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.

Official Under Night: In-Birth tournament announced for 2013

It is announced today that Under Night: In-Birth Official Tournament will be held on March 23, and the qualifiers (only in Tokyo) will begin in late January. The format is 3 on 3. Hilda and Eltnum* are allowed.

*Eltnum was selectable via secret input in November but was fully released just last week.

Note that there was an UNI tournament (2 on 2) as a part of Barracuda tournament on November 17. (Apparently it counts as unofficial national tournament.) The winner was Kubo's team. (Kubo shifted his interest from UMvC3 to UNI and now plays as blue Seto (aka. Vergil). You can check his vortex below.)


(Skip to 00:41:00 for the final)

TOPANGA announces 8-man UMvC3 tournament

TOPANGA announced last night on TOPANGA TV an 8-man UMvC3 tournament, tentatively called Z Tournament.

Details
- 8 players from Kantou region
- Offline
- Single elimination tournament
- First-to-ten
- One match per week, every Wednesday (7 weeks long)
- Will be streamed on TOPANGA TV @Twitch TV (from 21:00 JST), starting next week (if possible)
- 50,000 yen prize money for tournament winner only

Players

1. Frieda
2. OGTY
3. Jeo
4. Uda
5. Abegen
6. VX
7. Nemo
8. Tokido

Match-up (drawn live on the stream)

• OGTY - Tokido
• Abegen - VX
• Uda - Nemo
• Frieda - Jeo

The fact that it is offline and will feature those well-known players from Kantou region (Tokyo and nearby prefectures) makes it a rare one.

Note that both KUBODSGARDEN and KVO were held in Osaka. It seems that Kantou region will now have a bigger local UMvC3 scene since Kubo (the man behind KG and KVO, Japan's UMvC3 success) left UMvC3 for P4U then Under Night: In-Birth.

Xbox 360 P4U lag patch is out

The patch that fixes the lag issue of Xbox 360 version of P4U is out now. Kubo just finished one-hour testing on his stream a few seconds ago. We can confirm that the issue is now gone.

Online Kubo's Garden P4U summary

Info
- Kubo announces P4U online tournament
- Date: August 3, 21:00
- Format: Tougeki rules (single elimination, 1 game (FT2R) , fixed character)
- Requirement: Player must have 5-dan rank or above
- Stream: Here
- Bracket: Here (provided by Kubo himself)

Top 4
Dosu (Kuma) 0-2 Bokuzen (Sanada)
Tomo (S. Labrys) 1-2 Eru (Aigis) *a comeback in last round by Eru

3rd place
Tomo (S. Labrys) 2-0 Dosu (Kuma)

Final
Eru (Aigis 879PSR) 2-0 Bokuzen (Sanada 819PSR)


Highlight
- Kaitenou (Chie player, Tougeki 2012 Finals qualifier) who had 923 PSR and Tsujigawa (Chie) lost to Bokuzen the Sanada player.

Kubo announces P4U online tournament

Kubo announced tonight that he will hold an online P4U tournament on August 3 (or this Friday) starting from 21:00 JST on his stream. The platform is, of course, PlayStation 3. He will accept only 32 players. The players must have at least 5-dan rank.

Kubo plays P4U as main when he goes go the arcades. It is interesting to see if he will still keep UMvC3 as his main on the consoles or not. The arrival of the console versions of P4U clearly gives him new motivation.

Kubo is the leading figure in UMvC3 scene in Japan. He was behind the first few offline MvC3 tournaments (KUBODSGARDEN and KVO). There will be a drastic change to the Japanese UMvC3 community if Kubo has lost interest in the game.

Kubo the Debugger
Although Kubo is known for playing less popular games as he loves air dash and air guard, his passion in FGs is more than most people. He bought minor FGs (even self-published PC games) just to try out. And the first things he did to the games is looking for glitches, unblockables, and infinites. (No wonder he discovered Kubota Escape, the glitch that became talk of the town at Evo 2012.) For P4U, he actually started collecting frame data from recorded videos of the arcade version since March.

Kubo's stream channel on Nico Nico has the highest subscriber number in non-Street Fighter FG streams. He also shares the stream with Frieda and Tsujigawa who share the same interest.

Kubo's achievements

• Tougeki 2005 - Guilty Gear XX - Top 4
• Tougeki 2006 - Melty Blood AC - 2nd place
• Tougeki 2008 - Melty Blood AC - 1st place

360 P4U lag issue statement posted by Atlus

Atlus's official P4U PR Blog now posted a statement regarding the "online match's time lag issue on Xbox 360 version of P4U" (that we reported yesterday).

