Madison's 8th Annual Tecmo Super Bowl Feedback

[Primis]

I watched the feed of some of the Field of 64 games. Some great games in there, and some real duds.

Wish I'd had more time to watch games. Had a busy day though. Please stream and livechat it again next year. The Facebook layout was awesome, it had the live feeed, the live chat, live scoreboard with voting.... It's great stuff watching the comments as the game on the feed progresses.

I'm dumbfounded though at how scared some of ya'll play.

[Knobbe]

I'm dumbfounded though at how scared some of ya'll play.

Scared? What do you mean by that?

[Knobbe]

I'm dumbfounded though at how scared some of ya'll play.

Scared? What do you mean by that?

I'm amazed at how uber-conservative guys are on returns and rushing. Yet they'll heave the ball reguarly into triple coverage. I mean, an INT is just as bad as a Fumble usually, yet guys seem far more scared of the latter.

That's ok. There was that one DET-SD game where SD refused to pass even once they got far behind I guess, which is going too far the other way.

Did anyone record the final? I'd like to see that...

I lost a game after fumbling on a kick return and fumbling after hauling in a catch and had a fumble go out of bounds after running for an extra 3 yards.

What you call scared I call disciplined. Sometimes I wish I was more disciplined but typically I'm a bit more caviler. Sometimes that works and sometimes not so much.

The other thing is that sometimes you just get sucked into a game. Playing in a tourney surrounded by people is completely different from playing online or watching online.

The video for a lot of this stuff is on my laptop...i just need the time to process it.

[bruddog]

RE fumbles vs ints

An int usually isnt nearly as bad as a fumble if you are hucking it way down the field. An int is basically a punt at that point.

Especially with how retardedly slow int returns are on the original rom. A KR fumble is devastating. It's a swing of 10-12 points.

Just possessing the ball is worth about 3-5 pts or so depending how good the player/offense is. The other player gains posseasion which is worth 7 if the fumble is returned for a TD. And close to 7 if its recovered in the redzone.

You can afford to be more risky with going not out of bounds depending on the specific game situation and opponent.

Hucking into cover it does depend largely on who you are hucking it with and how far the field you are hucking it. Low PS guys

are good to huck with as their passed get tipped before getting inted as long as the DB doesnt have enough int to jump int the pass.

With high pc rec combos the risk of int vs the reward of completion on long bombs makes it a avg risk high reward strategy. And doulble coverage sometimes makes the chance of interception lower depending on where the best db is located. Its poor game

design but a pass to a WR gayle and carrier in double coverage will produce less ints than a pass that goes right to the WR with just Carrier covering the WR. Double coverage does result in signifigantly lower completion % though.

Every tackle brings about a 5% chance of fumble. With a 50ps 56 pc qb 69 rec wr and 50 int db you are looking at about a 4% chance of int because many of the passes are overthrown and harmlessly tipped away rather than going straight into the WR.

of int or so on deep bombs.

Basic game theory is that if you are by far the better player, you want to minimize the variance aka risk and maximize the number of possesions to maximiaze your winning percentage. Turnovers and a low posession game are about the only thing thats going to enable a far lesser player to win.

Concversely a crappy player wants to minimize possessions and maximize variance for both teams. Realistically this is hard to do

as minimizing possesions requires burning lots of clock which is hard to do if your employing a bomb heavy strategy.

I'm dumbfounded though at how scared some of ya'll play.

I'm amazed at how uber-conservative guys are on returns and rushing. Yet they'll heave the ball reguarly into triple coverage. I mean, an INT is just as bad as a Fumble usually, yet guys seem far more scared of the latter.

That's ok. There was that one DET-SD game where SD refused to pass even once they got far behind I guess, which is going too far the other way.

Did anyone record the final? I'd like to see that...

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[qb_browns]

The other thing is that sometimes you just get sucked into a game. Playing in a tourney surrounded by people is completely different from playing online or watching online.

