Flying to Japan today

500 yen changers are all over most arcades. Just make sure what sort of coin you have first, as some only take the old (silver) or new (gold) coin.

Monster Gate is a medal game, meaning you'll have to get a bunch of those token-type thingies out of a machine before you can use it. I never got into medal games, but I think you can win stuff from them? Not sure...

<100 yen arcades are rare in Tokyo, and if you find one, it likely won't have VF.net. Nagoya has a bunch, though.

 

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<100 yen arcades are rare in Tokyo, and if you find one, it likely won't have VF.net. Nagoya has a bunch, though.


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50 yen arcade you mean, right? I know of one in Shibuya, on Sentagai, which has two Evolution machines.

I've never seen Monster Gate. The big RPG here is Key of Avalon, which has been in beta test at Shibuya Gigo for the last few months. (basically a card-based game for the arcades). People line up for hours for that damn game. They had to move the Evo machines to the other side of the floor b/c we were too rowdy next to the geeks.

You'll learn to hate the 500-yen delima. It's almost the same size as a 500-won coin (Korea) which has a 10th of the value. People were putting them in coke/cigarette machines, and pocketing the change, hence, they made new coins. A lot of machines in Tokyo arcades will take neither. You have to ask the assistant. Just say, "Ryougae onegaishimasu" when you want to change anything, and fork over the 500 yen coin.

 

Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

Just got done talking with Namflow, here's an update on him and the VF in Japan:

-He found a Sega Arena 30 minute drive from his place, with more competition than the local arcades

-He got a vf.net card (Shun) although he doesn't have a name on it yet

-The competition at this Sega Arena isn't nearly as stiff as it was in Tokyo... He has played about 20 games, and has a win ratio of about 65%...

-The people there know some flashy combos, although he is he can be successful by being patient and having good yomi... (ie one akira player, Namflow would knock him down and rush up as he tech rolled and would bait and block a double palm and nail guaranteed kkp... he said he the poor guy dblplmed after tech roll almost every time)

-He is still getting used to the arcade controls, although he likes the sticks... He can't do cd into 270 throw well yet, and instead of E-DTEG he just does E-mash throw escapes, which he said is working out ok... dunno if he ever really did E-DTEG anyway...

If you are interested in non VF stuff, such as what he did when he got off at the wrong bus stop, or when faced with public bathing for the first time, you can read his livejournal--- http://www.livejournal.com/~namflow

he has pics and a few movies online:
http://www.cif.rochester.edu/~namflow/japan

Enjoy!

-Alex

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

Haha, funny stuff. The busride fiasco had to have been a major highlight. /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

I also forgot to mention that he isn't the only player there who backdashes at the begining of a round

-Alex

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

Nor will he ever be the only one. I wouldn't recommend doing it habitually, but it's not really un-common.

CD->270 is tricky. I have a few friends that can pull it off every single time. If Shun's your main character though, I highly recommend not relying on the 270, as you need 10 DPs to do it.

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

Hey I back dash! lol. But you know how us pad players are Alex. We have style! hahahhaha

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

Horray for internet access at home! Thank god, I was going insane. I thought I was going to have to call them to get the modem but sure enough, at like 5 o'clock the door rings and there's some Japanese dude with a big box that says "Yahoo BB" on it. Yey!

I'm probablly heading out again tomorrow (Friday) since I'm guessing there will be more competition than on a Tuesday. Plus it's raining and I just got internet so I'm much likely to stay home.

I try to vary what I do at the beginning of each round. Against a Sarah I started eating a d/f,d/f+k each round that I'd start with a chowan cause she'd backdash and nail me. Serves me right for being offensive /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

The guys at the arcade, at least who I've played, were good but didn't seem that super. I kept getting redicious amounts of drinks cause they never wanted to escape P+G. I think I had one 270 escaped once the whole night. They seem to not play against a lot of Shuns cause they eat basic d/f+p,p,(delay),k and lying down k,p,d+k,k far more than they should. Not that I'm complaining. I even hit the hand stand frakensteiner once or twice. God I love that.

