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Australian Arcade Championships - 17th & 18th of August 2019


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Introducing the inaugural Australian Arcade Championships!!

 

In the second weekend of the Ekka Pinball Arcade Showcase, Jon Tannahill, the Brisbane Pinball & Arcade collective and some of Brisbane's finest arcade legends will be bringing you a two day arcade event to find the best of the best.

 

Ticket information will be available in the coming weeks.

 

Save the date mates!!!

 

Format below:

 

Quick Overview:

The Australian Arcade Championship is a 2-day tournament featuring classic arcade games from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Players will be allowed 30 game attempts on the Saturday with their top 5 scores going toward qualifying. The top 16 will return on Sunday for a head to head best of 3 single elimination battle royale.

 

Qualifying Round Overview:

The qualifying round of the tournament will consist of 30 attempts per player across however many games have been available for this round of the tournament. Players may play any machine as many times as he or she likes with the knowledge that only 30 attempts are allowed in total across all games. When a player has finished all his or her 30 attempts, their qualifying round is over. There shall be no additional buy ins or tournament entries allowed for any one person.

 

A qualifying attempt shall be defined as one single credit game played on any of the tournament machines. Games must be completed in single player mode and with no continues permitted. A time limit of 15 minutes will be enforced for all qualifying attempts. Any attempt exceeding this 15 minute time limit shall be void.

 

Once the qualifying round has ended, the top 16 ranked players will proceed to the Finals round the following day.

 

Qualifying Round Scoring:

All scores on a machine are maintained in a ranking. Point values will be attributed to each player based on his or her ranking on each machine. The total qualifying score for each play is the total point values attributed to his or her ranks on each of the machines in the tournament. In the instance of two or more scores on a machine being exactly tied, the highest rank and associated points will be awarded to each score.

 

Each rank on a machine contributes the following points to a player’s total qualifying score:

1st = 100 points

2nd = 99 points

3rd = 98 points

4th to 100th = 97 down to 1 point/s

101st onwards = 1 point

 

While each player may use his or her 30 attempts across all available machines, only his or her top 5 ranks will count towards his or her total qualifying score. Therefore the highest qualifying score a player may have is 500 (ranked 1st in 5 games at 100 points each). This also means that a player is not required to play all machines available and may qualify for the finals having only played a minimum of five machines.

 

Qualifying Tie-break Procedure

In the event that two or more competitors are tied on the qualifying bubble, such that not all of the tied competitors can advance to the final rounds, the highest single ranked game between the competitors will be used to determine which competitor advances. If the highest ranked game for both competitors is also tied, the tiebreaker will be decided by the next highest ranked game, and so on, until the tie has been settled. In the unlikely event that this method does not break the tie due to the players’ five qualifying ranks matching exactly, a coin will be flipped to determine the outcome.

 

All non-essential qualifying ties, which is any tie not related to the qualifying bubble, will be decided in a similar fashion. The winner of each tie-breaking procedure will always receive the higher seed. Players will never be given a choice of seed at any point.

 

Final Rounds

The top 16 players will be seeded in a single elimination tournament bracket so that seeds 1 and 2 cannot meet until the final match.

 

In each best of 3 head-to-head match, the higher seed selects the first game, the lower seed selecting the second game, and the higher seed selects the third game. If either seed defers the choice of machine a random title will be chosen by a Tournament Director with the result of the choice not being assigned to either player. Once a player has made a verbal declaration to a scorekeeper or Tournament Director, either by choosing an arcade title or deferring to an opponent, the decision is declared final and cannot be altered.

 

The choice of arcade title or deferment during the final rounds will proceed by order of seed from highest to lowest. Once an arcade title has been chosen, it cannot be chosen by another group of competitors during that same round. This limitation intentionally gives higher qualifying seeds an advantage when choosing arcade titles during the final rounds.

 

Competitors are only permitted to choose an arcade title once during the entirety of the final rounds. For example, if a higher-seed chooses Ms. Pac-Man in the first game of the first round, he or she will not be permitted to choose Ms. Pac-Man again for the remainder of the tournament. His or her opponent could still pick Ms. Pac-Man, however, making it possible that a competitor could play the same game multiple times.

