Super Smash Bros. Duel! - Final Destination, No Items.

Last night, I was at a friend's house with some old acquaintances from high school. And they started playing Brawl for fun. Now, my character is Solid Snake, and I'm proud of the fact that I know how to use him pretty damn well. So I put my little gold coin down on Snake, and wait for the match to start. As the load screen comes up, I realize that I'm fighting against only one of my friends, on Final Destination, with no items.

Unfamiliar with the item-less play style, I do a little complaining: "I'm not used to playing like this..."
To which a douchebag spectator replies: "What, with other people?"

Mid-way through our match, said douchebag spectator leaves, wishing my opponent good luck on his way from his seat. In my rage, I lost the match by a stock life.

I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I have a big problem with crap like this. Do you really have to give me flak for playing Brawl for fun, and not competition? Honestly, people! I personally think that Brawl wasn't meant to be played the way they were playing it that night. It takes out all the fun!

One of my friends made a good argument: "If you play with items, the game becomes about who gets the better stuff, and not about who's the better player".

But to me, that's just not true. The fun of the game is making use of the items and improvising with them. It adds a factor of randomness to the Smash mix, and it adds excitement and some truly crazy moments to the gameplay. It also requires some level of skill to play with items, as one must know what each one does, and how to use them, to do the most damage. Conversely, if you know how to dodge or avoid an item, then you are the more skilled player and that works out too.

If Mario Kart gave you the option to turn off items, would you do it? Sure, they add a rubber-band instability to races, but they make it fun and interesting. Or else it's just may the best man win, and Mario Kart isn't a sport. To some, Brawl is, but at this point, I'm not into gaming for pure competition. It sort of ruins the experience for me, mostly because I'm not a competitive person. When I am a competitive person, I make sure that what I'm doing is fun, and not just for the purpose of showing off that I'm better than someone else at something.

If that's the way you like playing games like SSBB, that's fine. It's a personal choice, and I respect it. I don't personally enjoy it, but it's okay if you don't like playing that way. Just don't be a douchebag about it. Please.

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