I'll write more tomorrow when I get back. Later all

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

Cool to see you're having fun man. Send me some Pocky and Bunko Kanazawa memorabilia. /versus/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Also, I have had a couple types of Pucca and it rocks. Not sure if there are many different flavors, but the 2 I had were great. One was a blue bag and I think it was Almond flavored and the other yellow bag and had HUGE Pukka fish in it and was crazy chocolate flavored. The yellow bag I think was actually called Deka Pucca or something like that. I've seen a Sesame Cream Pucca before, but it sold out before I could try it. Let me know if you try it.

If you ever need a kickstart in the morning just get you a pack of Black*Black chewing gum. It's insane amounts of caffeine and a lot of mint flavoring. It definitely wakes you up better than coffee. /versus/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Wata Pachi is kinda neat too. It's like pop rocks and cotton candy together. A weird combo, but tasty. My local Japanese anime store gets in a lot of different Japanese snacks and candies.

You can't go wrong with most Meiji, Shigekix, Glico, and Kasugai candies. Enough about candy. Now back to your journey.

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

good stuff, i plan to go there for the next tokyo game show.. so right now, i envy you (at this time)

hey, if you managed to get movies, why don't you capture some VF play?

 

Just got back from Sega Arena. It was Friday night so there were more people than than last time, but not too many. They had 4 machines but really only 2 of them were ever in use. When I first got there I played against some guy who had silver trophies by most (if not all) of his character's names. I would go 1 for 1 with him, like he'd win, then I'd win, then he'd switch it up. This went through a couple of characters until he picked Lei Fei and then he owned me hard.

After that I left for a bit, came back and 2 machines were full. I waited around for a bit but the just kept playing eachother over and over. I'm not sure what the proper way to get your turn in is, but I just left for a bit and came back.

Finally this one dude getting owned by this Aoi player left and I sat down. She had a couple thousand games under her belt. She owned me the first round, I forget what happened the second but I think I won. The third round she made the "40 drink mistake" as I like to call it. She tried to lure me to the edge of the ring (I was in the lead), so I just started drinking. She didn't budge, so I went to lying down stance and drank away. She didn't budge. She just let me drink to 40 and let time run out. It was weird, maybe the dude playing her had to leave or something. The next round he actually attacked but with 40 drinks I'd breath on her and drain half her energy. I won and the player left.

After that some dude starting playing me. And playing me. And losing. And playing. I got 10 wins, then he won 1, then I got another 6 or so. I actually pulled the CD into 270 once or twice on him, as well as a hand stand frankensteiner. Perhaps some of the best rounds were his kage versus me. I was goofing around and hit u+k+g. I turned around and went into handstand stance. Somehow things got screwed up so I started to hop away. He tried for kage's u/f+k+g and my backwords handstand kicks killed him for the final round. There was also what I'd like to call the "hand stand kick" round where I knocked him down, got into hand stand stance, and then just kept kicking him whenever he'd try to do anything. It was hillarious.

Eventually he caught on, but by then the lights were off and the place was closing. He started pouncing me when he won a round and I'm just like "Yea whatever dude, your music can play last, they turned off the lights, I'm outta here, thanks for the wins." I'm at 65% exactly. Not too good, but not to bad either.

There's gotta be a better place for VF I think. I need to stop being lazy and get on some Japanese message boards, write some butchered Japanese, and hope to get a city or arcade name in return.

That's about it. Laters all

 

Re: Namflow in Japan Update (VF Info)

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Japanese dude with a big box that says "Yahoo BB" on it. Yey!

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Okay, now that's just wrong. I spent two hell-filled years in Japan when cable was the ONLY broadband, and it took an act of God to get it. The number of people with it in the whole country were somewhere in the thousands, no joke. My phone bill was $200 a month... for local calls.

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When I first got there I played against some guy who had silver trophies by most (if not all) of his character's names.


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That'd be all of them. Silver trophy means he (the player) is 2nd in that game center, not any of his specific characters. As it's set by player, not character, all characters registered in his name will get the trophy - even if they've got no wins or losses. I've got a bronze in a small arcade by the gym I go to.

