This page will be kept online for archiving purposes but will NOT be updated anymore.

The Traveling Circus

Please visit these guys at http://thetravelingcircus.net/. They provided amazing apparel at the tournament that people were dying to get their hands on. When we ran out of their shirts, you guys wanted more so we at ARK IV decided we’ll give you more.

If you visit their site (http://thetravelingcircus.net/) and comment below with your favorite shirt style (i.e. PHX – White) then for one lucky winner, we’ll BUY YOU THAT SHIRT and ship it to you FREE OF CHARGE. Throw in how much you like The Traveling Circus for bonus points . This is open to EVERYONE so even if you didn’t show up to the event, you may still win a shirt from The Traveling Circus on us! Find out if you’re a winner via our Twitter @ARKTourney! The winner will be announced one week from today.

Funimation

You guys know who Funimation is. Big thanks to Funimation for providing awesome swag that people really wanted. Big fist shake to EG. Justin Wong for taking the furry girl towel and the ninja girl wall scroll. Visit these guys at http://www.funimation.com/!

Verizon

These guys provided the Sony Xperia Play for our raffle. I don’t know what more I can say about them that you don’t already know, but Little Rock Verizon has been very supportive of the gaming community. With the help of the Arkansas Fighting Game Network, they’ve launched many events for gaming-related smartphones and I’m sure there will be more down the line. Please subscribe to our blog for more updates on gaming-related Verizon giveaways in the area!

Rebel Son Management and Entertainment

It’s likely that these guys will become one of THE premiere event and entertainment providers in the South in the very near future. They’re up-and-coming but trust me when I say to watch out for their future events. They’ll be partnering with us again for ARK V so Like them on Facebook here to keep up to date with what’s in store on that front!

Shadaloo.EU

These guys are the primary company behind our Twitter promotion and they have some SICK apparel and fight-stick related equipment. Check out their site at Shadaloo.EU and grab a stick-belt so that you don’t have to lug your stick around!

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition – 73 Entrants + $250 Bonus
Bracket
1: EG Justin Wong ($686.00)
2: ARK XI ($196.00)
3: Marn ($98.00)
4: Jakob002
5: Jan
5: GoL RanmaSama
7: ARK SolidxPanda
7: Handsome Blanton
9: Negro Justice
9: Vegta12
9: GoL Toi504
9: Crazy Clown LOL
13: Joshua Del Rio
13: PJS Cities
13: Yolo-Kun
13: ARK SmokeMaxX
17: Rubek’s Nube
17: ARK Ghost
17: Boom Cube
17: Toucan
17: Wootsick
17: Smallpox Blanket
17: Kinetik
17: Mr. Sagat
25: dlimited
25: Lan Di
25: Stanman
25: Dances With Ninjas
25: Just 10 Blaze
25: Exceed^
25: Ruthless_Brothaz
25: CV Snoooootch
33: Mr. Lee
33: Super Kenshin
33: Immortal
33: Triox
33: Mattikus
33: Drew
33: iam 3nigmatic
33: IB Industries
33: BLK Wolverine
33: DGA Boss Bishop
33: DGA Squabbler
33: J Cao
33: Kurumster
33: DUBH13
33: CCM
33: Momotaro
49: The Dark Phoenix
49: ARK Inebro
49: T-Boykin
49: Triggerhappy8935
49: Deleon
49: Tenindo
49: Dinkus
49: SilverShadow
49: Spoony
49: Iron McHard Steel
49: Envint
49: Sandbox Toby
49: Farren
49: Dax Man In Effect
49: GG Jamandy
64: Manuel
64: Grolarbear
64: Ice Cold Edge
64: Hullabaloo
64: M-town
64: Rawkusx
64: Supwichu
64: Kyoji24
72: Social Micro
72: Ugly Joe Camel

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Teams – 16 Teams
Bracket
1: Retards (Retards) ($168.00)
2: LA State (LA State) ($48.00)
3: Ark TO (Ark TO) ($24.00)
4: Gangbang Squad (Gangbang Squad)
5: 99 Hit Gumbo (99 Hit Gumbo)
5: Clint Dangerfield
7: South Arkansas (South Arkansas)
7: BlazGreen (BlazGreen)
9: 5 Zeus Slaps (5 Zeus Slaps)
9: DLL (DLL)
9: TTT (TTT)
9: Um Jammer Cammy (Um Jammer Cammy)
13: Tenindo (Tenindo)
13: Wilma Dickit (Wilma Dickit)
13: Team Broken (Team Broken)
13: 601 (601)

