Daigo Umehara's Event Schedule 2015

- Canada Cup's Master Series [January 9-11]
- 5th Niconico Shotenkaigi [January 18]
- Yonpahi radio show [January 23]
- 6th Niconico Shotenkaigi [January 25]
- Taipei Game Show [Jan 31]
- Tokaigi 2015 [Feb 1]

Sunday, September 30, 2012

DOA5 defeat scenes video enters Nico Ranking

The Japanese usually show the world how to play a fighting game. This time, they did it again with Dead or Alive 5.

A video of defeat scene highlights of DOA5 has entered Nico Nico's daily popular ranking today. The video (below) sits at 17th place as of now.


Japan's SF 25th Anniversary Nationals Day 1 summary


Info
- Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournament announced
- PPV stream prices
- Daigo Umehara confirmed to participate
- Official website
- Today's streams are free both main and sub

Brackets
Street Fighter X Tekken
Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver.2012
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike Online Edition

Since the streams were poorly managed (some matches were transfered half-way between main/sub) we decided to abandon other details.

Note that there won't be a summary post of Day 2, Day 3, and the finals. We'll just wait for an update from the official site or press release.

Group G

Bon-chan 0-2 Umehara
1-2
0-2 *FADC Metsu finish in 1st round *Umehara got hit only once in last round

Umehara jumped more than usual, probably to challenge Bon-chan to Tiger Uppercut, which was worth it.

Umehara only played one match today. He will face Shino-chan (Oni player) next day.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Rare footage of Umehara actually plays JoJo HD

Who saw that coming? Capcom has managed to make Daigo Umehara play JoJo's Bizzare Adventure HD!

In the latest promotional video of the game, Capcom's Niitsuma invited Umehara and Tokido to play JoJo's Bizzare Adventure HD and asked their impressions. Since both of them used to play the original version, they said it made them think of the olden days. It's also revealed that Umehara read the manga.

From the video, it seems like Umehara's main is Dio!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Gunslinger Stratos theme released today

Gunslinger Stratos' theme song "Transfer" is being released today. Below is its promotional video. The single also comes with a campaign code for "headphones," an in-game accessory.

The song is produced by Livetune (composer of various Miku Hatsune songs and Ore Imo theme "Irony") and sung by Megumi Nakajima (voice/song of Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier).


Umehara confirmed for Japan's SF 25th Anniversary Nationals

From the draw (hosted by KSK, Frieda, Capcom's Ayano) yesterday evening, Daigo Umehara is now confirmed to participate in the SSF4AE2012 qualifiers of Capcom's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournament.

As if it was scripted, Umehara's name was the last draw on the stream. There is also a possibility that he will face Bon-chan in his first match.

The whole tournament, except its first day, will be pay-per-view. The finals will be held in Nicofarre.


1st Stratos Party announced, featuring Umehara

Square Enix announced today the first official event of Gunslinger Stratos called "The 1st Stratos Party: Tenkuu Matsuri." Daigo Umehara will also participate. There will be an introduction to the game, online match, and a special talk session. The event will be streamed by Nico Nico on October 8, starting from 8 PM.

Participants
  • Atsushi Abe (voice actor, Toru role)
  • Kana Ueda (voice actress, Shizune role)
  • Masakazu Nishida (voice actor, Kyoma role)
  • Umehara
  • Fuudo
  • Mago
  • Nobuki Kadoi (game producer)
  • Shinichirou Obata (game director)
  • Kazushi Nakamura (game developer)
  • Bunbunmaru as MC (the Virtua Fighter player who now works for Famitsu, also a GunStratos player)


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

SF 25th Anniversary National Tournament stream pricings revealed

It is revealed that Nico Nico will be streaming a draw event of Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournament this evening. But the interesting thing is the pricings of the PPV streams are also revealed, as below. There are sub streams, but it is for people who buy the special package.

Qualifiers (online)
  • September 29 (top 64) - Free
  • September 30 (top 32) - 500 yen (only main, no sub)
  • October 6-7* (top 8) - 500 yen (only main, no sub)
*October 7 is reserved in case of delay

Finals (offline)
  • October 20 - 2,000 yen (only main, no sub)
Special package
  • Access to all the streams including sub streams above - 3,000 yen

Note that the ticket of the last day is actually expensive. Here is comparison.

