I like small competition. As opposed to the big times. The stakes are lower, but the adrenaline rush is just as big, victory is just as thrilling, and the players have enough social skills that they can actually talk and have a good time with one another when the games aren't playing.
A couple weeks there was a shindig at the house of a guy named Gus. Gus was a friend of a friend's younger brother - a friend of a friend of a friend. Nevertheless, I showed up at Gus's house, as did about 25 others. I suddenly found myself in a room warmer than hell, surrounded by high schoolers of all ages, 99% of them male. Well, maybe 92%, since 1% female in a group of 25 would equal out to one guy being 1/4 female and that's just gross.
After a few rounds of 6on6 Halo (a feat accomplished with no less than four big-screen TVs and Xboxes in the same house), our party loaded up Super Smash Bros. on the biggest of the big-screens and organized a tournament with 32 players - 24 or so humans and 8 computer players.
In the third game, one guy suddenly whined aloud when he realized he was matched against Gus in the first round. Apparently, Gus was the king of all things SSB, the winner of the previous tournament, and the only person alive who can use Ness worth a damn at all. Gus easily defeated his opponent, a nameless lowerclassman from Lamar.
The very next game was myself against a similar nameless lowerclassman. Easy win. 12 more games come and go to complete the first round of the tournament. Oh shit, I say to myself as I realize my next match is against Gus, the god himself. I take up the controller and ready up, figuring I'll lose but I'll at least put in some effort and see what kind of fight I can put up.
Gus gets himself situated and readies up. The map is set to Onett. Thank God it's a decent level. He kicks my ass close-range, then he kicks my ass long-range. I'm up to about 80% damage while he's comfortably at 20%. I finally manage to get in some good shots, bringing it up to 80-70. He throws a good Smash attack and kills me right as a Warp star falls where we had fought. On my second life I rush straight over to the Warp star, and for some reason Gus hasn't grabbed it. I make a guick grab at it and nail him with a direct hit, and we're tied at 0% and two lives to go. A few "ohh's" come from the crowd of 20 or so watching the match - apparently it was some kind sign of defiance against the tyranny of Gus and Ness.
In the second life I definitely hit my stride and managed to kill Gus before I lost the life. This threw the crowd into a frenzy and suddenly we had a tense moment on our hands. As Gus killed me in retaliation, a disappointed "awwww" came out and we returned to our tie: 0 to 0, one life left. Gus started to slip - I hit him across the map with a couple easy shots. I take a lead and the tension comes back, stronger than it had been before. Gus quickly fights back, and soon it's 80-70, myself in worse shape. I fly over him as he holds a green shell and shield in mid-air in anticipation of his throw. He waits until I begin to fall to the ground and then throws the shell and takes me out. Gus wins. The crowd screams with indeterminate emotion and Gus shoots up out of his chair and celebrates his victory for a split second before turning around and throwing out his hand to shake mine, pushing out the words 'that was close' while trying to regain his breath.
And the minute I lost, I gained the knowledge that the next game we play, I'll win. I feel these things.
In the next round, Gus lost for the first time ever in competition to Thomas, who went on to win the tournament. We, the seniors, truly rocked Gus's party. Here I thought we were just playing for fun all this time.