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds – 57 Entrants + $250 Bonus
Bracket
1: EG. Justin Wong ($574.00)
2: Jan ($164.00)
3: GoL Ranmasama ($82.00)
4: Boom Cube
5: GG Carnage Asada
5: Kurumster
7: Icy Martini
7: Rubeks Nube
9: Supwichu
9: J Cao
9: khaoz
9: Wrecktos
13: Mark
13: ZBT Afro MH
13: young
13: ARK XI
17: Wootsick
17: Immortal
17: takeurlife
17: tehflavor
17: DGA Gdlk Rushdown
17: Keys
17: Joshua Del Rio
17: Marn
25: T-Boykin
25: Seel
25: Vegta 12
25: ARK Inebro
25: Momotaro
25: desk
25: DGA Boss Bishop
25: ARK SolidxPanda
33: PJS Cities
33: Marsmj
33: Allen
33: ARK Ghost
33: Silvershadow
33: Fox
33: Mattikus
33: Triggerhappy8935
33: Vice Virtuoso
33: The Dark Phoenix
33: ARK | GBS Giovanni
33: Dr. Drew The Dragon
33: Tornado Jones
33: Darabidduckie
33: Animefreak
48: Fshy
48: Solidblake
48: ucacheer1934
48: Kyo
48: ARK SmokeMaxX
48: Tylerwoodz
48: RawkusX
48: porkchop
48: CCM
48: Sandbox Toby

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Teams – 10 Teams
Bracket
1: Retards (Retards) ($105.00)
2: Osmunds (Osmunds) ($30.00)
3: Louisiana (Louisiana) ($15.00)
4: Pandora (Pandora)
5: Niggaz Bleed For That (Niggaz Bleed For That)
5: Blazgreen Baybee (Blazgreen Baybee)
7: Trash (Trash)
7: 3 Star (3 Star)
9: T Boykins (T Boykins)
9: DGA FPC (DGA FPC)

Super Smash Brothers: Melee – 34 Entrants
Bracket
1: Icy Martini (Lee Martin) ($204.00)
2: Chamberlin ($102.00)
3: Zinth ($34.00)
4: Ace
5: Arby
5: G.Vice
7: Old Greg (Iori)
7: ihavespaceballs
9: VTS
9: Kyo
9: Cats
9: Howard Moon (Myztek)
13: Dr. Drew The Dragon
13: Yoshiman
13: Baki
13: The Saber Guy
17: Raven Knight
17: Scuddlefish
17: Wrecktos
17: Jartravious
17: TMan
17: Super Kenshin
17: Irish
17: Blulitskye
25: Ping Ding
25: The March Hare
25: Roke
25: scif
25: Eyese
25: Seif
25: Wangster Baiter
25: Llama Sensei
33: A-Messiah
33: Keys

Super Smash Brothers: Melee Teams – 14 Teams
Bracket
1: Slippery Whenever (Slippery Whenever) ($98.00)
2: Magical Unicorns (Magical Unicorns) ($28.00)
3: Undefeated of the East (Undefeated of the East) ($14.00)
4: Wild Bear Invasion (Wild Bear Invasion)
5: Old School Smash (Old School Smash)
5: Team Diversity (Team Diversity)
7: Irish & Scuttlefish (Irish & Scuttlefish)
7: Hitachiin Brothers (Hitachiin Brothers)
9: Salt Empire (Salt Empire)
9: Mi Casa Mi Casa (Mi Casa Mi Casa)
9: Crimson & Cats (Crimson & Cats)
9: Cookies (Cookies)
13: It Was Worth It (It Was Worth It)
13: Eyes & Saber Guy (Eyes & Saber Guy)

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition – 29 Entrants
Bracket
1: EG. Justin Wong ($101.50)
2: ThyAllMighty ($29.00)
3: Dest ($14.50)
4: Wootsick
5: Vegta 12
5: Guy in green
7: PJS Cities
7: jon waco
9: DLL Sodium Sam
9: J Cao
9: Silvershadow
9: ARK SolidxPanda
13: ZBT Afro MH
13: Crazy Clown
13: Fox
13: mr sagat
17: Triox
17: Envint
17: iam 3nigmatic
17: Black Ranger
17: Mattikus
17: The Saber Guy
17: CCM
17: Solidblake
25: Grolarbear
25: Marn
25: Tenindo
25: Seif
25: Lan Di

