Share your VO experience or history

[Gasaraki]

Run-away wins are fine in my book. If you can't catch them and have less life than them, then you deserve to lose when time runs out.

[Rav3nlock]

In a ranked match, sure, you're all about the wins--so if you can get the lead, it's fair game. I still grumble when Angelans do it to me in my Raiden, but I'm since timing my dashes a bit better to get back. Anyway, if the person's jumped into ranked matches without really knowing what they're getting into, that's all on them.

The only time I would disagree with this tactic is in the player matches where wins and losses don't matter. Unless it's a practice session where everyone's learning to overcome tactics like that, it seems that mode is more for fun than points, and certainly it was mentioned that while it was good tactics, it's not exactly exciting gameplay. In there, if you're up against someone who knows their way around the controls, that's when one's all should be given to have fun.

[Gasaraki]

That depends on your interpretation of fun. I would prefer that we both go all out using whatever we can to win. If I DO win such a match, it's much more rewarding knowing we both did everything we could possibly think of at the moment to win.

Only reason I don't play in ranked matchs is because 1) it's hard to even get a match in, 2)alot of them are WAY above my level so it's hard to even learn when you get beat that fast.

[Zaarock]

Oddly enough to me it seems that the average skill of players in the player match lobby would be higher than ranked, though I havent played ranked in a while so it might just be people stopping playing or improving. Joining matches in player match lobby fails at connecting as often as in ranked for me, what do you mean by it being harder on ranked?

[Gasaraki]

Oddly enough to me it seems that the average skill of players in the player match lobby would be higher than ranked, though I havent played ranked in a while so it might just be people stopping playing or improving. Joining matches in player match lobby fails at connecting as often as in ranked for me, what do you mean by it being harder on ranked?

As you said, the connection rate is low in either case, so I just wait for poeple to request a match with me, and that happens WAY faster in player matches.

Additionally, you can play friends in player matches, so it's just easier all around.

[vitrium]

howdy
Played VOOM in the arcades when I heard about it through a friend. We used the then "new" internet to get more info about the game. I was in middle school. The thing finally came out on the Saturn and importing stuff for it became all the rage in my group of friends. I happened upon some twinsticks for it and thus began my life long obsession.

VOOT came out in japan and Gamefan was hyping it up as the best thing since sliced bread but there was no VOOT machine anywhere in the San Francisco bay area. I then took a small vacation up to Seattle, WA and to my surprise at the Sega Gameworks there was a VOOT machine! It was my first time playing it for reals and I just couldn't figure out all the new stuff in a few matches. Then one of the workers of Gameworks was on his break and he then decides to challenge me, a guy who didnt even know about Watari dashes or turbo weapons. He mopped the floor with me using Battler and all I could remember was the tornados he summoned which stunned me and he came in for kill. I ran out of cash and left bewildered. I decided I would practice like hell and get better when VOOT arrived so I plunked down the cash and preordered sticks and all, before i even bought a Dreamcast too!

I kept playing that with my friends and lusted after the japan only 5.66 update and I was saddened by the lack of online play for USA. Force came and went, and so did Marz and i felt the glory days of VOOT were over until xbox live version was announced and here I am!

[DeepInTheHops]

I got into VOOT when some website (maybe IGN, of all places) had it on its list of top Dreamcast games. I never heard of Virtual On before, but it was only $20 at Best Buy at the time so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I played a ton of matches against the CPU, but I didn't have any friends who played the game so eventually I got bored. So I've only been playing against human opponents for a few days now. It seems kind of ironic that almost all of my non-CPU matches have been against Japanese players.

[RayBladeX]

Before I get started with the VOOM story, I'd like to mention a similar Namco game that was also in arcades, but didn't have a good home version.... Cyber Sled! I played Cyber Sled alot and feel it helped into my transition to VOOM. There was also an arcade game called T-Mek that some people liked, but it wasn't for me.

Anyways, my local arcade (Beaverton Wunderland in Oregon) got Virtual On around the same time I got it for the Saturn. There were 2 versions of Saturn Virtual On, one with Netlink-connectivity and the 1st version released without. I *think* the Netlink came out in October/November 1996 and that time was my only source of internet access and/or online play.

Since Netlink Virtual On wasn't released , I'd talked trash with other "Netlinkers" about who the best player would be when it was finally released. After release, I'd play player after player, eventually beating about 100 different players total. There were a few ladders and a couple tourneys held between 1997/1998 and as VMS mentioned, I was at the #1 spot during this time. I'd like to thank players such as B-Real (aka Phatman or Predator) and Attack (as seen in VMSs vids) for preparing me for the Seattle Gameworks Virtual On tourney.

