AADL-GT: Ann Arbor District Library Game Tournaments

Preregistration is now open for AADL-GT Round 2, happening this Saturday, September 24th, from Noon - 5 PM in the Basement of the Downtown Library. Doors will open at 11:30 for players in grades 6-12, so be early to get checked in and start warming up. Winners of the Sur-Prize round game will take home $70, $50, and $30 giftcards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. We'll have single-player and team events in both Mario Kart Double Dash and Super Smash Brothers: Melee, and the event will (really this time) be broadcast live on Comcast channel 18 in Ann Arbor, so be sure to bring a signed release form if you haven't turned one in before. We'll be implementing several enhancements this round, including smoother, faster registration & check-in, split-screen single player Kart for more races in less time, checkin and food and tables outside the room, and definitely more pizza. Read on for more.

We'll also be having an All-Ages DDR Tournament, Sunday Sept. 25th, from 1:00-4:00 at the Malletts Creek Branch. Open Gamecube play will be available, and prizes are $40, $30, and $20 giftcards.

One of our new features is a super-easy way to attach your clan logo to all your comments here on the axis blog. Just email me your clan logo at axis@aadl.org, and I'll add it to the server. You can then include your clan logo in your post just by adding:

[mygtclanlogo]

anywhere in your post, including in your signature! You can edit your signature on the 'edit' tab of your My Account page. Once you've added that tag to your signature, you'll never have to think about your clan logo again. Let me know if you run into any trouble or have any questions about this.

Also, it's time to announce the players who will be invited to do live, on-air commentary at this month's tournament. I will be appointing Lead and Relief Commentators for each event, with the Lead commentators doing most of the talking, and the Relief stepping in when the Leads are playing. Be aware that my goal is to produce the most entertaining event possible, so while I want to give several players a chance to do this, I will be making changes and cuts throughout the season. If I don't think you did a very good job, you won't be invited back to the 'press box' next month. So, be forewarned, and don't take it personally. Also, remember that this is an invitation. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. So, here are our commentary teams for Round 2:

Mario Kart Single-Player and Team:
Lead: Major Tom and Leinad
Relief: Muffincat and Duck

Super Smash Brothers Single-Player and Team:
Lead: Sravan and Galen (pr0 and c0n)
Relief: Black Shark and Duck

Surprize Round:
Lead: Muffincat and Black Shark
Relief: Major Tom and Leinad

A few tips for you commentators:

1) Look for the drama and build it with story, not with interjections.

Right: Wow, he's made it all the way to the final lap of the final race, only a master shell can ruin his day now...
Wrong: Oh! oh! wow! Man! Going! Going! Going! Gone!

2) Play off your partner, no matter who they are, use their name extensively, and set them up.

Right: I see she is truly dominant with DK, bob, isn't that one of your best characters?
Wrong: (in reply): Nope.

3) Remember that the audience at home may not know anything about the games.

Right: Wow, there goes Mario's Cape teleportation glitch... that's a bug in the game that's very difficult to execute, but very shocking when performed precisely....
Wrong: Oh man! Charizard!

4) Nothing impresses me more than a dazzling display of Nintendo Knowledge.

Right: You know, bob, the original Donkey Kong was Shigeru Miyamoto's first game for Nintendo, and it was built to be a conversion for thousands of unused Radarscope cabinets, as the US market had responded very poorly to Radarscope, despite it having been a smash hit in Japan.
Wrong: The Revolution is going to suck.

Anyway, enough of that. Get registered for the tournament, get practicing, and if you've got questions, now's the time. See you Saturday!