Australian fighting game event runners and community. Hosts of BAM: Battle Arena Melbourne, Australia's largest fighting game/open entry esports event.
We are happy to announce the BAM10 Indiecade! Experience awesome new games from indie developers X-Joy, Bit Dragon and Teepee Studios
Bit Dragon is showcasing Hyper Jam, an 80’s bright neon brawler with intense multiplayer action of weapons and perks.
TeePee Studios and their game Dimensions VS, a free-to-play platform style fighting game akin to Smash Brothers with a diverse cast and familiar control scheme. Check out the awesome BAM inspired skins!
XJoy will be bringing Dashblitz, a fast paced multiplayer game inspired by classic platformers and go head to head at break neck speeds.
You can check out the teams and their games at the Indiecade Alley at BAM10 – open to everyone including Spectators!
Capcom has revealed details about the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour structure, confirming Battle Arena Melbourne 9 as a Global Premier Event!
UPDATE: The international champions are coming! Already confirmed are Daigo, Inflitration and Xian.
Unlike last year, winners of Premier events are not guaranteed entry into the year-ending Capcom Cup, but are awarded a large amount of points towards their place on the CPT Global Leaderboards – 400 points, in fact: as many as getting to the Top 4 at Evolution!
BAM is the one of the largest annual fighting game tournaments in the southern hemisphere, and BAM9 will be our biggest year yet. Be sure to book your ticket now!
(Pre-registration is $50 venue entry, pre-registration closes two weeks before the event and on the day entry will be $60. Registration for Smash WiiU and Melee is pre-registration only. All other on-the-day registration for games must be done one hour before the game’s first pool starts.)
If you wish to join the event as a spectator, you are more than welcome! It’s only $20 for the entire weekend to take in the event.
Battle Arena Melbourne 8 stomps into the history books as the biggest fighting game event ever in Australia, breaking the record set last year with 815 attendees and hitting a peak of 14,000 concurrent viewers during the Street Fighter V finals, this was the most viewed livestream Aus FGC event ever.
Thanks to all the CouchWarriors staff, event partners, and especially players from across multiple fighting game communities that once again made this a special event.
Expressive: SANick does not hide his emotions when he plays melee. Photograph ZG/CouchWarriors
IN the shadows of BAM7, with curtains closed on the international saga, Australia’s melee super major ushered in a new storyline this year as the local crowd took centre stage.
There were no ‘gods’ in play, no MIOM top 20 stars, just Australia and New Zealand’s best battling it out for the coveted boxing glove trophy.
In eventual champion Nick ‘SANick’ Siemelink’s mind the script had already been written, all he had to do was follow it.
Forced to ad-lib through the loser’s bracket, following a shock loss to ACT Ice Climber main Wibbles, SANick ultimately arrived at the final act he’d anticipated – a clash of light versus dark – good against evil.
There was nothing coincidental about the South Australian champion’s choice of white when he sat down to Marth ditto Te-Tuhi ‘SIN | Spud’ Kelly in grand finals of BAM8.
As far as he was concerned it was a pre-ordained finale to a story arc harking back two years to when his melee journey began.
“I like my little story arcs in my life. It just felt like it was meant to be I should play the white Marth,” SANick said.
“I spent a lot of time on green and blue Marth and I actually quite like black Marth but I thought at the end of the day there’s going to be a good versus evil battle (against Spud’s black Marth) for the heart of Australia.”
There was never any doubt in his mind as to who the hero of this story was.
CouchWarriors proudly presents Battle Arena Melbourne 8, Australia’s largest fighting game tournament
When:May 13-15, 2016
Where: CQ Functions, 123 Queen St Melbourne.
BAM8 returns this weekend for an exciting weekend of top level tournament play and celebration of the fighting game community. The annual Major celebrates the Australian fighting game scene. The Melbourne community is proud to host a national platform for players across the country to come together and compete.
With international attention from global leagues Capcom Pro Tour, Dead or Alive Battle Royal, or to compete with our massive Smash Bros community, BAM8 will be one of Australia’s biggest gaming events – not just in fighting games but in all LAN or esports events.
