Numerous panels and events peppered the convention so that few were left without anything to entertain them. The Pause Button’s own IncreaseBlue covered PCC and offers her thoughts below on how it all went.

After soaring upwards for years up and out of the confined Mesa Convention Center, building steam with huge pop-culture guests, and bursting with panels that covered any and all inches of the nerd spectrum, the Phoenix Comicon appears to have stumbled in the 2012 event.

Having a lot of space was a plus for the convention again this year.

Logistics and Space-

There’s no denying that the Phoenix Comicon was big–it was beyond big. Now fully encompassing the underground halls and two floors of the Phoenix Convention Center, as well as multiple rooms in the Hyatt Regency and Renaissance hotels, the event literally forced attendees to rack up the miles on their pedometer to sample everything it had to offer.

Now while this massiveness was appreciated in the exhibitor hall where wide aisles made browsing and shopping a lot easier, it was cumbersome when attempting to pin down what events to go to. Often I heard attendees considering aloud not going to panels simply because it was a trek or they were afraid of going to the wrong place. While this isn’t entirely the con’s fault (human exhaustion and/or laziness aside), when panels go empty because they’re too far from the main hub of action there is a problem.

Panels-

Speaking of panels, that was one factor that seemed to be extremely lacking in a sense of flow or consistency. Some events went without certain guests (such as the “Voicing a Video Game” one which was missing Vic Mignogna without any explanation or mention from moderators), while others had no-show panelists completely.

Still others ended unbelievably early according to staffers, lacked room preparation, and some events suffered from mismatched room space vs. the crowds they drew. An example of this was a round of the Brain Eating Competition, which was at capacity in the first few minutes of opening up since the room was small.

The large ballroom selected for big events such as the Masquerade had ample seating for fans.

On the flip side, larger crowd-drawing events such as the Star Trek guest panels and Masquerade were held in the ballrooms, which afforded tons of room for attendees. Panel content also covered a range of geek topics from the usual Star Trek, Star Wars, anime fun, to brony culture and obscure video games and movies. While there was no end to what you could do, the scheduling and arrangement of the programming seemed extremely off-kilter and badly in need of management.

The folks running the charity LAN party known as DESERTBASH announced yesterday that this years event would be cancelled and tickets refunded to all who registered.

The event, which we reported on earlier this year, was reeling from an apparent performance problem in 2011 when many of the attendees suffered from poor internet connections that hampered games. This very reason was blamed for the cancellation of the 2012 event, as the coordinators deemed they were “simply unable to bring adequate and affordable high speed internet to that venue” and “cannot in good conscience throw a bad event for the sake of having one.” 

As for those who already registered, the event coordinators have promised full refunds on all registrations that were submitted. It was also stressed in the announcement that this is not the conclusion of DESERTBASH for good, simply a delay until 2013 when the crew can find a more suitable venue.

The coordinators also announced a LAN event that they will be co-sponsoring with RIGG in Chandler on July 28. For full details, read the entire announcement on the DESERTBASH website.

Grab your controllers because this weekend is chock full of gaming opportunities.

In the interest of fitting all of these insanely cool events in one post, we’re going to put them out quick hit style (a la our friends at Lightning Octopus).

Friday:

DEVASTATION Soul Calibur V Tournament (at Bookmans Phoenix)

-Free to enter, 64-player bracket Soul Calibur V tournament hosted by the DEVASTATION crew. Registration starts at 4 p.m. and the top three competitors will win Bookmans gift cards and swag bags. Find all the info on it here.

LAN Speed Games Lock-In/All Nighter (at LAN Speed Games in Peoria)

-Get locked in the LSG venue at 10 p.m. for 10 solid hours of gaming, pizza, and other fun stuff. This lock-in will also play host to professional League of Legends player VMan7, who will also hang out for the entire event. It’s $17.50 for an early seat reservation or $20 the day of; more details on their website.

Saturday:

Team Hazmat Hazbats (at Team Hazmat’s hangout in Laveen)

-Halfway through the season and the action is getting more and more intense. The second season of Hazbats (ranked battles) are well underway for games including Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (2012 ver.), King of Fighters XIII, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and more. Most tournaments require entry fees and everything starts off at 12 p.m, check out our previous breakdown post or the team’s official Facebook event page for all the details.

