Omegathon Games

Moe Fwacky · July 2007

Well, it's July and the Omeganauts have been picked and the Games have been announced.
The Omegathon 2007 Schedule

Round 1: Jenga
Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor
Time: Friday, 4:00 PM

Round 2: Calling All Cars
Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor
Time: Saturday, 1:30 PM

Round 3: Quake III
Location: PC Room
Time: Saturday, 4:30 PM

Round 4: Karaoke Revolution
Location: Main Theatre
Time: Saturday, 8:00 PM

Round 5: Puzzle Quest
Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor
Time: Sunday, 1:30 PM

Round 6: ???
Location: Main Theatre
Time: Sunday, 4:30 PM

Here's the list of games from previous years:
2004:

Round 1: Diceland
Round 2: Halo
Round 3: Mario Kart: Double Dash
Round 4: Dance Dance Revolution
Round 5: Doom
Round 6: PONG

2005:

Round 1: Diceland
Round 2: Mario Kart: Double Dash
Round 3: Quake
Round 4: Karaoke Revolution
Round 5: Katamari Damacy
Round 6: Combat for Atari 2600

2006:

Round 1: Diceland
Round 2: Geometry Wars
Round 3: Quake II
Round 4: Guitar Hero
Round 5: Mario Kart DS
Round 6: Tengen Tetris

lordthanda · July 2007

Dangit! I was really hoping for diceland. Oh well.

*runs off to train*

Officer · July 2007

I agree with your speculation, Moe.

Especially the racing one. It would seem that a Mario Kart game would be the logical conclusion for a round, based on the past.

Not to mention, my money is on Street Fighter 2 as the final round.

Moe Fwacky · July 2007

Personally I'm banking on a flavor of Unreal Tournament for the FPS round this year. Maybe a version of Battlefield, but somehow I think they'll stick with the classic, shoot 'em 100 times till their dead FPS, and not the "Get shot 3 times and you're dead because it's more realistic" FPS.

Officer · July 2007

Yeah, Unreal seems to be a reasonable assertion. I don't know about them using Guitar Hero again. I mean, they have used a different rhythm game every year so far, they may surprise everyone with something completely different. Hell, it may be Rock Band. Pick your instrument and go to work.

Moe Fwacky · July 2007

That would require them to have a viable working copy of Rock Band to use. Release is set for November, so it's possible for there to be something playable, but at the same time, it wouldn't be something the Omeganauts could practice on ahead of time, and most of them would probably pick the guitar just for the Guitar Hero similarity. I foersee them using Guitar Hero 80s Edition if they do go for a Guitar Hero round this year. I have to say though, nothing beats two people battle it out in some Guitar Hero on stage in front of thousands.

Thello · July 2007

I really hope Diceland is dumped because it's honestly the most boring thing in the world to watch people play.

a714generation · July 2007

A couple things I'm noticing--

Except for Halo the first year, it's been all PC FPS, correct? And even that first year had Doom to cover that genre!

Also they've shown with Diceland and with Mario Kart Double Dash that they're not above repeating a game from year to year. It makes me think that a Guitar Hero or Mario Kart DS repeat of some kind isn't out of the question.

Rock band is an interesting prospect, and with last year's early unveiling of Guitar Hero 2, Rock Band seems like it could be possible. But I think that Moe's right--if it was an individual sort of thing, most folks would pick guitar and then practice guitar hero. The one possibility I could see would be this:

Round 2--16 Omeganauts in 4 teams of 4. Between the 4 of you you have to use all 4 instruments, and then each team is given a random song. The team with the lowest score is eliminated, the top three teams move on.

The only problem with this would be that you could be eliminated even if you have a good sense of rythym depending on who you were teamed up with, and the fact that they've only ever done pairs before, nothing in 4's.

EDIT: Just out of curiosity, what version of diceland was played the last few years, or was it different versions?

