger with kicks
08 Sep, Wed, 13:42:18 Google: canaanja art of killing

Q-Bee Season

09 Jul, Mon, 14:19:53 Google: fina fantasy x illustrasion by osk
01 Jul, Tue, 06:06:39 Google: video aflam niko
16 Aug, Sat, 20:03:27 Google Images: byson -street figther
25 Oct, Sat, 11:43:33 Google: VIDEOS YOU TUBE STRICTER FIGHTER 4 CHU LIN VS BLANKA
10 Nov, Wed, 22:13:51 Google Images: streethfigheter tourtny flyer
05 Jul, Tue, 02:51:37 Google: youtube fase bock josh chokko
12 Nov, Thu, 23:48:38 Google Images: mutrki guile

International Players

17 Nov, Sat, 18:38:49 Google: hyper wolfe
22 Oct, Wed, 14:03:41 Google: diagram of 5 axel low boy
26 Jan, Tue, 03:22:05 Yahoo: ２ｃh NO NKI of savior
11 Nov, Thu, 12:57:15 Yahoo Images: street fighter flash metroid girlfriend
23 Nov, Tue, 14:08:14 Google: deezo the demon
02 Feb, Wed, 13:27:13 Google: mike_z_za@hot.com
30 Jul, Sat, 23:36:19 Google: Twisted Jago retirement
27 Aug, Fri, 21:25:16 Yahoo: Dr. Seth Oniku
03 Apr, Sun, 11:16:20 Google: I played Jeron in SSF4 Chunli Bison

Japanese Players

29 Jul, Sun, 22:06:00 Google: doku yoshio
13 Sep, Thu, 11:59:26 Google Images: japanese strong woman
26 Nov, Mon, 06:03:33 Google: ゴトバス
17 Dec, Mon, 04:22:46 Google: 志木KING　ガイル
02 Jan, Wed, 12:32:15 Google: video Danjiri Mania
22 Jul, Tue, 05:12:56 Google Images: Debu vs Debu
29 Jul, Tue, 01:17:51 Google: komoda i love you so match
19 Nov, Thu, 07:21:33 Google: dazzled sashishi
19 Oct, Tue, 10:16:14 Google: Pyonkichi kara effect
19 Jul, Tue, 18:07:12 Google: daigo trains with dhalsim comic
01 Nov, Thu, 14:20:06 Google: ''Animated character cyclone seki''

Not-so Frequently Asked

23 Sep, Sun, 03:51:52 Google: DOES YOGA HELP FIGHTERS
13 Nov, Tue, 20:42:22 Google: O. Sagat mean?
09 Dec, Sun, 10:48:18 Google: xhow to make video games
28 Feb, Thu, 02:17:01 Google: can e. honda throw fireball
03 Mar, Mon, 23:29:23 Google: are there any combos for SF2
30 Sep, Wed, 19:14:22 Google: why doesn't muteki play sf4?
18 Sep, Sat, 02:23:51 Google: who is better at street fight? tokido 77 or kayo police
27 Sep, Mon, 17:26:19 Google: What is it called when fighters do like yoga
28 Oct, Thu, 19:59:52 Google: graph how many people smoked from 2008-2009
31 Oct, Sun, 14:52:24 Google: who did mago use for super turbo?
23 Nov, Tue, 18:14:38 Google: is komoda playing ssf4?
04 Mar, Fri, 23:49:36 Google: "how old is nuki"
24 Jun, Fri, 20:51:03 Google: what is the name of the dhalsim combo book deaths by yoga?
27 Jun, Mon, 15:41:33 Google Images: webmoney jp como q é?
10 Aug, Wed, 17:05:05 Google: nohoho where did you get it
04 Sep, Sun, 10:49:02 Google: nicovideo how?

Questionable

11 Jun, Mon, 02:32:57 Google: chun li real life panty fighter
18 Jul, Wed, 12:27:49 Google: "sexy throw" "video game"
26 Jul, Thu, 13:55:05 Google: footsie comic
19 Aug, Sun, 23:16:00 Google: super futa fighters
26 Sep, Wed, 17:19:58 Google: Ashley - Face Down wmv
24 Oct, Wed, 01:16:00 Google: yellow four kita panty
13 Nov, Tue, 13:33:18 Google: Quickstep 07 panty
30 Nov, Fri, 05:03:25 Google: bite mania
15 May, Thu, 02:09:18 Google: olivia throw up
21 Jul, Mon, 18:53:34 Google: chun li belly punched fan art
11 Aug, Mon, 11:53:29 Google: adult label MUTEKI
02 Oct, Thu, 17:31:46 Google: 2on2 woman belly punching
24 Nov, Tue, 22:51:24 Google: donvalve swallows marco
16 Dec, Wed, 05:06:03 Google: tencho.homo.com
18 Feb, Thu, 20:33:55 Yahoo: japanese エロ
11 Mar, Thu, 21:01:43 Yahoo: h.ksexy movie
23 Jul, Fri, 19:51:14 Google Images: Morrigan x lilith yuri
05 Mar, Sat, 18:34:21 Google: sedric x phobos hentai
22 Mar, Tue, 23:43:18 Google Images: lilith armpits
29 Mar, Tue, 08:04:06 Google: GAMES STREET FIGHTER SOTA JOYS
18 Apr, Mon, 02:53:33 Google Images: chika nakamura armpit

Greatest Hits

13 Jul, Fri, 00:46:04 Google: younger sister noogie
21 Aug, Tue, 04:39:17 Google: tournament kick boxing vs gorilla
03 Sep, Thu, 18:12:02 Google: metabo mike watson
07 Sep, Fri, 18:11:26 Google Images: right to own a bazooka
27 Jun, Mon, 02:46:32 Google: Jion_Wansu SBO
28 Aug, Sat, 10:50:37 Google: TEROMEGANE

Nishinippori Versus Video 090611

2011-09-07T22:26:00.002-04:00

I haven't been making these kind of posts lately but the matches this week were really fantastic so for old time's sake...

Deep thought: if you completely removed Yoga Fire from the game in who's favor would the Sim-Guile match change?

KURO (RY), Jenety (OCH), yaya (SG), VIPER (TH), Yoshio (GU), Choshu (KE), Nia (EH), Gucchi (RY), Kotaka Shoten (GU), Shin (TH), Shinshin (BX), Ootsun (CH), Kawasim (DH), Noguchi (CL), Nuki (CH), Hanashi (FE), Keishin (CH)
vs.
Koemon (FE), Beah* (SG), Kara-age (DI), Aoki Cyclone (ZA), Fujinuma (CH), Hammer (OK), Azalea (GU), Kikai (GU), Tonegawa (CA), Stomach Momio (ZA), Ken Bogard** (OTH), Taro (BL), Numa (BX), Kurahashi (RY), Hiroyan (TH), Sasori (RY), Yoshimura (DH), Shiki (BX)

* tough CVS2 player
** visiting from France

Haitani Interview

2011-09-01T19:18:00.004-04:00

This is from the 2010 DCC booklet. Thanks to Brian for picking it up. Haitani won Vampire Savior at SBO. Lately he has one of the best Makotos in both Third Strike and SSF4AE. See also: Index of Multi-game Champs

What got you started playing fighting games regularly?

When I was about six my mom bought me my first game console (SNES) and I got Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting with it. Since then I've played mostly fighting games, so you could say that got me started playing them regularly.

My local friends played RPGs and sports games but at my house it was just fighting games like SF2, Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury and TMNT plus Mega Man.

What kind of game is Vampire Savior to you?

Since it was the first game I started playing seriously I have the strongest affection for Savior.

Lately I play different games but my fundamentals definitely came from VS. The game meshes well with my own personality and strengths so I was able to get stronger than I imagined I could. *

You have a lot of freedom. Savior is a game where you can readily make use of your own strengths.

Compared to other games Savior has hardly any moves that "you must not use," plus various individual plays are extremely strong so you can find your own way.

For example if we compare an all-rounder well versed in poking, anti-airs and combos with someone who is incredibly good at finding and converting on combo chances, in Savior the latter player will probably have a big advantage.

With this type of game where it's important to break through in one key area each individual can elevate their own play style to fighting strength and challenge people. That's a great thing about this game.

What is your practice routine for fighting games?

Normally I practice special moves and combos. Even after playing for many years input misses and dropped combos never cease. Both can have a huge effect on your win percentage. If you practice Dragon Punches regularly, when you go the arcade and they don't come out you'll definitely know why.

Say you're missing straight down or your motion has unnecessary directions you should be aware of that. I've seen players who regularly screw up bubble trap chances with Aulbath. They should run drills and get in the habit of knowing what kind of joystick they're using.

In addition, when I'm done fighting I try to inspect problem areas and counters when I get home.

When you play a long set with someone what are you looking out for?

For starters I gauge my opponent:

- Spacing, desired spacing.

- Distinct weak points (heavy attacks, moves they can't counter.)

- Go-to plays when they get cornered.

- Are they thinking risk > return or risk < return?

- If a certain play creates risk for them, given the same circumstances will they repeat the play? If so, how many times?

- Do they act on anticipation or rely on experience?

- How quickly do they act (in terms of how quickly the match unfolds?) When the pace exceeds their limit how do they act?

There is a lot more, but that's enough for now.

My own style is to pressure my opponent. Set a quick tempo and prevent them from playing like they normally do.

This is all standard stuff but I focus on it heavily in a long set.

How do you hone your power of concentration for a tournament?

I set my expectations: I go in to the tournament committed to live and die by my own intuition.

Of course one-and-out style is scary and losing is scary, so you're liable to do something out of the ordinary.

For example, if Sasquatch is right next to you with an okiseme chance, based on past experience you'd block low in anticipation of a low chain combo. In a tournament, however, one-and-out style makes you want to avoid a mortal wound from a Big Brunch [command throw] or overhead so you hold up and wind up getting hit by the low chain combo after all.

Do away with that kind of soft-headedness. Whether attacking or defending, believe in your own intuition.

If you wind up getting caught by the Big Brunch, chalk it up to your own abilities that day. Do this to get rid of idle thoughts and get the most satisfaction win or lose.

What do you think about being called one of the 5 Gods [of Fighting Games]?

Well that's just an internet meme so I don't take it seriously but from my perspective there are tons of people who are more skillful than me. When people say that I feel uncomfortable. If people would say "he's pretty strong for his area" that would be fine.

It's not self deprecation or anything like that that's just objectively how I see myself.

* There was a miscommunication with the second question but Haitani's answers were interesting so they printed them both.

Basic Nico Searches

2011-09-01T03:24:00.007-04:00

Let me share with you guys my primary method of digging up ST videos these days. It's very simple.

Nico has an English website now. I was able to login there with my nicovideo.jp info I assume it works the other way around. Also: Spanish, German

Once you have an account you're going to search for ST videos by upload date.

http://nicovideo.jp/search/スパIIX

That's a search for the most common ST nickname.

On the sorting pull-down menu you want the ninth item down. That's it. Some good action from Versus this past Tuesday right at the top. Inomata Ototo (the younger Inomata brother) entered a couple things last week w/ his green Hawk. Lots of Double Typhoons.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/search/ヴァンパイアセイヴァー

Vampire Savior. Some footage from last weekend's contest at Mikado up top.

X-Mania XII Results

2011-08-28T16:43:00.003-04:00

Lots of great matches on Sunday. Few tough players came from Kansai, unfortunately, but Gunze and Murasaki were looking great.

34 teams
1st Kikai (Guile), KKY (Dhalsim), Mattsun (Ken)

2nd Hakase (Dhalsim), Noguchi (Claw), Tamashima (Boxer)

3rd Numa (Boxer), Keishin (Chun-Li), Hiroyan (O.Hawk)

Art by Kurohachi.
*waves to GB*

X-Mania XII

2011-08-27T15:33:00.007-04:00

X-Mania starts at 2pm Sunday at Mikado. Mattsun hasn't announced a live stream yet. It might be here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mikado-00

EDIT: live at that url. Foosuke MC.

I'll update this post if I see anything. Also this weekend there may be national danisen action (i.e. Aniken and ARG fighting YuuVega and Keishin, etc.) Don't miss 40 minutes of Kurahashi vs. Muteki here and here.

Art by Okojo.

Versus Cup #1

2011-08-14T12:47:00.002-04:00

Terrific singles event at Versus on Sunday. TIO came to visit from Kyushu, Kusumondo from Kansai. Hakase, AFO, Nuki @ MC, Muteki and Shiki were all there slugging it out.

Check out the archive over here:

Qualifying round.
Played like casuals. The first fifteen people to get four wins in a row went on to the next round. Kusumondo got a bye.

Top sixteen.
Double elimination.

Also, Mattsun uploaded the poster for X-Mania 12. Bit strange.

Yoga Sniper T-Shirts

2011-08-09T21:41:00.007-04:00

NOTE: Orders placed between now and September 27th won't be shipped until the end of the month.

As part of Fundraising 2011 I'm pleased to announce that you can now buy your very own Yoga Sniper T-Shirt! White on navy, 100% cotton American Apparel. $25 for US orders, $30 for international. Price includes shipping costs.

Limited quantities for the first batch. If a restock is needed it probably won't happen until later on in the year so act fast. Email me nohoho@gmail.com if you have any questions.

United States

International

Thanks Ghaleon and Damdai for the photo.

SBO 2011 Team List

2011-08-03T00:38:00.015-04:00

Fundraising 2011

If you've found this blog to be amusing and informative over the years, please consider throwing a few ducats towards your more-humble-than-usual blog editor. I know the timing isn't great since a lot of you just spent big bucks to go to Evo but I'm tagging along with the SBO guys and I could use the scratch.

SBO Teams

Here's a list of teams that have qualified so far. Only the ~~European~~ (EDIT: added) and last chance qualifiers remain. Use the Nicovideo Redirector if you don't have an account.

Strong yet-to-qualify players include Tencho Ryu, Nakamura Cammy, Pony Zangief, Yakitori O.Hawk and Nakamu Blanka who I believe got second a few times.

edit 8.19: Added a couple team names and a link to the July 24th video.