 

In the final round, the two finalists shall compete over 5 games with the higher seed selecting the first game, lower seed selecting the second, higher seed selecting the third, lower seed selecting the fourth and the fifth being selected at random from games neither player has competed on in the finals thus far.

 

Arcade titles during the final rounds will be designated best-of-three or single-game, based solely on the estimated length of game time of the arcade title in question. Tournament Directors reserve the right to adjust this designation at any point. All games in the finals shall have a time limit of 10 minutes.

 

On any game designated as best-of-three, competitors will play separate single-player games and will compare scores, with the lower seed playing first in the first game. After the first game in each round, the loser of the previous game will have the option of playing first or second in the subsequent game until an overall winner for the round has been determined.

 

Tournament Directors reserve the right to substitute or add additional arcade titles or duplicate machines to the final rounds. If any arcade titles are added to the final rounds that were not used during the qualifying portion of the contest, all competitors will be given a 3-minute warm-up period on the machine prior to their having to compete on it. In most situations, games will only be added to the final rounds to offset malfunctions or mechanical failures that occurred during the qualifying portion of the event.

 

Format subject to change at the discretion of the tournament directors.

Edited by Jimmy Nails
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If I can make it up there that week (no promises but I've got 6 months to save some cash) I now have to choose between this or the Brisbane Masters. Probably can't do both due to it being impossible to be in 2 places at once.

 

Bloody first world problems :lol

 

Edit: Now that I think of it Barra will probably come over and kick all our arses and take ANOTHER trophy back across the ditch. If I stick to bashing a silver ball around it's not my fault if that happens :lol

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Sounds great, shame about the clash with the BM. Guess I’ll play in the comp I’m less likely to suck in!

 

Mmmm if there’s an Aus Arcade Championship t-shirt I’m in, got enough pinball shirts

 

Easily swayed aren’t I....

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Sounds great, shame about the clash with the BM. Guess I’ll play in the comp I’m less likely to suck in!

 

Mmmm if there’s an Aus Arcade Championship t-shirt I’m in, got enough pinball shirts

 

Easily swayed aren’t I....

 

Yeah it is a bit of a shame. I was half thinking about playing BM - but I'll prob stick with arcade - stick with the easy beats like @Foot and @Brad

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OH YES

I'm assuming this is open to your good Kiwi friends from across the ditch :D

Sounds amazing!

 

Of course it will be. Qualifying and finals for Kiwi players will be held in the sheep pavilion.

 

Gives the rest of us a fighting chance :lol

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I love the format.

 

The finals will be interesting. They are going to require great strategy as well as great gameplay.

 

You can only choose each game once during the whole of the finals.

 

Do you play your favourite/preferred game first to increase your chance to get through to the next round or do you gamble on a different game and hope to win and get your preferred game in a later final?

 

It will be very good to watch what players do.

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OH YES

I'm assuming this is open to your good Kiwi friends from across the ditch :D

Sounds amazing!

 

Unfortunately not. No Kiwi's allowed :P

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Of course it will be. Qualifying and finals for Kiwi players will be held in the sheep pavilion.

 

 

I believe RSPCA will be on site - that's probably not a good idea :(

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  • 3 weeks later...

Final Rounds

The top 16 players will be seeded in a single elimination tournament bracket so that seeds 1 and 2 cannot meet until the final match.

 

Just re-reading the rules, not really sure about some of the format.

 

So only your best 5 games count for your ranking. What if two players are absolute masters on 5 of the (say 20?) and they both score 500 points in qualifying.... Unlikely, but I can see at least two people in the top 16 tieing on points....

 

a) how do you split who is 1 and 2 seed?

b) if these two players only specialise in these 10 different games (5 for each of them) - they aren't really a true number 1 or number 2 seed are they?

 

If there are say 20 games in the competition - wouldn't it make more sense that everyone has 30 attempts - they must play all 20 games (or get 0 points on a game if they don't try), and they then have 10+ credits to decide what game they can best improve their chance of advancing to the final 16 on?

