2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup raises 800,000 yen

Nyanshi, TOPANGA founder, announced tonight that The 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup raised and donated 797,725 yen to the Japan's Red Cross.

For reference, they raised 760,000 yen from the first Charity Cup last year.

2nd TOPANGA League B players announced

Nyanshi, TOPANGA founder, announced tonight on TOPANGA TV all of 14 players who will compete in TOPANGA League's B League and some other details.

1. YHC-Mochi
2. Eita
3. Banbaban
4. Dogura (the Dictator player)
5. Naruo (the Evil Ryu player)
6. Sasaki (the Cody player)
7. Michael-tan (the Ken player)
8. Pamyu (the Boxer player)
9. 6 (the Akuma player) *6 is pronounced Roku
10. Yazu (the Guile player)
11. Cabbage
12. Dashio (the Seth player)
13. VER (the Gouken player)
14. Ojisanboy (but he'll use Abel)

These players and the other two from the qualifier will form the B League as already revealed yesterday.

After the league is finished, the 3rd place will fight Bon-chan, and the 4th place will fight Tokido. The play-off* is for the spots in A League.

*first-to-six-games to win a set, first-to-two-sets to win a match. (TOPANGA League offline rules)

Nyanshi confirmed that B League is pay-per-view and details will follow later (but the qualifier stream is free). He also answered some questions from viewers.
- B League also has prize money (to be announced).
- RF and Kindevu don't participate.

Kokujin to fight Karipaku in gachi FT10

It's revealed that Kokujin (Ryu) will have a "gachi" first-to-ten match against Karipaku (Cody) on June 4 (Monday) 22:00 (JST). The stream is here.

Gachi means serious, so this's not an everyday casual match. They also agreed that if Kokujin wins, Karipaku, who is very good at drawing, will have to draw a picture of Kokujin.

Kokujin also planned to train with Momochi tomorrow night (23:00) on the stream.

Karipaku is the female Cody player that was one of the highlights in The 2nd TOPANGA Charity Cup. If you're looking for a candidate for the strongest female SF4 player, you can't miss this match.

This post will be updated with the result after the match is over, beware the spoiler.

Update: Match is over. Result is below.

Kokujin agreed that he'll lose 10 kg. in 2 months if he loses.

[Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross] J's combo video #5 Bernkastel

J, the top Ougon Musou Kyoku player, uploaded his new combo video on Friday. This time it's Bernkastel combo video.

Although Bernkastel looks too good on the paper and you'll notice that she can do a lot of damage +dizzy without or just 1 SP gauge, J actually put her on D tier. The reasons he rated her so low probably because of her short normal attacks and she can't combo out of her fragments unless it's point-blank.



Combo #1
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 25
Damage: 2778 + dizzy
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #2
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 43
Damage: 2941
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #3
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 33
Damage: 2909 + dizzy
Cost: 3 SP

Combo #4 (after 2C Attack Touch)
Lucifer & Bernkastel vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 26
Damage: 2525 + dizzy
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #5 (after overhead fragment)
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 15
Damage: 2228 + dizzy
Cost: 0 SP

Combo #6 (after throw)
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 22
Damage: 1816
Cost: 3 SP

Combo #7 (jump antiair combo)
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 25
Damage: 2479 + dizzy
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #8 (J uses SP Cancel to pull opponent up from the ground again so he can continue the combo)
Bernkastel & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 50
Damage: 3434
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #9 (fragments involved)
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 29
Damage: 2839 + dizzy
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #10 (fragments loop)
Bernkastel & Battler vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 31
Damage: 2111 + dizzy
Cost: 0 SP

2nd TOPANGA League B League revealed

Not only the existence of the second season of TOPANGA League is now confirmed, the "B League" is also confirmed with details of its qualifier. (related post 1 & 2)

The second season is still SSF4AE2012. Other details are below.

Qualifier of B League
- Nico Nico will stream the online qualifier of the B League on June 2 (this Saturday).
- This qualifier is mostly a single elimination tournament. Only top 4 will be round-robin.
- No counterpick.
- Online application via Xbox Live.
- Recruiting 56 players.
- First round: 56 players will be reduced to 8. (8 groups, 7 players each)
- Second round: 8 players will be reduced to 4. (match by drawing, first-to-2)
- Third round: 4 players will be reduced to 2. (round-robin, using TOPANGA point system)
- First and second place will play in B League.

