BeaIank

52 minutes ago, SuperJimtendo said:

I have some questions for everyone. 

 

How often do you play these games outside of playing in the tournament?

 

How often do you play retro games for fun in your every day lives?

 

When was the last time you played world 4-1 of this game?

Right now the only game I get to play is iRacing because I can drive one handed on my sim rig.
I hope I can get back to them soon.

2 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Can you get the normal Toad house and can you get the N spade card?

You can get normal toad house. But no N spade card for y'all. Only coins acquired inside the 4 stages are valid.

It would be much worse if we were playing for score with all the turtle hopping going on.

6 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

@BeaIank @guillavoie, If I were to partake in this would the name being on screen be sufficient if I were to like stream this instead of taking photos?  Just curious, I MIGHT give it a go at some point.

I will defer the final decision to @guillavoie but if it is a screencap of a stream of yours, it is good on my book.
But Gui has the final word here.

26 minutes ago, BeaIank said:

It works better as a speed run challenge this way as it is coin count first, time second. So now you have to strategize how to collect all the stage coins in the least time.

Of course, we can try to make this more fun by using highest sum of coins + time left wins it, allowing for even more strategy during the runs, but this would require more pictures or videos for people who would prefer to record the whole thing.
Since it is the first day, we can still tweak the rules a bit more.
Up to you guys. What do you prefer.

7 minutes ago, RH said:

If we didn’t have this new rule, it would make it more of a speed run challenge which, personally, I wouldn’t disapprove of.

It works better as a speed run challenge this way as it is coin count first, time second. So now you have to strategize how to collect all the stage coins in the least time.

10 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Coins reset after pipes.  Unless you feel like amending the rules early, people are going to be needing to post many, many photos...

Easily fixed by adding a rule that you can't collect the same coin twice. Done.

19 minutes ago, RH said:

If we collect 100+ coins in a stage, should we pause before we 1-up and take a photo?

I’m not sure if this is possible, but just in case.

You will loop the coins number at around world 1-4 or 1-3. There is no stage in that list that has 100+ coins. The coin numbers are below:

World 1-1 has 57 coins
World 1-2 has 31 coins
World 1-3 has over 76 coins (up to 94, I think, from coin blocks).
World 1-4 has over 29 coins (up to 47 from coin blocks, I believe, but it is almost impossible to get 10 coins from the last block).

If you post the pictures in order, it will be easy to see that you looped it.
Don't forget to post the sum of your coins and the sum of your time left at the end of the stages for easier tailing for me.
And that only scores posted from tomorrow will be valid.

2 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Interesting ruleset, I like the time remaining time break. 

I didn't want turtle hopping to make or break a run, so I had to come up with something different.

Ladies and gentlemen... WE ARE BACK FOR MORE!!!

@guillavoie and I have the pleasure and honour to host the 2024 season of the VGS NES Weekly Contest!

And to start this season strong, we bring in Super Mario 3 for our contestants to prove their mettle!

The rules for SMB3 are:

• Play world 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 and 1-4
• For each stage, right before the end of the stage, with Mario inside the black area and the end of stage box visible, pause the game and take your picture
• You can do 1-3 and 1-4 in any order you want
• You can use the p-wing in 1-3 if you trigger the white mushroom house at 1-4
• You must do all stages in one run and in one life. If you die, take a picture and your run ends.
• You can't collect the same coin twice.
• You can't use the N spade card to collect more coins. Only coins inside the four worlds listed are valid.
• Highest sum of coins collected in all 4 worlds wins, with highest sum of time left for all 4 stages used as tie break
• Genre: Action

Now get into the game and show your plumbing skills! Here's to a good 2024 season!

The contest ends Sunday, 03/24/24 at 11 PM VGS time.  Your user name MUST be written or typed on a piece of paper and be in the picture for your score to be valid.  The entire TV screen, or computer monitor if you are playing on an emulator, MUST be in the picture for the score to be valid.  No partial screenshots will be considered or accepted.  No screenshots by hitting "print screen" on a computer will be allowed.  You must take a picture of your computer monitor.  There may be instances where this will be acceptable, but it will be at the discretion of myself and the contest organizers.  Also, the use of turbo controllers is forbidden, as well as any cheat codes, Game Genies, slow motion functions, or save states if playing on an emulator.  Also, we will only be using NTSC systems for the contests.  The use of PAL systems will NOT be allowed.  Good luck everyone and have fun.