They apologized and said they are "currently looking into the cause," and it "will take time."

They also suggested users to try the following settings as a temporary fix.
1. Custom Match
2. Same Area Only
3. Good Connection Only

But it probably will not help, since Kubo did that exactly.

The PR blog said they will post a follow-up report and asked the users to wait a little while.

360 version of P4U and unplayable lag online

In case you didn't see our urgent post and the stream, we want to give you an important update about P4U.

Kubo bought both PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of P4U and tried the online play on his stream. The 360 version had an unplayable lag (heavy slowdown). He tested with 4 different users. He also tried switching back and forth to training mode. The problem was really the online play.

He then tried the PS3 version. The online play was okay on PS3.

You probably know Kubo as an UMvC3 player, but when he goes to the arcades, he plays P4U as main game.

P4U is coming

This Thursday, or next 2 days, the console version of Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena will be released in Japan. We think it will be one of the biggest impacts in JFGC (Japan Fighting Game Community) in past 4 years. So let's talk about it a bit.

Key elements:

1. Persona 4 or Shin Megami Tensei/Persona series in general already has large fan base in Japan.
2. It's going to be on console.
3. It's developed by a veteran FG developer (Arc System Works).
4. It corrected the mistakes in BlazBlue.

Persona 4 series is big in Japan. The original game was released in 2008. The six-month long anime just ended in March, a theatrical version was released last month. The PS Vita version was also released last month. Various merchandises are still being released (such as this or this or this or this). Moreover, it has a lot of female fans. (It is actually branded as a series for girls who are into homosexual (Fujoshi) in Japan.) Some of those is picking up P4U as first fighting game. Many people also said that you can attract girls at game centers if you're good at this game.

While people don't like Arc System Works for what they did in BlazBlue, the fact that P4U is co-produced and directed by Atlus staff probably helps.

There're 2 big problems in BlazBlue. First, it doesn't have an art direction. The characters is like a compilation of works submitted by kids.

Street Fighter and the likes are about martial artists. Samurai Shodown is about samurai. Darkstalkers is about legendary creatures. Otaku fighters are about girls. Comic/anime fighters already have story. But does anyone know what is the concept behind BlazBlue?

The second problem in BlazBlue is it's TOO combo-friendly. The hit-stun is crazy long and makes the combo window too wide. The Burst is very limited. So while it's easier to combo, you don't have a proper way to deal with it.

P4U doesn't have these problems. It has average combo window. Burst can also be refilled within the round.


Is Japan moving to a new era?
The rise of Daigo Umehara in Street Fighter IV since 2009 created a fighting game boom in Japan. That's when JFGC as we know today (organizations and visible audience) was born and SF4 was crowned. But right now, he participates less tournaments and is busy with Gungslinger Stratos. Fans who follow SF4 only because of him, like Beast Note, is abandoning the ship. Less viewers mean less players, since many people only play when it matters. And when players only train before a tournament, it makes competition meaningless.

These days, there's no nagging for SF4 like in the past anymore on GODSGARDEN's stream. The decrease in demand of SF4 also leads to a power vacuum. People will watch anything on the stream -- it doesn't matter anyway. They can't tell which side is the majority, and are afraid to express their feelings (like/dislike). People now come to meet, not come to watch. The atmosphere has changed from a soccer stadium to a cafeteria. The unison of comment screaming of hype (picture below) is hard to pull now outside a big tournament match.

If SF4 is truly fading, then Japan is in the process of choosing its next main fighting game. What will it be?

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was improved greatly from the original game. The X-Factor is now better than SF4's Ultra Combo. It now has decent gameplay. But you know, Japan is not going to play a game with half of the casts come from the series they don't appreciate. There're much less online players than SF4. There's also no arcade scene, which means less activities.

Street Fighter x Tekken has too many reasons to fail.

King of Fighters died with its art directions in 1998.

3D fighters can't be big as long as they can't convince the viewers that there're something underlying those moves. They need to reinvent themselves and overcome the Poke Juggler stigma. Note that when big explosions, a cut-in of a character screaming something, and a cool finishing move are the definition of fighting in manga/anime, the Japanese wouldn't expect less.

P4U has the best chance. It has everything it needs - fan base, directions, solid and flashy gameplay. And it's getting players from both SF4 and BlazBlue/Guilty Gear community.

