This is apparently Japan's EVO.
SBO, short for Sweaty Balls Outside, is a fighting game tournament held in Japan every year. It is well-known for having no cash prizes. Instead, you'll recieve a cheap trophy to keep on your desk to remind you that you're not washed-up and didn't waste $1000 for a flight to Japan. This "hype" tournament has fallen in the past couple years and is now overshadowed by more important events such as an Idolm@ster concert, which even stole some of SBO's own competitors with its animu power (read: Mihe).
Here's a picture of the latest champion: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzmaxtfWSW1qliiryo1_500.gif
Basic Information[]
Each year, several fighting games are lined up by Arcadia Magazine. The popularity and animu factor of each game is weighed and the weak links are weeded out, i.e. Skullgirls. Even though there are last-minute qualifiers held at the SBO location, Arcadia contacts random tournament organizers around the world to hold international qualifiers. How these TOs are chosen is unknown. Sources assume that Arcadia holds a blindfolded darts tournament using countries on the world map as targets, "Awww, Australia? 5 points."
Qualifying for SBO[]
What follows is a horrible misrepresentation of how qualifiers for a tournament should go down. Most of the SBO qualifier tournaments are double elimination, as opposed to the actual tournament's trademark gimmick single elimination rules, allowing mediocre players to still stay in the tournament despite the fact that they just got 3-0'd.
Even if you do somehow qualify for SBO, you're still not done. Only half of your ticket to Japan has been supplied by SBO/TOs, so you gotta make dat paypah somehow. Raffles and donations have been popular ways to fund your trip to party and drink with hot Japanese women/dickgirls. But due to Rafflegate, many unsponsored FGC players, desperate for a trip to glorious Nippon, have stooped to turning tricks on street corners (thanks, James Chen).
The Reality[]
If you do find yourself lucky enough to be in Japan for SBO, as a spectator or as a player, you will quickly find that Arcadia is actually a joint venture company established by Kayin and Solgryn to expose international players for the pansy-asses they truly are. Arcadia will toss everything at competitors to keep them on their toes:
Arcadia is unrelenting, even moving the tournament location two hours outside of the original location to catch players sleeping on SBO (pun intended). Outside, the heat and humidity coupled with glare and arcade slowdown will lead many unhealthy players (all players) to believe that they are experiencing a condition known as Pelicanitis. But don't let that stop you. You'll go to that tournament and lose in the first round, and show the world that America is still the "Land of the Free."