I'm optimistic.

[Oolong]

When I first got my 360, all I really cared about was playing Street Fighter online against real people. I bought a MAS stick, and played Hyper for a while, and had a blast. I took a break from fighting games, and by the time I realized UMK3 and Fatal Fury Special had been released, I was about a month too late and people had already moved on to other games. On WarTech, I was about a year too late, and I just had no desire to play the story mode.

SFHD was a blast and I got in hundreds of matches against quality opponents. It was as close to the glory arcade days as I've experienced in some time. SF4 was released, and everyone soon migrated. The SFHD lobbies were empty, and I decided to give 4 a go even though I hadn't vibed with it at my local arcade. It was fun for a while even though I just did the same **** with Vega that I did in ST, but it got boring quick (competition or not).

I had no idea VOOT was coming out for the 360... not a clue until the week of the release. Just that prior weekend, I cracked open my DC and Saturn sticks for a buddy of mine who was visiting from L.A. He and I used to play VOOM back in the day, and it felt great to dust off those Twin Sticks, have a few beers, and just duel all night.

For the first week of playing ranked VOOT matches, I feared that the competition would dry up just as it had for previous games. Well, I'm convinced that it won't happen nearly as quickly with VOOT. Why? Because of our beloved Japanese player base. I'm so grateful that VOOT is a successful franchise overseas because when I log on at 2am PST, all I see are Japanese players packing the lobby with 1 or 2 bar connections producing lag-free matches. Without the JP players, I'm sure I'd be looking at empty lobbies that late at night.

This is my rant, and my reason for optimism

[DeepInTheHops]

I'm so grateful that VOOT is a successful franchise overseas because when I log on at 2am PST, all I see are Japanese players packing the lobby with 1 or 2 bar connections producing lag-free matches. Without the JP players, I'm sure I'd be looking at empty lobbies that late at night.

I've been seeing less people in the lobby lately, especially people with at least one bar. But when I go online after work it's like 7 AM in Tokyo, so that's probably why. Sometimes I wake up early before work to play some matches, since it's evening there at the time. Saturday mornings are good too since it's Saturday evening there.

[MentholMoose]

Actually Friday afternoon in the US is Saturday morning in Japan, and Saturday is their Sunday. This is why less Japanese are on during our Sunday (it's their Monday). Hopefully the core audience won't disappear soon!

[Knoxximus]

When I first got my 360, all I really cared about was playing Street Fighter online against real people. I bought a MAS stick, and played Hyper for a while, and had a blast. I took a break from fighting games, and by the time I realized UMK3 and Fatal Fury Special had been released, I was about a month too late and people had already moved on to other games. On WarTech, I was about a year too late, and I just had no desire to play the story mode.

SFHD was a blast and I got in hundreds of matches against quality opponents. It was as close to the glory arcade days as I've experienced in some time. SF4 was released, and everyone soon migrated. The SFHD lobbies were empty, and I decided to give 4 a go even though I hadn't vibed with it at my local arcade. It was fun for a while even though I just did the same **** with Vega that I did in ST, but it got boring quick (competition or not).

I had no idea VOOT was coming out for the 360... not a clue until the week of the release. Just that prior weekend, I cracked open my DC and Saturn sticks for a buddy of mine who was visiting from L.A. He and I used to play VOOM back in the day, and it felt great to dust off those Twin Sticks, have a few beers, and just duel all night.

For the first week of playing ranked VOOT matches, I feared that the competition would dry up just as it had for previous games. Well, I'm convinced that it won't happen nearly as quickly with VOOT. Why? Because of our beloved Japanese player base. I'm so grateful that VOOT is a successful franchise overseas because when I log on at 2am PST, all I see are Japanese players packing the lobby with 1 or 2 bar connections producing lag-free matches. Without the JP players, I'm sure I'd be looking at empty lobbies that late at night.

This is my rant, and my reason for optimism

Oolong, I can soooooo relate to you. I've always been a HUGE SF head...very competitive back in '90-'93 on CE and Turbo, dabbled a bit with the Alphas, and skipped 3 totally. With 4 feeling like the direct sequel to 2, I was able to jump in with Bison (my main) with very little lost in translation. He translated so well in fact, that I still haven't fully integrated Focus Attacks into my game because, quite frankly, I survive just fine off of my 15+ years of muscle memory.

But I still went full steam ahead, and even placed 3rd in a local tourney after getting beat by the 1st and 2nd best player in town. Not bad for an old man (36) that has like NO time to play/practice. It was then I kind of hit a turning point. Yes, I still heart SF, and will still play 4. I also plan to try Blazblue and KoF. However, I'm not getting any younger and fresh experiences seem to be fewer and farther in between nowadays.

Enter VOOT.

Sure I'm not awesome like most of the diehards in here....but that kind of what makes it for me in way. It's all brand new to me...I mean, I've had the DC version forever, but going against living breathing pilots, plus the fact that this is revered arcade revision 5.66, makes it practically a brand new game anyway. For the 1st time in a long time, I am genuinely EXCITED!