Shiro, Shungoku Neurosis, Kazunoko (originally a Guilty Gear player), Dogura, Kubo (also a BlazBlue player) are playing. Sako, KSK (and his crews), RF will play on the consoles. More well-known players are expected to follow when they realized that there're viewers from both inside and outside the community.

But to be honest, it'll be tough to replace SF4. At least not until Tougeki 2012 and the next TOPANGA League A. We are far from being a fan of Persona 4 series, and we still think that Ougon Musou Kyoku is better. But the arrival of P4U is more than noteworthy.

Evolution 2012 Day 2 summary

Info
- July 7
- Evolution 2012 Day 0 summary
- Evolution 2012 Day 1 summary
- Evolution 2012 Day 3 summary
- Event report by 4Gamer.net

Tournament of Legends (SF2T)
- Stream (before top 8)
- Brackets
XX:XX Umehara 3-0 Jason Wilson
18:50 Tokido (Claw) 3-0 Laugh (Ken/Dic) *3400 viewers
18:57 RizOne (Dic) 3-2 John Choi (Sag/Ryu)
19:13 ultracombo 0-3 Jason Cole
19:19 Umehara (Box) 3-1 (0-2, 2-1, 2-0, 2-0) Jason Cole (Dha)
19:25 Umehara (Box/Ryu) 3-1 (0-2, 2-1, 2-0, 2-0) RizOne (Dic)
19:35 DVG (Ryu) 2-3 Kusumondo (Hon)
19:43 MAO (Claw) 3-1 Ganleon (Claw) *5400 viewers
19:50 James Chen (Cam) 3-0 Jason Cole (Dha/Sag)
19:55 Wolmar (Dha) 3-0 Alex Valle (Ryu) *6000 viewers
20:07 sako (Haw) 0-3 Ganleon (Claw) *5900 viewers
20:12 [Losers] Alex Valle (Ryu) 0-3 Ganleon (Claw)
20:19 Wolmar (Hon) 0-3 MAO (Claw)
20:24 DVG (Ryu) 3-0 CVital (Dha/Chun)
20:34 The stream went down.
20:48 Snake Eyez (Zan) 1-3 Damdai (Ryu)
20:51 Laugh (Dha) 0-3 Marsgatti (Gui)
21:03 Kusumondo (Hon) 3-1 Damdai (Ryu)
21:11 James Chen (Cam) 0-3 MonGoloRobocop (Chun)
21:19 Damdai (Ryu) 3-0 MonGoloRobocop (Chun)
21:29 Marsgatti (Gui) 3-2 Wolmar (Dha)
21:39 Snake Eyez (Zan) 2-3 Ultracombo (Sag)
21:49 DVG (Ryu) 2-3 Ultracombo (Sag) *6300 viewers
22:05 RizOne (Dic) 3-2 DVG (Ryu)
22:14 AfroLegends (Box) 3-1 (1-2, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0) Tokido (Claw) *7600 viewers
22:26 Tokido (Claw) 3-1 (2-1, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1) Ganleon (Claw)

Top 8
00:53 [Losers] Riz0ne (Dic) 1-3 Tokido (Claw) *25500 viewers
0-2
1-2
2-1
0-2
1:00 [Losers] Damdai (Ryu/Haw) 3-1 Marsgatti (Gui) *26600 viewers
2-0
1-2
2-0 *Damdai changed to Hawk
2-1
1:07 [Winners] MAO (Claw) 0-3 Kusumondo (Hon) *27200 viewers
0-2
0-2
1-21:1X [Winners] Umehara (Box) 1-3 AfroLegends (DJ) *27500 viewers
1-2
2-1
1-2
0-2
1:23 [Losers] Damdai (Ken) 1-3 MAO (Claw)
0-2
2-1
0-2
1-2
1:29 [Winners Final] AfroLegends (DJ) 0-0 Kusumondo (Hon)
2-0
0-2
0-2
2-0
0-2
1:39 [Losers] Umehara (Box) 3-1 Tokido (Claw)
2-1
1-2
2-1
2-0
1:47 [Losers] Umehara (Box) 0-3 MAO (Claw)
0-2
0-2
1-2
1:51 [Losers Final] AfroLegends (Box) 1-3 MAO (Claw)
0-2
2-0
0-2
0-2
1:57 [Grand Final 1] MAO (Claw) 3-1 Kusumondo (Hon)
2-1
1-2
2-1
2-1
2:08 [Grand Final 2] MAO (Claw) 3-2 Kusumondo (Hon) *28200 viewers
1-2
2-0
0-2
2-1
2-1


