Daigo owns Arcadia Magazine! - A 1UP classic from October 11, 2010

Hello friends, I trust you had a good weekend. I picked up the November 2010 issue of Arcadia this weekend. The cover story was a feature on the upcoming Kidou Senshi Gundam: Extreme Vs. an arcade update of the popular Gundam series. It is very much in the vein of the classic Sega title Virtua On.

Despite the big reveal on the Gundam game, this issue was packed with tons of info on Super Street Fighter IV. In particular the official announcement of Yun and Yang in the arcade as well as an interview with Producer Yoshinori Ono.

Joining Ono to talk about the game is the SF phenom Daigo Umehara.

This issue of Arcadia totally belonged to Daigo.

Daigo already had a running column in the magazine but the November issue turned out page after page of interviews and his take on the various fighting games as well as his competition on the international level, including the USA's own Justin Wong.

As if all that weren't enough there was even a manga in the back about a couple of inept bounty hunters trying to track down Daigo.

They never do find Daigo as they spend most of the time springing traps on themselves and getting into trouble.

It's really nice to see how Daigo has come up in popularity in Japan and how Capcom is making sure that the press remembers what games he is famous for. Fame can only take a player so far, skills are what will keep Daigo from being forgotten by the masses. Let's just hope that Capcom might get around to tapping another community member the next time they go about designing a new Street Fighter game...

I'm just saying.

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Remembering some rare fighting game news in Arcadia

A couple of weeks ago I talked about bringing my Arcadia magazines out of the garage, and into the house. I’ve been flipping through them, and remembered that many of the games featured within never came to the USA. Not only that, but even Japanese audiences didn’t always get a chance to play some of these games, as they were only in location tests, or never saw a wider release. If you follow this blog you’ll remember that I talked about Psy-Phi that last two Fridays. It was a touch screen arcade game made by Sega.

In addition to being a touch screen game, it was also notable because the mechanic was an evolved version of Psychic Force. Psychic Force was a Taito fighter from 1995. Its sequel Psychic Force 2012 came out in 1998, and was published on multiple consoles including the Sega Dreamcast. Those games featured a cast of psychic powered characters that could float, and battled in the sky using their mental powers. I could imagine that arcade visitors didn’t like the touch mechanic, despite the buzz it generated at the AOU trade show. After 2005 nothing came from it.

It wasn’t the only rare fighting game immortalized in the pages of Arcadia. There was also Ken-Ju. The 3D fighting game had a lot of unique things going for it, including online matchmaking, and character customization when these things weren’t even available in the biggest titles of the time. I was able to do a deep dive on Ken-Ju on the blog. I was thankful that I held onto these issues, and share them here.

Possibly the most important cancelled fighting game that was covered was War of the Grail. It was a fantasy-strategy-fighting game from Capcom. Kinu Nishimura created some fantastic designs for the game, and it would get a limited location test in a few arcades. Sadly the project was scrapped, and very little on the game was released after this issue came out.

It would be the first game directed by Yoshinori Ono, who had moved up from sound production in the studio. When he was appearing in his first San Diego Comic Con in 2008 I brought my issue with me for him to autograph. He was blown away that there were people in the US had been following his career. It wouldn’t be the only time I surprised him with these rare issues. When he did another signing to celebrate the release of Super Street Fighter IV I brought out two more Arcadia issues to autograph. I remember him asking his translator where I was getting these issues, and telling him that I had a subscription to the magazine.

Some of the games featured in Arcadia were unique. Although I was getting the issues mostly for info on fighters, it was nice to see those characters pop up in other games. The Korean title Perfect K.O. for example featured Ken, and Chun-Li from Street Fighter. It was neat seeing how they would fare in 3D combat. It wasn’t the only unique cameo. This was the case for Guilty Gear, when it crossed over with Lost Saga, the free-to-play game developed by I.O. Entertainment in 2009. The game was brawling chaos, like many other games in that vein.