I consider myself to be one of the most extreme conservative-style players I've seen in the tourney (I run out of bounds nearly any chance I get), but sometimes, ya know, it's just Tecmo being Tecmo.

Fumbles can sit on a fist.

Its amazing the viewpoint you receive from people who actually venture to a tournament to play. Sometimes luck just doesn't go your way. That sucks Hoigaard, but I'm sure you kept fighting and probably want to return because the tournament was fun (outside your rotten luck).

And we've all been sucked into a game and do dumb stuff. Playing at a tournament in front of people, with noise and emotions, and controller in your hand--its a hell of a drug and makes you do stupid things.

These are quotes from people who show up. Or you can take the clinical, never show up approach:

RE fumbles vs ints

An int usually isnt nearly as bad as a fumble if you are hucking it way down the field. An int is basically a punt at that point.

Especially with how retardedly slow int returns are on the original rom. A KR fumble is devastating. It's a swing of 10-14 points.

Your loss of posession plus a very high chance of TD if the fumble isnt returned for a TD.

Hucking into cover it does depend largely on who you are hucking it with and how far the field you are hucking it. Low PS guys

are good to huck with as their passed get tipped before getting inted as long as the DB doesnt have enough int to jump int the pass.

With high pc rec combos the risk of int vs the reward of completion on long bombs makes it a avg risk high reward strategy. And doulble coverage sometimes makes the chance of interception lower depending on where the best db is located. Its poor game

design but a pass to a WR gayle and carrier in double coverage will produce less ints than a pass that goes right to the WR with just Carrier covering the WR. Double coverage does result in signifigantly lower completion % though.

Every tackle brings about a 5% chance of fumble. With a 50ps 56 pc qb 69 rec wr and 50 int db you are looking at about a 4% chance of int because many of the passes are overthrown and harmlessly tipped away rather than going straight into the WR.

of int or so on deep bombs.

2. If you are by far the better player, you want to minimize the variance aka risk. Turnovers are about the only thing

thats going to enable a far lesser player to win. Likewise as a big underdog you want to

1. Minimize total posessions

2. Increase variance

Which sounds more fun?

[bruddog]

How often one runs out of bounds also depends on the relative grappling ability of both players and the number of drones nearby.

For kick returns its tough. Some math. You figure a lost fumble is worth 10-13 pts A KR fumbles about 5% of the time. Figure that

a KR fumble is lost 50% of the time for simplicity. So each time you take a tackle you an expect to lose:

11.5pts * 5% chance of fumble * 50% chance of losing fumble = -0.25pts per tackled kick return.

BUT Based on lots of data from tecmoplayer.com each yard of offense translates into roughly 0.08 pts. Meaning that for

an average player it takes about 85 yards of offense to generate a TD worth of pts. To break even it appears you would

only need to net just over 3 yards from the place you went out of bounds. It's probably slightly more than that because

I imagine yards are worth quite bit more near the goalline but even doubling the 3 yards to 6 makes it seem like going for

a few extra yards may be beneficial. Again as a superior player you are probably better off going for the conservative

strategy.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[bruddog]

Just because you like to get on my case for not showing doesnt make the analysis invalid. Sure a large crowd and the heat of the moment are going to make you do dumb things at times. But online play success has translated to success in the tourney.

I was merely answering the dude's question but also more or less agreeing with people who actually attended.

I have no doubt the people that attend have fun. They strongly WANT to attend and the tourney is well run. I just don't have a burning desire to attend. If it was down the street or even a few hours away from me would I attend? Almost undoubtedly as it takes almost zero effort and cost at that point which would outweigh the following:

1. I'm pretty happy getting my tecmo fix online. The crowd and payout does add excitement but not a lot for ME PERSONALLY.

2. Some of the game design "flaws" have grown to annoy me after 20 years of playing the game. A number of them can be "fixed"

so its grown more annoying to ME to have to continue to play with them. Sorry I guess that's what playing the game at a high level

for so long has done. Fixing these flaws makes the game and thus the strategy slightly more realistic and thus more fun.

