On Friday, the day when the tournaments started, players walked into the Grand Ballroom of the Tropicana hotel, where the tournament took place. Inside, tables with TVs surrounded the room, half of which were dedicated to whatever tournament was taking place at the moment. In addition to that, three big screens were at the end of the room, ready to display whatever EVO staff wanted to show.
EVO ran this tournament one game at a time, first going through the pools and then going on with the Top 32 players of each game. Once the tournament got down to top 32, key matches were displayed on the three big screens for audience members to see. This was only a small taste of the EVO, as players got to witness some of the best players compete to advance towards the coveted top 8 spots.
BYOC and Side Events
{highslide}Evo08/img_0626.jpg&captionText:'Players around casual session in BYOC.'{/highslide}
The Bring Your Own Console (BYOC), area is another one of EVO's trademarks. EVO provides players with TVs so that they can hook them up to their own consoles to play any type of game including, but not limited to: casuals games with other players, side tournaments, or even money matches. Money matches are a common practice in the competitive community where two players, usually with some history between them, play it out with money on the line. Aside from Sunday, when the top 8 for all games would be shown on the big screen, this is where the excitement usually lies at EVO.
At EVO, attendees get a chance to play with some of the best players in the world, or perhaps against long time friends they've met online -- for free. Or for more serious players, the BYOC presented a good opportunity to practice. Instead of relaxing and gambling, as most would do in Vegas, gamers could be seen playing against others to spar before their own tournament matches came up. For some, it could mean all the difference in their match if they discovered something new about the game.
The other aspect of the BYOC is the side tournaments. As mentioned, people who play certain games like GGAC or SC4, both of which were not present in EVO's lineup this year, will bring their own consoles and equipment to run a tournament using the TVs provided in the BYOC. These tournaments hold, in some cases, just as much merit as the featured events. The GGAC side tournament this year included talents such as ElvenShadow, an American Faust player living in Japan with a wealth of gameplay experience, and Nerina, a Japanese Baiken player who consistently places in major tournaments. In fact, the GGAC side tournament this year received more entrants than the featured T5DR tournament!
On the first two days, before the top 8 began, the hottest action were found in the money matches at the BYOC. That was where all the drama went down; whether people hated each other or just wanted to settle who's the better player - money matches decided everything. The atmosphere is just as tense as in a tournament; players are nervous and cautious, as there's often anywhere from $100 and up on the line. Much like a sporting event, there's often betting, too. Whether a player has friends or just others who trust his skills, there will be players willing to bet on him. That is often another source of excitement for the crowds: not only are they emotionally invested because their pal is playing - there's also money on the line.
Downtime
What do players do when they're bored at EVO? It's Vegas and they're in a hotel; the possibilities are endless!
Being that it's Vegas, the two most obvious things are to drink and gamble, and players definitely do those. Rather than wasting time in a weekend at Vegas on playing video games, some players will outright skip playing games most of the time and opt instead to go out to bars, followed by hitting the tables. It's as though they came to EVO despite video games, not because of it.
However, there's still a healthy amount of people who came for the video games. Even though the BYOC isn't open 24 hours, gamers can continue the playing after it's closed! Many times, players host casuals or money matches in their own hotel rooms into the twilight hours, dusk and dawn all the same, depending on how you view it. Many times, if players are busy during the day for tournaments or other reasons, this is a great chance to meet and play others. In fact, people were doing this before the tournament even started! On Thursday, when most of the players were arriving in Las Vegas, there were already posts online inviting others to their hotel room for either casuals or money matches.
Next-Gen Games
The biggest attraction to EVO this year are the four next-gen games. While Street Fighter IV was already out with an arcade release, the other games were still in location-test form. In other words, players got to try an unfinished form of the game before most of the world! as previously mentioned, players who got a chance to play the games also talked with Capcom and AkSys representatives on-hand to help improve the game. If you had a chance to go to EVO and play these games, you also had a chance to shape the final build of the game! This was an exciting opportunity for players and developers alike because players received a chance to preview an upcoming game while developers had an opportunity to refine and improve their games.
Aside from being there for just the players' enjoyment, the games also entertained spectators. EVO organizers and Capcom also held two 8-man invitational tournaments for Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Street Fighter 4. These tournaments featured some of the top players from other games trying their hands at these two new titles -- the crowds were actually in for a treat as players quickly discovered and exhibited both combos and gameplay tactics!
{highslide}Evo08/img_0702_f.jpg&captionText:'Street Fighter 4 Play Test'{/highslide}Some of the notable things showcased were death combos in Tatsunoko vs Capcom and juggles that moved into Ultra moves in Street Fighter 4. While these things sound like they break the game, they actually made the games more exciting to watch. In one of the matches for the grand finals of Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Justin Wong had almost taken down Arturo Sanchez. Just as Sanchez was about to lose, he made a comeback using Alex's 100% combo. The crowds erupted, seeing a comeback at this level of play. As for Street Fighter 4, a game that everyone felt was impressive to just see in motion, audience members were initially disappointed because the tournament players were playing it safe, using old, familiar characters. Boos filled the room until Kindevu and Wong gave in and chose the new characters Rufus and Abel respectively. From that point on, it wasn't about winning, but about exhibiting what this game was capable of. Both Kindevu and Wong showcased possible ways to combo into an ultra. It was deafening in that room when they pulled off those combos.