Date	Team	Players	Video
4/29	超無敵不死身	Muteki (Guile), Shiki (Boxer), Nuki (Chun-Li)	archive
4/30	ＫＹＹ	Keishin (Chun-Li), Yoshimura (Dhalsim), YuuVega (Dictator)
5/1	ミドリムシ	KKY (Dhalsim), Mattsun (Ken), Kikai (Guile)
5/3	未来予想図	Tamashima (Boxer), Hakase (Dhalsim), Noguchi (Claw)
5/4	南越ビックワン	Hanashi (Fei-Long), Nasusim (Dhalsim), Abebin (E.Honda)
5/5	がんばろうＪＡＰＡＮ	Toukon (Chun-Li), Milky (Dictator), Muneo (O.Sagat)
5/8	Ｓキャラ同盟	Ando (O.Fei-Long), Sagative (O.Sagat), Tatsumaki RYU (O.Ryu)
5/14	最後の使徒	Otochun (Chun-Li), ARG (Claw), Gunze (Zangief)
5/15	チームデゲッシュ！	Makky (Ryu), Masao (Ken), Saito (Zangief)
5/21	初心者です。	Futachan (Ryu), HAS (Fei-Long), Roku (E.Honda)
5/22	TR部隊 TEAM OSD	ShootingD (Ryu), Okafei (Fei-Long), Seki (DeeJay)	one, two, three
5/29	コテツ軍団	Kotetsu (Claw), Suzuki (Dhalsim), Nami (Zangief)
6/4	滅・アキラ！	Prince (Chun-Li), Aniki (Guile), Ito (DeeJay)	link
6/5	ブルートパーズ	VIPER (T.Hawk), Toutanki (O.Hawk), Ootsun (Chun-Li)	one, two, three
6/11	落ちつけハワイアン！	The SuperStar (Boxer), Gotoh (Ryu), Tani (Guile)
6/12	くまモン	Kumadhal (Dhalsim), Chai (Chun-Li), Aiderun (Guile)
6/18	イタリア	AFO (Blanka), Sasori (Ryu), Oonishi (Dictator)
6/19	ゴリラ☆影助のうらぎり	Mushi (Ryu), Gorilla Kagesuke (O.Sagat), Ginaiyohei (Dictator)
6/25	特攻野郎ＡＫＢ	Kusumondo (E.Honda), Yabu (Cammy), Aniken (Ken)
6/25	Team USA	Damdai (O.Hawk), Immortal (Claw), Riz0ne (Dictator)	playlist
6/26	チーズフォンデュＢ・Ｄ	Fukahire Kamen (Zangief), KAIJI (Dhalsim), Katsuo Gocho (Chun-Li)
7/2	ＨｅｙＨｅｙＨｅｙ	Hammer (O.Ken), Hiroyan (T.Hawk), M.B (Boxer)
7/3	真髄継承	Akabla (Blanka), Shiro (Ryu), Kotaka Shoten (Guile)	link
7/9	遠征片道２時間	Yuzuru (DeeJay), Naoki (Boxer), Shu (Ken)
7/10	北の国から	Kiken (Ken), Alabama (Boxer), San (Ryu)
7/16	絶対零度	Tsuji (Boxer), MAO (Claw), Kurahashi (Ryu)
7/17	宇宙の大いなる意思	Yoshio (Guile), Numa (Boxer), baby nine (E.Honda)
7/23	究極Ｖモンキー	Paruni (Dhalsim), MurasakiVega (Dictator), Oreryu (Ryu)
7/24	元千葉勢	Fujinuma (Chun-Li), tomo (Ryu), Gakuzan (Zangief)	link
7/31	白虎隊	yaya (Sagat), Taira (Dictator), Sashishi (Ryu)	1, 2, 3, 4
8/6	Team Europe	elivepro\|Ken Bogard (O.Hawk), WDM\|CCL (Chun-Li), elivepro\|Kenpachi (Ryu)

Elsewhere…

Emperor YuuVega entered the Tuesday contest at Versus. Lots of good matches this week. part one, part two

I added Fuudo to the Multi-game Champs post. As soon as I clean up my notes I'd like to add Justin, Ryan Hart, Xiaohai and maybe Nakanishi.

A Raw Test of Wills

2011-07-26T16:52:00.005-04:00

Good luck to all Evo 2011 participants! This is from Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open.

The head of security yells, OK, everyone, it’s showtime!

We walk.

By careful prearrangement, Baghdatis stays three paces ahead as we move toward the light. Suddenly a second light, a blinding ethereal light, is in our faces. A TV camera. A reporter asks Baghdatis how he feels. He says something I can’t hear.

Now the camera is closer to my face and the reporter is asking the same question.

Could be your last match ever, the reporter says. How does that make you feel?

I answer, no idea what I’m saying. But after years of practice I have a sense that I’m saying what he wants me to say, what I’m expected to say. Then I resume walking, on legs that don’t feel like my own.

The temperature rises dramatically as we near the door to the court. The buzzing is now deafening. Baghdatis bursts through first. He knows how much attention my retirement has been getting. He reads the papers. He expects to play the villain tonight. He thinks he’s prepared. I let him go, let him hear the buzzing turn to cheers. I let him think the crowd is cheering for both of us. Then I walk out. Now the cheers triple. Baghdatis turns and realizes the first cheer was for him, but this cheer is mine, all mine, which forces him to revise his expectations and reconsider what’s in store. Without hitting a single ball I’ve caused a major swing in his sense of well-being. A trick of the trade. An old-timer’s trick.

The crowd gets louder as we find our way to our chairs. It’s louder than I thought it would be, louder than I’ve ever heard it in New York. I keep my eyes lowered, let the noise wash over me. They love this moment; they love tennis. I wonder how they would feel if they knew my secret. I stare at the court. Always the most abnormal part of my life, the court is now the only space of normalcy in all this turmoil. The court, where I’ve felt so lonely and exposed, is where I now hope to find refuge from this emotional moment.

I cruise through the first set, winning 6–4. The ball obeys my every command. So does my back. My body feels warm, liquid. Cortisone and adrenaline, working together. I win the second set, 6–4. I see the finish line.

In the third set I start to tire. I lose focus and control. Baghdatis, meanwhile, changes his game plan. He plays with desperation, a more powerful drug than cortisone. He starts to live in the now. He takes risks, and every risk pays off. The ball now disobeys me and conspires with him. It consistently bounces his way, which gives him confidence. I see the confidence shining from his eyes. His initial despair has turned to hope. No, anger. He doesn’t admire me anymore. He hates me, and I hate him, and now we’re sneering and snarling and trying to wrest this thing from each other. The crowd feeds on our anger, shrieking, pounding their feet after every point. They’re not clapping their hands as much as slapping them, and it all sounds primitive and tribal.

He wins the third set, 6–3.

I can do nothing to slow the Baghdatis onslaught. On the contrary, it’s getting worse. He’s twenty-one, after all, just warming up. He’s found his rhythm, his reason for being out here, his right to be here, whereas I’ve burned through my second wind and I’m painfully aware of the clock inside my body. I don’t want a fifth set. I can’t handle a fifth set. My mortality now a factor, I start to take my own risks. I grab a 4–0 lead. I’m up two service breaks, and again the finish line is within sight, within reach. I feel the magnetic force, pulling me.

Then I feel the other force pushing. Baghdatis starts to play his best tennis of the year. He just remembered he’s number eight in the world. He pulls triggers on shots I didn’t know he had in his repertoire. I’ve set a perilously high standard, but now he meets me there, and exceeds me. He breaks me to go 4–1. He holds serve to go 4–2.

Here comes the biggest game of the match. If I win this game, I retake command of this set and reestablish in his mind—and mine—that he was fortunate to get one break back. If I lose, it’s 4–3, and everything resets. Our night will begin again. Though we’ve bludgeoned each other for ten rounds, if I lose this game the fight will start over. We play at a furious pace. He goes for broke, holds nothing back—wins the game.

He’s going to take this set. He’ll die before he loses this set. I know it and he knows it and everyone in this stadium knows it. Twenty minutes ago I was two games from winning and advancing. I’m now on the brink of collapse.

He wins the set, 7–5.

The fifth set begins. I’m serving, shaking, unsure my body can hold out for another ten minutes, facing a kid who seems to be getting younger and stronger with every point. I tell myself, Do not let it end this way. Of all ways, not this way, not giving up a two-set lead. Baghdatis is talking to himself also, urging himself on. We ride a seesaw, a pendulum of high energy points. He makes a mistake. I give it back. He digs in. I dig in deeper. I’m serving at deuce, and we play a frantic point that ends when he hits a backhand drop shot that I wing into the net. I scream at myself. Advantage Baghdatis. The first time I’ve trailed him all night.

Shake it off. Control what you can control, Andre.

I win the next point. Deuce again. Elation.

I give him the next point. Backhand into the net. Advantage Baghdatis. Depression.

He wins the next point also, wins the game, breaks to go up 1–0.

We walk to our chairs. I hear the crowd murmuring the first Agassi eulogies. I take a sip of Gil Water, feeling sorry for myself, feeling old. I look over at Baghdatis, wondering if he’s feeling cocky. Instead he’s asking a trainer to rub his legs. He’s asking for a medical time-out. His left quad is strained. He did that to me on a strained quad?

The crowd uses the lull in the action to chant. Let’s go, Andre! Let’s go, Andre! They start a wave. They hold up signs with my name.

Thanks for the memories, Andre!

This is Andre’s House.

At last Baghdatis is ready to go. His serve. Having just broken me to take the lead in the match, he should have a full head of steam. But instead the lull seems to have disrupted his rhythm. I break him. We’re back on serve.

For the next six games we each hold. Then, knotted at four–all, with me serving, we play a game that seems to last a week, one of the most taxing and unreal games of my career. We grunt like animals, hit like gladiators, his forehand, my backhand. Everyone in the stadium stops breathing. Even the wind stops. Flags go limp against the poles. At 40–30, Baghdatis hits a swift forehand that sweeps me out of position. I barely get there in time to put my racket on it. I sling the ball over the net—screaming in agony—and he hits another scorcher to my backhand. I scurry in the opposite direction—oh, my back!—and reach the ball just in time. But I’ve wrenched my spine. The spinal column is locked up and the nerves inside are keening. Goodbye, cortisone. Baghdatis hits a winner to the open court and as I watch it sail by I know that for the rest of this night my best effort is behind me. Whatever I do from this point on will be limited, compromised, borrowed against my future health and mobility.

I look across the net to see if Baghdatis has noticed my pain, but he’s hobbling. Hobbling? He’s cramping. He falls to the ground, grabbing his legs. He’s in more pain than I. I’ll take a congenital back condition over sudden leg cramps any day. As he writhes on the ground I realize: All I have to do is stay upright, move this goddamned ball around a little while longer, and let his cramps do their work.

I abandon all thought of subtlety and strategy. I say to myself, Fundamentals. When you play someone wounded, it’s about instinct and reaction. This will no longer be tennis, but a raw test of wills. No more jabs, no more feints, no more footwork. Nothing but roundhouses and haymakers.

Back on his feet, Baghdatis too has stopped strategizing, stopped thinking, which makes him more dangerous. I can no longer predict what he’ll do. He’s crazed with pain, and no one can predict crazy, least of all on a tennis court. At deuce, I miss my first serve, then give him a fat, juicy second serve, seventy-something miles an hour, on which he unloads. Winner. Advantage Baghdatis.

Shit. I slump forward. The guy can’t move, but he still crushes my serve?

Now, yet again, I’m one slender, skittish point away from falling behind 4–5, which will set up Baghdatis to serve for the match. I close my eyes. I miss my first serve again. I hit another tentative second serve just to get the point going and somehow he flubs an easy forehand. Deuce again.

When your mind and body teeter on the verge of all-out collapse, one easy point like that feels like a pardon from the governor. And yet, I nearly squander my pardon. I miss my first serve. I make my second and he returns it wide. Another gift. Advantage Agassi.

I’m one point from a commanding 5–4 lead. Baghdatis grimaces, bears down. He won’t yield. He wins the point. Deuce number three. I promise myself that if I gain the advantage again, I won’t lose it.

By now Baghdatis isn’t merely cramping, he’s a cripple. Awaiting my serve, he’s fully bent over. I can’t believe he’s managing to stay on the court, let alone give me such a game. The guy has as much heart as he has hair. I feel for him, and at the same time tell myself to show him no mercy. I serve, he returns, and in my eagerness to hit to the open court, I hit far wide. Out. A choke. Clearly, a choke. Advantage Baghdatis.

He can’t capitalize, however. On the next point he hits a forehand several feet beyond the baseline. Deuce number four.

We have a long rally, ending when I drive a deep shot to his forehand that he misplays. Advantage Agassi. Again. I promised myself I wouldn’t waste this opportunity if it came around again, and here it is. But Baghdatis won’t let me keep the promise. He quickly wins the next point. Deuce number five.

We play an absurdly long point. Every ball he hits, moaning, catches a piece of the line. Every ball I hit, screaming, somehow clears the net. Forehand, backhand, trick shot, diving shot—then he hits a ball that nicks the baseline and takes a skittish sideways hop. I catch it on the rise and hit it twenty feet over him and the baseline. Advantage Baghdatis.

Stick to basics, Andre. Run him, run him. He’s gimpy, just make him move. I serve, he hits a vanilla return, I send him side to side until he yowls in pain and hits the ball into the net. Deuce number six.

While waiting for my next serve, Baghdatis is leaning on his racket, using it as an old man uses a walking stick. When I miss a first serve, however, he creeps forward, crablike, and with his walking stick he whacks my serve well beyond the reach of my forehand. Advantage Baghdatis.

His fourth break point of this game. I hit a timid first serve, so paltry, so meek, my seven-year-old self would have been ashamed, and yet Baghdatis hits a defensive return. I hit to his forehand. He nets. Deuce number seven.

I make another first serve. He gets a racket on it but can’t get it over the net. Advantage Agassi.

I’m serving again for the game. I recall my twice-broken promise. Here, one last chance. My back, however, is spasming. I can barely turn, let alone toss the ball and hit it 120 miles an hour. I miss my first serve, of course. I want to crush a second serve, be aggressive, but I can’t. Physically I cannot. I tell myself, Three-quarter kick, put the ball above his shoulder, make him go side to side until he pukes blood. Just don’t double-fault.

Easier said than done. The box is shrinking. I watch it gradually diminish in size. Can everyone else see what I’m seeing? The box is now the size of a playing card, so small that I’m not sure this ball would fit if I walked it over there and set it down. I toss the ball, hit an alligator-armed serve. Out. Of course. Double fault. Deuce number eight.

The crowd screams in disbelief.

I manage to make a first serve. Baghdatis hits a workmanlike return. With three-quarters of his court wide open, I punch the ball deep to his backhand, ten feet from him. He scampers toward it, waves his racket limply, can’t get there. Advantage Agassi.

On the twenty-second point of the game, after a brief rally, Baghdatis finally whips a backhand into the net. Game, Agassi.

During the changeover I watch Baghdatis sit. Big mistake. A young man’s mistake. Never sit when cramping. Never tell your body that it’s time to rest, then tell it, Just kidding! Your body is like the federal government. It says, Do anything you like, but when you get caught, don’t lie to me. So he’s not going to be able to serve. He’s not going to be able to get out of that chair.

And then he gets out and holds serve.

What’s keeping this man up?

Oh. Yes. Youth.

At 5–all, we play a stilted game. He makes a mistake, goes for the knockout. I counterpunch and win. I lead, 6–5.

His serve. He goes up 40–15. He’s one point from pushing this match to a tiebreaker.

I fight him to deuce.

Then I win the next point, and now I have match point.

A quick, vicious exchange. He hits a wild forehand, and as it leaves his strings I know it’s out. I know I’ve won this match, and at the same moment I know that I wouldn’t have had energy for one more swing.

I meet Baghdatis at the net, take his hand, which is trembling, and hurry off the court. I don’t dare stop. Must keep moving. I stagger through the tunnel, my bag slung over my left shoulder, feeling as if it’s slung over my right shoulder, because my whole body is twisted. By the time I reach the locker room I’m unable to walk. I’m unable to stand. I’m sinking to the floor. I’m on the ground. Darren and Gil arrive, slip my bag off my shoulder and lift me onto a table. Baghdatis’s people deposit him on the table next to me.

A trainer tells me the doctors are on the way. He turns on the TV above the table. Something to do while you wait, he says.

I try to watch. I hear moans to my left. I turn my head slowly and see Baghdatis on the next table. His team is working on him. They stretch his quad, his hamstring cramps. They stretch his hamstring, his quad cramps. He tries to lie flat, his groin cramps. He curls into a ball and begs them to leave him be. Everyone clears out of the locker room. It’s just the two of us. I turn back to the TV.

