9.95
Champion
This is going to be long... a nice wall of text... so read on.. and maybe save some for later...LOL.
On May 14th, 2013, VSM will celebrate it's "official" start at the Gamers Edge. That was the date of my 34th birthday, and far more importantly, the very first tournament that I held at The Gamers Edge.
VSM as we know it today, however, has a much smaller, much more humble beginning that dates back almost 3 1/2 years now, to January 9, 2009 when I met Dark_Rob at a small tournament at Play n Trade in Smithtown NY on Long Island.
In a way, it dates back even further to when I began pestering him when this site was still mortalkombatempires, because he lived 5 minutes from me and I wanted someone close to me to play UMK3 with... and it took every shred of being patient and pestering to finally get him to respond to me and agree to come to the Smithtown tournament...and he went specifically to go play Street Fighter 4... and just see if he liked UMK3. VSM's history, however, truly dates back to the 10 years of groundwork that Shock did, continuing to bring MK to tournaments when MK was basically a shunned game. VSM very much sees its original roots in players like Shock, Summoning and JamessMK and the trails they blazed for many years.
Before then, I had been involved in running small UMK3 tournaments at Castle Golf on Long Island. I had only been to one major at that point, NECX, but I had been working closely with Shock and Summoning to raise awareness of MK, UMK3 in particular, to the masses and none of us were prepared for where MK was going to go and where it would take us.
Fast forward to late January 2009, and suddenly I find myself over at Rob's house on a weekly basis helping him learn how to play UMK3. We picked Thursday night because at that point, it was the only day that both of us had free to play.
Over the course of many months, Rob and I continued to play. Sometimes Shock and Summoning would come over to Rob's and all 4 of us would chill and play for hours and hours. Once in a while, we'd pick a Saturday and go out to Summoning's house to his HUGE basement with a 110" screen and play UMK3 and SFA3 until 5am or so, and AC1984 and REO would show up to play as well.
One day, before heading out to Shock's house with Rob, I had this idea that maybe I could get a small piece or two of equipment and feed the video from the system to a splitter, and from the splitter to the pc and monitor so that I could stream the casual matches. At first, it was a HUGE mess and we resorted to using a standard SD Camera to get the video feed to the pc... the splitter would have to wait.
As time went on, I did more research, talked to the right people, asked the right questions... but I lacked one thing... money. So, I finally got a video splitter, and now I had what I needed to do a very bare-bones, no frills feed of the game. I was able to use this to stream games from Rob's house from time to time, but the entire process was extremely taxing on my laptop and the stream stuttered and had problems.
Fast forward AGAIN to April 15th, 2011. Rob and I had managed to get a mom and pop store which will remain NAMELESS (and don't ask for it, we refuse to get them in trouble) to sell us a copy of the game 4 entire days EARLY! REO came over to Rob's house and proceeded to live there for like 3 days. Red Saleen and Louie Moo also both came over to Rob's house one 2 consecutive days. At one point, in Rob's living room, we had Rob, Reo, Myself, Louie, and Red Saleen. Rob and I were beginning to realize that Rob's living room was not going to be big enough to have Thursday Night Casuals if this many people were going to show up.
That didn't stop us from trying though. Rob and I were getting request from all over the place to play. So, fast forward to Thursday, May 12, 2011. 2 nights before my first tournament at Gamers Edge, and 2 nights before the PDP National MK Championship. Rob and I got together to play, and we got a call from SweetJohnnyCage saying that he and LI Joe wanted to come and play. Once again, we had 4 or 5 people in the living room and at that point we realized it was just too small, and we were getting so many people who wanted to come and play that we had to tell people no...which we hated doing. Again, we realized we needed a new place to play, a new venue.