The 2nd TOPANGA League
- 3,200 yen (early purchase)
- 12 well-known players
- 12 days  *6 days are offline matches
- 756 games
- 1 million yen prize money
- Players who live far away are paid travel/lodging expenses
- Organized by community, no other source of income

Blue Revo 2012 (official BlazBlue national tournament)
- 500 yen (early purchase)
- 16 teams (of 3 players) *offline qualifiers
- 1 day (finals)
- a mini concert
- 1 million yen prize money
- Organized by Arc System Works

Tougeki 2012
- 2,500 yen
- 32 teams/players each title *offline qualifiers
- 2 days (finals)
- 8 titles
- No details on prize money
- Organized by a media publisher

SF 25th Anniversary National Tournament
- 2,000 yen
- 8 players each title (only Fuudo is guaranteed) *online qualifiers
- 1 day (finals)
- 3 titles
- No prize money
- Organized by Capcom

Sunday, September 23, 2012

[Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross] J's replay #6

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


  1. Eva & George vs. Kanon & Lucifer
  2. Willard & Bernkastel vs. Kanon & Ronove
  3. Black Battler & Beatrice vs. Kanon & Shannon
  4. Rosa & Virgilia vs. Bernkastel & Jessica

Friday, September 21, 2012

Gunslinger Stratos radio planned

Square Enix announced today that a 13-episode web radio program of Gunslinger Stratos will be aired between October 7 to December 30 at Chou! A&G+. The personalities are voice actor Atsushi Abe (Tohru role) and voice actress Kana Ueda (Shizune role).

Kana Ueda, a gamer herself, has been playing Gunslinger Stratos seriously for months, and was often seen playing in Daigo Umehara team after work. Abe Atsushi was also seen playing together with them recently.

Senran Kagura fighting game possibly announced

A new game from Senran Kagura series called Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus was announced for PS Vita on Wednesday in Sony's pre-TGS press conference. No picture was showed and its genre was not mentioned. But one thing they said is it is completely new (even said "new series"). From the subtitle of the game, there is a chance that it will be a fighting game.

There is no other information except the game is scheduled for February 28, 2013.

Senran Kagura has spent only one year to become one of Marvelous AQL's biggest IPs. There are already 2 games on the 3DS and anime adaptation is coming in 2013. (Not to mention comic, energy drink, theme cafe, web radio show, T-Shirts, pillowcases, erotic mousepads, etc.) Senran Kagura Burst (trailer below) that was released just last month has sold almost 70,000 copies in its first week.


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 first week sales revealed

Media Create, the well-known Japanese console games market researcher, has now revealed (via GAF) that the PS3 version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has sold 62,630 copies in its first week in Japan.

