Stoutonia

Issue date: 10/22/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Tou Yaia Xiong Participants spectate while they wait for their turn in the arcade tournament.

Media Credit: Tou Yaia Xiong Champion, Evan Bredendicks (right) and second place finisher, Matt Louscher.

Most video gamers have memories of playing certain games with their friends where bragging rights was the only coveted prize. The Nintendo 64 game console had game titles that most of our generation can relate to: Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark and perhaps the wildest button-masher of all time, Super Smash Bros.

The Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) has continued the legacy that is Super Smash Bros. by holding a tournament for the most recent version of the game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Nintendo Wii.

SIGGRAPH is a student organization that has been around for five years but is still unfamiliar to many people on campus. The group caters to those who are interested in computer graphics, design, gaming and animated movies like "Toy Story" and "9." This particular event focused on the gaming interests of the group.

"I didn't get heavy into gaming until the Nintendo Gamecube era," said current Head of Public Relations and Fundraising and member of the multimedia design program Mariah Fryer.
"I did have an Nintendo Entertainment System and a Super Nintendo Entertainment System growing up because my dad was into gaming."

This fundraiser held on Advisement Day was the first interactive event held by the group. They plan to hold events similar to this one every Advisement Day in an attempt to raise enough money to send the group to Los Angeles to attend a graphics industry convention.

"We want to promote, educate and expose students to current industry trends of graphic design," said President of the University of Wisconsin-Stout chapter and junior in the multimedia design program Tou Yia Xiong.

The 12 participants each paid $10 to play in the tournament with prizes awarded to first and second place. A crowd gathered in the Maplewood room of the Memorial Student Center to watch the mayhem unfold. The format of the competition was head-to-head; the first player with three kills or whoever had the most kills at the end of eight minutes would be the victor. Old-school Gamecube controllers were used in lieu of the more current Wii remotes. Players even came equipped with their own controllers.

"Who would want to play Brawl on a Wii remote anyway?" added Fryer. A whiteboard with a bracket in the format of a March Madness bracket hung in the center of the room keeping track of the winners and losers.

The final match came down to juniors Evan Bredendick and Matt Louscher, both of whom are currently in the multimedia program. The match went to a deciding third game where Bredendick's Pikachu helped him become the first ever champion by taking down Louscher and his character of choice, Wolf. The champion's prize was a video game of his choice for any gaming system. Bredendick chose "Demon Souls" for the Playstation 3. Second place received a $20 gift certificate to GameStop.

"It's better than a gift certificate to Bath & Body Works," said Bredendicks of the second place prize. For more information about SIGGRAPH, visit their Web site at siggraph.clearlydesign.com

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools