« GRINDIN' JAPAN: SHIOZAWA CUP & SUPER BATTLE OPERA »

[ Image courtesy of Tougeki ]

Yo! Finally back in San Francisco now after a three week grind in Japan. I wish I could have updated iPlayWinner more while I was out there but to be honest it's very difficult to sit in front of a computer when all of Japan is right in front of you!

Regardless, I have a lot of updates and news from the trip which I'll cover in this post, and keep an eye out for some new podcasts with some special guests talking about their experiences in Tokyo as well.

POST-GODS GARDEN

After GodsGarden, there weren't any big events to my knowledge until the following Thursday, which was a 5 on 5 Team Tourney for Street Fighter 4 held at BIG BOX Arcade. I'll cover that in a bit, but after Gods Garden and before the team tourney we spent a fair amount of time in arcades playing.

To be honest, I didn't even play as much as I thought I would. There are so many things to see and do in Japan, I felt a bit guilty some days just sitting in front of an arcade cab playing video games. On the other hand, when I was out and about causing trouble in Tokyo, I also felt a bit guilty for not playing more and trying to level up.

Anyway, this week of playing was a bit different for me and somewhat odd to say the least. The reason it was odd is I was actually playing much better when I first showed up in Japan. Initially I couldn't put my finger on why I wasn't playing as well during week two, but after talking to Magus and Lang a bit, I found I wasn't the only one having this issue. Most of us felt like we were capable of playing much better and really didn't understand where the barrrier was coming from.

After giving it some thought, I think it comes down to being over-exposed to the game and seeing so many new tactics from high level players that you want to implement. I think many are under the assumption that you will just show up to Japan and get automatically better. There is some truth to that, but at the end of the day it takes a while to soak in what you are learning and takes even longer to apply it.

When I first showed up I was playing my game and no one else's and playing solid at that so I think that worked to my advantage. Yet, after seeing Mago rack up a 25+ win streak at Big Box, getting wrecked by AmeriKen/U.S.D.A and of course seeing Bonchan, Radiowave and all these other Sagats play, there were so many new tactics and strategies I wanted to implement into my game.

For instance, IronFist and I were talking about how a lot of Sagats in Tokyo were using combos and set ups we already knew about but figured would be impractical in actual matches. These guys are using these same set ups sometimes two to three times in a round. We would see things like hitting the opponent as they come down from a jump with a slow Low Tiger Shot and following up with a Kara Tiger Knee to juggle them. I saw F+LK into Crouching Jab combos used far more than I ever had before and working as if it was the corner stone of Sagat's game.

Trying to apply these new techniques can sometimes does more harm than good when you don't have the proper spacing and timing down. I lost more matches than I can remember because I was trying to implement more Kara Tiger Shots into my game, attempting to play like some of the other Sagats here by relentlessly pushing the opponent into the corner using Kara Tiger Shots and Kara Knees. Fact is, I just am not that good yet and need more time sort everything out in my head.

We couldn't just stop playing though of course, so we took our beatings and I slowly watched the win percentage on my battle card drop lower and lower. It's hard to complain though -- I'd rather it be like this. I came to Japan not to try to dominate, but to learn and experience new styles.

Unfortunately, in my experiences, during normal hours BIG BOX arcade is the only spot for the serious Street Fighter 4 competition. I searched through many other arcades but in most cases I'd end up racking 5-10 win streaks with out much of a problem. Maybe the "Big Box Beatdowns" were helping more than I realized!

From talking to others who play games besides SF4, it seems to be like this for many games in Japan. There is JoyBox for Tekken 6, Club Sega Shinjuku for Virtua Fighter, Mi Ka Do for Street Fighter III and BlazBlue. It's nice having one spot where you know where people will be playing, but on certain occasions I wish I could go somewhere else in Tokyo for decent competition. After a week of going to BIG BOX, I was hoping for a change of scenery but it just seemed if I went to any other arcade the competition was mediocre at best so it was really hard to justify going anywhere else.

Over all though, the competition is on a much higher level than anything found here in the states. There is just a larger pool of players who know what they are doing and play solid.

ThyAllMighty probably had the most insightful comment about Japanese play compared to North American play. This came a day or two after a 3s team tournament at Shibuya Sports Land where his team actually won the whole thing. He mentioned that one of the players on his team didn't really have the best execution, but had great decision making and I think this is where the divide really comes from between the rest of the world and Japan.