Guard Impact (at the University of Advancing Technology [room 206/207] in Tempe)

-The fine folks at Euphoria Gaming at are it again with their latest tournament featuring Mortal Kombat and Soul Calibur V. For a $5 entry fee run up against the state’s best players. Registration is set to begin around 1 p.m. and the good team Digital Dojo will be live streaming the matches on their Twitch.tv channel; more info can be found on Euphoria’s Facebook event page.

It’s a Video Game Challenge!! (at Bookmans Speedway in Tucson)

-The Bookmans crew, in honor of Video Game Month, are hosting two video game challenges. One will be for kids 12 and under to compete in Mario Kart for the Wii and another for folks 13 and up utilizing Dance Central 2. Sign ups start at 11 a.m. and there’s roughly $500 in Bookmans prizes up for grabs; check out their page for the details.

Courtesy of Bookmans.

Classic Sega Video Game Challenge Round 1 (at Bookmans Grant in Tucson)

-Another event in honor of Bookmans May Video Game Challenge month. This challenge will involve playing the first level of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and logging in who gets the most rings to move onto round 2. Competitors can show up between 2 and 5 p.m. to try their luck. 

Controllers & Canvas featuring Minibosses (at Bookmans Mesa)

-A hugely packed event featuring the cast and crew of the Mass Effect fan film Red Sand, video game caricatures, cosplay contests, graphic art displays, and live music from everyone’s favorite video game cover band Minibosses. All the fun is set to start off at 4 p.m.; get the low down on the Bookmans event page.

Sunday:

Pixel Art & Retro Game Trivia (at Bookmans Phoenix) 

-Those who ever visited Cade Gallery during its heyday will remember Mel the Office Gamer Girl’s brutal trivia challenges. This event will feature video game trivia and different art displays inspired by popular characters in 8-bit form.

Some pixel art by Mel displayed at the 2011 DEVASTATION.

DEVASTATION Gears of War 3 Tournament (at Centerfolds Cabaret in Phoenix)

-The DEVASTATION crew is at it again, but with Gears of War this time. This tournament will be free to play and capped at 16 four-player teams. Multiple modes will be played all in an effort to net the prizes of $100 Best Buy giftcards. For all of the rule sets and team info, check out the details on the official web site. 

BONUS ROUND!

If you’re not completely exhausted from all of these amazing events, the DEVASTATION crew will be hosting a midnight release event at the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier on Monday. The launch event will include a 4v4 tournament starting off at 8 p.m. for registration and the top three will be awarded prizes (unknown as of yet); the first 100 in line will also get swag bags. 

Phoenix Comicon is coming. Are you ready for the awesome?

IncreaseBlue-

Anyone who attended last years’ comicon knows that it was huge, packed, and awesome. This years’ event threatens to be even bigger (despite losing Star Trek veteran Patrick Stewart from the guest roster) and offers an incredible array of exciting events garnered towards gaming including panels, music, and tournaments. Here are a select few that stood out in the 2012 programming:

PANELS:

Heihachi laughs at your lack of skills.

How to Not Suck at Fighting Games (Friday 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. Room: Borein)

Hosted by the Arizona Midnight Channel group, this is an introductory panel to the basics of fighting games from hit boxes to base mechanics of your average fighting game. If this panel holds up to what it promises, it would be a nice foray for all the gamers wanting to break into the fighting game scene. [Note: This group is hosting a similar panel entitled Fighting Games 101 on Friday from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Room Borein as well).

Masochistic Gamers (Friday 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Room: 225B)

The Dollars group regales con-goers which games mercilessly trounced them but made them come back for more. An interesting forum for relaying frustrating games and perhaps learning about some new ones.

MegaRan blast!

Nerdcore Hip Hop and Video Game Music (Saturday 2 – 2:30 p.m. Room: Renaissance Maricopa)

A panel hosted by the one and only Random (commonly known as MegaRan) as he explains the inevitable crossing between hip hop and video game music to create an entirely new genre. If you’ve ever listened to Megaman themes on a loop, dig video game music remixes, or are just looking for a break from the same old tunes, this will be a panel you won’t want to miss.

Rage Quitters Anonymous (Saturday 12 – 1 p.m. Room: Borein)

A second panel by the Arizona Midnight Channel, the group revels in their own personal rage quitting moments and how a gamer can avoid uncontrollable rage at every possible game they hit.

If you think these guys look intimidating now, just wait until they bust into a breakdance circle.

MARVEL VS. CAPCOM PARTY (Saturday 9 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. Room: Renaissance Pueblo)

You read correctly, a full on party featuring the most ultimate of video game crossovers. Entertainment apparently includes a costume contest, gaming, and video game inspired music from Minibosses and MegaRan.

