changelog (dd/mm/yy):
02/12/15: updated the title as per Raas’ request. I don’t live in Beijing anymore, it’s very likely much of this is outdated until he tells me stuff to update it with!
02/06/13: updated price of AE2012 BP machine
01/06/13: created thread
We have a 微信/WeChat group. It’s a free WhatsApp clone designed for the Chinese masses and this is our predominant form of communication within the group (and probably attributes to why the old thread sees little discussion) or where info for sessions is dropped. Scan the QR code below to join the group or message fake_roogle with ‘SRK’ in the friend request message so I know it’s not spam.
Hi! With blessings from Grand Overlord 32 (or Trouble Brewing), I’ve been given permission to make a new thread.
I’m in town or I’ve just moved here! Do you guys have sessions? What games do you normally play?
We make an effort to have a session at least fortnightly with occasional bursts of weeklies if people have free time or if there’s a new game out where people want to grind out. There’s no real common ground, AE2012 is the most popular with occasional throwbacks to older games (ST, 3S) as well as some Injustice/SFxT every now and then. None of us are really anime players so if you’re a BB/P4A player, you’re likely to be disappointed although some low level GG and VS gets played too. Raas to my knowledge throws some TTT2 sessions every now and then at his spot, him or Carmen would know more about that.
I’m in. Where are you guys located?
The vast majority of us (if not all of us) are located in the Haidian district and are sessions tend to be based on the outskirts of Wudaokou. Perfect if you’re a student, not so much if you’re a tourist - but if you have the time, we’d be happy to have you!
I just want to go to the arcade. Is the list in the old thread still up-to-date? Where should I go?
The only major change is that Xizhimen (西直门) arcade has closed down. If others have occurred, please let me know.
Xidan (西单) is probably considered the ‘best’ all around arcade these days. If you’re taking the subway, take Exit A at line 1 and once you go up the escalators, instantly turn right and go into the entrance labeled 77th Street. If you took line 4, take exit H (the one labeled Chang’an exit), turn left as you leave the subway and into the underpass and walk straight, you’ll see 77th Street Mall. You’ll walk down a set of stairs, don’t walk down the second pair and get your way into the main part of the mall. It’s sort of hard to describe where exactly it is depending on the route you take but you’ll want to take the escalator up where there’s a Watson’s store to the right. When in doubt, follow the noise. You can apparently also take the 690 bus to Xidan and look for Starbucks, it’s across the street.
They currently have (as of May 2013):
- 2 head to head SFIV:AE 2012 (one with a BP card reader!) - 3 credits, 5 rounds for non card reader or 5 credits, 5 rounds for card reader machine
- 1 head to head SFIV:AE 2011 - 3 credits, 5 rounds
- 1 head to head T6:BR - 3 credits, 5 rounds? (Correct me if I’m wrong, Rod/Carmen)
- 1 head to head TTT2 - 5 credits, 5 rounds
All of these are on Namco cabinets (Don’t worry, the SF ones have six button configs). Condition of the stick/buttons vary but they’re generally in good nick and if there’s a problem, an attendant can come over and fix it up.
There’s also a truckload of KOF96/7/8/2000/2k2 elsewhere (all on Astro/Versus City) as well as a TvC (???) cabinet. There used to be KOFXIII and SF2:HF but those cabinets seem to have been taken down in favor of gimmicky arcade games for casuals. The rhythm section is also relatively decent; Taiko Drummaster, DJ Max Technika, Jubeat (bootlegged, from what I understand), Beatmania, Guitar Freaks (I think?) and a DDR cabinet. There’s also some Wangan Midnight and Initial D. Unfortunately, only lightgun game that seems to be up and running is Ghost Squad: Evolution (they had a TC4 cabinet but took it down for Temple Run…).
1 credit : 1RMB parity officially. You can get deals, but they’re generally not up your alley unless you plan to spend copious amounts of time at the arcade or have people pool together for them. SFIV’s round system here is unconventional but they had to change the round amount because people complained of the price increase (it used to be 2RMB/play).
