Okay, so here are the rules. I set up a bunch of single-player games in my basement that people can play at their leisure between noon and 4PM. There are sheets of paper where initials and high scores are recorded. While that's happening I run a series of mini head-to-head tournaments, recording the results on an elaborate "leaderboard". Players received three points for each first place finish, and one point for each second place finish. At 4PM the single-player points are added into the mix, and the top eight players are seeded for an exciting playoff finale. The unofficial theme for VGM8 was snow and ice, which is fitting since it actually snowed during the event. Most people didn't even know that until they stepped outside afterwards.
Finding a good game for VGM is tougher that you might think. Each game must have the following characteristics:
- Easy to play, with minimal instructions. Anybody should be able to jump in and figure things out. For most games, I did allow a practice round.
- Games need to be short. If a single-player game runs long, it will be monopolized. If a head-to-head game is too long, it will limit the number we can squeeze in.
- For single player games, I have to be able to limit the continues, and the score must remain displayed on the screen after each game.

Metal Slug (Playstation 2, 2007)
I like to have plenty of shooters at VGM, and Metal Slug is probably the pinnacle of 2D shooting action. With rapid-fire controls, non-stop action, and gratuitous destruction, you cannot go wrong with this game. I set up the Metal Slug I from the Metal Slug Anthology with five continues and the difficult set to easy. There was a little confusion at first, as it was necessary to press "select" to reset the game between players. Shawn N was a close runner-up in this one with 156,614, and should probably kick Dean's ass if he hasn't already.

1st place: Joe 204,050 2nd place: Dean 162,144

Gradius 3 (SNES, 1991)
This is an old-fashioned 2D space shooter where you blast your way through caves while selectively upgrading your weapons. What makes the Gradius games so great for VGM is that they are so freakin' hard that the games tend to be very short. Nick came in third with 34,000.

1st place: Hawk 53,400 2nd place: Steve 39,000

Dragonfire (Atari 2600, 1982)
I can't believe I've never used this in a VGM before! It's easy to play, addictively fun, and a lot of my friends remember it from the old days. Dragonfire features two alternating screens. In the first, you dodge fireballs while crossing a bridge, and in the second you frantically snag treasure as a dragon spits fireballs from below. I used variation #1, which was ideal in terms of difficulty. Scott and Hawk vied for the high score in this for the better part of an hour before Matt took the wind out of their sails.

1st place: Matt 10,550 2nd place: Hawk 6,470

Q*bert (Atari XEGS, 1983)
Like Pac-Man, Q*bert is a universally-loved, timeless classic. You hop a funny looking creature around a pyramid, trying to change the squares into the same color while avoiding hazards like Coily the Snake. This game was super popular at VGM8, but ultimately Shawn P decimated the competition.

1st place: Shawn P 45,330 2nd place: Eric 18,305

Protector (Vectrex, 2003)
I fell in love with this Defender clone a few months ago, and knew it was a good choice for VGM8. The graphics are terrific, and the complicated button arrangement is very consistent with the original coin-op.

1st place: Dean 14,950 2nd place: Hawk 13,525

Thin Ice (Intellivison, 1986)
For every VGM I like to have at least one game that nobody's ever heard of, and this rare Intellivision title certainly fit the bill. You control a skating penguin trying to sink other penguins by carving out chunks of ice. I didn't really know how this would go over, but people seemed to love it! A few mentioned it reminded them of Qix.

1st place: Hawk 16,340 2nd place: George 11,080

Dragon's Lair (Philip CD-i, 1994)
For those of you old enough to remember the 1983 arcade scene, Dragon's Lair was a legitimate phenomenon. Although this laser-disk game featured minimal interaction, the imaginative cartoon visuals were a lot of fun to watch. I didn't expect people to get very far in this one (it involves a lot of trial and error), but Mark turned out to be an old Dragon's Lair veteran, effortlessly cruising through a large chunk of the game. In an amusing twist, most people were frustrated by Dragon's Lair and didn't even bother to record their scores. They might have thought different had they known that 15 points would be good enough for second place!

1st place: Mark 557 2nd place: Nick 15 (!)

Millipede (Arcade 1982)
As the latest edition to my arcade game collection, Millipede takes the classic Centipede insect-shooting-mayhem to the next level. Yeah, Millipede is faster, and despite what the scores would suggest, it's a lot harder too. Mike pointed out that the default high scores are so high (over 50K) that few people were likely to even rank in. To remedy the situation I provided a sheet of paper for people to mark down their scores. Then something weird happened. Mark allegedly scribbled out Steve's high score, claiming he had "tied it". That didn't make much sense, as the chance of them both scoring 51,858 seems very unlikely. Using my pocket calculator from eighth grade (which I once used to spell BOOBLESS), I calculated the chances of this occurring to be a staggering 51,858 to 1!! Anyway, Steve and Mark had to engage in a mini-playoff to settle second place, and Mark ultimately prevailed. Who said crime doesn't pay?

