Bar Fights 2 – put on by Gootecks and his followers – went down over the weekend as a unique and special tribute to Street Fighter IV.  Not quite a tournament but more of a ‘showdown’ between the top Street Fighter IV players hailing from the East Coast (specifically Empire Arcadia out of NYC) and the West Coast team featuring a collection of players from Southern California.  COIN-OP TV was present for the first Bar Fights, which also took place at Jake’s in Pasadena and featured mostly West Coast only players like Ed Ma and Combofiend (both on the Bar Fights 2 West Coast team).

Jake’s Bar/Billiards was revamped to accommodate over 500 spectators and media for Bar Fights 2.  Contestants played SFIV sitting atop pool tables with screens mounted around the entire building and was hosted by Dogface and Gootecks.  There was also a video feed that was live streaming for hecklers of all ages to participate.

After a few exhibition matches and some ‘warm up’ battles between fans and the pros – the main event commenced.  A crowd of us formed in the VIP area – ready and anxious for an all out coast-to-coast brawl.  Unfortunately, the cheers and crowd noise quickly fell calm and silent after the East Coast team took almost every match with only West Coast’s Alex Valle providing a dent to the mix.  New York’s Empire Arcadia came to town with the ‘eye of the tiger’ and went home as winners.  The West Coast team is skilled and talented and we can only expect an even bigger match up once Gootecks and the gang gear up for Bar Fights 3.

Related links:
Gootecks on COIN-OP TV LIVE episode 312: http://www.thestream.tv/watch.php?v=1603
Marn on COIN-OP TV LIVE episode 317: http://www.thestream.tv/watch.php?v=1795
Justin Wong on COIN-OP TV: https://coin-op.tv/?p=1409