Evolution Championship Series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Evolution Championship Series

Evolution Championship Series logo
Formerly Battle by the Bay
Sport Electronic sports
Founded 1996
Country  United States
Founder Tom "inkblot" Cannon, Tony "Ponder" Cannon, Joey "MrWizard" Cuellar
Official website Evo Championship Series

The Evolution Championship Series is an annual eSports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games. In fighting game communities it is commonly referred to as "EVO" or just "Evo", and is currently the premier video game tournament for fighting games. The tournament uses the double elimination format.[1] As with Super Battle Opera, the Evolution tournaments are so well known that typically contestants will travel from all over the world to participate, most notably Japan.

Evo was founded by Tom Cannon, also known for his work on Shoryuken.com, a fighting game website. The tournament started as "Battle by the Bay", a 40-man Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 tournament in 1996 in Sunnyvale, California, eventually moving to its recurring venue in Las Vegas.[2] The event changed its name to Evo in 2002. Over time, the tournament grew, recording over one thousand participants in 2009.[3]

Originally the tournament used arcade cabinets, but in 2004 the decision was made to move all games over to their console versions, to no small amount of controversy.[4] For several years, all games were played on a PlayStation 3,[5] though Evo 2014 will run most games on the Xbox 360.[6] Aside from the official tournaments, there is also a "BYOC" (bring your own console) area in which many different games are played and side tournaments are held.

History

Evo 2002

Evo 2003

Evo 2004

Evo 2005

2005 was the first year Evo was held in Las Vegas at the Green Valley Ranch casino and hotel.

Evo 2006

Evo 2006 took place at the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. 2006 was the first year that Capcom gave its official, public support of the Evolution tournaments.[citation needed] Traditionally, Evo has only included fighting games, but in 2006 it included Mario Kart DS in its lineup.[8]

Evo 2007

Evo 2008

Evo 2009

Evo 2010

Evo 2010 had a massive number of competitors, with Super Street Fighter IV amassing approximately 1,800 players to duel for a $20,000 guaranteed prize pot. Most notable in this EVO was Justin Wong cementing his dominance in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in its proverbial swan song, defeating the champion of the previous year, Sanford Kelly. Also notable was Wong failing to make the top 8 in Super Street Fighter IV, falling victim first to Vance "Vangief" Wu, and soon after to Taiwanese player Bruce "GamerBee" Hsiang. Melty Blood: Actress Again was included after a poll on Shoryuken.com to decide on the final game of the tournament, beating out Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Soulcalibur IV, and The King of Fighters XII.[11] BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was to be included, but after a majority of the community moved on to BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, the decision was made to replace it with Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Also notable was G4's limited coverage of the event, even offering X-Play host Adam Sessler for commentary of the Super Street Fighter IV finals.[12]


Evo 2011

Street Fighter cosplayers at Evo 2011

For Evo 2011, a tournament season was announced in which players could earn ranking points at one of eight tournaments. It took place at the Rio Las Vegas from July 29 to July 31, utilizing a 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2) ballroom. All 50 states of the U.S. were represented, as well as 44 additional countries.[15][16] On July 25, 2011, it was announced that PlayStation Home users could watch a live stream of the tournament.[17] Evo 2011 was the most viewed event in its history, its livestream watched by over 2 million unique viewers on UStream over the course of the event.[18]

In attendance was Street Fighter series producer Ono Yoshinori, who announced a free balance patch for Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition.[19] Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada was also on hand to show new mechanics for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Soulcalibur V.[20][21] Other unreleased games shown were Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, King of Fighters XIII, Skullgirls and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition. A Skullgirls side tournament was held in which the winner received a one-of-a-kind Skullgirls-themed arcade stick.[22][23] Media outlets G4, GameSpot and Destructoid were all present to cover the event.[22][24]

A notable occurrence in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament was the success an eight-year-old named Noah Solis, whose team included Hulk, Sentinel and Albert Wesker. Solis's performance included a perfect round in less than ten seconds. Solis was eventually eliminated by Mortal Kombat finalist Chris G.[25] In an interview with Giant Bomb, Solis's father, Moises Solis, spoke of how he intends to support his son's success in fighting games, citing video games as one way alongside education to avoid falling into gang culture.[26]

Evo 2012

Evo 2012 took place July 6 to July 8, 2012, at Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada.[27] On January 3, Joey Cuellar announced that Evo 2012 would have 6 main tournament games, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Version 2012), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur V, The King of Fighters XIII and Street Fighter X Tekken. The tournament season will return featuring seeding points for all 6 games in 17 events all across the world.[28]

