Clicking controllers and rage-inducing outbursts could be heard all through the Student Union’s game room yesterday. Tournaments have been occurring for years, but there was a twist to this tournament – two big-name fighting games took the stage simultaneously.

“We figured that these two games aren’t super popular like Smash Bros. or Street Fighter, so we wanted to do two smaller crowd ones at the same time so a lot of people could come still,” game room tournament organizer Paige Moore said.

On one screen, Guilty Gear Xrd could be seen. The game has a long history with fighting game crowds, and it was definitely the tournament crowd-pleaser, with impressive visuals and even more impressive fighting styles.

On another screen, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was showcased. Out of all fighting games, this one in particular is more technical than the rest. With its convoluted mechanics and dazzling combos, tensions ran high.

The first portion of the tournament ended up being dedicated to practice and warm-up matches. The atmosphere was fairly light-hearted for both games, with newcomers and veterans alike duking it out.

“It’s a really good idea,” senior and computer science major Trent Wilson said. “This way people can gauge if we want bigger tournaments for the games if more people show up.”

The games didn’t draw a crowd quite like the Super Smash Bros. tournaments do, but there were over a dozen people split between the two games. Some entered both.

“Usually my goal is to have more than ten people when it comes to these smaller tournaments, so people get to play their favorite game or [be in] their favorite tournament.”  Moore said.

With this tournament, it was decided that since the number of entrants was a little lower, they would opt for a new kind of way to play – an “all play all” tournament. As the name implies, everyone playing the game fights each other, one at a time. Whoever has the most wins takes home the gold.

“If they can coordinate multiple games without them overlapping, then I think it’s fine. This tournament worked out well,” student and participant Pierce Marks said.

This new format is only one way the game room looks to change up the format of tournaments.

“I would like to have tournament days where we do really old games, or theme days like a Superhero Day,” Moore said.

Many video games feature superheroes, such as Marvel vs. Capcom or Injustice: Gods Among Us.

“An anime game night would be cool,” Wilson said. “Maybe a game that’s not exactly tournament-level, like Mario Kart or even Mario Tennis. Or nonsensical games for some sort of ‘nonsense night’.”

Tournament-goers seemed enthused at the idea of thematic tournaments.

“I like that they’re trying to have variety. Imagine if there was a tournament on Halloween, have a Halloween-themed tournament with like Mortal Kombat and Darkstalkers,” Marks said.

There certainly are a bevy of games to choose from when it comes to a different kind of tournament. They might not even just stay in the realm of video games.

“We’ve done a pool tournament, I’d like to do another. Maybe foosball or air hockey.”  Moore said.