The reason I believe this is because even though I did see some new techniques, over all there wasn't anything too mind blowing that was completely new to me. I was losing based more on the fact that my opponent was making better decisions than I was in each match. This isn't something you can really quantify and is really only attainable through experience I suppose. It sounds pretty simple, but when you observe each of your matches you'll see how difficult it can be to make the absolute best decision in each situation.

It's funny to even think about the game on that level, because this is just another example of why I continue to play Street Fighter over all these years. It's game that through playing it you continue to refine your awareness and learn more about how your own mind works when it's put in a difficult situation.

SHIOZAWA CUP 5 ON 5 STREET FIGHTER 4 TOURNAMENT

So the day before SBO, there was a huge 5 vs 5 Street Fighter 4 tournament held at BIG BOX Arcade called the Shiozawa Cup. Besides all the Japanese teams that entered, there were also a select few foreign teams that got a chance to play as well. Fubarduck, Jonlo, Flash Metroid, Magus1234 and myself entered into the lottery but our team wasn't chosen to play in this tournament. It's probably a good thing too since this day in particular none of us were feeling too well to begin with. Not sure if it was something we ate or what, but trying not to get sick on the train ride to Takodanobaba tested my will more than any Street Fighter match I've been in, that's for sure.

We made it though, and upon enterting we saw that this place was packed out more than we had ever seen before. There had to be a good 300 people there at least, most everyone there for Street Fighter 4, and even a large crowd of spectators as well. They rearranged the whole arcade too, with the cabinets divided into different areas and huge LCD TV's set up so you could get a view of the action even if you weren't right there next to a cab. As you'll hear in the video, there was a ton of feedback from the mic system they were using which was a little annoying.

Lucky for me I ended up right next to some cabs quite a few times. I will say I made it a point to push my way through the crowds anytime Mago was playing. I will admit I am a huge fanboy of Mago, so being able to sit there and watch him take out team after team was really entertaining.

At one point I wasn't sure how his team would lose consider he was on fire, and he also had Dashio (Viper), Nemo (Chun Li), Kindevu (Rufus) and some Dictator player on his team. They were all playing very well until they ran into...wait for it...a Blanka that goes by FAX Gimoto. This Blanka tore though Mago's team, making most of them look like it was their first time ever facing a Blanka. What was so ridiculous about the whole thing is he won most of the matches by doing a throw into an ambiguous cross up Ultra. The players on Mago's team looked pretty disgusted each time he did it considering its a complete 50/50 coin toss -- but it worked!

I saw some select other matches, one being of a solid C. Viper player. Watching him play I ask my new Swedish friend Alex who knows a bit of Japanese which Viper this is. "Well, it looks like Kyabetsu, but I think it's supposed to mean Cabbage.." he says..

"Hah! What a funny name.. never heard of this guy.. Solid as hell though.."

I say this completely oblivious to the fact that this is the same guy who will end up winning Super Battle Opera. Could have been any of these guys though, with the level of competition being so high across the board.

Back to the foreign teams who entered, there was a bit of drama between one Japanese team and the only North American team that made it into the mix. The team was Lets Go Justin! and was made up of Marn, Justin Wong, Ricky Ortiz, Arturo Sanchez and Floe. Initially the team had a Zangief player on the team instead of Arturo who play Dhalsim. Team Lets Go Justin! is doing well, going through a couple members of the opposing team. Arturo hops on and beats out one of their players pretty convincingly and this is where the trouble begins.

The other team stopped the progress of the tournament saying they didn't know there was a Dhalsim on the team and demanded that they start over. Keep in mind this is after they had already lost to Arturo. They could have said something soon as they saw the Dhalsim on the team but this was a pretty convenient time to complain I suppose.

Anyway, there are a lot of different ways they could have run it back to make things more fair, but instead the Japanese team puts their anchor on the team first and proceed to OCV team Lets Go Justin. Pretty shady to say the least, and rightfully most of the North American players are upset and leave.

Magus and I take a break and come back to watch the finals where Daigo's team ends up taking it all with Bonchan taking out a Zangief for the win. The following day is Super Battle Opera so we decide to take it easy since we have to be out the door pretty early to catch all the action.

