On the surface, Genesis 7 was yet another successful entry to the legendary tournament series. However, the events that took place outside of the game play are causing an uproar in the Smash Bros. community. Complaints about cars being broken into and places outside the tournament not being safe are causing players to question if the tournament series should remain in the bay area.
The Genesis tournament series has held every single installment in northern California. Starting with Genesis 5, the tournament series moved to the city of Oakland. According to Forbes, Oakland is the third most dangerous city in the country meaning that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that even at a friendly Smash Bros. tournament, not so friendly things happened.
Over the course of the event, players started posting on Twitter saying that their vehicles had their windows smashed and their belongings stolen. Many players have stated that the area around the Oakland Convention Center where the tournament took place, was not a safe area. Even the tournament organizers urged attendees to not leave anything in their cars and to try parking in a garage.
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR VEHICLES THIS WEEKEND.
Try to park in parking garages and not on the street or in parking lots with no security. The Bay Area is unfortunately notorious for car break ins.
Please spread this PSA to everyone you know that is attending. TY!
— Genesis 7 @ #G7 (@Genesis_Smash) January 24, 2020
Unfortunately for some, these tips didn’t do any good as multiple reports came out of car windows smashed in both in the hotel parking garage as well as the street. Some people lost valuable items.
Never thought I’d be making a post like this, but worse came to worse. At G7 my car was broken into and items were stolen. More details in the link below, but PLEASE be safe out here. Any donations and RTs would really help me out! Thank you! https://t.co/hyxrWpQSgC
— #TeamZero | FOW! (@fowskate) January 31, 2020
At G7, on Sun. morning me and my friend’s car got broken into. Unfortunately, some of our stuff was stolen. I’d love for my friends to at least get their laptops b/c of school. I’d really appreciate any donations and retweets. Thanks!!https://t.co/2jrf4fw56p
— NachosdaDog (@NachosdaDog) January 29, 2020
Reports like these have caused players to voice their resentment against the location of the tournament.
My car was parked in an outdoor parking lot all night on Saturday and never got touched.
5 of my friends have had their cars broken into at the Genesis venue’s parking lot.God I fucking hate Oakland so much please stop hosting Genesis in this shitty city.
— R3 Aves 🧢 @ Home (@Aves_SSB) January 27, 2020
Although there is backlash at the location of the tournament, others have cited that it isn’t the city that is the problem. Players like Hugo “HugS” Gonzales stated that cars being broken into are not native to just Oakland.
The break in complaints are fair but that’s every major city in the US, so what we’re getting is fear mongering specific to the Oakland area
If this event were the same but in San Francisco, I promise we’d hear way less
— HugS @ Genesis 7 (@HugS86) January 31, 2020
Not everything about the venue was negative. Ever since Genesis 5, the top 8 of each title has been played in the historic Paramount Theater which has been a fan favorite and for some people, it’s one of the biggest reasons why they attend the event in the first place.
There has been no official announcement of when or where the next iteration of Genesis will be held. With a mix of bad and good, it will be interesting to see if the tournament series goes back to San Jose where Genesis 3 and 4 took place or if the good outweighs the bad and they stick with Oakland.
Featured Image Courtesy of Genesis Smash
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