I'm not sure if we've met but I like your style.
My name is Daniel. I'm the owner of Lost Ark Video Games. I've been absent from the forums since I quit my job to open the store. I've wanted to chime in for a while but I've been busy with one thing or another and haven't been able to attend any sort of meet-up in a long time.
I just saw this and figured I should say something. When I was following the forums actively (2008-2010~), there didn't seem to be many people in NC active here, but it seems like that's changed. Maybe everyone was here and we just missed each other.
I would love to host a Neo meet-up. I've been working at growing the store into something I could be proud of and that 90's arcade heads could appreciate. I've come a long way since opening 3+ years ago and I think I have a nice arcade space for those who love 90's jamma action. I was planning on posting an interest thread after the holidays to see what people said. I love the personal feeling of meet-ups at people's homes, but I can offer a central NC location with an arcade open every day of the week if it helps a meet-up happen.
If any NC folks are in the Greensboro area, let me know. I'd love to meet anyone at the store and jam on some Neo-Geo. Right now I am doing a KOF tourney series with one tournament every month, starting with '94. We are on '96 (happening tonight actually) and then '97 a month from now.
Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts, drop me a note and let me know. I'd be happy to help organizing anything here or elsewhere.
How is your tournament turn out?
I bet if we did a SSF2:TB event at your store kinda like we did Mugi's place we would have better turnout and competition!
Nah, last time I went was right before you guys moved. I haven't been able to get up there much these past couple of years since my daughter was born, but I brought her last time and I couldn't pull her away from the candy cabs.Have you had a chance to come by since we moved to our new spot down the street? It was in February. If not, you should come check it out. I'm really proud of the new layout. More candy cabs; more jamma diversity. Less guns and pins (which are great, but something has to give; I have to work with the space I can afford, not the space I want).
Drop me a note next time you think you'll be by and I'll try to be there. My schedule is all over the place.
How is your tournament turn out?
I bet if we did a SSF2:TB event at your store kinda like we did Mugi's place we would have better turnout and competition!
Are your KOF tourneys usually on saturdays? I generally have saturdays off, and while I suck ass at KOF, I wouldn't mind driving out to play some.
Tournament turnout varies quite a bit depending on the game and how much I promote it. Lately, I'm more interested in quality than quantity. For example, we just did KOF '96 and there were 10 people, including myself. There is a core group of fighting game guys that come to the store and are interested in playing/learning older fighters so I can usually get enough people to have a decent little tournament in just about anything.
This is what I'm really most interested in and these are the guys I cater to. I didn't promote it in the store; only on the facebook page dedicated to fighting game players who come to the store. I only had one 96 cart, so only one set-up; with double-elimination it still took almost 3 hours, even with just 10 people. Prizes were an assortment of KOF swag I had bought ahead of time. Next month we are doing '97, one month after that '98. I was billing it as the year of KOF. 12 installments; one a month. 94-XIII (all numbered installments, excluding XII and Neowave).
On the other hand, we had a SFIV Ultra tournament about 4 months ago and around 35-40 came out. There are a lot of players who don't come out regularly because they only really play SFIV and don't care about the older stuff (which breaks my heart).
There are others of course who would come out more often but are too far away (Fayetteville, etc.)
Would love to have a SSF2:TB event! Let me know.
Tournaments are always on Saturday night now; after some experimenting this is what works best. I try to do something every other week. It usually hops back and forth between heavy hitters (Thirds Strike; Super Turbo, etc.) and more obscure stuff.
You should definitely come out! While I try to cater to the guys who actually care about this stuff, it's not an atmosphere of elitism. These are just the people who love the old games. We keep things very congenial and fun; no fighting game community BS allowed here. It's just about playing fighting games with real live human beings (and going crazy when someone pulls of something sick )
Drop me a line if you get a chance to stop by and I'll try my best to be there.
If you are planing to do something next month,I'd like to try to make it out to the next tourney (weather permitting). Saturdays are great for me. I like fighting games the most, but I'm not terribly good at em, but a chance to play with ppl on cabs is something I definitely look forward to!
Poor guy can't even win against his wife....
Poor guy can't even win against his wife....
Mugi's wife made us pizza and cookies, how dare you
Just wanted to post up a couple things of Neo interest that I hope might lure some of you into the store.
1) KOF '97 tournament is happening January 3rd. Arcade entry is free if you mention KOF; got some KOF stuff to give out as prizes.
2) I just go my copy of Razion today and it is up and running in the store. I didn't have time to play all the way through, but I'm very impressed so far. Come check it out!
Hope to see you there.
Daniel
Hey Mugi, less go!
Sweet, you want to pick me up our just meet there? I live right off the interstate in Graham.