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]

Friday, December 28, 2012

Umehara: "Skyfall was fun!"

4Gamer.net published yesterday a huge article which is a collection of short interviews with various people in the game industry. In the 9-page long article, they asked the same 4 questions to game creators, composers, authors, voice actors, singers, as well as Daigo Umehara, Tokido, Mago, Sako, and MadCatz's Markman.

Question 1
What game (that was released) in 2012 that you like the most or has the biggest impact? And why?

Umehara replied "I have nothing special. The reason is I haven't played anything except [SSF4AE2012] and Gunslinger Stratos."

Tokido replied "SSF4AE2012. From participating events around the world this year, I could feel that many countries love this game. It's now 5 years since [the original release] in 2008. It was adjusted gradually and is now extremely balanced. [Capcom] also held SF 25th Anniversary events."

Mago chose Gunslinger Stratos.

Sako chose Dragon Quest X (online game). He and his wife even have 2 separated sets of game/console.

Markman chose SFxTK and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.


Question 2
What is your most impressive entertainment content/product (in any genre) of 2012? And why?

Umehara said that [James Bond Skyfall] was fun and it was interesting throughout the entire film.

Tokido doesn't know much about entertainment so he chose Olympic.

Mago chose Gundam Unicorn and its premiere event. (A friend asked him to go and he was impressed.)

Sako chose Evangelion Q and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. For Evangelion, He just enjoys it without thinking too much about the mysteries. For KPP, he doesn't watch TV much but her name is so hard to pronounce that he memorized it. He said "I don't know about music but the songs (see also this or this or this) are catchy and she looks cute."

Markman chose WiiU.


Question 3
Who was/is the one to watch (have attention) in 2012? And why?

Umehara chose Infiltration because the Korean player has done very well in this year.

Tokido said "I'm looking at Umehara-san who is the leading person of Japan's pro gamers. This year he released the book Willpower to Keep Winning, works as Square Enix's Gunslinger Stratos Official Supporter, etc." Tokido is also looking forward to see more [of Umehara's activities] next year.

Mago chose Infiltration.

Sako chose Daigo Umehara. He said "[Umehara is] the most influential person. He always has my attention. What game will he be playing this time? Is he doing a new thing? Something like that."

Markman chose fans and consumers.


Question 4
What is your aspiration in 2013? And please send some message to the readers.

Umehara will maintain the quality of what he does as pro gamer, and also consider doing more things in 2013. He also thanks everyone for the supports and wants to keep making entertaining matches or activities.

Tokido will put even more efforts in 2013. He wants to have both good results and good games, and asked everyone to support.

Mago tried several new games in 2012 and realized that he didn't get a good result in all of them, so he will try to master one by one in 2013. He wants to improve [by participating in both domestic and foreign tournaments] more and asked for the support.

Sako just wants to have fun with games at his own pace in 2013. He also wants to spend time on non-fighting games. He then asked everyone to support.

Markman, speaking on behalf of MadCatz, wants to spread the world brand confidence. They will continue making cool products while supporting gaming community in 2013. They also let the fans know that they listen to all the requests. He thanked [the users and readers] for the supports and wished them a wonderful new year.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

TOPANGA Z: Tokido vs VX result

Tokido (Magneto, Doom, Phoenix) 10-4 VX (Dante, Doom, Phoenix)
  1. 1-0
  2. 0-1 *Tokido's Dark Phoenix killed
  3. 0-1 *VX's DP kills Tokido's DP
  4. 0-1 *VX's DP kills Tokido's DP
  5. 1-0 *Tokido's DP kills VX's DP
  6. 1-0 *Tokido successfully snaps and kills Phoenix
  7. 1-0 *VX's Phoenix killed before 5 meters
  8. 1-0 *VX changes from Phoenix to Strider
  9. 1-0 *Phoenix takes 1, DP takes 2
  10. 1-0 *VX changes from Strider to Vergil
  11. 0-1 *VX changes from Vergil to Phoenix
  12. 1-0 *Tokido's DP kills VX's DP
  13. 1-0
  14. 1-0 *big mistakes from VX

Tokido will fight the winner between Nemo and Frieda next.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

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)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning is one of the bestselling pocket books on Amazon Japan in 2012

Amazon Japan has revealed a big list of bestselling books of 2012 (between December 1, 2011, to November 30, 2012)  in various categories, and Daigo Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning is placed at 7th in shinsho* category.

*Shinsho (新書) is for non-fiction pocket books. They are 2 cm. longer than A6 paper.



The world's most famous Street Fighter player's semi-autobiography was released on April 2 this year. Due to its popularity, there was a shortage after release, and it was able to reach 3rd place on Amazon Japan's bestselling chart in overall Book category. The book has sold 32,000 copies as of October 22. The Kindle version was released on October 26.

Umehara's new book Umehara Column: Ken no Maki will be released next year in January.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Under Night In-Birth OST coming on December 19

We know that a lot of people are interested in the soundtracks of this game, so this post is for you.

Under Night: In-Birth Original Soundtrack Side-Abyss will be released on December 19 (Wednesday). It has 28 tracks total, including the full version of opening theme and ending themes.

Track 8: Purity & Strictly (Orie's theme)


Track 13: Aruku Sugata wa Yuri no Hana (Yuzuriha's theme)


Saturday, December 15, 2012

Umehara Column in Arcadia gets compilation

As the fans already know, Daigo Umehara began his own column "Umehara Column" in monthly arcade gaming magazine Arcadia since 2009. Now it is revealed that the column is getting its own compilation.

The book called "Umehara Column Ken no Maki -Toushin ga Kimi ni Sazukeru Taisen Kakutou Game Jutsu-" (Umehara Column: The Scroll of Fist -God of Fighting teaches you the art of figting game-) that will be released on January 31, 2013, will have the contents from the past 2+ years plus some new contents supervised by Umehara himself.

The 112-page book will be sold for 998 yen. As usual, you can buy this book from Amazon Japan here.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Umehara x Kana Ueda on Famitsu magazine

Famitsu's Otodoke Twitter account revealed that this week's Famitsu will feature a discussion about game center lifestyle between Daigo Umehara and Kana Ueda.



This week's Famitsu magazine (cover: Shin Hokuto Musou) is released today in Japan.



Umehara and Ueda appeared together several times promoting Gunslinger Stratos since January. Ueda voiced Shizune character in the game. They are often seen playing the game together in the game centers.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

TOPANGA Z: OGTY vs Tokido result

OGTY (Nova, Doom, Super-Skrull) 4-10 Tokido (Magneto, Doom, Phoenix)
  1. 0-1
  2. 1-0
  3. 0-1 *Dark Phoenix closed it
  4. 1-0 *Perfect with 86 seconds left
  5. 0-1
  6. 0-1 *Normal Phoenix closed it
  7. 0-1
  8. 1-0 *Dark Phoenix got caught
  9. 0-1
  10. 0-1
  11. 1-0 *Skrull killed both Dark Phoenix and Doom
  12. 0-1
  13. 0-1 *Dark Phoenix closed it
  14. 0-1

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Umehara on Club Nintendo Mexico

It is revealed on the official Twitter that Daigo Umehara is featured in Mexico's Club Nintendo magazine.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Capcom's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Grand Finals summary

These scores were recorded in realtime so we don't have the detailed scores for SFxTK because we fell asleep twice!

