Photos: Wiimbledon 2009 Look Book

The first annual Wiimbledon Wii Tennis championship was one of the very first NYC geek events Geekanerd ever covered; you may remember how co-editor Albo famously placed second in the inaugural tournament. It seems like only yesterday!

Wiimbledon is now in it's third year, and while Team Geekanerd was sadly absent in the field of play, I swung by anyway (get it, swung?) to grab some pictures of the competitors. True to it's Brooklyn Hipster-Nerd roots, Wiimbledon has always been as much an excuse to put together an awesome Tennis outfit as it is about playing imaginary wrist-tennis.





Check out our full gallery Geekanerd's Flickr.

Video: 2008 Wiimbledon Wii Tennis Tournament

The final serves have been smashed and the final beers have been consumed and after a long hard day of Wiimbledoning we lonely bloggers are back at home licking our wounds and kicking back with a few cilona-extract death sticks. This year's event was great fun. All our old pals from last year were back, but also present was a whole bunch of new blood that absolutely stomped us old-timers into the ground. I don't think a single person in the final eight played in the tournament last year. Last year's champion Russ Yagoda was eliminated in his very first match by John, and Benjamin Melinger, the winner of the Lexus Wii Tennis Virtual Open champion, was defeated in his first match by John's roommate Steve (who also later beat me). So I guess my point is, today was a total shakedown wherein previous titles meant nothing and some real superstars were playing the best Wii Tennis this chump has ever seen.

The top prizes were some sweet bowling-style Wii carrying bags stuffed with games (ooh, how I wanted one!), and there was a big pile of rackets and headbands and shoes and stuff from Prince that were handed out as well. AHR snagged some sweet tennis kicks for being in the right place at the right time with the right sized feet.

Continuing a theme from last year, much of the floor space was taken up by video teams from various media outlets. C|Net, Rocketboom, Jace Hall, Internet Week, Bush League and a bunch more I never identified all had people there to capture the showdown of hipsters and geekanerds. No square media like last year, but that was probably for the best as it felt like a more intimate Brooklyn hoedown without the stuffed shirts prancing around.

Anyway, it was a helluva way to spend a 95-degree Saturday. Props must be given to Lane Buschel and Steve Bryant, the kind gentlemen who made it all happen for no better reason than "why the hell not?". They sure know how to throw a party.

Related: Our photo post.

Photos: Second Annual Wiimbledon Wii Tennis Tournament

Today, the G'nerd crew spent seven and a half hours at Barcade in Brooklyn, watching and participating in the 2nd Annual Wiimbledon tournament. No, we didn't win, though we did drink beer for free. The fro-picking fellow in the above photo is Dylan Romero, who ultimately walked away with the title of 2008 Wiimbledon Tennis Champ. A full write-up and video highlights are on their way, but for now check out our photos on Flickr by clicking the above photo.

UPDATE: Here's the video. I hope you like exciting sports movies.

Weekanerd NYC: Comic Book Parties and The World's Greatest Wii Tennis Tournie

Friday, June 6

• Jason's Pocket Full of Rain Release Party
  
• $FREE, 8pm @ Rocketship, 208 Smith Street, Brooklyn
  

I have to admit I don't know much about European cartoonist Jason, except that he did the cover for the new sweet new Penguin edition of The Dharma Bums. But he's been puzzlingly called the "Kafka and Keats of the comic world", and his new book's in English so now is as good a time as any to get on board. And since Rocketship parties tend to mean free booze, if you can cram yourself into the itty bitty store they'll be serving beer and wine.

Two of our favorite geek events of the year, after the jump...

Saturday, June 7

• Second Annual Wiimbledon Wii Tennis Tournament
  
• FREE, 10am @ Barcade, 388 Union Ave, Brooklyn
  

Did you know Geekanerd has been around for a year now? And our first major story was of Wiimbledon, a home-grown Wii Tennis Tournie with a hilarious name that shockingly became national news. Our own Albo took home second place honors in last year's inaugural tournament, and I was humiliatingly defeated 2/3 in my first match. But this is my year! Registration is over, but there's open bar from 12-3pm, and Wii Tennis is one of the spectator-friendly video games out there. It's worth checking out just to see the latest in Wii Sporting Apparel.

Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8

• MoCCA Art Festival
  
• $10/day, or $15 weekend pass, 11am @ The Puck Building, 293 Lafayette, Manhattan
  

How does the MoCCA festival match up to the bigger cons? Less cosplay and more chance to interact with your favorite indie comic artists. Click the title link for a full list of guest and panels.

More Wiimbledon 2008 Details Emerge

Those of you who truly think you can BRING IT in Wii Tennis, the game of games, the true test of virtual prowess: take note. The Wiimbledon guys shocked the world (of New York gamers) when they announced they'd be taking the show on the road this year, traveling cross country in a Wiinebago and bringing the tourney to San Francisco. Lest ye be weeping due to fears you'll be left out as a Yorker, hear ye:

There will be a New York tourney at Barcade on Saturday, June 7. The winner will get a pair of roundtrip plane tickets to San Fran to compete in the big event on June 21. No word yet on what 2nd Place will get. I'm looking forward to that announcement, because that shit will be mine.

Check out our past Wiimbledon coverage, and stay tuned here for all the Wiimbledon info you can handle, or join their mailing list at their website.

UPDATE: Wiimbledon 2008 has happened! Check out our writeup, video and photos here!

Road Side Service: Wii Tennis Tournie Takes To The Road

2007 saw the birth of Wiimbledon, a Wii Tennis tournament held at Brooklyn's favorite video game themed bar, Barcade. The event was a huge hit amongst both participants and media outlets, with everyone from ABC News to us showing up with microphones in hand. Geekanerd editor Albo had the distinction of actually playing his way to the finals, that's the final round of competition, people, though he ultimately lost out to no less than Luigi himself. Seems a little suspect to me that employees of Nintendo, much less Nintendo characters, were even allowed to participate in the first place, but what's done is done.*

This year, Wiimbledon is spreading the Wii Tennis love across the country with a nationwide Wiinebago tour, culminating in the 2nd Annual Wiimbledon Tournament on June 21st, to be held in San Francisco. Given the NorCal location, I imagine a lot of serious software types will be in attendance so I'd advise any potential contenders to approach there technique from a highly technical, code-centric standpoint.

Check out the official website to get on the mailing list, so you can know when the tour is coming to your town and even more importantly, when sign-ups start; last year, the registration rush crashed Wiimbledon's servers, leading to several horribly tense hours where the Gnred crew thought they'd missed the deadline. And for a look at last year's festivites, check out our extensive coverage.

*I lost in my first elimination round, 2/1. But my opponent did make it to the semi-finals, soo...there's that.

Today in Rockefeller Center: The Virtual Open Finals

For the past two days in Rockefeller Center, the Lexus Sponsored Wii Tennis "Virtual Open" has been bringing out the Tri-State gamers with dreams of victory, a sort of nerd doppelganger of the US Open. I'll be checking out the championship match later today, expect analysis and hot pics this evening.

Unlike the excellent and independently produced Wiimbledon, The Virtual Open Finals have not been decided by simple bracket competition, but by a qualifying round where you play the "Returning Balls" mini-game. WHAT?! If I had known that, I woulda gone! I can return serves till the wiimote runs out of batteries, it's that goddamn SERVE that eludes me. But enough about my personal failures.

Geekanerd is admittedly a bit biased against this very corporate event, since we all had such a "ball" at Wiimbledon. It's worth mentioning that the Wiimbledon Champion, Russ Yagoda AKA Luigi, seems to be absent from the Virtual Open finalist board. But the real tragedy is that Geekanerd's own Wii Tennis Prodigy Albo (1st Runner Up at Wiimbledon) was unable to compete, due to a top secret training exercise in the swampland of the southern United States. The unfortunate timing of this excursion has cost the Geekanerd crew our chance at winning an Lexus IS F (what's that? - Ed.) which we would have tricked out to look like the Batmobile. So you'll forgive us if our coverage of this event seems reserved. I already had the decals all ready to go.

