The event will have an even stronger e-sports flavor than in the past! Report on "Fighting Championships 2019

For two days on January 26 and 27, 2019, Gz Brain and niconico hosted Tousai 2019, a festival of games and players, at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture.

This year's event, the second since the Japan eSports Union (JeSU) was established on February 1, 2018, had a stronger eSports flavor than past events. A special JeSU stage was set up at the venue for the two-day event titled "eSPORTS International Challenge Cup: Japan vs. Selected Asian Teams" in four events: "Overwatch," "Tekken 7," "Winning Eleven 2019," and "Street Fighter V Arcade Edition. The pro-gamers from the Japanese and Asian teams competed in four events: "Overwatch," "Tekken 7," "Win Eleven 2019" and "Street Fighter V Arcade Edition.

The Japanese selection (left: Tokido/Nemo/Fuud) and the Asian selection (right: Oil King [Taiwan]/Humanbomb [Hong Kong]/NL [Korea]) who participated in the "Street Fighter 5" division on the 26th.

Akki won the Pazudora Tournament.

On the 26th, "Super Smash Bros. SPECIAL" (Smash Bros. SP) players competed in the opening round of the East Japan League, the "Smash Ball Cup Smash Bros. Pazudora) Champions Cup "Pazudora Champions Cup Tourai 2019", where heated competition took place. In the Pazudora final, Akki and Fuyaasu, two players who had never won a championship before, faced off against each other, with Akki taking the win. Akki won the game, achieving his goal of winning a pro-gaming tournament while entertaining the audience, which is something he values. After the game, he said, "At the end, the moment I decided on a puzzle, I said, 'Here it comes! I won! I felt that I had won.

The Smash Bros. SP tournament was held under the "item" rule this time, and there were scenes where the items created drama.

On the 27th, the "'Smash Bros. SP' niconico Championship 2019" was held. On the previous day, a preliminary tournament was held with over 440 players, including invited players from overseas, divided into 8 blocks, and the winners of each block went up on the stage for the final. As in the previous day's "East Japan League," this year's tournament was played under the "item" rule, which has not been used in past tournaments in the series, and the audience seemed to be paying a lot of attention to how the games would be played. A male spectator in his 30s from Chiba Prefecture who has been playing Smash Bros. since its earliest days said, "I think the players will want to save as many items as possible because of the uncertain element of random items appearing on the stage, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. HIKARU, who actually won the tournament, used Zero Suit Samus instead of Donkey Kong, his usual main character, perhaps because of the speed with which he could collect items.

In the new game masterpiece game trial, perhaps due to the fact that the event has been held jointly with the Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) since 2017, there were more areas related to arcade games, and the arcade version of Puyo Puyo eSports, scheduled to go live in mid-April 2019, was played in the venue's Hodai booth. On the 27th, photographer Akira Osu, a strong player of the game who is currently active in e-sports tournaments, appeared on the stage and played kumite with general players and held a tournament. He played kumite with general players and held tournament competitions. Many of the participants were beginners, and Mr. Osu told them, "When you play gacha-play (beginner play) in this game, don't jump. You'll float for too long and your opponent will attack you," and "I wonder if the guard button is a concept that kids playing the game now don't have," he explained.

In the smartphone games, the event featured "Kick-Flight," currently under development by Grange Inc. for release in spring 2019. There was a corner where visitors could play the game, and the winning team was entitled to a reverse bungee experience. Regarding the appeal of the system, the person in charge of the game said, "You can enjoy flying around freely in the air with a simple tap or swipe. You can also quickly learn how to use attacks and special skills called disks," he appealed.

In the JAEPO area, a long line formed for "Sword Art Online Arcade Deep Explorer," "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Last Survivor," and Taito's "Halo: Fireteam Raven" from Namco Bandai Amusements' new amusement arcade machine. The line for these games was long. There were also many games utilizing VR.

We will report on this event in a future issue!

(Reporting and photos by Masamichi Saito)