Edited by John73
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Just re-reading the rules, not really sure about some of the format.

 

So only your best 5 games count for your ranking. What if two players are absolute masters on 5 of the (say 20?) and they both score 500 points in qualifying.... Unlikely, but I can see at least two people in the top 16 tieing on points....

 

a) how do you split who is 1 and 2 seed?

b) if these two players only specialise in these 10 different games (5 for each of them) - they aren't really a true number 1 or number 2 seed are they?

 

If there are say 20 games in the competition - wouldn't it make more sense that everyone has 30 attempts - they must play all 20 games (or get 0 points on a game if they don't try), and they then have 10+ credits to decide what game they can best improve their chance of advancing to the final 16 on?

 

Thanks for the questions John, as for the tie break procedure I have included and excerpt from the rulebook we will be using for the comp which itself is adapted from that used in the Replay FX arcade world championship.

 

"4. Qualifying Tie-break Procedure

In the event that two or more competitors are tied on the qualifying bubble, such that not all of the tied competitors can advance to the final rounds, the highest single ranked game between the competitors will be used to determine which competitor advances. If the highest ranked game for both competitors is also tied, the tiebreaker will be decided by the next highest ranked game, and so on, until the tie has been settled. In the unlikely event that this method does not break the tie due to the players’ five qualifying ranks matching exactly, a coin will be flipped to determine the outcome.

 

All non-essential qualifying ties, which is any tie not related to the qualifying bubble, will be decided in a similar fashion. The winner of each tiebreaking procedure will always receive the higher seed. Players will never be given a choice of seed at any point."

 

So in short, yes, if there are 2 players who rank 1st on 5 games and end qualifying with a perfect 500 score, 1st and 2nd seed will be assigned at random. Seeing as adjacent seeds will be on opposite ends of the bracket it shouldn't make a huge difference.

 

There are a couple reasons for only including the top 5 scores of each player for qualifying.

First is due to the fact we are trying to include a large variety of games spanning many genres we do not want to punish players for not being familiar with all of them.

The second is to encourage strategy, those who specialise in only 5 games will be forced to play a game they are unfamiliar with in the finals rounds as they are only permitted to nominate a game once in the entirety of the finals, so it will balance itself out in a way.

 

I hope these explanations answered your questions, let me know if you need further clarification.

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The second is to encourage strategy, those who specialise in only 5 games will be forced to play a game they are unfamiliar with in the finals rounds as they are only permitted to nominate a game once in the entirety of the finals, so it will balance itself out in a way.

 

Yes I understand that, but it also gives a possible no 1 and 2 seed almost free entry into the round of 8 if they specialise in only 5 of the games - sure they won't win the competition overall, but they may even luck out and make it to the quarter finals. It still doesn't make them "great" gamers on all titles - really don't think they deserve top 1 and 2 seed and any advantage because they are only good at a few games. JMO.

 

Afterall, we are looking for Australia's (and other nations players who attend) best player.

 

With this format, you are looking at the possibility (unlikely that it is) - that someone like @Barra could come along, who is far and away a better player than most of us, and get knocked out in the round of 16 (not likely), or top 8 (more likely) from someone that can only play a handful of games.

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Yes I understand that, but it also gives a possible no 1 and 2 seed almost free entry into the round of 8 if they specialise in only 5 of the games - sure they won't win the competition overall, but they may even luck out and make it to the quarter finals. It stil doesn't make them "great" gamers on all titles - really don't think they deserve top 1 and 2 seed and any advantage because they are only good at a few games. JMO

 

The purpose of the qualifying rounds is not to determine who the best player is across all 20 or so games in the tournament. It is to gain entry into the finals. A player may choose to do the bare minimum to qualify by only playing 5 credits total or by playing all 30, it is up to them. To ask players to play a credit on all 20 games in one day would be a big ask. On finals day even the final two players will only play a total of 14 credits each.

