As Meta Knight and Link prepared for their final battle, memories of the war that had become their lives flashed before their eyes. The unlikely duo had lost few matches and the lamentations of their enemies’ women stretched throughout subspace. Their next series of mêlées would determine their fates and they would need to depend on one another for survival. As the familiar disembodied voice shouted, “GO,” Link could not help but thinking he was not truly in control of his life.
As the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the true winners of the tournament emerged. “Team Rocawear,” consisting of Information Technologies major Alphonso Mann, 22, and Computer Sciences/IT major, Deontae Mack, 21, the controllers of Link and Meta Knight in the Wii video game “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” would be crowned winners of the LGBT Resource Center’s “Smash for Cash.”
The video game tournament was held Saturday, in the Eastern Michigan University Student Center’s E-Zone, with half of all proceeds going to the HIV/AIDS Resource Center in Ypsilanti, and the rest of the proceeds being given as cash prizes for first, second and third places.
“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” is a fighting game featuring characters from established video games. As one player at the tournament explained, it is easy to play, but hard to master. It is perhaps the only video game featuring such family-friendly characters as Kirby and Mario alongside not-so-cute killers like Snake, from the Metal Gear Solid series.
The tournament’s organizers, graduate assistant to the LGBT Resource Center, Justin Ford, 22, and Theater Arts major Eric Hohnke, 21, had hoped for a larger turnout Saturday, but only 14 people came in to play, less than a third of what they expected. Still, the significantly smaller attendance could not dampen the attitudes of the competitors.
“This is delicious! This tournament is a stew of manly men… and I love stew,” said Chemistry major Xavier Coles, 21, of “The Order,” a team name referencing the Legend of Zelda series.
In other ways, the lower turnout was a blessing in disguise. Due to technical issues, there were only two stations to play the game available. Had there been more participants, the event would have lasted hours longer, with the majority or players simply milling around waiting for their turn.
“I’m really pleased with the event, I think it ran smoothly,” Ford said after the event. “The tournament was a nice pilot and provided a Litmus Test of sorts. Now, if we do it again, which a lot of people are hoping for, we’ll know what to look out for.”
For the duo, deciding on which game was simple. Ford and Hohnke are big fans of “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” and “it lends itself perfectly to tournament play,” Hohnke said.
Unfortunately, one major downfall of the lower turnout was the fewer proceeds available to both winners and HARC. The entry fee was $5 per person and, in the end, Team Rocawear won $40 to split between the two of them.
“I wish more people had come today so that I could have won more money, of course. But I really wish [HARC] could have gotten more from this too,” Mann said.
In many ways, the Rocawear story is amazing in itself. Neither Mann nor Mack owns a Wii, or has played the system in awhile. Furthermore, Mack only learned of the tournament a mere 15 minutes before it began, after Mann called him.
For Link, played by Mack, and Meta Knight, played by Mann, the outcome could not have come at a better time: The two had grown battle-weary, and rest was in order. They could relax knowing they had done their part for Ypsilanti’s HARC.
