Beast Note: 2013

Thursday, December 26, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 12 summary

Umehara vs. Michael-tan
Kazunoko vs. Bon-chan
Umehara vs. Wao
Michael-tan vs. Momochi
Wao vs. Bon-chan

Willpower to Keep Winning is still one of the bestselling pocketbooks on Amazon Japan in 2013

Daigo Umehara's semi-autobiography "Willpower to Keep Winning" is revealed to be one of the bestselling pocketbook of 2013 by Amazon Japan's bestsellers rankings.

Bestselling Kindle book (e-book) of 2013 in pocketbook (nonfiction) category
The 7th bestselling book (paper edition) of 2013 in pocketbook (nonfiction) category

Please note that the book was also the 7th bestselling pocketbook of 2012.

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 11 summary

Wao vs. Michael-tan
Momochi vs. Kazunoko
Michael-tan vs. Bon-chan
Umehara vs. Momochi
Wao vs. Kazunoko

Umehara coming to R's Room December 26

It's revealed that Daigo Umehara and Rensuke Oshikiri will appear as guests in next R's Room on December 26.

Rensuke Oshikiri is the manga artist of High Score Girl – a love comedy of young fighting gamers in 90s. His name is actually on the book banding paper of Umehara: To Live is to Game as a person who recommends the manga.

Monday, December 9, 2013

MCZ Kazunoko appears!

R gets his own talk show, Umehara confirmed as guest

It's revealed that R (commentator and Guy player) will be doing his own pay-per-view talk show, called R's Room, on Niconico starting this Monday.

The first episode of the show, this Monday, will have Kazunoko and Haitani as guests. The second episode (presumably next Monday) will have Daigo Umehara.

You will have to subscribe to the channel to view the show. Subscription fee is 525 yen a month.

R's Room is organized by YOUDEAL and sponsored by Mad Catz. YOUDEAL is a company that produces internet game shows and also sells Umehara's T-shirt.

Friday, December 6, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 10 summary

Momochi vs. Bon-chan
Umehara vs. Kazunoko
Wao vs. Momochi
Kazunoko vs. Michael-tan
Umehara vs. Bon-chan

Console USF4 scheduled for early June 2014

The latest announcement confirmed that Ultra Street Fighter IV will be released worldwide via digital upgrade early June, around one month before Evolution 2014 which is scheduled on July 11-13.

Right now, we are hard at work to bring the game to all of our fans as soon as possible, and want to ensure there is enough time that players can practice to compete at Evolution 2014. As such, the digital upgrade will be available in early June for $14.99 (€14.99) on PS3 and Xbox 360. Following shortly after in August, is the digital upgrade for PC at $14.99 (€14.99), as well as the PS3 and Xbox360 full digital bundle and retail versions, which include all previously-released costumes for $39.99 (€39.99). Since our PC fans have to wait longer for the content, we have a special deal where they can get the full digital bundle including all of the previously-released costumes for only $29.99 (€29.99), also in August.

USF4 will be released first in Japan for the arcades in April.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Daigo Umehara's Super Play in GIF: vs. Hsien Chang (Evo 2012)

This's the first post of "Umehara's Super Play in .gif" series. More to come!

Event: Evolution 2012
Location: Las Vegas
Date: July 6, 2012
Opponent: Hsien Chang

Koihime Enbu announced

A new fighting game Koihime Enbu is announced today for the arcades with its teaser site. The news article revealed that the game is the sequel of Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Taisen Sangokushi Engi (arcades, PC, PS3). It looks like a different developer is in charge of the new game however.

Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Taisen coming to PS3 February 2014

It's announced that Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Taisen Sangokushi Engi fighting game will be released on PlayStation 3 on February 20, 2014. The game will have online play feature not found in the PC version. It doesn't appear to have any other additional change. The standard edition is priced at 6,800 yen, 1,200 yen cheaper than the PC version.

Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Taisen was first released in the arcades in 2011. The PC version was released on May 31. Beast Note has a hands-on post here.

This 2D fighting game is based on one of the most famous adult game series Koihime Musou. A total of 39 episodes of the anime adaptation was released between 2008-2011. Both the original adult game and the anime have an official English localization.

Koihime Musou's setting is based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The big difference is all the male characters were recreated as cute girls.

Below are promotional video and gameplay from the PC version.

Monday, December 2, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 10/11/12 match-ups

Match order will be announced in the show.

Round 10 - December 6 (Fri)

Umehara vs. Kazunoko
Umehara vs. Bon-chan
Wao vs. Momochi
Momochi vs. Bon-chan
Kazunoko vs. Michael-tan

Round 11 - December 7 (Sat)

Umehara vs. Momochi
Wao vs. Michael-tan
Wao vs. Kazunoko
Michael-tan vs. Bon-chan
Momochi vs. Kazunoko

Round 12 - December 8 (Sun)

Umehara vs. Wao
Umehara vs. Michael-tan
Michael-tan vs. Momochi
Wao vs. Bon-chan
Kazunoko vs. Bon-chan

Sunday, December 1, 2013

DreamHack Winter 2013 summary

Info
- Umehara confirmed for DreamHack Winter 2013
- SSF4AE tournament bracket
- Stream

These matches are on the stream

Mago (Fei) 2-0 (2-1, 2-0) Infamous H (Dha)
AChampou (Bla/Ado) 0-2 (0-2, 1-2) Mago (Fei)
Fishstix (Ken) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Umehara (Ryu)
Dave (Dud) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Umehara (Ryu)
Umehara (Ryu) 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) 0.Lint (Gouken)
Mr.KingFunk (Zan/Ruf) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Tokido (Aku)
Louffy (Ros) 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) Mago (Fei)
Yagami (Dha) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Umehara (Ryu)
son_gohan_2 (Cam) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Tokido (Aku)
Umehara (Ryu) 0-0 (1-2, 2-0, 2-0) Necromina (Cam) *female player
Ryan Hart (Sag) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Tokido (Aku) *Tokido could have won 2 rounds

[Losers] Mago (Fei) 2-0 Tokido (Aku)
2-0
2-0

Quarterfinals (FT3)

Xian (Gen) 2-3 Louffy (Ros)
2-0 *super>ultra gave Xian big comeback
0-2
0-2
2-0 *very close 1R
0-2

Umehara (Ryu) 3-2 GamerBee (Ado)
2-1 *big comeback in 2R by Ume
1-2
1-2 *missed DP cost Ume 3R
2-0
2-0 *beautiful reaction DP (counter EX Jaguar Kick) into Ultra, Arigataya finish in 2R

Ryan Hart (Sag) 3-0 Duppsko (Ruf)
2-0
2-0
2-0

[Losers] GamerBee (Ado) 3-1 Ixion (Dan)
0-2
2-1
2-0
2-1

[Losers] Xian (Gen) 3-1 Necromina (Cam)
2-0 *big mistake gave Xian big comeback in 2R
1-2
2-0
2-1

[Losers] Veggey 0-3 Mago (Fei)
0-2
1-2
0-2

imstilldadaddy (Gui) 0-3 Louffy (Ros)
0-2
0-2
0-2

Umehara (Ryu) 3-1 Ryan Hart (Sag U2)
0-2 *reaction U2 won Hart both rounds
2-0 *Hart missed FADC U2, cost him 2R
2-0
2-0

- After the first game, Umehara stopped fireball game to avoid U2 counter.

