I am a member of the JET Program, a program that sends people from around the world to Japan to help teach English and a few other languages to younger Japanese students. I live in the Fukui Prefecture of Japan, and I have recently written my first video game article for JET Fuel, a publication for JET Program employees in Fukui. Please enjoy reading.
-- Begin Article --
Welcome to my first entry of my video game column here in JET Fuel. From now until the end of my time as a JET Program participant, I hope to introduce you to many things about the culture of video gaming. For this magazine's topic, I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite video game series of all time. I am a big fan of Street Fighter, a fighting game series created by a company called Capcom. It is a series that will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and it is arguably one of the most successful video game series in the world. I'd like to share with you a little bit about my fascination with Street Fighter, the subculture that has cultivated from it throughout the years, and my recent experiences traveling around Japan to play-test the latest game in the series: Street Fighter IV.
-- The Burning Desire to Keep Fighting After 20 Years --
Street Fighter has always been a huge part of my life. I started playing since the very first game came out, which appeared in arcades back in 1988. It was clumsy and hard to control, and there were secret moves that were difficult to perform on the joystick, but I loved playing it nonetheless. I was there when the original Street Fighter 2 came out, which took video gaming by storm shortly after. Compared to the first game, the second game had a much more solid feel and laid the groundwork for similar fighters to come.
I braved the smoke-filled arcades to play Street Fighter against live competition during the golden years of arcade gaming, when most 24-hour convenience stores still had arcade cabinets and American video arcades were still flourishing and very profitable. I had participated in numerous SF tournaments from my hometown in Tucson, Arizona, as well as other cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Even recently before I moved to Japan in July 2007, I was still playing Street Fighter regularly. However, instead of playing at the arcades, I had to play others online through my XBox. The fall of many American arcades in the past 10-15 years has forced many of us to look elsewhere for a friendly game of SF. For most, playing online was our only alternative. A few of the classic Street Fighter games were made available for online play on systems like XBox and XBox 360.
Street Fighter means a lot to me. It's a game that I truly love and I can honestly play it for hours on end. I can still play Street Fighter games that have been released many years ago and still have a lot of fun. It's a very strategic game that rewards creativity and versatility. I love the challenges the games presented... it's a game that's easy for a normal gamer to get a handle of, but very difficult to master. Of course, the game really shines when you play against other people.
Playing Street Fighter was a major social outlet for me. Meeting new people at social gaming gatherings and arcades helped me forge many strong friendships that I still have to this very day. I have met several of my best friends at the arcades in my hometown many years ago. I've had many exciting matches and memorable events throughout from all the tournaments I've went to and all the get-togethers that my friends and I had locally. I've played thousands of opponents in Street Fighter, ranging anywhere from total beginners to seasoned vets to top-calibur tournament players that have won prestigious tournaments. I've met many players from many parts of the world, from all walks of life.
Even at a much older age, with my reflexes and abilities not being as sharp as it once was, I still have a passion for this game. I've been playing for about 20 years, and I can imagine myself still playing this game another 20 years from now. At times, Street Fighter is my life.
-- After 20 Years, Street Fighter Still Has Street Cred --
Street Fighter is still going strong, even to this day. Several Street Fighter games are still regularly featured as tournament games at many tournaments througout the world. Japan is home to "Super Battle Opera", which is possibly the largest video game fighting tournament in the world. Several high-profile tournaments still take place in America as well, some at arcade centers that are still around to this day. There are many video game websites dedicated to Street Fighter, the most prominent being shoryuken.com (aka SRK.com). Surprisingly, there is a large group of people who are still very dedicated to this game. They come to SRK.com's bulletin board to exchange strategies and tactics, look up any news regarding any new Street Fighter games and search for other players to play Street Fighter, online or offline. Through shoryuken.com's BBS, people can arrange a get-together at an arcade or at someone's house. Members of SRK.com also contribute a lot of time and money to promote tournaments and to generate interest in everything that is Street Fighter related.
