GamerNode: Columns - Rumble on the Walk: GamerNode at the Street Fighter IV Inaugural Tournament in LA

Rumble on the Walk: GamerNode at the Street Fighter IV Inaugural Tournament in LA

Category: Industry, Posted: 02/21/2009 at 02:59PM EST by Eddie Inzauto, GN Director

On Thursday, February 19th, hundreds of Street Fighter fans, gamers, and passers-by found their way to the packed courtyard in front of Universal City Walk's GameStop store in Los Angeles, CA to witness and take part in the company's inaugural "Rumble on the Walk" Street Fighter IV tournament, the first of thousands to be held at stores across the country.

In addition to a 64-competitior tournament played on eight Xbox 360 consoles, the final rounds being displayed on a two-story high big-screen display for all to see, the event also included a raffle for multiple prizes -- headbands, autographed copies of SFIV, and an Xbox 360 console -- a costume contest, a "Best Street Fighter Move" competition, and a martial arts demonstration.

_{The bracket}

Almost as soon as the event began, the tournament bracket was filled to capacity, as was a list of 20 alternates, just in case any of the first-stringers suffered from strained thumb syndrome or fell unconscious at the sight of their opponent's street fighting ferocity. Both groups were lined up behind security gates and could be seen chomping at the bit like ancient gladiators or modern day UFC fighters.

I spoke with the group at the front of the line, including Player #1, the first registrant, "Big Dre Dre." He told me that claiming those spots was "a mixture of being early and being on top of this s***." Unfortunately for him, being the first in line only meant that he got to play first...against a friend occupying slot #2. "They play in order. That sucks." Dre would much rather have used his "Ken Bizzle" skills to KO unknown opponents.

_{The first three entrants into the tournament, including quarter-finalist "Big Dre Dre"}

Once the tournament got underway, things moved rather quickly, grinding down to the top eight street fighters in what felt like no time. In the quarter finals, two of the four matches -- Dre's crushing Ryu-Ken defeat included -- saw players who were down two rounds to none come back with three straight KOs, advancing them to the semis. At this point, matches played out on the big screen, where every super and ultra combo prompted "ohs" and "oohs" from the diverse crowd -- even babies looked on wide-eyed.

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