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Street Fighter IV: The National Tournament!

Feb 03, 2009 // s-kill

The rumors are true! Capcom is proud to team with GameStop and the EVO Championship Series to bring you the Street Fighter IV National Tournament! 

The tournament unites the biggest retailer and the greatest tournament legacy with the company that started it all (that’s us!), for the biggest live event in gaming history.

The action starts on February 21st at thousands of GameStop locations EVERYWHERE.  Winners move on to the second round at regional stores (Feb 28th), and second-round winners advance to the March 14th semi-finals.

The best-of-the-best 16 finalists will then be flown in for the April 18th finals in San Francisco, where they’ll compete to win an official Street Fighter IV arcade game. In addition to the trip to SF (SF in SF… see what I did there?), all finalists will score Mad Catz SFIV sticks and pads , the limited edition tournament belts, and will also earn a spot in the semi-final bracket at the EVO World Finals in Las Vegas, where they will take on the very best from around the planet.

Head over to GameStop.com for all the details , then run screaming to your local store to sign up.  There are thousands of locations participating across the country, so figure out where you need to be come February 21st! 

Get hype!!

Hit the jump for official press release…

GRAPEVINE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GameStop, Corp. (NYSE:GME – News), the world‒s largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced that it will team with Capcom Entertainment Inc. and the EVO Championship Series to host Street Fighter IV video game tournaments at more than 2,400 of its U.S. locations beginning on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009. The tiered tournament program is one of several events GameStop will host surrounding the launch of Street Fighter IV, in stores Feb. 18, 2009.

The tournament will provide players with an opportunity to test their skills one-on-one with other contestants in a tournament to determine the store winners. Many of the participating GameStop locations will begin their tournaments at 2 p.m. local time; however, customers are encouraged to contact their local store to confirm the exact time of the tournament. All contestants must check-in at least 30 minutes prior to the start of play, and you must be at least 13 years old to participate in the event. Participants under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign their registration form.

Store winners will advance to a series of District Tournaments on Feb. 28; winners of these competitions will advance to the Regional Finals, which will take place on March 14. The top 16 Regional finalists will advance to the championship event, to be held on April 18 in San Francisco. Finalists will battle the competition in a series of matches on Street Fighter IV until one player is left standing. The Grand Prize winner will receive an authentic Japanese-style Street Fighter arcade machine. All 16 finalists will receive MadCatz official Street Fighter IV FightPads and FightSticks, and will qualify for the quarter finals stage of the EVO Championship Series world finals, the premiere fighting championship series for video gamers being held July 17-19 in Las Vegas.

For additional tournament details and to obtain a list of official rules, visit a local GameStop retail location or http://www.gamestop.com/sfiv.

About GameStop Corp.

Headquartered in Grapevine, TX, GameStop Corp., a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, is the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer. The company operates 6,188 retail stores in 17 countries worldwide. The company also operates two e-commerce sites, GameStop.com and EBgames.com, and publishes Game Informer(R) magazine, a leading multi-platform video game publication. GameStop Corp. sells new and used video game software, hardware and accessories for video game systems from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. In addition, the company sells PC entertainment software, related accessories and other merchandise. General information on GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the company’s corporate website: http://www.gamestopcorp.com.