Edge of '94 Midwest

Well it might be the end of an era as our venue is concerned. I've been informed that the lounge area is going to be converted into VR space, as the demand for more VR and the value associated with it exceeds the revenue they are producing in the lounge area.

Good deal @kingraph, but it needs more zamboni!

I'm going to drop this knowledge, if NHL Hockey for DOS is considered NHL94, then it does have a full season.

These are extremely kind words. We learned a lot from last year. I'm going to thank a bunch of people here, because the result is the product of a lot of past criticism, near nameless volunteers, and passionate people willing to give up a weekend to play a 25 year old video game. If I screw up and fail to mention someone give me a proverbial cross check. The order isn't particular, so don't take any of these mentions as a rank. Since he's top of mind, @angryjay93, the first ever player of elite skill and long standing member of this community to make the journey. He's been coming since the first tournament, won the first two, placed 2nd in Genesis last year and this, as well as took his first ever SNES championship this year. His continual and authentic praise opened the doors to more traveling players. While this one may sound surprising, @CoachMac is very much credited in the end result of this tournament. To put it plainly, despite having some pretty neat things happen last year,(Arda Ocal, and Dan the organist) our first attempt at integrating SNES, coupled with some venue challenges, and some extended delays(people leaving for food) truly diminished the Genesis experience for everyone who traveled. Coach let me have it vocally before the event last year, privately in the message system of this board, and publicly earlier in this thread. While I was initially livid, I learned to grow a thicker skin and become better at doing this because of him, and for that I thank you Coach. Let's be honest, without @kingraph being there, the Genesis would certainly be heavily slanted in Angryjay's favor. These two have done tremendous battle in multiple tournaments, and every time they do special things happen. The fact that Raph took a chance with us now means that we have a world championship feel at the top of each bracket. Nick Wautier(The Ref) was able to help with the 1st two tournaments, and while they were much smaller in number than the last two, his unavoidable absence last year was felt. I made it a priority to involve him. Now I know the score reporting took some adjusting to, but once people got into the rhythm, games were being played with little waiting. His spreadsheet(once it was working correctly haha) quickly provided the results of group play very quickly, something that took about an hour or longer last time, as everything had been tabulated manually after group play last year. Nick was also able to provide some fill in stream commentary, and keep the logos/names most of the time. While his 94 knowledge isn't very deep, his personality and vocal delivery are solid, and and enough to keep people engaged. Ryan and all of the extremely talented SNES Chicago guys have changed the face of this tournament for as long as they continue coming to it. Charlie from Chicago was able to make an immediate impact on the color commentator role, helping us buy time as the other semi final took place on the RSG stream. Thanks to all of them for making the journey. Speaking of RSG, Tom couldn't make it due to some family conflicts, but made sure to send most of his regular players(Mort, DPS, Green Majik, Phil, if Sean wasn't sick, he would have made it too). Mort did a great job keeping the RSG stream going. There are many good games on there, some with Mort's commentary, some without. It's lower tech, less fuss, and to that point, they can literally go anywhere and stream a tournament. We get double the coverage thanks to them, and I couldn't be more pleased with them. Also props to Green Majik for filling in on