Information
- Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournament announced
- PPV stream prices of Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournaments
- Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournaments finals to be held in Nicofarre 
- Umehara confirmed for Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournament
- Umehara reaches Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournament
- Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary tournament finals summary
- Niconico to provide Japanese commentary for Grand Finals
- Official website of Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Tournaments
- Official webpage for the Grand Finals including brackets and results

Announcements
- Fan-made Megaman X Street Fighter PC game free for download.
- Capcom to hold SF 26th Anniversary event next year.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Tokido (Claw) 0-2 ShotosAllDay (Ken)
0-2
1-2
John Choi (Sagat) 2-1 Laugh (Sagat)
2-1
1-2 *Laugh made a comeback in last round
2-0
Fuzzy (Ryu, Cammy) 0-2 Damdai (Hawk)
0-2
1-2
Afro Legends (DJ) 2-0 Kenpachi (Sagat)
2-0 *big comeback in last round
2-0
John Choi (Sagat, Ryu) 2-1 ShotosAllDay (Sagat, Ryu)
2-1
0-2
2-1
Afro Legends (DJ) 0-2 Damdai (Ryu)
0-2
1-2 *perfect in 1st round by AL
[Losers] Tokido (Claw) 2-0 Laugh (Ken)
2-0 *won with pixels of life in both round
2-0
[Losers] Fuzzy (Ryu) 2-0 Kenpachi (Sagat)
2-1
2-0 *perfect in last round
[Losers] Tokido (Claw) 0-2 Afro Legends (Boxer)
0-2
1-2
[Losers] ShotosAllDay (DJ, Sagat) 2-1 Fuzzy (Ryu)
2-0
0-2 *perfect in last round
2-0
[Losers] ShotosAllDay (Ken) 0-2 Afro Legends (Boxer)
0-2 *very close 1st round
1-2
[Winners Final] John Choi (Sagat, Ryu) 0-3 Damdai (Hawk)
1-2
1-2
1-2 *Ryu
[Losers Final] John Choi (Guile) 1-3 Afro Legends (Boxer)
1-2
2-0
1-2
1-2
[Grand Final] Damdai (Ryu) 3-1 Afro Legends (DJ, Boxer)
0-2
2-0
2-1
2-1 *Boxer

Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition
MOV (Chun) 2-0 Nica KO (Yang)
- MOV brought some oxygen with him!
2-0 *nice setup at the end of last round by MOV
2-0
Tokido (Chun) 2-1 Gunfight (Dud)
2-0
1-2
2-1 *a big comeback in last round
BOC (Urien) 0-2 Momochi (Yun)
0-2
0-2
Justin Wong (Chun) 0-2 Mester (Yun)
0-2
0-2
Momochi (Yun) 2-1 Mester (Yun)
2-0
1-2 *perfect in last round
2-0
MOV (Chun) 2-0 Tokido (Chun)
2-0
2-0
[Losers] Gunfight (Dud) 0-2 Nica KO (Yang)
2-1
0-2 *perfect in 1st round
1-2
[Losers] BOC (Urien) 0-2 Justin Wong (Chun)
1-2
0-2
[Losers] Mester (Yun) 2-1 Nica KO (Yang)
2-0
1-2
2-0
[Losers] Tokido (Chun) 2-0 Justin Wong (Chun)
2-0
2-0
[Losers] Tokido (Chun) 2-0 Mester (Yun)
2-1
2-1 *Tokido got a big combo at the end of last round
[Winners Final] MOV (Chun) 3-2 Momochi (Yun)
1-2
2-0
1-2 *perfect in last round
2-0
2-0
[Losers Final] Tokido (Chun) 3-1 Momochi (Yun)
2-1 *perfect in 1st round by Momochi
2-0
0-2
2-0
[Grand Final] Tokido (Chun) 0-3 MOV (Ken)
0-2
0-2
1-2

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver.2012
Floe (Guy) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu)
0-2 *Floe dropped a hitconfirm Ultra and lost last round
1-2 *Super>raw Metsu finish in 2nd round
Dieminion (Guile) 2-1 GamerBee (Adon)
0-2
2-1
2-0 *Dieminion outplayed
Problem X (Seth) 0-2 Momochi (Akuma)
0-2
1-2 *nice read in last round by Momochi (Ultra caught backdash)
Justin Wong (Rufus) 1-2 Tokido (Akuma)
2-1
0-2 *nice teleport U2 in last round
0-2
Snake Eyez (Zan) 0-2 Fuudo (Fei)
1-2
1-2
Alioune (Cammy) 2-1 Ricky Ortiz (Rufus)
1-2 *perfect in 1st round by Alioune
2-0 *perfect in last round by Alioune
2-1
Mago (Fei) 2-0 Wolfkrone (Viper)
2-0
2-1
Infiltration (Akuma) 2-0 Vangief (Zan)
2-1 *big comeback in 1st round from Vangief
2-1
Dieminion (Guile) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu)
0-2 *Metsu finish in 1st round
0-2
Tokido (Akuma) 2-1 Momochi (Cody)
0-2 *Tokido tried to timeout but failed in last round
2-1
2-1 *perfect in 1st round by Tokido
Alioune (Cammy) 0-2 Fuudo (Fei)
0-2 *nice FADC Ultra in last round
0-2
Infiltration (Akuma) 2-0 Mago (Fei)
2-0
2-0
Tokido (Akuma) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu)
1-2 *nice teleport reading in last round from Umehara
1-2
Infiltration (Akuma) 2-0 Fuudo (Fei)
2-1
2-0
[Losers] Justin Wong (Rufus) 0-2 Problem X (Seth)
1-2
0-2 *perfect in 1st round by Problem X
[Losers] Momochi (Akuma, Cody) 2-1 Wolfkrone (Viper)
0-2
2-0
2-0
[Losers] Dieminion (Guile) 0-2 Snake Eyez (Zan)
1-2
1-2
[Losers] Snake Eyez (Zan) 2-0 Momochi (Cody, Akuma)
2-1 *perfect in last round by Snake Eyez
2-0 *Momochi had a big lead in 1st round

[Losers] Floe eliminated by GamerBee *offstream
[Losers] Ricky Ortiz eliminated by Snake Eyes *offstream
[Losers] Vangief eliminated by Wolfkrone *offstream
[Losers] Alioune eliminated by GamerBee *offstream
[Losers] Problem X eliminated by Mago *offstream
[Losers] Snake Eyez eliminated by Fuudo *offstream

[Losers] Mago (Fei) 1-2 GamerBee (Adon)
2-1 *GamerBee had a big lead in 1st round
0-2
0-2 *close last round but Mago did badly
[Losers] Tokido (Akuma) 2-0 GamerBee (Yun)
2-1
2-0
[Losers] Tokido (Akuma) 0-2 Fuudo (Fei)
0-2 *Tokido tried to FADC Ultra but Fuudo Ultra his Ultra on reaction in 1st round
1-2 *Fuudo punished teleport by Ultra in last round
[Winners Final] Infiltration (Akuma) 0-3 Umehara (Ryu)
1-2 *Arigataya finish in 1st round
1-2 *close last round
1-2 *Umehara made a big comeback in last round (bravely walked while having pixels of life)
[Losers Final] Infiltration (Akuma) 3-2 Fuudo (Fei)
2-0
1-2 *perfect in 2nd round by Fuudo
2-1
0-2 *nice hitconfirm super in close last round by Fuudo
2-1
[Grand Final] Infiltration (Akuma) 3-0 Umehara (Ryu)
2-0 *Umehara read teleport but wrong way in 1st round
2-1
2-0
[Grand Final] Infiltration (Akuma) 3-0 Umehara (Ryu)
2-1 *Infil tried to go for timeout but Umehara walked in and threw in 1st round
2-0
2-0

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Nico to provide Japanese commentary for Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Tournaments Finals

Niconico revealed that it will provide Japanese language commentary for Capcom's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Tournaments Grand Finals via stream on this Saturday night in Japan.