3. Distance + Cost This plays into the desire factor. For me $500 spends better doing something with

close friends of mine given that PERSONALLY I'm not overly eager to go.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[DFM]

Bruddog resurfaces to drop knowledge bombs!

HATERS GONNA HATE

[bruddog]

To be clear. I've many strategical mistakes over the years in person or online play. It is easy to get caught up in the moment

or frustration of the game. But I'm just as hard on the dumb stuff I do.

One game this season in online play I could have literally punted the ball away for the win. But I stupidly decided it would

be fun to chuck up another pass and waste out the clock that way. My play was picked. I pressed b but i think the lag got

me and it didnt register or i just didnt press it soon enough. My qb gets sacked fumbles and it gets returned 60 yards for the

td. That one stupid play was a mjor factor in not getting a first round bye.

I'm going for a 3-peat after beating regulator in seasons 1 and 2 in the final.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[Knobbe]

One game this season in online play I could have literally punted the ball away for the win. But I stupidly decided it would

be fun to chuck up another pass and waste out the clock that way.

You just described how I got knocked out of my own tourney this year

[qb_browns]

Just because you like to get on my case for not showing doesnt make the analysis invalid. Sure a large crowd and the heat of the moment are going to make you do dumb things at times. But online play success has translated to success in the tourney.

I will concede your point that the analysis is valid, if a little dry for my taste. And on a personal note, the 'online style' of play drives me batty but I understand the reasoning and success that it generates. It does have a track record of success over the years.

I have no doubt the people that attend have fun. They strongly WANT to attend and the tourney is well run. I just don't have a burning desire to attend. If it was down the street or even a few hours away from me would I attend? Almost undoubtedly as it takes almost zero effort and cost at that point which would outweigh the following:

Here is where you lose me.

1. I'm pretty happy getting my tecmo fix online. The crowd and payout does add excitement but not a lot for ME PERSONALLY.

We'll get to your other two points in a second. The crowd is more than just a crowd, its a way to put faces to names. A way to meet people. I hate to sound like the social chairman of tecmo but it is a cool experience finally meeting these guys. It was awesome to meet Kyle Miller as opposed to reading regulator088's posts. It is a fun experience with the social aspect of 176 people sharing tecmo. Which might not do a single thing for you, but I hope you can see that it is an interesting experience being in a room of hardcore-ish tecmoers.

2. Some of the game design "flaws" have grown to annoy me after 20 years of playing the game. A number of them can be "fixed"

so its grown more annoying to ME to have to continue to play with them. Sorry I guess that's what playing the game at a high level

for so long has done. Fixing these flaws makes the game and thus the strategy slightly more realistic and thus more fun.

Again, this is a point that I just don't get. In-person tournaments feature various play styles and various people who choose to exploit or not exploit what you term "flaws." For one day, a portion of the temo world gathers together in one room with standardized equipment, standardized games, and standardized rules to sit down and play some tecmo. There are several play styles featuring different in game tactics and overall tournament strategy. There are no cheat programs, turbos, or anything else to take away from the game experience. May the best man win. If you've played at a high level of tecmo for 20 years, then a person who chooses to use an exploit in the game shouldn't be an issue for you. At some point when a competitor has reached the proverbial mountaintop in one discpline, its time to try to find another challenge. To not do that seems demeaning to the notion of being a competitor.

3. Distance + Cost This plays into the desire factor. For me $500 spends better doing something with

close friends of mine given that PERSONALLY I'm not overly eager to go.

You're right, my close friends run the Madison tournament. And my close friends and I go to the Midwest tournament. And my close friends go to the Nebraska tournament and give me crap for not making it out there. So going to a live tournament is something that I do with my close friends. And I grew up in California, so I know how parochial Californians can be, especially about things like the Midwestern United States being on the dark side of the moon.