the mic on the TGFN stream. Although TGFN folks couldn't be there, their impact has been felt since last year. Our audio and streaming equipment is thanks to their generous support. They also assisted in getting some of the SNES clone equipment we purchased last year. Michael Joyce from Player 2 Arcade Bar donated a Bill Romanowski jersey complete with signature and authentication for the Tecmo Super Bowl. @kingraph needs to put that on and take a selfie! Evan from Venture Wisconsin was there most of the weekend, and grabbed a ton of footage for a special they are doing on us. I can't wait to see how it turned out. Nelson79 who couldn't play NHL94 Saturday, did play Tecmo Friday, and was instrumental in getting me on the Game N Culture show, as well as getting a WFRV Local 5 news crew to the event. We may be given raw footage to that as the story was never put on air unfortunately. The Edge VR Arcade stepped up their game this year, doubling in size, and expanding our space by nearly 100%. While we recognize the traffic in certain areas became an issue, everyone had room to find a system and play on. Next year we will be better as far as foot traffic is concerned. They are a great venue and we will continue to work with them as long as the tournament doesn't outgrow the space. Koz Realty paid for our pizza on Saturday, and the guys at Titletown Financial not only paid for pizza Friday, but also brought in a bunch of players for Tecmo, so that was awesome, being that we had some late cancellations. Tony(Darth Sevious) brought his nephew, and had a good time, even if he wasn't stellar at the game. He has a signed Roenick card for me, so that's amazing! Moe Man listens to my tournament ideas literally year round, and gives me his opinions on the matter. He also defends Lord Manly's Cup from any and all intruders, ensuring its safe arrival to the tournament every year. Charlie Bravo is the maker of Lord Manly's Cup every year. He was one of my groomsmen at my wedding. This guy is special with his talents, and puts a lot of hard work to help put out what I think to be the coolest trophy in all of retro sports. I'll debate anyone on that topic. @MikeGartner22 made the first ever jersey and did great. I'm so glad you were able to take a chance on us. We hope you weren't disappointed. @LeifErikson and Darik Aho literally left a family vacation through the ice and snow to be with us for the Genesis portion. Now that's dedication! I'm so glad you were both there! PunkyQB is the ultimate recruiter, and while he isn't stellar at these video games, he's done his part to bring people out to Tecmo and NHL94. No thanks to the weather he flew solo to this one, but his efforts aren't unnoticed. Zac from Press Start Games donated gift cards for giveaway so thanks for that! They also sell us equipment at very good rates. Greg from Game Trade donated to the cancer benefit for Michy, who coincidently passed away Saturday. On that note thanks to all who gave. We are still fielding some donations and will do a drawing for next year's tournament. BTW some of you donated and didn't message me directly to remind me that you did. They met their goal for the cremation and will be using the surplus to help fund a headstone for Michy. Even though Ahman ultimately couldn't be there, he was willing, and had planned on it prior to losing his family member. His name did attract some people, even if it didn't ultimately happen. Maybe next year it will happen for him. EA aka @IAmFleury'sHipCheck donated a keyboard that looks like a SNES theme. I'll be able to use that on the stream setup in the future. Dude is straight up amazing to hang out with, and even took a chance on Tecmo. Also thanks to my son for enduring an entire day with us drunken idiots, and for lending his 11 year pipes on the stream. Well, I'm running out of thoughts. I'm sure I missed someone in there. Maybe some more folks with chime in with their positive vibes. It all adds up in the end. Thanks, Trojan

