Ryan Hart: Hi Bas, thank you for joining. Let me start off with SFxT. So how do you like the new version of SF X Tekken, do you think your CVS2 knowledge could help you get good at it?
Ryo Yoshida (BAS): “I've only played it a little bit and I didn't really play the old version much. When I do play I notice that the training stage is fine but the other stages have severe slowdown when certain moves are done.”

RH: Looking at the footsie game on CVS2 for example which you are an expert and SFXT do you think that your CVS2 knowledge of footsies can be applied in SFXT.
BAS: “Well, I don't really think it would give me any advantage over other players but how much damage can be taken in one attack is really important. I use claw on CVS2 so when I look at the damage output it’s really different. If my opponent whiffed a dragon from far away on CVS I can punish but not take a lot of damage however on SFXT I could use that punish to chain into a tag launch which can do big damage and completely change the flow of the match instantly. The opponent's mentality changes with this too; they are more likely to use a move if they know the risk is smaller.”

RH: Yes, speaking of how you can do big damage it seems that games these days in some cases are more about not getting hit as opposed to hitting, has this changed how games are fun in your opinion? And if so, how has the fun changed in your opinion?
BAS: “Well looking at the comparison between CVS 2 and SSF4 for a minute, in my opinion there are too many moves which are safe on block and have too good reward like you can land an ultra afterwards for example. These strong and safe moves are used randomly and allow less skilled or intelligent players to get wins without actually thinking about what their opponent was thinking. Like look at Sagat's EX tiger knee for example, it only takes one ex bar to use, it does good chip damage, it is safe on block. What does the user really need to think about before using this move? The risks are too minimal and its moves like this where the game allows players to be random and get away with it. I mean even when I know my opponent will do this I can’t react in time because the move is simply too fast.”

RH: Well totally being devil’s advocate here for a second, maybe it's better to look at the game differently. If you know the opponent will do an EX tiger knee and you feel it’s too fast to react to then just accept that it will come and already start planning what you will do after you block it. The move is minus frames on block so you will have a small advantage after you block, maybe consider making that the focus. Like what if we simply accept that this move will come and already start planning what we will do afterwards, could that be a possible solution? Maybe if we change our mentality to this instead of trying to just react to everything the game becomes more rewarding or enjoyable.
BAS: “Yes, but whether the game can be played properly like this is debatable. I mean the trouble is its usually situations where the Sagat may or may not do an EX tiger knee but has a choice of not only ex tiger knee but a selection of things that he has used previously making it almost impossible to be sure. It's when he can do various things that it becomes a problem. I’m not saying that it’s broken or anything but I don’t like this seemingly random part of the game.”

RH: Random as in it can be a number of different moves?
BAS: “Random as in, at almost no risk a player can throw out a move that leads to ultra and changes the flow of the match. When I get hit by stuff like that it’s really hard to accept to be honest. It’s like all my effort was for nothing, trying to play safely and sensibly just got me hit by an opponent who may not have been thinking about anything at all. He may have been thinking less than me and played a more reckless game but still the game granted him the win as I just got caught with random moves.

I don't think it's a good thing that many ex moves lead to ultra. I mean at least in Rufus's case he needs 3 meters but look at Sakura, on one bar she can land an ex into ultra at almost no risk.

I do understand that it seems like it's supposed to be a game that delivers the fruits from one's labour but sometimes I feel like you work hard and you're so close to victory and then one random thing like that changes everything and can even cost you the whole match.”



RH: I do understand your frustration but it isn't all bad for you in my opinion. You have a strong character and you've not been playing for that long in actuality so maybe with more time things will change for you. I know you have been having trouble adapting to SSF4, how is AE for you now compared with before?
BAS: “Well, so far that's how my progress has been, so I'd say I’m about at the stage now where I am looking at matches, thinking of strategies, asking top players for advice and so on but despite all this effort to level up, the moves are so strong in ssf4 that it makes it almost impossible to do anything about it. There are too many easy ways to escape the basic three move mixup of dragon, throw or low attack.”

