Edge of '94 Midwest

The Model 3 is an official clone console if that makes sense. It was licensed by Sega, but produced by a 3rd party, and even had its own 6 button controller complete with autofire options. It works with the 1st party 3/6 button controllers. It lacks the ability to work with the add on consoles like the Sega CD, but is region free, meaning you play foreign carts with it. It's very light and doesn't take up much space. I have either 2 or 3 of them, and they work great for tournaments. My major complaint is that due to their lack of weight, they are prone to moving. I run the Edge of 94 Midwest annual tournament. We use all 3 models of Genesis, with CRT displays, but use Analogue's Mega SG FPGA console for the main stream setup, which plays in glorious HD with no scaling lag. I'm not aware of any relevant tournaments using emulators for local tournament play, but obviously that's how the community does online leagues and tournaments.

That's a Mort level maneuver. His mid Tecmo tournament naps are legendary.

I legit was concerned buying product from there when I saw that site. I wonder if that turns away business.

@clockwiseIf there is no 4 star graphic representing GA, then what is this life for? Am I missing something, or are you scoring on the Minnesota Wild?

Use this feature, but don't have users connect to it, save one-two people who will stream this on the Internet with commentary on a public platform like Twitch/Facebook/Youtube. IE Smoz competes against Chris 0 in Genesis. Smoz streams his screen to the Discord server feature just mentioned. Trojan and Angryjay capture the game footage into OBS and stream on the preferred gaming platform. Users are then invited to chat in the stream on said platform, and the general public can see this as well.

Would really like to see some board sponsors like Tim Hortons

Considering where we were, there is a strong possibility that was a biological dude.

Thanks so much for the great feedback EA! I can't tell you how much I've come to appreciate our friendship in the past few years. I think you either overpaid for your hotel, or got in on things before the special deal package was announced. I believe normal fare for our group was supposed to be $69 a night, which is insane. When compared to our tight quarters at Edge VR Arcade, I found Pourhouse to be immensely larger, and the only significant deficiency I felt was the bathroom capacity, well that and the allotted amount of time. I want SNES to work out. We've made the investment, and had a good contingent in 2019. For reasons I can't get into, a situation prevented the Elmhurst guys from attending. I gave the "come to Jesus" talk with several SNES players I know who have told me, "Oh man next year for sure". If I don't get hard commits with paid signups when we're on the bring of announcing the tournament, we'll strongly consider tabling SNES and expand the Genesis experience. Additional investment for a 2v2 experience would be necessary, based on our current stock of 4 way play adapters, and 3 button controllers, as well as flash cartridges. It's certainly possible. If we don't table SNES, having a dedicated 2v2 event at Moxy Friday could certainly be a thing. I also imagine if we asked far enough in advance that we might be able to secure that same space Saturday and make it an official after party, still allowing us to have our cake and eat it too. The only negative there would be no official stream if we did it that way. The day has a way of sapping your energy by that time as well, so Friday sounds much more appealing for 2v2. Without the dedicated help of "The Ref", or someone like him, not playing in the Saturday tournaments is going to be an ongoing reality. The live stream is living/breathing billboard to what's possible, and I've found these things unwatchable without a dedicated hype box. I thought we missed an opportunity in 2019 with far too many streamed games with a dedicated voice. I actually really enjoy the commentary, I just need buds to fill in on color to keep me energized in the late rounds. Leif, the Regina bros, AJ and Raph, and Kevin C all did their part to help me stay energized best I could. I do think I would have had a bit more pep had I not been battling a virus(Not the Rona) the week before. Leif Erikson's contributions made this event super special. I can only hope with the financial setbacks being experienced by so many small business owners that we can continue as we have been in 2021. You hit it on the head for Minneapolis being amazing. It's crazy to see someone wearing literally thousands of dollars worth of clothing, and then just a few steps away is a homeless person. I did feel safe in Uptown. At no time did I worry for my safety.