But what really gets me going, and my close friends going, is that after deciding never to come to our tournament you still talk about what happens at our tournament. And I let it get to me. So I'm going to stop. I'll stop taking potshots at you. I'll stop chiming in after you make some comment about what happened at our tournament. I'll just let it go because it is like shouting at the rain the stop. So consider this my final jab in your direction. I hope that someday you can come to our tournament, it really is a fun time with the best tecmoers in the world showing up to play. A real, live competition between people who claim they are the best to see who is the best that day. You're definitely missing out.

[bruddog]

Here is where you lose me.

We'll get to your other two points in a second. The crowd is more than just a crowd, its a way to put faces to names. A way to meet people. I hate to sound like the social chairman of tecmo but it is a cool experience finally meeting these guys. It was awesome to meet Kyle Miller as opposed to reading regulator088's posts. It is a fun experience with the social aspect of 176 people sharing tecmo. Which might not do a single thing for you, but I hope you can see that it is an interesting experience being in a room of hardcore-ish tecmoers.

Yes, I can see that. For me there are some guys it would be fun to meet, a good portion I'd de indifferent about and a handful I just

rather not meet at all. But thats just life in general. I could expand on this but lets just leave it at that. I have met a few tecmoers from online play and a few I would consider good friends. Spending a day playing with them would be just as valueable etc in my eyes.

2. Some of the game design "flaws" have grown to annoy me after 20 years of playing the game. A number of them can be "fixed"

so its grown more annoying to ME to have to continue to play with them. Sorry I guess that's what playing the game at a high level

for so long has done. Fixing these flaws makes the game and thus the strategy slightly more realistic and thus more fun.

Again, this is a point that I just don't get. In-person tournaments feature various play styles and various people who choose to exploit or not exploit what you term "flaws." For one day, a portion of the temo world gathers together in one room with standardized equipment, standardized games, and standardized rules to sit down and play some tecmo. There are several play styles featuring different in game tactics and overall tournament strategy. There are no cheat programs, turbos, or anything else to take away from the game experience. May the best man win. If you've played at a high level of tecmo for 20 years, then a person who chooses to use an exploit in the game shouldn't be an issue for you. At some point when a competitor has reached the proverbial mountaintop in one discpline, its time to try to find another challenge. To not do that seems demeaning to the notion of being a competitor.

3. Distance + Cost This plays into the desire factor. For me $500 spends better doing something with

close friends of mine given that PERSONALLY I'm not overly eager to go.

You're right, my close friends run the Madison tournament. And my close friends and I go to the Midwest tournament. And my close friends go to the Nebraska tournament and give me crap for not making it out there. So going to a live tournament is something that I do with my close friends. And I grew up in California, so I know how parochial Californians can be, especially about things like the Midwestern United States being on the dark side of the moon.

But what really gets me going, and my close friends going, is that after deciding never to come to our tournament you still talk about what happens at our tournament. And I let it get to me. So I'm going to stop. I'll stop taking potshots at you. I'll stop chiming in after you make some comment about what happened at our tournament. I'll just let it go because it is like shouting at the rain the stop. So consider this my final jab in your direction. I hope that someday you can come to our tournament, it really is a fun time with the best tecmoers in the world showing up to play. A real, live competition between people who claim they are the best to see who is the best that day. You're definitely missing out.

[bruddog]

At the end of the day, Bruddog has nothing to gain by going in my eyes. He either shows up and knocked around by a new generation of tecmoers and taints his legacy of being "one of the top players" and every sneers at him and calls him a joke. Or, he shows up and does well and everyone says "OK, maybe the guy is good at tecmo" and we all go on with our lives.

In my opinion, the game is not flawed. If you couldn't break through with LB 4 to stop middle run plays, if you couldn't chuck 120 yard JJ's, if you couldn't scramble for 5-10 yards with your QB, and if multiple defenders didn't change the variance of an INT on a covered WR, you wouldn't be playing tecmo. Instead, you would be playing one of Bruddog's 100 ROMS that no one plays and he tries to force onto people.

