Tournament Games for Any Occasion

Eli Neiburger. "Tournament Games for Any Occasion: Choosing the Right Games for Your Audience." Respond to patron needs by providing appropriate games.

Consider
Audience, appeal, buzz (word of mouth #1 Publicity), logistics, flexibility, victory conditions, rating, accessibility (ease of learning), hipness, angstiness, rabidity of fan-base, depth & mastery (DDR expertise levels), repeatability (some games get old).

Rankings
Gamer Dad is a good website for this.
Entertainment Software Ratings Board is another.

Benefits
-Kids: Socialization, possession, knowledge.
-Teens: Superiority, display, skill, coolness.
-20's: Mastery, depth, accessibility (bring friends), impenetrability.
-Adults: Seiousness, nostalgia, realism, accessibility.
-Parents: Redeeming value, accessibility, comprehensibility.
-Seniors: Ease of use, simplicity, skill over reflexes, realism.

Tournaments/Open Play
*keep play age on or below age level as the rating (T for Teens)*
Does not work:
RPG, action/adventure (kills socialization), sports games, simulations.
Good:
1st person shooters, fighting games, strategy
Great:
Racing games, oddball games (Wario Ware), Retro games (Midway--cheap), rhythm/music games (DDR, Guitar Hero) are the best.

Other Ideas
--Retro game night. Attract 30-somethings. Giant Space Invader for poster. Midway, Namco, Nintendo, Activision.
--Organized taxonomy of video games can be found here.
--there are open source versions of most popular games: Free Civilization, Ur-Quan Masters, etc.)