We were hungry. We were reckless. We gathered in bright evenings in the same room, on the same sofa and played fighting. We stacked the tops of the players with the whole yard, replayed the same scenario in the evening, we cooked in our own juice, we were on our own.
Then we had no longer anyone to measure strength in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters And Wwf wrestlemania: The Arcade Game. Unless beat the store owner and change the cartridge for free. But we were not enough for us. We wanted more, we wanted to prove to the whole world that we are the best.
We have matured. The most cunning ones managed to get families and children, and games for them became not a priority, but a rare vacation. But unrealized childhood aspirations are not so simple.
… we phoned, we collected suitcases and went to conquer the Coliseum.
We went to MFA-2013 first of all-play. Only if you yourself participate in the competition, you can write a good report about him. And, as it turned out, when you are on the site of the tournament, it is very difficult to find time for something in addition to the battles themselves. And therefore, this report will not have a detailed analysis of flights and the results of all disciplines – read about this in our review report . But there will be a lot of personal impressions from the second day of the competition, the old -good Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and (Little) Mortal Kombat 9 tournament.
Let Mortal Kombat Begin
It was the tenth MFA-2013. The tournament has grown to the anniversary: the qualifying tournaments “Road to MFA” appeared, the winners of which were immediately sent to the playoffs. Large companies were flooded into sponsors, and, of course, the prize jackpot increased. For competitions in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 The invited world-class players flew from Korea, and for the delight of the Oldfam MFA-2013 sheltered under its wing tournament in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The event turned out to be truly large -scale, and if you really live in the inching, then either were there or bit your elbows in front of the screen with a direct broadcast.
► Each year MFA organizers surpass themselves. Even to those who play fighting in the sake of just a competitive spirit, there was something to fight for. We mean the most beautiful cups and medals, and not a material bailure like a certificate on PS4, of course.
The concert hall of the shopping center, where the battles took place, met in silence and tranquility. By ten in the morning, only the most responsible and those who just arrived in the capital came. While the organizers included consoles and televisions, established a live broadcast and recorded participants for the first tournament in Injustice: Gods among us , We whipped coffee in the next bar with horse doses and were gradually imbued with excitement, which languidly thickened above the gaming tables. There were several hours left for the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat 9, and, like many others, we decided to stretch the fingers frozen from a long morning walk in the “free zone”. So, after all, real athletes do?
► In the meantime, even those who came to just look at the tournament gathered in the main arena. MFA did not refuse comfort to anyone.
My Li Kan on the screen cheerfully spari with fire balls, kept a tactical advantage in the arena and obediently performed complex corner combinations. Sleep sounds of blows merged with noise in the hall. Sounds from different TVs were superimposed on each other, and it turned out such a melody that even the cacophony of the forge of Saruman compared to it sounded a lunar son.
After the next round behind his back, someone said a replica in which only pronouns, prepositions and the word "nerd" were printed by printed. I considered it a good sign and tried to squeeze out a little more.
The audience around the Mammary wandered: Rayban glasses next to Iron Maiden T -shirts, tunnels in the ears next to Hawaiian shirts
The Colosseum was gradually filled, and soon the noise of the excited crowd blocked the volume of the TV. The audience around the Mammary wandered: Rayban glasses next to Iron Maiden T -shirts, tunnels in the ears next to Hawaiian shirts. From the console to the console, the guys with beer were wandered. It is better not to run out on a football field with drunk, but you can sit for a remote control. Who has achieved great success, sober or not so, is a rhetorical question.
It was difficult to meet someone younger than twenty-five, but it is understandable-the fighting wings are not for children. The genre is almost mathematical, where it is important to be able not only to press on the buttons, but also to analyze every second of the battle.
After the championship, I happened to fight on an arcade machine with a boy of about ten years old, which barely reached the buttons. Succumbing to him, I caught myself thinking that I met Mortal Kombat at about the same age. Who knows, maybe I played with the future e -sports department?
Round One. FIGHT!
Meanwhile, a modest corner at the entrance to the concert hall, awarded to the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 tournament, began to come to life. Arcade machines laughed loudly in the voice of Shao Cano and came in a long “oh-oh-o-o-o-o-o-oh-a! »Liu Kan.
