Wednesday, September 21, 2011

StreetPass Princeton: Event 5 Report!



The Nintendo 3DS is entering its first Fall season, and StreetPass Princeton is entering its first Fall season, too. StreetPass is the wireless communication between 3DSs and allows players to swap data without the need to directly connect with each other. StreetPass Princeton was formed to allow Princeton gamers a means to collect StreetPass data for their 3DSs and has since evolved into a regional gaming group for the 3DS and potentially other platforms in the future.

Since its inception, StreetPass Princeton has been to Princeton's Panera Bread,the Quakerbridge Mall GameStop for a Dead or Alive: Dimensions tournament, a park picnic just inside Princeton, and an online gathering in light of Hurricane Irene.

This month, StreetPass Princeton returned to the Quakerbridge Mall Gamestop to hold an event dedicated to Nintendo’s newest multiplayer 3DS title: Star Fox 64 3D. As people walked in, they could see a flyer for the event hanging on a promotional poster, and just below that stood the heads of StreetPass Princeton, holding their handhelds and playing a match of the title game’s Battle Mode. If attendees were a little hungry, free cookies and snacks were provided in the back of the store, where the other members gathered around.


No time for Zynga. More time for SNACKS!

Those who approached the event were handed a sign-up sheet, on which attendees could list contact information as well as opinions on the group and what they could do for the group in the future. From there, people joining the tournament were asked to provide a dollar for an entry fee in order to participate; otherwise, the event was free for gamers to have fun.


Here be dragons...er, or Star Fox Tournaments...

The Star Fox 64 3D Aerial Ace Tournament set players in groups of four against one another in Battle Mode, using random levels, new power-ups, and large health bars. Some of the matches were set to five kills, while others were set to seven kills. Those in last place would be eliminated, leaving the final group of four in a face-off in the Meteo battleground. The action got hectic at times, and those who were not there to witness the matches, StreetPass Princeton has created a video of the event on their Youtube page, which you can see below. The top winners received a five-dollar, ten-dollar, and fifteen-dollar gift card for Gamestop, although first place also had the option to select a used DS game for up to fifteen dollars. The tournament was a bit on the quick side, but at least it happened!



Even after the tournament was completed, Star Fox 64 3D remained the main meal of the day, especially for co-founder Nick Oehlberg, who proceeded to run through the game’s expert campaign and collect medals along the way (he even let us photograph the images of him beating this mode: here, here, and here. Other multiplayer matches were held for the fun of it, because as for a number of attendees, this was the first way to play multiplayer Star Fox 64 3D at all, and needless to say, it was quite fun. Furthermore, Agent Spectre, who runs the StreetPass Princeton forum, was selling Pokemon models and candy for five dollars apiece, which was quite a deal according to some of the people there. The money earned from the sales of said Pokemon items will be going into producing a banner for StreetPass Princeton’s future events.


I never knew Pokeball technology had been implemented into cardboard cartons...

As time progressed, the event moved outside of the store to the benches, and from there, other people looked at the handhelds to see what we were playing, and a few more 3DS owners new and old stopped by to see what was happening. A group photo was made just before the end of the event, with most of the attendees in the shot. It was a bit smaller than the Dead or Alive tournament in June, but considering the game of choice, I was not entirely surprised. Still, it was a fun event!


We barely escaped the Gamestop alive. We celebrated with games!


A jolly bunch of gamers, we!

The future of StreetPass Princeton is looking pretty intense for the rest of the year. On October 21st, the group will be heading back to Panera Bread on Nassau Street, where cosplay is encouraged, Just Dance 3 will be appearing, as will Skylanders and the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition! Then, come November 6th, the group will gather at Princeton's Palmer Square to witness the official tree-lighting ceremony, and probably enjoy 3DS gaming fun along the way! December is still floating around, but no doubt Mario Kart 7 will take the event by storm. As for next year, co-founder Rob Oehlberg said to expect some adventures outside of Mercer County for the first few months, as the group continues to grow.



Rob runs around setting up the event while gamers play on.


The paparazzi has become paparazzied. That's a word now. I made it. Copyright!!


Apparently Wolf is a Dunkin Donuts kind of a guy.

If you are interested in learning more about StreetPass Princeton and its events, follow the group on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, or join the Official Forums!

1 comment:

  1. It was fun playing at the event. I was the guy who got second. I could have been first if it wasn't for that firebird.

    ReplyDelete