Wasshoi In Europe (Stunfest 2013)

[DEL]

CLOVER-TAC


Like Kamui and NAK, Clover-TAC also came down amongst us and played a credit of Progear.

His Hibachi takedown was a real crowd-pleaser. Standing ovation. I liked what he said afterwards, that shoot'em ups are an art form.

NAK


His first God Mode run was blistering!
I loved the massive adrenaline rush he got off the ALL, pumping his fist in the air as he stood triumphant on stage.
He was also very friendly and came down to meet us. Only just 21 and such skill

LES VISITEURS








When you absolutely positively have to clear every second loop in the room:



DamDam's Mush arrange run was flawless. I had my suspicions that she may be a guy, but Plasmo and Icarus were fooled
Great player

The whole thing was a BLAST. We met several French players and endokarb. We concluded that the French shooting scene is the strongest in Europe. Bravo for putting on such a spectacular show

[Pyongyang]

From what I could watch of the live streams, it looks like it was a really enjoyable event. I'm disappointed it was so far away to be able to attend (even Play Expo is a push for me from Ireland really because of flights etc) but it looks like I'll have to plan ahead for the future!

Plus, a HUGE THANK YOU to Plasmo. I'll be watching the mailbox like a hawk these coming days!

Do the organisers have plans to release the runs on a DVD at all? Or are there legal issues to be solved first with NAK, TAC and Kamui?

[Ko.oS]

quite surprised to hear NAK is only 19 - the 8th entry from the top on this page ain't him then...

http://mtlayk.web.fc2.com/Top/Top7.htm





also, uncovering el bandido...



j'espere que je vais pas faire chier quelqu'an.

[Plasmo]

He took of that mask literally for only this picture. It was insane.

[Cormano]

Hi guys, Cormano from shmup.com here. It's been an unforgettable few days! I don't think I got a chance to speak to our foreign visitors, sorry about that. I see someone put a high score in the vicinity of 72 mil on my Raiden Fighters Jet PCB though, I'll let you find out who the culprit is.

I'd like to thank Plasmo for bringing Neo XYX which I hogged for one (all too short) credit. Here's my feedback in a nutshell:

-Gorgeous pixel art - the videos didn't lie. Bosses are an absolute blast to look at, and the game is a clear homage to Toaplan/NMK, with lots of personality of its own too. Oh, and I also like the "F*ck!" that appears in a speech balloon next to your ship when you graze bullets. Nice touch!
-Bullet patterns are a bit repetitive IMO. Lots of crossing patterns, at least from what little I saw (died on boss 2). The good thing about it is that you can weave into them and dodge like you would in a manic shooter, or try and sidestep them completely. It's nice to see that you can use several different strategies depending on your play style, kind of gives you more leeway than usual to develop your own paths.
-Not enough feedback when dying. Several times I wondered if I had snuffed it or actually managed to dodge that bullet. Perhaps a bigger explosion, or having your ship vanish and reappear from the bottom of the screen would help. Then again, the sound was inaudible so perhaps this explains that.
-My main gripe: the rate of fire of your shot is too low. Compared to any of the other shmups that were playable during Stunfest, it felt a bit asthmatic. I really think you should make it one continuous shot rather than short Garegga-style bursts, or at least reduce the interval between two bursts - it really makes the game less dynamic than it could be.

[Icarus]

Quick highlights from the last day at Stunfest:

