WCG Weekend

This past weekend Samsung Experience hosted the WCG Ultimate Gamer Q & A and the WCG Invitational. I was there for all three day, minus the few hour I was in Rockerfeller Center for the Punch-Out launch which happened that Saturday.

Friday was the the Q & A for the final 6 (Chelsea, Amy, Swoozie, Jamal, Robert, and Mark) plus Geoff, who got an invite to play Starcraft that weekend. Ultimate Gamer Host Joel Gourdin moderated the session. We got some good insight on what happened during the making of the show. I even got a few production "secrets" from the session. I won't mention what so I don't spoil whatever goes on TV. Afterward I got to chill with the cast, played some video game, and took pictures.

On Saturday it was official WCG competition with Vitua Fighter 5, FIFA 09, CounterStrike, and Guitar Hero World Tour. Plus Robert/Prod1gy X was going for a Guinness World Record for Rock Band 2. I was walking screen by screen to check out all the action. I even took in a bit of side play of course. Not only did Rob get the record, another teammate of mine Denkai won the VF5 event. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0MZV7MGjgI). At the end of the day Mark was rewarded his $100,000 check for winning Ultimate Gamer and Robert got his plaque for setting his World Record.

On Sunday it was Gears of War 2, Starcraft and Warcraft III. And there was also one last guest who got to New York. Mrs Violence! (Played Gears with her a few times. Good player.) She came just in time to see her closest castmate Geoff win the Starcraft event.

WCG Invitational was a good event. Can't wait for when WCG does another event in New York.

The Push for a Video Game Hall of Fame

The video game capital of the world is in ... Iowa?

There are many gamers, event the so-called "hardcore" ones, who don't know that Ottumwa, Iowa is the birthplace of organized competitive video gaming. But that became so when the original Twin Galaxies Arcade was established in the early 1880's and founder Walter Day started tracking high scores. Although the arcade itself is no longer standing, TwinGalaxies.com continues to follow score from games both classic and modern.

With video game history so deeply rooted in this small town, there is currently a push for a video game museum and a hall of fame to be built there.

Please find below the a few links about this very good cause. Please make sure you pass this off to your friends and spread the word.

Random fact: Ottumwa was the host of the first televised video game world championship, which was filmed by the TV show "That's Incredible."

Links

Facebook Group: Bring Twin Galaxies and Ottumwa the credit it deserves
MSNBC: Ottumwa, video game capital of the world?
Heartland Connection/KTVO3: Ottumwa: Video Game Capital of the World
Empire Arcadia: Forgotten Worlds
Twin Galaxies: Video Game Hall of Fame Movement Momentum

WCG Fighter Club

I was there for the entire WCG Fighter Club event. I have competed in all 4 game but didn't do well. I guess it was not my time. But trust me my time will come soon. It was nice to meet some gamers for CGS and/or Ultimate Gamer. It was a great experience.

Here are some links to some coverage and/or results.

SF4 Results
VF5 Results
SC4 Results
DOA4 Results

Empire Arcadia's Coverage of Fighter Club

WCG Fighter Club on YouTube

Figher Mania!

The last few days have been been quite hectic when it comes to fighting games, Street Fighter IV to be more specific. And the following days will only add on to the pandemonium.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Justin Wong won the GameStop Nationals this past Saturday. On that same day he had won exhibition matches against Pungko and Iyo but lost to his rival Daigo Umehara.

A few days ago WCG Ultimate Gamer contestant Ciji "StarSlay3r" Thorton announced in her blog that she would retiring from her specialty of rythim games to focus more on Street Fighter IV. She even became the newest apprentice of Bar Fights founder Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez. best of luck.

Today, both Justin Wong and Gootecks will speak to Slasher on Live On Three tonight at 7:00. Go to DJWheat.tv to tune in.

And of course, this weekend is gonna be big for NYC fighting game scene. WCG is hosting an event called Fighter Club at Samsung Experience. I would say a bit more but why when I can sow you this:



And yes, I will be competing in all four games.

A new big Wii game?

It looks like Nintendo is gonna working on something major for the Wii game. IGN says that GameStop was told to keep some shelf space open. I'm not sure of the last time game makers requested stores to reserve shelf space but it sounds like something monster.

I think the game will be from from one of three franchises in particular: Star Fox, Earthbound, or Kid Icarus. There hasn't been much of a Star Fox blockbuster since the one on Nintendo 64, but the characters could still be seen in Super Smash Bros. and the occasional sequel. There has only been one Kid Icarus game and it would be nice to see a comeback title. EarthBound is the only MOTHER game to reach the US (Japan has seen quite a few). Maybe that will change with this new game.

We will probably find out at E3. Until then, your guess is as good as mine.

Street Fighter IV Championship Mode

Let me introduce to you the best free video game update ever.

This Friday the Street Fighter IV Championship Mode will be available for both PS3 and Xbox 360. The most notable parts of the update are the online tournaments and the ability to upload matches between the top players. (Sorry red Kens, that doesn't include you. :P)

There are some differences between the updates each console it getting. The PlayStation owners can vote matches in certain categories while the Xbox users will actually get to download replay data to further analyze what the pros do.

Read some more about the updates at Capcom-Unity.com.

SFIV National Championship

This weekend GameStop held the finals for their Final for the Street Fighter IV National Championships. The winner: (surprise, surprise) Justin Wong. His skillfully played Rufus overcame a field of 16 regional champions.

But it does not stop there! After Justin won the national title he fought in a round robin with special guests Poongko, Iyo, and Daigo (yes, that Daigo). Justin and Daigo both have the best record for the round robin and would fight for the world title.

Justin tried hard to put down his rival but Daigo managed to taked down the Rufus that gave everybody a hard time.

For coverage of the event including pictures and videos you can go to http://www.kineda.com/justin-wong-wins-sfiv-national-tournament-and-daigo-wins-international-title/. I'm sure you will find out more info about what happened on Capcom Unity.