After a record breaking 2015, where BAM7 saw 628 attendees play and spectate some incredible moments (BAM7 Results, Photos and Replays), BAM8 is on track to handily surpass it. At the close of early registration, BAM8 has 574 registered players, which will increase with on day signups and spectators.
(Note: Smash competitor signup is closed. Street Fighter V signups close Friday.)
International players are also attending, from 8 top Smash 4 players, and two Street Fighter World Champions, RZR.Xian and EG.Momochi, participating in our Street Fighter V Capcom Pro Tour event.
FEBRUARY 10, 2016– Today Capcom, ahead of launching Street Fighter V, announced its Capcom Pro Tour event circuit. CouchWarriors’ eighth annual Battle Arena Melbourne, Australia’s largest competitive fighting game event, and the fourteenth OzHadou Nationals (Sydney), Australia’s longest running competitive fighting game event, will both be Ranking Events on the international esports series, the Capcom Pro Tour, putting Australia’s best fighting game players in the global spotlight.
By earning Ranking Points at BAM8, OHN14 and other Capcom Pro Tour Ranking Events, competitors can qualify for a place in the prestigious Capcom Cup Finals at the end of the year. In addition, winners of Street Fighter V at each event will be sent to the Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals in South Korea; the winner of this CPT Premier event will earn a direct qualification to the Capcom Cup Finals.
The Capcom Cup, in its fourth year, has showcased the best of the best in Street Fighter, with past champions including renowned players Naoto Sako, Yusuke Momochi and “Kazunoko” Ryota Inoue. All three have made appearances in Australia before, so only time will tell what sort of international talent the promise of CPT ranking points might bring to Melbourne and Sydney this year, and which local champions will rise up to challenge the best in the world.
If you’re looking for your own piece of the action, you can register for Battle Arena Melbourne 8, to be held at CQ Functions in Melbourne on May 13-15, and look forward to news regarding OzHadou Nationals 14 in Sydney, closer to its date of August 26-28.
As part of the wider Australian fighting game community, both CouchWarriors and OzHadou strive to make new players welcome, and host a range of events for players to enjoy and level up their game.
About CouchWarriors: CouchWarriors Inc. is a not for profit association created to energise the fighting game community. Starting in 2006 as an informal community group, it created an event series for social play and ranking battles which serves as the heart of the Melbourne scene. The project has blossomed into large events like the major annual, Battle Arena Melbourne (BAM), providing tournament services, support and resources for industry including major events such as PAX Australia, and ongoing support to community companion events.
About OzHadou: OzHadou is a group passionate about bringing together fighting gamers throughout Australia. Since its founding in 2001, OzHadou has been establishing connections between fighting gamers nationwide. As the chief fighting game body in Sydney, the OzHadou team has developed extensive tournament experience which culminates annually in the OzHadou Nationals (OHN), Australia’s first and longest running fighting game major, where the nation’s best gather to compete for the coveted title of “OHN champion”.
The excitement for Battle Arena Melbourne 7 is building, with a series of Qualifiers across Australia and one in New Zealand. See the details for an event near you. Each event will also be shared via the BAM7 Facebook Event
Auckland, New Zealand
StandingFierce
Date: Saturday May 2 Time: Doors Open at 10am. Tournaments start at 10:30am Venue: Mighty Ape HQ, 1 Rothwell Avenue, Rosedale, Auckland (The Pickup Area) Cost: $30
Date: Sunday, April 26 Time: 11am/TBC Venue: GUF Brisbane: First Floor 279 – 281, Brunswick Street Mall, Fortitude Valley of Chrome Music, Brisbane QLD Cost: $5 per tournament
The third episode of Community features Michael “Cactus” Ashmore. A long time mainstay in the Melbourne FGC, the Golden Child is mild-mannered in demeanour but packs a nasty far standing fierce. He’s a strangely modest individual, scratching his beard when he beats your ass with his Dhalsim and giggling good-humouredly when you hit him with something stupid. We learn more about how he got into the scene, why he loves travelling for interstate FGC events and arcade tournaments, and how he’d knock you out with a right old left!
Hope you guys like it!
Also, if you’re in Queensland this weekend be sure to check out their major: Buttonsmash! http://www.button-smash.com/