The actual B League
- B League will have 16 players.
- Two players from the qualifier above will join the other 14 players (to be announced) to form the actual B League.
- B League is all online matches.
- After B League is finished, 1st place and 2nd place will be promoted to A League.
- After B League is finished, there will be a play-off between 3rd place, 4th place, Tokido, Bon-chan on July 1 at Nico's headquarters in Tokyo. TOPANGA/Nico will pay for the expenses.
- The schedule is below.

B League schedule

1. June 8 (Fri)
2. June 9 (Sat)
3. June 10 (Sun)
4. June 15 (Fri)
5. June 16 (Sat)
6. June 17 (Sun)
7. June 22 (Fri)
8. June 23 (Sat)
9. June 24 (Sun)
10. June 29 (Fri) *league is finished
11. July 1 (Sun) *Tokido & Bon-chan play-off

- Friday and Saturday from 21:00 (JST)
- Sunday from 20:00 (JST)

Umehara going Singapore in June

It is announced a couple hours ago that Daigo Umehara will compete in a tournament in Singapore "South East Asia Major" on June 9-10. The tournament is a part of "Road to Evo" so Evo seed points will be given to the top-placing players.

Last year, Umehara had 64 Evo seed points in SSF4AE from winning NorCal Regionals. In 2010, Umehara got an Evo seed from winning Evolution Asia-Pacific in Australia.

Umehara in Taito Station Shinjuku Minamiguchi 20th anniversary event summary

Info
- Umehara participating Taito Station 20th anniversary event
- Date: May 19
- Time: 14:00
- Stream: Here
- Guest: Nuki, Kokujin, R (the commentator), Bon-chan
- Famitsu now posted a report of this event here.

Talk Show
- Umehara answered questions from fans.
- He chose tea color (Ryu) because other good players already have their own color.
- He chose Laputa (Castle in the Sky) over Nausicaa (of the Valley of the Wind). He actually watched both anime. (Beast Note: They're 26-28 year old classic anime.)
- TOPANGA League match against Mago: He aimed to use Hurricane Kick Fei Long's FADC.
- One game, one player, for living in an isolated island: SF2X and a Guile player. He likes fighting Guile.
- Chosen as SF3 teammate by Haitani: He confirmed the story that Momochi said. He added that he didn't want to compete because he stopped playing and he only good at fighting Yun. He said (joked?) that he cheered on Nuki to win Haitani so he won't have to go.


Exhibition Match (First to 7)

Bon-chan 3-7 Umehara

1. 2-1
2. 0-2
3. 1-2
4. 0-2
5. 1-2
6. 2-0
7. 2-0
8. 1-2 *intense
9. 0-2
10. 1-2

- They gave away Umehara's book "Willpower to Keep Winning" with autograph to the attendees by raffle.
- They had two surprise birthday cakes for Umehara, one from the game center and one from Kokujin.
- The female staff who brought out the cake in the picture below is TOPANGA's Negi.
- Umehara gave away a piece of cake to the attendees who won him at rock-paper-scissors.
- A little girl, an Umehara fan, gave him birthday present. Umehara gave her his cake.

[Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross] J's replay #4

J, the top Ougon Musou Kyoku player, uploaded on Thursday a new video of his matches.

1. Willard & Shannon vs. Chiester 410 & Dlanor
2. Jessica & Lambdadelta vs. Chiester 410 & Beatrice
3. Ronove & Ange vs. Kanon & Willard
4. Black Battler & Beatrice vs. Battler & Virgilia

Happy Birthday Umehara!

It's May 19 now in Japan and that means it's Daigo Umehara's birthday! 誕生日　おめでとう！

It's a coincidence, Umehara will appear at the Taito Station event today for his talk show and exhibition matches. Nuki & Kokujin, and also a number of well-known people in Japan's FGC are confirmed to be there. (And of course, expect some regular customers of the game center like Kazunoko gang.) What a great way to celebrate birthday!

Umehara participating Taito Station Shinjuku Minamiguchi 20th anniversary event

Tip from Mad Catz Japan, it's revealed that Daigo Umehara will participate an event at Taito Station Shinjuku Minamiguchi (south entrance) branch. The event celebrates 20th anniversary of the game center. And it's this branch that Umehara usually play nowadays and used to have his own exhibition matches event last year.

