Tekken Tag Championship Report

Over the weekend, some other Ziff-Davis editors watched the best Tekken Tag Tournament players in the world battle it out. The event, the Tekken Tag Tournament World Championships, held in Milpitas, Calif., attracted Tekken players from around the world. It was an amazing video-gaming spectacle, to say the least.

Watching these skilled Tekken players navigate their onscreen personas was like watching a fine musician deliver a stellar performance - they exuded such skill and craftsmanship above and beyond the norm. And it definitely was art. These weren't the typical Tekken matches that you'd see at your local arcade, these matches were filled with lightning-fast attacks, smart blocks, and an incredible connection between two players, each of whom knew exactly what the other was planning and thinking. It was like watching a kung-fu movie, except that the body strength and martial arts skills that each player lacked was made up for in his virtual component.

On Saturday, we witnessed the top US players battle it out. Alex Valle took the number-one spot, beating out Damian "SuperTurtle" Ledesma in the final rounds. Then on Sunday it was time for the world championships. One of the highlights from these matches was when Alex (the new US champ), took on Douzomo, the Japanese champion. Alex won and received quite an ovation. When the final matches began, Seok Dong-Min (from Korea) ended up switching from his normal team (Lei/Hwoarang) to the Korean team Hwoarang/Baek - prompted by the US crowds. He then won the tournament using his Korean team. Here are the top-ten Tekken Tag Tournament players in the world:

1. Seok Dong-Min (Korea)2. Mike "MIC" Nappi (US)3. Alex Valle (US)4. Duc Do, (US)5. Shafi Mohamed (US)6. Douzono (Japan)7. Damian Ledesma (US)8. Hayashida (Japan)

The tournament was definitely exciting, and it was great to hang out with players from all around the world. We've included a few shots and movies nabbed during the matches to give you a sense of what went on.