Fighting for the Future

Hey everyone,

I’m excited to share some updates about the work we’ve been doing behind the scenes and how we’re moving forward with BlueBurst.

Charitable Trust Milestone

I’m thrilled to announce that BlueBurst is now officially registered as a charitable trust! This new status opens up opportunities for us to secure funding, crucial for organizing tournaments and keeping our website running smoothly.

One challenge I’m facing with organizing tournaments is my passion for classic fighting games like The King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match Final Edition, Street Fighter EX2 Plus, and Tekken Tag Tournament. These older titles often have niche followings, which can limit their audience and pose a dilemma. I had hoped the release of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves would spark renewed interest in New Zealand’s fighting game community, but unfortunately, it hasn’t garnered much attention.

This leaves me with a choice: support games I’m less passionate about or consider closing down the charitable trust. Our goal is to create a fun networking outlet for local youth, so attracting enough participants is critical to achieving that.

It’s also important to note that donations cannot be used as prize money or rewards for tournament winners, due to their association with gambling, which involves complex legal considerations.

Before establishing the trust, I personally funded the website and necessary tools, which allowed me more freedom in decision-making and operations. However, this came at the cost of covering expenses out of my own pocket. As a charitable trust, while we have opportunities to secure funding, we also face certain constraints and requirements that we must navigate.

Mobile App in Development

We are also working on developing a mobile app! Feedback has highlighted the cumbersome process of adding new venues and arcade cabinets via our web interface. Our aim is to offer an experience akin to PinballMap, starting with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that includes location and machine details.

Looking ahead, we plan to integrate an activity feed, an events feed for local tournaments, and a move list for fighting games. Although we’re still in the early planning phases, we are evaluating various programming routes like Joplin/Swift, Flutter, and Kotlin Multiplatform.

Live Streaming Page

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with streaming King of Fighters 98: UMFE tournaments (using The King of Fighters XV as practice). I was pleasantly surprised to discover an active community on Discord. Multi-streaming has been a great learning experience, deepening my appreciation for dedicated streamers like Team Spooky and Tampa Never Sleeps.

Consequently, I’ve added a live streaming page to our website. This section includes the latest stream (via Cloudflare Stream), a local chat feature through Simple AJAX Chat, and a Stripe donation button. Streaming directly on BlueBurst, rather than platforms like YouTube or Twitch, provides a small revenue stream through Google Ads and simplifies the streaming experience.

Thank you all for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Thanks,

Swamp