[Losers] GamerBee (Ado) 3-1 Kusanagi (Set U1)
2-0
1-2 *perfect in 3R
2-1 *perfect in 2R by Kusanagi
2-1

[Losers] Mago (Fei U1) 3-1 Xian (Gen U1)
0-2
2-1 *Xian missed his Super in 3R
2-0 *close 1R
2-0

[Losers] GamerBee (Ado U2) 3-1 imstilldadaddy (Gui U1)
1-2
2-0
2-1
2-0

[Losers] Mago (Fei U1) 3-2 Ryan Hart (Sag U1)
1-2
1-2 *Mago could have done better in 3R
2-0 *nice FA punish in 1R by Mago
2-0
2-0 *perfect in 2R

[Winners Final] Umehara (Ryu) 3-0 Louffy (Ros U1, U2)
2-1 *Louffy changhed to U2 after this game
2-1 *nice calculated chipwin by Ume in 1R *2 mistakes cost Ume 2R *intense 3R
2-1 *reaction Ultra finish in 3R

[Losers] GamerBee (Ado U2) 3-2 Mago (Fei U1)
2-1
0-2 *they tried to timeout each other in 2R, must see
2-1
0-2
2-1

[Losers Final] GamerBee (Ado U2) 3-1 Louffy (Ros U1)
2-0
2-0 *very close 1R (GB won with no health)
0-2 *nice reaction Ultra in 2R by Louffy
2-1 *close 1R

[Grand Final] GamerBee (Ado U1) 1-3 Umehara (Ryu)
1-2 *4 SRK in a row by Ume in 1R *intense 3R
2-1 *Arigataya finish in 1R
1-2 *Arigataya finish in 1R *great finish in 3R (reaction DP)
1-2 *close 1R *his big mistake couoldn't prevent Ume from winning 3R, Arigataya finish

- This match wasn't easy for Umehara, but he just outplayed GamerBee.

Notes
- F-Word and Zak Bennett (and Ryan Hart) did a good job commentating the stream, focusing on play-by-play, no lame jokes or offtopics.
- The stream was nice having the replays of good moments after the games.
- The stream channel had the most viewers from this event, with over 20,000 viewers.
- Umehara won 50,000 SEK (Swedish Krona) prize money ($7620) for winning this tournament.
- Tokido provides pictures of Umehara: [1 (Stockholm arrival)][2][3][4][5][6]

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Beast Note's Fighting Game 101

The reason there's this post is solely because we've seen many times that fighting game beginners were taught in a wrong way or wrong things. And that causes a great pain in our heart.

What we have here are super secret advices (read: what most people fail to tell you actually) for people who are starting a fighting game or tempted to play one.

1. You won't play like a top player in the first 3 years. This's very true for a popular 2D fighting game that has a lot of characters. The time you need to invest in a fighting game is proportional to the competition and the number of characters.

2. Button-mashing is the fastest way to get you killed. Contrary to what some people say, it's not how fast you can push buttons in a short period of time (unlike CPM in Starcraft). In a fighting game, pushing a button will bind you to an animation making you unable to do something else and vulnerable to an attack. If it's Light Attack button, you'll probably be fine since it has shortest animation. If it's Strong Attack button, you'll likely to get punished if your attack doesn't connect. Strong attacks and special moves have long animations, you don't randomly use them. You do it when you think it WILL connect.

3. It's useless practicing combos. Know first what's the point of comboing. In a competitive match, both players don't have many chances to land their attacks. If they do, they must do as much damage as possible, by chaining or linking one move to another. But why bother with comboing when you can hardly land an attack or don't know how to approach. On top of that, a combo comes by itself when you're ready for it. You'll slowly learn to add an attack after the first one. Once you start a short combo, it will eventually become longer and longer as you play.

4. Check the damage output. Some people who don't understand fighting games think that you're supposed to do more complicated things. The truth is you could play decently by using mostly normal moves. Some special moves and combos are harder to do but only do slightly more damage or even less damage than normal moves. Go to the training mode and check the damage output of all your moves, then, while you're at it, all moves in the game.

5. Know all characters. This's the hardest thing but also the most valuable thing. You must first at least learn the properties of every moves in the game, to avoid getting capitalized. What's the range? Where's the blind spot? Can it be blocked? Block standing or block crouching? Is it a throw/grab? Is it a projectile? Is it triggered by your action? Can it be nullified? These are the properties of a move. Games that have more characters need more time to learn because of this. The advance step, the thing that separates top players from average players, is knowing what's punishable by what and best punished by what and having the skill to execute it.

Friday, November 29, 2013

First issue of Japan's first e-sports magazine has Umehara article

The first issue of Japan's first e-sports magazine "World Game Magazine Japan" is being released today and its highlight content is an article of Daigo Umehara whom they describe as genius pro gamer.

This's well deserved since Umehara is the most famous player in Japan's e-sports scene.

Without fighting games, e-sports scene in Japan is small and weak. Japanese gamers have too many choices and most of them are not meant to be played competitively. It's hard to find a game with star that unites people like Street Fighter.

The cover girl is Aya Hirano, the voice of Haruhi Suzumiya from Haruhi Suzumiya anime. The first season of the anime was a smash hit in 2006.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Proximity Guard Option Select demonstrated on Kachitagari TV

Proximity Guard Option Select is being a hot topic in the FGC right now and the Japan's FGC is getting into this too as seen demonstrated on tonight Kachitagari TV.

Proximity Guard Option Select is being called "Guard Motion Cancel" (or Gamocan) by the Japanese. It seems Fuudo and Bon-chan have learned about this not a long while ago while Kazunoko is new to it.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Being a pro

There's an interesting tweet from Kubo (Melty Blood Tougeki champ, UNI champ, Marvel Tougeki 2nd place) today.

"When I think about pro fighting gamer, for Japan, I can only think of Umehara-san now.

If you give him some years, I can see Tokido-san becoming a pro fighting gamer, too, though."

Kubo spoke the truth. The truth that some people don't see.

