The entire world is backwards. SBO is an iteration behind Evo in SF4, Evo has dropped 3S for Melty Blood, and I guess Marvel is the game to play at A-cho these days!
I'll only embed one video to save your system resources, but if you want to see more just go to the Youtube channel GAMEacho.
Hey, Pherai here from DenjinArcade.com. Here is a short video tour we recorded of Mi-ka-do while in Tokyo. Enjoy!
haunts | Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 9:07AM | in GodsGarden, Japan, SBO, Virtua Fighter 5, arcade, street fighter, street fighter 4, street fighter IV, tekken 6, tournaments 
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.
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.
haunts | Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 10:48PM | in Japan, SBO, arcade, interviews, street fighter, street fighter 4, street fighter IV 
Most of you who follow this site are probably aware of our never ending quest to travel and level up in Street Fighter 4. First it was LA for Super Battle Opera Qualifiers at Denjin Arcade, then it was EVO in Las Vegas. Now we are taking it to the next level: travelling to Japan to grind it out at arcades such as BIG BOX, attending GODS GARDEN (console SFIV event featuring many top Japanese players) and finishing it off with Super Battle Opera. Thanks to our ridiculously fast internet connection at the Sunroute Hotel, I'll be updating this site roughly on a daily basis giving everyone the scoop on what's going down at the arcades here.
MI-KA-DO
After 10 hour flight and three hours finding our way to our hotel in Shinjuku, Magus1234, ThyAllMighty and myself finally settle in before heading out to Mi Ka Do arcade to meet up with Denjin Arcade players Let Blood Run and Pherai. We spend entirely too much money and time figuring out how the train works but once at Mi-Ka-Do we see other players such as Kim1234, Misterbean and Yuuki. It's nice to run with a squad in a foreign county -- hard to imagine doing this solo!
Strolling in, the main attraction at Mi-Ka-Do seems to be Street Fighter 3: Third Strike with a ton of top players such as Rikimaru, Boss, Momochi, Tokura, Youhei, Pierrot, Ruu, Roah and Veaou. I'm well past my prime in Third Strike so I am obviously out of my league, but it's still dope seeing so many of these players I used to endlessly watch on YouTube back in the day.
Not wanting to embarrass myself on the 3s machines, I make my way over to the Street Fighter 4 cabs and soon realize this is not the place for SF4 competition as I rack up a 9 win streak in no time. I'm surprised to be winning at all, fully expecting to get roasted big time -- I am in Japan after all. Apparently the main arcade in the area for SF4 comp is BIG BOX which is right around the corner, but we decide to check it out another day when we have more time.
After a couple more games, Pherai swings by and asks me to help him interview Rikimaru, a top Chun-Li player.
The remaining events of the night aren't really appropriate to post about on this blog (!!), but I'll be back in the next day or two with more updates!
haunts
Pherai from Denjin Arcade is updating http://www.denjinarcade.com/ on a dialy basis as well. Check it out!!
;)
SIGN REFLECTING THE PRICE INCREASEOichi from NeoGAF posted some photos and information about Japanese arcade games receiving a price increase at certain arcades. He mentions most games are going from 100 yen to 120 yen per play, or about a buck-fifty in US dollars. Although bad news for those who play in Japan, this still doesn't make me feel any better about paying 75 cents to play Street Fighter IV here in San Francisco!
