New fighter-oriented arcade opened in SF

[Famidrive-16]

Last week, a new arcade called Southtown Arcade was opened on Stockton street in San Francisco. Although it has a variety of games it's mostly fighter-based, with titles like KOF XIII, SF2 Hyper Fighting and Blazblue, with almost all of them hosted on Japanese candy cabs. They said that they are also hoping to receive SFIV:AE and one of the Tetris GM games soon. I haven't been there yet and it has few open times at the moment (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays) but it seems really kickass so far for anyone into fighters.

More info here:

http://www.southtownarcade.com/

[pixelsnpolygons]

That's awesome - I could go there on my lunch breaks. Gotta check it out soon.

[Kaboomer]

Submit a review and photos on http://www.GamerSpots.com

[Mianrtcv]

Nice. A video dojo. Get your quarters up Grasshopper.

[Oldskool]

Nice to see a new arcade pop up. And those cabs are very nice too! Looks like a pretty small place though, and they need to dim the lights a little bit.

[ubersaurus]

Word is they've gotten Grandmaster Tetris 3 in there. Anyone local, think you could take a look?

[Famidrive-16]

Word is they've gotten Grandmaster Tetris 3 in there. Anyone local, think you could take a look?

I've been there several times, as of last week they still have that game.

Recently they've added SSFIV: AE, KOF XIII, Ikaruga, and Blazblue CS2. They also have a coin-operated MvC3 setup. They've been switching out games every now and then due to space issues (Vampire Savior and Guilty Gear aren't there anymore) but the competition is constant and they'll take any customer advice if any of the machines or sticks break.

[peter_gunz]

This would be perfect for me living in Berkeley, except for one problem. JAPANESE style JOYSTICKS! I don't mind Japanese buttons and for the home controller, those joysticks are fine, but in heated competition, I can't do them. Ugh! Well, at least I know what I'll be doing on my Sundays from now on though

[kedawa]

I used to be the same way, but once you learn to use a Sanwa/Seimitsu square-gated stick, it's hard to go back to the Happ/IL style.
I still prefer bat handles, though.

[Milk Thistle]

That arcade looks outstanding. Very clean cabinets. Liking the row of Cyberleads. And all those Ikea benches... I wish that place the best of luck. Looks very Japanese being in such a tight space! Reminds me of the top floor arcade at Super Potato minus the chain smokers. They should try and squeeze a Capcom mini-cute in there running Championship Edition for good measure.

This would be perfect for me living in Berkeley, except for one problem. JAPANESE style JOYSTICKS! I don't mind Japanese buttons and for the home controller, those joysticks are fine, but in heated competition, I can't do them. Ugh! Well, at least I know what I'll be doing on my Sundays from now on though

You just need to study up my friend.

Once you go Japanese style it's hard to go back.

I still have my Mas Systems Super Pro sticks from back in the day, and they never get used in the face of my Madcatz TE and HRAPs. Darn things are too bulky to bother selling (who wants to pay shipping?), so they just sit in a closet.

[peter_gunz]

I used to be the same way, but once you learn to use a Sanwa/Seimitsu square-gated stick, it's hard to go back to the Happ/IL style.
I still prefer bat handles, though.

I have Japanese style joysticks for my home consoles. I have experience.

Maybe I should expound on my statement, I have played on some HORRIBLE U.S. sticks and some GREAT Japanese sticks, but I can't stand the cabinets for a few reasons. For one, this isn't Japan, I've been to Japan (lived there for 2 years) and I think it's cooler to play like that when there (kind of like home field advantage for a stadium). I think that playing stand up style is kind of a cool concept for fighting games anyway given the excitement the games can have. Plus, I think it adds an endurance element to vs. battles. It's draining to play intensely close games all day, so to last long while standing up adds to it albeit in a negative way.

My other issue is for some reason, when I sit down and play, I have a hard time w/the joystick. I motion crouch block and the character walks backward for example. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but so far I have limited exposure to them and it wasn't good.

Now for the bat stick thing. Until recently, I never looked into the differences between the joysticks. I've always just played on whatever was available at the arcade. Some sticks I loved, some I hated. For games like Street Fighter, I've found that most sticks will do. However, for SNK games, a round stick was generally more accurate in pulling off special moves. If those sticks were Japanese style, then I love them. However, I still don't like the look and feel. Now it is possible that all the good joysticks I used that were batsticks were Japanese, just w/a bat top (never knew that Japan made them til recently). If that is the case, then I think it would be more accurate to say:

This would be perfect for me except for SIT DOWN CABINETS and ROUND TOP JOYSTICKS!