As of now, there's no pro fighting gamer in Japan except Daigo Umehara. The word "pro" comes from "professional." Being a fighting gamer is his job. It's his only job, not a side job. Whether he participates a tournament or not, what he does all (such as product promotion, books, talk show, etc) has to do with the fact that he's a famous and successful fighting gamer. Umehara can maintain the pace of his activities and publicity as you can see in the huge list we have above.

Other players either have other job as main or part-time job.

There're pro gamers who live only by playing game, but not many in fighting game genre; and especially in Japan where prize money is rare and player sponsorship is an alien concept. (MadCatz was the first to approach a Japanese player, then Hori USA made Hori Japan do it) We'll be surprised if more than 3 Japanese players are being paid salary. The Japanese do not see asking for donation as an option so you'll not see the players doing that like some of American players.

It's hard to call it a real job when what you do doesn't guarantee an opportunity to work, let alone fixed income.

Our definition of "pro" may vary. But for us (and probably Kubo), being a pro means committing to what you do and make it viable. That's what Umehara's doing and he leaves a huge gap for other players.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

PS3 P4U2 Summer 2014, arcade Nov. 28

It's announced that P4U2 will be released on PlayStation 3 in Japan in Summer 2014. The arcade version will be released on November 28.

That means the title can be at Evo 2014 if it has simultaneous Japan/North America release like P4U1. Evolution 2014 will be held on July 11-13.

The announcement is a part of special announcements on Niconico.

Other announcements

Persona Q (RPG) for 3DS on June 5, 2014
Persona 4 Dancing All Night (rhythm action) for PS Vita in Fall 2014
Persona 5 for PS3 in Winter 2014.

Nico to stream P4U2 special show featuring Mui

Niconico will stream a P4U2 special show on November 27 (Wednesday). The content appears to be a show where Nagisa and Mui teach a random (H cup 90cm) idol about P4U2 (or probably fighting game in general).

You probably already know Nagisa, the cosplayer and presenter. She now hosts her own show on Kao TV called "Gamer Girl Club" but it didn't go well with fighting games because her lack of devotion and practice.

On the other hand, Mui is a cosplayer and a legit P4U player. She has a lot of fighting games experiences as KOF97 is her first fighting game (now you probably get the idea how old she is). She played Fatal Fury and Samurai Spirits. She used to play Guilty Gear under alias Tatsumi.

Mui actually attended Evo 2013 and participated P4U tournament. She couldn't make it out of her first pool, losing to the guy who sent her to losers bracket again in the losers final. (And Mui said she wants to go to Evo again if she has money)

Caution: She's cuter than in this video!

P4U2 or Persona 4 The Ultimax: Ultra Suplex Hold will be released to the arcades early Winter in Japan.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Umehara to talk in DODA Job Fair

Daigo Umehara will be participating DODA Job Fair on November 24 (or tomorrow in Japan). He will spend 50 minutes talking about his life and thought as a pro gamer.

Umehara is one of three special guests of the event. The other two are a journalist and a computer network company representative director.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Dissidia is not dead

Reported by siliconera (via GAF), Square Enix producer Ichiro Hazama said in an interview this week that they want and intend to make a Dissidia game again.

If this actually happens, it could be a megaton announcement. As you often see in the chart we posted. Dissidia Final Fantasy is the bestselling (unconventional) fighting game since 2008. Even better, what if it becomes 2.5D fighting game on home consoles?

The theme in this Dissidia 012 trailer is one of the best game soundtracks

Monday, November 18, 2013

Is it time for MCZ Bon-chan and MCZ Kazunoko?

Bon-chan and Kazunoko are two top players that appear on the streams most often and still have no sponsor. Tonight, they qualify for the final stage of TOPANGA League again, two consecutive seasons now. That inspires this post – isn't it time for Bon-chan and Kazunoko to have a real sponsorship.

People know Bon-chan since original SF4 era. He usually participates in a tournament. He won Tougeki 2012 with Kazunoko (and almost won with Umehara in 2010). He finished 4th place in 2nd TOPANGA League. He won GODSGARDEN Classic in 2011. Now Bon-chan appears twice a week as a regular in Kachitagari TV and TOPANGA TV. And it looks like he'll be at Evo every year from now. Most importantly, his characteristic and popularity is good enough for sponsorship.

Kazunoko won Tougeki two consecutive years (2011-2012) and often participates in a tournament. He is a regular in Kachitagari TV and usually plays on GODSGARDEN stream. Although Kazunoko's playstyle is not as charming as some true top players in SF4 series, he can play games from both Capcom and Arc System Works at high level. He's like Tokido, but much more active in Japan. And most importantly, his characteristic and popularity is good enough for sponsorship. You can now often see people screaming "(Ka)juuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" on the streams, and you'll always see a nice "Thank you for watching" tweet from him after a stream.

Both Razor and Hori used to use Kazunoko to promote their products a couple times, but no sign of a sponsorship contract.

If Mad Catz manages to get them both, they will basically monopolize the billboards of Japan's FGC.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 9 summary

Dashio vs. Fuudo
Sako vs. Bon-chan
Dashio vs. Uryo
Sako vs. Fuudo
Bon-chan vs. Kazunoko

3rd TOPANGA Leauge A rules and prizes [Updated]

[Update] We have added the character change rule. (They use the same rule in TOPANGA Asia League.)

The biggest change in the rules in this season is head-to-head result becomes more important than GD in the second and third stage. (That means dominating weak players won't give you huge advantage over strong players.)

The 3rd TOPANGA League A consists of 3 stages.

First Stage (Round 1-6)
- 12 player round-robin
- Online match.
- First-to-Three.
- GD is used to determine who will place higher than another in case two or more players have the same win/loss. Head-to-head result is used if the players have the same GD.
- The player who finished 11th place and 12 place will be relegated to League B.
- The player who finished 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th will advance to the Second Stage.
- The player who finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th will advance to the Third Stage without playing Second Stage.

Second Stage (Round 7-9)
- 6 player round-robin
- Offline match.
- [NEW] First-to-Seven.
- [NEW] There is deuce when the score is 6-6, but whoever reaches 10 game first will win the match.
- The player who finished higher than the opponent in previous stage will be given 1 game win in advance each match.
- The player who finished 10th place (last in this stage) will be relegated to League B.
- The player who finished 9th place (second last in this stage) will have to play against League B's 4th place in a play-off match at the end of the next TOPANGA League B. If he wins, he gets to stay in League A. Otherwise he will be relegated to League B.
- The player who finished 8th place (third last in this stage) will have to play against League B's 5th place in a play-off match at the end of the next TOPANGA League B. If he wins, he gets to stay in League A. Otherwise he will be relegated to League B.
- The player who finished in top 2 will advance to the Third Stage.
- [NEW] Head-to-head result is used to determine who will place higher than another in case two players have the same win/loss. The GD will be used in case head-to-head result can't decide.
- [NEW] Players will be able to use up to 2 characters.

