First ‘Downtown Duel’ deemed a success
By MICHAEL D. McELWAIN (mmcelwain@reviewonline.com)

POSTED: July 27, 2008 

EAST LIVERPOOL - Organizers were not exactly sure what the public response would be to the first "Downtown Duel" video game tournament.

They didn't need to worry.

"The only thing I feel bad about is that we had to limit the tournament to 64 due to time constraints and the organization of the bracket. We had to turn some people away," Shawn Golden said. "In future events, we hope to turn nobody down if they wish to participate."

Some 70 people of all ages gathered at the Slak Shak - the East Liverpool Kent State University campus student lounge - to try their hand at a Guitar Hero III tournament.

"We had 64 people entered in today's tournament ranging from ages 8 to 32," Golden said Saturday. "With parents, spectators, and competitors, the Slak Shak was 'rockin' when we got the tournament going at about 9:30 this morning."

In the end, Travis Clark was proclaimed the winner of the expert bracket and Greg Salsberry placed second.

For the novice bracket, Brandon Valentine came out the winner and Elisabeth Six won second place.

"It was enjoyable to see so many people from varied ages from the area participate in this type of competition," Golden said. "I was amazed how popular the game is and how we had such a good turn out."

Golden, who is a computer technology instructor at Kent State, planned the competition with New Life Academy employees Donald Bean and Gary Althiser.

Bean served as the emcee for the tournament announcing the competitors names and the results and handed out door prizes.

Althiser and Golden helped seed the bracket, judged, and photographed and videotaped the event.

Chris Brock was a judge and handled registration, Bruce White also judged, photographed and assisted with the bracket seeding along with Matt Stewart.

Brian Kerr was a judge and assisted with set-up and bracket seeding and Michael Ross also assisted with registration and judging.

"Many others helped to make the event a success by donating their time and equipment," Golden added.

Door prizes included YMCA memberships, Pizza Hut pizza, Game Stop gift cards, shirts from Kent State and New Life Technical Institute, Dairy Queen ice cream, and Hot Dog Shoppe gift certificates.

The first place winner in each category received a trophy and a $100 Game Stop gift card. The two second-place competitors got a $50 Game Stop gift card.

"We would say that this was a success, and we will take what we've learned and make the next event even better," Golden said.

Future tournaments may include the Madden Football video game in the fall, and March Madness in the Spring, and possibly a Rock Band tournament.

Information about the upcoming events can be found at the www.myspace.com/downtownduels Web site. Photos and videos from Saturday's event will be uploaded to the Web site soon.