Sophomore general studies major Kary Texada (left) and senior marketing major Tyler Laiche (right) compete against each
other in Super Smash Bros. while freshman art major Ryan Moore (upper right) watches on.
The group meets regularly to play Smash together.
The Lion's Roar/Alex Brainard
The Student Union is known as a main point on campus to gather around with friends and socialize. Whether people there are eating, hanging out or even gaming, the Student Union is full of activity. One such attraction for students may be to gather around with people and play a game known as “Super Smash Bros.”
Nintendo has been a successful gaming company that has produced beloved franchises and characters that people have come to know and love today. In 1999, Nintendo released a game under the name of “Super Smash Bros.” The game places many beloved Nintendo characters such as Mario, Link, Pikachu and others to collide in a fighting style type game.
The most recent game is titled “Super Smash Bros.,” also known as “Smash 4.” “Smash 4” has become a popular game in all kinds of places for people to play.
“We typically just go into the union and if we see somebody playing, we normally hop on or if somebody has a console we just plug it into a booth and play,” said senior marketing major Tyler Laiche. “I basically started the group a year ago. There were people that played ‘Smash’ before, but I started the bulk of the group. If anyone wants to play I always tell them to come play.”
“Smash 4” has been a way that students have united together and created bonds while meeting others without being in an organization.
“‘Smash Bros.’ is big over here,” said sophomore general studies major Kary Texada. “I’ve never had this many friends before. ‘Smash’ is taking a common interest and we’re all building knowledge off of each other and we’re furthering our experience with the game. Based on that experience, I have multiple friends I meet up with in classrooms. If I didn’t play ‘Smash,’ I wouldn’t know who they were. ‘Smash Bros.’ has definitely grown and made more friends than I ever could have.”
According to Laiche, he has always wanted to build a “Smash” group. The group is open to anyone if they want to play. Laiche encourages those who are interested to join them in the Union.
“If they don’t have a controller or anything, I’ll let them use mine,” said Laiche. “As long as everyone is having a good time ,I don’t care who plays. Everybody has a great experience when they come in the Union.”
According to Texada, Laiche and he have been building up this community together for a long time.
“It feels really good, I helped make something that hopefully doesn’t close within the next year,” said Texada. “It’s the sense of creating the legacy here at Southeastern that really makes me happy about it.”
Laiche also has a “Smash Bros.” Facebook page built for students on the campus. To find the page, log into Facebook and search Selu Smash.