video game olympics

[christianscott27]

i'm planning on making contests a bigger part of our upcoming trademeets and have started to develop an idea, i'm looking for some suggestions to help flesh it out.

the basic premise is this, we'll have about 20-30 people over and i'd imagine at least half will participate. everyone who wants to get in the contest has to throw an item onto the prize pile. the items should have a rough value of $10, a boxed copy of this, a semi rare something or even a budget PS2 title but worth at least $10. then a series of multiplayer gaming contests would narrow the players down until its one on one for the prize pile.

so what i'm looking for is a good way to set up the tourney and some good games to determine who advances. i'd prefer to use as many multiplayer games as possible but would use a few "best score" type games as well. the most important thing is that the games be fun and challenging (and dont take too long). so any ideas? any suggestions?

it helps i think to imagine the setting, a dozen or so people crowded in a room, some a little drunk, all focused on the games, trash talking etc. what games would be entertaining to watch and play in that sort of setting?

[Perkar]

i've said it before and i'll say it again.

Burnout 2: Crash mode is the best multiplayer game for gatherings... especially if you're drunk. only problem is, why do you have to use the same controller for each player? poor design there. but man it kicks ass... cause as much damage as possible, matches are short and sweet, and entertaining as hell.

[Scoots]

Four player Chu Chu Rocket!

The "Crazy Box" games on Crazy Taxi would be good too as they are extremely quick to complete and are generally along the lines of "do a huge jump" etc.

[AB Positive]

There's always Super Smash Bros. Melee....

Power Stone 2 is great for multiplayer if you can snag a copy...

This reminds me, need to get March 2nd off...

-AG

[Sniderman]

One thing I always though would be cool would be the Pac-Man Fever Tourney. It'd be lengthy, but here's the concept.

First get all of the Atari 2600 versions of the games mentioned in Pac-Man Fever. Use the corresponding song itself as the timer. At song's end (or when the third man is used up) take that score. At the end of all 8 songs, add all game scores for final total. Like I said, it may take a bit, so maybe use only 4 : Pac-Man Fever, Goin' Berzerk, Do the Donkey Kong and - I dunno - Froggy's Lament or Hyperspace (Asteroids).

[Jive3D]

Good multiplayer games for a tourny

-Mario Kart 64 (yeah DD is okay, but for a true competition you need to go the 64 route)
-007 Goldeneye. (This was never my game, but I know that a lot of people are crazy good at this game)
-PacMan Vs!
-Wipeout XL (probably the game that I have played most in my entire life, getting 2 player 2 TV action going would be excellent, very challenging game)
-Street Fighter II (regular version)(just to have that oldschool fighting goodness back again)
-Soul Calibur II (to balance the fighting game scale)

Perhaps there should be a single player game but with a crazy time attack competition, like a nes megaman game.

[christianscott27]

a few extra notes-

i have pretty much every system here so i'm hoping to cover all the eras, as fun as they might be i'm skipping over rare games, since a) i might not have a copy and b) i want everyone to have a chance to practice at home

i'm planning on annoucing the games to our members in advance of the meet. this will give everybody a fighting chance to get some practice in and hopefully result in some spirited gaming, nothing is more sad than seeing someone get smoked at a game they have never played before.

i'd like to have prizes for the 2nd and 3rd place as well but i'm not sure if it would be good to split the prize pool.

[Flack]

I think Rampart is fun to watch, also any multiplayer racing game (maybe ATV or some snowboarding game) would be fun. For the classics, Warlords is hard to beat.

Maybe a GTA smash-em-up? Each player gets 2 minutes to rack up as much score as possible? That would be fun to watch!

[Nature Boy]

For a 2600 quickie I suggest using Space Invaders on it's hardest level. A game of that takes all of 15 seconds usually :)

[Chunky]

Bracketed Warlords Tourney? that and a little kaboom.

[Keir]

You should also try to cover as many different genres as you can. One racing game; one fighting game; one puzzle game like Bust-a-Move; one pong type game; one rhythm game like perhaps DDR (not sure where you would be able to set that up though).

For high score games there's always Kaboom (which I can't believe I'm sugesting since I suck at it). Or maybe SCSIcide.

How would you be determining a winner? I suppose you could do it like the Olympics. For each game award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and then see who has the most at the end. Maybe have a tie-breaker game if necessary.

One final suggestion: 2600 - Quick Step (please?)

[scooterb23]

All good suggestions...but you HAVE to end the competition with an Activision Decathlon game. :D