Some Street Fighter players play for fun, enjoyment and to meet others. Some play for prestige and to win tournaments. Some just play because they want to get better. All of these players come together as a small community to keep Street Fighters fresh in the minds of gamers throughout the world. It's a surprisingly big community that has managed to stay alive throughout the years. Players have come and gone, but more than enough people stuck around to keep the Street Fighter scene going for many years to come.
-- My Experiences Traveling Around Japan to Play Street Fighter IV --
When I got here to Japan, I had no idea that there was any plans to make a sequel to Street Fighter. The last official Street Fighter game was released in 1998, and it was Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Several years passed after that, and there was no concrete evidence that a follow-up to the game would be forthcoming. Rumors went about, but were shot down by more inactivity from Capcom's side. Many (including myself) thought that Street Fighter may never return and become forgotten. Fast-forward to late 2007, when Capcom finally announced Street Fighter IV as an upcoming game, and a website became available to the public. At the website, people were able to glimpse at a short animated trailer.
Of course, it caused quite a stir and it generated a lot of interest. As 2008 came, there were reports of the game being playtested at a few private game and arcade expos in Japan. Soon after, Capcom started to announce "location tests" or "loketests" for short. A "loketest" is a weekend event usually held for the general public at a specific game center. People can try out the game before its eventual release, while companies ask for input from the players by having questionaires available at the test site. Loketests are common to have in Japan, and usually they have at least 2 of them before the game is finally released to game centers.
In March 2008, Capcom announced a loketest in Osaka, in the Namba district. It was pure coincedence that I was going to be in Osaka for a sumo tournament that same weekend... in Namba. It was literally half a mile from the capsule inn that I had already booked for the weekend... no need to use a train to transfer. I was on SRK.com, posting messages to find out who would be going to this loketest. 3 people responded, saying they would be there as well and they would look for me at the loketest site. They were fellow foreigners like myself who were working in Japan and big fans of Street Fighter. The time came, and I was off to Osaka.
Image of the SFIV setup at Sega Avion in Namba, Osaka
The location test was in a place called "Sega Avion", near Den-Den Town (Osaka's equivalent to Akihabara City in Tokyo) and a shopping center called Namba Parks. The arcade wasn't the nicest or biggest arcade I'd ever seen, but it definitely did a good job hosting the loketest. On the 2nd floor was 4 SFIV arcade units in a dedicated little corner of the game center floor. There was also a separate big screen that would constantly show matches from one of the 4 cabinets.
One thing I noticed at the loketest was the amount of foreigners (including myself) that were playing this game. I would say about 30 percent were from outside Japan. Some of them were occasional SF players who happened to be in the area and didn't know about the loketest until they walked in. I talked with most of the foreigners at length as we waited in line to get back on and play SFIV. Just talking to someone while at an arcade was something I sorely missed all these years. Playing people online really isn't the same experience as playing games and meeting people at the arcade. For Japanese game centers to stand the test of time so far, it's nothing short of amazing in my opinion.
I eventually met up with the three people from srk.com. Each person differed personality-wise, but all 3 were really friendly and very easy to talk to. To see an English-speaking person here in Japan with the same amount of passion about Street Fighter... it's great to see when you're out here in foreign territory. These 3 people spoke my language literally and figuratively. I had never met any of them in real life, but it didn't matter. We bonded very quickly and hung out outside the arcade as well. We soon became known as "Team SRK Osaka" on the message boards, unofficial representatives of shoryuken.com for the loketest.
Us four started to post all of our observations, notes and concerns about the game on shoryuken.com. Speaking for myself, I would literally walk to an internet cafe just down the street from the arcade, sign on for an hour or two and post my notes for all to read. As we posted our impressions, more and more people started to read and more interest for SFIV grew because of it. Before we knew it, the four of us were fielding questions left and right, with people asking us about the new characters, if stuff from the old Street Fighter games worked in the new one, if we could try out their suggestions and so on. I had no problems replying because I shared their enthusiasm.
