The day started off tense, with over 500 potential tourney goers packed together like sardines in the hallways and stairwells of Worcester Polytechnial Institute. There were many surprising sights to be seen in this line up, including multiple cosplayers, a smelly weirdo who predicted his own victory in the tournament though he had only started playing Super Smash Bros Melee a week prior, and perhaps most endearingly a small acoustic folk band called "Team Tacgnol" who played Portal's end theme Still Alive to a grateful crowd. Near the end of the song, I counted at least ten people singing along to every word.
Then it was off to the VIP section, where the Nintendo staff and WPI students running the event went to mentally regroup and reload. There I chatted with Jaime, the head of Worcester Polytechnical Institute's Game Developers Club. He couldn't have looked more excited, with a Totoro-esque smile beaming from ear to ear. It turns out that he had contacted Nintendo's PR firm in July of 2007 asking if they could hold a pre-release tournament at WPI, but he never imagined Nintendo would actually take him up on the offer. Jaime wtatingas especially impressed with Nintendo's interest in reaching out to the aged 18-24 hardcore gamer demographic, by stating "If Nintendo only cared about 'the casuals', they wouldn't be spending all the time, money and energy to put on this tournament. Brawl will sell itself, they don't need to do this for promotional purposes. They're doing it because they love their hardcore audience."
Also in the VIP lounge was a food services guy who had made the mini-burgers and fruit salad for the event's staff and guests to consume. I interviewed him briefly, very briefly, as he could barely detach his eyes and brain from Brawl's adventure mode. He told me he didn't own a Wii, that he only owned a 360 "but really only played sports games". Yet he had started playing The Subspace Emissary at 12pm, and had not stopped once by the time I started talking to him at 2:30pm. For my money, that confirms Brawl's single player mode as the ability to hold the attention of even the least Nintendo-friendly gamer.
Later the VIP section would be joined by Joystiq.com's resident dreamboat Alexander Sliwinski, and the children of a certain high ranking Nintendo of America executive. Alexander, the kids and myself held our own unofficial Brawl tournament there in the lounge, occasionally joined by the random Nintendo staffer or WPI student. This was my first time playing the game, and though it's already been said a million times before, I have to tell you from the heart that Brawl is an incredibly engaging game.
Brawl surprised me in two ways. The first was how unpolished the graphics looked at times. The Shadow Moses stage, for instance, has some really ugly textures that looked nearly PS2 in quality. They looked very out of place next to some of the game's characters like Charizard and Wario, who both look like they could be from a first gen 360 title.
The second thing that I didn't expect about Brawl was how little the tiny details like the above mentioned graphical flaws, or even the bigger features of the game like the character roster and the stages seemed to matter to me while actually playing the game. No matter which character you're playing as or what stage you're playing on, this game is extremely captivating. My sense of scrutiny for detail about Brawl, which I've been fostering for almost a year by reading every damn Smash Bros Dojo update that has come down the line, completely melted away after my first actual play of the game. When you play Brawl, any sense of awareness of the game's minutia completely melts away. It's a game of pure fun, plain and simple. Brawl could have N64 quality graphics and I'd feel that same way.
After a few hours in the VIP lounge it was time to get back to work, so I headed back out into the fray. I saw that another huge line had formed at the event, but this time it was for those unlucky event attendees who didn't make it into the tournament. They too would get a chance at Brawl. There were three kiosks set up for this privilege, with four players per kiosk, and still this line had about 100 people in it. I saw many players, including the above mentioned members of "Team Tacgnol" finish their matches, only to circle around to the back of the line to wait another half an hour just for 5 minutes of Brawl play time.
All the while, obnoxious club music and over-excited commentary from the tournament floor blared an abrasive soundtrack to the event. At the very beginning of the tournament, I couldn't stand to be in that area for more than ten minutes at a time. Not only was the room offensive to the ears, but to the nose as well. It smelled like vomit and body odor in there. After the first round of play was over, which consisted of 256 players, the crowd thinned out a bit and the smell dissipated, so I decided to stick around and take a look at Brawl from a competitive standpoint.
But it's not all wine and roses for Brawl. Not only were some characters from Melee removed from Brawl's line up, but many of Melee's advanced techniques like wave dashing and L-canceling have also been cut or dumbed down. This has many Melee die-hards already complaining about Brawl, although most of them have not yet even played the game. Maybe it was just their excitement talking, but none of the tournament level players I spoke with at WPI had any complaints about Brawl.
One especially articulate competitor likened the differences between Brawl and Melee to those between Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter 3. Street Fighter Alpha 2 is generally more rewarding to offensive players with it's emphasis on high damage combos and super techniques. This is opposed to Street Fighter 3, which thanks to it's parry system, is notorious for long, drawn out, "turtle" packed matches. L-canceling and Wavedashing are both defensive maneuvers analogous to SF3's parry's, as they allow for skilled players to defend against any offensive moves with little to no risk to themselves. With out allowing those kinds of nearly impenetrable defenses, Brawl is generally more fast paced and violent than Melee. The risks that come with the necessity of playing Brawl in a more offensive style makes for an extremely exciting competitive level game, both to play and to watch.
Also worth noting is the increased amount of match altering items that Brawl has over Melee. More than a few matches in tournament were decided by a well placed final smash or hard earned hit with the instant kill item "The Dragoon". However, even with L-canceling gone, even these big damage moves can be defended against, and some times even countered. In general, all who I spoke with were in agreement that the hardcore Smash Bros. community was just seeing the tip of the iceberg as to what competitive Brawl play has to offer.
Speaking of which, embedded below for your viewing pleasure is the tournament deciding final battle between 19 year old Daniel Jung and the man known only as "Compton", a member of the New York City based gaming crew "Deadly Alliance". After watching this match, I could not help but ask myself "What does the WNBA got that competitive gaming hasn't got?" This tournament opened my eyes to the very real potential games like Brawl portend for a future where millions of people worldwide tune in on TVs, computers, or through in-game spectator modes to marvel at the skill and techniques of others playing video games.
The WNBA has never caused my jaw to drop, but after watching this tournament, I could barely get my jaw off the floor.
Sounds awesome, I'm going to sign up for the Canadian tournaments. Also, the videos aren't available =(
Sounds awesome, I'm going to sign up for the Canadian tournaments. Also, the videos aren't available =(
Private video ya got there, Jonathan.
No more video?!?! NOOOO
Both videos are not available and set to private on youtube :(
Sounds like it was a blast though
I drove up from jersey for the Mass. tourney.
Unfortunately I was #260 on the line. Ended up being #4 alternate and not getting to play :-\
We´re sorry, this video is no longer aviable.
BTW nice writeup, make´s me sad there are no tournaments here in Peru, except from CS.
I would love to see something like that over here.
Also, great write up, sound that you had a blast...except for the puke odor thing.
BLOODY HELL!
They say they are public for me.
I'll keep working on it. Don't give up on me!
So, after all the brawl news, what're you gonna post?
Awesome post Jonathan, at first I wasn't sure about you, a couple of incorrect articles about smash and whatnot, but I have to say I have come around on you my man. Its like I was actually smelling the vomit for myself. I got the second video to work but the first still is ooc. Keep up the great work.
Yashoki- More Brawl news.
Ok, so I'm still figuring out this Youtube problem. when it finally works, it will pop up on Star Pilot Productions youtube page. I'm loggin in as them now, and it's saying these videos are public, so I don't know what the deal is.
In the mean time, why not watch some other Star Pilot videos I've done. http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=StarpilotProductions] So you'll all have more ammunition to mock me with.
Now they are working!
And the last battle was amazing to watch.
all those videos are private. fuck this article!
Awesome Just watched the second video on starpilot, pretty crazy how many people showed up. I wish my school was having a brawl tournamet, sans vomit smell, and lazy craft service guys...
nice battle. back and forth!
gamestop just called signed me up for tourney i'll prolly lose in the first round hah.
that last video is pretty sick
I can't believe the game is finally coming out.
Hurrah for The Life Aquatic soundtrack!
This made me hhok up my Wii for Brawl. I can't wait for Brawl FNFs.
Know about anything not Nintendo related?
Oh YEAAAH
Zargon- Yeah, isn't that a great soundtrack? I'm now desperate for Steve Zissou to be playable in the next Smash Bros game, just for the music that he'd bring along with him to the game.
Im kinda surprised, all the people were using the classic controller. From what I have heard, at least in Japan, the sales of the gamecube controller were increasing along side the sale of Brawl. I guess its a cultural thing, or nobody brought their own controller... that seems weird for a tourny.
It was pretty sweet. There was a whole lot of waiting involved. My naive ass thought I was gonna get in showing up two hours early after a two hour drive from Connecticut. Wrong. Epic Fail.
FYI John, I was the attention whore who yelled "Dtoid rules" when you guys were filming people's feet.
This just in, only 7 months until possible Brawl release in the PAL territories.
Wii Freeloader (Wiiloader??) can't come out soon enough.
Wait...you were at WPI?!
Suddenly, my decision to change majors and schools seems like a bad idea :E
I know that Dan guy, though. Goes to my school. A few people there have modded Wiis and Brawl, so I usually bump into him.
holmes is extremmeeeeeeee
and i was for the guy from compton cause i like nwa:P
nvm he just called it:P
Awesome.
Seven more days... seven more days... seven more d...
WtfitsJared- I heard that!
There was ALOT of stuff that wouldn't fit into the video. That "feet level shout out" was one of them. Too bad, because I loved it.
This is what showed up in the right hand corner right after I posted. Well played, Destructoid. Well played indeed.
Hmm... Dumbed down advanced techniques? I have some friends that are gonna be pretty pissed. However, it doesn't change how excited I am for brawl at all.
