My History of Maximum Tune, Throughout the Years

After giving spotlights to GeneRally and Turbo Sliders in most of my posts, let's twist the topic and take things differently this time, which you can tell by this post's title (YOU DONT SAY???)

Remember the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 cabs pic I posted in the previous blog post? Almost a month ago, these cabs stepped its feet at one of the farthest mall I've ever been weeks after its release; Puri Indah Mall. This place is totally new for me, and that I visited the mall in not only a sole purpose of looking at the shiny yet wasn't-turned-on cabs but also the mall itself.

Source: Matthew N @ an Indonesian WMMT Group

Weeks later, at an Indonesian Maximum Tune group, people who have waited for the cabs to be turned on stormed the now-activated cabs, and there were enthusiastic people who want to get their hands on the MT4, whose release unfortunately is delayed and that every Indonesian player speculated about how will one game cost considering its profit sharing system that most game centers here don't accept at first, which mall will get this cab set first, why it's delayed in release, bla bla bla. Countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Philippines, to name a few, had already have MT4 cabs way before we do.

YES, even the dev himself DON'T WANT to forget "funs" for Indonesian players!

As it is activated, we've got a catch: Our server is different than theirs; we have a localized server of our own, the same case with the Chinese MT4. That means you know we won't be able to race other ghosts from other countries unless Namco will integrate our server with the international one. However, this leads to an interesting fact:

3DX+ TRANSFER DEADLINE IS NOT IN EFFECT FOR INDONESIAN PLAYERS! Rejoice! Just because we got MT4 later than the other countries, it doesn't mean the 24 October of doom is applied to our server! :p

This means more time for the loyal Maximum Tune players in Jakarta (sadly for now...) to have their 3DX+ cards be transferred into a Banapassport which can support up to 100 cars! And this transfer is FREE OF CHARGE! Sans the Bana of course... :v . Currently MT4 is available at XXI Puri Indah Mall, which then Timezone's Mall Kelapa Gading branch follows after. Both cost up to IDR 10,000 (roughly a dollar) a play, and that's still promo price...

But what about me? I, who has raced MT4 cab ONCE, has a very long unique history of this game in general, from just casual plays at Cilandak Town Square in the first MaxTune, to starting out with a Bayside Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (R34) at Supermall Karawaci with MT2, to reaching 825HP within the days of MT3 and its subsequent sequels up to 3DX+, travelling at various malls where my parents took me, and eventually full tuned and full Dress-up it in my college years. But how I live through six years from my start? You sure know the story of how I play it the first time at Citos and how I start my own R34 at Karawaci from my previous blog posts, but how about the MT3 timeline chunk?

From 3, through 3DX, and finally 3DX+

(My memory is a bit fuzzy btw :shh:)

As MT3 replaced MT2, I, in the same ground as where I created my R34, transferred my card over, and played stories. Sadly I don't play much and had to lose with those who have more outrun stars and maxi coins than my car did. Furthermore, I can only play only on the circumstances where my parents took me to a mall with MT3 cabs, on weekends. You know that MT3 cabs are always awfully occupied and there are people standing behind the racing racers who are ignoring the "3 plays and you're done" rule in the game centers that they play more than three times. It's a standard in every game center, not just one. Furthermore, people just can't get enough in completing stories and battles...

To make things worse, most racers, if not all, who possess cards with lots of battle stars and coins are kids. Yes, KIDS, as in boys in their elementary age. Talk about the kiasu and sisu of those elementary kids, not just in mainstream Korean online games... Take note that Kiasu and Sisu, while they are both Singlish and Finnish respectively, mean almost, if not, the same; hate to lose.



In 3DX years, where you can Enjoy the Process in Hanshin Speed Ring of Osaka and Nagoya (!), I spent most of the time playing in Depok area. Plaza Depok is the nearby place in Depok that has MaxTune, with Depok Town Square and Margo City had a fair share of 3DX cabs before the latter has to be replaced by another arcade racer named Dead Heat. Again, I do ghost battles and stories as I reap on Dress-up parts and the full tune HP level of 825HP at a slow pace. Given the fact that every MT cab is occupied like hell that one can play more than three times and there are people waiting and there aren't nearby arcades in my home, I gave up. Not to mention there are times everytime when I'm in the middle of the game my parents phoned me to call quits on my session.

This also goes to my 3DX+ years. No nearby arcades, playing by shopping with parents or alone with transportation fares, cabs crowded by kids. Almost the same story, until there's, fortunately, a near place from my home which I posted a year ago as the reviver of my MaxTune career. In the same place, a year later, a tournament is held and I found out that it is a preliminary for a grand final which I cannot attend thanks to the staff's misinformation there. :(

As I go to the college, three places with 3DX+ cabs are present: Cilandak Town Square, Pondok Indah Mall, and Bintaro Plaza. One is pretty near from my college just by going straight and follow the road until Citos, one has so many 3DX+ cabs in different game centers, and one is... well, pretty near too despite it isn't as near as the first. Sadly, as the time progresses, the elimination game occurs and Cilandak has to be its victim, with most of its machines are transferred to Pondok Indah Mall. Bintaro Plaza is a pretty place where I could get battle mates to race with, but sadly my skills aren't a match for their RX-8s. As for ghost battles, I'm thankful I've got to revenge Bintaro ghosts despite sometimes I couldn't take them out at the first try.