 

Yes, there is heavy advantage in gaining a higher seed, which should encourage players to strive for the highest seed possible and use their allocated credits wisely whether it be a focused effort on 5 games or casting a wide net over all 20. Finishing 1st on 5 games is still not an easy task and proves a player is of a high skill level.

 

There are several tournaments that require players to be proficient at all games featured in order to proceed forward such as Netherworld's Ultimate Denizen and the Battle of the Arcades Australian format. This tournament will be taking a different approach to avoid similarity to the above two formats.

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The purpose of the qualifying rounds is not to determine who the best player is across all 20 or so games in the tournament. It is to gain entry into the finals.

@Jimmy Nails - I've had a (rather at sometimes heated ) discussion with Jon about this on FB tonight... though I'd like to think we are still matess... prob not now :D

 

If the purpose of the competition is to allow players who aren't great/very good at the majority of the 20 games to qualify for top 16, what is the point?

 

You are allowing people into the top 16 that realistically have no chance of winning when their "game selection preference" runs out ahead of guys that are strong on way more games.

 

I do love the format, I'm just not a fan of the top 16 qualifying process.

 

To me - if there are 20 games the competition, the final 16 should comprise of the best 16 players over the 20 games - not guys/gals who are good only 5 of the games.

Edited by John73
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@Jimmy Nails - I've had a (rather at sometimes heated ) discussion with Jon about this on FB tonight... though I'd like to think we are still matess... prob not now :D

 

If the purpose of the competition is to allow players who aren't great/very good at the majority of the 20 games to qualify for top 16, what is the point?

 

You are allowing people into the top 16 that realistically have no chance of winning when their "game selection preference" runs out ahead of guys that are strong on way more games.

 

I do love the format, I'm just not a fan of the top 16 qualifying process.

 

To me - if there are 20 games the competition, the final 16 should comprise of the best 16 players over the 20 games - not guys/gals who are good only 5 of the games.

 

Sorry @John73 but I have to agree with Jon T on this one. We have other comps that are in that format. The brief for this event was something a little different with lot's of strategy. I think the format, which for the most part was copied from the arcade event at Replay FX, does both of these things perfectly.

 

Variation on format is very important. Some work, some don't. Some suit players strong in one area, some in other areas. That's the whole point and the fun part of going to lot's of different events and being challenged in different ways.

 

I personally can't wait to see how this format plays out. That said, we could always trial the format one morning at Arcade Club and see how it plays out and it would be great if you could come along and give some feedback.

 

I also think people could potentially play both the Masters and AAC qualifying on the Saturday. It will be flat out exhausting but your arcade comp games could easily be played between rounds of the Masters. Again, you will not have a second to spare but it could mean you get to choose to play either events finals the next day.

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Stop giving @RMacauley ideas Jimmy!! ;)

 

The idea was already there....

 

BUT

 

While it might be possible to squeeze in arcade qualifying games between pinball rounds it adds the other problem of perhaps qualifying for the finals in both. No chance of playing both finals at once without throwing the event timing way up shit creek so it's time to choose which event you want to play in. I threw the finals schedule way out of whack in the classics comp in NZ last year by winning the system 11 comp and then having to race through the classics finals to catch up my games that got delayed.

 

On the plus side I wouldn't have time to go to the bar

 

Odds are if I make it up there I'll stick to bashing a silver ball around. Never say never though......

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Bit confused by this :D

 

Less hangovers.

I'd save a fortune.

Not see multiball where there isn't one.

Maybe play better.

 

 

Oh who the F..K am I kidding I'd be as miserable as a Wallaby in a room full of All Blacks without a few medicinal ales :40s::40s::40s:

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Sorry @John73 but I have to agree with Jon T on this one. We have other comps that are in that format. The brief for this event was something a little different with lot's of strategy. I think the format, which for the most part was copied from the arcade event at Replay FX, does both of these things perfectly.

 

Variation on format is very important. Some work, some don't. Some suit players strong in one area, some in other areas. That's the whole point and the fun part of going to lot's of different events and being challenged in different ways.

 

I personally can't wait to see how this format plays out. That said, we could always trial the format one morning at Arcade Club and see how it plays out and it would be great if you could come along and give some feedback.

 

I also think people could potentially play both the Masters and AAC qualifying on the Saturday. It will be flat out exhausting but your arcade comp games could easily be played between rounds of the Masters. Again, you will not have a second to spare but it could mean you get to choose to play either events finals the next day.

 

My main point, which I obviously didn't make clear, is that if a pinball competition was organised in this fashion, the competition organisers would be sacrificed for running such a competition. Either you are a good gamer across all games, or you aren't -there are no free passes to the next round and that it is what I'm afraid is happening in this format.

 

I don't understand why Arcade is treated differently tbh.

 

The idea of Brisbane Masters and most pinball competitions is that you must be competent at all games - yes or no? You don't know what you'll have to play. Yet for some reason, Arcade is treated as a 2nd class citizen - that is what I don't get.

 

And just FYI - no, it has nothing to do with me winning, let alone making top 4 and getting some prize money. I'm no chance, but I'll still play. This is about having competitive matches in the top 16 - as in stands, play only 5 or 10 games to qualify - the first round of 16 will be complete mismatches - guys/gals who can only play one genre will be stupid if they don't take their preferred genre in the first round to advance to the final 8 - they'll quickly be eliminated in the round of 8.

 

To bill something as Australian Championships - strategy/luck should have as little to do with it as possible - pinball does have a lot higher degree of luck than arcade, but that is just how it will always be. I'm just not a fan of luck of in Arcade competition over skill. Just my 2 cents.

 

I'm not on the committee - so you can run it how you see fit, I'm just adding my input to hopefully make this a great competition.

 

I didn't see the "brief" and I'm not on the committee - but to me, the brief doesn't take into account that arcade games are not pinball. Strategy is one thing, but putting strategy ahead of skill is another thing entirely.

 

To rehash my point - I don't understand why strategy is so important in an arcade competition when pinball players would lynch you for doing it to them.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

The purpose of the qualifying rounds is not to determine who the best player is across all 20 or so games in the tournament. It is to gain entry into the finals. A player may choose to do the bare minimum to qualify by only playing 5 credits total or by playing all 30, it is up to them. To ask players to play a credit on all 20 games in one day would be a big ask. On finals day even the final two players will only play a total of 14 credits each.

 

 

And this is another point I just plain don't get - what is the point of qualifying if you aren't looking for the highest seed?

 

You are looking for people who can get 500 pts (if 5 games are for qualifying) or 1000 pts (if 10 games are for qualifying).

 

You have 30 credits at your disposal - if you don't use them all, you're an idiot - what is the difference between playing 6 games each of 5 different games you specialise at, or playing 20 games, one of each game and then using the remaining credits to improve on games you are doing worst at?

 

I still feel like the format is a lottery - it will focus players on only playing a few games so they rank highest in qualifying, which will give them the best possibly chance of winning - i.e strategy has way to much weight over skill.

 

As a format, wouldn't it make sense once you get to the semi-finals (4 players left) that each person has a pretty much equal chance of qualifying for the finals - in this format, the higher seed will easily progress because they will be competent on more games. The semi's will be a blow out, and I'm pretty sure the GF will be a blow out also where one player has absolutely no chance of winning because of the game selection process after you qualify top 16.

Edited by John73
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@John73 this is a tried and true format used at Replay FX. It has worked for them for years so I am not sure what the hesitation is with using it on this occasion.

 

As for your comments regarding pinball formats and being crucified for using such a format we are using a very similar format for a pinball event on the Thursday and Friday before Masters.

 

There are dozens of pinball formats. Some people like certain formats, some hate others and simply avoid formats they don't like or that don't suit their playing style. Skill and strategy are often awarded in equal measure though some formats can reward one over the other. That's part of the fun of going to different events and being challenged in different ways.

 

We can dissect this for months but until the event has played out in front of us we simply have to trust the Replay FX format. All in all this is supposed to be a fun event to encourage new players and showcase what the competitive scene has to offer in Brisbane.

