[Smash World]

Site Name: Smash World Forums
URL: http://www.smashboards.com
Description: A gigantic community of Super Smash Bros. players from around the world. Find Smash Bros. tournaments and tons of tips and strategies for all the smash brothers games, including the upcoming Smash Bros. Brawl for Nintendo Wii.

Reason for Nomination:
The depth of the Super Smash Bros. video games has led to the development of a large, devoted tournament community. Smash World Forums has grown into a home for these competitive Smash Bros. players. In 2002 and 2003, the first tournaments began appearing on Smash World Forums. Many of these tournaments were held in a member's basement, and open invitations were placed on the website. Early on, some people would drive 5-6 hours to get to a location where there might only be 10 players. Now players use Smash World Forums to organize and to find tournaments from all over the country. And thanks to companies like MLGPro, which soon after began hosting large tournaments with cash prizes, there are many gamers that are now considered "professional" Smash Bros. players.

Tournaments are now held regularly all over the world, with large communities centered in the United States and Canada; north and western Europe, including The Netherlands, Sweden, and France; Australia; and Japan. Almost every tournament is organized through Smash World Forums, using our calendar and tournament rooms. Big tournaments like Melee FC6 have seen over 200 participants!

Nintendo recognized the uniqueness and importance of this community and interviewed Smash World Forums, discussing the great scope of the competitive community that Smash World helped to start. This interview appeared in Nintendo Power Issue 195 (September 2005).

Now, with the release of Nintendo Wii, a third Super Smash Bros. game called Smash Bros. Brawl is scheduled to be released in the near future. Smash World Forums is dedicated to continuing to provide a central location for Smash Bros. players all around the world. With the upcoming release of Smash Bros. Brawl, our forums are bustling with more member activity than ever before. We cannot even guess how the tournament scene will change when the new game comes out, but we are optimistic!

Smash World Forums was created in Aug. of 2001, and we hope to continue providing the services of the site to all fans for many years to come.