Mortal Kombat 9 – 25 Entrants
Bracket
1: EG. Justin Wong ($175.00)
2: Ice Cold Edge ($50.00)
3: eklectic ($25.00)
4: Tylerwoodz
5: Seel
5: GoL Ranmasama
7: T-Boykin
7: DGA Boss Bishop
9: Grolarbear
9: Admiral Pancake
9: Black Ranger
9: Flacko
13: Dero
13: Dr. Big
13: Keys
13: Supwichu
17: Kazuma
17: Guy in green
17: Swoop
17: Stoic
17: Mr. Extraordinary
17: Tenindo
17: Deleon
17: Iron McHard Steel
25: Triggerhappy8935

Super Smash Brothers: Brawl – 18 Entrants
Bracket
1: Lee Martin ($126.00)
2: Old Greg ($36.00)
3: Dis-gord ($18.00)
4: Fshy
5: Keys
5: YOSH
7: Minion
7: Axiom
9: TMan
9: Zippy
9: Hullabaloo
9: Vegta 12
13: Genocide 719
13: Antman
13: Andrew
13: Jak
17: Angel
17: Kyro

Super Smash Brothers: Brawl Teams – 9 Teams
Bracket
1: Magical Unicorns (Magical Unicorns) ($63.00)
2: Brony (Brony) ($18.00)
3: TXK (TXK) ($9.00)
4: Hot Sauce (Hot Sauce)
5: Chucolate Taco (Chucolate Taco)
5: Team GoL (Team GoL)
7: It Was Worth It (It Was Worth It)
7: IDK LOL (IDK LOL)
9: Hulabaloo-babear (Hulabaloo-babear)

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II – 18 Entrants
Bracket
1: Jan ($63)
2: Animefreak ($18.00)
3: Ant ($9)
4: Bloodwolfe
5: A-Messiah
5: Mark
7: Vegta 12
7: ARK | GBS Giovanni
9: Jakob002
9: Kazuma
9: Solidblake
9: PJS Cities
13: Seif
13: Dest
13: Jon Waco
13: Cirons
17: Sandbox Toby
17: Stoic

Mystery Game Tournament ??? – 35 Entrants
1: EG. Justin Wong ($87.50)
2: SolidBlake
3: dlimited
Child’s Play Charity ($87.50)

For Shout-Outs,

Well guys, ARK IV has come and gone, but I hope everyone had a blast (or at least, got BLASTED)!

We had almost 200 people at our event from just about every surrounding state except Missouri. We had several players from California and Texas fly in as well as other players driving 10+ hours just to participate in our tournament. We’re thankful for everyone that showed up and I sincerely hope that you found it worth it. Once again we had over $3500 worth of total pot money and the A.R.K. IV staff (ARK SmokeMaxX, ARK XI, and ARK_The_Amazing) provided $500 worth of bonus pot money for our participants.

Another big thanks to our sponsors and supporters including The Traveling Circus, Funimation, Verizon, Rebel Son Management and Entertainment, Shadaloo.EU, Borderland Games, Game On Athlete, Game Zone Alpha, Interrupted Gaming, Peaceful Jay Stream, ComboVid.com, and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network.

Online Stream- We independently verified with the venue that we’d have 2.0+ Mb/s Upload Speed (great for streaming). Due to a poorly timed natural disaster, the internet of the entire city was capped at 0.5 Mb/s Upload (barely capable of running a stream). This was beyond both ours and the venue’s control, but I apologize for the stream quality. To fix this for next time, we will be calling the ISP one week ahead of time to ensure that we are not capped like this again.

Late Brackets- We tried very hard to make sure brackets ran on time. Unfortunately they started late. We’re aware of the issue and have decided to do a pre-registration for ARK V. Those that register early will be eligible for a discount. Part of the problem also stemmed from being a community-run tournament that relies on community equipment. We didn’t have nearly the amount of setups that we were promised, so that set up behind as well. We are arranging for all set-ups to be provided by A.R.K. staff next time so that we don’t have this problem again. Also, I apologize for the Mystery Game Tournament. It started too late with only one set-up. This wasn’t a problem at ARK III and it won’t be a problem at ARK V, I can assure you of that.