Antarctic Adventure is a pure gem. Such a great game. Super fun, full of strategy involved and it is really hard to run it for high score. You need to maximize a lot of stuff to keep running till the game doesn't give you enough time to finish a stage.

I LOVE it. I wish it was ran during the years I was playing.

We're in!

GERAL SCOREBOARD

GENRE SCOREBOARD

PUZZLE

ACTION

SHOOTER

BEAT'EM UP

ARCADE

SPORTS

Welcome to the 2024 VideoGameSage NES Weekly Contests! 

Weekly Contest Moderators
@BeaIank
@guillavoie

GENERAL CONTEST RULES

Please read these rules carefully before you submit a score.  Failure to comply with the rules may result in your score being disqualified.  If you're new to the contests, please take a few minutes to read over the rules to make sure you submit your scores correctly.

Posting Scores

- In order to submit a score for the contest, take a picture of your score with your VGS user name written or typed on a piece of paper, which must be present in the picture. Your VGS user name MUST be in the picture or the score will be invalid and not accepted or considered.
- The entire TV screen, or computer monitor if you are playing on an emulator, MUST be in the picture for the score to be valid.  No partial screenshots will be considered or accepted.  No screenshots by hitting "print screen" on a computer will be allowed.  You must take a picture of your computer monitor.  There may be instances where this will be acceptable, but it will be at the discretion of the contest organizers.
- Old scores from past contests are not acceptable as submissions.  You must play the game during the week it has been selected for the contests.  Anyone suspected as passing off an old score as a new one will have their score disqualified and asked to resubmit a new one.
- When posting a new score, please begin your post by typing out your score.  Larger font (18pt) is preferred.
- If you are posting an updated score, please edit your initial post with the new photo and score. You can still create a separate new post as a bump to notify you edited your score if desired.  Editing your original post makes it much easier for the contest organizers to tally up the scores at the end of the week and also ensures that we don't make a mistake and credit you for the wrong score.
- For speed runs contests, we will be requiring video to show your progress time, baring cases were a speed run may take over 1 hour of recording time.

Systems

- NTSC systems will be the only consoles allowed for the contests.  PAL systems and games will not be allowed.  There are some PAL games that are optimized to run at the same speed and difficulty as NTSC games.  These will be allowed for use in the contests, but you MUST contact contest organizers first before using such a game so that we can investigate it.  Failure to contact us first could result in your score being disqualified.

Emulators

- Emulators ARE allowed to be used in the weekly contests. However, anything that may give a player an advantage with an emulator over playing on the system is NOT allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, save states, Game Genie codes, altered ROMS, and turbo controls.  It is preferred if everyone plays on a console.
- There may be some weeks where emulator use will not be allowed.  If we choose not to use emulators for a specific week, it will be noted in the rules.  This means NO emulators can be used whatsoever and the game MUST be played on a console.  If we play a game and emulators are forbidden and someone still submits a score using an emulator, the score will be ignored..

PowerPak

- A PowerPak IS allowed to be used in the competition with the same regulations as with emulators. You may not use save states, Game Genies codes, altered ROMs or anything else that would give you an advantage over playing with the regular cartridge.

Points and Leaderboards

- Each week the top 8 players who submitted scores will earn points as follows:

1st - 10 points
2nd - 7 points
3rd - 6 points
4th - 4 points
5th - 2 points
Participation -  1

- Anyone who finishes below 5th place will earn 1 participation point.
- There will only be 1 regular leaderboard throughout the year, which will lead right up to the tournament.  The leaderboard style will be the same as 2023 and all points on the leaderboard will be cumulative.
- There will still be genre leaderboards for 2024. The genre for the 2024 contest will be:
     Action
     Arcade
     Beat 'Em Up
     Puzzle
     Shooter/Shoot 'Em Up
     Sports

- All games played in the 2024 contests will be reflective of those genres.  The genre leaderboards will use the same point system as the regular leaderboard, and whoever finishes atop each leaderboard prior to the start of the year-end tournament will win that genre and will be rewarded with a VGS Charms.
- The genre leaderboards are just for fun and will not impact anyone's standing in the tournaments.  So, if you feel you excel at Beat 'Em Ups, go for the Beat 'Em Up Charms.
- For 2024, we are keeping the contest to 4 rounds, to not burnout our players too much. 

