Gods Garden x 4Gamer Interview: AE First Impressions (2/2)

Update:  Made some revisions, most of which are insignificant, but here are a few bigger ones:
Itabashi:  He [Seth] still has the wall jump, right? [I had it as 'head stomps' before.]
Hiropon:  [Talking about EX Messiah] The damage in the rolling part in the beginning got nerfed, but the last somersault still does considerable damage. [I had the nerf the other way around.].
Mago:  But as a character he [Ken] lacks depth, so it’s difficult for him to reflect different players’ abilities and styles.

***

Article continued from here.

Somehow finished it.  The third page seemed to go on forever.  Quantity over quality for now.  I’ll be looking over it continuously to make any corrections/additions. Original here.

As always, bracketed notes on uncertain parts.

Thanks to kisaragi for some corrections.

What about high tier Fei and Cammy?  The other Super characters

KSK:  Let’s move on to the other console characters.  How about your character, Hiropon.  Seth.

Hiropon:  The most noticeable thing is the loss of his jumping fierce.  That was useful for keeping out the opponent, but since he can’t do that anymore it’s going to be tough against characters with a lot of horizontal momentum.

Mago:  That move was really a bit much (laughs).  I think it was not so much about him being good or not, but more about him just being boring to play against.  I think they just thought it would be silly to have that jumping fierce in the arcade.

Hiropon:  To be honest, I thought it was little boring using that jumping fierce myself, so I think it was inevitable that they got rid of it.

KSK:  So you plan to keep using Seth.  How do you envision his gameplay?

Hiropon:  Because he now needs to be more offensive, he might actually become more annoying.  He was annoying before because he ran away, but now he’s going to be rushing down from all different directions.

Mago: His rushdown was always good to begin with.  It’s just that he had no health, so it was hard to do so while aslo minding defense.

Hiropon: He’s been given more life and stun so I think it’ll be much better this time around.  Before he’d get stunned very often against Viper, Ryu, or Chun…  But I think the upper tier characters are still going to be a pain.  Regardless, I think he still has a chance.  Cynics want to place him pretty low, but I think he could be solid mid-tier.

Mago:  I personally think Seth is pretty weak now.

Itabashi:  He still has the wall jump, right?  That move really drives me crazy when I’m trying to chase him down (laughs).

Mago:  Ah, but he lost his jumping fierce, so I think you’ll be fine.

Itabashi:  But runaways are really annoying.

Nemo:  It makes you not want to play anymore.

KSK: Everyone thinks you’re annoying, Hiropon (laughs).

Hiropon: I’m really sorry  (laughs).

[Embedded footage of Seth Combo.  Hiropon says, "Seth has a lot of tricks, so I think he's fun."]

KSK: How about Cammy?  She was really good before.

Mago:  I think she’s as strong as ever.

Itabashi:  But isn’t she very different now that she can’t do Tiger Knee Cannon Strikes?

Mago:  She’s more of a brawler now.  That with a bit of a waiting game mixed in.  In the end I think it comes down to how you can break their defense with EX Cannon Strike.

Nemo:  Really?  But isn’t mixing up cross up LK and Cannon Strikes enough?

Mago:  Things seem to have changed because the second hit of roundhouse Spiral Arrow no longer hits.

Nemo:  Isn’t c.LP -> c.LP -> c.HK good enough?  It was on Sako’s Twitter.  Knockdown with sweep, then mix up with Cannon Strike or crossup LK.

Hiropon:  There’s a lot of chances to connect sweep, so it seems pretty strong.

Mago:  Anyway, she does have to make changes because of the height minimum on Cannon Strikes, but the EX version is still just as scary.  When rushing down, she has EX Cannon Strike as insurance, so that remains unchanged.  It’s just that it’s harder to build meter now, and I wonder how that’s going to effect her.

Nemo:  For sure.

KSK:  It seems she’s still a top contender.

Mago:  I think so.

Nemo:  Yeah definitely. Also, I get the feeling that Gen is pretty solid.  Seems fun.  You can connect his Up Kicks off of c.LK -> c.MK target combo, or do c.LK -> MK -> EX Hands -> sweep.  It seems he’s gotten a bit simpler with the addition of combos.

Itabashi:  You’re a real fanatic aren’t you (laughs)?  What with Gen and all that.  I don’t think I can ever learn all that.

Mago:  I heard Gouken also got pretty strong?

Nemo:  I think he did.  The command for his Parry move changed, so you don’t get Hurricane Kicks on accident.

Hiropon:  Plus EX Hurricane locks the opponent in now, so you can use it as an anti-air.  Then his LP Dash Punch no longer moves forward, and it connects off of crouching jab.  You can also do stuff like MP -> c.HP – > MP Dash Punch now.

Mago:  Wow, he can combo off of light moves [?] now.

Hiropon:  You can also cancel jumping MP into Air Hurricane, and if you do the roundhouse version, the last hit knocks them really far.  Maybe not full screen, but it’s annoying enough.

Mago:  Gouken’s back dash was really bad before.  But now everyone’s back dash is considered airborne at the end, so it’s hard to chase after them.

Itabashi:  Was it everyone? Dan runs backwards, though.

Mago:  That was already considered airborne before.

Itabashi:  Oh really?  I had no clue (laughs).

KSK:  And what about Dan?  He’s supposed to have gained some hit confirm combos.

Mago:  Enough about Dan.  He’s not supposed to be that kind of character.  Dan Hurricane, then mix up uppercut or throw… What the hell is that?  Kindevu’s Dan really screws me up.

(Everyone laughs)

KSK:  Well, that’s just the kind of character he is (laughs).  So he’s gotten buffed?

Hiropon:  Well, he was really weak before.  And although he’s improved, he just doesn’t have that finishing touch.  He’s a joke character anyway.

KSK:  And Sakura?

Mago: I haven’t played against her, but isn’t she pretty good?

Nemo:  I think so.  Her normals have improved, and she has simple set ups.  She seems solid.

Mago:  She had problems with runaway characters like Akuma before, but since he lost his air hurricane, she should be relatively better off.  All of the attrition [turtle?] characters got nerfed so I think she’s better now.

Hiropon:  Did they not change her Air Hurricane?

Nemo:  They didn’t touch that, so she should still be able to run away.  Same with Ken’s EX Air Hurricane, except that requires meter.

KSK:  Then we have Rose.  We’ll save Fei for later.  How is Rose?  Her go-to Ultra, Soul Satellite got nerfed.

Mago:  It’s pretty painful to have lost [some] invincibility.  And the start up also slower.

Nemo:  Yeah but you can use it for wake up set ups and for basic ground game, so it should be fine.

Mago:  No, because Rose always had bad defense, and she doesn’t have much fast moves.  Standing MP is 4 frames I guess.  But that’s about it.  You can’t really say that Soul Spiral or EX Soul Throw are really that powerful of moves.

Hiropon:  Can’t you still combo with Soul Satellite?  If so, I think she’ll still manage.  But I recently saw this guy get his Soul Satellite stuffed, and he made a really nasty face (laughs).  He was like, “HuuuhHh!?” (laughs).

[Embedded footage showing less invincibility on Soul Satellite.  Mago says, "Yun's Palm is really dangerous.  It chips a lot, too.]

KSK:  And lastly, Mago’s main, Fei Long.

Mago:  I think Fei Long is dangerous.  He might be the best.

KSK:  His roundhouse Chicken Wing and EX Rekkas have been modified…

Mago:  His normals haven’t changed much, but his standing [light?] punches have more advantage frames, and you can link into sweep.  That’s really dangerous.

Hiropon:  Can you link into it even after a few punches?

Mago:  You can connect it even after three punches, except if they’re crouching.

Itabashi:  Ken can do that now too, right?

Mago:  It’s more dangerous that Fei can do it.

Nemo:  But doesn’t Fei have bad match ups, too?  Weren’t charge characters tough?

Mago:  But they all got nerfed.  And even if it was hard before, it wasn’t like it was predetermined.  Honda got nerfed, Boxer and Dictator both got modified.  Umm… I think Chun Li might be the only one left?

[Embedded footage of Nemo (Yang) vs Hiropon (Seth) casuals]

[End of page 2]

Can’t lose to the new characters — on to the Vanilla characters

KSK:  OK, now for the original cast of SFIV.  Looks like Tokido’s going to be here soon.  First, how about Ryu and Ken?

Nemo:  Ken’s improved.  You can link c.MP -> c.MK.

Itabashi:  As I mentioned earlier, he can link sweep off of standing jab.  Then you can start doing your set ups.

Hiropon:  What kind of set ups?  Crossup hurricane?  Can he do that without meter?

Mago:  Yeah, he can without meter.  He relies heavily on wake up games, so he needs it.  But as a character he lacks depth, so it’s difficult for him to reflect different players’ abilities and styles.  If he was just a bit more…

Itabashi:  Isn’t his overall game strong?

Mago:  No way.  It’s the same as closing in.  All he has is getting in and mixing it up.

KSK:  So maybe if he substitutes sweep for EX Hurricane in order get in on the opponent.

Mago:  Sure that might work, but… I just don’t like Ken to begin with.

(Everyone laughs)

Itabashi:  I didn’t know we were talking about our likes and dislikes (laughs).

Mago:  Yeah I don’t like him.  Although there’s plenty of other characters I dislike more.

KSK:  How’s Ryu.

Hiropon:  Ryu’s bad match ups have gotten nerfed, so maybe he has a chance?

Mago:  Nah, he’s very average, probably weaker than before.  The light Dragon Punch that he needed on wake up got weaker mid-air, and he needs fierce Dragon Punch for anti-air [I don't know exactly what the Ryu changes are, so this part might not be accurate].

Itabashi:  And he lost his runaway Air Hurricane.

Mago:  Losing that is pretty huge.  Is that about it?

Hiropon:  C.MK got faster, and the active frames got 1 frame shorter.  Isn’t that big for Zangief?

Mago:  Even before that, he’s lost that match.  He has no chance against Zangief.

Itabashi:  SPD got more range, so he might be able to grab him from just outside of c.MK range.

Mago:  There’s that, and he can’t get out of the corner anymore with Air Hurricane.

KSK:  Really?  So Ryu’s basically done in the corner?

Mago:  In the corner.  He’ll just block and block and then eventually die.

KSK: (laughs)

[Embedded footage demonstrating SPD's extended range.  KSK says "What the hell..."]

Itabashi:  One thing I was wondering about.  Umehara [Daigo] said that it was over for projectile characters.  How so, exactly?

Mago:  It is over.  There’s way too many ways of getting around projectiles, and they can’t deal with it.  So if at least Sagat doesn’t have good fireballs, it’s over for them.

Itabashi:  Sagat and Guile?

Nemo:  Chun’s still good.

Itabashi:  But Chun has solid ground game.  So you mean if Yun rushes down on Ryu, he’ll have a hard time doing anything about it?