In 1998, there was a Seattle Gameworks tourney that had players from California (Hiro?), Vancouver, BC. Portland (me) and of course the Seattle area. I ended up placing 2nd in this tourney using Apharmd and lost to Nobu who also used Apharmd(?) . Players who also attended includes Friction and Tirah Dragonfire (anyone remember her?). Awesome tourney. I'd like to thank "Attack" again, because IMO, Temjin is harder to fight in the Saturn version of VOOM since his crouch shots seem not only faster, but also seem to be "lower".

I picked up VOOT on DC as well as the Twin Sticks, but never really played it competively. I went to one of the Seattle (Auburn) Voot gatherings with Chanchai (Nick) and briefly witnessed one of their tourneys held at Illusionz in Puyallup.

I hope to re-learn VOOT and be competitive on XBL but I'm also training on VF5/SF4 and HDR and will be attending EVO in July.

That's it for now =)

See my youtube videos at: youtube.com/raybladex

[neoKEN]

I was enraptured by the photos of Virtual On OMG arcade. The game looked so beautiful in photo. Digged the mech design. Knowing it was by Sega mean at least there is some high standard of quality.

Virtual On for Sega Saturn was an easy buy for me. Turned out it was greater than I expected. A lot of clear counter to specific situation. Suprisingly playable on pad. Lots of sessions in 2 player splitscreen.

No brainer getting VOOT for DC. However, it was a disappointment for me when coming from VOOM. Aesthetically, a lot of the new robots looks like their came from magicland (angelican, spencif) rather than military. I hated the new look of Fei-Yen (How to make robots look underage). Environment looked so dark & drab and felt like it lost the bright anime look of the original. Sure the game has more polygon than the original, but it looked cheap. Even the presentation felt like it took a hit. Sound effects lost a lot of their oomph. Evasion seemed way too good for my taste when compared to VOOM. Matches in VOOM could end in few seconds while it was common to have timeout in VOOT. For me, VOOT was many steps forward for the series, but also went several steps back for me. I end up not playing VOOT as much as VOOM.

Now that VOOT is out for XBL, I just want good competition to improve my gameplay. For me, having endless competition sure beats playing the same few people in VOOM.

[RVR - 42]

I was enraptured by the photos of Virtual On OMG arcade. The game looked so beautiful in photo. Digged the mech design. Knowing it was by Sega mean at least there is some high standard of quality.

Virtual On for Sega Saturn was an easy buy for me. Turned out it was greater than I expected. A lot of clear counter to specific situation. Suprisingly playable on pad. Lots of sessions in 2 player splitscreen.

No brainer getting VOOT for DC. However, it was a disappointment for me when coming from VOOM. Aesthetically, a lot of the new robots looks like their came from magicland (angelican, spencif) rather than military. I hated the new look of Fei-Yen (How to make robots look underage). Environment looked so dark & drab and felt like it lost the bright anime look of the original. Sure the game has more polygon than the original, but it looked cheap. Even the presentation felt like it took a hit. Sound effects lost a lot of their oomph. Evasion seemed way too good for my taste when compared to VOOM. Matches in VOOM could end in few seconds while it was common to have timeout in VOOT. VOOT was many steps forward for the series, but also went several steps back for me. I end up not playing VOOT as much as VOOM.

Now that VOOT is out for XBL, I just want good competition to improve my gameplay. For me, having endless competition sure beats playing the same few people in VOOM.

Wow a bigtime VOOM, guy huh? That's great. Having played VOOT first I never thought VOOM would've appealed to me all that much, but it really is a great game. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like VOOT as much as you liked VOOM, but hey i'm thrilled to hear about the game's perspective from an OMG dude. Welcome, welcome! All of you welcome! This place has seen alot of traffic lately. How're you guys finding this place anyway? XD! Just wondering. lol We're so glad to have you though! Invite your friends!

[Aya Kyunik]

Wow!
I started off witht he VOOM arcade, but VOOT appealed to me much more o_O
I'm pretty much the opposite you neoKen lol.
Love the VOOT Fei-Yen......but I hate the Force/Marz design >.>

Gah, I wanna be able to play with all you guys on Live, once I get this infernal card working! (30 mins on Xbox live call support...oh the joy...)

[Rav3nlock]

Tirah Dragonfire (anyone remember her?)

Even with being too young to go to those tournaments and actually meeting people, I certainly remember her site as being one of the first websites I came across in my Virtual On searches.

Plus, you don't forget a name like Dragonfire.

[Aya Kyunik]

Tirah Dragonfire (anyone remember her?)

Even with being too young to go to those tournaments and actually meeting people, I certainly remember her site as being one of the first websites I came across in my Virtual On searches.

Plus, you don't forget a name like Dragonfire.

lol, how can you forget indeed XD
I remember Tirah and her guides way back.

All these old memories are flooding back, seeing old faces and hear names I havn't heard for years!

Infact, I think I still have some of her stuff on my HDD somewhere.

[Rav3nlock]

You can also go to archive.org and input the link to her now-defunct site; they've saved a bunch of revisions of her site that holds everything but any downloadable files, I was looking at it just the other day.