Moments later something makes me turn back to Baghdatis. He’s smiling at me. Happy or nervous? Maybe both. I smile back.

I hear my name coming from the TV. I turn my head. Highlights from the match. The first two sets, so misleadingly easy. The third, Baghdatis starting to believe. The fourth, a knife fight. The fifth, the never-ending ninth game. Some of the best tennis I’ve ever played. Some of the best I’ve ever seen. The commentator calls it a classic.

In my peripheral vision I detect slight movement. I turn to see Baghdatis extending his hand. His face says, We did that. I reach out, take his hand, and we remain this way, holding hands, as the TV flickers with scenes of our savage battle.

Pre-DCC 5on5 - All Out War 4

2011-07-25T00:26:00.003-04:00

DD posted this wonderful graphic to go with the Savior 5on announcement. The tourney is September 23rd at Club Sega Shinjuku West.

Nagoya Monogatari 2011

2011-07-15T23:15:00.006-04:00

Nagoya Stories in Chubu is the second biggest Savior tournament of the year behind the Darkstalkers Combination Cup. Last year's contest was one of the most entertaining fighting game events of 2010 with some great stuff from Sakai, Haitani and Nakanishi.

Warm-up Tourney at Urban Square Osu
Singles
July 16th at 8pm

Nagoya Monogatari 8
3on3
July 17th at 2pm

Live broadcast:
(TBD, but probably one of these:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sakamotosan
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nsbtv
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nsb2
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nsb3)

Here are the posters for 2010 and 2011:

There is plenty of recent footage on Ukio987's, NeoJinbe's and Orecomchan's YouTube accounts. Here's some Sakai beasting for starters.

Time for a Sandwich

2011-07-13T17:38:00.002-04:00

There are a couple short interviews with Kareeeeem re: X-Mania Europe here and here. Also he linked to some videos on SRK.

Photography by your humble blog editor. The salt is just there for scale!

ST Live Broadcast Calendar Test

2011-07-09T07:09:00.007-04:00

Let's see if this works. If you are planning on running a live broadcast post a comment or email me nohoho at gmail. Vampire Savior

EDIT: I had color coded things to indicate likelihood of streaming (between 'officially announced' (e.g. Ko-hatsu) and 'here and there when the staff feels like it' (e.g. Versus Danisen)) but it's not displaying. I'll work something else out later.

Nakano Royal 070711

2011-07-07T19:03:00.006-04:00

Nakamura took first on Thursday. It's been a while since a Cammy player won singles.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15847424

Super Street Fighter IV AE Tournament Results

2011-06-26T23:36:00.017-04:00

Except for a few at the bottom, all of these contests were in arcades. The links in the dates lead to videos. Use the Nicovideo Redirector if you don't have an account.

The Plaza Capcom series was canceled after the earthquake. One of the qualifiers is listed below.

If you wouldn't mind… please try using the sharing buttons in the new widget at the bottom.

If you're feeling bored… try using mouse-over on the old SF4 results posts.

Date	Location	#	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
Dec 23	A-Cho		MDR (Rufus)	Hisho (Abel)	Inbe (Guy)
Dec 25	Club Sega	34t	Charisma (Adon) Kyonuma (Juri) Efute (Chun-Li)	Marumegane (Dhalsim) Stereotype (C.Viper) Shibama (El Fuerte)
Dec 25	TDC Cup Random 3on	12t	Guts (Guy) OOOOO (Boxer) Shishi (Akuma)	Kurapan (Blanka) Shima (C.Viper) Sanat (DeeJay)	Ichikyu (Chun-Li) Mofumofu (T.Hawk) HKD (C.Viper)
Jan 2	NSB Ibaraki	10t	Aqua (Ibuki) Dashio (C.Viper) Hitoshi (Boxer)	JACK (Sagat) ? (Fei-Long) Ryochin (Yang)
Jan 8	FFA	15	Combofiend (Guy, Makoto)	Hugo101 (Dictator)	OnlineTony (Seth)
Jan 9	Mie Fight Club	30	Bakuko (C.Viper)	Y24 (Chun-Li)
Jan 10	Tennoji Ace	26	Dictator	Adon
Jan 14	A-Cho	17	MDR (Yun)	Hisho (Sagat)	Otonashi (Claw)
Jan 22	Esaka Navel Random 3on		Chekeji (Guile) Isotope (Claw) Yuu (Yun)	Kimpatsu (Seth) Mayokara (Cammy) 666 (Hakan)
Jan 23	Philly	36	Dr. Chaos (Yang, Ken)	Julian R.	Demon Hyo
Jan 28	A-Cho	20	MDR (Rufus)	-6 (Akuma)	Ikoma (Dictator)
Jan 29	Nagoya Street Battle	53t	MDR (Rufus) Haitani (Makoto) ShiroItachi (Makoto)	Hamamatsu Rufus (Yang) I Hara (Guy) Shizuoka Saikyo (Blanka)
Jan 29	Game Galaxy	22	LolPenguin (Sakura, Ryu)	Negro Justice (Dictator, Cody)	Sara from Alabama (Guile)
Feb 5	Amipala Okayama	16t	Ken, Zangief	Cammy, Adon	Akuma, Sakura
Feb 5	Lin Lin		Yami K66 (Seth)	France-jin (Cody)
Feb 5	Round 1	64	Marn (Yun)	Justin (Yang)	Tatsu (Claw)
Feb 5	Tenjinryusai	33t	Sabohani (C.Viper) Uryo (Sakura) Haitani (Makoto)	Yumemiru Shang Tsung Ningyo (Akuma) Dath (C.Viper) wao (Ken)
Feb 9	Chinatown Fair	40	Sabin (Dhalsim, Rose)	Twisted Jago (Dictator)	Issei (Makoto)
Feb 13	Plaza Capcom Shizuoka		Kindevu (Yun) Momochi (Makoto) Nemo (Yang)	Rikuson (Sagat) Epsilon J (C.Viper) Taison (Boxer)
Feb 27	Nagoya Street Battle	34t	MDR (Yun) Haitani (Makoto) Hisho (Sagat)	Epsilon J (C.Viper) Etro (Ibuki) Rikuson (Sagat)
Mar 1	8 on the Break		KDZ (Abel, Rufus)	Ryder (Abel, Adon)	RnB
Mar 5	A-Cho		Maakun (Yun) RF (Sagat)	Hisho (Sagat) MDR (Yun)
Mar 5	Fujisawa FunFun		Fukanraita (Gen)	Otoko (Dictator)
Mar 5	Lin Lin	20	Keroro (Seth)	Nona (C.Viper)	Kabi (Sagat)
Mar 10	Melbourne	34	Naruga (Cammy, Chun-Li, Yun)	TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	Weezer (Dudley)
Mar 14	Melbourne	40	TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	Somniac (Dictator)	CARNAGE (Cammy)
Mar 17	Galactic Circus	45	TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	TEC\|SoL T (Sakura)	Somniac (Dictator)
Mar 19	Color World Niigata Random 3on	6t	Kuzuga (Dictator) Gorigorikun (Sagat) Kabocha (Yun)	Ka (Blanka) Zetton (Guile) Tkm (Ibuki)	Perupoi (Yang) Poyon (Makoto) Jozuniyakemashita (Sakura)
Mar 20	Mie Fight Club		Aki (Abel) Jibi (Blanka) Manji (Sagat)	Jeppa (Rufus) f1q (Akuma) Kurocha (Ken)
Mar 20	University Family Fun		Julian R.	Demon Hyo	Shadow
Mar 24	Melbourne		Carnage (Cammy, Adon, Boxer, Sagat)	TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	Somniac (Dictator)
Mar 26	Chiba		Y (Cammy)	Seungyeon (Blanka)	Tori (El Fuerte)
Mar 31	Melbourne		TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	Somniac (Dictator)	Carnage (Cammy)
Apr 1	Sydney	12t	Monmi, KtotheG	AlexK, Kyokugen	CrazyFreeRider, Genxa
Apr 2	Lin Lin		KIM310 (Akuma) Dede (Makoto)	Guriko (Yun) Yaji (Fei-Long)
Apr 8	A-Cho	17	New Shima-uta (Fei-Long)	Sushiya (T.Hawk)
Apr 8	Neo Arcadia		Kenpachi (Fei-Long)	GXC Kimado (Dictator)	Jago (Guile)
Apr 9	Soyu Game Field		Ryuto (Adon) Gyunyu (E.Honda) KAN (Juri)	Misa (Yun) Tomo (Rufus) Doriru (Dudley)
Apr 10	Yoshimoto		-6 (Akuma) 666 (Yang) Haiteki (Makoto)	Haitani (Makoto) Uryo (C.Viper) Sabohani (C.Viper)
Apr 10	8 on the Break		Dieminion (Guile)	AG_MarlinPie (C.Viper)	KDZ
Apr 13	Next Level	49	Sanford (C.Viper, Sagat)	Chris G. (Yang, Sakura)	Aquasilk (Zangief)
Apr 13	Neo Arcadia	12t	Jagolewahar (Guile) Ryucef (Blanka)	Keitaro (Dhalsim) Daiisuki (Makoto)	Miloud (Yang) Pentarou (Yun)
Apr 16	Mie Fight Club		Yamamoto (Ken)	Joysol (Yang)	Rose
Apr 21	Melbourne		TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	TEC\|SoL T (Sakura, Rose, Abel)	Carnage (Cammy)
Apr 22	A-Cho		Parker (Yang)	Shima-uta (Ibuki)
Apr 22	Topanga		Nyanshi (Sagat) Daigo (Yun) Mago (Fei-Long) Bonchan (Sagat) Tokido (Akuma)	Yoshio (Guile) Hanamaruki (Sagat) Shungoku Neurose (Dictator) Ikari Oyaji (Yang) Shiro (Makoto)
Apr 23	Leisure Land Chiba		Shinchan (Boxer)	Kakai (Dhalsim)	Captain America (Rufus)
Apr 23	Color World Niigata	13t	Ka (Blanka) Suzuka (Rufus)	Tapu (Dictator) Poyon (Makoto)
Apr 24	A-Cho		Mayokara (Fei-Long) Taberemasen (Claw) Uryo (C.Viper) Furun (Sakura) 6 (Akuma)	MDR (Yun) Kindevu (Yun) Eita (Akuma) Haitani (Makoto) Dogura (Dictator)
May 4	Nagoya Street Battle		Eita (Akuma) Tobigaochineyo (Yang) Mayokara (Yun)	6 (Akuma) Amiyu (Gen) Noriyasu (Dhalsim)
May 7	Lin Lin	17t	Kusorega (Yun) Dragon (Yang)	Keroro (Seth) Yaji (Makoto)
May 12	Melbourne		TTC\|ToXY (Akuma)	Naruga (Yun)	Carnage (Cammy)
May 13	Kawasaki TILT	17t	Gacha Boy (Sagat) Endif (Cammy)
May 15	Philly	27	Dieminion (Guile)	Aquasilk (Zangief)	K Hunter
May 25	Next Level	63	EMP Sanford (Sagat, C.Viper, Ryu)	EMP Dieminion (Guile)	EMP Dragongod (Ibuki)
May 27	Kawasaki TILT		Mojako (Zangief) Refrain (Akuma)
May 28	Chiba		Y (Cammy)	Tottsuan Boy (Abel)	H-R (Ibuki)
Jun 2	Melbourne	33	TEC\|SolWalker (Rose, Sakura, Abel, Ryu)	Cypherion X (Ibuki)	Phero (Guy)
Jun 4	Taito Station Sendai	30	Regaros (Sakura) Rifu Chomin (Gen) Asahi Beer (E.Honda)	Kiyumoto Maria (El Fuerte) Furai Shitaishi (Guile) LED Totsugekitai (Zangief)
Jun 4	UFO Hachioji		Yang
Jun 4	Nagoya Street Battle		Momochi (Yun) banbaban (Yun) KOK (Fei-Long)	Sako (Ibuki) Rikuson (Sagat) Ryan Hart (Yun)	a.k.a. jojo (Dictator) Y24 (Chun-Li) missi (Dudley)
Jun 5	TDC		D Ball (Guile)	Torukichi (Zangief)
Jun 5	TDC 2on		Torukichi (Zangief) D Ball (Guile)	Kurapan (Blanka) Kaemaru (Zangief)
Jun 5	Yoshimoto	29t	Koji KOG (T.Hawk) Noriyasu (Dhalsim) utemasuka (Blanka)	Sabohani (C.Viper) Uryo (Sakura) Haitani (Makoto)	Mayokara (Makoto) wao (Oni) 666. (Yang)
Jun 11	UFO Hachioji	10	Ken
Jun 11	Mie Fight Club		Kameyama Zangief (Rufus) Joysol (Yang)	Aragosta (C.Viper) Jusai (Dictator)
Jun 11	Shinjuku Sports Land	24	Nishikin (Blanka)	Nyumondahonda (Dictator)	Hakagi (Blanka)
Jun 12	Shinkurashiki Fantasista		MDR (Yun)	7way (Claw)	Gema (Yang)
Jun 12	CEO		Tokido (Akuma)	Sabin (Rose, Dhalsim)
Jun 12	Revelations		Daigo (Yun)	Mago (Fei-Long)	Hsien Chang (Yun)
Jun 19	Norcal Regionals		Daigo (Yun)	Infiltration (Akuma, Ryu)	Ricky Ortiz (Rufus)
Jun 19	Shinkurashiki Fantasista		MDR (Yun)	E.Honda	Gema (Yang)
Jun 24	A-Cho	32	Otonashi (Claw)	Katsudai (Yun)	New Shima-uta (Yun)
Jun 25	Game Galaxy	53	Mike Weng (Sagat)	Jacob Ford (Yun)	Vicious Shogun (Claw)
Jun 26	Shadowloo Showdown		Poongko (Seth)	Momochi (Yun, Ken)	RF (Sagat)
Jun 26	East Coast Throwdown		Wolfkrone (C.Viper)	Dieminion (Guile)	Lincoln (Ibuki)

SBO 2011 SSF4AE Qs

A little past this season's halfway point, here are the teams that have qualified to go to Tougeki so far.
Fuerte Inochi (El Fuerte) & Darubisshusan (Dhalsim)
Nemo (Yang) & Kyabetsu (C.Viper)
Suropu (Fei-Long) & Aqua (Yang)
Kazunoko (Yun) & Ojisan (Yang)
a.k.a.jojo (Dictator) & Y24 (Chun-Li)
Banbaban (Yun) & KOK (Fei-Long)
Amyu (Gen) & Noriyasu (Dhalsim)
dath (C.Viper) & Ujiki (Claw)
MDR (Yun) & Haitani (Makoto)
Rariken (Sagat) & Tsuna (Juri)
Hachigashirasan (Yun) & Michael-tan (Ken)

Winningest Characters

Three points for first place, two for second and one for third. 19 points for Akuma from ToXY. 16 for Yun from MDR. EDIT: I added the 2nd and 3rd place teams for one of the Yoshimoto tourneys. I'm not going to update this graph, but Oni did get one point!

Graphics

Here are some assorted posters and web banners.

Chinatown Fair

2011-06-24T11:10:00.006-04:00

Riz0ne sent this great picture of him and your humble blog editor ('s arms) that his friend Sarah took. I'll get back to regular posting soon! Also I want to say hello to Derek Yu. Four player Spelunky looks absolutely brilliant!

