Looking for advice on running game tournaments

[baldguyvideogames]

Hello everybody, my name is Trevor and I run Bald Guy Video Games in Portland Oregon.  I have moved up from a 100 square foot office doing only internet sales into an 800 square foot office.  I now have the room to do what I truly want to do and that is to create a video game lounge of sorts and host retro game tournaments.  I am still remodeling and getting everything in place so I don't have pics or anything to show quite yet, but it will be neat when it's done and I can fit easily 20 people at once with couches, comfy chairs, and barstools next to 2 dedcated neogeo cabinets that I bought so people can play on that for either tournaments or freeplay between rounds.

The reason for the posting is not to boast though, I am looking for help in how to set up the game tournaments.  I am just curious if anyone else does this a lot and has experience setting the tournaments up so that they are fun, but don't run overlong or anything like that.  I am looking for advice on game choices such as which games are the best to do.  I have a large inventory of various systems and games so I can make most anything happen within reason.  One thing I want to do is an 8 player saturn bomberman tournament for instance and I can do that.  I want to include NES and other earlier systems as well.

Also how to do sign ups online efficiently since I don't have a typical retail space where I have walk in traffic.  My customers are going to be my regulars or people that find me online so I need my tournament sign ups to be online based and allow me to take payment for the tournaments.  I could just add a page to my website with tournament info and paypal links for sign up, but I don't know if that is really the best way to go about it.  Maybe a separate wordpress site or something?  I have googled tournament sites, but they are all sports based and don't seem to offer what I need.

Tournament structure is probably the least important thing I need help with because unless the game doesn't call for it I want to always do double elimination so that people really get their money's worth and have 2 chances to win if they have a bad round.  Some games this might make the tournament too long and I know people hate when tournaments lag on forever.  Please do give me any pearls of wisdom you have on tournament structure especially for retro games.

My main business is my web store and internet sales and I hope this will not only bring in extra revenue, but also give people a place to come and play games that isn't a store with wall to wall video games and retail shelves.  More like a cool place to hang out and play competitive games with other people and enjoy drinks and snacks and have the opportunity to buy games, accessories, and systems if they want without it being in their face all the time.

Ok I have said enough, I am thankful for any responses you can give me.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Suggestion:
Spectator games are best to run, as you can get a lot of sales off refreshments and snacks. First-Person Shooters and Fighters are best in that regard.

[baldguyvideogames]

I will definitely be selling drinks and snacks.  I also agree with those types of games.  I'm trying to do things differently, but I should stick to what works at least in the beginning.  No reason I can't run 2 different type of tournaments on the same day or on separate days.  I am envisioning running them 2 days a week on fridays and satrudays and have them start in the late afternoon early evening and have them end at or before 9 pm.  Thanks for the advice.

Suggestion:
Spectator games are best to run, as you can get a lot of sales off refreshments and snacks. First-Person Shooters and Fighters are best in that regard.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Late afternoon will be too late. You'll often want to start them around 1-3pm, as the tournaments will run until 6-7pm. You'll find that most people will show up around 2-3pm, as later in the day you'll only pull in the hardcore crowd. I'm not familiar with your regulars though, but that's what I've seen around here.

Also, if you're running tournaments, ENSURE that your rules are clear before sign-up. State everything in the rules, including use of save data/profiles, bringing your own controllers/hardware, using wired vs. wireless controllers (wireless are usually a NO, since someone else can sync up to the console and "accidentally" sabotage another person), etc.

[baldguyvideogames]

YES!, this is the kind of info I was hoping to get.  I didn't know it was better to start that early.  I have only been to a handful of actual tournaments so I didn't remember how long they lasted.  I will remember you said that because I would rather start with a time like that and see what happens rather than shoot in the dark.  I guess length of the tournament would depend on the games being played as well.

Clear rules are certainly very important especially if there is prize money or something else tangible involved.  I would likely not have to worry about wireless unless I was doing xbox 360 or ps3 tournaments which I will do, but they are a lower priority for me since i'm more of a retro man and would rather have those kinds of tournaments.  You do bring up great points though and thanks once again.

Late afternoon will be too late. You'll often want to start them around 1-3pm, as the tournaments will run until 6-7pm. You'll find that most people will show up around 2-3pm, as later in the day you'll only pull in the hardcore crowd. I'm not familiar with your regulars though, but that's what I've seen around here.

Also, if you're running tournaments, ENSURE that your rules are clear before sign-up. State everything in the rules, including use of save data/profiles, bringing your own controllers/hardware, using wired vs. wireless controllers (wireless are usually a NO, since someone else can sync up to the console and "accidentally" sabotage another person), etc.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Feel free to hit me up for any questions. I'm quite familiar with the tournament scene, and have been involved in setting up a few locally. Retro tournaments tend to be easier to setup, but you'll get a lot more people with the more recent stuff like Super Street Fighter IV and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

[Crabmaster2000]

I need to get down to Portland, sounds like its gonna be awesome!

Beyond just the head to head style tournaments (stuff like Dr.Mario or Tengen Tetris) I always thought it would be neat to have a running highscore tournament throughout the week/month. Have something like Contra or Adventure Island setup out of the way and let people come in and set the highest score they can in 1 life. Highest score at the end of the time period is the champion.

The only advice I'd give based on the events I've been to would be to have the prep work done before hand (get the brackets figured out, how long each round will be so you can post when each round starts, etc.). Its pretty lame standing around waiting for the organizers to get things sorted out between each match for simple stuff like that.

[Duke.Togo]

OK, for NES why not grab a couple of NWC repro carts and run a tourney with those? You could always make them the prize, or sell them. Even with retro games I would recommend clearing up controller questions. If it was an NES tourney I would want to know if I could bring my own controller or not.

[baldguyvideogames]

I might just do that as questions start popping up and I want some advice.  Your words have been helpful so far so if/when the time comes i'll keep that in mind.  Thanks.

I'm not worried quite as much about the profit from this as other things since it's not going to be the main bulk of my income.  If I can get 10 people per tournament per week i'd be thrilled so anything beyond that is gravy.

Feel free to hit me up for any questions. I'm quite familiar with the tournament scene, and have been involved in setting up a few locally. Retro tournaments tend to be easier to setup, but you'll get a lot more people with the more recent stuff like Super Street Fighter IV and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

[baldguyvideogames]

I love that idea of a running highscore tournament for a given week or month.  I will have a smaller station that people could do that on when they come in the store and it would be an easy and fun value add for me.  Also god yes I don't want to be one of those crazed organizers running themselves ragged trying to keep a tourny afloat and putting out fires with angry people.  It seems so obvious, but a lot of people don't prep and I thank you for pointing that out and for the advice in general.

I need to get down to Portland, sounds like its gonna be awesome!

Beyond just the head to head style tournaments (stuff like Dr.Mario or Tengen Tetris) I always thought it would be neat to have a running highscore tournament throughout the week/month. Have something like Contra or Adventure Island setup out of the way and let people come in and set the highest score they can in 1 life. Highest score at the end of the time period is the champion.

The only advice I'd give based on the events I've been to would be to have the prep work done before hand (get the brackets figured out, how long each round will be so you can post when each round starts, etc.). Its pretty lame standing around waiting for the organizers to get things sorted out between each match for simple stuff like that.

[baldguyvideogames]

Hmm, you give an excellent idea of buying a certain amount of the game of the tournament and having people play for the games.  Would have to be games that are worth winning though, haha!

I will your controller recommendation into consideration when setting things up.  To me personally it's not a big deal, but I have to think of everybody else and don't want to offend anyone or have someone come in and get angry because a rule wasn't clear.  I might just make it easy and just use the regular controllers for every game or maybe my dog bones.

Thanks Duke for the tips.

OK, for NES why not grab a couple of NWC repro carts and run a tourney with those? You could always make them the prize, or sell them. Even with retro games I would recommend clearing up controller questions. If it was an NES tourney I would want to know if I could bring my own controller or not.

[nupoile]

I don't think I have any real advice....but I only live about a hour away and might have to come visit!

[SirPsycho]

My sisters live in Portland and I've been looking for an excuse to visit. If only money wasn't an issue.

[baldguyvideogames]

I would love to have locals come by from this site to the store.  Feel free to come by or call me anytime.  That would be awesome.  I am not 100% open yet.  I mean people can come by, but it's definitely still in the early stages and there is crap everywhere and it isn't organized.  I would say i'll be fully functional within a week or so.

I don't think I have any real advice....but I only live about a hour away and might have to come visit!

[baldguyvideogames]

Yeah, that tends to be an issue with lots of people including myself.  If you get a chance to come to Portland though look me up and i'd be glad to have you come by and hang out for a while.

My sisters live in Portland and I've been looking for an excuse to visit. If only money wasn't an issue.