Mago:  Ryu has a small range of movement.  All he has is fireball and c.MK poke.  It’s hopeless.  He can’t Air Hurricane out of there, so he’s at more risk now turtling.  It’s going to be tough for Ryu.

KSK:  But Sagat is fine?

Mago:  I haven’t really touched Sagat, but he does more damage so he’ll be relatively high up.  Definitely in the highest tier bracket.

KSK:  And Guile?

Mago:  Guile is still capable of putting up a fight.  There was talk of the vulnerable hitbox on Sonic Boom sticking out more, but that isn’t the case [I think he's talking the hit boxes on Guile's body during Sonic Boom].

Nemo:  There are vulnerable hit boxes on his hands.  And it now counts as counterhit during recovery.  It’ll hurt to eat a jump in during recovery frames.

Mago:  He’s not going to eat jump ins.

Nemo:  Well he probably won’t eat any jump ins except [random/suicide?] jump ins.  Also, his air throw got 1 frame slower.  There’s also talk that the range might have been nerfed, too.

Mago:  That seems pretty huge.  His air throw was really good in SuperIV.  Not the start up frames and what not, but it was the range that was dangerous.  But even with those bits of changes, I think he’s still able to hold his ground.  It’s also really good that his Reverse Spinning Kick (back or forward HK) has low invulnerability.  Great for beating crouch techs.

Itabashi:  That’s how it was used back in the SFII days.  It’s a good move.

[Embedded footage of Tokido (Akuma) vs Itabashi (Zangief) casuals]

KSK:  OK and now Nemo’s original main, Chun Li.

Nemo:  I haven’t really touched her so I don’t know for sure, but I think she’s relatively better off because she herself hasn’t changed much.

Mago:  Her df.LK got nerfed, though.

Nemo:  I didn’t really use that move to begin with.

Itabashi:  Wasn’t it really good?

Nemo:  It was, but it wasn’t really that important in her arsenal.  Also I think recovery on c.HK has gotten bigger.  And her Focus Attack has been adjusted.  I think this is both a buff and a nerf.

Mago:  How so?

Nemo:  For example, against Ryu’s c.MK -> Fireball, if you tried to focus the fireball, Chun’s hitbox was so small it was actually a bit difficult to do.  But now it’s easier.

Mago:  Aha.  That is both a buff and a nerf.  But now you’re easier to hit in general.  It’s difficult to say if it’s better to have a large [focus] hit box or small [focus] hit box.  When I used Sagat, he had a big hit box, and it was actually convenient.  It’s easier to absorb an attack and dash out.

Nemo:  Exactly.  So it has both its advantages and disadvantages, but since her normals have always been so good, it doesn’t really make much of a difference.

KSK:  I heard a rumor that if you do EX Legs into Ultra 1 against Rose, it doesn’t lock her in properly.  Does this have a big effect?

Mago:  Really?

Nemo:  Yeah I heard about that.

[Embedded footage of Chun's Ultra losing the lock-in effect on Rose.  Itabashi says, "Ohh, interesting (laughs)."]

Nemo:  I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.  You can EX Spinning Bird after EX legs, so it’s not that big of a disadvantage, except maybe in dire situations.

Itabashi:  If it’s only against Rose, you can just avoid using it in that match up.

KSK:  Does Chun seem like she can get up there?

Nemo:  I think she can make upper tier.  Yun and Yang have a hard time against her.  They are at a disadvantage after dive kicks, and she can jab safely on block.  And of course her normals are solid all around.

Mago:  Chun Li was a pretty hard match up when I used Yang.  She was already pretty strong in SuperIV, but because she had low health, she had to go after her opponent, making her hard to use.

Nemo:  She was hard, but now she can lame it out more in AE.  And her arch-nemesis Blanka has gotten a lot weaker.

Mago:  Did Zangief have the advantage over her in SuperIV?

Itabashi:  It was tough for Zangief.  His LK hit box was nerfed, so it became less risky for her to throw out standing roundhouses.  And once she starts doing that, it’s hard for Zangief to do anything.

Mago:  In EVO2010, Ricky vs. Vangief, Ricky was spamming standing roundhouse all day.  I was wondering why Vangief didn’t punish with LK, but now I see why.

Itabashi:  Right.  Light kick got nerfed and c.LK got buffed.

Hiropon:  Speaking of which, Claw’s hop kick seemed to have gotten pretty nerfed.

Nemo:  And his Rolling Sobat got nerfed.

Hiropon: It used to be that if he hit with the tip [of hop kick], he would be in the advantage, but now he gets thrown and stuff.

Mago:  Huh?  He’s at that much of a disadvantage now?

Itabashi:  But if he gets regular thrown, that means it’s like -3 frames.

Mago:  We can test it.

[Embedded footage of Claw doing hop kick on Gief.  Hiropon: Double Lariat is guaranteed, so unless you're hitting with the very tip, it's -4 frames.]

KSK:  What about Dhalsim?  His damage output seems to have been nerfed.

Nemo:  Dhalsim is hurting too.  His damage has been reduced, and his hit boxes have changed.  It’s almost as if his jumping MP no longer has an active hit box.

Mago:  Really?  They changed that too?  I thought it was just Yang’s vulnerable boxes that were weird.

Nemo:  Nope, it’s Dhalsim.  I don’t think he’ll be using jumping MP as an anti-air anymore.

Hiropon:  I heard his all-important b.LK got slower.

Mago:  I heard that.  It went from like 3 to 4 frames.

Itabashi: That was a life line for him.  But he can LK slide, so he still technically has a 3 frame move.

Mago:  No no no no.

Nemo:  No no no no.

Hiropon:  No no no no.

Nemo:  Light slide is [suicide?] (laughs).

Mago:  It’s a free throw even on hit.  It’s no good.

Itabashi:  So I guess if you try to mash out with light slide, you just get taken for a ride (laughs).

Hiropon:  His super damage got really nerfed, from 350 to 300.

Mago:  Eh, that’s fine.  Yoga Inferno was already a really good move anyway.  In the end, he either wins his match ups or loses his match ups.  He’s a very bi-polar character.

Nemo:  I agree.  He’s essentially still the same.

KSK:  Is there anyone else to watch out for?

Mago:  Rufus is as strong as ever.  There were rumors that his EX Messiah got toned down, but I tried it out today, and I didn’t see any difference.

Hiropon:  Do you mean the last somersault part?  [Correction here->] The damage in the rolling part in the beginning got nerfed, but the last somersault still does considerable damage.

Mago:  Oh, maybe that’s it.  I think that’s fine.  It’s too much if that part doesn’t do damage.  But his Ultra 2 no longer locks in, so airborne opponents get knocked away now.  But to be honest, his Ultra 1 is so good anyway, you don’t really need to use Ultra 2.

KSK:  You could use it effectively against Akuma before, to suck him and his air fireball in.

Mago:  Ultra 1 is fine against Akuma.  There’s a lot of chances to land it.  I think Sagat is the only matchup where Ultra 2 is better.

Itabashi:  To get through all those fireballs.

[Embedded footage of Big Bang Typhoon knocking away an airborne Rufus.]

Hiropon:  How about Abel and El Fuerte?  Why don’t you tell as about Abel, KSK?

KSK:  Well his Ultra 2…

Mago:  Oh, he’s actually going to talk about Abel.

(everyone laughs)

KSK:  His Ultra 2 lost armor while moving forward, so you can’t use it to punish fireballs anymore.  And they decreased damage on both Tornado throw and Ultra 1.

Mago:  And his command roll recovers slower.

KSK:  Really?  So I guess you can’t be rolling around freely anymore.

Hiropon:  And the active hit box on his crouching fierce was decreased so you can’t use it as an anti-air.

KSK:  I’m done for (laughs).

Mago:  Abel’s most important tools–the frame advantage on f.MK and throw invincibility on Tornado throw–are still there, so he’ll be fine.

Itabashi:   I don’t think he’ll be that much different.

Mago:  El Fuerte got a lot weaker.  Propeller Tortilla is useless now.

KSK:  He lost invincibility on it, but his regular throw got a little better in exchange.

Hiropon:  Isn’t that a big deal?  I think it can be useful during defense.

Nemo:  No it doesn’t make a difference.  Then it becomes a game of mashing out a throw during defense then going after them, and I don’t care for that.

Itabashi:  That’s true (laughs).

Hiropon:  His Ultra 2 also got nerfed.  It went from 3 to 4 frames, and the range is now half of what it used to be.

Mago:  That ultra was just too good before.  3 to 4 frames is a big difference.  He used to be able to punish Boxer’s Dash Straight with it.  Nerfing it seems fair.

KSK:  I think Tokido is almost here.  In the meantime, let’s talk about the charge characters.  They’re supposed to have gotten weaker.  How so?

Mago:  Across the board.  You can’t use Blanka Balls anymore.

[Embedded footage demonstrating the blocked distance change on Blanka Balls]

Nemo:  I think Blanka is still good.  He can still be very annoying.

Mago:  You think he’s still good?

Hiropon:  Normals like his c.MK and c.HP have gotten buffed.  It’s just that there are more characters that can punish Blanka Balls than before.

Itabashi:  There were already a lot of characters who could punish it, so I don’t think it makes that much of a difference.  It’s not like Blanka players spammed it that much anyway.

Hiropon:  And I’m somewhat worried that EX Electricity got buffed to a 5 frame start up.

Nemo:  Oh is that so?  So no more cross ups?

Itabashi:  Does it have invincibility?

Hiropon:  I don’t think so, but the vulnerable hit boxes are pretty low.  If you’re not careful with c.LK links, you could eat Electricity.

KSK:  Blanka vs T. Hawk was really terrible in SuperIV, wasn’t it?  I heard T. Hawk couldn’t do anything because of Vertical Roll.

Hiropon:  I think that boring match up got a little better.  I don’t think Blankas were having much fun doing that either (laughs).  And if [___] lost randomly, [___] would bitch about it (laughs). [Not sure if T. Hawk or Blanka goes in those spaces. I think he's saying that Blankas would bitch when T. Hawk somehow got lucky and finally scored a knock down, turning the tables.]

Itabashi:  I see.  Zangief’s match up against Blanka was similar.  They’d just sit there and wait for me to jump so they could Vertical Roll.  It was painful (laughs).

KSK:  Hasn’t it gotten much harder for Blanka against Zangief this time around?

Itabashi:  I think it’ll come down to how their normals interact.

Nemo:  Boxer still seems good.  Very few changes.

Hiropon:  It’s hard to break down his defense.  He has great turtle game and does a lot of damage.

KSK:  What about Honda?

Itabashi:  I heard they nerfed damage on Headbutt.

KSK:  That move was such a noob killer.

Itabashi:  But there’s a lot of counters to that move.

Hiropon:  His grab Ultra is now a half circle motion, and it’s 2 frames.  They also adjusted his normals, like jumping MP, and damage on his far fierce got reduced to about 80.

Nemo:  80 is a pretty painful nerf.

Tokido:  Hello.  How is everyone?