EDIT: Haitani is apparently in Australia this weekend.

X-Mania Europe - Kurahashi Q&A

2011-06-07T12:15:00.003-04:00

We did this last week, before Kurahashi won singles and got second place in the 3on3, but my questions were mostly general so enjoy this late "preview." Riz0ne co-produced this post; look for more material like this from us as SBO approaches.

What are your thoughts and expectations about X-Mania Europe?

I'm extremely glad to see SF2 with its long history getting played not just in Japan but also in distant countries. I hope that X-Mania Europe continues annually like the original.

I wonder why your match against John Choi is one of the most famous SF2 matches ever. What are your thoughts about that fight?

On top of the fact that O.Sagat has a huge advantage over Guile, I think it made a strong impression on everyone because of the close comeback finish.

What do you think about the Ryu vs. Guile match?

I personally think it's close to even and that winning or losing comes down to the players' abilities. Out of the multitude of matches in SF2 Ryu vs. Guile is one of the most exciting.

The other day Kikai could be seen using a throw/option select Flash Kick auto-mixup. Do you use that trick? Any other tricks for Ryu or Guile that movie hounds might not be aware of?

I use that trick. Another one for Guile is the Flash Kick out of standing hit stun. When your opponent comes at you with a safe jump, right before you stand up move the joystick diagonally down in their direction. This forces a standing hit stun animation while you retain your charge. From there press up and you can do a Flash Kick. This trick works for other charge characters, too.*

So you move the joystick from down-back to down then down-towards to force the standing hit stun? Not down-back to neutral to down-towards?

Right as the opponent's attack connects move from down-back to down-towards. You don't need to hit neutral. It's also possible to do Guile's super out of standing hit stun.

Pretend there's a potluck dinner at X-Mania — what would you bring? In other words, tell us about something you like to eat that you make or get nearby.

I would say Sushi, Gratin or Oniku Zenpan**. Also I make different kinds of salads for myself.

Thank you very much. Good luck at X-Mania EU and SBO. I'm rooting for you so please crush Nuki.

Thanks for the support. My teammates are strong this year so we definitely want to crush Nuki and win the whole thing.

--

* Pretty sure that my translation is ok here but I'm still not sure what to make of it. I mistakenly (?) thought the trick used a crouching fierce when I posted about it earlier. Also: Tsuji video.

** Some kind of meat dish.

Ouja Videos 052211

2011-06-04T11:01:00.006-04:00

I have another X-Mania Europe post ready but at this point I'd prefer to get it up after the event rather than during, so please check back in a few days!

Attn: Riz0ne

2011-05-27T16:03:00.003-04:00

The international headquarters needs a new coat of paint, brother. Photography by your humble blog editor.

In other news... there will be an arcade ST tourney at Revelations in Southern California on June 11th. Check out the official site. Let's go Axel K!

X-Mania Europe - Player Q&A

2011-05-17T15:01:00.011-04:00

X-Mania Europe is scheduled for June 4th and 5th. The official site is here:

http://www.kumite.fr/x-mania-europe/

I thought it would be fun to check in with some of the entrants. Here's a quick Q&A with Wolmar from France, SpinalBlood from Italy and Kareeeeem, our man in Amsterdam. I'm hoping to hear from a couple more people; this post might get updated a little later.

Update 5/18/11 - Added a Q&A with Vernon from Rome.

Thank you guys for the answers and good luck to all participants!

Wolmar

Could you tell us how the tournament came about? Who's idea was it and what steps were involved in making it happen?

Well, let me introduce first the Neo Arcadia arcade center: it is located in the south of France, and it is one of the most renowned arcade venue in France; it is based upon Japan arcade centers, with Japanese cabs, old school Vs. battle games, with also some new and casual stuffs. So this center had once the idea of a big ST tourney. And some crazy idea popped up: it was about asking Mikado arcade center if they would agree to "give" the x-mania license to a European event. Thus, they just did; mailing Mikado and waiting for a reply. Mikado agreed and even was excited about X-mania being elsewhere than Japan (CPS-1 airplane sound). Then, that was it; Neo Arcadia had almost 9 months to figure out how to organize such an event the best possible way.

What are the tourneys like in your area? Who are some of the tough players that you spar with? Is anyone else going to X-Mania? Are there any specific players from abroad or elsewhere in France that you're eager to battle with at X-Mania Europe and why?

ST tourneys in France are still alive. Neo Arcadia's kumite (autumn), Rennes's Stunfest (May, biggest Vs fighting event in Europe as you know), ST team event in World Game Cup (Cannes, huge event), Lyon's Danisen, and some other tourneys here and there across the country (like, 4/5 others). So we can say ST is really alive in France tourney wise. In Europe, I can only think of SvB (London), but they play HDR there, and Thunder Kicks (South England), Hometourneys hosted by jpj, where some of the best euro peeps showed up lately (Orf, Kareeeeem, Ryan Hart...).

Toughest Euro players are, to name just some: Orf (Ryu, UK), SpinalBlood (Sagat, Ita), Kareeeeem (Blanka, Netherlands), Biollo (Dhalsim, Ita), Paskis (Shotos, Finland)... In France, we have quite a bunch of good players : 3 brothers with sick skills (Aerorockman, Dictator; Er Commander, Blanka; veloluffy, Ryu). Cuongster also is a nasty ken, and is able to win pretty much everyone if he's in the mood. All in all, Er Commander is the player I consider to be the toughest right now in France. And he's 16. His mixups and combos are so crazy he can kill you from a single hit. All those players I mentioned are going to X-mania, except for Paskis and Orf. Gonna be sick!

But sickest thing is a Japanese top player will come. It is now 100% sure. It will be either Nuki, Muteki or AFO. Nuki is most likely the one who'll come. And as he is the best Japanese player in Windjammers, I'm rooting for him even more!

How have you been practicing for the tournament? Any specific match-ups that you've been working on?

As some Japanese player will come, I'm afraid we (and I) will have huge difficulties to win one of the 4 tourneys that will take place. But it will be a pleasure even to be badly molested :p

More seriously, I tried to work my Sim against chars like Blanka and Honda. These are favorable match-ups for Sim but ONLY if you perfectly know how to deal with it. If not, it can very quickly turn into a nightmare. I think I can do okay against most of the cast with sim apart from that.

Pretend there's a potluck dinner at X-Mania — what would you bring? In other words, tell us about something you like to eat that you make or get nearby.

Well, the dish I'll talk about is not typically French, lol. In Neo Arcadia's street, there is a lot of little sandwich shops called 'kebabs'. It is basically from Turkey (or even Greece whatever :p), and it consists in thin lamellas of calf meat, with white sauce, onions, small tomato and salad morsels, wrapped in Lebanese bread. So tasty!

SpinalBlood

What are the tourneys like in your area? Who are some of the tough players that you spar with? Is anyone else going to X-Mania?

First of all thanks to RWD for helping me translate my answers into proper English. In Italy, the tournament scene is pretty much non existent as there is no "real" arcades anymore besides the ones you can find at seaside locations, and the games you find there are far away from the fighting game genre.

We do have a small offline scene dedicated to fighting games, however, due to the arrival of Street Fighter 4 the 2X related events have decreased and some of our more skilled players have pretty much retired - there are 2X ranbats in Rome, but unfortunately that is too far away from my location in Milan to attend.

We have a number of players still interested in the game in Italy, but it is too hard to gather everyone from different regions together. Some of them play online using GGPO and Supercade such as Biollo, Vernon, Kenmasta, Redeluni, Xam925, Masonna, Mattycon, Kuroi, Gibbone, Neanderthal, DanyXp, Verzaverde, Steve - these are regular players and I think some of them are good at least for European level. I spar with them often but unfortunately only a few can attend X-Mania due to family duties, work etc.

Are there any specific players from abroad that you're eager to battle with at X-Mania Europe and why?

If I'm honest there is no-one in particular, which might sound like a self-confident response but that is far from the truth as I lose often against many European and USA players. I always try to win but also try to have fun and I find that if I think too much about who my opponent is, especially at tournaments, it may result in a worse performance - I think it's much better to think about the character and the match-up itself.

Anyway, playing this game online has got me in contact with a lot of foreign players, some have already registered for this tournament and some I have already met in previous tournaments. I would like to see Professor Jones and Fuzzy at this event, as I enjoy their play styles.

How have you been practicing for the tournament? Any specific match-ups that you've been working on?

For training I have been using training mode on HD Remix (classic mode), PC emulators and online play with GGPO and Supercade for VS play experience. Like I said, 2X in Italy is not very popular and I think the situation in other countries isn't that much different, so this is where online play helps and programs like nFBA, GGPO and Supercade are very useful in bringing players together.

I also check Japanese videos but unfortunately New Sagat footage is pretty rare and some match-ups are even harder to find - I like Yaya videos, he has a unique style, especially his fireball game, and is totally different from any other Sagat.

There are some match-ups that I focus more on, mainly the more difficult ones such as Dhalsim, Boxer, Claw and Chun. I personally hate DeeJay for some reason even thought he isn't the most difficult, and Boxer because he can win very quickly, so I'm trying to improve on that. I would like to play against more Cammy and Sagat players, as there is a lack of them so I need more experience against them.

It seems like you're the only New Sagat player outside of Japan. Why did you decide to specialize in him?

I like New Sagat because of his zoning/fireball game, the goal is to break the opponents balance with a mix of high and low fireballs, forcing them to jump into an uppercut or sweep. From this perspective I have a lot of fun with him, although it's not always possible to zone properly against some characters due to certain moves or Sagat's height, but that adds to the challenge.

His Tiger Knee is very fast, can be used as a crossover, somewhat compensates for Sagat's overall slowness, and if used unpredictably can be a real threat. Similar can be said about his Super, which is nice for anti-air purposes, going through fireballs done up close and as a general chip damage finisher (like a real tiger, ahah).

The reason I prefer New over Old is that Old relies too much on low fireballs because of the fast recovery, and I find him a bit cheap because of the different uppercut properties (single hit high damage) and the stand LK being cancelable on both hits into fireball. New Sagat has to be played slightly different because he doesn't have these properties so I think he has to use his entire set of moves and normals, making him a more fun character to play. - it's not that Old can't do this also, but more than it's inconvenient to do so resulting in a (in my opinion) slightly more boring playstyle, even if he does have a better zoning game. I also like the ability to tech-throw, which is very important, especially against characters such as Chun-Li and Dictator.

Old Sagat is certainly the stronger character, but I feel New is closer to how Sagat was intended to be, people who like the character should give him a try as it's still possible to do well with him. There is a player in Finland called Paskis who also uses him and he's interesting as his style is more aggressive than mine.

Pretend there's a potluck dinner at X-Mania — what would you bring? In other words, tell us about something you like to eat that you make or get nearby.

I laughed at this, err, well, it may look stereotypical, but I would have to say pizza. :)

What kind of pizza?

Spicy salami pizza :) I guess outside Italy it's called pepperoni pizza because of the spiciness, but it's not the red peppers one.

Kareeeeem

What are the tourneys like in your area? Who are some of the tough players that you spar with? Is anyone else going to X-Mania?

Tourneys here in the Netherlands suck if you're not into SSF4. The guys who run them, an organization called Dutchnoobz are great and are players themselves so they understand what works and what doesn't. But the community itself is just too close-minded for a good and varied scene to exist. Even newer games such as Marvel don't get nearly the excitement a new and actually fun game deserves. Most of the guys who play now came into an already existing scene and don't know how or just don't want to create an environment where multiple games get played. Especially when it comes to the "old" games, something I don't quite understand since if you have never put time into it how is that game old to you.

I usually try to bring a setup with me to those tourneys and get some casuals in for games that I enjoy.

Are there any specific players from abroad that you're eager to battle with at X-Mania Europe and why?

Guys like Wolmar (Honda/Sim, hella cheap so he forces you to be on point and never get caught in a bad spot), SpinalBlood (N.Sagat, never played any N.Sagat who could hit the 5 hit fierce upper like him), Coungster (N.Ken, guy is the definition of solid) always give me exciting games. I don't know how they feel about playing me but I love playing them.

How have you been practicing for the tournament? Any specific match-ups that you've been working on?

To be honest it was doubtful I was gonna make it even though I reallllllly wanted to. Now that I'm confirmed to be there I'm just gonna practice hard against whatever match I encounter. Blanka sucks against nearly anyone. Wolmar and Spinal are two of the players I like to play on GGPO because playing them forces you to just be extra extra solid in your decision making, so I hope I can get plenty matches in with them and a bunch of other players who force me to do the same.

Pretend there's a potluck dinner at X-Mania — what would you bring? In other words, tell us about something you like to eat that you make or get nearby.

Theres this Tunisian (my dad is from there) sauce or paste called harrissa made up of different kind of hot peppers and other spices like garlic, coriander, etc, and some tomato and olive oil. and I like to put it on EVERYTHING like any Tunisian would. So if I were to bring in some food it would probably be a footlong sandwich both side spread with harrise and some olive oil, some olives and scrambled eggs. maybe some lamb chops on the side because every meal needs meat.

VernonSPQR

What are the tourneys like in your area? Who are some of the tough players that you spar with? Is anyone else going to X-Mania?

In Italy we have a long tradition for fighting games. Unfortunately the crisis that infested the industry in the 90s has killed every game center, year after year. A bad scenario not favorable for a genre born and raised in the heart of game centers, but thanks to internet we started to hit hard again and slowly, from ashes, we've rebuilt a scene. Anyway some years have passed and now we have again our small scene dedicated to fighting games with events, meetings and tournaments.

Under the flag of Arcade Extreme, nowadays we continue to run ranking battles in both Rome and Milan (season #3 in progress), that are the regular, monthly tournaments for Italian players. But with the release of SSFIV a lot players in our country have jumped on the new-fashioned-style bandwagon, and meanwhile since the crowd is mainly focused on the fourth SF's incarnation, the attention for old games like 2X is dramatically decreased.

However, since I am one of the coordinator and organizer of the Rome ranbats (along with friends Okuyasu, Shirl and OldBoy) I decided to put 2X in the current line-up season and nowadays these are the only offline tournaments you can find in Italy. This is my personal effort to keep the flame of old school alive.

We have a lot of good players, both newcomers and old schoolers continue to improve themselves. Just to name some: SpinalBlood, Biollo, Masonna, Mattycon, Xam925, Kenmasta, Rukawa and Shirl. Except for the players located in Rome I spar with them online on GGPO/Supercade. Bad luck only a few can attend X-Mania Europe.

Are there any specific players from abroad that you're eager to battle with at X-Mania Europe and why?

Of course, Europe has very strong players but I don't want to mention anyone in particular. I have already met them in past tournaments and often on GGPO, now I wanna just really meet them again in France and try to knock them out from the tourney. We are all friend you know, but this is competition, and we love it.

Furthermore if the Japanese are really coming that's gonna be a hit. In 2009 I have been in Japan for 1 month, during my holiday at Mikado in Tokyo I sparred with some of the best in the world like YuuVega, Mattsun, Taira, Noguchi, Nakamura and many others along with my friend Verza. Man, they're truly unreachable. I wish, at least, some can come in Europe cause I wanna play them again and learn from the masters.

How have you been practicing for the tournament? Any specific match-ups that you've been working on?

Well, playing offline when I can and online when there's nobody to spar with in a real circumstance. Playing online it's really different you know, but helps a lot to keep trained and learn new play styles.

