Those of you in New England looking to prove your mettle should know about two upcoming events:

If you can't wait for the March 9th release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, then head to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, March 1st, for a Nintendo-sponsored Brawl tournament. This event is hitting only four sites in the entire country — Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City being the others — with gamers competing for home theater systems, crystal-coated Wiis (whatever those are), and a thousand dollars in Best Buy gift certificates. (Hat tip to nightskyre)

For those who eschew such modern offerings in favor of classic hits, head up to Laconia, New Hampshire (as I do every summer) to Funspot, a "non-profit corporation… established to promote and preserve the history of coin-operated arcade games" — through hands-on experience, of course! With nearly 200 machines from the Golden Age, Funspot offers an annual tournament to challenge the current high-score holders; it was there that Billy Mitchell achieved the first-ever perfect Pac-Man score. Funspot's tenth annual such competition will be held May 29th to June 1st — so break out the quarters, get your Dig Dug on, and kick some classic butt!