Saturday 25th February, 2006
Halo 2 4v4 Tournament
By: Jooney It was ‘Game On’ time again as the Sydney halo 2 afflicted made their way to the heart of the shire for another day of fragging, flag-stealing good fun. ‘Game On F25’ is the continuation of tournaments organised by Game On Interactive to keep competitive Halo alive and strong in NSW. After the success of J21 Tournament, eight strong teams returned up to contest for the title, but only one would come out on top… The morning began at 9am as players slowly made their way into the venue. The usual practice session was christened by the now obligatory free-for-all games. On more than one occasion, License to Pwn’s Boxter showed why he is a force in Halo, taking away some of the games from GODB Starks, who was seen scratching his head, thinking what he has to do to win a game. DtP’s VixZ also came and ripped it up; a clear sign that last tournament’s runner’s up weren’t going to be pushovers this time around. At around 10:30am the practice session was over and the tournament was ready to begin. 
Practice time: Antyo (front) shows how it's done
With a few lineup changes that occurred right on the day of the tournament, there were a few compromises made on what to do with the teams with less than 4 players. A few decisions were made by the organisers which resulted in some players playing for more than one team. However, no one had any qualms about this, so the tournament was ready to get under way. The format of the tournament was round robin, with each of the nine team’s playing each other team at least once. Furthermore, the new Major League Gaming Team Slayer gametypes were played in this tournament, which allowed the teams to experiment with new strategies for each of the maps. This led to some great games being played on the day. The friendly rivalry continued from previous tournaments between The Game On Drop Bears and the members of BrainSeeker’s Badgers (BB), which included Satiex, Pyroteq, Caveyman and iM | Xant. The two teams played each other twice in what would be some of the day’s most memorable games. The better of the two matches was Team Slayer on Ivory Tower. GODB got off to a good start, keeping a slim lead over their rivals for the most part of the match. However, BB never gave up hope and was always at the heels of the bears. But come to the 30 point kill mark, GODB turned it on and got to a 43-36 lead. Us bears thought we were home & hosed. Us bears thought we had it in the bag. Us bears were wrong. BB clawed their way back, slowly but methodically getting kill after kill until they got a 47-46 lead. With our heads down, BB won a 50-47, showing true clutch ability. Well done to BB, but we ain’t seen the end of this rivalry yet! 
N00bs 4 Life: Game On Drop Bears do it better
The BB boys were also involved in another remarkable game. In the always tough gametype of Neutral Bomb Midship, the boys squared off against ‘Game On J21’ winners Fzero, which consisted of Grim Wally, Cabel, Senyo and Berserka. The fzero boys led the way in kills, almost doubling the total number of kills made by BB. This led them to get two hard-fought for bomb plants. However, the BB boys were able to gain control of the enemy base for a crucial couple of moments, allowing them to get 2 bomb plants of their own. BB were against the ropes in the last few minutes of the match, but were somehow able to defend their base. When the clock had wound down, it was 2-2 draw. Full credit to both teams for providing great entertainment for all who attended the tournament.
At every tournament, there is always one game that stands out from the pack. ‘Game On F25’ proved to be no exception to the rule. DtP (Dom, Smoke, VixZ, iM | Xant) took on License to Pwn (Bignash, Boxter, Skitz, Diddy) in one of the great King of the Hill matches played in recent memory. The map was Lockout. It was one of those games that you felt the result was already over by about halfway through the game. The DtP lads had about a 1:30 lead on License to Pwn. The match, that started off well, looked like it was going to be a convincing victory for DtP. But something happened. Systematically, License to Pwn made kill after kill until they had control of the map. They built time up during the last stages of the match, quickly closing the 1:30 deficit that DtP had on them. The crowd started to gather around slowly, knowing that something special was in the works; even the Game On staff stopped what they were doing and gathered to watch! DtP could only watch as Bignash and his merry band of Pwners tied the game up, with only minutes to spare. The last couple of minutes were a nail-biter; the lead swung both teams way at least a couple of times. DtP were able to gain control of the last hill at the bottom of sniper tower. iM | Xant got probably two of his most important kills of the day right in the dying seconds of the match, as DtP were able to hold out License to Pwn 4:48 – 4:46. A spectacular game that should have been on tape! 
Captivating: some of the games had the crowd rapt
Even between the matches, the day had its moments. The members of Hired Goons, who finished last in the tournament, walloped anybody who dared challenge them on Dead or Alive 4 on Xbox 360. They also re-enacted the Simpson’s skit that inspired their name, Hired Goons, which was appreciated by the Simpson’s buffs who were in attendance (i.e. me). Jooney still prefers the hands-on touch that only comes with Hired Goons… 
Nobody's Goons: The Hired Goons (front) decimated all in DOA4
At the end of the pool play, it was end of the road for some of the teams; but for the four best teams, it was high-pressure time as they entered the Double Elimination stage. Those four teams were fzero, DtP, BrainSeeker’s Badgers and License to Pwn.