And true to style, our friends at AZHP Gaming are bringing the pain with their gaming setups this year in rooms 230 and 231A-C of the convention space.

The events start early with a tournament challenge from the DEVASTATION crew at the Bookmans Mesa location on Wednesday.

DEVASTATION is bringing a series of competitions to several different Bookmans locations as part of the store’s Video Game Challenge Month. They’re starting the action with a Street Fighter X Tekken tournament at 5 p.m. (registration at 4 p.m.) on the 9th.

The competition is free to enter, capped at 64 players in the bracket, and 1v1 single elimination style. The games will be played on 360 systems and  gems are banned from play, with prizes ranging from $50 to $100 of Bookmans store credit for the top three competitors. For more information, check out their official event page. For our Tucson friends, the DEVASTATION crew will be making a trip up to the Bookmans location there on Saturday to run another Street Fighter X Tekken tournament with a similar layout and rules as the Mesa one, for more info check out the official page for the Tucson tournament.

Following up is LAN Speed Games with their in-house League of Legends tournament on Friday at 9 p.m. The tournament has a $5 buy-in with free hours of gaming at the venue being given away as prizes. It appears to be more low-key than their previous big hitter tournaments, but it doesn’t mean any less fun.

Keeping the momentum going is Team Hazmat with their “Hazbats” on Saturday at 12 p.m. at the team’s hangout in Laveen. The tournaments that will take place are a continuation of the second season of battles in Street Fighter X Tekken, King of Fighters XIII, Soul Calibur V, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (2012 ver.), and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Entry fees vary upon tournament and winners bracket match ups will be streamed on the team’s Twitch.tv channel. For more information, check out our previous post on the ranbat rules and set ups.

At the Bookmans Flagstaff location there will also be an all-ages double-elimination tournament on a “super-secret Mario game” for the Nintendo 64. The competition will begin at 6 p.m. and the winners will also take home store gift cards ranging from $25 to $100 along with custom trophies.

The new AZHP logo, courtesy of Aquared and AZHP.

The new website is just one of the few makeover pieces the group is undergoing. No longer will they be known as Arizona Hobbyists Paradise, but as Arcade Zone Hard Punch. Group founder FrankCastleAZ explained that the name change was significant for the future of the team.

“Just by having the Arizona in the name we were limiting ourselves [regionally],” said Frank in an earlier interview. “And we want the chance to get bigger and better… …we’re still going to have in AZ the name so we’re not changing completely who we are, just opening up to different stuff.”

Frank explained that he strove to retain the AZHP initials as loyalty to the local community, but changing the meaning of each to become a bit more universal and allow for easier transition into out-of-state events.

The new website look, set to go live on Wednesday.

That’s not all of the changes the group has in store. Several partnership deals between AZHP and crews such as Aquared, Team Hazmat, and others to be announced in the coming weeks, according to Frank. This sponsorship is aligned for funding and advertisement purposes at the different events that AZHP will cover in the future. This means that attendees to AZHP run events will not only see more advertising postcards and banners, but potentially better prizes for tournaments (including some awesome trophies).

The group plans to run their biggest gaming room yet at the upcoming Phoenix Comicon. Frank of AZHP disclosed that the group will hook up several arcade cabinets and even have Team Hazmat stream all of their fighting game tournaments throughout the weekend. This will also be the opportunity for the group to “go all in” and publicly debut their new logo (officially debuted on Saturday), shirts, banners, and even have a documentary on them filmed.

AZHP Gaming will have both a 4,500 and 1,500 square foot room available for game programming at Phoenix Comicon 2012, with one room dedicated to the music and rhythm games, while the bigger one will be where a majority of the action will take place. The bigger room will have a similar layout to the previous 2011 PCC event (as shown in the video above).

So what does this mean for players and con-goers?

“You’ll see new banners, t-shirts, our new logo, some flyers,” said Frank. “But we’re still going to do our best to make things awesome for the players and to make the gaming rooms awesome.” 

To see the new website in action, check out the new AZHP gaming website when it goes live on Wednesday at azhpgaming.com.

Keith Abbot of Euphoria Gaming intends to host what he dubs “Super Marvel Madness 5: Cross the Line Edition.” The event will include brackets for Street Fighter X Tekken, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (2012 ver.), and will take place at the University of Advancing Technology.

