The competitive fighting scene in Australia seemed to take off again with the 2008 release of Capcom's Street Fighter IV. Riding this wave was the Melbourne-based fighting league Couch Warriors. Couch Warriors started out as a predominantly Tekken-focused group, only to shift attention to Street Fighter IV to attract a bigger fan base. For this week's Club Lounge, GameSpot AU caught up with Couch Warriors' events organiser, Brendan Tonkin, to find out how the group rose so quickly, to learn how they raise money to host regular events, and to gauge his thoughts on the Australian competitive fighting scene.

　　(If you want your gaming group or clan profiled in a future Club Lounge, send an e-mail to [email protected] to get the ball rolling.)

　　GameSpot AU: Can you talk to us about the early days of Couch Warriors?

　　Brendan Tonkin: Couch Warriors started fairly naturally for a grass roots effort. The key was interconnected groups of friends who loved playing different fighting games. We already had those connections, so it was simply a matter of giving that a tangible structure. These games really shine when you get a good mixture of players together, and organising them into a regular tournament format pushes everyone who invests some time into them to make the next step. Essentially, it went from gatherings at people's houses to a regular event at a real venue once a month, and things just kicked off from there.

　　It wasn't always fancy venues. Like many gaming leagues, Couch Warriors started in the lounge room.

　　GS AU: How far has Couch Warriors come since the beginning?

　　BT: In the first year our regular attendance might have been about 40 people each month. That was in 2007. In 2010 we ranged from 80 to 100, and the quality and consistency of the monthly event has increased noticeably, with more people stepping up to help out. What is really pleasing, however, is seeing community members step up and organise events that continue to meet community needs, whether they be small and personal practice sessions or huge events with international guests like the recent Shadowloo Showdown, which we also helped out with. I'd say the mindset of the community has changed a lot more than our approach to organising events.

　　GS AU: What hurdles did you come across as you expanded?

　　BT: The fact that there was little to no precedent for the sort of community events that we were going for when we started brought its own challenges. Initially it was difficult to gain legitimacy with players of our own genre due to many diehard players sticking to arcades, even though that was a dead scene. The main issue has always been venue, however. Cost, size, location, power distribution, availability, and legal restrictions have all played their parts in moving us around, but it seems like we've settled at the Abbotsford Convent in Collingwood now, and it works well for us.

　　GS AU: What sorts of games do you focus on?

　　BT: As mentioned, we focus exclusively on fighting games. Our biggest communities are for the Street Fighter and Smash Bros. series of games, but we also have small communities for the 3D fighters and some anime fighters too.

　　GS AU: How often do you host events?

　　BT: We have monthly ranbats (lingo for ranking ladder battles, like a football ladder), and once a year we have an annual event called BAM (Battle Arena Melbourne) in the city, where we have a huge interstate showing. We also do various smaller events during the year too; we've developed a small set of connections, which have allowed us to do fun tournaments at festivals, and even bars and live music venues.

　　GS AU: Where do you get the money to host events?

　　BT: We are funded 100 percent through the community. The monthly events are intentionally low cost to run to encourage as many people to participate, and nearly all of the equipment, especially consoles and games, are all brought by the players themselves. BAM too is paid for almost entirely by entry fees, but we're certainly open to sponsorship. While we've been lucky to get sponsors to help out with prizes from time to time, we've always come up with the money ourselves. Players in the past have also run donation drives to get international players to our events, or even send our top guys overseas.

　　You know it's serious when the gloves come out.

　　GS AU: What's the biggest event/achievement that Couch Warriors has pulled off recently?

　　BT: I'd say our biggest achievement has been BAM, because it was the event that we wanted to run back when we started years ago. We had record turnouts with nearly 300 players at our last one in October, which by numbers is the largest solely fighting game event in Australia, and I really feel like people are starting to sit up and take notice.

　　In terms of international recognition. though, we're also proud of the support we were able to offer to the TEC team for Shadowloo Showdown, which played host to Tokido, Mago, and Gamerbee in Melbourne. The Shadowloo guys are a fantastic presence that have come up through that community, which we all helped to build, and they've done a lot and given us great exposure as well. Also shout-outs to Bugsimus, who brings a dedicated setup to streaming our big events live over the Internet, which is something that really helps legitimise us in the new wave of worldwide fighting game events as well.

　　GS AU: How can people get involved with Couch Warriors to either help out or compete?

　　BT: If you have an interest in fighting games, simply come along to one of the events, sit down with a random stranger (we're all friendly), and just have a few games and a bit of a chat. Sure you might lose a lot at first, but we all know how close our favourite genre came to disappearing, so people tend to be highly encouraging if you actively show interest. There are many other smaller events dedicated to practising particular games. All you need to do now is check our affiliate sites and their forums to quickly get involved in the community of your choice.

　　Tournaments hosting up to several hundred people don't set themselves up.

　　GS AU: What does the future hold for Couch Warriors?

　　BT: On an organisational level, we have reached our goal in the events that we are able to run, so currently the focus has moved to the player base itself. There has been a real drive recently, particularly in the Street Fighter community to really improve in skill, to make a more serious effort, level up, and gain recognition on an international level. We have no doubt that our events will continue to evolve and change to meet everyone's needs, so where that takes us will depend on that community.

　　GS AU: Compared to overseas leagues, the competitive gaming scene in Australia struggles a bit. Why do you think that is?

　　BT: There are obvious reasons I can list off-hand, and they would all be true for us in particular. Low population density, poor Internet, and a lack of local sponsor interest don't do us any favours. Australia is no different to most of the world, however, in that competitive gaming lacks an audience. Here at home, key sports are such a huge part of our culture. We grow up with it, and live and breathe it, even if at most people actively practise it for a short time as a kid. I think we as much as anyone else need to focus on building a social culture around competitive gaming. There are many possible approaches, but I think right now live streaming combined with well-publicised and regular offline events are a real step forward.