[Milk Thistle]

I have Japanese style joysticks for my home consoles. I have experience.

Maybe I should expound on my statement, I have played on some HORRIBLE U.S. sticks and some GREAT Japanese sticks, but I can't stand the cabinets for a few reasons. For one, this isn't Japan, I've been to Japan (lived there for 2 years) and I think it's cooler to play like that when there (kind of like home field advantage for a stadium). I think that playing stand up style is kind of a cool concept for fighting games anyway given the excitement the games can have. Plus, I think it adds an endurance element to vs. battles. It's draining to play intensely close games all day, so to last long while standing up adds to it albeit in a negative way.

My other issue is for some reason, when I sit down and play, I have a hard time w/the joystick. I motion crouch block and the character walks backward for example. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but so far I have limited exposure to them and it wasn't good.

Now for the bat stick thing. Until recently, I never looked into the differences between the joysticks. I've always just played on whatever was available at the arcade. Some sticks I loved, some I hated. For games like Street Fighter, I've found that most sticks will do. However, for SNK games, a round stick was generally more accurate in pulling off special moves. If those sticks were Japanese style, then I love them. However, I still don't like the look and feel. Now it is possible that all the good joysticks I used that were batsticks were Japanese, just w/a bat top (never knew that Japan made them til recently). If that is the case, then I think it would be more accurate to say:

This would be perfect for me except for SIT DOWN CABINETS and ROUND TOP JOYSTICKS!

I get all that man. And I have felt the same way at points. But tell me this, do you stand up when you're playing fighting games on a home console? Do you go to tournaments? I'm assuming you sit down to play at home, and if you do tournaments they sit down too. Also, American style cabs are completely on the way out. Most arcades that exist these days cater to the Vewlix/Sitdown crowd. Standing up to play is sort of dead. I agree on the endurance part of playing on American cabs, I miss long sessions of Alpha/Three at the arcade when your legs start killing you.

The ball/bat top difference is all in your head IMO, because it was for me back when I hated ball tops and swore by bats.

I think you'd do better than you think, just keep at it.

Also bat tops on a Japanese stick/cab is just terrible, I don't know why people do it.

BTW where's lord tariq?

[peter_gunz]

I get all that man. And I have felt the same way at points. But tell me this, do you stand up when you're playing fighting games on a home console? Do you go to tournaments? I'm assuming you sit down to play at home, and if you do tournaments they sit down too. Also, American style cabs are completely on the way out. Most arcades that exist these days cater to the Vewlix/Sitdown crowd. Standing up to play is sort of dead. I agree on the endurance part of playing on American cabs, I miss long sessions of Alpha/Three at the arcade when your legs start killing you.

The ball/bat top difference is all in your head IMO, because it was for me back when I hated ball tops and swore by bats.

I think you'd do better than you think, just keep at it.

Also bat tops on a Japanese stick/cab is just terrible, I don't know why people do it.

BTW where's lord tariq?

No, I don't play standing up at home, but that is the appeal of an arcade. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 27. I missed the original heyday of arcades (early 80s), but caught the SF2 boom. One of the greatest times of my life. Standing up to me is part of the arcade experience. It can also be intimidating (well it was for me as I was 7, lol) It's just what you do. If I wanted to sit down, I'd be at home. Would it kill people to stand up? At least they would burn more calories, lol. I haven't been into arcade games since 1998 or so and this is one of the reasons why. In 2009 I worked by an arcade in Koreatown in LA and would play SF3 3rd Strike on a sitdown cabinet. Completely sucked half the life out of the experience.

The last tournament I competed in was in 1996/7 (not sure) and it was awesome (speaking of which, if the guy I played against then would play now, I'm sure he would win EVO, I've never seen anyone use Adon like him, ever). It was also pure stand up. When I turned 16, I got into bodybuilding and stopped playing video games except for on my spare time. When I got injured in 2007, I picked up the games again.

I watched EVO last year and all of the fun that I remember about tournaments was pretty much gone. It looked like playing at a friend's house. Now, I realize for the sake of cost it is better to do things like that, but it doesn't appeal to me. Then again, a lot of the things about tournament play modern day turn me off (no taunting being one of them, WTF???).

I own balls, they suck. They suck because of the way I grip the joystick. There is nothing a person could change about the balls because of the way I grip the joystick. I refuse to change as I have been gripping this way since I was at least 5. When I play gripping the ball, I feel like I'm operating a robot, having to be very precise. When I grip a bat, it feels much LESS like that, which is a big difference for me.

