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Gaming At SMASH! 2012

SMASH! is usually all about Japanese culture, especially anime and magna. You have anime screenings, cosplay competitions full of anime and manga characters, even artworks of anime and manga characters. However, SMASH! seems to be somewhat more. While it isn’t the focus of the convention, this editor discovered another love: video games. Located in the Vendor Hall, the gaming arena hosted a selection of video games for the fans enjoyment. With that said, no gaming companies were showing off any new games as the gaming area was brought to SMASH! by the Sydney Gamers League (SGL).

What did attendees have a chance to play? Well, nothing upcoming, which isn’t a surprise but it is a little bit of a disappointment. Considering the SGL brought the gaming area to SMASH!, it would have been interesting to see a deal being made between SGL and an upcoming competitive multiplayer game, which was the focus on the gaming area. What would have been a shock would have been an appearance of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Yes, it is wishful thinking, but it would have fitted what was on offer.

So, what was on offer? A lot of competitive multiplayer games of course. Attendees could get their hands on Street Fighter X Tekken, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and much more. Outside of fighting games, Mario Kart Wii made an appearance, as well as Halo: Reach. A surprise addition was the Kinect. Yes, Microsoft’s own motion camera was at SMASH! 2012. The only game available, however, was Kinect Adventures, the bundled in game. Even FIFA 12, a game I would never associate with an anime and manga convention, made an appearance.

While the current generation dominated the area, a certain 5th generation console was the main focus. I talk of the Nintendo 64, the successor of the Super Nintendo. Before I get to Mario Kart 64, which was the main game at the area in fact, a second Nintendo 64 favourite made an appearance. That game is Goldeneye 64, one of the first console first person shooters to offer competitive multiplayer. People loved it as they got the chance to obliterate their friends in 64 bit glory. Of course, it was free for everyone to play on.

The main game had to be Mario Kart 64 as the SGL hosted a friendly tournament. Those who were interested registered on the day. The rules were simple to understand. Each race in the bracket was double elimination, which meant only two races (the top two in the race) would go through to the next round. Each track is chosen at random from the Star, Mushroom and Flower Cups. Eventually, only four players remained and race on one of the most famed tracks, the Rainbow Road. It was a great tournament and a great final race. The Sydney Gamers League  and SMASH! organisers did put on a great gaming area, where fun was always the name of the game.

Be sure to check out the official SMASH! website and our SMASH! 2012 section here on Capsule Computers.

Joshua Spudic
Joshua Spudic
Josh is the name, writing is my game... well my degree will say that. But, when uni gets me down (and it does), there is no better way that to grab a chair, sit back and slicing up some DarkspawnI started my gaming interest back in the good old 16 bit era with the Sega Mega Drive and Sonic The Hedgehog 2. I was roughly five years old. To this day I still try to fire up the dusty companion and speed through the wacky and bright levels, jumping on some Badniks, collecting those damn Chaos Emeralds. Then I moved onto Sony's disk based console the Playstation (thanks to my uncle). Since then I have picked up each of Sony's consoles from the 5th to current generation that has been released in Australia (with more to come).In terms of writing about games, I am quite new to the field. I started out late last year with my own blog before deciding to move to greener pastures. I have written a few reviews for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable. Features as well. I hope I can flex my muscles while writing with Capsule Computers.If I'm not gaming, however, I'm writing narratives. I am currently trying to kickstart a high fantasy novel (which, hopefully, turns into a complex RPG) that I want done in five years or so. My passion of writing has been there for a long time and has flourished as I grew. I'm into the fantasy genre, both games and novels, and thoroughly enjoy a deep and complex RPG, whether it comes from the East or West.Oh and anime is awesome!