Like I said in my interview in Madison.... If you LOVE tecmo, there is NO reason you would "be to lazy to attend" and "have no burning desire" to make the trip.

Until you attend and experience the atmosphere yourself and the game-play yourself, you sir do not have a credible reason to be commenting here.

As Browns said, I'm not going to let your "infinite wisdom" affect me anymore as well and you shall be ignored. I hope more contemplate doing the same.

1. Your first point is spot on. There is nothing for me to gain. The only comment is TO ME my legacy wouldn't be tainted. Anything

can happen in a single tournament. My body of work and online tecmo titles speaks for itself. I don't need to prove anything to myself or anyone else about what kind of player I am. Not that a tecmo legacy matters much in the grand scheme of life but

its a fun little thing worth knowing.

2. That's fine if the game isn't flawed to you.I know I'm in the minority on this and I don't care. It wasn't to me for a LONG time but I've grown tired of it. A hanfdul of people actually played a whole season on one of my roms and the people that like that kind of tecmo enjoyed it. Who said I tried to "FORCE" it on anyone? Sure I tried to incentivize my preseason rom from last season but

never did I "force" anyone. Exaggeration gets you nowhere.

3. My wisdom isn't "infinite". I've never said it was. You can take it or leave it. Apparently you are chosing to leave it. That's fine. I tend to think it is VALID despite never having been to madison. I mean if one isn't confident in their own opinion then why even bother to share it. Tecmo is still tecmo. The only difference is if you let things like the crowd get in your head.

I'm not sure why you're seemingly bitter against me but if you are so be it. I'm merely offering my opinion of what I WOULD DO. It's like you guys are taking it as a personal attack on the tourney or what you choose to do. What is so bad about what I've posted that I should be ignored?

I never said don't attend the tourney. I never said "damn that Kyle Miller his tecmo skills and strategy are total crap" I've given my reasons why I haven't attended and my strategy.

Of course I'm sure some of this is in a small part a way to try and get me to attend or maybe not. I don't know.

Carry on...

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[holzy11]

(1) It makes little difference to me whether you (Bruddog) attend the tournament. In a way, it’s almost better if you don’t attend. You’re sort of like the retired iconic QB who remembers the glory days and offers commentary on the current players/styles of play. If you do show up, and as I’ve shared with you previously, there will be a number of guys chomping at the bit. Online titles aren’t real highly regarded around here. At least you’re not Fro30, a Milwaukee guy (lives 60 miles away) who dropped out without warning or notice. And at least you’re not, to my knowledge, one of these other idiots that complains that there is no new blood in online Tecmo, yet fails to realize that live tournaments are the perfect recruiting ground;

(2) Some guys do get irked, however, when you watch and critique tournament games. Your criticisms of Mort (don’t know if it bothered Mort, but bothered others) from a few years ago, in particular, come to mind. It is not like these games are played from the comfort of a personal computer in your own home. It is loud, you are drunk (in my case), guys are screaming at you to do certain things or play a certain way, your opponent is telling you that you are terrible (i.e. Rikster, Buzzsaw), the “one and done” pressure is intense, and mistakes occur more frequently. That is something very difficult to appreciate if you’ve never been here. All that said, your analysis is typically correct, and I have a lot of respect for your Tecmo knowledge and the previous research you have conducted and shared with Tecmoers everywhere;

(3) Moving on, thanks to all that have expressed their gratitude for the tourney. It means a lot to know that the tournament means so much to so many;

(4) Favorite tournament moment? During my Round of 32 game, Edisaurusrex was playing Mort on a neighboring TV just a few feet away. Edisaurus was leading by 14 at one point, I think, but the next thing I know, he’s screaming “f**k you Mort” with his right hand raised in the air as Mort is running to the endzone with Dalton Hilliard. I have no idea what happened, but the way Ed said it was hysterical. It was the most endearing f bomb I’ve ever heard.