Among the people gathered around them, the organizer of the tournament, Evgeny Yuzhny, known under the nickname Tank u-g in , friendly and sociable guy. Like me, he met the game thanks to the Sega Mega Drive in childhood, so we quickly found a common language. Zhenya makes the impression of a person who is busy and purposeful and tries to smile in any situation: even when he got off the distance, he remained friendly, although, of course, he was upset.
We switch to "you"
Running ahead a little, I want to tell more about Evgenia Tank u-g in. After the tournament, we wrote off him, and a very interesting conversation was obtained, which will help to better understand the atmosphere of the tournament.
Click to read the interview
[Gambling] How long have you been playing umk3?
[Tank u-g in] Like the majority, probably, in childhood on the "Sega" began. Then there was a gap of fifteen years. And at thirty I suddenly decided to shake the old. Discovered an arcade version of the game, and it immediately became for me the number alone.
[Gambling] What prompted you to conduct tournaments in this discipline?
[Tank u-g in] I wanted this discipline to become more professional so that the players become more active and train more, increase skill. So that the level of the Russian UMK3 has grown to the international, otherwise many are engaged in UMK3 rather superficially. And now, as a result, the overall level of the game has grown significantly since the first tournament.
"You either train more, or leave"
[Gambling] You make the impression of a kind of good Shang Tsun, collecting the soul of players in UMK3 and collecting them all in one place. Tell me about people who have been held for the past five years (it seems that so many tournaments have been held?) gather around the event.
[Tank u-g in] Mostly these are those who like to compete. And in our case, it so coincided that we like the same thing – umk3. New players join, even if there are not very many of them. A striking example – Snowbody from Belarus. He appeared recently, in six months he did a great job and became the second at the Moscow tournament. And of course, it is very annoying that many old top players stopped playing. And all because competition has grown strongly. But this is true – who trains more, he wins. If you don't like to lose, then you either train more or leave. Unfortunately, many "old men" did it. However, what pleases, there are pleasant exceptions!
[Gambling] Whether your expectations from this championship? Was it easy to keep everything under control? Your championship was on the right of a “guest”, was it easy to work with the organizers of MFA-2013?
[Tank u-g in] My main expectations were associated with the arrival of the best players, and they were almost completely justified! It was very, very pleasant to realize that the best players from Russia and the CIS countries came to the tournament in Moscow. The winner can really be called the champion with a capital letter – he outplayed the strongest.
As for the organization, everything is more complicated here. I tried my best, but, unfortunately, technical roughnesses from time to time arose. Not to foresee it. And working with the organizers of the 2013 was very easy, for which many thanks to them, in particular, “biologian”-for the quick solution to any issues.
► In the corner on the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, the audience was not so interesting. The competitors themselves played, looked themselves, discussed themselves. Everything is almost at home.
[Gambling] Are there any moments in the organization that I would like to improve? What should we expect in the future?
[Tank u-g in] It is very difficult to be the organizer and at the same time participate in the tournament yourself. If you invest more time and resources in preparation, you can raise our tournament to the highest level. This year I tried to do everything for the players, and the audience was not given so much attention. We need streams, records, reports – one of me, alas, is just not enough for it. However, in any case, I think that next time I will find an assistant with whom we will do everything more clearly and smoothly. But, in general, the tournament was a success. And went at a good level. I'm just a maximalist and always want more.
[Gambling] Whether in your memory there was some point from this tournament, which prevents you from sleeping quietly at night?
[Tank u-g in] So that at night not to sleep – no. But a couple of times I remembered our battle with Snowbody when he knocked me out of the tournament with a score of 5: 4 – this is a pleasant memory of disappointment. From the series "If yes, if …". However, I am probably glad that the results turned out to be just such. Muscovites were defeated, our champion was defeated, and now we all have something to strive for.
“If the five best players from our championship flew to the tournament in America, we would not have left a stone on stone there”
[Gambling] Probably, you are one of the few players from the CIS, playing not only in UMK3, but also in the rest of the fighting winging, who participated in the American tournament and met with overseas Faiters. Tell us about it. How do you assess the level of our players against the backdrop of American professionals?
[Tank u-g in] Yes, the experience was interesting. I always try to follow American tournaments and once saw that they have planned a UMK3 tournament. I just had a visa, but I managed and decided that the time had come, and I was in a good form.