Third Stage (Round 10-12)
- 6 player round-robin
- Offline match.
- [NEW] First-to-Seven.
- [NEW] There is deuce when the score is 6-6, but whoever reaches 10 game first will win the match.
- The player who finished higher than the opponent in previous stage will be given 1 game win in advance each match.
- The player who finished 1st place in this stage wins the whole competition.
- [NEW] Head-to-head result is used to determine who will place higher than another in case two players have the same win/loss. The GD will be used in case head-to-head result can't decide.
- [NEW] Players will be able to use up to 2 characters.

GD
GD (Game Difference) will be used to determine who will place higher in some cases. Winning 3-0 is equal to +3 GD, losing 2-3 is equal to -1 GD.

Character Change Rule
Each time after 3 games are played, the player who lost more in the 3-game period can choose new character (regardless whether he lost in the last game or not), but he can only play up to 2 characters in the whole tournament.

Example
Player A 2-1 Player B = Player B can switch character in the 4th game
Player A 2-4 Player B = Player A can switch character in the 7th game
Player A 4-5 Player B = Player B can switch character in the 10th game (Player B is leading but he lost more in the last 3 games.)

Prizes
1st place - 1 million yen
2nd place - 300,000 yen
3rd place - 150,000 yen

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Umehara talks USF4 for the first time in 4gamer interview

Daigo Umehara talked about Ultra Street Fighter IV for the first time in 4Gamer.net interview that was posted today.

Notes
- This interview is a part of event report of Umehara's talk event at Amazon Japan HQ on November 6.
- Umehara confirms that he has a tight schedule so he didn't participate Capcom Cup qualifier.
- He isn't convinced about Ultra Combo W. He thinks having powerful Metsu Hadoken is better than having UCW, same should go with most characters.
- He feels that Red Focus will reduce the unfair advantage between characters that are easy/hard to focus. However, he thinks it'll be fun to Armor Break it.
- When asked about Delay Wake-up: "Since Okizeme is currently a big impact, I think it's a good thing. If all characters have the same powerful Okizeme then there's no problem, but [in reality] this game characters with strong/weak Okizeme are quite different it can become one-side game. It's good if this [issue] is eliminated.
- Will you still use Ryu in USF4?: "I like Ryu, but it doesn't mean I can't play other characters. If Ryu becomes much worse then I'll change. And if it's not Ryu, I will probably not go for [middle tier] character again..."
- When asked about Guilty Gear Xrd: Umehara said he had a lot of fun during XX time so if Xrd has that fun elements he wants to play. But in reality he wants to focus on USF4 due to high competition.
- He said ideally he can play GG Xrd at day and USF4 at night, but it's hard to do that at game centers where people start coming in the evening.

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 8 summary

Sako vs. Dashio
Uryo vs. Kazunoko
Bon-chan vs. Dashio
Fuudo vs. Uryo
Sako vs. Kazunoko

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 7 summary

Fuudo vs. Kazunoko
Bon-chan vs.Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Dashio
Uryo vs. Sako
Bon-chan vs. Fuudo

Japan first USF4 location test scheduled

Capcom announced today that the first location test of Ultra Street Fighter IV in Japan will be held between November 22-24 in 6 cities in Japan.

Interestingly, the loketest in Tokyo will be held at Taito Station Shinjuku Minami-guchi, Daigo Umehara's favorite place. Can we expect some juicy news about how Umehara approach USF4? How will he utilize Red Focus and Delay Wake-up?

It is also confirmed that Relento, Poison, Hugo, Elena will be playable.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 6 summary

Mago vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Haitani
Wao vs. Dashio
Sako vs. Bon-chan
Uryo vs. Michael-tan
Mago vs. Haitani
Bon-chan vs. Dashio
Umehara vs. Sako
Michael-tan vs. Kazunoko
Haitani vs. Dashio
Umehara vs. Wao

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 5 summary

Haitani vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Dashio
Umehara vs. Mago
Sako vs. Haitani
Wao vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Mago
Michael-tan vs. Dashio
Haitani vs. Bon-chan
Umehara vs. Uryo
Sako vs. Michael-tan
Wao vs. Bon-chan

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 4 summary

Mago vs. Dashio
Sako vs. Kazunoko
Michael-tan vs. Bon-chan
Uryo vs. Dashio
Wao vs. Kazunoko
Michael-tan vs. Mago
Umehara vs. Bon-chan
Wao vs. Mago
Sako vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Bon-chan
Umehara vs. Michael-tan

3rd TOPANGA League A matchups Round 4/5/6

The first stage of The 3rd TOPANGA League A will resume and conclude this weekend. The matchups are already revealed.

Round 4 (Nov 8)

Umehara vs. Bon-chan
Umehara vs. Michael-tan
Sako vs. Kazunoko
Sako vs. Uryo
Wao vs. Mago
Wao vs. Kazunoko
Mago vs. Dashio
Michael-tan vs. Mago
Michael-tan vs. Bon-chan
Haitani vs. Bon-chan
Uryo vs. Dashio

Round 5 (Nov 9)

Umehara vs. Uryo
Umehara vs. Mago
Sako vs. Michael-tan
Sako vs. Haitani
Wao vs. Bon-chan
Wao vs. Uryo
Michael-tan vs. Dashio
Kazunoko vs. Mago
Bon-chan vs. Kazunoko
Haitani vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Dashio

Round 6 (Nov 10)

Umehara vs. Sako
Umehara vs. Wao
Sako vs. Bon-chan
Wao vs. Dashio
Michael-tan vs. Kazunoko
Mago vs. Haitani
Mago vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Haitani
Bon-chan vs. Dashio
Uryo vs. Michael-tan
Haitani vs. Dashio

Monday, November 4, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 3 summary

Fuudo vs. Bon-chan
Momochi vs. Dashio
Sako vs. Mago
Fuudo vs. Uryo
Momochi vs. Kazunoko *delayed due to connection problem
Wao vs. Michael-tan
Fuudo vs. Haitani
Umehara vs. Momochi
Michael-tan vs. Haitani
Sako vs. Fuudo
Momochi vs. Wao

Results inside

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 2 summary

Momochi vs. Michael-tan
Fuudo vs. Mago
Bon-chan vs. Uryo
Momochi vs. Sako
Fuudo vs. Michael-tan
Umehara vs. Dashio
Momochi vs. Fuudo
Kazunoko vs. Uryo
Sako vs. Wao
Momochi vs. Haitani
Umehara vs. Fuudo

Results inside

3rd TOPANGA League A Round 1 summary

Info
- 3rd TOPANGA League A schedule and stream links
- 3rd TOPANGA League A rules and prizes
- 3rd TOPANGA League A players finalized
- 3rd TOPANGA League A matchupes in first 3 days
- Fuudo to cosplay Harry Potter if 8th place or below
- How to watch TOPANGA League

Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Shiro (Abel/Makoto player)

Opening skit
- R impersonated Evangelion's Gendou Ikari.