1. Wandering into the event hall hoping to get the top score on the Garegga PCB in the cab, only to find that KAMUI had already ALLed it for 17mil+.
2. Seeing CHI sessioning RFJ, trying to beat the 72mil RFJ score I put up on my very first attempt.
3. Clover-TAC accidentally pressing 2P START while wiping the sweat off the Astro City control panel. (We got two runs out of it, though!)
4. NAK's heroics in the 6.3bil Futari BL God run. (Unlucky first death.)
5. Chatting a lot more with the three Japanese players, and learning a lot more about them. I have a much higher appreciation and respect for them for taking the time to not only travel over for the event, but to actively seek us out for conversation. Loved it.
6. Watching KAMUI obliterate Ryan Hart 3-0 in the VF5 Finals …
7. … then finding out that KAMUI hadn't played the game in years, and joined the VF5 tournament on a whim.
8. Hearing that KAMUI wanted to play some Garegga dual play with me. (That would have been awesome, but because of the whitewash in the VF5 Finals, KAMUI was held up by interviews until 10mins before the end of the event, and we couldn't sit down for a game. ;_; )
9. Getting all the shooting game players (both Western and Japanese) together for a big round of group photographs and signature collections. Really nice to see our Japanese friends running around the group with a Stunfest event poster asking us for our signatures.
10. NAK, TAC and KAMUI with tears in their eyes as the emotion of the events started to overflow.
11. CHI and I in hysterics in the takeaway as we reminisced about the jokes in the car on Saturday. ("No DEL, YOU turn left! No DEL, YOU park there!")
12. Exchanging contact details with NAK and KAMUI. Unfortunately, TAC doesn't do social media. :_:
13. Getting to see KAMUI's custom control panel with the hardware auto fire buttons and control dial up close, and giving it a good inspection.
14. Discovering that the three players all brought their own sticks (Seimitsu LS-32 series), but each one has the tightness customised to taste. Interesting. (NAK's feels like its at standard tightness, while KAMUI's seemed like it had a slightly shorter throw, and TAC's was quite springy.)

It's been a fantastic event, extremely well organised, and the attendance overall created a great atmosphere that I was proud to be a part of. It's great to see such a big gathering set up, and from things I've been hearing, there may be more in the pipeline - bigger, better, faster, stronger - that I'll definitely be joining in with. One of the best meets I've been to in a long time.

The main highlight overall for me was getting to meet KAMUI, NAK and TAC. We hold these players up as gods for their gaming achievements, but after getting to meet them in person, I've realised that while we see them as gods, they are just normal people like us, with their own habits and mannerisms, capable of making mistakes, humble and embarrased as they were mobbed by fans, playful, fun-loving, excitable, and were just in awe of us as we were of them. It must have been quite a rush for all of them to hear the roars of the crowd through their headphones as they pressed on for their scores, and to see the gathering standing and cheering at the end. It was a great pleasure to converse with them about different things (KAMUI in particular was surprised that there is such a following for Garegga in the West, as it is apparently quite difficult to find players and resources in Japan), and from things I've been hearing from the event organisers, there may be bigger, better things coming in the near future. Apparently a lot of their friends back home have been very enthusiastic about the event on Twitter, and a number of top players have expressed interest in coming over for the second round if and when it is organised. I do hope I get to see them again very soon, as they are great fun to talk to and be around.

I am proud to have been a part of this momentous occasion, and will definitely be down for the next one. It's been great fun spending time with Prometheus, DEL, CHI and Plasmo, we've had a mix of astonishment, hilarity, competitiveness, and entertainment throughout the weekend. Great meeting and chatting with the other shmuppers from all parts of Europe, way too many names to list. Thanks to our French companions for the hard work in getting everything set up and organised!

Photo and video splurge coming soon

[THE]

Thanks for the feedback!

-My main gripe: the rate of fire of your shot is too low. Compared to any of the other shmups that were playable during Stunfest, it felt a bit asthmatic. I really think you should make it one continuous shot rather than short Garegga-style bursts, or at least reduce the interval between two bursts - it really makes the game less dynamic than it could be.

The problem here is that the NEOGEO hardware hits the overall sprite limit in this game. But we will look into it, maybe we can make the shots faster and increase the rate. We will do some experiments with it.

[DEL]

^A couple of thoughts from me on Neo XYX.
*The firepower didn't seem quite strong enough. The ability to take down everything on a stage didn't seem to be there.
*The shield-looking medals that get sucked up into your ship need to be a lighter shade. It confuses you and puts you off the dodging of the actual enemy bullets.

[iconoclast]

quite surprised to hear NAK is only 19

This. I wonder how long he's been playing shumps

[Ex_Mosquito]

Sounded bloody awesome. I would've loved to see the Japanese greats do their stuff live ;(

Why can't they have an event like this in South Wales

[x91]

OH I DO SO ENVY YOU GUYS!!!

Most of the top players in China watched the live stream, and deeply impressed. Wish we can have such events but we lack of organizing...

[PROMETHEUS]

Geez, what an event, what a Stunfest. I don't know where to begin and what to add right now, just got back home. It is difficult to describe with words how awesome it was. I feel very grateful to everyone involved or present.