Funky Bracket Seeding- We told Tio to attempt to seed by location. Next time we will force seeding by location and manually seed by skill. This way there is very little chance that you will be playing the guy you traveled 5-10 hours with in the first-second round. If that happened to you, I’m very sorry. We always seed by location first, but we had such great players this time that we wanted to make sure that they were separated.

Heat- Hard to control at a video game tournament but I hope it wasn’t unbearable. We’ve talked to the venue and know how to approach the problem for next time.

Overall though, I hope people were satisfied with our tournament. We learn from each one and we’ll only get bigger and better each and every time.

Oklahoma- You guys are like our little bros- smaller, weaker, and terrible with the ladies-but we still love you . Sorry we couldn’t own play you in the 5v5, but there’s always next time! Phil- DDR Money Match at ARK V!

-Unfortunately we weren’t able to show this at ARK IV, but a tribute video for a member of the local fighting game community, Forest “Solidus” Dayne Sharp was made by Susan Emberton. It is located here: http://vimeo.com/29259184. If you don’t know who Forest was, you missed out. He was passionate about what he loved and he was truly an amazing up-and-coming T.O. Forest was all about bridging gaps and was resilient proudly proclaiming his love for Smash even in the face of its fiercest haters. It saddens me that he had to depart from our world at such a young age. However, he will always be remembered in our hearts and we thank him for everything that he’s done and everyone that he’s inspired.

If you visit their site (http://thetravelingcircus.net/) and comment below with your favorite shirt style (i.e. PHX – White) then for one lucky winner, we’ll BUY YOU THAT SHIRT and ship it to you FREE OF CHARGE. Throw in how much you like The Traveling Circus for bonus points . This is open to EVERYONE so even if you didn’t show up to the event, you may still win a shirt from The Traveling Circus on us! Find out if you’re a winner via our Twitter @ARKTourney! The winner will be announced one week from today.

-We also still have ARK IV Shirts available! They are $10 locally or +S/H for out of towners. They look roughly like this: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/ometauru/ark4shirt.png but the image is slightly smaller.

-Preliminary date for A.R.K. V is sometime in early April. News on that will come shortly.

-ARK SolidxPanda has taken pictures of the event and they can be found at his album here: http://www.photobucket.com/arkivphotos

A.R.K. IV

Presented by Game Zone Alpha and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network

DATE AND LOCATION

September 17-18, 2011
At
Game Zone Alpha
620 West Main Street
Jacksonville, AR 72076
Game Zone Alpha – 620 West Main St. in Jacksonville, AR

CONTACT INFO

Email: Email@arfgn.com
Phone: 512 522 8563

UPDATES: 8-31-11

- A.R.K. IV is NOW Sponsored by Rebel Son Management and Entertainment (Refreshments), Inebro’s Amazing Adventures (Bonus pot), The Traveling Circus (Apparel), Funimation (Swag), Shadaloo.EU (Swag), Verizon (Swag), Monster Energy (Swag), Game On Apparel, Borderland Games, and Game Zone Alpha. We would like to thank these companies for their continued support!
- We are pleased to announce that Marn and EG. Justin Wong have confirmed attendance at ARK IV!
- ARK SmokeMaxX, ARK XI, and ARK The Amazing are sponsoring the bonus pot of $500 ($250 for MvC3; $250 for SSF4:AE).
- Official ARK IV shirts are on sale for $10 each! They will look very similar to this. Limited supply so reserve yours today!
- Half of the proceeds of the Mystery Game Tournament will go towards the Child’s Play Charity!
- 3rd Strike Online will be played on 360.

GAMES

- Super Street Fighter 4 (360) (Singles and 3v3 Teams)*
- Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (360) (Singles and 3v3 Teams)*
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Singles and 2v2 Teams)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (Singles and 2v2 Teams) – In memory of Forest “Solidus” Sharp
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (PS3)
- Mortal Kombat 9 (PS3)
- 3rd Strike Online (360)*
- Mystery Game Tourney (???) – Half (50%) of the proceeds that go into this tournament will be donated to Child’s Play. The remaining 50% will go to the 1st place winner.
- Plus MORE based on YOUR votes.

*Playstation Pad Users: We will have PS2 -> 360 converters (they also do PS2 -> PS3 and 360 -> PS3) available to buy at $10 or rent at $3 ($10 collateral required). These converters have not been thoroughly tested, so they are not guaranteed to be lagless. However, initial tests as well as anecdotes from Tech Talk and Youtube seem to suggest that they have no/low lag. Remember, bring your own PS2 controllers!

COST

$15 Entrance Fee. This covers the entire weekend. Included in the entrance fee are free pizza and drinks as well as unlimited casuals, thus it cannot be waived for spectators.
$5 Per Minor Tournament Pot Fee (3SO, BB:CS II, Mystery Game Tournament).
$10 Per Major Tournament Pot Fee (SSF4:AE, MvC3, Brawl, Melee, MK9).
$5 Per Person for each Team Tournament ($10 total per team for Smash; $15 for Marvel/AE).
$5 After-Party Entrance*
$1 Per Raffle Ticket – See Raffle Ticket section below

*There will be an after-party on Saturday night for those 21 and older. Admission will be $5 but we will bring the beer! Money matches, grudge matches, and team battles will be taking place all night and most/all of it will be streamed so don’t get blown up!

Prizes: All pots (except Smash) are split 70/20/10. Smash pots will be distributed at a 60/30/10 ratio.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

NOTE: Registration for each game will end PROMPTLY one hour before that game’s tournament begins. If you are late, you will be charged a fee to be added to your respective tournament(s) (provided there is room). Please add my phone number (512 522 8563) so that you may call/text me BEFORE REGISTRATION CLOSES to reserve a spot for you if you happen to be late for any reason. We are working very hard to make sure tournaments are ran ON TIME for ARK IV.

Saturday
12 PM – Registration BEGINS for all games
2 PM – Super Smash Bros: Brawl; Mortal Kombat 9; Super Street Fighter IV: AE Teams
4 PM – Super Smash Bros: Melee; BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II; Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Teams
6 PM – Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition; 3rd Strike Online; Brawl Teams
8 PM – Marvel Vs. Capcom 3; Mystery Game Tourney; Melee Teams

Afterparty (~Midnight)
There will be an after-party following Saturday’s events. Admission is $5, but we will provide the alcohol (21+ only) and entertainment. State-by-state and regional exhibition matches should be going down here. Because alcohol is involved, no minors are allowed into the building during the after-party. We are arranging for alternate plans for those who don’t want to or can’t attend.

Sunday
12 PM – Doors Open
1 PM – Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Top 16
4:30 PM – ComboVid.com SSf4:ae Combo Exhibition v.one*
5 PM – Super Street Fighter IV: AE Top 16

STREAM SCHEDULE

Saturday
2 PM: SSF4: AE Teams
4 PM: MvC3 Teams
6 PM: SSF4: AE
8 PM: MvC3

Sunday:
1 PM: MvC3 Top 16
4:30 PM – ComboVid.com SSf4:ae Combo Exhibition v.one*
5 PM: SSF4: AE Top 16

*The ARK IV crew is proud to announce that we will be premiering the ComboVid.com SSf4:ae Combo Exhibition v.one video at our event starring Snoooootch, Maj, Doopliss, Error1, Smileymike101, Pokey86, and lukeness monster. A teaser for this video is attached to the end of our trailer here.

DARABIDDUCKIE’S MODDING SERVICES

Modder DaRabidDuckie is Open for Business at A.R.K. IV! If you are interested in getting a mod, please post here so he’ll have adequate parts! He will be doing dual mods (PS3 <-> 360) as well as RJ45 mods on site. If you want Dreamcast or PS2 cables, with your mod, let him know so that he can stock up! If, for some reason, he does not have time to mod your stick at our tournament, he can take it and send it back to you at an additional cost.Here is his information including prices and pictures of his previous works! Support a great local modder!

RAFFLE TICKETS

We will be selling raffle tickets for $1 each. Prizes will include (but are not limited to) swag from our sponsors such as Funimation (DVDs, Shirts, Posters, etc.), The Traveling Circus (apparel), Shadaloo.EU (apparel), Verizon (T.E. Stick or a VLX), etc.

FLIERS

ARK IV Flier
Feel free to post these at your gaming centers/campuses/etc. Tell your friends. We are trying to build a community and make this big. You can help!

STREAM LINK

Interrupted Gaming! By RawkusX

FACEBOOK GROUP AND EVENT PAGE

Arkansas Fighting Game Network
ARK IV Event Page

TWITTER

@ARKTourney

SPONSORS

RULES/FORMAT

Complete rules for all of our events can be found here.