 

I'm sorry you don't like the format mate but as far as I am concerned it looks great. I hope from here on out, as a fellow tournament director, you will trust Jon and I to do a great job. I hope like everyone else you will give the format a go and see how it plays out and take the challenge head on.

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[quote=RMacauley;1226449

 

Oh who the F..K am I kidding I'd be as miserable as a Wallaby in a room full of All Blacks without a few medicinal ales :40s::40s::40s:

 

Hope we catch up sometime this year ....watching the AB's and Wallabies :)

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@John73

As for your comments regarding pinball formats and being crucified for using such a format we are using a very similar format for a pinball event on the Thursday and Friday before Masters.

 

My concern is that strategy has too much priority over all round skill. Even in different pinball competitions, skill plays the higher priority - though luck has more of a part in pinball than it does in arcade. My comments are not that the best overall player over the 20 odd games won't win, there is a very very good chance that one of them will - but it will be at the expense of very good all round players who get knocked out early by "specialists". I can see (and I hope I don't) that the GF will be a complete mismatch between an all round player and someone that makes it there due to strategy. Is the pinnacle of the weekend for pinball the Brisbane Masters, or is it the events on Thursday or Friday night?

 

I'm sorry you don't like the format mate but as far as I am concerned it looks great. I hope from here on out, as a fellow tournament director, you will trust Jon and I to do a great job. I hope like everyone else you will give the format a go and see how it plays out and take the challenge head on.

 

Well I will trust Jon, but it seems like the format was decided upon without consultation from many other people with a lot of arcade background, including those who have played in countless arcade competitions, run then, be they live or online. It is not about not "liking" the format, is it is about ensuring the best all round players make it as far as possible into the competition - this will not happen in this format, and I'm very sorry if you can't see that. The top 8 players are guaranteed a free pass in this format into the next round, the top 4 players are guaranteed a free pass to the smi's - and they may not be good players, just specialist players who can only play a handful of the 20 odd games.

 

I appreciate that you and Jon don't like my input, I'm just wanting this to be a great competition, and at this stage it just looks like we'll just have to see how it all pans out.

 

My overall concern as I've stated, is that to bill this as the Australian Championships - it should not involve luck (which it rarely does in Arcade, and it most certainly shouldn't involved strategy) - if you are looking for the best player.... "The Champion" they should be the best player on the machines served up.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

As for your comments regarding pinball formats and being crucified for using such a format we are using a very similar format for a pinball event on the Thursday and Friday before Masters.

 

If you are referring to "Flip Frenzy" then I don't really think this is the same thing. Winning a flip frenzy, while important and a great accomplishment, I'm not sure is classed in the same league as "The Masters" champion. Ask the pinball players, would you like to be known as the Flip Frenzy winner, or would you like to be the Brisbane Masters winner - Brisbane Masters puts players to a more grilling format, where the winner really does have to showcase skill and the emphasis on skill is higher on all games in the competition, not just the games they prefer.

 

This is the only "main" competition for weekend for arcade... this is the Australian Arcade Championships - so I'm saying, if you changed the whole format of Brisbane Masters to allow strategy to play such a high role in the outcome, yes... you would have pinball players jumping up and down and not liking the proposed format. Yes, I guaranteed you would be crucified for running an event in this manner.

 

How many pinball competitions find the top 16 and then give "strategy" to the top 8 players when selecting games? Put me in a pinball game against someone like yourself where you qualify higher so you get to pick games 1 and 3 and I get to pick game 2 - there is a chance I might beat you just out of luck - pinball is fickle. My chance of beating you might only be 5% or lower, but there is a chance.

 

Put you in an arcade competition against me, Barra or any number of arcade players, and you are no chance - there is no point you even playing if you don't finish in the top 8 of the 16, because you will just not win. Arcade does not have the luck factor that pinball grants people. Your chance of beating me or an arcade player is 0% - you simply will have no chance. I don't understand how this makes for an exciting competition, nor helps find the best player of arcade gamer in Australia.

 

But as it stands, it seems the format is decided upon with very little consultation with all round arcade players, just those with a background in one game - so there is really no point even continuing this debate :)

Edited by John73
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