This gif describes how I felt when looking at the amount of prizes we had to send out. Because of PAX many of them were backed up, but we caught up! If you won a contest in the past month, you're packe will get to you soon :) Thanks to everyone who has been entering. The more people who enter the more prizes we get from awesome companies like 505 Games, 2k, EA, and more! 

PS: Here is the prizes we have packed up so far!

Over the weekend, I played and beat the Last of Us. But what I really mean is I watched my boyfriend play as I screamed like a little girl every other action scene. We take turns with the tv and latley I've been retro gaming. This time it was his turn and he chose the Last of Us.  

This game made my heart race, stressed me out, and completely intangled me into the story. EVen though most of the story is dark, you always have hope. You have hope that things will turn around. If you haven't played it yet, you totally should. However, I have to warn you. This game is not for the faint of heart and after you play it you feel like you need to go on a vacation. 

For the past couple of weeks, my life has been a bit hectic. I have taken on learning the ways of a Street Fighter/UMVC3 pro and that has taken up all of my time. Here is just a glimpse of what my weekends look like:

Friday:

After a hard days work at GameSpot, I head over to Oakland for a weekly fighter training session. These go all night and some of the best players in the area show up. The tournament setup varies from week to week, but its typically a round robin. A round robin just means that you must play everyone at least once. The player with the highest amount of wins gets first place. However, this weekend was different. LanHammer 2013 was happening and 19 people came out to practice. Our normal number usually ranges around 8 or 9. I played pretty well, but only placed 7^th. This is a huge accomplishment for me.

Saturday:

Bright and early, I headed to LanHammer 2013. LanHammer brought players of League of Legends, Dota 2, StraCraft, and fighters together for a good cause. This was a tournament that also helped college students network and find work. The setup was very cramped, but the FGC always makes due. Kineda ran the tournament and started Marvel around noon. This was my first time competing in UMVC3 and I did not get perfected! My team was Wolverine, Dr. Doom, Akuma. I can only do one full wolverine combo and pray with the rest of my team. I lost both matches, but it made want to train even more. Marvel is all about muscle memory and my fingers are far from ready.  Next up was Street Fighter and I did a bit better this time. Again, I played as Chun-Li. My first match was up against an Ibuki who I know I could of beat. I tried to not be cheap and actually change up my style, but that backfired. He did the same move over and over and it was quite annoying. I won my next match in the losers bracket and started to feel confident. I then played an E-honda who caught me up in combos I had never seen. I felt pretty good by the end of it. I am now winning at least one match in my bracket.

Sunday:

I didnt get out of my pool at LanHammer, so there was no reason for me to go back. The location was constantly over capacity andI did not want to keep getting moved out. Instead, I will to a GrillBats session at a FGC friends house. What is a GrillBats you ask? GrillBats is short for grilling and battles. A couple of really good NorCal FGC players get together and BBQ every couple Sundays and have setups to play against each other. This was the second one I had come to one and it was just as good as the last time. My friend BBQd some chicken thighs and hot-dogs and also served delicious ranch potato salad. Yeahlet that sink in, lol. Hmmm, it was so good! We played for a couple of hours and watched the top 16 LanHammer live stream.

So, that sums up my crazy weekend. I am planning on video blogging a lot of it, but just keep forgetting. If you want to watch some of my past vlogs, check out my YouTube page. I promise to update more often :D

First, Id like to apologize for taking this long write this piece up, but its been a busy couple of weeks.

My first week at GameSpot started off with New Hire Orientation, my workstation being set up and going to Evo! The Evolution Championship Series is the largest tournament for fighting games in the world. This annual event takes place during the first or second week of July in Las Vegas, Nevada. Even though GameSpot covered Evo, I was there to compete. The planning for this trip started in December when the location was announced. I have wanted to go to Evo since 2009, but could never afford it. This was the first time in years I was able to save enough money to make my dream come true.

Evo took place over 3 days from Friday, July 12th to Sunday, July 14th. I arrived a day earlier to do all the touristy stuff since I hadnt been to Vegas before. My first match was at 10 am Friday morning for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 2012. I was terrified. This would be the second major I had competed in. All of my experience went out the window. For my first match, I received a bye. The person I was up against never showed up. The judge waited almost 45 minutes before advancing me. For my first official match, I went up against a Cody player. Cody is a very aggressive character and this Cody player was no different. My Chun-Li did not stand a chance! I was lost my match and was sent to the losers bracket. My opponent in losers bracket picked Guile, which scared me immediately. My friend plays that character and I could never beat him. Even though I could not beat a Guile player, I knew the match up very well. This worked out greatly in my favor. I knew what to expect and took the first round. He changed his character to Juri and I beat him again. I moved on to the next round and lost to a Ken. I was out of the tournament, but the feeling of excitement from my win was incredible. I can say I beat someone at Evo ^___^.

 I felt like a kid in a candy store for the rest of the trip. Everywhere around me as far as I could see, all I saw were stations full of people who shared the same passion for fighting games. I had the chance to meet some of the pros like PR_Balrong and Yipes, but I also met amazing friends who I continue to see every week. We now play constantly and are helping each other get to the level that will get us to the top ranks at next Evo next year.

I was really excited to be at Evo and of all places Las Vegas, but I didnt get the full picture until the Grand Finals of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom. Justin Wong Vs Flocker to win it all. Justin is known for his clutch moments where he changes the entire pace of the match when he has only a sliver of health on one character left. Watching the Wong Factor in person is absolutely incredible. At that moment it finally hit me I was at the Evolution 2013! Justin lost, but he reset the bracket and was the peoples champion. He is on another level and everyone knows it.

Evolution 2013 was honestly the best event I have ever been too. I am not sure how Evo tops itself every year, but it does. I am now fully dedicated to be the best I can be with my Chun-Li and make it to the top of next years Evo! 

Have you ever been to an Evo Championship Series event? If so, when did you go and what your experience was like? If you havent gone, let me know what your favorite Evo moment is.

A few words to describe me:

Unicorn Enthusiast. Spartan II. Gamer. Nerd. Street Fighter. Randomness Professional.

My name is Frances and I am the newest member of the GameSpot community team. I started gaming when I was 5 on my NES and I have never been the same since!  My dream of working in the gaming industry came true when I was accepted into Ubisofts Frag Doll Cadette program in 2010, which led to my next adventure at Wargaming. I led social media for almost 2 years and had a blast working on the community team. When I am not being a social media butterfly, I enjoy dancing and playing fighters & FPSs, especially Halo. I just got back from Evolution 2013, which was one of the best tournaments/events I have ever been to. I will be writing a blog about it soon, so keep an eye out for that. 

I am super excited to be at GameSpot. I cannot wait to start doing more community engagement, contests, and giveaways (which will start very soon ;))!

Favorite games: Halo, Street Fighter, Assassin's Creed, Mirrors Edge, Final Fantasy VIII, Bioshock, and Resident Evil

Currently playing: Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition 2012, Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3, and The Last of Us

Follow me on twitter: @ohaifrancy