RH: I ask many players this and I just wanted to get your take on it but who do you think the best player in the world at AE is and why?
BAS: “I have no idea. I haven’t been to any tourneys and haven’t watched that much but I've been playing for one year properly now and I think that after two more years I will be able to get top 8 at EVO.”

RH: Oh, ok. I'm glad to hear that you are super serious now!
BAS: “I’m planning to change character again though as I’m starting to think that Cammy was a mistake.“

RH: Really? Well, I always thought Akuma suited you better than Cammy to be honest.
BAS: “When I used him before I didn’t really feel that my Akuma was effective but looking back I think it might not have been a bad choice after all.”

RH: I’m quite sure a player of your caliber will be able to get top 8 at EVO in a lot less time than two years anyway! Moving on however, what is gaming life like in Japan when you have to combine it with a full time job considering the crazy long hours that Japanese people work?
BAS: “It's really tough! Unlike Tokido and Mago I don’t have hours and hours to play each day as work takes most of my day up, and these days if you want to travel to play abroad you definitely have to be strong at SSF4 before anything else. Originally, I wanted to play Marvel at first but I'm an old man now so it’s too hard for me despite how easy people say it is. I mean it’s a combo games so there will always be tricky things to do. I’m not saying I’m bad at combos or anything as I did play GGXX, XMen, CVS2 and some other stuff. I just feel it’s become a lot harder to reach the top level of games because the popularity has increased worldwide.

Working a full time job changes everything. Even though I'm a world famous player I actually get advice from Tokido once a week on SSF4. I mean if I was asked if I can stand up alongside the top Cammy's around the world I don’t think I could say yes. My results don’t match theirs at all. When I look at top Cammys they can turn the match around from just one single spiral arrow which I can never do.

I find it hard to turn matches around once I lose the life lead especially; the top players are really good at this. When I win it's usually a really close game where it comes down to the wire and I'll get happen to guess right at the very end and take the win.”


Canada Cup 2011 SSF4 AE 5 on 5 Champions

RH: I see, is there a future for fighting games on arcades in Japan?
BAS: “It’s hard to say really, it's an expensive business to say the least so it has to be worth the maintenance. In USA they have console tournaments in hotels and similar venues and stuff but that really never happens in Japan. We always still have tourneys in arcades and things never really change in how things are done here. Events are always done in the same places so we need arcades now.

The big, famous places will remain open because there are many players there that go regularly but small arcades in smaller towns and places like that, those places will disappear one at a time eventually as hardly any people play there and they don’t make a lot of money.

Arcade machines are a very expensive business. SSF4 AE on arcade costs 250, 0000 yen (26,000 USD) for just one set.”

RH: Wow, so expensive!
BAS: “Yes, big machines cost even more, like Sangokushi and other card games which cost 1000, 0000 yen (104,000 USD). Football games, card games, some other big games are all really expensive. The machines themselves are so big that many arcades can’t even fit them in.

Then when new versions come out the owners are forced to upgrade and the upgrade costs a lot. SSF4 AE Version 2012 was free, but updates usually cost around 300, 0000 Yen and the owners are forced to update because the country is all connected via net play. If the owners decide not to upgrade, then their versions are banned and cannot be used. So arcade life is very expensive.”

RH: So actually arcade lifestyle is quite posh and a super luxurious way to game then really isn't it?
BAS: “Yes, it really is.”

RH: It’s like eating sushi in Tsukiji!
BAS: “Hahaha!”

RH: Are you excited for CVS 3?
BAS: “Well, if it's comes out! I’m not expecting anything at the moment because SNK is involved I don't really want to get my hopes up.”

RH: But KOF XIII seemed to work out ok.
BAS: “Yea well not only SNK, but Capcom too.”

RH: Hmm, ok, what about...let's say...would you be happy if Capcom announced that Street Fighter Alpha 4 would be released?
BAS: “It doesn’t matter what game comes out if the developers don’t understand the game then it’s pointless, and that’s the problem. They don't understand the game.