UMvC3
13:24 Abegen 0-2 Jan *40600 viewers
14:21 Mago 2-0 PolishMafia *44100 viewers
16:26 Renegade 0-2 Tokido
17:31 [Winners] Tokido 1-2 Fanatiq
17:48 [Winners] Cho 2-0 Flook *43800 viewers
18:2X [Winners] F. Champ 3-0 Kubo *29900 viewers
19:05 Evil 0-3 Mame Spider
20:12 Clockwork 0-3 Mame Spider
20:37 [Winners] Frutsy 0-3 Cho *45700 viewers
23:08 [Winners] F.Champ 3-0 Cho *49500 viewers
23:39 [Losers] Chris G 3-1 Cho *46200 viewers


SFxTK Top 4
[Winners] Fuudo/Tokido vs. Ricky Ortiz/PR Rog (to play on Sunday)


Updates (offstream results)
11:30 - [SFxTK Losers] Umezono qualified his pool.
12:20 - [SFxTK Losers] MomoChoco qualified his/her pool.
12:25 - [SFxTK Winners] Kazunoko qualified his pool.
12:43 - sako and GamerBee formed a team named "Team 1979" (that's when they're born)
13:47 - Daigo Umehara will have autograph session between 3-4 pm. at MadCatz booth.
13:58 - [UMvC3] Mame Spider qualified his pool.
14:05 - Latest KOF13 brackets [pic1] [pic2]
15:02 - [KOF13] Cabbage eliminated Kaoru.
15:10 - Latest KOF13 brackets [pic]
15:17 - The line waiting for Umehara's photo/autograph session @MadCatz booth [pic]
15:18 - [Virtua Fighter] Tokido sent GamerBee to Losers.
15:29 - [UMvC3] Mago went to Losers.
15:46 - [UMvC3 Losers] Mago is eliminated.
15:52 - [UMvC3 Losers] Momochi qualified his pool.
16:14 - [UMvC3 Winners] Kubo qualified his pool.
16:17 - [SFxTK Winners] Fuudo/Tokido team qualified his pool.
16:35 - [SFxTK Winners] sako/GamerBee vs. Dieminion/Wolfkrone
17:05 - [SFxTK Winners] Eita/Kindevu lost to Ricky Ortiz/PR Rog.
17:11 - [SFxTK Winners] Kazunoko/Bon-chan team is still in.
17:16 - Kindevu playing CvS2 side tournament.
17:25 - [SFxTK Winners] MOV/Poongko team qualified his pool.
17:58 - [SFxTK] sako (Chun-Li)/GamerBee (Julia) team now in Losers.
18:14 - [UMvC3 Winners] Cho qualified his pool.
18:15 - [SFxTK] sako/GamerBee and MomoChoco are eliminated.
18:40 - [SFxTK] It seems that the EVO staff made a mistake by making sako/GamerBee play a wrong opponent. They're supposed to play more now, but GamerBee already went back to hotel so the team is disqualified.
21:18 - [UMvC3] Mame Spider is eliminated.
XX:XX - KSK/KayoPolice (Hugo/Poison) competing in SFxTK [pic]

