Issei Nino (COL ‘12) might seem like your typical, over-achieving Georgetown student. He speaks English, French, Japanese, and Spanish fluently and is currently studying Chinese; he’s a regular stud at pick-up basketball games at Yates Field House; he’s a personable, good-looking kid.
But Nino’s most prized talent is not gifted athleticism or scholarly acumen. He is a Super Smash Brothers demigod.
“It’s a game for when I have nothing to do,” Nino said of the classic Nintendo 64 battle game. “But it’s also a game to play when I have a shit-load to do. Smash: my anti-drug.”
As trivial as that may sound, to Nino and several others, Smash is not just a video game—it’s a borderline sport.
Nino and the rest of his Harbin cluster’s group of “Smashers”—Chris Leon (MSB ’12), James Capra (COL ’12), Dave Nulsen (SFS ’12), Sean Smith (COL ’12), Ben Moore (COL ’12), and Ed Hesselgren (MSB ’12)—are some of the foremost Smash athletes on campus and treat the game as an all-stops-out battle.
“Sometimes when you play really intense games, you forget to blink, so your eyes really hurt,” Nino said.
The matches are typically frenzied. Some even end in outbursts of violence, especially when the match goes down to the wire. According to Nino, he has been punched multiple times after wins.
The gang keeps up this intensity for as much as three hours a day every day.
“My parents would not be happy that the reason I won’t graduate in four years is a plastic cartridge,” Capra said.
While Capra’s dry sense of humor may belie reality (he’s currently on track to graduate), that plastic cartridge may not be as big a waste of time as his parents think.
For the boys who play every day, Smash has proven to be more a bonding experience than a game. It features many of the same aspects of a sport—trash-talking, team play, and a competitive spirit.
The trash-talking hits all the sensitive spots, from the player’s weight and clothing to his love life and athletic ability. Leon, the resident jester of the floor, usually can be heard yelling expletives at his opponents and screaming his three-word maxim, “I run shit!”
But the jokes are generally done in fun and games.
“It’s also a way for my Harbin cluster to come together,” Nino said. “I think we have the closest cluster in Harbin, and I think one of those reasons is SmashThe bonding experience has proved the tired aphorism, “practice makes perfect,” as the group has become awfully good at Super Smash Bros.
This past Saturday night, Nino and Co. were challenged by a different group of Smashers to compete in the unofficial Super Bowl of Smash.
A whole semester’s worth of seemingly meaningless procrastination suddenly took on special meaning, as each team was given the opportunity to prove once and for all who had truly mastered his joystick.
Not surprisingly, Nino and Co. managed to defeat their challengers, thanks to Nino’s dramatic last-second kills. But the match wasn’t really about winning. It was just another chance for the boys to come together—this time as a team rather than as opponents—and have a good time.
“The camaraderie of Smash overshadows the victory any day,” Capra said.
But as always, that camaraderie would not be complete without a little trash-talking. Nino, the hero of the match, was not at a loss for words.
“When you beat Smash, the credits roll and say all the Japanese programmers and designers involved in the creation of Smash,” Nino said. “I know my ancestors are looking down on me, proud to see their descendent carrying on their legacy of not just a game, but a lifestyle.”
Good work Tom! You are almost as good of a writer as the pops