Evo 2013

Evo 2013 was announced on December 2, 2012. It was held on July 12–14 at Paris Las Vegas.[29] On January 8, Joey Cuellar announced that EVO 2013 would have eight main tournament games, with the first seven revealed being Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (Version 2012), Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter X Tekken (Version 2013), The King of Fighters XIII, and Persona 4 Arena. The eighth game was voted on by players via online donations, all proceeds of which went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.[30] The eventual winner of the poll was Super Smash Bros. Melee with $94,683 raised for that game, while the total amount of donations was $225,744.[31] Nintendo of America objected to the streaming of Melee matches, although a live stream was ultimately allowed to be carried out as planned.[32][33] On May 7, 2013 it was announced that Injustice: Gods Among Us would be a main tournament game, thus expanding the game roster from eight to nine.[34]

Evo 2014

Evo 2014 was announced on September 15, 2013. It will be held on July 11-13, 2014 at the LVH – Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.[6] On February 6, 2014, Cuellar announced that Evo 2014 would include Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Injustice: Gods Among Us, The King of Fighters XIII, Killer Instinct, and BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, while also mentioning that discussions were ongoing with Nintendo on the possible inclusion of Super Smash Bros. Melee.[35]

References

  1. ↑ "Evo Championship Series". Evo.shoryuken.com. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  2. ↑ Crecente, Brian. Fighting to Play: The History of the Longest Lived Fighting Game Tournament in the World. Kotaku. Oct 6, 2008.
  3. ↑ Walbridge, Michael. In-Depth: Inside The EVO 2009 Fighting Game Championships. Gamasutra. July 22, 2009.
  4. ↑ Kleckner, Stephen. Spotlight on the Evolution 2K4 Fighting Game Tournament. GameSpot. 2004.
  5. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cuellar, Joey (15 September 2013). "Evo 2014 Announced!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 22 September 2013. 
  7. ↑ "kuroppi.com - EVOLUTION CHAMPIONSHIP Results". Retrieved 2011-09-09. 
  8. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20060824204055/http://evo2k.com/
  9. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  10. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Jake Gaskill (2010-07-08). "G4 And Capcom Team Up For Epic EVO 2010 Coverage". G4tv.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  13. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  14. ↑ "EVO 2010 SSFIV Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com. 
  15. ↑ "Evo2k.com". Evo2k.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  16. ↑ "EVO 2011 Wrap Up and Thanks". shoryuken.com. 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2011-08-02. 
  17. ↑ "Watch the 2011 EVO World Finals Live in PlayStation Home – PlayStation.Blog". Blog.us.playstation.com. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2013-10-20. 
  18. ↑ "EVO2K11 Smashes Online Viewership Records". iplaywinner.com. 2011-08-04. Retrieved 2011-08-04. 
  19. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (2011-08-01). "2012 Will Get A New Super Street Fighter IV Version". Kotaku. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  20. ↑ "Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Gameplay Movie 1 (Arcade Games) Check out the demo of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as it was seen at EVO 2011.". GameSpot. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  21. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (2011-08-01). "Soul Calibur V Turned EVO 2011 Into The Stage Of History". Kotaku. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "King of Fighters XIII EVO 2011 Interview (PlayStation 3)". GameSpot. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  23. ↑ "Participate in the Skullgirls Side Tourney at EVO, Win a One-of-a-Kind Stick". iPlayWinner. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  24. ↑ "Evo2k11: Interview with producer Yoshinori Ono". Destructoid. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  25. ↑ Conditt, Jessica (2011-07-31). "Eight-year-old Noah brings the pain to pro players at EVO 2011". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
  26. ↑ "Meet Noah Solis, the 8-Year-Old Fighting Game Wunderkind". Giant Bomb. 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2011-08-18. 
  27. ↑ "EVO 2012 Goes Down July 6th - 8th, 2012 at Caesars Palace". iPlayWinner. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  28. ↑ "Introducing the Evo 2012 Game Lineup and Tournament Season!". shoryuken.com. 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-01-04. 
  29. ↑ Cuellar, Joey (2012-12-02). "Evo 2013, July 12-14 at Paris Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas". Shoryuken. Retrieved 8 January 2013. 
  30. ↑ Cannon, Tom (2013-01-08). "Evo 2013 Details! Game Lineup, Get Your Game to Evo, and Road to Evo Events". Shoryuken. Retrieved 8 January 2013. 
  31. ↑ Cannon, Tom (2013-02-01). "Fighting Game Fans Raise over $225,000 for Breast Cancer Research. Smash Wins!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 1 February 2013. 
  32. ↑ Cannon, Tom (July 9, 2013). "Update: Smash is Back!! Changes to Evo 2013 Smash Schedule". Shoryuken. Retrieved July 16, 2013. 
  33. ↑ Groen, Andrew (July 9, 2013). "Nintendo yanks Super Smash Bros. streaming from EVO, just as quickly reverses decision". The PA Report. Retrieved July 16, 2013. 
  34. ↑ Cannon, Tom (2013-02-01). "Injustice: Gods Among Us Added to Official EVO 2013 Lineup". Shoryuken. Retrieved 7 May 2013. 
  35. ↑ Cannon, Tom. "Evo 2014 Lineup Revealed!". Shoryuken. Retrieved 6 February 2014. 

External links

Electronic sports competitions
Professional
Amateur
Governing bodies
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.