Since I am posting on Shmups.com right now I want to give a special thanks to Icarus, Plasmo, DEL, Chi and Endokarb who made the trip and where a true great addition to the whole atmosphere here. I wish I could have spent more time with each of you, I found it hard to manage everything I had to do, wanted to enjoy, and people I wanted to talk to and spend time with. But, I think you know that.

Also I really want to give a huge special public thanks to Jon (adversity1) who played such an important part and I feel is responsible for a great deal of awesomeness. None of this would have been possible without you.

Anyway, we'll talk more about this and obviously we will meet again. You are my shmup family ;) Love you all.

Many videos and photos were taken. Video edits/montage of events at Stunfest are in the works (Damdam expressed particular interest in working on that and is skilled at it), this will just take some time. Probably some first pics & vids coming from various people now.

I feel touched by the obvious interest for this project and its success. Jon's idea and everyone's great work made it happen and be even more amazing than we could have imagined. Guests and visitors played a huge part and were absolutely great and cool. Team SuperplayLive pushed everything to the best of their ability and displayed new skills in organization and showmaking. Commentators roxxed. Stunfest staff were pro. Koizumi & Suzuki were awesome. To litterally everyone, thank you for that special part you played.

It is impossible for me to find words for Clover-TAC, Kamui and NAK. They were the heroes of Stunfest and shooting games. Ultra respect and ultra grateful for your dedication, interest, skill, humanity. I hope we meet again soon.

To shooting games in Japan, France, Europe and the world !

[Hagane]

Congrats for organizing such an awesome event.

[hail good sir]

fiend

(last one was locked)

[adversity1]

Thanks prom man, I appreciate it man.

Sending these players over to Europe has been a great adventure, with the best ending possible.
That is first and foremost thanks to Prometheus, who worked tirelessly over about 8 months to pull the event together. Coming to Japan last year to witness the Game Summer Festival and the great Wasshoi exhibition here was the spark, but it was his passion and dedication that took it further. He built momentum first at the exhibition in Montpellier, and then hit his 2-ALL at Stunfest, where everything came together. Having such dependable communication with him made my role much easier on this side.
Next I want to give a huge thanks to Erhune, who was super helpful in coordinating schedules, housing the players, commentating and more. He just happened to be in France at the time, so I don't know what we would have done if you were in Japan man! Hope you have fun with the players before they come home.

I also want to express my humble admiration for all the Stunfest organizers who made this happen. The event was managed really well and things went on without a hitch. The players seemed to have a great time and we were getting hyped from the stream on the JP-side. Much respect.

Lastly, shout-outs to Ebi-cen boss for supplying custom control panels for the players/providing tech support, to Alfarabi for meeting the players at the airport and guiding them around, and last but not least to everyone who donated!! Your support is very much appreciated!

Long live the western shooting scene!

[Pyongyang]

Long live the western shooting scene!

Amen to that. I wish the scene was strong enough in the UK/Ireland to put an event together like that witnessed at Stunfest the past weekend. Play Expo is probably the closest I've been to on a personal level. Though on the flip side, the cool thing to realize is that this kind of scene does exist. Just in smaller pockets, tucked away out of the mainstream eye.

It's the talent, dedication and passion of these people that keeps it all bubbling nicely under the radar. The scene will never die. It just adapts to change.

[endoKarb]

Hey guys I just wanted to say thanks to all the guys I met in Rennes, and especially to all the guys who made all of this possibile.

After the last day was over as I was walking back to my hostel I was so overwhelmed with emotions from the event that I wandered out of town by accident and had to find my way back lol.

It was really great to meet all the French guys, Prometheus, Shin, Yushin, Erhune, Yom, Palgork and others I am probably forgetting right now. I didn't get the chance to talk with some of them (Sephyoss Rechiku DamDam and others) but I hope that the French community and the English-speaking community will get much closer after this event.

Icarus, CHI, DEL and Plasmo were amazing, we've had the chance to talk and exchange our thoughts about shmups and videogames. I learned so much from you guys and had a great time.

I think I still haven't completely recovered from DEL's Much-Muchi Pork 2-ALL. Oh the intensity!

The moment when all the players got together and started signing evreyone else's poster was probably the absolute highlight of the entire event. Such frendliness from such incredibly skilled players!

I was so touched when Clover-TAC sat down to play Progear after me, then talked with me a bit. He told he had seen me playing Progear a lot and encouraged me to keep playing. The next day I managed to reach the last stage and he congratulated me. He is such an humble person, and after many thousand of hours spent practicing he still manages to play videogames with the same excitement of a beginner. He is without a doubt the player I look up to the most.