Accalon · July 2007

I certainly hope they don't do Rock Band in teams, as awesome as that would be. The last thing I want to have to do is get absolutely devastated because my partners have absolutely no sense of rhythm. I think the Omegathon is about your personal gaming skill not working as a "team" ... anyway Rock Band doesn't depend on working together or anything, like Double Dash, it's simply 4 people doing their own thing and the scores are added up at the end.

I expect Diceland to be back in the number 1 slot again this year. I can't think of any other Tabletop game that's as easy to explain and quick to play, and with 20 people in round one, it's the perfect way to trim down the field. I also expect them to throw in a Mario Kart... but which one this year? Or will they just go with a different genre racing game for the first time?

Moe Fwacky · July 2007

I agree, if the Omegathon was about team mentality, then first place would be awarded to said team and not the individual champion. Diceland does seem a likely round just because of it's quick ease of play compared to other tabletop games. There's a video on youtube that depicts a small portion of the Omegathon taken on somebody's personal camera, including the Diceland round. So, if you're interested, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO7fKseb-PM

a714generation · July 2007

I checked out the video...it was good for a clue on the size and shape of the table they've used in the past, but it was still difficult to tell which version of the game it was.

I'll definitely agree with you guys that Rockband, by it's very nature, doesn't make much sense for individual competition, and so is probably out.

We've forgotten so far in this thread to (re)mention that a wii title is almost certainly a certainty.

and what about Geometry Wars from last year...kind of a new genre of entry for the competition. How likely are we to see another game from XBLA? Maybe something more puzzle oriented?

Esko · July 2007

wonder about the possibility of seeing a Wii with either WiiSports or Mario Party or something of that sort. I think that would be good for a round....

anable · July 2007

I think the rhythm game is going to be Elite Beat Agents for the DS.

ASimPerson · July 2007

My thought on the best candidate for the final round game 2 years ago:

ASimPerson wrote: »

It should be Kolibri, which is arguably the best hummingbird-based shooter available for the 32X.

I stand by this statement.

zombiebot · July 2007

anable wrote: »

I think the rhythm game is going to be Elite Beat Agents for the DS.

Yeah, a friend and I had the same thought, and I've picked up a copy of this to train with.

I still think Guitar Hero might be an option, with the 80s version coming out in 2 weeks and the third version slated for November. Also, the rhythm games seem to be something that everyone can watch before a concert, which would kind of eliminate a DS game. This brings me to my question for last year's people: what difficulty was GH2 set on when you played?

Does anyone thing GoW is an option for a shooter? I've been playing a lot of that, and running weekly LAN parties with friends to get better at FPSes, which are def. my weak point.

wetzelcoatl · July 2007

it seems like the most likely choice for the rhythm game is some guitar hero varient but at the same time i'm not sure about that because traditionally the rhythm game has totaly changed each year but who knows.
also as someone who has been to pax every year they've had it but never really paid a lot of attention to the omegathon can anyone tell me how many people are eliminated in each round?

Moe Fwacky · July 2007

I think it's 4 people for rounds 1-4, 2 in round 5 and one in the final round.

timebeing · July 2007

I would think GH2 or GH80s. And then a long shot that Gears of war will be the FPS.

Hmm classic game... Something from early Sega. Mortal Combat 2?

anable · July 2007

For the classic game, how about a Super Mario Brothers time trail run, akin to the SMB3 action in The Wizard.

Moe Fwacky · July 2007

Not quite as epic as a simultaneous 2-player game. Maybe the Mario Bros classic style battle from SMB3

a714generation · July 2007

"Maybe the Mario Bros classic style battle from SMB3" --Even the mere possibility of this makes me very happy. What a cool idea--it fits better into the mold of what's been played before than the SF II guess that keeps going around.

Yeah, I thought Gears of War as well, but two things going against it--FPS's in the Omegathon have generally been PC based (Halo was the exception), and Gears is so much more team/squad oriented, which goes against the FFA mentality they've had for FPS's in past years. I kind of wish it was going to be gears, but it's probably not likely.