Were there any fighting games you wished you had played, or you wished had been published? I’d like to read about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Street Fighter X Tekken Event Coverage! - A 1UP classic from March 2, 2012

Happy Friday amigos! I hope you have a great weekend planned. On my side I have a long day of work and orchestra rehearsal scheduled for tonight. Our first concert of the season is this Sunday. I'll see about getting some footage for you hopefully in the week ahead. I'd like to talk about the Street Fighter X Tekken event that went down in Los Angeles last night.

As with other Capcom release parties this one had a queue almost a block long at least two hours before the doors opened! If you ever think about going to a release party then make sure to get there early. I was fortunate because work was not too far from there and I could drive down and get in line relatively early. The people at Capcom were trying things slightly different and made sure that people understood it was 21 and over only. They, and the hosts at Majestic Halls did not want any trouble with minors crashing a party that was serving alcohol so they were going through the RSVP list and checking state issued ID's very carefully.

Once inside the building guests received a complimentary tee shirt. This shirt will undoubtedly be fetching a pretty penny on eBay very soon. Sorry but even though the shirt was too small for me does not mean I will be selling it.

Capcom has gotten quite experienced at hosting release parties. Every SF IV release, Marvel VS Capcom 3, Resident Evil and various Comic Cons would testify that they are a very community-oriented company. They had multiple cabinets set up for players to check out the final version of SF X TK. Plus they had free drinks, and a live DJ spinning at the show.

Attendees and sponsors were dressed up for the event.

Capcom spared no expense posting gigantic banners and making guests feel welcome. Goodies were given away at the event and Producer Yoshinori Ono was signing posters for attendees.

The coolest thing at the event was the art show presented by the Tsunami Syndicate. It was a collection of local artists putting forward original pieces and prints for sale of the SF and TK characters.

I would like to say thanks to Capcom, as always, for showing the community much love. They demonstrate time and time again how a publisher should reach out to the fanbase and make them feel like a part each and every release. The studio supports the local and national fighting tournament scenes, even when their games have to share the spotlight with other titles.There aren't many publishers that can claim to do the same thing. Cacpom, unlike several publishers that save their showings to the GDC or E3 make sure to appear at public events including PAX and the Comic Con.

Keeping tabs on community members on forums and sites outside of Capcom-Unity and Facebook makes the company seem more invested in the community than just about any other publisher. This type of reaching out will continue to earn the respect and admiration of the fans. Although I am not a fond of Mr. Ono's direction with the fighting titles I still wish the studio the best. Be sure to check out SF X TK this weekend and let me know what you think.

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Capcom at the E3 2017, or why were people hating?

Howdy friends, I hope your summer of games is off to a good start. This year Street Fighter celebrates its 30th Anniversary. You can bet that I have something planned to celebrate the occasion. Until that is ready I do want to say a big THANK YOU to Capcom for everything they’ve done for audiences this year. There has been a lot of negativity coming from some members of the fighting game community in the past few weeks. People have been critical of Capcom for the Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite footage. Most feel that the game seems lackluster and missing a number of characters and even features. It’s a big concern to fighting game fans because Street Fighter V got off to a rough start as well. Other games like Tekken 7 and King of Fighters XIV seemed to be better planned out and had more polish and features when they were released. Not to mention that the footage of Bandai Namco’s Dragon Ball FighterZ looks amazing, allegedly the game is only 20% complete. Despite all of this I want to remind FGC members that Capcom is one of the few studios that believes in the fighting game market, and more important, if it weren’t for Capcom reigniting the spark with Street Fighter IV almost a decade ago then chances are none of the revivals would have happened. Even with EVO setting the foundation for fighting game e-sports there wouldn’t be pro players without constantly evolving titles.