This footage of full-tuned blue Skyline R34 is brought to you by the reflections that'll make you shit bricks :p

Finally, after years of playing, I've Fully-tuned my car to 825HP at Bintaro and Fully Dressed-up to Lv. 63 Dress-up at Karawaci. The last run has to be meaningful...

Boys and Their Rename Evo IXs and RX-8s

Seeing elementary-age kids racing here is a common sightseeing here...

And it turns out the majority of rank toppers in every MaxTune cab, not just 3DX+, are RENAMES. Yup, they are the ones with lots of stars, both big and small, and coins too. They come in with either tribal or flame stickers and inspection color finishes, sometimes works stickers also work, same thing for those with Namco and Pac Racing Club Man stickers. They've got more than 100k mileage, SSS Rank... they ARE EVERYWHERE!!!

I know that feel about the Pac-Man sticker...

You can nearly spot them in any 3DX+ arcade as they are common. YES, VERY COMMON! At first when I didn't aware them, I envy them having so many stars and coins. But now that I aware them, well... I tell you: stars and coins aren't everything, even the SSS Rank (albeit the traffic density difference). Sure you can buy them for a price as reasonable as IDR 100k+ and immediately hit the streets of Wangan up to IDR 5000 one run, alone, against a ghost, taking a store crown of a course, or against either Akio's Devil Z or the all-Skyline R200 Club for another loop, but you can't feel the same excitement and experience at the same time when you start from zero. Yes, you won't like it at first but hey, it'll give you a good run for your money!

There are also people with so much money who are willing to start from zero all the way to FT and FDU using all their hard-earned money and effort. This usually applies to workers whose hobby is THIS very game. :p

Back to Rename Kids thingy, there are, unfortunately, people who have so much ego as if they have played the game for a long time while in reality they just bought renames. Not just in Indonesia, but this kind of people are very common overseas, especially in places like Singapore where there are kids who go like "ME AM THE BEST LA!", "AM FASTEST LA!", "OH LA LA LA LA"... (expect some Reirom-speak said by them...)  Fortunately, this kind of rename kids are uncommon in Indonesia. In fact, I remember the time when I battle at Bintaro, a rename RX-8 kid shook my hand after a race.

Okay then, I don't mind having a grid of rename RX-8 and Evo IX kids but always remember that gentlemen's way of racing needs to be etched in their... no, every Indonesian... NO, EVERY MT RACER'S HEARTS!

What's Next for Me?

What's next for me as a Maximum Tune racer? With MT4 came and I have acquired my Banapassport, it's time to take my car(s) to the next level. Maybe the server is still localized Indonesian server, but who knows at the time MT4 is widespread in Indonesia and our server is integrated internationally, we can fight against international ghosts!

The fight continues in MT4: New Aero Parts, endless swarms of Dress-up Parts, 830HP of Full Tune, Japan Challenge (race against Japanese MT Players), Online Ghost Battles, New Ramming Physics, etc. It's the challenge to the world!

Active Cards:

- RENDY - Bayside Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R VSpec II (R34) - from MT2, FT (825HP), Full DressUp Lv. 63, Transferred to MT4

My main car for years. From MT2 to its FT at 3DX+ and later FDU, the car underwent hard times; there were times it won a tournament nearby my mall which turned out to be a preliminary for the grand final I missed thanks to a misinformation, and there were times I won and lost battles against rename Evo IXs and RX-8s. Its journey before transferred to MT4 was colorful, even though it's still B6 and has stars and Ghost Battle coins no higher than those of the renames. It is now transferred to MT4, but since the server is still local to avoid the transfer deadline, I won't give you this car's Ghost code yet.

- SF-RL - Red Nissan Fairlady Z S30 - from 3DX+, 10 Stories, DressUp Lv 1x

I created this car to replicate the same car that ran Safari Rally, which is why it took its name from that. It was created in Citos way before its closing. Ghost Battles were the first in priority since the Dress Up parts to replicate the car visually are simple sans the wheels with lots of spokes and black color. Its main purpose is to create a "Rally" car that isn't mainstream (e.g., Lancer Evolution models) btw.

Defunct Cards:
- McKey - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII - from MT3
- *RDX* - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (CZ4A) - from MT3

Both of these cars were made without a serious intention, and were not very active at all as I used my main car all the time.

~[R]