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It's here! Well, I guess not until tomorrow, technically, but it might as well be, as most of us will be securing our copy of the game via midnight launches nationwide. A few of the more dedicated Smashers will even be playing tournaments sponsored by Gamestop to celebrate!

I've enjoyed doing this little countdown feature. Yes, it was a few days shorter than I wanted it to be. Eh, having parents fly in and having to do my taxes this week (teh sux0rs!!!) sort of crushed my hopes.

In any case, what I planned for the last day before we all dove into Smash Brothers headfirst is a semi "Open Discussion." The question: How did you get into the Smash Brothers Series?

Now, I normally despise "Open Threads/Discussions" because it is a lazy blogger's way of saying: LOOK, I GOT NOTHING, OK?

So, in order to prove that is not the case here, let me share my personal story:

I totally missed out on the original Smash Brothers, as well as most of the better Nintendo64 games. See, I was burned by Nintendo, and I was mad at them for losing Final Fantasy and for sticking to cartridges, leading to long waits for games as well as higher costs.

One day when I was in college I visited my sister. She had stayed completely in the Nintendo fold, and had a Gamecube. Loaded into that Gamecube was Smash Brothers Melee. I started playing around with it, and was totally hooked. At the end of that semester, my junior year, I ran out and bought a Gamecube and of course Smash Brothers immediately.

It became the number one multiplayer game in my lineup. My friends and I would all cram into my apartment and play long, marathon sessions, sometimes setting up matches that would last 45 minutes or longer. My friend Jason in particular dominated; he always played Doctor Mario, and that "phew! phew!" sound of those darn pills that the good doctor throws haunted our dreams!

Meanwhile, my wife, who at this time was not only not my wife, but wasn't even my girlfriend (I didn't even know her, we didn't meet until 2004), was babysitting for a family who had a child with cancer. Of course this is trivial compared to the medical and spiritual support that got them through that (the child is OK today), one of the little things that helped them was playing Smash Brothers Melee. When I heard about that, I took note of how Nintendo is able to make these family friendly games that everyone can play, and I salute that.

So.... what is your Smash Brothers story? Share them as we prepare to Brawl tonight!