Why would I want to play one of the worst games in history, all the way through a full season?

This community makes me wish we all lived in the same city, and could convene monthly or something. I'm extremely jealous(in a good way) of what is going down in Chicago with the RSG guys, and the SNES group. I hope that they somehow merge and start cross training one another.

Thanks bud, hopefully it works out next year for you. Can't deny that New York draw, and Reno to NYC flights are dirt cheap. Thanks so much bud. I didn't even realize he was actually providing decent comments. He must be paying attention to real hockey broadcasts. I'm a proud papa! Maybe we can find a weekend that lets you make the journey next time.

You are freaking rock star! @smozoma

I know we had at least 12 of both SNES and Gens, probably more on Gens setup. We had 16 setups for Tecmo Super Bowl the night before, but some of those TVs were using RF for the extra NES setups. You were excellent with AJ, who I've heard a number of times do tremendous play by play as well as color. If you guys would stop winning everything we could have you commentate more! Great job on that EA game vs me. I didn't realize he didn't know the whole deke game, and I should have defended one timers more. He deserved the win. Just imagine if he put any real time into that, how quickly he'd adapt. I'm looking forward to the data, which will submitted Nick has time to organize it in a way easier to read for the likes of @smozoma who will, no doubt want to use it to modify world rankings. Much thanks, still learning the hockey flow for commentary, would love to take an entire tournament doing just that, with a rotating chair for color guys at a big tournament some day. I was consuming some of the broadcast recaps yesterday and discovered my son Lil Trojan wasn't doing a terrible job on the mic in the color role(He's 11). Who were you on Twitch? Also, would be nice to have the top two spots in doubt for Gens next time around. You should come. I'll say this, SNES is not a forgone conclusion that these two juggernauts(AJ and Raph) are a gimme to make the finals. More updates and such to come from me, just have to let the dust settle and get back to the real world. I'll post as I'm able and get a more formal recap out there when I can.

Total Player Count : 30 Total funds collected : $1035(rounded up) Total funds to payout : $776(75% of collected funds for active players) Genesis tournament $388 approx split 60/30/10 split $233/$116/$40 SNES tournament $388 approx split 60/30/10 $233/$116/$40

Quick recap, much longer to follow. Gens : 1st place@kingraph 2nd place @angryjay93 3rd place @MikeGartner22 SNES : 1st place @angryjay93 2nd place @kingraph 3rd place : Ben M(part of the new SNES crew from Chicago)

I went on the Game N Culture show with Nelson79 last night. You can watch it on Facebook here : or on Youtube here :

We are sad to learn of the passing of a loved one of Ahman Green. As a result of the timing of the wake and funeral, he cannot be in attendance.

We will see! They typically play with line changes on. They self rate themselves a 5-6. Although, they play about 50 games a year each with each other minimum. It will be nice to have some more talent for this part of the tournament.

We just took in 6 SNES players from the Chicago area, above and beyond the several RSG Chicago guys. The state of IL is representing hard!

I can't handle the frame rate in this game.

Our promo video is live, and we'd appreciate any shares on social media! On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gbnhl94/videos/921026914954928/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F8nZFxWgS0 Twitter: https://twitter.com/trojanvoice/status/1095304491027570688

I'll be on the "Why Not" Venture Wisconsin show with Ahman Green tonight, estimated start time 5:30 CST. We will be talking about our NHL94 and Tecmo Super Bowl tournaments. https://www.facebook.com/VentureWisconsin/photos/a.776705869351891/776705839351894/?type=3 Join us in chat and please ask questions!

I wanted to put to bed any rumors regarding AJ not being at the tournament. As of this morning he could not locate a suitable flight that worked alongside his work schedule. We have found a solution that will get him into Green Bay the day of the tournament, albeit a bit late. We will work with him within reason to avoid any forfeitures of games.

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks away from our weekend festivities! There is still time to sign up, and we want you to be a part of this weekend! We personally can't wait!

We made the switch after having so much success doing this with Tecmo Super Bowl, an idea we got from The Retro Sports Gamer. Since then, they'e adopted the same strategy with other games like RBI Baseball and NBA Jam. Less experienced players aren't immediately handicapped by choosing a potentially lopsided matchup. We did however have the coin toss winner choose the tier, and the loser gets away but first team choice. Our tiers are a bit different too, but hey, that's the spice of 94 baby!

SNES Tiers are as follows:Thanks @annatar and @Bob Kudelski 1 - PIT BOS NYR DET 2 - CHI LA BUF CGY WSH 3 - VAN QUE WPG MTL 4 - NJ PHI STL TOR 5 - EDM NYI DAL HFD 6 - ANA FLA OTT SJ TB

Behold everyone, the ever lucky #16th Gens ranked player The_Shield aka Tim U has confirmed his participation in both day's events.

I'm relatively new in comparison(last 3 years or so) so your name hasn't popped up for me. That being said, I can't imagine life with without my wife. From one bud to another you have my deepest condolences. Hoping to catch some exis with ya when you get settled.