That's right, you've decided that you want to travel all the way to the fuckin' desert just to play some video games.
Welcome aboard, friend.
Seeing as how we just (at the time of making this thread) found out what games are at EVO, I won't go into too much detail about each game since this isn't the thread for that.
(...but here's the lineup anyways...)
What this thread is actually for is to help people who may or may not have ever been to EVO, and therefore have no idea what to expect. EVO isn't just a regular tournament, it's considered by many to be *the* tournament and an experience all on it's own. But if you're only going there to compete and do nothing else, you're doing yourself a disservice and wasting a perfectly good trip to Vegas. Let's start with the basics, and move on from there.
1) PLANNING YOUR TRIP
a) First let's pretend that you've already decided what games you want to play and you've already registered and all that. You now need to figure out how to get there. For those of you not on the west coast, plane travel is probably your best bet. Don't wait for the last minute, check prices CONTINUOUSLY in order to get a good deal. For those of you on the west coast, specifically CA, it's not a bad idea to consider driving if you're not comfortable with flying. It's longer obviously, but you also won't be beholden to airport security. You can also consider taking a Greyhound; prices are super cheap (a quick and dirty search on their website shows prices around $20 for a one-way ticket from SoCal on July 31st) and you don't need to worry about ridiculous gas prices. For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, Greyhound is still an option (despite being obviously more expensive) but a flight may be cheaper (depending on when you book) and is obviously quicker.
b) Next comes where you'll be staying. As Wiz said on stream, they're partnering with Mandalay Bay this year which means the hotel will be right next to the venue. And while a room right next to the venue is nice and convenient, it might not be the most cost-effective. Vegas is full of hotels though, so if you're willing to travel a bit you can find a cheaper place to stay and rideshare or hoof it to the venue. Other people can vouch for Mandalay if you really want to stay there and refuse to walk in the Vegas summer heat, and honestly who could blame you?
Speaking of hotels, don't forget that you'll be spending the weekend with thousands of people there for the same thing. So why not reach out locally or online and see if you can find someone to room with? While I do not condone or encourage 6, 7, or 8 people to a room, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in order to keep costs down.There may also be some secret tech for getting a better room but I'll keep quiet about that huehuehue
c) PACK FOR WARM WEATHER. I've been to EVO several times, and so often I have seen people from somewhere where it's naturally cold just SHOCKED that they're in triple digit weather all of a sudden. There is AC in the venue and hotel rooms, but if you're looking to do tourist shit then you're likely gonna be out of luck. Also remember to bring toiletries. This is especially important if you're rooming with others since the tiny amounts the hotels give you simply isn't enough.
d) Make sure to pack well, but also remember that there's TONS of shit to buy. So pack smart, but also try to account for any goodies or huge statues that you might decide to impulse buy. I had a friend one year who spent at least an hour trying to figure out how he was going to fit his two to three foot tall Akuma statue in his luggage.
2) WHAT TO DO AT THE VENUE
- So you're at the venue, you're unpacked, you're in your room. Now what? Well it's Vegas, duh. There's shows and entertainment and casinos everywhere! Book tickets online for shows, do some light gambling if you want, an-...oh, you wanted to know what to do literally at the venue. Well assuming you arrive a day in advance, you can always go pick up your badge. The earlier the better, since the line only gets longer as the day progresses and more people arrive. Once you get your pass, you can walk around the dealer's and artist's areas to check out their wares. You can also ask around to find some rooms with some setups to play and practice. Remember, everyone at EVO is there because they love fighting games, so don't be afraid to call next or find out where an impromptu session is. Or hell, maybe YOU can host a session in your room and make some new friends!
The same thing goes for when the tournament actually starts, except now everything is actually open. Let's say you've got time between your gamesor you went 0 and 2. The BYOC (bring your own controller/console) room is always a popular destination. If it's a fighting game, it'll probably be in there. And hell, even if it's not a fighting game it might be in there if it's 2 or more players. Same stuff I mentioned in the previous paragraph applies as well. Plenty of places to eat, watch shows, and gamble. Just do it all in moderation!