[bruddog]

1. I guess I just find interesting people take my comments so personally. When you are watching any live sporting event, people/fans tend to have critical comments about the game Example: " Oh man why did Kobe take that shot there were

two open guys". " Our [insert dumb offensive coordinator] sucks! Another stupid run up the middle. My mom could have seen

that coming" Am I supposed to watch and say every play is great? The styles of play really haven't changed. I mean there is

only so many ways you can approach the game. Honestly if I'm there in person its highly likely I'm going to say the

same shit.

I fully expect I myself might make more dumb mistakes. Maybe I'd come with headphones and sunglasses and sign up under

a psuedonym. LOL. I'd probably analyze my own mistakes more than anyone else so I don't really care if people call me out on it. That's part of competiting in front of people. I'm used to it from years of playing competitive basketball. Played through my senior year of high school.Yes nothing special but enough that I can appreciate the difference from playing at home vs playing with people screaming at you in a pressure situation.

All that being said I do think its awesome you put on a tecmo event of this magnitude and games are broadcast for

the masses. I respect all the work and effort that goes But I think its pretty realistic to expect people are going to make critical comments if there is a live stream of the game and a feed for making comments. Especially from people that actively play the game.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[keirre21]

I have to agree with Brudd 100%. I don't understand how people have their panties in such a bunch. People are going to be critical when they can actually see the game. To be honest I watched the games and came away feeling like " why do these guys post sweet 16 Tecmo Madison as an achievement, there are only like 12 really solid players in the field". True or not, thats honestly how I felt.

Before everyone gets there panties in a bunch again, let me tell you that from 2003-2007 I travel to live tournaments for NCAA Football. I went all across the country to EA sponsored events on college campuses (Penn State, Oregon State, Tenn, Pitt to name a few) to play in tournaments. It was fun in the 1st few but as I got to be one of the better players online (used to be a top 15 guy), it stopped being as much fun. I never won any tournaments but I played in the final 4 and made it to the great 8 numerous times. What I regretted most was the amount of money I spent traveling to the events. And I always felt like I did when watching the Madison feed. There were always just X number of solid players. While putting names with gamer tags were fun, I can honestly say that I don't speak with any of them. I never got hyped by the crowd and could care less when guys talked junk about who I picked ( I used Boise State before it was cool to use them) or how I played.

The only thing that appeals to me about a live tecmo tourney is to play people straight up without turbo and some sort of balanced teams. It was fun to watch and I'll likely tune in again but there's no need for people to get bent out of shape over someone having an opposing view.

[buttdouglas]

Hmm..I guess if I thought the reason for going to Madison was to win it all, I maybe wouldn't have showed up. Maybe I should have spent more time figuring out how to turbo and throw screens or study my backup TE's blocking power so I could beat everyone and impress them all with my mad Tecmo skills instead of guzzling beer and chatting it up with some pretty cool people.

[bgboud2]

I have to agree with Brudd 100%. I don't understand how people have their panties in such a bunch. People are going to be critical when they can actually see the game. To be honest I watched the games and came away feeling like " why do these guys post sweet 16 Tecmo Madison as an achievement, there are only like 12 really solid players in the field". True or not, thats honestly how I felt.

Not sure what games you saw or what you consider "solid", but definitely not true in the two I've attended.

[Tecmo Psycho]

To be honest I watched the games and came away feeling like " why do these guys post sweet 16 Tecmo Madison as an achievement, there are only like 12 really solid players in the field". True or not, that’s honestly how I felt.

Not sure what games you saw or what you consider "solid", but definitely not true in the two I've attended.

Well I guess I need to remove that from my signature. This actually contradicts Brudogg. Once you achieve a certain goal you set a new one. I made the sweet 16 last year. This year I got bounced in the first round because of literally one mistake in pool play. So I guess edisaurusrex, lillefty, daboy, vogtcd11, buzzsaw, sobhi (maybe he made sweet 16), and myself are not solid. And I am not saying I am Tecmo elite, but I'm no slouch either.

