It all started with a group of friends meeting in the basement of a dorm hall to play video games. At the beginning of the 2015 fall semester, nearly one year ago, one of those friends decided to transform his love for gaming into a student club called CSU Smash Club.
Created by CSU student Makoto Gamblin, the CSU Smash Club is now a group of about 200 video game enthusiasts who meet on campus to compete against each other in the wildly popular video game franchise Super Smash Brothers.
Super Smash Brothers is a famous Nintendo game that takes characters from many popular franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Mario Brothers, Metroid and Pokemon and puts them against each other in battle.
The CSU Smash Club meets once a week in the Behavioral Sciences Building and once a month in the Lory Student Center to play against one another in an attempt claim the ultimate reward of being the best player in the club.
Since then the club originated, the membership has grown from about 20 people to over 200. Due to this increase, Gamblin sought aid from his two friends, John Eskin and Adam Jacobini, to help organize and structure events.
“The drive for people participating in our club is due to their motivation to be the best and to be ranked,” Gamblin said.
When players partake in tournaments, they have the opportunity to be ranked in the system according to their performance.
“Ranking serves as a visible representation of being the best,” Gamblin said.
CSU Smash Club participant Josh Horner has been a member of the club since the spring 2016 semester. He said he loves the competitive nature and spirit behind the game that brings players together.
Gamblin said casual players are welcome to attend CSU Smash Club, but he warns that the competitive players who are members of CSU Smash Club are on a “whole new level.”
Horner is one of the more competitive CSU Smash Club members. Previously ranking ninth in the city of Fort Collins, he is expecting to rank seventh this season.
For more information about the CSU Smash Club, visit their Facebook page. They will also be at the CSU Club Fair on Sept. 7.