On May 14th, despite not having players like LI Joe to play at my tournament, we had a great turnout. Over 40 in total for my very first local. I was very pleased. The name "Valley Stream Monsters" was actually coined by Seb himself(of frame advantage)...so I can't really take credit for the name. After the tournament, I approached the guys from The Gamers Edge about bringing our (Mine and Rob's) Thursday Night Casuals to their store to play from like 8pm to midnight or later. They graciously said yes and our first night was scheduled for that very first Thursday, May 18th, 2011.
I immediately ran to a place called Microcenter and picked up some more equipment, including(which I still have to this day) the Roxio Gamecap which is what I used to begin streaming MK9. On May 18th, 2011, VSM as you all know it was born.
Over the course of time, players began to show up. Dark Natas, who had known Shock for a number of years started coming. Hitoshura and Classy Sasquatch, Redrum, and Chris G as well. Of course REO , Shock, Summoning, Scoot Magee Louie Moo, Red Saleen and Rapzilla54 as well. Then one day, to my surprise, Riu48 walked in... and I was TOTALLY blown away. I had only met him one time before at NEC when he played MKDC and UMK3. He was good too... better than just about everyone except REO, and he brought a Kitana that seemed unbeatable to the rest of us.
Then it happened... week after week, new faces. My eyes and mouth were wide open in amazement as CrazyDominican walked in with his brother Maxter ... just wow. Had this little group grown to this degree that someone of their caliber wanted to come play here? The very next week they brought CD jr with them and he changed the face of VSM forever. This kid shows up and is literally DESTROYING EVERYONE with Smoke... in a way we had never seen. Later on we would see players like J360, and Erik Warda show up and dominate as well. Soon we would get visits from some major players like Tom Brady and Sabin !!! I soon realized that VSM could begin competing as a team so I announced it in late June 2011 I believe.
In the following months, players like ShadowZeroKyo pherleece and JamessMK came to play. Jimmy and Pherleece have become some of the most integral pieces of this puzzle. Soon we would have KT Smith, Insuperable and his brother gammaisback as well as some of the new faces in Edfig81, oblivi0n and cibernetico all of whom continue to add to this amazing group of friends and players. We would also soon see guest players like Krayzie, Check and catch22 show up! Recently, we've had the pleasure of having the WNBA guys like SwiftTomHanks, Claude VonStroke, and Phase 3 on a semi regular basis.
To this day I'm still amazed at all of this. All Rob and I wanted was a place where players could come and enjoy themselves. A place where we could all meet, chill, play and get better and not have to crowd Rob's living room. We wanted the atmosphere to be light, and for ANY player to feel welcomed, wanted and like it was a safe, non-threatening environment.
I sincerely hope we achieved that.
Never once did I think about making a tournament team. I just wanted people to play. I never expected any of this, and I am so humbled and flattered by everything that has come from it.
To the VSM/KN/vVv guys, ultimately, it's all you guys who have achieved so much. You have a true gift at this game, both within the game and outside of it. You have inspired people, you have taught people and you have challenged people. All of you have affected change in this game and in this community. Some of you have been sponsored by vVv and Kombat Network, but that doesn't change the fact that you are and always will be VSM.
I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you. Without you, I am nothing, without you, VSM is nothing. Without you, so many people on Thursday night would have less to watch, or no reason to sit in front of a stream.
You're all family to me... honestly. Thank you all so much for everything you've been, and everything you will become in the future.
Thank you as well to all the VSM fans, and even VSM haters. You have been there with us, through everything, inspired us, and fueled us. Without you, we are nothing as well. Thank you all so much.
Lastly, Thank you Dark Rob, Shock, Storms, Zaq, Tim Static and Summoning. You all know where we've been, what we've had to go through to get to where we are. Everyday you all inspire me to try to be just a little bit better today than I was yesterday.
Final note: In June of 2011, Shock wrote a very good article about the History of the Mortal Kombat Scene which was featured on iplaywinner.com. Make sure you check out the article for a more in depth view of the MK Scene! http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/6/21/ipw-x-tym-feature-history-of-the-mortal-kombat-scene-by-shoc.html
On May 14th, 2013, VSM will celebrate it's "official" start at the Gamers Edge. That was the date of my 34th birthday, and far more importantly, the very first tournament that I held at The Gamers Edge.
