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."

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR ROUND 1

Article by Andy Castro

So you’re going to visit one of the “many” US Round 1 Entertainment locations, hooray! While you get yourself mentally prepared for the fun adventure you’ll have, here are some tips on how to get the most fun (and money) out of your time.

1) The Round 1 Club Membership Card

When you approach the arcade card counter (the first thing you’re sure to visit), you’ll see two different kinds of cards available: the basic red card and the club membership card. Here’s a flowchart to help you decide which card you should use:

Why Would I Want A Club Card?

A Round 1 Club Card offers you discounts towards arcade credits, bowling, billiards, darts, and karaoke. When you first buy your club card (that has a $5 activation fee) you’ll be at the most basic membership. This will take $1 off any of the above transactions! As you frequent Round 1, you’ll collect club card stamps with every purchase you make for bowling or arcade credits or whatever else you can purchase from a counter (other than food). Your card will upgrade after 10, 30, and 50 stamps, taking an extra $0.25 off with each upgrade! This means that once you hit Platinum Membership status, $10 worth of credits is only $8.25!

An employee tried to sell me on Time Play. Is that better?

If you found this guide as a BEMANI lover I can probably assure you the answer is NO. Most BEMANI games are not available for time play, and you can check to see if your favorite game is time-play-ready by looking at the color of its card reader. If it’s green - you’ve found a game that is time play accessible. If it isn’t? Your time play card isn’t gonna work on it.

Even if the music game you do love is available for time play, consider this: every moment you have to wait in line - every minute - is your time play money going down the drain. Do yourself and your wallet a favor by avoiding time play.

Does my club card last forever?

A club card is valid for a year after it is purchased. If you would like to maintain

your membership status, you’ll need to renew your membership once every year.

This is only a $5 renewal fee, and you’ll be given a new card automatically at the

upgrade level you were at before. Be sure to make the most out of the benefits

you have!

I lost my club card! What do I do?

If you’ve already lost your club card, you’re probably already out of luck, sorry to say! However, I have a big tip for all of you readers:

TAKE A PHOTO OF THE BACK OF YOUR CLUB CARD

If you have your club card on you right now go do that. Stop reading and do that immediately. If you ever lose your card you can show your photo to Round 1 staff, who are able to pull up using the card’s barcode all of your information (and hopefully respect all those stamps you’ve accumulated) and move them into a new card. Now it’s as if you never lost your card! There are other ways to keep your card information secure, but this is the fastest, simplest method.

2) Your Friendly Neighborhood Arcade Techs

You may be playing IIDX and find that a key suddenly stops working. If this happens, you might think it’s the best idea to either A) do nothing about it, or B) whine about it on social media. Those are terrible choices and you shouldn’t do either. If everyone were to do that, then nothing would ever get fixed. Simply pull aside any Round 1 staff member and inform them of the following:
1) What game is broken

1a) You’ll probably have to explain where that game is

1b) Do not get mad if staff members don’t know what game you mean

2) How it is broken

2a) BE SPECIFIC. The staff member, if not a tech, will probably relay the

information to a technician right in front of you. Speak clearly so

the tech knows exactly what to fix.

3) If possible, WAIT by the machine itself

3a) When the tech arrives you can explain exactly what is wrong

There may come times when the tech doesn’t know what you’re talking about, or

dismisses your issue as something not important (or not broken). While this may be

frustrating it is best to stay calm and re-explain the issue. Be patient with the techs - they have a lot on their plate but really do respect your desire for perfect arcade cabinets!

Blog Editor NOTE: Please do not get discouraged if the issue is NOT fixed immediately. Round 1 mechanics bounce between both bowling repairs and the arcade repairs, and when there are over 200+ games on the arcade floor, the workload for them gets overwhelming. Please be supportive and as patient as you can!

3) The Round 1 I’m Visiting Doesn’t Have _____! This Place Sucks!

Remember that Round 1 is a fairly new entertainment chain in America. While new

branches are slowly opening over this decade, no two locations will be exactly alike for many reasons! You may be disappointed that another location has a game you really want to play, but that doesn’t mean your location will never have that game! Support your local Round 1 and do your best to be happy with Round 1’s progress in giving you an accessible arcade full of games you won’t find anywhere else.