Updates on games in this way are dumb, they don’t even change what needs changing, they just randomly give or take things from the cast, add a few characters and that’s it. But the same problems still exist. When people complain that they couldn't block a particular attack and then one developer for example sees it happen on the screen he just thinks it was as simple as that the person blocked cross up when it was in front or vice versa. They don't understand that the opponent actually couldn't block either way. Problems like complete unblockables or corner setups where even the user doesn’t know if it will land in front or behind, these are big problems in the game yet in all these versions and updates they have never been addressed.

The worst thing is here in Japan they do things like scheduled location tests where people do play tests at a given arcade and players offer their opinions for what needs to be changed but even when players tell them they don’t understand what needs to be changed anyway because they don’t understand the situation which is evidence they don’t know the game. They take pride in having changed a move by a frame or two, but they don't even really listen to what the people need and change what's really important.

I think it’s totally stupid the way they act like they listen to the community. I can't remember who exactly it was but I remember one developer saying that Street Fighter IV would be a game that would last ten years yet despite all the game changes people are already bored and want something else.

Anyway, if I think about how the next sf should be created I would say, firstly:

-Take out all unblockables
-Take out ambiguous corner jump ins
-Add a forward roll but don't make it completely invincible, like on the new version of SFxT where you can throw it for example.
-It shouldn't be that there are so many ways out that there is never a mixup on wakeup or reward for getting the opponent down.
-It shouldn't be where one knockdown can keep you in an infinite mixup for the whole round.
-No invincibility or only 3 frames invincibility on backdash and airborne on first frame.”
RH: I'm sure that list will make a big talking topic of forums.
BAS: “Also I really don’t see the point in being able to cancel normal moves with focus attack. What exactly was the intended purpose for this feature? I understand cancelling special moves with focus attack but cancelling normals is one of the most pointless uses of meter in the whole game. There's no need for this, they shouldn't just put things in for the sake of it.

Also I don't agree with characters being able to cancel dragon punch after the 2nd or 3rd hit has been blocked (like Akuma or Ken or Seth for example). This should be strictly for EX dragons only, Rufus can cancel his EX but he needs 3 bars so it’s forgivable. But even after you block a regular dragon your opponent can still make it safe on reaction by simply pressing the focus and cancelling it.

The next thing is teleports are too safe and too fast. The developers need to make up their minds. Teleports should either be slow and safe, or fast and have more recovery. It’s ok to make it usable but they shouldn't make it too exploitable.

Teleports should be an actual read, not just a safe escape that people just rely on to escape from everything.”



RH: I like the Ken vs Akuma example where Ken reads the teleport and does EX tatsu but only the last hit connects taking nearly nothing.
BAS: “Yes, exactly! And then after Ken gets that hit, Akuma just teleports away again. I have so many things to say that if I said them all there would be no end, seriously.”

RH: haha
BAS: “The next thing they need to address is throws! On ssf4 throws are too strong, they basically beat everything. There are situations in the where you know the opponent is going to throw you and all you can do is escape the throw, and even when you escape you get nothing in return so there is no penalty for them abusing throws.”

RH: What do you think would be a good solution for this?
BAS: “Characters that have moves that can’t be thrown like Rose's close standing medium mk or Juri's close standing mk is a very good solution for this. In 3s for example Urien's overhead kick or Necro's back and hard punch uppercut made the character move back slightly so that the opponent was out of throw range.

It's ok if the move is throwable but it shouldn't be that one timing and positioning can beat everything like in SF4. For example they should make it so that you can use the option that beats throws but the opponent can read this and do a meaty low attack or move in even further before throwing to make sure they get you.

Of course some characters have special moves like dragon punch and stuff which can't be thrown but you can’t afford to do dragon every time you need to beat a throw, and what are characters that dont have dragon supposed to do? They don’t have these options.”

