According to Mad Catz's MarkMan, Daigo Umehara will not be attending Norcal Regionals 2013 as revealed by the NCR organizer one month ago. Umehara will attend Niconico's Chokaigi 2 on April 28.
Chokaigi is Niconico's huge 2-day fan event that is held at Makuhari Messe convention center (same place as Tokyo Game Show). Anything you see on Niconico, including Internet phenomena, Internet celebrities, or Internet memes, you can see it for real at the event – from video contributors, streamers, vocaloid characters (in hologram concert) to Billy Herrington and alpacas.
The first Chokaigi last year wasn't a commercial success. The event posted 470.8 million yen loss. But it also attracted 92,000 attendees, not including 3.47 million on the web. This year it comes back with more and bigger sponsors.
Chokaigi 2 will be held between April 27-28. The lists of all the booths, stage shows, joint events can be found here.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Umehara confirmed for Chokaigi 2
Niconico announced today that Daigo Umehara will appear in the Fighting Games Stage in its Chokaigi 2 event on April 28 (14.30 to 16:30).
Nuki, R (Guy player), Sako, Haitani, Tokido, Mago, Fuudo, Uryo, Bon-hcan, are also confirmed. A 4 on 4 exhibition match will be held for SSF4AE2012 and Vampire Savior (via Vampire Resurrection).
Umehara was invited last year for an exhibition match at Chokaigi 1.
Note that we're not sure what will happen since Umehara was also confirmed to attend Norcal Regionals 2013 which is scheduled on April 26-28. This's clearly a schedule conflict.
Nuki, R (Guy player), Sako, Haitani, Tokido, Mago, Fuudo, Uryo, Bon-hcan, are also confirmed. A 4 on 4 exhibition match will be held for SSF4AE2012 and Vampire Savior (via Vampire Resurrection).
Umehara was invited last year for an exhibition match at Chokaigi 1.
Note that we're not sure what will happen since Umehara was also confirmed to attend Norcal Regionals 2013 which is scheduled on April 26-28. This's clearly a schedule conflict.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
[Video] Umehara @NYU Spring Fighter 2013
Mad Catz just posted the video of the talk session of Daigo Umehara and Seth Killian at NYU Spring Fighter 2013 at New York University.
The video was edited so we add something that is directly translated from Umehara's words with some notes.
- Umehara started going to game centers since 10 years old, something that parents shouldn't allow to. But his parents never stopped him from gaming, this's what Umehara thinks is the most important.
- Infiltration's playstyle is like when Umehara was in junior high school. Umehara wanted to win regardless of how he plays. The style was backing down until he sees an opportunity to attack. So at 14 years old, he thought fighting games is kinda easy. But then one day someone around 10 years older said to Umehara that "We know you're good but you don't have style." (in the sense of one-trick pony), Umehara was shocked.
- At the question "Flawless play but losing half of the time OR winning all the time," Umehara answered as if it was a trick question. He said if it's flawless play then luck must be involved, too. Because a move like Demon Flip makes you guess. On top of that, flawless doesn't necessarily mean beautiful, it could mean you try to win as easiest as possible. He chose winning all the time, but if flawless play proves to be stronger then he'll choose it.
- Umehara's toughest defeat was when he tried to win Capcom's official tournament 4 times in a row. (You can read more about this in this Famitsu interview)
- His greatest victory consists of 2 events: GameStop's national tournament (where he defeated Poongko, Iyo, Justin Wong) and (3 months later) Evo 2009. (Umehara won a free trip to Evo 2009 at the GameStop tournament)
- At the end of his career (when he's slow and can't win), Umehara prefers that people look at him as someone who kept trying stubbornly (rather than a guy who once was famous and ended it badly).
Pictures from MarkMan
- The lecture hall is packed
- During the talk session
- Umehara with the crowd after the talk session
The video was edited so we add something that is directly translated from Umehara's words with some notes.
- Umehara started going to game centers since 10 years old, something that parents shouldn't allow to. But his parents never stopped him from gaming, this's what Umehara thinks is the most important.
- Infiltration's playstyle is like when Umehara was in junior high school. Umehara wanted to win regardless of how he plays. The style was backing down until he sees an opportunity to attack. So at 14 years old, he thought fighting games is kinda easy. But then one day someone around 10 years older said to Umehara that "We know you're good but you don't have style." (in the sense of one-trick pony), Umehara was shocked.
- At the question "Flawless play but losing half of the time OR winning all the time," Umehara answered as if it was a trick question. He said if it's flawless play then luck must be involved, too. Because a move like Demon Flip makes you guess. On top of that, flawless doesn't necessarily mean beautiful, it could mean you try to win as easiest as possible. He chose winning all the time, but if flawless play proves to be stronger then he'll choose it.
