Here’s what the first ever Super Smash Con looks like

I’d say it’s a success

Today is the first major day for the first Super Smash Con, taking place in Virginia this weekend. While I covered the major happenings here as well as all the pertinent info you’ll need for tournaments and streams, I also had a chance to walk around the floor itself and get a feel for the con.

All in all, it’s very relaxed, and a ton of people have already showed up — and it’s only midday Friday.

That right there is the major tournament area, where players are hard at work qualifying for the major tournaments. The turnout is actually pretty good, as most of the massive parking lot at the expo center was filled, but there’s plenty of space to walk around inside, and a plentiful amount of arcade cabinets and console stations. In addition to a smaller arcade section and a small gaming museum exhibit, there’s a ton of indie game setups, as well as homebrew spots and retro areas to game in.

My favorite part was probably the little signs that displayed random factoids about the series, like “17 of the 36 characters in Mario Kart 8 also appear in Smash.” It’s not at the size of say, the current era of MAGFest (there were only 12 exhibitors or so here, and although they are across the street from a hotel, the expo center isn’t as massive as your typical con), but again, it’s a great start — I’m looking forward to getting back to catching the matches throughout the weekend.