Participation Score

- There may be instances where the rules of a game will require you to attain a minimum number of points in order to earn participation points for that week.  For example, if we play Double Dragon, you may be required to score at least 50,000 to earn participation points toward the leaderboard.  Participation scores will be noted in the rules if they will be used for a specific week.  In the event we set a participation score, any scores submitted that do not meet the minimum amount of points will be ignored.

Controllers

- Turbo Controllers are NOT allowed to be used. Neither are any controllers that give you any advantage over regular controllers, such as slow motion or turbo ability.
- If anyone is suspected of using turbo functions, slow motion abilities, etc from a controller, your score will be disqualified and you will be banned from further competition.

Cheating

- Cheating will NOT be tolerated in any form. This contest is based on trust and honor. Anyone found cheating will be banned from further competition.
- The use of point glitches to intentionally increase (or in the case of a low score contest, decrease) your score are frowned upon and not allowed in the contests.  If a point glitch is discovered that can create an unfair advantage, the rules for the game will be altered to ban the glitch.  Anyone suspected of using point glitches will have their score disqualified.
- If there is suspicion of a participant cheating, the contest moderators will review the case and the member may be asked to present further evidence of their score.  Further evidence includes, but is not limited to, video recordings and/or extra pictures.
- If you suspect another participant of cheating, do NOT call them out in the contest threads.  Please send a PM to the contest organizers and we will review the score.  Posting accusations in the contest threads creates unnecessary drama and stress for all involved and will NOT be tolerated.

Sportsmanship and Overall Conduct

- Please be a good sport while playing in the weekly contests.  While smack talk and the occasional vent are fine, please do not get carried away with it.  This includes, but is not limited to, name calling, excessive venting/complaining/whining, excessive profanity, cocky attitudes, arguing with contest moderators, accusations of cheating, cluttering threads with nonsense posts, etc.  Participants who cannot be good sports will receive a warning from me.  If your overall conduct is still considered to be in poor taste, you will be banned from the contests.
- Disrupting of the weekly contests in any way will NOT be tolerated.  This includes, but is not limited to, trolling, name calling, unauthorized prize giveaways, unnecessary drama, etc.  Anyone who disrupts the weekly contests in any form will be reported to a site moderator.

Tournament

- There will be one tournament played this year and that will be hosted in a matter of weeks after the end of the regular season. 
- The number of competitors will be based on how many people participate and will be announced prior to the start of the tournament.
- Anyone who earns a spot in the tournament will receive a PM asking for them to confirm their tournament spot prior to the start of the competition.  Those who can't or are unwilling to participate will have their spot forfeited to the next available person.

RANDOM PRIZES

- Random prizes will be given out throughout the year whenever we have a prize to offer.  These will be announced at random with no particular dates set in stone.  More than likely, anyone who participates in a particular contest will entered into a drawing for a chance to win a prize.  These prizes will be video game related in some way.
- To make it fair for everyone who plays in the contests, you can only win one random prize for the year.
- If anyone is interested in donating prizes to the weekly contests, please contact contest organizers first so arrangements can be made.  Do not feel compelled to have to donate to the weekly contests, but if you really want to, feel free to do it.
- If anyone wants to give away a prize on their own time for a particular contest, you must contact the contest organizers first to get authorization to do so.  Any unauthorized giveaways will NOT be allowed.
- In the event you win a prize, whether it be a random drawing or a tournament prize, we will send you a PM requesting your mailing address.  When giving your mailing address, please give your full name (first and last name) and not just your first name or VGS user name.  We want to ensure you receive your prize quickly and safely. .Once your package leaves our hands and is submitted to the post office, we will be not responsible for any lost, late, misdirected, mutilated, or returned packages.  If you are afraid something may happen to your prize, please request insurance.

  
UPCOMING GAMES FOR 2024

NOTE: This list may be revised with or without notice.  In the event we are not playing a game for a specific week, it will be noted as such on the schedule. The genre for each game is listed after the game title.  

We may replace the tournament this year for a special event instead, but this is yet to be decided.

Games per Genre:

For an example of how the rules will usually go and to allow our players to start practicing, here's the rules for our very first game, Super Mario Bros 3:

• Play world 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 and 1-4
• For each stage, right before the end of the stage, with Mario inside the black area and the end of stage box visible, pause the game and take your picture
• You can do 1-3 and 1-4 in any order you want
• You can use the p-wing in 1-3 if you trigger the white mushroom house at 1-4
• Highest sum of coins collected in all 4 worlds wins, with highest sum of time left for all 4 stages used as tie break

I have sent a preliminary game list to @guillavoie so he can vet it and we can get to a final list soon.

Expect the thread for the 2024 Contest to be up till March 1st at the latest!

10 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

That said, I took last year off because none of the games being played appealed to me in any way.  Most were games I either knew I didn't enjoy or had no interest in playing, so I skipped 2023.  I heard a rumor that The Punisher was being considered though, so I'll probably be back this year for at least one week

Spoiler alert. The Punisher is a shoe-in for this season. It is long due to be in the schedule and so it will be.

1 hour ago, Gaia Gensouki said:

Thanks for the invitation, but I will have to think about it. I participated in one of the previous years and went pretty hard on it, so that it took a lot of time and I'm not sure if I would want to do that again. Or maybe I have to be a bit more casual about it? I'll decide when the weekly contests start. I hope that we can knock out some more of these NES games here until then.

Many of the weeks have rules that emphasis shorter runs nowadays because time can be precious to come by. I suggest you to take a look at the threads and give it a try during those weeks with fast & furious rules.

Good. Records are meant to be broken!

6 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Have you attempted using the Quick Shot?  Having a stick with buttons on it that you can press with one hand might be a viable solution.

I have a custom arcade stick being built. I will be able to velcro the stick to my left arm for now to use it and practise.

14 hours ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Anyway, no way in hell I'm gonna bother with Ikari Warriors, as I have zero desire to learn it enough to do a 1cc run.  I wish we had @BeaIank back.  It'd be a non issue if she could play again

Wish I could play again too. Maybe next year with an arcade stick and the bionic hand I can go back to beating some NES games.

4 hours ago, mbd39 said:

i fractured my left elbow slipping on dog pee so hopefully it will heal in time to play, if not i cant play for a few months

edit: actually i can still move my thumb just fine so maybe its okay

Hoping for a speedy recovery!

I am working on the game list for this year in the next two weeks then we will announce the 2024 season.
We will be starting March 10, right as @Red's Turbografx contest finishes!

No deathing Adventure Island is on my bucket list once I get used to the bionic arm and the arcade stick once more.

Don't think I will be able to pacifist that ever again, though. That requires a precision I just won't be able to achieve ever again due to the lack of haptic feedback.

Thanks for the input so far.

Guil and I will take a look at it and see how we can make it work. Even broken games like California Games may be doable if we stick to fast and furious rules (ie, making one or two events only).

And I think it is time for us to do Punisher again, yes. Bomberman 2 would be amazing.

Welcome, welcome and happy new year, gamers!

Once more @guillavoie and I will have the honour to host the VGS NES Weekly Contest.
Planning for it has commenced and we are working on a preliminary list of games. And we want your input and suggestion for that list!

We will keep the main format from 2023 with 4 rounds instead of 5 and focusing on rules that allow for fast runs so one can fit it in their schedule.

The tournament may not come back, though. I am considering having a FINAL round instead, with each week being worth double points that would sort of work as a tournament round. But this isn't set in stone yet and your feedback about this matter is quite important. I am considering having speedrun rules for this one, or even just requesting video instead of pictures for those final games, but that the rules will try to accommodate 10 to 15 minutes of gameplay top to facilitate the video recording.

Waiting to hear from you all and see what you will bring to the table during the 2024 VGS NES Weekly Contest!

~Bea