Qs23 · July 2007

ok, I've got the sheet from last year... where started with 20 omeganauts.

Round 1: Diceland - 20 players. I wasn't there and going from the video... it's 4 games of 5 people, with one person getting elimated from each. (4 eliminated)

Round 2: Geo Wars - 16 players. the top 12 scores advanced, and going from the video, it seems that each person was playing a single player game, no multi. (4 eliminated)

Round 3: Quake 3 - 12 players. Deathmatch format. Top 8 players go on. (4 eliminated)

Round 4: Guitar Hero - 8 players. People get divided into 4 pairs who compete against each other. higher final score out of the pair moves on. (4 eliminated)

Round 5: Mario Kart: DS - 4 players. Everybody is on one track for one race. Bottom 2 places were dropped.(2 eliminated)

Round 6: Tetris - 2 players. We've all seen that match-up. (1 eliminated)

Well that's the summary of last year's omegathon.

Poorochondriac · July 2007

The summary's a little off on the Mario Kart - It was actually Mario Kart DS. 4-player versus race, one track. Bottom two placers dropped.

Other than that, it's spot on.

Thello · July 2007

And the list is:

Round 1: Pac Man

Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor

Time: Friday, 4:00 PM

Round 2: Calling All Cars

Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor

Time: Saturday, 1:30 PM

Round 3: Quake III

Location: PC Room

Time: Saturday, 4:30 PM

Round 4: Karaoke Revolution

Location: Main Theatre

Time: Saturday, 8:00 PM

Round 5: Puzzle Quest

Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor

Time: Sunday, 1:30 PM

Round 6: ???

Location: Main Theatre

Time: Sunday, 4:30 PM

Kudos on removing Diceland, though I'd rather have seen Guitar Hero 2 in place of Karaoke Revolution.

eelektrik · July 2007

I support Karaoke Revolution being in there just because of the awesomeness that was seeing people do it in front of a few thousand people on stage at PAX05.

And I was actually expecting Pac-Man to show up as a final game some year, not the first game. Crazyness.

MNC Dover · July 2007

Is that gonna be OG pac-man? Also, any idea how they are going to work out Puzzle Quest? I've read that the game becomes highly broken with high levels characters. Otherwise, the list looks new and refreshing.

Viscountalpha · July 2007

I wonder if they might pull a pacman, then a pacman CE for the final round.

Qs23 · July 2007

Thello wrote: »

And the list is:

Round 1: Pac Man
Platform: Unknown - could be cabinet or XBLA or even the tabletop one.
Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor
Time: Friday, 4:00 PM

Round 2: Calling All Cars
Platform: PS3
Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor
Time: Saturday, 1:30 PM

Round 3: Quake III
Platform: PC... duh
Location: PC Room
Time: Saturday, 4:30 PM

Round 4: Karaoke Revolution
Platform: PS2 or Xbox... unknown what version though. My GUESS is that it's going to be the American Idol version since that was the most recent released one.
Location: Main Theatre
Time: Saturday, 8:00 PM

Round 5: Puzzle Quest
Platform: DS most likely, but could also be on the PSP.
Location: Theatre B, 4th Floor
Time: Sunday, 1:30 PM

Round 6: ???
Platform: Speculation is leaning towards the SNES or Genesis.
Location: Main Theatre
Time: Sunday, 4:30 PM

I fixed your spacing problem for ya and added some of my own stuff.

wetzelcoatl · July 2007

i'm glad they picked karaoke revolution instead of guitar hero again because what makes those rounds fun is that people aren't very good, but guitar hero has gotten so big in the last year that everyone would probalby be at least decent, the question though is which version of karaoke revolution are they going to use

ElderCat · July 2007

No board games? Wow, I am really surprised at that.

jothki · July 2007

Puzzle Quest relies fairly heavily on preexisting saved games. Any idea how they're going to make that work?

jothki · July 2007

jdarksun wrote: »

MNC Dover wrote: »

Also, any idea how they are going to work out Puzzle Quest? I've read that the game becomes highly broken with high levels characters.