In the USA, the most difficult for me is acclimatization. Moscow time games took place about five to six in the morning. That is, there was an evening in America, and my body was completely not rebuilt. I walked like a zombie. And another unpleasant surprise is a powerful air conditioner. On the one hand, about five hundred people are simultaneously in the huge hall, and on the other – a wild cold. At the same time, I am in a jacket and with a stiff hands, and the Americans are in shorts and T -shirts, and they are warm. So tell me which of us is frost -resistant?
One is still morally difficult: the situation is pressing, everything around is foreigners, and you are alone and fool around for the entire Russian UMK3, because they will judge exclusively by you. Therefore, psychologically, I was also squeezed out. Over the past year or two, the level of Russians play in UMK3 has grown significantly, and if the five best players from our championship flew to the tournament in America, we would not leave stone on stone there. Although it would not be easy.
Any professional Fire will confirm that gamepads need to be selected for yourself. The joystick should be a continuation of the hands, respond to every movement. That is why everyone came to MFA with their devices. For some, a gamepad also a means for self-expression-the tournament met joysticks and arcade sticks of various sizes and colors, of course, and colorful handmade variants.
Evgeny gamepads had two at once, and both from America. In Russia, they can’t buy such, and in general it is difficult to find a good joystick for UMK 3 – everyone is accustomed to the standard “Wolf” layout with six buttons, and there are always special requirements for the cross. However, Eugene provided his joysticks to those who arrived empty -handed, and played on the poodle keyboard, from which all the extra keys were pulled out.
► Players with arcade sticks were rather a rule than the exception, and with one professional approach to the game, they were able to bring confusion to the minds of newcomers.
The Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 tournament on MFA-2013 was on guest rights and was not included in the official program, so Tank U-Gin organized almost everything himself. In fact, it was a tournament from a player for the players, as he later told https://virgin-games-casino.co.uk/ me: “If you invest more time and resources in the preparation of the tournament, you can bring the image to the projector, you can launch a broadcast on the Internet, conduct a report from the scene, with photos and short Video interview. But who will do all this? One is not enough for me, but there is no assistant yet ".
Difficulties, of course, arose. After connecting some keyboards, let's say, for some reason, the game did not allow management to configure, and no one could understand what was the matter. However, the problems are technical. Organizational work was on top, and this applies not only to the corner with UMK 3, but the whole MFA-2013 in general.
► Mafioso player, as always, pleased those around his home "Beast". Inside the box – a board from a conventional gamepad and buttons from Japanese manufacturers of arcade machines. Going for a penny, and serves for years.
Meanwhile, my game began. On the main site, MFA was in full swing for Injustice, every minute the organizers invited players to take their places. It was heard well (although during the game it was sometimes confused), and given that many participated in parallel in two disciplines, it was very pleased.
Two laptops were not enough for the championship, and soon slot machines were used. Having picked up a gamepad to the filling of the machine, I sat down opposite and prepared to give a coal to the country. In my arsenal there was only one character – JAX, while the enemy easily switched throughout the Roster. As a result, after one battle I took, the opponent changed the fighter and tactics, and the next five fights passed as in the fog. UMK3 is one of the most fleeting inlets, and without good playfulness to rebuild and turn the course of the fight on the fly is very difficult. No ping, delays, disconects and other “joys” of the network game is only naked, honed skills, and each of the applicants intended to do everything to get to the final.
► Winning and defeat are your invariable companions, no matter what fighting you play.
I constantly fell on the cuts, as my opponent Anton “Storm” aptly noticed aptly. However, I still made him nervous. “I just could not do anything against your pressure, already thought about defeat. But he gathered in time, ” – either as a joke, or seriously said Storm, which was a little amused by my pride.
Anton played simultaneously on the keyboard and gamepad, which is a little strange. However, it is difficult for UMK3 to choose a worthy gamepad. This is a common problem for everyone who plays this playing, and everyone is twisted as they can. “Either the directions break down, then random jumps jump out, but it is better to forget about things such as telekinesis at Ermac,” says Anton. – And then I was jokingly offered to try at the same time on the case and the keyboard! I tried and … a normal game went! No breakdowns, no mistakes that he planned, then did!"
“Now, Seryoga, I will avenge you,” he told me, and I believed him
I admit, I was a little discouraged, seeing that before every battle, Storm introduces the code of the Skull-Molniya-Molniya code. If you have ever played Mortal Kombat, then you must remember that it gives more time to conduct fatalics. But, as it turned out, this is not a demonic ritual at all, but just a habit. And Storm also checks the ping online.