- Umehara's toughest defeat was when he tried to win Capcom's official tournament 4 times in a row. (You can read more about this in this Famitsu interview)
- His greatest victory consists of 2 events: GameStop's national tournament (where he defeated Poongko, Iyo, Justin Wong) and (3 months later) Evo 2009. (Umehara won a free trip to Evo 2009 at the GameStop tournament)
- At the end of his career (when he's slow and can't win), Umehara prefers that people look at him as someone who kept trying stubbornly (rather than a guy who once was famous and ended it badly).
Pictures from MarkMan
- The lecture hall is packed
- During the talk session
- Umehara with the crowd after the talk session
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Willpower to Keep Winning reenters Amazon's top 10 bestsellers again
Daigo Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning has reentered Amazon Japan's top 10 bestsellers in overall Book category again (and it's currently out of stock). The Kindle version of his book is also back to the top of the bestselling products on Kindle Store. This repeated what happened in January.
His recent talk event at B&B bookstore is likely to be the cause. The event was reported on 3 websites.
Willpower to Keep Winning was ranked as the 7th bestselling nonfiction pocket book of the year 2012 on Amazon Japan.
His recent talk event at B&B bookstore is likely to be the cause. The event was reported on 3 websites.
Willpower to Keep Winning was ranked as the 7th bestselling nonfiction pocket book of the year 2012 on Amazon Japan.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Bon-chan wins Mahjong competition over pro Mahjong players
It was not just a good fight, it was EPIC!
Bon-chan, the famous Sagat player, participated in a 24-hour Mahjong competition (4 tables, 16 players) on March 30 which was streamed on Niconico. Bon-chan used to work at a Mahjong club so he is far from a novice. But his opponents were 3 female pro Mahjong players: Hatsune Osaki, Satomi Tomimoto, and Eri Mizuki.
No one had expected him to win because at the beginning Bon-chan totally had no luck and even lost 18300 points in a round by Ron to the leader Mizuki, to the hand as you see below. At one point, his score was as low as -3500. On top of that, Mizuki had a huge lead, finishing with more than 65000 points. Note that the result of each game will be accumulated. So if you have such a bad start, you will surely want to go home before it ends. Bon only won 3 times in the 1st game, but that helped him a lot.
Things changed completely in the 2nd game as Bon managed to finish near 40000 points and the leader of the last round Mizuki came in last. Bon won the game and moved up to 2nd place in overall.
Bon finished in the last place again with 9500 points in the 3rd game while the opponents either did well or decent. He was again in the last place overall. Good thing is Mizuki couldn't extend the lead. The new leader was Tomimoto.
Bon looked desperate most of the time in the 4th game. He only won one round, but it was big. It earned him 8000 points from the leader. Bon won this game but the points of all four players were close. Bon moved back to 2nd place overall and Tomimoto was still 1st.
At the beginning of the 5th game, Bon made a right decision that earned him 8000 points. The game was pretty close at this point for Bon and Tomimoto (around 30000 points) but Bon had to win big, if he wanted to win the whole competition. Then in the round before the last round, Bon evaded TWO Reach (from Osaki and Mizuki) and won with the hand below (Baiman Tsumo) which earned him 18000 points! Now he had 49000 points while Tomimoto had 26800. Then in the last round Bon got a Ron from Osaki and sealed it.
The match was 7 hours long. The prize is an appearance in a manga character form in the manga magazine Kindai Mahjong (The magazine that had Umehara's Mahjong manga).
Mahjong channels on Niconico try to attract new people by inviting fighting game players such as Kokujin, KSK, Itabashi Zangief, and Nuki. This's Bon-chan's 2nd appearance on the channel.
Bon-chan, the famous Sagat player, participated in a 24-hour Mahjong competition (4 tables, 16 players) on March 30 which was streamed on Niconico. Bon-chan used to work at a Mahjong club so he is far from a novice. But his opponents were 3 female pro Mahjong players: Hatsune Osaki, Satomi Tomimoto, and Eri Mizuki.
Picture: Osaki (left), Tomimoto (middle), Mizuki (right)
No one had expected him to win because at the beginning Bon-chan totally had no luck and even lost 18300 points in a round by Ron to the leader Mizuki, to the hand as you see below. At one point, his score was as low as -3500. On top of that, Mizuki had a huge lead, finishing with more than 65000 points. Note that the result of each game will be accumulated. So if you have such a bad start, you will surely want to go home before it ends. Bon only won 3 times in the 1st game, but that helped him a lot.
Things changed completely in the 2nd game as Bon managed to finish near 40000 points and the leader of the last round Mizuki came in last. Bon won the game and moved up to 2nd place in overall.
Bon finished in the last place again with 9500 points in the 3rd game while the opponents either did well or decent. He was again in the last place overall. Good thing is Mizuki couldn't extend the lead. The new leader was Tomimoto.
Bon looked desperate most of the time in the 4th game. He only won one round, but it was big. It earned him 8000 points from the leader. Bon won this game but the points of all four players were close. Bon moved back to 2nd place overall and Tomimoto was still 1st.