1st place: Mike 52,226 2nd place: Mark 51,858

Centipede (Arcade 1980)
This was a hotly contested game, with no less than four people finishing with scores of over 30K! Sadly, only two would derive any benefit for their efforts.

1st place: Scott 33,876 2nd place: Steve 32,530

Tapper (Arcade 1983)
Dean has really become dominant in Tapper - it seems like he wins it every year! Apparently the game is an acquired taste, as I noticed a lot of people seemed to back off from it after the first play.

1st place: Dean 47,575 2nd place: George 24,850

Crystal Castles (Arcade 1983)
Steve ran away with this one, almost doubling the next highest score! Apparently Steve has a thing for bears that prance around in red sashes. I guess I shouldn't say anything, considering this is my game!

1st place: Steve 107,623 2nd place: Mike 57,898

First Round	Finals	Winner
Nick Joe Mark Scott	Mark	* George *
Hawk Matt George Dean	George

First Round	Second Round	Finals	Winner
Steve Dean	Steve	Steve	* Steve *
George Chris	Chris
Shawn P Shawn N	Shawn P	Shawn P
Mike Eric	Eric

First Round	Finals	Winner
Dean 57.03 Mark 1:48.00 Eric 44.40 Chris 2:00 Shawn P 1:00 Shawn N 56:43 Matt 58.55 Scott 1:03 Steve 1:25 Mike 1:06.58 Hawk 1:25 Nick 1:22	Eric 1:14	* George *
	George :46

First Round	Second Round	Finals	Winner
Nick Hawk	Nick	Nick	* Chris *
Shawn P Matt	Matt
Mark Dean	Mark	Chris
Chris Steve	Chris

First Round	Finals	Winner
Joe Steve Scott Dean	Dean	* Nick *
Mark Nick Hawk Chris	Nick
Eric George Shawn P Matt	George

First Round	Second Round	Finals	Winner
Nick Matt	Nick	Nick	* Nick *
Dean Joe	Dean
Mike Steve	Steve	Steve
Shawn N Scott	Shawn N

First Round	Finals	Winner
Shawn P Chris Eric Mark	Mark	* Steve *
Dean Shawn N Matt Scott	Dean
Steve Joe Hawk	Steve

First Round	Second Round	Finals	Winner
Nick Chris	Nick	Scott	* Steve *
Scott Shawn N	Scott
Dean Steve	Steve	Steve
Mike Mark	Mark

First Round	Second Round	Finals	Winner
Chris Joe	Chris	Scott	* George *
Hawk Scott	Scott
George Nick	George	George
Shawn N Shawn P	Shawn N

These totals were used to seed the playoff round.

Blue=multi-player
Red=single player

1. Steve - 15 (10 blue, 5 red)
2. George - 12 (10 blue, 2 red)
3. Nick - 8 (8 blue, 1 red)
4. Dean - 8 (1 blue, 8 red)
5. Hawk - 8 (8 red)
6. Scott - 5 (1 blue, 4 red)
7. Mark - 5 (1 blue, 4 red)
8. Shawn P - 4 (1 blue, 3 red)
9. Mike - 4 (4 red)
10. Chris - 3 (3 blue)
11. Joe - 3 (3 red)
12. Matt - 3 (3 red)
13. Eric - 2 (1 blue, 1 red)
14. Shawn N - 0 (goose egg!)
15. Jon - 0

Note: In case of tie, head-to-head points take precedence. If still a tie, order of appearance determines rank.

The fights were exciting, especially when the fighters would fall of a cliff and fight in mid-air! Nick (#4 seed) stuck with a character he was comfortable with, Scorpion, while Dean (#3) selected the more agile (and extremely good looking) female characters. George (#2) went with The Flash, and stuck with him all the way through. Steve (#2) used Baraka to get through the first round, but took a risk by taking the Joker in the semi-finals. Steve did however beat Nick in the consolation match for third place, using Batman.

The final battle was a back-and-forth affair, and at one point in the third round George appeared to be toast. It took every ounce of skill and determination for him to answer with a mighty flurry and pull out and improbable comeback. The rest is one for the history books.

Quarter Finals	Semi Finals	Finals		Semi Finals	Quarter Finals
1. Steve (Baraka)	1. Steve (Ihe Joker)	4. Dean (Wonder Woman)	2. George (The Flash)	2. George (The Flash)	2. George (The Flash)
8. Shawn P (Deathstroke)					7. Mark (Sonya)
4. Dean (Wonder Woman)	4. Dean (Cat Woman)			6. Nick (Scorpion)	3. Nick (Scorpion)
5. Hawk (Captain Marvel)					6. Scott (Rayden)

THIRD PLACE: STEVE

SECOND PLACE: DEAN

VIDEO GAME MANIA 8 CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE: GEORGE

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