The competitions will visit Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and finally New York for a Midnight Madness Launch event at the Best Buy store at 622 Broadway in New York. All of the 256 participants at each location will receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. One lucky grand prize winner will receive a custom-designed, crystal-covered Wii, a home theater system from Best Buy and other prizes.

"Super Smash Bros. is one of the world's most popular game franchises because it draws in characters from across the Nintendo universe and beyond for some all-out fighting fun," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "Super Smash Bros. Brawl has extreme appeal among our core audience, but these tournaments are a great way to get new fans involved as well -- before the game is even available in stores."

Each regional tournament will provide the first 256 people in attendance the chance to "brawl" one-on-one with other contestants in a single-elimination tournament to determine a winner in each market. Regional winners will face off in a final multiplayer "brawl" at the New York City tournament.

The grand prize winner will receive a crystal-coated Wii with a design from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a home theater system from Best Buy and a copy of the game. The second-place finisher will receive one Wii system and Wii Remote, one copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a $1,000 Best Buy gift card. The third-place finisher will receive a Wii and Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $500 Best Buy gift card. The fourth-place finisher will receive a Wii, an extra Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $250 Best Buy gift card. For more information about the tournaments, visit Nintendo.com.

The tournaments will take place at the following times and locations:

Feb. 16
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Orpheum Theater
842 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Feb. 23
Doors open at 2 p.m.
Ten15 Folsom
1015 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

March 1
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Olden Hall
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609

March 8
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Best Buy (NOHO)
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Welcome to a brawl for the ages, where anything can happen, anyone can show up and all bets are off.

This action-packed fighting game features a ridiculous number of characters that have appeared on Nintendo platforms, from Mario to Link to Pikachu ... to Solid Snake! As they square off in famous locales drawn from the rich history of Nintendo, literally anything can happen - and usually does. With limitless customizing options, items and weapons that boggle the mind and a wealth of modes, this game has truly infinite replayability.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl features a sprawling adventure mode called "The Subspace Emissary" that's a full game in and of itself. Players jump and brawl their way through enemy-packed side-scrolling levels, meeting up with other characters, watching incredible cinematics and taking on massive bosses.

For the first time, this celebrated series is going Wi-Fi, allowing up to four players to brawl, no matter where they may be. Specific modes will be announced in the coming months.

In multiplayer games, characters from all Nintendo universes meet up in Nintendo locales to duke it out. In the solo mode called "The Subspace Emissary," the world of Smash Bros. is invaded by an entity called the Ancient Minister and his army of creatures, called "The Primid." Normally, characters come alive in the world of Smash Bros. to do battle, then turn back into trophies when defeated. However, the Ancient Minister starts turning characters into trophies to harness their power, then detonates bombs that suck pieces of the world back into his realm of Subspace. Eventually, all the characters must work together to defeat the invading creatures from Subspace - this is accomplished by playing through side-scrolling levels.

How to progress through the game: For multiplayer games, players pick characters, set rules and locations for where they want to play and then duke it out. In Solo Mode, characters play through a long, side-scrolling adventure, beating up enemies along the way as they watch short cinematics starring their favorite characters.

Mario, Samus, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Solid Snake, Meta Knight, Kirby, Pikachu, Zero Suit Samus, Link, Zelda, Pit and Wario, to name just a few. Anyone and anything from a Nintendo universe could appear in this game in one form or another.

Anything from a Nintendo game could conceivably be in this game, whether it's a musical score, an obscure item or a character that shows up to help the fighters. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is eminently customizable, so players can choose the frequency of items appearing, adjust musical scores and basically play the game however they'd like. Items range from baseball bats to proximity mines to Poké Balls to Assist Trophies, which spawn characters like Hammer Bros. and Sim City's Dr. Wright to attack others.

On March 9, 2008 Super Smash Bros. Brawl is going Wi-Fi, allowing up to four players to brawl, no matter where they may be.