I didn't drive over 800 miles expecting to win. In fact, my goal is to win my pool each year (which I did). If you ask ones11fahzu if he was going to make the final four I bet you he'd say no. We go to meet, greet, have fun, the camaraderie, and enjoy Tecmo. But to say that the field of 176 only had 12 solid players... wow.

[holzy11]

I have to agree with Brudd 100%. I don't understand how people have their panties in such a bunch. People are going to be critical when they can actually see the game. To be honest I watched the games and came away feeling like " why do these guys post sweet 16 Tecmo Madison as an achievement, there are only like 12 really solid players in the field". True or not, thats honestly how I felt.

You are a blind man commenting upon the Mona Lisa. One TV was streamed to the masses. There were 21 others, meaning you saw slightly less than 5% of the games if you watched for 12 straight hours. Not to mention, and I know this is hard for online guys that have never attended a tournament to understand, but there's a fair amount of strictly console players (i.e. names you wouldn't recognize) in the tourney that are pretty darn good. Of course, you wouldn't know any of them. It's also very easy to underestimate talent when you're not the one playing against it.

Go play one of your online games with no human interaction and leave the real fun to the rest of us. As others have highlighted, Tecmo is about so much more!

[keirre21]

I have to agree with Brudd 100%. I don't understand how people have their panties in such a bunch. People are going to be critical when they can actually see the game. To be honest I watched the games and came away feeling like " why do these guys post sweet 16 Tecmo Madison as an achievement, there are only like 12 really solid players in the field". True or not, thats honestly how I felt.

You are a blind man commenting upon the Mona Lisa. One TV was streamed to the masses. There were 21 others, meaning you saw slightly less than 5% of the games if you watched for 12 straight hours. Not to mention, and I know this is hard for online guys that have never attended a tournament to understand, but there's a fair amount of strictly console players (i.e. names you wouldn't recognize) in the tourney that are pretty darn good. Of course, you wouldn't know any of them. It's also very easy to underestimate talent when you're not the one playing against it.

Go play one of your online games with no human interaction and leave the real fun to the rest of us. As others have highlighted, Tecmo is about so much more!

True or not, thats honestly how I felt.

[bruddog]

Have to disagree with kierre on just one thing he said. Everything else is pretty close to how I feel. 12 seems awfully low. Like holzy wisely pointed out I only have a TINY sample to go on. It has seemed that either the first round of single elimination(field of 64) or right after(32) this year is when it would get noticeably tougher on average. That's just me making a guess for fun.

But I have to trust the people who were actually there in this case.

[Knobbe]

there are only like 12 really solid players in the field".

There were 22+ guys who play regularly online (or have in the past)

1. Feel free to get a straw poll from them about the compettion

2. Which 10+ of those guys do you consider garbage?

[bgboud2]

I would think at least half the pools have a solid player. That gets to 1/8, about 22.

That would be my lowest estimate.

[ Post made on a Tecmo Super Mobile Device!]

[Primis]

Guys (I was gone yesterday, couldn't reply) I'm not trying to diss everyone or the tourney with my comments. Sorry if it came across that way I guess.

I guess I should also keep in mind that some players were probably quite lubed up already. And I know there's a Live factor that's going to put pressure on guys or make them make different decisions. I saw a couple of games though that were quite good. I also saw a couple complete stinkers honestly that made me shake my head.

I dunno'. Playing super-conservative seems almost anti-Tecmo to me. The game's not even built around that gameplay idea. To me, Tecmo is as much Style as Result. I always imagined Madison as a place where, unlike playing online where you're removed and so victory is a bit more important, you have a chance to impress and show off in front of a live audience and that the "winner" was almost secondary. Thus why you had mini Grappling matches and the like.