I prefer to keep things to the point, but forgive me if I ramble on about this particular subject, as it’s been on my mind for quite some time.
The whole point behind this site is simple: bring gamers together. That’s it. It’s one thing to have an online community like Kotaku or Destructoid, which brings gamers together in a general sense with little interaction besides commenting on top stories and finding a few distant playmates for your online funtime. I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, there was no such thing as online gaming outside of a few kids who were making custom Doom/Duke3D maps and blowing each other up via their dialup modems - lagtastical! Online wasn’t even a real option then. If you wanted to play, you’d play by yourself or perhaps a friend would trade off when you jumped wrong and fell plummeting pitwards. If you wanted multiplayer action, you only had one real choice: hit up the local arcades, where there was only one flavor on tap - VERSUS.
With that said, I see the online landscape of today’s modern videogame industry as a sort of spiritual successor to that ancient tradition, but know this: it is no substitute. There is nothing quite like displaying a skill in public solely to show up another skillset on the same public display. It’s the reason why any tournament of any kind is held, to put on a show that the collective crowd will enjoy, participant and spectator alike. There’s a small rush in watching people compete, as any sports fan is sure to tell you, but waching the game pales in comparison to being the one playing the game. Nobody can argue that truth, and if you tried, you’d invariably, inevitably fail.
I wanted to see that scene return, not as a coin-op resurrection of a rose-tinted past, but bring it back to the forefront with a relevance that suits our modern age. You see, the guys that were the arcade rats have all grown up. We’re pushing 30, 40, even 50 these days. The average age of the videogame player is solidly in the 30-something range. We remember that time fondly, and for good reason, as a lot of friendships and rivalries still grow strong out of that blossoming age. The young ones know not of what I speak, but maybe I can have a hand in changing that, at least semi-locally.
What this site aims to do is simple: bring games back to the people, away from the comfortable trappings of the personal domain and back into the forefront of the public eye in a positive way. We, as the group who run this site, wish to bring back the old ways in a new way. We want to create a full-fledged tournament scene with the best local (which can be a broad definition, it all depends on growth) competition that we can offer, and that takes one central component to make that vision work and come to fruition: YOU.
Well, YOU and all of YOUR FRIENDS.
You see, without players, there is no game. Without a place to gather info and meet other players, there is no scene. Enter B-Kin.
The name itself carries multiple connotations: B, which can stand for brotherhood, brawls, battles, or whatever you want it to mean. Kin, which is a word to define family. Together, it means to be as a family, a collective whole working towards one singular purpose - to have fun doing what we do best, to have fun doing what you love. But here’s the kicker, the double-entendre cherry on top: if you say the name out loud, you are saying “beacon.” Just as a flare draws a search party, a lighthouse draws ships, and a flag rallies troops, this site is a beacon on high for all of the people in the Central Florida area that feel a need to play, compete and make friends in a far different venue than the cold, faceless trappings of online play. If everything truly goes in cycles, welcome to the rebirth of the circle: face-to-face is back, baby. Go for broke.
That’s the story, in a nutshell. Feel free to check back often, as this front page will be updated with news, stories, and video of our exploits (or will they be yours?). Click the Forum link on the sidebar to your right to find the family you never knew you had, all gamers welcome regardless of genre preference or skill level. Rest assured you will find your next worthwhile match here.
Welcome to B-Kin. Contribute freely, and often. Welcome home.