View source for Super Smash Bros. Slamfest '99

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[[File:Slamfest99 EdEspinozaCollection Image6.jpg|thumb|The combatants in the ring at Slamfest '99.]]

'''Super Smash Bros. Slamfest '99''' was an official promotional event held at the {{iw|Wikipedia|MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park}} in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 24th, 1999.<ref name="ign">[https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/04/22/nintendo-stages-smashing-fight Nintendo Stages Smashing Fight - IGN (04/21/1999)]</ref> Organized by Nintendo of America and public relations firm Golin/Harris,<ref name="gamexplain">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coa7gZdAUMM GameXplain interview with Ed Espinoza]</ref> its purpose was to promote the release of ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' The event featured a real-life, staged wrestling match between costumed performers dressed as [[Mario]], [[Yoshi]], [[Pikachu]], and [[Donkey Kong]], performed in front of a live audience. Additionally, demo kiosks were set up for attendees to preview the game.<ref name="ign" /> The costumes used were the same as those seen in the [[List_of_commercials_for_the_Super_Smash_Bros._series#Super_Smash_Bros.|North American commercial]] for ''Super Smash Bros.''

The wrestling match was broadcasted live on the web via [[Wikipedia:RealPlayer|RealPlayer G2]]. A downloadable file was available from the event's official website for several months following its conclusion, allowing users to watch a rebroadcast of the match when loaded into RealPlayer.<ref name="website"/> Despite the rebroadcast, no video footage of Slamfest '99 is known to survive, and the broadcast is currently considered {{iw|Wikipedia|lost media}}.

==Event details==

Slamfest '99 was a joint production between Nintendo of America and public relations firm Golin/Harris International, Inc, and was produced and scripted by Ed Espinoza of Golin/Harris.<ref name="gamexplain"/> It was held in the "Salem Waterfront" district at the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 24th, 1999, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM PST.<ref name="ign"/> The match, which took place in a boxing ring initially slated for use in an upcoming Mike Tyson fight<ref name="ign"/>, was performed and choreographed by Cirque du Soleil actors<ref name="gamexplain"/> and lasted for 17 minutes<ref name="nwr">[https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/5291/this-beats-monday-night-raw This beats Monday Night RAW! - Nintendo World Report (04/26/1999)]</ref>.

The costumes used in the match were created by California-based KCL Productions. They were previously used in the [[List_of_commercials_for_the_Super_Smash_Bros._series#Super_Smash_Bros.|North American commercial]] for ''Super Smash Bros.'', and later in various Nintendo-related advertisements and events. KCL Productions had no involvement with Slamfest '99 beyond initially providing the costumes to Nintendo. 

Promotion for Slamfest '99 was deliberately limited in scope as a cautionary exercise in the wake of the {{Iw|Wikipedia|Columbine High School shooting}} earlier that week, as it had spurred controversy surrounding violence in video games.<ref name="gamexplain"/>  More than 100 children from the Andre Agassi Foundation were invited to the event, as well as six members of the media,<ref name="winnipeg">Winnipeg Free Press, April 29, 1999, pp. C10</ref> including an Associated Press photographer. While the event was not mentioned in ''Nintendo Power'' magazine around the time period, several print publications and numerous online gaming outlets covered it.

==Firsthand accounts==

{{cquote|Mario and Donkey would start the match. Donkey Kong, being much larger than our favorite plumber, quickly took Mario out. Yoshi came in and got his revenge on the gorilla. Pikachu would come in for the monkey only to be knocked down by Yoshi's lethal tail. Then, before anyone knew it, Mario went crazy. He wiped out Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and his own teammate, Yoshi. Ultimately, the match would end in a crash which knocked out everyone resulting in a draw. "Everyone's a winner!" the announcer yelled.|cite=Zelda 64 Planet<ref name= zelda>[https://z64central.tripod.com/specials/smashbros/slamfest99/ Zelda 64 Planet's Slamfest '99 special]</ref>}}

{{cquote|Mario and Yoshi were on one team, Donkey Kong and Pikachu were on the other. It was quite funny to see the life-size mascots bouncing around a wrestling ring. Mario went on a crazed rampage hitting everyone in sight, and instead of Yoshi, Donkey Kong accidentally hit himself with his 'mallet of doom.' And in the most heated moment, all four mascot smashed into each other in the center of the ring, and all fell to the mat. That's right, in true Nintendo fashion, it was a draw...and everyone is a winner!|cite=Nintendorks<ref name="nintendorks">[https://web.archive.org/web/19990822130126/http://nintendorks.com/news/04-26-99/ Nintendorks News 4-26-1999]</ref>}}