Related: Geekanerd's Coverage of The Virtual Open
Geekanerd's Coverage of Wiimbledon (including video)

Wii Bowling League Coming to New York

Steve Bryant, half of the duo behind the recent smash-hit Wiimbledon event, has gone in with Internet media guru Tim Shey to create Wii Bowl NY, a new Wii Bowling League. Details are slim at the moment, and the website isn't up as of this writing, but Bryant does have a few words for us as to his plans for the league...

"We expect it to be like a corporate softball league -- weekly games, three-person teams, played at various bars around the city. Probably start in September once everybody's back from vacation."

They aren't the first out of the gate with the idea, but they did a great job with Wiimbledon and established sponsorship relationships with Nintendo and Reebok for that event. So count on it going down with style. Something else to think about is that they've also registered the domain http://www.wiiloveny.com/, so this may be the first of many new Wii events for the Big Apple. In the meantime, you can join their Facebook group and stay tuned to Geekanerd for more info.



Related: Geek Sports: Geekanerd's Video Coverage The International Yo-Yo Open

I Can Almost Promise This Might Be Our Last Wiimbledon Post

Rocketboom has their Wiimbledon segment up, and it's a good change of pace from the others you may have seen. It's... calm. Not cut together for Generation A.D.D., it lets you hear the soft murmur of the crowds at the event and has interviews that aren't rapid fire sound bytes. In other words, it's the anti-Geekanerd coverage.

AND! It's the only video I've seen that gives THE BUTTONS their due! Well done, guys.

Wiimbledon Big Media Blitz

Here's ABC's coverage of the super-fun Wiimbledon event at Barcade. The scene in the bar was a little tense, as a bunch of young new media (us, Heavy.com, Rocketboom, etc.) bumped up against old wrinkly media (ABC). The lead reporter from ABC came across like an out of touch ass, and this segment with its zooming in on B Button's Belly really sets his assdom in stone. Seriously, what's the point?

I should say, the PA from ABC was a nice guy. The camera guy might've been too, I'm sure he was just following the orders of Captain Asshat.



The MTV guys were nice fellas, as well.

Wiimbledon Video and Giveaway!

Here's the Wiimbledon video we promised ya'll!



Also, by getting 2nd Place in the tournament I won FOUR Wii Sports Packs which promise to "improve inspiration" for your Wii sporting. We're giving them all away in groups of two ('cause who plays sports alone?) in a random drawing picked from everyone who e-mails us before Wednesday. So hop to it!

Related: Wiimbledon 2008 Video and Photos!

Geekanerd Goes To Wiimbledon! Pictures!

Geekanerd just got back from Wiimbledon at Barcade in Brooklyn and MAN was it a good time! There were some truly awesome players going at it, and more media both big (ABC, MTV) and small (Destructoid, Heavy) than you could shake a stick at. Team Geekanerd came away in 2nd Place, losing to the invincible "Ol' Rusty Bastard" from the Wii-Tang Clan. Photos after the jump, and stay tuned for video and a GIVEAWAY where my winnings become yours!

UPDATE: Check out photos and video from Wiimbledon 2008!

That man in the Luigi costume is Ol' Rusty Bastard himself, Grand Wiimbledon Champion!

The first of the Team Geekanerd matches doesn't go so well for Ana.

Rachel and Jane, Geekanerd Support

Albo and the A Button strap up for battle.

No love is lost when the outcome is decided.

Event organizers Steve Bryant and Lane Buschel prepare to announce the semi-finalists.

As the semi-finals begin, the turf is unrolled.

Albo and fellow semi-finalist Ramiro (later awarded Most Dangerous Player) square off.


Albo, defeated and alone, talks with Steve Bryant about Wiimbledon 2 and (YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!) WiiGA Tour!