This first set is a match between two of Arkansas’ own SolidxPanda and GBS Giovanni. Watch both videos to find out who took this set!

SolidxPanda (Ryu) vs GBS Giovanni (Rose)

Part 1

Part 2

A.R.K IV is right around the corner and I’m sure many of you have been wondering who is behind all of this tournament noise everyone has been talking about. Today I got a chance to sit down with one of the founders of the A.R.K (Arkansas Regional Knockouts) tournament series, Max Nguyen. Also known as SmokeMaxX on the SRK forums. I asked him a few questions about Arkansas’ biggest fighting game event and how all of this got started. There’s a lot to be read here, so sit back, grab a chair and prepare to get to know the hardest working man in the Arkansas fighting game community!

  ——————————————————————————————-

- Coming up on the fourth tournament for the A.R.K series you’ve got to be pretty hype. How do you feel about how far you’ve come along as a tournament organizer?

I think being a tournament organizer is probably the most difficult position in the video gaming ecosystem. It’s essentially a thankless job where you’re overworked, underpaid (if you’re paid at all!), and responsible for not only a tournament, but also the perception of your community to the rest of the world. Being a tournament organizer is often very frustrating, but I can honestly say without a doubt that I absolutely love it.

Have I made mistakes? You bet. The very first tournament we ran, we had a combination of laggy monitors and 10” CRTs. Conditions weren’t ideal, but all I could do was learn from my mistakes and change them for the next tournament. And I want to believe that I’ve been doing a good job of that.

- Obviously your tournaments have grown tremendously over the past couple of years. Do you feel like A.R.K is one of the biggest tournaments the South/Southwest has?

That’s tough. Around Arkansas there are great tournaments in each and every state. OKGamers throws amazing tournaments in Oklahoma that draw hundreds of people; Kyoji24 is really building his scene in Mississippi; DreamTR holds MWC in Tennessee; and then you have the Texas Majors such as Absolute Battle, UCC, as well as any event that UFO Fubarduck hosts. That being said, in our region of the country we don’t really have a Final Round or CEO or Season’s Beatings. Although I don’t know if our tournament will ever get to that level, you can bet that that’s our main goal. With an expected two hundred fighting game players attending, I think we are making great progress.

- What made you decide to start A.R.K and pursue the path of a tournament organizer in a state where gaming communities were very scarce and spread out at the time?

 It’s funny. The gaming community (as a whole) is STILL unorganized and spread out. You have a pocket of Halo gamers here, a group of Call of Duty gamers there. I think the Arkansas fighting game community is the only organized e-gaming group in the state (well, of any significant size).

However, what really inspired me to become a tournament organizer was another event in Arkansas called Little Rock Game Con. The gaming convention was the first big tournament I’ve ever been to and the first one in Arkansas that was committed to getting players from around the state to compete. Needless to say, I met a lot of great players there that shared my passion. More importantly, the convention managed to get three members of Empire Arcadia to come down. I remember talking to one of the players they managed to get, Sanford Kelly, and asking him how we could improve as a state. He told me straight up- “you have to build your community.” We ended up talking for like thirty minutes about what he meant and I really took that stuff to heart.

After our talk, Mike Weng (ARK XI) and I started really getting to know the Street Fighter players there and after the convention we really hit things off on the SRK Arkansas thread. We started organizing local meet-ups and talking strategy. There came a point where people started getting disgruntled that no one was holding tournaments in Arkansas, so Mike and I decided to change that. After the first one was a success, we knew we couldn’t stop there. I’m very thankful for Little Rock Game Con and especially EMP Sanford Kelly for encouraging us to build our local scene up. Out of all the things you hear about Sanford, I don’t think people compliment him enough about how much he cares about the community and the games he plays.

- The A.R.K. tournaments have been well known for tailoring to the players. You guys provide food, drinks and an incredible experience for a small entry fee (usually only 10 dollars). What drives you to do this knowing that you won’t be profiting as much as other tournaments do?

First and foremost, although Mike and I are technically the “co-founders” of the Arkansas Regional Knockouts tournament series, these tournaments are run by the community, for the community. We want to make sure we provide an experience that absolutely everybody should enjoy. We also want to encourage community growth, not stifle it by trying to put a few extra dollars into our pockets.

