I visited the TGM3 machine earlier today with my wife while we were out couch shopping. I played the Vs. mode for the first time with her. The timer was set to 2:00 minutes per round! We weren't able to complete either round, and it just gave the victory to me since I play faster and reached a higher level (pieces dropped + lines cleared) than my wife. Needless to say, my wife felt a little ripped off. The whole game was over far too quick. At the current settings, I'm pretty sure most customers will run into the same problem. Luckily, this limit can be set in the machine options. There is a setting called VS Level; this setting determines a level goal that if either player reaches that player wins. Also, as the VS Level setting is set higher, the time limit per round goes up as well proportionately. Most players aren't going to be able to reach the level goal within the time limit unless they play very quickly, but at the current setting they will certainly run into the time limit before the average game ends. Bill, if the VS Level setting could be set to at least 500, which I think corresponds to around 6 minutes max per round (haven't had confirmation yet), this would give players time to finish rounds without always running into the time limit. Most players won't get to 6 minutes anyways, as the game will start going much faster before that point.

P.S.: The photo machine right next the TGM3 is really annoying and very loud. It plays the same few cheesy songs all day long. Is there any way to turn it down or make it play less frequently? Thanks.

Ahhhh man, I knew I must have been forgetting something. Yeah, it would definitely be good if the level/time limits could be bumped up. I'm not really sure how far, but I think at least level 500 would be reasonable.

The only comparable situation I can think of is Puzzle Fighter, which has no limits of any kind during versus play. I think 999/12min would be the preferred setting for TGM, just so you can limit their interference in your match. I doubt any matches would be getting into the high gravity sections of the game given how TGM garbage patterns and items are set up, but I think it's best just to avoid getting in the way of a match in case it does. The most satisfying victory condition garbaging your opponent into top out anyhow, hehe.

I'm not near Acme unfortunately. But I'm crazy enough to have bought my own personal TGM3 arcade machine so I thought I'd add an answer to this question. Also, I'm definitely not a japanophile and don't even watch anime so lets rule that out first.

Most Tetris games are easy. Players get decent at them, and can pretty much survive until they get bored. TGM turns the difficulty way up, and it turns out that when you do this a whole bunch of depth that was previously optional becomes mandatory. It starts out just as easy as other Tetris games of course, but the long road to becoming a grandmaster really does require you to innovate and refine your play.

There's so much more to it than "tetris, but faster". You never stop learning new strategies and fancy moves that open up more placement options. And unlike, say, fighting games where you waggle the stick in an arbitrary way to make your character do something, all advanced moves in TGM emerge directly from simple movement and rotation combinations. There are no movelists. You naturally evolve from someone timidly tapping the controls to someone smoothly doing circle motions and hitting well timed rotations, gliding pieces into place gracefully at top speed.

Unlike stage based games, there is no risk of the music/level design getting boring... The randomness ensures every game is fresh. And unlike versus games, the game is not limited to being as interesting as the human opponents you have available. The game just never stops pushing you harder than you can push back. There are no explosions or violence, but this game defines intense. It's always fresh, has a deep learning curve, and is thrilling every step of the way (ok maybe not when you're a complete beginner).

Could this game work on GBA? I guess. But it's arcade exclusive, and really isn't the same without an arcade stick and the slick presentation. You're comparing TGM3 to classic Neo-Geo games but it's in a completely different class. This is a game that can capture your interest for years... It's the sort of game addicts will go out of their way to play, the sort that people will visit an arcade for, and currently Acme is the only stop.

Saw two people at Acme tonight of note.  One guy was playing high level doubles via the 'hold both bars' method.  Seemed like it was working for him.  The other guy kept trying to pass Max 300 Heavy.

Stealth.

Facing away from the screen.

I saw him make it to the pause with a full combo, but it looked like he picked it back up slightly off the beat, and ended up failing out.  Seems like he'll be able to do it before long, if he didn't do it after I left.

Yeah stealthing 10's is pretty popular around Tukwila isn't it? I heard about a lot of people trying to do MU backwards stealth a few years ago...

Also that "hold both bars" method is just bar-raping on doubles. It's about the same as bar-raping on single except, since you're using both pads, you use both bars. I think most people use it these days...

sounds like darryl. darryl can AA max 300 stealth

OK, let me correct my previous post. I met up with Kevin tonight, and we played another game of Vs. Currently the machine is set at Max Vs. Level 100! This only gave 1:20 to finish a round. This is far too short.

Yeah, it's kind of lame when multiplayer matches end so very quickly. Even if the player maxed out the time limit on each round, 3 or 4 minutes per match would only give 12 minutes of play maximum which some people exceed on Master mode anyway.

Bill, would you be interested in meeting with me and whoever in Acme management is relevant to tournament interests? If they could get it advertised as an event, I had a few ideas...

