About Us
SwitchUP is Plymouth University’s multi-award-winning Nintendo Society and is at heart a fun and friendly environment to meet others into gaming, mostly through weekly in person hangouts. We also switch it up to include other consoles while maintaining multiplayer in-person fun as our focus. All of our sessions make use of the big screens in the lecture rooms, so no more squinting! As well as this we do bring extra smaller TVs for two-player and single-player games so there's plenty of screens to go around.
Please note you will not be able to see our member-only events unless you have bought a membership and are logged in.
What to expect
All our hangouts are in the Rolle Building, typically on Floor 1, there are two lifts to this floor, with one being right by the main entrance:
When arriving to one of our sessions you can expect rooms with 2-3 big screens and maybe some TV’s, all with chairs lined in front. If you spot a game with an extra space feel free to come in, say hey, take a seat and ask to join the next round, all our regular members are very used to this. If you’re a little more nervous feel free to ask a committee member (we have a pictures of the committee pinned on our Instagram, and we'll hopefully have some kind of identifier on us as well) for some help picking a screen/game, or loiter anxiously in the doorway so a committee member knows to approach you (we are generally very good at this).
We aim to be as welcoming and supportive as possible, so if you have any worries about accessibility or are just feeling nervous about getting involved get in contact with us via our social media/email and we’ll do our best to help! In the past we have met people in a familiar spot on campus to walk to the session together, or we have met outside the Rolle building, or just outside the room so you don’t have to walk in alone. We can make sure you’re able to get involved by saying hi, having a chat and teaching you how to play some of our favourite games! If that's not your vibe, and you just want to solo grind some Zelda or Mario Kart time trials, or just watch that's also completely fine!
Our Events
The exact nature of all our hangouts/events can be found on our UPSU events, our Discord events, and our Instagram and Facebook.
Friday Hangouts:
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Switch Sessions- if you have a Switch, bring it along! If you don't, we have our own Switch and extra controllers! We play plenty of games like Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Boomerang-Fu and more (anyone down for a Stardew Valley farm faceoff?).
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Retro Nights- we have our own GameCube and Wii, but there will generally also be a range of Wii’s, Wii U’s, GameCube’s, PS1’s, PS2’s and sometimes a Wii or Xbox with the Guitar Hero drumkit and guitars provided by members and committee.
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Tournaments- there tend to be around 6 tournaments per year (always with a non-tournament room run alongside it), with each having its own individual medals and prizes, as well as points being accumulated throughout the whole year in our year-long tournament league, which has its own finals, trophies and prizes.
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Joint Socials- running a social with another society is a great way to give our own members a taste of other societies, as well as letting other societies give gaming a go in an amalgamation of the two societies. As well as this hosting or taking part in specific neutral events with other societies can be great fun.
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Special Seasonal Events- pumpkin painting, hot chocolate and speed friending are all examples of our seasonal events, and a great way to make our regular hangouts more interesting. These events are generally ticketed so keep an eye out!
Saturday Events:
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Smaller Tournaments- these smaller tournaments can either be one off tournaments or more regular tournaments, either run by a committee member or Game Rep, and can include more niche games as well as bigger games.
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Charity Events- SwitchUP has raised money for a range of charties, ranging from charity streams, tournaments, quizzes and more!
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Community Volunteering- this is typically litterpicking so we can “CleanUP” around campus. This volunteering also involves prizes, with one £5 gift voucher being awarded to the member who found the best “loot”, voted for by the members.
Pokémon Go:
We meet on the SU roof for raid hour and community days, join our discord and keep an eye on announcements for more information!
Our Tournaments
SwitchUP’s tournaments are organised by a specific sector of the committee, this includes Friday tournaments and our year-long tournament league, Saturday tournaments, charity tournaments, NSE (National Student Esports), Cross-University Tournaments as well as assisting with Game Rep tournaments.
Generally, on tournaments nights there will be an admin room and 1-2 tournament rooms, all marked with door signs (as well as a non-tournament room, where you can hang out when/if not participating). Head to the admin room first to register/check in (you can register for all our tournaments in advance here: https://forms.gle/UWsxY94fwY8sZ1gDA. You’ll still need to check in on the night though), committee members will also be present to direct you to your heat/bracket once you have checked in.
Our year-long tournament league consists of our Friday tournaments which happen during our regular SwitchUP sessions. This year our “main” tournaments are (in running order):
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Wii Sports Resort (1/11/24) - Wii Sports in a quadrathlon esq format starting at 7pm! Earn points depending on placement in; Archery, Wakeboarding, Frisbee Dog and Skydiving. Player with the most points overall is crowned champion.
