Tournament:Super Smash Bros. Brawl American Circuit

The was a tournament circuit hosted by Nintendo of America shortly before the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Four qualifiers were held across the United States between February 16th to March 8th, 2008 with the grand finals being held in New York, NY on March 8th, 2008. The events were organized by Nintendo of America's PR manager, Eric Walter.

Outside of the tournaments, demo kiosks were on display for visitors to play. It is unknown what exactly the demo had unlocked, but versus mode and The Subspace Emissary are confirmed to have been playable.

Ruleset
Official rules The tournament used a single-elimination process for its bracket. Each regional qualifier had a cap of 256 players. Only the starting roster of characters were available for use. Classic Controllers were provided for each player. Players were restricted from playing against their friends or family in the first round.

Game settings

 * Stocks: 3
 * Timer: 4:00 (5:00 during semis and the 3rd-place match, no time limit during grand finals)
 * Items: All on and set to medium
 * Stages: only

Prizing
Winners of the qualifiers received entry into the grand finals and a $500 Best Buy gift card. Winners of the first three qualifiers won a round-trip flight for two to the grand finals, a three-day hotel stay, and a $200 voucher for use within the hotel. (The fourth qualifier took place the same day and venue as the grand finals.) All four qualifier winners were also listed on Nintendo's official Super Smash Bros. Brawl webpage. First, second, and third place runner-ups received $250, $100, and $50 Best Buy gift cards respectively. Participants who did not place within the top 4 received a $10 Best Buy gift card.

The grand finals winner received a Swarovski crystal-encrusted Wii with a special Super Smash Bros. design produced by Crystal Icing, an extra Wii Remote and Nunchuk, a signed copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, an art piece inspired by the game, a LG 42" 1080p Flat Panel LCD HDTV, and a LG 400W XM Ready 2-Ch. Home Theater System. First, second, and third place runner-ups each received a Nintendo Wii console with an additional Wii Remote and Nunchuk and a $1,000, $500, and $250 Best Buy gift card respectively.

Los Angeles
(256 entrants) Grand Finals

San Francisco
(256 entrants) Grand Finals

Worcestor
(256 entrants) Grand Finals Coverage

New York
(256 entrants)

Finals
(4 entrants) Grand Finals

Trivia

 * The crystal-adorned Wii produced by Crystal Icing used over 20,000 Swarovski crystals and was valued at $4,000.
 * The crystal-adorned Wii was at some point sold to rare video game collectible selling website, Combo Point. In September of 2013, Combo Point had placed the Wii for auction on eBay with a starting bid of $20,000. The auction ended several days later with no bids. The current whereabouts of the console is unknown.
 * Prior to the announcement of the circuit, Nintendo of America's PR firm was contacted in July of 2007 by the Worcester Polytechnical Institute's Game Developers Club asking if they were interested in helping host a pre-release tournament. This would eventually lead to Worcester Polytechnical Institute being used as a venue for one of the regional events. The president of the club, Jaime, noted in an interview that Nintendo's response was highly praised and unexpected by members of the club.
 * At the March 8th event in New York, the first North American copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl was sold at midnight.