Does anyone know if the present VS match setting is the factory standard setting?  I suspect it is.?  Not sure how to take that one, as the game is not taking in good coin as of yet.  (2nd to the lowest earners last week)

Kevin, As for a tournament, you have the freedom to carry it forward in whatever format you choose.  You see, my input would be useless as my knowledge of the gameplay is seriously lacking.  On past tournaments, I have learned time over time that the details and planning are best left to you guys that know the game and what the tournament players are likely to be happy with. 
With that said, you only need to come up with a proposed date we can run by Acme for final approval, at which time we will beg to get added to the events schedule.  It really is that easy!  :-)

I think a tournament will probably improve the amount of people who play the game frequently, so hopefully that problem will resolve itself. The people from Tetrisconcept are freaking out about the game not doing well and are working on posters and fliers with links to this thread, the TC thread, and strategy sites. We'll see how that goes, I guess. Maybe part of the problem is TGM's weird location. It's quite plausible that one could walk in the arcade and not see the game at all, since it's basically invisible from entrance. Maybe I was wrong with this one...I am sorry to have failed...

Still, the tournament will go on! A big meeting this weekend is happening too with players from Oregon, so that will be good for revenue.

My gut feeling is that the game will pick up momentum as time goes on.  Have seen that many times before with an import game.  People are still sniffing it out, and will discover the coolness.  So far, it is doing as we expected, so no surprises here.  But yes, the tournament will build interest I'm sure.  The casual people will take notice of the game when they see upcoming tournament advertisements hanging on it and will realise that it is something special.  That is also why it is in the middle of the room, so it does not get lost in a solid row of games.  But yes, it's still a bit hidden nonetheless. 
I will pop over to the Tetris site to see what is happening over there.  But it's painful as each page loads so slow on this computer for some reason.
Thanks for all your efforts and enthusiasm, Kevin!

I've been super busy and I haven't had a chance to play TGM3 yet but I will soon

when is blazblue coming?

Well, it appears that 100 is the default on TGM3, for some reason. However, the default on TGM2 was level 200 and 2:40 per round, and there was no time limit on TGM1. All the issues that I stated above still apply, and customers are certainly going to run into the time limit the way it's currently set up. I know I've been avoiding it so far because the time limit is too short. A max 4:00 minute game (3 rounds at 1:20 each) for two credits seems strange when a single player game can easily go to 7:00 minutes or more.

I was going to ask what the longest time is a game could last, but see you already answered my question.  Gotta chew on this one a bit.

Blazblue is supposed to be here late this week or early next week.  Add about 1 more week for us to get it in a cabinet.  Will have a 32" widescreen hi def, so should look awesome.  Kitting in to a Dynamo Showcase cabinet, so will look exactly like the SF 4's at Narrows.  Price will be 75 cents.  Hope people will like this one. 

Thank you for considering changing the Vs. Level option. Even just setting it to 200 or 300 would be a great improvement over the current setting; everyone I've spoken to has agreed that it's too short. I know that I for one would play a lot of Vs. if the time limit was longer. It's worth considering that 4:00 is the absolute longest time a game could go, and is not a usual scenario. If one player is faster than the other and wins two rounds due to timeout, it would only be a 2:40 game for two credits. Also, since most people are used to Vs. Tetris games being won by topping out the other player, this could be confusing and discouraging for people. In fact, a lot of casual players probably aren't able to play fast enough to finish a round in 1:20. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Bill,

I am just thinking of a date right now for the tournament. I'm asking around and gauging what dates would work best for some players who I think it is important to have show up. I'll get back to you on a good date in a day or two. The first meeting is this Friday evening, so I might even know by then what dates will work best for a tournament. Looks like the Sanwa sticks won't be installed by then though...bummer. Oh well! At least they are on their way!

Where are our Sanwa sticks?  I would have thought they would ahve showed up by now.  Hopefully soon.
Just shoot me your date proposal when you get it nailed down Kevin, and I will confirm and okay with Acme.

Reminder: Today is 20, November... so people should be goin to Acme to celebrate the holiday today.

I'm not, because I have to pickup my car from my parent's place tonight, but I'll be there in spirit.

Well, I went to Acme on Friday for the meeting. It was great, and everyone had a good time and played some ridiculously good games of TGM. Hopefully the income this week will be a little better.  We had about 7 or 8 players playing in a line continuously from something like 5pm until 11pm or maybe even later.

Pop'n was working very well. DM's hihat is dead again, but I don't know what can even be done about that. All DDR/ITG cabinets had really good pads as usual. The left coinslot on TGM3 is jammed. GF probably works, I didn't check though.

The players at the meeting came to the conclusion that TGM3 would probably do quite a bit better if it was swapped around with the photo booth thing that it is back to back with. The photo booth will still stick out even if it is behind TGM, and I think it would allow people to be amazed by TGM in the same way that DDR attracts people by letting them watch good players.

Agreed with the swapping of the machines.

I was very impressed last night with all of your skills. If there's another meetup and another camera is needed, I'll be there.

Is the DM hi hat working well now?

That photo machine may be leaving soon.  We need to shuffle some things around to fit Balzblue in there.  Which by the way, Blazblue has not shown up yet at our warehouse.

i want to play blue balls

I was there today while the repair guy was fixing the coin slot for TGM3, so it should be OK now.

I went to Acme today. The hihat on DM is much better, thanks Bill! Any idea still on when the Sanwas will arrive? It's taken surprisingly long...hopefully Akihabara Shop is not up to their old tricks of taking foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvver to ship stuff.

Tada, Matsuura, some other guy who I know from playing Pop'n a lot, and myself were playing some nonstop TGM. The coin slot is indeed working again; that right stick is still really sketchy though. It's pretty dead.

Max2's pads were great.