Yesterday, I was at the Tekken 6 Launch Party in Hawthorne, CA for a lot of console Tekken 6 goodness. I got there hella early for parking reasons as they were barely setting up as it took place at some random gym inside a hangar near Hawthorne Airport. At first, it seemed kind of crazy it is taking place inside something like that, but it worked out in the end despite starting a hour late, which is expected. Once it got started, I went to the VIP room right away to grab some free food and then it is a lot of playing of console Tekken 6 action for the rest of the night. There was free swag given out at various times of the event as I got a poster, Raven arm sleeves (which I'm rocking now) and Heihachi hair. I wished I got a Tapout Tekken 6 shirt because they look cool and obviously a free copy of the game in which they were raffling it to a few people. There was even a tournament for the Limited Edition stick bundle, but I'll talk about that later.
A good amount of people showed to this launch party even though it was not a packed house, which was cool and why it is very chill playing as much as I can whether casuals or the tournament itself. Obviously the SoCal Tekken scene showed up in force from MYK, Rip, SuikenUser, Aris, ChetChetty, and many more regulars from Video 94 and Super Arcade. Even some of the Street Fighter IV scene from SoCal showed up such as Alex Valle, Ken I, Mike Ross, StarSlay3r, Gootecks, Shoo and his girlfriend Naomi, Sanchez, Warren, Vic the Slick, and others. Of course I gotta hand it to MarkMan for putting the event together under short notice along with the ActiveGamersLA staff from DJ Vest and Hugo. Also, Get Your Tournament was there doing their thing as well taking pictures, doing interviews, and shooting random videos. There was a DJ doing his thing as well even though no one cared about that since its all about playing and hanging out with great people.
I had a great time playing casuals throughout the night against fellow Tekken players that are the same level as me as well as some of the Street Fighter folks that are willing to learn the game like Mike Ross, Alex Valle, who was the Tekken Tag champion at one point along with being a SoCal Street Fighter legend, and KillerKai. There were lots of setups (both PS3 and 360) for players to mess around with along with sticks and controllers. Namco Bandai was also there providing support for the event with the swag wagon and other stuff. A big HD setup was at the VIP room too, which was cool. Of course I was rolling with Bryan and Paul the whole time doing things I have been doing since Bloodline Rebellion was out at arcades. I'm willing to learn new things once I get to practice mode when I get the game on Tuesday (I didn't win a free copy = oh well).
The 64-man tournament happened as well being single game and single elimination, which I didn't mind to speed things up a bit. The grand prize was the Limited Edition stick bundle which was 150 bucks. I competed along with the best SoCal Tekken players and some Street Fighter 4 folks that are curious. The stream was showing the tournament too, so I was in it (the video above) for a bit. I'm playing matches at 2 hours and 55 minutes into the video and also 3 hours and 51 minutes into it. I rolled with Bryan for this launch party tourney as I won my first one against some Eddy player Mike C. Things went my way in that match, but I lost my next one against a Christie player Smash. It was a close match and a nailbiter coming down to the final round, but its all good. With a lot of Eddy/Christie players around here in SoCal, I'm starting to get used to them more seeing their shenanigans other than mashing kick the whole time dancing like a freak. Some of the big hitters were out early, but it was Aris, a top Dragunov player, who won the whole thing beating IronChef for the title. Even though the tourney setup was in 480i for stream purposes, complaints about the lag were definitely heard, but all of us pretty much dealed with it and didn't mind since the tourney was free to enter having more good times.
I actually decided to leave the launch party before midnight when the tournament was still going on, but I still had a fun time the whole night playing a lot of console Tekken 6 for the first time. I can't wait for Tuesday when I get it for myself to hopefully level up to get better (Yes, I'm still taking a break from Street Fighter IV, haven't been playing that for a while already). Its always nice to see my friends from both the Tekken scene and the Street Fighter scene especially when we are at an open basketball court trying to make half court shots (Damn u AJ and Warren!). Its about time Tekken is in the spotlight once again and I hope Tekken 6 is as successful as Street Fighter IV bringing the HYPE to the masses.
Also, you will not tap me out! (Lol Mark!!!)
Get Your Tournament's recap of the event
Pictures by GYT's Kelly Bracha
