Post-GSR1 interview with 801 Strider

Gustavo and I had a quick chat following the tournament, and here's what he had to say.  

You went through the whole SF tournament and won.  You played Steven [in grand finals].  What was the match like?

G:  Well, I play against Steven a lot.  He always comes out to my place.  Whenever I invite him, most of the time he comes over.  Yeah, he struggles in that matchup a lot.  Just against Abel.  I play against him so much that I know.
      I was a bit worried against Mark Means.  It's not free.  I was kinda worried.

What did you think of the whole tournament tonight?

G:  AWESOME, man.  Awesome.  I'm so glad that more people came out, because I was expecting a low turnout.  Honestly, I was expecting a lot less.  So the fact that we got 36 entrants...that's pretty good.
      I think that everyone's picking up the game again because Ultra's coming out.  Which is good;  it's bringing in fresh air.  A lot of these players are new;  I would say half of them are new.  And that's great.

Are you going to do anything differently next time?

G:  This is three years in a row, man. Four years in a row, actually, where I'm undefeated.  Until someone steps up and shows me that they can beat my Abel then I'll think of something else.  But until then, people need to step it up.
     And I'm glad people are hungry again; it was a lot harder than before. 

The venue is not the experience

Coffeehouse?  Yes.  Arcade?  Why not.

     Walking around and talking to people on Saturday at the Great Salt Ranbat #1, a couple things made me think.  And now write.
     One, things change and things stay the same. And two, Kafeneio isn't an arcade.
     I'm a genius, right?   I can even dress myself.
     No, what Kafeneio is is a coffeeshop, restaurant, and rental hall.  It's clean, roomy, and serves a good tuna melt.  But an arcade it is not.
     Waxing nostalgic, I also thought it was only about 10 blocks north of Protocol 42, where the Vanilla Street Fighter 4 scene in Utah used to hold some pretty epic tournaments in '09.  That place was an easy-bake oven masquerading as a warehouse converted into a LAN center then cajoled into hosting fighting game tournaments.  Good times!
     Which made me think that honestly, I'm sure that if someone organized a tournament in a barn, players would congregate there, too.    
     Why?

GSR#1 Writeup: Outsiders and Old Timers

You can't fit this many people into an Xbox live lobby!

    Today at Kafeneio in South Salt Lake, Steven Malecki and Yury Mendez ushered in a new fighting game tournament age for Utah with the 2014 Great Salt Ranbat #1, the first of many to come.  Due to complications with the stream, only those in attendance watched the events of this inaugural tournament unfold .  For those unfortunate people stuck in the office or at home, here is what you missed.

Tournament Courtesy

Disclaimer:  This article is solely the opinion of Dana Torp, so take it for what you will. I write this article by way of encouragement, not commandment.  Carry on. 

This article will list some ways to make it a a good tournament experience for everyone. 

PSA! Salt Fest May 17-18, 2014

Salt Fest will be happening again this year on May 17-18.

There will be fighting game tournaments again this year, but details are scarce. Be sure to keep this event on your radar and check The Salt Fest website often for updates.

In the meantime, I look forward to taking all of your $5 bills at the ranbat on Saturday.

2014 Great Salt Ranbats #1

Here is a summary of the main post on the 801 Utah FGC Facebook page:

Location, Date, Time
Kafeneio
258 W 3300 S, South Salt Lake
Sat, March 22  Noon-7:00pm
No outside food/drink