Each of these events will earn participants varying points based on placement for themselves in our year-long league with the members with highest point count being invited to take part in our prestigious “SwitchUP Finals” at the end of term 2. The tournament committee would like to emphasise that consistency is key, as some of our finalists last year didn’t win any events, they just turned up and took part in all our tournaments and that scored them enough points, with one even coming second place in the finals!
Saturday tournaments are for more niche events focused on particular interests like Pokémon or Mario Party, as well as for those wanting a bit more of one of our “main” tournaments like Smash or Boomerang-Fu. These are tournaments are mainly ran based on member interest, so if you are interested, please get in contact with one of the tournament committee or apply to be a game rep.
NSE tournaments are ran online over several weeks with universities across the country taking part. We host try-outs to form teams that compete to represent Plymouth in Splatoon, Mario Kart and Smash Bros, with Smash Bros coaching (hopefully) provided.
Our cross-university events are similar to NSE except we pick what games we want to play, for example in the past we have ran 6v6 Mario Kart clan wars against other universities. Sometimes we join up with the esports society and take part in varsity events under the Plymouth banner which is super fun.
Get Involved!
Getting involved is a great way to have fun, make friends, and bring out your passions. Depending on your investment levels and time commitment, there are many different ways you can get involved! All of these roles can log their hours using UPSU’s volunteering system, where you can earn cool rewards (https://www.upsu.com/volunteer/).
The Committee:
Many of our current committee are in their 3rd year, and therefore we are looking for passionate people to train up to run SwitchUP smoothly after we leave!
While all our core committee roles are full, and we don’t plan to host a Term 1 committee election, if you have an idea for a role, or are just really passionate about getting involved please let us know! Depending on what you have to offer the committee can discuss potential roles/gaps, and if everything works out we can host an election for this role, as well as some of the other non-core committee roles we don’t have. The current roles we don’t have filled include:
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Tournament Assistant (assists with running tournaments, can learn as you go while working with our Tournament Manager and Tournament Organiser).
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Esports/Game Rep Manager (manages and assists NSE teams, as well as being the main point of contact for game reps).
We will be hosting our annual committee election in March 2025 where all the following roles will be available to run for:
Core Committee (UPSU required):
Non-Core Committee (not required by UPSU):
Game Reps:
The Game Rep role is for members looking to be more involved, without taking on the full responsibility of a committee role. This role allows you to host hangouts and tournaments with the assistance of the committee. These events can be in person or online, and the committee can assist with room booking and lending equipment.
Feel free to apply here: https://forms.gle/hEz2fzTSh14Q25ZV8
General Volunteering:
Becoming a “Set Up Volunteer” is a great casual way to help out and even get some extra gaming time. This role pretty much just involves showing up early (normally around 6pm/6:30pm) and helping set up the room/consoles. We have a WhatApp group to help arrange this, which you will be added to if you fill out the Google Form.
If you have any consoles/games you'd like to bring along/lend then this is also the role for you!
You can register to help with room set up here: https://forms.gle/q3tL6D5S5nWg1NJx5
Community Volunteering:
SwitchUP also arranges community volunteering sessions, typically litterpicking so we can “CleanUP” around campus. This volunteering also involves prizes, with one £5 gift voucher being awarded to the member who found the best “loot”, voted for by the members (further instructions provided at the event). In order to track participation and take part in UPSU’s volunteering scheme all hours must be logged via UPSU’s system (https://www.upsu.com/volunteer/), we can help with this if needed. We are also looking into doing gardening as well if that interests you!
You can register to take part here: https://forms.gle/Xaj3WwNPk192968d6
SwitchUP Legacy
SwitchUP was founded in 2021 as a place to hangout, make friends and play games on the big screen. Plenty of unofficial tournaments took place, and even love blossomed.
In 2022/2023 SwitchUP hosted its first official tournament, a 3v3 Mario Kart competition, as well as its first Retro Night. We also went to see the Mario Movie as well as hosting a Give it a Go session.
2023/2024 introduced a range of different regular Friday hangouts, as well as charity events, pub socials, tournaments, Nintendo esports, special outings and volunteering. SwitchUP also won some awards, including:
Our Social Media
The best way to get in contact with us is our Instagram or the discord (DM a committee member), but you can also message our Email and Facebook if needed.
Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/switchupplymouth
Follow our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/switchupplymouth/
Follow our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550523264940
Follow our Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/switchup_plymouth
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/mBaRc5zFWD
Members can receive a special discord role and channel access, please fill out the Google Form in #member-verification and comment “done” in the channel so we can add the role for you.
Be there AND be square !_!