Its been a while...

Well its been a while since I've updated this blog and that should say something as to how busy I have been. Well, I say busy as though its a bad thing; the truth is that I've been busy in a very positive way. It seems that there is always something to do here and needless to say I've been soaking it all up. I ended up joining the Kempo Club here at College and I do believe that I have made a good decision. The practices are intense, usually lasting 4 hours, but everyone is very supportive and luckily my stamina was already at a level that I could keep pace with them. I'm now at a point where they can shape my brute strength into a refined compact attack that minimizes the amount of energy I have to expend. In other college related news classes have started and are going very well so far. The courses are challenging but nothing that I don't think I can overcome and having the ability to listen, read and write Japanese 24/7 has helped me improve leaps and bounds.

Now lets get down to the gaming. Much to my dismay, Sega World does not have King of Fighters XII, a game that I am still very anxious to play. That said though, Sega World does have an excellent assortment of games. They have some very good Street Fighter IV competition and I always have some good matches when I find the time to head down there. Though I have to say that I don't particularly like SFIV. Its a decent game but it just lacks something to make it great. They also have King of Fighter 98 Ultimate Match, Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Hokuto no Ken and TvC in addition to some very good SHMUPS. Which brings me to my next point; Mushihime Sama is probably one of the best shmups that I have played. Its got a good difficulty curve, nice art, and cool music. It doesn't surprise me though, it is a Cave SHMUP after all. I do plan on using Golden Week to check out some arcades in the area though. Gamer's Vision, Mi-Ka-Do and Games Inn Sakura are all on the list. Aside from arcades though, I have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of used games here. There is a store that is very close to me that deals in used books, games, etc. I have found some truly great games there for a little over 10 bucks and the quality of not only the game, but the packaging as well is always as good as any new game, which is definitely a pleasant surprise. I was also able to find an Agetech Arcade Stick in excellent condition there for only 3 bucks. Not a bad deal if I say so myself.

I'll try and make the next update much sooner but understand that if I don't its not that I've forgotten about this blog but moreso that there is something going on that is occupying my time and preventing me from updating the blog. Well, I'll try and keep you guys updated; from here on.

Indy.

Arrival and the first few days...

So we finally arrived in Japan. The flight was long, boring and tedious and I had a hard time getting any sleep as is normal for me. However, landing in Japan was extremely exciting and I have to say that so far my excitement has been completely warranted. One of the first things that I noticed when we were being driven to our final destination in Oyama City was that though there was a distinct Japanese Characteristic to the place, there was hints of both England and India, places that I thoroughly enjoy visiting. Oyama City itself is definitely interesting in that you can go from a busy city to tranquil farmland literally with the turn of a corner. Its a cool dynamic that I'm really enjoying so far.

The first night we were taken by Usui Sensei and Miller Sensei to a local Ramen restaurant for a meal to welcome us. The food was delicous and the portions were absolutely enormous. For how little you have to pay, and how much you get in both quantity and quality, its really hard to pass up the deal and I can see myself frequenting similar places throughout my stay here. We pretty much retired to our rooms after that and got some much needed sleep. The next day I got up pretty early and decided that I would use the time to get all unpacked and clean up my room. While doing so I decided to turn on my laptop in the hope that there might be a wireless network somewhere and surprise surpise, there was one. Its definitely convenient to have a reliable internet connection this early on. We went to Hakuoh University shortly afterwards to get oriented and take care of a few housekeeping issues. We met up with some friends that we made the night before and made some new ones as well as getting to meet a student who has come from Australia and is certainly a cool guy to hang out with.

Later that night I had some free time and decided that I would go to the arcade. Luckily there is a Sega World right down the street from me and it only takes about 5 minutes to get there by bike. They had a good selection of games though they did not have Third Strike which disappointed me somewhat. there is another arcade that is a little further away but very easy to get to that I want to check out when I get some time. Sega World did have Street Fighter IV and Blazblue. Street Fighter IV was what I knew it was, though the arcade version does feel a little different and I wish I could play Cammy as she is my main. I stuck with Boxer and walked through a Ken player and had some good matches with another player. He had some good zoning but he really lacked when it came to teching throws etc. Blazblue was pretty good although I haven't really had much time to get to know the game so I'm hesitant to say whether or not I like it. I finished off my session by playing Mushihime Sama, a game that I have wanted to play for a while. Visually it was very easy on the eyes and the gameplay was super smooth. Its a very good SHMUP, Cave rarely make a bad one after all, and I can see myself dropping alot of Yen in that machine.

So far the first couple of days have been pretty good. I'm going to start taking a lot more pictures soon so expect to see more of Oyama City and Japan in future updates.

-Indy

Welcome

This blog will contain information about Street Fighter 3: Third Strike in Japanese Arcades as well as other 2D Fighting Games and even a few SHMUPS. Updates will occur on a regular basis after I actually arrive in Japan so until then, consider this as a work in progress.

Thanks for stopping by,
Indy Billing.