Apex (tournament series)

Apex
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2015
Sport Electronic sports
Fighting games
Founded 2009
Country United States
Most recent champion(s)
  • SSBM: Kevin "PPMD" Nanney
  • SSBWU: Gonzalo " ZeRo" Barrios
  • SSB64: Daniel "SuPeRbOoMfAn" Hoyt
  • SSBB: Elliot "Ally" Bastien Carroza-Oyarce
Most titles Adam "Armada" Lindgren (3 titles)
Founder Johnathan Lugo (resigned)
Official website Apex

Apex is an annual esports tournament held in New Jersey that focused on fighting games, specifically Super Smash Bros. The event's first incarnation was in 2009 with Jesus "Jman" Fernandez as the champion of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce as champion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each year the event grew with more competitors entering. Apex 2014 garnered 629 entrants and was the 2nd largest tournament for Melee at the time after EVO 2013. Though the tournament initially focused on Brawl, the feature game has since switched to Melee due to its popularity.[1] In 2010, an event for Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 was added. In 2014, the fan modification of Brawl, Project M was added for singles only. Project M has recently been removed as an official event out copyright concerns under Nintendo of America[2] sponsorship and Third Party relations.

Apex 2015 is officially sponsored by Nintendo of America[2] and is currently the largest tournament for Super Smash Bros. in history.[3][4] Apex has been nicknamed the "Super Bowl of 'Super Smash Bros.'" by Ben Lindbergh of Grantland.[5]

History

Apex was founded in 2009 by Johnathan Lugo, known by his alias "Alex Strife", as a Super Smash Bros. tournament. The tournament also hosts side events which include fighting games such as Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, Tekken, and others.

Apex 2009

Apex 2009 was hosted at the Clarion Hotel Palmer Inn in Princeton, New Jersey. The tournament featured Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Melee.

Apex 2010

Apex 2010 was hosted in New Brunswick, New Jersey at Rutgers University–New Brunswick's College Avenue Student Center. It featured Melee, Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 64.

Apex 2012

After a one year hiatus, Apex 2012 returned to New Brunswick, New Jersey at Rutgers University's College Avenue Student Center. It featured Melee, Brawl, and 64.

Apex 2013

Apex 2013 was again hosted in the College Avenue Student Center at Rutgers University featuring Melee, Brawl, and 64. In Super Smash Bros. 64 top eight players who tied played for individual placing.

Apex 2014

Apex 2014 was hosted at the DoubleTree hotel in Somerset, New Jersey featuring Melee, Project M, Brawl, and 64.

Apex 2015

Apex 2015, which ran from January 30th to February 1st, included Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 64. It was initially hosted at Clarion Hotel Empire Meadowlands in Secaucus, New Jersey and featured the largest Melee tournament to date with 1037 entrants, making it the first Melee tournament with over a thousand entrants.[6] Super Smash Bros. for Wii U included over 800 entrants.

The tournament was officially sponsored by Nintendo and included a playable demo of Splatoon.[7] Apex dropped Brawl fan mod Project M from its 2015 lineup and all of its qualifiers.[8] Streaming for fangame, Super Smash Bros. Crusade, has also been denied.[9] Lugo alleged he received poor reception for the dropping of Project M from some members of the community.[10][11] In January 2015, Lugo announced he was stepping down from Apex after multiple media reports alleging sexual harassment by tournament attendees.[12][13]

After a fire alarm was accidentally set off on the morning of January 30th, fire marshals discovered that parts of the hotel were in violation of safety codes. The marshals removed access to the ballrooms, which had a partially collapsed roof.[14] The main tournament was delayed for a day and was moved to the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset, New Jersey.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Chris Higgins (26 January 2015). "The battle for best brawler continues at Apex 2015". Red Bull. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Steve Watts (2015-01-09). "Nintendo Sponsoring Smash Bros. Tournament". IGN. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  3. ↑ Omar Sohail (2015-01-16). "Super Smash Bros. Tournament start date Jan. 30; : Nintendo to sponsor Apex 2015 tournament". Christian Today. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  4. ↑ Rob Crossley (2015-01-12). "Super Smash Bros Tournament Endorsed by Nintendo". GameSpot. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  5. ↑ Lindbergh, Ben (2015-02-18). "Fight Club: Catching a Beating at the Super Bowl of 'Super Smash Bros.'". Grantland. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  6. ↑ Garrett Jutte (2015-01-25). "Apex 2015 Will Be the Biggest Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament Yet". Guardian Liberty Voice. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  7. ↑ Jason Gallagher (2015-01-21). "Rumor Patrol: Nintendo to Show Off Surprise Game at Apex 2015?". Game Rant. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  8. ↑ Joe LoGuidice (November 17, 2014). "Project M expunged altogether from Apex 2015, including Salty Suite". Esports Heaven. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  9. ↑ Chris Priestman (2015-01-26). "Super Smash Bros. Fan Project Told Not To Stream During Apex 2015". Siliconera. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  10. ↑ Ian Walker (2015-01-12). "Apex 2015 Becomes Largest Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament of All Time, Registration Extended One Day". Shoryuken. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  11. ↑ Ian J. Barker (2014-11-10). "Fighting game organizer targeted with death threats". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  12. ↑ Daniel Lee (2015-01-20). "Melee It On Me – Alex Strife steps down from Apex". MeleeItOnMe. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  13. ↑ Schreier, Jason (2015-01-20). "Smash Tourney Organizer Steps Down Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations". Kotaku. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  14. ↑ Schreier, Jason (2015-01-30). "Smash Tournament Relocates After Hotel Violates Safety Codes". Kotaku. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
  15. ↑ Wilson Conde (2015-01-30). "Apex 2015 video gaming tourney moved after Secaucus hotel cited for fire code violations". NJ.com. Retrieved 2015-01-31.

External links