Yeah, it is. I'm really curious as to how they're going to balance this.

Ban Warriors, certainly. Maybe Druids too. Is there anything particuarly broken about Wizards?

SoulFury · July 2007

Darn I was hoping for the suprise its not GH2 its GH3 round this year.

zombiebot · July 2007

kareoke revolution kind of makes me scared. In that "I don't even fucking know what pitch is" kind of way. I plan on hamming it up though.

TNTrooper · July 2007

Puzzle Quest has a PC version coming sooner or later so they can use premade characters on PCs this would also let them put the action a screen instead of having people try to spot the action on the little DSes.

jothki · July 2007

jdarksun wrote: »

jothki wrote: »

jdarksun wrote: »

MNC Dover wrote: »

Also, any idea how they are going to work out Puzzle Quest? I've read that the game becomes highly broken with high levels characters.

Yeah, it is. I'm really curious as to how they're going to balance this.

Ban Warriors, certainly. Maybe Druids too. Is there anything particularly broken about Wizards?

Wizards might be the "worst" of the bunch. They've got a couple nasty combos that can completely deny an opponent more than one or two turns.

Can they make the entire screen explode, though? In any case, the only fair way might be to make everyone use a Paladin. I played one and didn't see any obvious absurdly broken combos, though I tended to stick to filling out my mana pools in order to deal 40+ per normal skull match. That's achievable with any class, though.

The fact that you can grind out stats using the temple is also a pretty serious balance issue, since there's not much of a cap on your stats that way. I think they max out at 200, but that's still double what you'd normally hit if you're splitting your stats equally, and you can max out your offstats that way as well.

ctishman · July 2007

I completely approve of Karaoke Revolution in '07. It was such awesomeness in '05 that I actually was disappointed when '06 had Guitar Hero (crashy guitar hero, even).

zombiebot wrote: »

kareoke revolution kind of makes me scared. In that "I don't even fucking know what pitch is" kind of way. I plan on hamming it up though.

Remember this: singing is like any other physical skill. Do it enough, and you'll get better. Chances are, the last time you sang was grade school. To fix this, practice. Sing in the shower. Hum along with your iPod. Whistle. Whatever you can do that has your mind instructing your body parts to produce a certain note will help.

Also, hamming it up does help. Even if you haven't practiced at all, and thus suck, a good stage presence will make people root for you, and lemme tell you, there's little feeling in the world like thousands of people cheering your name in unison.

Poorochondriac · July 2007

This is rampant speculation, but the singing interface in Rock Band is supposed to be modeled pretty heavily off that of Karaoke Revolution, yes?

Can't help but wonder if the boys are trying to pull the 'ol switcheroo.

zombiebot · July 2007

Ya know, I'm really surprised about this PS3 title. Mike and Jerry were vehemently opposed to the system for a while, and fewer people own the system.

Maybe the list is about a level playing field or something -- bring a few titles that are kind of out of left field so that we all have to get good in the same period.

majin23x · July 2007

the PS3 title scares me the most. I'm not going to go buy a PS3 just for this. I did watch some gameplay videos of it. I might try to play some GTA2 and RC Pro AM to practice up my top down driving skills.

I'll consider the weekend a success if I get far enough to sing in front of thousands of people.

a714generation · July 2007

I wonder how many of us 'nauts even own a PS3. I certainly don't. It's going to be a difficult one to practice, that's for sure.

Round 4 is going to be rockband vocals, I can just feeeel it. I should hope, assuming that I make it past Calling All Cars and Quake, that I can manage to finish in the top 4 of 8 for Karaoke, since I literally sing for a living (all the more embarassing if I dont! :P)

Well...we were hoping we'd know earlier...now we do. Good luck guys, and I can't wait to meet you all come August!

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