In addition watching Japanese match vids which I find really useful to study match-ups on the fly and memorize important things to try when I'll play again.

Pretend there's a potluck dinner at X-Mania — what would you bring? In other words, tell us about something you like to eat that you make or get nearby.

If I could choose without no doubts a pasta plate or lasagna cooked by my grandmother. But even a pizza would be ok, uh, I simply cannot live without it.

Gian Recital 2011 Results

2011-04-29T12:22:00.009-04:00

Bimonthly allergy attack! (light posting)

1st Sasori (Ryu), Shiki (Boxer), Muteki (Guile), Nuki (Chun-Li), Keishin (Chun-Li)

2nd Yuzuru (DeeJay), Ito (DeeJay), Seki (DeeJay), Itokazu (DeeJay), Ken (Boxer)

The top 8 was saved on ustream. Starts with a stonking clash between Kurahashi's team and Nuki's team. It is written:
Landing this when they're at "eat a Sniper and die" health is extremely thrilling.

Elsewhere…
Another archive you might be interested in: there's a long set featuring Nuki vs. "the top Ryu vs. Chun player" over here. Sasori apparently.

The Mikado SBO Qs are on Saturday April 30th at 5pm (Japan.) Not clear if Mattsun plans to set up the live broadcast but it'll be here if so:
http://www.ustream.tv/user/mikado_00

There's an earthquake relief ST event at Shiogama Shuttle the day after that I don't think there's a stream for that one.

EDIT:
Beautiful day today. Photography by your humble blog editor.

Gian Recital 2011

2011-04-14T19:55:00.012-04:00

(Light posting - bear with us.)

The seventh annual Super Turbo 5on5 is scheduled for April 29th at Ooyama Newton. Three-fifths of the winning team get to be the first SBO qualifiers for the season. A live broadcast is planned I assume Gian will put a link up on the official site.

EDIT: Tourney starts at 1pm (Japan.) Watch the stream over here:
http://www.tougeki.com/live

Some teams:

Kita (Chun-Li), Seo (Ryu), Takahashi (Ryu), Senbon (T.Hawk), Toukon (Chun-Li)

Muteki (Guile), Nuki (Chun-Li), Shiki (Boxer), Keishin (Chun-Li), Sasori (Ryu)

yaya (Guile/Sagat), Taira (Dictator), babynine (E.Honda), Kotaka Shoten (Guile), Sashishi (Ryu)

Mattsun (Ken/Cammy), KKY (Dhalsim), Kikai (Guile), Tojo (Chun-Li), Shogatsu (O.Honda)

Hakase (Dhalsim), Noguchi (Claw), Tamashima (Boxer), ~~Shogatsu (O.Honda), Pony (Zangief)~~ Muneo (O.Sagat), Adachi (DeeJay)

Kurahashi (Ryu), YuuVega (Dictator), AFO (Blanka), Yoshimura (Dhalsim), Hiroyan (T.Hawk)

Akashachi Kancho (Blanka), Yoshio (Guile), Hayatty (Ryu), Akabla (Blanka), Shiro (Ryu)

Tsuji (Boxer), MAO (Claw), Opemai (Claw), Saito (Zangief), Murasaki (Dictator)

Yuzuru (DeeJay), Ito (DeeJay), Seki (DeeJay), Itokazu (DeeJay), ???

Pony (Zangief), Atomic Boy [Toutanki] (Zangief), Kakky (Zangief), Aoki Cyclone (Zangief), Gunze (Zangief)

VIPER (T.Hawk), Yakitori (O.Hawk), Muro (O.Hawk), Shin (T.Hawk)

Nakamura (Cammy), Fujinuma (Chun-Li), tomo (Ryu), Shu (Ken), Piroshi (E.Honda)

Inro and Chamu Interview

2011-03-14T17:32:00.007-04:00

This is from Tougeki Spirits #6 (August 2007.) I’m taking a break folks blogging will resume in a bit.

Arcadia: Since the theme for this interview is how women can have fun playing SF2, could you each tell us how you got started?

Inro: They had it set up at the arcade so I played it up like any other game.

Chamu: Oh boy. My earliest memory of SF2 is playing with my little brother in elementary or middle school.

A: So Inro you liked going to arcades from the start?

I: My first game was Wild Fang. Endless games of Makaimura [Ghosts ‘n Goblins] even interfered with my job.

A: That’s hardcore. (laughs) Chamu, how did you go from playing with your brothers to playing at the arcade?

C: It’s not like I was playing continuously, but what brought me to the arcade was my boyfriend at the time said, “I’ve met some amazing guys at this arcade in Meidaimae.” They had tournaments periodically and people got called out by special names. So I asked to tag along as a newbie.

A: You wanted to see what was up with the high score names?

C: I was told to practice up on Playstation and think of a nickname beforehand. (laughs)

A: Your boyfriend the gifted teacher. (laughs) Moving on, even though the games have been around a long time, there are not many female fighting game players. What’s it like in your area?

I: In my area a lot of women play shooting games. When SF2 came out it brought a lot of people together. Women were drawn to the different characters more so than the game.

A: Speaking of that, where do you mainly play?

I: In Kyoto and Shigaken.

C: Around me there are very few female players. In my area (around Shinjuku) there was a woman who used CE Dictator a few months ago. Besides her, about a year ago there was one other Chun-Li player. I think it would be great to see more women playing games. The fact that there aren’t any gender differences is one of the nice things about them.

A: Could you both tell us about some of the positive experiences as well as negative that have cropped up as you continued to play Street Fighter?

I: The negative would be being approached by creeps right? On the good side I’ve been able to meet a lot of different people not just playing SF2 but a variety of games.

C: I’m happy that few creeps have bothered me. People do write a lot of nasty stuff on the internet, though. For positives I think just having a hobby is one. It doesn’t have to be SF2, but just having something outside of work is a good way to help you keep yourself balanced. So when one thing has you down, you have this other thing that you enjoy. It’s tricky to try for perfection with both of course. My stance is just to take it easy.

A: What are some of your other hobbies?

C: Nothing in particular for me beyond shopping. I guess a lot of girls would say that.

A: A lot. (laughs)

C: So having SF2 as a hobby is pretty big.

A: How about you, Inro?

I: I like all sorts of games so playing different games is my hobby. PCs, too.

A: Building them?

I: No no, just games.

A: All games. (laughs)

I: I’m afraid I just really enjoy games. Oh also I collect soaps. (laughs)

A: Could you tell us how you transitioned to your characters?

C: There was no transition, I can use only Chun-Li.

I: At first, I used everybody against the computer.

A: And then you settled on Chun-Li?

C: I was told that I should work on other characters to develop fighting strategies, but it was awkward and I didn’t feel comfortable using them. That’s it. It’s fun as long as you can use one character, though, plus Chun-Li is strong and easy to use so I can recommend her freely to other women.

I: In my case, my husband showed me how to use Chun-Li. The first time I fought him I thought I could just trap him with Zangief to win but he wouldn’t let me touch him.

C: Which characters would you recommend for female players?

I: Let’s see. Instead of considering abilities, go for someone whose style clicks with you. If you pick based on abilities then you’ll be pointing at match-ups when you lose.

C: That’s right. It’s lame when people make excuses based on the character they chose. Still, there are character differences in Street Fighter, different match-ups, that’s just how the game was made. Talking about those match-ups and taking a closer look at them can be very interesting. When character balance gets upset at a tournament that’s when things get exciting, right?

A: Definitely. Do you have any words of support for women who’d like to enter SBO?

C: A lot of male players’ girlfriends are interested, but the level of play is so high... It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman there are tough players and there are not-so-tough players so it doesn’t matter if you’re not that skillful, losing is all in your mind right?! My personal recommendation is to start by entering tournaments. As a woman you can get teamed up with a strong player (laughs.) Even if you don’t, simply entering tournaments is very exciting! I’d like to see more women give it a shot.

A: I see. What do you think, Inro?

I: It might be easy to tease female players, but in the world of games ability rules. If you show your strength as a player it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman you’ll be treated the same. Try hard - the more you buff up your skills the better.

A: Any final words? (laughs)

C: Uh-uh. Nothing in particular. I’ll be at SBO so please root for me!

A: Thanks for speaking with me today.

Nakano Guile Kumite Video 031011

2011-03-14T16:00:00.002-04:00

Nakano doesn't enter many tourneys, but his Guile is very tough. Haven't seen Okuchun — the first jab color Ryu — in a while.

There may be a 16-man invitational event in Chubu on March 20th. If I find a live broadcast link I'll update this post.

Baba Mikado 3on3 Live Broadcast

2011-03-11T21:57:00.001-05:00

Sunday March 13th at 6pm (Japan)

http://ustream.tv/channel/mikado-00

Versus Danisen Video 030611

2011-03-08T17:05:00.003-05:00

10th dan. Kotaka Shoten GU, Abebin EH, Hanashi FE, Hiroyan OTH, Muneo OS, Nuki & Keishin MC

Ooyama Newton Video 030411

2011-03-07T17:49:00.002-05:00

Good job Verza for taking 1st at the Versus 3on thing the other day!

Part one
Part two

Chanba RY, Gonze ZA, Ani EH, Bison Wakamatsu DJ, Ketsu ga Aoki Cyclone* ZA, Kikai GU, Numa BX, Ore GU
vs.
Bubbles RY, Kama-age RY, Raoh RY, Tomoza DI, Shin TH, Chabozu SG, Gucchi RY, Toukon CH

* "Butt is a blue cyclone."

Happy Birthday by Okazuwa Shake. (Chun turned 43 last week?)

Kikai Kumite 030311

2011-03-04T12:04:00.004-05:00

Fourteen people challenged Kikai Guile at Nakano Royal.

Part one

Part two

Senbon TH, Kurose KE, Takahashi RY, Kobayashi BX, Toukon CH, Seo RY, Kita CH, Nakano Guile, Tetsujin RY, Nakamura CA, Takekawa RY, Aoki Cyclone ZA, Koedo DI, KKY BL

Super Turbo Videos

2011-03-01T20:23:00.006-05:00

Art by Kazaana.

Newton 2on2 022611

VERZA visiting from Italy maybe.

VERZA DI & STEVE CL, Mayumura OR & MB BX, Shiki BX & Nuki CH, KKY DH & Kamiyama Mangetsu ZA, Keishin CH & Hiroyan TH, VIPER TH & Fujinuma CH, Chabozu SG & Raoh RY, Shin TH & ryu DI

Part one
Part two

Versus Team Battle 030111

Rare accidental fireball from Jenety.

Gowalsky OZ, Jenety OCH, Tomoza DI, Aoki Cyclone ZA, Noguchi SG, Shu KE, Shin TH, Kikai GU, Numa BX, VIPER TH, Fujinuma CH, Abebin EH
vs.
Azalea GU, C EH, Yama OZ, PECO OK, Gucchi RY, Goemon FE, Keishin CH, Hiroyan ZA, Abebin TH, Sasori RY, Hanashi FE, KKY DH

Part one
Part two

ST Vids, Return to Tougeki

2011-02-26T12:25:00.002-05:00

On the road I'll post more later.

Versus Danisen 022011

Brilliant stuff. Nuki is on top of 3S with both Chun and Ken, by the way.

Muteki (Guile), AFO (Blanka), Keishin (Chun-Li), Sasori (Ryu), Sashishi (Ryu), Kawamata (Ryu), Kurahashi (Boxer)

Part one
Part two
Part three

Nakano Royal Teams 022411

Link

Super Turbo at SBO!!

Three on three once again! Most excellent. I plan on posting Q news as usual.

2011-02-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

Newton Teams and Nakamura Kumite Vids

2011-02-22T08:42:00.002-05:00

Ooyama Newton Video 021811

Between Newton, Versus and Royal there are now three of these contests a week in Kanto. Very cool.

Part One
Part Two

Atomic Boy ZA, Ore GU, Chabozu SG, Kita CH, Kotaka Shoten GU, VIPER TH, [Gucchi RY]
vs.
Sasori DI, Bison Wakamatsu ZA, Raoh RY, KKY BL, Shin TH, Kikai GU, [Numa BX]

Nakamura Kumite at Nakano Royal 021711

Fourteen people went up against Nakamura including Nakano Guile and YuuVega (!) link.

Playland F1R Random 2on Video 021911

2011-02-22T00:43:00.004-05:00

This arcade is in Sendai north of Tokyo.

Dragon DJ & Fukahire Kamen ZA
Midori EH & Tenin 30 RY
Sakamoto SG & Houki Atama GU
Minomukun CA & Bison Yoroshiku Tanomuwa BX
Tomohi RY & Tenin 32 RY
Nittake BX & Kenon RY

32 is Shimatsuya (top Jedah) and not 100% sure but I think 30 is Bagon (strong SF4 Sagat.)

P.S. Thanks Oldschool I screwed up.

Savior and Super Turbo Tourney News

2011-02-17T22:04:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple VS results via DD.

A-cho Olympics 021211
40 entrants
1st Sakamoto (QB)
2nd Giga Q (QB)
3rd Dara (Demitri)
Videos maybe here.

Orekon Birthday Cup at VIP 021311
17 teams
1st Kosho (Bulleta) & Oboro (Victor)
2nd Azwan (Demitri) & Hosokawa (Sasquatch)
3rd Takahashi (Gallon) & Nekohashi (Felicia)
3rd Orekon (Felicia) & Nakanishi (Bishamon)
Videos maybe here.

And a few ST items.

Versus Team Battle Vid 021511
Good matches this week. Part one, Part two

Versus Random 3on Live
February 19th at 8pm (Japan)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/versus-live2
(By the way, DCC Hunter champ Akita has a tough 3S Ken. Some footage in the archive there.)

Ko-hatsu Ratio Tournament Live
February 20th at 4pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kouhatsu

Ooyama Newton Video 021211

2011-02-14T07:38:00.005-05:00

When the 2p fierce button stopped working for VIPER they decided to start the tourney's whole 2nd round over I guess.

Shiki's snappy low fierce is called "Shiki Upper."

Kikai GU, ryu DI, Yoshio GU/MC, C EH, KKY DH, Aoki Cyclone ZA, Chabozu SG, VIPER TH, Ueno Shigeru Yonjusai* EH, Shiki BX, Shin TH

*"Shigeru Ueno (40 years old)"

Couple other things…

There were a lot of heavy hitters at that Plaza Capcom SSF4AE thing. Semis and final archive over here. Really good stuff.

Akuma vs. O.ST Cammy at Ikebukuro Vegas - okie dokie!

Nakano Royal Videos 021011

2011-02-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

Toukon kindly uploaded some footage from a different spot.

Part One
Part Two

Kobayashi CL, Hei BX, Kurose KE, Tomoza DI, Senbon TH, Seo RY, Shin TH, Youichi CL, Kita CH
vs.
Takahashi RY, Orenron BL, Toukon CH, Gucchi RY, Nakamura CA, Mayumura OR, Kawamata RY, Nakano GU, Shiki BX

Versus Danisen and Team Battle Videos

2011-02-08T17:33:00.005-05:00

Tsuwamono fights from February 6th and team showdown from February 8th. By the way, I added a couple things to the previous post.