It is still unclear whether it will restream or just show only commentators. More information will be added if the stream page is updated.

Update: It is a restreaming. Apparently Niconico got permission from Capcom. The commentators are R (Guy player), KSK, Frieda, GODSGARDEN's Kami-chan.

Update 2: This's not a complete restreaming. It also has access to camera in the venue (not seen in the actual stream).

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

TOPANGA Z: Frieda vs Jeo result




Frieda (Zero, Dante, Magneto) 10-6 Jeo (Morrigan, Wesker, Strider)
  1. 1-0
  2. 1-0
  3. 0-1
  4. 0-1
  5. 1-0
  6. 1-0
  7. 1-0
  8. 1-0
  9. 0-1
  10. 0-1
  11. 1-0
  12. 0-1
  13. 1-0
  14. 1-0
  15. 0-1
  16. 1-0 *Perfect

Mago turn into girl in adult manga

Do you remember that adult manga that has Daigo Umehara turn into a girl? The manga artist did the same thing with Mago in her new work.

This news is actually five month old and we thought that you probably don't want to see it (or do you?), but to celebrate his victory at England qualifying tournaments of Capcom's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Tournaments Grand Finals, we think it's the right timing!


"Hiyoranaide! Mako-chan" (Do something! Mako-chan) in the August issue of adult manga magazine Potpourri Club tells the story about a female fighting gamer "Mako Hayashi" who struggles to win a tournament and later has to resort to some "special training" with her friend.

The story clearly makes fun of how Mago has less achievements than fellow top players.

Brief summary of the story
- Mako-chan is a tsundere.
- Mako-chan's surname Hayashi is actually Mago's real surname.
- Mako-chan is irritated by Ume Hara's success. *The protagonist in the first work.
- Ume Hara is 2-time "GAMEVO" world champion.
- Mago's famous line "I'm going to teach you the reality!" is in there. (It was said to Fuudo before the TOPANGA Concept Match.)
- Her (male) game partner since the olden days "Ichirou" looks like Tokido. The two share the same first letter in real name.
- In one scene, Ichirou wears a T-shirt that resembles Tokido'd blue Mad Catz T-shirt. The number "13" on the shirt could refer to Tokido's signature finishing move in UMvC3 called "Dark 13."
- In one scene, Ichirou wears a T-shirt with number "10" in the back. Ten in Japanese language can mean heaven. It refers to the sign in Akuma's back.
- She looks strong and confident, but she doesn't do well in tournaments. Ichirou then offers Mako-chan a special training.
- Ichirou tells Mako-chan that he likes her since the olden days.
- After that, Mako-chan finally wins at GAMEVO, although Ichirou steals the attention by winning all other games.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Ryan Hart suspended for rage tweet

International pro gaming organization Western Wolves announced that they have decided to suspend Ryan Hart indefinitely due to inappropriate comments on his Twitter.

The announcement came quickly after Hart expressed his anger over how his fellow Team Mad Catz player Mago "took the quota" of England qualifying tournaments of Capcom's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Tournaments Grand Finals. It was after he lost to Mago, who later went on from Losers bracket to win the tournament over Momochi.

Both Mago and Momochi, as 1st and 2nd place finishers, are now qualified for the Grand Finals in San Francisco on December 8. The trip will be paid for as a prize.

Hart felt that Mad Catz should not send Mago there because they both have the same sponsor, and that Mago had his chance at the Japan qualifying tournaments. F-word was used twice in the tweet which was later deleted.

Mad Catz is one of Western Wolves' sponsors.

Evo 2013 dated, venue announced

It is revealed just minutes ago that Evolution 2013 will take place on July 12-14, 2013, at Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.

In 2011, the venue was changed from Caesar's Palace to Rio, then it was changed back in 2012. But the organizer will use a new venue next year.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Kana Ueda wears MadCatz T-shirt at Famitsu event

Kana Ueda revealed that today she went to Famitsu's game event wearing pink Mad Catz T-shirt. This's also her first time using the shirt. (We used to report that she received the shirts from a fan in August.)



The event is called "Famitsu Characters DX." In short, they have well-known voice actors/actresses compete in a set of games. It's half talk show, half game show. And they sell tickets. This's the sixth time and it's "gamer girls special." Five voice actresses participated: Kana Ueda, Maaya Uchida, Emiri Katou, Ami Koshimizu, Saki Fujita. The event is hosted by voice actor Kenichi Suzumura and voice actress Asami Shimoda.


P.S. MadCatz should send her the MCZ jacket, cap, or iPhone 5 case! Free PR!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

TOPANGA Z: Nemo vs. Uda result



Uda (Firebrand, Amaterasu, Vergil) 3-10 Nemo (Strange, Nova, Spencer)
  1. 0-1
  2. 1-0
  3. 0-1
  4. 1-0
  5. 0-1
  6. 1-0
  7. 0-1
  8. 0-1
  9. 0-1
  10. 0-1
  11. 0-1
  12. 0-1
  13. 0-1

Next week is Jeo vs. Frieda.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Darkstalkers Resurrection delayed to March 14

Capcom announced today that the release date of Darkstalkers Resurrection (Vampire Resurrection in Japan) is changed from February 7 to March 14. The news said that the delay is to improve the online function.

The game is priced at 2,990 yen in Japan.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo coming next week

We used to write about Saint Seiya Omega: Ultimate Cosmo when it was announced, now the game is coming next week and we think we should write about its features.

Cosmo Gauge
This is like Super Meters, increased by attacking. Super moves cost one gauge. You can spend all 3 gauges to activate Cosmo Burst which give you more power in limited time.

Big Bang Attack
You have the access to this ultimate move only in Cosmo Burst status. After using it, the gauge becomes zero and Cosmo Burst is gone.

Destructible Cloth
You can destroy opponent's Cloth to lower his defense. The Cloth damage will also be carried over to the next round. Some move is made to deal huge Cloth damage.

