I want to host a competition

[Slothy]

I've had an idea rattling around in my brain for a few weeks. I like to play competitive games whenever I can, and I wanted to do something which would allow us all to kick the crap out of each other in one way or another on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.

We've had the somewhat regular gaming challenges going on which are cool, this would be something with a bit less of a meetup requirement because as much fun as that is it limits how many people can really participate.

The idea would be to pick a game every month or two months, preferably one which is free or easily emulated (or at the very least readily available and very cheap) so the most number of people can participate. Anyone who wants to can then participate in getting the highest score, getting the farthest, fastest completion time, or whatever else the victory condition is that month. Perhaps if we get any online multiplayer games in there we can have more of a structured tournament throughout the length of the competition where people can compete head to head.

Each month the people in first place down to fifth would get points going from 5 to 1, with the winner being the person with the highest overall score at the end of the year.

I've got some preliminary ideas for games with the intent being to have as much variety as possible over the length of the competition (some are more likely than others obviously based on price/availability).

Quake Live
Team Fortress 2
Starcraft
Civilization 4
street fighter 2
Mortal Kombat 2
Touhou
R-Type
Mario Bros.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Resident Evil 2?

Obviously I'm open to suggestions. I've also included a poll to gauge interest. I think it would be nice to get a regular event going on here in the general gaming section so give me all of the criticism you want.

[Hollycat]

freelancer. see you all in the Texas system.

btw, bring backup. you will need it.

[Psychotic]

If only my PC wasn't so terrible I'd join in It is a good idea.

Although, Resident Evil 2? I HAVE THAT! I can totally do that!

[Slothy]

If only my PC wasn't so terrible I'd join in It is a good idea.

How terrible? Because ideally I don't want to have anything too recent so everyone can run it. So likely 16-bit era or earlier console games and older pc titles with low requirements. Anything beyond that would require a vote to see how many people can play them. The only reason I even included Starcraft in my initial suggestions was because it runs on my netbook.

[Hollycat]

freelancer has lower requirements.

[NorthernChaosGod]

I'm in the same boat as Paul. I'm totally down as long as it won't run at a snail's pace on my computer.

[Slothy]

So what are people's thoughts on the first game? I was thinking the ever popular Super Mario Bros. since it's nice and light on system requirements and can be emulated by pretty much anything. I was thinking the winning condition should be either highest score or farthest level reached without warp zones. Highest score is probably easier to verify through screen shots and such and a bit of a non-standard goal in Mario.

If not that then assuming there are enough people with access to it we could make Psychotic happy and do some RE2 speed runs.

[starlet]

Are PSN games viable suggestions? Because I have 2; Swarm and Fat Princess.

Swarm trailer

Fat Princess trailer

[Old Manus]

AoE2. And if anyone doesn't own that game yet, they aren't worth playing any game against (in my opinion they should also be summarily banned but whatever).

[Psychotic]

I bought my PC in 2004 and it was the cheapest you could get then. Yeah. That bad. I upgraded the RAM mind you but everything else is pathetic.

[Slothy]

I'll take any suggestions I can get because I want as much participation as possible. I'm not sure about including recent games like PSN releases though, if only because a lot of people here don't have a PS3/360/Wii. Keeping it to older PC and console games at least gives people the option to buy them cheap or emulate, even if they have a crappy PC. PSX/N64 era is the latest I think I'm comfortable going, and only if enough people have the games since emulating even stuff from that era may be tough for some.

Edit for Psychotic: Wow, yeah that's a bit rough. I'll definitely be keeping that in mind since I'm sure you're not the only one. On the bright side, I think TF2 and Civ 4 are the only games I originally listed that would give you trouble, and I knew they'd be iffy anyway. Though honestly, TF2 probably wouldn't have made it in anyway because I have absolutely no idea how to judge individual competition in a team game.

[Pike]

I'm in a pretty similar boat as Psychotic. But I'm up for joining in if it happens to be a game that I have access to. I've got some NES/SNES classics on my GBA (Mario 3, Mario World, Yoshi's Island and DKC2 come to mind. I've got some others too). I've also got Sonics 1-3.

[Psychotic]

I honestly don't mind if you have plenty of high end games in here. I don't want to hold everyone back either. I'd be happy to just take part in the games from 1992 or something!

[Slothy]

And that is something else that is the benefit of running multiple games throughout the year. Not everyone will be able to participate with all of them because they either can't play the game or don't have the time, but anyone can jump in at any time and its the score next Dec that determines the overall winner.

And after giving it some thought I think I will run this monthly. Not only will it keep the momentum going over having it bi-monthly, I think it might help build interest in the long term if people see it going on all of the time.

[DK]

Should throw in some random browser based games in there as well, if we can sort out the logistics of people playing against each other. I can remember the hilarity of the yahoo pool tournaments we had back in the day and the rage they inflicted on certain members. Haxball is worth a shout as well, just because it's hilarious.