KSK:  Ah, Tokido’s here.  Shall we talk about Akuma then?  Are you going to stick with Akuma again?

Tokido:  Yeah… I don’t plan on using anyone else.

Nemo:  Isn’t he pretty strong?

Mago:  Yes he is.  He hasn’t changed at all.

Tokido:  He hasn’t changed much, so yeah, he’s still very good.  I think his runaway Air Hurricane is the only real change.

Mago:  That seems like a big deal, but honestly he’s above average when it comes to brawling.  I think he’s better when he’s on the offensive.

KSK:  It doesn’t seem like his wake up setups have changed?

Tokido:  Nope, they haven’t.

Itabashi:  We were talking about how parts of everyone’s back dash is now airborne.

Tokido:  It doesn’t affect him.  Characters being airborne when they get hit during backdash means that you aren’t doing the setups right.  If you do them correctly, they should still work perfectly well.

KSK:  How is he against Yun and Yang?

Tokido:  At the moment I’m not having much trouble.  At the worst it seems 5:5.

Mago:  Any bad match ups?

Tokido:  Since he lost his Air Hurricane, the matchups where he could win by running away have gotten somewhat harder.  But even then, all you have to do is go back to playing the game normally.  I think he just has to fine-tune his game plan against Zangief, Guile, and Sakura.

KSK:  So his ranking hasn’t changed either.

Tokido:  Yeah, he’s still very strong.

Mago:  His Ultra 2 when canceled from Teleport seems to have a bigger hit box.  Doesn’t that seem important?  You can beat low moves like Cammy’s Super.

Tokido:  But I don’t think it’s good enough to give up Raging Demon for it.

Itabashi:  Does that only apply when you cancel from Teleport?  It doesn’t have a bigger hit box when you do it by itself?

Mago:  I think it only applies when you cancel it from Teleport.

[Embedded footage of Akuma cancelling Ultra 2 from Teleport.  Tokido says, "It's pretty cool, but does he have any other situation to use it?"]

KSK:  Which match up do you hate the most?

Tokido:  …Definitely C. Viper.  I’ve always hated her.  She has many ways to land her Ultra and completely turn the tables, Akuma’s setups aren’t as effective against her, and it’s hard to run away.

Mago:  She’s really strong.  She hasn’t changed at all, so she’s pretty dangerous now.

KSK:  No nerfs?

Nemo:  Nope.  As for buffs, maybe a bigger hitbox on Burning Dance [Ultra 2].

KSK:  Buff?  Damn, she’s really good then (laughs).

Mago:  But no one uses that Ultra anyway.  It’s her Ultra 1 that’s too powerful.  So much damage.

Hiropon:  It’s to the point where I don’t understand why they haven’t nerfed it.

Mago:  Is she popular overseas?  I heard Abel was popular.

Tokido:  She’s is in MvC3.

KSK:  Let’s see… I think Dictator is the only one left.

Itabashi:  There’s more push back on Double Knee Press.

Nemo:  It pushes back really far.  Crouching LK doesn’t reach anymore so it’s hard to lock down now.

Hiropon:  But I think some characters benefit and some characters suffer because of it.  For example it was scary to go in on Zangief before, but it might be OK now.  As for other characters…

Tokido:  I think he’s gotten weaker overall.  He really couldn’t do damage outside of Knee Press.

Itabashi:  I think Dictator is better off sticking close to the opponent.

Nemo:  Also, his [standing] roundhouse got nerfed to 80 damage.  It’s supposed to be the same as Honda’s fierce.

KSK:  And what about his Ultra 2 getting changed to a charge move?

Hiropon:  I think that’s not going to affect the top players.

Itabashi:  You think so?  In any case I always thought it was weird for him to have fireball commands for a move.

Tokido:  I think it depends on the player, but I think the command change makes a difference.

KSK:  So maybe Dictator is going to have a harder time in AE?

Hiropon:  I think as long as he finds a way to deal with characters with horizontal momentum, he’ll be OK.  I think it’s more of a relative nerf than actual ability nerf.

Mago:  I think it’s going to be tough for him.

[Embedded footage of Tokido (Akuma) vs Nemo (Yang) casuals]

So who will reign supreme in the long awaited AE?

KSK:  So, who is going to be top tier, ability-wise.

Mago:  Yun, Fei Long, Viper, Chun, and Boxer.

Nemo:  And Sagat, Adon, and Zangief.

Itabashi:  Zangief, too?

Nemo:  Definitely!  He has a lot of good match ups.

Itabashi:  No, I think he has more bad match ups.

Mago:  No no no (laughs).  You’re not giving him enough credit.  Zangief is pro.

Itabashi:  Is that so (laughs)?

Tokido:  And Akuma, and definitely Makoto.

KSK:  That’s 9 characters.  Isn’t that too much?   What about characters to keep an eye on?

Mago:  Umm, I personally only think about Fei as being the best [?].

Nemo:  For me, Makoto, Adon, Yun and Yang.  I think they’ll be very fun characters.

Hiropon:  They do seem fun.

Mago:  Adon is fun, especially if you get in [to him?].  Air Jaguar is really dangerous.

KSK:  Itabashi?

Itabashi:  If we ignore how good a character is for a moment, then I’d say Hakan seems fun.

Hiropon:  Makoto for me.

KSK:  There was talk that Makoto is unstable.  What do you think, Tokido?

Tokido:  Stable hmm… I think in the hands of a good player, a player that knows Third Strike Makoto, she’ll be pretty solid.  With Kara-Karakusa and the like.

Itabashi:  I’m also curious about Makoto.  I think she’ll be pretty scary in the hands of a good player.  They’ll bring out her explosiveness of Third Strike.

Mago:  There’s a lot more defensive/evasive maneuvers in SFIV, so I think it’s going to be harder to do her mixups.

Itabashi:  But once she gets a bit of Yomi, she’s dangerously explosive.

Mago:  Yeah, she can be dangerous.

[Embedded footage of Tokido (Akuma) vs Mago (Fei Long) casuals]

–This is a bit off topic, but what do you think about the iPhone function [app?] for AE stats?

Tokido:  I’m glad because I had an iPhone and I couldn’t use it until now.

KSK:  Tokido was borrowing other people’s phones for that.

Mago:  Nemo, too.

Nemo:  Yeah.

Itabashi:  I heard it doesn’t work on the Xperia.

–It appears it doesn’t work on Android phones.  It only works on iPhones using Softbank 3G.

Mago:  What does it look like?  Oh wow, that’s nice.  It’s easy to see.

Hiropon:  How is it different from viewing it on non-smart phones?

Itabashi:  Isn’t it easier to search arcades on the iPhones?  For example, you go to Ikebukuro and search arcades, and it shows who’s at which arcade.

KSK:  That must be nice for the arcades.  You can check which famous players are at your store.

Hiropon:  That, and it used to be that you missed running into people before, especially when you were coming from out of town.  Although it’s even sadder if people leave while you’re in transit (laughs).

KSK:  Do things seem pretty hype at the arcades?

Hiropon:  It’s so crowded that it’s hard to play.

Itabashi:  There’s going to be a lot of people right now.  Although there are also some places where no one goes.

Mago:  Maybe it’s because there aren’t that many places that have it, so everyone is gathering at those few arcades.  I think on the whole, there are less people playing.

–Is there a place that is especially crowded?

Itabashi:  Safari in Ikebukuro is really something.

Nemo:  Safari is hype.

Mago:  Yeah Safari.

Tokido:  It’s really something there.

Hiropon:  Then there’s Joybox in Sinjuku.  They’re also really hype about Tekken 6 there, so that’s cool.

–Any strong console players making their arcade debut?

Nemo:  I saw a console player at Safari recently.  I think that’s really cool that they’re coming out.

Hiropon:  And that person was from out of town.  It’s amazing that he came all the way to Ikeburo to play.

Mago:  There’s a lot of console players.  I see a lot of gamer tags I used to see online.  Although most of them are Viper players.  Goes to show how broken she is.

(Everyone laughs)

KSK:  Wow you really hate Viper (laughs).

With the exciting release of AE, the fighting stage is now moved back to the arcades.  We’ll be sure to see many more stellar matches in future Gods Garden tournaments, and we can surely count on seeing the names we saw today.  Also, it’s not difficult to imagine new star players emerging from the console scene.

Furthermore, 2011 is sure to turn up the heat for the fighting game scene, with the recent release of BBCSII, MvC3 in February, and TTT2 in the summer.  As we enter this new phase, we can be sure we won’t be disappointed by the ever-accelerating fighting game boom, as well as the ever spellbinding work of our star players.

Bonus

–Tokido, was that Akuma projection screen stunt at Socal Regionals planned beforehand?

Tokido:  Yeah it was planned.

–So you waited and pulled it out when you thought the time was right?

Tokido:  The next match up I had in line was someone I couldn’t and probably won’t use Raging Demon on, so I figured I had to do it then.  There’s going to be a T-shirt too, so look out for that.

–Wow, where can we get some?

Tokido:  Gods Garden is going to sell them, and my sponsor The Traveling Circus, which is also a clothing maker in the states, is also selling them.

–So that means you’re a pro now.

Tokido:  More or less.

–We hope to see you go for the gold with Akuma in future tournaments.

Tokido:  Thank you, thank you.

–Thank you for your time today.

Gods Garden x 4Gamer Interview: AE First Impressions (1/2)

Update: Added information and captions about embedded footage.  And ran spell check (laughs).

Picked this up through GodsGarden tweet.

KSK, Mago, Nemo, Hiropon, Itabashi, and maybe Tokido give their impressions so far on AE.
Original here. Follow the link to also see embedded footage of them playing AE.

Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that the interview was three pages long when I started.  I tried finishing it in one sitting, but it’s impossible.  Here’s the first half.  I’ll try to get the rest up tomorrow ASAP.

Translation notes are in brackets as usual.  I apologize for there being a lot of uncertain parts.

Gods Garden x 4Gamer SSFIV AE Release Commemoration, First Impressions

Capcom’s popular fighting game Super Street Fighter IV AE was released December 16th.  It adds Yun and Yang to the console version’s roster, as well various balance modifications.

So with the cooperation of Gods Garden, we were able to set up a discussion with their famous players.  And despite the short notice, we were able to have Mago, Nemo, Hiropon, Itabashi Zangief, Tokido, and the sponsor of Gods Garden, Soushihan KSK himself.  Anyone who’s a fighting game fan has seen these names before. And because they are top players, the contents of the discussion tend to be a bit high level.  Thus the article may end up alienating some of the more casual readers, but I decided to be bold and print the entire thing anyway.  I wanted to convey as much of their passion as possible so I transferred their tone, words, and tempo as faithfully as possible.

For those players thinking about going from console and making their arcade debut, I suggest reading this leisurely through January and visiting an arcade when you can.

*All of the opinions expressed in the discussion are first impressions of the players, and the frame data and hit box information are not necessarily accurate.