Kurahashi (N.Ken), Keishin (Chun-Li), Kawamata (Ryu), Kotaka Shoten (Guile), Numa (Boxer), Nuki (Commentary), Tonegawa (Commentary)

Shinomaru RY, Shin TH, Tomoza DI, Azalea GU, Numa DJ, Kawasim DH, Keishin CH, ryu DI, Sasori RY, Hanashi FE, Nakamura CA, Kurahashi RY, Noguchi CL
vs.
Hiroyan OTH, Musashi Kosugi ZA, Gucchi RY, "Ni"kaiten* (EH), Jenety OCH, Kikai GU, Izumi OS, VIPER TH, Kotaka Shoten GU, Fujinuma CH, Sashishi RY, Nuki CH, Hakase DH

*Instead of 'two revolutions' this is 'fake revolutions.'

Upcoming Tourneys, Kinu's Blog, SSF4AE Stats

2011-02-06T23:28:00.010-05:00

UPDATE Feb. 8th — added an event and another chart for SF4.

The A-Cho Capcom Olympics are next weekend. Singles tourneys for CVS2, MVC2, SSF2X, 3S, SSF4AE, SFZ3 and VS. Top placers get points which are used to determine an overall winner for the event. I'd like to see some good stuff from Cantona (SFA3/SF4 Zangief) and Inbe (SFA3/SF4 Guy).

Also on Sunday there will be a Vampire Savior 2on2: the Orekon Birthday Cup. Check out the poster by Fugo and Dara at Orekon's site. Felicia is holding an Amagami PSP game that I guess is a prize for the winners.

On February 13th at 1pm there's an SSF4AE 3on3 at Plaza Capcom Intermagical in Shizuoka. It's the first of a series of qualifiers for a Capcom official Kanto event. They're planning to run a live broadcast; ~~I'll add I link when I have it.~~
Streaming: here and here.

Kinu's Blog

Kinu Nishimura recently started a blog. This winter she did the character design for a fantasy figure as well as this great piece for an MVC3 special edition that Capcom is selling online.

http://www.side1.info/kinu/

Super Street Fighter 4 AE Bar Graphs

This graph shows how many times each character in SSF4AE is represented in the top 50, 100 and 150 battle point scorers as of February 6th. Info from 333 on the BBS.

Over here there's a list of how many people earned a certain amount of BPs with each character. This chart ranks them with one value like so: plus four for each person with more than 40,000 battle points, plus three for 35,000 points, etc. Again from February 6th. That's a 3 for Dan and 2 for Hakan.

The MAO Sneak - Confounding Cross-ups with Claw

2011-02-01T18:59:00.007-05:00

When Claw does a crouching jab he moves his body forward a bit. This can be used to avoid many cross-up attacks. Sneak under the cross-up then throw your opponent when they land. Claw shifts forward right as the move starts; give the MAO Sneak a shot even at the last minute or when getting up from a knockdown.

This won't work against wide attacks like Zangief's body splash or DeeJay's medium kick but it can be used to avoid many others including Chun-Li and Dictator's medium kicks.

I don't really know when this move was invented or by whom, but MAO has been using it more and more in the past year or so. Thanks to Riz0ne and Ganelon for consultation.

Here are a couple examples: vs. Ken, vs. Blanka

Live Broadcasts This Weekend

2011-01-27T18:14:00.003-05:00

Art by Falcoon.

3on3 at Game Spot Versus
January 29th at 8pm (Japan)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/versus-live2/

2on2 Gaiden* at Ko-Hatsu
January 30th at 4pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kouhatsu
*X-Mania Gaiden rules i.e. American Style. Blind pick for first character then free select after that.

Also:

Nagoya Street Battle 19
Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition
January 29th at Noon
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nsb

Some teams:
Haitani (Makoto), MDR (Rufus), ShiroItachi (Makoto)
Nemo (Yang), RF (Fei-Long), Ikoma (Dictator)
tsk (Fei-Long), Gama no Abura (Dictator), Kokujin (Dudley)
a.k.a.jojo (Dictator), Y24 (Chun-Li), Eita (Akuma)
Maeda Taison (Boxer), Pied (Sagat), KOK (Gen)

A-cho Danisen Videos 012211

2011-01-26T15:53:00.001-05:00

Some long videos. Looks like it starts right at the beginning with everybody at Shodan (except MAO and Opemai who ranked up elsewhere.) Nikaiten updated the ranks with the latest Kyushu results but he hasn't added the Kansai standings yet.

Otochun, D, Gunze, MAO, Murasaki (Dictator), Opemai (Claw), Tencho

Nishinippori Versus Video 012511

2011-01-25T17:04:00.005-05:00

Great turnout this week.

Part One
Part Two

Shinomaru RY, Minamaki DI, MB BX, Shin TH, ryu DI, Kikai GU, Jenety OCH, Numa BX, Muneo OS, Fujinuma CH, VIPER TH, Nakamura CA, Hakase DH, Kurahashi RY
vs.
Azalea GU, Koemon FE, YURI FE, Nikaiten BX, Sasori RY, KKY DH, Nakamu BL, Shinshin GU, Tomoza DI, Gucchi RY, Noguchi FE, Nuki CH, Keishin CH, Hiroyan TH

Super Turbo News From Jan 22nd and 23rd

2011-01-24T15:15:00.005-05:00

Some results:

A-cho 012211

5 teams
1st Otochun (Chun) & Dorachin (E.Honda)
2nd MAO (Claw) & Opemai (Claw)
EDIT: video one, two

Vegas HSF2 012311

18 entrants
1st Taka (Akuma)
2nd Kamedo [Kikai] (CE Guile, ST Guile)
3rd Naoki (ST Boxer)

And some videos:

Newton 012211

Part One
Part Two

Hanashi FE & Goemon FE
Aoki Cyclone ZA & ryu DI
Toutanki TH & VIPER TH
Hiroyan TH & Muro OTH
Ore GU & Hage DH
Chojin KE & Kikai GU
Raoh RY & CB CH

Tsurumaki 012311

A Block
B Block
Losers & Finals

AFO (DJ, BX, BL)
Ron (KE, RY, SG)
Kusa (CH, CH, EH)
104 (DI, CL, CL)
Nyo (SG, DJ, KE)
Kondo (CL, CL, DH)

Super Turbo Vids

2011-01-18T19:55:00.004-05:00

Lots of tourneys this weekend: Newton, A-cho, Ikebukuro Vegas (HSF2), Club Sega, Tsurumaki. The next Ko-hatsu event is a 2on2 on January 30th at 4pm. Live stream. Art by Boyaking(SBF).

Auto Snack Tsurumaki 122610

At least it's not black & white this time.

Yuzuru DJ, Ron RY, VIPER TH, AFO BL

Link

Nishinippori Versus 011811

Usual suspects. Toukon and Keishin were the team captains.

Link

Versus Danisen Video 011611

2011-01-17T11:11:00.002-05:00

Tsuwamono fights from Sunday. KKY DH, Numa BX, Kurahashi CH, tomo RY, Kawamata RY, Nuki MC. Also: stream archive for re-random 3on from Saturday.

By the way, over here you can see Kurahashi @ Guile using the crouching fierce trick mentioned in the previous post. Guile gets hit out of the start of an uppercut which puts him in standing hit stun but he still has the Flash Kick ready to go. 9:45 in the first video over there for starters. Thanks to Riz @ Eagle Eye.

Ooyama Newton Videos 010811

2011-01-13T09:12:00.005-05:00

Fourth season ranbat standings as of this contest: 1. Keishin (18), 2. Muneo (16), 2. KKY (16), 4. RYU (13), 5. Gian (10), 5. Kawamata (10)

Part One
Part Two

Nakamura CA, Kawamata RY, Aoki Cyclone ZA, Choshu, KE, Ore GU, Raoh RY, Ora BX, Kikai GU, KKY DH, Hiroyan TH, CB CH, VIPER TH, Keishin CH, Toukon CH, Oji RY, Kotaka Shoten GU, Gakuzan ZA, Shin TH, HA-GE DH, Shiki BX

EDIT: At 17:50 in the first video, it looks like Shiki eats the safe jump standing up then does a Buffalo Headbutt. Someone on the 2ch thread wrote that he probably did a wake-up crouch fierce to force the standing hit stun animation while keeping his charge.

Anioto Gachi Battle on GMC TV

2011-01-12T17:00:00.003-05:00

On Friday, January 21st at 11:45pm (Japan) Dara is going to broadcast a first-to-ten showdown between the brothers. The graphic says solo 3on but I guess the format is still up in the air pending character picks. Link. Danisen events start up in Kansai (at A-cho) that same weekend, too.

Aniken: Mix-up of God
vs.
Otochun: SF2's Strongest

Elsewhere…
Kuroppi uploaded some great Southern California tourney action from 1994. Thanks to The Dude for the heads up. Link.

Nishinippori Versus Video 011111

2011-01-11T20:22:00.003-05:00

Shinomaru RY, Shu KE, Koemon FE, Shin TH, Kotaka Shoten* GU, Hakutanki ZA, Keishin CH, Hanashi FE, Nakamura CA, Sashishi RY, Hiroyan TH, Numa BX
vs.
Jenety OCH, Tomoza DI, Kawasim DH, Gucchi RY, Yama BL, Kikai GU, Fujinuma CH, Azalea GU, Abebin EH, Sasori RY, Nikaiten BX, Kurahashi RY

* Tsuwamono! Very nice.

Elsewhere...
On GMC TV last weekend, Sako helped out Dara and Nekohashi with the training dummy. They went over all sorts of basic stuff. If you know ST or Japanese (doesn't have to be both) you'll be able to follow along. The archive is here. Also: Sako messing around with SSF4's training mode.

Savior 3on Videos 121810 Plus Misc. Art

2011-01-02T05:20:00.006-05:00

There was a three-way tie in the finals so they ran it again. EDIT: Jinbe is posting this stuff on YouTube as well as the other Vampire events from that day.

A Block

B Block

C Block

Finals Block

I don't have the full team list but the last vid features:
Kaji (Lilith), Nakanishi (Bishamon), Shimatsuya (Jedah)
Sasunii (Sasquatch), Teitoku (Jedah), Sasazuka (Lei-Lei)
Sakamoto (Q-Bee), DD (Sasquatch), Ego (Lei-Lei)

Miscellaneous Art

Click for larger versions.

Poster for Mikado's New Year's tourney.

Cover for a new art book by Side 1, a group of Akiman's friends and fans. Clean version. By Nam.

Cover for a different art book by some of the same people. This one by Kinu Nishimura.

Kasugai 50 Exhibition 123010 -- Mister X*

2010-12-30T08:49:00.000-05:00

Here's part of the stream archive from Thursday. First-to-four exhibition matches at Kasugai 50 with commentary by Otochun, Komoda Blanka, yaya, Shogatsu and Aniken.

* I figured this referred to Taira but…

Watch live video from kasugai50 on Justin.tv

Watch live video from kasugai50 on Justin.tv

Gotoh (Ryu) vs. yaya (Guile)
AFO (Blanka) vs. Gunze (Zangief)
Gotoh (Ryu) vs. Gunze (Zangief)
Komoda Blanka vs. Aniken (Ken)
Futachan (Ryu) vs. yaya (Sagat)
Taira (Dictator) vs. ARG (Claw)
yaya (Sagat) vs. Gunze (Zangief)
The SuperStar (Boxer) vs. Futachan (Ryu)
Taira (Dictator) vs. Aniken (Ken)
MAO (Claw) vs. Ito (DeeJay)
--
ARG (Claw) vs. Kusumondo (E.Honda)
Aniken (Ken) vs. yaya (Sagat)
Otochun (Chun-Li) vs. ARG (Claw)

A Cammy New Year!

2010-12-28T20:07:00.003-05:00

122810 Versus team battle. San Ryu came to visit from up north.

Shinomaru RY, Yamada ZA, Chika EH, Kawasim DH, Nikaiten BX/MC, Nakamu BL, VIPER TH, Toukon CH, Seo RY, Abebin EH, Shin TH, Sasori RY, Yopparai ["Drunk"] DH/MC, Noguchi FE
vs.
San RY, Nidan [Azalea] GU, Numa BX, Muneo SG, Nakamura CA, Chabozu SG, Koemon FE, Gucchi RY, Kikai GU, Makuhari DJ, tomo RY, Hiroyan TH, H BL, Hakase DH

X-Mania Europe

3on3, Singles and Solo 3on going down June 4th and 5th in Toulouse, France. I'll post more later it'd be neat if some Yanks made the trip. h/t Vernon

Forum announcement.

Year-end Live Broadcasts

I haven't seen any announcements about a Mikado stream. If there is something it might get mentioned over here.

The Kasugai 50 live show is still on. Info here.

EDIT: New Years gachi battles at Ko-Hatsu. Mori, Seki, Okafei, Suzuki.
December 31st at 6pm. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kouhatsu

Newton 2on2 Videos 122510

2010-12-27T16:31:00.005-05:00

Kama-age is a tough VF player. Here fighting Bubbles who also entered one of these Newton 2ons. Ryu needs a little Death Star floating around his head, too.

Part One
Part Two

Shirotanki (TH) & VIPER (TH), Shinshin (GU) & Gucchi (RY), Hiroyan (RY) & Keishin (CH), Kama-age (RY) & Ore (GU), Kawamata (RY) & Sashishi (RY), Akabla (BL) & Tori-ore (RY), Kisaki (DI) & Toukon (CH), Shin (TH) & Kawasim (ZA)

EDIT: Rainbow Edition sighting in "And Soon the Darkness."

Versus Danisen Video 121910 Update

2010-12-21T16:42:00.005-05:00

10th dan matches from Sunday. Kurahashi (CH), Nakamura (CA), Yuzuru (DJ), Akabla (BL), Hammer (OK), Keishin (CH), Kurahashi (OK)

EDIT2: Tsuwamono fights. Keishin (CH), tomo (RY), Numa (BX), Kurahashi (BX)

EDIT: team battle for this week: one, two.

Year-end Vampire Results 121810

2010-12-20T20:33:00.003-05:00

Results from various contests at Club Sega via DD.
Art by ta2nb

Vampire
10 entrants
1st Sakamoto (Sasquatch)
2nd DD (Demitri)

Vampire Savior 2
24 entrants
1st Shimatsuya (Jedah)
2nd Panpina (Felicia)

Vampire Hunter
20 entrants
1st Ushipi (Morrigan) & Sasunii (Sasquatch)
2nd Yoshiyuki (Pyron) & Marusa (Felicia)

Vampire Savior
35 entrants
1st Sakamoto (QB), DD (Sasquatch), Ego (Lei^2)
2nd Kaji (Lilith), Nakanishi (Bishamon), Shimatsuya (Jedah)

TZW Interview

2010-12-16T23:23:00.003-05:00

XSPR conducted a great interview with combo godfather TZW.

In a real game, what is the biggest or fanciest combo or feat you accomplished?

Using Guile, jumping heavy kick (roundhouse), standing light punch, Sonic Boom, standing mid punch, Sonic Boom, jumping heavy kick (roundhouse) (6 hits). I chose this for a Zangief player who was dizzy; after I did this 6 hit combo, he was re-dizzied.

Another time with Guile, I did jumping heavy kick (roundhouse), standing light punch, Sonic Boom, crouching light kick, super (5 hits connected, for total of 9 hits).

Go check it out. He dodges the nickname question, but TZW signed up for a lot of Mikado ranbats as "Tazawa" so that's...

Also: Nikachan uploaded the proper part two from the other day. New link in previous post.

