Over the weekend Highway Entertainment was proud to be a part of the Inaugural Wink & Ink Adult, Tattoo and Lifestyle Show, first of its kind in the Hunter Valley, at the Newcastle Exhibition Center. During a massive two days, live tattooing, piecing, dancing, sword-swallowing, knife throwing and arcade action filled the exhibition center and delighted all who attended. Highway Entertainment also held 4 arcade tournaments and crowned the first ever "Highway Entertainment Arcade Grand Masters" in the respective tournaments.
Highway Entertainment was happy to present an exciting arcade gaming area with over 10 arcade machines. Attendees were able to put the pedal to the metal on Sega Race TV Arcade Driving Machine, dust of their dancing shoes on Dance Dance Revolution, throw a hadouken or two on Super Street Fighter IV, become King of The Iron Fist on Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, test their strength on Dragon Punch or re-live their retro-gaming memories on the Game Wizard Venus Machine. During the two-day event we saw people of all ages and skill levels come to our gaming area and have some lighthearted fun. We even had some of the other exhibitors such as Honey Ink, Impact Tattoo and IPG Paintball throw a mean punch on the Dragon Punch Machine and have some friendly competition on Sega Race TV.
The highlight of Highway Entertainment's gaming area was clearly the Arcade Grand Master Tournaments. Day One saw people come from across the floor and congregate around the Dragon Punch Machine to enter in the High Score Challenge. The competition was fierce with attendees and exhibitors bidding for the title, it was a close competition, but the winning punch was a massive score 9615 by Stephen that was hard to beat. Day Two brought more people and more tournament action. During day two we ran 3 big tournaments, Dragon Punch High Score Challenge, Super Street Fighter IV Knockout Tournament and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion Knockout Tournament. Dragon Punch, was once again a crowd favourite with the machine being put to its limits and continuously used all day. We saw some strong contenders battling it out and vying for the biggest punch of the day. After some intense rivalry and impressive demonstrations of strengths, the unbeatable score was a formidable 9610, reached by James.
For those who didn't wish to enter into a competition of physicality and strength, Highway Entertainment presented two knockout tournaments in two of the most popular fighting games to date - Tekken and Street Fighter. Super Street Fighter IV was a short but sweet knockout tournament with one contestant proving that the character "Hakan" is a force to be reckoned with. Standing strong throughout the entire tournament, Jon and his character "Hakan" were the victors of the day. Tekken 6, proving to be a trip down memory lane for some, was a longer battle with strong rivalry and a determination to win showing throughout the tournament. In the end, after some impressive fighting and the winner not clear until the very end, Nikki and her character "Yoshimitsu" were the "King (and Queen) of the Iron Fist." At the end of each day the Arcade Grand Masters were presented with the cash pot (pooled entry fees), 7inch Tablet with Leather Case and Trophy on the Wink & Ink Stage.
We would like to congratulate each of our winners; Stephen, James, Nikki and Jon, as well as thank everyone who entered our competitions and visited our booth. Highway Entertainment had a great time at the Inaugural Wink & Ink Adult, Tattoo and Lifestyle Show, and enjoyed bringing a little gaming and retro action to the event! Thank you to PJ Promotions and the organisers at Wink & Ink for inviting us to be a part of a historic and first-of-its-kind event in the Hunter Valley!