RH: Yea, one option could be to have a generic option that beats throws with every character, it doesn’t have to do a lot of damage but just a little something. I had this problem with throws being too strong in SF3: Third Strike. Fighting out of the corner vs anyone was tough, especially against Chun Li was ridiculous. Her kara throw meant I wasn't safe crouching and her throw can grab you from a range where it's so risky to press buttons. So I thought of using the universal overhead as a method to beat throws and lows in one go. It wouldn't be an overpowered option, it does very little damage, would be minus frames on hit and can be parried for a full punish if read so the risk would be there but at least I would have something. But the system has been made it so that you can only use this move from a standing position, meaning I have to stand up leaving myself open to low attacks before I can use it. Totally pointless! There went my strategy out the window.

But back to your point said about throws on SSF4, don't you think we have to be careful about not making throws too useless? We already have stand tech, crouch tech, focus tech, and particular special moves that beat throws. Won't throws be useless if we give yet more options to beat throws?
BAS: “Throws will always have their use; they just won't be abusable like now where the opponent can rely on them when they don’t know what their opponent will do. Additionally there is no point in having kara throws that move different distances especially really long kara throws like Vega and Ken for example. I'm not saying this is the case but it can run the risk of making characters overly powerful too easily from a foundation level. The basics of the game are the basics and do not need to be different for each character. The differences should be based on the normal moveset and the special moveset the developers give each character, not on the basics of the system.”

RH: I always disliked how Chun could cancel her crouching mk into super so late on Third Strike but no one else could. It made no sense, and made the game a lot less of a fun challenge when I used Chun and a lot less fun for players who had to go up against Chun. The differences that make victory should be put in by the players, not by the character's basic advantages. I mean if the developers thought this made the game better, why didn't they give this late cancelling feature to everyone and if not then why give it to only Chun? Of course we can say this about lots of things anyway. Ok, that’s my 3S salt out of my system. haha So on to the next question.

RH: Are you playing any other games outside of fighting games?
BAS: “Nope, not at the moment. SSF4 and CVS2 still at the arcade. Darkstalkers that was released today I will play. Vampire Hunter was the first game I ever played that got me going to arcades and playing various players and stuff. It’s also when I first met Daigo. It's been 18 years since that time.”

RH: Did you get to play Daigo? How did it go?
BAS: “I first played Daigo that day and beat him in casuals. I drew him in the tournament that day as well and beat him as well. I met him many times in tourney after and we went backwards and forwards.”

RH: Having strong opponents...gaming is so fun than when you go backwards and forwards with a strong opponent. How is fighting gaming seen in Japan? Would someone like Tokido or Mago have any status in Japanese society?
BAS: “I'm not sure about Japan as a whole but in the gaming scene as players they are seen as models for all the community.”



RH: I'm surprised that in Japan there aren't more pro teams. Japan is big on technology and the players there are almost guaranteed to get top results abroad as they are so strong and have a much stronger and thriving scene so it would be good, free marketing for any up and coming technological company.
BAS: “The only pro players in Japan are Fuudo, Tokido, Daigo, Mago, Sako and Itabashi. Japanese companies don't want to invest money into gaming; it's looked down upon and seen as a waste of money and time.

If you look at it right now all the Japanese pro players are sponsored by foreign companies, Elive was France, Madcatz is USA, Razer is Asia, it's only really Sako that is working with a Japanese company and even that is only because they want to break into the US market more. There are so many players who should be pro in Japan. They bring in good ratings under their streaming. People that are watched all the time are valuable. I mean whatever game they say they will be playing followers will loyally tune in to keep track of their progress but gaming has such a small reach in Japan so even the world’s best players can't use that status for much here outside of gaming.

So Japanese top players have to look towards the West to increase their gaming career and status but for top players who have no or little money they can’t get there and even players who have money to travel can't because they have great communication problems due to not being able to speak English. Then when these issues aren't the problem it's that they work and don't have enough time to travel and expand their gaming life.

But despite these problems top Japanese players are forced to try and get to the West somehow to join international competition. Japanese company owners are quite hard headed generally so they aren't open to new ideas even when good ones arise. For example I work for an internet provider which provides fibre optic broadband. Millions of viewers watched Evolution tournament and they want to spread the company name to expand business. Supporting EVO directly would probably be too expensive for them but since I am an employee if they simply sponsored me to take a trip to EVO it would be such an obvious cheap solution to get lots of marketing for yet they fail to realize this.

