Sega begins Puyo Puyo Boot Camp to help bring eSports into more Japanese high schools

A place where kids can learn their power chains from their stairs.

The other day when I came home from work, I was shocked and appalled to find that my kids had failed to stack all the items in the pantry in groups of three by color with one or more items of the same colors slightly adjacent but not touching! I must have yelled at them for 40 minutes about this but they just kept giving me blank stares, and when I asked them if they even knew how to GTR, they looked at me like I was the crazy one.

Clearly, I have failed them as a parent, and there was only one thing that could fix these out-of-control kids: boot camp.

▼ Puyo Puyo Boot Camp that is!

As luck would have it, Puyo Puyo illiteracy is a problem that the game’s creator Sega has been hard at work tackling. Last year, they set up online courses in game programming using the actual source code of Puyo Puyo as study material. Not satisfied with that alone, they’re also bringing the games right into schools across the country.

Puyo Puyo Boot Camp is a program in which Sega will partner with accepted schools to set up an official Puyo Puyo eSports team. All the bells and whistles are included too, such as uniforms, the previously mentioned programming courses, as well as prefectural and national high school championship tournaments.

▼ Lessons include stacking fundamentals, as diagrammed below, which reminds players to keep their eyes on the upcoming puyo rather than the puyo already in play.

In addition, members of the team will receive online coaching and guidance by professional Puyo Puyo players, and upon completion of the program they will also be eligible to obtain a Japanese eSports Professional License from the country’s governing body JeSU.

▼ The Puyo Puyo Boot Camp Coaches: Hisyachu, Live, Kumachomu, and Kuroro

Last year, 850 students from 61 schools took part and Tokyo Metropolitan Nerima Technical High School was crowned the reigning national champion at the 3rd Puyo Puyo Future Cup. Applications for the upcoming term are being accepted until 10 May, after which a maximum of 50 schools will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.

▼ The Puyo Puyo Future Cup

Lectures cover both practical and theoretical aspects of the game, from proper controller manipulation to the logic of stair stacking chains and the famous GTR technique. Professional players will also provide one-on-one coaching and adjust the lessons to match each team’s skill level.

Sega says that the goal of the program is to promote the growing trend of eSports and help young people realize their potential through competition and self-improvement. Students who have went through the course said of their experiences: “Before I couldn’t chain, but now I can do up to five chains,” and “My knowledge of turnarounds has improved.”

That’s exactly the kind of dedication and spirit I want to instill in my own kids, so hopefully Puyo Puyo Boot Camp will make its way into their schools.

I’ve already tried feeding them cheese beef bowls every day, but that didn’t do anything. I really have no idea what that Yakuza guy was talking about.

Source, images: PR Times
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