Umehara will join the SSF4AE2012 tournament there as a guest on May 19 starting from 14:00.

There will also be some promotions including playing Tekken Unlimited, SSF4AE2012, Gundam Extreme Versus, and selected rhythm actions games for free in 2 hours period (10:00 - 12:00) on selected day between May 14-18.

[Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross] J's combo video #4 (Shannon/Willard)

J, the top Ougon Musou Kyoku player, uploaded his new combo video just 2 hours ago. This time it's Shannon/Willard combo video.

J recently won the official OMKC mini tournament on May 5.



Combo #1
Shannon & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 26
Damage: 3992 + dizzy
Cost: 1 SP

Combo #2 (on crouching opponent)
Shannon & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 71
Damage: 5802
Cost: 1+2 SP

Combo #3 (Guard Break combo)
Shannon & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 37
Damage: 4262
Cost: 2 SP

Combo #4 (throw + Assault Touch combo)
Shannon & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 23
Damage: 3249 + dizzy
Cost: 5 SP

Combo #5 (throw + Assault Touch combo)
Shannon & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 21
Damage: 3082 + dizzy
Cost: 4 SP

Combo #6 (throw + Assault Touch + Meta combo)
Willard & Shannon vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 23
Damage: 2973 + dizzy
Cost: 3 SP

Combo #7
Willard & Shannon vs. Battler & Kanon
Hit: 142
Damage: 7492
Cost: 5+5 SP

Daigo Umehara book Famitsu interview: 28k copies sold, Ryu for Evo 2012

Famitsu yesterday finished posting 2-part interview with Daigo Umehara. The interview is about his book "Willpower to Keep Winning" which was sold more than 28,000 copies at the time.

Beast Note's summary is below.

Part 1
- He thought about releasing a book before, though this's actually the right timing.
- Some stories in his book he never told anyone, even persons who are really close to him.
- There's no childhood episode at first, but it's needed to tell readers why he's obsessed about games. This unseen part of his life allows him to tell what he kept in mind. To be able to show what you want to show is what makes originality of such a book.
- The book tells the stories of people in gaming world to the society, and also tells [the gamers who received bad treatments from society] that they're not alone.
- On reactions from his family after reading his book: "So this's what Daigo really thought." Although he and his family always have conversations, they never realized the feeling toward his older sister or some of his father's actions.
- He gets along well with his older sister. He said she's not only good at studying, but also singing and drawing.
- He still insists that he goes to game center 363 days a year. He takes 2 days off at the New Year.
- They talked about how Umehara became the boss of the class when he was a kid. That time, he was a transfer student and got into a fight about soccer's rule with the class leader. Umehara beat him, although he was wrong. Umehara believed that a goal doesn't count until the ball actually hit the net, even it crossed the line. He thought so from reading Captain Tsubasa manga. (Beast Note: The characters in the manga tend to score beautiful goals.)
- He hates losing, it makes him very patient. He doesn't cry in public since he was a kid. He still remembers when he was 5 years old and had chickenpox. The treatment at the hospital hurt so much but he didn't cry.
- When he was a 5th grader, he lost 30 times in a row to an old man's Blanka. He tried to win and he spent all his money. He had to walk back home because he has no money for a bus ride.
- He discovered that playing 6 hours a day is enough for him. You need time to think, not just playing aimlessly. He used to play more than 10 hours a day in the first year of being a pro.
- After becoming a pro, he actually wrote down what he discovered, whether it's gaming related or player's habit related.
- They talked about the differences between "objective and "purpose." He said if you just want to win, you probably stop training after a tournament or underestimate an opponent since your "objective" is to win. But "purpose" will keep you playing for years.
- He does have a small objective like how to improve winning rate against a certain player.
- They talked about when he tried really hard to win 4 of Capcom's official national tournaments (individual) in a row (1998, 2000, 2000, 2002). He only finished in top 8 in the Capcom vs. SNK 2 tournament in 2002. He was so disappointed he ate nothing but udon (plain noodle), lost 5 kilograms of weight, and didn't go to the game center for half a year.
- His top 3 most nervous moments: The tournament above (2002), Evo 2006 (he didn't prepare himself), Guilty Gear team tournament in Tougeki 2004
- He doesn't get extreme nervous in a tournament like that anymore. But he still feels nervous in an interview on mainstream media, and especially in a live show.
- It's said that he's a skilled Mahjong player. But he won't go back to Mahjong world because it's hard to apply his abilities, and it'll only make a news topic.
- One time, he used to learn Mahjong by standing behind and watch a skilled Mahjong player play for 10 hours.