The 6 players

Thanks for being with us today.  To commemorate the release of Arcade Edition, we’ll have some of our players talk about their first impressions of the game.  It’s been less than two weeks since the release so there’s still a lot to learn, so we’ll just start with general feelings on the game.  Soushihan KSK, the face of Gods Garden, will be leading the procession.

KSK:  OK, then let’s get started.  How about we start off with everyone’s main character and self introduction?  First, Mago.

Mago:  Hi I’m Mago. I mained Sagat in Vanilla, and now I’m using Fei Long.

KSK:  Hm, why did you go with Fei?  Is Sagat no good?

Mago:  Sagat’s probably gotten a lot better in AE, but I think Fei is more….

KSK:  ..Fun to use?

Mago:  No, actually Sagat’s more fun, but Fei has better match ups.  Plus I put a lot of time into him in SSFIV.

KSK:  What changes does Fei have in AE?

Mago:  First of all his roundhouse Chicken Wing lost invincibility, so it’s harder to abuse it as the low risk, high return move it used to be.  You now have to be more prudent in his overall gameplay.

KSK:  How does he feel overall?

Mago:  He really hasn’t changed much at all.  I just have to avoid using roundhouse Chicken Wing.  That’s about it.  And EX Rekkas.

KSK:  Did he lose some advantage frames on EX Rekkas?

Mago:  Yeah.  So I’m still trying to figure out how to use it.

KSK:  I see.  Next, Nemo.  You use Chun Li, right?

Nemo:  I haven’t touched her so I dunno (laughs).

KSK:  Really?  Then who are you using?

Nemo:  Right now, Yang.

KSK:  So are you not going to use Chun this time?

Nemo:  Yeah, not going to use her.  I think she was done for after SSFIV.

KSK:  You think she can’t make top-tier in AE?

Nemo:  More than that, she’s just lost all of the things she could do in Super, so it’s disappointing I guess.

KSK:  So you weren’t happy with her changes.  Why did you choose Yang?

Nemo:  I simply wanted to try him out from before, and he turned out to be fun.

KSK:  Why Yang and not Yun?

Nemo:  Just looks.  And it looked like there were going to be a lot Yun users, so I wasn’t drawn to him.

KSK:  OK next, Hiropon.

Hiropon:  Hi, I’m Hiropon and I play Seth.  I used Blanka in Vanilla, but I couldn’t win much with him.  Then when Super came out I added Seth to my arsenal, and since then I’ve been consumed by him.

KSK:  How has Seth changed in AE?

Hiropon:  He’s changed a lot.  His jumping fierce had that really great reach, but now that’s gone.  And his head stomps have lost a lot of active frames.  So it’s much more difficult now to be tricky with him.

KSK:  Ah, so he’s lost a lot of his gimmicks.

Hiropon:  You really have to think about your 50/50s and rushdowns now.  But since they detailed the changes before the release, I did some work beforehand by playing Super as if it was AE.  So it didn’t feel that strange when I actually got to play AE.

KSK:  OK let’s see, last we have Itabashi Zangief.

Itabashi:  Huh?  What about Tokido?

KSK:  Tokido’s going to be late today.

Itabashi:  Oh I see.  Um, I’m Itabashi Zangief and I main Zangief.  I basically only use Zangief, but this time around I’m also playing around with Hakan, another grappler.

KSK:  Do you use Zangief in other games, too?

Itabashi:  No I actually started using him in SFIV.  I know it’s confusing that a player named “Itabashi Zangief” didn’t use Zangief (laughs).  But I really started using him in SFIV.

KSK:  What changes have they made to Zangief in AE?

Itabashi:  They made a lot of small changes here and there.  His jab SPD has more range now, and I’m really curious how that will change his game.

KSK:  It has more range and does more damage, right?

Itabashi:  Yeah.  Which was surprising because it was already pretty powerful before.  It’s really a central part of his game, too.  And then his Ultra 2 is now controllable, so that’s gotten more fun.

KSK:  The one where he grabs the opponent in the air.

Itabashi:  It can catch backdashes and dragon punches so it’s a great way to set up opponents trying to avoid SPD.

[Embedded footage of Mago (Sagat) vs Nemo (Yang) casuals]

New Characters, Yun and Yang

KSK:  I think everyone is wondering about the new characters.  What are your impressions on Yun and Yang?  Do you think they’re good?

Mago:  I think Yun is definitely good.

Hiropon:  I also think Yun is good.

KSK:  What makes Yun so dangerous?

Mago:  His dive kicks are just too good.  It’s even different compared to Yang’s.  Then there’s his Up Kicks (Nishoukyaku).  Yang’s Up Kicks (Senkyuutai) are a good anti-air, but it’s weak against back dashes, has little invincibility, and does little damage.  Plus, it can’t really deal with crossups, while Yun’s can.

Nemo:  Really?  No way.

Mago:  Yeah, you can beat crossups with Nishoukyaku.

Itabashi:  Do you mean they just both whiff [trade?] on each other?

Mago:  Well, that happens too, but it seems to have a pretty good hit box straight above, too.

Nemo:  Is that right?  It seemed like Yang would be better at beating crossups.

Hiropon:  How fast is the start up?

Mago:  I think about 4 frames.

Nemo:  Well Yun is definitely fast.  And it’s dangerous that roundhouse Up Kicks hit crouching opponents too.

Mago:  Only roundhouse version?  Doesn’t EX hit crouching opponents, too?

Nemo:  EX might, too.  In any case, since it can hit crouching opponents, if you dive kick on Ryu’s crouching MK, you can knockdown with MP -> MP -> MP -> HK Up Kicks, then go for wakeup games.  And it does a ton of damage. [I'm assuming crouching MP?].

KSK:  I see.  So even if you jump in on a crouching opponent, you can still finish them off with the full combo.

Hiropon:  He can combo from anywhere.

Mago:  Also the difference between Yun and Yang’s command grabs is pretty huge.  Yun’s comes out faster and has a longer reach.

KSK:  How about frame advantage afterwards?

Mago:  That might be the same, but the start up and reach are definitely different.  For example after c.MP on block, you can time a command grab right after so that you don’t get mashed out.  But Yang doesn’t have any moves that puts him at that much advantage, and you don’t have many opportunities to do it, while Yun has them right off the bat.

Hiropon:  It feels like Yun can keep pressuring nonstop, whereas Yang feels like he loses momentum if you just block right.

Mago:  I don’t think so, he has ways of getting in.  I think it might actually be the other way around.  Yeah, Yun can continue to rush down if you use Shoulder (Testuzankou), but there’s risk involved.

Nemo:  Yun’s MP into Shoulder is really good.  You can sneak in a Focus in between, but he can also mix it up with MP into fierce Palm.

KSK:  So if you try to Focus a Shoulder, you eat a Palm.  Then what can you do after?

Mago:  Probably Genei Jin.

Itabashi:  I wonder if you can’t react to it?  Press Focus first, get out of there if you see a Palm coming.

Nemo:  You can’t react to it.  You’ll just end up blocking the Shoulder before you can react [?].

Mago:  Can’t you just Focus, then back dash?  I feel like some characters might be able to.

Nemo:  I think if you’re mid-screen, you can block MP xx Shoulder, then back dash safely.

Mago:  Block then back dash… But there should be some characters with guaranteed punishes.  I think I heard it was -3 frames on block.  Stuff like SPD should be able to punish it.

Itabashi:  Even if you block the Shoulder, you don’t know which strength they used.  You couldn’t tell in Third Strike.

KSK:  I thought you could tell pretty easily in Third Strike (laughs).  I think we just haven’t gotten used to AE Yun.

Nemo:  Also, I think it’s scary that Yun can cancel from MP.

Mago:  His MP -> HP -> b.HP target combo is really good.  You can do it from MP’s full distance, and you can combo all the way into Genei Jin.

KSK:  Wow, all the way into Genei Jin?  Isn’t it better to stop at MP -> HP, rather than do the whole target combo?

Mago:  Even if MP -> HP is blocked, you’re pushed back and at -3 or -4 frames.  You can hit confirm so it seems pretty low risk.

Itabashi:  KSK, it looks like you’re interested in Yun (laughs).

KSK:  Yeah, I want to use him (laughs).

Mago:  No no, he doesn’t have any interest in Yun.  He’s just asking (laughs).

KSK:  So Genei Jin is definitely something to look out for.

Nemo:  Genei Jin is really good.

Mago:  You can do Genei Jin in a lot of situations.  But you can’t use it like in Third Strike where you just activate first then go for a set ups.

Itabashi:  Oh, it’s no good to just activate?

Nemo:  Nope.  It feels different in AE.  In Third Strike the hit box got bigger.

KSK:  And it somehow feels more wasteful to just activate outside of a sure fire situation.  It takes more work to get meter.  Oh, but how is his meter efficiency?

Nemo:  It’s good, but he doesn’t feel like that kind of character .  In any case, if you activate it inside a combo, that fact that you can take your opponent to the corner is the strong point.  Then in the corner, you launch them with close MK then go in for an ambiguous front/back mixup.

Mago:  Then you combo into c.MP -> MP -> HK Up Kicks.  Really effective.

Nemo:  Or you can even c.MP, command grab.  It’s going to be really tough on wakeup for characters without uppercuts or invincible EX moves.

KSK:  Command grab reaches after c.MP there?

Nemo:  Yeah, if blocked.

Catching up with Yun — Looking for Yang’s potential

Hiropon:  Where does Yang outshine Yun?

Mago:  First off, his Ultra 1 is way too cool.  You can’t beat that.

KSK:  That’s not what I mean (laughs).

Mago:  You can Focus Cancel his Up Kicks (Senkyuutai), and you can cross up with MK.  Yun can’t do that.

Itabashi:  But Yun can cross up with dive kicks, no?

KSK:  Can’t both cross up with dive kicks?

Mago:  No, it doesn’t look like you can cross up very well with Yang’s dive kicks.

Itabashi:  So is that really all that Yang has?

Nemo:  You can Focus Cancel Mantis Slash.

Itabashi:  You really love Mantis Slash xx FADC, don’t you (laughs)?

Nemo:  You can do a 50/50 after Mantis Slash xx FADC.  And I think Sei Enbu is gonna get better with time.

Mago:  I think if you can find a way to break down the opponent’s defense while keeping them in continuous block stun, you have an opportunity to do a lot of damage after you activate.

Nemo:  Another good thing about Sei Enbu is that it continues stun damage.  I’ve dizzied my opponent during Sei Enbu.  So if we find more and more ways to reset mid-combo, I think it’ll be really easy to cause dizzy.

Mago:  That would be really dangerous.  You’d definitely get dizzied on the next wake up mixup.

[Embedded footage of Sei Enbu combo.  Hiropon says: Wow, is it OK for it to take that much damage?]

Hiropon:  How is his Kaihou?  That teleport move.

KSK:  It looks like there’s a much bigger recovery than Abel’s command roll.  I couldn’t do ambiguous front/back mixups on wake up because I couldn’t attack fast enough after the teleport.

