Joystiq [Nintendo]

Yesterday was Father's Day and there were so many ways to celebrate love for dad. One such way was to just spend time with dear dad playing games. If you're a father yourself, the same concept applies -- spend some time playing games with the kids. Though, if you're reading this, perhaps you've already done your fair share of getting the kids involved with your gaming habits. Anyway, Nintendo thought the idea was good and ran with it this Sunday by holding a Super Smash Brothers Brawl tourney for fathers and their children at the Nintendo World Store. We caught up with some of these father-son/daughter teams to see how gaming has played into their lives.

Paul and his son Samuel arrived at the tourney with a strong game plan. They set out to scout out the competition and "protect each other" when it came time to brawl. Paul himself is a longtime gamer: "I'm old school. Remember Space Invaders?" He's been playing with his son since the N64 days, and we suspect that's where that serious competitive edge comes from. Many other dads, like Larry, had never played games before or rarely did with their children. Larry's sons Jeffrey and Philip got him to go to today's event and try out a game for the first time. Interestingly, he liked it and even said he'd play more often with his kids from now on.

Out of the 32 teams, the most interesting story comes from tourney winners Dennis and his son Michael. "I'm a Zelda guy," said Dennis. The family plays games every weekend. "It's our thing. We play until we're tired." Like Paul's family, Dennis and his kids have been playing together since the N64 days, and like them, they too came with a strong game plan: "We're pretending to not know how to play," we were told. It's a strategy that worked, resulting in them beating out all other father-child duos. Dennis and Michael won themselves a Wii, a trophy, and a copy of Smash Bros. We guess that the family that plays together ... wins tournaments together. Fancy that.