inkblot aka Tom Cannon aka SRK Gründer über den Erfolg von EVO
reddit.com/r/Kappa/comments/2m07ie/thoughts_evos_success/
Access to Top Players
In the late 90’s, Socal was the hottest spot in the US for fighting games. Norcal, NY, and a few other places had strong players, but Socal had both quality and a ton of players. Putting the event in Socal gave us a running start by giving us a guaranteed high-quality bracket of players. This was an instant draw for other top players from around the country.
But there were other big Socal tournaments at the time. What made Evo stand out?
The key to Evo’s success was that we took some giant risks to build something that at the time was unique. Many of the things that we now take for granted at events were pioneered by Evo.
A gathering, not just a tournament
From the start, we wanted Evo to be a place where you could come and have fun even if you went 0-2 in the tournament. Evo 2002 was the first large tournament to move OUT of the arcades and provide a large, dedicated venue just for the tournament. This gave us the space to handle large tournament brackets and provide the BYOC and exhibitor area, so there was always something to do during the day.
In the arcade-tournaments of the past, every single machine was used for tournaments. For even small tournament brackets, most of the time you ended up standing around and watching, or playing some other game like Puzzle Fighter while waiting for your turn to play.
First to move to consoles
Evo 2003 was the first major to run entirely on consoles. We saw that consoles were just a better platform for events: easier to manage and maintain, players could play on their own controller, etc. This was an extremely controversial decision at the time. People accused us of killing the arcade scene, and threatened to boycott all future Evos.
Pioneered the “Top 8” format
Evo was the first tournament to run all tournaments down to the top 8, then STOP. This was very intentional. The idea was to make Sunday a showdown between best of the best across all games, and to give everyone a reason to stick around for the whole event, even after they had been eliminate from the tournament.
You know that crowd that goes bonkers during Evo Moment #37? That crowd is there because the night before we cleared out the whole room and set up seating for everyone. Pre-Evo, that bracket match would have been played out in the usual course of a double-elimination bracket, with anyone who happened to stick around watching.
These moves may seem obvious now. But at the time these were major, unexpected changes, and the Evo crew took a lot of heat for them. “What do you mean I have to wait until Sunday to finish the tournament? We’re all right here, let’s play this out and pay me!"
reddit.com/r/Kappa/comments/2m07ie/thoughts_evos_success/
Access to Top Players
In the late 90’s, Socal was the hottest spot in the US for fighting games. Norcal, NY, and a few other places had strong players, but Socal had both quality and a ton of players. Putting the event in Socal gave us a running start by giving us a guaranteed high-quality bracket of players. This was an instant draw for other top players from around the country.
But there were other big Socal tournaments at the time. What made Evo stand out?
The key to Evo’s success was that we took some giant risks to build something that at the time was unique. Many of the things that we now take for granted at events were pioneered by Evo.
A gathering, not just a tournament
From the start, we wanted Evo to be a place where you could come and have fun even if you went 0-2 in the tournament. Evo 2002 was the first large tournament to move OUT of the arcades and provide a large, dedicated venue just for the tournament. This gave us the space to handle large tournament brackets and provide the BYOC and exhibitor area, so there was always something to do during the day.
In the arcade-tournaments of the past, every single machine was used for tournaments. For even small tournament brackets, most of the time you ended up standing around and watching, or playing some other game like Puzzle Fighter while waiting for your turn to play.
First to move to consoles
Evo 2003 was the first major to run entirely on consoles. We saw that consoles were just a better platform for events: easier to manage and maintain, players could play on their own controller, etc. This was an extremely controversial decision at the time. People accused us of killing the arcade scene, and threatened to boycott all future Evos.
Pioneered the “Top 8” format
Evo was the first tournament to run all tournaments down to the top 8, then STOP. This was very intentional. The idea was to make Sunday a showdown between best of the best across all games, and to give everyone a reason to stick around for the whole event, even after they had been eliminate from the tournament.
You know that crowd that goes bonkers during Evo Moment #37? That crowd is there because the night before we cleared out the whole room and set up seating for everyone. Pre-Evo, that bracket match would have been played out in the usual course of a double-elimination bracket, with anyone who happened to stick around watching.
These moves may seem obvious now. But at the time these were major, unexpected changes, and the Evo crew took a lot of heat for them. “What do you mean I have to wait until Sunday to finish the tournament? We’re all right here, let’s play this out and pay me!"
"cant believe this, only grand finals should be on start page, the raiden player healing care is mvc3 player and known mk9 hater.. obvious troll XDDD cant be more troll, i lol,d very very hard"
