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      Entries in the grind (5)

      Thursday
      20Aug2009

      GRINDIN' JAPAN: SHIOZAWA CUP & SUPER BATTLE OPERA

      by Authorhaunts | Comment16 Comments

      [ 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.

      Click to read more ...

      DateThursday, August 20, 2009 at 9:07AM | |
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      Saturday
      08Aug2009

      GRINDIN' JAPAN: BIG BOX ARCADE & GODS GARDEN

      by Authorhaunts | Comment21 Comments


      So I somehow survived the first week here in Japan and still have another week and a half to go. So far the trip has been insanely fun, playing at a number of different arcades trying to boost my BP on my battle card (12k BP with ~55% win percentage). With that being said, it's a bit difficult to update the blog on a daily basis since there is so much going on!

      Anywho, as I mentioned in the last post, BIG BOX arcade is the spot for Street Fighter 4 competition so we have been hitting it up on a daily basis, playing some of the best players in the country such as Daigo, Ojisanboy, Bonchan, AC Revenger, Shiro, Nemo, Nuki, Kanbara and Booya. These are just the big names too -- there are just as many solid unnamed players all trying to get their SF4 fix each day as well.

      The arcade located on the 6th or so floor of this shopping complex called BIG BOX that has a mix of different shops and attractions on each floor. This is hands down the nicest and largest arcade I've ever seen with virtually every fighting game known to man available to play. It's not just fighting games either -- they have the Gundam games, some crazy Square-Enix RPG game, music games.. the list goes on and on.

      The set up for Street Fighter 4 is really nice: a row of 6 head to head cabs, divided up into the "big boys section" and the, well, "scrubs section". The scrub section still has really solid players but I was able to rack up 5-8 win streaks fairly easily. The "big boys section" is a different story though-- I could get a handful of wins here and there but no serious streaks. This is no surprise considering many of the players are ranked top 50 in the country.

      My most memorable match at BIG BOX so far was against Daigo, considering I got him to the last round in a 3/5 match. It seemed close to me but truth be told I think he was in control of the match the whole time and could just go into beast mode when he needed a win. This is how it feels against many of the top players here, where even if you are doing well, they can seemingly clutch out a win anytime they need to.

      Click to read more ...

      DateSaturday, August 8, 2009 at 5:21PM | |
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      Saturday
      01Aug2009

      THE GRIND IN JAPAN: MI-KA-DO FEAT. RIKIMARU

      by Authorhaunts | Comment10 Comments

      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!

      DateSaturday, August 1, 2009 at 10:48PM | |
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      Thursday
      11Jun2009

      THE GRIND: SOCAL EDITION (SF4 TRAINING & SBO QUALS)

      by Authorhaunts | Comment38 Comments

      "Hey, you're Haunts right? Welcome to SoCal... Man, I've never been so nervous for a tournament as I am today.." says Mike Ross as I am checking out all the equipment for the SBO Quals live stream.

      "Yeah, it should be pretty crazy..." I say casually, not knowing that this will be one of the most intense tournaments of my Street Fighter career.

      THE GRIND

      Rewind three weeks, I approach MAGUS1234 , NorCal's best C. Viper player, asking him to go to SoCal with me for a week and three days to level up in Street Fighter, possibly check out E3 and gather content for iPlayWinner. Just a few days prior to that we discussed competing in SBO Quals to try to win a free ticket to Japan anyway, so after thinking it over for a week or so, he finally contacts me and says "Yeah man, lets do this, it will be a grind but sometimes you just have to do it."

      What is The Grind you ask? Well, like in any RPG game there is always the need to grind it out, have a ton of battles in high level areas to gain EXP points and level up. Whether people realise it or not, this is required in Street Fighter as well if you expect to be a decent player. Except unlike video games, when and where you level up, and the reasoning behind it isn't as simple as rising two digit numbers. Really, you are the main character and all these battles take place at actual locations like Keystone, Denjin Arcade, Arcade Infinity, EVO and all the other random dungeons you may encounter along the way.

      This was more or less our thought process for going to SoCal: MAGUS1234 and I felt we needed to seek out other styles to take our game to the next level.

      Click to read more ...

      DateThursday, June 11, 2009 at 12:50PM | |
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      Tuesday
      20Jan2009

      CALIFORNIA REGIONALS REVIEW

      by Authorhaunts | Comment7 Comments

      DENJIN ARCADECalifornia Regionals has come and gone over the weekend and I must say it was the most eye opening and enjoyable tournaments I've ever been to. Held at Denjin Arcade in Simi Valley CA, players from not only California but literally all over the world (Korea, Hawaii, Oregon, Arizona) showed up to flex their skills in virtually every 2D game that is still played to this day.

      Over 4 months of Street Fighter IV training, a chance to play some of the best players in the country and take home the trophy in the Battle for California 5v5. There was a lot going through my mind as I made my trek out to Oakland Airport on BART. So many variables in an event like this, so many possible outcomes and really that is probably what keeps me coming back to tournaments like this year after year. Here is the 3 day break down of the event from my perspective.

      Click to read more ...

      DateTuesday, January 20, 2009 at 7:27PM | |
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