Details here

Fellow GRAPSF members. It’s time for us to yet again march side by side into that great fight and take our places as the champions we know we are. Alternately, we could stumble into the darkness weeping in shame, but hey: we’ll do it as a team.

I’m speaking of Midwest Championships, of course. This is the midwest’s very own major tourney, and considering the successes we’ve enjoyed both as a community and as individuals in other tournaments, we owe it to ourselves to go. Two days of fighting game fun, surrounded by fellow enthusiasts, buoyed by energy drinks and shitty buffet food… It’s like heaven, if heaven smelled like a gym locker and didn’t let girls in. How can it go wrong?

The official thread on SRK is located here.

The event will be held on May 8th and 9th, which are Saturday and Sunday respectively. Hotel rooms are seventy dollars a night, which split between two people (or more, if you’re feeling saucy) is downright affordable. In the GRAPSF.com forums, you’ll find a thread in which plotting, wheeling, and dealing for the event may proceed: you have two whole months in which to prepare. Get hype, Pringles, Scoops, Blast, and all that malarkey.

In other news, Super Street Fighter IV has been confirmed at the long-rumored forty dollar U.S. price point on it’s release date of April 27th. Be aware that the game will actually be available for purchase on Wednesday April 28th, as the 27th is simply the date it ships. Unless, of course, you pre-order at the Gamestop on Wilson by Rivertown Mall, which is holding a midnight release event. Be sure to pre-order from SmurfTac0s, one of our finest digital pugilists and manager of said store, to ensure that you get a head start. That few hours may be important, as we’re holding a GRAPSF.com event on April 28th to celebrate. Details as they develop.

I know what you’re thinking. “What in the smoky ass fingering fuck is Capcom thinking releasing Street Fighter IV on iPhone”? I know that’s what you’re thinking, because that’s what I’m thinking too. After all, this is the device that’s capable of making both “Adventure” for the Atari 2600 and “Dragons Lair” for literally everything else unplayable messes. I’m sure a fighting game on a system without actual buttons will be awesome.

We have only ourselves to blame for this misappropriation of time and money, though. We’ll buy any goddamn thing with Street Fighter in it. There were five official Street Fighter II games, five official Alpha entries, three Street Fighter III installments, and somehow there is more than one Street Fighter EX game out there. How many versions do we need? Why did I buy “Fighting Street” on Virtual Console instead of something with actual value? Because Capcom knew I would. Game developers are, after all, inherently lazy. They only work when they have to. Instead of doing something useful, productive, and HARD, like porting TvC to a real console or getting started on that HD Darkstalkers game, they can quickly shit out a terrible, inferior port of their latest opus and make a quick buck. Shame on you, Capcom. I almost canceled my two pre-orders for SSFIV, threw out the Udon artbook and t-shirts I just bought, and melted my Blanka action figure with a lighter when I read about this iPhone business, but  I was already sitting on my couch eating potato chips trying to relax. You got LUCKY, Capcom.

In other news, Brian Crescente of Kotaku received a package from Capcom the other day containing a single blue boxing glove clutching a rose. Not a very subtle hint. In fact, it doesn’t even qualify as a hint, because they didn’t try very hard to  conceal their intentions. If PR stunts can be compared to clever innuendo and flirting, then Capcom just pulled their dick out and offered to let us suck it. Which I would do, by the way. I bought Fighting Street on Virtual Console, after all. Motherfuckers.

. .

In other news, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom releases this week, and I just happen to own two Wii arcade sticks. Coincidence?

Look forward to TvC casuals this Saturday at ULX: where the eyeliner and teenage angst rolls hard.

The Ranbat season is almost over folks, and despite appearances, I HAVE been keeping track of who got what when. Updates have been long delayed, mostly due to work and holiday commitments, but fret not: The results for the December 5th meet up and the December 19th meet up are listed below.

December 5th:

1) Aaron – 8
2) Hotsauce – 7
3) Chauncy – 6
4) G-Boobie – 5
5) Dro – 4
6) Singe – 3
7) Cuban – 2
Cakefarts – 1

December 19th:

1) Octopus On Fire – 8
2) Hotsauce – 7
3) Holdy – 6
4)Slappy – 5
5)Singe – 4
6)Chauncy – 3
7)G-Boobie – 2
Cakefarts – 1

Results for the entire season are now updated in the appropriate section, conveniently located to your right. Slappy is still the leader, but Hotsauce is very close behind him, followed by the ever incredible Smurftac0s.

Our concubines will have to live without the moaning and wild consolation sex, because GRAPSF.com represented very well indeed. In fact, we boasted players in top eight in two games, and five players in the top fifteen in Street Fighter IV. Even better, Drohouse turned heads with his fucking horrifying Zangief, breaking his way into the exhibition match that capped the evening. Only the finest digital pugilism was on display in that event, so congratulations for Dro are in order.

Many of these people will fail out before tasting glory. We were not among them.

The final placement for GRAPSF.com personnel are as follows:

Street Fighter IV:

Dro: 4th

Hotsauce: 9th

Slappy/Holdy/G-Boobie: 13th

Smurftac0s/Chauncy: 17th

Cakefarts/OctopusOnFire (Ben): 25th

Cuban Ace: 49th

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike:

G-Boobie: 5th

Chauncy: 7th

Tekken 6

Todd Bujack: 9th

Highlights include Dro being called a scrub for winning a match, Chauncy actually bringing Haagen Daz ice cream and Pringles, Hotsauce running some homeless dude over on the way to the tournament and messing up his tire, myself actually pulling off Oro’s grab super art in Third Strike not once, but TWICE in a row on Ghetto on the Rise, the utter worthlessness of the ‘employee’ running the counter in the school commissary, being annoyed by a laundry incapable Asberger’s sufferer for an hour while helping to run the brackets, and all the great new folks we played. These tournaments are more than just competition: they’re a meeting of like minded people, enthusiastically doing what they love together as a community.  It proves how much fun these games can be at the highest level, and I for one can’t wait for the next one.