Nemo:  People probably won’t use it like that.  It’s more effective doing a cross up MK or dive kick considering the recovery on the teleport.  There doesn’t seem to be a good way to use it.

Mago:  Yeah, there doesn’t appear to be any good situations for it.

The Anti-Yun/Yang?

KSK:  What about characters that beat Yun/Yang.

Mago:  Definitely Zangief.  I don’t think either of the twins are effective against him.  It’s already gotten to a point where if I use Yang, I just don’t want to play versus Zangief (laughs).

KSK:  Because there’s a lot of chances to land SPD?

Mago:  He’s guaranteed SPD after blocking Mantis Slash, after both first and second slash.  And without that, there’s no way to really get in on him.  You can of course do dive kicks, but after that, you’re getting 50/50′d, and you end up getting SPD’d a lot of the time.  So you have no choice but to poke at him bit by bit with normals, but even then Zangief’s pokes are better.  You’ll get stuffed, etc.

Itabashi:  It was really easy when I played that match up [as Zangief].  It was like I could be having a conversation with someone while playing (laughs).

KSK:  Do you really feel a big gap there?

Itabashi:  You can see it right away.  Although I don’t know how else I might bury [?] him from here on.

Hiropon:  How about T. Hawk?  How do their normals compare?

Itabashi:  Can’t you just use the same strategy?  For example, there’s T. Hawk’s standing fierce.  Everyone considers Yun and Yang strong, but don’t they seem to eat weird combos?

Mago:  They seem to have big vulnerable hit boxes.

Itabashi:  Yeah they’re fatties, especially horizontally.  Fei Long is too, right?

Mago:  Fei Long is actually really slim.  In SFIV, it’s almost to the point that it’s broken.

Itabashi:  Ah, he’s slim.  Maybe I’m thinking of Super Turbo.

Hiropon:  Does Fei seem pretty good against the twins?

Mago:  Umm… I think it might be in Fei Long’s favor, although the game just came out so I can’t say for sure.

Hiropon:  Ah, I think Boxer might be pretty good against the twins.

Nemo:  Boxer is a really tough match up.

Mago:  Boxer might be pretty strong against them.  His [turtle game?] is really good.

Hiropon:  How about Rufus.  It seems like it would be a real brawl.

Nemo:  I think it’s in Yang’s favor.  He has mix ups after knockdown, and he can EX Teleport to avoid the 3 mix ups of the last hit of EX Messiah.

Mago:  No he can’t.  There’s stop and throw.

Nemo:  Oh is that right?  But he’ll be fine with a bit of Yomi.

Mago:  Yes, he can do some Yomi, but things become more risky, so it gets difficult.

[Embedded footage of Itabashi (Zangief) vs Nemo (Yang) casuals]

[End of page 1.]

How did Juri and Hakan change?

KSK:  Now how about the newer characters?  Juri and Hakan.  He’s not your main character, but what do think, Itabashi?

Itabashi:  There were a lot of hopeless aspects to Hakan before, but now he’s gotten all of what I think he needed this time.  Like crouching jab xx Oil Slide, or oil stacking.  So he’s simply gotten more fun to use.

KSK:  It appears they thought him through well.

Itabashi:  Right.  So I feel a lot more motivated this time to try and use him.

Mago:  I think Hakan did get a lot more fun, having gotten stronger and all.  Though it’s a delicate line on how strong he’s gotten, he’s definitely more fun.

Hiropon:  I don’t really know how much better he is when Hakan’s oiled.

Itabashi:  There’s actually a lot that changes and he becomes a lot better.  He’s the only one that can move while holding Focus, for example.

KSK:  Does he become one of the best characters when he’s oiled?  Or are bad match ups still bad regardless of oil?

Nemo:  I don’t think it goes that far.  Especially against projectile characters.

Itabashi:  But you can Oil Slide on reaction to projectiles and go right under them.

Mago:  I think Hakan was already pretty decent against projectile characters.

Nemo:  Oh really?  But isn’t Sagat just too strong?

Mago:  Sagat?  Sagat vs Hakan?  That was always hopeless for Hakan.

(Everyone laughs)

Itabashi:  Well in any case (laughs) he has that.  It’s heavyweight stuff, but I think there are masochists out there who are up to the challenge.

KSK:  How is Hakan against Yun and Yang?

Itabashi:  His standing fierce has really long reach, and it’s pretty good as an anti-air.  But once they get in on him, it’s pretty rough.  His crouching height is pretty tall so they can lock him down with standing jabs.  But the initial match up seems pretty solid [?].  But if you ask me if he is actually good against them… it’s probably hopeless (laughs).

KSK:  Hopeless, huh (laughs)?  So he’s not that strong of a character.

Itabashi:  It might be misinterpreted if I say “hopeless,” but if you ask me if he’s upper tier, I don’t think he is.

Mago:  But he’s fun, so it’s OK.

Itabashi:  Yeah.  Even if he has some bad match ups, I can still see Hakan clutching out a win against like Yun in a tournament and everyone getting really hype.

KSK:  And there was not even a little hope for that in Super (laughs).

Itabashi:  It was really depressing (laughs).

Hiropon:  I don’t really know Juri’s wake up games yet, so it’s hard to say anything at the moment.  She had a lot of set ups in Super, but it looks like you can’t use those anymore, so it’s back to the drawing board for the time being.

Mago:  Juri seems pretty fun, too, although I don’t really know how to use her.

KSK:  Can you still do mid Fuzzy Guard setups? [It took me forever to find out what F-shiki (fuzzy guard) is.]  Instant neutral jump MP xx dive kick…

Hiropon:  You should still be able to do that.  She does more damage, too, so I think she’s gotten pretty good.

Makoto’s big buffs?  How are the 3s characters?

KSK:  Next, SSFIV characters.  How is the Third Strike cast?

Nemo:  I’d like to recommend this character:  Makoto.

KSK:  Ah, Makoto.  She seemed very weak in Super.  How about this time?

Mago:  I haven’t been paying attention so I dunno (laughs).

Nemo:  She’s scary.  You’ll probably get deflowered by her (laughs). [He actually says "baptized," but I think deflowered works better, if I'm understanding him correctly.  My second guess is "you'll get completely overwhelmed."]

KSK:  Deflowered (laughs).

Mago:  It’s scary getting combo’d after Fukiage.

Nemo:  Fukiage -> Fukiage -> EX Axe Kick works.  Also, you can Ultra 1 if Axe Kick connects on the ground.  It beats grabs, links into Ultra, and it does a tone of damage [?].

[Embedded footage of Fukiage combo and of low Axe Kick into Ultra]

Mago: Also her command grab (Karakusa) has changed too.  Before she only had armor [on EX, I'm assuming], but now she has armor and throw invincibility.

Itabashi:  Huh?  Armor and throw invincibility?  What the hell (laughs).

Nemo:  And Fukiage is now upper body invincible, and also beats cross ups.

Itabashi:  Right, right.  When I tried to do wake up games on her, I got hit by Fukiage.

Nemo:  You can cover both sides if you throw it out there on wake up.

KSK:  So Makoto is really good.  Is she upper tier material?

Mago:  Hmm, but she doesn’t have much maneuverability, so doesn’t she seem more like a wait-character?  She waits for her one chance, then throws everything out there in a flury.

Nemo:  No, I think she can cut it.  She’s just does so much damage…

Mago:  The opponent can’t get in on her, and she does so much damage.  And when things stiffen up, she can dash in command grab, or throw out an Axe Kick.  That’s how it seems to me.

KSK:  EX Hayate now breaks armor.  Can’t you just throw it out there to get in?

Itabashi:  Like Boxer’s Dash Straights.  And it’s super fast.  How is it on block?

Nemo:  Maybe -4 frames?  And plus she has 1000 health…

Mago:  1000?  That’s messed up.

KSK:  Her dash and back dash have gotten faster, too.

Mago:  Wow, that’s too much.

Nemo:  I told you she’s good.

Mago:  Wow, this Makoto is really something, huh?

(Everyone laughs)

Itabashi:  But on the whole isn’t her walking speed really slow, and doesn’t she have poor reach?

Mago:  A one dimensional[?] character.

Nemo:  Yeah but she can come after you regardless.

Mago:  OK, I get that you really like Makoto (laughs), but she’s not a well rounded character, right?

Nemo:  I think she’ll become well rounded.  If you play her once, you’ll see.

Itabashi:  If you confuse the opponent with her speed, they could become helpless, get dizzied and die.

Mago:  No way she’ll be stable.  Not in this game.

Nemo:  OK, so you’re just mad at Makoto, aren’t you?

Mago: Yeah, probably (laughs).

Hiropon:  How about Ibuki and Dudley?

KSK:  Acqua said that all her setups have changed.  Her Neckbreaker puts you further away than before.

Nemo:  She hasn’t changed much.  She’s still very solid.

KSK:  Her Kunai was definitely a mid-tier [player] killer.  And… Dudley?

Hiropon:  Dudley’s overall game was pretty weak in Super, so if that hasn’t changed, he hasn’t changed either.

Itabashi:  Yeah he was considered weak in Super.

Mago:  His weakness was his difficulty in getting close, so if that hasn’t been adjusted, he’s still weak.  So they said, “How about we add EX Ducking?” but that didn’t really change much.  So in the end he’s just whatevers.

KSK:  So after all that he’s still just whatevers (laughs)?

[Embedded footage of Nemo (Yang) vs KSK (Abel)]

Eyes on Adon’s jump from low to broken tier, and other Super characters

KSK:  And then there’s the other Super characters… Guy, Cody, Adon, T. Hawk, and Deejay.

Nemo:  Adon seems pretty good.

Mago:  Adon is good.  He was already strong in SuperIV.  I played with GamerBee, and it was really something.  Instant air Jaguar Kick is so good.

Itabashi:  Can’t you Focus air Jaguar Kicks?  And if so, doesn’t it have a lot of recovery?

Mago:  You can, but it’s hard to tell the difference between air and grounded Jaguar Kicks.  And the normal ones break armor.

Hiropon:  You can’t really throw out Focus against Adon.

Nemo:  Oh and EX Jaguar Tooth got longer projectile invincibility.  That’s important.

Mago:  Yeah, I think his match up against Guile got a lot better.

Nemo:  He can get in now.  And it’s only -1 or -2 frames on block.

KSK:  Ah, and the fact that his wake up got slower makes me glad as an Abel player.

Hiropon:  It was pretty hard for Abel with Adon mashing c.LP, huh?

KSK:  I recorded Adon mashing c.LP in training mode and tried all kinds of wake up options on him, but all of them got stuffed.  I didn’t know what to do (laughs).

Nemo:  Deejay is pretty formidable too.

Mago:  His Air Slashes have gotten buffed.  They recover 3 frames faster.

Itabashi:  3 frames is a bit much, don’t you think?

Mago:  I think Guile’s are still better, though.

