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.

This is It! happening this weekend!

If you somehow missed our initial reports, the event commemorating Ed Farias’ departure from Arcade-in-a-Box dubbed ‘This is It!’ will be happening this weekend in Tucson.

The event will draw some of Arizona’s greatest players for several tournaments, including Latif and several other guests. If you’re unable to attend, there are still some gaming opportunities closer to Phoenix available this weekend as well.

Season three Hazbats finale this weekend

The Team Hazmat “Hazbats” are coming to a close this weekend, where season winners for Persona 4: Arena, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and King of Fighters XIII will be decided for the grand prize pot.

The finale will take place at the team’s hangout in Laveen on Saturday. There will be a $5 entry fee, as well as an additional $5 entry for any single tournament; barring Street Fighter which has a $10 fee.

Ed Farias says goodbye to Arcade-in-a-Box with ‘This Is It!’ event

Courtesy Arcade-in-a-Box.

As the days of online competition progress, more and more small arcade venues are struggling to get the same pull of players they used to. Sadly, Tucson’s own Arcade-in-a-Box has suffered the same plight, leading the owner and founder Ed Farias, to say goodbye to the arcade this November.

Arcade-in-a-Box is one of Tucson’s biggest gamer arcade hangouts that officially got started by Farias in 2005. Since then, the venue has hosted scores of fighting game tournaments, seen the creation of the popular web series Retro Rumble, and helped groom top level Street Fighter IV players such as Latif, second-place SSFIV: AE winner at EVO 2011.

Truly, Arcade-in-a-Box is an Arizona arcade with history behind it and Farias described the decision to step away from the venue as a difficult one. In an email interview, Farias explained that after multiple attempts to pull players in, he decided to celebrate the arcade’s ending with the This is It! event, rather than try to bolster up followers in attempts to “save” it:

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.