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

First week sales of fighting games between 2008-2012 in Japan by Media Create
  1. [PSP] Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix) {2009.12.18} - 489,100 | NEW
  2. [PSP] Dissidia: 012 (Duodecim) Final Fantasy (Square Enix) {2011.03.03} - 286,117 / NEW
  3. [PS3] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 128,485 / NEW 
  4. [PS3] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2009.10.29} - 103,105 / NEW
  5. [PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 86,000 / NEW
  6. [PS2] Fate/Unlimited Codes (Capcom) {2008.12.18} - 82,900 | NEW
  7. [PS3] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 80,882 / NEW
  8. [PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Battle of Aces (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.21} - 76,088 / NEW
  9. [PS3] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 74,607 / NEW
  10. [PS3] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 67,187 / NEW
  11. [PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.23} - 65,758 / NEW
  12. [PS3] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.09.13} - 62,630 / NEW
  13. [PS3] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 58,471 / NEW
  14. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (Namco Bandai) {2009.11.09} - 57,972 / NEW
  15. [PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny (Bandai Namco) {2011.12.22} - 57,320 / NEW
  16. [PS3] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 54,924 / NEW
  17. [PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (Arc System Works) {2010.07.01} - 49,871 / NEW
  18. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.11.11} - 47.610 / NEW
  19. [3DS] Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Capcom) {2011.02.26} - 44,649 / NEW
  20. [PS3] Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.12.08} - 44,593 / NEW
  21. [PS2] Melty Blood: Actress Again (Ecole Software) {2009.08.20} - 44,292 / NEW
  22. [360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 38,000 / NEW
  23. [360] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 34,786 / NEW
  24. [PS3] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 34,328 / NEW 
  25. [PSP] Fate/Unlimited Codes Portable (Capcom) {2009.06.18} - 34,205 / NEW
  26. [PS3] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 33,768 / NEW
  27. [PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works) {2011.12.17} - 32,992 / NEW
  28. [360] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 28,454 / NEW
  29. [PSP] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.14} - 25,131 / NEW
  30. [360] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 24,812 / NEW
  31. [WII] Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (Capcom) {2008.12.11} - 24,100 / NEW
  32. [PSP] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (Arc System Works) {2011.03.31} - 23,808 / NEW
  33. [3DS] Dead or Alive: Dimensions (Koei Tecmo) {2011.05.19} - 23,078 / NEW
  34. [PS3] Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom) {2011.11.17} - 22,436 / NEW
  35. [PS3] The King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore) {2011.12.01} - 21,525 / NEW
  36. [PS3] AQUAPAZZA (Aquaplus) {2012.08.30} - 20,935 / NEW
  37. [PS3] Arcana Heart 3 (Arc System Works) {2011.01.13} - 17,219 / NEW
  38. [360] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 13,779 / NEW
  39. [360] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 12,326 / NEW
  40. [360] Phantom Breaker (5pb.) {2011.06.02} - 9,960 / NEW
  41. [360] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 9,801 / NEW 
  42. [3DS] Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.16} - 9,421 / NEW
  43. [360] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 8,527 / NEW
  44. [360] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 7,679 / NEW

How will Evo handle politics?

This post is inspired by the recent developments of the island disputes between Japan - China, and Japan - South Korea.

In case you don't follow the news, there's "China's worst outbreak of anti-Japan sentiment in decades" going on. The cause is Senkaku Islands (just Google "Senkaku Islands dispute").

Here's what going on.
1. The islands is currently under Japan's control.
2. Japan arrested (and later released) captain of a Chinese fishing boat in the territory.
3. China is mad. Big protests followed.
4. Chinese activists made unauthorized landing, by swimming, after the boat was stopped by Japan Coast Guard. They were later detained and deported.
5. Japanese activists did exactly the same things. They were also stopped and questioned by the JCG.
6. Japanese government itself bought the islands from the owners, just before the Japanese nationalists/extremists do, to prevent any crazy development.
7. Crazy developments happened anyway in China. (Some Chinese protesters attacked a Japanese restaurant and later found out that the owner is actually Chinese, etc, etc.)
8. Japanese investors are shutting down business/factories in China. (A big anime concert in Shanghai from top Japanese artists are also being canceled (after heavily promoted).)
9. One thousand Chinese fishing boats are reportedly going to the waters near the islands.

Japan and South Korea are also having a territorial dispute (just Google "Liancourt Rocks dispute") that lead to a South Korean soccer player holding a sign "[The Islands] is ours" walking around the field at Olympic 2012.

Since making political statements is prohibited in the events, the player was later barred from receiving the bronze medal.

Now the situations are getting worse, we fear that politics will eventually ruin a big fighting game tournament. The last thing we want to see is someone (from any country) waving a sign with political statement like that at Evolution. But first of all, shouldn't Evo have a rule to prevent this first?

Monday, September 17, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 12 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 7 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 8 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 9 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 10 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 11 summary

Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Yoshiwo (Guile player)
- Shiro (Makoto player) *after 3rd match

Opening skit
- R and the audience shouted TOPANGA LEAGUE.

Stats
- The show was 4 hours 30 minutes long.
- The show ended with 70,304 attendees and 112,161 comments.
- They revealed that there're 756 games in TOPANGA League this season.

Menu
1. Fuudo vs. Bon-chan
2. Umehara vs. Sako
3. Bon-chan vs. Uryo
4. Kazunoko vs. Sako 
5. Umehara vs. Fuudo

Spoilers inside.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 11 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 7 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 8 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 9 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 10 summary


Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Yoshiwo (Guile player)

Opening skit
- R was hiding in the audience.
- Tokido was in Spider-man mask holding "When will Tokido-san appear in Z League?" (Tokido used to joke that he won't play in League B but Z so he can be Z Warrior (a reference to Dragon Ball Z).