I'm sure I could do better, I did so in Japan. But that was Japan, I expected it and again made it feel like I was the away team.

Lord Tariq is out there, still being UPTOWN BABY!

[Milk Thistle]

No, I don't play standing up at home, but that is the appeal of an arcade. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 27. I missed the original heyday of arcades (early 80s), but caught the SF2 boom. One of the greatest times of my life. Standing up to me is part of the arcade experience. It can also be intimidating (well it was for me as I was 7, lol) It's just what you do. If I wanted to sit down, I'd be at home. Would it kill people to stand up? At least they would burn more calories, lol. I haven't been into arcade games since 1998 or so and this is one of the reasons why. In 2009 I worked by an arcade in Koreatown in LA and would play SF3 3rd Strike on a sitdown cabinet. Completely sucked half the life out of the experience.

The last tournament I competed in was in 1996/7 (not sure) and it was awesome (speaking of which, if the guy I played against then would play now, I'm sure he would win EVO, I've never seen anyone use Adon like him, ever). It was also pure stand up. When I turned 16, I got into bodybuilding and stopped playing video games except for on my spare time. When I got injured in 2007, I picked up the games again.

I watched EVO last year and all of the fun that I remember about tournaments was pretty much gone. It looked like playing at a friend's house. Now, I realize for the sake of cost it is better to do things like that, but it doesn't appeal to me. Then again, a lot of the things about tournament play modern day turn me off (no taunting being one of them, WTF???).

I own balls, they suck. They suck because of the way I grip the joystick. There is nothing a person could change about the balls because of the way I grip the joystick. I refuse to change as I have been gripping this way since I was at least 5. When I play gripping the ball, I feel like I'm operating a robot, having to be very precise. When I grip a bat, it feels much LESS like that, which is a big difference for me.

I'm sure I could do better, I did so in Japan. But that was Japan, I expected it and again made it feel like I was the away team.

Lord Tariq is out there, still being UPTOWN BABY!

Yeah I hear you about the Japan thing. I spent a lot of time over there and it got me adjusted to the Japanese sticks (mostly sanwa).

When I got home to the US I started preferring Seimitsu stuff. Then the next time I went back to Japan most of the cabs have sanwa, which totally throws my rhythm off since it feels like loose crap compared to seimistu.

It's like you have the setup you prefer at home, and then whatever you encounter in the wild, just sucks when the majority of the machines don't have the hardware you're used too.

And that's just sticks. As far as buttons go, I hate the sanwas, you breath on them and they trigger. Doesn't help that pretty much every machine in Japan uses the damn things.

At this point whenever I play on Happ hardware, it just feels strange. But back in the day I preferred the Happ competitions and the convex buttons, I still have those sticks, but they're giant tanks compared to my Madcatz TEs.

BTW you aren't far off from my arcade days. I'd say 92-98 was the mecca for me where I lived. Multiple arcades who all had the newest fighters, and there was always someone to play. I remember selling Mortal Kombat II code sheets/move lists at Tilt in the mall for 50 cents each. I'd sell a gang of them too, I'd always go up there with a new stack of them. Amazing the stuff you could pull when you had the internet in those early days.

[peter_gunz]

Yeah I hear you about the Japan thing. I spent a lot of time over there and it got me adjusted to the Japanese sticks (mostly sanwa).

When I got home to the US I started preferring Seimitsu stuff. Then the next time I went back to Japan most of the cabs have sanwa, which totally throws my rhythm off since it feels like loose crap compared to seimistu.

It's like you have the setup you prefer at home, and then whatever you encounter in the wild, just sucks when the majority of the machines don't have the hardware you're used too.

And that's just sticks. As far as buttons go, I hate the sanwas, you breath on them and they trigger. Doesn't help that pretty much every machine in Japan uses the damn things.

At this point whenever I play on Happ hardware, it just feels strange. But back in the day I preferred the Happ competitions and the convex buttons, I still have those sticks, but they're giant tanks compared to my Madcatz TEs.

BTW you aren't far off from my arcade days. I'd say 92-98 was the mecca for me where I lived. Multiple arcades who all had the newest fighters, and there was always someone to play. I remember selling Mortal Kombat II code sheets/move lists at Tilt in the mall for 50 cents each. I'd sell a gang of them too, I'd always go up there with a new stack of them. Amazing the stuff you could pull when you had the internet in those early days.

Yeah, it was good times.