Some might think that having a JPN heavy userbase is a drawback...I consider it a plus. I mean, I'd much rather spar against a seasoned JPN player than a fly by night, curious US Halo 3 player who won't even give the game a second look after getting most of the easy cheevs that night. Granted, those JPN players kick my teeth in (mostly), but if you want to get better, you have to spar against the best.

Besides, with Menthol having the foresight to create this site, I'm sure that we will always be able to find someone to play against. Better yet, one of our members even put together a google map of where people live, so if the sad day ever arrive where the servers are shut down, we might could meet up with someone, or even before any of that. Plus, with the way diehards also seem to be "t3h l337 h4X" nowadays, I'm sure SOMEBODY would set up a homebrew VOOT server so the problem would be mitigated within a month of XBLA shutdown.

The community is coming out of hiding.

It's a brave new world, my friend...and I'm just trying to get in where I fit in.

[VR-Eli]

Yeah, the only downside I think is that we're not kids and most of us have jobs so it's tough to spend a lot of time to play (for me anyway, I've been busy with some personal projects). A couple of years ago, I tried vitalizing VO in my local area. We had one VO:OM machine, and my core circle of friends would play on it all the time, and we'd try to teach people how to play, just so we'd have some competition. I even threw two tournaments there with prizes. I spoiled the guys in the woodbridge VA area. I gave away sd VO stickers and bought boxes of the VO one coin figures to offer as prizes.

Sadly though, my senior project and finals took over my life and I just stopped going to that arcade completely. Next thing I know, they sold the VO machine cause it wasn't making any money (Our group was literally keeping that thing there) and then after that the arcade closed ^^; So after all that happened, I had just kinda gave up on ever playing Virtual On again and decided to move on.

Nope, SEGA is screaming GET OVER HERE like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat.

[MurderDeathKill]

Plus, with the way diehards also seem to be "t3h l337 h4X" nowadays, I'm sure SOMEBODY would set up a homebrew VOOT server so the problem would be mitigated within a month of XBLA shutdown.

Actually, due to the p2p nature of the netplay/code, I don't think there are any actual servers to shut down, except for maybe a worldwide matchmaking server. Plus, we can always just host a party room, can't we?

Anyway, I'm just happy the netcode for VOOT is so damn well written; even if there's nobody stateside to play, I can rest assured I'll always find a quality match somewhere, especially Japan. It's the kick in the ass the U.S. Virtual On community sorely needed.

[MentholMoose]

I imagine that more old school players will come out of the woodwork over time. When Scott Robinson is back, I'm sure it will be on!! I bet he wants a rematch from December 2001! Also some other US players seem to be lagging, like fliptopbox...

[Oolong]

SNIP

Well said. And like you, I could never view the JP userbase as a negative. As is the case with any fighting game, the best way to get better is to play people better than you. If you want to be elite, you have to play with the elite. That's one of the main reasons the Japanese have always waxed our tails in international comp (which I witnessed firsthand when Daigo visited the U.S. for the first time). Their top players are all so geographically concentrated, that they're constantly pushing each other and getting better. We've always had NorCal, SoCal and the EC (and eventually the South, Midwest, etc.), but we'd only meet a few times a year to show our new tricks. Not so in Japan. I'm ecstatic that they got the netcode right for 360 VOOT.

Actually, due to the p2p nature of the netplay/code, I don't think there are any actual servers to shut down, except for maybe a worldwide matchmaking server. Plus, we can always just host a party room, can't we?

I'm not sure how this all works, but if this is the case, I'm even more psyched.

Anyway, I'm just happy the netcode for VOOT is so damn well written; even if there's nobody stateside to play, I can rest assured I'll always find a quality match somewhere, especially Japan. It's the kick in the ass the U.S. Virtual On community sorely needed.

My point exactly. It's like the old Street Fighter days where you need only stop by your local donut shop, pizza place or convenience store to find quality competition. These are good times.

I imagine that more old school players will come out of the woodwork over time. When Scott Robinson is back, I'm sure it will be on!! I bet he wants a rematch from December 2001! Also some other US players seem to be lagging, like fliptopbox...

I sure hope so. It's great hearing these names of well-known players from years past, and knowing that I have every chance to play them... and not having to wait months for the next big tournament (the way SF was) to do so. You've got connections, Menthol. Go bring those old-schoolers back

[MentholMoose]

I sure hope so. It's great hearing these names of well-known players from years past, and knowing that I have every chance to play them... and not having to wait months for the next big tournament (the way SF was) to do so. You've got connections, Menthol. Go bring those old-schoolers back

I've been doing my best to get in touch with people. A lot of them are actually registered here, but some are inactive. Various old school players have been gradually joining, like recent new members Kuren and Johnson.

I've been in touch with some of the Socal SHGL players, and I know three on VOOT 360: Mitch and Torin aren't registered here, Jinsai Toda is here but doesn't post. Others I've contacted either don't have a 360 or aren't playing VOOT. I want to set up some local gatherings to hopefully get some people back into it.