My friend, meanwhile, successfully coped with the first enemy and by chance to meet my recent offender. “Now, Seryoga, I will avenge you,” he told me, and I believed him. The result was one of the most intense battles in the tournament, the outcome of which decided …
Unfortunately, there were no professional equipment at the UMK3 tournament, so the participants themselves made the records of the fighting. If you are not afraid of a jumping picture, look at the “screen”, at the same time get through the atmosphere in which the players had to fight.
Anton, Storm, St. Petersburg
Shortly before the tournament, I played a mirror match with Snowbody up to ten victories, for Netwaterf. He won with a score of 10: 8, and friends in the game have repeatedly said that his Nitwitvulf is noticeably stronger, so I decided to play Sonya at the tournament. The duel did not work out in my favor, and in the decisive battle, I still decided to change the character.
Snowbody has a very strong and constant pressure, because Sab-Razro was a good choice-the ice doubles came in handy: they knocked down the pace and allowed to keep the distance. It was perhaps the most memorable battle for me in the history of tournaments. The tension is colossal, and when the time ended in the last round, I was not completely sure that I had more health.
Round Two. FIGHT!
The room became stuffy, as in Lucifer's armpit – the ventilation clearly could not cope. This was especially felt on the main stage, where the Mortal Kombat 9 tournament just began. Perhaps, thanks to the release of the game at the PC this year, discipline has collected more than seventy (!) applicants and became the most massive event for two days of competition.
For my first battle in MK9, I sat down completely unprepared and unaccounted for. All thoughts remained in the arena with UMK3. Sitting already in front of a huge TV, not a laptop, I continued to think about the tactics of the behavior of my Jax in the classic Mortal Kombat, and meanwhile, Liu Kan himself chose the hands. But here, unlike the almost “home” situation on the main platform, everything was strictly according to the canons, and that’s right, and the atmosphere set up in a serious way. I missed this wave, for which I paid.
My opponent proposed choosing the arena, and then stopped at the most uncomfortable character for me, Raiden, the experience of the fighting against which I was negligible. The judge behind us silently overshadowed what was happening. We started.
Having constrained the enemy’s movements, I constantly attacked and literally felt my superiority. But the excitement played a role
The first round ended not in my favor, as soon as I managed to figure out anything. In the second, however, I managed to gather and defeated the enemy almost dry. Quick round, long combinations, versatile attacks and a minimum of opportunities for the opponent can “make” the whole game at the psychological level. Raiden was now cautious and the third round began with a blocking rack.
Having constrained the enemy’s movements, I constantly attacked and literally felt my superiority. But then excitement played a role-even the basic combinations broke out and random jumps crawled out from somewhere, which I did not differ for a long time. And behind each such blunder there was a cruel punishment. The enemy remained to wait for my mistakes, and I, by the first, like a bull behind a red rag, forgetting about maneuvers and distance attacks. As a result, she offended the enemy, who was completely tough.
► On the first tournament day with streams, a lining was obtained due to failures in the mains. But on the second everything worked like a clock, and commentators changed in every discipline.
During this time, the UMK3 site has become noticeably fewer people. The tournament in this game was nearing completion. Many people who flew out of the grid simply fled about their business. The future winner, Dmitry Nikolakhin (Pravda), already reached the semifinals and waited for the losers to determine his champion and the grand final would begin.
Dmitry the whole tournament kept in the shade. As it seemed to me from the outside, he talked with other players little and only on the case, sometimes he went to the smoking room for the company, but he did not smoke himself. Having talked with him a little after the tournament, I found out that he was not particularly preparing for the competition – he just played on the network in normal mode. Unless he pulled his Shiva (no matter how funny it sounds), whatever at the tournament surprised both rivals and spectators. Mostly thanks to her, he went around the leader of past tournaments, Mafioso. “Turning such a professional three times in a row is an unexpected success even for me,” Dmitry said.
Dmitry, Pravda, St. Petersburg
Since school years, UMK3 has become my favorite fighting!. Most of the acquaintances went to other games, transplanted to PS One, where Tekken had already rattled, Mortal Kombat 4 appeared and others appeared. But they all did not drag me like umk3.
Then, already at the PlayStation 2, I got carried away with virtual battles seriously. Together with friends, he played almost everything, from Soulcalibur to Guiltygear, spent a lot of time behind the fighting winging Naruto. I played everything in a row, until, having succumbed to a nostalgic impulse, I did not buy Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 Arcade. And again the forgotten excitement returned! I wrote off people on the Internet and started playing on the network. And then the rest of the fighting wings faded into the background.