Matchups

Fuudo vs. Dashio
Momochi vs. Mago
Wao vs. Haitani
Fuudo vs. Kazunoko
Mago vs. Bon-chan
Momochi vs. Uryo
Umehara vs. Haitani
Sako vs. Dashio
Momochi vs. Bon-chan
Fuudo vs. Wao
Umehara vs. Kazunoko

Results are below (spoilers)

How to watch TOPANGA League

First of all, you need a Niconico account. Sign up. It's free.

1. You will notice "Purchase Net Ticket" button in every stream pages of TOPANGA League (or any pay-per-view show). Click it.

2. You will find the page that lists what tickets you can buy. In this case, click to buy the season ticket of League A that costs 3,500 Niconico Point. Niconico Point is virtual currency. One Niconico Point is one yen.

3. Next, you'll be informed that you don't have enough Niconico Point to pay. So you need to click "Purchase Point" button.

4. Choose to buy 3,000 points.

5. Choose payment method. (Click the logo on the left.) You can use non-Japanese credit card and pay from outside Japan. (Want to pay via PayPal? Click here.)

6. Enter the CC number (only number) and expiration date. Then enter the verification number you see. Click orange button to move to the next step.

7. Complete the transaction. Then choose to buy 500 points using the same method.

8. Now you have 3,500 Niconico points and ready to pay. Click "Purchase Net Ticket." There'll be two confirmation messages to click.

9. Done. You can now watch it live. If you want to watch the recorded stream, click yellow Timeshift button (there's one every stream page), then click red option. (A recorded stream will be ready 30 minutes after the live show.)

Fuudo to cosplay Harry Potter if he finished 8th place or below in TOPANGA League

Fuudo, the champ from last season, said on Twitter that he will cosplay Harry Potter and do a cosplay Kumite if he finished 8th place or below in the upcoming The 3rd TOPANGA League.

However, he said he wants to become a legend by winning 2 consecutive years.

Umehara won't be in Capcom Cup 2013

MadCatz's MarkMan has confirmed just now that Daigo Umehara will not be attending any more Capcom Cup qualifier to focus on TOPANGA League and DreamHack.

Umehara participated in a Capcom Cup qualifier at Tokyo Game Show 2013 on September 22 but was stopped by Cabbage at his second fight.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A matchups of the first 3 days revealed.

Match order will be announced at the beginning of the show.

Round 1 (November 2)

Umehara vs. Kazunoko
Umehara vs. Haitani
Sako vs. Dashio
Mago vs. Bon-chan
Momochi vs. Uryo
Momochi vs. Mago
Momochi vs. Bon-chan
Fuudo vs. Dashio
Fuudo vs. Kazunoko
Fuudo vs. Wao
Wao vs. Haitani

Round 2 (November 3)

Umehara vs. Fuudo
Umehara vs. Dashio
Sako vs. Wao
Momochi vs. Sako
Momochi vs. Fuudo
Momochi vs. Haitani
Momochi vs. Michael-tan
Fuudo vs. Michael-tan
Fuudo vs. Mago
Bon-chan vs. Uryo
Kazunoko vs. Uryo

Round 3 (Novemver 4)

Umehara vs. Momochi
Sako vs. Fuudo
Sako vs. Mago
Momochi vs. Wao
Momochi vs. Dashio
Momochi vs. Kazunoko
Fuudo vs. Bon-chan
Fuudo vs. Haitani
Fuudo vs. Uryo
Michael-tan vs. Haitani
Wao vs. Michael-tan

Umehara on this week's TOPANGA TV

Daigo Umehara has visited TOPANGA TV tonight to announce that he will have a talk show on Niconico tomorrow about his new book Shoubu Ron (starting 21:00 JST).

Notes
- Skip to 01:36:00 for Umehara.
- When talking about Tokido in TOPANGA League play-off: Umehara said that he watched it live and could feel the pain when Tokido lost, but the impact is a proof that Tokido is someone special (as a player). Tokido looked like he tried to hide his tears when Umehara said that.
- Mago suggested that Umehara should play ranked match using random. He complied.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

BlazBlue Chronophantasma is series' bestseller, outsells MvC3

When's BlayBloo?

Media Create, the well-known Japanese console game market researcher, revealed today (via GAF) that BlazBlue Chronophantasma has sold 72,464 copies in its first week.

As you can see in the chart, it has become the series' bestseller and actually outsold Marvel vs. Capcom 3. We think anime BlazBlue Alter Memory which airs this season gave it a big boost.