Also, when I talk about “the community” I think I should clarify by stating that it’s not just about Street Fighter players, or Arkansas gamers, or whatever other specific category you can put there. It’s about EVERYONE. Not only has Arkansas gaming gotten big in recent months, but communities that we have touched have begun to organize and grow at amazing paces. Of note, the Tulsa fighting game crew has gone from a handful of random people to an organized group that travels to tournaments 3, 4, or 5 hours away. They are improving really fast and building relationships with other local communities. There’s also a group in Monroe, Louisiana that is being organized by a friend of mine (Triox). Within a few weeks, he went from zero people to play with within a two hour radius, to 10-15 people on average for his weekly meet-ups. I’m really proud of these two groups for making something special out of essentially nothing, and I’d like to think that we played a part in all of that.

- How many states besides Arkansas do you think are going to show up to A.R.K? Do you have any special guest confirmed? Last year you had Justin Wong come out and he’s one of the biggest names in fighting games. Do you have any big names coming out this year?

We were very fortunate to have EG. Justin Wong show up to A.R.K. III. He’s a phenomenal player and truly a nice guy. It was a nice mutual relationship. We get some exposure and training against one of the best that the U.S. has to offer and he wins all of our money. I’m not sure who got the better end of that deal haha.

Tournament after tournament, our event has grown larger and larger. A.R.K. III had representation from ten states. This year, we expect more. We’ve already received confirmation from ourselves (Arkansas), Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and California with interest from Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. This time, we’ve also been blessed enough to obtain Marn. EG. Justin Wong may attend as well. We have other names that are quite big in the region that have committed to coming, but people will have to tune into the stream to see who those players are!

A little off-topic, but I feel like I need to address one issue being in a state where competitive gaming is a rarity: we often hear complaints about bringing high level players like EG Justin Wong to our tournaments and letting them play. It’s frustrating because we usually hear about it in second-hand fashion so we can’t respond. Well here’s my response: that’s what we call a ‘scrub mentality.’ There is zero reason to not want the best players at your tournament. If they win, it’s because they deserved it. Don’t want them to win? Knock them out of the tournament. If you believe in yourself as a player, you won’t make up excuses about why you can’t beat certain players. And if you truly don’t care to put the time into learning the game you’re competing in, you weren’t going to win anyway so it doesn’t matter that a player like EG Justin Wong came down.

- You’ve been a competitive player in the Arkansas fighting game scene for quite awhile now. Who got you into fighting games and why did you decide to pursue this genre of game instead of others?

I hate to give Mike too much credit, but he completely pulled me into the fighting game scene. Growing up, I didn’t have very good players to play against in my local scene, so obviously I thought I was hot stuff because I could mash the kick buttons in Tekken or do a ten hit combo in Killer Instinct. Unfortunately, Mike turned my world upside down by kicking my butt pretty easily. Even more unfortunately, Mike was my roommate for two years. Ever since that initial whoopin’ though, my competitive spirit (and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network!) has kept me playing as much as I can so that I can learn and get better.

As for “why fighting games?” well… it wasn’t always that way. I have always been a huge FPS fan, starting with Descent II and transitioning to Quake II. I eventually switched to console (begrudgingly at first) and became a competitive Call of Duty player, but playing shooters competitively now requires a dedicated team and great internet connections which weren’t things available to me a few years ago. I also love Starcraft, but my APM is approximately 15 and I prefer money maps to “real maps” so needless to say, I haven’t been picked to be in the GSL.

- Outside of the A.R.K tournament series, how has the fighting game community in Arkansas grown? How far along have the players come as far as skill? Do you feel Arkansas is capable of competing with the rest of the country?

The metamorphosis of the fighting game community in Arkansas has been amazing. People stumble upon our Facebook group or attend one of our tournaments and say “wow, I didn’t know this existed!” What they don’t know is that two years ago, there was no Arkansas fighting game community. Two years ago, we had literally 4-5 people in one SRK thread that would attempt to keep the thread alive by posting once every few weeks. It took a dedicated effort between Mike, Panda, me, and several other folks to really kick off the start of the new Arkansas Fighting Game Network. In two years, we’ve gone from 4-5 people to over 140 people in our Facebook group and one of the most active SRK threads in our region.

