Perhaps I find it fit that I give my retirement/hiatus address for the community by telling you guys all how it all began:
Beginnings
The Narutimate Community of the Philippines was born from the popularity of Narutimate Hero 2 sometime in 2005. The widespread fanbase of Naruto in the Philippines and the accessibility of NH2 led to many people playing the game informally.
On December 22, 2005, Narutimate Hero 3 was released. It was overall a fun game and sold really well, but the RPG mode was a problem to many players. Due to this mode, many gamers flocked to the Gamefaqs boards of NH3 to get help on that aspect of the game. Decal, one of the largest contributors to the (now stickied) NH3 help topic, was one of the pioneers of the NH3 scene. Together with a number of other Filipino players, they decided to hold gaming sessions together at DLSU's University Mall. The very first Narutimate Hero tournaments were held here. During these sessions the strength of the Itachi playstyle was discovered.
The Golden Age
The Narutimate Community soon moved from Gamefaqs to Team Crooked Jester's forums, based in the US. The Narutimate Scene in the US was already in place in the US, and there gaming sessions continued to be planned. As NH3's popularity grew, many players joined the forums to contribute their own tips and strategies and learn about the Narutimate series at a competitive level.
The last classic tournament of NH3 was also the last held in the University Mall. With footage taken from a cellphone, the Naruto Scandal Tournament also produced the first ever match vids from the Philippines in a competitive setting.
The players who played in this tournament soon held regular sessions together. It was soon decided by the majority of the players to form the first Philippine Narutimate Team. Tentative names for the group included "Team Balisong Warriors," among others. But soon, due to the popularity of the Itachi playstyle among Philippine players, the players settled on "Team Tsukuyomi."
During the first half of 2006, gaming sessions were done at almost a weekly basis. At this time, other teams began to hold sessions of their own and offered challenges to Tsukuyomi. The next major tournament saw players from Team Jinchuuriki and players from non-affiliated teams battling it out. This was no longer a one man show.
By the start of June 2006, most of the Philippine Players of Accel returned to work or school, and the community was silent. The last NH3 tournament was held in Quezon City. By then, playstyles had moved far beyond the Itachi playstyle during the early months of the community, and new teams such as Akatsuki Cavite brought on innovations in character play and strategic diversity.
Frenzy
After the last NH3 tournament, sporadic gaming sessions rounded up 2006. NH3 began to stagnate. Added to this was the slight decline in Naruto's popularity as fillers dragged the anime on for more than a year. Less players began playing NH3. With no new Narutimate Games in sight, players decided to move on to other games. The rising popularity of Bleach led to a short-lived stint with the PS2 game Bleach Blade Battlers, of which one tournament was held. But the inherent flaws of the game as a competitive fighter did not make it last that long.
This lull period would last a year. During this time, players moved on to other games or played sporadic sessions with each other. That all ended with the end of the fillers and the announcement of the new TV series, Naruto: Shippuuden, and the new Narutimate Series game that accompanied it, Narutimate Accel. Immediately after the game came out, all the Philippine teams tested it for play.
Only a few days to a week after the game was released, a large tournament was held for the new game to test it out for competitive play. This was the very first 16 man tournament of the Narutimate Series in the Philippines, although it would not be the last. Once again, stalwarts from Akatsuki Cavite would push the community to the limit with their Yondaime usage. The nerfed version of Itachi meant that some players had to rely on another character for their main. Although many settled on PTS Lee, or Yondaime, 2 certain players were beginning to uncover the flaws NA1 had under its shiny exterior.
Risk used TS Shikamaru, and using his very strong awakening and hard to counter playstyle, he defeated defending champion eunisesa in that tournament, the first (and only) time anybody would defeat the champion in a tournament he attended. At the same time, as the tournament winded down, I would begin experimenting with another character: Hiruko Sasori.
At the same time, the American NA community would hold a tournament of their own, hereafter known infamously as "Shikamania." Immediately they knew the inherent imbalance of Shikamaru and Sasori, and banned the two characters from further play.
On the other side of the world, the Philippine community took a relatively conservative stance and continually playtested the two characters and their imbalances. Another tournament was proposed to test out matchups now that played the game a considerable amount. The two characters were used extensively in this matchup, and although eunisesa won the tournament by beating a Hiruko Sasori user (not using Shikamaru) the community decided to ban Shikamaru's awakening and Hiruko Sasori altogether.
