Konami COSSY and SJC's implemented as promised

The organized play system we've been hearing about and promised in this month is finally here.

Here are the details:

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. to Address Hobby Store Owners on Plans for Organized Play, New Rankings System & Demonstrate Innovative New Barcode Scanner For Tourney Stores at 2009 GAMA Trade Show

El Segundo, CA – (April 14, 2009) –Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KDE) will unveil much anticipated Organized Play plans, their new rankings system - Konami Card Game Official Tournament Support System – and an innovative Barcode Scanner for use by Official Tournament Stores to enter players into events and to record their rankings.

The Barcode Scanners have been in use in Japan and will be utilized for the first time in North America this year. Registering players for your events will now be a snap – Konami’s player ID cards feature a barcode system which allows you to input your players’ data directly into the COSSY system with a single swipe through the USB-enabled barcode scanner. COSSY will also track each player’s record during the event. Once the tournament is over and final results have been submitted and confirmed, the COSSY system will update your players’ rankings online - automatically. There are an estimated 300 lucky Store owners that are Official Konami Tournament Stores who will be the first to utilize the Barcode Scanner absolutely free.

“The Games Manufacturers Association Trade Show offers the perfect environment to meet with our hobby store partners and to educate them on what our plans are for the coming year and beyond,” noted Yumi Hoashi, Vice President of Card Business, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “GAMA is also the place for us to receive first-hand accounts of how things really are in the hobby. This is why we chose this event to detail our organized play efforts and the new rankings system - Konami Card Game Official Tournament Support System.”

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Konami Shonen Jump Champtionships are back!

SHONEN JUMP Championship
Anaheim Convention Center
April 25-26, 2009

Be a part of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.’s re-launch of Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME tournaments in America. The SHONEN JUMP Championship in Anaheim, CA will kick-off a new era of Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG greatness. Join in the frenzied tournament series as Duelists across the country rush to get their spots reserved for this summer’s 2009 Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG National Championship.

Top prizes for the SHONEN JUMP Championship in Anaheim include a brand new SHONEN JUMP Championship prize card, a paid trip to the National Championship for the winner, a 32 GB iPod Touch with redemption codes for Konami Mobile Games, Nintendo DSi™ units with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator World Championship 2009, Wii™ units and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breakers, brand new Top 16 SJC Game Mats, and complimentary subscriptions to SHONEN JUMP magazine.

The same venue will host the very first 2009 Regional Qualifier on Sunday, April 26th with the top 32 players all qualifying for the National Championship. A fresh 2009 Regional Qualifier Blackwing/Gladiator Beast Game Mat will also be revealed and given to the top 8 players.

For those of you who can’t make it to Anaheim, be sure to follow round-by-round coverage right here at www.yugioh-card.com/en/events.



SHONEN JUMP Championships: What is it?

The SHONEN JUMP Championships are premier-level tournament extravaganzas – the largest and most prestigious Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG tournament series in North America! Players will be coming from all over the world to challenge the toughest Duelists the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG has to offer.

Everyone is encouraged to attend. See how well you do against the competition! Everyone receives 5 booster packs of Crimson Crisis just for entering. Admission fee is $20.

Doors will open for registration at 8 AM. The event will begin after all players are registered, at approximately 10 AM. Tournament play will last for 9-10 rounds, depending on number of players. This is a full-day event and Duelists who plan to stick it out for the duration should plan to be Dueling up until 8 PM. Participation prizes will be awarded after Round 3, at approximately 1 PM.

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Just as was mentioned before on this site, there is no need to be worried about organized play.

That point was mentioned again and again and there was a strong belief by the UniMetagame crew that we'd eventually get organized play back.

Not only did we get it back but we waited less than half a year.

That's an amazing amount of time if you think about the logistics of getting such a titanic thing as yugioh going again.

As a plus note, the first SJC occurs in UniMetagame's hometown of SoCal!

Keep your eyes peeled for some of our crew who will be hanging around at the event.