Jigglypuff domination! Eat it! David Arthur, rising Duke senior, has been playing Super Smash Brothers on his Nintendo GameCube for five hours. And now, as he nears the end of a climactic battle, Mr. Arthur delivers a decisive uppercut that sends three nasty opponents spiraling off the screen, sealing his victory ('Jigglypuff" is his character of choice, on which more below). "Raaaaaaaa!" bellows Mr. Arthur.
I asked to attend one of Mr. Arthur's multiplayer gaming sessions at his Central Campus apartment so I could report on the cult sensation that is sweeping Duke and, indeed, much of the nation. I found Super Smash Brothers has volumes to say about the men and women who play it, as well as the American culture in which we live. Mr. Arthur was a natural interview subject.
At age 21, David Arthur has already accomplished more than most of us will in a lifetime. He is a gifted mathematician; the nation's top collegiate computer programmer, as winner of the 2003 TopCoder Challenge; and the owner of the third-highest grade-point average in the class of 2004. But the first thing one learns when talking to Mr. Arthur is that all these achievements are trifles. His one abiding passion: Smash (as aficionados know the videogame).
He describes Smash as "this game where all these old Nintendo characters, like Bowser and Donkey Kong, fight each other on historical Nintendo stages, like the castle from Zelda. For anyone who ever wondered who would win a fight between Mario and Link, it's really an eye-opening experience." This simple format has proved to be exceptionally addictive: Mr. Arthur says he spends 9 to 10 hours at Smash each day in order to keep his skills sharp and his senses at the ready. As for homework, "I really don't have much time at all. It's a good thing math is such an easy major."
Mr. Arthur is a self-taught Smash expert, having mastered Jigglypuff after months of intense training sessions. Jigglypuff, a floating, pink marshmallow-like object, assaults enemies with the "Sleep Attack," whereby she hovers over an opponent's head and falls asleep, somehow in the process sending the victim flying into oblivion. Mr. Arthur isn't quite sure about the mechanics of this wonderously effective attack, but he says, "The fact that you can just destroy everybody by falling asleep is one of the most unique abilities in the world, and to be a meaningful part of that is truly something special."
Asked if he had any long-term goals for improving his Smash performance, Mr. Arthur's face, normally lit up with laughter, grew deadly serious. "This summer, I'm going to play the 99-minute Smash."
It turns out that Smash games are customizable to last anywhere between two and 99 minutes - but 99 minutes of uninterrupted Smash have never been completed. I spoke to Dr. Ali Rafsanjani, an expert on Sufi mysticism at the University of Michigan and two-time Super Smash Brothers world champion, for some perspective. "David Arthur is attempting something extremely dangerous," says Dr. Rafsanjani. "No recorded game has ever broken the 70-minute mark, and all those who tried to do so have been driven mad. But still it is believed that 99 continuous minutes of Smash would cause the player to enter a trance-like state, enabling him to see the Face of God."
That is indeed Mr. Arthur's objective; but as he continues to put himself through rigorous training to prepare himself, I decided to examine the game's broader sociological implications. Though many seem to believe that Jigglypuff can do no wrong, I discovered in the course of my research that Smash has a dark side. Most evident is the way the game channels sexual aggression. During the five-hour session, Mr. Arthur and his friends routinely threaten each other with invasive sexual acts. To my count, opponents are instructed to "suck it" a total of 261 times ("it" referring to a portion of the male anatomy). Defeated adversaries are frequently referred to as having been "reamed."
Smash aficionados downplay their game's significance as a carnal metaphor. "Look, we don't take any of this seriously," says Jonathan Wills, a rising senior and one of Mr. Arthur's longtime Smash partners. "What goes on in Pokemon Stadium [one of the stages on which Smash battles occur], stays in Pokemon Stadium."
But some experts aren't so sure; they see interest in Smash as emblematic of increased male hostility in reaction to post-9/11 trauma. "We all know about the alleged link between video games and real-world violence," says Duke psychology professor Allan Piersall, who has studied Smash in a laboratory setting. "But no videogame I've ever seen combines that violence with repressed homoerotic tension in the way that Super Smash Brothers does. I don't know what these boys do when they stop playing and go home at the end of day, but I would by no means be surprised to find a correlation between Smash and instances of brutal sexual assault." Dr. Piersall said that a more definitive conclusion would have to wait for the completion of further research.
This controversy aside, defenders of the game point to what they call its greatest societal benefit: its use as a tool for the appreciation of diversity. Indeed, I can recall no videogame with a more diverse cast of characters than Smash. Players can choose from characters representing over 15 races - from humanoids to several varieties of Pokemon to "Kirby," who appears to be a sentient ball of red gas. Characters are equally divided between the genders, and any given match can be won by a male or a female (like Jigglypuff herself). Like all great art, Smash appears to have a truly edifying effect: it helps players learn to respect our differences.
"I know it sounds a bit silly, but every day when I see Smash characters of all races and genders battling on an equal playing field, it makes me a little more hopeful about the future of our fitfull world," Mr. Arthur insists. "And it gives me the strength to try and make it a better place. When I see Star Fox [an anthropomorphic, cocky, spacecraft-piloting fox] and the Ice Climbers [a pair of "very close" male mountaineers who fight as a tag team] being able to settle their differences with a fair fight, I just know there can be peace in the Middle East."
It's a noble goal indeed. For generations, wars, international institutions, treaties, trade and acts of goodwill haven't been able to afford men enough opportunity to come together and reconcile their differences. And if a simple videogame can bring us one step closer, I say - Smash on.
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