'Brawl' Release Attracts Warm-Blooded Gamers

By Connect Mason Reporter Daniel Sims

At least 100 customers lined up outside the Burke Centre Gamestop at 10 p.m. on March 8. Some huddled on the ground under blankets, some crowded around portable DVD players or iPods, some played Nintendo DS games, but most shuffled around for a couple hours, waiting for the midnight release of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Customers who reserved a copy of Brawl – the sequel to the best-selling Nintendo Gamecube game – were encouraged by Gamestop to arrive at the store by 10 p.m. Some came as early as 9 p.m. even though they were not admitted until after midnight.

Some said they simply had to have it first. Others planned all-night parties around Brawl.

“It’s a great party game,” said customer Brend Johnson.

Mike Ferguson, a customer who had played the Japanese version of Brawl, released on January 31st, had difficulty explaining exactly what made the game worth standing in freezing weather for. He said he enjoyed playing the game to feed his ego, referring to the competitiveness of Super Smash Bros. games.

At least one person was worried that the number of pre-orders for Brawl may not meet the demand, as was rumored to have happened with the Japanese release.

One person said they anticipated the game for the same reason they anticipated the John Madden games every year – to see the tweaks and improvements made with each release. However, as popular as it is, Super Smash Bros. is not a yearly franchise.

Brawl is the first Super Smash Bros. game released since Super Smash Bros. Melee came out in December 2001 – a few weeks after the Gamecube’s launch.

A new Super Smash Bros. game was among the first announcements made when Nintendo revealed they were making a console to succeed the Gamecube in 2004.

Since May 2007, game director Masahiro Sakurai has maintained a blog detailing many of the new features and improvements that would appear in Brawl, helping foster an entire culture of anticipation for the game.

After Brawl was released January in Japan, many anticipating the game from outside Japan spent the last two months reading information and watching YouTube videos offering further details on the game from Japanese players.

In anticipation for the American release, certain Gamestop stores like the Fair Oaks mall location began the first round of a nationwide tournament in Brawl where up to 32 people competed to go to the district finals on March 15th at Springfield Mall and Chantilly. Regional finals will be held on March 29th and the finals on April 12th.

Prizes will be awarded to winners of every round. The grand prize is an LCD TV, a Nintendo Wii, all currently released Wii games and $5,000 in cash.