Nemo:  Guile is good.  He’s good, and before, there was no reason to use Deejay over Guile, but now there is.

Itabashi:  Deejay can beat cross ups.  Isn’t Guile weak there?

Mago:  Yeah, there is a difference there.  Before there really wasn’t a reason to use him, he was basically a worse Guile.  And his Knee Shots are buffed too, now.

Hiropon:  The timing for it was pretty strict before, but now it comes out even if you accidentally input diagnals, so I don’t mess up anymore.

Nemo:  I saw a bit of Guy yesterday, and his close MK is great for frame traps, and you can do a lot of damage with his target combo from there, so I think his normals are going to be an important asset for him.

Hiropon:  Also his c.LK being 3 frames is huge.  But MP shoulder no longer connecting from mid strength moves seems have been a hit for Guy users.

Itabashi:  Did they change the air Izuna Drop?  That did so much damage!

KSK:  They did.  From 200 to 180.

Hiropon:  Seth dies if he gets hit by that 4 times.

Itabashi:  You can duck it, right?  But somehow you still end up standing up when you see it coming.  Also, I heard Command Run -> Hop Kick (MK) is now one hit.

Nemo:  I guess you can Focus it now.

Mago:  T. Hawk is supposed to have gotten stronger, but I can’t tell at all.

Hiropon:  You can EX Condor Dive by itself, and from back jump, too.

Itabashi:  Is that right?  That’s nasty (laughs).

Mago:  I think Cody’s pretty good this time around.

Nemo:  His crouching LK is now 3 frames.

Hiropon:  And you can even cancel into Ruffian Kick.

Itabashi:  Wow, you can connect Ruffian Kick from LK?

KSK:  Does Cody have a chance at upper tier?

Mago:  Umm, he has the firepower, but bad mobility.  Only if he can get in.

KSK:  You can pick up the knife from further away now, which can’t be bad, although I’ve yet to see anyone use the knife well.

Mago:  I think the knife can be ignored.

Itabashi:  I was playing Zangief vs Cody, and the Cody picked up the knife.  He created like a force field with it (laughs).

KSK:  Was it hard to deal with?

Itabashi:  Actually, I don’t really know (laughs).  But I guess he was pretty good with it (laughs).

Second half here.

Hori Interviews KSK, Tokido, Mago, and Kamichan

More practice translating.
An interview conducted by Hori back in October (?).  Original here.
Uncertain translations are noted in brackets.

Hanging out with KSK and company again!
We’d like to thank you always for using our products.
Today we talk with a number top fighting game players whose main base is at Gamer’s VISION in Yokohama.

Soushihan KSK
The owner of Gamer’s VISION arcade, one of the main sponsors of God’s Garden, live streamer, Tougeki’s head judge, as well as a active player.  He works to promote fighting games by doing anything and everything he can.

Tokido
Has a reputation for a play style always in pursuit of the “perfect victory,” as well as for his all out thorough stoic technique.  Also a brilliant graduate student at Tokyo University.

Mago
A player with a reputation for precision and theoretically sound strategizing.  Gives the impression of being the bad guy and a big talker, but actually has the talent and track record to back it up.  A dedicated researcher with a lot of fans.

Kamichan
He MC’s at many tournaments, making use of his vast experience in fighting game development.  Has many fans as a result of his eloquence.

We’re extremeley interested in hearing from mainly arcade players what they think of sticks made for consoles!
Let’s get started!

Omiwa:  Thank you all for taking the time to come out today.  Shall we get started?  (Note: Even though Gamer’s VISION is in Yokohama, it still takes about an hour to get here.)

Everyone:  Yes, thanks for having us.

Omiwa:  First off… Everyone here is involved somehow in running arcades.  What kinds of concerns do you have regarding sticks and buttons for arcade cabinets?

KSK:  I usually try to use what players prefer.  Sanwa sticks and buttons are the standard now, but there are people who prefer Seimitsu for older games.  For tournaments, I switch out the stick and buttons according to which game is being played.

Then there’s the screens. CRTs are now all being replaced by LCDs, but LCD monitors are different depending on who makes the cabinet, so it’s not possible for arcades to cater to players’ preferences when it comes to displays, which is unfortunate for players.  We’d like for cabinet makers to give that issue some thought.

Omiwa:  Like to create a standard?

KSK:  Right.  LCD monitors are of course getting better and clearer, and are getting closer and closer to CRTs in terms of minimal lag, but from the vantage point of the player, the most important thing is having zero delay between the moment we press the button and what we see on screen.  At the moment, we have no choice but to choose cabinets by considering input delay.

Kamichan:  I’d be very happy if they created a standard.  It’s a bit of a pain to have to carefully choose where I’m going to practice because of the display.

KSK:  Players eventually start getting biased, saying “I’m not going to such and such arcade because they use such and such monitor.”

Kamichan:  There are instances where people say, “I can win at such and such arcade, but I always lose when I play elsewhere.”

KSK:  Yeah.  There’s times where good players do poorly because a tournament is held at an arcade that uses a different display.  So it would be nice if they kept the players in mind when making their products.

I see… There’s definitely a lot to worry about when it comes to running arcades!
Next, let’s ask about playing on console!

Omiwa:  There are also console tournaments like God’s Garden.  What kind of personal concerns do you have about sticks and buttons when it comes to playing on console?

KSK:  It’s the same with consumer monitors.  LCDs all have different response speeds, so I’m still in the process of finding the best display.  LCDs are very sensitive products where lag is concerned, so we wish we could make recommendations, but it’s hard at the moment.

As for sticks, it’s always a choice between the top two, Hori and Madcatz.  And I like to leave that choice to the players.

Omiwa:  If LCDs got to the point where it didn’t bother players, you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

Mago:  That’s right.  There’s such a huge difference between LCDs.

Tokido:  I heard there’s a new monitor out, but I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know (laughs).

KSK:  And now there are TVs with 3D capability.  What are we going to do when they come out with 3D fighting games…?  What if the 3D aspect becomes an integral part of the gameplay and you have to adjust your strategy depending on the angle that things fly out at you [not sure here]?  Then we’d have no choice but to adopt 3D monitors too (everyone laughs).

Omiwa:  It looks like you’ll have even more to worry about if that happens (laughs).

It looks like console gaming is still in a trial and error stage, especially for monitors.
And now, about the stick…

Omiwa:  What are your impressions of our Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX (‘Premium’ from here on) and Real Arcade Pro V (‘Pro V’ from here on) after having tried them?

KSK:  I think it’ll be faster if you ask them.

Mago:  I think the Premium is fantastic.  I use this myself, and the body and layout is just like the cabinet.  And it doesn’t move — it’s very stable.  Then there’s the panel.  I really like the smoothness and the material itself, but the hollow feeling inside the stick makes it feel a bit different from playing on the cabinet.

Tokido:  The Pro V is also based on the Viewlix, right?

Omiwa:  That’s correct.

Tokido:  I think the design could be a little cooler… but I guess everyone has different tastes… I like the Premium’s design a lot.

Mago:  Huh?  I really like the look of the Pro V.  I think you’re just weird (everyone laughs).

Tokido:  I think the Madcatz looks pretty cool, so I was thinking it would be nice to be able to compete with it on the design front.  But as far as actual feel, there’s no shortcomings at all with either the Premium or Pro V.

Mago:  Yeah there’s nothing lacking as far as actual utility.

Omiwa:  Thank you very much.  It seems that we have some work to do in the design department!

Kamichan:  Well everyone has their own taste, anyway.

KSK:  There’s plenty of people who prefer the Hori design.

Tokido:  Yeah when it comes down to it, Hori sticks always have that “real,” “just like the arcade” feel to them.

Muramatsu:  The Premium is basically just like the Viewlix cabinet, after all.

Mago:  I like the Premium.  And the outer trim is white, which I also like.

KSK:  Is Hori’s base design the Pro V?

Muramatsu:  Correct.  That’s the foundation.

KSK:  Personally… I don’t really like the Pro V.  If it comes down to the design, I also think the Madcatz looks cooler.  But the Pro V is convenient.  It even has a handle, so it’s easy to carry around.

Omiwa:  Is it the panel surface?  Would you prefer it to be polished or maybe more solid feeling?

Tokido:  Yeah I think that’s it.

Muramatsu:  Do you prefer a matte or glossy surface?

Mago:  Glossy for me, definitely.  I don’t like the rough surface of those sticks that have character portraits printed on them.  I’ll collect them, but I wouldn’t use them.

Omiwa:  It looks like there’s still room for improvement there.

Kamichan:  People are divided when it comes to matte and glossy.  What’s your preference, Tokido?

Tokido:  Me… I don’t really mind either way.

Kamichan:  But one starts to mind when asked (laughs). [not sure here]

Muramatsu:  And some people don’t like the glossy surface because of fingerprints.

Kamichan:  We have rags at the arcade so it’s not a problem there.

Mago:  Fingerprints bother me.  I have to wipe them.

They liked the feel, but to think we’d get criticized on the look… orz.
Moving on, we even asked them these kinds of questions!

Omiwa:  This is a bit off topic, but do you guys play other games besides fighting games?

Mago:  I don’t.

Kamichan:  Right now I’m playing Trials HD.  Lately, rather than playing by myself I play simple action games that can be enjoyed as a group.  A lot of very simple games that can also be enjoyed just by watching.

KSK:  Because we stream the games online, we try to choose games that can be enjoyed by viewers.

Kamichan:  Yeah, we put a lot of thought into choosing the games we stream.

Tokido:  I play a lot of computer board games like Itadaki Street and Culdcept.  I’ve been playing in a grand strategy online lately [not sure here].

Omiwa:  I used to play Magic the Gathering, although I feel like I’ve fallen behind quite a bit.

Mago:  Hey, I used to play that in high school!  I loved that game.  Though I don’t play it anymore…

From video games to Magic the Gathering, to not playing anything but fighting games, looks like we got a good glimpse into everyone’s personalities through these questions!
Finally, we personally asked what all fighting games players probably want to these guys.

Omiwa:  How about as a last word you give players some advice on how to become better at fighting games?

Kamichan:  I think one should find that out on their own.  I think it’s best to avoid mimicking others and to find your own style.  You should of course gather the right information first, but then I think it’s best to go and discover your own style.

Mago:  There’s going to be a lot of times you get frustrated.  It’s good to ask others for advice, but you should always decide for yourself whether that advice is good or not.  It’s important to try to work through problems yourself.

Tokido:  Practice every day.  At least one hour a day.  Daily practice is very important.

Mago:  I agree there.  Don’t slack off.

Omiwa:  And KSK, how about you close it up?

KSK:  I think the most important thing is to enjoy the game.  The fun of fighting games is in practicing with friends and experiencing the joy of pushing each other to improve.  And so Mago and Tokido’s advice is good as far as improvement goes, but you can’t forget to enjoy the game.  You’ll sometimes be frustrated at losing, sure, but you shouldn’t ever get really stressed over it.  Let’s try to enjoy ourselves.

