King of Fighters wins giant arcade unit, paper crown

Over 100 contestants competed in a seven hour (!) King of Fighters XII tournament in Hollywood yesterday, and when the smoke cleared, one winner was awarded a stately paper crown. Oh, and a full-sized King of Fighters arcade machine, straight from Japan. Reynold Tacsuan defeated Alex Phan in the best-of-three finals when his soldier Ralf Jones dealt a deathblow to Judo master Goro Daimon.

Multiple arcade units and PS3s were set up around the venue featuring the new game, which doesn't hit U.S. shores until July 16, so attendees could face off while the tourney took place on the main stage. One station even went old-school with Intellivision, an Atari 2600 and an old Vectrex system. if only they'd had KoF back then.

I am 8-bit was on hand throughout the event with scantily clad nurses administering fake cuts, bruises, and wounds to unblemished skin in their Anti-ER. Which got us thinking: even though we're all for friendly competition in gaming, it would takes things up a notch if some company starts turning these events into feats of skill and muscle. It's high time they brought competitive arm wrestling to the world of video games.
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