Date: 08/15/2007

By: Vinh Trieu

The Event: Oni-Cade Game Room, Operated by Big Bruno, Powered by SNK Playmore Corp. Japan, www.snk-capcom.com & www.arcadeshock.com

Location: Level 3, Room 351 A-B-C-D-E-F (click on link below to see detailed map - room is highlighted in blue)

Oni-Cade Room Location at George R. Brown Convention Center

Oni-Cade Room Layout

Oni-Con 2007 is just around the corner and this year, we've got a lot more to offer all around. If you're not familiar with Oni-Con, here is a overview of what this 'Con' is all about. It's a show where cosplayers, comic, gaming and anime fans get together. What Oni-Con has been highly praised and known for is not only it's huge cosplay following, but most importantly, it's a great place to just hang out and have fun. Mindless fun, from early morning, to past midnight. From all night gaming to anime shows, you'll feel like you're in Vegas, passing each day by with little or no sleep and the best part is, you're guaranteed not to lose all your savings. Well, maybe we can't promise you that, but surely enough, you'll have a splendid time. If not, we'll give you a free admission to the gaming room. =)

So after you indulge yourself in a few drinks, drag yourself over to the Con and start shopping, from comic books, videos, anime figurines, posters and some mindless gaming fun, which is where we come in. SNK-CAPCOM.com has been sponsoring Oni-Con since it's first show 4 years ago. Year after year, we've tried to contribute more and so far, it's been an ascending trend, with bigger and better prizes. This year will be a bit more special, not only from the prizes, but because of last year's promising turnout, the Oni-Con Staff (with the pleading from Big Bruno) has given us triple the floor space. 2006's gaming room was about 2000 square feet. This year, we will occupy 6000 square feet, basically the whole hall. With the added space, we plan to put it to good use.

We'll be the first to admit that our choices in games offered were, uh, embarrasingly poor last year. Despite this, the turnout of the game room was quite good. So luckily, we have another year to make up for what we missed and this time around, we had to perform a few bribes to get the games in we think would be more accepted overall, so here they are (some game titles may change depending on availability of cabs):

Showcase Event:

King of Fighters Maximum Impact: Regulation A Images

SNK Playmore has moved it's big franchises to Taito's new Type X² System and the first game on their list is King of Fighter's Maximum Impact: Regulation A. This is their new hardware of choice and the good news is, it's coming to America, as well as other countries around the world. This is an exciting time as the Taito Type X² system is truly a hardware monster and with the creativity and amazing library SNK Playmore has, it's only going to get better and it starts now.

Come and check out KOF: MIRA. Practice and casual play will be on Friday, October 19th, 2007. Special tournament will be held on Saturday, October 20th, 2007, which we will hand out authentic SNK Playmore souvenirs to all contestants, as well as other prizes. Yeah, we know, there's not a lot of practice time, but it's the experience that counts.

Special thanks to SNK Playmore Japan for their sponsorship in this.

We will update this article with prizes, screenshots and videos in the upcoming days for KOF: MIRA so check back with us.

• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (What else? The ageless fighter)
• Capcom vs. SNK 2 (The obvious.)
• The Punisher (The good ol' classic beat 'em up)
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 (One of Capcom's best creations)
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Fast paced old school classic)

• Breakers Revenge (The NEO•GEO Alpha 3, a gem of a fighter)
• Garou: Mark of the Wolves (The best fighter ever from SNK? - quite possibly)
• King of Fighters 2002 (Besides KOF XI, this is the best KOF from SNK)
• Fatal Fury Special (When you see all the combos you can do in this game, you'll know this game was ahead of it's time, especially for an SNK fighter)

BYOC (Bring your own console area)

This area is set up for the casual gamers. Bring whatever system and games you have and play against others. Depending on the availability of extra monitors, we will try to provide them for you, but to be safe, you are welcome to bring your own. Please be aware that we will not be responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged items, so keep an eye on your personal equipment.

Since many gamers are under 21 and even if you are, we are NOT in Vegas, so money matches are not supported nor allowed. We love to gamble ourselves, but there's a time and place for everything. Oni-Cade is not the place. Anyone setting up money matches will be escorted out.

Wi-Fi Lounge Area

Gather all your buddies and go Wi-Fi on the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. Chill on our comfortable inflatable couches. Bring the outdoors in.