First week sales of fighting games between 2008-2013 in Japan by Media Create

[PSP] Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix) {2009.12.18} - 489,100 | NEW
[PS3] JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.08.29} - 425,718 / NEW
[PSP] Dissidia: 012 (Duodecim) Final Fantasy (Square Enix) {2011.03.03} - 286,117 / NEW
[PS3] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 128,485 / NEW
[PS3] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2009.10.29} - 103,105 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm 3 (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.04.18} - 87,661 / NEW
[PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 86,000 / NEW
[PS2] Fate/Unlimited Codes (Capcom) {2008.12.18} - 82,900 | NEW
[PS3] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 80,882 / NEW
[PSP] Naruto: Shippuden Narutimate Accel 3 (Namco Bandai) {2009.12.10} - 76,596 / NEW
[PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Battle of Aces (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.21} - 76,088 / NEW
[PS3] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 74,607 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Chronophantasma (Arc System Works) {2013.10.24} - 72,464 / NEW
[PS3] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 67,187 / NEW
[PS3] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 66,586 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.23} - 65,758 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.10.21} - 63,675 / NEW
[PS3] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.09.13} - 62,630 / NEW
[PS3] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 58,471 / NEW
[PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (Namco Bandai) {2009.11.09} - 57,972 / NEW
[PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny (Bandai Namco) {2011.12.22} - 57,320 / NEW
[PS3] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 54,924 / NEW
[PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Impact (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.20} - 53,148 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (Arc System Works) {2010.07.01} - 49,871 / NEW
[PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.11.11} - 47.610 / NEW
[3DS] Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Capcom) {2011.02.26} - 44,649 / NEW
[PS3] Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.12.08} - 44,593 / NEW
[PS2] Melty Blood: Actress Again (Ecole Software) {2009.08.20} - 44,292 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto: Narutimate Storm (Namco Bandai) {2009.01.15} - 44,065 / NEW
[360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 38,000 / NEW
[360] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 34,786 / NEW
[PS3] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 34,328 / NEW
[PSP] Fate/Unlimited Codes Portable (Capcom) {2009.06.18} - 34,205 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 33,768 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works) {2011.12.17} - 32,992 / NEW
[PS3] Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.10.17} - 29,314 / NEW
[360] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 28,454 / NEW
[PSP] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.14} - 25,131 / NEW
[360] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 24,812 / NEW
[WII] Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (Capcom) {2008.12.11} - 24,100 / NEW
[PSP] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (Arc System Works) {2011.03.31} - 23,808 / NEW
[3DS] Dead or Alive: Dimensions (Koei Tecmo) {2011.05.19} - 23,078 / NEW
[PS3] Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom) {2011.11.17} - 22,436 / NEW
[PS3] The King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore) {2011.12.01} - 21,525 / NEW
[PS3] AQUAPAZZA (Aquaplus) {2012.08.30} - 20,935 / NEW
[PSP] Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team (Bandai Namco) {2010.09.30} - 19,080 / NEW
[PS3] Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate (Koei Tecmo) {2013.09.05} - 18,608 / NEW
[PS3] Arcana Heart 3 (Arc System Works) {2011.01.13} - 17,219 / NEW
[360] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 14,811 / NEW
[360] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 13,779 / NEW
[PSV] Dead or Alive 5+ (Koei Tecmo) {2013.03.20} - 13,291 / NEW
[360] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 12,326 / NEW
[PS3] Darkstalkers Resurrection (Capcom) {2013.03.14} - 11,591 / NEW
[360] Phantom Breaker (5pb.) {2011.06.02} - 9,960 / NEW
[360] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 9,801 / NEW
[3DS] Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.16} - 9,421 / NEW
[360] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 8,527 / NEW
[360] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 7,679 / NEW
[PSP] Saint Seiya Ω: Ultimate Cosmo (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} - 6,448 / NEW
[PSV] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.10.25} - 5,420 / NEW
[360] Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate (Koei Tecmo) {2013.09.05} - 4,862 / NEW
[PS3] Phantom Breaker: Extra (5pb.) {2013.09.19} - 3,102 / NEW

Sunday, October 27, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A players finalized

The 3rd TOPANGA League A players

Bon-chan (4th place in last season)
Daigo Umehara (2nd place in last season)
Dashio (1st place in league B)
Fuudo (1st place in last season)
Haitani (7th place in last season)
Kazunoko (5th place in last season)
Mago (beat YHC-Mochi in the play-off)
Michael-tan (3rd place in league B)
Momochi (9th place from last season, beat Tokido in the play-off)
Sako (3rd place in last season)
Uryo (6th place in last season)
Wao (2nd place in league B)

- YHC Mochi, 8th place from last season, who lost to Mago will go to league B.
- Tokido who lost to Momochi will stay in league B.

Final standing of league B

Dashio (Seth)
Wao (Oni)
Michael-tan (Ken)
Tokido (Akuma)
Mago (Fei Long)

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Sako family expecting a child in April

Sako's wife has announced via a tweet that she's expecting a child in April next year. (She refers to the child as "sakonoko" which means "Sako's child.")

Now we presume that it'll be harder for Sako to attend an offline tournament beside TOPANGA League.

Friday, October 25, 2013

USF4: UCW, Red Focus revealed, unblockable removed

So the rumors are true. Ultra Street Fighter IV will have Ultra Combo Double and Red Focus system. Capcom's Combofiend also said that they've removed all known unblockables!

Just thinking of this is exciting enough
- The game will change dramatically with Red Focus.
- Daigo Umehara, a big fan of Shoryuken, may choose UCW to use both UCs. It means a new Arigataya finish!
- What will Sako do? He has been relying on ambiguous crossups since Cammy and now Ibuki.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League B prize money revealed

This information was not revealed until recently. It's the same as the first season, however.

1st place - 100,000 yen
2nd place - 50,000 yen
3rd place - 30,000 yen
4th place - 10,000 yen

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Umehara's new book Shoubu Ron now in Kindle version

It's revealed that Daigo Umehara's new book Shoubu Ron (Match Theory) is now available in Kindle version on Amazon Japan.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Umehara confirmed for DreamHack Winter 2013

It's revealed that Daigo Umehara will participate SSF4AE2013 tournament at DreamHack Winter 2013 in Sweden on November 30. Mago, Tokido, Xian, and Ryan Hart are also confirmed for the event.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Umehara's new book talk event planned at Amazon Japan HQ

It's revealed that Daigo Umehara will have a book talk and autograph event at Amazon Japan headquarters in Tokyo on November 6 to commemorate the release of his new book Shoubu Ron or Match Theory.

They will start accepting 50 participants on October 15. There's no participation fee.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

P4U sequel officially announced as Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold

Famitsu reported that the sequel of Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena will be called Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold. Three new characters are revealed for now but the first trailer (at the end) suggests that we will see more.

The second location test will begin tomorrow from September 27 to 29. The game will be released in the arcades in early Winter 2013.

P4U was the best selling conventional fighting game since 2008 until JoJo ASB beat it early this month.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Umehara's new book "Match Theory" now open for preorder

Shoubu Ron: Umehara no Ryuugi is now open for preorder at Amazon Japan and some other stores.

Shoubu Ron: Umehara no Ryuugi or Match Theory: Umehara Style is Daigo Umehara's second book that will come after Willpower to Keep Winning. It will again be published by Shougakukan. The 256-page book will be released on October 1.

From the book description, the contents will focus on the philosophy of competition. It will go deeper into the subject than the first book.

Note that while Willpower to Keep Winning appears to tell story of a person, this book looks more like a work of a famous person.

Willpower to Keep Winning has sold 50,000 copies as of May 19. It reached top 3 bestselling books at launch and was one of the best selling pocket books in 2012 on Amazon Japan and also has an E-book version.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League ticket prices, stream links revealed

The ticket prices of the 3rd TOPANGA League is revealed for both League A and B. The pricings is still the same as last season. But this time they will also sell League A plus League B package.

Pricings (You can buy in the links)

One episode - 300 yen
League B season ticket - 1,500 yen
League A season ticket - 3,500 yen
League A + League B season ticket - 4,500 yen

3rd TOPANGA League A

3rd TOPANGA League B

Notes
- The virtual ticket lets you watch live once, and recorded stream as many times as you like until it expires on January 7, 2014. (Click Timeshift button to watch recorded streams.)

Monday, September 23, 2013

3rd TOPANGA League A this November

Some new details of TOPANGA League were revealed on TOPANGA TV last Wednesday.

