Today I went to Shinjuku Carnival, which the Professor at MMC mentioned as one of the main KOF XIII arcades in Japan. My local KOF XIII arcade isn't much to speak of. Just one machine, and it's usually unoccupied (but the arcade's pretty empty in general, so...). It's a nice place to go for practice, but the competition is lacking.
So Shinjuku Carnival kind of blew me away. Three machines lined up right by the entrance, posters outside advertising the game and character posters decorating the walls inside. The games were all running in beautiful Lindbergh cabinets, completely eclipsing the crappy monitor I'd been playing the game on. Not only that, but each game was only 50 yen, as opposed to the standard 100. I mean, damn. This place is KOF heaven.
First, a small change for those interested in the implementation of the ratio system. Above the machines was a note featuring this ratio list:
4- K', Raiden
3- Andy, Shen, Kyo, Iori, Kula, Elisabeth, Takuma
2- Leona, Ash, Benimaru, Yuri, Kim, Duolon, Chin
1- Goro, Terry, Kensou, Mature, Maxima, Joe, Robert, King, Hwa, Ralf
0- Mai, Athena, Clark, Ryo, Vice
The same list was posted by the Professor. However, where it had used to say "maximum 4 points," the 4 had been crossed out and replaced with a 6. So it's a bit less strict. Also, my main team of Terry, Andy and King now fit within the limit! Woo!
Tonight was a 2002UM tournament (which also used a ratio system, for those who care), so I think that distracted from XIII just a bit. Still, all three cabinets were in near-constant use. In casual play the ratio system is completely ignored, so I saw plenty of K' and a fair amount of Raiden. Also, a surprising amount of Clarks.
Out of the ten or twelve matches I played, I won only two or three. Time to go back to my crappy arcade and practice up...