DOAU: Dead or Alive Ultimate. The hottest thing to hit our shores since, well….. DOA3; has bred a new kind of local cyber-athlete. On 19 February, Neo Tao You beat over 50 local DOAU gamers at X-Square at the Atrium@Orchard to claim the title of DOAU Champion Singapore. As his prize, Microsoft sponsored Neo’s flight and accommodation to the Taipei Game Show to take part in the DOAU Regional Qualifiers on 26 February, where he emerged as 1st runner-up. As a result, he won an adventure to Los Angeles, where from 17 to 21 May, he enjoyed free airfare, hotel accommodation and US$500 in spending money. He got to compete against the world’s best DOAU players; even spending time at E3 which is the biggest gaming show in the world. Over lunch, we sat down with Neo Tao You and grilled him on what he saw, wanted to see, and experienced first-hand. The guy had a weakness for dim sum and after a few pieces of carrot cake and char siew buns, he gave us answers that opened our eyes.

Over lunch, we sat down with Neo Tao You and grilled him on what he saw, wanted to see, and experienced first-hand. The guy had a weakness for dim sum and after a few pieces of carrot cake and char siew buns, he gave us answers that opened our eyes.

What’s the DOAU community like here in Singapore?
Well, we’re pretty much a tight-knit bunch. There are about 10 of us who are really hardcore into the game so far and look out for each other when we go online. We always watch out for more up and coming players though – never know who might be the next big thing to knock us off the top spots.

How did you practise and perfect your skills for the DOAU Singapore championship?
I just played online against as many players as I could. I’d win some, then lose some and learn each time. Eventually I started winning more than I lost and that’s that. I always knew I wanted to be competitive in DOAU. From ‘Day One’ of buying the game, I tuned the in-game settings to maximum difficulty and when that lost its ‘kick’ the only option for me to improve was to go online. *Ir0nMaiden (a fellow player) got me into this game and *Bigheadedtetra (probably my toughest ever local opponent) kept me on my toes right up to the competition. Yeah, if you want to improve, stay away from the computer opponents. Pick fights with humans!

winner of singapore -Neo Tao You
What's the DOAU community like here in Singapore?
Well, we're pretty much a tight-knit bunch. There are about 10 of us who are really hardcore into the game so far and look out for each other when we go online. We always watch out for more up and coming players though – never know who might be the next big thing to knock us off the top spots.

Winner of Hong Kong, Singapore and TaiwanWhich character did you select for the DOAU Finals?
I chose Lei Fang. No it wasn’t for the fact that she was a ‘hot chick’. I do play the other available characters too. I just felt comfortable with her moves and the balance between her ‘speed’ and ‘high damage output’. Her Tai Chi moves are also graceful.What was it like getting to know the other DOAU competitors at E3?
They were a fun bunch. One of the Japanese competitors, Ryuichi, brought his own Xbox set to practise with and we all ended up at his hotel room to join in the fun and games, and to warm up.

He impressed us all with his skill. I mean, he chose the (supposedly) ‘weakest’ character to use in the competition and he kicked butt! I don’t think anyone left his room without having gained a huge measure of respect for him. Oh, and on the flipside, Carlos, our Mexican competitor, was the most fun guy – always cracking us up and keeping us laughing. In the end, all 7 of us exchanged emails and MSN addresses. In fact, I just finished playing online with them a few hours ago!

winner of all regions

See anything at E3 that caught your eye?
No big surprise, but the one thing I saw that blew me away was the trailer for DOAU4. I think we were all stunned when we saw some of the moves they’ve put into the game. There was this typical opening fight and we were already thinking ‘cool, better graphics’; but when Kasumi (one of the lead characters in the DOAU series) suddenly went Matrix-like and ran along the wall to blast through her opponent, our jaws hit the ground. I’m still trying to figure out how we’re going to punch in that move when the game arrives and you can bet that we’ll all be racing to be the first to spring that on our opponents later!

World Championship

So, we take it that you'll be picking up the latest generation of Xbox consoles and games when they next come out?
….. uhhh, YES… (gives us an incredulous look that makes us realise it probably was the world's stupidest question)

Do you have any expectations for the next edition of DOAU under development by Team Ninja of TECMO?
Well, I’d like to have lag-less gameplay, even with my opponents from overseas although that’s probably too much to ask. And perhaps the developers might consider adding ‘quest modes’, more advanced training modes and ‘career modes’. It would be nice to personalize my characters a bit more.

The final match-up featured the Japanese and the American competitors. What was that like? And how were the matches leading up to it?
I’ll begin with my experience at the Taiwan competition. It was…. SCARY! There were hundreds of Taiwanese there and you could feel they were all rooting for their local heroes. It felt good to make it to the finals, although I lost 2-0 to the eventual champion. He was too good on that day. It’s a pity that he was ‘cold’ at E3; probably needed a bit more time to warm up and he would have done a lot better.

At E3, the Canadian competitor couldn’t turn up due to some real-life commitments and DOAU creator Tomonobu Itagaki stepped up to take his place. Cool! Too bad he ran up against the American player and got stopped.

I was there for the final between Ryuichi and the American competitor too. It was so close and the American, leading at the start, looked like he was going to take it home. But Ryuichi came back with a blast and landed the grand prize in the end. Really nail-biting stuff.

Okay, away from the stress of competition then. What other Xbox games do you play?
Halo2, Fable, Sudeki and Star Wars Galaxies: Knights of the Old Republic

Okay, finish your food and answer us this one last question: What’s this whole experience taught you?
1) I’m an aggressive player who loves competition.
2) I like being on top of the game.
3) Now that I’ve won, I don’t ever want to lose anymore. Not even once.