A.R.K. IV is on September 17-18th! ~200 People! Feat. Marn, Justin Wong, + More!

Created by GBS Giovanni

A.R.K. IV

Presented by Game Zone Alpha and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network

First to 5 set between SolidxPanda and GBS Giovanni

This is the first of a series of first to 5 sets that we will be featuring. All first to 5’s will be recorded and uploaded by me, so if you want to set up a set with someone, contact me via Xbox Live @ solidxpanda.

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

SolidxPanda Interviews ARFGN’s SmokeMaxX!

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!

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– 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.

Follow PandaxGaming for ARFGN related streams!

If you want to stay up to date on all ARFGN related streams, follow PandaxGaming on Twitch.tv!

http://www.twitch.tv/pandaxgaming

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

http://www.twitter.com/solidxpanda

July 23rd is MAG II! Feat. Halo, Call of Duty, Street Fighter, Smash, Marvel + More!

The Monthly Arkansas Gameathlon (MAG), formerly known as Saturday Night Smackdown (SNS), is a monthly community-building tournament co-hosted by Conway Gaming Center and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network.

MAG II

Presented by Conway Gaming Center and the Arkansas Fighting Game Network

Monthly Arkansas Gameathlon II (July 23rd!)

Our monthly tournament on July 23rd (Monthly Arkansas Gameathlon II; MAG II) has gained some news coverage by ARFGN member Joshua Vaughn! Check out his article here!

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)

Halo: Reach Tournament This Saturday!

Game Ever in Little Rock, AR is hosting a Halo: Reach tournament THIS Saturday!

Location:
Game Ever
400 North Bowman Road (next to Buffalo Grill)
Little Rock, AR

Details:
– MUST REGISTER BEFORE 2PM.
– It’s an all-day event, so you’ll need an all-day pass ($10).
– Players grouped by age: 10 & younger, 11-16, 17 & up.
– Everyone plays three rounds – top players from each age group compete in a fourth, final round: 1 vs 1 vs 1.
– Winner of final round wins $100.

Upcoming Events for July 2011

Below is a listing of all of the local events this month.

7/2/11

Little Rock, AR – Forgotten Fights
*Brought to you by Little Rock Game Con*
-Features the less mainstream games such as Mortal Kombat and BlazBlue-

Grape Vine, TX – *UCC* Bar Fights III
*Brought to you by DFW Fight Club*

-Allows seeding into the Upper Cut Circuit Fall Tournament-

MWC and Arkansas Armageddon Results

ARFGN members recently attended Midwest Championships in Nashville, TN (6/25/11) and Arkansas Armageddon in Bentonville, AR (6/27/11) and placed well in both.

MWC Results (via DreamTR):
Super Turbo SBO Qualifiers
1. Damdai
2. Immortalbmw
3. Rizz

SSF4AE-53 players
1. ARK XI (Arkansas) Sagat
2. Jacob Ford (Nashville) Yun
3. Vicious Shogun (Kentucky) Vega
4. Derrick Legend (Cincy) Juri/Rose
5. (tie) krazykorean (Nashville) Ryu/Honda
7. (tie) ARK SmokeMaxX (Arkansas)
7. (tie) ARK SolidxPanda (Arkansas)

MVC3-51 players
1. Raekwon187 (Alabama)
2. ARK XI (Arkansas)
3. Orpheus (Alabama)
4. Astaroth (Tennessee)
5. (tie) Azn Mike (Tennessee)

Arkansas Armageddon Results (via Avalon):
MK9: 7 players
Bracket
1) ARK SmokeMaxX
2) ARK XI
3) dlimit
4) Strongy
5) Adam Keasey
5) cookieman06
5) Brownie479

SSF4:AE: 12 players
Bracket
1) ARK XI
2) ARK solidxpanda
3) ARK SmokeMaxX
4) dlimit
5) ARK Misfit
5) TEAvalon
7) Courtney
7) OSO
9) Rebirth
9) Cash
9) Cheeps Ahoy
9) Strongy

MvC3: 7 players
Bracket
1) ARK XI
2) ARK Misfit
3) ARK SmokeMaxX
4) Courtney
5) Strongy
5) OSO
7) Rebirth

Thanks to DreamTR and Avalon for hosting each tournament! We look forward to future events from each tournament organizer.

-ARK SmokeMaxX

Verizon’s Xperia Play Launch Results

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the Verizon Event this past Saturday! It was a blast and two lucky recipients received a brand new Sony Xperia Play phone!

Results:
1) Nick Lawton – Winner of a Sony Xperia Play
2) Casey Turner – Winner of Arkansas Travelers Gift Pack
3) Jerrod Ward – Winner of Arkansas Travelers Gift Pack
4) Stephen Vanpelt – Winner of Arkansas Travelers Gift Pack

Raffle Winner: Jacob Christie – Winner of a Sony Xperia Play

Thanks again for coming out and to Game Ever and Verizon for co-hosting. Don’t forget to subscribe for more information on future events!

Pictures from the event: