To respond to CigarBoB first, regarding paid-voting on games: You’d be surprised how often self-determination doesn’t work. We can’t get people motivated about domestic policy, how much less for something ‘trivial’ (and I’m using that term extremely loosely) like gaming? I’m not at all shocked this didn’t work.
That said, here’s my list and ideas:
Location: Please have this in Vegas again next year. This literally is what enabled me to attend. Ideally something on the Strip would be better though. I like being able to hit up a gas station for snacks at late night; better prices and selection than a hotel gift store. But failing that, GVR works fine for next year too.
Games list:
SF2 Super Turbo: I think we can all agree this is a genuine classic and needs to be there. There is admittedly a huge issue on which version to play; I concede I am not skilled enough at this game to care, as all the stuff I do works on any version. But this would be significant to those who have invested a lot of training in the game. Needs to be there, but I do not envy Evo staff the choice of which version gets in.
SF3 Third Strike: Also a strong game choice. Probably the most popular, or at least second most popular, game on the circuit.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: Not a game I like, but hundreds of others do. Clearly it’s a big draw, so MvC2 should stay.
GGXX: Slash if available, #R otherwise. Very well designed game, and VERY neat to watch in a tournament format. Now that I sorta-kinda know how to play worth a crud, I’d gladly sign up for this at Evo 2006.
Tekken 5: Version differences may cause problems, but otherwise I’d say it’s a good choice. I’m pretty weak at Tekken too, but it’s clearly a decent game and should make a return in Evo 2006.
KoF 2003, XI, or Garou (Pick one): SNK’s got some solid fighters, and I’d love to see one of these in.
Smash Bros. Melee (Or Revolution version if out by then): VERY strong choice. We’ve seen Smash offers solid, deep gameplay that is still somehow ‘different’ in feel compared to most 2D fighters. Plus it’s got Roy and Link in it, and those two are cool.
Dead or Alive: Actually, this is a ‘neutral’ listing; I am not advocating its inclusion specifically, as I’ve not had a chance to play the latest installment in the series and can’t evaluate its tournament suitability yet. But if it turns out to be balanced and fun, DoA4 should be considered for Evo.
Smash would be my single biggest pick for a new game to add. It’s distinctly different from a lot of the choices we play each year, so I think that alone is worthwhile; all the better that it’s actually a good game.
A lack of any specific game on this list indicates I don’t particularly want to see it at Evo. We’ve seen, clearly, what happens when too many games are run; it’d be nice to make sure we’ve got one or two good 3D fighters (Tekken, DoA hopefully), a team-fighter (KoF, MvC2), some ‘classic 1v1’ (GGXX, Garou, SF2, SF3), and something new (Smash Bros.), to cover a wide variety without bogging the schedule down too badly.
On business partners: Can we be rid of the MLG next year? They seemed okay at first, but I have some significant gripes with them from some matters unrelated to Evo…they are CONSTANTLY suspected of questionable behavior regarding their financial practices, and I’ve had my own problems with them too. Damn big headache.
Definitely liked having Tecmo, Hori, etc. present; should do this again at Evo 2006. Maybe Atlus’ll do more than ‘just’ print the lanyards next time, they’d be cool to have around.
but people fly to this Evo tournament, dont they? So whats the big idea?