CREDIT: ART BANASZAK / AFFINITY PLAY
Smash Bros. Arena tournaments are a great place to connect with other gamers and participate in the local gaming community.

Affinity Play is organizing several upcoming Super Smash Bros. tournaments for competitive gamers to participate in.

Affinity Play is a community organization specializing in the planning and execution of video game tournaments, with a focus on Super Smash Bros., a popular fighting video game franchise published by Nintendo. Throughout the years several incarnations have been released, including Smash 64, Melee and Brawl.

Art Banaszak, a passionate Super Smash Bros. player for over 10 years, is the founder. Affinity Play began as a grass roots community, but has since exploded into a provincially recognized brand within the professional gaming community. Affinity Play also rents out console equipment and has provided professional live streaming services for various tournaments in the province.

Several tournaments are being held in the near future. The Smash Bros. Arena-Melee tournament is scheduled for Jan. 31 and the Smash Bros. Arena-Smash 64 + Project M tournament will be held on Feb. 7. The tournaments are open to anyone interested in playing competitively, casually and to those who simply wish to spectate. Competitors will be playing for the chance to win a prize pool payout, contingent on the number of entrants.

Other major Smash community members are also running weekly events as a part of the Western Electronic Gaming Association at Western University.

The London Smash community is reaching new heights in popularity and professionality, making now an exciting time to get involved.

There will be several stations at these events available for use by competitors and casual players. As the singles brackets progress consoles will open up for casual play, the competition will take precedence. The event will be BYOC (bring your own controller).

First timers are encouraged to come to the events in any capacity and to connect with other video game enthusiasts in the community.

“With Smash, you’ll always have a great time, whether you’re just coming out to watch, play with your friends or to compete. This absolutely amazing community never fails to deliver when it comes to having fun with these games and the experience of taking them to a competitive level is one of a kind,” Banaszak said.

The tournaments will also be professionally live streamed on Affinity Play’s at twitch.tv/affinityplay. Affinity Play will be organizing Smash Melee at the Great Escape at 1295 Highbury Ave N, and Smash 64 + Project M at Gamerz Block at 769 Southdale Rd E. Venue fees for casual and competitive players will be $10. Competitive players will be required to pay an additional $5 per person for the singles prize pool, or $2 per person, $4 per team, for doubles prize pool. Spectators can attend the event for free.

Affinity Play has deliberately kept the costs to a minimum.

“As long as Melee is living in London and the equipment is paid for, I don’t care about the money, I just want people to come out and play,” Banaszak said.

Online registration is mandatory for competitors and must be completed on the Friday before the respective tournaments at 10 p.m. Registration is free and can be completed via the Affinity Play Facebook event pages. For full event details visit facebook.com/AffinityPlay.