'Smash Bros.' TV Spot Has a Super Relevant Scene for College Students
In my day we had to carry a GameCube and four controllers! In the snow!
by Eric FranciscoA new TV commercial for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch is a reminder that a truly portable Smash Bros. experience is just over the horizon.
On Friday, Nintendo released a new commercial for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the next game in the crossover fighting series out on Nintendo Switch on December 7. But rather than promote new characters or what-have-you, Nintendo wisely reminds us how we’re actually going to play: On the go, with friends, literally anywhere. Dorm rooms. Buses. Parties. Hallways. On a bridge (???).
Yes, there was 2014’s Smash Bros. on the 3DS. But the Nintendo Switch’s effortless transition from a home console to portable with no software downgrade is an impossible dream come true. I would have killed for a game like Ultimate on a console like the Switch when I was in college, when it was wildly too clunky to just carry a GameCube, a Melee disc, a goddamn CRT television, and four working controllers to the library.
Seriously: The library! Nintendo actually has young people playing Ultimate in a library in the video you see above, released on Friday. Now, that isn’t really appropriate or respectful, sure but imagine being a stressed out undergrad cramming for finals and having a full-blown Smash game to ease the brain for 20 minutes. It is actually smart Nintendo is releasing the game so early in December, which is when the semester ends and final exams begin.
In MY day, we played 'Smash' on clunky CRTs we had to carry! Uphill! In the snow!
There are other scenarios in the ad that are relevant to adults, too. Commutes on public transport are common. Trendy rooftop parties, unfortunately, less so. (Nintendo really thinks older millennials love rooftop parties.)
Those older millennials likely remember the the fighting mascots the original 1999 ad — watch it below — which is an all-time great. The commercial also included the “Get N or Get Out” tag-line for the N64 console, an aggressive bit of marketing that may have resonated with parents more than kids at the time.
While not flashy or even all that memorable, this new commercial does a bang-up job reminding us that on-the-go Smash is less than a month away. Can I go back to college?
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arrives on Nintendo Switch on December 7.