At the beginning of the 5th game, Bon made a right decision that earned him 8000 points. The game was pretty close at this point for Bon and Tomimoto (around 30000 points) but Bon had to win big, if he wanted to win the whole competition. Then in the round before the last round, Bon evaded TWO Reach (from Osaki and Mizuki) and won with the hand below (Baiman Tsumo) which earned him 18000 points! Now he had 49000 points while Tomimoto had 26800. Then in the last round Bon got a Ron from Osaki and sealed it.
The match was 7 hours long. The prize is an appearance in a manga character form in the manga magazine Kindai Mahjong (The magazine that had Umehara's Mahjong manga).
Mahjong channels on Niconico try to attract new people by inviting fighting game players such as Kokujin, KSK, Itabashi Zangief, and Nuki. This's Bon-chan's 2nd appearance on the channel.
Event reports: Umehara's talk show at B&B
Three websites posted an event report of Daigo Umehara's talk show at B&B bookstore.
- Famitsu
- 4Gamer.net
- IT Media
Notes
- Chikirin appeared with a mask.
- There were more than 60 participants.
- When he was a kid, Umehara had a bad relationship with his teacher because he didn't "have a reason to" study. But if there's an invitation for a lecture from the school he will gladly accept.
- What Umehara learnt when he was a kid is if you want people to really accept you then you have to win impressively, not just win. (He was physically strong as a kid. Friends cheered on him when he overcame another kid. But they didn't invite him for a trip to Disneyland. So he realized that he's not actually popular.)
- Umehara will quit playing (retire as pro gamer) if he feels he can't stay competitive.
- Chikirin bought the book Willpower to Keep Winning after seeing Umehara's Evo 2004 comeback video via a tweet. She was impressed by the content of the book and introduced it to her followers.
- Famitsu
- 4Gamer.net
- IT Media
Notes
- Chikirin appeared with a mask.
- There were more than 60 participants.
- When he was a kid, Umehara had a bad relationship with his teacher because he didn't "have a reason to" study. But if there's an invitation for a lecture from the school he will gladly accept.
- What Umehara learnt when he was a kid is if you want people to really accept you then you have to win impressively, not just win. (He was physically strong as a kid. Friends cheered on him when he overcame another kid. But they didn't invite him for a trip to Disneyland. So he realized that he's not actually popular.)
- Umehara will quit playing (retire as pro gamer) if he feels he can't stay competitive.
- Chikirin bought the book Willpower to Keep Winning after seeing Umehara's Evo 2004 comeback video via a tweet. She was impressed by the content of the book and introduced it to her followers.
Monday, April 1, 2013
[April Fools] Persona 4 Music Band to perform at Evo 2013
It's confirmed today that Persona 4 Music Band will perform at Evolution 2013 on July 14.
The fighting game Persona 4: Arena was chosen to be 1 of the 8 titles in Evo this year and the game publisher Atlus will show their support by sending the band to perform at the world's biggest fighting game tournament.
Persona 4: Arena (known as Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena in Japan) had sold more than 130,000 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the best selling conventional fighting game in the past 4 years in the country.
The soundtracks of Persona 4 series is one of the most famous of its genre. Despite most of the songs being English, all of the soundtrack CDs combined have sold over 100,000 copies in Japan. The arrange album in 2011 was top of the weekly sales chart, which is very rare for a game OST. The band in charge of the music performance is Persona 4 Music Band. The vocalists are Shihoko Hirata (most of Persona 4 songs) and Yumi Kawamura (Persona 3 songs). Last year, they had their own concert and were selected to perform in Animelo Summer Live 2012 (the world's biggest anime song concert).
Video: Hirata (miniskirt) and Kawamura singing Key Plus Words (Persona 4: The Animation 2nd opening)
Atlus is known for showing a lot of supports for North America. They're one of a few Japanese developers who continue to localize niche games. The games also often come with pre-order bonus soundtrack CD.
Evolution 2013 will be held between July 12-14 at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.
The fighting game Persona 4: Arena was chosen to be 1 of the 8 titles in Evo this year and the game publisher Atlus will show their support by sending the band to perform at the world's biggest fighting game tournament.
Persona 4: Arena (known as Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena in Japan) had sold more than 130,000 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the best selling conventional fighting game in the past 4 years in the country.
The soundtracks of Persona 4 series is one of the most famous of its genre. Despite most of the songs being English, all of the soundtrack CDs combined have sold over 100,000 copies in Japan. The arrange album in 2011 was top of the weekly sales chart, which is very rare for a game OST. The band in charge of the music performance is Persona 4 Music Band. The vocalists are Shihoko Hirata (most of Persona 4 songs) and Yumi Kawamura (Persona 3 songs). Last year, they had their own concert and were selected to perform in Animelo Summer Live 2012 (the world's biggest anime song concert).
Video: Hirata (miniskirt) and Kawamura singing Key Plus Words (Persona 4: The Animation 2nd opening)
Atlus is known for showing a lot of supports for North America. They're one of a few Japanese developers who continue to localize niche games. The games also often come with pre-order bonus soundtrack CD.
Evolution 2013 will be held between July 12-14 at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.
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