TOPANGA League A
- Will be held in November
- Offline stage is first to 7, there will be deuce but first to 10 win (it won't go on forever)
- Can play up to 2 characters in offline stage.
- Online stage is still first to 3 (only 1 character)

Promotion/Relegation Play-off rules
- Can play up to 2 characters
- First to 10

Saturday, September 21, 2013

MadCatz exhibition TGS2013 Day 3

Umehara 3-1 Justin Wong

1-2 *Ume's crMK got raw U1 in last second in 3R and failed to get a timeout win
2-0
2-0 *a comeback in 1R *Ume dropped important combo in 2 but still won
2-0

- 6242 viewers peak (stream 1)

Friday, September 20, 2013

MadCatz Unveiled TGS2013 summary

Info
- MadCatz Unveiled TGS2013 announced
- Nico to stream in both Japanese and English
- Event report from 4Gamer.net
- Event report from Dengeki
- GameSpot has an article about this event

Mago 1-5 Fuudo

1-2
1-2
2-0
0-2 *close 2R
0-2 *very close 2R
0-2 *Mago's unsafe Rekka got punished hard by Ultra in 1R *Fuudo missed command grab but still won in 2R

Bon-chan (U2) 5-4 Ryan Hart (U2)

1-2 *close 2R *nice Ultra reaction in 3R from Hart
0-2 *nice Ultra reaction in 1R from Hart
2-0 *Bon won by timeout in 1R
0-2 *nice comeback in 2R by Hart
2-1 *very close 1R *nice combo in the end of 2R by Hart
2-0
2-0 *close 1R
0-2 *Both traded Ultra in 1R but Hart survived *nice Ultra reaction in 2R from Hart
2-1 *nice Ultra reaction in 1R from Bon *Hart won by timeout in 2R *nice comback from Bon in intense 3R

Kazunoko (U1) 3-5 Xian (U1)

2-0 *Kazu won by timeout in 1R
2-1
1-2
0-2 *nice Ultra reaction and big comeback in 1R *nice Ultra in 2R
2-1 *close 2R
1-2 *nice Ultra in 1R by Xian
1-2 *perfect in 2R by Kazu *big comeback in 3R by Xian (nice Ultra follow)
0-2

Kami-chan (Hilde) 3-1 Kayane (Viola)

3-?
1-3
3-2 *perfect in 1R by Kami-chan
3-1

Tokido (U2) 5-2 Justin Wong (U1)

0-2
2-0
0-2 *close 2R
2-0 *Tokido dropped Ultra but won by timeout in 1R
2-1 *Tokido dropped combo and lost 1R *perfect in 3R
2-0
2-0

Umehara (U1) 10-2 Infiltration (U1)

2-1 *nice 1R by Ume *nice MK>SRK in 3R
2-0
2-0 *Arigataya finish in 2R
2-0
2-1 *nice Ultra finish in 1R *intense 3R
1-2 *Ume missed his Super, cost him 3R
2-0 *nice Ultra finish in 2R
1-2 *Umecopter bait Raging Demon in 3R
2-1 *Ume missed Ultra, cost him 1R *nice Ultra finish in 3R
2-0 *Arigataya finish in 1R
2-1 *Infil missed, cost him 3R
2-1 *Ume got 2 RD'd in 1R *very close 3R (they tried to chip each other)

- Umehara failed for Okizeme only twice in the entire fight? (in 11th and 12th game)
- Umehara wasn't hesitated to spend Ultra early after LP SRK because he can get Ultra back if get Raging Demon'd?
- Ricky Ortiz mentioned that Umehara was using fireball in the range where FADC forward (Infiltration's signature move) is useless.

Interview after the match
- (Quote from GameSpot) "Ever since I became a pro, I've been to a lot of tournaments, but this exhibition match was the one match where I thought about 'how to win' the most," Umehara said, discussing the match after it was over. "I was thinking 'If I've come this far and still lose…, I'd have to throw away all of my past experience and start again from zero.'
- Umehara said he studied Infiltration's videos a lot.
- Infiltration still felt positive. He thanks the viewers and said sorry that he didn't perform well though he said he will next time.

Notes
- Mori from Arc System Works didn't come (was invited), Pachi came instead.
- The door opened 18:00 but the first match started on 20:12 (Mago vs. Fuudo)
- [19:30] There was some talk before the exhibition. Harada looked upset probably because they kept him waiting. (He also mentioned that the place is narrow and hot.) Maybe it's his usual dark humors. Beside that, he was funny and make Ayano and Pachi look extremely awkward with questions about private life. He gave away T-shirts, games, Idolmaster cards and file folder via 4Gamer. (Nothing worth except Idolmaster goods.)
- [20:08] The exhibition delayed because some players weren't there (they said Kayane and Ryan Hart). Then they had to change match order.
- [20:35] They had a problem with the microphone on the Japanese stream.
- [20:35] Zhi is on the mic, time to mute.
- [21:06] Ono appeared but Harada is gone. He asked Ayano to hint about 5th character in USF4. (Ono didn't even know) Ono asked if it's A (completely new) or B (not actually new). Ayano didn't want to answer so Ono said do you like letter A or B? Ayano said he "likes letter B."
- [21:49] Spooky and MarkMan on the mic, this's much better.
- [22:05] Oh no, it's back.
- Momochi, ChocoBlanka, Karipaku, Nekohashi, Umezono were there.
- The show is so popular it has more than 9,000 Timeshift'd.
- The show ended with 117,451 attendances (239,751 comments) on Japanese side, and 37,175 attendances (23,557 comments) on English side.
- 90% of viewers voted this show is extremely good on JP side.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Niconico to stream MadCatz Unveiled TGS 2013 in both Japanese and English

It's revealed today that Niconico will stream Pre-Tokyo Game Show 2013 MadCatz Unveiled through two separated streams for both Japanese and English speaking audience.

The stream will start on 18:30 JST of September 20.

Niconico occasionally has two separated streams for two languages for big events such as E3 press conference, but this's the first time for fighting game event.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Umehara Tokido Mago poster from Kengoro Nishide

Kengoro Nishide, the artist from Daigo Umehara manga "Umehara: To live is to game," has posted his illustration for poster to celebrate the release of the manga and for the upcoming MadCatz event during Tokyo Game Show 2013.

TOPANGA League B season 2 online qualifier stream link revealed

Stream link: Here
Date: September 23
Time: 14:00 JST

The online qualifier will have 2 rounds: 14:00 and 19:00. The winners of both rounds will earn the right to play in TOPANGA League B season 2. The runner-ups of both rounds will play each other for the last spot.

The rule allows players to apply for both rounds so some players may get a second chance.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

TOPANGA League B season 2 announced (update and correction)

TOPANGA founder and representative Nyanshi or Mr. Toyota announced tonight on TOPANGA TV (special episode) that the season 2 of TOPANGA League B will begin on September 27. The online league will have 16 players, only 13 players (coincidently 13 characters) were announced at this time.

