Spookycon at the mall
Event to feature game tourneys, costume contests,
TEXARKANA, Texas — Hypecon gets spooky Saturday with a fun day of game tournaments, costume contests and vendors at Central Mall.
Dubbed Spookycon in honor of the Halloween-themed happenings, this free event includes tournaments for three different games. Registration starts at 10 a.m. with tournaments starting at noon for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Doubles and Mortal Kombat 11, then Super Smash Bros. Squad Strike at 1:30 p.m., Tekken 7 at 3 p.m. and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Singles at 4 p.m.
Competition entry is $10 with a $10 buy-in for each tournament entered. Cash prizes can be won. Game tournaments will be held in a storefront near the center of the mall, while main stage events will happen in the central area.
On that main stage, a panel for YouTubers and streamers will be held at 2 p.m., successful local author D.C. Gomez does a Q&A about her work at 3 p.m., a children’s costume contest is held at 4 p.m. and an adult costume contest is
held at 5 p.m. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m, children can trick-or-treat at the mall.
Jesse Darby-Tillis II, creator and CEO at Hypecon, thinks of this a trial run to see if an event such as this will work in Texarkana.
“We want to do it different from the original Hypecon because the original Hypecon was in Sears, but this one we want to do a free event for everybody, kind of like a give-back type of testament and have it more centralized in the mall,” Darby-Tillis said.
For the video games, Spookycon will run two streams at the same time to broadcast the competition on two Twitch channels: Mattikus_ and TXK_keys.
“We highly encourage any school in the area that is considering trying to do e-sports to come check out the setup,” Darby-Tillis said, noting he’s talked with several local schools about organizing e-sports teams.
The first panel is geared toward local YouTubers and streamers who want to get more buzz going through social media, Darby-Tillis said. The second panel features a bestselling local fiction writer. “She’s a local celebrity,” he said. Costume contest winners will get prizes from stores in the mall.
Vendors? “These are actually new vendors registering,” Darby-Tillis said — some selling art.
“I hope everybody comes out, has fun, and I hope this encourages and grows for something bigger next year. I hope this will be a great test run to encourage everybody to want to put more effort and make an even bigger event next year. We always need more positivity,” Darby-Tillis said.
(More info, including game settings, match procedures and rule sets: Visit the Hypecon Presents Spookycon! event page on Facebook. Booth spaces are still available for $50.)