3) FINALS DAY
- It's Sunday, finals day. You didn't make top 32/16/8or drowned in pools but you still wanna catch all the action. Well there's not many options for you if you decided not to buy a ticket to the arena (yes, it's a separate cost). The first year they offered the option, I decided that it wasn't worth the cost and chilled in my hotel room and watched the finals stream while eating pizza. Obviously not the most glamorous choice, but it fit my budget and I was comfy as hell laying in bed. If you've never been to the arena or have never watched an EVO finals set in person before...go for the arena. Actually being with the crowd is an indescribable experience. The amount of pure energy around you simply cannot be replicated. Do I regret not going to the arena my first year? Not entirely. I mean yeah I've been near front-row watching finals several years now, so it's not like I felt I was missing anything. But watching in my hotel room, as used to finals crowds as I am, simply wasn't comparable.
If you've got the dough, shell out for an arena seat. Plain and simple.
4) SOME GENERAL TIPS
- Take a bunch of money. No, seriously. BRING MONEY. As mentioned before, there's a lot of things to buy, there's tons of places to gamble (even the airport has slot machine!), and of course you can always bet on money matches or PARTICIPATE in money matches! And if you feel like being a big baller, you can always hit up a Vegas buffet and eat like a king. Cheap food is easy to find in Vegas, but the good shit is gonna cost you. To give people an idea of what this trip costs, here's what a trip to EVO cost me a couple years ago:
Roundtrip plane ticket: $300 (Seattle to Vegas)
Hotel room for Thursday to Monday morning: $400-$500 (I booked early and had some roommates, but I footed the bill initially)
Daily food budget: $100 (I didn't come anywhere close to reaching that per day, it's just what I set aside)
Tournament registration: $70-$80 (venue fee was around $50, and iirc it was $10 per game)
Obviously everyone has different needs and priorities when it comes to budgeting money, so please do not consider my totals as some sort of hard expectation. It's just to give you an idea of what the budgeting process can look like.
- Don't be afraid to head back up to your room to rest and/or cool off. That's what it's there for after all. If you've been walking around in the Vegas heat too long or if you think you're getting too...invested, for lack of a better term, then head back to your room and relaaaaaaax. Your room will likely have AC, after all.
- If you plan on using a wireless controller (Switch Pro Controller, Joy Cons, Dualshock 4, etc), MAKE SURE IT'S CHARGED. Also, MAKE SURE TO TURN IT OFF/DISCONNECT IT FROM THE SYSTEM. Terrible things have happened in the past due to the negligence of players. Terrible, awful things.
================
And that wraps up just about everything for planning a trip to EVO. Other people are more than welcome to chime in and/or offer critique on what I already mentioned. And if you're offering extra space in a hotel room, feel free to mention it here and see if anyone takes up the offer. But above all else, have fun while you're there!
Welcome aboard, friend.
Seeing as how we just (at the time of making this thread) found out what games are at EVO, I won't go into too much detail about each game since this isn't the thread for that.
(...but here's the lineup anyways...)
What this thread is actually for is to help people who may or may not have ever been to EVO, and therefore have no idea what to expect. EVO isn't just a regular tournament, it's considered by many to be *the* tournament and an experience all on it's own. But if you're only going there to compete and do nothing else, you're doing yourself a disservice and wasting a perfectly good trip to Vegas. Let's start with the basics, and move on from there.
1) PLANNING YOUR TRIP
a) First let's pretend that you've already decided what games you want to play and you've already registered and all that. You now need to figure out how to get there. For those of you not on the west coast, plane travel is probably your best bet. Don't wait for the last minute, check prices CONTINUOUSLY in order to get a good deal. For those of you on the west coast, specifically CA, it's not a bad idea to consider driving if you're not comfortable with flying. It's longer obviously, but you also won't be beholden to airport security. You can also consider taking a Greyhound; prices are super cheap (a quick and dirty search on their website shows prices around $20 for a one-way ticket from SoCal on July 31st) and you don't need to worry about ridiculous gas prices. For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, Greyhound is still an option (despite being obviously more expensive) but a flight may be cheaper (depending on when you book) and is obviously quicker.
b) Next comes where you'll be staying. As Wiz said on stream, they're partnering with Mandalay Bay this year which means the hotel will be right next to the venue. And while a room right next to the venue is nice and convenient, it might not be the most cost-effective. Vegas is full of hotels though, so if you're willing to travel a bit you can find a cheaper place to stay and rideshare or hoof it to the venue. Other people can vouch for Mandalay if you really want to stay there and refuse to walk in the Vegas summer heat, and honestly who could blame you?