Each tournament will have a $5 entry fee with a 70/20/10 split between the top three placers for each competition respectively. Casuals and registration are set to start at 1 p.m. with Street Fighter starting at 3 p.m., followed by UMvC3 at 5 p.m. and SFxT at 7 p.m.

As a special treat, Team Hazmat will be reportedly streaming all the action to their channel. Players are encouraged to bring their own controllers or fight sticks and setups if possible. For more information, please visit the official Euphoria Gaming event page.

Also joining in on the weekend fun will once again be the DEVASTATION crew holding a second fighting game tournament at Centerfolds on Sunday.

The competition will include brackets for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken with a $50 Best Buy gift card going to first place winners of each tournament. Entry is free and registration begins at 4 p.m. For more information, check out their official Facebook event page.

Courtesy League of Legends.

The much hyped LAN Speed Games League of Legends tournament takes place this weekend, as well as a new ranbats announcement fresh delivered from Team Hazmat.

LAN Speed Games will play host to their LoL tournament on Sunday, where the prize pot nets the winning team $500. The tournament is set at a 16  (five-man) team cap and an entry fee of $20 per a person. There are still reportedly a few spots left for individuals to get in on some incomplete teams before the competition officially kicks off at 2 p.m. that day. For more info and to sign up, head over to the LSG event page.

The local boys Team Hazmat officially announced on Monday the start of their second season of “hazbats” will take place this weekend on Saturday. The new season will include ranked battles in multiple games including King of Fighters XIII, Street Fighter X Tekken, Soul Calibur V, Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (2012 ver.), and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

The team plans to hold ranbats on April 28th, May 12th, May 19th, June 2nd, and June 16th at their hangout in Laveen. The schedule and tournament specifics are as follows:

-King of Fighters XIII ($5 entry) 1-2:30 p.m.

-Soul Calibur V ($5 entry) 2:30-4 p.m.

-Street Fighter X Tekken [Teams] ($5 entry) 4-5:30 p.m.

-Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 2012 ver. ($10 entry) 5:30-7 p.m.

-Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 ($5 entry) 7-8:30 p.m.

There will also be a venue fee for all participants. The team plans to stream only the winners bracket action for each tournament and has a specific breakdown for the divvying of points and prize pots.

The top three placements in any given game tournament will get a 60/30/10 split of the competition pot, while the top three ranked players at the end of the night will win the overall ranbat pot (25% taken from each entry fee for each specific tournament is contributed to this throughout the night) with a 60/30/10 split. For all the details, please visit the Hazbat event page.

[UPDATE]

It looks like the DEVASTATION crew will run another tournament at Centerfolds Cabaret on Sunday, but this time with Street Fighter x Tekken and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on the bill.

Registration is set to begin at 4 p.m. with no entry fees and each bracket will be capped at 64 players. The winners will apparently get a $50 Best Buy gift card. For more information, check out their official event page.

The finale, initially delayed by a week, came to a close with the unfortunately anti-climactic Tetris-like Klax as the final game for contestants to play. With newcomer Jeremy Harnage secure in third, it was down to returning season one champ Aaron Holley and new challenger Marvin Norton for the Retro Rumble crown.

Both players were separated by a mere two points before going into the final round, but Marvin emerged on top with Jeremy taking second and Aaron falling in third for the match. Holley proposed that the players try a different game to decide the positions, but Norton smartly declined. The final standings were left with Marvin Norton at 27 points, Aaron Holley at 21, and Jeremy Harnage at 8 points respectively.

Although this season of Rumble might not have ended with a bang, plans for the third season are underway for a debut in summer.

And if the Rumble has put you in the mood for some competition, the DEVASTATION crew will be hosting a Modern Warfare 3 tournament at Centerfolds Cabaret on Sunday. The tournament will be free to enter and begins at 2 p.m. For more information, check out their official event page.

Courtesy of League of Legends.

According to a recent post on the LSG Facebook, the crew will be hosting another LoL tournament at the end of April, with a $500 prize pot for the winning team.

The announcement was made on Friday and stipulated that the actual tournament would take place at 1 p.m. on April 29. The competition is limited to 16 five-man teams and the first to sign up via their Facebook page will get a spot. All teams participating must be signed up prior to the day of the event, according to the post.

The entry fees will be $20 per person on a team, which the crew acknowledged was high but commented that it was due to the prize being much larger at $100 per a person on a team (totaling $500).

The tournament will not require a blind pick for players and does allow runes and masteries. For more detailed information, check out the official event page on Facebook.