Pro Night - August 15, 1995

The Night That Started It All!
Back in the early nineties, Jason and I were both living in Miami and attending the same University where we first met at the video arcade on campus. There was a Street Fighter 2 arcade game and the competition was mildly decent. At the time, I was the first (and only!) "kid on the block" to own a Super Gun. I would actually bring the Supergun to school once or twice a week and set it up on the television in the students lounge! I also invited friends over to my parents place to play Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, and NBA Jam on the weekends. As it turned out, we also both scored jobs working at some local arcades. As a result, we were exposed to the best player's in South Florida on a daily basis.

One day we came up with an idea. Why not hold a professional grade tournament open ONLY to skilled players personally invited by us? By holding a tournament in a relaxed & comfortable environment, and having NO ENTRY FEE, the players were sure to perform at the top of their abilities. A tourney of absolute skill and concentration. This is how "PRO NIGHT" was founded. There were no prizes. There was no hype. It was SOLELY for the purpose of watching the PROS in action and finding out who was the BEST!

The Synopsis

Games Played
We held 3 tournaments that night. Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat 2, and Mortal Kombat 3. The Ultimate MK3 upgrade had not yet been released by Midway and Killer Instinct was still very expensive (prohibitively so) as it was ONLY available as a dedicated cabinet. (conversion kits were not yet available). We played SF2 on the living room television set with the Super Gun and arcade joysticks. Afterwards, MK2 & MK3 were both played on my dedicated MK2 cabinet which I had bought several months sooner when the MK3 kit was first released.

Tournament Outcome
There were only about a half a dozen players at the event. It was very low key, very simple, and very smooth. It was almost an "east coast / west coast" thing since me and my two friends were "representing" Fun n Games and the "South Miami Crew" while Jason and his players were the "North Miami Crew". I honestly cannot remember for certain, but I believe North Miami kicked ass and took the tourney. Afterwards, Jason, Nelson, and myself played a few rounds of Track & Field and then we all called it a night at about 3AM. We all said that we should "do it again some time" but little did we know how long it would be!

Afterthoughts
Later that same year, in December of 1995, I moved away from Miami. I moved 6 hours north to Gainesville, Florida to be closer to my girlfriend who was attending the University of Florida. The arcade gaming scene up there was just not at the same level as South Florida. This coupled with the fact that 3-D gaming was gaining momentum and slowly but surely my interest faded.

PICS -- CIRCA 1995

-Miami's SF2 CREW in full garb on Halloween Night 1994!