I can’t comment on the Tekken crowd much, but the SF scene that turns up is generally solid. Skill ranges among the regulars vary from extremely mediocre to very good - for best results to play good players, come in the evening (after 6:30-7pmish) on weekdays or anytime at the weekends.
Dongzhimen (东直门) is also an option, but pretty much only for SFIV:AE. It’s been a little while since I was last there.
They have (as of roughly March 2013, it’s likely changed):
- 3 head to head SFIV:AE 2012 - 2 credits, 3 rounds
- 1 head to head T6:BR - 2 credits, 5 rounds
- A truckload of KOF96/7/8/2000/2k2
1 credit : 1RMB parity. I wouldn’t recommend going to this arcade as someone foreign to the arcade scene in Beijing because it’s honestly not that good of an ‘arcade’. If you’re interested, it’s near the Ginza Mall - there’s a building to the left of it that you go in and then go down a stairwell (you’ll be on the right track if you see fishbowl-like wallpaper). At the bottom, you’ll hit a clear panel wall of a convenience store, turn right and keep walking and you’ll step right in. The SFIV competition is also sparse and I think they actually contact each other in advance when they plan to head down. However, if you want to try your luck and roll down there and happen to bump into a crowd playing SF, they are good. The vast majority of people (save the occasional wandering newbie) who play here are high level grinders and on a whole, you’re likely to play much better competition here than you are in Xidan. The issue is managing to bump into them: It’s a rarity. They have a decent variety of rhythm games though (mostly touch based, some you don’t see in Xidan, sorry I don’t know the name of them) so if you decide you want to go there and there’s no SF comp, at least you can play those if you’re into them.
Shuangjing (双井) still exists from what I understand and used to be the mecca of high-level SF4 play in Beijing back in Vanilla, but this joint has been neglected for ages and wasn’t worth going to when I arrived back in Summer 2012. Unless a miracle or a revival here has occurred, I’d imagine the situation hasn’t changed. If you’re still interested in going, exit Shuangjing station via Exit A and before the second set of escalators leading to the street level, turn right to enter into the mall. Find a set of escalators going upwards (or take the elevator to 5F), walk past the UME theatre and look right, you’re at the arcade. If you’re coming from outside, enter the UME Mall (should be relatively obvious, is close to the subway). One of the only reasons you might want to go there is that they have 3s and MB (although it’s like MBAC or something?), but they might not even have those anymore. I haven’t been there in ages so I can’t report on what they have right now, if I happen to be in the area, I’ll drop by and update this post.
I haven’t been to the rest and will leave them quoted below, originally written by Trouble Brewing:
[details=Spoiler]Wangfujing (王府井)
Wangfujing is pretty much the mack daddy shopping area in the center of town. If you’ve every seen those travel channel segments of foreigners eating scorpions, it probably took place here. For the record, they taste sort of like potato chips (scorpions, not foreigners).
Aside from going shopping and eating bugs, there is a game room. Look for the old China town looking alley by the famous chop stick store. If it’s an alley with red lanterns and scorpions for sale, you’re getting close.
Last time I went, the games here are mostly old school. I hear they have SF4 now, but I don’t know what kind of cabs or how good the comp is. I assume it doesn’t get that serious there.[/details]
As you can see from the above, it’s not great if you’re an anime player. The Chinese scene in general is only really interested in playing popular games in the arcade, so SFxT/Marvel/Injustice isn’t really popular here either. Long story short - if you want to go to the arcade, play AE2012 or old school KOF or come to the sessions where we play other games!
Here’s a list of Chinese FG terminology that Trouble Brewing threw up in the original thread which might be of some help.
[details=Spoiler]Chinese Street Fighter Terms
Note: This is all northern dialect terminology. There might well be regional differences in other places.
