MvC Fight Club Discovered in Downtown LA

A nondescript night club in L.A.. Check. A line of 800 people wrapping around the alley between two parking lots. Check. Thumping techno music, lasers, lights and free flowing drinks. Yes indeed, but this wasn’t your typical night out dancing. This was Capcom’s Fight Club. Fortunately, there aren’t any rules against talking about it.

Capcom in association with i am 8-bit Marketing group invited a few hundred fans out to Club 740 in downtown Los Angeles for a night of brawling, Marvel Vs. Capcom style. To help usher in the third in the series of the MvC franchise, Capcom brought with them a few PS3s, a few Xbox 360s, several plasma TVs and even a couple of Nintendo’s 3DS system to give fans a taste of the upcoming Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition.

Fans were quite literally wall to wall and with only a dozen or so stations to actually go head to head on probably made for a disappointing night for some fans. For those that did, they were treated to what appeared to be a demo version of the title, missing a few of the fighters that have been announced in the past weeks including Hsien-Ko and the Sentinel. Even more disappointing was the abuse most of the controls had received. Even an hour into the night it started to show, so playing with any accuracy became moot.

Still, the night was far from a bust. Fried meatballs, chicken empenadas and baklava were served to anyone wanting to bulk up before their match as several special guests roamed the dance floor: Ryu, Dahlsim, Chun-Li, X-23, The Phoenix and what appeared to be an M.Bison / Cami hybrid were available for photos.

As a special homage to the title, Capcom brought with them several original arcade boards, somewhat hastily rigged to old TVs and projectors, to a basement underneath the club for anyone who wanted to get a blast from the past. Among them were the first 2 Marvel Vs Capcom titles, Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street fighter and X-Men: Children of the Atom. The basement certainly carried a wholly separate vibe, not only with the games, but with the attendees that made their way down to experience the nostalgia. Despite obvious refresh rate problems and game glitches that came out of converting the signals from decades old arcade boards to new screens, everyone seemed to be enjoying the trip back in time.

I usually prefer my publicity events to be press only. It makes for less claustrophobic conditions. That said, it’s refreshing to see the devs giving their actual consumers a chance to feel like elite with events like this and I hope to see more. You hear that Nintendo? EA? Activision?

Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of 2 Worlds is out February 15 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360