I’ve managed to make a lot of friends and meet plenty of cool and interesting people thanks to Capcom. Without Capcom-Unity and the older 1UP site chances are I would have never crossed paths with a lot of good men and women. The E3 was a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones. We should be grateful that the company cares enough to not only provide fun games year after year but that they believe enough in social media to host Capcom-Unity and provide a forum for the company and fans to interact. Critics don’t have to wait for a convention to get face time with the employees or other FGC members. If you have something to say you have a place to do it. You have a place to put together a thread, start a discussion and raise ideas that Capcom employees will actually read.

 

I’m upset that people do not appreciate how much time, money and energy is spent creating their online community. I’m just as upset how many people completely ignore what goes into making convention booths. Capcom doesn’t have to create life-size Monster Hunter creatures or Resident Evil houses. They do not have to broadcast live from the floor of the show. They do not have to give audiences dozens of kiosks to try out new games before the general public. They could set up a few monitors and only show video, which is what some publishers do at the E3. Or they could cut down on the demo stations and rely on press-only demos to get the word out. But they don’t do that. They create amazing displays for audiences to enjoy, to immerse them into the worlds they love and support. Still some people have the nerve to complain.



Capcom is not obliged to go above and beyond for the community. They could be like other companies and simply show off what they are working on and ignore any and all feedback. When the E3, or any big convention rolls around it is their time to shine. They create enormous booths, filled with consoles and arcade cabinets not just for press and vendors, but so fans can try out games a few months if not years ahead of release. I’m glad that the company has celebrated the milestones of the various IP. From Mega Man, Ace Attorney, Resident Evil to Street Fighter, every 5 or 10 years they do something to honor their legacy. Think about it, how many companies that were around 30 or more years ago are still around and still creating sequels for their titles? How many have made successful toys, animated shows and comics out of their property?



Those that were mad about what was or was not revealed at the E3 have to realize that the company cannot make everyone happy. The E3 is first and foremost a trade convention. This is one of the big chances in the year that the publisher gets to meet directly with retailers. They have to convince toy chains, game stores and boutiques that they want to order Capcom games as well as merchandise in time for the holidays. Every legacy title with their own following deserves to have quality merchandise released, and not only Street Fighter. Then again Street Fighter is one of the rare games that has street cred. It is an important title with urban youth, the cultural trendsetters. These people want clothing and collectables that reflects the FGC. Later on this year Capcom will build a temporary store and take the exclusive products with them on the road. Again, how many other companies do the same for their fans or community?



Some people online have the audacity to complain about the lack of goodies and giveaways that Capcom was providing visitors. Almost every publisher has scaled back on giveaways at the E3. They wanted the focus to be on the games and not the goodies. As if playing free games wasn’t a good enough reason, what about being able to take pictures with or on expensive set pieces? I mean did anybody even bat an eye at the life-size Ultron-Sigma figure seated at his throne? It was as if people walked off the streets of LA and onto the set of a Marvel film. Visitors could walk right up to the figure and take pictures with him in the background. Capcom has done this type of enormous photo-op at previous conventions and yet people still complain. For those that want a physical reminder of the show they can always get in line for a FREE exclusive goodie.

 

The Capcom giveaways are always worth the wait. They are often exclusive posters signed by a creator. The E3 2017 poster was certainly a collectable. I’ve met Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono many times. He is always, kind, enthusiastic and happy to meet fans of the series. He signed one of two exclusive posters at the E3, either the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary one, which was modeled after the Street Fighter II Turbo poster. Or he was signing the Marvel vs Capcom: Infinity poster. You can imagine which one audiences were more eager to get.



I want the critics to remember that Capcom has always done more for their fan base than almost any other publisher. Do you remember any role-playing game organizing a release party for the public? Or creating a secret club event for their online fans? It would be nice to give Capcom, Namco, SNK and the other studios a nice thank you from time to time. It would let them know that despite the criticisms and concerns there are still people that believe in the company. Let them know what they do right just as often as what they do wrong. I’ll get off my soapbox now. If you have something you’d like to say about this please let me know. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!