Click here http://ultimatemk.com/vForum/showthread.php?t=4594 for info on Road to Evo coming up June 11th through the 13th in NYC, and here http://ultimatemk.com/vForum/showthread.php?t=4585 for PowerUp 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio which will be hosted on a UMK3 cab.

Top 3 for now:

1. LI Joe
2. AC1984
3. Shock

ECT2 was the best competitive fighting game experience I’ve had so far in the 9 years or so I’ve been involved. I have played in many different tournament games but everyone know the game I play is UMK3. The community finally got to be represented and treated like a real game. Fortunately we had LI Joe in the finals to get some real hype going and the watchers interested. Always a pleasure. Congrats to Simon on placing second. You are ever improving your game.

We have a great crew now working to keep UMK3 coming to tournaments regardless of the turnouts and outcomes. 9.95, Summoning and Dark Rob are all locals who are heavily involved in various aspects whether it’s supply equipment, running the brackets, etc. We’re very glad to have players who host major tournaments, like John, Joe, and Big E and support the UMK3 scene continually.

I was able to do two interviews this weekend about the UMK3 scene and we really appreciate that kind of interest coming out of random fighting game fans. As always, there were a number of onlookers during casuals and the opening brackets who gave uninformed sideline criticism of the game, but we’re use to that. That important thing is, there were far more onlookers who were actually interested in the game, and asking questions, or commenting that they never knew any MK game could played at a high level.

All in all, this is a huge step, and I hope it opens the eyes of some of the great players who have thus far outright refused to make their presence felt in a real tournament environment. Thanks to all the players who showed up, Tim Static, a pleasure to meet you and thanks for your continuing support in the UMK3 community, and the other organizers from Seasons Beatings

I just wish I knew my mic wasn’t turned on during the stream, as my commentary was legendary, but fortunately only one match.

Full results and match videos will be available soon. I have a lot of info to get.

Players are rounding up and getting in casuals. Gonna be a fun night. I’ll update for head count later.

Over the last few months we’ve opened the tournament section of the forums on a test basis to see how things would go after having closed them for one year. So far, things have gone well and our regrouped moderation staff has worked out fine, if only monitoring one forum.

We have decided to fully reopen the forums and remember, respect the moderator staff first and foremost as well as the other members. If there is a real issue and you feel the need to contact the admins, please make sure you have a case based on the rules of the site and not what you think the rules should be. Everyone is welcome but everyone is welcome to follow our rules.

The moderator staff has been carefully chosen so if anyone has a personal issue with anyone we have selected, you should remember to just act as if you are a new member and use the proper etiquette everyone else must. This will ensure that you will have no problems.

Also, ECT, hosted by John and Joe is coming up in under 10 days, May 22nd and 23rd, taking place in Morristown, NJ. Anyone who wishes to attend, please check the tournament and matchmaking forums for details on booking rooms and signing up.

Currently the list of players is approximately 20 – 25 and the top 8 will be streamed live on Sunday with the other major tournaments. This tournament should be the biggest one of the year and the focus on UMK3 is something that hasn’t been seen in some time.

We are very happy to host for players from all over the region, and sometimes travel over 1000 miles just to play competitive UMK3 in person. This ECT will be no different as there are players slated to attend representing 6 states currently.

I encourage anyone within reasonable traveling distance to make the effort and come out for this tournament and show the rest of the fighting game community that there is depth and support for the UMK3 scene. Our numbers have recently topped some of the other side tournament games and we would like to see this start happening at tournaments in other regions.

UltimateMK.com is a sponsor for ECT, courtesy of site user and moderator Tim Static, who will also be attending the tournament itself. You can all thank him for that showing of gratitude towards the site, as he does whatever he can to support it, even when it is not asked or required.

Again, thanks to everyone who has participated on the site and we look forward to seeing some activity on the forums once again.

Shock and DreemerNJ

Big thanks to Tim Static for sponsoring ECT on behalf of UltimateMK.com. Tim is one of the biggest supporters of our site and helps us out in many ways. This was a sudden and unexpected display of generosity on his part and we all appreciate it.

Thanks again Tim!