Nishinippori Versus Video 121410

2010-12-14T16:31:00.008-05:00

I wasn't able to view part one; Nico is acting funny this week. ~~Also the files are misnumbered and/or there's a piece missing.~~ Fixed 12/16

This was the fiftieth Versus ST Tuesday contest. There weren't any set teams — each player pulled a card, ace of spades fought two of spades then the three of spades fought the winner, etc. Toutanki took an FAB break.

Part One
Part Two

Numa BX, Shinomaru RY, YURI FE, Noguchi CL, Keishin CH, Shin TH, KKY DH, Fujinuma CH, Yama BL, AFO BL, Shu KE, Muno SG, Toutanki TH, Kurahashi RY, VIPER TH, Sasori RY, Chika EH, Tomoza DI, Gucchi RY, Hanashi FE, Nuki CH, Azalea GU, Nakamura CA, Mu DH, Koemon FE, Peco OK

Ooyama Newton Video 121110

2010-12-13T07:06:00.002-05:00

Raoh, by the way, is a very strong 3S player.

Video

KKY DH, Keishin CH, VIPER TH, Aoki Cyclone ZA, Yoshio GU/MC, RYU DI, Choshu KE, Shin TH, CB CH, Raoh RY

"Hunt for Santa Claus" by Okazuwa Shake aka Mokekiyo Inugami.

Nishinippori Versus Video 120710

2010-12-12T01:29:00.002-05:00

Some terrific matches this week.

Shinomaru RY, H BL, Atomic Boy [Toutanki] ZA, Seme Musician [Yuzuru] DJ, Peco OK, Kawasim DH, Hanashi FE, Numa BX, VIPER TH, Keishin CH
vs.
King Leo [Azalea] BL*, Shin TH, Koemon FE, Hiroyan TH, Sashishi RY, Kawamata RY, MB BX, Nikaiten BX/MC, Noguchi FE, Sasori RY, Nuki CH/MC

*cf.

Elsewhere...
Tech Monkey uploaded the rest of the NEC footage. You can watch some (?) of those same players fight this afternoon on the live stream over here.

Versus Danisen Videos 120510 Plus Alpha

2010-12-07T23:04:00.007-05:00

10th dan matches from Sunday. ~~I'll add the details later.~~ Numa BX, Aka Bla BL, Nikaiten BX, Abebin EH, Hammer OK

Part one

Part two

EDIT:
Some upcoming tourneys.

Versus (Random?) 3on3
December 18th at 8:20pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/versus-live2

Ko-hatsu Ratio Singles
December 26th at 4pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kouhatsu
Rules look about the same as last time.

Kasugai 50 Year-end Tourney
December 30th at 2pm
http://www.justin.tv/kasugai50/
The rules are a mix of solo 2on and American style; each player picks a main and a sub with stipulations as to which characters the sub counters.

Nagata Shogatsu Happy New Year Special
at Baba Mikado
December 31st at 10pm
Live maybe here or one of these.

EDIT2:
A bit of local action.

Tech Monkey posted a bunch of NEC videos. Jason Cole came to visit from the Northwest.

Attn: XSPR (GMC Ustream Notes)

2010-12-05T22:08:00.003-05:00

Pick Dhalsim vs. Ken, brother!

GMCTV was interesting. Aniken invited various tough guys to fight with him, his brother and Dara.

Skip to the second hour of the archive for TZW, Baby Nine, Prince, Kusumondo, MAO, Tasaka, Nakamu, ARG, Star, etc. With any luck they'll rope in Sako for a future broadcast.

Otochun said he'd continue to work on his anti-DJ game. Stay tuned. He spoke highly of XSPR's Dhalsim.

Dara ran some viewer polls:

Age
teens: 16
20s: 124
30s: 76
other: 13

About HD
have it, play it: 58
don't have it: 109
plan to buy it: 25
don't plan to buy it: 37

Fans
Aniken: 49
Otochun: 37
Daigo: 121
other: 38

Elsewhere…
Mikado's New Year's tourney tradition continues this year. Some Versus and Ko-hatsu live events between now and then. Maybe Kasugai50, too, I'll post more later.

Savior Tourney News

2010-12-01T00:54:00.005-05:00

Ibaraki VIP Singles Vids 110610

YouTube playlist

Gigatch (Sasquatch), Takahashi (Brown Gallon), Senkaku Shoto (Zabel), Dara (Demitri), Orekon (Blonde Felicia), bow (Aulbath), Super Mochimochi (Bulleta), Teruchika (Felicia), Mano (Lilith), Yajima (Morrigan), Kengo (Grey Sasquatch), Basuken (Gallon)

Baba Mikado Random 2on Vids 112710

Jinbe is on top of it.

EDIT:

Pre-DCC Videos 100910

DD linked to a slew of All Out War videos over here. Sakai's team, サカイ様を崇める会, started in A block. Chikyu's team, 白眉, C block. Great title cards.

Darkstalkers Carnival 2010

On December 18th there are going to be tournaments for various Vampire games at Club Sega Shinjuku.

Vampire and Vampire Savior 2 (!) singles
Vampire Hunter 2on2
Vampire Savior 3on3

Events from that arcade are usually not streamed (or even captured) but we'll see.

Art by Michiro Ueyama.

Super Turbo Vids and Stream News

2010-11-30T17:54:00.003-05:00

Amusement Park Step in Yamaguchi 111310

West end of Honshu. Mostly players from other games (KOF?) giving it a go. Singles.

Part One
Part Two

Newton 112710

2on2. Yakitori O.Hawk.

Part One
Part Two

Versus 113010

Team showdown. Charge characters vs. motion characters. Kurahashi Chun, Numa DJ, Nikaiten Honda.

Nikaiten calls KKY an idiot when he goes for a Sniper finish vs. Nuki. KKY gets picked on a lot; MCs Mattsun and Gian are always on his case.

Video

Live Broadcasts this Weekend

Versus 3on3
December 4th at 8:20pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/versus-live2

GMCTV - HDREMIX
December 5th at 11pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gmc-ust

Thunder Beast Cup Results 112810

2010-11-28T04:50:00.004-05:00

ShootingD swept three teams on the way to the finals block. Otochun swept the triple Claw team. So did Futachan - twice!

11 teams
1st Shigaken (Ken), Tani (Guile), Futachan (Ryu)
2nd ShootingD (Ryu), Kusumondo (E.Honda), Otochun (Chun-Li)
3rd MAO (Claw), Opemai (Claw), ARG (Claw)

Next Sunday I think Dara plans to broadcast a Remix tourney on this new Ustream account.

Super Turbo Live This Weekend

2010-11-26T01:11:00.006-05:00

Starting from Scratch - Street Fighter 2 HD Remix Lecture

On Saturday Aniken, Otochun, ARG, Akashachi Kancho et al. are going to discuss HD Remix with Gama no Abura. The idea is to go over some basics so stream viewers can be better informed when watching American events.

November 27th at 4pm (Japan)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nsb

Thunder Beast Cup 2

The second annual Raijuhai 3on3 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. After the main event wraps up, Otochun and Ito DJ will throw down in a first-to-ten battle.

November 28th at 3pm
http://www.justin.tv/kasugai50

EDIT
Pre-registered teams include:
Otochun, ShootingD, Kusumondo
Aniken, Gunze, JC Hirata RY
MAO, ARG, Opemai CL
Mori BX, Prince, Kotaka Shoten GU

Index of Multi-game Champs

2010-11-23T20:00:00.031-05:00

In this post I've got notes about some of the toughest multi-game champions. Most of this information comes from the fighting game player wiki.
Also: Daigo Fanpage, SRK wiki, Savior player wiki, Arcade World

Daigo Umehara

VS Nationals: 1st (Bishamon)
1st SFA3 Nationals: 1st (V Akuma)
2nd SFA3 National Team Tourney: 2nd
3rd SFA3 Nationals: 1st
Beat Live Cup Third Strike 3on3: 2nd
CVS1 Nationals: 1st (Guile, Ryu)
X-Mania 2000 ST: 3rd (w/ Kurahashi, Tamashima)
X-Mania 2006 ST: 2nd (w/ Aniken, yaya)
SBO 03 CVS2: 2nd
SBO 03 GGXX: Top 4 (w/ ?)
SBO 03 ST: 1st (Ryu) (w/ Kurahashi, Otochun)
Evo 03 GGXX: 1st (Sol)
Evo 03 3S: 2nd (Ken)
Evo 03 CVS2: 2nd (C Guile, Cammy, Sagat)
Evo 03 ST: 1st
Evo 04 GGXX: 1st
Evo 04 3S: 2nd
Evo 04 ST: 1st
SBO 04 CVS2: out 2nd round (w/ Dan, Shiro)
SBO 05 3S: 1st (w/ Nuki)
SBO 05 Capcom Fighting Jam: 2nd (w/ Dan)
Evo 06 GGXX Slash: 2nd (w/ RF, Kindevu)
Evo 09 SF4: 1st (Ryu)
SBO 09 SF4: Top 8 (w/ Nuki)
Evo 10 SSF4: 1st (Ryu)
SBO 10 SF4: 2nd (w/ Bonchan, TKD)
4th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st (w/ ?)
Vampire Hunter DCC2: 1st (Pyron)

Local Links
ST career profile
Interview re: early days
DCC 2 results

Catchphrases
Makeru youso wa nai. - "There's no way I'll lose."
Daigo said this before fighting Alex Valle at the SFA3 international championship.

Arigataya!
After Daigo hit Arturo with a crucial psychic DP during an Evo hotel match, Eita shouted this out. Then it became sort of the 2010 version of "umeshoryu." Kokujin first used the line some years earlier after a similarly clutch play. Video (6:18)

Koashi mite kara Shoryu yoyuu deshita. - "Saw the short kick and DP'ed it no problem."
Popular one-liner kidding around about Daigo's quick reactions.

Nuki

VS Nationals: 2nd (Bishamon)
SFA2 Nationals: 1st (Chun)
1st SFA3 Nationals: 2nd (V Akuma)
CVS1 Nationals: 3rd (Nakoruru, Dhalsim, King)
CVS2 Nationals: 1st (N Ryu, Blanka, Sagat)
Evo 02 CVS2: 2nd
Evo 03 ST: 2nd (Chun)
SBO 04 3S: Top 4 (Chun) (w/ Boss, KO)
SBO 04 CVS2: Top 4 (w/ Inoue, Tokido)
SBO 05 3S: 1st (w/ Daigo)
Evo 05 ST: 2nd
Evo 05 3S: 1st
SBO 06 3S: Top 4 (w/ KO, Kokujin)
SBO 06 VF4FT: 2nd (Aoi) (w/ Chibita, Osu Akira)
Evo 06 3S: 1st
SBO 07 HSF2: 1st (Chun) (w/ Kurahashi)
Evo 07 3S: 1st
Evo 07 VF5: 2nd
Evo 08 ST: 2nd
Evo 08 3S: 1st
SBO 08 ST: Top 8 (w/ Tokido)
SBO 09 SF4: Top 8 (w/ Daigo)
SBO 10 3S: 2nd (w/ Kokujin, Haitani)
1st Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st (w/ Joe, Tokido, Shao, Match)
5th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 2nd

Local Links
SBO '07 notes

Catchphrases
"Since the other 5 gods Sako, Haitani, Tokido and Umehara aren't here I guess there's no way I'll lose to anyone else."
Nuki said this before the 3S semis at SBO 2006. Video

Tokido

Evo 02 CVS2: 1st
SBO 03 CVS2: 1st (A Sakura, Dictator, Blanka)
SBO 04 CVS2: Top 4 (w/ Nuki, Inoue)
SBO 05 CFJ: 1st (Jedah, Urien) (w/ Mago)
Evo 06 HSF2: 3rd (CE Dictator)
SBO 06 Samurai Shodown 6: Top 4 (Mina) (w/ Reoth)
Evo 07 ST: 1st (Claw)
Evo 07 3S: 3rd (Chun)
SBO 09 3S: 2nd (w/ KO, Ochibi)
SBO 10 3S: Top 4 (w/ KO, Ochibi)
SBO 10 SF4: Top 4 (w/ Nemo, Mago)
1st Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st (Urien) (w/ Nuki, Joe, Shao, Match)
6th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 2nd
2nd SF4 Nationals: 3rd (Akuma) (w/ Mago, Akimo)

Catchphrases
Piza demo kuttekoi! - "Just go eat some Pizza!"
Tokido taunting Kokujin at a GVision 3S ranbat. Video. Reference to some old 2ch joke maybe.

Shiro

SBO 03 CVS2: out 2nd round
SBO 04 CVS2: out 2nd round (w/ Dan, Daigo)
SBO 05 CFJ: Top 4 (Jedah, Yun) (w/ Iyo)
SBO 06 HnK: out 2nd round (Toki)
SBO 08 HnK: Top 4 (Raoh)
SBO 09 SF4: 2nd (Abel) (w/ Iyo)
SBO 10 SF4: Top 8 (w/ Ojisan Boy, Mizoteru)
Dream Fighter's Festival 2007 HnK: 1st (Raoh)

Notes
The ST Ryu player is a different guy.

Joe

SBO 03 CVS2: out 2nd round
SBO 04 CVS2: Top 4 (w/ Togawa, Nitto)
SBO 07 3S: Top 8 (w/ Tokido, Nitto)
SBO 08 VF5R: 1st (Jacky) (w/ Itabashi Zangief, Fudo)
1st Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st (w/ Tokido, Shao, Match, Nuki)

Nemo

SBO 03 KOF2k2: Top 8
SBO 04 GGXX#R: 2nd (w/ Kaqn, Imo)
SBO 05 KOF Neo Wave: Top 8
SBO 05 GGXX#R: 2nd (Faust) (w/ Arisaka Shinya, Imo)
SBO 09 SF4: Top 4 (Chun) (w/ Mago)
SBO 10 SF4: Top 4 (w/ Tokido, Mago)

R ("A-ru")

CVS1 Nationals: 2nd

Notes
Old friend of Daigo's. Former SBO MC. CVS color edit pioneer (nude Cammy.) YouTube Playlist.
This guy uses Viper and Guy in SF4; the Boxer player with the same nickname is someone else.

Itabashi Zangief ("Itazan")

Evo 04 VF4: 1st
SBO 05 VF4: Top 8 (Shun)
Evo 07 VF5: 1st
SBO 08 VF5R: 1st (w/ Fudo, Joe)
SBO 09 SF4: out 1st round (Zangief) (w/ Fudo)

Inoue ("Ino")

Evo 02 CVS2: 3rd (K Sagat, Blanka, Cammy)
Evo 03 CVS2: 1st
SBO 03 CVS2: Top 4
SBO 04 CVS2: Top 4 (w/ Nuki, Tokido)
Evo 07 VF5: 5th (Kage)
SBO 08 3S: 1st (Makoto) (w/ Kuroda, MOV)

RF

SBO 03 KOF2k2: Top 4
Evo 04 GGXX: 3rd (Faust)
Evo 04 CVS2: Top 8 (A Sakura, Dictator, Blanka)
SBO 05 GGXX#R: Top 4 (Faust) (w/ Kindevu, Kubo)
Evo 05 GGXX#R: 1st
Evo 06 GGXXS: 2nd (w/ Daigo, Kindevu)
SBO 07 GGXXAC: Top 4 (w/ N-Otoko, P.C)
SBO 08 GGXXAC: Top 8 (w/ J.T, Shoji)
SBO 09 SF4: out 2nd round (w/ ShiroItachi)
SBO 10 GGXXAC: 1st (w/ Ogawa, Shonen)
SBO 10 SF4: 1st (w/ Momochi, Kindevu)
1st SF4 Nationals: 2nd (Sagat)
2nd SF4 Nationals: 1st (w/ Kindevu, Momochi)

Haitani

SBO 04 VS: 1st (Sasquatch)
SBO 06 3S: out 1st round (Ken) (w/ Sako, Teruchika)
SBO 10 3S: 2nd (Makoto) (w/ Kokujin, Nuki)

Local Links
Short interview

Sako

SBO 04 VS: Top 4 (Bulleta)
SBO 06 3S: out 1st round (Yun) (w/ Haitani, Teruchika)
SBO 07 HSF2: Top 4 (Chun/Ryu) (w/ Nekohashi)

Catchphrases
Yareyaredaze. - No translation necessary — just say it in a defeated tone.
Something people say about Sako's fight with T2ya at SBO. Video. Jojo's Bizzarre Adventure reference.

