Building up to the game’s October 3rd launch, Nintendo has announced four different methods for 3DS owners to get their hands on a free playable demo of Super Smash Bros. offering a sampler package of local wireless multiplayer, five characters (Link, Mario, Mega Man, Pikachu and Villager), and a single map (Battlefield). Let’s count them down:
1. Club Nintendo members who have achieved Platinum status and are subscribers of the newsletter will receive an email containing four demo download codes starting today. The codes provide unlimited play time, but must be redeemed by September 19th.
2. Friends of Club Nintendo Platinum members can get on their hands and knees and beg for one of the three extra demo codes their lucky pal received.
3. All 3DS owners will be able to download the same demo from the Nintendo eShop beginning Friday, September 19th. The only difference is that this demo will have a play count limit of 30 (opening the application from the home menu will count as one use).
4. Participating retailers will offer kiosk demo stations starting on Thursday, September 18th.
Of course, it seems that a fifth way to get the demo has come about that Nintendo probably didn’t anticipate. Apparently, according to a report on Kotaku, some greedy jerks are auctioning off their extra Club Nintendo codes, and some stupidly impatient people are actually willing to buy them for close to the retail price of the full game. This Smash Bros. hype is getting way out of hand. I would never pay even a dime for a playable demo, let alone one that will be available free to all in a week. It’s crazy, I tell ya. Just crazy.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