Gaze ye upon the face of Holdy and DESPAIR.

Our regular ULX meetings and GRAPSF.com Ranbats will continue starting this next Saturday at the usual time. We’re taking a break for Christmas weekend, and possibly New Years. Details as they develop.

Congratulations to everyone who participated, and extra special thanks to AaronS who organized the tournament. Spending your own time and money to make sure that the people who love these games have a place and event to call their own is the finest thing a person can do for the community, and he deserves all of our thanks for making his first major something to remember.

(more video to come but I have to get to ULX now -- Slappy)

Carpools here.

Represent here.

From shoryuken.com:

Welcome to the first ever MICHIGAN MASTERS tournament!!!

The location has been updated. Take a look in the When and Where spot in this post. Also, check out the attached file to see the bracket for the exhibition tournament!

What
Michigan Masters is a Michigan regional tournament. As well as regular tournaments, there will also be a special single elimination exhibition tournament where the top 8 players in the state will face off against each other, winner takes all! I want this to be the best MI tournament yet, so bring all your friends, tell everyone you know about it, and get people from out of state up here!

When and Where
The tournament will take place in East Lansing, Michigan, on December 12th, 2009. It will be in Classroom 130 in North Hubbard Hall on Michigan State Campus (http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=Hu…01929&t=h&z=16) The doors will open at 11:00, and the first tournament will begin promptly at noon. If you are late, you can still be placed in an open spot in the bracket, but there will be a $3 penalty.

Games
Street Fighter 4 (360) – 12:00 noon
Street Fighter 3 (PS2 – 12:00 noon
Street Fighter 2 HD Remix (360) – 2:00
Capcom vs. SNK 2 (PS2) – 2:00
Melty Blood Actress Again (PS2) – 4:00
Tekken 6 (360) – 4:00
Guilty Gear: Accent Core (PS2) – 6:00
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (DC) – 6:00
Blazblue (360) – 6:00
Michigan Masters Exhibition starts – 6:00
Michigan Masters Finals – 8:00

Entry Fee and Prizes
There is a $5 base charge for all tournament participants. The money from the base charge will all be added to the prize pool for the Michigan Masters Exhibition. In addition to this, each game you enter will cost an additional $10. The game money will go into the prize pool for the game you entered. The prize pool is split 70% to 1st place, 20% to second place, and 10% to third place for that game. If 6 or less people enter a game 2nd place will get their money back, and 1st place will get the rest.

Rules
No button macros, no pausing, no turbo. For game specific questions, PM me.
Each tournament will be double elimination format. If 5 or less players are in a tournament it will be round robin instead.
SF4, BB and Tekken 6 will be seeded according to the Michigan Rankings. Players from the same town will be separated in all tournaments, so you won’t have to fight your friends right away.

Exhibition
The Michigan Masters Exhibition is an 8-man single elimination, winner takes all SF4 tournament. The top 6 players from the Michigan Ranking Battles will automatically be invited. The two remaining places will be filled by the best placing players in the SF4 tournament on the day of Michigan Masters. It is likely that the top players in the tournament will already be invited to participate in the exhibition. If this is the case, the top two players who aren’t already invited will be allowed to join. If a player in the top 6 can’t make it to the tournament, an additional spot will be opened up for players to qualify on the day. The first place player at the end of the Exhibition will be given all the money from the base entry fee ($5 per person), and possibly some extra money if I can find some. GET HYPE

After most everyone went home I witnessed ULX regulars Joel and Zack falling in love with Street Fighter, totally hooked so expect to see them learning fast in the near future.

In addition, many of our newer regulars made it back, becoming MORE regular (without any help from fiber), and we even played a little Smash for a change, which I love.

For me personally the highlight of the night was facing Sagat (hotsauce) while ULX staff (or was that Rock Band?) blasted “Eye of the Tiger” at full volume. That song is just so…. It should be played during every fight basically.

RanBat 1.5 results:

1st -- SmurfTac0s (8)

2nd -- Slappy (7)

3rd -- Hotsauce! (6)

4th -Mark (5)

5th -Cuban_Ace (4)

6th -Fred (3)

7th -Nora (2)

8th -- CakeFarts (1)

Rock Band Beatles was playing all night and now it’s stuck in my head…

Welcome back Dutch and Aaron who haven’t been around for a while, it was good to see you back!

Aaron was kicking ass and taking names as usual. Also was it my imagination or was OctopusOnFire really really really really on. More than usual I mean. Been training hard?

An important discovery was made today: ULX has a cappuccino machine. Nothing fancy but beats the heck out of a plain pot of coffee (and energy drinks imho). Drink up, they are just $1.00!

RanBat 1.4 results:

1st -- Aaron (8)

2nd -- Slappy (7)

3rd -- Haypultone (6)

4th -- OctopusOnFire (5)

5th -- HoldySnausages (4)

6th -- Hotsauce! (3)

7th -- Dutch0 (2)

8th -- Chauncy “Tru” Talon (1)