Oh, and on your comparison of the WNBA and esports, have you ever seen Starcraft matches in Korea? They're as big as the Superbowl is over here.
Nice write up Tron
Also, i'm still scared of going to buy the game next sunday just to notice it's already being sold out.
Jonathan Holmes your smile scares me.
It's probably not "Team Tacganol" but actually "Team Tacgnol"
Just had to correct that mistake.
sweet vid. HOLMES! i didnt realize you were a funny bastard.
Painuser- Well, that could be, but they spelled it "Tacganol" on the release they signed for me, so I'm not sure.
Spykron- Thanks! I didn't realize I was a bastard either.
I'm no where near as excited for that game as any of those people.
PAH, I confirmed this video on my blog already, you're always so many steps behind Jonathan! SO MANY STEPS BEHIND!
Also, 2000th comment.
Jesus, only seven days?
Lulz at Reaprar.
In that opening thing, it looks like your mouth is filled with blood. Are you ok?
I am one of the two people in the...uh...we were "folk"? Whatever, I can live with that. It WAS supposed to be tacgnol, I'm not sure how that happened. Also, is it possible for you to just youtube the footage of the song? I'd like to see how it came out.
lol useless comment i likr to climb the leaderboardzzz
this final round was a lot better than the LA tournament. i likeyz
Sure, tweekus. I can't say when, but I promise that your rendition of "Still Alive" will make it to the interwebs.
And I'll edit the Tacgol thing now.
Good to have you on the site!
wait, your not black?! i feel so deceived!
Next weekend will be the best ever.
I would have probably ended up punching all of those fuck bags in the face for being complete fucking tools. God damnit i fucking hate nintendo fanboys. they make me incapable of having erections.
The feeling is mutual, Ted. You kill my boner every time.
But I still love you.
just watching that video makes me want to stab people in the face with a soldering iron and then gouge out their vile jellies with a spoon.
Lol.
Next time I go to one of these, I want to bring Ted with me to co-interview.
holy fucknig shit.
i'm going to do whatever i can to get this on launch day. i will kill, steal, whaetever i need to do.
Why does WPI put on good tournaments AFTER I no longer go there? Fuck.... at least I won $100 at a DDR tournament. Still doesn't compare to a good old smash tourney.
Shiek...yes.
That was epic.
Sweet i made in the video. I'm the fat kid with the beard and flannel jacket playing at the free play station. My buddies and I(Julian's the one with the goggles on) drove like and hour from the North Shore after an all night bender. Needless to say we missed the tournament, but managed to get in 7 or 8 free play rounds. It's fucking awesome.
I've played it down the street at my local anime store that has an import copy of the game, and I have to say it's basically Melee with some nice new touches. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact I'm glad they didn't fuck around with it too much. I loves to play the Kirbys ^_^
But I have to say as much as I love it I'm no where near as hardcore as these guys in the video seem to be. I hope they're not the kind of players that run around spamming the Pickachu lightning trick over and over. Those people are no fun to play with.
My friend was sad that his interview bit wasn't in the video, although he did appear on the side. He was the kid with the Luigi shirt who was talking about going nitty-gritty or some such XD
I loved the tournament, though, the 12 minutes I spent playing Brawl out of the 5+ hours I was there was worth it indeed. Out of my friends, I placed highest as I made it to the top 64...Luigi shirt and two other friends fell in the first round (Luigi shirt and I were matched up against each other, which sucked...I tried Wario, he tried Dedede, and Wario agreed with me more than Dedede agreed with him) another friend fell in second round, and I was owned by a cool Pit player in the third round.
Did anyone else notice the input lag on kiosk 7, though?I don't think they set that station up right, kiosks 2 and 4 seemed to have no input lag...unfortunately kiosk 2 was the one I lost on, otherwise I could be scrubby and blame my loss on the lag =P
Wavedashing and L-canceling aren't "advanced techniques." They're game exploits that were not intended to be part of regular gameplay that are frequently abused by tourneyfags. As such, Sakurai removed them because Smash Bros. wasn't meant to be played like that, and also because who cares what tourneyfags think?
Anyways. I'm seriously pumped for this game, and I've already planned a camp-out with some friends the night before it releases.
@Necros:
People who use items aren't playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. They don't deserve it. Right?
Joystiq has a kick ass write up on the event here for those who are interested.
Tell me you didn't just say what I think you said.
I know, amazing isn't it? And they hot linked to my blog in their post as well. I was never a fan of the Joystiq/Destructoid video game blogging civil war. Hopefully this means the war is over.
To quote a truly great man "What's so civil about war anyway?"
Hooooooooooooly crap that was so friggin' intense! I've never been a fan of any items, but that final smash changes the game so damn much. And DAMN that last minute was too crazy.
The Joystiq/Dtoid rift is closing? This is truly the end of an era. I think we know who's fault that was anyway...
Mario Underoos getting tight....
Gamestops are having tournies all over the place, and if I want to play Brawl early, I have to sign up...I can only imagine th