Part 2
- On being an ideal pro gamer: In short, "have pride." Umehara said pro gamer should feel angry inside when someone said "You're weak."
- He doesn't play new games just because he's a pro. If he thinks it's not fun then he won't play.
- He will participate just SSF4AE2012 tournament in Evo 2012 "for now" (it means he probably play other games, too.)
- He will use Ryu in Evo 2012. He said he tried Yun and Akuma, but he finally chose Ryu.
- He said year 2012 is about SF4 and Gunslinger Stratos for him.
- When asked about doing something new outside gaming: He has no plan right now. But it's probably a good idea if "[the community] is fine without me" time comes. He thinks age doesn't matter to experience new things. (He added that his father also likes to try new things. He said that his father wants to live another 100 years. (laugh))
- Without games: When he was a kid, he liked something big like dinosaurs so he wanted to be a space researcher. (universe is big)
- He eats ramen (noodle) really fast. The trick is he's good at eating hot food so he's faster at eating hot soup. (He said probably 4 times faster than women.)

KVO x GODSGARDEN summary

Info
- KVO x GODSGARDEN UMvC3 announced
- This tournament (KVO x GODSGARDEN) and KVO 2012 are different. Read the old posts for more.
- Date: May 4
- Recorded stream: Here
- They planned to invite Kusoru and Condor but only Cho accepted. So they gave those quotas to voting and qualifier.
- Frieda announced that he won't go to Evo 2012 so if he wins he won't take the ticket to Evo.
- 4Gamer.net now posted an event report.

Results

Qualifier (notable)
RF 2-0 Tonosama
fubarduck 1-2 Rei-chan
Ouma 0-2 Frieda
IKKI 0-2 Kubo
ASO 1-2 Nemo
RF (Wolf/Akuma/Task) 0-2 Emumaki
Tsujigawa 0-2 Maogami
Rei-chan 2-0 Haatia
Kaitenou 0-2 Nemo
Kubo 1-2 Frieda
Taketani 0-2 Rei-chan
Rei-chan 0-2 Frieda
Nemo 2-? Ninroku 2600
Rei-chan 2-1 Ninroku 2600

Real tournament

Invited: Cho
Voting: 1) Suna Hebi 2) OGTY 3) Abegen 4) G.X (related stream)
Appointed day qualifier: Frieda, Nemo, Rei-chan

[Winners] Suna Hebi (Sentinel/Nova/Super-Skrull) 2-0 OGTY (Nova/Dr. Doom/Super-Skrull)
[Winners] Rei-chan (Deadpool/Wesker/Doom) 2-1 G.X (Doom/Spencer/Hull)
[Winners] Abegen (She-Hulk/Tron/Thor) 0-2 Cho (Wesker/Magneto/Vergil)
[Winners] Nemo (Spencer/Strange/Wesker) 1-2 Frieda (Zero/Magneto/Dante) *Nemo almost won but he missed at the end of 2nd game
[Winners] Suna Hebi 1-2 Rei-chan *a big comeback from Sunahebi in 2nd round
[Winners] Cho 2-1 Frieda *Frieda won 1st game
[Winners Final] Rei-chan 2-0 Cho
[Losers] Nemo ?-2 Abegen *no stream
[Losers] Abegen 2-1 Frieda
[Losers] Abegen 2-0 G.X
[Losers Final] Abegen 1-2 Cho
[Grand Final 1] Rei-chan 2-3 Cho *Cho won first 2 games.
[Grand Final 2] Rei-chan 3-2 Cho *Cho won first 2 games but Rei-chan won last 3.

- Rei-chan won the trip to Evo 2012.
- Rei-chan is a pad player.

