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Jade Links | JunkInTheTrunk Hits NYC for PMWC
Intro If you’re one of the 30,000 people who participated in the Pac-Man World Championships over Xbox LIVE this past May I bet you’ll have an inkling about what I’m about to tell you about. At the very least, this may give you a look into what may have been one of the coolest trips of your life if you had tried to hit the top of the Pac-Man leaderboard. Maybe next time you won’t be as shy with the pellet eating. If you’re NOT one of those 30,000 gamers then here are the basics: we had a Pac-Man Tournament over Xbox LIVE, we found the best gamers from each participating country, we sent them to New York, and we had some secrets that nobody would find out about until the dust had settled.
Day One - Hello NYC Unfortunately my very first arrival to the one and only New York City was welcomed by grey skies and teeming rain. It was 11:00 am, so traffic shouldn’t have been as bad as it was but my kind cab driver informed me that it doesn’t usually rain for more than 2 hours in NYC…. except for that day apparently… hence the traffic. After maneuvering through grids of one way streets and pedestrians that refuse to obey Walk/Don’t Walk signs I finally arrived at my hotel. I think the only cool part about the place I stayed (which shall remain nameless) was that from my window I had a perfect view of Madison Square Gardens.
Of course, I was pleased to see they support Transformers. About an hour before I had to be at the venue the rain finally let up. I took the opportunity to head up to Times Square and take a few “touristy” photos - buildings, signs, The Late Show with David Letterman, and of course… The Hello Deli. (mmmm – deli meat and pickles!)
The Set Up The Championship was held at a place called The Supper Club in the Theatre District of Times Square. Generally it felt like stepping back into the 1950’s (not that I’d even remotely know what the 1950’s were like), but I’m told the place was very “art deco”… whatever that means. All I know is that they have a room they call the King Kong Room which is good enough for me. I’ll be totally honest, I didn’t have much to do with the planning of this event, so I didn’t know at all what to expect. But let me tell you, once I walked in and saw the following scene, I knew good things were in store!
Each contestant had their own station set-up complete with country flag, their bio, and two LCD’s – one to play on and the other for observers to watch.
Meeting the Folks As the set up continued, more and more people trickled into the venue - Aaron Greenberg (BIG VIP), John Porcaro (stalalem), TriXie, Major Nelson, and numerous folks from the PR and Events teams. Shortly after we headed up to King Kong’s Room we were joined by colleagues from Xbox Japan and Namco Bandai. One of my favourite things about meeting with people from Japan, aside from exchanging stories about how different our cultures are, is witnessing the exchange of business cards. You may think I’m crazy, but it’s true – even Wikipedia says so - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meishi . Had it felt even remotely appropriate I may have taken a picture – but at the risk of offending the creator of Pac-Man – Toru Iwatani, I decided against it. Hello Winners After getting all the juicy details on what was going to be happening the next day, the 10 Finalists from around the world showed up just in time for a massive Pizza dinner (mmm – pizza) and a special announcement/sneak peek. You can see a complete list of all the winners here [link to xbox.ca]. Our Canadian Finalist Dwayne Richard definitely stood out as soon as he walked in.[Can you somehow work his mug shot into here?] It wasn’t just the crazy dreadlocks – he was pumped to be there and to be competing. He was also probably the most outgoing guy in the entire building, and as I would find out later arguably considered to be one of the best classic arcade game players in the world. But I digress… we’ll leave that story for JadeJHands down, the most famous competitor was Billy Mitchell – the very 1st player to get a perfect game in Pac-Man. I later learned from Billy that this score was 3, 333, 360. 360?! Coincidence? Fate? You decide.
The Big Surprise The evening came to a dramatic climax when everyone gathered in front of the stage for BIG VIP and Toru Iwatani let the contestants know about the surprise twist. The finalists got to NYC by playing the original Pac-Man, but that’s not what they’d be playing the next day during the finals. They would be playing Iwatani’s brand new version – Pac-Man Championship Edition, with a mode designed specifically for this very event. The finalists cheered, clapped, and were generally set into a frenzy over the news. Within 10 seconds of seeing a demo somebody even yelled “LOOK! Progressive pellet regeneration!” (I’m not even sure what that means but it was pretty nerdy and pretty hilarious.) Don’t believe me about the excitement? Check out Dwayne’s reaction when Major Nelson sat down with him.