Team fzero were able to win their two double elimination games (teamball lockout and KOTH midship) to be first to qualify for the finals. BB was unable to win either game against DtP and License to Pwn and bowed out of the tournament. License to Pwn then beat out DtP on CTF Small Warlock to claim their place in the finals against fzero. 
Stern Gamers: fzero take their craft seriously
The finals series was a best of 5 series. Unfortunately for License to Pwn, only 3 were needed as fzero cruised their way to victory. On Lockout Slayer, they controlled the map superbly, giving License to Pwn very few chances to make a comeback. Fzero won the match by a convincing 19 point margin, 50-31. On Midship CTF Small, the fzero boys locked down both bases, leaving only one chance for the Flag to escape their clutches. Fzero out-slayed their opposition, and convincingly won the match 5 flags to 1. And in what was the final match of the day, Fzero fought their way back from a sluggish start to win Team Slayer Warlock 50-39 to be champions of the day. Congratulations to the boys of team fzero who successfully defended their title as Game On Champions. Well done! 
Running Riot: fzero were unbeatable
The finals standings for the day: 1st - fzero
2nd - License to Pwn
3rd - DtP
4th - BrainSeeker's Badgers
5th - Ninja Turtles
6th - Game On Drop Bears
= - ProjectAus
8th - Hired Goons Thanks to everyone that showed up and made it a special day. Special mention has to go to iM | Xant and Strangled Duck who filled in for other teams during the day when they were a man short; and to Sam from Game On and Remorhaz from Xboxzone, who have captured, edited and uploaded gameplay videos from the day’s play. The videos will be on Xboxzone and will be ready for download in the coming week. Last but definately not least, a HUGE thanks has to be given to Spectre for their contribution to the tournament. They kindly donated prizes to everyone that attended. For every member that turned up, they donated a 5% voucher for use at Spectreworld. They also donated a $20 voucher to each member of the winning team. Their genoristy is much appreciated from the crew at Game On. Thanks guys for supporting the scene, everyone here down in Sydney gives you two thumbs up If you don't know what Spectreworld is, it's the place to go for all things games, consoles, dvds and music. Their motto - "Everything's Cheaper at Spectreworld". 
Hot stuff: the local girls loved the turnout!
Once again thanks for coming, and we’ll see you at the next tournament. Photos Photos of their events can be seen by clicking here.
Videos For Download
Courtesy of Game On and XboxZone, there are videos to be downloaded of the day's play. Thanks to Sam and Remorhaz for editing and uploading the videos. We hope that you enjoy them. Game On F25 Video 1
Pool Play: Team Slayer - Lockout
BrainSeeker's Badgers vs fzero
Point-of-view: Caveyman
Download link: Game On F25 Video 1 Game On F25 Video 2
Pool Play: CTF Classic - Beaver Creek
fzero vs ProjectAus
Point-of-view: Cabel
Download link: Game On F25 Video 2 Game On F25 Video 3
Pool Play: Team Slayer - Midship
Game On Drop Bears vs Ninja Turtles
Point-of-view: GODB Psykerpath
Download link: Game On F25 Video 3 Game On F25 Video 4
Pool Play: Team Slayer - Midship
BrainSeeker's Badgers vs DtP
Point-of-view: iM | Xant
Download link: Game On F25 Video 4 Game On F25 Video 5
Double Elimination: Teamball - Lockout
BrainSeeker's Badgers vs DtP
Point-of-view: iM | Xant
Download link: Game On F25 Video 5 Game On F25 Video 6
Double Elimination: KOTH - Midship
DtP vs fzero
Point-of-view: GODB Strangled Duck (filling in for DtP)
Download link: Game On F25 Video 6 Game On F25 Video 7
Double Elimination: CTF Small - Warlock
License to Pwn vs DtP
Point-of-view: Skitz
Download link: Game On F25 Video 7
Game On F25 Video 8
Finals: Team Slayer - Lockout
fzero vs License to Pwn
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On F25 Video 8 Game On F25 Video 9
Finals: CTF Small - Midship
fzero vs License to Pwn
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On F25 Video 9 Game On F25 Video 10
Finals: Team Slayer - Warlock
fzero vs License to Pwn
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On F25 Video 10 Game On F25 Video 11
Finals: Team Slayer - Warlock
fzero vs License to Pwn
Point-of-view: Grim Wally
Download link: Game On F25 Video 11
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