Story Mode
- Original story with full voice acting
- Story from Omega saga (with Poseidon and Siren)
- New illustrations or animations
- Characters from different sagas
- The 6 heroes can change from Bronze Cloth to Scale (Mariners' armor in Poseidon saga)

Characters
- 18 playable characters
- Bronze Saints: Koga, Soma, Yuna, Ryuho, Haruto, Eden, Andromeda Shun
- Gold Saints: Sagittarius Seiya, Capricorn Ionia, Leo Mycenae, Aries Kiki, Libra Genbu
- Silver Saints: Hydrus Ichi, Ophiuchus Shaina, Peacock Pavlin
- Martians: Hornet Sonia
- Mariners: Poseidon (Julian Solo), Siren Sorrento




The PSP game is coming on November 29.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

TOPANGA Z: Abegen vs. VX result



Abegen (Thor, Tron, She-Hulk) 4-10 VX (Doom, Dante, Phoenix)
  1. 1-0
  2. 0-1
  3. 0-1
  4. 0-1
  5. 0-1
  6. 0-1
  7. 1-0
  8. 0-1
  9. 0-1
  10. 1-0
  11. 1-0
  12. 0-1
  13. 0-1
  14. 0-1

Next Wednesday is Nemo vs. Uda.

Umehara to appear on Nagoya ZIP FM radio

It is revealed just now that Daigo Umehara will appear as a guest on a morning program of Nagoya's ZIP FM radio station tomorrow 7:45 AM.

Just last month, Umehara has appeared on a radio show hosted by Chemistry's Douchin.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Brokentier announces Umehara T-shirt collection

The fighting game inspired apparel maker Brokentier announced today that they will start selling The Daigo Umehara Collection on November 23.

The new line of product is a mini collection of T-shirts inspired by Daigo Umehara. There are 2 types as of now: Arcade Culture and Parry. Both types will be sold for $27.99.



Arcade Culture came from Umehara's support game centers campaign that began since the end of 2011. Support Your Local Arcade! was written in both Japanese and English.

The Parry one has Kiseki no Gyakutengeki (Miraculous Reversal Play) written in Japanese. Apparently it is a reference to Umehara's famous comeback at Evo 2004.

Umehara used to have his T-shirt made by Meat Bun before in 2011.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Umehara wins local Gunslinger Stratos tournament again

Reported by the game producer himself, Daigo Umehara and his team won a local Gunslinger Stratos tournament at Adores Sunshine game center in Ikebukuro today.

The place was packed and there're 22 teams trying to get into the tournament although they accepted only 8. They had to choose by lottery.

The team today "TOPANGA" consists of Umehara, Fuudo, Nyanshi, and an unidentified player.

Pictures
- After winning [pic]
- Bracket [pic]

Umehara didn't show any interest in any genre other than fighting games before. But he invested a lot of time in Gunslinger Stratos after becoming the official supporter and was recently said by some to be the strongest Jonathan player in the game. He also won a local GS tournament in Akihabara last month.

TOPANGA Z's opening match is Abegen vs. VX

TOPANGA revealed last night that the first match of their 8-man UMvC3 tournament has been decided. It is Abegen vs. VX. The match will be streamed on November 21 (next Wednesday) starting from 21:00 JST.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

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.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Umehara on today Asahi newspaper

Today's morning issue of newspaper Asahi Shimbun has Daigo Umehara article on page 2 in People corner.

Summary of the article

- The headline is "The pro gamer that holds 3 Guinness world records in fighting games category."
- He has sponsorship deal with foreign game peripherals maker.
- His income is from tournament prize money and being presenter.
- He won world's biggest fighting games tournament many times, and holds 3 Guinness world records. People even call him God.
- He goes to game center since 10 am. everyday.
- He won national tournament at the age of 15.
- He became world champion at the age of 17.
- He used to quit gaming at the age of 23 and took nurse job.
- He released autobiography "Willpower to Keep Winning" this Spring.


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Gunslinger's Battle Arena 2013 in Tokyo detailed

The details of the first official national tournament of Gunslinger Stratos "Gunslinger's Battle Arena" in Tokyo have been revealed today.

Prizes
1st place - 3 million yen, trophy, special in-game title, exclusive in-game icon
2nd place - 1.5 million yen
3rd place - 500,000 yen

Schedules
November 22-29 - Team registration (you can register your team first then find members later)
December 5-17 - Team members registration
December 25 - End of registration process

Rules
- If a team has less than 4 members (absent or late), the space(s) will be filled with CPU(s).
- A team cannot have the same character, and they must use what they registered (one character per one player).
- Players are free to change weapon packs and costumes.
- Headsets are provided at the event, no headsets from outside allowed.
- Players can choose not to use the headsets in the qualifiers, but they must use them in the finals.

Gunslinger's Battle Arena 2013 Tokyo will be held on January 13, 2013. The second national tournament is already scheduled for Summer 2013. Both will have 10 million yen prize money in total.

Team Umehara get exclusive icon in Gunslinger Stratos

Square Enix announced today that the latest version update (Ver.1.30) of Gunslinger Stratos that is being released today will add an exclusive in-game icon to the authorized players. The icon will appear above the player name.

There're currently 3 types of icons (Special, Expert, Dengeki Musketeer) for 11 players.

Special
- Atsushi Abe (voice actor)
- Kana Ueda (voice actress)
- Masakazu Nishida (voice actor)
- Bunbunmaru (from Famitsu)

Expert
- Umehara
- Fuudo
- Mago

Dengeki Musketeers
- 4 players from Dengeki magazine editorial department

At this point, the icon is nothing but to tell people that the players are associated with the developers and they're official. The news said that, in the future update, players will receive an in-game title from winning a team that has these authorized players.

Gunslinger Stratos is an arcade 4 on 4 light-gun shooter that lets players battle in stages based off real locations in Japan. All the cabinets in Japan are linked so players around the country can find a team to play with in less than a minute. Players can buy new equipments and customize their characters. All the data and statistics will be saved using arcade player card and can be accessed via cellphones.



The game is heavily promoted in Japan. It had promotional events since beta test. It's having national tournaments with 10 million yen prize money. It has its own radio show. It's also recently extending 200 yen per 3 plays campaign to attract new players (normally 200 yen for 2 plays).

Daigo Umehara was appointed to be the "official supporter" of the game since January. He has spent so much time on the game, and also participates in the development.

Gunslinger Stratos was released on July 12 in Japan and they have also conducted beta test in Hong Kong.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Umehara on latest Kindai Mahjong Original cover

Amazon Japan has revealed the cover of the next issue of Kindai Mahjong Original today. The magazine will have the debut of Umehara's Mahjong manga as already reported.

Daigo Umehara, in manga character form, is also on the cover.

People outside Japan can also buy this magazine but the shipping (3,000 yen) is 6 times the price of the magazine itself for North America.


Under Night In-Birth developers interview

4Gamer.net posted an interview with the developers of Under Night In-Birth, Nobuya Narita (France Pan/French-Bread representative) and Kamone Serisawa (battle planner).

Beast Note again has a summary.