VSM as we know it today, however, has a much smaller, much more humble beginning that dates back almost 3 1/2 years now, to January 9, 2009 when I met Dark_Rob at a small tournament at Play n Trade in Smithtown NY on Long Island.
In a way, it dates back even further to when I began pestering him when this site was still mortalkombatempires, because he lived 5 minutes from me and I wanted someone close to me to play UMK3 with... and it took every shred of being patient and pestering to finally get him to respond to me and agree to come to the Smithtown tournament...and he went specifically to go play Street Fighter 4... and just see if he liked UMK3. VSM's history, however, truly dates back to the 10 years of groundwork that Shock did, continuing to bring MK to tournaments when MK was basically a shunned game. VSM very much sees its original roots in players like Shock, Summoning and JamessMK and the trails they blazed for many years.
Before then, I had been involved in running small UMK3 tournaments at Castle Golf on Long Island. I had only been to one major at that point, NECX, but I had been working closely with Shock and Summoning to raise awareness of MK, UMK3 in particular, to the masses and none of us were prepared for where MK was going to go and where it would take us.
Fast forward to late January 2009, and suddenly I find myself over at Rob's house on a weekly basis helping him learn how to play UMK3. We picked Thursday night because at that point, it was the only day that both of us had free to play.
Over the course of many months, Rob and I continued to play. Sometimes Shock and Summoning would come over to Rob's and all 4 of us would chill and play for hours and hours. Once in a while, we'd pick a Saturday and go out to Summoning's house to his HUGE basement with a 110" screen and play UMK3 and SFA3 until 5am or so, and AC1984 and REO would show up to play as well.
One day, before heading out to Shock's house with Rob, I had this idea that maybe I could get a small piece or two of equipment and feed the video from the system to a splitter, and from the splitter to the pc and monitor so that I could stream the casual matches. At first, it was a HUGE mess and we resorted to using a standard SD Camera to get the video feed to the pc... the splitter would have to wait.
As time went on, I did more research, talked to the right people, asked the right questions... but I lacked one thing... money. So, I finally got a video splitter, and now I had what I needed to do a very bare-bones, no frills feed of the game. I was able to use this to stream games from Rob's house from time to time, but the entire process was extremely taxing on my laptop and the stream stuttered and had problems.
Fast forward AGAIN to April 15th, 2011. Rob and I had managed to get a mom and pop store which will remain NAMELESS (and don't ask for it, we refuse to get them in trouble) to sell us a copy of the game 4 entire days EARLY! REO came over to Rob's house and proceeded to live there for like 3 days. Red Saleen and Louie Moo also both came over to Rob's house one 2 consecutive days. At one point, in Rob's living room, we had Rob, Reo, Myself, Louie, and Red Saleen. Rob and I were beginning to realize that Rob's living room was not going to be big enough to have Thursday Night Casuals if this many people were going to show up.
That didn't stop us from trying though. Rob and I were getting request from all over the place to play. So, fast forward to Thursday, May 12, 2011. 2 nights before my first tournament at Gamers Edge, and 2 nights before the PDP National MK Championship. Rob and I got together to play, and we got a call from SweetJohnnyCage saying that he and LI Joe wanted to come and play. Once again, we had 4 or 5 people in the living room and at that point we realized it was just too small, and we were getting so many people who wanted to come and play that we had to tell people no...which we hated doing. Again, we realized we needed a new place to play, a new venue.
