The Northeast Championships are one of the longest-running tournament series in America and, with the death of ECC, the premiere event for fighting game players on the east coast.
It was also the first major in America to host Melty Blood as one of its official games. I'm going to quote myself here from 2007, because it's still relevant.
Back in the day, when you brought up the idea of running Melty Blood at a major event, people either went "what the fuck is that?" or just laughed at you for wanting to play an animu fighter; you would be taking up valuable resources that could be used toward MvC2 or 3S money matches. Then there was NEC. Big Eric (the tournament director for the event) just looked at it and went "you have sixteen people for this? that's cool player; take this setup and run it Sunday". So it ended up being the biggest side tournament of the entire event, finishing with a set from Sp00ky and Zar that is still going to this day (MB takes a long time to play), and was the first major to officially host MB.
Some people say that tournaments take on the personality of the person running them. That's true enough with the least coast MB tournaments, anyway -- Sp00ky's usually have a high but very quiet intensity to them, my own tend to be dead serious and just a touch self-loathing, and Chibi/Zaeler's events tend to always run a bit goofy. However, Eric is one of the most laid-back and chill people I have ever met in my life, and NEC as a result is one of the most laid-back tournaments I have ever seen. People just playing random casuals randomly, hotel room after hotel room after hotel room. Random team tournaments, low tier shenanigans, ghetto burgers, a zillion side games, people just chilling (even me, and I never relax).
This is
the fourth year Melty Blood will be part of the Northeast Championships, now with new games, new memes to run into the ground, new gimmicks, new people, and even a new venue. Four years... jesus fucking christ, I feel old. This tournament predates Melty Bread itself!
Relive some of the older tournament threads:
NEC7 -- This tournament predates the forum, but
tournament footage is available on RottenSashimi's Youtube account.
NEC8 --
Announcement,
results, and videos linked in the results post (the direct link no longer works).
NEC9 --
Announcement,
results, and
video from StolenECFootage's Youtube account.
Now for some nitty gritty:
The Location:
Sheraton Suites Philadelphia Airport4101 Island Ave,
Philadelphia, PA 19153Hotel phone number: (215) 365-6600
This location is literally within spitting distance from the airport.
There is a special rate for the event, each room is $89.99 plus tax per night. This rate is good for Friday and Saturday [12/04-12/05]. To book a room, call 1-800-325-3535 ask for NE CHAMPIONSHIP 10th ANNIVERSARY special rate.
Big Eric asks that if your getting here Friday please call me at 267-231-8996; you can come to his room and pay your pre-reg and entry fee. That would really help him out if you guys can do that.
The RulesThere is a $20 cover charge on top of any tournament entry fees that need to be paid out. You get a nicer place, you get bigger bills. Seems standard enough.
The rules:
- $10 to enter (this is on top of the $20 cover charge); poor people (like Hyperhal) need not apply.
- The Japanese PS2 version of Melty Blood: Actress Again will be used.
- The Original balance settings will be used.
- Default settings (except for quick restart and handicap being disabled), two out of three games for most tournament games, three out of five for winners finals, losers finals, and grand finals.
- All characters are allowed except Archtype:Earth.
- Bring your own stick or pad.
- Free character selection by default; blind pick can be requested by either player.
- Player side (1P/2P) is to be determined by a coinflip upon request.
- You can change your character at any time except when you just won a game. Furthermore, the loser of a given game in a set can also request to switch sides.
- Shower or bathe before the tournament.
Rules specific to the team tournament:
- Teams are to be composed of exactly two people.
- The entry fee is $5 per player (or $10 per team).
- Players are free to select any tournament-legal character and mode they wish at any time, regardless of what their partner is using.
- The format for the tournament is commonly known as "Waseda", where each person on the team plays one person on the other team. If both players on a team win, they advance to the next round. If the teams split the games, the winners of the first two games play each other to determine the winner of the set.
- All sets out of the team tournament are only one game. This includes all finals games (of course, the team that lost a game going into the grand finals still needs to win two sets).
- If both teams can decide on initial match-ups, then they can be used. If no agreement can be made, a blind draw will be used.
Time frames are currently unknown, but MB teams has always been on Saturday and MB singles always has been on Sunday, both starting at 3 PM.
I don't know which button binding rules they are using this year; either the old NEC rules (where multi-button software marcos were banned) or Evo rules (where all multi-button marcos are allowed but no easy command functions (a non-factor in MBAA)).
Matches will be recorded and possibly streamed, with commentary. Embarrass yourself in front of tens of people watching live and hundreds watching on the Internet!
Other Games:
Running on Saturday, December 5th:
| Game | Entry Fee | Starts At | System | Notes |
| Soul Calibur 4 | $10 | 1pm | PS3 | |
| Tekken 6 | $10 |  | PS3 | |
| Blaz Blue | $10 | | PS3 | $125 added |
| Guilty Gear:AC | $10 | 2 PM | PS2 | |
| Capcom vs SNK 2 | $2 | 3 PM | PS2 | |
| SF3: Third Strike | $10 | 3 PM | PS2 | |
| Dead or Alive 4 | | 7 PM | X360 | |
| Virtua Fighter 5 | | 6 PM | X360 | |
| MvC2 Low Tier | $5 | 6 PM | DC | |
Running on Sunday, December 6th:
| Game | Entry Fee | Starts At | System | Notes |
| Street Fighter 4 | | | PS3 | |
| Marvel vs Capcom 2 | $10 | 2 PM | DC | |
| Super Turbo:HD | $10 | | PS3/X360 | |
| SF Alpha 3 | $5 | 3 PM | PS2 | |
| Ultimate MK3 | $5 | 4 PM | | |
| KoF:XII | $5 | 5 PM | PS3 | |
| Killer Instinct | $2 | 5 PM | Wii/Emulated | $50 added |
And who knows what other poor-ass shit they are going to run? There is always the yearly TMNT:TF tournament (always a highlight), and last year they had random tournaments for Fighter's History Dynamite, Street Fighter EX2 and Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game. I've had a couple of people harass me about Vanguard Princess and Fate/Unlimited Codes tournaments, so who knows. x_x
So for America's first Actress Again major, let's get it popping off something fierce.
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