- They wanted to do a new Melty Blood (tentatively Melty Blood HD) but they need to find a way to continue the story first. At the time, TYPE-MOON's Kinoko Nasu (author) was busy with Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, so the project is postponed.
- However, UNI is completely new project. It's not based on Melty Blood HD prototype.
- They fear that UNI won't sell because it's an original work (not based on any popular work). They had a bad experience before when they did self-published stuff (doujin).
- They took a challenge by making it an arcade game instead of a doujin game. One of the reasons is there's no real brand new fighting game at the moment.
- UNI is distributed through Sega's ALL.Net P-ras MULTI. (A network that distributes arcade games to game centers, same with Taito's NESiCAxLive and Konami's e-AMUSEMENT Participation. The shops take no risk of losing money on buying dedicated cabinets each game, but they share income with the network owners.)
- The first idea in the development of UNI is "something different from Melty Blood." This's why it has no aerial combo like MB.
- They said MB has "launch, aerial, then air throw" impression.
- They feel relieved after getting good feedbacks from players, especially about characters and world setting.
- UNI is about ground game so they were worried about Hilda which is (as they said) the only projectile-dependent character in the game. (Boss character Hilda was unlocked as playable on November 2.)
- They said Vatista (also has long-range projectiles) is different from Hilda. Vatista is wait-and-see character.
- They said we won't see Eltnum as playable character in November.
- Eltnum is actually a modified test character from "Melty Blood HD." They had some time after the early stage of development and they wanted to add one more character but they didn't have enough time to make a complete new character. They had permission from TYPE-MOON.
- They said there won't be a Melty Blood character in UNI.
- For UNI, they avoid doing frequent small updates like what they did to MB.
- Narita personally wants to distribute [UNI PC version] on Steam.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Street Fighter X Tekken Vita is dead on arrival

The PS Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken has sold only 5,420 copies in its first week in Japan according to the well-known Japanese console market researcher Media Create (via GAF and 4Gamer ).

There are many factors as to why the game has a disappointed first week -- only 1 million Vita users in Japan, bad reputations from console versions, marketing, etc. But when you look at everything, it could at least have done a bit better than this. Capcom had 2-3 stage shows in events (including the one that has Umehara). They had an ad before 2nd TOPANGA League (all 12 days). The game was demonstrated on the shows on Nico several times.

For reference, Project DIVA f, which is the best selling Vita game, has sold 159,592 copies in its first week.

And as always, we put the numbers 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] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 66,586 / NEW
  12. [PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.23} - 65,758 / NEW
  13. [PS3] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.09.13} - 62,630 / NEW
  14. [PS3] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 58,471 / NEW
  15. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (Namco Bandai) {2009.11.09} - 57,972 / NEW
  16. [PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny (Bandai Namco) {2011.12.22} - 57,320 / NEW
  17. [PS3] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 54,924 / NEW
  18. [PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (Arc System Works) {2010.07.01} - 49,871 / NEW
  19. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.11.11} - 47.610 / NEW
  20. [3DS] Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Capcom) {2011.02.26} - 44,649 / NEW
  21. [PS3] Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.12.08} - 44,593 / NEW
  22. [PS2] Melty Blood: Actress Again (Ecole Software) {2009.08.20} - 44,292 / NEW
  23. [360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 38,000 / NEW
  24. [360] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 34,786 / NEW
  25. [PS3] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 34,328 / NEW 
  26. [PSP] Fate/Unlimited Codes Portable (Capcom) {2009.06.18} - 34,205 / NEW
  27. [PS3] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 33,768 / NEW
  28. [PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works) {2011.12.17} - 32,992 / NEW
  29. [360] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 28,454 / NEW
  30. [PSP] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.14} - 25,131 / NEW
  31. [360] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 24,812 / NEW
  32. [WII] Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (Capcom) {2008.12.11} - 24,100 / NEW
  33. [PSP] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (Arc System Works) {2011.03.31} - 23,808 / NEW
  34. [3DS] Dead or Alive: Dimensions (Koei Tecmo) {2011.05.19} - 23,078 / NEW
  35. [PS3] Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom) {2011.11.17} - 22,436 / NEW
  36. [PS3] The King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore) {2011.12.01} - 21,525 / NEW
  37. [PS3] AQUAPAZZA (Aquaplus) {2012.08.30} - 20,935 / NEW
  38. [PS3] Arcana Heart 3 (Arc System Works) {2011.01.13} - 17,219 / NEW
  39. [360] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 14,811 / NEW
  40. [360] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 13,779 / NEW
  41. [360] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 12,326 / NEW
  42. [360] Phantom Breaker (5pb.) {2011.06.02} - 9,960 / NEW
  43. [360] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 9,801 / NEW 
  44. [3DS] Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.16} - 9,421 / NEW
  45. [360] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 8,527 / NEW
  46. [360] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 7,679 / NEW 
  47. [PSV] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.10.25} - 5,420 / NEW 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Umehara appears on Chemistry's Douchin radio show

Daigo Umehara has just appeared as a guest on Inter FM (76.1 MHz) radio tonight. The show is called "Now what can I see?" and is hosted by Yoshikuni Douchin, a member of the band Chemistry.

Chemistry was very famous ten years ago. They had 6 singles and 3 albums in No.1 of the sales chart between 2001-2004.

One thing we learned from the show was Umehara's book Willpower to Keep Winning has now sold 32,000 copies (from 28,000 copies in May).

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Umehara on Gansuto Wave episode 3

Gunslinger Stratos net radio show "Gansuto Wave" episode 3 tonight had Daigo Umehara and Fuudo as special guests in video form. The short video was a match between Team Umehara (Umehara, Fuudo, Atsushi Abe, Kana Ueda) and the developer team. Team Umehara won all 2 rounds.

(The video itself was tiny so we have tiny screenshots.)

Darkstalkers Resurrection (finally) announced for Japan

Capom Japan has announced (via 4Gamer) during Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournaments this evening that Darkstalkers Resurrection (AKA Vampire Resurrection in Japan) is also coming to Japan early 2013.

So this is the announcement that producer Ono tried to hide.

Anyway, we can't wait to see Daigo Umehara play this series in front of the world.

The first tournament Umehara won was not Street Fighter, but Darkstalkers 3 (Vampire Savior), in 1997. He was a famous Bishamon player.

There is actually an urban legend about Umehara from Darkstalkers 2 era (Vampire Hunter) where he said to the game center staff that his cabinet's HK (strong kick) button are not working, after 50+ win-streak.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournaments Finals summary

Info
- Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournament announced
- PPV stream prices
- Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournaments finals to be held in Nicofarre
- Daigo Umehara confirmed to participate
- Umehara reaches Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournaments finals
- Official website

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Ver.2012

Reported by Akahoshi and Capcom's tweets

[Winners] Uryo (Sakura) 2-? -R- (Boxer)
[Winners] Dath (C. Viper) ?-2 Fuudo (Fei Long)
[Winners] Kyoku (Yang) 2-0 Eita (Akuma)
[Losers] -R- (Boxer) 0-2 Dath (C. Viper)
[Winners] Kindo (Fei Long) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu)
[Losers] Eita (Akuma) 2-? Kindo (Fei Long)
[Winners] Uryo (Sakura) ?-2 Fuudo (Fei Long)
[Losers] Uryo (Sakura) 2-? Dath (C. Viper)
[Winners] Kyoku (Yang) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu)
[Losers] Kyoku (Yang) ?-2 Eita (Akuma)
[Losers] Uryo (Sakura) 2-? Eita (Akuma)
[Winners Final] Fuudo (Fei Long) 0-2 Umehara (Ryu)
[Losers Final] Uryo (Sakura) ?-2 Fuudo (Fei Long)
[Grand Final] Umehara (Ryu) 3-0 Fuudo (Fei Long)

Prizes
For winning the tournament, Umehara received shield (certificate), PlayStation Vita, PS Vita version of Street Fighter vs. Tekken, and an in-game title "Kami ni Chikazuitamono" (The person who is closest to God). (But that's downgrading since he is already called God of Fighting Games....)