Speaking of hotels, don't forget that you'll be spending the weekend with thousands of people there for the same thing. So why not reach out locally or online and see if you can find someone to room with? While I do not condone or encourage 6, 7, or 8 people to a room, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in order to keep costs down.
c) PACK FOR WARM WEATHER. I've been to EVO several times, and so often I have seen people from somewhere where it's naturally cold just SHOCKED that they're in triple digit weather all of a sudden. There is AC in the venue and hotel rooms, but if you're looking to do tourist shit then you're likely gonna be out of luck. Also remember to bring toiletries. This is especially important if you're rooming with others since the tiny amounts the hotels give you simply isn't enough.
d) Make sure to pack well, but also remember that there's TONS of shit to buy. So pack smart, but also try to account for any goodies or huge statues that you might decide to impulse buy. I had a friend one year who spent at least an hour trying to figure out how he was going to fit his two to three foot tall Akuma statue in his luggage.
2) WHAT TO DO AT THE VENUE
- So you're at the venue, you're unpacked, you're in your room. Now what? Well it's Vegas, duh. There's shows and entertainment and casinos everywhere! Book tickets online for shows, do some light gambling if you want, an-...oh, you wanted to know what to do literally at the venue. Well assuming you arrive a day in advance, you can always go pick up your badge. The earlier the better, since the line only gets longer as the day progresses and more people arrive. Once you get your pass, you can walk around the dealer's and artist's areas to check out their wares. You can also ask around to find some rooms with some setups to play and practice. Remember, everyone at EVO is there because they love fighting games, so don't be afraid to call next or find out where an impromptu session is. Or hell, maybe YOU can host a session in your room and make some new friends!
The same thing goes for when the tournament actually starts, except now everything is actually open. Let's say you've got time between your games
3) FINALS DAY
- It's Sunday, finals day. You didn't make top 32/16/8
If you've got the dough, shell out for an arena seat. Plain and simple.
4) SOME GENERAL TIPS
- Take a bunch of money. No, seriously. BRING MONEY. As mentioned before, there's a lot of things to buy, there's tons of places to gamble (even the airport has slot machine!), and of course you can always bet on money matches or PARTICIPATE in money matches! And if you feel like being a big baller, you can always hit up a Vegas buffet and eat like a king. Cheap food is easy to find in Vegas, but the good shit is gonna cost you. To give people an idea of what this trip costs, here's what a trip to EVO cost me a couple years ago:
Roundtrip plane ticket: $300 (Seattle to Vegas)
Hotel room for Thursday to Monday morning: $400-$500 (I booked early and had some roommates, but I footed the bill initially)
Daily food budget: $100 (I didn't come anywhere close to reaching that per day, it's just what I set aside)
Tournament registration: $70-$80 (venue fee was around $50, and iirc it was $10 per game)
Obviously everyone has different needs and priorities when it comes to budgeting money, so please do not consider my totals as some sort of hard expectation. It's just to give you an idea of what the budgeting process can look like.
- Don't be afraid to head back up to your room to rest and/or cool off. That's what it's there for after all. If you've been walking around in the Vegas heat too long or if you think you're getting too...invested, for lack of a better term, then head back to your room and relaaaaaaax. Your room will likely have AC, after all.
- If you plan on using a wireless controller (Switch Pro Controller, Joy Cons, Dualshock 4, etc), MAKE SURE IT'S CHARGED. Also, MAKE SURE TO TURN IT OFF/DISCONNECT IT FROM THE SYSTEM. Terrible things have happened in the past due to the negligence of players. Terrible, awful things.
================
And that wraps up just about everything for planning a trip to EVO. Other people are more than welcome to chime in and/or offer critique on what I already mentioned. And if you're offering extra space in a hotel room, feel free to mention it here and see if anyone takes up the offer. But above all else, have fun while you're there!