Evolution 2012 Day 1 summary

Info
- July 6
- Evolution Day 0 summary
- Event report from 4Gamer.net

• Vicious Hellsing (Jur) 0-2 Bon-chan (Sag)
• Laugh (Ryu) 2-0 Booth (Hon)
• Baybladex (Box/Gen) 0-2 Mr. SNK (Hon)
• blackskillz (DJ) 2-1 Lexy (Chun)
• Karasjet (DJ) 0-2 Tokido (Aku)
• Warahk (Gui) 0-2 Air (Ryu)
• sidthesquid (Hon) 0-2 Mike Ross (Hon)
• Online Tony (Set) 2-0 Ruin (Aku)
• Cameron (Ado) 0-2 Tokido (Aku)
• Zhi (Zan) 2-1 Viscant (DJ)
• 11:50 [Winners] Tokido (Aku) 1-2 Eric Hai (Ryu) *Tokido played carelessly and lost after a big lead in last round
• Air (Ryu) 2-0 Huang (Zan)
• 12:18 Kazunoko (Yun) 2-0 Onilord (Oni)
• Latif (Vip) 2-0 Onielsky (Bla)
• 12:30 Umehara (Ryu) 2-0 (2-1, 2-1) Woolie (Bla) *great first round ultra finish in 2nd game
• LI Joe (Sag) 2-0 VerticalStyle (Dic)
• Sherm (Yun) 1-2 Poongko (Set)
• CJ Truth (Fei) 2-0 Paramisery (Zan)
• Dakou (Ryu/Fei) 2-1 Mike Chow (Abe)
• James Chen (Cam) 2-0 shinryuken (Yun)
• Dakou (Ryu) 1-2 Kazunoko (Yun) *36700 viewers
• Latif (Vip) 2-0 sange_tencho (Fei)
• Dogura (Dic) 2-0 Vic the slik (Dic)
• 14:00 Umehara (Ryu) 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) DR-Ray (Fei) *37600 viewers
• Chilldog (Zan) 0-2 Alex Valle (Ryu)
• Ryan Hart (Sag/Ryu) 0-2 Filipino Man (Ros) *36700 viewers
• 14:32 ChocoBlanka (Bla) 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) MyLegBroke (Fei) *38300 viewers
• 14:41 Uryo (Sak) 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) Roogle (Ros) *a keyboard player *39000 viewers
• 14:47 sako (Ibu) 2-0 Joel (Fue) *39600 viewers
• 15:10 Deedogg (Gui/Box) 0-2 Kindevu (Set) *39500 viewers
• Haagendazs (Set) 0-2 Min (Hon) *37500 viewers
• 15:22 Eita (Aku) 1-2 ClakeyD (Ibu) *37600 viewers *Eita made some gesture after winning first game *perfect in last round
• 15:32 sako (Ibu) 2-0 Ismael (Ryu) *38000 viewers
• Adam (Haw) 0-1 Dieminion (Gui) *38700 viewers
• [Losers] DeeDogg (Box/Gui) 0-2 Xian (Gen) *39300 viewers
• Mr. Naps (E.Ryu) 2-0 Alfonso (Aku/Ken) *37300 viewers
• Luken (Ryu) 1-1 Buktooth (Ibu) *36300 viewers
• iPeru (Fue) 2-0 Dragonfist (Guy) *37100 viewers
• Mago (Fei) 2-0 Noah (Dic) *39000 viewers
• Infiltration (Aku) 2-0 Bahn (Ros) *41000 viewers
• 801Strider (Abe) 2-0 Vogel (Sag)
• 16:52 Haitani (Mak) 2-0 Ugly JoeCamel (Vip) *41700 viewers
• John Choi (Ryu) 2-0 Richard Nguyen (Ado)
• 17:02 Kokujin (Ryu) 2-1 OCR Mike D (Dic) *42800 viewers
• 17:12 Itabashi Zangief (Zan) 0-2 Snafoo (Dha) *41300 viewers
• Infiltration (Aku) 2-1 Chris (Ken) *41700 viewers
• iPeru (Fue) 2-0 Cesar de Alba (Ros) *41600 viewers
• Mr. Naps (E.Ryu) 2-1 Gordortz (Fue) *41300 viewers

Quarter finals
18:56 [Winners] Justin Wong (Ruf) 1-1 (2-1, 1-2, 2-0) Kazunoko (Yun) *32000 viewers
19:07 [Winners] sako (Ibu) 1-2 (2-1, 1-2, 1-2) Kindevu (Cam) *perfect in 1st round by Kindevu
19:20 [Winners] Dieminion (Gui) 2-0 (2-1, 1-2, 2-0) Uryo (Vip) *39000 viewers
19:28 [Winners] Umehara (Ryu) 2-0 (2-0*, 2-0) Alex Smith (Abe/Juri) *perfect in 2nd round
19:33 [Winners] Evans (Fei) 1-2 (2-1, 0-2, 0-2) Poongko (Set) *42100 viewers
19:41 [Winners] Veloc1raptor (Gouken) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Fuudo (Fei) *41100 viewers
19:48 [Winners] Justin Wong (Ruf) 0-2 (1-2, 1-2) Hsien Chang (Yun) *42000 viewers *very close last round
19:57 [?] Mago (Fei) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Dieminion (Gui) *44600 viewers
20:04 [Winners] Chris G (Sak) 0-2 (1-2, 1-2) Poongko (Set) *45300 viewers
20:13 [Winners] John Choi (Ryu) 2-0 Mr. Naps *46000 viewers
20:20 [Losers] DRS Chris (Ken) 2-1 Chris G (Sak) *44500 viewers
20:29 [Losers] sako (Ibu) 2-1 (2-0, 0-1, 2-0) ClakeyD (Ibu) *perfect in last round
20:37 [] Infiltration (Aku) 2-0 iPeru (Fue)
20:42 [Winners] Hsien Chang (Yun) 0-2 (1-2, 1-2) Umehara (Ryu) *nice first round
20:51 [Winners] PR Rog (Box) 2-0 (2-1, 2-0) Fuudo (Fei) *perfect in 1st round of 2nd game
20:58 [Losers] sako (Ibu) 2-1 (2-0, 1-2, 2-0) Alex Valle (Ryu)
21:07 [Winners] Dogura (Dic) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Poongko (Set) *48000 viewers
21:13 [Losers] Justin Wong (Ruf) 2-0 (2-1, 2-1) MOV (Ken) *49600 viewers
21:23 [Losers] John Choi (Ryu) 0-2 Dogura (Dic) *48100 viewers
21:32 [Losers] Justin Wong (Ruf) 0-2 (0-2, 0-2) Fuudo (Fei) *48600 viewers
21:4X [Losers] Dogura 2-0 Mike Ross *50500 viewers