Afterwards, the community reached higher levels, acquiring more members and holding tournaments on a monthly basis. This would continue until July, when the last tournament for Accel 1 was held. Sessions would still be continued on a semi-monthly basis, but school and work again got in the way of a tournament being held. But the greatest times of the community were ahead.
Go With a Bang
December 2007 would signal the release of Narutimate Accel 2. A far more polished version of the series, its relative ease of play attracted a whole new generation of players. The first 8 man tournament held for the series was on January 2008. One of the original players of the Narutimate Scene in Late 2005/Early 2006, yashamaru, would join. The NA community, which had partially stagnated as a result of NA1's flaws, was slowly regaining strength.
New players were appearing left and right. a member named foreverrasengan made his antics known by posting in the SSR forums like crazy. Team Jinchuuriki's new acquisition, narutimate_hero, was making his presence known as a formidable Narutimate Accel player. New players, unaffiliated with any team, were beginning to make themselves known; the single biggest boom since late 2006 and early 2007. Tsukuyomi would head to these locations and hold sessions with them, training for large tournaments to come.
Tsukuyomi members then had contact with a group of players from Antipolo, Rizal. In response, Dragonthorn and eunisesa went to Antipolo for a session. Having played NA games in their shop continuously, they were one of the strongest overall teams the community had ever seen. They were then invited to the next tournament.
With all the pieces of the puzzle in place, it was time for what would be a milestone in the Philippine Narutimate community: A large tournament with all of the top players from the Philippines competing for a singular prize. Although it is known by many names, it will forever be remembered as the Maria Ozawa Cup.
With 20 attendees from many teams, this proved to be the largest Narutimate tournament in the Philippines at the time. With new members came a diversity of new playing styles and new tactics, and a refinement of previous ones as well.
But this would prove to be the last NA tournament to be held; real life caught up with many of the players, leading to their permanent retirement. Others would go into hiatus, but would play occasionally and sporadically over the rest of 2008 and 2009. Some would stop playing but would not retire.
As the community subsided, another group of Narutimate players were making their presence known, albeit in another manner. This group of players were based in Bulacan. Having been unable to participate in the tournament, they found themselves without any worthy opponents, with the rest of the community retired or on hiatus. They then conducted themselves on a wild trolling spree on the SSR forums; proclaiming themselves the greatest while looking down on anyone else. With the forum moderation lax due to the international community's loss of interest with the franchise, this would go on unimpeded for the better part of 2 years. This was led by Gary Tuazon.
As the once thriving Philippine thread began to decay under his increasing posts, more than 90% of the posts in that thread belonged to him. Other forum members who wanted to stick it out decided that this was the time to step down, rather than to play some fool with no idea of class or sportsmanship.
This was truly the dark ages of the Narutimate community; if you could call it any kind of "community" at all. But in the provinces, NA2 was beginning to pick up a second wind...
Rebirth
By 2009 the PS2 was obsolete, despite its long tenure as the dominant console of the age. The PS3 brought forth a new era of games, including the spiritual successor of the Accel series, Ultimate Ninja Storm. Although the international community would try out the game (and ultimately hold a tournament for it) it was not the game everyone hoped it would be. The unavailability of the PS3 for most Filipinos made the game simply out of their reach. Narutimate Accel 3 for the PSP was competitively unplayable as well, and although the PSP could be seen far and wide, not everyone played it. The Philippine NA community remained in the shadows.
But NA2 and the relatively cheap PS2 console was picking up steam. It was still large in the provinces, where games were cheap and players could play the game on coin operated or rental based game stations for a cheap price. Around this time the Laguna NA2 community was beginning to shine. Money matches and sessions raised the competitive level of players from the area. Jigen, the representative of one of the Laguna based teams, tried to reach out to the near-dead SSR community and gave it a spark of life.
Although the response was not immediate, a line of communication was formed between the few members of the old community that remained to monitor SSR. Thus, the first NA2 session in almost 2 years was held in a small computer store near Tsukuyomi HQ.