3/10 - First Impressions: GUNSLINGER STRATOS 2

By Ann Nakamura

Gunslinger Stratos 2 is a game published by Square Enix (alongside Taito) that was to be location tested at certain Round 1 locations. Eastridge Mall had the honor to be one of those locations! As a personal aside, I have been waiting to play this game ever since I had seen gameplay videos of it, so my expectations were pretty high. Were they satisfied after the 3 year wait? Read on!

To start off, the actual arcade cabinet itself is aesthetically pleasing. Side panels have glowing lights that change during gameplay, and it comes equipped with two, very intricately-made lightguns. Each lightgun has two joysticks: the one on the left gun controls your character's movement, and the one on the right controls where you are aiming. The gun on the right has a "jump" button which leaps/floats you into the air to be able to shoot foes from above. Of course, both guns come with triggers and you can alternate from shooting from each. However, you can only shoot from one gun for a certain amount of time before it is forced to reload and by reload, it's alternating to the next gun you have. Now before you, as the reader, go "well, that sucks, I'm not left handed", it adds a sense of bad-assery and, to my surprise, trying to aim with the left gun wasn't too bad! The crosshairs really help out with this as well.

I like this gun. Like, a lot. The middle of the gun has a slot for you to merge your other gun with it.

The long line of Gunslinger Stratos 2 cabinets

Now comes the cool part of Gunslinger Stratos. Why the hell does it have two guns? Well, with Gunslinger Stratos, you are able to "combine" your guns so you can use even better guns! There is the side-style and the tandem-style: one where you hook your guns to each other side-by-side and your gun becomes a semi-automatic machine gun that you can use for a short time on foes. This gun packs a PUNCH and will end an enemy's life before they can say, "Nani?". The tandem style, placing one gun on top of the other, unlocks a ranged weapon which can be a sniper, a laser gun, anything. These are great if you're trying to hit an enemy from really far, especially where a normal gun or machine gun could prove not as effective. What is great is that each character has a unique weapon for both modes, so you may or may not see different guns for the characters you use. This game gets intense very quickly in having to dispatch enemies before the timer runs out, so you are quickly switching between shooting from both guns, switching out your styles and running around so you do not get hit.

But besides gameplay, what else does this game offer? Besides having over 15+ playable characters, with a NESiCA card, players are able to upgrade their weapons and unlock more content. You are also able to play through a story mode which is unique to each character (although, once again, if you cannot read or understand a lick of Japanese, may not be the best thing). Also, the game comes equipped with audio jacks that allow players to use headsets to communicate with each other during gameplay. This proves to actually be in the interest of players since the whole entire game is team-based, and, if players are matched up with a rival team, it makes communication easier than yelling to the other machines. It is a very different functionality on an arcade cabinet, but one that is meant to be for the benefit of the users. 

I picked Olga Janetine as my character of choice. Her costume is pretty... um.... well, you can fill in the blanks.

My thoughts? The game. Is Freaking. Awesome. I am very sad that is just going to be a location test, but I would personally love to see this game in Round 1 SJ in the future. The one major drawback that may prove to be the game's downfall is that it is not localized for an American audience (as most Japanese games tend to be). It is definitely not American friendly, and a couple of Round 1 employees who tried the game were a little peeved when they had to endure a 15 minute tutorial mode by mistake followed by a very dry practice mode. However, for an individual who knows Japanese or for someone who is familiar with at least the basic language, this game will be very interesting and something to be genuinely hyped about, mostly because it is different and a different type of arcade shooter.

Since Gunslinger is looking to be staying for about one more week or so, I would DEFINITELY recommend giving it a try, especially with friends. 

Authors Note: If you decide to buy a NESiCA card for this game, please do yourselves a favor and keep the card on the NESiCA wavepass at all times. According to staff, if you take it off at any time, you lose access to your NESiCA card, meaning that if you try out story mode and take it off, you end after the second stage (out of eight). This is also true for doing team matchups.

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Ann Nakamura is the head correspondent for The (Unofficial) Round 1 Arcade Hub. A lover of arcade games of all genres, she likes to spend her time playing Gitadora and trying out new games that hit Round 1 SJ's arcade floor. Got questions for her? Contact Ann through Facebook!