Pictures
- Ono capturing Umehara's Metsu Hadoken [pic]
- The screens: Umehara after winning Fuudo in Winners final [pic]
- Finals brackets [pic]
- The torrent of comments: the moment when Umehara won the championship [pic]

Event report from 4Gamer.net
-  The headline is "Nicofarre rocked by dignified Ume-Shoryu: Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Kakutou Akimatsuri" (They actually used the word Ume-Shoryu!)
- Vampire Resurrection (finally) announced for Japan
- SFxTK: 1st - Tokido (Dha/Cody), 2nd - Yukimura (Ryu/Kazuya), 3rd - MOV (Dha/Jack X)
- SF3 3S OE: 1st - MOV (Chun), 2nd - Umezono (Chun), 3rd - Higa (Ibu)
- SSF4AE2012: 1st - Umehara (Ryu), 2nd - Fuudo (Fei), Uryo (Sak)
- Tokido, Yukimura, MOV, Umehara, Fuudo are qualified (invited) for SF 25th Anniversary Tournaments Finals in San Francisco, California on December 8.
- They didn't mention whether Capcom Japan actually pay for the plane ticket or not. (It's Capcom Japan! We can't be sure about anything!)

Event report from Dengeki
- The headline is "So Umehara is closest to God!?"
- They said Umehara walked from Shinjuku to Nicofarre (Roppongi).

Event report from Famitsu
- Umehara after winning the tournament: "The Fei Long countermeasures worked well." "I'm happy."
- They pointed out that Team Mad Catz had 2 titles out of 3, and this's Umehara's first championship in a Capcom's official tournament in 12 years.

Other media coverages
- Game Watch
- Capcom's official blog 
- Another report from 4Gamer with mini interview (The headline is "A new page of legend of Umehara")

Road to Champion
Here's the list of Umehara's opponents in the competition.
  1. Bon-chan (Sagat)
  2. Shino-chan (Oni)
  3. Hyo Valchan (Cody)
  4. Kichijouji Ken (Ken)
  5. Kindo (Fei Long)
  6. Kyoku (Yang)
  7. Fuudo (Fei Long) *twice

[Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross] J's combo video #8

J, the top Ougon Musou Kyoku player, uploaded yesterday his new combo video. It also shows a glitch during his match at the end.



Combo #1
Ange & Willard vs. Chiester 410 & Ronove
Hit: 31
Damage: 2894 + dizzy
Cost: 2 SP (1 before combo, 1 during combo)

Combo #2
Ange & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 47
Damage: 3597
Cost: 2+2 SP (1 before, 1+2 during combo)

Combo #3 (Unburstable)
George & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 31
Damage: 3573 + dizzy
Cost: 4+1 SP

Combo #4 (Unburstable)
Lambdadelta & Willard vs. Ronove & Beatrice
Hit:22
Damage: 2624 + dizzy
Cost: 4+3 SP

Combo #5 (Unburstable)
Shannon & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 28
Damage: 3542+ dizzy
Cost: 2 SP

Combo #6 (Twin Tower Off-the-Ground Attack*)
Beatrice & Willard vs. Battler & Beatrice
Hit: 46
Damage: 4237
Cost: 1+2 SP (reduced from 2+6 SP)

*After summoning Twin Tower, you can destroy it (641236+A) and cause damage to opponent. Apparently it can do OTG combo when used with SP Cancel.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Umehara on Zai FX TV

Daigo Umehara appeared as a guest on Zai FX TV on October 15 (both Ustream and Niconico). The show is produced by Zai FX, the site about foreign exchange that previously had Umehara interviews (part 1, part 2).

Summary
- The MC was Hanako (a Zai FX staff, was Miss Keio 2008).
- Kouichi Nishihara (from an investment company) was also a guest.
- The other two don't know much about games, but they have read Umehara's Willpower to Keep Winning.
- A good blend between Umehara's stories and FX.
- Umehara's father told him that he can do whatever (career), just be good in what he does.
- They also reviewed the Umehara vs. GamerBee match from Evo 2012.
- 21.8% of the viewers wanted to be a pro gamer (from the online poll).
- A staff told them to do Metsu Hadoken pose at the end.


Umehara seen in Seiyuu Hyakkaten

An internet talk show called Atsushi Abe's Seiyuu Hyakkaten on October 17 had voice actress Kana Ueda as guest, and Daigo Umehara was seen twice in the pictures they showed when they were talking about Gunslinger Stratos.

Seiyuu Hyakkaten is a talk show about voice actors (but mostly about voice actresses) hosted by Atsushi Abe. Both Abe and Ueda voice a character in Gunslinger Stratos, and are often seen playing the game with Umehara and his team.


In-game character being played by Umehara is seen in the first picture.
Umehara, Fuudo, Mago are in the second picture (after 1st Stratos Party).

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Umehara to attend Yokkaichi University festival

Mad Catz Japan announced today that Daigo Umehara will attend Yokkaichi University's university festival on October 27. He will have some kumite and talk show at classroom 8201. starting from 10 a.m. JST.

Umehara already had some activities at university festival 2 times in 2010 and 2011.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Umehara interview on Zai FX part 2

The second part of Daigo Umehara interview from Zai FX was posted last week with new video clip. (First part is here.)




The most interesting thing in the interview was when asked about the state of mind after winning or losing, Umehara said he will practice more if he won. Because he knows he will be marked (facing counterplans) and thus harder to win next time. It is easier when he lost, he will just come up with a counter-plan.

He also said again that his fights are not for the joy of winning, but the joy of progress.

The girl you see in the video is Hanako, a Zai FX staff and Miss Keio 2008 from Keio University (the oldest private university in Japan since 1858). She and Umehara will meet again tonight in Zai FX TV on Ustream starting from 21:00 JST.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Darkstalkers Resurrection not coming to Japan

According to Capcom's producer Yoshinori Ono (via Twitter), Darkstalkers Resurrection is not coming to Japan! So this is like Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix!?

In response to a Japanese user, from his words, Capcom Japan is yet to announce the game. (It could or could never come out in Japan at all.) He then asked the user to wait for a news.

Eita plays Rocksmith 7 hours straight

Rocksmith, a rhythm action game that lets you play with your real guitar, was released on Wednesday in Japan. The Akuma player Eita had the game yesterday and played it 7 hours straight on his stream.

Eita used to play guitar in a band, and there was actually a YouTube clip of him playing in a concert.

All songs in Rocksmith are from foreign artists. The game also allows player to add anything to the song (improvise) beside what you need to do. And with everything, it was one of the best things we have ever seen on Eita's stream.

If you are interested, Eita will stream Rocksmith again today, starting in an hour. Update: The show was moved to here.

