Several people have asked me about Tekken Data Cards (or Tekken IC cards), such as what you can do with them, if can you switch characters, how often can you you get promoted, etc. Since I've had one for about 4 months, I decided to enumerate the advantages and disadvantages and answer your frequently asked questions.
And I'm sorry, I can't answer all your questons, I haven't bought anything with my the money I've earned or switched cards yet.
1.) You have about 5 designs to choose from, Bob, Leo, Miguel, Zafina, and a striped card with all four characters. The card (here, in the Philippines) is 170 pesos, which is about $3.50. You do the math.
2.) Once the character is selected, the card (or he/she, I'm not quite sure how to verbalize)is locked, meaning you can't swich characters. This may seem like a major disadvantage but it supposedly simplifies things. If you want to use more than one chracter and still be able to costumize him/her, simpy get another Data Card.
3.) The first time you use you're Data Card, there will be a list of steps flashed in bright letters on screen, so don't worry about it. Everytime you punch in your card the machine will clearly ask, "Do you want to use this card?" If you want to change your character's outfit, just press LK or RK when you say yes. Don't worry, it still works.
4.) You can also name your card, but don't expect to write the whole name in one punch. Because you have to buy, costumize, and eqquip and name(or in my case, rename) your card in 60 to 90 seconds, before the game starts. It took me forver to name my card "Eliza McForest" with perfect capitalization and spacing just because of that time limit. I was even "E" for a while, if that makes you feel any better. Oh, and Prikey also mentioned that the word "ish" will be censored as "???". I don't know why though.
5.) Most your money earned will come from two-player games. You get about 1000 G everytime you play against a person without a data card. It can go higher depending on wether or not the person you're playing against has a data card with a higher level. Everytime you loose a two player game, you get 400 G. You get 25 G for everytime you win against the CPU or against the machine and 50 G if you win against Azazel. I'm not sure how much you earn(or if you earn anything, for that matter) When you win against Nancy, sorry.
6.) There's also this unbelievably awsome bonus game that randomly appears after you win. It's a lot like a slot machine that multiplies your winnings by a much higher number. Luckily, I got to play for the very first time yesterday, and I earned about 50, 000! It's called Roulette, I think. [link]
7.) Your two-player-games wins and losses are recorded(and yes, only two player games).
8.) You get promotion chances every third, fourth, fifth or sixth two-player-game, depending on your wins and losses after your last promotion. You'll know ahead of time (and by ahead of time, I mean about seven seconds before) wether or not you have a promotion chance by looking at your ranking. If it's glowing, then the next match is definitely a ranking match. It may be a ranking match for one player but an ordinary match for the other, or even a ranking match for both.
9.) You buy items from the item shop and costumize in the item box. I suggest you eqquip them with weapons they can use against their opponent (if there are any for that character, and it's best to check here first [link]). The items themeselves are rather pricey, Sergei's Tear Gas is 200, 000 G.
10.) Each card has a play count. You can only use the card about 500 times before you have to switch cards. There's a certain method for switching, and I'm not completely sure how because I haven't switched yet, but don't worry, most arcades have detailed instructions.
I hoped that was helpful. If there's anything you want to add or correct or comment on, please do so, because this is a forrum/guide, after all.