Updated March 5, 2001

This section will provide as much information to you about the tournament as we can come up with. If you are still looking for answers to questions that we didn't cover, feel free to send us an email and we'll get provide an answer for you shortly. Thanks. ^_^

Section 0 - Introduction to the FAQ

This FAQ is a work in progress. As such, please check back often for updates...

SECTION ONE - Eligibility (Who can play at these events?)
SECTION TWO - General Tournament and Prizes Questions

All questions will be bolded and underlined

All answers will be in plain face font.

SECTION 1 - ELIGIBILITY

What are the requirements to enter the tournament, how old do I have to be to enter, and when do I need to send my response by?

I was amazed by the amount of emails I've received asking this, particularly involving age. The only requirements that come to mind are that the participant enjoys playing videogames, loves competition, and wishes to see how they stack up against players from around the country. Players can be of any age, but we ask that those under 18 and do not have access to their own mode of transportation have their parent's permission to attend. 

What is the skill level of players that generally attend this tournament? I think I'm pretty good but I don't want to waste my time if it's a scrubfest.

The skill level of players range from the beginner to the expert level. While you will have a few of the nation's top players coming out to compete, there will be a significant amount of players that understand how to play the games well enough to be competitive. There will also be players who are going to this event as their first big tournament and will experience the jitters.

So, to answer the question, there will be some beginner players there, but expect plenty of comp on every Capcom fighting game we have available during the tournament.

There's this one guy on the forums who I constantly get into flamewars with. I have also read about how this one player was threatened at a tournament. Do I need to worry about confrontations at these tournaments?

About the "guy on the forums" question, I would really not worry about it too much. There have been many times where I've heard of players being quite bitter to each other on newsgroup forums and on IRC, but players generally get along when they are in physical proximity of each other. In other words, 99% of the angst you may experience online never spills out during a tournament. 

Players that attempt to carry out any threats will be turned to the police. We have a wonderful working relationship with the police in Dunellen, and for them to be located across the street allows us to settle any disputes quickly and efficiently.

SECTION 2 - GENERAL TOURNAMENT QUESTIONS

How do these tournaments work?

All of the tournaments are done in the double elimination format. Double Elimination means that you will need to lose against two opponents to be out of the tournament. We will take your name and enter it on the bracket for the tournament(s) you plan on participating in. We will be running each tournament one at a time, two a day, on four tournament cabinets. Players will be called up to play by the tournament directors. The two players will play out their match (best two out of three games for prelims to semis, three out of five for the semis, and four out of seven for the finals.) Once you are finished, you can go back to watching matches, hanging out, playing other games, grab a bite to eat etc. 

When you lose your first match, you will be sent to the loser's bracket, where you will play other players that have acquired a loss. Players who lose in this bracket will be out of the tournament.

I'm coming with friends. I think it would be messed up if I have to fight them in the tournament.

Agreed. With that in mind we will be seeding the players by rank and region. Players will be sorted in the prelim bracket to avoid matchups with players from there gaming circle. A "gaming circle" is considered a group of players that live relatively close to each other and play on a consistent basis. The groups of players are then sorted under specific regional ranks. Ranking will be determined based on past tournament results, typically posted on shoryuken.com.  (example: New York, Jersey, and Philadelphia tournament players would qualify as a region.) Seeding by rank will avoid having two top calibur players playing against each other earlier than expected.

So, what happens if I do fight one of my friends?

We are going to try to avoid having this happen, but sometimes you can't avoid it. Seeding a bracket isn't an exact science, as there are way too many variables to keep track of. Unless it is a matchup in the final 16, we will float the affected players on the bracket to patch up the tangle. Floating involves swapping two players on a bracket level to fix an erred matchup.

How much money do I need for the tournament?

You will need $5 for entry for EACH tournament you plan on participating in. You will also need to pay for your tournament matches, which will go for $.50 per game. If you play your first game and happen to win, you will keep your credit for the next game in the match. So if you blow through your opponent 2-0, then you'll only have to spend $.50.

Some people question why we go with the "pay per play" as opposed to "larger entry fee and 'free play'" that some tournament provide. We feel that players who progress further in the tournament than others should spend more money than a player who gets eliminated in two. The players who progress should invest further into the risk than a player who got himself into an unlucky situation and go out quickly. Therefore, we will be going with play per play as our final decision on the matter.

What are the prizes generally like?

The prizes are cash split between the top three players. The cash comes from all of the entry fees and tournament match money entered into the tournament machines. Therefore 100% of the money from the tournament goes towards the prizes. The arcade makes $0 from the tournament.

Prize distribution is 65% of the pot for 1st, 25% of the pot for 2nd, and 10% of the pot for 3rd.

We are currently looking for sponsors for other prizes. When we receive word of new prizes, we will send participants email on the subject matter as well as post something on this website.

Are you guys going to be doing something about x game glitch?

While we try to remain current on glitches found in games, new ones may pop up over the next few weeks. Once we are informed of the glitch, we will review what the benefits and disadvantages of the glitch are to both the player and the opponent. If it comes out that the glitch does change the gameplay significantly, we will amend the rules with such glitch info.

More to be added later...