Me and TAC

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1mccz2nwbw70k ... .45.53.jpg

Got him to sign my backpack too haha

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mfmw9b1nh7tr5 ... 203245.jpg

It was a really exhausting trip, I knew nobody when I got there, and many of the French guys spoke little to no english, and because of that I'd like to extend my special thanks to three people who each contributed in their own way to making me feel at home. Thank you so much Prometheus, YuShin and Shin. Oh and also to the girl Muchi-Muchi Pork player and her overwhelming friendliness. I didn't get her name though and apparently she doesn't visit the forums at all! Such a shame.

Most of the photos I took are kind of crappy but here are a few of them anyway. Enjoy!

The God himself and CHI

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rz8u0ruydza6f ... 195012.jpg

DEL and Icarus looking intently at the cabinets. CHI a little in the background already playing.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqmndey4s2k1a ... .06.00.jpg

Kamui and her stick. She just went around doing crazy goofy stuff all the time. So much fun! I'm still beating myself on the head for not taking more photos of her. (and not taking more photos in general )

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jkca51qo92lgx ... 0stick.png

On the right YuShin playing Progear, on the left Plasmo giving Garegga a go. Notice the H million high score score on Garegga

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6kqhp8m1r4arr ... rogear.png

Closer shot at the score

https://www.dropbox.com/s/klqtngrok8s89 ... 0score.png

Prom and Erhune just chilling and being awesome. DEL and CHI in the background.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w2zws0xeevr22 ... erhune.png

Prom on his trademark game, DoDonPachi! I wish I had taken some shots of the even awesomer BL run too, but I was just too caught in the action!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4t5kr8j7d19y9 ... npachi.png

YOM's poster. The idea of getting everyone to sign each other Stunfest poster was his. I was so impressed by his playstyle and attitude. Such a shame he speaks very little english!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jlpbiiid2a4pi ... poster.png

Dunno what else to say haha. I hope everyone had a great time and I can't wait for next time we'll meet. Cheers!

[Icarus]

Great pics endoKarb. Was a pleasure chatting with you during the weekend.
Also, I was wondering where you were going after you got off the bus. CHI and I were right behind you as CHI wanted to check out the fountain, and I thought you were heading in the wrong direction. ^_-

I'm still sorting out my media, but I have started to upload a few clips from the weekend, including T3-KAMUI's unstreamed unannounced run of Battle Garegga that he kindly gave us the pleasure of witnessing up close. Amazing stuff, absolutely superhuman play in the last two stages.
The playlist is here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... HQzaj3uM4q
More stuff on the way later (as I'm heading out for lunch in a sec to catch up with some friends), including my photos and the rest of my clips.

Yo Plasmo! Your DVD is in the mail, and there's a little surprise in it! ^_-

[ALFARABI]

Hi Guys !
I want to thanks everyone who move his ass from anywhere in europe to assist to this unforgottable event

Just want to share my emotions as I dit it on shmup.com, then I just translate it in english as well :

Well, I guess that we got it, our event of the century !
I don't think that there 's such words to describe what we lives in Rennes, eveybody has his head still filled with good memories. 
I don't want to disappoint absentees, but nor pictures or videos will be able to describe what happened in Brittany the last week end
It was a dose of good games set, with shooting games as we love it

To start with on friday, at James Games center stand, we had a shmups set up with Saidaioujou, Futari BL, Garegga, Strikers 1999, Dimahoo, Progear, Muchi Pork and Ibara Kuro at the end the evening if my souvenirs are right
We were able to delight in the run of Kamui on Garegga on the big scene with the superplay 's team, wich you were able to appreciate in streaming as well
There 's nothing to say, Kamui made the show, in plus that she thrilled us with her incredible skills !
And I managed to touch Kamui joystick
It 's a pretty commun seimitsu LS 32, who comes with a mod who make it higher, nearly 1 centimeter more for the height

Nak Started his run on Futari BL God, it 's like his eyes where almost crying at the end of his live superplay, his tricks were so minutious to cross the bullets wall

