This.
Evo was good this year, given the situation. The Tropicana wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, but broken elevators and long walk to the event hall sucked.
Also, lol @ saying it was in the ghetto when the original location was supposed to be the MGM Grand. I doubt anyone would say shit like that if it was held at the MGM, even though the MGM is right across the street.
I had a lot of the same thoughts, but came to a lot of different conclusions.
The main thing (and I won’t even really call it a problem, because IMO it wasn’t one) with Evo this year was the game selection. This is the last year for sure on at least 3 of the games picked and ALL other games might be gone next year also. I commented on this to a lot of people and it seemed like everyone was in agreement with me, but CvS2 this year felt like CvS1 finals at B5. It was a fun tournament and everyone who enjoys CvS gameplay was into it and had a good time…but that’s the last time a lot of us are going to play that game seriously. A lot of people felt the same way about some of the other games, too.
Because of this, it seems like the SRK/FG community is kind of in flux right now. A lot of the old games have gotten stale and the competition has stagnated a bit. A few of the non-SF/peripheral communities also weren’t here in force. The Tekken crowd didn’t come out in force, neither did the Guilty Gear crowd, both for different reasons. I was pleasantly surprised at how many GG people actually did show up, to be perfectly honest, but I know a lot of them were dissatisfied with their game not being official and just didn’t bother to make the trip.
I think this was the last year for Evo…for the old Evo that is. I think next year is going to have a considerably different flavor because almost all the games will be new and the competition will be fresher. The games are still evolving but the major questions, the interesting questions about the core games we’re playing (Marvel, CvS, 3s, ST) have been answered and in some cases have been answered for 4+ years. It’s still fun to play and still fun to watch because of the competition and how creative the current top players are, but really a lot of the games are stale and a lot of people just aren’t playing anymore. I can’t tell you how many conversations with people I had where it was like
"Hey man, you still playing?"
“Nah, haven’t touched Marvel since last Evo, I just want to beat someone this year and not embarass myself”
"Haha, same here! But I beat 3 people in a row at 3s so I’m feelin good again!"
So on and so forth. I guarantee it’s not going to be like that next year.
The best point made in this thread is that Evo isn’t a tournament for most people, it’s a reunion. For the majority of people, that’s what Evo is. How many people can show up to a tournament and really think “I’m in a position to win?” 10 maybe. For Marvel, there were probably 5 people who showed up thinking they had a shot to win the whole thing. Well…5 that weren’t kidding themselves. But a lot of other people entered Marvel (like me) just to play and have fun and talk some shit. That’s what Evo is to a lot of people.
Can things be a little more competitive? Absolutely! That’s what’s going to be so great about next year. When there’s a new game out, a lot of people think they have a shot. Mostly because the fight hasn’t been beaten out of them yet, but also because everything hasn’t been dissected and replayed over and over to death. That’s why I’m already looking forward to next year. It’ll be a tournament for me next year instead of 43 hours of poker and too much liquor (lightweight here). I think a lot of people are with me.
Also as far as the Trop goes, I may be in the minority and yeah the Trop is grimy. But being on the Strip is very very very important to me. The good thing about it being on the strip is that if you don’t like the Trop…you don’t have to stay there. You want to go somewhere classier, you can and you’ll only be a mile or so away. Hell, you could have done Mandalay Bay and been an optimistic walk away. Personally, I hope things stay on the strip next year.
I still had a really good time this year. I guess my overall point here is that Evo is different things to different people. It’s not dead yet and I’m 100% sure next year will be better than this one.
–Jay Snyder
Viscant@aol.com
Nice to meet you Philth, you stayed in my room the last couple nights. You are a funny dude.
I was not at this EVO, but not because of the Tropicana. I think that many are losing one of the main points of EVO, that is for fighting game enthusiasts to personally get together in 1 venue and play, enjoy and compete. I have been to every EVO since it was held in an auditorium in Pomona. People attended then and it was not about the money. It was not because it was held in a fancy hotel. It was fun in the auditorium as well as the hotel rooms and it was because of the people, not anything else. I don’t feel that comradre online.
My thanks goes out to Inkblot and the EVO staff for working extremely hard to make each and every subsequent EVO better than the last. Hell, go retro and have it in Pomona again next year. I’ll be there!