 

Sega World Fukui = teh sux

Hey all - letting you know what's up in the VF scene around here.

I've been asking around (friends, students, neighbors, etc) about where to find some hot VF action. One dude told me about a Sega World in Fukui City and I was excited. I mean, a Sega World - that's gotta have VF action in it. I'll save you the story of actually finding the place, but needless to say it involved lots of wrong turns, getting lost, and getting even more lost.

But eventually I did happen upon the Sega World. It was in a big building, with half being some kinda pachinko palor. There weren't many cars out in front, but since there was a multi-story parking garage I thought they were all just parked upstairs. So I park, go on, and theres all of 1 VF machine with some poor scrub playing on it.

Frustrated after spending a good hour and a half finding the place, coupled with the lack of competition, I took out on the poor guy playing. He played 4 times before giving up so it padded my win% a bit. /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I spent the rest of my time at Sega World Fukui trying to win a gigantic hugeable slime from a UFO catcher type game. I failed, I think the game was rigged.

Anyways that was a while ago. Since then I started working (well... desk warming, no teaching as of yet) and I've made it a point to go to lunch, eat lunch with the students, and then ask them about their hobbies so I can tell them I like VF and ask where to go and play. They said Harue cause there's a game center called "Leisure Land." It sounded more like a snack bar, soapland, or other place along those lines. But if it had either VF or naked Japanese hotties, I'd win either way. It was funny, that day after lunch the kids came by my desk and told me again to go. I said I couldn't go tonight cause I had to work and they said "it's open 24 hours!" And then I said "I need to sleep" and they laughed.

I found the place they were talking about yesterday. It's actually called joyland (amusement joyland?). They had 2 VF machines with 2 friends who kept playing eachother and never got up. I walked around, found a DDR Extreme and played that, then went back and they were stll playing eachother. I sat down and played on the 2nd machine and one of them gotup and came over. I got like 6 wins on him, and then after he was done some Jacky dude came over and I got some 10 wins on him. I lost a few times, but my win% went up to 65. Not that it counts cause they weren't super hot opponets, but even so - its not my fault the guy played 10 times before giving up. /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'll ask my students when is a good time to go there (its a lot closer than the other arcades with VF, by a good 20 minutes).

I'm 3rd dan now. It's really hard to find competition, especially competition around my rank. Whenever I do I usually win pretty one sided...

Anyways I'll be sure to find myself driving around lost again looking for more arcades, so if I find any I'll let you guys know. See ya!

ps - My first week I worked 77 hours in 7 days cause of the school festival and sports day got rained out on saturday so I got to work 4 hours on saturday and then come in sunday as well!

pps - I write a lot more detailed accounts of my adventures in Japan at my livejournal, so feel free to check it out here!

 

Re: Sega World Fukui = teh sux

Dude, I always get a kick out of reading your lj entries about japan. Don't slack off on them. It sounds like a blast. Bummer about the VF side of things, but you know... I'm almost glad you can't find any comp. I've read VF-in-japan war stories 958392829 times and this is a refreshing change of pace.

 

Re: Sega World Fukui = teh sux

I can't wait for your winter adventures:
"It was cold... I stayed home... It was too damn cold him my house... I had to buy a new coat..."

Don't belieev me? Ask your students about "insulation" and enjoy the free confusion humor.

 

The Cold

Four winters in Rochester, I think he'll be ok /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

-Alex

 

Re: The Cold

What GP is talking about is the houses here don't have insulation. IE: It's as cold indoors as it is outdoors. At least the walls take care of the wind....

 

Re: The Cold

I actually have a friend (yeah -- a whole ONE friend!) whose house was actually colder on the inside than the outside in the winter. All laws of physics ceased to exist in his living room.

Apparantly if you get a house made before '68 (which is just ANCIENT by Japanese standards) then there's a chance it'll be warm. It was after this year that they started making the paper houses.

 

Re:

Bring back the Goat-tee!