SUPER BATTLE OPERA DAY ONE: STREET FIGHTER 4 / VIRTUA FIGHTER 5 / TEKKEN 6

[ Thanks to Oichi from VersusCity for the photo ]

So the plan was to enter last chance qualifiers at Super Battle Opera and take the chance of being able to play in the actual event, but after being humbled over the past week or so we realized it probably wasn't worth it to begin with. Not only did you have to wake up at 6am to get down there in time to enter, but there was no guarantee that our team would get into last chance quals to begin with.

The way the teams are selected for the last chance quals is based on a lottery system. There is preference given to foreigners and teams that got close to qualifying in the past, but again no sure fire way to get in. Not sure if any North American teams made it for Street Fighter 4, although I know Arturo Sanchez didn't make it in due to these circumstances.

With that being said, we show up around 9:30-10am for the event and make it in just as Street Fighter 4 is starting. We lucked out and got free tickets to the event thanks to Kim1234 and Kuni. They are nose bleed seats but we have a clear view of the main projection screen and can also see a number of matches from the machines right below us.

One of the first matches we see is Fubarduck and Jonlo taking on another Japanese team with a Guile and Honda player. Fubarduck does pretty well, taking out the Guile but in the end loses to the Honda.

On this same machine we see Justin Wong and Marn take on team G-Explosion which is a Sagat player and a Rufus player. They come pretty close to winning but end up losing to G-Explosion. We also hear Combofiend and Alex Valle ended up losing their match, so all in all no foreign teams made it past round one.

We end up watching a ton of other exciting matches during all this as well, one being of a Claw player who ripped through some high profile teams. As far as I know this team is one of the teams that made it through last chance qualifiers. This was probably the most impressive Claw player I've seen -- he took out either RF or Ojisanboy, not sure which one, and an Akuma player who was either Tokido or Momochi. I'm not 100% sure on the players, but the Claw player was in complete control during all the matches.

The initial Street Fighter 4 segment wraps up so we decide to take a break and walk around. JCB Hall where the event is held is fairly large and has like three or four different floors to explore. They had cabs set up for different games, one of the floors being dedicated to Street Fighter 4. Here I see Poongko and U.S.D.A. wrecking shop, but lines are too large for me stick around and play.

Heading back from lunch, Virtua Fighter 5 is wrapping up and Tekken 6 starts so I decide to take a nap in the bleachers. Upon waking up I get a phone call and it turns out I may be able to get a Press Pass for the Street Fighter 4 finals and have access to the main floor! I work out the details and wait for the finals to begin.

So after Tekken 6 wraps up, Street Fighter 4 finals are about to begin so I make my way to the main floor and grab my press pass and a camera. This is pretty nuts considering this is my first SBO and I'm able to watch all the action from up close.

The finals begin with player introductions -- smoke and lights are all over the place, music is blasting as the players walk out onto the main stage to give their introductions. This is... pretty insane. The one introduction I remember is Mago, where he comes off looking very confident, which in the end I think ends up biting him in the ass.

The matches start and I am viewing them on the main screen right there, completely overwhelmed by all the energy and excitement. The matches seem to go by so fast and are over before you know it with it being just one match, single elimination.

I don't really recall the match between Umeso / Dashio vs. Iyo / Shiro, but I do remember the match between Gosho / Cabbage vs. Mago / Nemo. I remember this one because I'd never seen Mago lose like this before. Gosho who plays Rufus actually stuns Mago which I though I'd never see. Mago loses and looks pretty disappointed to say the least. I would be to if I was already considered a shoe in for the #1 spot. Nemo can't pull out the win either so Gosho / Cabbage go on to take on Shiro / Iyo.

Again, I don't recall much of the match between Cabbage and Iyo, but I do recall Shiro vs. Cabbage. It looked like Shiro was going to take it home after dominating in the 2nd round, but the 3rd round he is styled on by Cabbage and...it's over.

Like I said, it all went by so quickly due to the format it and I couldnt believe that it was over just like that. I was disappointed Mago didn't win and really desired to see these guys play a couple more sets, but what can you do. Thats SBO for ya'!

We stick around to watch the finals for Tekken 6 and Virtua Fighter 5 before dipping out to Shibuya for the rest of the night, making more trouble in Tokyo!

