Want to participate in a Brawl tourney before the game comes out? Now here’s your chance. The first tourney is scheduled for Feb. 16 at 3 pm at the Orpheum Theater: 842 S. Broadway Los Angeles, CA, 90014. The price is totally free, and only the first 256 people get in. There are more tournaments planned for San Francisco, Boston, and New York City, but no dates have been made yet. Stay tuned with us for further details.

UPDATE: A Press Release has been put out that gives details of all the dates for the tourney. Check after the jump for the press release.

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Attention all Smash fans: Put up your dukes! Just before the launch of the much-anticipated Super Smash Bros.(R) Brawl, Mario(TM) and friends are hosting four regional Wii(TM) tournaments. The competitions will visit Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and finally New York for a Midnight Madness Launch event at the Best Buy store at 622 Broadway in New York. All of the 256 participants at each location will receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. One lucky grand prize winner will receive a custom-designed, crystal-covered Wii, a home theater system from Best Buy and other prizes. “Super Smash Bros. is one of the world’s most popular game franchises because it draws in characters from across the Nintendo universe and beyond for some all-out fighting fun,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing. “Super Smash Bros. Brawl has extreme appeal among our core audience, but these tournaments are a great way to get new fans involved as well — before the game is even available in stores.”

Each regional tournament will provide the first 256 people in attendance the chance to “brawl” one-on-one with other contestants in a single-elimination tournament to determine a winner in each market. Regional winners will face off in a final multiplayer “brawl” at the New York City tournament.

The grand prize winner will receive a crystal-coated Wii with a design from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a home theater system from Best Buy and a copy of the game. The second-place finisher will receive one Wii system and Wii Remote, one copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a $1,000 Best Buy gift card. The third-place finisher will receive a Wii and Wii Remote, a copy of the game
and a $500 Best Buy gift card. The fourth-place finisher will receive a Wii, an extra Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $250 Best Buy gift card. For more information about the tournaments, visit Nintendo.com.

The tournaments will take place at the following times and locations:

Feb. 16
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Orpheum Theater
842 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Feb. 23
Doors open at 2 p.m.
Ten15 Folsom
1015 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

March 1
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Olden Hall
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609

March 8
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Best Buy (NOHO)
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Super Smash Bros. Brawl features dozens of Nintendo characters, from Mario to Link(TM) to Pikachu(R), as well as new characters like Solid Snake, a gritty soldier from Konami’s hugely popular Metal Gear series, and Sonic The Hedgehog. The combat-filled game lets characters of all kinds brawl until only one is left standing. Its predecessor, Super Smash Bros.(R) Melee, was the best-selling game of all time for Nintendo GameCube(TM). Super Smash Bros. Brawl has more characters, more features and more action-packed fun. What’s more, Super Smash Bros. Brawl uses Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection, which allows up to four players to simultaneously brawl no matter where they are based. For a complete list of characters and features, visit http://www.SmashBros.com.

Nintendo.com press release