Thank You For Making Meal-Morial Madness a Success!

Thank you for helping us have an awesome event.

It’s been almost a month and I wanted to follow up on this old website of ours and thank everyone who helped spread the word, tuned in, and donated for our Meal-Morial Madness: The Second Helping event.

The 4Score7Pongs Community raised $6,012.72 for Feeding America during the event. Our goal was $5,000 and we knocked it out of the park.

This event would have not been possible without the help of many people within our community who donated their time (and lack of sleep) to ensure everything went smoothly. So with many eternal thanks these are the people who made this happen: Alex, Alison, Brandon, Chris, Daphne, Erica, Erik, Jess, John, Lindsey, Miranda, Shawn, and Shawn (another different variety of Shawn.)

We’ve received many inquiries about this being an annual event, and while I’m not ready to announce or commit to anything, we are looking to other events we can run in the future. If you are interested in helping with future events like Meal-Morial Madness, then please contact me.

To date, we’ve fundraised just over $10,000 since 2016 for various charities. I would have never imagined years ago when I started this website that we would be up to doing such great things in the world, and now that we have, it’s going to be hard to stop.

With the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU

Jared “jarbochov” Cherup

NOTE: I am working on getting the VODs as well as the special video segments uploaded to YouTube as soon as practical. Once the videos are all uploaded I will post here again with a link. In the meantime if you haven’t already, please enjoy the number one jam of the Summer: Toad



“Endymion Rising” – The Sines, Co-Sines & Tangents Starfinder RPG Campaign

A few months back, Jared and I mentioned that we were beginning a number of new creative endeavors. One of those was to get a number of our friends and local listeners to join us for a tabletop RPG.

I believe we’ve cemented why that component is so important to both of us, since listening to an Internet radio show led to a group of strangers getting together to play Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. That campaign – featuring “The Nasty Midnighters” – ran for almost a dozen years (non-contiguously) and even made an edition change with the release of D&D 5th Edition. It was only natural we’d try again.

Now, we are almost six months into the new game, and it quickly grew from a pretty manageable four or five players to a whopping nine to ten every session! Luckily, the GM in charge has done a fairly good job or keeping the plot moving and juggling all of the distinct plot lines, backstories and seemingly random events that have presented themselves to the party in active play.

The sessions are held monthly, as everyone has busy adult schedules, and we generally play for four to six hours at a time. The group itself is made up of the complete spectrum of gamers – Veteran roleplayers whove been playing tabletop since 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, seasoned players who survived from 3e D&D and Pathfinder through players who have never had the opportunity to experience the fun and challenge of playing a tabletop game with friends.

This is not the crew, but it is just as eclectic

The majority came to Paizo’s Starfinder rules with little to no experience. Starfinder is a science-fantasy game set in the future of the established Pathfinder universe. The core rules focus on a number of new, alien species and cultures spread out across the Pathfinder solar system and beyond. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, etc. still exist but they’ve been eclipsed largely by other more exotic options like the feline Pahtra, lizard-like Vesk and the fluffy and capricious Skittermanders.

“Let Me Tell You About My Character…”

Our crew is as multicultural and multiracial as you might expect. Including only two traditional fantasy races – just look at this quick roster:

  • Wrievenomogox 24 aka ‘W24’ (Jared) – Android Technomancer (Scholar)
  • Nigel (Chris) – Damai Mystic (Dragonblood Empath)
  • Veeka aka ‘Vee’ (Erica) – Space Goblin Mechanic + ‘Dog’ her loyal combat drone
  • Fay (Q) – Pahtra Operative (Ace Pilot Explorer)
  • Amlech Carcis (Connor) – Tiefling Operative (Augmented Mercenary)
  • Scilla Verna (Eva) – Sapling Ghoran Mystic (Wild Warden Xenodruid)
  • Kohaku (Miranda) – Kistune Mechanic (Space Pirate)
  • Gary the Fabulous Gray (Kyle) – Gray Technomancer (Cultist)
  • Maldread (Shawn) – Half-Orc Solarian (Death-Touched)
  • Petunia (Genny) – Skittermander Medic (Bounty Hunter)

It’s okay if you have no idea what any of that means… you can always look it up at the Nethys Online Archive – needless to say – this is a motley crew of adventurers, cutthroats, bounty hunters and explorers. Anyone who has interest and a little time to kill, might enjoy listening to the excerpt of our second game session – which was really before their current predicament got started but was where everyone came together.