In any case even if a player wins a big tournament like EVO, when they get back to Japan it means almost nothing.

In Japan people think that the only people who spend lots of time on games are people who do badly at school or lowlifes on the streets, people who are looked down upon basically. They come out with questions like "What, are games all you can do"? People around Daigo's fame level are a bit different however but that is very rare.

Games are seen as gambling and gambling is not really accepted as something good here so the problems just get worse where gaming is concerned.”



RH: Do you have any advice for any gamers wishing to get stronger?
BAS: “Find a coach who can teach you and get yourself two rivals; find one rival that you are close to and find a rival that is far from your current level. It's important to have two rivals, there's no point in setting your standards too high and simply aiming for the top. Like there is no point in me aiming to beat Tokido and/or win EVO now at my current level, I need a closer, more realistic goal that I can put my attention on. With that said it is also important that I have a long term goal so that the little goals have more meaning and there is a long term plan. Without this kind of thing there is no future for fighting games.”

RH: Yes, it's very important to have little victories to build up your experience and skill. Also these victories will be an evidence of your overall improvement as well. Ok could you give us an example of a close rival?
BAS: “A close rival could be that guy you played online that beat you the last time you played. You should make it a goal to beat him the next time you play. This is a good target, once you can beat him, you move on to the next person and make a new rival. To summarize; set your goal and think about how you can achieve it. The next thing I would suggest is keep practicing and never ever give up. You'll never become strong if you don't practice enough.

My next thing is talent and sense (having a knack for competitive gaming), in my opinion talent for fighting games and sense are not important. What's important is practice and dedication. According to that practice you will naturally develop your own sense of how things work. It’s so important to practice, then fight, then practice, then fight, then practice and keep this pattern up. I don’t think that I have that much talent or sense but I practiced like crazy and this made me strong. I became the best in the world at CVS2 but I believe that I practiced the most so it’s only natural that I became the best. In the past it was always like that as well, the one who practiced the most was always the strongest.”

RH: Ok, what about character choice, does it play a big part or can you override tiers with practice?
BAS: “Well it's not like a weak character cannot win, but luck won't present much opportunity in the match for the weak character but it will for the opponent's character so there will be a disadvantage.

Whatever you do, there will be elements in the matchup that are out of your control so eventually a weak character can never be the best. If you want to win a tournament you should choose the characters that have potential to win the tournament. I used to use many characters but once I was serious about winning EVO I didn't care about many characters, I only chose the ones I thought had true winning potential. I never want to give excuses for why I lose as once you do that then everything becomes an excuse. So I deliberately chose the characters I thought were the strongest.

I never wanted to lose because of the matchup. I also didn't want to lose to anyone so I chose the strongest characters that I could find.”



RH: I see that's very interesting, thanks for sharing that. So with regards to you winning, what's your biggest ever win streak on a game?
BAS: “I got 157 wins in a row on alpha 3, it was on best of 5 rounds as well. If it was on 2 rounds I would have got well over 200 wins.”

RH: How long did that take?
BAS: “It took over 10 hours!”

RH: Wow, that's insane!
BAS: “On CVS2 I once got 96 wins in a row, I wanted to get 100 but the arcade closed.”

RH: Once on Virtua Fighter 3 tb just as I got 99 wins the guy came over and said "Last game please". So the arcade closed bang on 100 wins, I was so happy.
BAS: “Nice!”

RH: Ok now that's covered do you have any final words to the gaming world?
BAS: “Well, I'm currently looking for sponsorship, this would be much appreciated. Haha. I can work very hard for any sponsor! You can follow me on Twitter: @Ryo151 Also if you have interest drinking & ramen then follow my Facebook: facebook.com/basmg”

RH: Haha great stuff, ok thank you for all your time on this, take care and hope to see you on the big stage again soon.