2/17 - How to Make the Most out of Official e-Amusement!

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF OFFICIAL e-AMUSEMENT

By Andy Castro

The time has come. You’re finally going to play at an arcade that supports e-AMUSEMENT! Maybe you’re at a Round 1 in America or you’re in another country with an arcade that supports the service. Regardless, it’s time to read up on how to make the most of your experience!

1) Buying an eAMUSEMENT Pass

If you want to play on eAMUSEMENT, you’ll need a pass to do so. In America, Round 1 locations are typically supplied with the standard gray card (usually priced between $7 and $10)

You may find that this card is totally bland and void of personality. If you do, I don’t blame you. Other card designs exist but are not sold in America, thus forcing you to search for cards using other means. I recommend searching http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/ for any good deals!

So many card designs!! @A@

2) Playing your first games of eAMUSEMENT

Did you know that certain KONAMI arcade games have your first game FREE?

The very first time you use your eAMUSEMENT pass on select games, you won’t have to pay for your first game! Neat, right? Put you Round 1 card away! You don’t have to worry about a thing for your first go at Sound Voltex! Just tap your eAMUSE Pass and you’re good to go!

The following games are free to play on your first game:

Sorry, IIDX lovers...

For American players, this may only be two different games (possibly three if MUSECA is added to the list), but that’s valuable credits you can put into another game! Great, right? Enjoy your first game on the house, with love from Konami.

3) Registering Your eAMUSEMENT Account

Okay you’ve enjoyed your first games or so, and now you want to set up your account.

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to do such:

1. Go to http://p.eagate.573.jp/

What a beautiful site~

2. Click on the blue button on the right side of the page

3. A sign up information sheet will appear. For the weeb impaired, here’s a summary of everything it’s asking:

1. Your Location - DO NOT EDIT THIS.

a. It is preset to Japan, which you WILL WANT. Trust me.

2. Your Language

a. As the person from Japan you TOTALLY ARE,

Japanese will be the only option. You get used to it eventually.

3. Your KONAMI ID Name

a. Whatever you want your username to be here

4. Your Email Address

5. Your Password

a. For your account here, not your email

6. Security Question - must be written in Japanese

a. The very first question asks for your mother’s maiden name.

b. You know what it is? 冥? It’s totally 冥. Just copy and

paste the character for Mei as your answer. Super easy to remember.

7. Would You Like News from Konami?

a. The second option is no.

8. Your Nickname (screenname)

a. Use all the English you want

9. Your Gender

a. Sorry to nonbinaries out there

10. Your Birthday

11. Blood Type

a. Not required but people like to know it I guess

12. Region in Japan you Live In

a. Just pick one

Lastly, type in the captcha and agree to the terms and conditions! You’re good to go! Check your e-mail for the confirmation and the rest should be easy to navigate on your own.

4) Adding Your eAMUSEMENT Pass To Your Profile

Log in to the website using the red button above the blue one you used to sign in. If you’re already signed in, click on the red button anyways. You’ll be redirected to your profile page!

Here’s mine for reference

You can see there are a row of buttons at the very top of the page (with MY PAGE selected). To add your pass, you’ll want to click on the one that says e-AMUSEMENT. From there, you should see a little menu towards the left with multiple different options with pictures of cards. Simply click on the one with a “+” on a card to register your own pass.

This page will ask you for the 16 digit card code on the back of your pass, as well as the 4-digit pin number you’ve been using for your games. Voila! Your pass is connected to your eAMUSEMENT profile! You’re now good to go to access your player information on the respective game webpages, add paseli, and more!

That should be all that you need to know for now! If any other questions come up, I’ll be sure to answer them ASAP! Be sure to also check out my other articles: “Making the Most Out of Your Round 1” and “PASELI: Why You Want It and How to Use It” in the future! Thanks for reading!

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Andy Castro is a field correspondent for The (Unofficial) Round 1 Arcade Hub. A huge music game enthusiast, Andy likes to wiggy wiggy wiggy on Sound Voltex Booth but in his spare time, likes to assist newcomers and veterans alike with new rhythm game information and insights. Got questions for him? Contact him through Facebook!