Endymion Rising Episode 2 Download

If you braved even a portion of that recording, I think you’ll find that the gang is all having a splendid time. We should be putting up some new content soon, and maybe we can even get some of the players to regale you on the adventures of “Mary [nee Gary] & Fay” – our tabletop sit-com that seems to be taking place within the greater narrative.

If you’d like more information, or have comments on our game please don’t hesitate to leave us feedback here on the blog or a voicemail that we can use in the next episode of the Sines, Co-Sines & Tangents podcast! –

Yes, we’ve got a Voicemail Box: (267) TAN-GENT or (267) 826-4368.

Of Tangents and Sines

Jared and I have had more than a few passing discussions over the last few years about expanding the Four Score media empire and with a new year in full bloom and thanks to a Whiskey Wednesday gathering we are finally taking action.

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast: Sines, Co-Sines & Tangents.

It’s been a number of years since both of us actively put out podcasts and we decided that people needed to hear our puerile opinions on stuff and things.. so the podcast was born.

Sines, Co-Sines & Tangents is a general Nerd Culture podcast that will allow us to talk about many of the things we both enjoy. Expect long detailed discussions on video games, movies, comics, traditional games, RPGs and whatever strikes us.

We hope to hit the target of 1 per week for the near future, and we hope all of you will listen, provide input and feedback. We’ve also bandied around how we’d do occasional livestreams or interactive broadcasts, but before we tried to boil those oceans we decided to start with what we knew.

Look for a link to the podcast soon and please if you like it, hate it or are slightly more than apathetic let us know here or on our 4 Score twitter.

Subscribe here using your podcast player of choice: http://4score7pongs.com/feed/podcast/sinescosinestangents

Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter at @4score7pongs and our Facebook page for new episode announcements.

Recap & Future Plans

A recap of the tournament, and some plans for the future.

We came, we fought, and ultimately Brian completed a triumphant reclaiming of the Golden Joystick.

The Final Scores
The Trophies Go To Brian

Jared took and early lead with the first two games, and then Brian trounced Jared in Windjammers to the point where viewers were donating money to end the slaughter.

The Arena
The Arena

Pinball isn’t the most specatator friendly sport, however, it did create a lot of drama. Jared mounted an impressive score before it was Brian’s turn. Brian then had a fantastic run nearly doubling Jared’s score. At this point, it was tied and only one game remained: Tekken.

Tekken was over pretty quickly as Brian’s skills were too much for Jared’s novice ability. After that Brian had once again reclaimed the trophy he held many years ago.

The Faceoff
Having Fun Playing Games
Street Brian

We were able to accomplish a fantastic goal with your help. We met our fundraising goal of $1,000 dollars for Child’s Play. This is something we are eternally grateful for. Thank you so much.

We are currently formulating some future plans for more events that will be more inclusive for everyone to join.

Additionally you should bookmark and follow us on Twitch and YouTube. We will have more regular streaming and video content soon. We are also working on some video highlights of the tournament in case you missed it.

2016 has commenced with a wonderous beginning. We are planning to continue with that momentum and make this a great year for gaming and charity. If you didn’t get a chance to donate, you still can!

Thank you!

 

We’re LIVE! TUNE IN!

We’re are live. Please tune and join us on Twitch. We’ll be in the chat along with our host Shawn.

Let us know who you want to win with the hashtags #teamjarbo (Jared) and #teamtoast (Brian).

 Our tenative schedule is as follows:

*All times are EST
12 PM – Introduction
12:15 PM – Resogun 45 min run for high score (Brian)
1:05 PM – Resogun 45 min run for high score (Jared)
1:50 – Break
2:00 PM – Nidhogg (head to head) most matches won in 45 min
2:45 PM – Break
3:00 PM – Windjammers (head to head) most matches won in 45 min
3:45 PM – Break
4:00 PM – Pinball 45 min run for high score (Jared)
4:50 PM – Pinball 45 min run for high score (Brian)
5:35 PM – Break
5:50 PM – Tekken 6 (head to head) most matches won in 45 min
6:35 PM – Small break and closing ceremonies

Also please do not forget to donate! Every bit helps!

When and how to watch

The 4 Score & 7 Pongs Ago event happens today starting around 12:00PM EST.

You can watch LIVE on the official Twitch channel.

If you can’t watch all day, follow us on Twitter and on Facebook to get updates throughout the day.

And please, don’t forget to donate what you can to help out Child’s Play. We’re shooting for $1,000 by the end of the day…every little bit helps, thank you!