Top 16
21:53 [Winners] Infiltration (Gouken) 2-0 (2-1, 2-1) Dieminion (Gui) *50100 viewers *double KO in 1st round of 2nd game
22:01 [Winners] GamerBee (Ado) 1-2 (1-2, 2-1, 0-2) Umehara (Ryu) *53400 viewers *Ultra finish in 2nd round of both first 2 games and both round of 3rd game
22:12 [Winners] Humanbomb (Sak) 2-1 (1-2, 2-0, 2-0) Poongko (Set)
22:20 [Winners] PR Rog (Box) 2-0 (2-1, 2-0) Xiao Hai (Cam)
22:30 [Losers] GamerBee (Ado) 2-0 (2-0, 2-0) Dogura (Dic)
22:38 [Losers] Dieminion (Gui) 2-0 (2-1, 2-1) Fuudo (Fei)
22:46 [Losers] Haitani (Mak) 1-2 (1-2, 2-0, 0-2) Xiaohai (Cam)
22:52 [Losers] Kindevu (Cam) 1-2 (0-2, 2-0, 0-2) Poongko (Set)

Top 8 (to play on Sunday)
[Winners] Infiltration (to play Umehara)
[Winners] Daigo Umehara
[Winners] Humanbomb (to play PR Rog)
[Winners] PR Rog
[Losers] GamerBee (to play Dieminion)
[Losers] Dieminion
[Losers] Xiaohai (to play Poongko)
[Losers] Poongko

Updates
9:00 - Ricky Ortiz qualified the pool.
10:00 - Cabbage and MOV qualified the pool.
11:00 - Kokujin began his broadcasting but no sound. He used his own channel because GODSGARDEN stream is being used.
11:23 - Kokujin finally has sound.
11:30 - Kokujin was mad (and cussed) at Ren for using GODSGARDEN stream too long even it's not actually his fault (no one told him). Ren let Kokujin use it. Ren fans are mad at Kokujin.
11:30 - Bon-chan qualified the pool.
11:50 - Tokido went to Losers.
12:00 - Fuudo qualified the pool.
12:10 - KayoPolice is in C. Viper costume again this year.
12:30 - Umehara is using MadCatz limited Evo stick ($160).
12:40 - Momochi qualified.
12:45 - Brackets of SSF4AE2012 from Get Your Tournament guy [pic1][pic2] Tokido qualified the pool in Losers.
12:50 - Umehara & sako [pic]
15:45 - ChocoBlanka qualified the pool after 4th fight.
15:46 - Alex Valle qualified the pool.
15:50 - sako qualified the pool after 4th fight.
15:55 - Fuudo qualified the pool in Winners in SC5. (Kayane in Losers)
16:00 - kubo qualified the pool in Winners in KOF13.
16:03 - Eita is eliminated by Jason Cole.
16:27 - Kindevu qualified the pool in Winners. (Ryan Hart in Losers)
16:46 - KSK streaming
16:51 - KayoPolice is eliminated.
17:04 - Choco's next opponent is Dieminion.
17:37 - Haitani sent to Losers by Juice Box.
17:40 - Cabbage qualified KOF13 pool.
18:08 - Quarter final brackets from Alex Valle. [pic]
18:34 - Umehara defeated Latif.
18:34 - sako defeated his 5th opponent Min.
18:38 - Justin Wong has to play Kazunoko next.
18:43 - It seems like sako defeated his 6th opponent.
18:46 - Bon-chan defeated Wolfkrone.
18:50 - Snakeeyez beat Ricky Ortiz. Zeng beat Sabin.
18:53 - Dieminion beat ChocoBlanka.
19:01 - Uryo has to fight Mago.
19:05 - Umehara to play with Alex Smith.
19:07 - Bon-chan defeated a Ryu. Next is Humanbomb.
19:14 - MOV beat Momochi.
19:17 - Alex Valle lost to GamerBee.
19:39 - [Losers] F. Champ got disqualified in match against Ryan Hart.
19:43 - [Losers] Kazunoko beat Latif.
19:44 - Nyanshi lost to ClakeyD.
19:50 - Ricky Ortiz is eliminated.
19:59 - Kindevu to play GamerBee.
20:03 - Tokido vs. Mago offstream.
20:07 - Haitani eliminated Bon-chan.
20:20 - Finally the commentators are changed to UltraChen! GOD BLESS THE TRUE FGC.
20:44 - Latest brackets [link]
20:55 - [Losers] Justin Wong eliminated Kazunoko.
21:33 - Fuudo eliminated sako.
21:51 - Top 16 bracket. [pic]
XX-XX - Credits for the results go to Get Your Tournament guy, sako's wife, UltraDavid, all the reports from players.
XX:XX - Kazunoko won Guity Gear side tournament. (He's originally a Guilty Gear player.)

