Hello folks. Like I said, I wanted to hold a gaming competition this year, so let's get things started since it's January 1.

This months game is none other than:

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What better way to kick things off than with one of the most popular games of all time? Well, I actually wanted to start with something multiplayer, but with limited time to get that set up we'll kick things off here.

The rules:
Pretty straightforward. The winner will be decided by whoever can get the farthest in the game before running out of lives and without using warp pipes. We'll be on the honour system here obviously, but I do want screen shots/pictures of your game over screens to confirm the level you made it to. If we have any ties, they will be decided by scores.

You can enter as many times as you want, so if you provide a screenshot and then top it later you can enter the new one. In the interest of announcing a winner before starting next months competition, I want entries in by midnight on January 30. The winner will be announced on January 31, then we'll get the next competition thread going on February 1.

The Competition:
For those who missed the previous thread, the competition will involve a new game every month, presenting a different challenge and victory conditions. Each month the scores will be tabulated for the top 5 people in each game; 5 points for 1st place down to 1 point for 5th. These scores will carry through the entire competition, and the person with the highest score when the final game is done at the end of December will be the winner.

The prize:
Nothing except for bragging rights, and my undying affection. Come to Canada and I may be able to throw in a firm, open palmed, slap on the ass.

Don't want to go it alone:
You don't have to. Like the previous gaming challenges that we've had in the last few months, I'd like to have a get together whereby a bunch of us can play the game while chatting over skype. Currently I'm planning to do it on Saturday, January 21 at 8pm EST. But if no one can make that time and another day would work better we can change it. For those who can't make the planned time, feel free to coordinate something amongst yourselves.

What's coming in February:
I got a fair amount of people wanting multiplayer games in my last thread so next month will be the classic Starcraft: Broodwar. The system requirements are low, and the battle chest can be had cheap these days. For those who don't have and can't find a copy locally, Blizzard sells digital only copies on their website for $14.99 here: Starcraft Anthology

A pittance for such a classic I say.

The plan for next month is to do a free for all on the map Big Game Hunters. If we have enough people interested we may have to do two or three to get everyone in and decide a final winner. I also want to make videos of the replays as well with me doing commentary if I can manage to get that all figured out. So since next month will obviously require more excessive planning than this month I want to get started on it now. I know it's difficult to commit to a game so far off, but I'll set a tentative date for the game to be February 18th at the same time, 8pm EST, if only so we have something to shoot for and discuss in advance. Ideally I'd like to get an idea of who wants to participate in it this month, and hammer out a firmer date if we can, especially if we do have to host more than one game.

I believe that's it for now. I'll update this post later with the Skype names for anyone who can participate on the 21 so that we can have a handy list on the front page. I'll also update the dates as needed.

Have fun!