Countdown to DEVASTATION, get your practice in!

The huge DEVASTATION event is a mere two weeks away and this Saturday will yield a nice platter of events for Arizona gamers to get in the last smidgens of practice before the big competitions kick off.

Courtesy Team Haz-Mat

First off is Team Haz-Mat with their DEVASTATION Boot Camp event on Saturday. The boot camp is $5 for a venue fee and $5 entry fee for each tournament being held at Team Haz-Mat‘s spot in Laveen. Competitions will start at 7 p.m. with Marvel vs. Capcom 3, then continue with Street Fighter III: Third Strike at 9 p.m., and finish up with Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition at 10 p.m.

Ready to Travel the Road to DEVASTATION?

DEVASTATION is just barely a month away and now the crew at Beyond Gaming is giving one lucky gamer the chance to go to the event for free!

Courtesy DEVASTATION and Beyond Gaming.

The contest/competition was officially announced on the DEVASTATION Twitter and Facebook pages on Monday, detailing a large scale online competition that would take place throughout the month of September.

Don’t Cross the Streams (actually, it’s ok if you do)

The end of August has brought on no shortage of tournament action, but the last week of the month will go out with a digital bang, with most events having accompanying streams for gamers to log into and watch all the fun they’re missing out on!

AiaB's new stream looks snazzy. (courtesy AiaB Twitch.tv channel)

Competition and Community: Haz of Team Hazmat Talks AZ Gaming Scene and Future Plans

Part of what makes a local gaming scene great isn’t just the games played or tournaments held, but the players themselves and how they communicate and interact with each other. This is a principle that Hazem “Haz” Ibrahim and Team Hazmat has taken to heart and continued to expand on over the years they have been active in Arizona.

Courtesy of Team Hazmat.

Ibrahim founded his team initially as a way to strengthen the gaming community ties with each other. After leading a B-boy crew in Egypt for over 10 years and moving to Arizona only three years ago, Ibrahim wanted to do something different to “fill the void” from captaining a team for so long.

“My friends got me into gaming,” explained Ibrahim in a Tuesday interview. “And after that I was like ’Wow! Okay, this is pretty cool, I like this.’”

Three Events, One Night Only: Which Will You Choose?

School is back in session for most but that hasn’t put a stop to opportunities for Arizona gamers to school each other in upcoming tournaments.

Courtesy CADE Gallery.

Friday is proving the staging ground for all the action taking place this weekend, and it is jam-packed with a variety of competitions to choose from.

Fight Nights and Finales

With summer coming to a close and the absolute craziness that was had at this years’ EVO, it’s understandable that gamers in Arizona will be clamoring to get in as much tournament play as they can. Luckily there are tons of events happening in August, with a double dose this week from the DEVASTATION crew.

On Friday the team will be hosting their Fight Night event (previously pushed back from July 22) at the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale. The event will have three main tournaments for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Tekken 6, with casual setups for Mortal Kombat, Blazblue: Continuum Shift II, Soul Calibur IV, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2.