GODSGARDEN to offer paid contents for 735 yen a month

GODSGARDEN announced on Kao TV tonight that they will soon offer monthly subscription of paid contents on their formal channel. What is the "paid contents" is still undecided, but the monthly fee is 735 yen. (Any non-paid contents including anything on casual channel is still free.)

This is a very disappointing news. Because if GODSGARDEN really wants money, they could have uploaded anything on their streams on YouTube and started earning ad revenue long time ago. (Instead the thieves did it and take all the money.)

The 735 yen monthly fee is also too high.

For reference, look at Seiyuu Grand Prix channel on Niconico.
  • Established by a big voice actors magazine
  • Four-time-a-week update of exclusive video clips of popular voice actors
  • Four-time-a-week update of exclusive columns of popular voice actors
  • Video clips are available in 1Mbps bit rate, and on all types of cellphones
  • 525 yen monthly fee

We really doubt that GODSGARDEN will top that with the regular players they have, and especially when KSK just updated his blog for the first time in 7 months...

Note that these days you also need a premium Niconico account (525 yen monthly) to watch Ura Kao TV (GODSGARDEN's casual stream) because premium accounts have higher priority than free accounts. Free users will get kicked by the system to give the spaces to premium users. Ura Kao TV can hold only 2,000 users a time. (And that means even premium users are not guaranteed their seats!)

Friday, October 12, 2012

Street Fighter X Tekken Ver.2013 announced

Capcom announced at Comic Con that a big update of Street Fighter X Tekken will come in the middle of December. The update is free and the game will be upgraded to Ver.2013.

Changes in Ver.2013 from 4Gamer.net
- Throw start-up is reduced from 7F to 5F.
- Tekken characters anti-air moves are improved.
- Life restoration speed is adjusted (to reduce time-out possibility).
- There is camera adjustment during Boost Combo start-up.
- It is easier to see the recoverable damage.
- The effect (graphics) during Gem activation is changed.
- Fight (graphics) disappears quicker.
- Add range and damage of Ken's Shippuu Jinrai.
- Add invincibility to Kazuya's EX Fuujinken
- Add projectile invincibility to Dictator's Knee Press Nightmare
- Bob and Paul have faster walk speed.
- Etc.

Update: Capcom Unity now posted more details on the changes.

Darkstalkers Resurrection announced

Capcom announced just now Darkstalkers Resurrection for PSN and Xbox Live.

Summary
- A bundle of Darkstalkers 2 (Vampire Hunter) and Darkstalkers 3 (Vampire Savior) port
- Coming early 2013
- $14.99
- High definition
- GGPO
- 8-person lobby
- Spectator mode
- YouTube replay sharing
- Unlockable stuff
- Trials


And since Daigo Umehara is also the most famous Darkstalkers player and champion, expect a promotional video featuring him later from Capcom Japan side.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Umehara gets his own mahjong manga

Daigo Umehara is turn into a manga (Japanese comic) story again! But this time it is HIS story!

The preview of the next issue of Kindai Mahjong Original that will be released next month on November 8 shows that it will feature "Umehara's Mahjong" story.

Umehara has turn to mahjong when he quitted fighting gamed half a decade ago. He then return with the release of Street Fighter IV in 2008 and recently said he will not return to the mahjong world. However, this manga seems to be an adaptation rather than biography.

From the preview, it acknowledges Umehara as the world's number one pro gamer and teases "What it takes for the man who keeps winning at fighting games to be able to keep winning at mahjong?" ("Keep Winning" has become a catchphrase after his book "Willpower to Keep Winning.") It also shows him drawing a mahjong tile in Mad Catz T-shirt.

The manga is drawn by Michiaki Kiyama.

Kindai Mahjong Original is a monthly manga magazine exclusively for mahjong stories. It is a spinoff of Kindai Mahjong (semimonthly) that has famous manga Akagi (that was later turn into anime).


Although this is the first time Umehara has his own manga about himself, he was already in manga in some form or another. His legendary Evo 2004 moment was in an anime. He also linked Mad Catz product to anime as well.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Umehara reaches Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournaments finals

Since the qualifiers of Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournaments have been finished on October 7, the draws for the finals matching was streamed yesterday.

Results

1st match
Uryo (Sakura) vs. -R- (Boxer)

2nd match
dath (C. Viper) vs. Fuudo (Fei Long)

3rd match
Kyoku (Yang) vs. Eita (Akuma)

4th match
Kindo (Fei Long) vs. Umehara (Ryu)

Daigo Umehara who is now qualified for SSF4AE2012 finals was once again the last draw of the show, and Kindo will be his first opponent in the finals on October 20.

Note that they will use western format, sans counterpicking, in the final. The matches will be first-to-two (games) double-elimination. The grand final will be first-to-three.

1st Stratos Party summary

Info
- 1st Stratos Party announced
- Stream

Summary
  1. Bunbunmaru asked voice actor Atsushi Abe and voice actress Kana Ueda their game experiences.
  2. Bunbunmaru and Fuudo coached voice actor Masakazu Nishida who is new to the game. Ueda came out to help.
  3. Battle session: They began with Mago, Fuudo, Abe, Ueda.
  4. Battle session: Umehara came out, then they started shuffling members.
  5. They gave away posters with autographs (voice actors + pro gamers) to lucky viewers.
  6. Developer's talk session (read announcements here)
  7. The show ended with 41057 attendees and 38908 comments

Experiences
  • Umehara - 2800 matches played, rank AA
  • Fuudo - 2600 matches played, rank SS
  • Ueda - around 2000 matches played, rank A
  • Abe - 1850 matches played, rank AA
  • Mago - 1700 matches played, rank AA
  • Nishida - 180 matches played, rank D3



Gunslinger Stratos now 200 yen per 3 plays

The developers of Gunslinger Stratos announced last night on The 1st Stratos Party that the game will lower its play fee from 200 yen per 2 plays to 200 yen per 3 plays during Liberation War between October 9-22. (Although they still has 100 yen/1 play option.)

There were actually several announcements from the event. The rest is below.

- The game will be updated to version 1.20 on October 9, with a new stage, a new campaign, 2 new characters, new weapon packs.
- The new stage is Umeda, Osaka.
- A new theme song was showed.
- The new campaign "Liberation War" will be available between October 9-22. Players will get to choose from 2 sides (Frontier S and 17th Far East Imperial Control Ward) and stage atmospheres will be changed according to players' influences. The winning side gets new character unlocked (below).
- 2 new playable characters (Mondo Makabe, Xi 988) will be added.
- Mondo Makabe looks like Master Asia from G Gundam. He is even voiced by Yousuke Akimoto, the voice of Master Asia himself. He is unlocked if 17th Far East Imperial Control Ward side wins.
- Xi 988 (who looks like Persona's Aigis) is voiced by Saki Fujita (Miku Hatsune's voice). She is unlocked if Frontier S side wins.
- The first official tournament in Tokyo is now scheduled for January 13, 2013.
- The 2nd Stratos Party: Official Offline Meeting is planned for January 12, 2013. Users can come to play the game free of charge and find team members at the same time.


Saturday, October 6, 2012

Umehara has something to say about Arcana Heart?

