DawnStar Video Games and Arcade co-owner Dakotah Coates, cosplaying as Luigi in the foreground, poses with Super Smash Bros. tournament participants at The Answer Brewpub in December 2021. (Photo courtesy Dakotah Coates)
DawnStar Video Games and Arcade intends to Smash the Byrd on March 3 when it hosts a public Super Smash Bros. charity tournament at the historic movie palace.
Smash Bros. tournaments, where people play Nintendo’s hit video game using a bracket-based elimination model, have been increasing in popularity across the country. There are even weekly and monthly competitions held locally around the region, along with a few pop-up events.
Thursday’s Smash the Byrd tournament is an opportunity for spectators to witness characters such as Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pikachu battling it out on the big screen. This is the first time the theater has held a public video game competition in its nearly 95-year history.
When The Byrd Theatre temporarily closed at the onset of the pandemic for safety reasons, they pivoted to hosting small, private movie and video game parties. “We were really trying to be innovative in ways in which we could use the theater and bring people in, especially in the beginning when we weren’t allowed to have large crowds,” says Director of Marketing and Programming Lisa Rogerson. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve been able to increase the number of people who can come in, but what we’ve found, though, is that people really enjoyed these private opportunities, so we’ve had a number of private video game parties, and people thought that was kind of cool.”
Dakotah Coates, co-owner of DawnStar, was working part time at the theater last year, and when he saw the potential of playing video games on the big screen, he started brainstorming about how to host a tournament there. DawnStar is no stranger to organizing Smash Bros. tournaments; they tour the East Coast hosting them and hold a Thursday-night competition at a rotating roster of local locations including The Answer Brewpub in the Near West End and Star Hill Beer Hall & Rooftop in Scott’s Addition.
Wanting to give back to the community for this event, DawnStar has partnered with nonprofit Extra Life, which raises funds for children’s hospitals through playing games. Coates says the majority of proceeds from Smash the Byrd will directly benefit the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU.
The competitors’ bracket is full, with 30 to 35 slots already filled, but for spectators, Coates says Richmond’s Smash Bros. community is electric. “Smash Bros. [tournaments] always bring such an energetic, awesome, super cool crowd.” Since this is a charity event, there’s no cash award, but top placers will earn prizes from local businesses including DawnStar, Black Ninja Design, and Bits and Pixels and, of course, bragging rights.
Adding to the fun, attendees will also hear live tunes from the Pay Rent Brass Band, who will perform classic video game songs. Zorch Pizza, located across the street from The Byrd, will be serving video game-themed slices on event day. Cosplay is also encouraged; Coates says both participants and spectators can dress up as their favorite Super Smash Bros. characters.
Richmond native and brand strategist Christopher Reed will be donning a Link costume, based on the protagonist of the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, his favorite character to play as. He’s entered this Thursday’s competition and says he’s most looking forward to having a good time and supporting a great cause. A frequent participant in local Smash Bros. tournaments, he says his competitive spirit keeps him coming back, but the camaraderie is also a huge draw.
“The tournament atmosphere is great. I love it because it’s a friendly competition,” Reed says. “It’s an environment that you can learn from, that you can grow in, and really get your mind ready for competitiveness outside of the [tournament] because that’s what I do. I take what I learn and implement it within other areas of my life, like my business, because you need to be competitive in business, you need to be competitive in anything like a career, so that’s what this sort of atmosphere has taught me. I don’t know if it’s taught that for anybody else, but I will say it’s taught me that.”
Coates opened DawnStar in August 2019 at 1507 Altamont Ave. in Scott’s Addition with co-owners Andrew Griimoiire and Meaghan Riley. Since that time, part of their core mission has been to bring the community together through events. “We’ve amassed such a cool, awesome community of people that I love, and I love seeing my friends every week that I’ve been able to make through doing these events,” Coates says. “That was always our goal was to bring the community together behind DawnStar.”
Coates says he hopes Thursday’s charity event will become an annual tradition. “This is going to be the biggest event that we’ve ever done, but hopefully we’ll be able to do it again next year.”
As for the possibility of The Byrd adding video game tournaments to its future programming, Rogerson says, “In terms of a big game tournament like what Dakotah [Coates] is putting on, really it’s our first one, so we’ll see how it works and see if it’s a good fit for the future.”
Tickets for Smash the Byrd cost $10 for spectators and are available now at DawnStar Video Games and Arcade and at The Byrd Theatre’s box office on March 3, beginning at 6 p.m. The competition begins at 6:30 p.m. For more information about Smash the Byrd, visit facebook.com/dawnstarvideogames.