Skill-wise we have grown quite a bit as well. We’re not California or New York yet, but I think we’re slowly getting there. We have benefited greatly from building our scene. Most of us refuse to play online because we don’t have to. Can Arkansas compete with the rest of the country? I think the answer is “maybe.” We have strong players in Brawl, Melee, Mortal Kombat, and BlazBlue. Can they compete at a national level? I don’t think so yet. However, our Marvel community is fairly strong and I have faith that when they each brush up on their weaknesses, they’ll be able to play with the big boys. As of now, though, all of our hopes lie with The Chosen One, Mike Weng. He has shown that he definitely can compete with top players in Street Fighter, beating EMP Yipes (multiple times), EMP Sanford (team tournament), Buktooth, and several other high level players in tournament.

——————————————————————————————-

A.R.K. IV is looking to be the biggest of the series thus far. The tournament kicks off on September 17th and 18th in Jacksonville, Arkansas. I can’t wait to experience what’s in store and be a part of one of the biggest tournaments the South has to offer.

 For those of you that can’t make it to the tournament, Interrupted Gaming will be streaming the SSF4: AE/MVC3 tournaments both Saturday and Sunday. RawkusX leads the Interupted Gaming team and puts on a very professional broadcast.

 Please visit www.arfgn.com for more information on A.R.K IV and getting involved with the Arkansas Fighting Game Network.

 Thanks for reading!

 - ARK SolidxPanda

www.twitch.tv/pandaxgaming

Also, follow me on Twitter to find out when our streams and events are happening!

www.twitter.com/solidxpanda

MAG II

Presented by Conway Gaming Center and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network

For pictures of previous events, please check out Wright Way Photography’s album located here.
Thanks again to Wright Way Photography for taking pictures!

Date:
July 23rd, 2011 (Schedule below)

Location:
Conway Gaming Center
2455 Washington Ave Suite 105
Conway, AR USA 72032

Games Played:
Super Street Fighter 4 (360)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (360)
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (PS3)
Mortal Kombat 9 (PS3)
Super Smash Brothers Melee
Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Halo: Reach (1v1 and FFA)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (1v1 and FFA)
Gears of War (1v1 and FFA)

Cost:
Spectating is free.
$5 Entrance Fee. Included in the entrance fee is one plate of free food. There will be a vending machine for drinks.
$5 Per Tournament Fee Pot Fee.
Prizes: All pots are split 70/20/10.

Schedule Of Events:
NOTE: Registrations will end PROMPTLY 30 minutes prior to the specific tournament starting.

Noon-1:30PM – Set-up / Registration
2PM – Call of Duty: Black Ops, Mortal Kombat 9, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
4PM – Gears of War 2, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Super Smash Brothers: Melee
6PM – Halo: Reach, Super Street Fighter 4, BlazBlue: CS II

Flier
MAG II
Feel free to post these at your gaming centers/campuses/etc. Tell your friends. We are trying to build a community and make this big. You can help!

Stream
SolidxPanda’s Channel
SolidxPanda has been generous enough to stream our event this time around! If you can’t make it, please watch and support the ARFGN!

Arkansas Fighting Game Network Facebook Group:
ARFGN

Rules/Formats:
Complete rules for all of our events can be found here.

-ARK SmokeMaxX

Also, streams have been popping up everywhere in our community! Here is a listing of community streams. Got more? Let us know!

http://www.justin.tv/gambylxr
http://www.justin.tv/pandaxgaming
http://www.justin.tv/spacitymk

-ARK SmokeMaxX

Forest was an aspiring Tournament Organizer, an avid gamer, and a great friend. He did what few wanted to do for the Oklahoma gaming community, and he did it passionately and without complaints.

To the guy that really tried to do something for himself, for Oklahoma, and for all of our friends- you will be missed. I’m sorry that things had to end this way, but I’m proud that I got to meet you and talk to you, if not as much as I’d have hoped. RIP good sir. There are few others as good as you still around.

I have made an executive decision to name the ARK IV Melee Tournament in his honor. I don’t know what difference it’ll make in the long run, but it’s one way that I’ll personally pay my respects to him. Hopefully I’ll have a little memorial up for him at our event as well.

A memorial from OKGamers.com:

For more information about our monthly tournament, visit the official page here!

Basic info:

Monthly Arkansas Gameathlon II
July 23rd

$5 Entrance / $5 Per Tournament

Games:
Super Street Fighter 4 (360)
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (360)
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (PS3)
Mortal Kombat 9 (PS3)
Super Smash Brothers Melee
Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Halo: Reach (1v1 and FFA)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (1v1 and FFA)
Gears of War (1v1 and FFA)