Mago:  Actually, that’s what I really wanted to say (everyone laughs).

It actually keeps going, but let’s call it a day!
To gamers everywhere, we hope you’re enjoying your games!

Related links
Gamer’s VISION: http://gvision.jp/
GODS GARDEN: http://godsgarden.jp/

Daigo’s First Impressions on SSFIV AE (2/2)

This is my translation of the Famitsu interview
Click here to read it in the original Japanese
I decided to go ahead and do the second day for practice.  But because it doesn’t really touch upon AE too much, I didn’t go to the lengths of triple checking it.

Super Street Fighter IV Capture Blog
Famitsu

Hi! I’m the second son of the Toyoizumi Brothers, and the one in charge of our blog. Pro gamer Daigo Umehara’s first impressions…  For the second part of the interview we’ll cover a broad range of topics including his recent trip to Kuwait to his plans on playing MvC3.

Kuwait? No place is too far for Umehara’s battles.

Toyoizumi: You visited Kuwait recently. Was it for a SFIV tournament?

Umehara: It was for exhibition matches with their tournament winners as well as other players from nearby.

Toyoizumi: So you were like a special guest at their tournament?

Umehara: Right. It was like I was part of the main event, so my face was printed on the ticket and everything (laughs). I was playing the entire time. Oh yeah, and there was an entry fee for about 15 Kuwait Dinars, I think?

Toyoizumi: How much is that in yen?

Umehara: Maybe about 4,500 yen?

Toyoizumi: That’s expensive (laughs).

Umehara: Yeah it is. And they were also selling tickets to play me once for 5 Kuwait Dinars. And most people played me three times [?]. I think there was maybe a total of 100 people there. And considering that it’s a country of only 3 million people, that seems like a pretty big turnout. Ah, and there were also people from Dubai, too.

Toyoizumi: How were the challengers?

Umehara: There was a fair share of beginners, but people were a lot better than I expected. There were some really good Guy, Gouken, and E. Honda players. I shouldn’t be careless in what I say [?], but I think they were the best Guy and Gouken players I’ve played so far.

Toyoizumi: Better than players online with really high PP?

Umehara: I thought so. The Guy player was especially outstanding, though I didn’t get to see a whole lot of his matches.

Toyoizumi: Better than known Japanese Guy players?

Umehara: Yeah, he was definitely that good. He might have been the best player in Kuwait. The person who won the tournament was actually a Chun Li and Abel player, but because I had a lot of experience against those characters here, I didn’t have much trouble against him. It could be that the Guy and Gouken players stood out because I had just never seen really good Guys and Goukens before. They said they were going to have an even bigger event next year, so I’m looking forward to that.

Toyoizumi: This isn’t related to Street Fighter, but what kind of place is Kuwait? With all the oil there, did it seem like there were a lot of wealthy people?

Umehara: Hmm, there were definitely a lot of luxury cars on the road.

Toyoizumi: (Laughs). You showed me pictures of the hotel you stayed at and it seemed very high class.

Umehara: Did it? The actual room I stayed in wasn’t as posh. But the lounge area was huge. The event organizer seemed to be pretty wealthy so…

Toyoizumi: An oil tycoon!?

Umehara: Hm, not sure about that. But he was definitely wealthy. I saw his house, and it was huge… Really huge.

Toyoizumi: Like you have to walk forever to get from the front gate to the actual house huge?

Umehara: Not that big. But it was the biggest house I’d seen personally.

Toyoizumi: I was wondering, does everyone there wear turbans?

Umehara: No, it differs from person to person. And it doesn’t seem like it’s a law or anything. The Gouken player I mentioned wore a turban and a traditional white outfit to the tournament. But then on the second day he was wearing western clothes. I realized then that it wasn’t required. It seems more like formal wear.

Toyoizumi: I see. Just plain jeans and T-shirt.

Umehara: Yeah. The casual western clothes we all know. And the embassador who came to watch said that because videogames were very popular in the Middle East, he’d like to have this kind of event again.

Toyoizumi: Oh really? Videogames are popular there, huh?

Umehara: Yeah it appears so. Like in very cold countries, you can’t really go out in the winter, so videogames get popular there. It’s the same in very hot countries. It’s hard to go out during the summer so I think people end up playing a lot of games. So videogames are popular in very hot and cold countries.

Toyoizumi: Are fighting games their main game?

Umehara: No, actually I think FPS’s are the most popular. But it seems there are also a lot of fighting game fans as well in the Middle East.

Toyoizumi: I’ve heard that you enjoy trying foods. How did you like the food in Kuwait?

Umehara: Well… When I first got there we had amazing Italian food at this huge touristy shopping mall. It was the kind of Italian that you can’t get in Japan. So I asked them if they eat this well all the time, and the organizer said, “Don’t tell me you’re satisfied already!” So he really got my hopes up. But we had Kuwaiti food later that night and it was really bad (laughs).

Toyoizumi: (Laughs).

Umehara: They asked, “How is it, isn’t it great?” and I thought to myself, “I think we just have different tastes…” (laughs). I ate it, saying “It’s delicious, delicious,” but I don’t think it fits the Japanese palette.

Toyoizumi: That’s too bad.

Umehara: I was thinking, “Hm… I’m going to have to stick to that Italian place at the mall from now on.” (laughs).

Toyoizumi: (Laughs). Moving on, what are your plans from here on?

Umehara: I don’t think I’ll be going overseas much once Arcade Edition comes out. The main tournament season overseas is between spring and fall, so it’s mostly smaller events from now until then. Plus they play mostly console over there, and very few of the tournaments before the major season are worth sacrificing Arcade Edition time for. So I’m going to stay here mostly and dig my hands into AE. Then in February, I want to really get into MvC3. Marvel gets at least 3, 4 years of play overseas, so I have to play it.

Toyoizumi: So you’re thinking internationally as well as several years into the future.

Umehara: Yeah. It might not catch on in Japan, but my battlefield is in the US, so it wouldn’t make sense not to play what might become the most popular game there. Although I’m sure I won’t be able to win at first.

Toyoizumi: Things will get really hype if there’s a Justin vs Daigo MvC3 match.

Umehara: Hmm… I wonder though, how long it’ll take to get to his level.

Toyoizumi: You might be one step ahead of him in SF4, but is there really that big of a gap when it comes to Marvel?

Umehara: Yeah. But now we have XBL/PSN. So even if there aren’t a lot of people playing it here, I think we can create the necessary environment to take on the US. I tried playing online in America before, and the lag is really horrible there. So the top players in the US don’t have a choice but to get together and play in person. So in that respect, I think Japan has an advantage. There may be a large gap now, but I have confidence that we can catch up eventually.

Toyoizumi: I had the idea that the internet connection in America was really advanced, but I guess that’s not the case.

Umehara: It’s bad at the moment. But even if Japan has good internet connection, it won’t mean much if a proper competetive community isn’t established.

Toyoizumi: There aren’t plans for an arcade release of MvC3 in Japan at the moment. There’s no way to know just how well the game will do.

Umehara: Maybe there’ll still be people who really get into it. I’m sure there are people who feel that they just can’t win in SF4 if they start now. I want to play against those people, people who drifted from SF4. Their play level might be a little lower at first, but I think they’ll be more than able to create strategies.

Toyoizumi: It’s like how Darkstalkers was when it came out.

Umehara: Right, right. “I can’t beat people in SFII, so I’ll get good at a different game.” I hope MvC3 will attract those kinds of people. SF4 is definitely my main game, but I’d like to get into MvC3 with the hope that I’ll be able to win in one or two years. Street Fighter X Tekken is still a ways off, and we don’t know if it’ll catch on. So it’s better to learn a game that is sure to be popular. In fact, I’m actually hoping to hold a MvC3 tournament myself.

Toyoizumi: There might be other players who decide to devote themselves to it if you show you’re serious.

Umehara: Maybe just a very tiny few (laughs). Maybe 30 players?

Toyoizumi: No, no. I’m sure there’ll be more. By the way, have you played much of the Versus games in the past?

Umehara: No, and that’s why I think I really have to go hard with MvC3. I don’t even know the basic theory. So I’m going to give a lot of thought to it beginning with character selection.

Toyoizumi: It seems it’ll be played for a long time in the US, so you probably have a lot of time.

Umehara: Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be around for at least 3 years. There are people there who played only MvC2 all this time. They still get like 100 people in MvC2 tournaments.

Toyoizumi: Speaking of tournaments, I heard there’s going to be an tournament on December 25th for a new SSFIV AE title.

Umehara: Huh? Where? Singles?

Toyoizumi: Shinjuku Club Sega Nishiguchi. 3on3.

Umehara: Oh really? I want to enter. But aren’t they giving out too many titles? It would have had more value if they only gave it to, like, national champions. But I guess there are a lot of people who want it, so maybe it’s best to give out a lot. But December 25th…? I don’t think there’s going to be many participants (laughs).

Tournament for the title of “SSFIV AE”!

The tournament mentioned at the end of interview, “SSFIV AE CLUB SEGA NISHIGUCHI 3ON3 Tournament – STARTING OVER,” will be held at Noon, December 25th (Saturday).  The team of 3 that wins the tournament will receive exclusive titles for use in SFIV AE.  Plus, everyone who enters will also receive special titles for their own use.  The deadline for online signups is December 23 at 1PM, so hurry!

Daigo’s First Impressions on SSFIV AE (1/2)

This is my translation of the Famitsu interview
Click here to read it in the original Japanese
Bracketed notes included concerning translation.

Update: Made some corrections concerning Makoto as well some other smaller details.  Thanks to Arc-rail for pointing out the mistakes.

Super Street Fighter IV Capture Blog
Famitsu

SSFIV AE First Impressions

Hi! I’m the second son of the Toyoizumi Brothers, and the one in charge of our blog. It’s finally December 16th, the launch day of SSFIV AE! So we got pro gamer Daigo Umehara to play a bit of AE and give us his first impressions. The interview will come in two parts! [This was for personal practice so I'm not sure if I'll translate the second part tomorrow.]

Yun is now your main!?

Toyoizumi: You got to play some AE. What are your first impressions?

Umehara: Impressions… Basically that it’s over for projectile characters (laughs). All the non-projectile characters have gotten buffed, whereas I think Deejay is the only projectile character that has really gotten buffed. Sagat has gotten better, but Ryu, Akuma, Guile, Dhalsim, and I suppose Chun, they’ve all gotten nerfed. And grapplers have also gotten buffed. Projectile characters were strongest in Vanilla, but it’s the other way around now in AE. But I plan to use Yun so it’s not a big deal for me. I guess that’s my impression of AE.

Toyoizumi: It seems there are some people that say that Ken is now the best shoto.

Umehara: Well Ken was originally somewhere halfway between a projectile and non-projectile character. And I wonder just how far he can really get against the top tiers. He loses to Zangief, so…

Toyoizumi: Is Zangief really that good in AE?

