Battle by the Bay#B4 Championships

File:Golfland Sunnyvale Arcade.jpg

During the mid-1990s, a Street Fighter II tournament scene had coalesced in various cities across the United States. The Golfland arcade hall in Sunnyvale, California was one of the hottest spots for competition in the country, with rivalries happening among various player groups, in particular between Northern and Southern California players. Players were also finding each other and discussing strategies through the internet on message boards. The Battle by the Bay was conceived in order to quell debate over who was the best Street Fighter player in the country.{{cite web|url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-oral-history-of-evo|work=USGamer|title=The Oral History of EVO: The Story of the World's Largest Fighting Game Tournament|last=Learned|first=John|date=2017-07-17}}{{cite web|url=https://esportsobserver.com/opinion-evo-prime-for-investors/|work=The Esports Observer|title=OPINION: The Past, Present, and Future of Evo Makes It Prime for Investment|last=Brathwate|first=Brandon|date=2018-07-23}}

B3: Battle by the Bay was organized by Tom "inkblot" Cannon, Tony "Ponder" Cannon, Joey "MrWizard" Cuellar, and Seth "S-Kill" Killian It was held in the Golfland arcade hall in Sunnyvale, California in 1996. The tournament had 40 contenders mostly from the United States, though B3 also featured players from Canada and Kuwait. Tom Cannon noted that the international interest in B3 had a big impact on him. Luke Winkie of The Atlantic described B3 as "a snapshot of the brilliant optimism of esports during its earliest days," noting the significant black American presence in the young fighting game community, and therefore the racial diversity at the event.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/05/why-esports-so-segregated/618768/|work=The Atlantic|title=The Original Kings of Esports|last=Winkie|first=Luke|date=2021-05-05}}

Alex Valle made his first major appearance at the Battle by the Bay, defeating John Choi in the Street Fighter Alpha 2 grand finals. To win the tournament, Valle revealed an unblockable combo he had discovered, which was dubbed the "Valle CC."{{cite web|url=https://www.redbull.com/us-en/casuals-alex-valle-the-veteran|work=Red Bull|title=Casuals: Alex Valle, the Veteran|last=Martin|first=Michael|date=2016-01-21}}

The B4 Street Fighter Championships were held on July 15–16, 2000, in Folsom, California. Like B3 four years earlier, B4 featured a Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2, but B4 also introduced several new Capcom fighting games to the roster: Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.{{cite web|url=http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Virtua+Kazama/the-history-of-evo-part-1-b3-evo-2002-295912.phtml|work=Destructoid|title=The History of EVO (Part 1): B3-EVO 2002|author=Virtua Kazama|date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716195008/http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Virtua+Kazama/the-history-of-evo-part-1-b3-evo-2002-295912.phtml|archive-date=2015-07-16}} The newly released Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was the first non-Street Fighter game to be included, which served as precedent for the tournament to branch out to other games. The Capcom Versus series has since had a large presence in the Battle of the Bay and Evolution Championship Series events.{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/evo-sidelined-marvel-vs-capcom-players-but-they-killed-1828107285|work=Kotaku|title=Evo Sidelined Marvel Vs. Capcom Players But They Killed It Anyway|last=Walker|first=Ian|date=2018-08-04}}{{cite web|url=https://wcuquad.com/6016113/sports/marvel-vs-capcom-2-in-evolution-championship-series/|work=The Quad|publisher=West Chester University|title=Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 in Evolution Championship Series|last=Park|first=Edward|date=2020-02-17}}

The five winners of the Street Fighter Alpha 3 tournament at B4 were flown to Japan to partake in a 5v5 exhibition match between the top-ranking American and Japanese players. The lead up to this exhibition match was the subject of a documentary directed by Peter Kang, titled Bang the Machine.{{cite web|url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/04/16/how-a-fighting-game-documentary-survived-9-11-and-became-a-cult-favorite.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418034429/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/04/16/how-a-fighting-game-documentary-survived-9-11-and-became-a-cult-favorite.aspx|url-status=live|archive-date=April 18, 2017|work=Game Informer|title=How A Fighting Game Documentary Survived 9/11 And Became A Cult Favorite|last=Vazquez|first=Suriel|date=2017-04-16}}

Held in August 2001 in Folsom, California, the B5 Championships was attended by a much larger international crowd, particularly from Japan. Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 made its introduction in the tournament roster at B5, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was again a headliner of the event, being described by TechTV as "the hottest arcade fighting game of the season."{{cite web|url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2013/jul/07/curious-what-fgc-looked-back-2001-check-out-techtvs-coverage-b5-tournament-footage/|work=TechTV|title=B5 TechTV coverage|date=2001}} Justin Wong was only 15 years old when he traveled to B5 and won its Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournament.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/17016092/the-evolution-world-largest-fighting-game-tournament|work=ESPN|title=The evolution of the world's largest fighting game tournament|last=Smith|first=Wynton|date=2016-07-12}} Tom Cannon later remembered 2001 as a difficult year for the fighting game community: while the tournament scene was growing in size, many arcades throughout the country were closing down. The tournament was rebranded as "Evolution" the next year, with a mission of preserving the arcade tournament scene. Joey Cuellar noted that naming further tournaments "B6" and "B7" would have seemed too confusing.{{cite web|url=https://www.vg247.com/the-oral-history-of-evo-the-story-of-the-worlds-largest-fighting-game-tournament?page=2|work=VG247|title=The Oral History of EVO: The Story of the World's Largest Fighting Game Tournament|last=Learned|first=John|date=2017-07-17}}

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Category:Evolution Championship Series

Category:1996 in esports

Category:2000 in esports

Category:2001 in esports

Category:1996 in sports in California

Category:2000 in sports in California

Category:2001 in sports in California