EVO2016 — Kinda Geeky

Evo 2016

I would like to start off this first article by thanking you readers as well as all supporters of KindaGeeky. As the Gamer Geek, I focus on all things video games and any events related to whether it is a convention or tournaments I attend. My goal is to immerse you, the audience, to embrace your inner gamer/geek and to explore not only the stuff that interests you but the avenues to express them proudly. For example, I myself am a cosplayer, the media that I cosplay the most obviously are video games like League of Legends, and since then I’ve gained more confidence as a person since I allowed myself the opportunity to express my love for a game I enjoy playing so openly. From there, I took to travelling to other conventions on the west coast and at some point even went out of the country.

EVO, also known as Evolution or Evolution Championship Series, is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, fighting game competition in the world. Located at my childhood hometown Las Vegas, Nevada, I ventured out there to witness one of the most hyped events of the year. Las Vegas is the ideal location for a weekend full of good times. Although the dry heat was close to overbearing, it didn’t stop the gamers from keeping their cool as they battle each other for the title.

The games that featured this year are the traditional arcade games like the crowd favorite Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken, BlazBlue and Marvel vs. Capcom; as well as console fighting games such as Super Smash Bros. Melee, and introducing the new fighting game that was recently released Pokken Tournament (a unique, badass fusion of both the popular Pokémon and Tekken’s fluid 3D animation). This event is unique due to the fact that the convention is held in two different locations: the first two days of the three day weekend being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and the finals for Melee and Street Fighter V (the tournament the audience are most excited for) are held at the Mandalay Bay hotel and is so popular that it is even broadcasted on live television on eSports (Electronic Sports).

Both locations are set up in a way as if you are sitting in a stadium or an open-spaced theatre. The preliminary rounds and semi-finals held at the LVCC is held up in such a way with three enormous screens that shows live play and commentary of the games. Surrounding the audience are the participants of the tournaments themselves with their own 4-by-4 seating and customized Fight Pads (the six button panels with the stick you see on arcade consoles) battling it out for the coveted trophy. On the far side of the center are the booths that hold various merchandise of the featured games, I myself indulged in a SF poster signed by the artist, a Pikachu hat, and several shirts. There were even some cosplayers there, the most famous being the lovely Vampy Bit Me, world-renowned for her amazing costume designs and love for old school arcade games, and the ever awesome BaneintheRain, a fantastic conbuddy of mine known for his striking resemblance to Christopher Nolan’s rendition of the supervillain Bane from the Dark Knight Rises. In addition to this list of celebrities, there were gamers from all over the world who gained their fame from being the best at laying the beat down in arcade/fighting games such as Gamerbee (Bruce Hsiang, Taiwan), C9’s Mango (Joseph Marquez, USA), Daigo (Daigo Umehara, Japan), Fuudo (Keita Ai, Japan), Long Island Joe (Joe Ciaramelli, USA), and winner of 2016’s SFV tournament Infiltration (Lee Seon-woo, Korea).

The tournament itself, the main course of this mélange of entertainment, is exciting to indulge in. Now when I say exciting, I don’t mean it’s like walking into a club or a party, it takes on a more chill setting where geeks alike gather and enjoy friendly competition like sitting down and watching an action-packed movie or a game of football. You would think staying on your butt for days on end would be a boring pass time, but when you see just how determined these players are and how immersed the viewers are, you can’t help but feel their energy motivate you to invest your interests in these games. If you would like to learn of these events, these games and their highlights, as well as the participants and celebrities I’ve mentioned previously, feel free to click on the links below. If you’re also interested in investing in your own fight panel and play in tournaments such as these, I highly recommend checking EVO out first and get the firsthand experience of what defines friendly yet exhilaratingly intense gamers’ competition.

EVO (Evolution Series Championship):

· http://evo.shoryuken.com/

· http://www.redbull.com/us/en/esports/events/1331804493914/evo-2016

Infiltration

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSEDmC6rp0k – Final Round Victory

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70R79cKfsk0 - Interview

Daigo

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwRHNwEpU_8 – Daigo Complilation

Gamerbee

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFQJkyfmN-o – Gamerbee vs Oil King

Mango

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_xH1Tma0O0 – Mango vs Mew2King