I met a lot of great Japanese professional Street Fighter players during the loketest. They were also there to try out SFIV for the first time, and every one of them seemed to like the potential this game had. Some of the Japanese pro players there had entered local, national and world championships in games like Super Street Fighter II X (Super Turbo in the US) and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. A few of my Team Osaka SRK mates were giving me this information as I watched them play while waiting my turn in line to hop back onto a cabinet. I even met one player who will be a part of "Super Battle Opera", the huge fighting game tournament in Japan that I had mentioned earlier.
Even with my limitations with the Japanese language, I did my best to talk with them. I definitely enjoyed playing against them... and found out quickly why they were so highly touted. They totally demolished me... I clearly wasn't in the same league as they were. Although I expected a thorough thrashing from them, at times I held my own and even won a few matches here and there. It was a very good learning experience to play against such great players.
I ended up playing an excess of over 200 matches for this loketest, which netted me a Number 1 ranking for that particular weekend. It was mainly because of the sheer amount of games I played, not because of my winning percentage (I won only 50% of the time). Of course I didn't win anything for this honor, and the matches I played were promptly reset afterwards (because it was a beta), but it definintely showed how much I really liked this game.
I would end up going to three more location tests... the next two taking place in the same arcade in Osaka. Of course, the rest of Team SRK Osaka was there to participate. We started seeing the major improvements that SFIV went through first-hand. The gameplay features were improved, the characters started to look much better, the gameplay started to feel tighter and more responsive and it started to feel more like a complete game. Several new characters and old favorites from previous Street Fighter games started to surface as well.
A dominating M.Bison player during the 5th loketest -- he ended up with 51 wins in a row
After the arcade closed at midnight, I would stay at an internet cafe near the arcade and sleep there so I could post immediately about SFIV and catch a few quick Zs before the next loketest day. The accommodations were even less attractive than the capsule inn I stayed at the first time. I slept on a padded floor at the cafe, but if you live in Japan you get used to it. However, overnight stay at the internet cafe included unlimited internet access, a shower room and free drinks. Can't beat that.
The last loketest I went to took me to Tokyo, in a small district called Sugamo. Unfortunately, Team SRK Osaka could not join me because it was a bit far away, but I went with a friend who was visiting from America. He loves Street Fighter just as much as I do, so it was a no-brainer to take him there for that weekend.
Oddly enough, the scene was similar to that of Osaka. Pretty good percentage of foreigners there, and most were just as passionate about SF as the people in Osaka. Like I do before every loketest, I post on SRK.com to see who will be in the area for the loketest. Just one person replied, saying he would be there... and I met up with him on the first day. Just like the guys from Team SRK Osaka, he was definitely a fun and interesting guy to talk to. I also met up with an old Japanese friend who lives in Tokyo, who is an avid fighting game enthusiast and played a few games of SFIV with me. This was only the second time I was able to see him since I arrived in Japan.
There was a lot of great Japanese players there, especially a girl who was actually beating top-ranked Street Fighter players soundly with the character Vega (the Spanish fighter with the mask and the claw). It was amazing to see, and I wanted to marry her on the spot. Who wouldn't want a girlfriend like that? Every girl that I have seen play Street Fighter could barely play the game or do any special moves, so to see this girl dominate was something that I had never witnessed in my many years of playing SF. It was truly a sight to behold, and yeah... the girl was pretty cute as well.
This is not SF-related, but it did make this Tokyo loketest one to remember. I was in Akihabara with my friend on the same day and at the same time of the gruesome murders concerning a disgruntled 25-year old Japanese man who ended up plowing into some bystanders with a rented truck, then coming out and slashing people with a survival knife. I was 2 streets away from the incident, buying a video game at a game shop. I even have the receipt, showing that I bought the game around the same exact time that the murders took place. We left shortly afterwards, oblivious to what happened because we were on the opposite side of the train station, where the incident was. My friend and I only found out 4 hours later what had happened. The news was all over Japanese TV stations and newspapers the following week.
Several foreigners, myself and Team SRK Osaka during the 5th loketest
-- Epilogue --
It is now nearing the end of June as I write this, and I will travel to Nagoya to participate in possibly the final loketest for SFIV (July 4th - 6th) before the official Japanese arcade release of the game on July 18th. Hopefully, Team SRK Osaka will assemble once again for that event, and I'm pretty sure we will see each other again even after all of the loketests are over. We even have been talking about having a get-together with SRK.com members from Tokyo soon. It's an overseas SF community in the making.
