Tougeki - Super Battle Opera (闘劇 Tōgeki, lit. fighting play), also known as the Arcadia Cup Tournament[1] and commonly abbreviated SBO, is an annual Japanese fighting video game tournament hosted by the magazine Arcadia. Super Battle Opera actually consists of several tournaments for a variety of fighting games. Which games are to be represented are decided by the organizers of the event, and the roster is changed between each year. It is considered as one of the two most prestigious fighting game tournaments in the world, the other being EVO.
Tougeki generally begins in April with the qualifications round, which is spread over all of Japan and is distributed over a number of months. The finals are then held over three intensive days in Tokyo, usually in August.
Unless explicitly stated, Tougeki usually refers only to the finals in Tokyo.
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The 8th Super Battle Opera took place on September 18 and 19 2010, and featured the following games:[2]
Each tournament is played either individually or in teams of up to three players and uses a single-elimination system to determine a winner. The qualifications are done on a regional level using a two-tier system: Players form their teams and compete at local arcade halls in a single elimination tournament. The winners then go on to a regional playoff, and the winners of this playoff are granted a spot in the finals in Tokyo.
American and European players have been granted special spots at the Tougeki finals. In Europe, the representatives are decided by the Tougeki France organization[3].
Though a few arcade machines are set up for casual play at the finals, the main focus is on the tournaments.
| Game | Team Name | Player(s) | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sengoku Basara X | Wey=Kubin | Mori Motonari | |
| The King of Fighters XIII | Oeppu | K' / Mature / Raiden | |
| The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match | Oz | Hinako / K' / Nameless | |
| Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code | GO1
Ieda |
Akiha
Kohaku |
|
| Blazblue: Continuum Shift | Tsujikawa
Chou |
Taokaka
Litchi |
|
| Arcana Heart 3 | Kasumi Love
Tono |
Akane
Konoha |
|
| Street Fighter IV | RF
Kindevu Momochi |
Sagat
Rufus Gouki |
|
| Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion | sumairu X
nesuchan tatatatatatatata-ku |
Marduk
Devil Jin Lars |
|
| Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike | Kuroda
Nitto MOV |
Ken
Yun Chun-Li |
|
| Guilty Gear XX Λ Core | Shounen
RF Ogawa |
Testament
Faust Eddie |
|
| Super Street Fighter II X | MAO
Futachan Ito |
Claw
Ryu Dee Jay |
|
| Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown | serori
morimoto reota^do hiraganadeaoki |
Kage
Vanessa Jacky |
On March 27, 2007, the large video arcade mi-ka-do wrote on its blog[4] that there would be an upgrade of Arcana Heart (known as Arcana Heart FULL) released before Tougeki was played. It was not said how much the upgrade would cost, except that it would be for a per-machine basis and that it would be "expensive for such minor upgrades", comparing it to games such as Vampire Savior, Vampire Savior 2 and Street Fighter Zero 3 (Known as "Street Fighter Alpha 3" in the US) which were all upgraded free-of-charge. Because of this upgrade, combined with the fact that it would be so expensive, the Tougeki arrangers choose to bend the rules for Arcana Heart players:
According to the blog, this will demotivate players to participate in the Arcana Heart tournament because it is almost pointless to train for it unless their local arcade hall pays the upgrade price, which many smaller businesses cannot afford. In fact, they warned, smaller arcade halls may go out of business if the game industry continues in this way.
A few months after the finals in Tokyo, DVD movies containing all matches in the playoffs are released by Enterbrain, the owner of Arcadia. The movies are released in a number of volumes, containing a number of discs. Each disc containing one entire tournament. They are usually released 1–2 months after the actual tournament.
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