Guitar Hero III competition draws crowd
It was a full on jam fest at the Rock Bottom-Bellevue on Sunday night as contestants battled it out during the restaurant and brewery’s first ever Guitar Hero III tournament.
The tournament was played in front of a giant 120-inch HD projection screen, the newest addition to the bar located on the second floor above the restaurant.
“The minute we got the big flat screen people talked about getting a video game system set up,” said Shawn Findley, the Rock Bottom’s manager who also emceed the event.
The competition kicked off with one-on-one player action in battle mode. Each player used a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the playing of varying genres of rock music.
The 32-person bracket tournament had players facing-off for the chance to compete in the championship round. The winner of the tournament walked away with a round-trip ticket to anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. The runner-up received an Absolute Vodka home bartending kit. Findley gave away additional prizes including free T-shirts and hats.
To level the playing field, Findley had one player from each pairing draw a song prior to battling. The game features more than 60 songs.
“This way it’s a fair game and each song is only played once,” Findley said.
It was left up to the contestants to decide which level they wanted to play – hard or expert. Each battle lasted anywhere from two to five minutes and the winner was determined by the amount of points they racked up during the song.
If the score was tied, the players would move into a sudden-death round.
As the brackets got smaller, the level of competition got steeper. Contestant David Negstad made it all the way to the final-four round, but was defeated by Kenneth Aramaki.
“I didn’t have good rhythm when I first started playing, but I worked my way up,” Negstad said, who has played GH3 for about a year. “I am a big classic rock fan so this game is fun plus it’s a lot like rocking out on air guitar except without having to look so ridiculous.”
The championship was an intense round between Aramaki and Jesse Corrington, with Aramaki taking the win. The fast paced game had the players fingers moving in a blur. At one point, Aramaki hit 500 notes in a row without making a single mistake.
The crowd cheered for an encore and the two players put on a show, playing one of the most challenging songs on the game. Those who walked away empty handed they may get another shot in the near future according to Findley, who said this would be the first of many gaming tournaments at the Rock Bottom.
Lindsay Larin can be reached at llarin@reporternewspapers.com or 425-453-4602.