[Jumbo]

In 1998, there was a Seattle Gameworks tourney that had players from California (Hiro?), Vancouver, BC. Portland (me) and of course the Seattle area. I ended up placing 2nd in this tourney using Apharmd and lost to Nobu who also used Apharmd(?) . Players who also attended includes Friction and Tirah Dragonfire (anyone remember her?). Awesome tourney.

So you'd be "Ray T." then.

If the Hiro S. you are thinking of was a Bal Bas Bow player, he was another member of the Seattle Crew, though there was another Hiro K. (from the SoCal crew?) that came up as well.

I actually still have the brackets and newsletter that Ron (Temjin, SEA) printed up for us afterward. (My history post is back on page 7 of this thread.) Most of the Seattle players I mention there include Nathan, Eddie, Hiro, Friction, Theo and Tirah. I was one of Matty's assistants that helped put the show on at GameWorks. It was indeed a rockin' tourney.

Don't think I'll ever forget Tirah either. Getting first hand advice and training in person as well as through her web site are the main reasons I was able to really start to appreciate the game for what it was. (On top of Nobu schooling us all the time...) -_-;

[RayBladeX]

In 1998, there was a Seattle Gameworks tourney that had players from California (Hiro?), Vancouver, BC. Portland (me) and of course the Seattle area. I ended up placing 2nd in this tourney using Apharmd and lost to Nobu who also used Apharmd(?) . Players who also attended includes Friction and Tirah Dragonfire (anyone remember her?). Awesome tourney.

So you'd be "Ray T." then.

If the Hiro S. you are thinking of was a Bal Bas Bow player, he was another member of the Seattle Crew, though there was another Hiro K. (from the SoCal crew?) that came up as well.

I actually still have the brackets and newsletter that Ron (Temjin, SEA) printed up for us afterward. (My history post is back on page 7 of this thread.) Most of the Seattle players I mention there include Nathan, Eddie, Hiro, Friction, Theo and Tirah. I was one of Matty's assistants that helped put the show on at GameWorks. It was indeed a rockin' tourney.

Don't think I'll ever forget Tirah either. Getting first hand advice and training in person as well as through her web site are the main reasons I was able to really start to appreciate the game for what it was. (On top of Nobu schooling us all the time...) -_-;

Yeah, I'm "Ray T".

The Hiro I mentioned was the one that came with his wife (?) who also played. I still have a picture from that tourney somewhere... I'll try and find it and post it up.

[MentholMoose]

Jumbo, are you Mark the Dordray player? I think we met a few times, e.g. when you and Tirah visited Socal (I think we played some cable versus at my house), and when I visited Washington for the Sakuracon tournament (and maybe also an Illusionz tournament, but I'm not sure).

The Hiro I mentioned was the one that came with his wife (?) who also played. I still have a picture from that tourney somewhere... I'll try and find it and post it up.

There is a Japanese Socal player named Mitch whose wife played OT and I assume also OMG. However, I wasn't involved in the Socal VO scene at that time, and only got involved with OT, so I'm not sure if there was someone else that fits this description. Mitch is still in Socal and is playing XBLA 5.66 with DC Twin Sticks that he modded.

I went to one of the Seattle (Auburn) Voot gatherings with Chanchai (Nick) and briefly witnessed one of their tourneys held at Illusionz in Puyallup.

Is Chanchai playing XBLA 5.66? Also was that Illusionz tourney at the end of 2001? If so, I was there.

[RayBladeX]

Jumbo, are you Mark the Dordray player? I think we met a few times, e.g. when you and Tirah visited Socal (I think we played some cable versus at my house), and when I visited Washington for the Sakuracon tournament (and maybe also an Illusionz tournament, but I'm not sure).

The Hiro I mentioned was the one that came with his wife (?) who also played. I still have a picture from that tourney somewhere... I'll try and find it and post it up.

There is a Japanese Socal player named Mitch whose wife played OT and I assume also OMG. However, I wasn't involved in the Socal VO scene at that time, and only got involved with OT, so I'm not sure if there was someone else that fits this description. Mitch is still in Socal and is playing XBLA 5.66 with DC Twin Sticks that he modded.

I went to one of the Seattle (Auburn) Voot gatherings with Chanchai (Nick) and briefly witnessed one of their tourneys held at Illusionz in Puyallup.

Is Chanchai playing XBLA 5.66? Also was that Illusionz tourney at the end of 2001? If so, I was there.

That sounds right. We went to Blyss (A massive rave) later that night on New Year's Eve.

I'm not sure if Chanchai picked the game up yet. If he has, I think he has to reactivate his Gold membership as well.

Also, I think the "Hiro" person was indeed "Mitch".

[somepunk]

one by one, we come out of hiding!

[RVR - 42]

one by one, we come out of hiding!

Hahah it's a beautiful thing...truly beautiful.