Anyway, I'm glad that there is a place for me to go now. I'll check it out. If I like it, I'll keep going, if I don't I wont. But it would be nice to get out to SF on my 2 free sundays per month, lol. I remember practicing MK 2 at home and then stomping ass at the arcade. Am I the only one that took advantage of Shang Tsung's jump kick priority? My brother discovered that and he isn't even into technical things like that. He just plays to play as do I. It was only recently that I've discovered the technical terms for those things. BTW, is it me or do the people who seem to know that terminology best are the worst fighters? My friend knows all of that crap about tiers and everything and I floor him every time. He's never been in tournament play, but still, he studies frames on the net, etc. I just learn the moves and practice on the cpu. The cpu has the most wins over me, so I figure the best way to play is see what they do right and add the human element to knock out the things they do wrong (not blocking on certain moves for one). Not that I purposely try to do it, just that when I took a closer look into how I play, noticed that's how I do things. I'm sure even Daigo loses to the CPU more than he lets on, after all, CPUs don't get intimidated by championship victories

[Milk Thistle]

Yeah, it was good times.

Anyway, I'm glad that there is a place for me to go now. I'll check it out. If I like it, I'll keep going, if I don't I wont. But it would be nice to get out to SF on my 2 free sundays per month, lol. I remember practicing MK 2 at home and then stomping ass at the arcade. Am I the only one that took advantage of Shang Tsung's jump kick priority? My brother discovered that and he isn't even into technical things like that. He just plays to play as do I. It was only recently that I've discovered the technical terms for those things. BTW, is it me or do the people who seem to know that terminology best are the worst fighters? My friend knows all of that crap about tiers and everything and I floor him every time. He's never been in tournament play, but still, he studies frames on the net, etc. I just learn the moves and practice on the cpu. The cpu has the most wins over me, so I figure the best way to play is see what they do right and add the human element to knock out the things they do wrong (not blocking on certain moves for one). Not that I purposely try to do it, just that when I took a closer look into how I play, noticed that's how I do things. I'm sure even Daigo loses to the CPU more than he lets on, after all, CPUs don't get intimidated by championship victories

Yeah I totally don't get the walking encyclopedias. I just play and learn. I couldn't tell you how to do a combo in person, I'd just show you in the game. Memorizing faQs or move names won't make you a better player. Hell, I can't say that I remember anything when I'm not in front of the game...

As for MK2, Shang Tsung was indeed the bomb, but I used to rock Liu Kang all day.

[Famidrive-16]

(no taunting being one of them, WTF???).

not that it isnt allowed but you'll probably get killed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgRnBazeSY

[peter_gunz]

not that it isnt allowed but you'll probably get killed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsgRnBazeSY

I wasn't referring to in game taunting, that's just dumb (although Daigo does it, but obviously he can do that). I was referring to trash talking which is always explicitly not allowed during the matches per the rules. I wouldn't trash talk in a sitdown setting and hardly ever do it standing up, I just don't like the idea of being told not to. That it could be used to DQ me, lol.

[ubersaurus]

Yeah, it was good times.

Anyway, I'm glad that there is a place for me to go now. I'll check it out. If I like it, I'll keep going, if I don't I wont. But it would be nice to get out to SF on my 2 free sundays per month, lol. I remember practicing MK 2 at home and then stomping ass at the arcade. Am I the only one that took advantage of Shang Tsung's jump kick priority? My brother discovered that and he isn't even into technical things like that. He just plays to play as do I. It was only recently that I've discovered the technical terms for those things. BTW, is it me or do the people who seem to know that terminology best are the worst fighters? My friend knows all of that crap about tiers and everything and I floor him every time. He's never been in tournament play, but still, he studies frames on the net, etc. I just learn the moves and practice on the cpu. The cpu has the most wins over me, so I figure the best way to play is see what they do right and add the human element to knock out the things they do wrong (not blocking on certain moves for one). Not that I purposely try to do it, just that when I took a closer look into how I play, noticed that's how I do things. I'm sure even Daigo loses to the CPU more than he lets on, after all, CPUs don't get intimidated by championship victories

"book learning" if you will, is no match for actual experience in a fighting game. I don't know all the frame data but give me some time to acclimatize to the game with some people who are decent and I can figure it out and be reasonably good myself. Maybe not champ material, but solid at the least.

[Famidrive-16]

Double Dragon 2 and Super Turbo have been added recently.

IPlayWinner is also streaming live ranbats every other Sunday for KOF 13, MvC3 and AE. Next one is on the 24th.