The latest blog post from Examu, the developer of Arcana Heart and Aquapazza, revealed that the booklet "Examu Heart: Moonsault Press" that will be sold during Examu Cup next month will have an interview with Daigo Umehara. The topic has not been mentioned.

The contents of the book
- Arcana Heart special short story (comic)
- Arcana Heart 4 koma manga
- Arcana Heart staff interview
- Arcana Heart original short story
- Special interview: Daigo Umehara
- Ura Kao TV interview: Kamizono, Danchou, GODSGARDEN's Inaba
- Daemon Bride novel
- Illustrations from guests
- Illustrations from readers

Examu Cup: Ai no Saiten 2012 is Arcana Heart 3 online tournament that will be held between November 2-4 by GODSGARDEN.

Umehara confirmed for Dengeki 20th Anniversary

Dengeki revealed yesterday that Daigo Umehara, Fuudo, Mago will participate Dengeki 20th Anniversary event on October 21 at Makuhari Messe. He and his teammates will be there to play Gunslinger Stratos with the attendees.

Dengeki has almost 20 magazines under its name, basically almost about anything an otaku would want.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Dead or Alive 5 outsells Tekken Tag Tournament 2

The latest report from Media Create, the well-known Japanese console games market researcher, revealed (via GAF) that Dead or Alive 5 has outsold Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in the first week.

DOA5 has sold over 80,000 copies both PS3 and Xbox 360 combined in its first week while TTT2 did less than 70,000 both versions in its first week.

As always, we put the numbers 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] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 66,586 / NEW
  12. [PS3] Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.23} - 65,758 / NEW
  13. [PS3] Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.09.13} - 62,630 / NEW
  14. [PS3] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 58,471 / NEW
  15. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (Namco Bandai) {2009.11.09} - 57,972 / NEW
  16. [PSP] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Gears of Destiny (Bandai Namco) {2011.12.22} - 57,320 / NEW
  17. [PS3] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 54,924 / NEW
  18. [PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (Arc System Works) {2010.07.01} - 49,871 / NEW
  19. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Bandai Namco) {2010.11.11} - 47.610 / NEW
  20. [3DS] Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition (Capcom) {2011.02.26} - 44,649 / NEW
  21. [PS3] Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.12.08} - 44,593 / NEW
  22. [PS2] Melty Blood: Actress Again (Ecole Software) {2009.08.20} - 44,292 / NEW
  23. [360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2009.02.12} - 38,000 / NEW
  24. [360] Soul Calibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) {2008.07.31} - 34,786 / NEW
  25. [PS3] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 34,328 / NEW 
  26. [PSP] Fate/Unlimited Codes Portable (Capcom) {2009.06.18} - 34,205 / NEW
  27. [PS3] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 33,768 / NEW
  28. [PS3] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (Arc System Works) {2011.12.17} - 32,992 / NEW
  29. [360] Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) {2010.04.28} - 28,454 / NEW
  30. [PSP] Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) {2010.01.14} - 25,131 / NEW
  31. [360] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Arc System Works) {2009.06.25} - 24,812 / NEW
  32. [WII] Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (Capcom) {2008.12.11} - 24,100 / NEW
  33. [PSP] BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (Arc System Works) {2011.03.31} - 23,808 / NEW
  34. [3DS] Dead or Alive: Dimensions (Koei Tecmo) {2011.05.19} - 23,078 / NEW
  35. [PS3] Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (Capcom) {2011.11.17} - 22,436 / NEW
  36. [PS3] The King of Fighters XIII (SNK Playmore) {2011.12.01} - 21,525 / NEW
  37. [PS3] AQUAPAZZA (Aquaplus) {2012.08.30} - 20,935 / NEW
  38. [PS3] Arcana Heart 3 (Arc System Works) {2011.01.13} - 17,219 / NEW
  39. [360] Dead or Alive 5 (Koei Tecmo) {2012.09.27} - 14,811 / NEW
  40. [360] Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom) {2011.02.17} - 13,779 / NEW
  41. [360] Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Capcom) {2011.06.30} - 12,326 / NEW
  42. [360] Phantom Breaker (5pb.) {2011.06.02} - 9,960 / NEW
  43. [360] Persona 4: Arena (Atlus) {2012.07.26} - 9,801 / NEW 
  44. [3DS] Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.16} - 9,421 / NEW
  45. [360] Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom) {2012.03.08} - 8,527 / NEW
  46. [360] Soul Calibur V (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.02.02} - 7,679 / NEW

Team Umehara wins local Gunslinger Stratos tournament

Both Fuudo and Mago announced tonight that their team "Team Umehara" has won a local Gunslinger Stratos tournament at Taito Station Akihabara branch on Saturday. There were 16 teams on that day.

The members of Team Umehara were Daigo Umehara, Fuudo, Mago, Nyanshi.

Fuudo started introducing Gunslinger Stratos on Kachitagari TV (TOPANGA TV spin-off) in September, but it seems to be a hard work. The game is not spectator-friendly and it favors a static team over a group of 4 strangers. Fuudo also revealed on the show their strategy is letting Umehara stay in the frontline while other teammates snipe enemies from behind.

New schedule posted for Japan's SF 25th Anniversary tournaments

The qualifiers of Japan's Street Fighter 25th Anniversary National Tournament on September 30 were left unfinished. Only SFxTK was played on that day. The 3rd Strike and SF4 qualifiers were postponed due to the powerful typhoon.

A new scheduled was posted today as below. People who bought the one-day ticket of September 30 can also ask for a refund here. The change will not affect the people who bought the all-in-one ticket (they can still see all the streams).

October 6 (Day 3)
SFxTK (until top 16)
3rd Strike (until top 32)
SF4 (until top 28)
- main stream, sub stream

October 7 (Day 4)
SFxTK (until top 8)
3rd Strike (until top 8)
SF4 (until top 7)
- main stream, sub stream

October 8
- Reserved in case of delay
- main stream

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Umehara on Zai FX

ZAI FX, a portal site about foreign exchange, has posted an interview with Daigo Umehara with video. They also had a female staff invade his training room (not actually his room/house).

Quick summary
- The interview focuses on his mentality.
- The winners are not always the stronger.
- Losing is not important, it is how you lost that counts.
- Pro gamers are merely the people who know easier ways to win a game more than other people. They are not unbeatable.
- He does not pay attention to losing streak.
- He does not give up on gaming, but rather was made to, due to the lack of challenges and gamer is not an occupation at that time when he was 23 years old.
- He learns from failures and by observation.
- The article will continue next week.



They picked Umehara because fighting games and FX are the same in a sense. It uses knowledges and experiences to reduce the risk of betting, the rest is mentality. This is the reason Umehara's book "Willpower to Keep Winning" was recommended by some in FX industry.

Senran Kagura VERSUS not a fighting game

So despite having "VERSUS" in its name, the new Senran Kagura game is not a fighting game as we suspected. 4Gamer has posted first details and first batch of screenshots today.

The genre is still action game, but the versus part is from the 2 on 2 feature. Unlike the ones on 3DS (single player), the PS Vita game supports up to 4 players via Wi-Fi.

Other details
- 20 playable characters
- 3D action
- Fully destructible costumes
- Limited edition comes with 5 mini figures, visual book, soundtracks and drama CD

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