Forums > Contributor Zone > Tourney - The Next Generation.

So, I've cycled through my usual shit and I'm more or less out of ideas. So, let's rock up an interest gauge!
AlphaOlympics:

Bringing back an old favourite. Pick a random number, be given a random letter, and write a review corresponding to that game. I'm not overly confident we can pull the people in to fill all the letters like we used to, but are we open to trying it?

Europe vs. The World:

Team event. We put all the Eurotrash on one side and the uncultured, unwashed masses on the other. write a pig mess of reviews, total them up, divide by members and see who has the highest score.

[Enter genre here] tourney

Traditionally, I decide this by seeing what the last thing Ben wrote is, which was adventure -- but this could be anything. We've done horror already, so there's a lot of scope. Platformer? FPS? Scrollong shooter? Metal Slug featuring Janus as only judge?

Retro/Obscure tourney

16bit and below or pulling out the crap you've never heard of? Either of them could work.

So, I'm looking for who fancies what. I'd grown to like the idea of doing an Alphas, but it would be hard work to pull in the numbers. Thoughts? Comments? Alternatives? Please note below for due consideration and reflection.

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Pretty much any tourney we have will be a [category] tourney. We could also take the Retro/Obscure tourney to the next level and say "retro and obscure." Then I would finally have a reason to review something like Prehistorik Man or Bionic Battler.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

I'm all for "retro that hasn't already been reviewed at HonestGamers," myself. But then, I'm pretty much always in favor of such a tournament. ;-)

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

I really like the Alphas, but I don't think we could pull the numbers. Also, while I like the idea of the euro vs. the world one, I also think it will be difficult to pull the numbers. Team tourneys also require a lot of commitment on people's part (well, more than usual, anyway).

Random Genre Tourney might be kind of fun, though.

I haven't been into the retro stuff lately, and have always been dubious about the definition of Obscure. I will be honest, though, and say that the tourneys I'm most likely to participate in would either be the Alphas or the random genre ones.

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

My problem with the alphas is the same as always: we always allow trades. So of course, the first thing most people do is trade for different letters. It's easy enough these days to get games affordably (or even free) that trades shouldn't even be allowed in such a tournament. They defeat the point of it, and they make upsets less interesting.

Also, as noted, it's hard to pull in enough willing participants. But if we could put a great prize on the line and vet participants and such, it could be a lot of fun.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

I like Jason's idea: write a review (possibly retro) for a game that hasn't received a review on the site yet. If you do go that route, you might consider adding an additional rule that the game must not have any reviews on any platforms. For instance, a review for Cool Spot on SNES would not qualify since there's already a Genesis review of it by Retro. However, there isn't a single review of Wolfchild, so that would work.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

The only possible snag I could see with Jason's suggestion would be for games that aren't the same on every platform. Example: Home Alone on NES is way different from Home Alone on SNES.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

Joe, you added the provision that a game couldn't be reviewed it if had already been covered on another platform, not me!

Like you said, games (more often than people realize) did vary enough from system to system that individual reviews made sense. We're not all trying to be KasketDarkfyre here. ;-) #oldschool

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

The old putting quarters into your NES thing... heh.

I can avoid death by not having a life.

Oops, sorry!

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

This has been of no help at all.

You all suck.

For us. For them. For you.

I stand by Euro vs the world. Top three scores on either side count. Then it doesn't matter if it's uneven/people drop out.

"fuck yeah oblivion" - Jihad

That's actually a good idea, Janus, but it will be disappointing if we don't see at least three people from Europe contribute. Still, seems like it might be worth rolling the dice on this one...

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

Or maybe USA vs the world?

"fuck yeah oblivion" - Jihad

Very well -- coming soon.

For us. For them. For you.