SBO FAREWELL PARTY

For Saturday and Sunday we decided to skip out on Super Battle Opera due to the fact that we didn't want to spend a whole day at JCB Hall while our time in Japan was winding down. Instead we spend more time exploring Tokyo and playing at Big Box, trying to cram more games in before everyone leaves.

That Monday Arcadia threw a SBO Going away party though which was pretty cool. It was held in Akihabara and cost about 15 bucks to get in and they gave you two free drink tickets. Most of the foreigners who were still in town were there, along with a bunch of Japanese players as well. They had about 4-5 stations set up for console play with a variety of games and were showing SBO footage on different screens within this lounge area.

Most of the players were playing Street Fighter 4 of course, and I did capture some video between Arturo Sanchez and Uryo which you can check out below. I was kind of SF4ed-out and decided to check out this Virtua Fighter 5 set up they had instead since when it's all said and done VF is my favorite fighting game.

I had tried playing the new version of VF5 in the arcades, but its pretty different and I didn't know much of the new combos or set ups. Since this version they had set up at the event was console I actually could stand a chance against some of the players there. I wasn't sure what they were saying but over all it seemed they were extremely surprised to see some foreign white guy playing VF who actually had some sense of what he was doing.

The best part about this was there was this woman there who was pretty decent who absolutely loved playing me. We probably played about 10-15 matches and was really entertining hearing her squeal and giggle each time she landed a combo. She told me she didn't play VF5 much really but was really competitive in Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned. I thought this was pretty hot for obvious reasons.

I play some more against the announcer for Virtua Fighter 5 at SBO. He pretty much whoops up on me but I end up doing pretty well against all the other players there.

This was a great event and a lot of nice photos were taken by I think Arcadia themselves, but I have no idea where they will show up at. I'll be sure to link you guys if I ever find them.

By the time the SBO going away party rolled around, most all the foreigners I knew were already out of town. The following days were pretty fun, hitting up Big Box and some other spots but in the back of my head I knew my time here was limited.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF STREET FIGHTER

Before I wrap up the post, I wanted to do a little segment on some other areas I checked out in Japan when I wasn't playing Street Fighter. I was hesitant to do this since it's a little off topic but I thought it may help any of you who end up going out there in the future.

Shinjuku

Shinjuku is a fairly busy area from what I can tell and is a great central location to stay at if you ever end up visiting Tokyo. We stayed at the Sunroute Hotel which is really close to Shinjuku Station so it makes it real easy to get aroundnd considering Takodanobaba (exit for BIG BOX Arcade), Shibuya and Harajuku were just a couple stops away.

During the night we spent a lot of time walking around, and one area that is a lot of fun to visit if you're a young single male is Kabukicho. Lots of eye candy in this area although I would suggest rolling with a couple friends since it seemed to be someway seedy.

As far as arcades in Shinjuku, they have Club Sega which is poppin' off for Virtua Fighter 5 competition and some decent SF4 competition as well. There is also JoyBox which seems to be the spot for Tekken 6 but not much else beyond that.

Shibuya

This area is really busy and reminded me of Times Square in New York City. There is a ton of great shopping in this area and people watching is a lot of fun here as well. The nightlife seems decent at best, but maybe we didn't exactly know the best spots hit up in this area.

There are a couple arcades in the area such as Shibuya Sports Land and another one right across the street in which I forget it's name. Shibuya SportsLand has free play nights for both Street Fighter 4 and SF3: 3s. The owner is also really nice and accommodating so if you ever end up there be sure to check it out.

Harajuku

So as most of you know this is the spot for fashion when you're in Tokyo. A ton of people all G'd up from the feet up so it's not only great for shopping but also people watching. Apparently there is a temple somewhere in this area too although I never got to check it out.

As far as I can tell there are no arcades in this area so you will only want to visit if you're looking for some new fresh clothes straight from Japan. The UNI QLO store in Harajuku is worth checking out as well. The set up is interesting as they have walls of t-shirt in these little canisters and thats how they display most of their merchandise.

Akihabara

Again, another spot that most people have heard of. This is the place to go if you're looking for anime and electronics. A ton of multi story shops with anime, games, figures, hentai, porn...whatever! I will warn you, the higher you go in many of the complexes the more bizarre the stores become. I saw some of the saddest looking otaku types ive seen in my life in some of these spots.

There are a couple arcades such as Taito Game Station but the times that we went the comp wasn't that great. I heard there is another arcade in this area that is actually really solid but I forget the name and have no idea where it is located - sorry!

Odaiba

If you're in Tokyo, Odaiba is worth checking out just for the life sized Gundam alone. This is a man made island with a bunch of attractions and to me was a bit touristy, although we may have never given it a fair chance.

Getting off the train you can take a short walk down the beach and check out the life sized Gundam. It's pretty dope considering the scale and the fact that is actually moves and steam comes out of it. When it lifted its head to the sky I think everyone was convinced it was about to take off! Pretty awesome and something we'll never see in the states in a million years.

Suidōbashi

This area is where the Tokyo Dome is located, which JCB Hall is a part of. This is where SBO is held and is also the spot to check out Japanese baseball games. They day before I left Japan we went to the Tokyo Dome for a Japanese baseball game and it was one of the most entertaining things I did while I was out there. I highly suggest checking it out if you ever get the chance.

There are also some roller coasters and attractions like that, so if you end up meeting someone during your stay, it seems like a decent date spot as well.

Takadanobaba

This is the area where Big Box Arcade is located and also Mi Ka Do so it's the spot to go if you're into Street Fighter games. I'll be honest that I didn't check out much beyond these two arcades but there seemed to be some good ramen and curry spots if you ever get hungry while ODing on Street Fighter.

Rippongi

Okay, this is by far the shadiest part of Tokyo in my opinion. I'll just say it: this is where all the foreigners go to get laid. It smells bad, there are a ton of clubs and dudes trying to hustle you on the street. It's still good times, but this is not a place to venture to on your own.

We checked out GAS PANIC which is a a notorious spot for foreigners looking to pick up Japanese women or whoever. Overall it's a pretty lame club but worth checking out for the experience alone.

We also checked out this club called Flower which seemed a bit more high class and a few less foreigners so it was an overall better experience.

If there was an arcade here, I was too overwhelmed by all the madness on the streets to see them!

FINAL THOUGHTS

At the end of my trip my Street Fighter 4 battle card had about 14-15k points on it, 300 or so matches and ~50% win rate.. but what did I get out of all this? It's taken a day or two for everything to settle in and I still don't think the full experience of the trip has hit me yet. I haven't been able to practice many of the new techniques I learned and have yet to play any people locally to see if any of this exposure helped when playing stateside.

When it comes to my game, first and foremost I am seeing that decision making is paramount. There are some players out there who are so clutch, even if you have a moment of brilliance, they can still come back against all odds, completely unphased by whatever you just pulled off. You have to constantly be thinking one step ahead of your opponent and know that one bad decision can cost you everything against world class players.

Execution, as always, is something else I could also work on and take a lot further. It's not even about being able to hit all the combos, because I can do that. It's about hitting all the combos and set ups consistently. One of the most frustrating things is having good days and bad days, and by being more consistent with execution I think I could definitely end up having far more good days than bad days.

Now when it comes to community and what I like about Japan is the respect between players. Although I couldn't speak the language, there seems to be much more respect between players here than I see in North America. With all the drama and bullshit we see in our local scene, I think if there was more respect and shared knowledge between players it would help our community immensely. There is probably nothing that can be done about this considering the culture we already have established here.

Also, this is only 2-3 weeks of playing, so this may just be an initial impression. I don't know the players and if they have beef between each other or how things really go down, but the sense of respect is there and you can see it in their play as well.

Beyond that, I'd like to see more original events in the states. Maybe there isn't enough high level competition to warrant it, but events like Gods Garden and the Shiozawa Cup were so entertaining to participate and observe it made me wish we had more events like this in the States. I think if done right, events similarly to these would do well in the states and would do a lot for our community.

All in all, I'm blessed to have the opportunity to even get out to Japan on my own and experience everything I happened to experience. Besides all the eye opening Street Fighter play I saw, being immersed in a different culture really opens your mind. I almost feel like a new person after experiencing everything in Tokyo and if given a chance to travel anywhere else in the world it would be extremely difficult to choose anywhere else besides Japan.

Hope you guys enjoyed this coverage and I'll be sure to check the comments if you guys have any questions on the players, events or anything else related to gaming in Tokyo!