AZHP Gaming tourney and EVO congrats!

Image courtesy of Shoryuken.com

 

Now that the world’s biggest fighting game tournament of all time is finished up, gamers across the country are finding themselves aflame with new passion for competition and preparing for next year.

First off, we’d like to congratulate Wobbles, an Arizona local, who placed second overall in Super Smash Bros. Melee at EVO 2013. Another round of congrats goes to Angelic, another AZ player, who placed third in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament at EVO. Both players displayed exceptional skills and sportsmanship at the event and made Arizona proud.

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Happy Holidays from The Pause Button!

With the holidays impending, our posts will be slowing for the end of the year. Since 2012 is wrapping up, we’d like to revisit some of our best moments of the year.

Click to see more of our photos from PCC!

Phoenix Comicon 2012-

Packed with tons of video game guests and best of all, convention goers, the 2012 Phoenix Comicon was as big a bash as it can get. Not only did the cosplayers bring their A-game, lots of the guests such as Mega Ran and Snubby J did too!

This Is It! bids proper farewell to Arcade-in-a-Box

Over the weekend, players gathered from around the state to Tucson in order to pay their respects to Ed Farias as he bid adieu to his establishment, Arcade-in-a-Box. The arcade, proclaimed one of the last retro arcades in the city, was celebrated over the weekend in style with a massive five-tournament event.

Players new and old participated in the competitions with a sense of community and fun that made the arcade such a staple for gamers in the past. Indeed the event served as a reminder to Farias of the good times he had running Arcade-in-a-Box during its seven-year run, but also an affirmation of his decision to leave the arcade.

IncreaseBlue’s Saboten Con Re-cap

Anime and game lovers alike are back to the daily grind after the exhausting 2012 Saboten Con finished up over the weekend in Glendale. This was the convention’s first dive into its new venue of the Glendale Renaissance Hotel and despite some missteps, it came out victorious over last years’ performance.

The Yamaoka-centric concerts with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn on vocals were an easy highlight of the convention.

Although Saboten Con was more so anime and video game-oriented, thus having a less diverse draw of panels and events than the Phoenix Comicon, the convention definitely made each individual event count with its guests and programming.

The new hotel was a more than welcome change, as the Saboten Con was all but bursting with attendees in its old home of the Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix. This allowed the latest Sabo endeavor breathing room to try on new things, some a step in the right direction, while others could use some fine-tuning.

Mash Up! recap

The hometown kids vs. the big city players. That was the scene at this weekends’ Mash Up! event hosted by Button Masherz, which gave way to feisty competition between some of the state’s finest against major players Fanatiq, Knives, and Infrit.

The event held three separate tournaments for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, King of Fighters XIII, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Each competition had a cash prize for first and second players, while third place received an Evil Controllers controller.

EVO 2012 Recap

One of the biggest tournaments in fighting game history went down over the weekend and gave way to numerous matches that had the crowds screaming for more. Evolution 2012 took place at the Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and crowned several new champions in the process.

Image courtesy of EVO.

Of course, Arizona players represented well with Alex Rayis (a.k.a. DetroitBallin) making it to Mortal Kombat’s semi-finals, but the finals of each game were something to be admired with the amount of skill put on display.

AZHP Gaming at Phoenix Comicon and future plans

The local group Arcade Zone Hard Punch (AZHP) made their official debut of their revamped image at last weekends’ Phoenix Comicon. Not only did this provide AZHP Gaming with an opportunity to debut new shirts, layouts, and sponsors, but a chance to partner up with Team Hazmat to make the gaming room more unique than before.

Did you miss out on the gaming rooms? Check out our video coverage of AZHP Gaming’s official debut and interview with Haz of Team Hazmat below: