As video games become more and more a staple of mainstream pop culture, more and more locations and events for gamers to gather and compete are coming together. From MGC events, to the International Video Game Hall of Fame’s Big Bang event to the recent Kong-Off, every era of gaming culture is meeting up to face off more and more.
For some, such as California’s Chris Tang, this is nothing new.
“As a child I was always fascinated by the arcade games of the 80’s,” says Tang. “The game show Starcade did much to inspire me and it was a dream of mine to be on that show or something similar. I still remember jumping up and down excitedly in front of the TV, watching the games being played on Starcade, wishing I could be the one in control!”
Tang is one of many gamers who took part in a variety of competitions in the 1990s that, despite much fanfare and press coverage in the day, were mostly forgotten as the years went by.
“My first formal game competition was the Hawaii State Nintendo Championships which was held by the local television station and department store chain,” Tang recalled. The game was Super Mario Bros., and I pretty much dominated that one by beating the” game in under 7 minutes with the highest score I could get.”
“I later moved to California and participated in the Nintendo World Championships (NWC), and placed 3rd in Oakland, the city that Robin Mihara had won. I was fortunate that my mom drove me down to Los Angeles the following week, and I managed to win my city championship there! At the Grand Finals which Thor Aackerlund won, I came in somewhere around 8th or 9th place. This event really opened my eyes to how skilled and talented some of the players in the world could be!”
Tang later competed and won a major Sega contest entitled Rock the Rock in the mid-90s, which was aired on MTV and saw the finals take place on the infamous Alcatraz Island.
I had to first win the regional championships at the Hard Rock Café in San Francisco in order to make it into the World Championships at Alcatraz,” Tang said. “There was only a single champion per city, and those competitions were held at the same time so there was no city-hopping like there was in the Nintendo tour. If you failed to be number one in your region, it really was game over, no second chances. The local competition was very tough, and I also had to go against my friends who were also tournament veterans and superb gamers – and were wonderful in supporting me once it was determined I’d be representing our area.”
“At the World Championships at Alcatraz, which took place the day after the regionals, there were 25-30 other competitors, some of which came from far away as Japan, Brazil, and Germany,” he added.
The Rock the Rock contest was held on Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, two of Sega’s hottest titles at the time, with the goal of collecting as many rings as possible in a 3 minute time limit.
“Taking a hit meant losing ALL of your rings, so there was virtually no room for error!” he recalled. “Each round of play eliminated the field of competitors, so it was quite stressful playing as fast and perfect as possible, while managing the risks in real-time. You had to gamble with how hard to push against the other competitors, to go for a higher number of rings or to play it safe, which made for some interesting interaction.”
In the end, Tang had made it to the finals, played in an environment not seen in a video gaming contest before or since.
“My greatest memory was in the finals, which was a one-on-one affair in a simulated ‘gas chamber’ on Alcatraz,” Tang said. “I had a good knowledge of the Sonic 3 level, knowing exactly what constituted a perfect run in terms of how many rings were possible and that it would not be easy to achieve. During the finals round, I played it with no mistakes, got to the last rings with seven seconds left, and paused my game to seal the deal. With a perfect run, I knew I had already won, and that was an unforgettable feeling!”
While the history of contests such as Rock the Rock have not been preserved, Tang feels this can be changed to benefit all of gaming history.
“One step to preserve the history is networking; reaching out to others who were involved with competitive gaming.” Tang stated. “Recently I’ve been reunited with fellow competitors from the NWC. We got to catch up and share our stories, leading to an interest in pictures, videos, and other things. I had championship footage sitting in storage for years on BETAMAX tape and all of a sudden it became precious since I was literally the only one who had it. This led to a wild hunt for a working Beta VCR so that the footage could be properly preserved, which it now is, and will soon be appearing in documentary films and other projects.”
“Sharing the knowledge and experiences is key to retaining them for the future. I also believe that having a more centralized archive or museum like what they are doing in Iowa will do much to help with keeping the information and spirit alive.”
While Tang respects the skill required to record gaming record attempts for submission to organizations such as Twin Galaxies, he is one of a number of gamers who feel that live event contests add a different dimension to competitive gaming.
“It is the performance factor that makes live events exciting to watch. Like a sporting event, you never know what will happen. Even in a contest like Sega Rock The Rock which was basically a score competition, gauging the skills and style of the opponents, and responding, still came into play. The personalities of the players as they interact, shine through to tell their own story. The drama that unfolds create the spectacle and the moment, which is what drives some competitors to do their very best!”
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To contact the author of this story, please e-mail him at psp@patrickscottpatterson.com or visit his website at www.PatrickScottPatterson.com.
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