Top 8 again
In 2011, Daigo Umehara became the only player in history to enter Evolution top 8 Street Fighter IV tournament 3 consecutive years.

In 2012, today, Umehara nailed it by becoming the only player in history to enter Evolution top 8 Street Fighter IV tournament 4 consecutive years.

Versus GamerBee
The match Daigo Umehara vs. GamerBee was so amazing "Daigo" became a worldwide trend on Twitter.

Commentators
Making Zhi a commentator is a serious mistake. Not only the guy can't draw a line between kids in the chat and a decent commentator, he took advantge of it (as expected). Humming a song or talking off-topic on the stream of biggest FG tournament is bad enough. There was something that needs to be addressed.

He said something like "I wonder if I lost a passport in Japan, will there be some help like the case of Mago?" He talked like Japanese players are not generous like the American.

The truth behind this is he was the one who used to ask the Japanese FGC to let him stay in their house at least 2 occasions for free or minimum cost. Apparently not many people wanted to get involved.

FYI, KSK used to let backpacking American player SubZero sleep/stay at his game center long time ago. And Sako also let GamerBee stay at his house this year.

This's the same case with a certain foreign player living in Japan who is being given cold shoulder. Because the guy is a real troll trolling both in and outside the game.

Back to the topic, it was also Zhi last year at Evo 2011 who forced Momochi and ChocoBlanka to kiss, and forced Gama-san to shout Denpa Jikkyou meme, just for entertaining.

When Zhi was paired with skisonic today, it was a torture. Because they're good at going off-topic.

On the bright side, we have Juice Box and Magus. These two are good at play-by-play as we already mentioned. Magus improved a lot since NorCal 2 years ago. He has a weak point in JFGC stuff, but he was really smooth in everything else.

Evolution 2012 Day 0 summary

We had an Evo Day 0 post last year, we have it again this year!

Going
- Most of them arrived.
- Some of them came with relatives or friends. (not in this list)

1. Daigo Umehara
2. Tokido
3. Mago
4. Nyanshi (TOPANGA founder)
5. Bon-chan 
6. Fuudo
7. Itabashi Zangief (first Evo since 2007 in which he won Virtua Fighter 5)
8. Momochi & Choco
9. KSK (GODSGARDEN cofounder, but he went with KayoPolice as a TV staff)
10. Kazunoko
11. sako & wife (coming in the same flight with Umehara)
12. Haitani
13. Uryo
14. Eita
15. Cabbage 
16. Kindevu
17. Dogura (first time abroad)
18. Kokujin (first Evo since 2005)
19. MOV
20. Umezono
21. KayoPolice (read)
22. Abegen (UMvC3 player)
23. Cho (UMvC3 player, KVOxGG 2nd place)
24. GX (UMvC3 player)
25. Kubo (UMvC3 player)
26. Mame Spider (UMvC3 player)
27. Shimada (UMvC3 player)
28. Kaoru (KOF player)
29. Kiyomatsu 
30. OEppu (KOF player)
31. sange_tencho
32. Shironuko (Virtua Fighter player)
33. Decopon (Soulcalibur V player)
34. crna ruka (Soulcalibur V player)
35. Kamaage (Soulcalibur V player)
36. Oosaka
37. Kusumondo (SSF2T player)
38. MAO (SSF2T player)
39. Osamu Ichikawa (read)