{{cquote|Even the ref got in on the act, biting Pikachu’s ear and declaring that it tasted ‘like chicken’. Mario shocked us with his low blow antics and Kong knocked himself out with his own magic hammer, but they all wound up best of friends at the end, the match being declared an honourable draw.|cite=N64 Magazine<ref name="n64mag">N64 Magazine, Issue 29 (June 1999), pp. 13</ref>}}

==Broadcast==

The wrestling match was broadcasted live on the web via {{iw|Wikipedia|Real Time Streaming Protocol}} (RTSP) and could be viewed in an application that supported the protocol, namely RealPlayer G2. Nintendo's website provided a link to an InternetBroadcast.com domain, which hosted an informational webpage for Slamfest '99 as well as the data for the broadcast.<ref name="website">[https://web.archive.org/web/19990908073715/http://media.internetbroadcast.com/nintendo/19990424/product_announcement/ Official Slamfest '99 Website (archived)]</ref> InternetBroadcast.com was a web broadcasting service owned by the company MediaOnDemand.com.

A [[Wikipedia:RealAudio|Real Audio Metadata (.ram)]] file was available to download from the event's website for several months following its conclusion, which allowed users to watch a rebroadcast of the stream when loaded into RealPlayer.<ref name="website"/> The .ram file was not an actual encoded video file, but rather a container file that would direct RealPlayer to stream the video from the URL it contained.

The URLs which hosted both the .ram file and the address it pointed to are currently non-functional, as are their archived counterparts in the {{iw|Wikipedia|Wayback Machine}}.

==Legacy==

In the years since it took place, Slamfest '99 has never been referenced in any official capacity by Nintendo, and maintained an extremely obscure status even among fans of Nintendo and ''Super Smash Bros''.

No video footage of Slamfest '99 is known to survive, and the broadcast is currently considered lost media. However, some non-video content has surfaced, such as photographs, magazine articles, written firsthand accounts, and archived snapshots of the event's official website in the Wayback Machine. Additionally, a talking Donkey Kong plush figure from the "Nintendo Collectibles" line was found featuring promotional material for the event.<ref name= brain>[https://twitter.com/ForcedUserX/status/1260070575659253760 ForcedUserX's DK Plush featuring promotional material for Slamfest '99]</ref>

In May 2020, André Segers of the YouTube channel GameXplain published a tweet recalling Slamfest '99,<ref name="andre">[https://twitter.com/AndreSegers/status/1259900063653888009 André Segers' Slamfest '99 tweet, 5/11/2020 ]</ref> which garnered the attention of members of the Lost Media Wiki. A coordinated search effort to find the broadcast footage was launched by the Lost Media Wiki in the following months.

In February 2023, a collection of new high-quality photographs from Slamfest '99 were uploaded to social media by members of the Lost Media Wiki.<ref name="kotaku-2023">{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/nintendo-smash-bros-wrestling-wwe-wcw-pikachu-mario-1850115376|title=In 1999 Nintendo Had A Real-Life Wrestling Match Starring Mario And Pikachu|last=Plunkett|first=Luke|work=Kotaku|date=February 15, 2023|accessdate=February 16, 2023}}</ref> The photos were provided to the Lost Media Wiki by Slamfest '99's producer, Ed Espinoza.<ref name="kotaku-2023"/>

==Gallery==
:''For more images, see: [[Super Smash Bros. Slamfest '99/Gallery]].''

<gallery>
Ed Espinoza posing with Mario and DK at Slamfest '99.png|Slamfest '99 producer Ed Espinoza posing with Mario and DK outside the ring.
Slamfest '99 photograph from Nintendo Magazine System.jpg|Photo from ''Nintendo Magazine System'' article, Issue 75, June 1999 
N64_Magazine_Slamfest_2.png|Photo from ''N64 Magazine'', Issue 29, June 1999. 
Slamfest '99 - Donkey Kong photograph .jpg|Donkey Kong at Slamfest '99.
Slamfest '99 - Z64Planet Collage.png|A collage of Slamfest '99 images from the ''Zelda 64 Planet'' website.
Slamfest '99 - DK vs Mario.jpg|DK and Mario duking it out in the ring.
SlamfestTicket.png|A ticket that came with a DK plush promoting Slamfest '99.<ref name= brain/>
Slamfest99 EdEspinozaCollection Image7.jpg|Yoshi and Pikachu sizing each other up.
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.lostmediawiki.com/Super_Smash_Bros._Slamfest_%2799_(lost_livestream_of_promotional_event_for_Nintendo_64_crossover_fighting_game;_1999) Lost Media Wiki article detailing the search effort for Slamfest '99]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVecmBolhvs LSuperSonicQ investigation video]
*LSuperSonicQ update videos [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-W7tvYkgjI #1], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKMeh6HnXhA #2], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFoLxXVxHU0 #3], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_afZJqG7Kk #4]

[[Category:Super Smash Bros.]]
[[Category:Events]]