On the 11th hour of the 7th day of March, a videogame tournament was held, the first console tournament of its community to gather the hidden gamers of the "Empire State". To host this event a set of gamers had to be chosen that would be able to not only compete with the gamers but to congregate with them as well. The Royal (E)mperial Guard took up this task and brought together gamers from all over New York City to compete and have fun. Held at Neutral Ground: on the isle of Manhattan 122west 26th street, on the 4th floor (between 6th and 7th avenues) the event was announced at the last minute, however the turn out did not give that appearance. As evidence to that statement even on short notice, gamers rose from there homes and came out to socialize with other gamers.

The event started and members of the Royal (E)mperial Guard quickly set up administration to make sure that the tournament would carry on as smoothly as possible. The Emperor, along with his wife Wyldflower, GamingKnight, Marvelous, Q, Kreymore, Jeron HarlemsFinest, Harlems Hero, Ako Lady Harlem, Nibor, Arturo, Chronos, Ether, and X-Ryu all attended. Gaming great such as Wess, who is one of the "Empire State" finest Super Smash Brothers players showed up to the tournament. As everyone waited for the tournaments to start up, gamers signed up for the games in which they wanted to play and was allotted time to play casually before the tournament started. The Emperor, T.F.G.M. played Black Dragon to warm himself up in a rare occasion to compete. Not known to many of his ability to game he usually keeps out of the competition field unless it is truly necessary. Being that gamers of his home state came out to this console tournament and he was ultimately given the rights to host the tournament; it would only be customary that he congregate among the gamers that showed for the Empire's first console tournament.

Showing that gaming is an event that neither gender nor age is restricted from, the Empire brought female gamers that slid in well with the male gamers without incident. They competed and socialized with others. One of the spectators hit on the Empress not knowing who she was. It was a funny moment as she was stuck not knowing how to turn down the person that asked her out. Q is another one of Empire Arcadia most dangerous females that was at attendance for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Pokemon Puzzle league; recently known for signal handily wiping out an arcade/retail store at "Nevins" street in Brooklyn New York. Q one character killed 4 male gamers in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in a store called Game Champ. Q is a fierce gamer and although cute, that mask usually leads to the fall of her rivals. Ako - Lady Harlem is one of the Empire's most versatile female gamers. Beating even Jeron in a game of Cacpom vs. SNK 2 is evidence to that statement. The ladies all enjoyed themselves and will be sure to show up at other tournaments in the future.

Old school games made a resurgent return at the Neutral ground tournament. From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to Vampire Savior, to X-men the arcade Harlemhero and GamingKnight played though many of the games and gave people a show of what old school is all about. Shortly after, the tournament would then begin. Mario Kart was the first up and one of the most watched tournament. The winners of that tournament were Rafa, T.F.G.M. and josh. Players choice of pick were mostly Yoshi, Peach, and Toad who all were considered top tier characters based on there acceleration and random item selection probability. This was proven once T.F.G.M. picked Peach, after barely getting out of the first two rounds with Mario. After finally losing with Mario and was put in the loser's bracket and placed in 6th place. T.F.G.M. chose Peach and stage a 12 game 1st place come back that put in him in the grand finals, where he finally expired 3 - 4 because of a random star-man that Yoshi got as T.F.G.M. was only seconds from crossing the finishing line. People asked T.F.G.M. if he felt that he was cheated from winning, and he replied "I should have never gone with Mario to be put in the loser's bracket to begin with. If I went with who I knew that was going to give me the best chance to win I most likely would have been in the winner's finals and things would have been different." He also went on to say. "However I prefer it that way, I love the challenge."

In other competition, Marvelous placed 3rd in Tekken 4. Not only is this a surprise to many for a lot of people do not really know of Marvelous playing videogames other than Marvel vs. Capcom 2; but the fact that he earned 3rd with virtually no sleep from the previous night. Staying up with his friend and fellow Empire member Nibor, he didn't want to oversleep and miss the tournament, so he felt it would be better that he stood up the entire day. If that was surprising news in the Tekken competition, then the fact that Fernando (the GameMario 316) from China town arcade; ranked 2nd place, showing his other fighting game skills. Making a surprise visit to the tournament and showing his interest in other videogames and his ability to play them, Xecutioner leader of the $yndicate of Empire Arcadia is found playing Pokemon Puzzle League as Jeron was amazed and had to take his picture. Also making a random surprise visit was Jet Phi, owner and founder of East Coast Championship. He stopped by to participate in the tournament.

In today's time not many console or arcade tournaments or events hold puzzle tournaments. It was with the Empire's obligation that they broke that mold. Pokemon Puzzle league an updated version of the classic American version of Tetris Attack was held at the tournament and players of this game not only found addiction to the game and played, they also enjoyed the competition from everyone around and were glad to compete. Rare to see, is a female gamer to win a console tournament within the "Empire State" community. The Empress and her husband T.F.G.M. tied for first place as they did not want to compete against each other in the finals. Thus they split the top, marking the first gaming couple to rank top 2 in the same game. Surprisingly Jeron placed 3rd completing a full sweep of top seed for a game in the name of the Empire. However the "Empire State" is not without its hidden treasures, the gamers who would attend this tournament would show the Empire that leaders or not of the community that they too are talented enough to compete and win.

Soul Calibur 2 had to be one of the most emotional tournaments as a player slammed his controller on the table nearly breaking his own controller. His complaint was the fact that the version of the game required the use of the game cube controller and that he wasn't able to play at full functionality. Let this be a lesson for most gamers; please bring your own converter and your own controller. The Empire was not able to rank top seed in this game as they were shut out by Victor Garbov, Dyse, and Randall. They dominated the competition and although Dyse took an early bump out of the tournament he made his way back and ranked 2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: tournament fighters was a surprise tournament that left everyone surprised that it replaced the Tetris tournament as only 4 players signed up for the Tetris tournament. In its replacement was a good showing of gamers that were willing to play the game and in the end Jeron Harlems Finest and Norman Harlems hero took top 2 seats. A quote from another member in the Empire saying "Armageddon is mad scrubby" could have been one of the reasons that lead to the outcome of the tournament.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was considered the funniest tournament as players were shot all over the place by Cable. Q was a sure for top seed, however Erik (SmoothViper) and Pedro (epynox) held there ground and took out 2nd and 3rd seeds for that game. Fortunately Arturo who played in Marvelous absence because he was running another tournament; Arturo was able to take Marvel vs. Capcom 2 top seed keeping true to the place. This was countered as Smash Brothers took place, Jason, Wess and Rafa knocked out T.F.G.M. Kreymore and Ishmel as they tried different strategies to fight against Wess. They found that there concentration on taking out the competitions best player proved to back fire against them. A lesson they learned at the expense of the game. Next time a far better attempt of fighting for the Empire in Super Smash Brothers Melee would be in order.

However in light of the last couple of tournaments and the futility of the Empire's wins with exception to Arturo winning Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Empire Arcadia members pulled through with as a complete unit in the end winning top 6 spots in Capcom vs. SNK 2. Lead by Arturo and Jeron, T.F.G.M. Harlem hero and Lady Harlem in descending order easily ripped through the competition and took the game. One would say that only because of lack of competition did the Empire take that game. However whether or not that be the case, nothing can be taken away from the empire for their over all performances in the tournament, ranking top 3 in 6 of the 8 tournament games, placing 1st in 4 of them. In the end everyone enjoyed the tournament and stated that they were looking forward to future tournaments at Neutral Ground. Empire Arcadia Inc. is looking forward to supply this demand for gaming.

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