Not going (in case you ask)

• Nuki (read)
• Shiro (busy)
• Shungoku Neurosis
• Frieda (busy)
• Ageo Joe aka. Kusoru
• Gama no Abura (retired from FGC due to some conflict since last year)

Timeline

Thursday
4:30 - Kazunoko/Cho/Abegen group went to FGTV house (NorCal) to play with F. Champ/Yipes/Dieminion etc.  
6:00 - KayoPolice [pic]/kubo/KSK arrived in Las Vegas.
6:00 - Fuudo arrived in Las Vegas.
8:30 - ItaZan arrived at the hotel.
14:00 - Kokujin/Eita/Dogura now at Los Angeles
17:00 - Umehara/sako&wife found that they're in the same flight when departed.
17:00 - Kindevu/Uryo/Haitani group arrived Las Vegas.
24:00 - Kokujin/Eita/Dogura arrived in Vegas. [pic]

Friday
5:00 - MomoChoco joined TOPANGA team (Nyanshi/Tokido/Bon-chan) in San Francisco.
7:00 - Umehara/sako spent free time drinking at airport while waiting.
8:00 - TOPANGA team & MomoChoco in limousine on the way to hotel. [pic]
9:00 - Umehara/sako&wife arrived in Las Vegas. [pic]
9:00 - KSK streaming while Kokujin sleeping. [link]
9:30 - Osamu Ichikawa arrived. [pic] There'll be an exhibition match between him and Broly, the disabled Chun-Li player (American) later.
12:00 - Kaoru's KOF money match.
14:00 - Choco streaming [link] Momochi training.
14:10 - Cho group arrived in Las Vegas.
14:50 - Japanese players (Kindevu, sako, Haitani, Dogura, KSK, Kokujin, Umezono) and Taiwan players (GamerBee, etc.) in a restaurant [pic]

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."

KVO x GODSGARDEN UMvC3 announced

It is announced today that KVO x GODSGARDEN will take place on May 4. The title is Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Details
- 1 on 1
- 3 players will be invited, 3 players will come from voting, 2 players will come from appointed day qualifier (8 total)
- Ageo Joe (Kusoru) and Cho (KUBODSGARDEN champ) will be invited. (accept or not is up to them)
- Time: May 4, 22:00 (JST) start
- Place:  CCO Cha (a maid cafe in Osaka)

It is also revealed that the winner will get a plane ticket to Evolution 2012. The prize is big, because it should be worth just under 200,000 yen.

Last year at Evolution 2011, Frieda was the only Japanese MvC3 player. He did not make it to top 32. This year is more interesting, because UMvC3 has better gameplay. Kubo, another Japanese UMvC3 player, is already confirmed to go to Evolution 2012.

KVO is actually a FG tournament in Osaka. It is organized by one of the people behind KUBODSGARDEN (UMvC3) tournament on January 21. KVO 2012 will be held between May 4-5. There is also a separated 3 on 3 UMvC3 tournament on the first day. Persona 4 Arena and the latest Power Instinct are on the second day.

Osaka is 7 hours by car from Tokyo. It seems like there are many local players who are interested in UMvC3. It is expected to have around 80-100 participants.

Ageo Joe wins UMvC3 at Final Round XV

Ageo Joe became the second Japanese player to win a Marvel vs. Capcom 3 major in the U.S. after he won the UMvC3 tournament at Final Round XV (March 2-4, Atlanta, GA).

Moreover, he did not just win it. He won it with styles. He defeated several well-known American UMvC3 players with unconventional "log" trick and there're funny showmanships from him between the matches.

His opponents were  Filipino Champ, Flocker, Combofiend, Mihe, Yipes (winners final), and PR Rog (grand final).

Although his alias was Ageo Joe at Final Round XV and he changed it each game, he's known more for some people under alias Kusoru. The "soru" is from Guilty Gear's Sol.

Frieda and (Tekken player) Ao were also with him at the tournament.

In June 2011, Tokido defeated Chris G and Justin Wong twice at CEO to become the first Japanese player to win a MvC3 major in the U.S.

There's no MvC3 tournament in Japan except KUBODSGARDEN's one in Osaka and Final Round's Japan qualifier. Players like Fuudo and Momochi do have UMvC3 but no one knows how much time they've spent to the game.