Tourney Area (Completely Free, No Registration or Entry Fees)

VERY IMPORTANT: For those competing, please bring your own controller or stick. We will have some limited controllers for those unprepared, but it's towards your advantage to use a stick/controller that you're used to. We are also not responsible for your personal lost or damaged goods, so keep an eye on your belongings at all times. We will not reimburse you for broken/damaged controllers if you happen to loan it to a fellow gamer. Common sense here folks. Besides that, just come and have some fun. Some basic tourney rules will be posted soon, so make sure to check back for them.

The system format of each title may change depending on equipment/software availability.

KOF XI (PS2):

1st Prize: Hori RAP3 Stick for PS3
2nd Prize: Metal Slug Anthology (PS2) and FF: Battle Archives for PS2 (US Versions)
3rd Prize: Gift Card $25.00 (Best Buy)
4th Prize: PSP UMD Movie or anime DVD
5th Prize: CD Soundtrack (to be announced later)

Edit on Tournament Time from 2:00pm to 6:00pm

Tournament Day/Time: Friday, October 19th, 2007. 6:00 PM

Smash Bros. Nintendo Wii (Pending Availability) or Gamecube

1st Prize: Nintendo DS (Special Edition - Brain Age 2) Portable System
2nd Prize: Mario Party 8 Nintendo Wii Game
3rd Prize: Gift Card $25.00 (Best Buy)
4th Prize: PSP UMD Movie or anime DVD
5th Prize: Soundtrack CD

Tournament Day/Time: Saturday, October 20th, 2007. 3:00 PM

Capcom vs. SNK 2

1st Prize: Capcom Style MAS Stick for PS2
2nd Prize: Luminous Arc Nintendo DS
3rd Prize: Gift Card $25.00 (Best Buy)
4th Prize: PSP UMD Movie or anime DVD
5th Prize: Soundtrack CD

Tournament Day/Time: Friday, October 19th, 2007. 4:00PM.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

1st Prize: Xbox 360 Stick by MAS Pro Sticks - Special Oni-Con Elite Black Design
2nd Prize: Gods of War II for PS2
3rd Prize: Gift Card $25.00 (Best Buy)
4th Prize: PSP UMD Movie or anime DVD
5th Prize: Soundtrack CD

Tournament Day/Time: Saturday, October 20th, 2007. 5:00 PM

Breaker's Revenge: SNK NEO-GEO MVS System

Yup, the SNK Challenge is back and this year, you have to earn the biggest prize of them all. Last year, we literally gave away the NEO GEO home system and given there were only 6-7 contestants, it was the easiest tournament to win a prize and ironically, it was the largest prize of the show. Yes, the attendance was a bit comical, but only because many have not been exposed to some of the earlier SNK fighting games. In time, we hope this will all change as we'll be pushing some other great fighting games 'lost' in SNK's Library.

So if you're wondering why we would give out the biggest prize for such an obscure game, well, let's just say we're trying to promote some classic 2-D games that once more fans are familiarized with them, will be played more often and this will help one of the companies that we fully support, SNK Playmore.

Breakers Revenge Overview

When you think of SNK Fighting games, the first title that comes to mind from most fans is no other than King of Fighters and/or Samurai Shodown. Breakers Revenge, technically, isn't an SNK creation (a Visco Production), but it is a fighting game that supports the SNK System, the NEO GEO MVS. When Breakers (Breakers Revenge was the sequel - adds 1 more character with tightened game engine) was created some fighting game fans compared this to Capcom's Street Fighter Alpha Series. Some aspects of the game was so similar that Capcom at one point filed a lawsuit against it, but later decided to drop it's case. So given this action, wouldn't any Capcom fan be curious as to how this game looks and plays? We sure were.

So what's the big deal with Breakers Revenge anyway? With today's high powered home consoles, Xbox 360 and the PS3, the main ingredient that most game producers today are hard to develop is one that has great game play and most importantly, fun to play. Today, they're so concerned with the game's appearance (as it's one of the requirements from Microsoft and Sony), that with the deadlines and budgets they're given, they eventually are unable to fine tune the game play.