Umehara: I think he just happens to have good match ups against AE’s best characters. In Vanilla, the top tiers, Sagat and Akuma, happened to be bad match ups for Zangief. But now the best characters, C. Viper, Yun, Yang, etc. are weak against Zangief. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a lot more Zangief players in AE. So I mean if Ken can’t beat Zangief, and he’s really neither here nor there versus the rest of the cast, I don’t really see the point of using him. It’s much better to go with a different character.

Toyoizumi: So you picked Yun?

Umehara: Yeah I’ll probably go with Yun. He’s really good (laughs).

Toyoizumi: Just how good is he?

Umehara: First, Genei Jin is the most powerful super in the game, and you have a lot of opportunities to land it. Furthermore, after Genei Jin, you can immediately go for a tricky front/back mixup. Then there’s his dive kick. It’s really fast and has a good angle. You can basically get in on your opponent whenever you want. And finally I think his Ultra is pretty good, too.

Toyoizumi: You can connect Ultra after EX Lunge Punch (Zesshou Hohou), right?

Umehara: Right. I think his only weakness is his low health. He’s just really solid overall. It’s just that his match up against Zangief seems a little bad. But against the rest of the cast, he’s very solid. You have a large window to cancel far medium punch into Shoulder (Tetsuzan Kou), then hit confirm into Genei Jin.

Toyoizumi: Do you think his meter will only be used for Genei Jin?

Umehara: No, it definitely depends on the situation. For example, you want to use EX Up Kicks (Nishou Kyaku) as an anti-air. And you want to use EX Lunge Punch to combo into Ultra. But his meter fills up before you know it. And in AE, none of the Supers are that powerful, but with Yun, you definitely want to respect that flashing Super meter. That’s what makes him so scary.

Toyoizumi: He built meter very quickly in Third Strike, too.

Umehara: Yeah. That’s a major point for Yun. He can wait until he has meter to really go in on the opponent. So time is in his favor–the more time that passes, the closer he is to getting full meter, and the more the opponent is at a disadvantage. I haven’t really touched Yang so I can’t say for sure, but his Seiei Enbu is not really that powerful of a Super to begin with. I think that’s what really sets the Twins apart.

Toyoizumi: How are your impressions of Yang so far, despite not really having used him?

Umehara: He can Focus Cancel out of EX Up Kicks, and he can chip away[?] with Mantis Slashes, so I think he has an advantage over Yun when it comes to Zangief. I haven’t really looked into it, but it seems Yun doesn’t have any tools besides Shoulder to work with against Zangief. But even then, Zangief can most likely punish it on block. Furthermore, Yun’s dive kicks are almost useless in that matchup. He’ll just end up getting 50/50′d himself, and that’s a bad situation considering the health difference. In any case, it looks like Fei Long, Yun, and Yang are the top tier at the moment.

Toyoizumi: Fei Long is still good?

Umehara: Definitely. He may have lost invincibility on roundhouse Chicken Wing, but his normals got slightly buffed, and his Rekkas are as solid as ever. On top of that, he has a command grab and strong combo capabilities. His only bad match ups in SSF4 were Chun Li, E. Honda, and Boxer… I think? But those three have all been nerfed, so he’s now relatively stronger. Come to think of it, out of the non-new AE characters, Fei Long is probably the strongest. C. Viper is also very good, but I wonder if she can compare to Yun and Yang.

Toyoizumi: In SSF4, Cammy and Boxer were considered fairly high up. What about in AE?

Umehara: Boxer still seems to be in the upper tier, but he’s been nerfed, so he’s not top tier. Cammy didn’t really have any good pressure tools besides tiger knee Cannon Strikes, so it’s going to tough for her now. Then there’s T.Hawk and Hakan… If you ask me, it’s basically hopeless for them (laughs). T. Hawk is definitely an annoying opponent, but I think that’s about it. He’s gotten buffed, but that doesn’t mean much considering how weak he was to begin with.

Toyoizumi: And what about Akuma? He was one of the top tiers in Vanilla.

Umehara: Hmm.. I think Ken is now a better shoto than Akuma. I think both Ryu and Akuma are in the upper tier, but they’ll have a hard time against Yun, Yang, and Fei Long. So that’s why I don’t think I’ll be using Ryu. It’s fine if you have a few bad match ups, but when it’s against most of the cast… Also, Makoto seems to be a lot stronger than I thought she’d be. I like how good her crouching light kick is, especially canceling into Hayate. Her Ultra 2 (Abare Tosanami) has gotten buffed so you can’t throw fireballs. And when you can’t zone her out, she’s in the advantage. With Makoto, it feels you’re playing a like a solid upper tier character, whereas with Yun and Yang it almost feels like you’re cheating (laughs). Makoto is more “genuinely” good.

Toyoizumi: Wow so Yun and Yang are that good?

Umehara: Haha, yeah it’s almost like… “Wow, really? Is it OK for them to make them this good?”

Toyoizumi: Ono did say in an interview that he wanted a super tier character like Vanilla’s Sagat. I guess Yun and Yang are it?

Umehara: I’m going to main Yun so it’s all good for me (laughs).

Toyoizumi: OK, now how about your console character, Guile? It seems that the startup time of his air throw has been nerfed…

Umehara: It’s unfortunate that it got nerfed. It’s one of his signature moves. I can understand nerfing Flash Kick and Spinning Back Knuckle, but the air throw? It’s almost like they’re saying, “Guile? I guess you can use him… if you really want…[?]” But he can still hold his own, and I think he’ll be upper-mid tier. It was hard for him before to deal with E. Honda’s jump-ins, but since that’s also been nerfed, it should now be a little easier for Guile. But for me, I’ll probably use him a little bit as an alternate.

Toyoizumi: It seems that once Yun and Yang get in on Guile, it’s over for him.

Umehara: Right. It’s just a bad match up for him, so that’s about it for Guile.

Toyoizumi: It seems that it’s always been Ryu for you… Why Yun?

Umehara: I’ve always liked Yun, but he wasn’t really in a lot of other games. I wasn’t really into Street Fighter 3, so I never really considered learning him. And he might as well not have been in CvS2 at all (laughs). But he’s really good in AE, so I finally thought I’d really give it a go. But I might not if Zangief really ends up being top tier.

Toyoizumi: Do you not like using Zangief?

Umehara: Personally, I think he’s a bit boring. He’s good, sure, but as for gameplay, he basically has to stay patient forever until he somehow scores a knockdown, then start doing mixups. That’s it. I think I’d get bored of it pretty quickly.

Toyoizumi: So it seems you like characters with a lot of versatility. Like Yun, who has a lot of ways of getting at the opponent.

Umehara: Yeah, he has a ton. It’s a good thing that he has low health, considering how good he is. People might figure out how to play against him eventually, but I think Genei Jin’s potential will still overcome that. I’m sure we can get more damage out of it than what the current max combo does.

Toyoizumi: Both his Super and Ultra are good, so I’m sure he’ll get better with more research. If Evo’11 is AE, do you think you’ll use Yun?

Umehara: Yes. Yun and… probably another character to use against Zangief. Maybe Guile… or Sagat, even though I haven’t really used him.

Toyoizumi: Does Sagat beat Zangief in AE?

Umehara: I think so. EX Green Hand doesn’t knockdown even on hit, so it seems like it’s going to be a tough match against Sagat. Mixups after knocking down with Green Hand has been one of Zangief’s main strategies, so it’s a major nerf to have him be at just a little frame advantage on hit. They haven’t made him more powerful, and even if his SPD range has been increased, it doesn’t make a difference in a match up against Sagat. In any case, if I use an alternate, it would be a balanced character who can also beat Zangief.

Toyoizumi: How about Dhalsim against Zangief? It seems to be in Dhalsim’s favor as well.

Umehara: I think so, too. But it’s too scary to think that once Zangief gets in, it’s basically over.

Toyoizumi: Yeah that’s definitely true. And Sagat obviously has higher health.

Umehara: Dhalsim’s damage output was upped in Super, but that’s gone back down. I think Dhalsim players aren’t going to like the adjustments. His standing [back] light kick has gotten a tiny bit slower, too, so I think that’s going to make a huge difference.

Toyoizumi: Where do you think Sagat stands in the rankings?

Umehara: Lower high tier, I think. Zangief is a powerhouse, so it’s a huge boost if he can beat Zangief. But I don’t know how he’ll fare against Yun and Yang yet.

Toyoizumi: So you think Zangief is in competition with Yun and Yang for top tier?

Umehara: Yeah. I think there will be a lot of Yun and Yang players. [translator's note: I had trouble translating this next part] There are characters that, because they have powerful combos, don’t have good anti airs, or don’t have invincible moves, so they rely heavily on rushdown. But both Yun and Yang have a good, balanced set of tools.

Toyoizumi: Among the characters from Street Fighter 3, it looks like Yun and Yang are the only ones to have non-EX moves with invincibility. Dudley’s Jet Upper and Ibuki’s uppercut both require EX for invincibility, and Makoto’s Fukiage doesn’t even hit opponents on the ground.

Umehara: Now that you mention it, yeah. Even though neither of the twins are Shoryuken characters. I’m guessing they did that because all of the new characters thus far have been very weak. But even then, I think they overdid it (laughs). Ah, but I think Boxer might beat Yun and Yang.

Toyoizumi: How so?

Umehara: Neither of them have a good answer for Boxer’s Dash Straight, and his crouching roundhouse is just too good. Then there’s EX Dash Straight, which can take care of dive kicks… so I think he’ll be pretty decent against them. And he’s not bad against Fei Long and C. Viper either, so he seems pretty solid.

Toyoizumi: But Boxer has a hard time against Zangief.

Umehara: I think it’s much better this time around, though. And he can take care of Zangief’s jump-ins [?].

Toyoizumi: So it looks like the top tiers are: Yun, Yang, Fei Long. Then Zangief and Boxer after?

Umehara: Yeah. And C. Viper, too. She was already pretty good in Super, and they haven’t touched her too much. Deejay’s been buffed, but in the end, I don’t think he can cut it. Maybe if he was just a little faster… [walking speed?]

Toyoizumi: So out of Super’s new characters, is Makoto the only one you think is good?

Umehara: I think all of them have gotten better, and considering that projectile characters have gotten nerfed, I think it might be fun to mess around with Makoto and Hakan now.

Toyoizumi: What about Juri?

Umehara: I don’t think Juri will make it very far… (laughs).

Toyoizumi: Ibuki was thought to be very good when Super first came out. What about her?

Umehara: Hmm… she’s gotten weaker so I don’t know. Just the fact that her damage has been nerfed makes things tough. And she’ll have a hard time against Yun and Yang. Yeah… It looks like we’re already getting a picture of how AE is going to play (laughs). Yun, Yang, Fei Long, C. Viper are going to be in the top, and everyone else will be working to beat one of those [A little shaky on translating the last line].

The second part expected to come December 17th!
[This was for personal practice; not sure if I'll translate the second part tomorrow.]