Hey all you avid news-readers on AIB. You may know me, or maybe not. I’m Dr. Mara Phy, here to bring you the latest discussion at All is Brawl. I’m bringing hot topics and sweet interviews to your computer screen every week! Don’t forget to leave a comment, so you can have YOUR voice heard!
Today’s topic is a big one. It’s about America, or more importantly, two parts of America. The East Coast and the West Coast.
On AiB, or on any other Smash community for that matter, when a Smasher is asked where he or she lives, the asker is usually interested in the Coast that he/she resides in. The Smasher might then respond with “West Coast”, “East Coast”, or even “Mid Coast”.
This simple explanation of where one lives is more than meets the eye, however, and registers with many more meanings to a fellow Smasher.
In the world of Smash Brothers, “Coasts” pretty much identify some people. Joe Shmoe may be a West Coaster, while Larry Jamarry is an East Coaster. Although the two parties share one important thing in common; the love of Smash, they tend to look at each other differently. More region-wide tournaments pop up in the West Coast; therefore some say that the West Coast has more experienced players. The East Coast is bigger, and to have a region-wide tournament there, it would be very inconvenient for people from Maine, for example, to have to travel all the way to Florida.
Therefore some argue that the East Coast is less into Smash as the West Coast. For this reason, the coasts tend to look at each other in a different way, often arguing over the popularity of Smash in both areas. Such an example of this would be the “East Coast Sucks” Group
To further expand on this topic, I interviewed two very intellectual people, one East Coaster, ThrustMasterMango, and a West Coaster, t0mmy.
I asked each of them what they think of their own coasts. Mango said, “The East Coast is bigger than the west, which calls for more Smashers, and our coast isn’t just four states long.” T0mmy, on the other hand, thought the West coast was better because they’ve got “The skills + the fun”, and he also said, “We’ve got beach parties, bikini babes, surfing, and Nealdt. Nealdt can be a good substitute for a bikini babe, you know.”
Next, I asked both of them what they think the OPPOSITE coast thinks of their coast. T0mmy said, “They come off as a little arrogant. I’ve been the target of put-downs…” Mango said frankly, “I think that they believe the East Coast isn’t as competitive in Smash as they are…”
And then you know what I asked next? Haha, I asked each of them what they think of the other coast. Let’s see if their answers match up with what they thought the other would say. Mango thought, “The West Coast is pretty much the same as the East, the only deciding factor on which is better is the location you reside in…”, whilst t0mmy thought, “As far as East Coast goes in the Smash scene… it seems like they’ve got some really awesome players. I can’t wait until Brawl really hits nationally. We’ve had some big events like FAST and OMG happening at the same time, and there was just recently BIO, but it’s been pretty much regional only.”
Lastly, I asked them both an important question. We’ve talked about the East Coast, and the West Coast, but we haven’t spoken a word about the giant stretch of land that connects them; the “Mid Coast”. I asked each of them what they thought about this “Coast”, and how they feel about the Smashers there, that aren’t around many tournaments and such. Mango said, “They surely don’t get the amount of attention that they deserve… They have the biggest region of all of us…The only states I hear of having tournaments are Michigan and Texas…I don’t really hear of any tournies from anywhere else because I don’t know anyone from any other states, and most people add some of those states [in the Mid-Coast] to a coast instead of where they actually are…”
t0mmy’s answer was similar. “They don’t have a coast, no ocean… They miss out on the West Coast vs. East Coast issues…There’s just a lot of space out there in the Midwest, and all my Midwest Smash friends are always complaining that they’re too far away from any tournaments..”
For the full interviews with Mango and t0mmy, check out my blog, here.
I think that although the two Coasts have obvious differences, such as Snow in the East and Hollywood + beaches in the West, the two coasts are connected by a huge bond that keeps not only America, but the whole world of Smash together. That is Super Smash Brothers. And in between them is not a coast, but a vast field of Smash players just waiting to get into the competitive scene.
That’s all for today, everyone. You can tell us YOUR opinions on this issue by leaving a comment!