Arcade

In the second episode of RedBull's Playing Fields documentary series, the focus switches to the Japanese Arcade Culture. As many of you will know, Virtua Fighter has its history deeply rooted in the Arcade scene so it's with no real surprise that this episode shares an anecdotal, and somewhat troubling(!!!), story relating to Virtua Fighter. Additionally, there are interviews with arcade managers, pro gamers and industry reps on their thoughts of the current state of the arcade scene in Japan. Highly recommended!

SEGA have just announced a new mini game console, the Astro City Mini! The Astro City was a popular arcade cabinet model back in the early 90s, which was commonly found throughout arcades in Japan, and most of Asia. The Astro City was in a long line of "City" branded arcade cabinets by SEGA, so it's only fitting that the first "mini" homage also includes another first -- the original Virtua Fighter! Read on for more details on the Astro City Mini and a list of games so far!

If you've watched any tournament streams from Japan, then chances are you've enjoyed the services provided by Game Newton -- a popular arcade in Tokyo, Japan which is the home of many strong Fighting Game communities including 3rd Strike, and of course our beloved Virtua Fighter. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent isolation and shutdown laws in Japan, Game Newton's future is looking bleak! But there's something you can do to help...

Ed Boon, the co-creator of Mortal Kombat & Injustice and creative director at NetherRealm Studios, recently echoed what the entire VF and perhaps the greater Fighting Game community have been wanting, needing, requesting and even demdaning: "Someone needs to reboot VIRTUA FIGHTER".

On Sunday, 12th January 2020, the 2020 Pre Beat-Tribe Cup took place at Game Newton Ooyama. This 5-on-5 character-specific tournament saw a total of 57 teams (275 players!), and was streamed live via the Game Newton Ooyama channels on various platforms simultaneously. The original 12 hour archive has been timestamped in this post, along with some interesting stats and a highlights package for your enjoyment.

The 17th VFR Beat-Tribe Cup took place on Saturday 23 March 2019 in Tokyo, Japan in collaboration with Toushinsai and was streamed live via their Twitch channel. The entire 12 hour archive has been sliced up, translated, timestamped and served up for your consumption below! Additionally, there's a whole bunch of stats and trivia you might like to check out, too.

The 17th Beat Tribe Cup takes place this Saturday, 23rd March 2019! With 100, 5-man teams registered this is sure to be an event of epic proportions! For a rundown on the tournament format and its many phases(!), translated listings of all Team and Player names, live stream information, and more, be sure to check in here!

On Sunday, 10th February 2019, the 2019 Pre Beat-Tribe Cup took place at Game Newton Ooyama. This 5-on-5 character-specific tournament saw a total of 52 teams (260 players!), and was streamed live via the Game Newton Ooyama channels on various platforms simultaneously. The original 12 hour archive has been dissected, timestamped and re-packaged for your enjoyment, along with some interesting stats as well!

The tradition continues with this 5-on-5 character specific team tournament ahead of the 17th VFR Beat Tribe Cup finals scheduled the following month. There are 52 teams (260 players!) registered to compete this Sunday, 10th February 2019 and the event will be streamed via Nicovideo. Watch this thread for details and updates!

VF3TB Battle Movies is an amazing video resource for all the VF3 Team Battle fans out there! It has been put together by twitter user @BUTANIKU and on there you'll find carefully curated playlists from famous, historical VF3TB tournaments and current ones too, as well as video channel links to popular Game Centers (Arcades) and players that still carry the VF3TB torch!