Stats
- The show was 5 hours 18 minutes long.
- The show ended with 77,101 attendees and 90,193 comments.

Menu
1. Umehara vs. Uryo
2. Kazunoko vs. Bon-chan
3. Uryo vs. Sako
4. Kazunoko vs. Fuudo
5. Umehara vs. Bon-chan

Spoilers inside.

Umehara joins Mad Catz booth @TGS2012

Famitsu reported that Daigo Umehara will be at Mad Catz booth at Tokyo Game Show 2012 on September 22-23 (Saturday - Sunday).

There will be an exhibition match between Umehara and yet-to-be-announced opponent(s). Tokido and Mago will also be there to give private lesson to fighting gamers on SF4/SFxTK/SC5 (registration required). And three of them will have a photograph session in the afternoon.

Other activities at the booth
- TGS Kumite (challenge Team Mad Catz, registration required)
- Talk session (Tekken's Harada vs. MarkMan)
- Evo Stick giveaway (4 sticks in 2 days)
- Mad Catz original strap giveaway for people who come to the booth wearing their claw T-shirt.
- Space for casual matches.

Friday, September 14, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 10 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 7 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 8 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 9 summary


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

Opening skit
- R walked in from outside Nico Nico's HQ. (Last 3 days will be held in the HQ.)

Stats
- The show was 4 hours 34 minutes long.
- The show ended with 71,877 attendees and 78,048 comments.


Menu
1. Umehara vs. Kazunoko
2. Fuudo vs. Uryo
3. Sako vs. Bon-chan
4. Uryo vs. Kazunoko
5. Fuudo vs. Sako

Spoilers inside.

Monday, September 10, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League Round 9 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 7 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 8 summary


Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Yoshiwo (Guile player)

Opening skit
- Sako came out to say "Seyana" ("That's right." in Kansai dialect) after R's TOPANGA LEAGUE call. (Sako lives in Osaka which is in Kansai region.)

Stats
- The show was 4 hours 34 minutes long.
- The show ended with 76,822 attendees and 74,195 comments.
- After the show, Momochi and Tokido had a meal bet first-to-five. Momochi won 5-2.

Menu
1. Uryo vs. Momochi
2. Sako vs. Cabbage
3. Haitani vs. Momochi
4. Uryo vs. Cabbage
5. Sako vs. Haitani


 Spoilers inside.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League Round 8 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 7 summary


Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Tokido (in Brazil soccer team shirt) *left after second match
- Fuudo and Bon-chan *appeared after second match

Opening skit
- Tokido made TOPANGA LEAGUE call.

Stats
- The show was 4 hours 34 minutes long.
- The show ended with 75,464 attendees and 78,274 comments.

Menu
1. YHC-Mochi vs. Momochi
2. Sako vs. Uryo
3. YHC-Mochi vs. Cabbage
4. Sako vs. Momochi
5. YHC-Mochi vs. Haitani

Spoilers inside.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League Round 7 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary


Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Shiro (Shiro player)

Opening skit
- R pretended to be a Japanese idol in a concert.

Stats
- New opening contains a rare footage of Daigo Umehara playing catchball.
- The show was 4 hours 20 minutes long.
- The show ended with 74,342 attendees and 76,215 comments.

Menu
1. Uryo vs. Haitani
2. Momochi vs. Cabbage
3. Sako vs. YHC-Mochi
4. Cabbage vs. Haitani
5. YHC-Mochi vs. Uryo

Spoilers inside.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League A: Rules Update 2

TOPANGA revealed at the end of 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 on Sunday that 3 players are guaranteed to go down to League B instead of 2 like in the first season. That means up to 5 players will be relegated.

We take this opportunity to put both the new and old rules here so you do not have to look back 3 separate posts.

The 2nd TOPANGA League (A) consists of 3 stages.

First Stage (Round 1-6)
- 12 player round-robin
- Online match.
- First-to-Three.
- 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.
- First-to-Ten.
- There is deuce when the score is 9-9.
- The player who finished higher than the opponent in previous stage will be given 1 game win in advance each match.
- [New] 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.

Third Stage (Round 10-12)
- 6 player round-robin
- Offline match.
- First-to-Ten.
- There is deuce when the score is 9-9.
- 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.