Mago

SBO 04 CVS2: 1st (C Honda, Sagat, Blanka) (w/ Kindevu, Sawada)
SBO 05 CFJ: 1st (Karin, Anakaris) (w/ Tokido)
Evo 05 CVS2: 2nd
SBO 06 KOFXI: Top 4 (Gato, Kula, Oswald)
SBO 09 SF4: Top 4 (Sagat) (w/ Nemo)
SBO 10 SF4: Top 4 (w/ Tokido, Nemo)
Dream Fighter's Festival 2007 HnK: Top 4 (Raoh)

Kindevu

SBO 04 CVS2: 1st (A Sakura, Dictator, Blanka) (w/ Sawada, Mago)
SBO 05 GGXX#R: Top 4 (Eddie) (w RF, kubo)
Evo 05 CVS2: 3rd
Evo 05 GGXX#R: 2nd
Evo 06 GGXX Slash: 2nd (w/ RF, Daigo)
Evo 06 CVS2: 1st
SBO 09 SF4: out 2nd round (w/ Momochi)
SBO 10 SF4: 1st (w/ Momochi, RF)
1st SF4 Nationals: 3rd (Rufus)
2nd SF4 Nationals: 1st (w/ RF, Momochi)

Iyo

SBO 05 CFJ: Top 4 (Anakaris, Chun-Li) (w/ Shiro)
SBO 09 SF4: 2nd (Dhalsim) (w/ Shiro)
1st SF4 Nationals: 1st

Hirai

Vampire Nationals: 1st (Morrigan)
SBO 07 3S: Top 4 (Ken) (w/ Momochi, Yuki-otoko)

Momochi

SBO 07 3S: Top 4 (Yun) (w/ Hirai, Yuki-otoko)
SBO 09 SF4: out 2nd round (w/ Kindevu)
SBO 09 3S: 1st (Makoto) (w/ Rikimaru, Boss)
SBO 10 SF4: 1st (Akuma) (w/ RF, Kindevu)
7th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 2nd (w/ KSK, Kokujin, Boss, Matsuda)
2nd SF4 Nationals: 1st (w/ RF, Kindevu)

Fudo ("Fuu")

SBO 05 VF4FT: 1st (Lion) (w/ Koedo, Inocchi)
SBO 08 VF5R: 1st (w/ Itabashi Zangief, Joe)
SBO 09 SF4: out 1st round (Ryu) (w/ Itabashi Zangief)
Evo 11 SSF4AE: 1st (Fei-Long)

A-cho 2on2 Videos 111410

2010-11-22T18:55:00.003-05:00

Detailed results over here.

Block Highlights
Tsuji (BX) vs. Prince (CH)
AFO (BL) vs. Akashachi Kancho (BL)
Mori (BX) vs. Edo (CH)
Otochun (CH) vs. Gunze (ZA)
Edo (CH) vs. Gunze (ZA)
Shogatsu (OEH) vs. Kusumondo (EH)

Semifinals and 3rd Place
Tsuji & The SuperStar
Otochun & Mori
AFO & Kusa (CH)
Kusumondo & Gunze

Final

Nishinippori Versus Video 111610

2010-11-17T15:13:00.000-05:00

Numa and Atomic Boy got two lives.

There are a couple live broadcasts this weekend. Info here. Also at Thunder Beast Cup 2 next week there's going to be an Ito vs. Otochun first-to-ten exhibition.

Savior Diagram Version 5

2010-11-15T16:35:00.001-05:00

DD posted a new VS character ranking chart. Consultants for this revision: Kaji, Umi no Ko, Nakanishi, Panpina, Fugo and Oraora. The numbers in green changed since version 4.

http://blog.livedoor.jp/iamddsas23/archives/1379322.html

Also, via Dara's blog, here's Haitani and Deshiken duking it out at A-cho: link. Wicked good.

EDIT: Vampire Hunter live stream from Versus Thursday the 18th at 8pm (Japan.)

Ooyama Newton Videos 111310

2010-11-14T10:44:00.000-05:00

Audio out of sync. Haven't heard from Mr. Ryu in a while.

Part One
Part Two

Nakamura (Cammy), Tonegawa (Cammy), tomo (Ryu), Keishin (Chun-Li), Choshu (Ken), CB (Chun-Li), KKY (Dhalsim), ryu (Dictator), VIPER (T.Hawk), Shin (T.Hawk), Raoh (Ryu), Muneo (O.Sagat)

Nishinippori Versus Video 110910

2010-11-09T18:15:00.003-05:00

Non-FB characters vs. FB characters this week. Sashishi Guile, Kurahashi Boxer, Sasori O.Ken, Numa DJ.

Also a bit of local action:
Check the archive over here for some Connecticut fights brought to you by Don't Blow This!

Versus Danisen Videos 110710

2010-11-08T20:32:00.001-05:00

Tsuwamono fights from Sunday. AFO (BL), Kurahashi (GU), tomo (RY), Numa (BX), Keishin (CH)

Savior Players' SSF4 Tourney

2010-11-08T09:54:00.007-05:00

Here's the stream archive for an online SSF4 tourney for VS players. Art by Yuza.

Part One
Part Two

First round cards:
Itsuki (Dhalsim) vs. DD (Adon)
Arai [Cat-K] (Claw) vs. Maki (Cammy)
Shu (Chun-Li) vs. Teruchika (Dhalsim)
Azwan (Akuma) vs. Shimatsuya (Juri)
Komemaru (Ibuki) vs. Dara (Ryu)
Kame (Guy) vs. Umi no Ko (Ryu)
Sakamoto (Dictator) vs. Oboro (T.Hawk)
Nakanishi (Ryu) vs. Chapa (Hakan)
also Sasunii (Boxer)

Elsewhere…
There were some great ST matches at Versus on Saturday. Random 3on where the teams were shuffled each round. Abebin somehow won without having to play. Commentary by Nuki.

November Super Turbo Live

2010-11-03T09:16:00.010-04:00

I missed the Mikado event on Wednesday. AFO and Numa apparently took it.

Times for Japan.

Mikado November 3rd at 4pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mikado-00/

Versus November 6th at 7pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/versus-live2/

Versus November 20th at ~~8:20pm~~ 9:50pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/versus-live2/

Ko-hatsu November 21st at 4pm
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kouhatsu

Five-oh November 28th at 2:30pm
http://ja.justin.tv/kasugai50

Vision The Final Show Time

2010-10-29T06:20:00.001-04:00

Yokohama Gamer's Vision is apparently going out of business. The last Super Turbo tourney is this Sunday.

Random 2on2 followed by east-west team battle
October 31st at 5pm (Japan)
Live broadcast

Kansai ST, Kanto ST then Daigo-Mago all in one evening. Not bad.

EDIT: I didn't catch the Versus live again. Archive here. Kurahashi Guile.

DCC Results, VS Vid, ST Vid

2010-10-27T13:28:00.007-04:00

Detailed Darkstalkers Combination Cup results are up on the official site.

Vampire Hunter
41 entrants
1st: Akita (Morrigan)
2nd: Haramori (Morrigan)
3rd: Kashiwagi (Bishamon)

Vampire Savior
100 entrants
1st: Orekon (Felicia)
2nd: Ego (Lei-Lei)
3rd: Panpina (Q-Bee)

Some notes
VH: Haramori over MOV Felicia in the first round. Akita took out two-time champ TKO.
Kashiwagi and Donboru Zabel beat Haramori and Kawamura Phobos to take the pre-DCC 2on.

VS: Kaji over Sakai Zabel. Nakanishi over Kaji. Ego beat Nasquatch. Ouchi Jedah beat Bow Aulbath and Kosho. T2ya Zabel lost first round to Kuma Sasquatch. Aojiru ~~Guile~~Zabel beat Dara and DD, lost to Orekon.
Sakai ruled at the 5on the night before. Jinbe posted details here. DD posted comments from the top 2 teams here.

Astroguy2 (a.k.a. Q-Bee player HigeQ) did the cover for the pamphlet. Zoomed out version from pixiv.

Savior at Mikado 102310

Another Kaji Kosho show. Sakamoto usually broadcasts these events live. Next one November 27th at 6pm.

A Block
B Block
C & D Block
E & Finals Block

Super Turbo at Versus 102610

30-somethings on the 1P side, 20-somethings on the 2P side. Toutanki "Atomic Boy" Zangief along with the usual suspects.

Part One
Part Two

Ooyama Newton 2on2 Videos 102310

2010-10-26T11:50:00.001-04:00

Nice Sagat touch-of-death in the first video.

Part One
Part Two

Keishin (CH) & Hiroyan (TH), Moko (RY) & Mokko (GU), CB (CH) & Raoh (RY), VIPER (TH) & Yakitori (OTH), Kisaki (DJ) & Ulcer (CH), Kawamata (RY) & Sashishi (RY), Hanashi (FE) & Den (BX), Ore (GU) & Bubbles (RY), Yoshio (GU) & Aoki Cyclone (ZA), Choshu (KE) & Chabozu (SG)

Elsewhere...
Live ST broadcast from Ko-hatsu this Sunday, October 31st at 4pm (Japan.)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kouhatsu

Crazy Bulleta

2010-10-22T22:45:00.007-04:00

Dara has been posting some great avatar icons in homage to Sako and other tough guys.

http://blog.livedoor.jp/darablog/

That site, by the way, is his new joint since he shut down the G.M.C. blog.

Nishinippori Versus Video 101910

2010-10-20T16:46:00.002-04:00

Bonus video is self-explanatory.

Team Battle
Bonus Video

Shimichon (DI), Numa (BX), Hammer (OK), Fujinuma (CH), Shinomaru (RY), Nikaiten (OBX), Nia (EH), Keishin (CH), Noguchi (CL)
vs.
Kurahashi (RY), Nakamura (CA), Azalea (GU), Shin (TH), Izumi (OS), VIPER (TH), Kikai (GU), Sasori (RY), Hakase (DH)

Versus Danisen Video 101710

2010-10-18T19:31:00.006-04:00

10th dan matches from Sunday. Kotaka seems to have stepped his game up a lot. Keishin (CH), Naoki (BX), Kotaka Shoten (GU), tomo (RY), Numa (BX), Numa (DJ)

Vernon has an archive of these videos over here.

Elsewhere…
Aka Zangief has stopped making updates to the Street Fighter II Fan Site for the time being. His friend Ao Bora has been posting a bit we'll see what happens.

Congratulations to MarsGatti for taking 4th this past weekend. Videos may wind up here or here.
EDIT: some videos here h/t Art

EDIT:

Versus Stream Archive 101610

2010-10-16T19:30:00.003-04:00

This one went under the radar. Random 3on with Yoshio, Toutanki and the usual suspects.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10235405

Ooyama Newton Singles 100910

2010-10-11T14:11:00.003-04:00

I'll post the DCC results a little later. Tourney was great, but it was too bad that something else was going on that same evening.

If you're having problems with external nico players just click on the videos a second time a la YouTube to go to the main site (need an account.)

Part one
Part two

VIPER (TH), KKY (DH), Isaji (CA), T.Akiba (BL), Hiroyan (RY), tomo (RY), Muneo (OS), CB (CH), Inomata (Otouto) (TH)*, Choshu (KE), Aosai [Aoi Cyclone] (ZA), Keishin (CH), Ore (Guile)**, Raoh (OS)

* Younger brother of the X-Mania semifinalist.

** ore ga iru = I'm here
ore gairu = I, Guile cf.

Nishinippori Versus Video 100510

2010-10-08T10:35:00.000-04:00

This week the players were split up by age. 31 years and over on the 2P side.

Young Team
Izumi (OS), Nikaiten (BX), Buzan (DJ), Fujinuma (CH) Chika (EH), Tomoza (DI), Shin (TH), Keishin (CH), Azalea (GU), babynine (EH), Sasori (RY), Nuki (CH), Hiroyan (TH)

Adult Team
Shinomaru (RY), Mu (DH), Choshu (KE), Peco (OK), Numa (BX), KKY (BX), YURI (FE), Hanashi (FE), Hakase (DH), Kikai (GU), Nakamura (CA), Kurahashi (RY), Noguchi (CL)

Darkstalkers Combination Cup Preview

2010-10-06T18:23:00.010-04:00

Pre-DCC and Main Event Live Broadcast

Times for Japan.

Warm Up Tourney
Saturday, October 9th
Vampire Hunter 2on2 at noon
Vampire Savior 5on5 at 3pm
Vampire Savior Kanto vs. Elsewhere team battle after VS wraps up

Darkstalkers Combination Cup 5
Sunday, October 10th
Vampire Hunter Singles at noon
Vampire Savior Singles at 3pm

All of these contests are going to be broadcast live over here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sakamotosan

~~EDIT: see comments for notes about delay~~

DCC Pamphlet

This year there's a special DCC book prepared by various players with graphic design by Dara. It has past results, winners profiles, modern VS and VH tactics plus interviews with Kosho, Haitani, Sako and Daigo. Cover on the right.

Vampire Savior Seed Info

DCC seed winners skip the first round of play. Jinbe sent this along. Thank you, brother! The finals from the July event were incredible don't miss that video.
Quoted except for date format.

#1
Location: Chubu
Arcade: Urban Square Osu
Date: 7/18/10
Format: 3on3 Tournament
Participants: 54 (18 teams)
Winner: Kosho (Bulleta) / Sakamoto (Q-bee) / Nakanishi (Bishamon)
DCC Seed: Kosho (Bulleta)
Info:
http://gamastyle.blog.shinobi.jp/Date/20100719/
Videos:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8354597
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjk1H3fz1ew (only finals)

#2
Location: Kansai
Arcade: A-Cho
Date: 8/22/10
Format: 1on1 Tournament
Participants: 17 players
Winner / DCC Seed: Azuwan (Demitri)
Info:
http://www.a-cho.com/ac/201007_12/vs20100822.html
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Bhq0UIhFY (post tournament freeplay matches, video 1 of 8, check here)

#3
Location: Tohoku
Arcade: Playland F1-R
Date: 8/29/10
Format: 2on2 Tournament
Participants: 6 teams (12 players)
Winner: Kaji (Lilith) / Shimatsuya (Jedah)
DCC Seed: Kaji (Lilith)
Info:
http://vampire.blogzine.jp/santuario/2010/09/post_b86f.html
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E28C011C93A3B9C4

#4
Location: Kanto
Arcade: Club Sega Nishi Shinjuku
Date: 9/4/10
Format: 1on1 Tournament
Participants: 22 players
Winner / DCC Seed: Buzz (Gallon)
Info: #
Videos: #