This led to an invigoration of the NA community, seeing many players come out of retirement. Soon monthly or even weekly sessions were held; some sessions were held in the background of anime conventions to facilitate a common meeting ground. The excitement reached its peak when the first ever NA2 tournament in 2 years was announced, to be held in conjunction with a major anime convention in SM Megamall.
The tournament was a success, despite not all of the members attending the tournament (and attending the convention instead.) Tournaments and sessions increased in frequency, and new features such as match commentaries, recording hardware and software for matches, and a more streamlined system of posting matches on the net, improved the tournament experience.
There was still the matter of the Bulacan players. 2 years had also taken their toll on the team; many members were also unable to play or had retired. Ever since the community was resurrected by Jigen and the others, Gary Tuazon and his team were banned from any tournaments. The community then decided to nip this in the bud once and for all.
The August 2010 Green Peace Tournament saw an attendance from as many members as there was in the 2007 NA1 tournament. Here Gary Tuazon would see himself soundly defeated in the tournament, losing all but one match. He was then permanently banned from any future tournaments for his previous misdeeds. But beside that was the increasing eagerness of other teams to return. The players from Antipolo had been revitalized and restored their number, attending almost in full force.
The Future
More sessions were held in the meantime for the last tournament of 2010, one that would rival the 2008 Maria Ozawa Cup in size and scope. All of the provincial teams were represented, including a revitalized Jinchuuriki and Akatsuki-Cavite.
The 2010 Ninja World War was held in the 7th floor of Robinson's Place Residences. With an attendance of 23 members, it was the largest ever tournament of Narutimate Hero/Accel. Technological advances had led to match commentary, and easy recording of matches.
The first Philippine team was represented by only one member; myself. It has been a long time since I had started getting involved in the community. I was just a student then, playing weekends during my spare time. Now a professional, and having served the community in its revival over the past year, I believe it is apt to hand over the responsibilities of the community to someone else.
I find it amazing that a 3 year old game could be so enduring and resilient after all that has happened. With the turn around time some games have it's amazing a game and a community could have lasted this long. But it is indeed the community that has made the Philippine NH/NA scene as it is today, and it is the community that will make it last for many more years to come.
-hfolkner, Team Tsukuyomi R&D Division
Beginnings
The Narutimate Community of the Philippines was born from the popularity of Narutimate Hero 2 sometime in 2005. The widespread fanbase of Naruto in the Philippines and the accessibility of NH2 led to many people playing the game informally.
On December 22, 2005, Narutimate Hero 3 was released. It was overall a fun game and sold really well, but the RPG mode was a problem to many players. Due to this mode, many gamers flocked to the Gamefaqs boards of NH3 to get help on that aspect of the game. Decal, one of the largest contributors to the (now stickied) NH3 help topic, was one of the pioneers of the NH3 scene. Together with a number of other Filipino players, they decided to hold gaming sessions together at DLSU's University Mall. The very first Narutimate Hero tournaments were held here. During these sessions the strength of the Itachi playstyle was discovered.
The Golden Age
The Narutimate Community soon moved from Gamefaqs to Team Crooked Jester's forums, based in the US. The Narutimate Scene in the US was already in place in the US, and there gaming sessions continued to be planned. As NH3's popularity grew, many players joined the forums to contribute their own tips and strategies and learn about the Narutimate series at a competitive level.
The last classic tournament of NH3 was also the last held in the University Mall. With footage taken from a cellphone, the Naruto Scandal Tournament also produced the first ever match vids from the Philippines in a competitive setting.
The players who played in this tournament soon held regular sessions together. It was soon decided by the majority of the players to form the first Philippine Narutimate Team. Tentative names for the group included "Team Balisong Warriors," among others. But soon, due to the popularity of the Itachi playstyle among Philippine players, the players settled on "Team Tsukuyomi."
During the first half of 2006, gaming sessions were done at almost a weekly basis. At this time, other teams began to hold sessions of their own and offered challenges to Tsukuyomi. The next major tournament saw players from Team Jinchuuriki and players from non-affiliated teams battling it out. This was no longer a one man show.
By the start of June 2006, most of the Philippine Players of Accel returned to work or school, and the community was silent. The last NH3 tournament was held in Quezon City. By then, playstyles had moved far beyond the Itachi playstyle during the early months of the community, and new teams such as Akatsuki Cavite brought on innovations in character play and strategic diversity.