Although I have seen and done many unique and interesting things in Japan, traveling around to play Street Fighter was definitely a unique adventure in itself. I saw and experienced many things inside and outside the game centers while traveling to Tokyo and Osaka, met a lot of new friends and finally experienced a Japanese loketest. I am pretty determined to practice and learn more about the upcoming Street Fighter IV when I can play it locally in Fukui. I even want to travel to tournaments in the Kyoto and Osaka area when they start holding them. I don't know if I would become a "tournament-quality" type of player, but I'll do my best. We'll see what happens.
I realize how lucky I was to experience all these loketest adventures in Japan. Two years ago, if you told me I would be living in Japan, with Street Fighter IV finally coming out while I lived there, and that I would be able to play it before millions of other rabid fans could try it... I would have told you that you were out of your freaking mind. I could have never anticipated anything like this. This is definitely the pinnacle... the best thing that I have ever experienced in my gaming life. I don't think anything can ever top this experience.
... unless Capcom decides to bring out a follow-up to Street Fighter IV in the next year or so.
-- Brief Impressions of Street Fighter IV --
To describe the game itself is difficult. Just looking at screenshots or movies of the game online doesn't do the game justice. It has to be seen in person to really understand why this game is so revolutionary. What I felt was most impressive was the expressions and emotions contained in the game; it truly makes this game shine brighter than most others. All characters have really great facial expressions that perfectly show anger and fear, and the characters' bodies move so fluidly and are well-animated.
The characters also look great. They do look a little cartoony, but the older characters are still looking like their 2D counterparts of years past. The game still plays like traditional Street Fighter, but it easily has some of the nicest graphics and animation I have seen in any game in general. After playing this game, other fighting games just look lifeless, robotic and stiff in comparison.
If you loved playing the Street Fighter II series, but lost interest as the series moved on... you may end up liking SFIV. It's simple and easy to pick up compared to other games out there, and all of the original Street Fighter II characters are back with most of their special moves retained. All characters have an average of about 3-6 special moves, a Super Attack and an Ultra Attack. The game remains simple by design, yet the game has a few new gameplay features that are deep enough to give a player more tools to work with.
-- INFORMATION ABOUT Street Fighter IV --
Release Date: Japanese Arcades: mid-July 2008
XBox 360, Playstation 3, PC: late 2008 to early 2009
Characters: The original 8 World Warriors from Street Fighter II
(Ryu, Ken, Guile, Chun-Li, Zangief, Dhalsim, E.Honda, Blanka)
The 4 Bosses from Street Fighter II
(Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M. Bison)
4 New Characters
- Abel (amnesiac from France who resembles a mixed-martial-artist)
- Crimson Viper (looks like Angelina Jolie, very sexy American secret agent with gadgets)
- El Fuerte (masked Mexican wrestler in the vein of Lucha Libre)
- Rufus (very fat and ugly American who thinks he's the greatest martial artist around)
Possibly more will appear for the final arcade release, or for the home releases of SFIV
Features: Uses IC card (will cost 500 yen) to register one character
- game will display your nickname, wins, winning percentage and games played
- can display an introductory custom comment as you begin a game
- game information will be registered in national Japanese rankings
- can join guilds that can earn group points to earn high rankings
- can earn game money to customize things like your character's colors
- you can choose your character's taunt (out of at least 10)
Arcade setup will usually revolve around 4 cabinets
- all cabinets are linked via LAN (Local Area Network)
- one cabinet per person
- opponent can be from any of the other 3+ cabinets
- sometimes two players with winning streaks will fight each other via LAN
- you cannot play opponents from other arcades (no online play)
- may be possible to see setups with more than 4 linked cabinets, unknown as of now
Graphics are 3D, but played in a 2D plane like the original SF games
Gameplay is very similar to Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Can possibly be updated with patches and upgrades via online network
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