Name: AntiShoto
GameStop location: Flushing,N.Y
Character(s) used: N/A
players entered: approx. 20
Place finished: Spectator
Comments: HelgenX and KOFiend made top 2, having Helgen winning the tournament for that extra $25 gift card.
Now, although I was a spectator for this event, I’d like to take the time for everyone who participated in this Gamestop event to hear me out for a moment. Some of the things I’ll be explaining is just as bizarre and as crazy as any tournament and it can happen to anyone at any time
A friend and I came from the Jackson Heights branch because their store somehow, someway didn’t accustom to the rules nor scheduling on time and bulletined their own tournament at 5 p.m, three hours right after the scheduled time. Not only did they break the scheduling, but they also permitted arcade sticks to be used for their PS3s, thanks to an outside source telling me so since he called up the store a day in advance to confirm the information.
Once we were inside the Flushing Gamestop, things were not only intense, but highly controversial.
I personally was disappointed with the unorganized service inside the Flushing store. To be blunt, they wanted to open up a late bracket at least 30 minutes after several of the first rounders were done, in a last minute call, but it would have made a quarter finalist from a bottom bracket turn to a “wild card”, enabling at least one more match to be played. It was overruled, and thus was not created for some reason or another thanks to the Store Manager. Fair game is fair game, and I respect that. However…
By the time I arrived, they wouldn’t let latecomers arrive, which is also only fair. I also met Helgen and KO Fiend to support them. Seeming that I brought my 2 Hori Sticks, I wanted to hype up the crowd and let everyone use, which the Manager didn’t permit it to be used. Some people of the crowd, as well as some GameStop employees didn’t know that, while others would have loved to see them used during tournament play. Thus, a verbal altercation erupted between the manager, employees, and players.
I even talked to an employee about it and I proved my case that not only the rules were broken outside the district of Flushing, but also even negotiated that if people wanted to play with sticks, I brought mines to support players not ensinuate any flaming from anyone. However, rules were rules and it was stuck to PS3 pads.
The population? You guessed it…Sagats, Shotos, a couple of Guiles and one Blanka. Now, to be blunt, it was pure scrubness until Helgen started playing ST tactics, while KO Fiend started playing conventional Ryu, which was funny because neither one could play pad at all at a high level.
What was ironic was the moment the brackets turned unevenly with 3 players as semifinalists, the manager permitted Helgen and another semi-finalist pick a player, from whom they’ve played or was eliminated from the previous round, to play as if it were another quarter-final matchup. They would have to play each other to advance as a semi-finalist, resulting in four players left in the brackets instead of three. That was totally unaccustomed for, because not only did it break the rules of the tournament, it forced two eliminated players play once again. Where did it say that mangers in Gamestop were allowed to do that to begin with?
At first, one of the employees wanted to make a three way round robin, but the store manager alterated so it would be 2 semi-final matches. However it was accomplished, it pitted KOFiend and HelgenX to play each other at the end. Never have I heard such indesputable alteration of rules at a Game Stop store. But, then again, one of the factors we live by is “politics”, especially in the gaming industry.
People incidentally left without supporting others right after the first round was gone, and the crowd decreased from a “GET HYPE!!” moment to a not-so-hype crowd; at least 10 of the major crowd was there to keep good commentary as well as humor ST jokes flying around…Thank Helgen for that one.
Overall, the levels weren’t high, but it was competitive nonetheless: Kens stopped Sagats, Ryus stopped flaming Kens and random Ultras, but Helgen showed people why his Ryu is one of the most skilled thus far with not only ST tactics, but with 3S tactics out of the blue.
The moment we left the store, there was casual playing all along, and the crowd respected us regardless. One thing was for certain, this wasn’t your average tournament.
Any thoughts and comments, please PM me and I can explain more without discretion. Thanks for your time to read this.
Can’t wait for next round but using a 360 pad feels like a joke. 
