Video Gaming

This year's Video Game Room will be just like every other year's room—and yet completely different. There will be seven tracks of constant gaming all weekend long featuring the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, as well as Classic Gaming stations, a lounge for portable gamers to chill out in, tournaments, special events and prizes, and general mayhem courtesy of the VGR Staff.

We're also featuring our usual awesome array of events including Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and HALO: Reach tournaments.

Charity Arcade

Every year, NDK raises money for worthwhile charitiesand this year the VGR is getting involved with that. Digital Cynic is bringing in two arcade machines with a variety of games to be played all weekend long, including Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, Galaga, Sinistar and more. The coin accepters have been repaired, and all money collected in the machines during the weekend will be donated to the convention's charity. Come and kick some butts for a good cause.

Battle of the Rock Bands 4

Show up and try out at the VGR. Qualifiers will get a callback to show up at Aspen on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM. The VGR will be closed during the Battle of the Rock Bands.

No More Tournament Sign-Up

If you want to join a tournament, just come in when the tournament starts and collect a tournament token. Each token has a number, and those numbers are your ticket into the tournament! When you sit down to compete, you'll slot up your token right there, and if you get beaten, you lose it. If you win, that token is your proof that you're still in the tournament! Keep track of it! And don't try trading it to your friends—we're watching you, smart guy.

The only exception is The Battle of the RockBands event. You must have tried out and received a callback in order compete onstage.

Prizes

We are also sponsoring our usual number of special prizes this year: Best Video Game Art/Model, Best Video Game Costume, and Best Video Game Music Video, Best CosPlay/Performance and Technical awards for Battle of the Rock Bands 2! The winners get a Golden Joystick of their very own, and some extra special prizes as well! Schweet!

T3h Rul3z

We've got some straightforward rules and regulations in the VGR, including the new Rule 8, and they're clearly posted everywhere. Let's go over them real quick, just to be sure:

  1. No food or drink is allowed in the VGR at any time, unless you're a VGR staff member. Yes, we will eat right there in front of you, and make fun of you if you cry.
  2. No roughhousing. There are really no situations where body parts should be touching other body parts while in the VGR. The only real exception is when you shake the hand of the person who just whupped your hiney at MVC3, because you're a good sport.
  3. Do not abuse any games, systems, peripherals, or staff members in the VGR. Seriously. Anyone damaging equipment intentionally will have an equivalent weight in body parts removed by the VGR Staff. You are not Pete Townshend; do not smash that guitar controller when you finish your set.
  4. No unattended children under 12. The VGR is funded primarily through the sales of unattended children to drunken gypsies. Well, okay, they're not that drunken.
  5. No outside games, systems, or peripherals. This is due to Colorado state liability laws, not because we're jerks. No, we're not making an exception for you. Stop asking. Yes, we're talking to you. You know who you are; you ask every year.
  6. No stealing. A terrible curse is laid on those who steal from the VGR: all your saved games will be corrupted and lost, right after you get further in your game than you ever have before. Beware!
  7. No whining. Please note that this rule does not say: no suggestions, no feedback, no requests or no opinions. Just No Whining.
  8. Do not leave your personal belongings in the VGR. No only are the VGR staff not responsible for your personal belongings, we refuse to take responsibility for them. If we find unattended items, we will take them to the lost and found. If we don't find them and you don't find them, you just found a way to have less fun at NDK and no one wants that.

The Golden Rule of the Video Game Room: Pass That Controller

The chairs in the VGR are set up in rudimentary lines, clearly indicating who's "got next." If you want to play a game, have a seat. As people finish, they move away and everyone moves forward. Sometimes a game is so popular that people stand in line behind the chairs – this is okay too. You know what the best part of this system is? You, the attendees, created it yourselves. You did without any direction from VGR Staff. BakuDan couldn't be more proud of you. When you finish a game, check to see if someone is behind you waiting for it. If no one wants in, you're all good. If someone wants to give it a try, pass it on. You'll be back in no time, because they have to pass when they're done too.

If someone isn't passing the controller, tell a VGR Staff member immediately. We are serious about enforcing this rule, but whining about it after the fact is fruitless. If we could travel through time, we wouldn't have to work for a living.

Addendum: this also includes the "winner passes" or "loser passes" rules—those rules do NOT apply in the VGR. If you win the match, pass the controller. If you lose the match, pass the controller.