The last three players will come from online qualifiers that will be held on September 23 and will be streamed by Niconico (most likely free).

Tokido (Akuma) *was relegated from losing the play-off after League A season 1
Mago (Fei Long) *was relegated from League A season 2 1st stage
Cabbage (Viper) *was relegated from League A season 2 2nd stage
Eita (Ryu) *not Akuma *was relegated from League A season 2 1st stage
Naruo (E-Ryu)
Michael-tan (Ken)
Inco (well-known Rufus player)
Tsuna (Juri player)
Youshikibi (Cammy)
Kyoku (well-known Yang player)
KojiKOG (well-known T-Hawk player)
Matsugoro (Dudley player)
wao (Japan's 4th place Oni on BP ranking)

Promotion and Relegation (from the latest rules)
1st place - To League A
2nd place - To League A
3rd place - To League A
4th place - Play-off against Momochi
5th place - Play-off against YHC Mochi

Top 3 finishers will be promoted while 4th place and 5th place will play offline against YHC Mochi and Momochi for two spots in the next TOPANGA League A.

The net ticket price of League B season 2 wasn't announced.

The 3rd TOPANGA League (A) is expected to be announced next week.

2nd TOPANGA League A standings

Fuudo
Umehara
Sako
Bon-chan
Kazunoko
Uryo
Haitani
YHC-Mochi
Momochi
Cabbage
Mago
Eita

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Umehara on this week's TOPANGA TV

- Umehara came to promote his manga "Umehara: To Live is to game" and his new T-shirt.
- Umehara joked that if the manga gets a sequel then there will probably be a chapter dedicated to Bon-chan.
- When asked to talk about upcoming exhibition match against Infiltration, Umehara joked that the Korean viewers who know Japanese language probably send the tip to Infiltration so he didn't want to talk.
- Umehara said that you will see something new from him (in vs. Infiltration exhibition). However, he couldn't say with confidence that he'll win.
- Everyone was shocked when Umehara said (whisper) "Akuma .......is a weak character."
- Umehara said that there's still unexplored territory in Akuma matchup.

(Skip to 01:30:30 for Umehara)

Thursday, September 5, 2013

JoJo ASB is the best selling fighting game in past 5 years

Media Create, the well-known Japanese console game market researcher, reported today (via GAF) that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle has sold 425,718 copies in its first week in Japan.

Last week, we said that JoJo ASB will become the best selling (conventional) fighting game in the past 5 years, the sales data confirmed today that it is.

As always, we put the number in the chart so you can compare.

First week sales of fighting games between 2008-2013 in Japan by Media Create

[PSP] Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix) {2009.12.18} - 489,100 | NEW
[PS3] JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.08.29} - 425,718 / NEW
[PSP] Dissidia: 012 (Duodecim) Final Fantasy (Square Enix) {2011.03.03} - 286,117 / NEW
[PS3] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 128,485 / NEW
[PS3] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2009.10.29} - 103,105 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm 3 (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.04.18} - 87,661 / NEW
[PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 86,000 / NEW
[PS2] Fate/Unlimited Codes (Capcom) {2008.12.18} - 82,900 | NEW
[PS3] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 80,882 / NEW
[PSP] Naruto: Shippuden Narutimate Accel 3 (Namco Bandai) {2009.12.10} - 76,596 / NEW
[PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Battle of Aces (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.21} - 76,088 / NEW
[PS3] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 74,607 / NEW
[PS3] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 67,187 / NEW
[PS3] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 66,586 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.23} - 65,758 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.10.21} - 63,675 / NEW
[PS3] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.09.13} - 62,630 / NEW
[PS3] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 58,471 / NEW
[PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (Namco Bandai) {2009.11.09} - 57,972 / NEW
[PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny (Bandai Namco) {2011.12.22} - 57,320 / NEW
[PS3] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 54,924 / NEW
[PSP] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Impact (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.10.20} - 53,148 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (Arc System Works) {2010.07.01} - 49,871 / NEW
[PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.11.11} - 47.610 / NEW
[3DS] Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Capcom) {2011.02.26} - 44,649 / NEW
[PS3] Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.12.08} - 44,593 / NEW
[PS2] Melty Blood: Actress Again (Ecole Software) {2009.08.20} - 44,292 / NEW
[PS3] Naruto: Narutimate Storm (Namco Bandai) {2009.01.15} - 44,065 / NEW
[360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 38,000 / NEW
[360] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 34,786 / NEW
[PS3] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 34,328 / NEW
[PSP] Fate/Unlimited Codes Portable (Capcom) {2009.06.18} - 34,205 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 33,768 / NEW
[PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works) {2011.12.17} - 32,992 / NEW
[360] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 28,454 / NEW
[PSP] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.14} - 25,131 / NEW
[360] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 24,812 / NEW
[WII] Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (Capcom) {2008.12.11} - 24,100 / NEW
[PSP] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (Arc System Works) {2011.03.31} - 23,808 / NEW
[3DS] Dead or Alive: Dimensions (Koei Tecmo) {2011.05.19} - 23,078 / NEW
[PS3] Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom) {2011.11.17} - 22,436 / NEW
[PS3] The King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore) {2011.12.01} - 21,525 / NEW
[PS3] AQUAPAZZA (Aquaplus) {2012.08.30} - 20,935 / NEW
[PSP] Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team (Bandai Namco) {2010.09.30} - 19,080 / NEW
[PS3] Arcana Heart 3 (Arc System Works) {2011.01.13} - 17,219 / NEW
[360] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 14,811 / NEW
[360] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 13,779 / NEW
[PSV] Dead or Alive 5+ (Koei Tecmo) {2013.03.20} - 13,291 / NEW
[360] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 12,326 / NEW
[PS3] Darkstalkers Resurrection (Capcom) {2013.03.14} - 11,591 / NEW
[360] Phantom Breaker (5pb.) {2011.06.02} - 9,960 / NEW
[360] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 9,801 / NEW
[3DS] Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.16} - 9,421 / NEW
[360] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 8,527 / NEW
[360] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 7,679 / NEW
[PSP] Saint Seiya Ω: Ultimate Cosmo (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} - 6,448 / NEW
[PSV] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.10.25} - 5,420 / NEW

Daigo Umehara's Event Schedule 2015

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Monday, December 9, 2013

Friday, December 6, 2013

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Monday, December 2, 2013

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Friday, November 29, 2013

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Monday, November 25, 2013

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Monday, November 18, 2013

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Friday, November 15, 2013

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Friday, November 8, 2013

Monday, November 4, 2013

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Friday, October 25, 2013

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Friday, October 18, 2013

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Monday, September 23, 2013

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Friday, September 20, 2013

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Thursday, September 5, 2013