T-ono: First of all, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. We really appreciate it. Why did EVO switch from the Tropicana to the Rio?

Cuellar: We are always looking for new places in Las Vegas to hold Evo, and with the World Series of Poker being a huge hit, and even involving some of our players, it seemed to be a good combination for Evo and the Rio to work together.

T-ono: How did EVO come to a partnership with Gamestop and Capcom this year for the National Street Fighter IV Championships?

Cuellar: Evo is now a worldwide sensation. Lots of companies know about the craziness and excitement we bring to the table, and want to be a partner with us. Capcom had worked with us for a few years, and thought it would be a great fit to be involved in the Gamestop-Capcom-Evo National tournament. Since Evo is the Authority on video game tournaments, it is no surprise that we got partnered up.

T-ono: Why was there no screening for Bang the Machine this year? Some felt that it would've been great, considering the bigger turnout EVO had this year.

Cuellar: With the release of Street Fighter IV (SFIV), our schedule was incredibly packed this year, and quite frankly there was no time to hold a screening. We do want the fans to watch the history and nostalgia, but we have to have time to show it, and this year was out of the question. possibly in 2010, we will see a return midnight showing of the movie.

T-ono: How did the EVO organizers reaction to the large registrations for SFIV? Specifically once it passed the 1000 mark.

Cuellar:Being the largest Live tournament, we knew with the numbers SFIV was putting up in the retail market, we were in for a massive following this year. From the beginning we had to plan for a massive tournament, and the possibility of having a 1000-1500 man SFIV tournament. Our planning paid off, as we did hit that number and the planning process went well. Our execution of the tournament was incredible as we ended most days ahead of schedule.

T-ono: Did you guys ever expect this to happen when SFIV was first announced?

Cuellar: With Capcom bringing the game out after a 10 year hiatus, we knew the possibility for a huge following was inevitable. Shoryuken.com was flooded with a crazy amount of users, and caused our database and server to overload. At that point we knew we had a monster hit, and we were ready for exciting times ahead.

T-ono: Tony "Ponder" Cannon noted that Devastation had too many delays due to working too closely with the stream, sometimes even pausing a tournament match. What did you guys do to ensure that the tournament ran smoothly despite the stream?

Cuellar: We let the tournament run the same way with or without the stream. Early on we had a few problems and the stream crashed. While we fixed that, we didn't stop the tournament in any capacity. The tournament needs to always run on schedule, and the stream can cover whatever matches are played without interrupting the flow of the tournament.

T-ono: Why were there four people qualifying out of each pool in SFIV instead of two?

Cuellar: When we made the decision to allow the top 16 finalists from the Gamestop tournament to have a bye in the semi-finals, this made our semi final bracket have to move up to 128. To avoid a massive amount of byes, we had to up the number of qualifiers. 24 pools was the number of groups that would have to be active to run a 1000+ man tournament, so taking four from each gave us 96, + 16 gamestop finalists, and other qualifiers, bringing the number extremely close to 128.

T-ono: How did you guys go about choosing commentators?

Cuellar: Over the years, we had added live commentary for finals day over the house speakers, so we knew who was good and who knew their stuff. Their voices were all over the DVD's as well, so we got a good glimpse of what certain people can do. We asked them to come back and commentate and they were all happy to do so. We also had guest commentators all weekend, adding the spice of the stream.

T-ono: Also, why was there no live commentary this year?  And was there a particular reason why we have the live DJ?

Cuellar: There was some, but not as much as we had in previous years. We were worried about the reverb in the room going on to the stream, so it was toned back quite a bit. As we progress next year, we will figure out how to do both and we expect to see a return of live commentary and stream commentary simultaneously.  The live DJ was brought in to have beats played during downtime. We thought it added spice to the event, and even spawned a impromptu dance off with Jason Cole.

T-ono: Personally, what kind of niche game would you want to see in tournament on the big screen?

Cuellar: If it was up to me solely, I would love to see a game like Killer Instinct up there or War Gods, but Catan would be a awesome tournament game for EVO 2010!

T-ono: Other than Street Fighter III: Third Strike, are there any other games that are cut next year for sure?

Cuellar: Nothing is ever 100% cut off of the roster. Third Strike was cut off of the 2000 roster, and made its way back into EVO 2003, so anything is possible.

T-ono: Also, are there any games you guys are looking at to either replace Third Strike or any other game on the roster?

Cuellar: Our determination is based off of a lot of factors, none of which we can disclose. Every game with a fighting game scene is considered, so be on the lookout for new games next year!

T-ono: Finally, do you have any comments for the fans and supporters of EVO?

Cuellar: Keep the scene alive by coming out and supporting EVO year after year. We can only get bigger with everyone's support, so make sure to visit us in Las Vegas!

T-ono: Thank you for your time.