Frenzy
After the last NH3 tournament, sporadic gaming sessions rounded up 2006. NH3 began to stagnate. Added to this was the slight decline in Naruto's popularity as fillers dragged the anime on for more than a year. Less players began playing NH3. With no new Narutimate Games in sight, players decided to move on to other games. The rising popularity of Bleach led to a short-lived stint with the PS2 game Bleach Blade Battlers, of which one tournament was held. But the inherent flaws of the game as a competitive fighter did not make it last that long.
This lull period would last a year. During this time, players moved on to other games or played sporadic sessions with each other. That all ended with the end of the fillers and the announcement of the new TV series, Naruto: Shippuuden, and the new Narutimate Series game that accompanied it, Narutimate Accel. Immediately after the game came out, all the Philippine teams tested it for play.
Only a few days to a week after the game was released, a large tournament was held for the new game to test it out for competitive play. This was the very first 16 man tournament of the Narutimate Series in the Philippines, although it would not be the last. Once again, stalwarts from Akatsuki Cavite would push the community to the limit with their Yondaime usage. The nerfed version of Itachi meant that some players had to rely on another character for their main. Although many settled on PTS Lee, or Yondaime, 2 certain players were beginning to uncover the flaws NA1 had under its shiny exterior.
Risk used TS Shikamaru, and using his very strong awakening and hard to counter playstyle, he defeated defending champion eunisesa in that tournament, the first (and only) time anybody would defeat the champion in a tournament he attended. At the same time, as the tournament winded down, I would begin experimenting with another character: Hiruko Sasori.
At the same time, the American NA community would hold a tournament of their own, hereafter known infamously as "Shikamania." Immediately they knew the inherent imbalance of Shikamaru and Sasori, and banned the two characters from further play.
On the other side of the world, the Philippine community took a relatively conservative stance and continually playtested the two characters and their imbalances. Another tournament was proposed to test out matchups now that played the game a considerable amount. The two characters were used extensively in this matchup, and although eunisesa won the tournament by beating a Hiruko Sasori user (not using Shikamaru) the community decided to ban Shikamaru's awakening and Hiruko Sasori altogether.
Afterwards, the community reached higher levels, acquiring more members and holding tournaments on a monthly basis. This would continue until July, when the last tournament for Accel 1 was held. Sessions would still be continued on a semi-monthly basis, but school and work again got in the way of a tournament being held. But the greatest times of the community were ahead.
Go With a Bang
December 2007 would signal the release of Narutimate Accel 2. A far more polished version of the series, its relative ease of play attracted a whole new generation of players. The first 8 man tournament held for the series was on January 2008. One of the original players of the Narutimate Scene in Late 2005/Early 2006, yashamaru, would join. The NA community, which had partially stagnated as a result of NA1's flaws, was slowly regaining strength.
New players were appearing left and right. a member named foreverrasengan made his antics known by posting in the SSR forums like crazy. Team Jinchuuriki's new acquisition, narutimate_hero, was making his presence known as a formidable Narutimate Accel player. New players, unaffiliated with any team, were beginning to make themselves known; the single biggest boom since late 2006 and early 2007. Tsukuyomi would head to these locations and hold sessions with them, training for large tournaments to come.
Tsukuyomi members then had contact with a group of players from Antipolo, Rizal. In response, Dragonthorn and eunisesa went to Antipolo for a session. Having played NA games in their shop continuously, they were one of the strongest overall teams the community had ever seen. They were then invited to the next tournament.
With all the pieces of the puzzle in place, it was time for what would be a milestone in the Philippine Narutimate community: A large tournament with all of the top players from the Philippines competing for a singular prize. Although it is known by many names, it will forever be remembered as the Maria Ozawa Cup.
With 20 attendees from many teams, this proved to be the largest Narutimate tournament in the Philippines at the time. With new members came a diversity of new playing styles and new tactics, and a refinement of previous ones as well.
But this would prove to be the last NA tournament to be held; real life caught up with many of the players, leading to their permanent retirement. Others would go into hiatus, but would play occasionally and sporadically over the rest of 2008 and 2009. Some would stop playing but would not retire.
