4/16 - First Look: Round 1 Pump It Up Pre-Tournament Thoughts

By Ann Nakamura

Arcade Tournaments. If you are an active arcade-goer, you have probably seen a tourney of some sort happen at your local arcade. Whether it was Providence at Round 1 Eastridge, Best of the West at Sunnyvale Golfland or the well-famed and known EVO in Las Vegas, tournaments are everywhere regardless of their genre. Today at the Arcade Hub, we’re taking a look into the first music-game tournament that will be held at Round 1 Eastridge on April 30^th. And what better way to ring in the first music game tourney than with Pump it Up?

Pump it Up is a dance game created by Andamiro in 1999 - 2000. This game is equipped with a dance pad with five panels and the premise of it, if you are familiar with music games (in particular, Dance Dance Revolution), is that the player steps on the corresponding arrow panel that is displayed on the dance screen. This game has had many upgrades and versions over the years, and with the latest iteration of Pump it Up called “Pump it Up Prime”, players from all over the Bay Area have been coming to practice their skills, master songs, unlock new content and build a community. On April 30^th, the very first Pump it Up Prime tourney of the Bay Area will be taking place at Round 1 Eastridge, led by Kevin Tan, a big community advocate and leader of the Pump it Up community. He has been running Pump It Up tournaments since 2013, and has led the United States Pump Festival, a national tournament for players all over the USA. We took him aside to get a couple of words from him.

The official banner for the PRIME tournament at Round 1 San Jose.

This is the first music game tournament to be held at Eastridge Round 1. How’re you feeling about it? Enthusiastic? Worried?

Kevin Tan (herein “KT”): I am absolutely excited that I had the privilege of working with Eastridge Round 1 to organize the very first music game tournament in the location.  Obviously, as with any tournament, there is always a worry about problems arising, but I’m also excited because there has been a lot of interest in a tournament at Round 1 from even when the location first opened!

What are we going to expect from this tournament? New and old players? Different brackets? Anything in particular?

KT: I’ve invited a lot of players who have attended previous Pump It Up tournaments in California and Las Vegas, and I am hoping to see a lot of the new and upcoming players who started playing at Round 1 and have made astounding progress.  The brackets for this tournament are the same as the previous FanimeCon tournaments.  First, I will talk about the speed divisions, the divisions in which players compete for the highest scores.  There are two speed divisions, one for players at the intermediate level and one for players at the highest level or the international level.  There is also a freestyle division, a division with less of an emphasis on pure score and a strong emphasis on presentation and looking good while still hitting the arrows.

Pictured is Tim Bolosan, playing Prime during the first months of Round 1 Eastridge's opening.

How has the planning been in comparison to other tournament locations? (working with Round 1 to put on this tournament)

KT: The staff at Round 1 has been easier to work with than I initially expected.  There are still certain details that are being discussed, but it is extremely exciting that Round 1 Eastridge is willing to make the process of organizing tournaments easier.

Is there anything you would like to tell to potential spectators? Potential Entrants?

KT: To players thinking about entering, please do not hesitate.  One thing I like to emphasize is that, although players are competitive, players should not feel embarrassed about their tournament performance, nor should stronger players look down on the less skilled.  No matter how you do in this tournament, the most important is to simply do your best and try to have fun doing it, because tournaments are not only about the competition but about meeting great people.  To the spectators, I hope that the performance of the spectators will be entertaining enough to impress you all.  I also want to emphasize that, although the game can look extremely intimidating from watching the tournament, please remember that the game itself does have beginner modes for you to enjoy, so the game is not only it’s hardest skill levels.  I hope you will be encouraged to play and to play together with us.

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Interested in the Tournament? Want to get more information? Visit the Tournament's Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/806301666141956/

4/7 - Let's Talk GITADORA!

By Ann Nakamura

At the Arcade Hub, we’ve gone over many music games such as MUSECA, Sound Voltex and Crossbeats. However, there is one particular game we have not covered, and it’s because we wanted to save the best (in my opinion) for last! GITADORA is currently a Round 1 exclusive and we talked to David Aerts and Simm Broome for their insights!

GITADORA Tri-Boost is the most recent iteration of the GITADORA series.

As many of you may or may not be aware, GITADORA, a drum and guitar simulator game created by Konami, has been gaining popularity not only for the vast amount of songs, content and unlockables the game presents, but the community that is growing from it.

GITADORA was formerly known separately as Guitarfreaks and Drummania (herein after GF/DM). If you are familiar with Rock Band or Guitar Hero, the gameplay mechanics are very similar: with the guitar, you hold down a fret and strum the note when prompted, and with drums, you hit the corresponding drum pad you see on your screen. GITADORA’s gameplay has upgraded since its “mania” and “freaks” days where the guitar features 5 frets instead of the classic 3, and the drums are now equipped with another pedal and two other pads. "Beyond just the controllers, the game has also received a significant interface overhaul, making the leap to HD and bringing many new gameplay modifiers that bring it close in line with more competitive Bemani games such as IIDX and Sound Voltex." veteran David Aerts says. "Finally, there's a new 'Master' difficulty which challenges players with some of the most insane charts of any active music game."

The general look of the cabinets: two guitars on one side, drum set on another.

The music in GITADORA is varied all across the board. You have licenses from artists such as Galneryus, BABYMETAL and Dragonforce, and also BEMANI originals from GFDM artists such ASAKI, Thomas Howard Lichtenstein and Akhuta. Every single song has a guitar chart, bass chart and drum chart, each ranged from the easy level 1.0 to the difficult 9.0 and above. Like many music games, GITADORA's learning curve may seem kind of intimidating at first, especially when a player has to keep in mind certain chords or drum patterns. This game also requires some amount of physical movement, especially for the drum counterpart where you are constantly moving your arms and legs. Simm Broome, another veteran player who has been playing the games for more than a decade, goes, "It is one of the few current rhythm games that try to simulate an actual instrument and it is probably one of the best rhythm games to do a good job at it."

What also makes GITADORA truly unique is the concept overall: it is the Rock Band before Rock Band and the Guitar Hero before Guitar Hero. Being able to "session" with your friends, meaning cooperatively play with each other during play, adds a great social element to it where each player is responsible for each of their instruments. "While games such as Pump it Up have cooperative features such as Couples charts, there's nothing else that lets two (or three!) people playing completely different games combine their efforts to jam out a single song." Aerts exclaims, "Beyond simply being fun, it also lets people with varying gameplay preferences and skill levels work together seamlessly--- Rather than waiting on someone else to play drums, why not just grab the guitar and jam along?"

Tri-Boost's current unlock system consists of growing Oto-bear Flowers and gaining stickers for your profile.

The game itself, GITADORA, is very new to Northern California. GITADORA was only playable in Southern California Round 1's, leaving Northern California denizens to play on classic Guitarfreaks and Drummania (in particular, V6 and V8). Because of having such a new game, both Aerts and Broome agree that there are some new players giving the game a shot. These two veterans agree that because GITADORA is new in many aspects (gameplay, e-amusement support, etc), people are starting to take an interest in the game and are at least trying the game out. 
When asked what advice should be given to new players, Broome noted the importance of bringing your own sticks. "The sticks at the machine are not comfortable to play because it is attached to the machine with bulky metal pieces." he says. "I also recommend resisting the urge to put on any sort of 'auto' mod. It may seem useful but it only holds you back once you try to progress to the harder songs." 

"Just have fun!" David notes. "Grab a couple of friends, pick something easy and just rock out. We all look ridiculous doing it, but we do it anyway."