BYOC was fucking tight this year.
Seriously. I mean it could always have been bigger or been it’s own room or whatever, but it was pretty sick this year. A great Guilty Gear tournament happened (or at least so I hear; I wouldn’t be able to tell), XSF, a ton of SNK games, random Marvel money matches, CvS2/ST/3S casuals etc etc.
about the tropicana
a few people found out if you jiggled the door handle and give it a decent push any hotel door can pop open
had a lot of people paranoid about giving out room numbers/leaving their room unattended
I liked it. The only thing I really cared about was being in Vegas and placing higher than I did last year. I was in Vegas for a whole week and did better than I did last year. I was happy. I had some dumb shit happen to me over the weekend but can’t complain. By far the best Evo I’ve ever been to. All the new games to play really helped make things feel fresh and gave a sense of new life to the fighting game scene. 3rd Strike will never die though.
I can’t agree with this at all. I try to hit up as many big US tournies as I can and organize the GTASF to do the same. The cost of a road trip from Toronto to just about anywhere is $200 - $300. The vast majority of our guys won’t have a chance to win. If anything, our only shot is in 3S and Justin has managed to lock us down time and time again. The point I’m making is that from an International perspective, it’s far more worth the while to hit up say 3 - 4 US tournies/year that we all know we’ll have fun at but can’t win than 1 big tourney under the same premise.
It’s a major deterrent when I’m dropping 1K+ on a trip primarily surrounding video games. This was the first year that I could comfortably afford to go (keep in mind I do fairly well for myself making 55K - 60K per year) without thinking about the money at all. I was sadly unable to attend due to a freak medical issue but that’s neither here nor there. If the trip can have that kind of impact on someone who works full time, you can’t really blame the younger players who aren’t financially sound to step up regardless of price changes.
You enter what you can when you can but mostly you do what you can afford.
the ballroom is the same as any other ballroom. you get what you pay for in hotel room obviously. no one forced you guys to stay at the trop, hell, i wouldnt stay if it was free. but as far as evo goes, free sf4 for everyone to play? other new games free of charge? free food and drinks? gtfo if you are complaining. yes, $30 bucks does seem pricey but no one was crying when it was $20. if you paid $50 its cause you were a slacker, hell, i paid friggin $50 for registration and im staff basically. no one got a break period. evo was a success imo and crying about prize money is BS cause the people that are crying never make top 8 so thats a bad point. ballroom was fine, free food and drink was great, getting to play new games like SF4 for FREE is sweet. see you at evo next year. pz
at people ducking out of Evo cause they can’t turn a profit. Play an fps. If fighting games are work, you’re in it for the wrong reason.
smart man. people complaining about the 50$ reg fee are slack ass fuckers.
register now for evo2009; you know your dumbass is going so dont complain about it later.
i wipe my ass with $50.
in regards to staying at the trop - wiz said they needed to meet a certain quota at the hotels they book at - so my roomate pablo booked at the trop. i would imagine its win/win if attendees book at the same hotel as evo, since vegas hotels will start to realize what great business it is host evo (players are buying booze, gambling, eating, buying gifts, and so on), and will start clamoring to host us. but that’s only if we book at the same hotel that evo is at.
korea is different only in that gaming has become mainstream. hence sponsors are willing to drop huge money. as a result their tournaments are televised, epic, have commentators, top gamers have groupies, etc…
in the US, its not mainstream. not to get off topic or get banned by septimus, but the reason i really love the wii is because it has helped in a huge way to make gaming popular with non gamers. now you have literally the whole family playing games, whereas just a few years ago the gaming demographic was young males age 13 - 30. all we need are a few more awesome consoles like the wii that legitimize gaming, and then sponsors will start taking gaming seriously. the money, and awesomeness, will follow naturally.
I thought Evo the tournament was really great this year! I had a good pool in CVS 2, that Ponder (or inkblot, I can’t tell them apart) ran really well. All the pools and semis were organized well. Another strong point is evo was really great about catering to the needs of the unofficial tourneys GG got two tvs to themselves for their tourney’s which was a big help and the staff was really great about announcing everything over the loud speakers.
Also has everyone has mentioned having SF 4 there for freeplay was amazing. There was no problem with the lines after Keits and Murphagator implemented their badge system and then myself and others spread it around to the other consoles. (people leaving random shit on multiple machines was fucking grimey) I had soo much fun playing and talking SF 4 with everyone.
The tropicana was really grimey though, we got booted to the garden rooms because they ran out paradise rooms. While these were really close to the exhibit hall, and they did up us to a suite this place had the smallest bathroom ever as well as no refrigrator! Not cool. I will say the catering was a nice touch even if it was a bunch of junk food.
It would have been so great to be at the MGM that place just had a much nicer feel to it. I say next year we get a slightly nicer hotel to stay at. That would be boss.
Overall I just want to reiterate that I am way happier this year than with last year, and I think the biggest difference is that online registration made this shit run quick and effecient and CVS 2 got to be 2 out of 3! Thank you so much Evo staff!
uh, yeah they did.
I hope that Evo can be held at a different location next year, most preferably away from strip prices and with elevators/AC that works. Strip prices were bearable but playing casuals in rooms became too uncomfortable to deal with in the heat and having huage waits for the elevators while also having the main hall so far wasted an amazing amount of time.
Those things aside, this Evo could not have been better aside from holding GG as an official event! Really looking forward to Evo2k9.
I think this year was a real transition year just because of the fact that the core games are getting stale and a lot of us are just waiting on the new games.
Before SF4 was announced, I really felt like improving at Marvel and CVS2 because the future of fighting games was so bleak, but now that I know I have options coming up in the future, I can comfortably drop those games because I’ve got other games to play, or at least will be able to play. I think the following years will look really different with new people coming in, and Marvel and CVS2 players quitting, I just hope we don’t get a bunch of really young animu fags.
I really really appreciate all the work the organizers put into the event, but I think the biggest problem has been console, which can’t be helped. The obligation to bring your own stick sucks because assholes are wandering around like fucking gypsies waiting to snatch up a new stick, and if you happen to play Brawl, you also have to carry a nunchuck. I was there since EVO2k2 and it felt way more formal, sitting Indian style on the floor with your own stick feels a bit like a casual get-together. Arcade won’t be coming back I’m aware, but man I wish it would. It’d bring out some top Marvel players and there wouldn’t be the need to salvage Dreamcasts.
My feelings for evo are kind of mixed. First off, im a very casual player, I live 5 min away from FFA and goto FFA whenever I dont have anything to do, but I do very much enjoy watching high level matches. I dont take this fighting game stuff too seriously, but having lived next to FFA for the last 20 years, its in my blood. So for the last 2 years ive went to evo, cause I like going to Vegas, I own a place in Vegas, so evo is an excuse to goto Vegas for me.
This year was probably better than last year because of free food/drinks and new games.
But the thing that killed me was the fucked up schedule, and the fucked up staff.
Like I said, I dont really care about this tournament stuff, but if I can watch it, so be it. I dont know who decided to put CVS2 at 9am and 3s at 1am. Im in Vegas and I party, I didnt get up until 4-5pm. The two games I wanted to see were already over. My buddies who are the same as me, had to wait until late night to watch his MVC2. The MVC2 schedule is fine, but why put 3s at 1pm, that should have been way later, (I did watch the end of 3s, and thought, fuck I should have just slept, I quit 3s, fuck Chun.) Last year wasnt Tekken and some other crappy game 1 and 2 in schedule?
And the staff… I dont have internet access at my condo, so I couldnt look it up online. I went Sunday to try and get a schedule, but couldnt find one besides a sheet of paper that I couldnt take. WTF? How is the schedule not posted anywhere.
Anyway, ill prob never goto evo again intentionally. If I happen to be in Vegas next year while evo is going on, I might as well check it out.
sorry but thats what we’re gonna get
anime crap in general is becoming more and more mainstream as time goes on
and fighting games have become a genre by japan, for japan
when arcades were big you had apoc discovering SF by accident during the course of his rap battles, but there’s nothing like that nowadays. LAN centers are the closest and that shit’s nerd central
Not really.
We just got discounts for staying at the tropicana. It wasn’t a requirement for attending Evo. All the staff did was try to make it Evo as a whole more accessible to the players. So they negotiated and got us deals on the hotel rooms, which they didn’t even have to do.