We kept going playing on the afternoon  on James 's shooting game 's stand, with Kamui 's visit who I asked for a defi on Garegga :
Play Miyamoto ( ABC ) character which she mostly hates 
As she likes defis as well, she just tried it to offer us a little ( for her ) 6.5 millions !
Parties didn't stop at all on Garegga, and I propose to one of the Wasshoi 's organizers who was standing and watchig us, to try this prodigious Raizing game
Speaking a good english, he has entrusted me that he was found of this game, specially the soundtracks. At the beginning of his run, a little message of Tac who joins us and joke with his friends playing, and he said :
He drunk !
I said :
Maybe more you drink,  better you play 
Ahahah
We had fun seeing him playing, and he just scored 11 millions, not so bad for a retire superplayer
I learnt that he was Kamui 's fan when there were younger, like we are all Clover Tac 's fan at this moment 

BOS keep playing Dimahoo, despite that the layout is reverse on the cabinet ( 3,2,1 instead of 1,2,3 ) and still scored aproximatively 15 millions ( so far from his personal record, more than 40 millions for sure )
Tac is specialy curious on western people playing Dimahoo, and with his majestic discretion, he found his way to watch BOS skils, and Tac said to me that BOS is a great player, but we already knew that in France
I guess that he managed to know the last secrets he ignored on this game, with precious Erhune 's translations

No time to eat, the evening get closer, and we just started playing more relax, the crowd discreased
Europe is very well represented, with Plasmo who came from Germany, endoKarb from Italy, the englishes ( Icarus from Newcastle, CHI from London, and DEL who lives in Bruxelles at this time )
I noticed that endoKarb spent most of his time on Progear, and I guess that Plasmo and the english shmupers are found of Raizing games as well
Players getting crazy on Muchi Pork , and I missed DEL 's 2 all
I just figure out that he has a good level on one of my favourite games, and I saw him skilling on the third stage, impressive, thx
Sessioning a short time on Muchi Pork, we switched for Ibara Kuro for less than 2 hours, but can not explain why we did'nt let it playing more than that
What was really fantastic, it was this Raizing shooting games set up :
Batrider, Muchi Pork, Ibara Kuro, Dimahoo
11 h 30 pm : ProM started his run on Do Donpachi, it 's not too crowded, but people reserve themselves for saturday like most of the time on the Stunfest
It 's pretty hard to score like this at the end of a hard day working
Congratulations ProM !!!

After a short night, we met this saturday morning ( 10 am ) at James shooting games stand who plugged new games set up with ProM, YOM, BOS, Cormano, Parpaing...
A cup of shmups credits for breakfast, make us awake to enjoy Clover Tac 's run on Saidaioujou, who was amazing as you already noticed it on the videos and exciting for a new game who 's gone release in a cup of weeks on Xbox 360
This superplay warm the Stunfest for the rest of the week end that much there were electricity in the atmospher !

Kamui, the " Insatisfied " ,  didn't hesitate to warm the crowd before her second run on Garegga at 2 pm
She announced to the public that she 's gone increase her friday 's score, she put the pression on herself and pleased everybody like she already did on her first superplay
But as you already know, she has to reset the cabinet 3 times until she can finish the game, cause she can't keep going until his second stage 's trick managed  :
Suicide hersef with her last life when she got closer to score 1 million, droping bombs on the pink flamangos to score aproximatively 3,5 millions and being resurrected before the game over and keeping going with 3 lives for the rest of her run
Cause of this fact, the saturday's afternoon public who includes shmups 's Fan and a lot of newbees for sure, got impatient and nervous, but she managed at her fourth attempts to offer us a greatful superplay live ! Awesome

Nak joined the shmups 's stand and don't really find shooting games at his size, it 's a shame that we didn't put Galuda 2 , it would probably  pleased him
I can't remember when ProM blasted Inbachi on DD Daioujou BL, but it was an incredible moment, better than Montpellier ( cause he missed it there ). Clover Tac was very admirative, attentive and first to start cheerings when his french counterpart drove us crazy with his skills

Saturday 's night get closer and it 's on Batrider Advance mode that europeen shmuppers exprimed themselves the most, with very good scores :
5,9 millions
5,6 millions... ( cant remember all the scores, but I think those where the highers )
Plasmo, Icarus, CHI et DEL sessioning allnightlong on this amazing game
Parpaing where were you ?
A lot of sessions on Saidaioujou of course with the French Insanity :
ProM, BOS and YOM triying to imitate Tac
Who was as usual playing discretly on Progear to offer us a oncredit all clear, the Wasshoi 's organizers were around to enjoy it of course ! Well done !

A little break at the 2080 concert, dancing with  Arqusyx, Seedbarret and SGN who was on fire !
POGO like punk 's music as well, jumping all over the stage !!!

Sunday 10 am at James stand :
Change air Blades who is still successfull
Raiden Fighters Jet who is really appreciate by englishs shmupers
Saidaioujou who is always played by the same people, they will recognize themselves
Battle Garegga with Kamui playing and performing a onecred all clear ( 18 millions ! ) but nobody to watch it I guess, only me as the lucky guy I am
Sessioning RFJ, and the english like it !
The scores are not so bad for the beginning, almost 30 millions
Here we go, the battle is starting between CHI and Icarus who scored 72 millions and need just a cup of attempts
CHI gone score 66 millions at the end of the day
But I think he lost the chain on the 3rd or 4th stage, and he entrusted me that he put too much pressions on himself, what a pity !

12 am : Nak started his run on Futari BL
The crowed is on fire, It made Nak please and told us that he still heard our screams and cheerings despite of the ears headphones, and it was really helpfull as he said

2 pm : It 's time for Clover Tac to show us Blasting Inbachi at his second attempt, as you already know his firt attempt was avoid cause of 2 p button issue ! But it 's for our pleasure to see him playing again
After the run, Erhune translate to the public some mythics sentences of one of the best player in the world
* Considerer shooting games as an Art, in the same way as paintings
* No matter if you are a man or a woman, young or old, good or bad, don't hesitate to play shooting games 
There 's somethings like poetry in both sentences, thanks Erhune for your hard work translating, it warmed our heart
It ended with a picture of the 3 japaneses superplayers face to Stunfest 's enthusiast public ! Unforgettable !

Foreign Shmupers hit it on with french shmupers, Plasmo is about to leave, I talk a little bit with Icarus, cause we left CHI on RFJ to perfect his score
We tried some credits on Garegga, but the rank hardly manageable without switch off the cabinet, calm down us quickly, a break is called for
Perfect to watch Kamui, playing Akira on Virtua Fighter 5 FS on semi-final versus the french, Chibitox who plays Rafale ( a french again ! ) and will be eliminate, what a pity ! 
Organizers 's Wasshoi are also there with Tac to attend, and they are all impressed by Kamui 's level of play, cause I guess she stop playing VF5 FS for a long time, and nobody expect her to play !
It was such an exotic match, between a japanese girl and a french guy, who played respectively a japanese and a french character on the game, very funny 
Radigo joined us for the final, who will be the english Ryan Hart ( a good Guile on Street fighter 4 AE )  but who also can play a very good Kage on VF5 FS 
Concretly, there 's no french at all, and we can really talk about an international final 
Ryan Hart will be beaten by Kamui on the final !
It 's like westerns and japaneses players don't play in the same division on Virtua Fighter, but we already knew that, Virtua Fighter in japan, it 's like cycling, you learn it young and for ever, I can imagine !

Lives superplays didn't stop at all, Resident Evil in approximatively 1 hour for Amiral Popov, A M on Resident 4  ( incredible ), Alex Kid, Megamn 6...
Everythings was viewing from nearly every place in the stunfest, very cool if you are too far and cannot move your ass there

Around 7 pm, YOM started the session of dedications on his Stunfest 's poster, and the dedications came to pictures shooting, so intensly that we could not figure out who were the stars there !
Everybody on their knees to make sign his own poster, conscious that it will be burn in their memory for ever
We finished on a group shmupers pictures shooting outside with our 3 Super Stars, but someone was missing there, guess who...

Finals vs fighting finished also, and it 's on the victory of the french Loufi ( cocorico ! ) on Street Fighters 4 AE against a japanese ( sorry, I forgot his name ), that the Stunfest IX 2013 was completed

It was a Stunfest to remember, hoping everybody had a good time and we will organize a meeting shouting session at Arcade Street in Paris tonight or on thursday, with superplayers coming from another world !

Thanks you everybody and see you soon I hope !

Ps : For the people who meet me and cant put a name on my face, I was the guy with the yellow tee-shirt on sunday, who spent most of my time close to the cabinets, helping sometimes to plug the pcbs...

[ratikal]

Man, I really wish there was an event like this in the US.

