Jan 19, 2011

Grand Finals from Brawl Doubles - Joker's Monthly #20

This was an epic grand finals between Iowa's own Joker and PCity (losers) vs Kansas' Fino and 4rce (winners) that went two sets. Iowa takes back the title after a long drought. There was even drama during the tournament that I'll detail later. Game 3 of set 1 was lost. Enjoy the videos after the break. Or if you don't want to watch them here, I've arranged all the videos in a convenient playlist.

Set 1


Jan 18, 2011

Joker's Monthly #20 1/15/11 - Des Moines, IA - Full Results

Brawl Singles (30 entrants) Bracket


1(Split): Cook (Olimar)
1(Split): Fino  (Olimar)
3: Nicole (Peach)
4: Nappy (Snake)
5: Brezzy (Ganondorf, Falco)
5: YoshQ (Luigi)
7: TMACC (DDD)
7: Joker (Snake, Marth)
9: Rob
9: Amarze
9: Moe
9: Fource
13: Mushroomring
13: Ironhand
13: BPOW
13: Silver
17: JBM
17: Gamegenie
17: Mook
17: Zeal
17: Triple R
17: Soran
17: Trent
17: Ndrl
25: Aura
25: NGamer3k
25: Hills
25: Twink
25: Rockstar
25: Wang



Brawl Doubles (10 teams) Bracket
1: Dirdy D / 515 / DMI (Joker / PortCity) (Snake + Diddy)
2: Fulltiltbrawler.net (Fino / Fource) (Olimar, MK + Diddy)
3: Fino Is a Douche. (YoshQ / Moe) (Luigi + MK)
4: Minnesota's Finest (Amanze / Nappy)
5: I Hate My Teammate (Nicole / Cook)
5: Team 69 (CBK / TMACC)
7: RRR / Breezy
7: QWOP (Brandon / Greg)
9: Twink / Mook
9: Wang / Spoge



Melee Singles (21 entrants) Bracket
1. (Split) Ironhand/Tyser (Random)
1. (Split) JBM (Falco, Marth)
1. (Split) Mexi (Falco)
4: Majoras (Samus)
5: Moe (Falco)
5: Triple R (Kirby)
7: ULi (C. Falcon)
7: Amanze (Samus)
9: Joker
9: Nappy
9: Tmacc
9: Rob
13: Breezy
13: MushroomRing
13: GameGenie
13: Nicole
17: Zeal
17: Fino
17: NGamer3k
17: Mook
17: Twink



SSF4 (8 entrants)
1. Grog (Honda, Blanka)
2. NGamer3k (Sakura, Rose, Ryu)
3. the SPRINKLER (Gen)





Jan 15, 2011

Joker's Monthly Today!

Short update today folks. I'll be leaving for the tournament in three hours. It's looking to be HYPE! This is the return of Joker's Iowa Smash Monthly after a period of about three months without one. We have a number of excellent players confirmed to attend this one including: Nicole, Tmacc, and Cook from Missouri, Fino and 4rce from Kansas, Moe, Nappy, RRR from Minnesota, and of course Iowa's own Joker490Frozen. This tournament will also be slightly different as singles will be run first whereas traditionally doubles is run first. This alteration allows Iowa's best kept secret, PortCity to enter doubles and throw down with the rest of the competitors. Side events will be SSBM (the last Joker's for Melee) and SSF4. I'll be back with results and a tournament diary. Ciao.

Jan 13, 2011

Arcana Heart 3 Released to Consoles in Japan Today

It's been a long time coming for fans of Arcana Heart games to get a decent or even playable home port of the series for a quite some time since Arcana Heart 2 suffered from hideous lag and slowdown issues. Released to PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan today, Arcana Heart 3 makes its splash on today's modern consoles. With Arc System Works (responsible for Guilty Gear and Blazblue) handling the console release this time around should ease any fan's worry of history repeating itself.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Arcana Heart is a fighting game series that features a roster full of girls. What further separates itself from other fighters is after the player makes a character choice, the player then chooses from an extensive list of unique "Arcanas" that give the character different abilities. The series had a brief stint of popularity in the U.S. because of the lack of new fighters being released at the time, and players like Arturo Sanchez driving the scene.

I wouldn't be writing about the game if I wasn't interested. This is another series that has passed me by because of the fact I didn't own a PS2 for a really long time. I've always wanted to give it a try, but never had a real chance. And unlike many of those that populate the fighting game community, I don't discriminate against games like these just because of its roster choices. I wish I had a PS3 so I can play it. A stateside release is somewhat unlikely even though the previous games in the series were brought over.


Jan 11, 2011

Video from Midwest Final Round Qualifier in KC

This video comes from my most recent tournament showing for Street Fighter and Blazblue on the 17th of December. Losers bracket, third round. As you can see, I'm pretty familiar with Gouken. My opponent seemed to be just as unfamiliar with Sakura. Rape ensued.



For those curious, I lost to Honda in the next round. Good enough for a 13th place finish. Not bad, but definitely not up to my potential or given ability. I'm still getting used to tournament play for this game. In Blazblue I fared somewhat better depending on how you look at it. I finished 5th. My lack of experience in the game shown through in my losses. If only I could get more competition in the game. I'd have more to say, but I'm too far removed from this event to go into detail. Enjoy the video.

Jan 10, 2011

Videos from Mt. Mercy Casuals- SSBB - 1/9/11

With Joker's Iowa Monthly coming up in a week, Eastern Iowa's players met up for a Smash session to get ready. Here are the highlights of the night, featuring players like myself, Kuares, and Zephyros. Full playlist here. More after the jump.





Jan 6, 2011

Vintage NGamer3k SF4 Vids!

This is from my very first Street Fighter tournament in June of 2009. This should be a special treat to anyone who has seen my gameplay now and thinks I didn't once suck or take my lumps. I played on a pad back then and didn't know how to hit-confirm combos. I also jumped a lot.

Every once and a while, I watch these to remind me of my progress and how far I've come.



More after the jump...