Put Ray at Center! The Bourque giveth, and The Bourque taketh away.

That won't work with what we use within the community as a whole, but if you head over to nhl94online.com, you'll get everything you'll need to play with us, including the necessary communication via our community Discord channel, so you may find opponents for pickup(exis) games, and eventually even leagues if interested.

The struggle to get our content to work properly on Facebook is real, at least when it's a tournament sized video. We've tried some tricks, and will be doing a 2PM CST rerelease of the SNES tournament footage on our Facebook page. I can only hope it actually works this time.

For more important discussion and updates, please join us in the Blades of Steel channel on Discord!

In all seriousness, despite having a decent stream in 2019, the bar has been raised so high by @LeifErikson and his team. @Coffey did an amazing job with the KO94 stream indeed! I really enjoyed the King of 94 stream, and look forward to how it evolves as well. The more dedicated volunteers you can wrangle the better. That being said, it takes a game veteran to function well on the mic. Guys like @halifax, @kingraph, and @angryjay93 are all top notch on the mic, but alas, they're typically in the field. It's rare to find someone with passion who will volunteer for something like this, then will take themselves out of competition. Given my talents/passion are on the mic, and I needed to address the tournament as a whole anyway, my position behind the booth on the stage for Minneapolis seemed to be the most appropriate spot. We had a ton of help from the tournament guys like @mort1237 and @hankthetank and others tearing down and helping setup. There is no real right way to do this, unless you get a guy like Arda to come back and do his thing. The tournament streams are amazing, but I maintain tournaments are for the people who attend them, and the stream is a living breathing billboard to attract other buds to the events in the future. I know it's not uncommon at retro sports tournaments to either skip group play streaming, or have it go without commentary until people start getting eliminated. Then the eliminated players come into the mix on the mic. There is no perfect system. I'm just glad people still want to come to these things. Here's to hoping everyone can get their tournaments in for 2020 and quick recoveries happen. Stay healthy everyone!

We're hosting an online Blades of Steel tournament in April. I'd start it sooner but it takes time to make sure everyone can get hosting going.

A few people still need help getting setup but we will be starting this week.

Hold for Results

Bracket : https://challonge.com/Blades2020Online

You may get the rules and details at the above link if interested.

Sign up here =====> https://forms.gle/hpp2nTjvZS6vq6Qh6 Edge of 94 Midwest proudly presents our first online Blades of Steel tournament for NES! This tournament will feature the US based rom for the Nintento Entertainment System. We will be using the Brudtopia emulator as is used by the Tecmo Super Bowl community at large. Assistance with setup for this emulator package is available by contacting me(Trojan) directly via the NHL94 Discord channel, or on Facebook via the Edge of 94 Midwest page. Free entry to the 2021 Edge of 94 Midwest NHL94 tournament will be awarded to the winner. Format : Randomly seeded double elimination. Winner of losing bracket must defeat opponent twice in the finals. The time to complete your game will be on average a 4 or 5 day window, however we encourage players to get their games done much sooner than the deadline. Rules: Have fun! Seriously, we aren't here to make enemies. This game is still fun today, and you should hope to make new friends by participating in this. There is a 10 goal deficit mercy rule, however in line with the above rule, you may wish to hit the brakes if you're taking someone to the woodshed. It's always best to let the game conclude for everyone's experience, even if it's officially over. There is no benefit for having a higher goal differential, as there is no group play phase. Again, in these situations, drop gloves more often, or dump the puck in the opposing zone to extend the game if it isn't in doubt. Find away to make sure your opponent is having fun. Games are a single match with the standard exhibition rules. Player 1 is the host of the game. A coin toss performed by the tournament organizer will determine who has the honor of being player 1. At this time it is not widely known if there is any game play advantage to being player 1 or player 2 beyond familiarity. Player 2 gets first pick of their favorite city, which is a purely cosmetic/aesthetic choice. A clear winner must emerge, so ties are not permitted. If an overtime winner is not crowned, the game converts to shootout mode.(I do not think Blades of Steel Games can end in ties but if the game ends itself without a winner, a new game must be started until a goal is scored, the game ending on that goal) Players should be generally advancing the puck to attempt to score. Continual and intentional "keep away"/time wasting is dumb. Don't be that guy. No intentionally introducing lag/disconnecting, or turbo is permitted. In the event of an accidental disconnect, the score is retained, and the period is replayed by starting a new game. In the event the disconnect happens in the 3rd period, and a goal differential of 3 or more already exists, the game is considered over. Games should be hosted by and played via wired Ethernet connection This isn't negotiable. Those that have played NHL94 over wireless connections know how futile it can be. Any disagreements or concerns that cannot be worked out between players should be brought directly to tournament organizer Trojan We will be streaming the best games from this tournament featuring the best games round by round with commentary. As a result we ask that people do not stream their games while they play. You will be required to submit a file via the recording feature in the emulator. Here is a video explaining how that works. Thanks to Frozensith for his video, also known as Tecmo Psycho.