In our opinion, besides Fatal Fury Special, Breakers Revenge is the perfect example of having both superior gameplay and fun factor. Surely, BR's graphics aren't up to par with other SNK Fighters, but it does surpass them in with it's simple and complex combo system, producing a very deep game play strategy. This is accomplished by giving each character not only a plethora of super moves, but more basic punch and kick moves that actually serve a purpose. So with so many basic moves, the victor doesn't need to rely solely on super moves to finish off an opponent and provides the player with more options to mixup his/her strategy. Breakers Revenge does all this with the perfect game speed, not too fast, not too slow. Don't take our word for it, check out the videos on You Tube and see for yourself. This game is pure madness with all the adrenline rush you'll get from other fighters. All we need to do is to convince more gamers out there that it qualifies as one of the games for tournament competition.

Breakers Challenge

Grand Prize: Nintendo Wii System

1st Place: Nintendo DS System
2nd Place: Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (PS2)
3rd Place: Castlevania Portrait of Ruin DS Game
4th Place: PSP UMD Movie
5th Place: CD Soundtrack

This challenge will compose of two parts. The first part is general tournament where contestants will compete against one another taking home prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Those prizes are guaranteed. The only requirement we have is that there must be at least 24 contestants. We WANT to give out these prizes, but we want you guys/gals to do your job to contribute and compete. One can easily pick up Breakers within minutes as it plays very, very similar to Street Fighter Alpha.

To win the Grand Prize the finalist of the tournament must defeat two S-C.com staff members 2 out of 3 matches each. We're not great at this game, so it's not an impossible task. Difficult, but nothing near impossible. If you play anything like you see in the You Tube videos, you'll probably win the Grand Prize.

Tournament Day/Time: Saturday, October 20th, 2007. 9:00 PM

Dance Dance Revolution (PS2) Tournament. Day and time of this event will be announced later by Big Bruno as well as the prizes for it. This will be held either on Saturday or Sunday, October 20 or 21st.

All Tournament Rules

-You must have a current and valid Oni-Con Show pass to enter into the Oni-Cade room. This will be enforced.

-Your registered name to the tournament events will be your Oni-Con badge name. There are no exceptions to this.

-Show up 15 minutes prior to your pool. If you are in session with another tournament, finish with that and proceed to the current tournament. If you do show up to your match 5 minutes after your name is called, you will automatically be disqualified, unless you have entered into another tournament.

-You must bring your own stick or pad. We will only provide the systems and TV's to play/compete on. It's best for you to use the pad/stick that you're used to, so there's no excuse when you get your ass whooped. We are not responsible for lost or stolen personal belongings, so keep an eye on any items you bring.

-No pausing during any game for any reason. Accidentally pausing the game during match play, will result in a loss for that round. There are no exceptions to this rule.

-If you feel another player has violated any of the event, or game rules, inform one of the staff members. There will be staff members at all the tourney area's, if you can't locate one, go to the main table.

-For all tournaments, blind pick is in effect. Both players will discreetly tell the judge the player they will choose before selecting their characters. This prevents opponents from choosing counter characters. Blind pick is optional and you must let the judge know before the match begins.

-If you win your match, you must stick with the same character. You can only change your character if you lose your match.

Title Specific Rules

Rules for 3rd Strike (on PS2):

-Gill is banned

-If a match results in a draw, the Judgment system will determine the winner.

Rules for CvS2(on PS2):

-Orochi Iori, Evil Ryu, Omega Rugal and Shin Akuma are banned.

-Matches will be played on Ratio battle, players can chose if they want 1, 2 or 3 characters on their team.

-Roll Canceling allowed

Breakers Revenge:

-No Infinites
-Bai-Hu is banned

Rules for KOF XI

- No Infinites

Final Notes

We're hoping for some other surprises to be added to the show this year. Just waiting on confirmation from the contributors before we finalize anything.

Once again, Oni-Con will be held at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center, located in downtown Houston, Texas. If you haven't booked your room yet, you can do so by getting the discounted rate of $102.00 per night at the adjacent Hilton of Americas in downtown Houston. Be sure to book your room soon as spaces are limited. Make sure to tell them you're there for the Oni-Con Show, otherwise, they will charge you the full rate.

On top of all the gaming, Rage Radio will be set up to interview some gamers, cosplayers and other guests. Summer may be over, but the gaming goes on. So come out and join us.