The 2nd Emmis Interactive Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament Begins!

August 4, 2011

There’s a new RPS tournament going on!

Thanks to AJ (our very first RPS Tournament Champion), we’ve got our second official RPS tournament underway. We started yesterday morning at 9AM, and it’s been a blast so far.

Compared to last time (when we were working off a bracket print-out), games are happening pretty quickly. We’re using a site to handle the bracket and reporting aspects, which has helped keep things moving along.

The tournament is double-elimination. So if you lose once, you get a spot in the loser bracket. If you can make it all the way to the final, you still have a chance to win. Lose a second time though… and you’re out for good!

Me and Darren, about to do battle. I was sitting at my computer when all of a sudden, I could feel someone hovering behind me. When I turned around, I saw Darren stretching, rolling his neck, looking right at me. I wasn’t sure at first what was going on, but after a few seconds realized he was ready to play.

Honestly, it felt like I had just walked out of a saloon, only to find myself on an empty street… standing across from a guy who’s slowly tapping his holstered pistol.

I think Darren got me the first round, but I was able to come back and snatch victory from defeat. Round one: Passed!

Dan and Utopia, working out the mechanics of whether it’s 1-2-Go! or 1-2-3-Go!

She ended up winning, 2-0.

Apparently, Utopia has been cutting a swath through the entire QA department, having taken down both Darren and Nisha already. Currently, both Dan and Utopia are in the lower bracket, trying to stay alive.

L to R it’s Al vs. Shailesh. I love the look of intensity on Al’s face!

Side view. Again, note the fantastic forward-leaning stance that Al’s got going on. By far, this was the most heavily recorded match from yesterday, with at least one camera, one iPhone and one iPad capturing the play by play.

Shailesh ended up victorious here, winning 2-1. And according to Al, Shailesh has taken out the entire Infrastructure team already.

Our first ever Skype battle! Justin vs. Sammy (who I believe is all the way in St. Louis). They drew a small crowd, and despite a bit of a lag… were able to play via their computer screens.

Justin ended up victorious, 2-1.

I’m loving the fact that over the past two days, I keep hearing spontaneous RPS battles taking place – in the kitchen, in the hallways, near people’s desks. There’s always the sound of a few fists hitting hands, and then the inevitable “Awwww” sounds from the crowd. It’s really fantastic.

Seeing these mini-games reminds me of how things were like, a long time ago… when the company was just a handful of us. We used to use RPS to settle bets, and to figure out who had to do certain boring grunt-work at the office. I dug up an early clip of us dating back to 2004. Good lord, were we a young bunch back then.

As of right now, for this year’s game… I’m feeling pretty good about my chances. I’m currently undefeated, and it means I’ve got a bit of buffer still (I can lose a game, and still have a chance in the loser bracket).

Looks like I’m facing Laurence next, but I’m not worried. I have a pretty exhaustive strategy in mind, which is best summarized by this video clip: