Live for the Game: Sophomore plays video games competitively and hopes to make a career out of his position

Video games first became a part of Evan Albano’s life when his dad brought home every 8-year-old’s dream gaming console — the Wii. He began playing through the worlds in Mario Bros. and competing in tennis and bowling on Wii Sports, whether it was alone or with his neighbors. Now a sophomore, he’s gone through three Wiis since then— with his current “man cave” featuring a Wii U, a XBox 1, a PS4, a PS3 and a Nintendo Switch. 

According to Albano, he has spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on gaming, contributing to his collection of games, consoles and figurines. He likes to keep his game room clean, with only a TV, couch, and his consoles — that means fewer distractions. 

He’s used these tools to become more competitive at Super Smash Bros.Ultimate, placing first in a tournament held by the robotics department and 25th at the Title Bout XIV Tournament held through Kansas City Esports Expo.  He plans on competing in the next tournament held by robotics — to defend his first place title.

Fridays after school in Game Club, Albano is one of the 15 students that chuck their backpacks against the orchestra room walls and start to scream ‘Put me in coach’ as junior Page Frommelt selects different avatars on the Nintendo Switch. Diddycon, Luigi, Donkey Kong. Albano almost always opts for Bowser. The music stands fold into makeshift tables to play the card game Magic, and the projector is pulled down for the main event — Super Smash Bros.                                                           

Game Club recently started up again after previous sponsor, physics teacher Mr. Southwick, left East last year. The club isn’t only for intense gamers like Albano — anyone is welcome to come, whether they only play video games at the meeting or have a Minecraft server open all seven hours of the day. 

Albano competes in Super Smash Bros. tournaments within GameClub — he sometimes records videos of the matches, which feature occasional sabotage and lots of celebratory cheering. But according to Albano, the club isn’t just about bragging rights for winning first place in the latest tournament, it’s about meeting people who also spend their nights exploring games. 

“[Super Smash Bros.] means a lot to us,” Albano said. “It was released on Dec. 7 of 2018, and since then we’ve played it. It’s a celebration of games in itself. That’s one of the only things we play in the Game Club, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Albano is working on getting his name — SuperSeven — well known in the gaming world, by playing competitively and having a singular name for all players to call him. 

According to game club president junior Ethan Mara, Albano brings his competitive nature and knowledge to Game Club. He coaches the other members before tournaments, helping them with both handling the controller and handling the opponent. 

“Fighting games, including Smash, are very intricate,” Albano said. “There are numerous techniques and details to master. Smash has over 70 characters, and each one is like a whole new ball game — you can’t play Pikachu the same way you play Mario, usually.”

But as he helps the other players — Albano almost always comes out on top of the tournaments.

Albano knows all of Bowser’s attacks in the game through and through, and can name them all. He’s been playing the Smash series for years, and first became competitive about it in January 2019. According to Albano he’s gotten seven times better since then. And with colleges beginning to offer Esports as a varsity sport or major, Albano has the opportunity to not only continue with his passion, but also profit from it.  

“I don’t know anything about colleges yet, but if I could apply to a college where they have Esports, I would love to do what I love as a legitimate career path,” Albano said. “There’s something here, definitely.”

Park University, located just 40 minutes from East, is one of the 170 schools that offers Esports as a varsity collegiate level team. And according to head coach Ashley Jones, it’s played just as competitively as any other sport the school offers. Although Esports is not a traditional sport, over $16 million is available in sports scholarships around the country and many teams train competitively. 

Although Albano is interested in pursuing a career in gaming, he’s happy spending his Friday afternoons as Bowser and joking with other game club members about their place in the tournament. Albano isn’t exactly sure where gaming will take him, but right now he is content with where he is. 

“We are pretty happy with where we are, we’ve got a lot of gifts and a lot of hope for the future, and that’s something we all like,” Albano said.