Concept Match with Kusoru
- The winner of this tournament will have to play against Kusoru.
Rei-chan 3-2 Kusoru (Viewtiful Joe/Rocket Raccoon/Frank West) *Rei-chan won first 2 and last.

Ogorare-kun
If you still don't understand why there's a maid giving people drinks and sometimes slaps in front of the camera, read this post about Ogorare-kun system. This's a similar service. Since the tournament is held in a maid cafe "CCO Cha" and some menu will be served in "Tsundere" style, the viewers can order a drink for the selected players and have them slapped at the same time. They can also instruct the maids what to write on the food with the tomato ketchup.

- Kindevu got Super Tsunderedaa. The maid said "I play SF4 and I used to wonder what Rufus player look like, you really look like Rufus! I'm impressed. Now do your best!" Then she slapped him really hard.

- OGTY got omelette rice with the word "Homo." (it's inside joke of the Japan UMvC3 community)
- Kusoru said on the stream that he's hungry and "Please order me something." Then a Kao TV viewer ordered Super Tsuderedaa x2 (served with double slaps from 2 maids) to Kusoru. The maids said "Why did you get an order like this? You wanna fight? Get serious already!"
- Some players like Suna Hebi got a "Corpse Stomping Soda."

Chou Tougeki 2012 summary

Info
- Chou Tougeki is held inside Nico Nico's Chokaigi (Nico Nico's "Super Conference")
- Chou Tougeki's first details
- Big announcements from Tougeki
- Umehara confirmed for Chou Tougeki exhibitions
- Umehara participates Chou Tougeki SSF4AE2012 qualifier
- The SSF4AE2012 and SF3 Third Strike qualifier are in Day 1 (April 28)
- Exhibition matches is in Day 2 (April 29)
- After the stream of the first day ended, there's a wedding ceremony (on Chou Tougeki's stage) of a couple who met because of Street Fighter IV.
- Tougeki producer announced that Tougeki 2012 finals will be held in August somewhere in Narita.

Stream of qualifiers
- Day 1
- Day 2

Media reports
- Famitsu (Day 1 and Day 2)
- Weekly ASCII

SSF4AE2012 qualifier
- Uryo won. He chose Momochi and Haitani as his teammates for Tougeki finals.

(The numbers are rounds)
[Winners] Kyoku (Yan) 2-0 Mago (Fei)
[Winners] Uryo 2-? Across
[Winners] Kawaguuchi (Ros) 2-? masa
[Winners] Cabbage 2-? MOV
[Winners] Rikimaru ?-2 Fuhajin
[Winners] Kyoku 2-? Haitani
[Winners] 2-gun DH Taryan (Fue) 2-1 Bibi (Chun)
[Winners] Kazunoko (Yun) 2-0 Tokido (Aku)
[Winners] MDR (Ruf) 2-1 Shin (Jur)
[Winners] Uryo (Sak) 2-1 Umehara (Ryu) *the first 2 rounds were very close
[Winners] 2-gun DH Taryan ?-2 Fuudo
[Winners] Cabbage 2-? Nuki
[Winners] Kazunoko (Yun) 0-2 Dogura (Dic) *Ultra finish in last round
[Winners] Fuhajin 0-2 ItaZan
[Winners] Kawaguuchi (Ros) 2-1 Araki (Haw)
[Winners] MDR 2-? Momochi
[Winners] Uryo (Sak) 2-0 MDR *18 hit combo and perfect in last round
[Winners] Fuudo 2-1 Kawaguuchi (Ros) *Fuudo lost 1st round but won with perfect in last round
[Winners] Cabbage 1-2 ItaZan *pixels comeback from ItaZan in 1st round (Ultra finish)
[Winners] Kyoku 1-2 Dogura *Dogura fought back after losing 1st round *good game
[Winners] Fuudo 1-2 Uryo *pixels comeback from Uryo in 2nd round (he almost lost)
[Winners] ItaZan 1-2 Dogura *Dogura almost lost but he survived 2 rounds with pixels of life
[Losers] Across (E. Ryu) 1-2 Umehara (Ryu)
[Losers] Mago 2-? Haitani
[Losers] MOV 2-? Nuki
[Losers] Tokido ?-2 Kyoku
[Losers] Shin (Jur) 1-2 Momochi (Cod)
[Losers] Momochi (Cod) 2-1 Umehara (Ryu)
[Losers] MDR 1-2 Momochi
[Losers] Masa 2-? Araki
[Losers] Bibi (Chun) 2-? masa
[Losers] Bibi (Chun) 2-? Kawaguuchi
[Losers] MOV 2-? Fuhajin
[Losers] Mago ?-2 Kazunoko
[Losers] Momochi 1-2 Bibi (Chu) *Good game from Bibi
[Losers] Cabbage 0-2 Kazunoko *Kazunoko dominated
[Losers] Fuudo 2-1 Bibi
[Losers] ItaZan 2-0 Kazunoko *Good game from ItaZan

