I’m back from the first of our appearances at the Best Buy Electronic Gaming Championship (that’s a lot of caps.  from here on out I will refer to it as the EGC) It was a lot of fun.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but the event surpassed any such expectations I might have had.

First off, Seppuku and I had a driver.  I’ve never had someone waiting for me at the airport with a sign.  I felt like a celebrity.  Yes, I know people drive other non-celebrity people around all the time.  Let me keep my illusions.

Second, when we got to the event I was stoked to see that every competitor in the tournaments got their own TV to play on.  I’ve seen a number of tournaments, and it’s kind of a downer when they’re four player per screen free for alls.  That doesn’t invalidate them, but it does highlight the occasions that players get huge screens all to themselves.  There were even four generously endowed TVs and Xboxes set aside for our “Frag Doll Challenge,” right in the center near the Halo 2 tournament.

I’d been a little nervous about this challenge since I found out I would be participating in it last Thursday.  I practiced as much as I could while balancing my time with the nightly Ghost Recon 2 practices we’ve had for this tournament we’re in.  I couldn’t help but feel I should have played a little more, learned a new map, figured out a new strategy.  Then the announcers started talking us up to be unbeatable.  My stomach decided to secede and start a civil war.  Then they offered a $100 gift card to anyone who could win a round on us.  I wanted to crawl under the table and hide for the rest of the day.  I just knew there was a Splinter Cell ringer somewhere nearby who was going to walk out with an easy $100 - possibly a pack of them prowling hungrily for gift cards.

I’ve seen and heard of similar challenges before, like the Fatal1ty shoot out at E3 every year where they’ll give $1000 to anyone who can beat him - or was it score on him?  I don’t remember, but it’s crazy either way.  I never imagined I would be attached to a challenge like that, where they’d pay anyone who was better than me.  It’s terrifying, the confidence in me such a challenge implies.

No one did manage to beat us, which did wonders for my heart.  We had a number of challengers, and one match that went down to the last minute, but we perservered and made it to the end of the event undefeated.

It was great - the whole thing had a positive vibe to it and I met a lot of gamers I’d like to play against online.  I’m looking forward to the next EGC I get to go to in Bakersfield in May.  I’d like to see a little more of the tournaments there if I get a chance.  All I saw was the final match in the Halo 2 tournament and it was inhuman - one player throwing a plasma grenade and hitting the other player across the entire map in Midship, a player jumping, spotting his moving opponent, and sniping him all within the blink of an eye on Lockout.  Afterwards I asked the combatants what their personal levels are in Halo 2.  One is 25, one is 26.  And neither of them has played a ranked game in a while (but I bet that changes with the patch!).

I thought I played games a lot.

- Jinx

i cry when angels deserve to die