So there he was. TCA English teacher and video game club advisor Mr. Alen Merced is piled with stacks of work but all he was thinking about was “Do I have the time to set up a tournament for my game club members to enjoy?” TCA students have been stressing about regents exams and finishing high school, so Mr.Merced was trying to brainstorm a way to make a tournament. Now, of course this needs planning and administration approval. He needed time and place on a specific day, he needed equipment, and of course, he needed the prizes. Thanks to his hard work the first official Smash Bros Tournament was a complete success.
Mr. Merced and members of the TCA Video Game Club believe that games can change people for the better. Mr. Merced’s passion and interest led him to meet Jessie Rodriguez from the Dominicanos USA, “one of the most renowned and respected Latino organizations in New York City”. (More about DUSA here.). Through Jessie, Merced met a lot of people with a similar passion for gaming which ultimately allowed him to meet Domingo Cruz.
Domingo Cruz is from the Washington Heights Family Enrichment Center which is a community based organization that helps people find a space where they can relax and enjoy healthy activities. The Family Enrichment Center is expansive yet secluded and peaceful community space located on 408 Fort Washington Ave. in Washington Heights. (Check out their site here.). This welcoming community space is an ideal place for studying, playing, relaxing, or gaming, The Family Enrichment Center is perfect for anyone to decompress after a hard day. And it would also be a perfect venue for our tournament.
But enough about that now, where was I….ahh, the tournament. So, tournament day happens and the whole group is walking towards the destination. After almost getting hit by cars twice, we arrive at the bus depot and head down the escalators. Once inside we immediately get the setup ready and I go on to interview a few people. The tournament itself was alright, I’m pretty sure everyone got something obviously a certain Tj Montana aka Tion Long, a student who won the tournament. After his victory he challenged his one true opponent, a retired smash bros vet, his named Victor. Victor was a menace when he was in high school, some guy would literally call him the silent assassin because he would not talk when he fought. After he left for college, he never really had time to game since he was so focused on his work. Even so, Victor despite being retired humbly whooped Tion. It got so bad that Tj even started saying “PLEASE VIC I NEED THISSSS” It was all pretty funny. After that, we all ate Wingstop which was so good I couldn’t help but to take seconds. After that, we thanked Domingo and we promptly gathered our stuff and left. That day really cemented the game club and our start to the gaming community as a team and we hope to grow bigger and bring more people to give opportunities to students and kids who want to learn about fighting games. This is more than just a tournament, this is about building a family and growing it until it becomes a massive patch of grass on the dirt.
So, you may be wondering “what is a super smash bros?” Super Smash Bros is a platformer fighting game in which different characters from several game franchises get together and beat each-other up. From Nintendo to Sega, there is a wide variety in characters to choose from. Now that you know at least the basics of the game, lets talk about the tournament. Essentially the first two battles were a five player brawl to decide the proper brackets and after that we move onto 1v1 fights. If you got out first during the five person brawl then you were out and if you lost your bracket fights in the 1v1s then you were also out for good. This would go on until the final battle of the bracket where the winner would take the grand prize. Tion Long aka TJ Montana obviously won the tournament but since Victor was there it makes you wonder if Victor would have left with those headphones and not Tion. I personally think that Tion would have bitten off more than he could chew honestly. But in the end Tion’s skills won over Victor’s experience. Tion won a new pair of headphone. The tournament was really exciting and I am hoping for future events like this to talk about or to participate in. If you ever want to join these events then just talk to Mr. Merced and he will hook you up to the spot.