@angryjay93 I think one of your uploaded images is missing. Thank you, as well as @danTML7, @jer_33 and @kingraph for sharing your experiences with everyone!

Hard to believe it's been a full week already since our fun weekend in Minneapolis! To my buds who attended, or to those who watched on stream, if you have it in your heart to leave a positive summary of your day with any photos you may have taken, that would be appreciated. I know some of you have started doing that already. I know we're all really busy, but I know these memories often get forgotten in the depths of someone' cellphone memory. I know that for @danTML7 photos may be the only way to remember anything at all past happy hour. Thanks again for a memorable weekend buds!

@segathon Why would we mention Swingers? They weren't playing NHL94.

These are thoughts and conversations constantly being processed year to year with our events. Trying to balance nostalgia and quality of competition are of constant concern. I absolutely love Swiss format. If system bandwidth is there, I think it's the best format for smaller to medium sized tournaments. If not, time can be a major issue Last weekend we actually used it for SNES to accelerate things, as there weren't many ranked SNES players present, and we were down to 16 SNES players, with more than enough systems to accommodate them. To ease the blow, we let those that got eliminated grab a Starting Lineup or Headliner figure as a thank you. Ultimately, everyone who doesn't get 1st place in the bracket ends their tournament in defeat in disappointment. Pros/Joes brackets are great if you have the numbers, but they aren't foolproof either. In November in Tecmo Cleveland two guys came in off the street and signed up for the Pros bracket. They also happened to be my first two opponents. I shut them out by nearly 80 points combined. At that point they were doomed to enjoy any level of success against actual pros. Point differential mattered there, and I think it's important for Swiss to use the "Bucholz" score factor to be the mechanic for ranking, followed by head to head, and then point differential. That way when if a pro gets up, they don't have to keep pressing for mercy. Despite how players get matched up, I do think the same gameplay and team selection methods should as close as possible, if not the same in both divisions. Our tier selection process does give players flexibility, but does prevent them from using the same team over and over again. @segathon we are strongly considering Swiss format next year with Genesis with additional group play rounds, which would hopefully ease your local buds minds knowing they get a ton of games for their dollar. On that note, some guys really got the screws put to them and didn't seem to mind as they got to play in a consolation bracket anyway. I do hope you'll reconsider for 2021. Thanks @kingraph for starting this meaningful dialogue.

