ASTORIA — It's time to break out the controllers, dust off those cartridges and brush up on your Tecmo game.
Nintendo fans will head to Astoria next week for the annual New York Tecmo Super Bowl Tournament, where gamers will go head-to-head playing the beloved 90s football video game until one is crowned winner.
"It's a lot of fun," said tournament organizer Brian Rausse. "Grown adults playing video games, drinking beer and just kind of re-living their youth."
The arcade-style game was released on the original Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, and has maintained a steady legion of fans in the decades since, according to Rausse.
"It was one of the first games that had real players from the National Football League — it was a big deal at the time," he said. "When the game came out, a lot of us fell in love with it."
Rausse and other fans have been holding the yearly tournaments at Break Bar and Billiards at 32-04 Broadway in Astoria since 2011, and the event draws local players as well as those from out of state, he said.
About 10 Nintendo consoles will be set up at the bar for the Oct. 17 event, and participants will play throughout the day to compete for trophies and cash prizes.
Registration for the tournament will start at 10 a.m., and costs $30 at the door. You can also pre-register online for a 20 percent discount.
