The video game Super Smash Bros Melee by Nintendo was released as a party game for the GameCube (GC) console in 2001. In 2016, despite the release of two successor games, the game still has a very active fan base. Moreover, the GameCube is now obsolete technology, incompatible with current display technologies and designed with peripherals that have been out of stock for about a decade - yet there are still professional tournaments and a very serious community focused on this game. Nintendo recently remanufactured the original GC controllers to cater to this audience. Through the discussion of the technical aspects of the game, the community reaction, the history, the original intention of the developers and overall marketing aspects, this class investigates the enduring success of the game series. We hope to create insights and understanding that inspires the next generation of game designers to repeat a success like this. Though students may or may not have access to Super Smash Bros Melee (Gamecube) or even Smash 4 (WiiU/3DS), we invite students who play other games – or even no games – to join us in this investigation! You may very well bring in a novel perspective to flesh out our discussion that much more.

Note: this course's main purpose is not to play Smash and learn how to get better, although we do reserve time at the end of classes for students to play. Rather, we will be focusing on why the series (specifically Melee more than others) is successful and go over techniques one can implement into gameplay.