Game Schedule

All times are EST

12 PM – Introduction

12:15 PM – Resogun 45 min run for high score (Brian)

1:05 PM – Resogun 45 min run for high score (Jared)

1:50 – Break

2:00 PM – Nidhogg (head to head) most matches won in 45 min

2:45 PM – Break

3:00 PM – Windjammers (head to head) most matches won in 45 min

3:45 PM – Break

4:00 PM – Pinball 45 min run for high score (Jared)

4:50 PM – Pinball 45 min run for high score (Brian)

5:35 PM – Break

5:50 PM – Tekken 6 (head to head) most matches won in 45 min

6:35 PM – Small break and closing ceremonies

We’ll update our site tomorrow, and make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

And most importantly make sure to bookmark our Twitch page which is where we’ll be broadcasting from.

Final Game Annoucement

Mean Game of Pinball

The time is nearly upon us for the showdown of smackdowns. Keeping in the spirit for a battle of the highest score, we’ll be flipping out like that deaf dumb and blind kid on pinball. But what table will we be playing? We’re going to pull it litterally out of a hat. Both Brian and Jared will pick three tables from either Zen Pinball which is a modern video game take on pinball or from The Pinball Arcade which are real pinball tables simulated in a video game.

When it’s time to play pinball tomorrow a the table will be pulled from a hat then Jared and Brian will have 45 minutes to get the highest score.

pinball

Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/modofodo/15173804580

A new tradition, a new trophy

The coveted Golden Joystick has been the trademark trophy of 4S7P since the first battle back in 2011. That won’t change this year as the winner will take the Golden Joystick home to enjoy for the entire year.

But this year we’re adding a new tradition with a new trophy.

Trophy

This trophy doesn’t replace the Golden Joystick. Nay, nothing could ever live up to that demand. No, instead we’re adding a trophy to the ceremony. This trophy is slightly less posh and by all rights, pretty boring, but it will be given to this year’s champion for them to keep.

Chasing the Golden Joystick is drives us. Motivates us. It infiltrates our dreams at night. This new trophy is just a momento, really…a souvenir for the victor. Something that isn’t handed back and fourth, year after year. This one’s a keeper.

Who will be the first to receive this new trinket? Will it be Jared, the defending 2-time champ and captain of Team Jarbo? Or will Brian of Team Toast bring the gold back home where it started in 2011?

It’s going to be a long, grueling day of battle for video game supremacy this Saturday. With this year’s new format, having the stamina and endurance is just as important as playing the games. Choose your team and place your bets.

But wait…lets not be too selfish here. Lets not forget this year, Four Score & 7 Pongs Ago is about the children. Help us reach our goal of $1000 in donations for Child’s Play so we can share the gift of gaming with those who need it most. Please, donate what you can.

Don’t forget to watch it LIVE on Twitch, this Saturday, Janurary 16 starting around 12PM ET. Follow @4score7pongs for updates and like us on Facebook.

Game Announcement: Players Poll

It’s time for you to vote for the fourth game we play. FIGHT!

We’re opening up the flood gates to you for our fourth game. We’re going to go head-to-head with a fighting game. But what game? That’s up to you.

Turducken
Turducken!

We’ve created a poll for you to vote. There’s also an option to write in a vote. We will consider write in votes, but they may not necessarily be the game we play.

We’ve listed a bunch of modern fighting games, but do you want us to go retro? Write in your vote!

So go ahead and VOTE already.

 

Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepsphotos/8627284099

Game Announcement: Windjammers

The third game for the 4S7P day-long battle is a head-to-head arcade classic, Windjammers.

Windjammers

I first discovered Windjammers in my early days of emulators. I never saw or played Windjammers in the arcades but I probably would have overlooked it since it didn’t have guns, spaceships or robots. Although, being a NeoGeo game is definitely a check in the right column.

At its core, Windjammers is Pong. Two players face each other trying to throw their Frisbee into the other’s goal. Simple enough, right? Sorta…

The characters in Windjammers are along the lines of those you might find in any random pre-2000 volleyball game. Each has their own balance of speed and power, and each come from a different country.

While I’ve played Windjammers quite a bit, I’ve never played against another human so going head-to-head with Jared should prove a worthy test. Prior to now, he had never played it at all, so I have a slight advantage but playing the AI is rarely good practice for a human opponent.

I expect Windjammers to be fast, furious play with some very close matches. I don’t think it has the spectator excitement of Nidhogg but should be far from boring.

Since Windjammers has some play options, here are the ones we’ll be using:

  • 30 second time limit
  • Stadium arena

…and it just hit me right now that Super Dodgeball would have been a great title for this year. Someone remember that for next year…