Well everyone, another event is in the books! The weekend was an absolute blast, and a blur as it was over in a blink of an eye. I'll start with my experiences, and then conclude with my list of people to thank. If I've inadvertently missed you, please provide the necessary verbal cross check so I can right that wrong. Tagging is a bit hit or miss for me, so I'll mostly avoid that. I started out hitting the road about an hour and fifteen minutes later than normal Friday morning, but Hank, Carter and I arrived without incident at The Moxy at the exact same time Leif Erikson. We proceeded to start taking over the the main area of the Moxy lounge by the bar. Multiple Genesis consoles, including an Analogue Mega SG, Analogue Super NT, and Retro USB AVS were all in play. We also had multiple CRT's on hand, and a 2v2 station was setup with our special rom. Leif and I stepped out to scout out Pourhouse. When we arrived I knew immediately we had made the right decision. The place just screams "bros day away". After discussing staging locations for equipment, stations, etc, we returned to Moxy to get our gaming in. EA was already at the bar with his scarf. I suggested he get himself a smoking jacket to complete the look. Kevin Cabarello also was there, and not long after, Tyler Votaw from St Louis, Jason and Shannon from Madison, Chris O from the greater DC area all arrived. Angryjay93 and Raph alsoeventually arrived. Chris had a bud(Rob if memory serves) show up from LA. Our Canadian friends Jer, followed by a later arrival by DANTLM7 and SeventiesLord also spent time with us Friday. Darik Aho also joined us. Later in the evening, DPS, Mort, and Phil from Chicago's DMEN Tap league arrived. Hank was bound and determined to compete in Tecmo and Dr Mario for most of the evening. Chris O took me to the woodshed in a couple exis, but I fared well against Darik and Leif. Jer took me down a couple times in close games. Jason from Madison took me down in a game where I gave him some superior talent, but the game was close. 2v2 was a blast, but I wanted to make sure more people had a chance to play it. It seemed to be in use most of the night. I had to turn in earlier than most due to the responsibilities and early start for setup at Pourhouse. The area outside our bubble transitioned into something resembling a night club with all of the Friday night business. It was a hopping scene, but I decided it was best to dismiss Carter to the hotel room for the night, as there were adult things taking place. After mingling I finally went to the hotel room to call it a night. This is a stock photo, but this was our room config. No one in our room knew how to play guitar unfortunately. Onto Saturday : We got to Pourhouse super early around 7 AM. Hank, Mort, and Darik were around to help, along with Angryjay93, and the staff members at AV 4 You, owned by Leif Erikson. Their truck was packed to capacity, filled with technical goodness we'd enjoy for the entire day. I recorded a quick video just showing the venue pre tournament as we all setup. Above is a photo of Leif and Carter testing out the game feed and layout with the amazingly talented producer Noah! It took awhile, but there was a lot to do. By about 11 we were just about ready to get started. I finalized the groupings based on everyone was there. For the 1st time in our history, every person who said they were coming showed, and we even had an extra unexpected guest, which was awesome! After forming the groups for Genesis, it was onto the opening ceremonies. Leif recorded this special moment. Oh Canada was also performed prior to the Star Spangled Banner, but only the US anthem came with pyrotechnics, and constant applause from Blackhawks fans. After the anthem we went over the expectations for the day, and into group play. We were able to get lots of group play Genesis games covered on stream with commentary. They can be viewed here : We split the brackets into a 15 player "Pros" bracket, and the remainder of the field played for the "Joes" consolation prizes. You can view the stream for the Genesis Pros bracket here : We had some breaks in between games, but the scene switching helped from Noah our producer from AV For You. The big surprise of the day was the performance of Mort, coming back from a 6 goal mercy rule loss in game 1 to defeat Leif Erikson in 3 games. EA also showed some promise and appeared to be on fire. Ultimately both EA and Mort were unable to get past either AJ or Raph to advance to the finals. EA took 3rd place for Genesis. Ultimately Angryjay93 overcame Kingraph in the finals in a very good 3 games series. With a small army of helpers, the SNES consoles were all setup ready to go before the end of the Genesis tournament. After a brief pause we got started. People enjoyed things like the custom arcade brought by Leif, or played pickup games on their own. We also gave away a ton of stuff all day long. Seventieslord won the Roenick 3 way challenge! Due to time constraints coupled with the lack of ranked SNES players, we decided to go with a Swiss format. We had 16 total players. The top 8 advanced to an opening 1 and down round, followed by a 2/3 series for semi and finals. Kingraph took his revenge beating Angryjay93 in 2 games. You can see the entire SNES broadcast here : Above is video of Raph hoisting his trophy for SNES in slow motion with the pyrotechnics going off around him. Mort took down DPS in the 3rd place series, final game played on stream as well above. We had a ton of help tearing down, and it went smoothly. Everyone seemed to have a good time. I have a ton of people to thank, in nor particular order of importance. 