Editor's note: Long ago, I attended a Street Fighter 2 competition at a local Funcoland. Unsure of myself, I picked Guile, and my opponents swiftly handed my ass to me. Out of the game shops and into a formal arena, Daryl describes how the Evo Championship Series has grown in popularity in recent years as he readies himself to face other players in battle. Good luck! -Rob

I wonder if this is the same sentiment Muhammad Ali felt when he fought Larry Holmes. I wonder if this is the same inclination Evel Knievel had when he jumped the fountains of Vegas. I wonder if I'm ready for Evolution 2010 at Ceaser's Palace.

Evolution is a three-day, Las Vegas event spanning July 9th to the 11th and will host the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world. Last year, over a thousand people from every corner of the globe competed in Street Fighter 4 alone. This year, officials expect the amount of entries to increase.

Five years have passed since I last visited Sin City and experienced the magnitude of the World Series equivalent of fighting games. As a 16-year-old kid playing Capcom vs. SNK 2, tensions were high, and the weight of the competition had me beat mentally and physically. I returned to my home in Northern California with a 0-2 record. While I my dismal performance disappointed me, I gathered from the event a new understanding of the fighting game community and a sense of humbleness.

In the years following, the genre has grown larger than expected. Fighting games were once an underground community where top players knew other competitors who lived 100 miles away on a name-by-name basis. Back then, word-of-mouth promoted tournaments, and players battled to keep their spot at the only Marvel vs. Capcom 2 machine within 15 to 50 miles. Within the past couple years, the play field changed so much.

Street Fighter 4 -- and all of the other games that followed -- introduced an entire generation to the genre. The advent and perfection of Internet multiplayer allowed these gamers a more convenient method of learning the ropes. Ustream channels like iPlayWinner, Team Sp00ky, and LevelUp became the ESPN of live tournament coverage.The field has grown, and now veterans face more difficult challenges than ever before.

Street Fighter 4 grand finals at Evolution 2009.

With my shot of redemption on the line, I am five years wiser. Every tournament I've participated in has lessened the weight of the next one on the calendar. While the competition continues to be difficult, every defeat yields new information, experience, and motivation to improve. Mentally, I'm ready to take this challenge.

In the end, Ali lost to Holmes unable to capture his fourth heavyweight title belt at Ceaser's Outdoor Arena. Knievel failed to stick his landing, broke 40 bones, and slipped into a coma in front of Ceaser'sPalace fountains. The odds are stacked against me, but the pages of my Evolution are blank. Now, I hold the pen ready to write a whole new chapter.