It's going to be a cold-ass weekend, perfect time to go inside and engage in reckless fighting game action.

The early afternoon was dedicated to setup and then slowly allowing pre-registered competitors in. However, anyone who wasn't working had to go back outside and wait until 5:30.

After some chaos with lifting around some huge-ass TVs, it was then time to get a fleet of PS2's ready for the weekend's first official tournament: Street Fighter III Third Strike. A few sets were taken to the bowling lanes in the corner to be used for casuals until the Smash Bros. players arrived. I took the chance to get an old-school setup going.



And a PS3 for anyone wanting to get BlazBlue practice in.



After a few alarms about transportation needs, local hero Tim Static was able to bring in his Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 cabinet for that real arcade feel.



The live broadcast feed was also ready to go. You can catch it at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/seasonsbeatings4



Daigo also got into action with the SF3TS and teams matches. The world champion may be off his game this weekend, could there be some upsets in the days ahead?



While it may just be Friday, that doesn't mean there isn't some serious action. And I mean serious. In a hyped up match, competitors Toan and Fanatiq faced off in the biggest MvC2 money match SB has ever seen.

For $13,000.



Yes, thirteen THOUSAND dollars.

Which almost went up in smoke when the tournament organizer tripped on the cables in the back of the set. Oops.

It's only going to get bigger.