VF5R and Switchnation

Some may have wondered why I use the name “Switchnation” it wasn’t something that I came up with rather it was something that spawned from the depths of #vfhome (the VF channel on the aging Mirc). It was a term that was used to describe namely myself and fellow NYC player Akmal (Extremist cidkid) simply for the fact that we tend to switch characters quite frequently not only for casuals but for tournaments as well which is considered taboo for some VF players. I never completely grasp why some players get so heated over this. Why does it matter so much that your opponent happens to switch characters during important matches? Is it because they are secretly weak against the character their opponent is exchanging to? Is it because they fear that you may end the winning steak they have created? Whatever the reason may be one fact remains clear, the tide of battle may alter. However, a true player understands that above all else a true fight to the death involves defeating the player not the actual character people who surmise otherwise are people who aim to win but could care less of the potential challenge. In real professional sports you don’t see coaches complain when the opposing team calls for a substitution due to negligence (and not just for the fatigued) so why should a “real” competitive player whine when a player substitutes his character for another. God forbid you may have to play longer to understand how to fight against a foreign character but hey that’s part of the game.

With the influx of all the VF5R location test videos I now think it’s safe to give an open minded opinion about the unreleased game. I’ve heard some comments on the game even some ridiculous ones like “This is the game that will fix VF5” I don’t know what to say to that quite frankly. Vfers can’t wait for this game to be released I for one however could wait all day. That’s not to say I won’t like it I know the game will kick ass but I also know VF. Anyone that’s been playing the Virtua Fighter series long enough knows that right after the initial release of a finish product tons of different versions (fancy arcade word for patches) will come soon after. Those that complain about the balance issues in the current 5 shouldn’t look into R believing that this will fix everything because it won’t. Jeffery can still do over 100+DMG with even more ease (look at the Vanessa vid for some crazy new head butt move that looks safe on block that can easily do over 100 on hit on wall) Shun can now go into his best stance just about after every move and move around the screen with hit throws that can combo into P strings. VF5R is a new game which means that even though they fixed some of the issues regarding the current VF5 their will be new ones that Sega will eventually create new versions for to address it. Now I’m not saying this new VF5R will be broken it’s just that I know from experience that the same people who are complaining now will also be complaining when R arrives. As for me all I want is the final version of the game in all its glory once that is developed then that’s when I want to see a release to console no matter how long that may be (cause we all know we wont be seeing updates on PSN/XBL on a new version it will just remain in the Japanese arcade market).

I promise I will actually make posts about VF strats but I just wanted to post random thoughts this time around.

Denkai's guide to VF5.

I've decided to finally jump on the bandwagon in create a blog of my own. However, unlike konjou's blog I will not limted my post to just Virtua fighter much like VF noobs online this blog will be pretty random. Speaking of newbies (who a certain someone loves to redirect towards me) I've been bombarded with the same flock of questions which usually reads "Can you tell me what I'm I doing wrong?" and "What should I be doing when I block etc etc?". Honestly its really difficult for me to answer those questions especially over Xbl where I have to type on that wretched keyboard interface with my 360 pad. A second reason why I don't comply with these questions is because I don't believe their is a right or wrong way of playing the game and their is never one solution to get out of a given situation which is why I always give my "oh, I just had a better yomi game" answer. It's my lazy answer its basically something I say just to get the noobs off my back when I'm faced with those in-depth questions when truth be told my fixed answer isn't alway true. Only players with equal ( or close to) knowledge and skill play a game heavily focused on yomi I know this because I beat noobs doing the same thing over and over and I don't have to outguess nor think.

The same people (that I will now call in denial VFers or IDVFers) that ask me for advice are the same people that I'm nearly positive don't know a bit of frame data. IDVFer's believe that memorizing frame data even just a small hint of it is something that only the hardcore elite nerdy VFer's do noticeably the ones that create their own blogs. Interestingly enough however, those same players usually rack up much more games then I play on live by the thousands. Maybe I speak for myself here but when a person spends a substantial time doing something wouldn't he or she aim to become better at it? who knows. Even though I may come off a bit egotistical let me assure you I am not that good at VF5, quite honestly I think I suck at the game. After playing greats like nuki, Yosuke, Itazan and to a lesser extent perhaps even Masared I realize that I have much to learn.

Well there you have it, my introduction to the Blog world. I will be discussing Character matchups and what it takes to use multiple characters at a decent level without taking up too much of your time and things I wouldn't dare post on VFDC like my inner thoughts of the tier list and all that other good stuff.