While Smash Bros. has long been a staple of get-togethers among gaming friends, many thought that the real appeal for Super Smash Bros. Brawl would be its online game modes. Their presence, however, has drawn criticism because of the lack of features like voice chat, online leaderboards and the continued presence of the Wii "friend codes." Critics have pointed out that the game suffers from lag during random matches, and GameDaily BIZ has personally witnessed a 'two-minute match' take well over five minutes real time to complete.

Show me your moves!
Nintendo has heavily hyped Super Smash Bros. Brawl since the first trailer of the game was shown off at E3 2006. The game also received a series of TV spots demonstrating the gameplay and featuring those "Wii Would Like to Play" guys, keeping in lockstep with Nintendo's functional if unsurprising ad campaigns. The one element that probably helped promote Super Smash Bros. Brawl more than anything else, however, is Smash Dojo, a website updated every weekday giving official updates and status reports from the game's director, Masahiro Sakurai.

"The Dojo was operated by the designer of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Masahiro Sakurai, who engaged fans of the series with daily updates for almost a year to feed their hunger for constant updates about even the most minute details," said Kaigler. "It was provided in seven different languages and at its highest point had an audience of more than 7 million."

"Leading up to the launch of the game Nintendo held four regional tournaments allowing fans to compete for thousands of dollars worth of prizes from Nintendo and Best Buy and, of course, ultimate bragging rights," she added. "Thousands of Super Smash Bros. Brawl fans participated in the events held in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and New York City. It was a great way to get new fans involved as well - before the game was even available in stores."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl will likely go on to be among the year's best selling games, with only Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit poised to eclipse it. Despite this, a sequel for the game isn't likely any time soon. Super Smash Bros. Brawl released nearly six and a half years after its predecessor, and given Nintendo's seeming abandonment of the typical console cycle, who knows how long we'll have to wait for another Smash.