Video Game Mania 6:
The Competitors

(in order of appearance)


Steve N (#1 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 18 (11 multi-player, 7 single-player)
Talk about cocky! Steve actually had the nerve to show up at my door wearing a homemade "chain" around his neck with all three of his trophies dangling from it (Flavor Flav style). Granted, Steve was the only gamer to ever receive a trophy in every video game tournament he has entered. I say "was", because VGM6 marked his tragic fall from grace! Initially everything was going as planned, as Steve dominated many of the games and comfortably positioned himself as the #1 seed. He made the miscalculation however of looking past his first-round opponent (the surging Shawn P), and was stunned to find himself knocked out of the running. Afterwards, when asked if he wanted to show off his chain to everyone, Steve responded with an adamant "Hell no!"

First place finishes:

  • Torina 2006 (Alphine Skiing)
  • Sled Storm
  • NHL 06 (Teamed with Mike B)
  • Berzerk
  • Mr. Do
Second place finishes:
  • FIFA Soccer (Teamed with Shawn P, Mike B)
  • River Raid
  • Castle Crisis

Mike B (#7 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 7 (4 multi-player, 3 single-player)
Mike is Steve N's brother-in-law, and together this dynamic duo rolled to success in both of the team sports games, NHL 06 and FIFA Soccer. Far more impressive however, was the fact that Mike fully participated in VGM6 with a broken hand. A BROKEN HAND, PEOPLE!! Despite his heavily bandaged appendage (and his hand), Mike turned in one of his most impressive performances ever, easily qualifying for the playoff round. In order to capitalize on his new recipe for success, Mike hopes to attend VGM7 wearing a full body cast.

First place finishes:

  • NHL 06 (Teamed with Steve N)
  • Gaiares
Second place finishes:
  • FIFA Soccer (Teamed with Steve N, Shawn P)

Shawn P (#8 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 5 (1 multi-player, 4 single-player)
Not only did Shawn haul over an extra television for the event, but he even presented me with some pirate paraphernalia for my basement. Any guy who likes pirates is a winner in my book! It's fitting that Shawn had a break-out year, first squeezing into the playoffs as the #8 seed, and then defeating #1 seed Steve N in what will go down in history as "The Mother of All Upsets". Shawn exhibited a remarkable degree of stick-tuitiveness and spurt-ability in the Ice Pong playoffs, engineering a series of dramatic come-backs. When the dust cleared, Shawn walked away with a well-earned third-place trophy.

First place finishes:

  • 1943
Second place finishes:
  • Mr Do
  • FIFA Soccer (Teamed with Steve N, Mike B)

Scott Z - SECOND PLACE (#5 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 8 (4 multi-player, 4 single-player)
With mad skills in both classic and modern games, it's not surprising that Scott cruised into the finals and took home the second-place trophy. He was especially tenacious during the heated FIFA contests, urging his team to score a gratuitous "facial" goal when they were well ahead. Strutting around in a Hines Ward Steelers jersey made him a lightening rod of controversy. In fact, Scott may have won the championship if he wasn't so busy fending off allegations that the Superbowl was rigged (which he never denied by the way!).

First place finishes:

  • FIFA Soccer (Teamed with Bobby , Shawn N)
  • Bruce Lee
Second place finishes:
  • Crystal Castles
  • Sled Storm

Matt
Total Points: 3 (1 multi-player, 2 single-player)
Despite being his first VGM tournament, Matt made an impact and exhibited a very competitive spirit. When I initially asked him if he was familiar with the rules, Matt assured me that he had memorized the emails, studied the VGM web pages, and read 100 pages of documentation (none of it relating to VGM, oddly enough). Rumor has it that Matt even studied 72 hours of video footage covering previous VGM tournaments to scout out his opponent's weaknesses. In the end, Matt performed respectably, and now that he has some experience under his belt, he should be a force to be reckoned with at future tournaments.
Second place finishes:
  • NHL 06 (Teamed with Keith )
  • Berzerk
  • Tapper

Bobby (#6 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 8 (4 multi-player, 4 single-player)
Despite being a veteran VGM attendee, Bobby hadn't made much of an impact in recent years. This year however was a comeback of sorts. He really found his groove in the FIFA three-man team event, and also excelled in both skiing games. It's puzzling that Bob didn't fare better in the NHL 06 contest, because Bobby was always a whiz at the old Genesis NHL games of the mid-90's. Back in the day, I even remember presenting him with a cardboard, Reynolds-wrap encrusted championship belt for his NHL 94 prowess. Man, we so so immature back then!!
First place finishes:
  • FIFA Soccer (Teamed with Scott Z, Shawn N)
  • Solar Quest
Second place finishes:
  • Skiing
  • Torina 2006 (Alpine Skiing)

Steve S
Total Points: 2 (1 multi-player, 1 single-player)
If one player experienced a case of tough luck this year, it was Steve. In the very first event, Alpine Skiing, Steve navigated the course with speed and precision. Unfortunately, at the very end of the course is an arch marked "Finish", and wouldn't you know, he slammed right into the right side of that thing. Despite rolling across the finish line, the game ruled him disqualified. After such a demoralizing setback, Steve couldn't gain any traction through the rest of the tournament. His last chance for redemption was Soul Calibur, a head-to-head 3D fighting game. But after cruising through the first two rounds of Soul Calibur, Steve was surprised by upstart Eric R and had to settle for second place. For the record, Steve is also the man who designed my web site way back in 1999! And it's still the best looking site on the web!!

Second place finishes:

  • Gaiares
  • Soul Calibur

Eric R (#2 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 13 (6 multi-player, 7 single-player)
Last year Eric redefined the word "tragedy". After rolling through the tournament and earning the top seed for the VGM5 playoffs, he was immediately eliminiated in the very first round. Devastated, Eric neither ate nor slept for six months straight, and was often heard babbling incoherently. He eventually recovered however, and just in time to begin thumb-training for VGM6. This year Eric found himself in the driver's seat as the #2 seed, which proved to be a much safer position. Although he was defeated in the semis and had to settle for fourth place, Eric was relieved to finally get the monkey off of his back. Now known as the best VGM player to never win a trophy, Eric R is ready to take the next step, and kick some serious ass at the next tournament.


First place finishes:

  • Darkwatch
  • Soul Calibur
  • Skiing
  • K.C. Munchkin
Second place finishes:
  • Centipede

Eric S
Total Points: 0
Shortly before the playoffs, Eric quietly excused himself and slipped out of VGM6 early. A few minutes later, the underlying reason for this became crystal clear, as someone exclaimed "Did Eric score zero points again?!" Yes, after showing a glimmer of potential last year, Eric has fallen off the wagon and is once again saddled with the shame of scoring ZERO points. It must have been difficult for him to explain to the wife, who has admonished him in the past about getting shut out in a high-profile event like VGM. If that's not bad enough, whenever anyone Googles Eric's name, the first hit reads "0 points". When will the hurting stop? Perhaps Eric is just too nice of a guy to butt heads in a cut-throat tournament like VGM. Advice to Eric: Next year, we don't want you to be the guy in the PG-13 movie who everybody is really pulling for. We want you to be the guy in the rated R movie! You're a bad, bad man!


Mike F - VGM6 CHAMPION (#3 seed in playoffs)
Total Points: 11 (4 multi-player, 7 single-player)
The creature is driven by rage! Mike has somehow managed to quietly win the last three video game tournaments, including Video Game Extreme 1, Video Game Mania 5, and now Video Game Mania 6. It has been speculated that this feat is the greatest accomplishment by a human being in the history of mankind. As a frame of reference, Mike's accomplishment makes Cal Ripken's streak look like some old granny winning three straight hands of Gin Rummy. Mike plays down his success, claiming he's only really good at the old school stuff, but we all know that's baloney. In reality, Mike began honing his skills as a child, playing his brother at Atari 5200 Galaxian "booger style" (play without shooting a missile). More recently, he's been spotted at the local gym, monopolizing the thumb weights for hours on end. Mike's latest performance and well-publicized affiliation with BALCO has called into question the possiblity of performance-enhancing drugs playing a role in his success.

First place finishes:

  • Castle Crisis
  • Centipede
  • River Raid
Second place finishes:
  • Darkwatch
  • Solar Quest

Tuan
Total Points: 3 (single-player)
Being as well behaved as you can expect from Tuan, he was fairly quiet with the exception of sporatic orgasmic groans and frequent cries of "CONTROVERSY!!" Tuan was the perfect case of a gamer putting all of his eggs in one basket! He became addicted to K.C. Munchkin in the early going, playing the game for what seemed to be hours on end. Then, once he achieved a score he could be proud of, Eric R immediately trumped it. Poor Tuan didn't realize that Eric had grown up with that freakin' game! In the end, Tuan insisted that cheating was taking place and he renewed demands for all players to be tested for steroids.
Second place finishes:
  • Bruce Lee
  • K.C. Munchkin
  • 1943

Keith
Total Points: 1 (multi-player)
This was a rough year for Keith, who got plenty of playing time but didn't have much to show for it. Worse yet, he was paired up with Matt in NHL 06, who was yelling in his ear the whole time ("PASS THE PUCK KEITH!"). At one point during the ceaseless mayhem that was VGM6, Keith was so physically exhausted and mentally overwhelmed that he was seen sleeping on the couch! Now THAT's intense!
Second place finishes:
  • NHL 06 (Teamed with Matt )

Shawn N
Total Points: 9 (3 multi-player, 6 single-player)
It was a year of redemption for Shawn N, who had faded into obscurity after winning VGM2 so many years ago. Shawn hit a new low last year when he co-starred in a reality series with Corey Feldman, Ralph Macchio, and the lead singer from Kaja Goo Goo. As part of his dramatic turn-about, Shawn dominated the arcade games, and was the heart of a powerhouse team in FIFA soccer. Although nicely seeded at #4 in the playoffs, he ran into a buzzsaw in the first round by the name of Scott Z. Still, Shawn was just happy to bask in the limelight once more, and is positioning himself as a favorite for the next tournament.

First place finishes:

  • FIFA Soccer (Teamed with Bobby , Scott Z)
  • Crystal Castles
  • Tapper

Joe
Total Points: 0
Joe arrived at VGM6 with three objectives: Consume large qualities of food (check), drink his fill of alcoholic beverages (check), and get the F outta Dodge before anyone could realize he'd been shut out with ZERO POINTS (check)! To his credit, Joe made a concerted effort and competed valiantly in many events. Ultimately however, he inflicted more damage to a pan of lasagna than any of his video game opponents.

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