I'm finding it difficult to get good at this game without owning it... tips?

I’m currently living in Japan, away from my PS3 (which is in the states). I found an awesome arcade the other day over here that has just about every fighting game ever, including BlazBlue. I’m a big visual person so naturally I came to like it. I particularly wanna get good with either V-113, Arakune, or Noel. But its 50 yen (about 40cents) per play, and that gets eaten up quickly when I keep losing and don’t know how to play.

So, is there any way or method to getting good at this game without being able to use practice mode or stuff like that? Is there a direction I can be pointed in? I checked out the character specific topics, but it’s hard to memorize this stuff without being able to do it or see it, you know? I’d definitely appreciate any help.

you’re pretty much screwed.

lol what decade are you living in? exchange rate is like 10 percent in japans favor.

computers arnt bad practice dummies i was able to get a basic grasp of nu while i was there if i had more time available to spend in arcades i probably could have gotten down everything i do now. and the japanese had to get good without training mode in tons of games, i don’t think there’s a big secret i think its just playing or playing comps with the purpose of doing combos.

i didnt have internet at my host house often so i recorded matches with my camera tried to copy the strings and combos i saw

you should have time to play alone a decent amount if your going at any reasonably non crowded time.

Probably pick a main right away and always play them (save money). Then spend lots of money learning all your normals, pokes etc. through casual play - probably vs the computer. I don’t know if there’s an easy mode but pick that. Eventually you should know which moves cancel into each other instinctively. At that point you should be able to visualize the combos written here and maybe they’ll come naturally.
… maybe.

Best I can say is watch the tutorial videos online. (Which you can probably find on youtube) Then look at the character thread. Pick a character you like. Then watch videos of people playing.

steal yen and put it in the 2p side.

Concentrate on one character rather than 3. I’d say Noel is probably the most straightforward of the 3 you listed, Arakune the least. And then watch youtube.

If you have played Guilty Gear before, I would recommend using Ragna who has stick movements like Sol (mainly qcf or dp). Also there should be a little piece of paper stuck nearby saying the movelist so check it out.

so cruel!

haha.

But yeah, there’s no quick pointer to do it. You can sometimes ask the people for a tip if you want, most of them will be obliging. Heck, if there is that many fighting games there…sit back and watch a few matches, you’ll get the hang of what to do. You just have to play. Check combo’s online and watch the moves online so you know what is being pressed at what time and what it looks like.

hopeless situation…

seriously though, you’re fine. what you can probably do is ask the person you’re playing for tips, and if the line isn’t crowded, to bascally “give last round”. what this means is (on a machine set to best of 5 rounds) you can play best of 3 rounds and use the remaining rounds for practice/whatever, then allow him to finish off your character (or his if he lost). of course this depends on if the person is courteous enough, though.

just like today with Supercade, best thing is to ask for help and instructions from the opponent while you play the game.

there is something similar for this game, though preliminary. Since it is hosted on Google Code it is supposed to be legal.

http://code.google.com/p/bbcs-netplay/