Top 4
[Winners Final] Uryo 1-2 Dogura *Dogura clearly played better
[Losers] ItaZan 2-1 Fuudo
[Losers Final] ItaZan 0-2 Uryo
[Grand Final 1] Uryo 2-1 Dogura *Uryo almost lost but made pixels comeback in 2nd round
[Grand Final 2] Uryo 2-0 Dogura *Dogura cameback in 2nd round with no life left

SF3 3rd Strike qualifier
- Haitani won. He chose Momochi and Daigo Umehara as his teammates for Tougeki finals.
- Momochi later revealed that Haitani talked to him and decided about SF3 and SF4 team for Tougeki 2012. They still wanted one member. It's for fun so they don't want to drag SF3 players with them. They considered SF4 players instead. They approached Umehara after TOPANGA Charity Cup 2012 but they were drunk at the time so it was not really confirmed. (Haitani and Momochi live in south west, but Umehara live in Tokyo. It's hard to go to a local qualifier together.)
- Famitsu reported that Haitani talked to Umehara again before the finals, Umehara said "If you won, then [teaming up] is okay." He later laughed because Haitani actually won it.

Exhibition matches
- Ten players are paired randomly by drawing. (pic)
- Since there're 5 pairs, one team will have to play 3 times.
- There was no stream but Choco Blanka reported the results realtime.

Nuki + Fuudo vs. Umehara + Kazunoko (pic)
Nuki (Seth) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu) *Ultra finish in 1st round
Fuudo (Fei) 1-2 Kazunoko (Yun)
Semi-final
MDR + Momochi vs. Mago + Uryo
Momochi - Uryo O
MDR - Mago O

Tokido + Haitani vs. Umehara + Kazunoko
Tokido - Kazunoko O
O Haitani 2-1 Umehara
Haitani 1-2 Kazunoko O

Final
Mago + Uryo vs. Umehara + Kazunoko
O Uryo 2-1 Umehara
O Mago 2-0 Kazunoko

Mad Catz booth
There's Mad Catz booth at Chou Tougeki where Japan's Team Mad Catz members (Umehara/Mago/Tokido) had autograph/photo session and played games with visitors.
- Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning with autograph is sold at the booth.
- Team Mad Catz appears! (pic)
- A stick with Team Mad Catz autograph (pic)
- Team Mad Catz cap (2500 yen) (pic)
- Umehara posing with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure cosplayers (pic)

Nico gets big upgrade, 1.62 million premium members

Nico Nico announced last week its biggest service upgrade ever. You can read the news in English here. This "Zero" version will affect on May 1 (already in effect).

Summary
- Nico Nico Douga (its formal name) will be renamed to niconico, with new logo.
- Video resolution increased from 640x368 to 864x486.
- "Nicoru" button (similar to Facebook's "Like")
- NicoSound music download service. Premium users contribute. Free users can download.
- 24-hour music channel called "Nsen" that users can make a request. The contents are mostly from user's contributions. There will also be original programs.
- New version of My Page
- New version of Ranking page of live shows with true realtime stats update

Nico Nico is probably one of the fastest growing services in Japan's entertainment business. It now has more than 27.35 million subscribers and 1.62 million are premium members (paid subscribers). Its offline event, Nico Nico's Chokaigi ("Super Conference"), last month has attracted more than 92,000 attendees in 2 days, not including 3.47 million attendees on the web.

It is becoming the center of Japan's fighting game community as it streams more big tournaments and people use the streams to exchange information or just hang out. Most of the videos (Japan's FGC related) on YouTube nowadays are actually a reupload of the videos on Nico Nico.