Maybe MAGfest would work. I know the Wedoca crew really wants to make that the big shmupmeet of the states. It would be a perfect environment for something like this!

[Erhune]

Hi there, thanks to all of you who came to Rennes or followed the streams! I think I can safely say this event was a huge success both the Western and Japanese sides, and I'm super-excited to see what it will mean for the future of our favourite genre. (I'm also quite eager to see how many people we managed to bring into the big Raizing Family :p)

In total I spent 7 days with the Japanese players, and I can tell you that in the end, they were as delighted as us by the event. It meant a lot to them to realize that we have such a vibrant community outside Japan, and that we are all a big family with the same dreams. They said many times they were surprised by the energy of the players here, and I'm really glad we managed to have them come to the Stunfest which is really a perfect event to feel this energy. It was also very pleasing to see the reaction of the non-shmuppers to their runs, and to see the shooting game genre getting a bigger and bigger recognition in a community dominated by the fighting game genre (at least here in France).

My only regret for these 3 days is not having had the opportunity to take more time to talk to the 5 players who did us the honor to come from so far. As a Garegga player myself it was pretty weird and exciting to have my Great Masters from both Japan and the West at the same place. Thanks again guys, and hopefully we'll have other opportunities to meet!

10. Seeing the place jam-packed with probably 1,000+ people.

According to the official channels, Stunfest was attended by more than 6000 people over 3 days! Pretty crazy!

I wonder who's board he played on? That would be awesome to have a Clover-TAC score on one's own PCB. ~_>

Cormano (who posted a bit earlier on this topic) did us the favor of lending us his SDOJ board in advance of the event. Many many thanks to him and Imalipustram (who brought the Futari BL board)! Now both of them can forfeit any hope to hold the top score on their own board :p (I'm more lucky with my Garegga board, since it doesn't save anything :p)

But yeah, I agree, the comments were aimed at boosting the crowd, and explain the game mostly for casual players and about the pressure of a live event too

Not sure about Garega though.

Of course it was just impossible to do any justice to Kamui's play on Garegga in just 1h of commentary (I'd need 10 times that at least!), but I did my best to convey the complexity and deepness of this wonderful game and player.

I wish we had enough time to also have runs commented in English, especially for the people watching the live streams, and it's definitely something I'd push for if we have another opportunity like this.

quite surprised to hear NAK is only 19 - the 8th entry from the top on this page ain't him then...

In fact, he's 21 since... today

3. Clover-TAC accidentally pressing 2P START while wiping the sweat off the Astro City control panel. (We got two runs out of it, though!)

I was not going to plug the 2P side of the panel in the cab, but Kamui needed it for the 2P-side B button for entering the secret character code (since she uses a 30/s autofire on button B, she cannot use the regular button for that). If I had thought this could happen, I would have at least unplugged the 2P Start button...

13. Getting to see KAMUI's custom control panel with the hardware auto fire buttons and control dial up close, and giving it a good inspection.

The control dial was not plugged here, just the 30/s B button autofire. I was blown away by discovering that Kamui can trigger the internal A button autofire to any speed with just a regular button, without making any mistake, so that's what she was using to increase the autofire speed during the runs.

14. Discovering that the three players all brought their own sticks (Seimitsu LS-32 series), but each one has the tightness customised to taste. Interesting. (NAK's feels like its at standard tightness, while KAMUI's seemed like it had a slightly shorter throw, and TAC's was quite springy.)

In fact, Clover-TAC usually uses a Sanwa stick, not a Seimitsu. But we didn't have a 5-pin-to-2x4-pins adapter to plug it in the cab we were using on stage, so he used NAK's stick for his SDOJ runs. (I offered him to solder a 5-pin connector directly to the JAMMA adapter we used for duplicating the RGB & sound signals, but he kindly declined.)

Next I want to give a huge thanks to Erhune, who was super helpful in coordinating schedules, housing the players, commentating and more. He just happened to be in France at the time, so I don't know what we would have done if you were in Japan man! Hope you have fun with the players before they come home.

We must seem quite crazy by thanking each other, but I myself wish to really thank both Prometheus and adversity1 for their involvement in making all of this happen. We had a shit-ton of people helping us on the way that need to be thanked, but it was only these 2 who were crazy enough to believe it to be possible from the beginning to the end.