General Terms
街机 = jiē jī – arcade game (also used for arcade in the north)
电子游戏厅 - diàn zǐ yóu xì tīng - arcade
摇杆= yáo gǎn – joystick/stick
按键= àn jiàn - button
街头霸王 - jiē tóu bà wáng – Street Fighter (full name)
街霸 - jiē bà – Street Fighter (more commonly used)
人物 = rén wù -character (spoken)
角色 = jiǎo sè - character (written)
Character Names
隆 = lóng = Ryu
肯 = kěn = Ken
春丽 = chūn lì - Chunli
瑜伽 - yú jiā – Yoga (Dhalsim)
达尔西姆 = dá ěr xī mǔ - Dhalsim
布兰卡 = bù lán kǎ - Blanka
桑吉尔夫= sāng jí ěr fū - Zangief
古列（烈）= gǔ liè Guile (Guile is also ok)
本田 = běn tián - Honda (相扑 = xiàng pū in spoken Chinese; means Sumo)
拜森 = bài sēn - boxer (balrog/bison)
叉子 = chā zi - claw (vega/balrog)
撒（萨）卡特 = sā kǎ tè = Sagat
警察 = jǐng chá - dictator (bison/vega)
飞龙 = fēi lóng - Feilong
飞鹰 = fēi yīng - T Hawk
嘉米 = jiā mǐ - Cammy
DJ = DJ
豪鬼 = háo guǐ = Akuma/Gouki
凯 = kǎi - Guy
Cody = Cody
小樱 = xiǎo yīng -Sakura
钢(纲)拳 = gāng quán - Goken
阿贝尔 = ā bèi ěr - Abel
厨子 = chú zi - El Fuerte (spoken Chinese) 艾尔 (Also is ok)
朱（蛛）丽 = zhū lì – Juri
达德丽 - da de li - Dudley
Basic Gameplay Terms
拳 = quán - punch
腿 = tuǐ - kick
防 = fáng - block/guard (not parry)
站: zhàn - stand
蹲 = dūn - duck/crouch
跳 = tiào - jump 前跳后跳
大跳 = dà tiào - super jump
前前 = qián qián - forward dash
后后 = hòu hòu - back dash
下重腿 = xià chóng tuǐ - Sweep
倒地 = dǎo dì knockdown
起身 = qǐ shēn - wake up/get up
受身 = shòu shēn快速起身 = kuài sù qǐ shēn - quick get up
对空 = duì kōng =anti air
波 = bō = fireball/projectile
连招 = lián zhāo - combo
掉链 = diào liàn - dropped combo
破攻= pò gōng – counter hit = counter
投(技）= tóu - throw
拆投 = chāi tóu throw tech
空投 = kōng tóu - air throw
移动投 = yí dòng tóu - kara throw
挥空 = huī kōng - kara cancel
取消 = qǔ xiāo - cancel
技术 = jì shù – reversal
第一时间 = dì yī shí jiān - reversal
挑衅/个性动作 = tiǎo xìn/ gè xìng dòng zuò - taunt/personal action
破顿防 = pò dùn fang - overhead
普通技 = pǔ tōng jì - normal
特殊技 = tè shū jì - command normal
必杀技 = bì shā jì - special
EX = EX
超必杀技 = chāo bì shā jì – super (SC)
UC = Ultra Combo
压制 = yā zhì - pressure (rush down)
牵制／游斗＝qiān zhì / yóu dǒu turtle / run away
Game Engine Terms
祯数 = zhēn shǔ – frame
有利 = yǒu lì - + frames, frame advantage
不利 = bù lì - negative frames, unsafe
出招 = chū zhāo - start up frames
持续 = chí xù - active frames
收招 = shōu zhāo - recovery frames
受创状态 = shòu chuāng zhuàng tài - hit stun
防御状态 = fáng yù zhuàng tài = block stun
硬直 = yìng zhí - stun/block stun
目押= mù yā - link
零祯目押 = líng zhēn mù yā - 1 frame link
刷键 = shuā jiàn – plink
自动二择 = zì dòng èr zé (more common) = 复合操作 = fù hé cāo zuò - option select [/details]