As the community subsided, another group of Narutimate players were making their presence known, albeit in another manner. This group of players were based in Bulacan. Having been unable to participate in the tournament, they found themselves without any worthy opponents, with the rest of the community retired or on hiatus. They then conducted themselves on a wild trolling spree on the SSR forums; proclaiming themselves the greatest while looking down on anyone else. With the forum moderation lax due to the international community's loss of interest with the franchise, this would go on unimpeded for the better part of 2 years. This was led by Gary Tuazon.
As the once thriving Philippine thread began to decay under his increasing posts, more than 90% of the posts in that thread belonged to him. Other forum members who wanted to stick it out decided that this was the time to step down, rather than to play some fool with no idea of class or sportsmanship.
This was truly the dark ages of the Narutimate community; if you could call it any kind of "community" at all. But in the provinces, NA2 was beginning to pick up a second wind...
Rebirth
By 2009 the PS2 was obsolete, despite its long tenure as the dominant console of the age. The PS3 brought forth a new era of games, including the spiritual successor of the Accel series, Ultimate Ninja Storm. Although the international community would try out the game (and ultimately hold a tournament for it) it was not the game everyone hoped it would be. The unavailability of the PS3 for most Filipinos made the game simply out of their reach. Narutimate Accel 3 for the PSP was competitively unplayable as well, and although the PSP could be seen far and wide, not everyone played it. The Philippine NA community remained in the shadows.
But NA2 and the relatively cheap PS2 console was picking up steam. It was still large in the provinces, where games were cheap and players could play the game on coin operated or rental based game stations for a cheap price. Around this time the Laguna NA2 community was beginning to shine. Money matches and sessions raised the competitive level of players from the area. Jigen, the representative of one of the Laguna based teams, tried to reach out to the near-dead SSR community and gave it a spark of life.
Although the response was not immediate, a line of communication was formed between the few members of the old community that remained to monitor SSR. Thus, the first NA2 session in almost 2 years was held in a small computer store near Tsukuyomi HQ.
This led to an invigoration of the NA community, seeing many players come out of retirement. Soon monthly or even weekly sessions were held; some sessions were held in the background of anime conventions to facilitate a common meeting ground. The excitement reached its peak when the first ever NA2 tournament in 2 years was announced, to be held in conjunction with a major anime convention in SM Megamall.
The tournament was a success, despite not all of the members attending the tournament (and attending the convention instead.) Tournaments and sessions increased in frequency, and new features such as match commentaries, recording hardware and software for matches, and a more streamlined system of posting matches on the net, improved the tournament experience.
There was still the matter of the Bulacan players. 2 years had also taken their toll on the team; many members were also unable to play or had retired. Ever since the community was resurrected by Jigen and the others, Gary Tuazon and his team were banned from any tournaments. The community then decided to nip this in the bud once and for all.
The August 2010 Green Peace Tournament saw an attendance from as many members as there was in the 2007 NA1 tournament. Here Gary Tuazon would see himself soundly defeated in the tournament, losing all but one match. He was then permanently banned from any future tournaments for his previous misdeeds. But beside that was the increasing eagerness of other teams to return. The players from Antipolo had been revitalized and restored their number, attending almost in full force.
The Future
More sessions were held in the meantime for the last tournament of 2010, one that would rival the 2008 Maria Ozawa Cup in size and scope. All of the provincial teams were represented, including a revitalized Jinchuuriki and Akatsuki-Cavite.
The 2010 Ninja World War was held in the 7th floor of Robinson's Place Residences. With an attendance of 23 members, it was the largest ever tournament of Narutimate Hero/Accel. Technological advances had led to match commentary, and easy recording of matches.
The first Philippine team was represented by only one member; myself. It has been a long time since I had started getting involved in the community. I was just a student then, playing weekends during my spare time. Now a professional, and having served the community in its revival over the past year, I believe it is apt to hand over the responsibilities of the community to someone else.
I find it amazing that a 3 year old game could be so enduring and resilient after all that has happened. With the turn around time some games have it's amazing a game and a community could have lasted this long. But it is indeed the community that has made the Philippine NH/NA scene as it is today, and it is the community that will make it last for many more years to come.
-hfolkner, Team Tsukuyomi R&D Division
No comments:
Post a Comment