[Frenetic]

Frenetic from The STGWeekly here. I hope whatever advertising for the event translated into more donations to you guys.

I'm sincerely hoping an event like this will happen in the United States.

Let's all hold hands across the world and raise them together.

--F

[Svovl]

Thanks for getting these three super players to Europe!

I'm in Paris this week for a conference, tonight I had a night off and went with a colleague to Arcade Street.
NAK, Clover-TAC and Kamui were there!
I got a chance to watch them play, and chat with great French arcade and shmup enthusiasts.

[ALFARABI]

Yeah, was there too, we had fun
Kamui scored J 800 560 on Garegga

Nak scored a little bit more than 6, 68 billions on Futari BL God mode, pic right here :

[ALFARABI]

added some pics :

Kamui scored J 800 560 on Garegga
Sorry can not include the pic with the tool on forum, maybe size 's pic is too hight :
http://imageshack.us/f/266/photoflw.jpg/

Nak scored a little bit more than 6, 68 billions on Futari BL God mode, pic right here :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/208/photoqnb.jpg/

Tac playing Galuda 2 :
http://imageshack.us/f/819/photoknqy.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/822/photomxaz.jpg/

French shmupers meeting Japanese superplayers :
http://imageshack.us/f/9/photoiph.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/267/photonqy.jpg/

[ALFARABI]

Hi Guys !
Kamui, Nak and Clover Tac left Paris this morning

It was so intense at the airport, like they really dont wanna live !
They said that the stunfest was really impressive, they like the european video games public
They really love France and all the people who help for this dream who became true
A lot of emotions at the airport when I have to drop them to the boarding

Here a cup of pics at the airport :
Registrer office, the pressure get closer
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/526/img3087un.jpg/

Boarding corridor, they really dont wanna live !
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/img3098g.jpg/

We met again by a chance
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/img3104qh.jpg/

Thx guys and see u soon i hope

[endoKarb]

Kamui, Clover-TAC, and NAK interviewed (French): http://forum.shmup.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=18177

A quick rough translation by yours truly:

1 - At what age did you start playing videogames?

Kamui: Since I was 5, and I've been playing Battle Garegga since I was 14.

NAK: Since I was 14, but I played for example Gradius III on the Super Famicon with friends; it really made a lasting impression on me.

Clover-TAC: Since I was 4.

2 - How many hours a day do you practice?

Kamui: I used to train from morning to evening, but now I have much less time because of work. I'd say something like 10 hours of play per day.
NAK: From morning to evening
Clover-TAC: All day long.

3 - What game have you spent most of your time on?

Kamui: Battle Garegga (laughing)
NAK: Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label
Clover-TAC: ESP Ra.De.

4 - What kind of medium do you use when training? For exemple do you utilize Mame on a computer?

Kamui: At the game center, and a bit on Sega Saturn
NAK: At the game center and on Xbox 360
Clover-TAC: At the game center exclusively.

5 - What are you playing at right now?

Kamui: Battle Garegga and Virtual Fighter 5 Showdown
NAK: Mushihimesama Futari Black Label, Starcraft II and Dragon Quest IX
Clover-TAC: DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou

6 - What advice would you give to somebody wanting to be a superplayer?

Kamui: Taking the game which you the enjoy the most
NAK: Finding a game that you hold dear.

Additional questions for Clover-TAC:

1 - What software did you use to develop Crimzon Clover?

I developed the game directly in C++. It took me a really long time. 5 years. With what I know know I could do it in 1 year/1 year and a half.

2 - Are you planning on making another game? If so, is it going to be another shooting game?

Yes, I want to make another game. I haven't started yet but I don't think it's going to be a Danmaku, maybe a more traditional shooting game.

3 - What advice can you give to someone wanting to develop a shooting game?

The best advice I can give to someone wanting to develop a shooting game is to reach the end of the project. Even if you don't like the game anymore, or it isn't fun anymore, you have to finish. There are not enough shooting games coming out and I would like to see more of them.

[Skykid]

Damn, crazy jealous, wish I could have reached this one.

[Hagane]

Thanks for the translation. Interesting to know that Clover will do something more traditional for his next game.

[CHI]

11. CHI and I in hysterics in the takeaway as we reminisced about the jokes in the car on Saturday. ("No DEL, YOU turn left! No DEL, YOU park there!")

One of the best weekends of my life, thanks to everyone who i met



Edit: one more shot!