I haven't had the chance to write or chat about it yet but: I've playing a lot of Gundam Versus lately. Huge surprise, I know.If you're not familiar, Gundam Versus is the most recent entry in a long running arena-based fighting game series that features mechs from the (also long running) anime mega-series. Writing about the series for us last year, Sayem Ahmed described the series like this:[They] feel like highly polished versions of Virtual-On: A friendlier control scheme, smoother gameplay, and a more refined set of rules turn every encounter into a high-speed tactical melee. … On top of a life bar, each player also has a "cost gauge" which depletes when your robot is blown apart, and each of the series' many mechs has a different cost. Good players will learn how to get the most out of low cost machines—or master the expensive, but risky high-cost mechs. … The moment-to-moment combat offers a lot of complexity, too. It's a game of cat and mouse, as you dodge in and out of combat range, string together attacks aimed at your foe, and learn to feint by cancelling out of one attack only to surprise your opponent with another.
While the series' earliest releases (like Gundam: Federation vs Zeon for the PS2) were slow moving, cautious affairs, the games have taken on speed with time. Now, watching high level Versus play is similar to watching the action scenes from the shows that the games are inspired by: split second missile dodging, high speed melee clashes, and huge beam attacks that reach across the battlefield. It's fantastic, and hey, some of the folks in the greater Waypoint community think so too.And that is why community members @Curly and @AncientMecha have put together The Waypoint Community Gundam Versus Casual Tournament. AKA…Casual Encounters in Space
it's a gundam joke. don't worry about it.
Alright everyone, here's what's up!
The tournament will begin on October 13th at 1200 GMT!
It's going to be a round robin style, so you'll be playing all the other teams in any order you want. Matches are best of five (first to three). You will have fourteen days from the start of the tournament to get all your matches played and reported, shouldn't be a problem.
A final will be held between the top two teams at the end of the two weeks, or once all the matches have been completed.
I'll get reporting sorted out in the week to come.
I'm probably going to implement a rule to limit changing suits or prevent counter picking, but it's midnight and I just came up with that, so I should run it by Curly.
Regarding streaming and recording: None of the streamers I contacted got back to me, and I've found no workarounds. If you've got capture gear, feel free to record your matches (assuming you have the consent of all the other people playing). Maybe we can get enough together to make something cool out of it?
Interested? I definitely am!If you need to pick up the basics, check out the guides over at the GGEZ Gundam Versus Wiki, which will help you figure out the difference between a "moving gerobi" and a "rolling buster." (They both involve giant laser beams and are thus both very good.) If videos are more your speed, Tryflozn Versus' "What Is Gundam Versus" and "Movement Basics of Gundam Versus" are a great place to start.Once you know the basics, hop into the multiplayer mode and stretch your robot legs against other players—that's where the game really starts to shine.And remember: you can sign up right here for the Waypoint Community Gundam Versus Casual Tournament and come chat about it over on the forums—which might also be a good place to pick up a teammate. 
