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[TheDinoman]

http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/list/old_list01.html

Time sure does fly, right?

This was definitely one of the greatest pre-release marketing for any game. I remember waking up every morning in suspense of what the next unveiling would be.

I definitely loved Smash 4's character trailers, but I also love how Brawl's newcomers were randomly revealed right out of the blue. You wouldn't imagine my face when I woke up on the faithful morning of October 10, 2007 in a drowsy state, only to get online and see the page slowly load while the words "SONIC" appeared....

...and also see "Brawl delayed!" appear, lol.

 

[PorygonVandal]

Oh boy, I seriously miss all the Japan Time craziness

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

Still one of my favorite gaming update sites of all time. I remember staying up until 2AM-3AM for a full year waiting for updates and hoping/praying if a new character would be revealed. Awesome stuff.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I'll do it! I'm doing it!

 

[Onaco]

I realized that they updated at 2AM Central Time and stayed up at night waiting. Then sometimes I would stay up and forget it was only updating on weekdays and not Saturday or Sunday.

 

[What did he mean by this?]

Was my home page for a good bit

 

[Toxi]

I literally would stay up until 2 in the morning for this shit.

 

[sleepwalkcapsules]

You wouldn't imagine my face when I woke up on the faithful morning of October 10, 2007 in a drowsy state, only to get online and see the page slowly load while the words "SONIC" appeared....

I would, because I had the exact same situation...

Man, I had crazy FOMO at the time, I woke up really early to see the updates.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I loved it, it was awesome.

Everything surrounding and including Brawl make it my favorite Smash.

 

[Layell]

It certainly helped me wake up every morning before school.

 

[Platy]

God tier marketing for a game, and something very few games can even dream of being able to pull off

 

[Jackano]

How many random item micro update for one awesome character reveal?

Aah, good times!

 

[LeleSocho]

Japan Time engraved in the brain

 

[Ryce]

The Dojo was the best pre-release gaming experience I've ever had. I wish more fighting games were marketed similarly.

 

[DecoReturns]

I actually went 100% spoiler free for Brawl. Didn't really have internet and never knew about the dojo.

I say it was better seeing Snake and Sonic as challengers approaching for the first time then seeing a screenshot.

 

[Tom Nook]

DAMN IT!!

The title of the thread suggests a new Smash Bros game. LOL

 

[Dark Cloud]

I remember checking it every day and was so excited to see it updated!

 

[Lights and Waves]

Totally forgot about this.

 

[Exotoro]

DAMN IT!!

The title of the thread suggests a new Smash Bros game. LOL

No it doesn't?

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Nothing will ever, EVER compare to the absolute fury that was unleashed onto the internet on the day of "You must recover!"

One of the best times I ever had building up to a game. So many insane memories and every day was a major event. That cryptic "This world" update that creeped us all out. Lovingly ribbing the quirky way they translated Sakurai's writing style. Vague wording on Lucas's update making people think Ness was cut. Suddenly dropping amazing music tracks like the legendary Ocarina of Time medley. The blue balls when a new character popped up and we would suddenly realize it was an assist trophy and not a newcomer. The revelation that Sakurai provided the voice of King Dedede. Can't believe it's seriously been that long.

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

It was hype. Mainly from hearing the Melee menu theme every day.

 

[Tom Nook]

On Oct 10th 2007...

BOOM!

Good times.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

Good times. Would always check the updates before going to school. Was late to school the day Sonic was revealed due to the excitement.

 

[Stopdoor]

I remember the Giga Bowser update as a random standout, just felt like anything could be revealed, random music clips, the Subspace Emissary update being black instead of white.

Man. What a hype machine.

 

[Griss]

Yeah, it was an incredible way to build excitement. You had to check it every day.

On the down side, I already felt like most of the truly great characters had already been added to the series, so this began the 'dilution' of the quality of the roster. Still, the likes of Pit, Sonic, Diddy and Meta Knight were awesome reveals and additions.

I don't think this kind of site could have that same appeal again.

 

[bobbychalkers]

An injection of hype directly to my veins....I remember feening for Japan-time.

 

[TheDinoman]

One thing I'll always remember was that really dreadful period back in November. This was when they were showing off stuff we already saw through the playable E for All (remember that shit?) demos and some other useless stuff like the Handicap feature and being able to charge certain special moves. What a joke, lol. It was just a bunch of filler to accommodate the game being delayed for some months.

 

[OricWindstar]

I'd always check it right before going into school and, before we'd even say hi, my friends and I would immediately give our reaction to whatever the update was.

Man, I feel old.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I remember when snake was on there

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

A.k.a biggest cocktease ever

 

[mrmickfran]

I remember being broke as fuck and having no internet, so I went to the library every day to see the update.

 

[Green Mamba]

The greatest video game marketing ever. I still quote this stupid website to this day.

 

[JordanN]

I was in Grade 9 when the Dojo began.

I would wake up early in the morning to check the website, and report back the news at the start of class.

 

[TeamLeftMatch]

That site was amazing. I remember going with my brother to see what new news would show up and freaking out over sonic in smash. That site is what made the wait for Smash bros brawl infuriating.

 

[Fandangox]

Seing Sonic pop there out of nowhere was really something. That said, I prefer Smash 4 approach with the character trailers and deconfirming Takamaru a la dojo style.

 

[Zareka]

Holy crap I totally forgot about this site. I'd visit it every single day to see what they'd have up next. Hell I'm pretty sure this was before my family had a PC and I'd head on over to the public library JUST to get on it.

As a long time Sonic fan, I can't describe how hype I was when he was announced. I couldn't contain myself.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Happy anniversary. I remember those days.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

I used to wake up at 5AM every day to watch Pokemon on YTV, but later that changed to me waking up at 5AM so I could check the Dojo and then chat about it on GameFAQs before going to school.

I'll never forget how I woke up the entire house because of how much I freaked out when Sonic was revealed. Yeah, it was delayed the same day which stung really bad, but man, after years of being a massive Sonic fanboy, watching Newgrounds flashes and waging forum wars about it, Sonic VS Mario was finally real! I didn't care!

 

[Torokil]

Still the most hyped I've ever been for a game. I remember the night Sonic was announced on the website.

The Wii U updates just weren't the same - no random new challengers out of nowhere.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Get to school at 8am -> check Dojo -> complain update isn't a new character -> repeat

 

[Mr. Smiley]

God

It meant the world to me that Sonic was in Smash. That summer(or fall) morning was magical. In the end I hardly used him and mained Kirby. lol

 

[C.Olimar788]

Loved the Dojo, even if it eventually made the final experience of Brawl much worse for how insurmountably-high it brought hype levels to. Nothing is ever likely to be quite like it again.

 

[Garmonbozia]

Good times... I loved checking it every day with my brother, trying to guess who would be the next character to be revealed.

 

[Oblivion]

I had a hundred times more fun keeping up with the Dojo Updates than I did with the game that spawned it.

 

[whitemex88]

There were days I'd stay up until 2am or so to see what the next reveal was always hoping it'd be a new character. So many disappointed nights when it was just an item reveal.

 

[jwhit28]

What was more fun was the build up every night only to be greeted by something like the beam sword.

 

[Icelandic_Jazz]

I still haven't recovered!

 

[Acerac]

Bonsly walks around.

 

[BitStyle]

Man, the DOJO was the best. Had me looking forward to the weekdays. We need something like that for the next Smash Bros.

 

[ChrisD]

No exaggeration, this was the single best lead-up to any game, ever.