A die-hard classic arcade gamer won over by the next generation iteration. Truly a story for the ages. At least for nerds like us me. Either way, by the end of the night’s practice round Dwayne had recorded the highest score out of all the contestants… without wearing his competition glove. (That’s right… His. Competition. Glove.) Hopes were high for Canada going into the finals. As Dwayne so eloquently put it, “I’LL TAKE Y’ALL ON!!!”
Day Two After a night of too much email, little sleep, and lots of sirens I headed back to The Supper Club for breakfast (a slight contradiction I know) and the Pac-Man throwdown. Everything had been completely set up overnight including the Pac-Man Museum and the classic Arcade cabinet. Check out the memorabilia! Original sketches, magazine covers, and toys… lots of toys all courtesy of Namco Bandai.
Getting to the Final 4 After a hardy breakfast of 3 cups of coffee (mmm – coffee) I joined the finalists down on the main floor where they were settling into their stations. The tournament was four rounds with each round consisting of two 5 minute games. Scores would be tallied and the bottom two players would be eliminated. At the end of four rounds two players were left to face off on the main stage during the press conference. Most were clearly fidgety and nervous before the start of Round One, with the exception of Billy Mitchell, but then again he was named “Video Game Player of the Century”.
Round One – goodbye New Zealand and Taiwan Round Two – goodbye Japan and… Billy Mitchell?!?! Yes folks Billy Mitchell eliminated in Round 2. In his defense – he’s not a console gamer; he needs that old school arcade joystiq to dominate opponents. Round Three – goodbye UK and…Tim Balderramous?!?! Another upset! Tim is one of only a handful of gamers to ever get a perfect score in Pac-Man. The old school had fallen again, the only still remaining – Dwayne our Canadian finalist. Round Four – goodbye USA and… Dwayne!?!? Yes… it’s true. The Canadian dream ended in round four and with this defeat all the Mounties, Tim Horton’s employees, and hockey players back home hung their heads in sadness. The Finals – Austria vs Mexico The stage was set, BIG VIP and Major Nelson commentating, over 80 media in attendance (who were just informed by Iwatani about his final gift to the world), and numerous other anxious onlookers. The final was only one 5 minute game. Do or die. Austria looked like he was going to walk away with the match until the last minute of play. Mexico, having not died, started chomping pelletts and eating ghosts like it was nobody’s business – with 30 seconds left the points starting pouring in and Mexico took the lead and did not look back. GOOOOOOOOOOAL!
One could only imagine what the scenario would have been if Dwayne did not cut his finger between the third and fourth round. Holding the Xbox 360 analog stick like an arcade joystick apparently wreaks havoc on one’s fingers – he went through 2 controllers and drew blood! I’m not making excuses and neither did he – he was gracious in defeat, BUT the fact that remains that he was only eliminated by 6,000 points which is peanuts to these guys. To be honest and realistic, Mexico deserved the win. Carlos dominated every round and came through in the clutch to take the gold. He walked away with an awesome one of a kind Pac-Man console (signed by Iwatani), 100, 000 Microsoft Points, 26 years of Quiznos, and a nice lookin’ trophy. Austria received 40, 000 Microsoft Points and Canada received 20, 000 Microsoft Points for finishing 3rd overall.
Post-Finals Fiesta Everyone stuck around well into the afternoon and lo and behold… a community party broke out! TriXie invited some of the Gamerchix (mmm – girls) down, and a bunch of other NYC Xbox gamers showed up including an intern from Rudy Guliani’s Electoral Campaign Team. Fuelled by plates and plates of Quiznos subs everyone seemed to be really into the new Pac-Man game and the cultural phenomenon that is Pac-Man. Billy Mitchell being not only a video game hero, but the owner of a company that produces hot sauce, took the opportunity to pass out and autograph some of his goods. I must say, it went very well with the subs!
That’s a Wrap After wandering back to my hotel room, I was happy to see 1) a bed, 2) not much email, and 3) a burger joint across the street. What I was not pleased about – having to wake up at 5am the next morning to catch my flight. Overall, the event was a huge success and it was awesome just see the passion so many people have for a game that is 26 years old! The way I look it, Pac-Man is so hugely popular for the same reason that “soccer” is – simplicity. Oh yeah, if you haven’t already – make sure you check out Pac-Man Championship Edition, it’s incredible! We’ve had a challenge around the office and I still can’t beat many of the scores that were posted at the event – shame on me! Time to practice. Junk Out. |