1) The Shield donated much of what was given away as prizes. He was at the first 4 tournaments in Green Bay, and always was finishing near the top. He could not attend this year, and wanted to help make the event memorable. He's known more for his Tecmo prowess, but has always been one of our biggest event supporters. Make sure to thank him if you see him. 2) Charlie Bravo again made the Lord Manly's Cups for this tournament. They looked amazing, and this single touch has really propelled our image over the years. As we wrestle to find the balance of accessible entry fees, yet large enough to warrant a draw, we recognize that this single repeatable badge of honor is coveted, and there is non other like it in retro sports game tournaments. 3) Tom Jenkins of Cleveland Gaming Classic introduced me to the contacts at Hyperkin and Big Play over the past 18 months or so. His connections and encouragement have been tremendously valuable. 4) Hyperkin for their donation of equipment and support of our event. 5) Big Play Podcast for having us on 6) Pourhouse and their staff for allowing us to hold the event there, and all of the support that came with it 7) The army of volunteers that helped out that I could see, Darik, Hank, Mort, Angryjay93, Ed Hammes, and anyone else I didn't see setting up or tearing down equipment. 8) Kingraph, having the #1 ranked Genesis player in the world at your tournament from half the country away 3 years straight really helped bring legitimacy to what we're doing, and provided competition at the top against Angryjay93. Congrats on your continued success in our tournaments, and in your own back out East. 9) Angryjay93 is now the only paying player to have attended all five Edge of 94 tournaments, dating back to when we were "King of 94 WI". I have no words that can adequately thank you for believing in what we're doing. You're a class act human and champion. 10) Tom Stahnke the Retro Sports Gamer has continually supported us in person and behind the scenes by allowing us to broadcast to his viewers, expanding the ever growing audience of NHL94 streams. He continually encourages his players to get involved in the events we run, hosted us for a satellite tournament in Chicago, and even has put my son and I up multiple times at his home. Thanks for being a great friend bud. 11) Popsic Art did a tremendous promotion for us with their framed NHL94 art. I hope many of you decided to take advantage of this. 12) Up Down barcade donated the Fanny Pack of Tokens ultimately won by EA. When you're in town, check them out. 13) Creative Edge Productions/Edge VR Arcade hosted us the prior 2 years, and even though hosting events there was no longer possible for us, they still gave us an amazing promo video that I was able to record a voice over for. 14) Again, EA surprised me with a cartridge signed by the entire tournament. This always touches my heart. 15) Thank you to everyone who contributed on the mic for the stream in some fashion. You all know who you are. I hope to expand tournament involvement with this in the future. 16) Leif freaking Erikson has done something for us that I can't possibly measure. The stream, the pyro, the cameras, lighting the audio, the professional CRT displays, the holographic image, everything was beyond top notch. AV For You has propelled us beyond where we could have gotten on our own. If Leif wants exis, you give Leif exis. He's earned every single one of them. I feel that these thanks are so inadequate when typed over a keyboard. I was truly emotional on my return home, overcome with joy and gladness that everything went as well as it did. There are obviously areas to improve upon and there always will be. For the first time, it just felt right. I had always felt like we missed a critical mark that was holding us back somehow. Leif helped us break through that glass ceiling, and the sky's the limit. I know this was long, but I'm forever thankful for the memories we've created. If you contributed in a positive manner and weren't recognized, it wasn't intentional. May the year 2021 come soon! Please share any pictures or your own thoughts on this amazing weekend! Peace and thanks, -Troy "Trojan"

should be fixed boss, thanks!