On May 14th, despite not having players like LI Joe to play at my tournament, we had a great turnout. Over 40 in total for my very first local. I was very pleased. The name "Valley Stream Monsters" was actually coined by Seb himself(of frame advantage)...so I can't really take credit for the name. After the tournament, I approached the guys from The Gamers Edge about bringing our (Mine and Rob's) Thursday Night Casuals to their store to play from like 8pm to midnight or later. They graciously said yes and our first night was scheduled for that very first Thursday, May 18th, 2011.
I immediately ran to a place called Microcenter and picked up some more equipment, including(which I still have to this day) the Roxio Gamecap which is what I used to begin streaming MK9. On May 18th, 2011, VSM as you all know it was born.
Over the course of time, players began to show up. Dark Natas, who had known Shock for a number of years started coming. Hitoshura and Classy Sasquatch, Redrum, and Chris G as well. Of course REO , Shock, Summoning, Scoot Magee Louie Moo, Red Saleen and Rapzilla54 as well. Then one day, to my surprise, Riu48 walked in... and I was TOTALLY blown away. I had only met him one time before at NEC when he played MKDC and UMK3. He was good too... better than just about everyone except REO, and he brought a Kitana that seemed unbeatable to the rest of us.
Then it happened... week after week, new faces. My eyes and mouth were wide open in amazement as CrazyDominican walked in with his brother Maxter ... just wow. Had this little group grown to this degree that someone of their caliber wanted to come play here? The very next week they brought CD jr with them and he changed the face of VSM forever. This kid shows up and is literally DESTROYING EVERYONE with Smoke... in a way we had never seen. Later on we would see players like J360, and Erik Warda show up and dominate as well. Soon we would get visits from some major players like Tom Brady and Sabin !!! I soon realized that VSM could begin competing as a team so I announced it in late June 2011 I believe.
In the following months, players like ShadowZeroKyo pherleece and JamessMK came to play. Jimmy and Pherleece have become some of the most integral pieces of this puzzle. Soon we would have KT Smith, Insuperable and his brother gammaisback as well as some of the new faces in Edfig81, oblivi0n and cibernetico all of whom continue to add to this amazing group of friends and players. We would also soon see guest players like Krayzie, Check and catch22 show up! Recently, we've had the pleasure of having the WNBA guys like SwiftTomHanks, Claude VonStroke, and Phase 3 on a semi regular basis.
To this day I'm still amazed at all of this. All Rob and I wanted was a place where players could come and enjoy themselves. A place where we could all meet, chill, play and get better and not have to crowd Rob's living room. We wanted the atmosphere to be light, and for ANY player to feel welcomed, wanted and like it was a safe, non-threatening environment.
I sincerely hope we achieved that.
Never once did I think about making a tournament team. I just wanted people to play. I never expected any of this, and I am so humbled and flattered by everything that has come from it.
To the VSM/KN/vVv guys, ultimately, it's all you guys who have achieved so much. You have a true gift at this game, both within the game and outside of it. You have inspired people, you have taught people and you have challenged people. All of you have affected change in this game and in this community. Some of you have been sponsored by vVv and Kombat Network, but that doesn't change the fact that you are and always will be VSM.
I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you. Without you, I am nothing, without you, VSM is nothing. Without you, so many people on Thursday night would have less to watch, or no reason to sit in front of a stream.
You're all family to me... honestly. Thank you all so much for everything you've been, and everything you will become in the future.
Thank you as well to all the VSM fans, and even VSM haters. You have been there with us, through everything, inspired us, and fueled us. Without you, we are nothing as well. Thank you all so much.
Lastly, Thank you Dark Rob, Shock, Storms, Zaq, Tim Static and Summoning. You all know where we've been, what we've had to go through to get to where we are. Everyday you all inspire me to try to be just a little bit better today than I was yesterday.
Final note: In June of 2011, Shock wrote a very good article about the History of the Mortal Kombat Scene which was featured on iplaywinner.com. Make sure you check out the article for a more in depth view of the MK Scene! http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/6/21/ipw-x-tym-feature-history-of-the-mortal-kombat-scene-by-shoc.html