GD
GD (Game Difference) will be used to determine who will place higher if the players have the same number of wins. (Winning 3-0 is equal to +3 GD, losing 2-3 is equal to -1 GD.) If the players also have the same GDs, head-to-head result will be used.

Monday, September 3, 2012

2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 6 summary

Info
- 2nd TOPANGA League announced, prizes, tickets, schedule, stream links
- Rules and format
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 1 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 2 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 3 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 4 summary
- 2nd TOPANGA League (A) Round 5 summary

Commentators
- R (Guy player)
- Yoshiwo (Guile player)

Opening skit
- R and Yoshiwo played against each other but we got to see only the last moment where R got hit by Sonic Hurricane. Final result is 3-2, Yoshiwo won.

Stats
- The show ended with 80,028 attendees and 118,994 comments.

Menu
1 .Uryo vs. Kazunoko
2. Haitani vs. Bon-chan
3. Momochi vs. Eita
4. Sako vs. Mago
5. Kazunoko vs. Cabbage
6. Fuudo vs. Momochi
7. Umehara vs. Uryo
8. Haitani vs. YCH-Mochi
9. Fuudo vs. Bon-chan
10. Mago vs. Uryo
11. Umehara vs. Sako

Spoilers inside.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Under Night: In-Birth: How to Play

The System page has been added to the official website of Under Night: In-Birth yesterday. The very good news is not only it has no comeback mechanics, it also rewards better players big bonus.

Here is our summary.

There are only 2 gauges that you have to pay attention to, EXS and GRD. This game really requires strategy as both of them can fill each other.

EXS (pronounced Exis)
- It is on the bottom left or right of the screen.
- This is similar to SF4's Super Combo gauge.
- Full gauge is EXS 200%. Half gauge is EXS 100%.
- It is used for EX version of special moves. EXS 100%+ is required.
- By pressing A+B+C at EXS 100%+, the character will enter Veil Off state. In this state, you can use EXS moves as much as you want in limited time until the gauge depletes to 0%. (Veil Off consumes all of your EXS.)
- Veil Off activation moment also works similar to "Burst." You gain some invincibility and the shockwave will push opponent away. It will also cause GRD Break to opponent upon hitting. (The developer said in February that you cannot use it under hit-stun so it is not a typical "Burst.")
- In Veil Off state, you will also get GRD bonus from actions.
- Ultimate moves called Infinite Verse will be usable at EXS 200% or in Veil Off state.
- Ultimate moves called Infinite Verse EXST will be usable only at EXS 200% and while opponent has 30% life or below, and you must use between a combo while having max Veil Off. This is instant death move.

GRD (Grind Grid)
- It is on the bottom center of the screen.
- Your GRD will increase if you are in a good situation, and decrease during a bad situation.
- GRD Vorpal is activated each time after the circle is filled with light. If your GRD is more than opponent at the moment, the circle will turn into your color (red or blue) and you get the benefits. The circle will then be reset again after it is filled. There is a chance that the circle will always be your color if you can maintain the momentum. If both players have the same GRD when the circle is filled, the circle will turn white and no one gets the benefits.
- In GRD Vorpal state, you do extra damage.
- In GRD Vorpal state, by pressing D twice, you can convert all of your GRD into EXS gauge. This action is called Chain Shift. Moreover, Chain Shift will cancel the ongoing animations, returning you to neutral again so you can continue a combo or use it for frame trap. The GRD circle will turn white after using it.
- You can boost your GRD by holding D. It can also decrease opponent's GRD. This action (called Concentration) consumes EXS.
- You will get GRD bonus when blocking an attack using Shield. But if you get hit while using Shield, GRD Break will occur. GRD Break will reset your GRD.
- Shield (press D while blocking) requires some EXS (around 20%). If successful, you will gain a lot of momentum in GRD.

Other features
- There are 4 buttons: A (light attack), B (medium), C (strong), D (EXS Action).
- There is something similar to P4U's Auto Combo, called Smart Steer. You get a combo by pressing A>A>A>A.
- Assault (forward + D) works like hop (for hop attack), midair is possible. It requires 10% EXS.

Here are some of the new gameplay videos from last week which you can use as reference.





Under Night: In-Birth will be released to the Japanese arcades on September 20.