When Joshua Bell, senior in animal sciences pre-vet, and Jared Vaughn, senior in biomedical sciences, became assistant directors of UPC Special Projects, they asked themselves how they could reach a wider audience. Their answer was "Super Smash Bros. Brawl."
Bell said almost every man has played the "Super Smash Bros." series at one point or another, so Special Projects set up their "Super Smash Bros." Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 23 in the Student Center Game Room.
"We're supposed to be about the entire student body, but the people who normally come [to UPC events] are normally freshmen or people who are on campus," Bell said. "We don't really branch out too much."
For the past few years, the Special Projects committee positions were held exclusively by women, according to Bell.
He said this led to many events which many men found unappealing, such as jewelry workshops and Girls' Night Out, an event that gives makeup advice.
"We want some testosterone in the system, if that's OK," Bell said.
That's not to say the Special Projects committee didn't put on events appealing to men as well.
An event by last year's all-female Special Projects committee inspired Bell to join UPC.
The event was dart art, which is when darts are thrown at paint-filled balloons mounted on a canvas.
"A lot of girls are more creative than a lot of the guys, myself included -- very much so," Bell said. "They can come up with these brilliant events. So it's nice to see that creative side and try and do my best to be as creative as I can."
This was UPC's first attempt at a video game tournament.
Bell said he expected to have approximately 20 people show up, but more than 40 people came to compete in the tournament.
UPC received additional support from Button Mashers Anonymous when Kyle Jordan, president of Button Mashers Anonymous and graduate student in biological sciences, extended a helping hand after hearing about the event. "Thank the good Lord that they did," Bell said. "Praise Jesus for Button Mashers Anonymous, that's all I've got to say."
Jordan kept track of the bracket and directed players to the proper station.
Some contestants gave aliases, so Jordan was heard approximately every five minutes yelling names ranging from "Pig Norton," to "Nice One," to "Johnny Donut."
"They definitely publicized this event very well," Jordan said. "I saw a lot of new faces and lot of people I didn't know but were still very good. That was really exciting. New competition is always great."
Button Mashers Anonymous provided three of the five Wii systems and extra copies of the game used at the event.
Bell said he originally planned to have a four-person free-for-all for each round. However, Jordan explained to Bell that these types of rounds lend themselves toward bad sportsmanship.
In a free-for-all match, every player is pitted against each other, so three players can team up and immediately knock out the best player from the match.
"We decided that one-on-one would keep the sportsmanship alive while keeping the competition flowing," Jordan said.
In a tournament to decide the best player, free-for-all matches could prevent the best player from winning. That player was Philip McDaniel, senior in geography.
"I beat a lot of people who weren't really good at the game, just to put it bluntly," McDaniel said.
McDaniel is also a member of Button Mashers Anonymous, and he said he plays a lot of "Super Smash Bros."
He has been playing "Super Smash Bros." since its original release in 1999 for the Nintendo 64.
McDaniel said he was impressed overall by UPC's attempt at holding a video game tournament.
"I think it's pretty cool, and I wish they would host more game tournaments and maybe collaborate with the other gaming clubs here," McDaniel said. "I've been to one in the past and it seemed like it took a long time. But I really wish they would host more UPC tournaments."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