True, now, after winning the tournament, I want to expand my arsenal and train to play something else, but so far I have not decided what exactly.
It was not really possible to chat, however, I really could not catch me and put the second match to play.
Showing stable results, playing in parallel in several fighting winging, is not easy, and those players who cope with this really deserve respect. This requires colossal composure. I probably would have useful a dense hood, headphones with loud music and a person who will touch the shoulder in time and tell you that you need to go to play at such a table. But, alas, my last fight went through the same rails as before, and I lost again. Now finally.
Finish Him!
Having flew out of the tournament, I finally sighed calmly. Yes, when playing on the network, there are lags, it interferes and annoying, but participating in the tournament is still a hundred -string. Constant tension presses on the psyche, and people wandering back and forth interfere with the game-it requires a special ability to abstract. Perhaps that is why Pravda was not too sociable: all in itself, all in the game.
A cloud of smoke hung in the smoking room above the participants. Everyone was on the platoon, but they remained open and cheerful. It was such a good excitement that arises when people are engaged in a common cause. Players discussed tactics, gave their opponents advice, pointed out shortcomings in the game. Suddenly even.
Usually players from other disciplines are in no hurry to reveal their developments, share a strategy, and even more so discuss their weaknesses. But UMK3 is old, like a mobile Dick, and is known to the Faiters, like his six buttons, so only the human factor remains. In addition, most players did not come to the championship for the prizes, but for the sake of the very opportunity to finally meet live and play in that almost forgotten game that they loved since childhood.
► Tank U-Gin and Snowbody are preparing to play the departure. On this battle, the situation was heated to the limit, and in the cell, as luck would have it, the battery sat down.
Before the UMK3 grand final, I had the opportunity to take at least one tournament battle. A new opponent in MK 9 was already waiting for me in the main arena, and this was the last chance to prove himself. While I specified what table I have to play at the microphone were familiar to nicknames players from the Fighting forum.ru. I really wanted to get acquainted personally, but there was no time left.
The opponent stopped at the sector, but for a long time he hesitated between Liu Kan and Ermak. But ultimately decided that the Shaolin monk had not yet shown everything that was capable of in this tournament.
The sector is a vile character, especially for beginners. Many people like to use his teleport how it hit – well, what looks spectacular, there is a chance to catch. However, my opponent was not from a young shoot – he did not allow himself to be “punished”, but at the near distance he kept me with a flamethrower. He anticipated my every step, acted very carefully and almost did not make mistakes-at some point it even seemed to me that I was fighting with an impenetrable wall.
In this fight, the victory really went to a more sophisticated player. And it was not me.
Finally exchanging friendly parting words, we parted – the winner stuck the headphones into my ears, and I went in sad thoughtfulness to fix the results.
It is all day to stay on the verge of opportunities, not to allow reaction to fall asleep and squeeze out a maximum of every second of the battle – this is what is important
For those who flew out of tournaments, participation in the championship did not end. Standing behind the players, supporting them with applause, the audience created a moral confrontation. It’s hard to play without support, especially if the match is not in your favor.
It is all day to stay on the verge of opportunities, not to allow reaction to fall asleep and squeeze out a maximum of every second of the battle – this is what is important. To withstand the daily marathon and keep the fresh head to the decisive match, few were able to. Dima Nikolakhin was able to, and soon the prize was in his hands for the first place. Iron calm and cold calculation – these are the key to the professional athlete of quality. Fayiter should not shake like an aspen sheet and confuse buttons, it cannot afford to be nervous at all.
* * *
After the tournament, I asked Dmitry a reasonable question: “Now that the diploma is in your hands, where to grow further?"The answer really surprised me – despite a very confident and at first glance a slight victory, Pravda admits that in some things he was inferior to rivals. “First of all, I need to learn how to break the jabs with my own combo,” he says about the special technique of waving with fists, which I had not even suspected of before. – This was all at the tournament by Snowbody, who took second place. Well, pull the jabs themselves to the level of Tank U-Gin, to be more unpredictable and unreadable. ".
Damn it is pleasant to realize that even the best players are not shy about talking about the imperfection of their game. On this note to say goodbye to the tournament was not so offensive.